I have been an actor for many, many years. My whole adult life in fact. It is not something I have always made a living at, but it has been a constant in my life.
In pursuing an acting career professionally, many suggest writing and performing your own material while you wait for the paying gigs to come in. And also so showcase your talent and what you can so that they (Casting Directions, Directors, Producers, etc) know what to do with you.
Over the years, I have had many ideas for plays, sketches, short films, etc. But I am always hesitant to go forward with any or to even start at all. Yes, I belonged to a sketch comedy group for a few years here in LA. I also write and produced my own comedy web series. Yet, it is still hard for me to share. I feel that my writing is not good enough, not funny enough, not compelling. No one will "get me" or my humor. It's scary. And I am very insecure about it.
Tonight, I took a leap of faith. I took a play that I wrote for myself (beginning over a decade ago) and invited some actor friends over to my house and asked them to play the parts in a play reading. It was scary. After all, this character was initially based on me. His words and thoughts are mine. The bad first dates he talks about are actual first dates that I had.
But would this subject matter mean anything to anyone? Is my idea interesting or clever enough for anyone other than me? Can I write a joke line? This scares me because this means that not only can I not write something that speaks to other people, but maybe I shouldn't be writing at all.
So. Guess what happened? It worked. The lines flowed. The dialogue was real and natural. The laughs came where I wanted them. There's a real heart to the story and the romance at the center of it. And everyone involved liked it.
Oh My God! Can this be? My writing is good. No. Not mine. The voices in my head have been telling me for years that I am no good at this. I suck. Sharing this script will reveal things about my personal life that will lead others to think I'm sad and pathetic. Yes, that is what goes through my head.
It's time to tell those voices "Be Gone!" This is a good idea for a story. It is funny and heart warming too. These characters are funny and interesting and I did a good job of writing this. Why did I wait so long to share this? I'm an idiot!
Now, its not perfect. I got some good notes on things that could be added or tightened up a bit. But basically it moves along at a good clip and there's not too much extra happening. I get right to it.
And all I can say is thank you to all my wonderful friends who came and did such a great job of bringing these characters off the page and to life. You brought the funny and you brought the heart. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You've given me a new hope. Hey! That should be the title of a movie. A New Hope. Hmmm. Has anyone ever though of that?
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Pet Peeves
Today, I am going to share some of my pet peeves.
1) When you're driving down the road and the car in front of you goes to make a left hand turn, but they don't go all the way into the median. Their back end is still sticking out in the driving lane. Get all the way into the median! Likewise, when making a right hand turn pull over to the right and let us get by.
2) Standing in line at the register at the supermarket (or Target) and the person in front of you doesn't even open their purse or get their wallet out until after the cashier has completed the entire transaction. Or worse yet, they act like they've never swiped their card though one of those machines before. They can't follow the simple step by step instructions on the display? Or if they are paying with cash, they stand there digging through their purse for change. Hello?! You've been standing in this line for 10-15 minutes before even getting to the cashier. Not only that but you have 3-5 minutes while the cashier was ringing you up to get your money or card out. And news flash! Did you know you can swipe your card while the chaser is ringing you up? I know! I just blew your mind didn't I? I always, ALWAYS have my card in my hand ready to go before I even get to the cashier. And if I'm paying in cash, my wallet is in my hand and open while the cashier is ringing me up. I might even have my other hand in my pocket ready to grab some change.
3) The pre-pay machines in parking garages. I don't know about you but the shopping center near me, has pre-pay machines in several locations. There are also signs throughout that say "Pay at machine before exiting the parking structure." And yet, 30 - 40% of the time, there is someone at the exit gate who hasn't paid. Excuse me! Do you not read English? You cannot pay at the exit gates. Well, you can if you have a credit or debit card. But still. Earlier this week, I was behind someone and I heard the attendant say. Cards only. Really?
4) And along with that (so I guess this really a 3-a), the parking is automated. There are no booths with attendance to take your money. But in my local shopping center, there is an office next to the one exit and 7-8 times out of 10, that attendant at the gate helping people like the aforementioned. So much for saving money on staffing with a person so it can be automated.
5) Bicycling on a designated bike path and having to dodge, joggers, walkers, dog walkers, kids playing, people pushing strollers. It's the bike path. Get out of the way. I don;t mind going around the occasional interloper, but sometimes (weekend, evenings) the paths are crowded with all of the above. There are designated lanes and/or paths for people walking or running. Use them and stay off the bike path. My fave is when its an entire family walking, pushing a stroller and maybe one or two kinds on a bike or skateboard and they are walking along side to side taking up the entire length of the path in both directions. There are signs at all the entrances stating bike path. There is a dividing line down the middle with the occasional set of directional arrows. Get out!
6) Circling back to 2 and 3...people using the self-pay lines art the supermarket acting like they're never used one before. C'mon! These are not new. They've been around a while. Is this really the first time you've used one? How else do you explain that you don't seem to understand what you're doing?
Geez!
Okay, I think I'm done...for now!
