My friend Radio Man is doing a short film. The director wanted to do a little rehearsal, but one of the actors is coming but of California for the shoot, and thus, isn't available before hand. RM asked me if I would come out with him and be his reading partner for rehearsal.
Sure, why not.
We were a little early by mistake, and waited while we watched a couple of scenes worked on their feet with a little pre-blocking.
Then another actor came in to play a transient for a couple of scenes. I was playing Jack, a middle aged, worn our number cruncher giving a stranger a lift from a local diner. RM was the stranger, I will call Hal since I can't remember his real name. Jack and Hal exit the gas station to find the bum peeing on Jack's car.
The actor playing the bum was, how shall I put it, committed. He was ready to pull down his pants, "pee" with a saline bottle, and even vomit on cue. I reminded him that I was only a stand in. Please don't vomit on me.
So, as we finished up that scene, and RM thought it was a table session and not memorized on anything, we moved on to that. This helped keep the bum actor from dropping trou, but it was all anyone could do to prevent a vomiting demonstration.
Finally, bum was done and we moved on to the Jack/Hal scenes.
After working through those, two other actors came in for their work, but they could not find a Jack to fill in, so I agreed to stay and work with them for a bit too.
When we were done the director asked if I would be interested in doing the film should something happen to the Cal. actor. That's not likely to happen, I am sure, and since RM and I work together on a schedule that has been prepared to allow him the time to do the movie, I don't know that I could do it, but it was real fun to get a request like that just out of the blue!
And his impression came back to me through other mutual channels. I have spent all these years trying to impress stage directors. Maybe I oughta be in pictures!
It just feels nice to get positive reinforcement when least expected.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Thursday, September 14, 2006
IT
When you are a performer, one of the biggest variables is the "It Factor." Do you have IT? That is the question.
I often wonder if I have it and would like to think I do. When I perform, if I have the opportunity to greet the audience afterwards, I usually get good feedback on my performance. Many times the size of my role does not limit the audience from complimenting me on my work. When they see me, they clearly see it.
On the flip side, when I audition, getting a job often seems like a struggle. Some directors, including one or two whom I consider close personal friends, don't seem to see it. Some shows I am cast in with out hesitation. Clearly they saw it. Others, I can't seem to break in. They don't see it.
So I must have it, just not everyone can see it. That someone in the audience sees it keeps me pounding away at a career on the boards. Of course, if the director doesn't see it, it doesn't put money in the bank.
And now I have an audition at a theatre I haven't tried for in a couple of years. I three person musical that will very likely have a highly competitive list. They show is cute, I think I have the notes, I think I have the skills, I know I will have the audience and I think I have it. I just hope it isn't left at home that day ...
I often wonder if I have it and would like to think I do. When I perform, if I have the opportunity to greet the audience afterwards, I usually get good feedback on my performance. Many times the size of my role does not limit the audience from complimenting me on my work. When they see me, they clearly see it.
On the flip side, when I audition, getting a job often seems like a struggle. Some directors, including one or two whom I consider close personal friends, don't seem to see it. Some shows I am cast in with out hesitation. Clearly they saw it. Others, I can't seem to break in. They don't see it.
So I must have it, just not everyone can see it. That someone in the audience sees it keeps me pounding away at a career on the boards. Of course, if the director doesn't see it, it doesn't put money in the bank.
And now I have an audition at a theatre I haven't tried for in a couple of years. I three person musical that will very likely have a highly competitive list. They show is cute, I think I have the notes, I think I have the skills, I know I will have the audience and I think I have it. I just hope it isn't left at home that day ...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Yet Another Survey
Does any of this surprise you?
W H O . W A S . T H E . L A S T . P E R S O N . T H A T?
1. You hung out with? Debs
2. Rode in a car with? Debs
3. Went to the movies with? Karen
4. You went to the mall with? I shop alone
6. You talked on the phone to? Debs
7. Made you laugh? Dave
W O U L D . Y O U . R A T H E R?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Nose
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny
3. Drink whole or skim milk? Skim
4. Die in a fire or drown? Eek! Fire? Hopefully the smoke will knock me out.
5. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents
A N S W E R . T R U T H F U L L Y.
1. Do you like anyone? Yes
D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Sun or moon? Moon
2. Winter or Fall? Fall, especially if there are leaves to turn. Pretty!
3. left or right? Left
4. 10 acquaintances or two best friends? 2 best friends
5. Sunny or rainy? Sunny
6. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? Coffee!
A B O U T . Y O U.
