Busy - but is it the Thing?

I am busy in a way I've never been busy before. So much so that the time has come - I gave my notice at my job to be a full time actor. Ironically, just at the time when I have the most to say, I have no freedom to write anything at all. So this will be brief.

This month I had the beginnings of rehearsals for a children's show at an equity house, a reading, 2 paid internet videos, a filmed reading and a short film. It's been a busy month - which has made me happy and crazy. Oh - I also auditioned at Court.

What can I possibly say - the reality of it all has yet to sink in. It will next month, when the memorization for all the things I listed above is done and my job is done, etc.

On top of all that, I have been working my new, perm. part time job as a Standardized Patient and since I've applied for the School at Steppenwolf, I have to memorize a scene for auditions at the beginning of next month.

I hate this - that this is merely a list of what I've done and what I have. But, really, I should be memorizing now!

Lovely...

It is lovely how the world changes. Lovely being a word that I think has been abused out of its proper shape. I’m trying to get it used correctly again. This change from a world with no acting work to a world with too much, from a world of uncertainty to insanity, from unexpected personal possibilities to confusion and absence – is just plain lovely and wonderful.

I’m straying a bit from the general topic of this blog – but maybe not as far off topic as you’d think. This intense variety of life is the stuff of acting. It’s what feeds us our examples – our tools to draw on. So, when I can pull myself out of the moment of it and look on it from the outside – I find it wonderful – the living.

So I’ve done another cycle…from the fairly deep despair of early last month when I was not acting at all (but had a completely unexpected encounter with someone who balanced things out by making them a bit brighter) to this month, when I am overbooked but overjoyed with it (and the aforementioned person has disappeared).

Now – to the details.

There’s no play happening yet – so I’m not immersed in the art – but there are a lot of smaller acting joys. I felt some things click this month – where they didn’t click last month. Had an audition for a short film – it was going just okay – then they asked me to read the lines like an arrogant prick (the side I had was for a nice guy character – but they also had a prick in the short) – and when I started reading it that way, the whole room suddenly jolted into attentive focus. I finished and not only did it feel sharp and perfect, but the folks in the room let out a unified expression of enjoyment after I said the last word.

They called to give me the part today. Yeah, yeah – hold the jokes. Believe me – if there’s one thing I know – it’s my type. It is amusing though because my two types are “arrogant figure of authority” or “sensitive father type.” Most folks tend to try and cast me in the latter – when I appear to be more successful in the former.

Had callbacks for Appletree TYA today. I find it amusing when I talk about this to my acting friends. I say “Appletree” and they let out a murmur of appreciation, then I say the Theatre for Young Audiences and they go, “oh,” their voices falling off an intonation cliff. I find this attitude bizarre. Because I love kids – and I think doing kid material can be rewarding and educational. And - at least for this production - I find the material to be wonderful: The Giver.

So tonight at the call-backs - after maybe an hour of the Appletree folks having me try different things, they handed me a monologue of the Receiver (the old and almost mystic man in the play). It was incredible. I read it and fell so deeply into it that I couldn’t get out of the mood of it to even interact with the auditors before and after delivering it. Which was wonderful – it may be the most artistic pleasure I’ve ever gotten from an audition. And I could tell it fit perfectly – this time, when I finished and could feel that point when you break from acting – I could tell that the auditors did not want me to break – as if they just wanted me to go on – they just kept holding themselves still in the silence. That’s something I’ve never felt before…and don’t expect again soon. But I’m very thankful that I got to do that paragraph tonight – the contented glow STILL hasn’t faded – like the aftereffects of a perfect dream – it’s still with me.

There are also 2 readings this month. One of which might have been a play that I would have been cast in if I hadn’t been stupid and scheduled my vacation smack dab in the middle of the run. Oh – and I’ll be doing my VO demo this month.

Finally – perhaps the most on-topic part of what I have to say today – I found myself auditioning for something that turned out to be a part time job. It’s called SP testing I believe? Standardized Patient testing. Not sure if I have that right – but I can describe it. It’s when I pretend to be a patient in a doctor’s office. I come in with symptoms and a real doctor (who’s getting training) has to try and find out what’s wrong with me. Along the way I watch the doctor’s bedside manner so that I can critique them later. It’s all so that the doctors can improve their communication and interaction skills. I think most actors know about this gig. And while it’s something of a perversion of our art, when it comes to finding a non-waitoring, non-temp part-time job – it’s the bees knees. It’s flexible, it pays like $18 per hour, and it’s not hard. However – it IS during the day. And I DO still have a full time job. But they offered it to me and I took it. So now I have two jobs that happen at the same time!

