ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

The Official Poster Photo for the Production

"Michael Hunter deserves a mention for his work as “Ruckly”. While “Ruckly” is a man of few words (and they’re mostly profanities), what he lacks in dialogue he makes up in physical presence. Hunter is required to remain in some damn difficult physical positions for lengthy periods of time, and Hunter’s commitment to character and physical stamina honor the character and this production."
Harry Duke, forallevents.info/reviews, November 2013


Date of Run: October 25-November 10, 2013

ROLE: Ruckly

Production photos by Eric Chazankin

My final show of 2013 was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. This was the first show I did at 6^th Street Playhouse in Santa Rosa. I had been auditioning there for a few years and was never called back once, but with this show I finally made it in. The director of this show was Lennie Dean. I had originally decided not to consider this show since, out of all my options, it was the last one I'd consider doing.

At the general auditions, I did a comic monologue, which I felt did reasonably well and a song. That's a first. For this audition I felt I did better on my monologue than my song. That was a first. I originally had no desire to do this show because I felt that I would not be considered anyway since I was too young for any of the roles, except one, but I never thought I’d get it because it's a role many would want. Before auditions, Lennie asked which shows I was thinking of doing and asked if I was considering Cuckoo’s Nest. I told her I wasn’t sure and what my reasons were for my hesitancy. In my ignorance I didn’t realize she was directing and if I had realized I would’ve said yes in an instant. I had admired Lennie’s work for a couple years by then and everyone raved about working with her.

A couple weeks after auditions ended, I messaged Lennie asking for her opinion on my audition. She said that she remembered my audition from last year and was impressed by my growth. All I could remember the previous year was being lousy. Then she said she would be considering me for the role of Ruckly. I decided to check on the role and what it would mean. I found that he is a lobotomized patient who stands in a crucified position all the time.

During the run, Lennie would tell me that the artistic director of the playhouse leaned over to her while I was auditioning and said “Ruckly” to her while she was thinking the exact same thing. I guess I gave that vibe?

When it came time for my callback, I was late getting to the playhouse because a big rig jack-knifed and crashed on the freeway, slowing all traffic going into Santa Rosa. When I got there, she worked with me alone. For it she had me more or less throw a temper tantrum, screaming “I’m angry!” and other things, tearing around the stage. I almost cried a couple times. At the end, my voice was hoarse, but I tell you I had never felt so alive onstage before. Lennie was impressed by the different things she heard in my voice: the anger, the fear, the frustration. I was not guaranteed the role, however. She said she would take a night to think it over. I waited all day the next day for the phone to ring and when it finally did, I got the part. I was thrilled.

I had also been offered a part in the musical Brigadoon at a different company, but I turned it down because my last three shows had been musicals and I felt it was time for another play. I also wanted to play a character role rather than do another ensemble role and to this day I stand by that decision. I know I made the right choice.

The rest of the cast consisted of my friends Lito Briano, Nick Christenson, Arnie House, Justin Keim, and Alexis Long. The rest included Tice Allison, Nicolas Augusta, Crystal Carpenter, Taylor Diffenderfer, Jim Jones, Alan Kaplan, Stacey Kerr, Ed McCloud, Dallas Munger, and Jill Zimmerman. Many of them were people who I had seen before or who I had heard good things about and I wanted to work with.

We had trouble filling one of the roles, Aide Williams. Lennie wanted the role to be African American since that’s how it's traditionally cast, but African American actors are somewhat scarce in Sonoma County. We had one who was considering the role, but he decided not to do it. Then we found another, and all was going well until about a week before opening when he didn’t show up for rehearsal, and never contacted them. Then he came back a few days before opening saying he was ready to go, but he was dismissed.  In the meantime, we managed to find someone from San Francisco named Donyell Maurice. Nick Augusta, who played Aide Warren, worked with him to help him prepare for what he needed to do in the show, and he rose to the occasion.

My role was one of the smaller roles and in fact I believe most people would consider it a throw away role, but I took it seriously. Sometime before the callbacks, I found a copy of the original novel by Ken Kesey in a Goodwill store and set to work reading it right away. I also began preparing from the first read through. My role demanded that I stand in one spot for a long time holding my arms up, palm out, for long periods of time. The longest one was the second scene of the first act, and it was twenty-five minutes (I timed it during a performance). Every night, rehearsal or no, I held my arms up as long as I could to get ready for the run. I also spent time looking for the right facial expression I’d need. Lennie told me I also would have to wet myself and drool at times. I would have a special device for peeing myself. She had asked me if I was willing to do all that and I was. I also would have to shave my head, which I had no problem with because that’s what I planned to do after whatever show I did in the fall anyway. I mean I always looked good with a shaved head.

For rehearsals we were asked to wear things that patients would probably wear like scrubs or flannel pants and white undershirts and also slippers to help us get into character. When the show came, I wore dark scrubs for when I peed myself so that the water would show better and then either lighter scrub pants with a lighter scrub shirt or hospital gown, depending on the scene.

