TIGHT LINES
with Andrew Spencer

NO SMALL ROLES

Yours truly is involved in the current offering from the Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, "To Grandmother's House We Go," directed by TWN's current artistic director, Jane Karakula. Little did you people know that I'm a thespian. Actually studied it in college, I did. Full of surprises, I am. Talk like Yoda, I can. But I digress.

My association with TWN started way back in the day when Warren Krebbs was the artistic director and I was an undergrad at the University of Texas. One blisteringly ugly Sunday morning - think a Johnny Cash song, only worse - my phone rang at some miserably early hour. I grunted something into the phone, only to be met with happiness and sunshine on the other end. It was Warren. He was offering me a role in "The Fantasticks." It was a small role, he warned me, but I assured him that there were no small roles, only small actors. Yep. You knew that cliché would pop up before too long. Every actor has heard it; in fact, at least one of us has heard it many, many times after being repeatedly cast in "supporting roles." And, to my mind, no matter how much we all try to believe it, there's a part of us that's still jealous we're not the lead.

Andrew's acting can sometimes run the gamut of emotions, from A to B.

Anyway, I played the "supporting role" of Mortimer that summer in "The Fantasticks," and we were off and running. As the years have gone on, I've been involved with several productions on Nantucket, and this year continues that tradition. I play the part of Paul in "To Grandmother's House We Go," which features my girl, Jetti Ames, in the title role. And in case you're scratching your head on that one, she's the grandmother, not the house. This week marks the end of our run, so if you haven't yet been to see it, get to the Methodist Church on Centre Street right next to the Pacific National Bank at 8:30 p.m.

This is my first experience working with Jetti, and I have to tell you that the lady is a hot ticket extraordinaire. Case in point, I asked her recently how old she was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Big mistake. Huge. But Jetti didn't bat an eyelash. "I can play anything from twenty-six to eighty," she told me. That's my girl. Every night she's got a mob of admirers outside the dressing room that I have to push past after the show. And as I told her recently, I want to be Jetti when I grow up.

The really great thing about Jetti is that she lives up to that whole idea about no small roles. Seriously. Jetti doesn't care a lick about the stardom or the spotlight or even the fan club. She's just having a good time up there on stage and she's just happy to be involved. The girl's got it all, I tell you. Brains, looks, talent, modesty. She's the complete package, boys.

But this isn't a personal ad on Jetti's behalf, so let's stick to the issue at hand, namely the idea that there are no small roles. The message here is that it's better to live in the moment, be happy that you're a part of the show, enjoy the fact that you're bringing entertainment to the audience. Don't worry about whether somebody has more lines than you or somebody has more time on stage than you. In other words, it's all about your attitude, kids.

And while you're at it, don't start turning your nose up at the little fish we're catching in the harbor right now. They're a blast to catch.

Enter, stage left, the segue of this week's column.

Friends and neighbors, there are bluefish everywhere, and a lot of them are wee-littlebitty. I caught a few off the back side of Esther's Island a couple days ago that weren't much bigger than an average-sized squirrel, and there's an armada of really little punks cruising the Head of the Harbor. Yes, they're small, and no, they're not going to win you any kind of Boone and Crocket awards for size. The thing about them, though, is that they're a blast to catch. You've just got to have the right attitude.

Little metal plugs - and I'm talking three-quarters-of-an-ounce little - and a lightweight spinning rod will give you all the excitement you can handle out there. And don't get caught up in this whole "bigger is better" thing. Catching a big bluefish is as much luck of the draw as anything else. Yeah, it helps to be out at Old Man Shoal where the big fish usually hang out, and it helps to have the experience in catching them, but even then it's just a matter of which fish happens to hook itself first when you really sit and think about it. So don't sweat the size. Catching a big bluefish or a huge striper makes for a great photo op and impresses the clients when they see the picture on your office desk, but when you really boil it down to its essence, the whole reason we're out there doing this thing is to enjoy ourselves. In other words, just have fun. Just like Jetti.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go out and find some people who are willing to come mob me after the show tonight. I can't be certain, but I think Jetti's starting to get a little bit of an ego with this whole fan club thing, and she might need to get knocked down a few pegs. After all the nice stuff I just wrote about her, I need to make sure she doesn't start acting all famous on us.

Tight lines. I