Now – before I get too tongue-in-cheeky about this I should state that this was the plan all along – for years in fact. I knew that if I worked at this, I would eventually find myself in a place where my fulltime job and my acting would conflict. But the good part is that when I do finally quit my job, I will already be making money – I won’t be destitute. It’s the living through the insanity of this part that will be interesting. Going in to my boss’s office and telling her at the last minute that I needed 3 days off (vacation time) was not fun. But it’s necessary. Can't wait to tell her I need a day off every day of every other week from now on. Erm - or perhaps I'll be getting sick on a strangely regular schedule from now on.

Finally – some non-acting stuff – but again important. I found myself hanging out for a few days with an acquaintance I met at the last play. We clicked in some strange way and so we went out together with some friends a few times. Along the way we had a few moments alone together. Nothing happened with her, but just the unexpected connection was wonderful. Now - the presence of this paragraph in this blog is only to say that this is exactly the kind of life event that gives us what we use in our acting. It’s not the mundane that does it – because acting is NOT about the day that nothing happened (sorry for the double-negative). It’s the moments that are unusual that are the ones that are not just important in life, but useful in art. An old friend of mine, who is a creative writing teacher, doesn't actually try to teach his classes how to write – but instead, tries to teach them how to recognize which moments are actually important in life.

So – now – when it seems she’s chosen to stop our contact – a little abruptly and perhaps wisely – I recognize that this is also one of those moments – quietly sad, but important. And lovely in its importance. Because this is life – life in the active form – I am living it and learning from it in all ways.

Slowly...ever so slowly...

And now it is January. And I’ve pushed on through the insanity – the insanity of wanting to jump out of my skin because I am not acting. I want to say "it is an odd time" – but I’m fairly certain I’d be repeating myself. Even though my situation is not the same as it was the last time I said that. A brief synopsis and then on to the meat of the post…

Other than a kind thank-you for the cookies, I haven’t heard anything from my agent for over a month. Had scheduled some surgery – which then got canceled for no good reason, but was on the calendar long enough to prevent me from auditioning and working in a few things.

Got a last minute audition from a pair of folks I knew in college (the Leaving Iowa folks) – and then didn’t do so hot at the audition, so I did not get that. But my friend who hasn’t acted in the city, did – kudos to him!

*mutters ‘must work on consistency’ over and over again*

Did some voice over work for an artist from the Art Institute – cool guy and great material, but my work consisted of reading a short short with pauses between every word. Not exactly classic acting. It’s like being told you can only take one bite of your Pete Miller’s Parmesan-encrusted filet mignon every five minutes – after a few bites you realize you’re never going to get full – and that meat doesn’t stay warm for very long at all. There was an odd moment during the recording session though – during one piece in particular, where I did feel like his words and my strange delivery created something new and unusual. We’ll see when his CD comes out.

Had an audition for a friend’s play – I really wanted to work with him, and I loved the script, but in the end had to leave him out on a limb on the day of the callbacks. Many reasons why – more on that later. I felt sick turning him down – but it’s the right way to manage this career – I know that.

Have just a few auditions coming up. All strange and interesting. First, for the Black Ensemble company. I hadn’t heard of them - and the story of how they got my name is strange (from Victory Gardens – who I auditioned for once – over a year or two ago). Black Ensemble seems quite good from what I can tell - and I like their approach and show-history - so I am eager to audition.

Have an “audition” to be a fake patient in a doctor training center (think Seinfeld)! Sounds cheesy – but it would be semi-regular work and the start of some annual acting income. I need that if I’m going to quit my full time job to act – and that’s coming up soon!

Finally, I have an audition for Steppenwolf; non-AEA rolling general auditions. Which is part of the reason I couldn’t act in my friends play. Because if Step did like me – for anything - and called me, I would have to drop my friend’s play like a hot potato to go work at Step. Period. And does that contradict my last post? I’m not sure. Luckily I’m fairly certain I’m not up to the Step level yet – so the audition is not making me nervous. I just want to make sure I don’t embarrass myself.

