Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Mending Fences, Mounting Fests
I have cast the two shows I am directing at North Park and something stands out: I have cast one actor from every ACT-San Diego show I've done.
In Among the Missing, I cast The Odd Couple's original Florence Unger (who dropped that show one week before opening); Move Over, Mrs. Markham's Philip Markham; and The Importance of Being Earnest's Jack/John/Earnest Worthing.
In The Last Supper, I cast Boy Gets Girl's Mercer Stevens; Caught in the Net's director; and... a gentleman who actually auditioned.
On the other side of the theatrical coin, the Actors Alliance of San Diego is facing some financial difficulties and has decided to fire its Program Director and suspend all actor programs, including the Actors Festival. This has created no shortage of uproar among a certain group of actors who will not be paid their stipends and want to know just how, exactly, the Festival managed to raise more than $20,000 yet report a loss. We've priced the venue and the programs, we've projected the total cost of stipends (a meaningless gesture in the end) and we are still are unable to account for more than $8,000 -- $14,000 if stipends are not paid. Where did the money go? And why, when the Alliance is willing to put $7,500 into a new website (in the works) isn't it willing to save the programs which actually showcase its actors?
A sub-alliance has formed in an attempt to host our own festival next year where the AASD will not. With or without the endorsement of the AASD (which will not come) we plan to do everything we can to provide actors with the important exposure of this large-scale showcase. Whether, in the end, we can raise an adequate amount of money for an appropriate venue and agree on how it should be used remains to be seen; but as always, I'm right in the thick of it!
Could be fun.
In Among the Missing, I cast The Odd Couple's original Florence Unger (who dropped that show one week before opening); Move Over, Mrs. Markham's Philip Markham; and The Importance of Being Earnest's Jack/John/Earnest Worthing.
In The Last Supper, I cast Boy Gets Girl's Mercer Stevens; Caught in the Net's director; and... a gentleman who actually auditioned.
On the other side of the theatrical coin, the Actors Alliance of San Diego is facing some financial difficulties and has decided to fire its Program Director and suspend all actor programs, including the Actors Festival. This has created no shortage of uproar among a certain group of actors who will not be paid their stipends and want to know just how, exactly, the Festival managed to raise more than $20,000 yet report a loss. We've priced the venue and the programs, we've projected the total cost of stipends (a meaningless gesture in the end) and we are still are unable to account for more than $8,000 -- $14,000 if stipends are not paid. Where did the money go? And why, when the Alliance is willing to put $7,500 into a new website (in the works) isn't it willing to save the programs which actually showcase its actors?
A sub-alliance has formed in an attempt to host our own festival next year where the AASD will not. With or without the endorsement of the AASD (which will not come) we plan to do everything we can to provide actors with the important exposure of this large-scale showcase. Whether, in the end, we can raise an adequate amount of money for an appropriate venue and agree on how it should be used remains to be seen; but as always, I'm right in the thick of it!
Could be fun.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Don't Jump!
I was in San Fransisco once, walking along the Golden Gate Bridge, and I saw this guy on the bridge about to jump. So I thought I'd try to stall and detain him, long enough for me to put the film in. I said, "Don't jump!" and he turns... You've heard of the elephant man. He was kind of like that, he had a, well, you could say he had the head of a horse. And my heart went out to him. I said, "Why the long face?"
He said, "'Cause all my life people have called me mean names like horses-head or Flicka or chess-piece or Trigger..."
I said, "Well, don't worry about it, Ed. It can't be that bad."
He said, "My girlfriend's suing me!"
I said, "For palomino?"
He said, "Why was I put on this Earth?"
I said, "My friend, anywhere else you wouldn't stand a chance."
He said, "Nobody loves me."
I said, "God loves you, you silly ninny."
He said, "How do you know there's a God?"
I said, "Of course there's a God. Do you think that billions of years ago a bunch of molecules floating around at random could someday have had the sense of humor to make you look like that?"
He said, "I do believe in God."
I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
He said, "A Christian."
I said, "Me too. Protestant or Catholic?"
He said, "Protestant."
I said, "Me too! What franchise?"
He says, "Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Baptist."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reform Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."
I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over!
-- Emo Phillips
He said, "'Cause all my life people have called me mean names like horses-head or Flicka or chess-piece or Trigger..."
I said, "Well, don't worry about it, Ed. It can't be that bad."
He said, "My girlfriend's suing me!"
I said, "For palomino?"
He said, "Why was I put on this Earth?"
I said, "My friend, anywhere else you wouldn't stand a chance."
He said, "Nobody loves me."
I said, "God loves you, you silly ninny."
He said, "How do you know there's a God?"
I said, "Of course there's a God. Do you think that billions of years ago a bunch of molecules floating around at random could someday have had the sense of humor to make you look like that?"
He said, "I do believe in God."
I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?"
He said, "A Christian."
I said, "Me too. Protestant or Catholic?"
He said, "Protestant."
I said, "Me too! What franchise?"
He says, "Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Baptist."
I said, "Me too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Baptist."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist or Northern Conservative Reform Baptist?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Eastern Region?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region."
I say, "Me too! Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 or Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?"
He says, "Northern Conservative Fundamentalist Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912."
I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over!
