It was a local production by WCVB-TV in Boston. The concept involved a smart-mouthed brat trying to win acceptance from the other kids in high school. Paul got into the production because someone at WCVB knew him, was very impressed with his skating, and was intrigued by the idea of playing the two types of skating -- hockey and figure -- off against each other.
The story begins by showing just how smart-mouthed a brat "The Mouse"
is (yes, he does go by "Paul", but not to the hockey jocks), and how different
he is from the other kids, especially from the jocks. He's very intelligent
and well-read -- he *knows* the origin of the term "geek" (it came into
the general culture from carnival lingo by way of a Somerset Maugham novel)
and uses that knowledge as a put-down of the #1 hockey jock who is clumsily
trying to befriend him. He can read music, and listens to it on the T through
headphones. He is the object of various crude practical jokes (a slice
of dead pizza in his locker, etc.) and retaliates with sarcastic insults.
The #1 jock, whose name, not inappropriately, is "Brian", tries to fend
off the worst of the jokes and get the Mouse to take the edge off his tongue,
not very successfully in either case. We also learn that Brian is sweet
on the Mouse's sister and that the Mouse offers unwanted advice on various
subjects, including skating. Brian assumes that the Mouse is just being
a smart mouth again and roughly tells him to "Prove it on the ice, or shove
it!"
What no one else but his sister knows is that the Mouse is a figure
skater -- and a very good one. However, he has concluded that he will never
be accepted by the other kids unless he can get on the hockey team -- which,
over his sister's strenuous objections, he tries to do. He is much smaller
and more agile than the hockey players, and annoys them by actually scoring
a goal. After that they use their greater size and strength against him,
shoving him around, tripping him up, and even getting Brian to deck him
with a hockey stick. That puts an end to the practice session, as the Mouse
comes up with a bloody nose and the coach, who has realized that something
strange is going on, tells the jocks to get off the ice. Then, after applying
first aid and a cold-pack to the Mouse's nose, he tells him as gently as
he can that "I don't think this is your game."
The Mouse's sister is very angry with Brian for helping to rough up her brother, and in an effort to make amends, Brian and two of his jock friends follow the Mouse when he leaves the school. The Mouse goes to his skating rink for a private late-night session to try to work through his feelings (which are beautifully and eloquently displayed through Paul's skating). Brian realizes that he and his friends have been trying to force Paul into a pattern of behavior to which he is not at all suited, and takes advantage of a break in the practice session to initiate a private talk. The Mouse reveals just how lonely and vulnerable he is, and how desperately he wants to be accepted. Brian admits that the Mouse is not likely ever to be an extremely popular guy, but says that he may be the kind who winds up having just a few close friends, "and what's wrong with that?" He restates his wish to be the Mouse's friend, and proves it by clumsily attempting one of the moves he has seen him perform. He trips himself up and lands on his duff, and the Mouse helps him up and proceeds to demonstrate the correct way to execute the move. Brian's next attempt is better, and the show ends with them just skating simple forward strokes around the ice, getting to know each other.
Paul's name was misspelled in the cast credits (as "Wiley"), and at the time he had not had any formal acting training. His inexperience showed in some scenes, but since most of the cast were young inexperienced locals, he didn't come off too badly. Interestingly, he is more believable when playing against type as the sharp-tongued smart ass than in the quiet domestic scenes with his "sister". Where he really shines is in the scenes where he lets his skates do the talking for him. The venture persuaded Paul to add an acting class or two to his already hefty curriculum, resulting in a marked improvement in the expressiveness of his skating -- which was already much more expressive than the average.
Bettina ([email protected])