That being the equation, I signed up for some monologue work with one of the folks in the ensemble there at Step (a very good guy – but I’m following my usual practice of not mentioning proper names here). Did my first session today and it went quite well. With a single exception, I’ve never actually worked my monologues with anyone. I practice them by myself all the time – in the basement, in the car, in the living room (when my wife is not home to call me crazy). But I've always felt that there are things that I can't feel myself – that only someone “coaching” me would be able see and fix. And the session proved to be very interesting. For my first (and my strongest) monologue we worked on some basics – chatting about the motivations in each line, etc. And he helped me find the physicality of the piece – something I am frequently quite weak at. For my other monologue, he gave me rather more stunning direction – direction that I have to work on assimilating over the next few days. He suggested that I do the piece as if I were telling it to a friend as a self-depreciating story instead of delivering it straight (it’s a piece in which I am supposed to go slightly and comically insane). A big shift. We’ll see if I can pull it off by Friday.

Then there’s the business side of things: I’ve been working hard to put a postcard together. An actor friend of mine who is fairly successful at making a living at this business mails out a postcard with pictures of himself on one side and a brief synopsis of what he’s doing on the other. I thought it was a really good idea – so I’ve spent a few weeks getting my mailing list together and creating the post-card. The second I land my next stage role, I’ll send that out.

Finally, thinking about getting a second agent. I held off while Shirley Hamilton sent me out on things for the first month or two – but as I mentioned, I haven’t heard from them in a month and I do have an invite from Lilly’s to make contact.

Tough choices – and that’s how I’ll end this post – this month has been a series of those. And I think they’re very important. I see most of my fellow actors not even realizing that choice exists in this thing we do – but I think it’s very important to purposefully guide what you’re doing in this acting world we are negotiating.

More things to say “no” to…

…and a bit about December.

Many things about my fellow actors aggravate me. Or, to put it in a more productive sentence: many actors act in ways that are counter-productive to achieving long-term success in their chosen field. Examples include blowing off auditions without calling to cancel, showing up late to rehearsals, etc. etc. It’s my belief that this stems from the fact that many actors are in this for the wrong reasons. But that’s another blog for - perhaps - another blogger…one down Psychology Today’s way.

Another actor action that I object to is the loose scheduling thing. I find it very difficult to actually meet up with other actors to see a play, for example. Some refuse to commit in any concrete way but say they “might” join me - all the way up to the last minute when they cancel. While some commit firmly (with fist-smacking certainty and showmanship) and then cancel at the last minute. I actually understand why they do this, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t still want to wring their necks when they do it.

Example: I had picked a date to go see a play and sent the date to many of my acting friends. A few of them responded with conflicts and so I decided to go see 2 plays in 2 days so I could accommodate the 2 groups of definite’s that RSVP’d. Then, slowly, over time, folks began to drop out - with the bulk of those that were dropping out doing so on the day of the play. Each one of them who dropped out had good acting related excuses – but I still cannot forgive them. I’ll explain why in a moment, but first let me put my money where my mouth is:

I too had good reason to back out: a few days before, an established theater with a mix of equity and non-equity actors asked me to be in a reading with them – this would have been my first work with a group of this level. I said no, because it conflicted with the 2 days of plays (and 1 day of movie with another friend of mine) that I had committed to.

My actor friends think I’m crazy.
I want to have them murdered for their last minute cancelations.

It’s a good thing we’re actors and will forgive each other over chicken tenders the next time we meet or there would be hell to pay. And here’s why I abhor them for this, even while the manager inside of me cringes at what I’ve done: they are acting whores. Really. If you have no commitment to anything outside of acting, how can you be someone who is viewed as reliable and committed inside the industry.

There will be opportunities for me to cast and employ these folks (my acting friends) – and at that time I will remember both the caliber of their work and the way they schedule (or change schedules). And that means I will be a little less likely to cast or recommend them.

And I don’t want to be that type of actor – the type that you can’t nail down – the type that has no absolutes or hard lines in their lives. I’d rather have to wait for my next chance to come around than begin to compromise on things so early. Compromising this early is just a slippery slope leading to a casting couch in some dank office in West Hollywood. Really.

Well – enough of the quasi-rant - that’s only thinly related to this business.

It is December and it is slow. My agent has not called me in a few weeks and no one is responding to my communications (well – that’s not entirely true – I had 2 folks respond – one was something I had a very good shot at, but I had minor surgery subsequently scheduled that day – so I had to cancel). I even sent my agent cookies and I’ve heard nothing!

So my hope is that this is just December. I know that I am busy with friends and family every day for the bulk of the month – so here's my holiday toast: "Here’s to hoping all the agents, casting directors and artistic directors in Chicago and Hollywood have lots of friends and family dragging their schedules down in December!"