1. What time is it? 8:03am
1. First Name? Andrew
3. What do you want to do? Get out of debt!
4. Where do you wanna live? NYC
5. How many kids do you want? Maybe
6. You want to get married? Eventually, in a manner
8. Are you double jointed? No
10. Can you cross your eyes? Yes
11. Do you make your bed daily? No
R A N D O M.
1. Which shoe goes on first? Left
2. Ever thrown a shoe at someone? No
3. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl
2. Have you ever eaten Spam? No!
3. Favorite ice cream? Coffee (see inadequate choices above!)
4. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet? Zero
5. Do you cook? Sometimes
6. Current mood? Tired and blue.
IN . THE. LAST. 48 HOURS. HAVE. YOU.
1. Bought something? No
2. Sang? Yes
3. Been hugged? Yes
4. Felt stupid? Yes
5. Missed someone? Yes
6. Danced Crazy? Yes
7. Gotten your hair cut? No
8. Cried? Not really, but close
9. mad? No
10. been kissed? No (see crying above)
. S T U F F .
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops? Yes
2. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? With someone
3. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes
W H O . W A S . T H E . L A S T . P E R S O N . T H A T?
1. You hung out with? Debs
2. Rode in a car with? Debs
3. Went to the movies with? Karen
4. You went to the mall with? I shop alone
6. You talked on the phone to? Debs
7. Made you laugh? Dave
W O U L D . Y O U . R A T H E R?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Nose
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny
3. Drink whole or skim milk? Skim
4. Die in a fire or drown? Eek! Fire? Hopefully the smoke will knock me out.
5. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents
A N S W E R . T R U T H F U L L Y.
1. Do you like anyone? Yes
D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Sun or moon? Moon
2. Winter or Fall? Fall, especially if there are leaves to turn. Pretty!
3. left or right? Left
4. 10 acquaintances or two best friends? 2 best friends
5. Sunny or rainy? Sunny
6. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream? Coffee!
A B O U T . Y O U.
1. What time is it? 8:03am
1. First Name? Andrew
3. What do you want to do? Get out of debt!
4. Where do you wanna live? NYC
5. How many kids do you want? Maybe
6. You want to get married? Eventually, in a manner
8. Are you double jointed? No
10. Can you cross your eyes? Yes
11. Do you make your bed daily? No
R A N D O M.
1. Which shoe goes on first? Left
2. Ever thrown a shoe at someone? No
3. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl
2. Have you ever eaten Spam? No!
3. Favorite ice cream? Coffee (see inadequate choices above!)
4. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet? Zero
5. Do you cook? Sometimes
6. Current mood? Tired and blue.
IN . THE. LAST. 48 HOURS. HAVE. YOU.
1. Bought something? No
2. Sang? Yes
3. Been hugged? Yes
4. Felt stupid? Yes
5. Missed someone? Yes
6. Danced Crazy? Yes
7. Gotten your hair cut? No
8. Cried? Not really, but close
9. mad? No
10. been kissed? No (see crying above)
. S T U F F .
1. Have you ever been searched by the cops? Yes
2. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone? With someone
3. Do you believe in ghosts? Yes
Sunday, September 10, 2006
I am Lost!
Which LOST character are you?
Charlie
You are Charlie You are an ex-rocker trying to kick a drug habit. While on the island you have met a very nice girl Claire.
Quizzes by myYearbook.com -- the World's Biggest Yearbook!
In the summary, it showed I scored a 3 on Charlie. Kind of hoping for Jack, but only scored a 1. I suppose all guys want to be Jack ...
Saturday, September 02, 2006
No more goody goody two shoes ...
Things have just been crazy this week. Work all day, work all night. Thursday was especially bad.
Things were crazy in the office. The phone was ringing off the hook with all kinds of "difficult" customers. Some were rude, others just has difficult orders to fill, and it just kept coming.
So this started me kind of down when I got to rehearsal, and it was a long, gotta get through it, exhausting night.
During the show, I bum a cigarette off another character. This cigarette happened to come home with me. One unexpected thought I had all evening was I wanted to smoke that thing. I got home, got out the ashtray I save for my mother, and I smoked that thing.
I got smoke in my eyes and a scratchy, wooly, burning feeling at the back of my throat, but I smoked it, right down to the filter. No apparent physical affects, so I am still not sure why people do it on a daily basis. Only a strange sense of accomplishment. I have no idea what I accomplished, but there you have it.
