Dear Friends,
When I was a young rebel without cause, taking success and life itself for granted, I grew my hair long and bleached it blond.
“Damn the establishment,” I thought in my naivety, and ironically they did – accommodating my golden locks with roles in Jesus Christ Superstar and Beauty and the Beast.
To appease my teenaged appetite for excess, I spent my free time moonlighting in rock bands, playing the Sunset Strip. It was a Hollywood star flaunting the opportunities fame provides. The voice teachers who praise my voice far more than I ever have, criticize my belief that the engineers could have turned my microphone off and the audiences still would have screamed in rapture – having come to see me, not necessarily hear me.
In those days of glamour and rock, I drew comparisons to one of the all time kings of Glam Rock itself: Brett Michaels of the heavy metal band Poison. How ironic that the spelling of my very own name had been inspired during the bands’ infant success by drummer Rikki Rockett.
Over the course of the next several years I played a series of roles that called upon me to physically increase the musculature of my frame. Asked to play athletes and both historically and urban warriors, I adapted my body through workout and diet.
As the workouts paid off, the comparisons came less to rock idol Brett Michaels, falling more often on the side of World Wrestling Federation superstar Shawn Michaels. I can only hope the comparisons had more to do with my physique than my dramatic talents.
I am currently in training for a television movie: Hero Before Dawn. In the role I will play a soldier who undergoes genetic enhancement, thus my workout routine is extreme. How ironic is it that as I sweat through daily runs and workouts, my wrestling industry counterpart Shawn Michaels has suddenly burst back on the sports entertainment circuit?
The human body is like an engine. There are engines that get phenomenal mileage, maximum distance from minimal energy. There are also powerful diesels that draw upon vast amount of fuel but generate earth-shaking force in return.
Actors adapt their bodies, their engines, for the role they play. We add parts to gain power when a role calls for a domineering presence. We strip the equipment down when asked to portray characters of subdued force. I have played both sides of the coin: bulking myself up to believably capture the soul of a professional sports star, and starving myself into malnutritious-decay to embody a man dieing of AIDS.
Performing a role is only part physical; there is also, of course, the element of talent. But, most important is the element of personal conduct.
I have met some entertainers who weren’t blessed with a plethora of easy-talent; it took extra work for them to get the job done, but they did it. Yet, I would not hesitate to work with them again because they were good people to work with. Reciprocally, I have worked with those, both talented and not, whose attitude was so dour that they ruined the experience for all involved: audience and performers alike.
We each have a choice how we conduct ourselves.
I recently appeared in a production of the classic stage drama Detective Story as a favor to one of my favorite theatrical producers Steven Walanka. During the rehearsal process of that production I suffered several personal tragedies including the loss of a very dear relative and the loss of a home.
It was my choice how to conduct myself. I could have quit. I could have minimized my responsibility. But I didn’t. That’s not me. Instead, I missed only three rehearsals and not a single performance. That’s the reason my friend Steve says he called on me in the first place: it’s one thing to put on a good show, it’s another to be a good person. And, when he called me to ask me to do the play, Steve said he needed a good person onboard.
I am honored that my friend and producer Steve Walanka considers me the caliber of person to work with over and over again, and I look forward to working with him and fellow producer Scott Rosengarden in the future. They are my definition of good people.
My performance in Detective Story led directly into my co-direction and headlining turn in Devonshire Playhouse’s mounting of the fun-filled Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie. Many know that I previously toured as Elvis-inspired rock star Conrad Birdie in the musical, and I reprised that role in this recent production. Unlike the tour, however, my budget was the embodiment of minimalism: pennies on the dollar in comparison. Yet, the experience was one of the best ever.
Devonshire Playhouse was founded by my Bye Bye Birdie co-director Ed Berger for the right reasons. The company provides quality entertainment while supporting the area’s economy, and everyone from the audience to the production staff to the actors on stage leaves a better person.
Ed Berger cannot offer me the kind of paycheck I’m used to. But I would work with him and Devonshire Playhouse anytime. Good people want to work with good people.
Although my grandmother was laid rest several months ago, her gravestone was just delivered. It’s a joint gravestone that also celebrates the life of my grandfather who died eleven years before I was born, but with whom I have often visited in prayer.
I am not ashamed to say that as my family gathered around the plot for a gravesite ceremony, I cried. I cried like I never have in my life. It was all I could do to fight to form the words of my speech.
You see, I had a very special relationship with my grandmother. Part of that was that she was a very special person. The other part was that she made me realize that I am too.
At a point in my life when I was struggling very hard to just keep my head above water and I debated if I even deserved a tomorrow, she made sure I knew I was a good person. I have lived my entire life making sure I do honor to her words.
Peace Love Trust
rikki lee travolta
Review other RLT commentary
It's All Relative
Stand Against Racism
Writing About Life
Crazy Pants Travolta
Gregory Hines
Everwood
Book Excerpt: Bus Fare
Learning to Stand
A Time of War
Country Charm
Talking Frankly About Family (& Christmas)
My Fractured Life
Forever Love
Good and Evil
Man Behind the Wheel
The Little Engine that Could: A Memorial
Perceptions of Perfection
Personal Decisions
Responsibility in Communication
You Done Good
Duality of Man
Evolution of a Hero
Reason to Quit - Stop Smoking
Beware of Stalkers
Dare to Dream
Do The Right Thing
Dealing with Abuse
Mother's Day
Right to Choose
Support the Cause
Just Try
Virtue of One
Martin Luther King Jr
Free Form Jazz
Creating the News
Great Expectations
Story of a Life
Acting 101
Why I Cried
Personal Values vs. Monetary Value
Broken Hearts
Dignity over Jealousy
Community Responsibility
Life, Honesty, and Integrity
Drug Withdrawal
Christmas Spirit
Rikki Lee Travolta's debut album!
Return to:
| TravoltaNet Home | RLT Biography |