It will make me feel warm and comfortable, if that is so.

Want to jump out of my skin...

So it is over…the show that lasted three seasons. I auditioned in March – did a few readings through the remaining months of Spring and early Summer and started rehearsals the first week in July. Then it was twenty- to forty-hours-a-week through the end of August. After an opening weekend that was cancelled by a freak storm with power outages and flooding (including four inches in my basement), we ran the show through until last week.

It was wonderful. All of it. Even the parts that were trying or difficult or painful. Because it was “The Thing.” We make a lot of compromises doing this thing we do – but there were none here. I worked on a script I loved, with a group that worked and cared hard for the art we were creating. I worked with folks that were better than I was and learned from them all along the way. I got on stage for every rehearsal and performance and I stretched those same words in different ways that left me content and fulfilled for most of my time up there. And I even got paid (fairly well) to do it all. It was an uncompromised, sustained time of acting.

And along with the art, I found unexpected joy in the people as well. Again – even when they were irritating, unbearable and nauseating – they became a family that I strained for, every day when I was not working with them. From one o’clock on Saturday through six on Sunday, with a bonus of six to midnight on Thursdays, we spent all our time together – and if we were not creating art, we were creating insanity. True insanity of the sort I haven’t been a part of since my early twenties.

So – take all that – put it in your blood for three-quarters of a year and then go off it cold turkey – and you wind up where I am today: I shiver and I itch and I want to jump out of my skin because I don’t have it anymore.

I’ve mocked actors before for something similar to this - many actors are into a lighter, artificial version of this: coming together for a few weeks, with a kind of surface-closeness until the show’s over and it’s time to find another group to perform for backstage.

I’m not sure whether it was the amount of time we spent together or the make-up of the group (more on that from a casting standpoint later), but this was different – it was serious.

But it’s gone - forever – and that’s one of the great problems I have with stage work – its temporal nature. My acting friends revel in this – but I’ve always been one to mourn endings. The idea that something like this – or that any great play could be here for just a bit and then end forever - pains me greatly. My acting friends say that this is what makes theater so precious – so immediate. But I just can’t see anything but the loss and absence of The Thing.

So let’s talk about what’s next. Nothing, of course. I’m facing an odd time here. I simply can’t think about doing another play right now – unless it was something special. This was just too much – maybe, mostly – I just don’t want to find myself writing those last few paragraphs again in a few months.

And – I am still very picky about what I do – so, unlike my fellow ex-cast-mates, I am not auditioning for everything that is available. I’ve put my name in for a number of independent films and I have one audition coming up next weekend.

I also wanted to be free to focus on whatever the agency gave me. It’s not a lot: an on-camera host for an internet program and a print ad. And a print ad I found myself on Craig’s list.

And so, on top of losing all that – I’m concerned that I still need to prove myself with my agency – soon – before they send work elsewhere – and I’m itching because I’m just not acting.

A brief one

...because I don't have much time yet. The current show ends in two weeks and my life should return to some semblance of normalcy. I did not write almost at all during the run of this show. Work and show = too much.

It's been wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And there's lots to talk about. But later.

For now - my luck has lessened a bit. The agent has given me about 5 VO auditions and 1 open print call. I've closed on none of those. That worries me a bit. And the challenge I have is: how to get myself in front of the camera people. That's where my strength lies, but getting my face in front of them will be difficult.

It's taken 2+ months to get the beardless head shots into play. That's way too long - an astounding amount of time. But if not having them means I was sent on less auditions, I suppose that was okay while I was in the show and working full time.

Next up - quitting the job and trying to make a living at this. Life will continue to get more interesting.

The Wyrm Turns...

It’s a very different day today, compared to the last day I posted on this blog. And I continue to be suspicious of my own good fortune. It may be that within a few days things will have turned (reviews of my show will have come out by then) and I can breathe a sigh of relief that the pressure of my small successes have evaporated once again, leaving me no place to go but up – and free of this neurotic paranoia.

The show I am in has opened and it has been the best experience I’ve had. Unfortunately, I haven’t been doing this long enough to know whether this is unique or something about the caliber of the folks involved and therefore repeatable. Folks in this show are talented, mostly focused, care about their craft and what we are doing, etc. There are actors in this play who are better than I am – giving me the opportunity to learn grow, the script is worthwhile, the machinery behind the production is sound, the director has excellent vision and wields his power properly to create that vision, etc. All this being said - it’s still a mystery to me whether the show itself will be a success. That’s another lesson I’ve learned this time around: that a play is such an enormously complicated thing that even with all those things being said, there is still a large chance that the thing can flop. We’ll see. My prediction for this play: some factions of humanity will believe it’s the greatest thing ever while some will simply say: “meh.”

