Author: theactorvist

I love the Theatre. It's my church. It's my joy. I have been performing in plays and musicals for over half of my life, and I would be lost without it. Now more than ever, people are cutting back on everything that is too expensive or unimportant to their lives. As an actor, heck as a person, I don't know of anything that is more important than the arts. Art reflects history. It shows humanity at its worst but also its best. Every day some artistic program is getting cut from a school or a great show goes unseen. Maybe a talented singer isn't able to audition for American Idol. There are a ton of people who live in the South Bay Area of California, who go unseen or unheard. There are many production companies that are just bursting with talent, but people don't see the shows. I will do my best to bring you interviews with local artists of every kind, send out the call for local companies looking to cast people in productions, and much more. Stay tuned because this is only the beginning.

So I Said To Myself… Don’t Judge Me…

I recently began working on my next show. Thanks to the Prom, I had missed 3 rehearsals and was meeting the cast for the first time.

Meeting new people always gives me a little anxiety. But I knew the director and it was nice to just kind of chat with him a bit. He quickly went over the blocking that I was given. After about 10 minutes of that, we began running the show, with scripts.

My first entrance felt way clunky and jarring. I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I can read things and sound totally casual, like I was making it up. This particular moment though, I felt so out of step with myself. I noticed that the other actors were really getting into their characters with motion and great choices. I, on the other hand, kept checking for the markers for the entry points of the set before I walked out.

About the third exit, I had to take a deep breath. “Relax. This is your first rehearsal. These people have been working on this for almost two weeks. You just have to catch up.” I said to myself. Once I realized that it was okay for me to be a little clunky, I was able to shake out whatever was making me feel awkward and by the time I had to improv a tango, the folks were giggling at my little dance.

The point is, most of the time, you have to get out of your own way. The only way to do it though is to be aware of yourself and ask logical questions about such and such. You can’t just sit there and say, “why am I sucking?” Ask smarter questions like “What is making me misread this particular script?” the answer; anxiety. “Why am I anxious about being here?” answer; meeting new people. So I smiled at my fellow actors and when we had down time, I went over and asked what they did the previous two weeks. Problem solved. I didn’t get the chance to bond with the cast at the beginning when original introductions were made, so that added to my own silly neurosis.

Even after all the shows this year, I still have a problem meeting new people. I guess it’s a process, but I feel like I am getting better at it. But it is such slow going.

Do you get anxious over meeting new people? Or is it something completely different? What do you do to get through it?

Thanks for reading!!

Until next time…

From Pippin’s Summer of AMAZING to Zombie Prom’s Fall of FUN…

This summer’s experience in “Pippin” was phenomenal. I find myself constantly looking back at it to glean as much out of it as I possibly can. I so utterly enjoyed working closely with director, Allie Bailey, on character and movement choices. I plan to use this type of method when it comes to JCS (which auditions in two and a half weeks!!!) I loved talking through little moments in the show to see if there was something we could try to make the moment stick more, for example, switching the gun in Pippin’s (Sven) hand from holding the barrel back to the butt at a critical moment in the finale was Sven’s brilliant idea. It was a spectacularly collaborative effort that just made the experience burrow itself deep, deep into my heart with such tender loving fondness.

Photo courtesy of SunnyvalePlayers.org's Facebook page — Photo courtesy of SunnyvalePlayers.org’s Facebook page

But there was no time to truly mourn the end of this show because there was more theatre to be had!

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This came in the way of the, completely unknown to me, campy little piece called “Zombie Prom.” The moral of the story, don’t judge a book by its cover. The music in this show is so freakin’ crazy hard and WORDY!! Lawrd, it this show wordy! There are still lyrics that I can’t quite say. One would be “What’s your answer? Please speak clearly…”

Now that we have come to my favorite holiday of the year, Halloween, it’s only fitting that we have our first audience for the “Prom.” We have our final dress rehearsal tonight! It is so crazy to think just under a month ago, I was finishing up one show and already this one is standing up ready to begin walking. I know it sounds like I am equating it to children, and in a small, very small, way it is. The shape of the show and all the elements are there, so it is upright. To begin performing it, we need an audience, so it would be like taking first steps. Then, come Opening Night, the show will be running. Just like a child. It may even run away from us due to a fire alarm or something. With all of the funny and all of the cuteness, the story and music are just freakin’ FUN! I am constantly getting pieces of songs stuck in my head and it drives me bonkers! My favorite is “There’s nothing like a true blue eh-smoke!” and Kerie does such an amazing job at it! The cast is so fun and Nate Moss gives such a great performance as Eddie Flagrante. Jennifer Medeiros plays my favorite character, the cold Miss Strict. I have to add that character to my bucket list! hahaha. If RuPaul can play her…

Again, this show is so much fun. We open officially tomorrow, so I gotta go and practice that lyric!

Get out and see some theatre, will ya? If you can’t do it because you already have plans, how about making a donation to this fundrazr campaign.

Until next time, thanks for reading aaaannnnnnndddd

Happy-Halloween

Hmmm… Well, Now That I Think About It…

Recently a friend of mine asked the question, what would you name your theatre company?

Ever since then, I have been trying to figure out what mine would be if I had one. I don’t know if it’s conceited to come up with the name on my own. I do know that I wouldn’t use my name in it. I also know that I would love to have something that spells out a word with just the initials.

