The Reporting Life: One-on-Ones and One-on-Many

I've recently been covering David Mamet's new play "Race" for my job. Given the opportunity to attend the first press event in late October, I dashed over to Playwrights Horizons to meet and interview the four person cast in brief one-on-ones (or one-on-a few...s when I had to share celebrities with another reporter or three).

The cast is remarkably talented and--more impressive to me, personally--smart. Mamet slipped away as we (the motley group of reporters for various entertainment publications, websites, and stations) entered the room--wiley, horn-rimmed man. Not much of a surprise, though. He isn't a often big fan of the press, and especially not with this show. In fact, he's demanded everyone associated, from the actors to the PR team, maintain a strict veil of virtual silence about the plot. This only made the event more interesting: watching seasoned reporters try to grasp and adapt to the challenge is both amusing and insightful. They can't quite intimidate information out of David Alan Grier, Kerry Washington, James Spader, or Richard Thomas as easily as they might with some other sources... At least, not without notable consequences.

While I could write volumes about the experience itself or the information I got for my piece, the story will be up elsewhere. Part of what really got to me, though, was how I felt not as a fan or the youngest reporter there. It's that I was the only strictly-print person there for most of the afternoon!

Being the only print reporter in a room full of photographers and videographers at a press event is like being the smart kid with no friends at a new school. It's awkward, it's kind of lonely, and it's a bit depressing! It's fascinating, though, that such a scenario could happen. Other print reporters showed up later, though many were joining the photographers already present. Graphics are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. I took heart in being joined in my role of parking it at a table waiting for the talent to free up from the photos and video interviews, but not just because I felt out of place. It was also that I was reassured I wasn't one of a breed bordering on extinction.

As a bonus, I'm including an exclusive picture of the cast here. I got a bit bored waiting for all the photos. What the hell? I thought. So I took one on my BlackBerry, reaching above the line of photographers' heads for a slightly blurry memento. And a reminder for the smart kids who find themselves in the same position.