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I have added another small element to the mix that I believe is necessary to create great art: endurance...of the super-human kind. I knew that it’s necessary for writing fiction, and now I know it is necessary for acting in a play as well. I had my week of 40 hours of work (doing my bosses job and mine) + 40 hours of rehearsal in the same week, resistance of those around me, a flood in my basement, the show opening and an interview with an agent – all at once in a shining orgy of pain and exhaustion. And that’s what it takes. Likely every time. I think that anyone who is attempting to be an artist needs to understand that this is part of the package – and in that understanding know that you will simply do all of that in order to create the art. If you don’t feel that way, then you don’t belong.

I mentioned the agent above. That’s another happy surprise – quite. The Plan has always been to fill my resume to the point that I can contact an agent, work for a while to become successful with the agent – get one with an office in LA, then move there. It’s the grand plan and I am stunned to find that I’ve actually moved to stage two. Once the flyers for the current show were printed I began to send packets to agents. And lo and behold, one called and signed me up. I’m almost certain that there’s more to it than that (perhaps a favorable nod at the agency from someone I knew or something like that), but either way – I find myself suddenly in a substantially different position from a few weeks ago.

And one that is likely not without consequences. Another part of the plan (which will of course be revealed in this blog over time in random, incoherent bits and pieces) is to live for a time in my full time career-job while attempting to audition for agent-located auditions. My theory is that when the agent-jobs become lucrative enough to prove that I can make a living off of this, I’ll quit my job (or I’ll quit it in June of 2008 – whichever comes first). Now that the moment is here, this may be problematical. The agent said that I will likely need to appear at some audition locations within an hour’s notice. Meeting that criteria will be particularly interesting, as I really do have a real full-time management job – and it’s not one with flexibility. But, as this is the thing that is most important to me – it’s going to happen. Hell or high-water (you can almost certainly bank on it being the former).

So I’ll most definitely report on that chaos in the next few months. In the meantime, I am poised to get additional head shots (facial hair option shots), take an on-camera class at the Green Room and begin life with an agent.

I’ll wish you luck if you wish it on me.

The Acting/Writing Gods smile on me (he says as he looks nervously over his shoulder)

I do feel sad at the gap between the last post and this one. Not that I regret the gap – I was doing the right things, but it is unfortunate that I did not have the time to chronicle the acting-related events I’ve been experiencing in the past few months. I think they would have been useful – both to myself and others.

The writing side of things has picked up – had CSW do a staged reading of a short film script of mine. Was also a finalist in a monologue competition. Have sent 3 or 4 short films scripts to contests. The big thing was the completion of the writing of my play. Now I’m spending months struggling to put it into the proper format before I send it off to the Yale contest and before I apply for an Illinois Arts Council grant. I’d like to swear here. A LOT. Formatting of these things just drives me batty. Anyone out there that can explain why a play has a 4.25” left-hand margin for dialogue please do so. I will then proceed to berate you for having bought into this mania.

I’ve remained in the play that I mentioned earlier. And it continues to be a joy. My parts are not huge, but they’re also not minuscule. It is an enormous amount of work (6 rehearsals a week, including at least 1 six-hour rehearsal each weekend and a run of 3 months), but it’s what I’ve always hoped for in theatre. The cast is professional at knowing when to work and when to joke – unlike the previous groups I’ve been with where the rule is “always on all the time.” And they’re good – damn good – which makes me work hard to get better – again, everything I think an actor can hope for.

I’ll try to write a little bit here that’s more in the spirit of this blog – i.e. more about learning the craft and world of acting than about my own particular achievements. One thing I did not expect was the manner in which rehearsal and blocking would go. I’ve raged against collaborative groups before but now I understand that this can, in fact, work when the actors and director are truly accomplished and experienced at their craft. In the past, when I’ve encountered this – collaboration meant everyone foisting their crazy unique ideas on each other – grabbing for power – all that insanity. Here, folks are careful to make solid suggestions when the moment presents itself and the director will occasionally call out those moments. He will let actor’s take the lead at times and the direction they follow is often a direction that everyone in the group (including the director) would have suggested as well. Perhaps much of this is due to casting – i.e. the director and his wife may have purposefully (or inadvertently) chosen a group of actors that are not only talented and appropriate for their roles, but also a group that is of like mind when it comes to the work of the play. Something to watch, most definitely.

