2004-09-08 14:52:59尚未設定
Alan Stars in New Series for The ALS Association! (2)
?煫e are so pleased to be able to call Alan a friend of the Chapter,??said Chapter Executive Director Fred Fisher. ?焅ike a good friend, Alan has been there for us. Anything we need, I can just pick up the phone and ask. He has shown himself to be a person of character and compassion, gentle and self-deprecating. He uses his celebrity to help others, and we grateful and honored to be among them.??/P>
Rosenberg has expressed an interest in visiting the Capital again this May.
?㈨?埄 open to helping in any way that I can. I would be more than happy to participate in the next Advocacy Day. For me Advocacy Day was different on a couple of levels. First of all, I was happy to lend my support to ALSA, to fighting ALS. And lastly, to walk the halls of Congress with the idea you could go to Congress and lobby them is interesting to me.??/P>
?㈨ remember some of the Congressional staff members recognized me from the show and their face lit up. Suddenly they became more responsive. That?塜 really sad because what is really compelling is that there were people there with a real need, who have a problem. Hopefully my presence and celebrity picked up people?塜 morale. I don?塟 know why that is, but that?塜 why I was there.??nbsp;
The head of ALSA?塜 Advocacy Department looks forward to a Rosenberg encore.
"There are disease wars on Capitol Hill that make attaining goals very difficult,??said Stevan Gibson, vice president, Government Relations and Public Affairs. ?焾o have an effect on the legislative process, you need to use many instruments. Alan was more than willing to be just that: an instrument of change. You could tell that his heart and mind were really behind our efforts, and that was very apparent to our members of Congress."
Helping non-profits is nothing new to Alan and his wife. Each year they host ?焝arg and Alan?塜 Celebrity Golf Weekend??in Omaha , Nebraska , which raises awareness for survivors of breast cancer.
Rosenberg said playing characters faced with various health problems, including a junkie ?垈e went for therapy because the role was so intense ??and a person at a hospital awaiting a heart transplant, helped prepare him for the ALS part as well as firsthand experiences with personal loss: His brother died of a heart attack at the age of 44 in 1992, and his father also died at a young age.
?㈨ believe I accurately depicted someone with ALS, but you know what, to do it right you have to do your research and you have to get that stuff inside of you?好ot only the physical symptoms of the disease, but also the emotional life of a character diagnosed with the disease. I had no doubt that I could do that, but it was going to take a lot of work. When you?塇e handed a story like that, where people with ALS are going to be watching, there?塜 a real responsibility to it realistically, and that was my intention. As far as we went, I believe we were able to accomplish that.??/P>
Rosenberg said playing someone with ALS is the type of challenging role he and other actors live for.
?㈨ knew it would be tough. You can kind of indicate something and go through it, but one of the great things about acting is that you really get to live through someone else?塜 experiences, and that can be cathartic. At the same time it can be frightening, it can be depressing, but that is why being an actor is so fulfilling.
?焾hese types of roles, exploring the human condition, are the most involving, challenging, and ultimately the most satisfying because it does have to do with the human condition.??/P>
What ultimately motivates an actor like Rosenberg to play someone with ALS transcends professional fulfillment.
?焬art of the challenge is a responsibility that goes along with it. An actor must understand that there are people going through what you are going through on the screen. You want to serve them, the segment of the viewers with ALS, and do it realistically. You do feel like you touch people and there?塜 a real sense of accomplishment as opposed to doing a situational comedy. You really get the feeling you?塇e doing something worthwhile.??/P>
When informed of the dramatic turn of events in his character?塜 life, his thoughts immediately turned to the next season. Would there be a next season, and should he call his agent? And when he told friends he was playing someone with ALS, a few obviously were not listening and thought he had the disease and began commiserating.
?㈥rom those people you get a real reaction, not about having a part but about receiving devastating news about me, which kind of gave me some insight into what it would be like to break that news, to share that news with people.??/P>
Rosenberg, the New York State backgammon champ in 1982, is not quite sure why the writers of the show decided to give his character ALS aside from the fact the character expressed an interest in baseball from time to time and kept talking about Lou Gehrig, but he has a hunch or two.
?㈨t was fairly random. None of the writers had people with ALS in their families. I think they were looking to give Alvin a challenge. The writers had struggled for a while with what to do with my character and give him an anchor.
?焾he creator of the show, David Hollander, told me he wanted me to go on to do things with my life as the character I never would have done if it had not been for the disease. That was one of the great things about the show, it always showed the dark side of the human condition, but it also showed that there is always redemption, and there always is a silver-lining. I love those kinds of stories.??/P>
During the episode, the Masterson character appears semi-euphoric, in a state of self-denial.