For one week, we had only two rehearsals that were devoted to character work before starting a full week of rehearsing. For one early rehearsal Lennie had all the patients come in without Ed (McMurphy) so that we would get an idea of how our characters were before McMurphy’s arrival. One by one we went up for various acting exercises. When my turn came, we discussed my character’s walk and stomach breathing for when I had to shout. I would have one line, which I’d say five times and it was “F-f-f-fuck em all!” Lennie wanted me to scream it because my character would be so angry that he couldn’t speak. For my walk I watched videos of babies learning to walk and also drunk people. Nick Christenson advised me not to use my abs or butt muscles when walking, which helped enormously. For holding my arms up, my friend and by then roommate, Kevin, advised me to hold weights up with my arms outstretched for as long as possible to help with that.

Before rehearsals could fully begin however, even before the individual character exercise rehearsal, I was struck by misfortune. I was hit by a car one morning while riding my bike on my way to work. I suffered only a hand contusion and some scrapes, but one of my shoulders was in a lot of pain so I had to stop holding my arms up until it healed enough. It was little more than a week before I could hold my arms up again without pain. Then, three weeks after that accident, tragedy struck.

On September 14, 2013, my father suddenly and unexpectedly passed away. I was devastated by it. I left for home for about a week and because of all that happened I did not feel like practicing holding my arms up. My father had worked in a mental hospital back in the 1960s as a psychiatric technician and a couple months earlier we were discussing what he did there and many stories on what he did and the types of patients there were. This was the one show I wanted him to see the most. In my absence the cast held a moment of silence for him one night and presented me with a sympathy card on my return, which truly touched me. While at home, I found an old patch of his from when he worked there which I framed and kept at my dressing station through the run. I resolved to dedicate each of my performances to him.



I remember when I first told him that I was going to be in the show. He asked which part I would be playing and I told him "Ruckly." Instead of asking who that was like most people would have, he asked, a bit excitedly, "Is that the one with no hair?!" So, he knew what my part was. He knew.

Lennie instructed me to always be in my crucified position even when the scene stopped and we worked through it. I did my best, but in the early stages, it was very difficult. The most could do was about eight minutes, but as time passed I got a bit better each time. Still it was quite a struggle. The one thing I waited for the most was one on one time alone with Lennie. I met a friend at a show who had worked with her before and he assured me I would get it, but as we moved closer to the beginning of the run, I began to wonder if she would have time. But then about a week before we were to start, she did.

Lennie had told me day one during my audition that she was not going to consider this a throw away role (I should hope not!). My one on one time began with my character’s back story. Lennie envisioned him as a former all American sports player who had lost weight since his lobotomy. She had other things for me to do other than stand there doing nothing. She told me to grunt and respond more to the action. She also had me do a sort of dance during the party scene and some motivation for saying my line. She also had Nick Christenson give me a drink (really water) during the party, which I put my own twist on by letting it run down my front, rather than swallowing it. I wouldn’t have drunk it anyway because the water was in a container that caused it to taste terrible. With all that, Ruckly began to take a stronger form; some in the cast even commented on the new things after rehearsal that night. I don’t think I ever stopped exploring him during the run.

I shaved my head a few weeks before the run to get used to the idea. By the time of tech rehearsal, it had grown too long so it was re-shaved during tech week It was not easy for me because there was no clear line for how they wanted my hair because the director, the costume designer and the costume shop coordinator all had different ideas for my scar, makeup and hair length. I decided to keep my head shaved as short as possible and they decided on drawing my scar on. For the two weekends after opening, I took a razor and shaving cream and shaved my head that way, which was tougher than you'd think. I only cut myself one time but, since it was behind my upper ear, no one noticed. During tech week, two make-up designers, Lani and Janelle Basich, who had done make-up for The Elephant Man, were brought in to help. They showed me how to design my scar and they designed my make-up to make me look gaunt, like I hadn't seen the sun since the lobotomy. I also decided to do the show barefoot rather than with slippers just so I could say I did.

Top: Close-up of make-up. Bottom: Close-up of scar.

  

My peeing device looked like this. It was a bulb used to suck snot out of babies noses attached to some sort of catheter. Both would be filled with water. The bulb would sit on my butt where I could press against the wall and the hose would run around my leg and be taped to the left of inside of my pants and would point up. I did my best to make myself as wet as possible, but it was tough because not all the water would go out and once the bulb was squeezed it was difficult to use it more. Later in the run, Ed (McMurphy) asked if I could wait a little longer on it because in between the time that I would wet myself and he would get to me, I would have dried enough for no one to see it. However, every time I did it, there would always be a puddle on the floor.



After adding the new things, the make-up, the drool, and the device, Ruckly was complete.

Me as Ruckly

Lennie and I also discussed where in the show I should be. I was in for many long periods of time. In fact, though I had few things to say I was on stage maybe 75% of the time. I also had to start the second act. At the top of the second act, there was a basketball game where I had to be the hoop. The game had to be staged and was done so by the assistant director, Clint Campbell. Before the show we had to have a call to run the moves almost every night. That part was scary for me. I was standing on a chair that was not the most stable because it was a cushy chair and it was hard not to look afraid of the ball coming at my face. I was always afraid that someone would get too caught up in the scene and accidentally hit me or run into the chair and knock me over.

