My Movie Making Nightmares - Part Deux

Less than two months after I shot my first short film, I auditioned for and was cast in two feature length digital movies.   Digital has changed everything.  Now anyone with a video camera can make their own movies...AAAAAANNNNNNDD they do.  We are talking extremely low budget here.  And since I was non-union with little on camera experience, I did these movies for the footage for a reel.

 

The first film was produced by a young man with his own production company. His sister ran the auditions and did all the paperwork (i.e. signing your life away since there is no union jurisdiction) and she was also the caterer (she did all the cooking).  The film was shot on location in a vacant flower shop in Pomona, California, which is about 40 miles east of LA! The flower shop in effect was our studio, but only until December 5^th, at which point it would reopen for the holiday season to sell poinsettias. Exteriors were shot in the alley behind the shop where some homeless people had set up a little cardboard shantytown. Oh! Did I mention that our director’s father worked as the accountant for the florists’ owners?

 

The movie was about a young guy who has taken a job as a production assistant on a low budget vampire flick.  It’s his first day on the set and shows all the characters involved in the making of the movie and actual scenes from the vampire movie.  I played the part of the director of photography who speaks very softly, so softly in fact that no one can understand him when he speaks, except for our leading man, the PA.  I had a supporting role in this one and was only required for maybe two days of filming and both of them were just a few hours long.

 

My first day, I was called at 7:30 a.m.  The only other person who was there at that hour was our makeup girl.  Our leading man showed up a few minutes later, but our director didn’t show up for about 45 minutes.  He apologized profusely.  He never did this, but he had been up late the night before since the shoot ended around midnight and then he had to go home and prepare for the next day’s shoot.   There was a third actor involved in our scene as well.  When we were in makeup, he explained that he wasn’t prepared for the scene we were shooting because he had forgot his script on the set over the weekend and so he had not prepared.  So while we were in makeup, he was running his lines.  

 

We shot the scene in the back room of the shop. It’s our leading man and me. He’s supposed to be painting some props for the next scene that’s being shot and we talk about his girlfriend and their imminent breakup.  The third actor plays the part of the director and star of the vampire film, a former 1970s action star.  He comes into the middle of the scene.  We set up, rehearse and shoot the scene up until the third actor’s entrance.  He has to enter through a door that is shut.  We get to his entrance and nothing happens.  The director calls his name, “Curtis! Are you there?”  “Yes.”  “Did you hear your cue line?”  “No!”  “ Do you know what it is? It’s…”  We do it again.  Curtis does not enter the scene.   Director to writer/producer, “Go out there and cue him.”  We shoot again.  Curtis enters.  He delivers his lines to the wrong actors.  He doesn’t know which lines are to me and which lines are to the other actor. We cut and shoot again.

 

Incidentally, his line readings are awful.  I hate to sound unkind but they were very amateur.  The director got tired of cutting so finally he just kept the camera rolling and asked the writer to give him line readings and they asked Curtis to just repeat after Erik.  It worked.  He actually sounded convincing.  

 

BTW, in order to give you an idea how low budget this film was, the director was also the director of photography and the cameraman.  There was one light instrument used in this scene.  And the battery on the camera was out of power when we started.  Yes, that’s right, real big time movie making here.  

 

I had to wonder about Curtis.  He was a nice enough guy and all but I got the impression this was all very new to him, acting that is.  But it wasn’t just that, there was something else.  A few weeks earlier, we had a table read of the script with the entire cast present.  He sat next to me.  There were words that he kept mispronouncing. Not just difficult words, but easy ones too.  I thought maybe he was a little slow, but that didn’t seem right.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized he must be dyslexic.  It was the only explanation I could come up with. At one point he leaned over and asked me what ___ was.  I told him the word and he proceeded to mispronounce it. 

 

He was supposed to be this threatening character in the movie and he had none of that when he read his lines, until he was given a line reading by the director or writer and he copied them, then he sounded menacing.  It was great.  He was a big soft-spoken man in his mid-late thirties I’d say.

 

During a break my second day of shooting, I asked the director what Curtis’ story was.  Was he in fact dyslexic? No, he apparently only had a sixth grade level education. Thank you US education system!

 

Incidentally, the second day our leading man was over an hour late!  This did not go over big with the director, who was also late that day but only by a few minutes. And then he had the same problem with the camera, the battery was dead when he started to shoot the first scene.

 

Like the previous film, I was given little direction.  I wasn’t quite sure how soft spoken I should be.  I mean I had to be heard by the audience right?  But I couldn’t be too loud or the joke would be lost.  It was more a question of the character being that indistinguishable.  So I had to play him really low key and as if he had very little personality so he just kind of blended in to the background.

Film was never finished. Never saw or heard from the director after about a year.

Next week, my magnum opus...Wally Sitch Private Dick. Oy vey!

 

My Early Adventures in Los Angeles

I recently came across some notes I wrote 16 years ago detailing my my first experiences in as an actor in LA. It was intended to be a one man show about whats it really like as a working actor in LA.  Enjoy :

I was cast in my Second short film while I was filming my first.  This time, I had one of the leads. I was very excited about it.  It was a comedy set in the Air Force.  It was sort of like Office Space set in the military.  A lot of Austin Powers type humor in it.  I really felt good about this one.  The writer-director (another hyphenate) was a young guy who worked as an engineer in the Air Force.  He had just gone to film school and this was his first film. The story was based on his experiences on the job.

 

I played the antagonist of the piece, an ineffectual boss who stands in the way of getting the job done.  His name was Maj. Oscar Meyer.  That’s right, like the hot dog.  He was a brownnoser who treated his subordinates like dirt and kissed up to his superiors.  One of the running gags was that he had brown stuff on his nose whenever he came out of a meeting with his superiors.

 

It was a lot of fun, but there were also many problems.  The film was shot on location in an office in downtown LA.  Like the previous film, we only shot over the course of two weekends because everyone had full time jobs. Two of the main scenes were shot in a meeting room, which had glass walls on either side.  In the first scene, the one wall was covered with green screen for some special effects shooting.  There were two cameras being used simultaneously and combined with the glass and the lights, it took a few hours for the scene to be lit properly.

 

Two of the actors were not called until later in the day.  One of them, had requested permission to leave early because he had plans that night. He wanted to leave around 7:00 p.m.  He was not called until about 3:00 p.m.  He and his scene partner were there on time and were not called to the set until after 6:00 p.m.  He was not happy.  He had less than an hour.  He was all flustered and he kept forgetting his lines.  All he was thinking about was the fact that he had to get out of there.  We did take after take, and he kept blowing his lines.  Finally, at 7:15 he announced he was leaving.  He told the director he had to be out of there by 7:00.  And he left.  We continued to shoot the scene around him.

