Roy here. I’m one of the owners of the Hideout, the Artistic Director, and the director of Austin Secrets.
During an actual show of Austin Secret, my usual role is that of curator. That means that I:
* decide what secrets we’ll be using in the show
* decide what order they’ll display in
* host the show
* help lighten the tone when the show goes dark
During the course of the show, our performers bare their souls. Act II in particular has them answering deeply personal questions about themselves in front of the audience… and usually getting made fun of for it.
So in many ways, I’m the most detached person in the room. I know what the secrets are going to be, and I don’t have to reveal any bit of myself for the show to work.
I’m always surprised when I hear that cast members have submitted secrets for use in the show. I’ve never felt a desire to do that myself. I just felt like we were the other side of the equation. Wouldn’t it be weird to be interpreting your own secret, or to see your fellow performers get something wrong?
But for the Long Center show I’m going to submit a secret. I don’t even know what it’s going to be yet, but I’m already terrified that it will be painfully obvious which secret is mine. Now that my mind is made up about this, I feel like it’s something I should have done 2 years ago… to see how it feel from the audience’s perspective.
Okay, so this is kind of a last minute marketing ploy. But that doesn’t make me any less nervous. It’ll be a night of discovery for sure.
You have already put more of yourself into this show than you realize, Roy. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting experience to see your secret come to life. I’m excited for it to happen for you.
i’ve submitted a couple of secrets before, but i tried to “time” them to coincide with shows i wouldn’t be in so i wouldn’t have that difficulty of possibly interpreting my own secret, though i’ve been curious afterwards how others would interpret them (though i’ve never even checked to see if they’ve gotten used, lol!). i think part of it was an interest in taking part in that other half of the equation, even anonymously…ESPECIALLY anonymously. but also that even in the Truth Chair, until towards the end of my run with the show, i didn’t feel like i had much of a chance to get really open and vulnerable in my confessions. and there was a desire (tinged with fear) to do so.
you’ve given so much of your time and energy and passion to this project, Roy, and been a fantastic director to all of us in the cast. so…welcome to the trenches. 😉