1) When you're driving down the road and the car in front of you goes to make a left hand turn, but they don't go all the way into the median. Their back end is still sticking out in the driving lane. Get all the way into the median! Likewise, when making a right hand turn pull over to the right and let us get by.
2) Standing in line at the register at the supermarket (or Target) and the person in front of you doesn't even open their purse or get their wallet out until after the cashier has completed the entire transaction. Or worse yet, they act like they've never swiped their card though one of those machines before. They can't follow the simple step by step instructions on the display? Or if they are paying with cash, they stand there digging through their purse for change. Hello?! You've been standing in this line for 10-15 minutes before even getting to the cashier. Not only that but you have 3-5 minutes while the cashier was ringing you up to get your money or card out. And news flash! Did you know you can swipe your card while the chaser is ringing you up? I know! I just blew your mind didn't I? I always, ALWAYS have my card in my hand ready to go before I even get to the cashier. And if I'm paying in cash, my wallet is in my hand and open while the cashier is ringing me up. I might even have my other hand in my pocket ready to grab some change.
3) The pre-pay machines in parking garages. I don't know about you but the shopping center near me, has pre-pay machines in several locations. There are also signs throughout that say "Pay at machine before exiting the parking structure." And yet, 30 - 40% of the time, there is someone at the exit gate who hasn't paid. Excuse me! Do you not read English? You cannot pay at the exit gates. Well, you can if you have a credit or debit card. But still. Earlier this week, I was behind someone and I heard the attendant say. Cards only. Really?
4) And along with that (so I guess this really a 3-a), the parking is automated. There are no booths with attendance to take your money. But in my local shopping center, there is an office next to the one exit and 7-8 times out of 10, that attendant at the gate helping people like the aforementioned. So much for saving money on staffing with a person so it can be automated.
5) Bicycling on a designated bike path and having to dodge, joggers, walkers, dog walkers, kids playing, people pushing strollers. It's the bike path. Get out of the way. I don;t mind going around the occasional interloper, but sometimes (weekend, evenings) the paths are crowded with all of the above. There are designated lanes and/or paths for people walking or running. Use them and stay off the bike path. My fave is when its an entire family walking, pushing a stroller and maybe one or two kinds on a bike or skateboard and they are walking along side to side taking up the entire length of the path in both directions. There are signs at all the entrances stating bike path. There is a dividing line down the middle with the occasional set of directional arrows. Get out!
6) Circling back to 2 and 3...people using the self-pay lines art the supermarket acting like they're never used one before. C'mon! These are not new. They've been around a while. Is this really the first time you've used one? How else do you explain that you don't seem to understand what you're doing?
Geez!
Okay, I think I'm done...for now!
Monday, February 1, 2016
Grease Live!
Last night was Grease Live! on FOX. This was their first attempt at a live musical after NBC has given us 3 over the last couple of years. The main difference between Grease and NBC's telecasts was that there was a live audience. However, like NBC's live musicals, Grease was shot like a movie as opposed to a stage production and in this case used the Warner Brothers soundstage and backlot to keep the show moving. As a result, the "live audience" was not sitting in a fixed audience or bleachers. They were scattered throughout the locations and integrated into the scenes.
For instance, the opening took place outside, (right after the rain I might add) , and had people standing behind ropes cheering on the opening number. The same held true for the cheerleading tryout scene which was outside in front of the school building. In the gym, the audience members were in the bleachers as in Hand Jive too. The extras in the front rows of the bleachers were dressed in period (sort of) but everyone behind them was just regular modern audience. The audience cheered at everything. It did add to the "Live" excitement of this event.
And it was an "Event" in every sense of the word. In fact it was a spectacular. Did you know that in the 1950s that is what the big TV specials were called, Spectaculars? Look it up. This production was an amazing feat. They used multiple sets, soundstages, and outdoor locations in and around the Warner Brothers Burbank lot. It was an incredible production and they pulled it off. Kudos to the amazing camera work. It was seamless. Because, ladies and gentleman, the truth of the matter is this was NOT just a filmed stage production. As I've said with The Wiz Live, this was hybrid of movie and stage.
In the case of Grease Live, this was even more true. Why is that? Because they matched the movie almost scene for scene and shot for shot. This was NOT the stage version of Grease. Why? Because the movie is so beloved and iconic. And its what people expect. But the movie strayed far from the original Broadway play. Grease the Broadway musical started out in Chicago, moved to Off-Broadway and then to Broadway becoming the longest running Broadway show of all time running a then record 8 years (1972 to 1980). It was smaller, raunchier and grittier. It was not the sunny nostalgic look back at the 1950s that the movie was. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But subsequent revivals of the show now interpolate scenes and songs from the movie. I would love to see someone do the original version of Grease just to experience it the way it was originally intended.
Back to last night's show. An amazing feat to pull off. I was on a thread on fb with some friends where we were being snarky and dishing so many things. So I will use this to be positive. Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo. OMG. When she sang "There Are Worse Things I Could Do", she nailed it. NAILED IT! Especially considering her father passed away the night before. Proof that the show must go on. Kudos to her. Loved Keke Palmer as Marty singing Freddy My Love. I loved the transition from her bedroom to the USO stage. I rewound and played it back to catch the costume and set change again. The same with the Greased Lightning transition. So well done.