The Basketball Game

This role required much concentration. I had to stare with a blank face for most of the time. I was usually looking at the floor so I usually never saw what was happening onstage. Later in the run I played a bit more moving my head, but never losing my facial expression. I also would move my shoulders and tighten my arms while holding them up, which helped a little, but even so it was agony. I had seen photos of some productions where the actor playing my role would rest his arms on pegs or something, but I had nothing like that holding me up. It was all me. Some people would tell me later that they noticed those little movements and that they did not envy my arms.

We were given one day off rehearsal on Wednesday before opening and then we had one preview performance before beginning the 13 performance run. The first night the house was about half full and the second two performances were the same. I was not doing too well the first weekend, because I was feeling very hot and light-headed at times. By Sunday I had to lay down at intermission because I was so hot and I felt that, as a result of all of it, I was not giving my all at that performance. Assuming the nurse role, Jill (Nurse Ratched), got me some water and told me to stay hydrated. During the first scene of the second act, after the game, I began to tear up. As soon as I got offstage I went to the bathroom and burst into tears. When I got home after the performance I cried some more. Exhaustion from the long week of rehearsals and performances and frustration from the thought of not giving my all really got to me.

I would peek at the audiences before the show started. I would look out a crack from the door that served as the elevator and also out of a hole in the wall on the stage left side. It gave me ample opportunity to see who was out there and how big the house would be. Yes, I'm one of those actors, so sue me.

A couple performances in I added something new to my character. The final scene of the first act has the patients are watching the World Series only to have the TV turned off by Nurse Ratched and sent back to clean. In the moment of silence, McMurphy gets the idea to imagine the game is still on. I don’t remember why I decided to do it, but in that silence I started humming, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” It was quietly the first time, so I’ve no idea if the audience heard me, but Nick Christenson did. I discussed it with Lennie after the show and she loved it. We decided to make that the inspiration for McMurphy to improvise the ball game. I didn’t hum it perfectly, but more labored as I felt that’s how it would’ve been done. 

The second weekend began on Halloween. That was definitely our smallest audience. It was probably a quarter full, if that. Other than that we played to packed houses. My arms took a large beating that weekend, doing five shows, two on Saturday. I would begin the week doing just fine, but when the Saturday matinee came they began to tire. Quite a few times I had to put my arms at a ninety degree angle, but they never went straight to my side. Every performance I knew that I just had to get past the second scene in the first act, which was the longest amount of time I stood there, and then it would get easier.

I cannot stress enough how doing two shows on Saturday were especially brutal for me, both weekends we did that. I did all I could to give my arms some rest, but it helped little. Both weekends some of the cast including Nick, Alexis, Justin, Donyell, our sound board operator Jared and I went to a restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa for dinner between shows. I did not go out to bars often after the shows due to having to work the next day. In fact I think I only ever went to a bar after the show twice.

On Sunday of the second weekend, my mother, aunt and uncle came. It was very difficult knowing my father would not be out there with them. A couple times backstage I felt a little teary, but I never showed it.

On the last weekend, my arms did not fare so well, not even in the beginning. On Thursday, I had to lower them a few times due to pain. On Friday we had a particularly responsive audience that laughed more than any other audience. My roommate, Kevin, came to see the show at the Saturday matinee. I peeked to see where he was, saw him and when it came time to yell my first “Fuck ‘em all” I hurled it right at him. He was amused. Since he was at this show I did my best to hold my arms up as long as I could. The second show was unbearable. On Sunday we had a sizable, but very unresponsive audience. At this performance I played a prank on Nick Augusta. At the end of the basketball scene he would take me off the chair by putting me over his shoulders and put me back on the wall, and at this performance I grabbed his butt, but not in a way that anyone but he and I would know.

The cast party was held at Jill’s house where we ate, drank and watched the film version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in her backyard. And what a backyard it was! I brought a cheesecake, which again earned universal praise and also a chocolate cake.

This was definitely one of the better casts I worked with. It was a very strong cast where no one was miscast in their role. It was also a friendly cast, many of whom kept trying to boost my self-image. Quite often I would complain bitterly that I was unappealing to women and unattractive, but many of them kept trying to convince me I was wrong. It was bullshit of course, but I appreciated the gesture.


One of my favorite things about this show was all the candy we had in the dressing room for most of the run. Since it was Halloween during the run, we had much of it in little bowls all along the dressing room table.

This show gave me the chance to really get into someone else's skin and the result was a role I was truly proud of. I earned great acclaim from several audience members and also from members of the cast. In fact, my line “Fuck ‘em all” became the line everyone wished they could say. Many times after the show, weeks, months and even years later, I earned praise from total strangers who had seen the show, mainly people in the theatre community. In fact I heard that many in the audience kept saying “How does he do that?!” I think they were more impressed by my physical stamina than anything. But, whatever, at least people were noticing me. I was glad to have done this show and I consider this role one of my best, but I was happy when it was finished and I would not have to hold my arms up again and this is one role I will never play again. I don't think I could take it if I had to do it again.

On a final note, as Ruckly would say, FUCK 'EM ALL!