I’ll also note this moment as the one when I began to learn the specifics of the world of union acting. There have been a few occasions, during these rehearsals, where the union actors have talked about some of the parameters, perks, drawbacks, etc. And while I was quite aware of the unions before, the specifics are somewhat surprising. Water on the set? Cool.

One more thing specific to me – but also a setup for more general information later. I now have “professional head shots” and have begun mailing them to agents. Assuming that I remain in the cast of this play, I think I’m doing exactly what folks suggest: sending head shots to agents along with the post-card for this play, alerting them to the fact they can come see me, etc. We’ll see if anyone bites…

Update - just the facts...

I’m having a devil of a time remembering what theater I saw over the past few months. I’ve put up what I can, but I’m not known for my memory – and if I can’t remember it, it must not have been that good (cruel, but true).

One theater experience of note: Frozen at Next. Joe was damn good. So was the Psychiatrist.

A busy beaver am I. That’s a statement. I have this wave thing going on:

1) Rest after acting for a month or two in some production

2) Panic after resting for a week

3) Send head shot and resume to multiple projects

4) Audition frenzy

5) Strange variable time in limbo

6) Over booking

7) rinse and repeat

Since the last post, I filmed the 2 shorts. Both excellent.

Was on the casting side of the table for multiple staged reading things – always educational to be on the casting table side.

Currently directing a staged reading of a short and having a staged reading of a short I wrote.

Attended the Midwest Independent Film Festival – WHAT A BLAST!!! I highly recommend it. Saw their shorts festival.

Worked for a day on a Bill Kurtis thing. That was a whole lot of fun. Just extra work – but the folks I was acting with were relaxed and interesting. The crew was quite nice as well – thanks to Katie Bryan.

And there’s one more thing on the table: a play I’ve done 2 auditions for, had a table read for and will be having a “backers” table read for on Monday. I’ve been told (recently) that I have a part in it, but can’t help but think that this next table read could remove me from the running if I don’t do well.

I’ve never actually heard of this before – this process. The upcoming read is going to be done at the house of the WSJ theater critic. Should be quite interesting. The actors involved are simply the best I’ve been with – no hyperbole here. One is a Step ensemble member. I LOVE the play (info to come), dig the director and the cast and love the characters I’ve been given. More as it happens…

Happy Happy, Merry Merry

“It’s been a while since I last wrote anything here…” is usually the death knell of any blog, and yet I’ve written it here a great many times. So let’s imagine I’ve written it once again and move on…
First order of business: I’ve reset my profit amount on the blog. I’m going to switch those figures to a yearly basis so we can all see the exact poverty level of my acting earnings.
I also put some effort into carefully managing my acting life over the holidays. I had three grant-funded student film auditions early in December and received parts in two of those shorts. They film in January and February, so I was in the pleasant situation of having work scheduled, and having some time off.
This was great: having most of December off. It was also awful: because I had December off. As I begin to settle into a life of acting (versus the period in which I began acting again), this great pain/pleasure conundrum becomes more clear. There is incredible relief and panic when not acting, and incredible terror and pleasure when doing this thing we love.

A bit on auditions: once again, I had the balls to request that I read for something not on the agenda. Once again I received that part. This time, it was a student script that had an incredible part in it. But the part was for a twenty-year-old. It felt like I could be that part and it felt as if the part could be my age and type. The director was gracious enough to allow me to read for it and then gave it to me. I doubt very much that I’ll get this kind of opportunity when I am auditioning with production companies, etc. (I doubt I’ll even see the script in advance for that matter), but for now it’s a marvelous thing.

Finally: Saw Mrs. Witherspoon at Next. It was the first Next production I’d seen. Lot’s of familiar faces in this one: Joe Wycoff (friend and saw him in Private Lives last year), Anita Chandwaney (director from Silk Road/CSW reading), Kirsten Fitzgerald (Leaving Iowa). A great cast – but a disappointing play. Especially considering the caliber of the actors. Linda Kimbrough did a great job with the lead, but I’ve seen the aforementioned folks take on more challenging stuff…which is ultimately more enjoyable to watch.