I found sites that can help create visual logos, but you kinda can’t make a logo if you don’t have a name.

But I am jumping way ahead of myself. That’s not for a few years out.

———–

Tonight, we began setting lighting cues for Zombie Prom. The process is slow going. The only thing I have a hard time with the process is that chatting and giggling are frowned upon. Those are the two things that are done when you are just standing around on stage with people you enjoy. I think I was told to “shhhhhh” about 50 times. It was like elementary school all over again. The only difference is that I didn’t have my name on the board with 5 or 6 check marks by it.

So, any thoughts on what to call a future theatre company?

Until next time!

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On Wednesday night, I got a text from my partner saying he was heading to the hospital ER because of stabbing pains in the kidneys. I was on my way to rehearsal and we open in 8 days.

I had to learn the lesson of “the show must go on.” I had tried calling three times, but due to the hospitals wireless blockage, there wasn’t a way to get a hold of him. I had to be as professional as I could and I really felt that, even though the staff said I could head to the hospital, the first rehearsal with the orchestra was important. I did mention to the stage manager the situation and that I may rush out to take a call. Every one was super understanding and I was as present as I could possibly be during the sitzprobe.

Now, I know some of you may think that the choice I took was selfish or unloving. In this type of situation, a performer needs to pull everything together and do the job we are paid to do. It goes double if there is no understudy for your role.

Thankfully, it is just pneumonia and I say that with the full understanding of how potentially fatal that is. My relief that he is a fairly healthy middle aged fella and the stats for that age range show a lower risk of death due to illness unless there is some sort of auto-immune disease, like HIV.

It was difficult to sleep through the night but at some point I managed to have a dream.

An aunt that I haven’t seen in ages is basically giving me a tour of her house. We started off in the backyard where there is a crap ton of wood and cabinets. It’s a mess but there is a lot of room. She is showing me all this stuff like “Oh this is where we do this,” very tour-like. We begin walking inside and she’s just chatting away asking about what I have been up to since we last spoke and tells me her life. It is the weirdest feeling to know that you are dreaming, and while doing so realize that in the dream you are wondering why she and I are having this conversation. I don’t know at what point I finally began to notice my surroundings and there was this overwhelming sense of sadness and fear. The walls were cracked. There was a layer of dust on everything. The furniture was run down. She went to her table and gave me some paperwork and said, “I want you to have this. To have something.” She smiled and I was so confused. I realize that what she is handing me is the paperwork for the house!

Why would you offer your house to someone without explanation?

When I woke up I sat there for a minute at the edge of the bed. Puzzled. Somewhere deep inside me, though, knew what this dream was really about.

A home is your stability. When I got that call, my world had a wake up call. I am at that point where I know I have to do something other than just settle for my jobs. It’s time to fight. It’s time to do as the old showbiz saying goes “Make your own work.”

I have put some ideas on paper and am in the process of figuring out the logistics of how I would work each piece. So I as I start piecing things together, I am trying to also include the people that I think would suit each project. You see, I don’t want to just make my own work. I want to make work that I can do with my friends.

So the research begins. And I haven’t forgotten that I want to produce a full fledged production of “The Killing Jar.”

I know, I know. You are probably scratching your head saying “how the hell is there time to do this as well as finish the last three shows I’ve committed to?” This is where collaborations are going to come in handy.

I have my foundation. Now it’s time to begin building my “house.”

Opening Night on a Friday the 13????

This is gonna be scary/fun/exciting/anxiety-filling!!!! Yes, all of those things rolled into one big night.

IT OPENS TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are a multitude of emotions that are zipping through my head right now and ever since I opened my eyes this morning.

I am excited because we get to see what the show is like with people watching and seeing if everything we’ve done works like we are thinking it will.

I am nervous about making sure I’ve got all my cues and props right. And all the stairs.

I am happy because, in totality, these cast mates of mine and the show staff are a tremendous group of people. Their onstage ethic is a joy to be around and their off stage personalities and kindnesses have made this process relatively stress-free. Relatively because I stress myself out. But I COULD NOT have asked for a better group of people to be on this journey with.

I am anxious because we all know there’s gonna be judgments. Ben Vereen was a master at this role and he did a magically amazing job. I am not Ben, so my interpretation is different, but I know there will be those people… Hell, I am sometimes one. Sigh… There’s nothing I can do about it, so I shall say, let the judging commence. It does help the our music director worked some magic of his own on the show. You will have to see it to find out what I mean.

I am grateful to the staff for believing that I can pull this off.

I have been asked to explain this show to TONS of people. It is such a hard thing to do. But here’s my take on it.

Pippin is trying to find the ONE thing that will be completely fulfilling. We all know there is no such thing. We have to put our best into every opportunity we are given which is what the Leading Player provides. The only thing you can really find fulfilling is looking back on your accomplishments in your twilight years knowing that you were a good person who helped people and set a good example. In our current age of “Gimme Instant Fame” we forget this. Does he learn his lesson? You will have to come and see. Get your tickets here: Sunnyvale Players I think the majority of the Goldstar tickets are sold. There may be one or two for later in the run.

Because there is SO much to do today, I have to keep this short.

I honestly hope that you do come out and support local theatre. See a show, even if it isn’t ours. Support those people on stages that put their hearts and souls into something that affects people. You are supporting the oldest form of entertainment, storytelling. Keep this in mind whichever performance you see this weekend. And now, I shall be off. After all…