S2E37: The Primus Directive

In the Star Trek universe, there’s the Prime Directive. In the acting universe, there’s the Primus Directive!

Barry Primus can do it all: write, direct, act, sing and dance. He came up through the New York theater world where huge talents like Anna Sokolow, Jerome Robbins and Jose Quintero took a young Barry under their wings. When he segued into movies, directors like Martin Scorsese, Elia Kazan and Martin Ritt hired Barry.

This one’s pretty free-ranging. We talk about the craft of acting and the crap that was the McCarthy Hearings. There are great stories about Zero Mostel, Christopher Walken, David Carradine, Eli Wallach, Martin Balsam and quite a few concerning Barry’s good friend Robert DeNiro.

Donald Trump even gets a mention (Barry wrote a startlingly prescient line about Trump for “Mistress”, a terrific movie that Barry also produced and directed.

And we even get a visit from Barry’s wife, dancer and choreographer Julie Aranel (among her many credits, she choreographed the original Broadway production of “Hair”).

In addition to everything else, Barry’s a highly respected acting teacher whose taught acting all over the world. This one really covers a lot of territory!

So, what is the Primus Directive? Simple: Live! Act! Love!

Sounds like a plan!