I hope you had the most fabulous of weekends! I really do. It was Global Pride Weekend! I have been on an emotional upswing this week, mostly. There were a few moments of sadness, but they didn’t last for long. Physically, I am still trying to adjust to the movements of the acting class I am taking. It is so different from my experience with Meisner and Stanislavski method classes. This one has a focus on Laban Movement which is really fascinating. I love learning all of these different techniques. I think it will be crazy fun to “build” characters combining all the various methods/styles, and I can’t wait to try it. Whenever that may be.
But, before I get bummed out dwelling on this, Gentle Reader, let’s move on…
Yesterday during a “Brunch For 2” breakfast, we decided to watch Bridge Theatre’s version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream thanks to National Theatre At Home on Youtube. For the record, I do enjoy watching Shakespeare contrary to what some may have heard. (But we aren’t focusing on that right now. LOL!) I even enjoy learning monologues and soliloquies from his works, but I have never wanted to audition for a Shakespeare show. The honest to goodness reason, selfish as it is, is because most of the places in this area are Shakespeare in the Park type of companies and have the bulk of their performances in the summer months. I don’t do summer. I hate being overheated unless I am exercising, in a dance class or performing. As most of these places do the bulk of their rehearsals and performances outside, I steer clear. I will go see the shows since it is only about 3 hours of a day. I can handle that. Only once a month though! LOL!
Kindest Reader, watching that production was breathtaking. I was full of humor and heightened tension and brilliant releases of energy that shock the audience out of the expected in the best possible ways. There were beautiful stage pictures nearly everywhere you looked. Everything about the production was lush and vibrant. Even the beds looked great! LOL!
And it made me realize what my soul has been missing.
While I loved being in the shows that I have been lucky enough to participate in, the one thing that I have been longing for is something that is an extravagant reimagining of a classic or an immersive world creation. I felt like the latter was going to be what the original idea behind my summer project with Dragon Theatre was supposed to be. Then, COVID-19 put a stop to that. I trust that some day I will get the chance to be a part of something as incredible as this production. If you haven’t had a chance to see it, Dear Reader, I highly recommend it.
Check it out while you still can. It is the best 2.5 hours in any day. The actors playing PUCK and BOTTOM steal the show, in my opinion, but there are no weak links in the cast. I hope you check it out and let the magic of the show color the rest of your day.
Enjoy your Monday, Gentle Reader! Stay safe and alert and open to learning. I adore you.
Welcome back to hear about my fabulous fails that ended up making delightful memories.😜
Today’s fail is my second favorite. The reason it isn’t my first fave is ONLY because the show itself is SO funny and even if this fail didn’t happen, the audience still would have enjoyed the show.
Let’s go back to 2015, Dear Reader. The show is Boeing Boeing. The role is Robert Lambert.❤️
Show summary: Well-To-Do bachelor, Bernard gets a visit from small town friend from college, Robert. Bernard reveals he has 3 fiancés who are all international airline attendants on different airlines and their paths never cross. Or do they?
I loved that painting!!!! Those were some stiff shoes and I am pointing my toes so hard RN!!! Me and Berthe (Christine McElroy)
The story so far: Bernard and Gloria (the American) are having breakfast when Robert shows up. After Gloria leaves for her flight, Bernard tells of his love life: 3 fiancés with two days spent together each week and their paths don’t cross. Bernard invites Robert to stay with him and tells him that Gretchen (the German) will be having dinner with them before continuing on her flight, but first, Gabriella (the Italian) will be incoming for lunch. There is a large scene between Robert and the housemaid, Berthe, at the top of Act 2, that really sets up the forthcoming physical comedy of the rest of the play. Arriving much earlier than scheduled, Gretchen and Robert meet while Bernard is out and he is totally smitten with her. She storms off to her bedroom in exasperation and as she does, enter Gabriella and Bernard! Gabriella is now on a turbo jet and doesn’t have to leave until tomorrow. I recall how much the energy ramped up at this point as the dialogue goes back and forth much faster and I am jumping all over that stage and I pretend to be a tree in the wind and a bunny on a meadow… Robert convinces Bernard and Gabriella to spend a romantic night in the countryside leaving Gretchen in the apartment with Robert and Berthe. So far, so good! But a call comes in saying that Gloria is on her way back because there is a storm. And that’s where we find my fabulous fail… (I kinda wish I had did this as a vlog, because they way I wrote the paragraph above should try and be read in one big breath to get the sense of the chaos of the show, but you wouldn’t know that.)
Same scene as the “incident”, but on a different night. See? I am already a mess from running, jumping, squatting and falling in the first 2 acts. Me and Gloria’s (Heather Bass) finger
Top of Act 3, after dinner together, Robert accidentally offends Gretchen and she storms off for a walk but not before beating on him with her purse, which gets left behind. A mini-scene between Robert and Berthe sets up the entrance for Gloria. As she walks in, Robert notices Gretchen’s Lufthansa bag and Berthe intercepts Gloria.
