Showcase

MONDAY - Tonight was the first of our three In Demand showcase performances at The Matrix Theatre in West Hollywood. Earlier in the day, there was some concern on the part of the producers that we didn't have enough reservations. I spent the morning emailing my LA contacts reminders about the show. My wife and I arrived at the theater by 6:30pm to help out with preparations. She graciously volunteered to assist with checking people in and whatever other front of house duties needed doing. That's the deal when you're related/married to, or really good friends with a performer. She did that so many times for JaCKPie shows. The theater looked great.

Will, my scene partner, and I ran lines a couple times and walked over the set changes we had to perform after our scene. We had a great energy going, total confidence in the work we've done, ready to just listen, play and have a blast. By the time the house opened, most of the performers were in the holding rooms, which were a little too hot and chaotic for me. Besides, my favorite place to be when the house opens is standing just backstage, or behind the curtain if there is one, to hear the audience come in. I don't care about seeing who's who. I just like to hear it. The room begins empty and silent but for the preshow music. Then, the first few people enter talking quietly to each other. That builds to the dull roar of the full house. We had a full one - people standing in the back of the 99-seat house and sitting wherever they could. The adrenaline started kicking in. I had a few last minute jokes and hand shakes with Will and we got set. We were the second scene up, and we killed it. It was better than any rehearsal we'd done. We listened, found new moments, got every single laugh we wanted and more. There's no substitute for meeting your final scene partner, the only one you haven't rehearsed with, the audience. They give you so much. Then, in no time, we were backstage again, applause, and the adrenaline coursing. Everyone's scenes were good. Some had nerves going full speed, but I think it was a really good show as a whole, which is important for all of us.

After the show, we had a small reception set up in the lobby. Will and I talked to Kari Kurto, the casting associate from "My Name is Earl", who said some very nice things about our performance. In fact, a lot of people came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed the scene and many went on to point out details that made it work for them. We were also asked if we had worked together before. That's a huge compliment. There was a point at which I seriously debated whether or not to do this showcase, but now I'm so glad I did. I ended up with a great scene partner, scene, director and overall production - and fun. I'm looking forward to the next two shows, which I'll update (perhaps more briefly) below.

TUESDAY - The thing about live shows is that a different night has a different audience and it's a different vibe. Tuesday's show was packed like the night before, but this time, there were quite a few more industry guests. Industry guests can be a bit more reserved as a crowd. First, they're looking through the packets, pulling out headshots and taking notes. Second, they're basically working. So, it's a little different. We still got great laughs, big applause at the end of the scene and great comments from people afterward. I sing a couple of lines from Air Supply's "All Out of Love" to my ex-girlfriend's t-shirt in a terrible falsetto at the top of the scene. It has been a great scene starter. One more show to go.

WEDNESDAY - And again, a different vibe...even more industry guests. There's such a different feeling in the room with an audience like that. We got great feedback, some good laughs and the applause. It was only mildly startling that my first few bars of "All Out of Love" didn't generate the kind of laughs I'd had previously. You can't get in your head about it though or the scene will tank. I just cut up. It was our last Hoorah, and I wanted to play. Alicia and Don from KSA were there, which was very nice of them. Several friends of ours were there, many of whom had never seen me act before. On the whole, this was a great experience. I'll follow up with the CD's, agents and managers who made it, and we'll see where it goes.

Cold macaroni and cheese

It has somehow managed to be a very busy couple of weeks with nothing much to report. I did attend a "Meet the Cast and Crew" fundraising event for The Beginning of December. That was a good time. There were a lot of nice people who gave money to support the film, a lovely home that served as the site, a tasty spread of food and drink, and a group of professionals with whom I will be working. I have high hopes for this experience as they seem to be doing everything right.

The showcase I've been preparing for runs Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We've been rehearsing, getting some extra coaching, and helping distribute the flyers and industry gifts to invitees. I've had more day-job work the last few weeks than ever before. I suppose most students are trying to get their lessons in before school starts. Last night, I stopped into a grocery store because I had a craving for a bit of mac n' cheese. I picked up a couple pieces of chicken and asked for the mac. The lady scoops it up out of the cold case. Why is the mac n' cheese in a refrigerator? Instead of cancelling it right there, like a dope, I figured "Oh well, it'll be fine for just that little bit." Wrong. As some of you may already be yelling at the screen, I made the terrible error of forgetting that mac n' cheese is one of THE WORST dishes ever when served cold. Horrendous.

