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Generation NEXT at MacHomer 3: Meeting Rick Miller/The AfterParty.

Generation NEXT at MacHomer 3: Meeting Rick Miller/The AfterParty.

After the performance of MacHomer, the guests of JerseyArts were treated to a discussion with the sole performer of the show, Rick Miller.  First, a little about the multi-talented actor himself.  Miller is an actor, singer, and an architect who created the show while impersonating Simpsons characters while at a cast party after Macbeth.  He has performed MacHomer all around the world in several languages, as well as several other award-winning shows his production company, WYRD Productions, has produced.  As mentioned in my other posts, Miller impersonates over 50 characters from The Simpsons. The discussion itself was both enlightening and entertaining.  Miller was unafraid to answer any question posed and was kind and courteous to everyone.  Some of the things he mentioned really stood out to me.  A look at the “cast list” and one can see some odd pairings between Simpsons characters and the roles of Macbeth.  Miller’s casting process was a combination of factors: obviously, Homer was the fit for Macbeth, but since Bart and Lisa are difficult for him to reproduce well and consistently, he has the Simpson children as much smaller roles.  Clearly, Miller’s voice is a vital component to his success, and he must take great pains to preserve it.  Also, his creativity in regards to his writing of the show was brought up when discussing several updates to the show over the past decade.  Miller makes edits for two reasons primarily: to keep the show fresh in the audience’s mind (although a George W. Bush joke did seem oddly outdated) as well as in his own mind, considering he performs the show so often.  In fact, Miller only performs the show a handful of months out of the year to avoid the risk of overdoing something as silly and outlandish (and exhausting) as MacHomer.

Rick Miller, while delving into short anecdotes and explaining various logistics behind his creation, also seemed to be a generally nice guy.  He constantly made jokes, even at his own and the show’s expense.  He was very aware that this concept probably couldn’t work on an epic scale, but he also appeared to be quite proud and pleased with the success it has had so far.  And could you blame him? By a simple agreement with Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, Miller has been able to live his dream life by touring the world and entertaining over half a million people.  And that is something I bet a majority of artists wish they could boast.

Springsteen's American Vision

Springsteen's American Vision

Generation NEXT at MacHomer 2: The Show!

Generation NEXT at MacHomer 2: The Show!