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.

Days of Reflection: Day Nine

I was reading the Merc. Yeah, I know, when did I begin to read the paper? It all began when the Sunday paper began to be left on our step/stoop (I don’t know if one calls a single step that leads up to the front door a stoop or not) I don’t know why, but it’s been there every Sunday for about the last four weeks. So, why not read it if no one is taking it. By the way don’t let the telemarketers fool you when they say that you can get hundreds of dollars in coupon savings. It’s a lie! But back to my original story…

I was reading the Merc, that’s what the cool folks are calling it, and the major article on the front page was about the 10 most powerful women in the Silicon Valley. It’s a pretty impressive list. One of the things they pointed out was that on this particular list there was only one person who was an actual CEO of a company…and she was number 3! The article went on to state that while most of these women were next in line for the title of CEO, their jobs held just as much responsibility and power, albeit most of it was behind the scenes as in streamlining department processes and mergers and the like. It did raise a question though. One that most women in theatre and movies ask all the time. Where are the great leading roles for women?!? So I don’t leave you hanging, there’s an interesting argument that while these women are incredibly powerful, women view the term “success” much differently than men. Men are greedy when it comes to power. They aren’t comfortable with sharing their knowledge and helping fellow associates to do their job better because then it could put that associate in direct competition for the alpha dog position. Women on the other hand are happy to share their knowledge and lend a hand to their colleagues to help them succeed. That was just a theory that one of the interviewees spoke about, but I think its a very valid point and one that sounds more like fact than theory.

What does this have to do with theatre? As I stated before, there has been a question in the theatre and movie industry that’s asking where all the great female lead roles are at. To be frank, I don’t have an answer. But I will say this. Sure there are the iconic roles of Mama Rose, Evita Peron, Sally Bowles, Velma Kelley, Roxy Hart, Elphaba, Glenda, and Eliza Doolittle, and Aunie Mame, but what about all the new stuff that’s come from Broadway recently like Diana Goodman from “Next to Normal”, Elle Woods from “Legally Blonde”, Celie and Sophia from “The Color Purple”, Felicia from “Memphis” and The Lady In The Lake from “Spamalot”. That’s just a TINY number of amazing roles that have a complexity that every actor seeks to find. Or maybe it’s just me being jealous that ladies have a million amazing songs that I would give my pinkie toe to sing. There are a number of shows that have female characters that can easily pull a Judy Dench! And by “Pull a Judy Dench” I mean be on screen/stage for mere minutes and get an award nomination! So let’s get Dench!!

Day Nine: Two smileys that describe your life right now.

Okay well this is akward! I am a total nincompoop when it comes to emoticons. Would it be a total cope out if I just write out the way the smileys should look? Oh, wait!! Duh, that’s what cut and paste is for, ya know?

Because I seem to be constantly on the go with only approximately 5 hours of good sleep a night, I am often more tired than what I would consider normal. Maybe all these years of constant activity are finally starting to catch up in my old age. Hahahaha!! I don’t think so!! I just need to get into some sort of sleep schedule and I will be all hunky dory!

1.Ummm, hello? I had an amazing day at work today, went to the Spaghetti Factory for dinner (I had the half and half meal YUMMY!), made it to the gym for a great run, AND had me a glass or three of wine? Life is GRAND, people!!! Life is frackin’ grand.

My dear Miss Emily was one of the very first girl best friends that I had in a very long time. She could ask me to do anything and I would happily oblige. As you can tell. She is the reason that a lot of these “Hello Dolly” pictures exist. She is a kind wonderful friend who I miss greatly. In yesterday’s post I wrote that there would be people that you just lose touch with and unfortunately this beautiful soul was one of them. I told her about my fears. I complained to her. She listened intently and talked me through those things the way a calm and logical friend usually does. On the rare days when she complained, I would be there for her. She made me a little photo book that I absolutely treasure and have up in my home. In the end of the book, she added quotes like “A friend is one who walks in, when the rest of the world walks out.” – unknown.

I miss you, Emily. I hope you are well and making the most out of life.

Days of Reflection: Day Eight

You know, sometimes when you get involved with a production, you never know where it’s gonna lead or even better all the amazing people you will meet. I feel so blessed that I have gotten to know all of these amazing and talented folks who have enriched my life to the nth degree. Honest! For example, today I got a text from Stephen, a cast mate from Sweet Charity and White Christmas, and it made me smile like a clown. Sometimes you unfortunately lose track of some, and other times, like with Stephen, you KNOW you’ll keep in touch. I can’t wait until I get to work with him again.