Things were crazy in the office. The phone was ringing off the hook with all kinds of "difficult" customers. Some were rude, others just has difficult orders to fill, and it just kept coming.
So this started me kind of down when I got to rehearsal, and it was a long, gotta get through it, exhausting night.
During the show, I bum a cigarette off another character. This cigarette happened to come home with me. One unexpected thought I had all evening was I wanted to smoke that thing. I got home, got out the ashtray I save for my mother, and I smoked that thing.
I got smoke in my eyes and a scratchy, wooly, burning feeling at the back of my throat, but I smoked it, right down to the filter. No apparent physical affects, so I am still not sure why people do it on a daily basis. Only a strange sense of accomplishment. I have no idea what I accomplished, but there you have it.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Keeping up with the Joneses
One thing I can not seem to get the hang of is keeping a calendar. I can keep up with a date book for about a week until I start leaving it at home or work or the car.
I tried using Outlook on my lap top since half my appts. are work related, but even then I wasn't doing well to go straight to it.
Now, after some praises from Radio Man, I am giving Yahoo! Calendar a try. I moved to that instead of reaffirming Outlook because Outlook is only available on my lap top, while Yahoo! is available on any computer. As long as I can get to a computer, I can check my schedule and I can print it out if I need to bring a hard copy to a meeting. Well, at least at work. I don't have a printer at home. Haven't in years, but I don't need one really now, since I go to work first things most days and can always print something there.
It has been working pretty well. My default reminders are 1 day and 6 hours before, and I get an e-mail about that. Any day with a schedule also gets an e-mail sent outlining the day. Of course, today, I deleted a reminder/itinerary without looking at it. I knew what it was for, but still that will be a bad habit to get into. That will be like leaving it in the car or on the desk. Assuming I "know" my schedule is what gets me in trouble.
I tried using Outlook on my lap top since half my appts. are work related, but even then I wasn't doing well to go straight to it.
Now, after some praises from Radio Man, I am giving Yahoo! Calendar a try. I moved to that instead of reaffirming Outlook because Outlook is only available on my lap top, while Yahoo! is available on any computer. As long as I can get to a computer, I can check my schedule and I can print it out if I need to bring a hard copy to a meeting. Well, at least at work. I don't have a printer at home. Haven't in years, but I don't need one really now, since I go to work first things most days and can always print something there.
It has been working pretty well. My default reminders are 1 day and 6 hours before, and I get an e-mail about that. Any day with a schedule also gets an e-mail sent outlining the day. Of course, today, I deleted a reminder/itinerary without looking at it. I knew what it was for, but still that will be a bad habit to get into. That will be like leaving it in the car or on the desk. Assuming I "know" my schedule is what gets me in trouble.
... now wait a G** damned minute!
I realized after going to bed last night that I made a mistake. I was accused of being as bad of a whiner as the people I was railing against in my last blog.
I responded by basically agreeing, and blaming it on 5 years of saved up whining. But having reconsidered, I have to strongly disagree.
I was ranting. I was raving. I was being ridiculously unfair to a situation where I only knew just a few of the facts. I was NOT whining. Whiners sit around and complain with no plan to move forward otherwise. I had private complaints about my situation, but I never stopped planning how I was going to get to the next day. For 1 month I slept on a couch which doesn't come with a power bill. Compassion paid my power bill for 2 months. Rent covered my power bill for 3 months. After 6 months, I was paying my own bills again. FEMA never paid for my power bill.
As for compassion? I had compassion. A year ago, a whole population went through a hell that was unimaginable until it was witnessed. They needed help. They needed support.
I am still sorry about how their lives were dramatically changed, but in a year, you need to be responsible for your electricity. Since when is electricity an unalienable right?
I responded by basically agreeing, and blaming it on 5 years of saved up whining. But having reconsidered, I have to strongly disagree.
I was ranting. I was raving. I was being ridiculously unfair to a situation where I only knew just a few of the facts. I was NOT whining. Whiners sit around and complain with no plan to move forward otherwise. I had private complaints about my situation, but I never stopped planning how I was going to get to the next day. For 1 month I slept on a couch which doesn't come with a power bill. Compassion paid my power bill for 2 months. Rent covered my power bill for 3 months. After 6 months, I was paying my own bills again. FEMA never paid for my power bill.
As for compassion? I had compassion. A year ago, a whole population went through a hell that was unimaginable until it was witnessed. They needed help. They needed support.
I am still sorry about how their lives were dramatically changed, but in a year, you need to be responsible for your electricity. Since when is electricity an unalienable right?
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