{"id":32411,"date":"2019-10-15T14:39:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T18:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=32411"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:12:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T17:12:42","slug":"100-plays-of-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=32411","title":{"rendered":"100 Plays of Ray"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Ray Dooley will mark his 100<sup>th<\/sup> production at PlayMakers Repertory Company with <\/em>Dairyland<em> (Oct. 16-Nov. 3) \u2014 a remarkable feat of longevity by one of the company\u2019s most beloved actors.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"100 Plays of Ray\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/biZ2pwAXH8o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>In 2015, <em>Indy Week<\/em> theater critic Byron Woods tweeted this about PlayMakers\u2019 production of <em>Seminar<\/em>: \u201cRay Dooley reads a piece of paper. We\u2019re spellbound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That pretty much sums up the reaction that actors, students, faculty colleagues, directors and audience members have about Dooley\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p>Dooley, who has been with PlayMakers for 30 years and has been a teacher and leader in the department of dramatic art, will mark his 100<sup>th<\/sup> production with <em>Dairyland<\/em>. He said he feels gratitude \u2014 for so many things \u2014 but primarily for PlayMakers and everything it represents.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32422\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32422\" style=\"width: 416px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-32422\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2019\/10\/HuthPhoto-KAH_1997-2.jpg\" alt=\"Ray Dooley feeds a cow\" width=\"416\" height=\"277\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32422\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ray Dooley will mark his 100th production at PlayMakers with <em>Dairyland<\/em>, where he will play a farmer and father. (photo by HuthPhoto.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThose things include a <em>remarkable<\/em> cast of personnel, going back to when I first came here in 1989,\u201d Dooley said. \u201cIt\u2019s significant, I think, that several of my colleagues \u2014 McKay Coble, Michael Rolleri, David Adamson, Adam Versenyi and Bobbi Owen \u2014 were here when I got here and are still here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it\u2019s a clich\u00e9 to say that company members become like family. But Dooley embraces that clich\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>He cites Julie Fishell\u2019s last performance in Chapel Hill in <em>My Fair Lady<\/em> in spring 2017 as an example. Fishell is now at the University of California, Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Julie came here for her first show, <em>Tartuffe<\/em>, in 1993, she was pregnant and the costume shop had to let out her costume a little bit during the course of the run,\u201d Dooley said. \u201cWhen Julie did her final show at PlayMakers, we read the names of the 53 plays she had been in, and it was terribly moving. And then her daughter, Abigail, walked on stage and stood next to her mother. There she was, the physical representation of the 23 years that Julie had been with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat really encapsulates the kind of experiences we have had with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fishell said probably her favorite PlayMakers collaboration with Dooley was 2011\u2019s <em>Who\u2019s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? <\/em>(They played the dysfunctional couple George and Martha).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll never forget those final moments on stage with him in that play for which there are no words \u2014 only an indelible memory of deep listening and love,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRay is an actor and educator who embodies commitment to beauty and truth and the important callings of our profession \u2014 to inspire, increase sensitivity and empathy, champion the mind and lift the human spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In his long career, Dooley has portrayed a stunning array of memorable characters \u2014 Cyrano in <em>Cyrano de Bergerac,<\/em> Astrov in <em>Uncle Vanya<\/em>, Salieri in <em>Amadeus<\/em>, the Fool in <em>King Lear<\/em>, the Cardinal Inquisitor in <em>Life of Galileo <\/em>and Orgon in<em> Tartuffe<\/em> \u2014 to name a few.<\/p>\n<p>Vivienne Benesch has directed Dooley in four previous productions, but she said<em> Dairyland<\/em> offers a unique opportunity to see him in a new light.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe is the quintessential actor\u2019s actor. \u2026 I think when people think about Ray, he\u2019s often cast as these intellectual aesthetes \u2014 he\u2019s played so many religious figures and kings or king makers. In the classical canon, there\u2019s nothing he can\u2019t do,\u201d said Benesch, who is PlayMakers\u2019 producing artistic director. \u201cBut in <em>Dairyland<\/em>, he gets to play [Henry], a Wisconsin dairy farmer and a father. And it\u2019s just been incredible to watch him find this \u2018everyman\u2019 inside of him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benesch said it\u2019s next to impossible to name her favorite Ray Dooley moment, but one that immediately comes to mind is a performance from last season\u2019s <em>Life of Galileo.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was very sick. He had practically no voice \u2026 but for that two hours that he was performing, you would never have known it,\u201d she added. \u201cThat was the most incredible exhibition of craft, of will and of professionalism I have ever seen. It was really remarkable.