 

Now what got all of us, was this.  This is a man who has been in the business for over 20 years and knows how things work.  When you’re shooting a movie, especially a non-union or low budget film like this, you know you’re going to be there all day and night. Why would schedule something for that evening.  The director should not have granted permission to him.  Secondly, what the hell was he doing for three hours!  I mean he was there from 3:00 to 6:00 and then he gets on set and keeps blowing his lines.  He should have been running lines with his scene partner instead of complaining about not being able to get to his date on time.

 

That actor was fired between weekend one and weekend two of shooting. Fortunately, his big scene was not scheduled to shoot until the second weekend.  It turns out, he had been trouble all along.  We had a rehearsal on location a couple of nights before shooting began and he fought the director on every bit of direction he gave him.

 

While we’re on that subject, let’s talk about the direction you get as an actor on a student, short and/or low budget indie film…not much.  It’s pretty much left up to the actor, unlike stage.  I had to make all my own choices and quickly.  I’m not saying that as a stage actor I depend completely on the director.  I do make my own choices, but you do have that long rehearsal period in which you can explore and work together on finding the character.  That doesn’t exist in film and many film directors don’t work much with their actors.  You have to come in prepared and with your character there.  It was a struggle.  In my case, it was doubly difficult because I felt I my acting was too big or stagy if you will.  But no one was correcting me, so it must be all right.  Still, I couldn’t help editing myself. In fact, it was my “staginess” that got me the part.  The director wanted someone who was more theatrical in his or her acting style.  This did not fill me with confidence.  Was I too “stagy”?  I must do something about that. I must tone it down.  Once again, I was not pleased with the final result on film. I swear I gave a better performance than what ended up on film. He seemed to choose the one take where I didn’t say the line the exact way I said it in every other take.  

 

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience.  I liked most of the other actors.  I thought it was a funny movie and it was a great part for me.  The final product wasn’t the best quality.  There were some pretty cheesy looking cuts and edits in the movie that reeked of amateur filmmaking.  I felt the script was really funny when I read it, but then on screen, it didn’t look so good.  Chalk it up to experience.

 

Next Week

Part Two: My first starring role in a feature! What could possibly go wrong?

Amish Acres Memories - My Past is Vanishing

The decade started and ended with the closings theaters I worked at. January 2010 saw the closing of The Carousel Dinner Theatre in Akron, Ohio and January 2020 saw the closing of Amish Acres. As I get older the places I worked close (The Sears, Kmart, and Gap stores I worked at are gone. Filene's and Carl's went out of business. Moody's Investors Service and the NFL in NYC have moved to new locations) The people I worked for pass away or retire. Pretty soon I'll have no history! I'm old!!!

Amish Acres. Some interesting stories.
1) I wasn't planning to audition for them. I went to an audition for Seymour in Little Shop for a dinner theatre in New Jersey at the Musical Theatre Works studios on Lafayette in the Village right across from the Public Theatre. They had three floors of studios. I ran into an acquaintance (I don't remember his name other than he was the boyfriend of Gabrielle Mason and I sublet their apartment on West 95th Street for a couple of months). He was also auditioning for Little Shop and told me that one floor up they were having auditions for the season at a place called Amish Acres.
So I went upstairs and signed up, looked at their brochures, (looked like a nice place), sang for them and got a callback for later that afternoon. I called in to my job at Moody's Investors Service and told them I would not be coming that day.
I went back later that afternoon and was given sides to read for the part of Dan King in Plain and Fancy. Jerry O'Boyle the artistic director said he was looking for a Dick Van Dyke type of vibe for the scene. And then he said something like, "Richard Van Slyke, Dick Van Dyke. I just got that!"  I was told they would be making calls in a couple of weeks. A month went by nothing happened. I had written it off.

2) I thought my casting might be an April Fools joke. Monday April 1, I'm sitting at my desk at Moody's Investor's Service and I get a call from my answering service (or it may have been voicemail by then. This was 1996). An actor had quit and they needed a replacement for the role of Dan King. It would mean flying out to South Bend on Sunday and starting rehearsals on Monday the 8th.

I would be playing Dan King in Plain and Fancy, Ike Skidmore in Oklahoma!, The Rabbi's son in Fiddler, the brothers parts in Joseph would be decided at a later date, and I wasn't sure I wanted to stay beyond October to do Annie, but he was thinking maybe Daddy Warbucks.

I packed up over the next few days. Sunday the 7 was also Easter and the start of Daylight Savings and there was a one hour time difference from NY. All those combined, lets just say I got about two hours of sleep. And with no one to sublet my apartment, I was scared I wouldn't be able to get by financially. But off I went.

I flew to South Bend where I was picked up buy the company manager, Sara Heigaard, who also played my leading lady Ruth in Plain and Fancy. Then, we had a 45 minute drive to Nappanee where I would be spending the next six possibly 9 months.

Amish Acres sits about 1 mile west of Nappanee, a small town population @6600. One grocery store, one co-op, one movie theatre with one screen that only showed movies on Friday and Saturday nights. Restaurants included, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Dairy Queen, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. There was also a Chinese buffet place, a pizza place (that closed and re-opened as something else), a country kitchen, a sports pub, a bakery café only open days, a tavern. Then there was the Restaurant Barn on the property where we got one meal a day in the kitchen if we chose.

There wasn't much to do there and for an actor flown in from NYC with no car, not fun. There were three of us hired from NYC, Gene Westbrook, Cece Pleasants and myself. Most everyone else in the cast house came from Chicago, AJ Wester, Derek Phipps, Cindy Lawrence, Joe Lehman, Robert Geils. Sara was from North Dakota.  Nine of us living in an old farm house on the Amish Acres property. And two local hires who commuted daily, Jenny Yoder and Doug Yockey. The Chicago People all came with their own cars so we had rides when we needed and if we were lucky maybe they'd loan a car to you. I often did so I could drive to Elkhart or Goshen to go to the YMCA to workout. I got a flat once driving Sari Engle's car!

There was an old bike in the pantry that I would take on Monday mornings and ride one mile to the cneter of town where two state routes crossed. There was a very nice town library where I could get Sunday's New York Times and go throught the Arts and Leisure section. I would also take pout books. I was into Armistead Maupin's Tales from the City at the time.

