Joanna Daniels: The Inter-Actor

Joanna Daniels hasn't made a habit of it, but she admits to peeking out at preview audiences while she waited for her entrance in "Becky's New Car" at Pacific Resident Theatre. As Becky in the Steven Dietz play, the actor was called upon to frequently interact with the audience. And sometimes the audience just wasn't in the mood.

Though Daniels had trained as an improv actor—as well as earning a BFA from Florida State, then studying with Uta Hagen in New York and Marilyn Fox at PRT, whom Daniels calls "gold"—the audiences, particularly early in the run before word got out about the show's interactivity, weren't playing along.

Daniels watched arms cross over chests as she approached the front-row seats. As the run, and the audiences, warmed up, she observed her listeners start to feel safe and recognize their responsibility to be present and part of the play, at which point audience interaction became possible.

When a leak in the roof appears, Becky passes a bucket to willing hands in the front row. When she asks the audience's permission for Becky to embark on an extramarital affair, Daniels had to find an agreeable theatergoer, preferably a woman, who would then come onstage and help Daniels change clothes. Some nights the permission, and help, was hard to come by.

One night Daniels had to choose a rather elderly man. Not only did he overly enjoy his moment in the spotlight, doing a little dance for his fellow audience members, but he also managed to peer behind the coat he should have been protectively holding over Daniels, watching her undress on the one night she forgot the all-concealing undergarments for her costume.

The final curtain didn't end Daniels', nor Becky's, relationship with the audience. Becky raised the ire of young theatergoers and the eyebrows of some older ones, expressed during post-show discussions. Becky seeks greener pastures, doesn't find them, and must return to her family to confess and hope for understanding if not forgiveness.

Daniels, who has been married for nine years, says Becky reminded her it's better and easier to live on the straight and narrow. "You always have to own up, you always have your kids or your parents or whoever that you have to face," says Daniels. "I couldn't imagine doing that to them. It was something I sort of never thought about until being in this play. I hope I never go down that path."

After having been a member of PRT for 12 years, Daniels moved to Chicago, where she has lived for the past three years, starting over with a local agent to rebuild her career. She is currently appearing in a commercial and in voiceovers, and says she finds the community stimulating. She is working on bringing "Becky" there, where more audience interaction—and likely more critical praise and awards—awaits.