Remember the agency with a Z that stood me up on a theatrical meeting and wasted my time a few weeks ago? Well, guess who I got a voicemail from two days ago. Yep. "Hi, this is [so and so] from [Zuch, such and such]. We have an appointment for you to come in to meet for commercial representation Friday at 3pm. There is no need to call back and confirm, but if you are unavailable, email..." Yeah right. Lemme get right on that email, because I would hate to inconvenience you. Wonder why it's not necessary to confirm? Wonder why I would get this call after the fiasco that happened FACE to FREAKIN' FACE barely a month ago?

Callback: Toyota @ Joe Blake Casting

2 auditions, 2 callbacks in this office. It's good to be on the map in as many casting offices as possible. There didn't seem to be a ton of people called back for this particular role. There are about 4 different roles in the spot. The callback was basically to rant and rave about your boss while alone in the car. We improvised a brief exchange with "the boss" before doing the actual audition solo. I think my boss was supposed to fire me, but the actor didn't get too worked up in the scene, so I ended up quitting. Then, I did the audition bit in the car three different ways. I felt pretty good about it...had to bring the adrenaline down a bit when I left.

This is the longest day in the world. We took my wife's parents to the airport this morning, stopped off for the audition on the way back. After a quick lunch, I have to head out for three driving lessons taking me to 10pm, and after that, I have to try to beam myself to West Hollywood for showcase rehearsal. Good luck to me. I predict a serious crash into the bed when it's all over.

Audition: Gerber @ Craig Colvin

My 100th post.

So, I'm breaking the "young dad" barrier now. The audition itself was a quick one liner, but funny. You know the type...dad gets into a little trouble when he's on duty.

Craig Colvin is, as you may remember, the casting director who called me in for the AAMCO spot when I was an unrepresented rookie who had only been here a couple months. He also referred me to my agents at KSA. He wasn't running the session, but did take the photos. We exchanged hellos and he told me that Alicia (at KSA) had called him to pitch me. It's great to know your agents believe in you and actively help with the marketing. I hope to hit a stride soon and get the money train rolling for all of us. I'll keep making the rounds for drop-offs and postcards, keeping my skills sharp with class and make it happen.

After the audition, I stopped by the front desk to say "Goodbye" to Craig when I saw a former classmate of mine at Lesly Kahn's place working the phone. Small world. All three of us swapped a few war stories about the business, and Craig's stories about the complexities of working with agents, ad agencies, the ad clients, etc. was very enlightening. That's a tough job with a lot of crazy people!

Audition: Toyota @ Joe Blake Casting

This was my third time in for Joe Blake Casting in three days. Not too shabby. This audition was pretty much nonverbal, relying on "interior monologue" that generates facial reactions. Basically, they wanted to see us thinking about something very stressful or very exciting. I did a couple of different takes - one of each. Interestingly, the ad agency indicated they wanted something sort of "over the top", but the director wants something much more real. As the talent, you never know who'll win out in the end. So, you never know if your audition fits the winning side. There didn't appear to be many people coming in for it today, but I got the impression they had been seeing people for a day or two at least.

Busy, busy...with all the auditions, driving lessons, visitings and preparations for a showcase I'm doing in two weeks, I've been on the run quite a bit lately. It's all great, but definitely hectic.

Callback: Alltel @ Joe Blake Casting

The callback went well. They must be moving fast since the audition was just yesterday. They flipped the roles around a bit, which didn't really work to some of our relative advantages. I still felt good about it.

Audition: Alltel @ Joe Blake Casting

Every time my wife's parents are in town, I seem to get an audition. This was my first audition with Joe Blake and my first family trip-style audition. Everyone loaded in the car to drop me off at the casting studios. Once I was out, they ventured on to do a little shopping. There were no advance sides for this audition, but I discovered at the sign-in that it was a 4-person scene, which is a fairly large audition scene. Instead of signing in immediately, I settled down to fill out my size card and go over the sides for a bit. The tough part wasn't so much the lines, each character had about 2 fairly easy to remember ones, but which character to prepare for? A few minutes after I signed in, the session assistant assigned roles and matched us up. My three cohorts and I were on deck and used the time to run it a few times. The recent training with Carolyne paid off again. I made a choice that worked for me and the scene. My scene partners were great. We were all distinctly different. We did it a couple times in the room and were done. On the way out, I saw a friend of mine going in on the same spot. Good luck to him! Also, in the waiting room for a different project, I saw Geoffrey Owens who played Elvin on The Cosby Show.

So, the reason it was a family trip is that we went to the La Brea Tar Pits after I was done. It also happened to be the first Tuesday of the month, so we got into the museum for free. The Tar Pits are cool. It's amazing to see this slice of the prehistoric world still churning right in the middle of all these office buildings and busy streets. A lot of people say it isn't worth the time, but I think it's one of those things everyone should see while they're here.