Loved that they Didi Conn was the waitress with the "new" Frenchy. Although I was not a fan of the song they gave Carly Rae Jepson to sing right before Teen Angel. It didn't fit in with the style of the rest of the show. I also loved what they did with Those Magic Changes. That montage was very well put together. And this is a prime example of the movie vs. stage. You can't do that onstage. Its an editing thing that can only be done in movies. But they found a way to do this. Awesome.
Hand Jive. Wow. So much going on. And think about this. Think about the logistics of filming this in a way so that the audience isn't aware of how its being done. But imagine all the cameras on that stage. All the crew holding those cameras. Running in and out of the dancers, or being lifted above the soundstage simultaneously. And all out of sight.
I read some complaining about the ages of the actors being too old. So? What else is new? So were the actors in the movie. They were mostly in their late 20s. Olivia Newton John and Stockard Channing were over 30. Get over it!
Loved Blanche played by Haneefah Wood. Why isn's she listed on the imdv page for this? At least not last night during the airing. She was a scene stealer. And considering most of her scenes were opposite one of my faves, Ana Gasteyer, thats saying something.
This was a big, fun, splashy event night of television. And I hope there is more to come. Well there is in fact. FOX is doing Rocky Horror at some point and then NBC is doing Hairspray in December. Let's hope NBC livens up Hairspray with some audience.
For instance, the opening took place outside, (right after the rain I might add) , and had people standing behind ropes cheering on the opening number. The same held true for the cheerleading tryout scene which was outside in front of the school building. In the gym, the audience members were in the bleachers as in Hand Jive too. The extras in the front rows of the bleachers were dressed in period (sort of) but everyone behind them was just regular modern audience. The audience cheered at everything. It did add to the "Live" excitement of this event.
And it was an "Event" in every sense of the word. In fact it was a spectacular. Did you know that in the 1950s that is what the big TV specials were called, Spectaculars? Look it up. This production was an amazing feat. They used multiple sets, soundstages, and outdoor locations in and around the Warner Brothers Burbank lot. It was an incredible production and they pulled it off. Kudos to the amazing camera work. It was seamless. Because, ladies and gentleman, the truth of the matter is this was NOT just a filmed stage production. As I've said with The Wiz Live, this was hybrid of movie and stage.
In the case of Grease Live, this was even more true. Why is that? Because they matched the movie almost scene for scene and shot for shot. This was NOT the stage version of Grease. Why? Because the movie is so beloved and iconic. And its what people expect. But the movie strayed far from the original Broadway play. Grease the Broadway musical started out in Chicago, moved to Off-Broadway and then to Broadway becoming the longest running Broadway show of all time running a then record 8 years (1972 to 1980). It was smaller, raunchier and grittier. It was not the sunny nostalgic look back at the 1950s that the movie was. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But subsequent revivals of the show now interpolate scenes and songs from the movie. I would love to see someone do the original version of Grease just to experience it the way it was originally intended.
Back to last night's show. An amazing feat to pull off. I was on a thread on fb with some friends where we were being snarky and dishing so many things. So I will use this to be positive. Vanessa Hudgens as Rizzo. OMG. When she sang "There Are Worse Things I Could Do", she nailed it. NAILED IT! Especially considering her father passed away the night before. Proof that the show must go on. Kudos to her. Loved Keke Palmer as Marty singing Freddy My Love. I loved the transition from her bedroom to the USO stage. I rewound and played it back to catch the costume and set change again. The same with the Greased Lightning transition. So well done.
Loved that they Didi Conn was the waitress with the "new" Frenchy. Although I was not a fan of the song they gave Carly Rae Jepson to sing right before Teen Angel. It didn't fit in with the style of the rest of the show. I also loved what they did with Those Magic Changes. That montage was very well put together. And this is a prime example of the movie vs. stage. You can't do that onstage. Its an editing thing that can only be done in movies. But they found a way to do this. Awesome.
Hand Jive. Wow. So much going on. And think about this. Think about the logistics of filming this in a way so that the audience isn't aware of how its being done. But imagine all the cameras on that stage. All the crew holding those cameras. Running in and out of the dancers, or being lifted above the soundstage simultaneously. And all out of sight.
I read some complaining about the ages of the actors being too old. So? What else is new? So were the actors in the movie. They were mostly in their late 20s. Olivia Newton John and Stockard Channing were over 30. Get over it!
Loved Blanche played by Haneefah Wood. Why isn's she listed on the imdv page for this? At least not last night during the airing. She was a scene stealer. And considering most of her scenes were opposite one of my faves, Ana Gasteyer, thats saying something.
This was a big, fun, splashy event night of television. And I hope there is more to come. Well there is in fact. FOX is doing Rocky Horror at some point and then NBC is doing Hairspray in December. Let's hope NBC livens up Hairspray with some audience.
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