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.

Like Martha says “It’s a good thing”

Most projects are collaborative. Theatre is collaborative. Whatever you do for your 9 to 5 is also this. On rare occasions, I don’t know if the magnetic poles have to align just right with the stars in Orion’s belt in the Southeastern Hemisphere at the precise midpoint of the moon’s lunar cycle, but some times people listen to all of your ideas. And I don’t mean they hear them then skip over them to the next topic, or completely shoot them down. What I am talking about is the ideas that get heard and dialogue begins to happen and the idea expands and morphs into something, hopefully better or more useful.

My friends, today has been that day for me. Over at the nursery, I had a little pow wow with my boss and conversations just bounced around the room. Then at rehearsal, Elisa let me adapt and manipulate and reinterpret my lines differently than I did in the past, and she didn’t even blink an eye. I think she knew that I am still tweaking and modifying character voices and movements and I feel like when I work with her I don’t have to always ask for permission to do something different. I truly love the freedom that I feel like I am allowed in order to put my best character forward. Aside from basic blocking, every thing that I did tonight was different from the original rehearsal of the scenes. Accenting different words, created more interesting speech patterns and new ideas and feelings. Thus causing new physical reactions with my fellow actors.

We ran through Act 2 tonight, and while there were parts that are a little bumpy, the shape is there. Tomorrow we have a design run through, and I am crossing my fingers that they, the designers, will bring some new energy to the cast and it’ll feel like something brand spanking new.

I wanna take this feeling and put it in a little box, tie with a corn silk bow and place it under my pillow, so I’ll always have it.

It’s definitely a good thing!

What a lucky lad am I…

Can you believe after 6 long weeks of silence, I am back on the podcasty waves?

Episode 16

(Click to listen, then do the Muppet dance. YAY!)

One, one run through of Act 1, ah ah ah…

We did an actual run through of Act 1 today, and I was very nervous, because I am not off book as well as I would like to be. So during the scenes I was off stage, I would study the pages in a panicked fury. I think I did alright, but I think I am infused my “villain” with a little too much of the character of Igor. Well, crap!

Elisa says it’s good thing, because it shows that only the most “defective” of people would befriend our main villain. I am just hoping that it doesn’t come off like a big caricature. I want the guy to be slithery and dirty, but still have a touch of humanity.

I was a wee bit excited because some of the people say that my Spanish is getting a lot better.

The run through itself was great to finally do. It’s nice to get an idea of consistency. The musicians of the play were creating a score on the spot. I definitely found that the music added to the overall feel of the play. There was one problem with having the musicians in the rehearsal hall. That little problem has to do with echo. As the music is being figured out, they play at a volume that is much louder than the scene that’s being performed. It occasionally made it difficult to focus on the scene at hand.

The great thing that came out of the run through is that there are some gaps that I had from having to work during some of the rehearsal times.

We have tomorrow night off, so you can surely bet that I will be studying my script.

I should get started on that right…about…now!

South Park creators preview on Broadway!!

Hey look, more religious stuff! Albeit, funny and offensive in all the best ways, Matt Stone and Trey Parker have finally made a musical that is on Broadway. Previews began this past Thursday at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, so you know it’s gonna get some hate mail by Monday. When you check out the website for “The Book of Mormon” under the cast list, there’s a long list of young hungry Broadway veterans and also on there is one Bay Area native, Nick Spangler, who makes his Broadway debut with this show! Congrats to him!!

I never understood a devout person’s need to force feed their beliefs on other people. I am so happy to say “More power to ya for believing as completely as you do.” and mean it, but its not an invitation for you to try and convert me. I love that these guys are brave enough to take on the Mormon corporation and poke it with a stick. Yeah, they are gonna get a ton of angry people and a lot of threats probably, but if anyone can shake it off it’ll be these two.

And so to Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker, your work on South Park always reminds me that we shouldn’t take ourselves so seriously. In doing that show, you also smartly point out the ridiculous things we, as a society, tend to revere. As a fan of everything you’ve created so far especially Orgasmo and BASEketball, and except for Team America (the puppets were creepy), I wish you incredible success with this show. AND I can’t wait to see it!!!!

The more you know…

I love when I talk to people that I am working with. And I don’t mean the usual “Hi, how are you?” kind of stuff. I was so lucky that I had the opportunity to chat with Teatro Vision’s Artistic Director Elisa Alvarado. I am currently working on editing the interview for a podcast, so YAY!!

During my talk with her, I feel like I learned more about why I want to open my own theatre company some day. I doubt that I would be lucky enough to have the same sort of eventful career that she got to have. I think in my head, what I picture is, as Elisa explained to me in the interview, more of a collective than a “company.” There’s something to be said about surrounding yourself with people that you truly enjoy working with and creating good times and experiences with. I hope you enjoy the interview when I get it posted.

The other thing that I love about doing these interviews is that it just inspires me to keep going, to keep working, to keep dreaming, to keep enjoying, and to keep protesting. To make sure that I should do everything I can to help companies that I believe in and to promote the artists that I admire and enjoy.