I was FedExed the script and score in advance of my trip and I tried my damnedest to be off book as much as possible for the first day of rehearsal. I was saved because my character was only in a couple of musical numbers. So I wasn't used for many rehearsals upfront. Which gave me time to work on my lines at home while the rest of the cast was in rehearsal. It helped! I only used my script to record my blocking and then tossed it off stage to run scenes. We only had a little over a week to put the show up. I remember going shopping in Mishawaka with Jerry to buy my suit at Value City.

Our first day off on Friday, we all drove up to Mishawaka to go out to eat and see a movie. I rode with our musical director SD Lewis who was married to our choreographer Kent Lewis at the time, They had a soon to be 3 year old daughter. Yeah, she is now 27. I'm old!

I remember discussing Annie with SD in the car.  She and Jerry had talked about me maybe playing Daddy Warbucks. I told her I was more interested in Rooster. She agreed stating that now that they had worked with me for a few days, they could see that was a better fit.

It was a fun time. Eating in the Restaurant Barn kitchen where our choices were fried chicken, turkey or ham. The store at the front of the barn sold free baked breads, cookies, pies, cheese. I would do my "grocery shopping" there and buy cookies and bread every week. That didn't last long!

Opening night of Oklahoma!, we raided the ice cream and fudge shoppe for a party back at the cast house. Here is a picture from that night with me showing off some of the cheese we scored!

Jenny Yoder hosted a Mary Kay cosmetics part at the cast house one night (see below)

And there was my 35th Birthday party (below)

My parent sent a gift basket. More cheese!

A mostly quiet group of people. We didn't go out after shows.  We would go home and watch TV and then got to bed each night. That changed as new cast members came on board and the housemates changed.

In July, we lost Joe to a Shakespeare play in Chicago and Jenny to CCM where she was entering her sophomore year.  In came my friend CoriLynn Peterson from NYC and another actor named Ryan who came from a summer stock playhouse a few miles away that went under that season. Also, Sari Engle was brought in to direct Joseph. CoriLynn and Ryan moved into the Christmas Shop on the corner across from the entrance to Amish Acres. They let them live on the second floor while the shop was downstairs.  Sara and Robert also moved across the street and Sari moved into the house with us.

Sari was very close to Jerry, Robert and Gene and we started socializing more, often going out to the local dive bar in town, where I swear to God some nights we were the only ones in there with full sets of teeth. That was the first time I had real beef jerky out of a jar on the counter.

The season was so successful that the sales department wanted another rep show for October after Joseph closed. The staff put their heads together and came up with a show that could be done with just the core company, Godspell which Sari also directed. Rich Snyder was brought into take over the role of Peter in Plain and Fancy when Ryan went back to school and to play Jesus in Godspell. I played John/Judas. It was really lovely production all tied into the site's fall harvest.

After Godspell, AJ and Cece left and a whole new crew came in to do Annie and the house became much livelier with Joby Raines, Kacy Levy, Darren Murrell and my friend Jason Mosher.  With only one show to perform and none to rehearse, we went out more often. And this crowd was also more of late night group. Remember the late nights playing video games? Was it Nintendo? I don't know!

Closing night party of Plain and Fancy when we all took turns shaving Gene's head for his upcoming role of Daddy Warbucks in Annie with the razor we all chipped in to get him for his birthday.  Poor Gene. He thought it would be fun but it really got to him. He has a beautiful full head of hair. It was hard. Fortunately, it all grew back.

I played FDR. Jerry gave me a CD of FDR radio speeches to listen to, specifically the "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" speech, which was the very first line I spoke in the show. Darrin as Harold Ickes was responsible for pushing me around in the wheelchair. I remember getting a blocking note at one rehearsal and saying to Sari, "Why are you giving me the note? I just sit here. Give it to Darrin. He's the one who moves me. " LOL

And that poor dog we recruited to be Sandy. Not a stage trained dog. LOL It was the groudnskeeper's dog. He was a sweet dog. I was the official handler and basically I had to tell the entire cast to stay out of the wings when the dog was on stage otherwise, he would go towards them no matter how many Annie had in her cardigan pockets.

Oh my God! and there there was the night one of the orphans asked if I wanted my neck adjusted. And before I could say a word, she took my head and jerked it and snapped my neck. Yeah. That happened.

The day after we closed Annie, Gene and I packed up CoriLynn's car and drove back to NYC, (CoriLynn rode back with Jason).  It was a 13 hour drive. We got into NYC about midnight the night before New Years Eve. Long drive.

Amish Acres - A Tribute

You're asking yourself what is Amish Acres and why is Richard talking about it? Well...

In 1996, I spent nine months working in the Round Barn Theatre there and yesterday they performed their last show there.

Amish Acres is closing after 50 years.  Amish Acres is an Amish tourist attraction in the small northern Indiana town of Nappanee. It was opened in 1968 on the site of an Amish farm by a local businessman named Richard Pletcher.   In 1987 they began presenting the Broadway musical Plain and Fancy with 6 or 7 actors in the former town meeting hall on the premises.

And in 1992 they had a round barn from a nearby farm dismantled and reconstructed on their property and attached a stage and backstage area as well as a balcony. It was a very nice space. Very rustic with handmade Amish quilts hanging on the walls and from the balcony.  A grand piano was on house left at the foot of the stage and the entire score was played by the musical director.  They employed 11 actors.

View of theater from the stage

In 1996, they added a full season of shows. This was the year I arrived. Plain and Fancy was performed five shows a week with the current rep show four times a week. The shows were Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. With Annie playing solo the months of November and December. The year went something like this. Arrive in Nappanee on Sunday April 7, start rehearsals for Plain and Fancy Monday April 8. Show opens two weeks later with core cast of 11. Beginning of May start rehearsals for Oklahoma! during the day while performing Plain and Fancy at night expect for matinee days. Oklahoma! opened around Labor Day Weekend and ran four weeks. We did nine shows a week, ie. five Plain and Fancy, four Oklahoma! with two show days on Wednesdays, Thursday and Saturdays

We had to change over the sets in between shows and we rehearsed the next rep show while we were performing the current one. So in June while performing Oklahoma and Plain and Fancy we were rehearsing Fiddler on the Roof. Since it was summer, local high school and college student shome for the summer were hired to fill in the casts.