This is the stage direction in the script: “(Berthe turns Gloria away from Robert. Robert throws the bean bag chair with himself on it to hide the Lufthansa bag in front of Door #1)” We liked it, so we went with it! 😆
Now, my Lovely Reader, I am a chunky monkey, thick like molasses, and apparently reckless! LOL! So as the following happened, so too did my fail:
GLORIA. Hi! (Played amazingly by Heather Bass, waves to me)
ROBERT. Hi! (Big eyed and overly toothy smile, I wave back “There’s nothing weird here at all ” of course I don’t say it, that’s my inner dialogue. LOL!)
BERTHE. Good evening, Mademoiselle. (Christine McElroy was perfect as Berthe BTW’s. She takes Gloria as she is saying her line and leads her a step away from the bag)
As Christine shifts Heather over, I grabbed the bean bag, tossed it on the purse and jumped over it to sit facing the audience.
Weeeeeeellllll…
When I landed, there was a distinct and audible, PFFFFT! 💨and suddenly I noticed there were little pellet type things all over my legs. I could feel my feet slipping out from under me and I knew the bag popped. Well, that and the hysterical laughter that was coming from the audience was a big clue too!
Here I am on this popped bag, the audience is dying of laughter, Christine and Heather are being amazingly professional, and waiting for the die down to happen, all while maintaining character. If it were me, I would have been DYING!!! Anyway, from has been told to me, the hole was in the vicinity of my bits and pieces. (That sounds terrible when I read it back… Imma leave it tho.) When I landed the bag shifted slightly and I wasn’t really centered and ‘comfortable” on the bag, so as though nothing were wrong or out of the ordinary, I try to get my feet back under me to reposition myself. Each movement cause a new spewing of little rabbit turds to pop out of the bag which is under my bum so it looks like I am popping them out not the bag and the audience launches into another fit of laughter. Mind you, I didn’t know where the hole was at the time, I was only told of it after, which makes me actually laugh when I think about it. Wait… laughter subsides…
Gloria and Berthe have a few lines of dialogue before, Heather as Gloria makes her way over to me, who is cool as a cucumber and says:
GLORIA. And how have you got on since I left this morning? (LAUGHTER)
ROBERT. It’s been quite dull really (LAUGHTER)
GLORIA. Cosy here, isn’t it? Home sweet home. Everything’s so calm. (BIG LAUGH!!)
ROBERT. Calm yes? Really calm isn’t it, Berthe? ( BIG LAUGH!! Remember each little movement i make has me rabbit poopping bean bag beans…)
BERTHE. Calm as calm can be. (Christine’s deadpan perfectly delivers the killer blow for this whole mess and the audience explodes with laughter and applause.)
I could only hear Christine but since Heather was much closer to me and looking down at me, I got to see her struggle with maintaining a straight face whilst I was playing the laziest version of Peter Cottontail. 👀😄😂
If I remember correctly, bean bag beans were found constantly on the set during the run. I felt bad that the bag popped because it meant funds had to be spent to repair and refill, but grateful that it happened early in the run with a big audience and we had nearly a sold out run because it was a funny show. Even without the beans!
Oh, Gentle Reader, I hope I conveyed that story better than the last, and I hope it brought a smile to your face. When I think back on that moment, I get a pretty good laugh out of it. That show is one of my more cherished plays. Not only was the script funny as all get out, but the cast fit the characters and got along so well and it was easy to get lost in my character. For the director, Kevin, I cannot say “thank you” enough. 💖 And thanks for the pictures! It reminds me it really happened.
There aren’t many instances when I wish someone was recording a night’s production performance. Especially since, as I have mentioned before, I don’t like being in front of cameras.
I would like to share 3 or 4 of my spectacular fails that turned into big laughs. I say 3 or 4 because, 2 happened in the same show, so I don’t know if that counts as a single incident. In the next few posts, I want to share them to maybe bring you a smile. 😄 Fingers crossed.
I don’t know how to rate them, because they were all belly busters and hard to not ham up. I am going to share them in order of what makes me smile the most when I think back on the incidents. So, Dear Reader, let’s start off with a smaller smile incident.
The show was Crazy For You way back in 2014. The role is Bobby Child.