Day Eight: Three turn ons.

Yay, FINALLY an easy one!! I don’t like the use of “turn on” because that implies a sort of biblical intimacy that just isn’t always the case.

3. Talent – I love performers! I appreciate the fact that they can share an openness about themselves that transcend mere conversation.

2. Intelligence – I love to learn stuff. It doesn’t even really matter what it is! Things that I never thought I would ever need to know, have popped into the most random conversations.

1. Kindness – There is nothing more amazing than a person that helps others and asks for nothing in return. There aren’t enough people in the world who have this capacity. Society has turned most of humanity into a self serving entity. So much so that when someone actually does something randomly kind, people don’t know how to react and begin offering stuff in an effort to not feel like something will be asked for at a later date. It’s a damn shame.

Who goes out in an ascot? *Thumbs pointing to self* This guy! haha! I just wish that we were standing a little closer or that she was feigning the other way. Then it would look like I was snickering at her. Also a little bummed that my knickers weren’t captured in the shot. I worked really hard on them. I can’t wait for the next Club Satori. Its fun when the music is good. The fact that they offer pear cider doesn’t hurt!!! Cheers!

So what “turns you on”? Or better yet, what qualities do you appreciate in others? Is it something that you possess? Lemme know!

Days of Reflection: Day Seven

I thought I would just take the night off and not post something today, but then I realized that it would mean that I was to fail this little challenge/goal that I have set for myself. It seems to be a pattern with me. As soon as I feel like I got the hang of something or that I have finally gotten into the swing of things, I let things slide. Today, it would have been just this itty bitty post. Then tomorrow, it would be like not reading up on all the gardening stuff that I have to still learn. I figured that by completing this, I could see that “hey ya knucklehead, sticking with it ain’t so hard.” I am a little hesitant to admit this, but early on in my theatre endeavors, I would really dread going to rehearsals. I would say to myself “I don’t want to have to sing that same stupid song again” or “practice a dance again that I already knew” while my non-theatre friends were doing other stuff. So I would skip out on rehearsals to be part of the fun that my friends were having. Happily, I don’t do that anymore and I have found that yes, sometimes, the idea of rehearsal is not as exciting as something else, once I get to practice I realize that I am so glad that I went.

Day Seven: Four turn offs

Another reason that I wanted to skip today was because I couldn’t come up with four turn offs. I just have one really big turn off. But just for the sake of having something, this is what I present to you:

4. Talking with your mouth full of food. More specifically, food that has ranch or bleu cheese dressing or mayo. Basically anything creamy looking. I just get queasy seeing that. YUCK!!!

3. A couple of my friends are a little gross. They like to look at zits or other puss filled things and seem to be fascinated by it. I, on the other hand, am not.

2. Rude people – My friend told me a little saying that goes “Manners are free, use them often.”

1. Hatred. Everyone has things that they dislike. I dislike beets. Bleh! But when it comes to people? Yeah, I have a hard time tolerating certain people, like numbers 2 and 3. But I do. I used to wish that I was a vigilante that would throw lit cigarettes back into people’s cars that had thrown them out the window. But back on the subject. I don’t understand why people have to spread such toxic and terrible behaviors and attitudes. Nothing in the world can get better until the people of the world get better. Can we please start now?

What turns you “off”? What is it that gets your nerves in a tingle? Maybe we can come up with solutions on how to best expel those things that bother us together.

I was actually getting ready to throw that strawberry stem in the sink, which is cropped out. Also, cropped out my BFF telling me “Hold that pose” and giggling while this picture gets snapped. In a weird, way. I don’t seem to mind this picture. Yes, the blue eyeshadow has a story, but it’s a little late for me to get all long winded about it, so maybe another time also, I doubt I can recall how it all came about. I just can’t remember if this was before or after I got the rug burn on my forehead. I bet I got your attention now!!!

I think I might actually be getting something out of this find a picture and don’t turn away in disgust project. That’s good, right?