Working hard

Back at it. Completely. Saw Anton in Showbusiness this weekend at Citadel. Great bunch of folks – something of a precious play though. And I take those words right from the script. Most brilliant cast member: Mary Hollis Inboden. Second would be Ashley Weiland Dobson (though they could both use a little name-pruning there) - a lovely woman I met at the Citadel fundraiser. Ashley Neal was good too – though her role was not enjoyable (i.e. the preciousness of the play). She was the audience member who kept interrupting. I want to theorize that more humor should come from that action in the play. That might take the edge off the preciousness of self-reference.

Was a reader for the Chicago Scripworks auditions of “Beautiful Fish.” What a great opportunity. What it teaches me most, is that nervousness is simply counter-productive. I’m not saying I will be able to abandon it, but it’s so artificial and simply gets in the way. Second, I can’t believe how many male actors exhibit effeminate physicalities. I was not involved in casting, but I would likely have cast one of them in the lead if they had toned it down a bit. The role simply didn’t call for it and – we’re actors after all right? So stop it. There’s more on auditions and casting, but I haven’t the time!

So, they ended up casting me as a few of the minor characters. I was a little slow to accept, since I wasn’t sure if that’s okay. But it’s not any of the big roles, and I’m happy to act. Then I broke down and auditioned for a student film. Studio 22 has decided to fund more films each year and those tend to have a little more professionalism to them. Got a few lines as a janitor – a surly janitor, so I continue to be cast as a particular "type" - arrogant ass! Which is always fun. And please - no comments from the peanut gallery.

Lastly, I did get a call from “Riot Act.” A cool bunch of folks who do corporate training type things. I believe I will be an interviewee. And these folks pay well. More on that later…

Hello Again

So I will not bore you with the story/excuse of my hiatus. However, I will put this out there: at one time, I theorized that the profession of acting has a certain inertia to it. And this is just as correct when you want to take a break from acting as it is when you are actively pursuing it. I was fortunate to receive invitations to audition for a number of theatre shows over the past few months, though I had actively stopped sending in my name to companies. So while I strove mightily to take a break, it was a long time coming. And though I was called back for many things during the early part of my supposed break, I received no parts.

I did continue some of the volunteer work I began a few months back. One fantastic opportunity I will have this week is to be the “reader” with the folks who are auditioning for an upcoming work. This is something I’ve been seeking for a long time, as I am absolutely convinced it will teach me many things about auditioning. I also have a film audition the next day – the first I’ve actively pursued in many moons.

This evening I saw a very good production called, “The Last Supper.” I had been told it was an adaptation from a movie done in the 90’s. It was quite good, done at a wonderful venue: the Chopin. I’m referring to the downstairs space; a space my friend wished could be transported to his living room.

Along with the show and the performances being quite good, I had the pleasure of seeing a very old friend tonight, Jim Farruggio. He’s having some good success as a Chicago actor. He also introduced us to the playwright, who was the author of the original film as well. The playwright invited my friend and I back to his presidential suite at his highfalutin hotel. Of course, I am an old man (and an anti-social one at that), so I promptly turned down the career enhancing opportunity and came home to write this blog. I know. Believe me, I know.

One other great thing out of the evening. I believe Jim followed a similar path to mine, so he offered to meet with me and chat about that. I’m looking forward to taking him up on that one.

I have been at it, really...

And I have. Too busy to write. Not just an excuse, but truly.

Auditioned for many places. Got very little. I do believe this is a reminder that I am meant for film. I strayed a bit. But I'll fix that shortly.

Auditioned for Victory Gardens. Did fairly well, I thought. But likely no casting.
Auditioned for Lifeline. Did fairly well, I thought. But no response.
Auditioned for ChicagoScriptworks. Was EXTREMELY distracted at the audition and didn't get cast. Serves me right.
Auditioned for Steep - I WANTED the play so bad. I did get called back. Worked hard on preparing the Satan role, walking into the callback and found the Director had a completely different take on the character. Did it his way and sucked. A good topic for later.
Auditioned for a short indie. Did well - likely didn't get cast.
Auditioned for The-Riot-Act. Did very well - likely will get cast.
Auditioned for a play I know nothing about (they were at Sheil Park the same night as The-Riot-Act) and did well - probably will get cast. Don't think I want to be?
Friday I am auditioning for Leaving Iowa. They were so damn cool. They actually gave me comps to see the show the night before! Fairly certain they're looking for a replacement for a character.

And then I WILL REST!!! Sort of. Got called to audition at Attic playhouse. Not sure I want to do that one either, oh but the inertia!