The shows were almost instant sell outs. We added rows of seats to the mezzanine level to accommodate the crowds. It was general admission seating. I was also the house manager. Because the season was so successful, the sale steam wanted to add a show to October. So we were approached by management about doing Godspell for October with 9 of us. It was a really special show because they tied into the fall harvest season on the farm. We set the show on lakeside cabin with tall reeds and a small dock, as well as a small working fire center stage that we gathered around to tell the parables.

We got one free meal a day in the Restaurant Barn, but we had to serve ourselves and eat at picnic tables they had set up for us in the kitchen.  Fried chicken, ham, turkey were the main courses along with smashed potatoes, cole slaw, peas with ham in them. But  the pies! Oh My God the pies! Whatever was in season, they had fresh pies. Every pie imaginable. You could get fat eating there every day.

The Greeting Barn with the Round Barn Theatre behind it

The restaurant barn also had a grill out in front in aloft that was open for lunch every day, burgers and fries and such. And the main lobby was a gift shop that also sold fresh baked goods, breads, cookies, etc.

I needed money to help pay for my rent in NYC because I didn't have a sublet throughout my entire time there. So I worked night audits on the weekends at the adjoining hotels owned by Amish Acres and in the Christmas season, I worked at their Christmas Village in the site of the Pletcher family's former furniture store to make a little extra cash.

The Inn at Amish Acres

Amish Acres also had an annual Arts and Craft festival that was among the top 100 in the country an people came from all over the country. Their were license plates in the parking lot from all 48 continental states. It was something to see.

We stayed in a cast house on the property. There was a pond right outside my bedroom and during the festival there were swan boat rides and port-a-potties were lined up outside our house. They put up signs on house saying not to disturb the tenants asking for bathrooms.

I loved my nine months there. I was hopeful that someday I might return.  It was a special place. I'm sorry that is closing.  Thank you Dick Pletcher and Jerry O'Boyle for giving me one of the best  early professional experiences of my career.


I hope someone will want to buy it and keep it open. Any takers?

I'm All Shook Up

Hi there! It's been awhile. What have I been up to? Well, I've been back in San Diego performing in San Diego Musical Theatre's (SDMT) production of the Elvis Presley musical All Shook Up. I play Jim Haller the leading lady's father. It's a fun role and its a great showcase for me.  I've had a blast. Yesterday was our final performance and now I'm back in Los Angeles and reality.

Fan artwork of our cast. 

But first, let me backtrack. I was approached by the artistic director about a month before the auditions to come in for the role Jim. Well, I wasn't familiar with the role so I did some online research and saw it is a nice role with a decent story so I said yes.  I went to the callbacks and knew as soon as I was reading the sides that this part was written for me. I got the part!

I went into this show thinking, "This is great. It's going to play to my comedic strengths, really allow me to be big and goofy. I can really do something with this part." And while that is true to an extent, I realized quickly that while I have a couple of really funny moments in the show, my character actually has a very sweet, touching story line.

First, let me say that I love working at SDMT. They put on superior productions. The casts are always amazing as are the staff and crew. And I did have fun backstage with this crew.  And I had fun onstage.  I got to play all the emotions from sad and lonely to head over heels in love and giddy to heartbroken and it felt great. I got laughs. I got tears. My favorite thing was when the audience would audibly say "Awwww" after I get rejected by the object of my affection.

Here's an example:

This job was a gift. I got to do everything I love on stage. Sing, dance, be goofy and get laughs and then play some nice tender, sweet moments.  It was a gift. I said that before. It bears repeating. I've been in dozens of shows over the years. I have many, many favorites among them. I have been very lucky that way.

I gave up a very nice paying job a couple years ago because I wasn't happy and I HAD to pursue acting full time. It is the one thing in my life that brings me joy. And sometimes we as actors forget that. We get bogged down in the business side of show business. The constant auditions and overwhelming rejection, the ridiculous insecurity and struggle to survive on little or no income. it sucks. It's tough. I struggle every day. There are days when I just don't know if I can keep going. This is why I do theater. It brings me joy. I can be somebody I can't be in life.

My favorite place to be in the whole world is in the wings backstage watching the show. One of my rituals is to go onstage by myself behind the closed curtain before the show starts, listening to the audience on the other side. (Oh. I also use that time to stretch because at my age, if I don't stretch before a show...well let's just say it saves me some pain later). Why did you have me on my knees so much?! God, were my legs stiff every morning!

Another joy, watching younger actors grow in the process. So proud to work alongside and watch them discover and grow as artists. This cast was amazing from top to bottom. Not a weak link in the bunch. All so very hard working and professional. 💗

So thank you to Jill, Robert (so glad we got to work together), Neil (the first person to cast and direct me at SDMT), Ron, Steve, Heather, Jessica, Max, Janet, Amy, Preston, Crystal, Jaz, Andrew, Don, Michael, Erin and Gary.

Richard

Live in Front of a Studio Audience

My thoughts on the All in the Family and The Jeffersons episodes that aired live this week.

We all know I am a classic TV junkie. I grew up in front of the TV. I know TV actors and their credits like sports fans memorize their favorite teams and players stats. I do that with actors' credits and their awards.

So as you can probably guess, I was excited to watch Live in Front of a Studio Audience on ABC this past week. What did I think? Loved it! I am hoping we will see more based not he ratings for this one.

I loved the audience reactions. They were loud and not sweetened like today's sitcoms. These days, the three-camera sitcoms are still shot in front of a live studio audience, but then they "fix" or "sweeten" the audience reactions in post production. So they sound muted, to me anyway. Often times, if the audience doesn't laugh where the producers want a laugh, they will add one in. In the Norman Lear days (the 1970s), the audiences were loud and boisterous, especially on his shows. They would applaud and go nuts over some of the lines.

I've read many articles and interviews where younger television viewers don't like the live studio audiences. They call it canned laughter, which it is not.  But we've got a whole generation now raised on the single camera comedies like The Office and Modern Family. They don't like the studio audience shows. To me, that's what a sitcom is!

On to the show...Loved Marissa Tomei as Edith. Loved Woody Harrelson as Archie Bunker. They were great, Trust to the characters while bringing their own spin to them. Ellie Kemper and Ike Barinholtz were good to although they didn't have as much to do. And frankly they are a little old to be playing the children of Marsisa Tomei and Woody Harrelson.  But I am quibbling here.

Tomei was a hoot as Edith. Loved her high pitched voice and the running around. Harrelson got the vernacular and dialect of Archie down just right. And not importantly, they were not imitating the threat Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor.