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32424\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32424\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32424\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2019\/10\/IMG_0092-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"427\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32424\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">As a professor the dramatic art department, Dooley teaches undergraduate students in an &#8220;Acting for the Camera&#8221; class. (photo by Kristen Chavez)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Life\u2019s a stage and a classroom <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over three decades, Dooley has also been a beloved professor and leader in the department of dramatic art. He served as chair of the department from 1999 to 2005, interim chair from 1999 to 2000 and as head of the Professional Actor Training Program from 2005 to 2018. He\u2019s taught countless graduate and undergraduate students, and he\u2019s acted alongside them in many PlayMakers productions.<\/p>\n<p>On a recent Tuesday morning, undergraduate students in \u201cActing for the Camera\u201d rehearsed brief scenes in a studio classroom in the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art. A large camera was mounted on a rolling chair, which served as a makeshift dolly. In between takes, Dooley walked around, quietly coaching a student filmmaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs he walks into the frame, keep it nice and smooth as he\u2019s moving to get a good shot,\u201d Dooley said. \u201cThis is a close-up, so we want to see what kind of day he\u2019s having.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the class, through both acting and filmmaking, students learn the process of acting and its relationship to the technical and artistic demands of television production. They address challenges of concentration, continuity in shooting scenes and out-of-sequence filming.<\/p>\n<p>Third-year MFA candidate Dan Toot, who has worked with Dooley on <em>Sense and Sensibility<\/em>, <em>Leaving Eden<\/em>, <em>She Loves Me<\/em>, <em>Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/em> and now<em> Dairyland<\/em>, is grateful for the chance to gush about someone he calls \u201cthe embodiment of a mentor and a phenomenal teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32425\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32425\" style=\"width: 263px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-32425\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2024\/07\/01-Cherry-Orchard-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"263\" height=\"401\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32425\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A playbill from Dooley&#8217;s first show at PlayMakers: <em>The Cherry Orchard<\/em> in their 1989-90 season. (courtesy University Archives, North Carolina Collection)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cHe believes in the work, and he believes in his students,\u201d Toot said. \u201cHe will tell you he approaches the work as a \u2018senior colleague,\u2019 here to help you clear a little ground as you find your way, and he does exactly that. But in doing so, he instills a trust and empowerment in the next generation of actors in a way that keeps the art form alive and thriving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dooley\u2019s contributions as a leader in the department have been \u201cprofound and multifaceted,\u201d said longtime colleague Adam Vers\u00e9nyi, current chair of dramatic art and PlayMakers dramaturg. The first production they worked on together was Anton Chekhov\u2019s <em>The Cherry Orchard<\/em> in 1989.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen he became chair of the department, he created a sense of community that we have been able to build on ever since,\u201d Vers\u00e9nyi said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chapel Hill is home<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 2014, Dooley received one of UNC-Chapel Hill\u2019s highest honors, the C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Award. Service is at the core of Dooley\u2019s approach to his work \u2014 service to students and colleagues, to the audience and to the Chapel Hill community.<\/p>\n<p>He often performs at local retirement communities or does readings of war-themed poetry on Memorial Day at Chapel of the Cross. He entertained students at Southwest Elementary School in Durham with scenes from the 2018 one-man show, <em>A Christmas Carol<\/em>. In 2007, WCHL Radio presented him with a \u201cHometown Hero\u201d award for professional and community service.<\/p>\n<p>In the early years of his career, he was based in New York, but constantly on the road. PlayMakers has given him the opportunity to make a living and a life in Chapel Hill, and Dooley said he is eternally grateful for that, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI meet people at the gym, my church, the book club, the running club, all of whom are PlayMakers subscribers,\u201d he said. \u201cTo experience that and to be a part of the fabric of this community in this way while practicing the craft that I studied is rare in my field.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With \u201cLegacy Now\u201d as the theme of PlayMakers\u2019 current season, Benesch paused to reflect on the legacy that Dooley has created.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one creates a sacred space in the theater like he does. That sacred space is not only in the rehearsal halls and classrooms, but also the sacredness he feels for the work, given as a gift for the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/playmakersrep.org\/show\/dairyland\/\"><strong>Learn more about <em>Dairyland.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_22907\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22907\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-22907\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2019\/12\/001-PhotoC4-CAHT3375-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22907\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dooley in <em>A Christmas Carol<\/em> in December 2017. (by HuthPhoto)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>Five Fan-tastic Questions for Ray Dooley<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Biggest on-stage snafu?