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Macall Gordon and Charity Parenzini at Taproot Theatre
Photo: Erik Stuhaug, used with permission
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Macall Gordon has played many mothers over the years. In an Amazon original series airing online, "Man in the High Castle," she’s Anne Crain Walker, the mother of heroine Juliana and holder of a few secrets of her own.
For Taproot Theatre’s production of "This Christmas," Gordon developed the character of Helen Masters, a character that she describes as
good-hearted and a far more typical mother than women like Anne.
"I was thrilled to play a nice mom. It may sound strange, but a majority of Mom roles that I’ve auditioned for or played tend to be the ones that the other characters, teen or adult children, react against," she said. "It’s actually gotten a bit depressing at times. Is this all we have to say about women/moms over 45 or 50? They’re cold, or self-absorbed, or judgmental? I think there’s way more that playwrights could say about moms and motherhood across all ages."
In Anne Kennedy Brady’s play, Helen’s daughter Leah (played by Charity Parenzini) tries to plan the perfect Christmas but finds everything rapidly spinning out of control. One of the characters supporting Leah in “This Christmas” is Helen. The role allowed Gordon to explore “the depth of feeling, the fierceness with which we love our families, the inside-outness of being a mom. I was so excited to read this script. I opened it prepared to have Helen be the “typical” middle-age mom role. But she’s so funny and she cares so much for the people around her. She loves life and people and she’s hilarious. I just love playing her.”
As for Anne, Gordon revealed that “in that show, really all you have are given circumstances because you don’t know what they have planned for you. You only get the script for the next episode the week before you shoot. So, you can only play what you know in that scene. The character also changed from the first version of the pilot that we shot here in Seattle. She was a lot more severe in that version. I think they softened her up a bit. But, truthfully, I don’t know what’s boiling under the surface. Maybe in season 2 we’ll find out.”
Following the pilot, “Man in the High Castle” moved production to Canada where it “films in Vancouver, like so many shows,” said Gordon. “We’re in the middle of lobbying Olympia to get the film incentives reinstated. So much work is going up to Vancouver. It would be great to have some of it shot here in Seattle. It would be good for our local economy and great for Seattle actors.”
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“This Christmas” continues at Taproot Theatre through Dec. 26. The first season of “The Man in the High Castle” is available for viewing online at Amazon.com.
"I was thrilled to play a nice mom. It may sound strange, but a majority of Mom roles that I’ve auditioned for or played tend to be the ones that the other characters, teen or adult children, react against," she said. "It’s actually gotten a bit depressing at times. Is this all we have to say about women/moms over 45 or 50? They’re cold, or self-absorbed, or judgmental? I think there’s way more that playwrights could say about moms and motherhood across all ages."
In Anne Kennedy Brady’s play, Helen’s daughter Leah (played by Charity Parenzini) tries to plan the perfect Christmas but finds everything rapidly spinning out of control. One of the characters supporting Leah in “This Christmas” is Helen. The role allowed Gordon to explore “the depth of feeling, the fierceness with which we love our families, the inside-outness of being a mom. I was so excited to read this script. I opened it prepared to have Helen be the “typical” middle-age mom role. But she’s so funny and she cares so much for the people around her. She loves life and people and she’s hilarious. I just love playing her.”
As for Anne, Gordon revealed that “in that show, really all you have are given circumstances because you don’t know what they have planned for you. You only get the script for the next episode the week before you shoot. So, you can only play what you know in that scene. The character also changed from the first version of the pilot that we shot here in Seattle. She was a lot more severe in that version. I think they softened her up a bit. But, truthfully, I don’t know what’s boiling under the surface. Maybe in season 2 we’ll find out.”
Following the pilot, “Man in the High Castle” moved production to Canada where it “films in Vancouver, like so many shows,” said Gordon. “We’re in the middle of lobbying Olympia to get the film incentives reinstated. So much work is going up to Vancouver. It would be great to have some of it shot here in Seattle. It would be good for our local economy and great for Seattle actors.”
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“This Christmas” continues at Taproot Theatre through Dec. 26. The first season of “The Man in the High Castle” is available for viewing online at Amazon.com.