Jamie Foxx was hilarious as George Jefferson. I loved how he had the swagger and the mannerisms of George. However, to me, he was doing an impression of Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson as opposed to bringing his own take to the character. He was doing a sketch character. And that makes sense since he got his start on In Living Color. And I wasn't too thrilled with how he broke the fourth wall and pointed out his flubbed line instead of just repeating the line and going on as one does on stage. But that's just me.  It was funny to see Woody Harrelson break and turn his back to the audience when that happened. And Marissa Tomei just stayed in character as Edith, you could see she was stifling a laugh but staying as Edith. It does make live TV fun, but again really?

For me, the highlight of the night was the appearance of Marla Gibbs as Florence. I jumped out of my seat and cheered when they opened the door and revealed her. YESSS!!! And double bonus whammy for us classic TV fans, she was reunited with her 227 co-star Jackee!

Oh! And how fabulous was Jennifer Hudson singing The Jeffersons theme song!?

All in all I loved the night and I hope we get some more. That's TV!

Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd

Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd sung by me in The gift of Song benefit at Repertory East Playhouse in April 2013. Part of a tribute to Sondheim evening.

I survived not one but two total wrecks in one month

You read that right. Four weeks ago, on Valentine's Day, I totaled my 2014 Honda Accord. After three weeks in a rental, I finally bought a new car on Monday, a 2015 Nissan Altima. On Tuesday, approximately 24 hours after driving the Nissan off the lot, I hit a car that pulled out in front of me and totaled the Nissan.

It's been two days. I have no car. I'm waiting to hear from the insurance company.  I don't know what is going to happen to my insurance rates. I don't know what's going to happen with the insurance. Will they pay for the second accident like they did the first?

Four weeks ago, I was on my way to San Diego. It was early afternoon and it was raining (as it did pretty much all through February). I was performing in Crazy For You at San Diego Musical Theatre. We were about three weeks into the run so I had been going back and forth between LA and SD a couple times a week. And often in the rain. I was on the 73 southbound in the farthest left lane approaching a steep downhill decline just before the Laguna Beach exit. I saw a CHP vehicle pulled over in the left shoulder and an overturned white SUV in the middle of the median. I hit my brakes to slow down and lost control of the car. I turned the steering wheel toward the median hoping I wouldn't skid or spin into traffic. I spun 180 degrees and landed in the median and then the car rolled over on its side and down the hill to the northbound side of the median. It wasn't over. I spun another 180 degrees so I was now facing south in the northbound side. Thankfully, I stopped, landing upright in a ditch.

I sat there and carefully surveyed the damage in the car and then checked to make sure that I was okay, remembering from Boy Scout First Aid that you never move a body from an accident in case something is broken or injured. I checked myself and realized I was okay so I unbuckled the seat belt and attempted to open the door. I couldn't see out the windows because all the air bags had deployed. Then I heard the CHP officer outside asking if I was okay. When I said yes, he asked if I could open the door and I couldn't so he helped me get it open and I stepped out.

I had a scratch on my left hand and my right had hurt really bad in the joint at the base of my thumb. Otherwise, I felt fine.  I waited in the CHP vehicle for a tow truck, called my insurance company. I found out that I was the third vehicle in a row to go off the road at that same point that day. I got one of  my fellow actors to meet me at the tow yard and I went to urgent care where they put my hand in a splint.  I was told I might have a fracture. The next day I saw an orthopedic surgeon who said it was arthritis. Really? Arthritis? I love getting older!

Anyway, my insurance got me a rental and eventually determined the damage would cost over $14,000. So they paid off my outstanding car loan and the remainder was sent to me in a check. This past week I went to Carmax and picked out a 2015 Nissan Altima and used the check as a down payment and financed the rest. On Monday, I picked up the car.

Approximately 24 hours later, I was making a lefthand turn onto Burbank Blvd as the light changed from green to red. About 500 feet down Burbank a woman pulled out of her parking spot as I was approaching and I hit her sending me into traffic where I rolled over turning upside down. There I was strapped in nice and tight in my seat, hanging upside down and with no view because all the airbags deployed.  Once again I did a quick inventory of my body and realized I felt fine. I let myself out of the seat belt and gently got down on the ground (or ceiling of the car) and then I heard voices outside the car door, We opened the door and about three or four people walked me to the curb, including the woman I had hit.   People brought me water and made sure I was okay. One man asked me questions to make sure I was okay. You know like, what's your name, where do you live, what's today's date who's the president.

Reports were filed. Witnesses were interviewed. My car was towed. And now I wait. I'm pretty sure I was not at fault. The main police officer did tell me that mine and everyone else's stories seem to corroborate. So I think I am not at fault. But my main concern is what will this do to my insurance? Will they pay for the whole thing like the last time? Or now that I've totaled two cars in one month, will they not cover me?

Making matters worse, I don't have a full time job anymore. I have a couple of different part time jobs and they both depend on me having reliable transportation. Not to mention that I'm also an actor who has to get to auditions on a regular basis. So I need a car for that. What will this do to me financially?

So I wait. Its also hard when you live alone. I have no one here with me. No  one to distract me. I'm on my own.  I want to send big "Thank Yous" to my friends Tom and JP who each seperately got me out of the house yesterday. And to Ariella for checking on me today and offering to take me anywhere I might need to go like the grocery store. And I do know that I am EXTREMELY LUCKY to be healthy and relatively unscathed from this. TWICE NOW!!! I have a guardian angel watching over me for sure!

And I'm thankful to the universe for keeping me safe. I am very, very grateful to the people who were so nice to me Tuesday at the scene of the accident. All I could think was TWICE IN ONE MONTH!!! WHY?! I just got this car yesterday! This can't be happening! What now?

But I'm here and I'm not hurt. Thank you!!

I Used to Love the Emmys. What Happened? :(

When I was growing up, I didn't have many hobbies. I didn't play sports. I wasn't in many clubs. There was Boy Scouts and I played the cello in my school orchestra and in high school I got involved in the drama club. But otherwise I watched TV. Tons of it.

Every night of the week. My life revolved around the TV listings in the newspaper (We didn't get TV Guide growing up but I did subscribe to it as an adult).

I've discussed in some of my earlier blogs my love of television and my lifelong obsession with it. And I still love it. I love the technology. But to be truthful I miss old school network TV. For me, that is real TV. In my opinion, streaming and pay cable and all the other various outlets are not TV. I'll say that again. Streaming. Is. Not. TV.

There I said it. Call me old fashioned. Call me an old timer who can't accept change. But I believe that the only real TV is still the broadcast networks. TV is on a schedule. A show airs at a specific date and time and that is when you watch it, or record it.