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe time my wig caught fire in <em>A Perfect Ganesh<\/em> in 1995. As I was placing the candles down, I recall hearing a kind of rushing noise. It took me a moment to realize the wig was burning. My wife tells the story better than I do \u2014 she was actually sitting in the audience with my mother. And apparently my mother turned to her and said, \u2018Raymond&#8217;s on fire.\u2019 So I got off stage and put it out very quickly and we went on with the play.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Craziest costume?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve twice played a woman, so that was very instructive \u2014 Lady Bracknell in <em>The Importance of Being Earnest<\/em> and Mrs. Jennings in <em>Sense and Sensibility<\/em>. I learned an awful lot from that. When I was a very young actor playing the part of Ariel in <em>The Tempest<\/em> in Stratford, Connecticut, I wore a body suit, with ribs that expanded as my arms expanded, and it had a hood on it. That was a memorable costume for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best piece of fan mail?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about me, but it\u2019s from a community member that I have a fairly regular correspondence with by email. He was saying how he was sitting in the audience watching<em> Cabaret<\/em> with his wife of many years who was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Watching Julie Fishell and Jeffrey Blair Cornell (as Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider) perform the song \u2018Married\u2019 was meaningful to the two of them. So that comes to mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Role you\u2019d still like to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have been so fortunate to have played most everything \u2014 sometimes twice \u2014 that I&#8217;ve wanted to play. There\u2019s a play by Brian Friel called <em>Faith Healer<\/em> in four monologues, and the character Frank Hardy is one that I may still be able to do. There are great older characters in Shakespeare, like John of Gaunt in Richard II. For all of the wonderful characters who are now dealing with an older person\u2019s point of view, Shakespeare writes those characters beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Go-to pre-show warmups?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, the answer is it depends on the play. There\u2019s this famous story about baseball player Wade Boggs from the Boston Red Sox who always ate chicken every time before the game. And I&#8217;m a creature of habit. With <em>A Christmas Carol,<\/em> I was down in the Kenan Theatre dressing room, and every night was identical. There was a can of seltzer involved, there was a certain calisthenics routine, done in the exactly the same place, in exactly the same way. I got dressed in exactly the same order. If it&#8217;s a real evening\u2019s work, then that develops organically from the ground up, depending on what is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9269\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9269\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9269\" src=\"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/07\/prc_midsummer_nights_dream0041-768x542-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"423\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9269\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ray Dooley as Puck in &#8220;A Midsummer Night&#8217;s Dream. (photo by Jon Gardiner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4><strong>More from the Fan Mailbag<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>\u201cRay is one of the country\u2019s finest actors by any measure you care to apply. More tools in his belt than any actor I know: prepared, professional, collegial. He can be superb in any genre, any time period, any text. He could have made his professional life anywhere, and I spent nine years at PlayMakers\/UNC grateful every day that he chose to devote his artistic life to us. My respect and admiration are unbounded. He\u2019s as good as they come.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Joe Haj, artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and former PlayMakers producing artistic director<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn many ways, Ray is my template. We bring a similar life story to the job of theater professor (although I\u2019d say his is a much fancier version.)\u00a0He\u2019s been an invaluable role model for me.\u00a0By example, Ray has taught me that my life as a professional actor gives me a unique authority in a university classroom.\u00a0It is the foundation of my life as educator and mentor \u2014 and I\u2019m indebted to Ray for that lesson.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Tim Altmeyer, (MFA \u201992), associate professor at the University of Florida, who was in Ray\u2019s first MFA acting class<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn fittings I remember him as always polite, never expecting us to conform the costume to his wishes, but instead looking for what the costume could do to inform his character.\u201d \u2014 <strong>Kerri Martinsen (MFA costume production \u201900), now costume director for the Carolina Ballet<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the seven-hour marathon, his character was to hang himself in a big dramatic scene. One performance of the run \u2026 the platform didn\u2019t come down. Ray never lost his cool or his focus, and he held us together with his eyes and energy. He simply put the noose in his hand around his neck and lifted up the loose end and he \u2018died.\u2019\u00a0Though we lost the biggest technical spectacle of the show, the climactic resolve held together because of Ray\u2019s quick thinking and talent and also because of his ability to lead our ensemble through an unexpected live improv. We all trusted him so. How could you not?\u201d \u2014 <strong>Justin Adams, guest actor,<em> The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby <\/em>(2009)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>By Kim Weaver Spurr. Video by Kristen Chavez.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ray Dooley will mark his 100th production at PlayMakers Repertory Company with Dairyland (Oct. 16-Nov. 3) \u2014 a remarkable feat of longevity by one of the company\u2019s most beloved actors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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