So, I’ve posted two reviews from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival so far, and I’ve got two more to go, those being The Clay Cart (short version: meh) and Our Town (short version: solid if unspectacular, but… whoops, short version - more later!). Today though, a bit of free advice and worth every penny. Write fan mail to your favorite actors. Really.
Writing fan mail is easy, and I more than suspect that they like it. So far, with very little searching I found contact information for Dan Donohue and John Tufts and so I wrote them brief messages telling them how much I enjoyed their performances this year. If I may, let me offer some tips:
- Don’t lie. I mean, really, just don’t write the email if you don’t mean it. It’s not like 99.9% of audiences ARE writing fan mail and you’re going to look bad or something.
- Be specific. “I love you,” while nice, doesn’t make a person smile as much as “you moved me to tears with your heart-breaking work in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?“
- Be concise. They don’t know you, you don’t know them. Express the appreciation that you honestly feel and leave it at that.
If the actor is inclined I imagine they’ll strike up a conversation, but otherwise I suggest that you consider any correspondence a one-off. I can say that both actors I’ve written responded within 24 hours with a gracious thanks and a bit of chat regarding whatever I originally brought up. It’s a nice little connection to make and, besides, OSF doesn’t do curtain calls so this is your chance to single out some praise.
{ 0 comments… add one now }