Growing up we just had the Big Three networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. CBS being the king of them all! And the Emmys for me were an annual ritual where I could see all my favorite TV stars. It was fun and entertaining. There were only the 3 networks and PBS and some syndicated shows. Five nominees in each category. Sometimes less. The only awards given out were for Comedy, Drama, Movies and Mini-Series and Variety Shows. And the categories were Show, Directing, Writing and Acting. That was it.

Now there are so many awards given out they have separate ceremonies for the creative arts and technical awards and the guest stars, etc etc etc...

And there's reality show categories, competition and lifestyle and here's my biggest qualm...first they added cable TV and now streaming and as a result the networks are being shutout! And I don't know any of these actors. They're all from the UK or Australia or they're movie stars! And the ceremony is really long and really boring.

I don't care about them at all anymore. I want to root for my favorite shows but they're not even invited to the party these days. And the ratings go down every year. This year was the lowest rated Emmys ever! Granted, all broadcast TV shows go down year after year after year because of the fractured world of modern TV. None of the big events get the ratings they used to get when there were just three channels, (except the Super Bowls).  Seriously, remember when Miss America and Miss Universe were a big event? Not even on broadcast anymore. Or all the Bowl games and parades on New Years Day? Where are they now?

But also, the people watching broadcast TV don't know see any of their shows represented.

Look. I love streaming as much as the next guy. I have Netflix, Hulu and Amazon. But even I barely watch the tip of the iceberg in their original programming because there is just too much of it. If I ran the TV industry, (which let's face it you know I should!), I would have separate awards shows for streaming, cable and broadcast. The Emmys belong to the broadcast networks. How much longer do you think they will continue to broadcast the Emmys if they're not even represented at the awards show?

I want my TV back the way it was. I used to look forward to the Emmys every year.  Not anymore. Its just not TV. :(

The Show Must Go On - The Actor's Nightmare

Actors...Ever have that dream where you're on stage and you don't know you're lines, you blocking or even what the show is that you're doing? Of course you have. We all have.

Well this weekend, I nearly lived it for real. That's right! I went into a new musical that I had never seen, read nor even heard about with 24 hours notice and no rehearsal. And I survived.

Friday night art 5:00 I received a message from an old colleague at Acme Comedy Theatre whose wife is in a new musical opening that evening in about 3 hours. One of the lead actors was in the emergency room and they knew nothing about his condition, ailment, when or if he would be back in the show. He had been asked to do it but he's not a singer (although I think he could have handled this character's one song). His wife asked if he knew anyone that could sing and act and jump in on a moment's notice.  And that's how I ended up in a new musical.

I was up for the challenge. It's been a while since I've done something like this, gone on as a replacement with little to non rehearsal. And I felt my mind needed it to prove that my mind was still agile enough at my age,

I was told that the show's composer was prepared to go on in the role that evening. I could simply come and watch the show and then jump in to Saturday night's show. I arrived at the theater an hour and a half later. It was very deja vu for me. I did two shows at the at theater 14 and 15 years ago and had only been back on a couple of occasions since both over a decade ago. So weird to be there again after all these years and to walk in the theater and see a signed poster if one of those shows with my autograph hanging on the wall house right. My very first show in Los Angeles was in that space.

So, I arrived and watched as they ran the composer through what would be my scenes. I was handed a copy of the stage manager's script and went in search of a FedEx Office to make a copy. As I went through the script I noticed that my character was named Cindy, not Sidney as was I had been told. I was confused. Turns out this was an older version of the script before my character's gender was changed. (Not the only one either, a formerly male character had been changed to a female so it evened out in the end).  Why the stage manager had an old version of the script was beyond me, but who am I to question.

So I went up to the booth to watch the show. I still knew nothing about this show called Mary of the Avenue. When Sidney came on stage I turned on the recorder on my phone so I could have a recording of the song I had to learn. I watched the show, and after made arrangements with my scene partners to meet at 5 on Saturday before the show.

I went out with friends and stayed out way too late (that's a story for another time). Cancelled my work hours on Saturday and stayed in so I could focus on my lines. Now the good news is that I play a reporter so I could use a clipboard in certain scenes when I was on the scene reporting to my TV audience. That way I was able to put the pages of the script for that scene on the clipboard and use it as a crutch when I was on stage.  I showed up at 5 and we ran my scenes a few times and then I went to the booth to learn my song. I definitely needed to have my script in my hand for that!

I did the show. The announcement that I was going on as a replacement was not made until intermission. The producer thought that if he made the announcement prior to the start of the show that the audience would be conscious of me looking down at my script periodically, but if he said nothing they wouldn't be as aware of it and it would be even more impressive when they found out that I was a last minute sub with no rehearsal time nor no knowledge of the show whatsoever until approximately 24 hours before going on. It worked! They totally fell for it.

Although I was never told about the curtain call. Well, no worries, I thought. I'll just ask who I follow and where I go. Great.  No problem. Worked out fine. And then when we all took our group bow...the music started playing and the cast started singing one of the songs from the show...and not my song! What?! After all that? I get through the show without incident and then that gets thrown at me. What is this song. Do I stand here like an idiot and just grin at the audience? Do I move my lips and make it look like a bad ventriloquist act or bad dubbing on a foreign film? No! I'm going to try and sing a long. A song I don't know. A song I've only heard once. And so I opened my mouth and sang. I followed along. The melody was pretty easy to pick up and as for the words I just a split millisecond behind the cast. Seriously. I was basically echoing them but only barely.

When I walked off stage, I went into the dressing room and said I wish someone had told me that I had to sing in the bows! The composer /producer came backstage and apologized for thinking to tell me and teach me the song. But then also noted how I just dove in and sang along and he couldn't believe how I appeared to know the song, Only his trained eye could tell that I was actually about a split second behind the cast.

So I did it. I went on again today and it was better. Next weekend I'll be onstage without a crutch, totally off book. But for now...Phew! I've still got it!

Oy! The Pain! Getting Older Can Hurt

I've been back to dance class the last couple of weeks and its reminded me of some of my boast brags on facebook a couple years ago when I was taking this class regularly. I was proud of how at my age I could not only keep up with everyone but not really feel any pain and I still had great agility at age 52 53.

Well now I'm 56 and those days are over! Hell! When did this happen to me? My knees occasionally give out but not always. And they've been okay lately. Knock wood! God forbid I curse myself by saying that and I get up from this chair and my knee gives out and I fall flat upon my face.  My joints hurt me.