-- Emo Phillips
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Things that Crack Me Up Today
For most of my online tooling about, I use Mozilla's Firefox web browser, preferring it to Internet Explorer and Netscape. However, every so often -- very rarely in fact -- I find a web page that is optimized for one of the other browsers and has a compatibility issue with Firefox. One of those pages is my own Mindspring website. What I see when my picture doesn't load properly is just short of hilarious. Although it is an outdoor shot, the failed pic shows what appears to be corner molding, giving the impression that I might have stepped out of my frame to talk to the picture of Dumbledore.
Yesterday afternoon I was handed the two scripts I will be directing in the North Park Playwright Festival. Yesterday evening I was asked to read the script I will be performing in the 6th @ Penn Challenge Theatre program. The three titles together tell their own story: Among the Missing, The Last Supper, and Obits for Dummies. I love the smell of death-theme in the morning.
Now that the Aubrey Awards ceremony has come and gone (with my two nods splitting votes in the same category I predictably did not win), one of the member theatres is hosting its own in-house awards. I was sent an invitation to attend the ceremonial breakfast but did not discover that I was nominated for an award until my mother e-mailed from Tennessee to congratulate me. Thanks for the long-distance heads-up, Mom! Maybe I'll buy that plate of eggs after all. LOL.
Yesterday afternoon I was handed the two scripts I will be directing in the North Park Playwright Festival. Yesterday evening I was asked to read the script I will be performing in the 6th @ Penn Challenge Theatre program. The three titles together tell their own story: Among the Missing, The Last Supper, and Obits for Dummies. I love the smell of death-theme in the morning.
Now that the Aubrey Awards ceremony has come and gone (with my two nods splitting votes in the same category I predictably did not win), one of the member theatres is hosting its own in-house awards. I was sent an invitation to attend the ceremonial breakfast but did not discover that I was nominated for an award until my mother e-mailed from Tennessee to congratulate me. Thanks for the long-distance heads-up, Mom! Maybe I'll buy that plate of eggs after all. LOL.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Obits for Dummies
In light of the last post, I should point out that I'm not being flippant or ironic with the title of this one. It is, in fact, the title of the next show in which I'll be performing.
Yesterday I received an e-mail from a well-known theatre critic and local playwright, Cuauhtémoc Kish, who is partaking in a seasonal writing contest held by one of the more prestigious theatres in town. Where 6th@Penn once hosted Instant Theatre it now presents Challenge Theatre, which gives its authors a bit more time (nine weeks rather than 24 hours) to write and produce a show of some value. Kish, participating in this season's challenge, has finished his piece and contacted me to perform the lead role, having seen me perform in the Actors Alliance Festival last month (and, though he may not remember it, as Olive Madison in 2005 when he compared me favorably to Bea Arthur).
Now, 6th@Penn is one of those little non-union houses that everybody and his dog tries to get a foot into; it's quite a thrill to be offered a show in this venue without even having had to audition. Though I did take part in the first Instant Theatre at Sixth, that program was, as the theatre claimed when deciding to replace it, "more gimmick than substance" and strictly a volunteer effort.
Though Kish's piece, Obits for Dummies, is written for two actors, the second character rarely interjects. For the most part, it is a hilarious one-woman showcase -- and it's mine, all mine. Woo-Hoo!
The show will be presented "off nights" (Sunday - Thursday) in October, during the same time that the show I'm committed to direct will be opening. I have not yet received my script for the North Park Playwrights Festival, but the producers all but begged their volunteer directors not to drop out and leave them holding the bag. So, I've got some scheduling to work out!
More fun months ahead. I'll keep you posted.
Yesterday I received an e-mail from a well-known theatre critic and local playwright, Cuauhtémoc Kish, who is partaking in a seasonal writing contest held by one of the more prestigious theatres in town. Where 6th@Penn once hosted Instant Theatre it now presents Challenge Theatre, which gives its authors a bit more time (nine weeks rather than 24 hours) to write and produce a show of some value. Kish, participating in this season's challenge, has finished his piece and contacted me to perform the lead role, having seen me perform in the Actors Alliance Festival last month (and, though he may not remember it, as Olive Madison in 2005 when he compared me favorably to Bea Arthur).
Now, 6th@Penn is one of those little non-union houses that everybody and his dog tries to get a foot into; it's quite a thrill to be offered a show in this venue without even having had to audition. Though I did take part in the first Instant Theatre at Sixth, that program was, as the theatre claimed when deciding to replace it, "more gimmick than substance" and strictly a volunteer effort.
Though Kish's piece, Obits for Dummies, is written for two actors, the second character rarely interjects. For the most part, it is a hilarious one-woman showcase -- and it's mine, all mine. Woo-Hoo!
The show will be presented "off nights" (Sunday - Thursday) in October, during the same time that the show I'm committed to direct will be opening. I have not yet received my script for the North Park Playwrights Festival, but the producers all but begged their volunteer directors not to drop out and leave them holding the bag. So, I've got some scheduling to work out!
More fun months ahead. I'll keep you posted.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Moment of Silence
My brother's ex-wife and the mother of his two oldest daughters (10 and 12) died unexpectedly in her home on Saturday.
The cause of death is likely to have been heart failure caused by Addison's Disease, a rare endocrine disorder. Visitation was held Tuesday, a memorial service was held last night.
Today would have been her 30th birthday.
The cause of death is likely to have been heart failure caused by Addison's Disease, a rare endocrine disorder. Visitation was held Tuesday, a memorial service was held last night.
Today would have been her 30th birthday.