Oh - and got a notice I might be cast in the internet thing I mentioned earlier and then haven't heard anything in weeks. Another likely non-casting.

So where am I? Hmmm. Out of all that, the important thing, I find, is the recollections of the people. There's too much to go into now (when I'm writing this frantically at midnight). But I recall friendly people at Lifeline, old friends at ChicagoScriptworks, the same actors who keep getting cast ahead of me at Steep and some new friends from Steep (Brad, Alex, Julia, Kate, etc.), a nice woman/fellow actor at the indie audition and some cool folks holding auditions - and DAMN the space they were in on Sangemon was cool! And an old friend at the unknown play audition (along with the interesting writer/director), the helpful guy from Disney at The Riot Act, The Riot Act folks (wow did I feel at home with them) and that woman - who's name I can't for the life of me recreate - who I felt a deep friendship with immediately. She looked like Scarlet Johannson (or maybe Scarlet looks like her) only she had bluer eyes. Is that a word?

So a lot of effort and I'm a little winded and put off by the lack of response out of this effort. It's time for a break and some diverting of my energies to my other love - writing. I rewrote and submitted a story to a contest this week and have put more effort into the online litmag I started with a cohort. www.placethemagazine.com. Place: The Magazine. You will love it. Eventually.

Completely Shameful

Auditioned for Timeline today. Probably my worst audition to date (though maybe I should go back through the blog to verify that – my blog of shame!). Not completely sure why – but I have some ideas:

First, no sleep – I usually make sure I get some but this audition snuck up on me. Was up until 3am this morning. And that’s just today.

Second – new monologue. From the one-acts I was in, so I know it. But still…

No rehearsal – not really anyway. An hour today? A half hour? I’ve learned that a little work the two days before goes a long way.

Finding it a bit hard to wash the stink of failure off me. They were so kind and gracious when I walked in. Afterwards, it looked as if I’d gone up and slapped them…with my pants down. That’s my take anyway.

Also – had an audition for an internet industrial. No speaking – just the “before” and “after” sleeping pills. I thought I did well on the “before” and not as hot on the “after.” But still – not sure why I am having trouble converting these well-paying industrial auditions into jobs. Perhaps some training come the fall?

Generals I salute you!

Saw Lettice and Lovage at the Court Theatre. An excellent production. And, I must say, an excellent house. I might go so far as to say it’s the perfect theatre (at least from an audience perspective). Linda Reiter and John Judd were fabulous.

As for me – it’s audition time. Seems that all that time I spent sending out resumes when I was desperate (because I was not acting) actually has an effect. I was cast in Double Happiness with Chicago Scriptworks/Silk Road Theatre. I am auditioning for Actor’s Workshop Theatre, Timeline Theatre, Lifeline Theatre and Citadel Theatre. I guess it’s season general season, eh?

But enough about me (believe me, that’s hard to say), let’s talk about Northwestern University’s Senior Showcase. Since I started this whole thing again, I’ve been dying to see other folks audition. And I still haven’t gotten that chance out there in the real world, but I did get to watch the students do their thing this year.

I went as a kind of scout for Citadel Theatre. The concept of the Senior Showcase is quite cool: giving each student a few minutes to perform for representatives from local theatre’s that might be interested in them. Designers have showcases in the lobby, so you get to see a little of everyone. As you walk in, you’re handed headshots and resumes for everyone – just as in a real audition. Of course, it was a little strange to have some of them be photocopies – but they’ll learn!

While the concept is cool and I enjoyed the experience, I was stunned at the low quality of the performers. Part of it was that I went to the musical theatre portion of the Showcase. Those folks were stunningly imperfect. I mean – like missed notes and everything. I kept thinking that if the performers had not tried to do anything fancy, they would have been a lot better off.

On to the actors – there were 46 of them. Almost all of them performing in pairs. Once again, I was stunningly disappointed. I mean – this school has a reputation for this. They even have a West Coast and an East Coast showcase. But out of 46 performers, I only wrote down 8 names of people who were actually somewhat interesting/talented.

Very strange, eh? I have one bit of inside information that I tried to use to explain the low caliber of the performances. My first part after my 15 year hiatus was in an NU student film. And one of the Senior Showcase performers was also in that film. He was quite good at the time – gave an unusual and memorable performance in only a few lines. And at the Showcase, he was worse than awful: he was talent-less. He was bland and unremarkable. So perhaps it was nerves? Can we accept that? Strange…