Take it from Zac Efron: “Word of advice… look at who you’re talking to!”

I’ve seen a couple of plays lately – one a drama, one a comedy – where an actor suddenly moved downstage, faced the audience (and away from the person they were talking to), and delivered a “powerful moment.” Each time I cringed a bit, and I wanted to yell at them to get back upstage where they belonged, look the other actor in the eye, and deliver that moment to him, not us. Trust that the audience will get that it’s a powerful moment.

Do we walk away from people when we are telling them something painful or emotionally charged? Not very often, and usually only after we’ve said our piece and we’re heading out the door. The movement downstage screams “look at me acting!” and I believe it’s inappropriate unless you’re in a soap opera or about to burst into song.

Or possibly if you’re doing Eugene O’Neill (or Groucho Marx doing a parody of Eugene O’Neill):

Just to see if anyone’s paying attention, here’s a National Film Board of Canada vignette from the 1970s featuring Roger Doucet, who sang “O Canada” at Canadiens, Expos and Alouettes home games. Living in the Detroit area, I watched a lot of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights on the CBC, and there are as many audio as visual memories of those evenings. Two of the fondest memories are M. Doucet’s wonderful baritone rendition of Canada’s national anthem (starting in French and ending in English, as seen in this video), and Paul Morris, who was the public address announcer at Maple Leaf Gardens for 38 years until the team moved to the Air Canada Centre in 1999.

From an appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, back when Conan had a television show.

“It’s not where I am… it’s who I’m with.” Live version recorded in the Jackson Hole Gondola in August 2008.

Live from The Living Room in New York City. Enjoy!