??ST1:CITY w:st="on">Alvin has this hair brain idea that he?塜 going to find a healer in California .
Finally he realizes the healer does not work and that he?塜 fooling himself. A meeting with a son he hasn?塟 seen in years doesn?塟 go too well either. He goes there with optimism but quickly gets disillusioned.
?㈨t?塜 like many situations in life. I know people who are recovering addicts. They go through this period where they?塇e on a pink cloud, where they only see possibilities. They kind of fool themselves into thinking it?塜 going to be a relatively easy road to recovery. I think that?塜 similar to what?塜 going on with Alvin . The symptoms have not really manifested themselves yet. He?塜 intoxicated with the challenge. Finally, he just wants to go home and be in comfortable surroundings, and get on with the work of what you?塇e going to have to do to make your life livable.??/P>
The actor regrets that the series did not continue because audiences will not have an opportunity to observe how his character deals with ALS. In an episode that was never shot, Masterson returns from a soul-searching trip to Antarctica with a beard. His friend Glass is scheduled to embark on a 20-day cruise to Antarctica soon because ?牗he loves ice, cold and animals.??/P>
?㈥rom when the show begins until he was diagnosed with ALS, he was kind of an ex-idealist who became disenchanted,??Rosenberg said. ?㈧e spent so many years bucking the system, and it beat him down a little. He was more of a guy who just came to work and cleared the cases off his desk.
?㈠LS kind of emotionally attached him to his clients again and to his purpose in life. He became more determined to help them. He became aware of every single moment he was living, which is interesting because I did a lot of reading and research and I know that emotionalism is one of the symptoms of ALS.
?煀nfortunately, the show was cancelled before we were either able to develop the character or storyline further than we did. Our show could be pretty rough at times. I don?塟 think they would have made easy for Alvin . The storyline would have put obstacles in his way and he would have had to overcome them.??nbsp;
To play characters like an Alvin Masterson with ALS, Rosenberg believes actors must possess an important quality.
?焾o be a good actor you have to be a sensitive person, otherwise you could not play roles like this. Actors are supposed to be emotionally available and able to identify with people. I think that was part of me already, but doing this role kind of enhanced those qualities.??/P>
Rosenberg ?塜 show business career is in first gear. He plays a parody of himself in the recently released film ?㈥rankie and Johnny Are Married,??and he is set to star in the play ?焬artners,??opening on September 18 in Delaware
Rosenberg has expressed an interest in visiting the Capital again this May.
?㈨?埄 open to helping in any way that I can. I would be more than happy to participate in the next Advocacy Day. For me Advocacy Day was different on a couple of levels. First of all, I was happy to lend my support to ALSA, to fighting ALS. And lastly, to walk the halls of Congress with the idea you could go to Congress and lobby them is interesting to me.??/P>
?㈨ remember some of the Congressional staff members recognized me from the show and their face lit up. Suddenly they became more responsive. That?塜 really sad because what is really compelling is that there were people there with a real need, who have a problem. Hopefully my presence and celebrity picked up people?塜 morale. I don?塟 know why that is, but that?塜 why I was there.??nbsp;
The head of ALSA?塜 Advocacy Department looks forward to a Rosenberg encore.
"There are disease wars on Capitol Hill that make attaining goals very difficult,??said Stevan Gibson, vice president, Government Relations and Public Affairs. ?焾o have an effect on the legislative process, you need to use many instruments. Alan was more than willing to be just that: an instrument of change. You could tell that his heart and mind were really behind our efforts, and that was very apparent to our members of Congress."
Helping non-profits is nothing new to Alan and his wife. Each year they host ?焝arg and Alan?塜 Celebrity Golf Weekend??in Omaha , Nebraska , which raises awareness for survivors of breast cancer.
Rosenberg said playing characters faced with various health problems, including a junkie ?垈e went for therapy because the role was so intense ??and a person at a hospital awaiting a heart transplant, helped prepare him for the ALS part as well as firsthand experiences with personal loss: His brother died of a heart attack at the age of 44 in 1992, and his father also died at a young age.
?㈨ believe I accurately depicted someone with ALS, but you know what, to do it right you have to do your research and you have to get that stuff inside of you?好ot only the physical symptoms of the disease, but also the emotional life of a character diagnosed with the disease. I had no doubt that I could do that, but it was going to take a lot of work. When you?塇e handed a story like that, where people with ALS are going to be watching, there?塜 a real responsibility to it realistically, and that was my intention. As far as we went, I believe we were able to accomplish that.??/P>
Rosenberg said playing someone with ALS is the type of challenging role he and other actors live for.
