Fame or Famine

I’m afraid my internet connection punked out on me at the end of the Blog-Off, and I didn’t make all 24 posts in 24 hours. But I had a lot of help from guest bloggers, and here is one article by Dana Pellebon, an actor, writer, and producer from Madison, WI.
Writer’s groups are a dime a dozen these days and very few distinguish themselves.  Inkslingers, based out of Madison, WI, is one of the very few who do and manage to have their work produced.  I have been lucky enough to act for them on and off throughout the past …read more

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No, this is not some weird new musical, this is exactly what I’m saying it is: sex workers in western Maharashtra, India, have spent over a month taking acting lessons and then putting together a play about their lives.
Entitled  My Mother, the Gharwali, Her Maalak, His Wife, the play has the avowed message that “We too are human beings like you, and this is a profession like any other.” The play opens March 18, to portray the people who interact with the sex workers in everyday life.
“We are also humans” 
“We sell our bodies to earn money,” says Sangeeta, a sex …read more

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Last night was an interesting experience – I was part of a “Murder Mystery” party along with several old friends and, as it would happen, an ex-girlfriend. We were all sent “character sheets” by the hostess earlier in the month, with time to prepare costumes, etc (these ranged from a person who simply put on a shawl to a man who had a pinstripe suit specially made for the occasion – then again, his character was Al Capone). I went halfway, which I think is understandable as I actually had two characters.
In the first half I was Don “Big Jim” …read more

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It’s a dirty little secret of mine: I like the movie Equilibrium. It’s not a pretty secret, because it’s a seriously flawed movie – all you have to do is listen to Kurt Wimmer’s commentary track on the DVD (and how much have I revealed about myself that I admit that I have listened to it?) to hear, over and over again, how “If we’d had more money, we’d have done this…instead, we ran out, so we did that.”
But it did establish Christian Bale as an action star (paving the way for Batman) and I’m not the only one who …read more

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Ok, first things first: Yes, it’s Christmas, and yes, Johnny Depp has played Willy Wonka and Jack Sparrow and even Gilbert Grape and Benny and all manner of likeable characters.
This, however, is not one of them. So unless you are ready to see a musical with the graphic portrayal of a serial killer literally splattering blood across the camera lens, wait for his next vehicle, when he’ll play George Jetson or somesuch.
(no, I don’t actually know who’s playing the lead in the Jetsons or even if they’re making a movie version. But really, how could they not?)
It’s hard to write …read more

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I got to go see “My Fair Lady” thanks to the generosity of a friend in Milwaukee. You can read about the tour here…my own impressions were surprising to me.
When Liza sang her first solo, I realized what an amazing amount of sound quality is lost in recording. Her voice was like a crystalline glass filled with gleaming in the morning sun. The lighting of the stage, the ingenuity of the set design and choreography..for example, at the Opening Day at Ascot section I would almost picture the palette scraps, the renderings the costume designer must have made, the choreography…
Well, …read more

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While attending the Podcast Expo in Ontario, CA recently I got to have a conversation with the lovely Charlotte Marie, a model and actress in the LA area. I mentioned the rumors I’d heard of the dearth of theatre, and she was quick to point out that she was also involved in a production called “Shadow Hour“, produced by the Actors Space (in Sherman Oaks).
The Actor Space, founded and run by acting coach Joe Palese (Hill Street Blues, Days of Our Lives), premieres its first full length play SHADOW HOUR beginning October 6 th 2007 in its new Sherman Oaks …read more

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Many thanks to BeckyLoooooo for providing me with yet another reason to go to Seattle: Point Break LIVE!
Now, here’s the fun part: this is actually one of my favorite movies. Specifically, the part where the lead jumps out of a perfectly good aircraft without a parachute just to make sure the bad guy doesn’t get away. That’s dedication!
Only slightly less scary, I think, would be the way they actually break the fourth wall:
“the starring role of Keanu will be selected at random from the audience each night, with the lucky winner reading their entire script off of cue-cards. This method …read more

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Following up on a comment by Becklooo, I am trying to find examples of independent theatre in L.A. (not that I’ll have time, but it’s fitting, anyway, because I’m going to be in that neck of the woods this weekend (Ontario, in fact) for the PME).
So, here’s what Google & MySpace showed me:

Lodestone Theatre

The Independent Shakespeare Company
Looking Glass Theatre
Lame Dog Theatre

…and then it peters out. And it doesn’t answer the problem that Beckloooo identified of the fact that actors come to LA for TV and film, and so will sometimes abandon a theatre piece for a sprite commercial. And …read more

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One of my pleasures is visiting the Bristol Renaissance Faire – not only for the chain mail bikinis, but also for the occasional efforts towards authenticity by artisans and performers. You don’t get to hear madrigals too much, or listen to strolling lutenists, or see real busking jugglers working a crowd with wooden balls and leather clubs.
However, an even bigger treat happened this last weekend, when I got to see i Arroganti performing the Commedia dell’Arte at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I’m a longtime fan of commedia, and if you like Loony Tunes or the Marx Brothers or A Fish …read more

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