My back has been in pain on two occasions. The first was two years ago and it last over a week. And it was painful! I went to the doctor and got two prescriptions: one muscle relaxer and one pain killer. I'm still enjoying those. (Just kidding!)

Reminds me of a story...when I was in my mid 20s I had surgery and my parents let recuperate at their house while I was on leave from my job. I had been given Tylenol 3 with Codeine by the surgeon as a pain killer. The surgery was on Monday. Saturday afternoon, my father walked into my room and saw that I had taken a dose of the pills and he asked if I was still in pain. I said no. Then he asked why I was still taking the pills. I told him because the doctor prescribed them and I hadn't finished the prescription yet. He said, that's not something to play around with. Those things can be addictive. If you're not in pain, then you shouldn't be taking them anymore. So I stopped. I got schooled. And I've never been a big pill popper. In fact, I don't think I have an addictive personality.
Back to our main story...

The second time I had bad back pain was a couple months ago. Same pain in the small of my back. Really intense. But it went away in a few days.

The Big A word is what has hit me...Arthritis! I have arthritis! Why? How? I'm too young. I work out regularly at the gym but for several months now I have not been able to do bench presses because of my right shoulder. Its not the weight. Its the movement. Literally. I can't lift my right arm over my head without pain. Now the pain has moved down to my right elbow. Arms curls hurt like hell on the inside joint of my right elbow. Ouch!

Some times my fingers or hands will go numb. I'll wake up in the middle of the night with a shooting pain down my arm to my thumb. What is this fresh new hell? Am I turning into old man?

NO!! Look at me! I am not an old man. I mean, seriously, look at me! I'm still young. I look damn good for my age. I can't tell yo how many times I'll see someone or meet someone and think to myself they are older than me, only to find out that they are in fact a few years younger than me. And then I think to myself, "How can that be?". And then I think to myself, in all modesty and humility, "I look damn good for my age."

Then I cross my fingers and throw salt over my shoulder and turn and spin three times and spit to make sure to ward off any evil spirits that will cause me to wake up the next morning looking ten years older. I don't want to curse myself by saying I look good. Although my hair has really started going gray in the last year.

And what happened to my nice tight little ass?!!! Holy crap! Are my ass cheeks starting to sag a bit?! My shelf life is running out! I need to find a husband and now before everything falls apart and I'm not attractive to anyone. LOL

Truth be told, as I've gotten older I seem to be getting more attention paid. Maybe aging isn't such a bad thing. Whoever ends up with me just better be prepared to put up with the occasional cries of pain and sagging body parts.

P.S. in addition I used to be a pretty good dancer. Not a trainer dancer but I could pick up choreography pretty quickly when I was in rehearsals for a show. Not so much anymore. The other night, I couldn't remember how the dance combo started. I had to keep asking my friend April, "What's the first step?" Oh boy!

Pet Peeves (or am I just a cranky old man?)

I thought I'd write about something a little different today. Instead of my career or what's going on in my life. I thought it would be fun to write about my pet peeves and I would love to hear from some of you and hear your pet peeves.

People who use the bike path in the park to jog, walk their dogs, take a nice leisurely stroll with the entire family walking side by side across the path sometimes pushing a baby stroller (Well the joggers aren't so bad, they will stay out of your way but they have their own path!) Seriously, at some points there is a walking/jogging path right alongside the bike path. The bike path is clearly marked with directional signs painted periodically. Get off my path!

People who stand in line at the checkout and don't get their money or credit card out until the cashier is done ringing their transaction..and keep the rest of us waiting while they search in the purse or bag for their wallet and then pull out their money/cards. Excuse me!?  You've been standing in line all that time you couldn't have your money/card ready to go in your hand before you got there. I always have my card in my hand as soon as I get in line. If I'm paying in cash, I have my wallet in my hand with my fingers prying it open for quick access to my bills.

On The Road:
Not using turn signals to make a turn (or waiting until you're already in the turn to turn on the signal)
Not pulling all the way into the median when making a left turn. Seriously! Get out of my lane!
Texting!
Driving in the wrong direction in the parking lot lane. Real? You can't see the arrows painted showing the direction of travel and the fact that all the parking spots are angled in the opposite direction of the one you're driving. Oh! And you can't see that I'm coming directly at you?
Backing your car into a parking spot in a parking garage. No! Please! I've got all day to wait for you to maneuver in to that spot.
Waiting for someone to pull out of a spot so you can have it keeping all of you behind you waiting. Bonus peeve for waiting while someone is slowly loading their car with bags, children, strollers, etc. Especially if there are more parking posts just a few feet or yards down.
And do these people never take into consideration that maybe their action has a domino effect? Like maybe we are backed up all the way into the street and now there might be some blocking traffic.

People talking loudly other cell phones in public places. Go someplace private if you want to have a personal conversation. It happened again just last night in Ralph's. This woman was talking very loudly on her phone, clearly business stuff. She was going on about ideas and lawsuits, etc... Go do business in your office!

The gym...
Those who sit on a weight bench and have phone conversations without doing any sets for 10 - 15 minutes. Really? Get off the damn bench and let someone else use it!

Or the ones who reserve a machine while they're off working somewhere else. Really? I understand someone people like to circuit train. That's okay. But some will use a machine in one area and then go off somewhere else to work on another machine and leave their towels, water bottles, etc on the first machine so no one will use it.

Then there's the guys who grab a bunch of dumbbells (like three or four sets) and pile them up on the floor around their bench while they work.  This means that no one else can use any of them while they use them. I saw this once years ago in my old gym where a guy had several sets around his bench. Others asked if they could share with him and he refused. It also left no room for anyone to walk around. The managers had to get involved because he was being a real dick about it.

Speaking of which, put your damn weights back on the rack! Every gym I've ever been to has signs posted reminding guests to do so, but they don't . Sometimes, its like walking a minefield or you can't find what the weights you want because they're lying on the floor somewhere.

More pet peeves...

Talking with food in your mouth
Not closing your mouth when you chew
People who say "Also too." It's redundant!
"Ain't" As my mother used to say There's no such word as ain't.


Am I a grumpy old man or do you agree? What your pet peeves? Leave in the comments section below.

Another Midlife Crisis (What? Again?)

So let's get up to speed here...

Last June I left my full-time job to free up my life for my acting career. It was a difficult choice and one I had been debating for years. I had money in the bank, I had a nice nest egg in my retirement plan and 401(k). I figured if worse came to worse, if I went through my savings, I could dip into my retirement plan. I could find part-time work. Bottom line: I wouldn't end up on the streets.