?㈨ knew it would be tough. You can kind of indicate something and go through it, but one of the great things about acting is that you really get to live through someone else?塜 experiences, and that can be cathartic. At the same time it can be frightening, it can be depressing, but that is why being an actor is so fulfilling.
?焾hese types of roles, exploring the human condition, are the most involving, challenging, and ultimately the most satisfying because it does have to do with the human condition.??/P>
What ultimately motivates an actor like Rosenberg to play someone with ALS transcends professional fulfillment.
?焬art of the challenge is a responsibility that goes along with it. An actor must understand that there are people going through what you are going through on the screen. You want to serve them, the segment of the viewers with ALS, and do it realistically. You do feel like you touch people and there?塜 a real sense of accomplishment as opposed to doing a situational comedy. You really get the feeling you?塇e doing something worthwhile.??/P>
When informed of the dramatic turn of events in his character?塜 life, his thoughts immediately turned to the next season. Would there be a next season, and should he call his agent? And when he told friends he was playing someone with ALS, a few obviously were not listening and thought he had the disease and began commiserating.
?㈥rom those people you get a real reaction, not about having a part but about receiving devastating news about me, which kind of gave me some insight into what it would be like to break that news, to share that news with people.??/P>
Rosenberg, the New York State backgammon champ in 1982, is not quite sure why the writers of the show decided to give his character ALS aside from the fact the character expressed an interest in baseball from time to time and kept talking about Lou Gehrig, but he has a hunch or two.
?㈨t was fairly random. None of the writers had people with ALS in their families. I think they were looking to give Alvin a challenge. The writers had struggled for a while with what to do with my character and give him an anchor.
?焾he creator of the show, David Hollander, told me he wanted me to go on to do things with my life as the character I never would have done if it had not been for the disease. That was one of the great things about the show, it always showed the dark side of the human condition, but it also showed that there is always redemption, and there always is a silver-lining. I love those kinds of stories.??/P>
During the episode, the Masterson character appears semi-euphoric, in a state of self-denial.
??ST1:CITY w:st="on">Alvin has this hair brain idea that he?塜 going to find a healer in California .
Finally he realizes the healer does not work and that he?塜 fooling himself. A meeting with a son he hasn?塟 seen in years doesn?塟 go too well either. He goes there with optimism but quickly gets disillusioned.
?㈨t?塜 like many situations in life. I know people who are recovering addicts. They go through this period where they?塇e on a pink cloud, where they only see possibilities. They kind of fool themselves into thinking it?塜 going to be a relatively easy road to recovery. I think that?塜 similar to what?塜 going on with Alvin . The symptoms have not really manifested themselves yet. He?塜 intoxicated with the challenge. Finally, he just wants to go home and be in comfortable surroundings, and get on with the work of what you?塇e going to have to do to make your life livable.??/P>
The actor regrets that the series did not continue because audiences will not have an opportunity to observe how his character deals with ALS. In an episode that was never shot, Masterson returns from a soul-searching trip to Antarctica with a beard. His friend Glass is scheduled to embark on a 20-day cruise to Antarctica soon because ?牗he loves ice, cold and animals.??/P>
?㈥rom when the show begins until he was diagnosed with ALS, he was kind of an ex-idealist who became disenchanted,??Rosenberg said. ?㈧e spent so many years bucking the system, and it beat him down a little. He was more of a guy who just came to work and cleared the cases off his desk.
?㈠LS kind of emotionally attached him to his clients again and to his purpose in life. He became more determined to help them. He became aware of every single moment he was living, which is interesting because I did a lot of reading and research and I know that emotionalism is one of the symptoms of ALS.
?煀nfortunately, the show was cancelled before we were either able to develop the character or storyline further than we did. Our show could be pretty rough at times. I don?塟 think they would have made easy for Alvin . The storyline would have put obstacles in his way and he would have had to overcome them.??nbsp;
To play characters like an Alvin Masterson with ALS, Rosenberg believes actors must possess an important quality.
?焾o be a good actor you have to be a sensitive person, otherwise you could not play roles like this. Actors are supposed to be emotionally available and able to identify with people. I think that was part of me already, but doing this role kind of enhanced those qualities.??/P>
Rosenberg ?塜 show business career is in first gear. He plays a parody of himself in the recently released film ?㈥rankie and Johnny Are Married,??and he is set to star in the play ?焬artners,??opening on September 18 in Delaware