The following is a blog entry by Jared Dunn, who is playing “Billy Ray” in On Golden Pond at Appleseed Productions. Here he writes a dialogue between himself and his character.
Billy: Growing up with parents that fight a lot sucks. When they told me they were getting divorced I was almost relieved. Now my dad has this new girlfriend, Chelsea. She’s okay. She’s taking us to visit her ancient parents at their ancient log cabin on a lake in Maine. Chelsea says there’s no indoor plumbing.
Jared: I’m really excited. I get to play the part of Billy in On Golden Pond. Billy is supposedly a nice kid who plays the punk to stay alive in a gigantic California public school. I can relate to the nice Billy, but punk Billy is out of my comfort zone. It’s a great cast. My dad is in it and he is playing my dad in the show which is kinda funny.
Billy: Have you ever read Swiss Family Robinson? It’s a book about a family that gets shipwrecked. Norman recommended that I read it and, although I didn’t really want to, I decided it’d be better than hanging out and talking with him. It turns out it’s a pretty cool book. I mean, I don’t plan to tell my friends in Los Angeles that I read it. It’s not “cool” in that way, but I liked it a lot.
Jared: I hadn’t read Swiss Family Robinson before I was in this show. Now, my dad is reading it to my brothers and me. We’re not very far into the book, but so far I like it. Being in the show with such a great cast is awesome. It’s fun to work with adults as my peers. It is a totally different experience compared to an all kids cast.
Billy: I have been at Golden Pond for two weeks now. Norman is a lot of fun. He’s much cooler than I thought he would be. Ethel is really nice and her cooking is phenomenal. Norman has introduced me to some great books and I spend a lot of time reading. Norman and I fixed the screen door, so it doesn’t fall over every time someone pushes on it. Norman and I fish every morning and I love it. We challenge each other to catch the largest fish. Norman is teaching me to speak French and he tells me stories about when he was a kid.
Jared: I only have three shows left. The first five have flown by. Every show has been great and I can’t wait for the last three.
Billy and Jared: I hope you’ll come spend a couple of hours with us both on Golden Pond.
(Above photo: Jared Dunn with Tom Minion. Photo Credit: Sean Walter.)
