Benediction

I had a couple of auditions this weekend, one of which involved Benedick and Beatrice confessing their love to each other. I have to admit there was a little wish-fulfillment involved there. In fact, my biggest concern with my performance was that I might have been smiling too much. But the director has scheduled me for a callback, so I guess I didn't stink up the stage too much.

Holy Smokes!

I appear as a cigarette-puffing messiah in Second Time's the Charm, part of the Spring 2006 Filmmakers Showcase at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center (pictured) in Long Beach, May 20 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($6 to $8) available at the box office.

Much Adieu

This weekend we gave the opening and closing performance of Much Ado About Nothing. How’s that for efficiency? It was the climax to a tragicomedy that began five months ago with my nearly killing myself to get to the audition, included several shocking twists, spawned a spin-off act, and ended with a lightly attended show that was twice disrupted by an angry downstairs neighbor hammering on a pipe. In between we had rehearsals in cold, rain, and gloom of night. If we had opened when and where we had planned it could have been a great success. This cast had the talent and drive to make wonderful things happen. But as we moved from one venue to another uncertain if and when the show would ever open, and the director become increasingly embroiled in permit struggles with the county government, I think we lost some of the spark. Add to that the difficulty of working in a space about a third of the size of the one the show was originally blocked and rehearsed in, and you end up with a show that just wasn’t all it should have been. The few people who did see the first and final official performance said they really enjoyed it, but I feel we actually gave our best performances weeks ago, around the time of our originally schedule opening, in our final rehearsals on the company's own stage. With time in the new space we probably could have recaptured the magic, but poor attendance did us in. That could be accounted for by the fact that the ticket price was too high, there was no street-level advertising, the promotional materials had the wrong phone number, there were no listings in the LA Weekly or LA Times, people we had personally invited were repeatedly uninvited…. well, none of it really matters now. Although it didn’t end at all the way I wanted it to, it was an amazing experience. I hope I’ll be seeing more of some of the cast, but in any case I feel fortunate to have worked with such a talented, warm, and dedicated group of people, even too briefly. Sixteen actors without a flake or prima donna in the bunch? What are the odds? And fun—oh, yeah, you bet we had some fun along the way. And I learned a lot about how to put on a show, and how not to put on a show, and acting, and Shakespeare, and life in general. So with dozens of rehearsals, one performance, several cast parties and some tearful goodbyes behind me, I look forward to the next adventure.

Big Audition/Improv de Mayo

1) Last night I saw “The Big Audition” at the Second Stage in Anaheim, which features a few actors I've worked with before. Funny stuff and highly interactive. It begins as soon as you enter the theatre and continues through intermission, with the cast mingling with the audience and staying in character the whole time. In the second act they dragged several audience members on stage to "audition" for roles. Of course everything was exaggerated for comic effect, yet it was painfully reminiscent of a few auditions I've participated in. The two-person monologue was a definite high/low point. It plays three more Thursdays. Check it out.

2) About two hours ago I found out I'm going to be doing some improv TONIGHT:
* Berubian All-Stars
* Second Stage Theatre
* 431 N. Brookhurst, Ste. 140
* Anaheim, Calif.
* Admission: US$10
Plaza Garibaldi across the street has delicioso Mexican food, live music, and a dance floor.

Back to the Bash

I just saw a report on the Bard's Birthday Bash from the talented guy who provided my theme music by means of a one-man electronic orchestra. OK, that wasn't his primary function, but this is my blog, after all. His blog is mostly about his experiences (well, duh), but it does give an overall impression of the event and includes this photo of my backside, which you should be able to see next to this post.