Imagine if you will, Kind Reader, this super sweaty actor wearing layered costumes and we are on the second to last scene for Act 1. Prior to this point, there have been at least 4 dance numbers (K-Ra-Zy For You, I Can’t Be Bothered Now, Shall We Dance, Slap That Bass) so I am a hot mess. Dripping with salt water and makeup, I know my face is getting oily. CURSE YOU COMBINATION SKIN!!!! Oh, AND it is summertime. 🌞!!😓
Anyway! Back to the moment. If you don’t know the show: Bobby is a NY young guy that loves the theatre. Musical Theatre in particular. Typically, cast as a caucasian, so my caramel colored ass was surprised that I was offered the part, but I digress… 😵
Bobby Child works for a bank and the is going to Nevada as a representative to deal with an upcoming foreclosure. It turns out that the foreclosure is for a theatre that belongs to Polly who he falls in love with, and her father. They have a notice saying to expect Bobby, so when Bobby finally introduces himself, it goes all wrong. He then has a brilliant idea to dress up as a famous director, Bela Zangler, to put on a show, help save the theatre, and win Polly over. That brings us to the point at which “the incident” happens. The big thing to note is that Zangler has a mustache that Bobby does not…
Polly ends up crushing on faux Bela during “Slap That Bass” and pursues him during her song “Embraceable You” at the end of the scene. As she is making her advances, Bobby is trying to divert her affections from himself as Zangler to Bobby in the midst her singing. One performance, it was so hot outside that the mustache glue wouldn’t hold (ok, who am I kidding? It hardly ever held but at least I could fake it and push it back on most of the time). Polly, brilliantly played by the amazing Fiona Condon, sings out to the audience and then turns to Zangler in her saucy advances, I usually would press the mustache on while she looks away. At one point, I counter and cross her to just past the opposite side of center stage and I try pressing the fake hair back on, but it comes off in my hand! I know that the glue is officially a lost cause. ACK! I need to find a way to keep the mustache in place when she spins me around so the only thing I can think to do is to lean way back like a frug dancer from Fosse’s famous Sweet Charity number. It is obvious to everyone in the audience that the glue is lost at this point, but Fiona doesn’t let that phase her one bit! Such a pro, she is. I can hear the audience laughing as she is singing and I can’t focus on her words because all I am thinking is “Shit! Shit! Shit! It’s not gonna hold!” At the end of the number, Polly plants a big ol’ kiss on Zangler and as she pulls me to her, the mustache slips into prime position and it is a big salty gluey flavored smackaroo. Just a whole number of me trying to keep that stupid thing on in different ways, there was some face slapping at one point, but none were more ridiculous than the “hairtoss.” When I couldn’t press the darned thing back on, I had to do a head toss to try and get it to “hop” back in place. Imagine a beautiful lady singing a beautiful song beautifully juxtaposed with a panicked sweaty oaf, trying to play it cool as he tries to keep a mustache from falling off of his face while trying to keep it on the sly.
I still have that monstrosity. Somewhere.😆
Looking back on that moment in the show always makes me smile and chuckle a little. Oh, Gentle Reader, if only someone had filmed that, you would see the most glorious madness. I hope I told that story vividly enough that you get to imagine the absurdity of the moment and it makes you smile. Even if it is just a little, that is a win!
Until next time, Dear Reader, I hope you are doing well and keep safe! The next one really did need a video. I couldn’t believe it when the director told the the stage picture that we had… 😜
Today, I got that dreaded email that no actor likes to get: the good old “Thanks, but no thanks.” 😟
I promised myself the year off. So really, for me nothing has changed. However, as I have been really unmotivated to work on learning new monologues or audition songs, I have spent most of my time doing research, hanging out with friends and seeing shows. On top of that, I have become a professional napper. 😴 Yes, yes. A NAPPER! Me, the guy who can’t sleep at night because of fears and wants and a whole lot of whatnot. This has put me in a mindset of “I’ll get to it later.” I am beginning to wonder if this time off thing was a bad idea.
So while I may have been given a “T/NT” letter, I still get my year off AND I soon get to announce what my kick off project for 2019 is going to be. 👏👏👏(That reminds me, I gotta look into some swing dance classes…)
I also think I lost a bit of my magic at the end of March that involved a high stress situation that we came across. Don’t worry, Good Reader, everything is ok now, but for a hot minute we were a little panicked.
Now, I get to be panicked about other things! Yay and Boo all at the same time. 😂🤯🤪 Just like getting that letter, but not really having it make a difference. There needs to be a hashtag for that… So while I am disappointed, I need to keep my mind focused on what I set out to do at the very start of all this and get back to it.
I now need to find a way to draw out what I had in me before March happened so I can finish that script! Maybe I need to go back to the source material and play with it. Like make it a game for now. I can record the different characters and listen to it for inspiration? That actually may be what I might do.
And a part of me just wants to hide out in a cave until the idea passes. LOL!
Whenever I choreograph a show, I usually assign the dancer that asks the most specific questions about details the task of being the dance captain. The main reason I do this is because I know that they are dedicated to making the movements as close as possible to what I am asking for. Usually this person is also technically sound and picks up steps fairly quickly… even when I don’t use counts and “boom kak whoosh” my way through a step. I do try to use counts as much as possible but sometimes I will focus on particular sounds in the middle of the number just to confuse the heck out of my dancers.
That being said, I think that being asked to take on the title Dance Captain is a great compliment for a dancer.
You can bet your boo-tay that I am gonna be up late these next couple of days making some serious notes and possibly spreadsheets breaking down steps to counts. But mind you, I did say POSSIBLY… I just gotta find some time.
Anyone got any extra time that they can spare? I need like 27 hours per day. 24 just ain’t cuttin’ it.
Welp, this has to be short, cuz… well… this kid is a Dance Captain! Hahahaha
The Actorvist 