Day of Reflection: Day Six

While I’ve been hunting down auditions for myself, I kept coming across the same sort of post. It went something like: Such and such production company is looking for actors for a future low budget/feature film/indie picture. Looking to cast: Leading Man – 20-30’s Caucasian; Secondary Character – 20-30’s Caucasian…That is just a generic wording of the dozens of disheartening casting calls that I found. Then I got to thinking “well it’s no wonder that so many people are now taking control of their own careers by making vehicles specifically for themselves.” So I got to thinking about all the little projects that I had at one time or another began working on and then just lost track of what I was doing. So that lead me to a theme for podcast 16.

Day Six: Five people who mean a lot

It’s really hard to only pick five people when there are so many people that I care about. Especially all the people that have taught me so much and so much about myself. I think I have to cheat this one just a little bit and cluster it up just a bit. I hope you don’t mind.

5. Karaoke friends!! You guys have given me so many great laughs in the short time we’ve been meeting up. I look forward to them because it just helps to laugh off all the worries of life for just a few hours. Thank you for that.

4. My blood family because without them, I wouldn’t have such snappy comebacks for people.

3. Tommy O and Holypigeon, for being absolutely amazing people to learn a million things from.

2. Notblue and Hubby for being absolutely amazing people to watch grow and to grow with.

1. My munster because you’re my munster!

If I truly had to pick my five, here are four of them.

I can’t tell you how much fun this trip to Napa was! I would eventually love to go back again with these same people. We shared this amazing apartment style suite and spent two days there. I wish I didn’t smile so big. I think that’s what makes it look fake. I should probably take a cue from my friend at NotBlueAtAll.com and practice smiling in a mirror. I just can’t stand looking at mirrors either. Aside from looking at myself, one of the other reasons is that I freak myself out and think that the mirror me will move when the real me didn’t. If that didn’t happen, I would be afraid that someone would pop up behind me; as in ghosts or something. Or if it’s at night, the power would go out and when it came back up, something else would be looking at me. Creepy. Man, I think I really gotta lay off the horror movies. Speaking of which, is anyone else interested in seeing Anthony Hopkins in “The Rite”? Opening Day is January 28. Wait, does this make me a glutton for punishment?

Who are your five important people? Do you have so many people that you need to cluster them up too? And do you wanna go see “The Rite” at the end of the month?

Days of Reflection: Day Five

I just read that this weekend in LA there will be auditions for a “new” show called Thriller Live! OF COURSE, IT’S WHAT YOU THINK IT IS…A live show based on the music of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5. Here’s why I called it “new”. Apparently, since 2007, it has been a well received show in London (surprise, surprise! Why do the Brits always get the jump on shows?) that played to over a million people. The casting is for the 2011 Worldwide Tour and to step into the West End production. The weird thing was that the cattle call is for NON union members. The best thing about this ad is that the very end reads: “Please prepare two contrasting Michael Jackson songs, that show your full range, bring a picture/resume, and be prepared to wait.” As if one would expect to just show up and waltz right in and leave. I couldn’t help but to chuckle lightly to myself.

Day Five: Six things you wish you’d never done.

Goodness, that would imply that I have regrets. I can’t say that I have any, but let’s just say that it’s six things that I didn’t enjoy doing.

6. A while back while I worked for Structure (Express Men before the name change) I won a trip to a resort down in Palm Springs. One of the three activities that I had chosen was to go shopping on the main drag in town. I wish that I had chosen something more interesting. While I loved the shops and just hanging out, I think I would have gotten more out of the trip had I opted for something more like my other two activities which were a major Spa treatment and a balloon ride. The balloon ride was pretty damn awesome, except for the forced picture taking.

5. I wish I would have focused on something in school instead of just a mass of classes.

4. I didn’t enjoy having a root canal, but it was kinda important.

3. Oh, I wish I’d never jumped over the fence to get in to a club back when I was 16. It led to meeting someone who made me greatly dislike the circus.

2. I wish I never wasted my time watching the movie “Open Water” even though it was free!

1. This one was a doozey!! And it’s over-share, but maybe you will learn from my mistake. I wish I never took a probiotic, drank a large coffee, and had a fiber filled breakfast. That’s all I’m sayin’!

Ron, Blaze, Mark, forgive me cuz I don't remember his name, and me

These guys were so cool to work with that I was comfortable enough to fall asleep on this guy’s arm. it’s bugging me that I don’t remember his name. Someone, HELP!! Do you know his name? Let me know, so I can change the caption. When does big hair go away? I always look like I have some sort of pompadour. I hate it. Is it so wrong to wish for flat hair? Is it?