Its now been almost a year and I've learned some things. I don't like not having a full-time job.  It's tough getting up in the morning and not having a place to go. I feel I need that structure (routine) in my life. Without it, I feel somewhat aimless, lost. So set some goals, Richard. Create your own structure.

But in addition to that, I no longer have a group of people that I see and work with every day. People to talk to and share with. Its gone. It contributes to my feeling of aimlessness. I feel alone.

I went through almost my savings within six months because I didn't work much during that time. Then, in January I started working a couple of part-time jobs which cover most of my monthly expenses but not all. The part-time jobs offer me flexibility which I like very much. I can pretty much make my own schedule which is great for the acting career because it gives me the freedom to go to any auditions I want and work around those auditions. But the hourly rates are less than what I was making even 20 years ago and no benefits.

I pay for my own medical now and since I took early retirement rather than quitting I am able to keep my old dental and vision plans, (I could have done the same with my medical but it was ridiculously expensive!). I rolled over my retirement plan and 401(k) into an IRA. Like I said its there if I need it but it will come at a cost  if I withdraw since I am under 60.

My rent has gone up...again so there's an added expense there. No problem, I'll look for cheaper place olive. Nope. Rents are going up everywhere unless I want to downsize of move further out from central LA.  I'm doing that...yet.

I withdrew some money from my IRA a couple months back and put it in my savings account to help me out because I wasn't working many hours at the time and I had gone through my savings. But then I booked a commercial and then a couple weeks later got my tax refunds so no need to dip into the savings just yet. Meanwhile, I've increased my hours with both part-time jobs so I'm bringing home more money. Far less than what I'm used to but I'm still here.

But what's freaking me outs this...the first six weeks of this year I had 10 commercial auditions. I was called back for five of them and then placed on avail for 3 of those five callbacks. Amazing! Three on avails in one month. That's never happened to me before. And I booked one of those. Yes!

But then after that, nothing. March and April were dead. I've had a couple auditions in the last couple of weeks so I feel a little better. But man this is tough. I'm in a panic. Maybe I shouldn't have left the job. Umm, yes! I should have! I was miserable.  Do I get another job so I have three? Increase the number of hours I drive for Instacart? I do make decent money some shifts, like @ $22/hour. But then other shifts I'll average $15/hour.  If I can make $250 - $280 in 16 - 19 hours, I can make $400 - $500 in 40, right? But do I want to do that, drive around the valley for 40 hours a week?

The other job, merchandising, is nice because I work by myself and can do the work whenever I want as long as its done by the deadline and I usually have a 1 - 3 week window to complete my assignments. But it doesn't pay much.  So do I look for a new gig? If so, what?

What's amazed me is how the universe has provided. For instance, the timing of booking the commercial. It happened a couple times before as well.  Right when I was running low on funds in September, I got five weeks of contract work with my former employer. Then, in November a commercial I made a year earlier was renewed for another year so I got a nice paycheck for that and then some independent work from some friends. So I'm learning to trust the universe more.  I'm a year into this new chapter in my life and I'm doing okay.

As for the rest, I spend a lot more time alone. I've always done theater and I think Ive used that as an excuse form black of social life. Or rather, its always been a substitute for a social life. And I decided recently to cut back on doing theater to keep myself available for TV and commercial work. So as a result, I'm not interacting with people so much anymore.  Not having the income I once had, I'm less likely to go out and spend money like I was. And working independently makes me miss the daily interaction with my co-workers. It's lonely when you work for yourself and without anyone else.

I chose this path. This is the one I wanted and I'm doing it. I told myself a long time ago that I knew if worse came to worse I would not starve and I would not end up on the streets because I am smart and in good health. There's a lot I can do. It just scares me being alone in this and not knowing what's next.

When to join SAG. That is the question.

So its been a month.
A month since I closed The Full Monty. A month since I shot my commercial (which is now airing thank you very much) and a month since I've had a single audition. Yup. A whole month of nothing. A big fat nothing.

After busting my ass with auditions for the fits six weeks of 2018, I have had nothing at all. But that's the nature of the business. Its either feast or famine. Always has been. I've been through this before. But still, it always makes me think..."What am I doing wrong?" or better still, "What can I be doing differently?"

I hate these slow periods. What do I do to keep myself going creatively? Well, I can write. Which is kind of the point of these blogs...to keep my creative juices flowing. I can vocalize and sing. I'm thinking about putting together another cabaret act. Its been about five years since my last one. I haven't vocalized regularly in a long time.  All my voice lessons are on cassette tapes and my last cassette player died a couple years ago. So I recently purchased a tape to digital converter off of Amazon and voila! I know have my voice lessons on my computer. No more excuses.

On to the title of this blog, SAG.  Why is that there? Well, because I am not a SAG member. Nor have I ever been. I am SAG eligible and have been for about a dozen  years since I was Taft Hartleyed on a commercial. But I have never booked another SAG job since. Now eligible means that I can join at any time. I don't have to yet but I can.  It also means that I can audition for SAG jobs. Which is why agents tend to say wait until you have to join before joining it's the best of both worlds they can submit you for both union and non-union work. And also because I make money doing non-union commercials, it makes sense to stay non-union.

And then, more and more work is going non-union. So more and more SAG actors are going financial core, which means they can work non-union jobs. This means they are fee paying non-members. You're still a SAG member but you lose your voting rights and the right to participate in SAG events, seminars, etc.

But I have also been in this business for a couple of decades and I am a man of, shall we say,  a certain age. Managers say why is someone this age still non-union?

I ask myself, is it keeping me from getting further in my career. Am I not getting auditions for TV shows and union commercials because it doesn't say SAG on my resume? Well, not really because I DO get those auditions, just not often. This last year, I had 7 episodic TV auditions, and the last few went very well. I booked the room as they say. One office called me back a second time and all the casting people in the room laughed at my one line. So I know I booked the room if not the job.

Also, it costs $3,300 just to join the union. That's just to join. Then there's annual dues on top of that. Who has $3,300 lying around? Not me.  So, if I join will I get those auditions I so desperately want? Or will I see even less activity because so many commercials now use non-union talent?

That is the dilemma and why agents want me to stay non-union. But I can't help wondering if I might get to the next level if I go SAG.

What do you think? Post your comments in the comments section of this blog. I'd love to know what you think.

Another Closing of Another Show

The stage after the final bow.

Yesterday, we closed The Full Monty. I slept in today. I didn't work. I took the day off to rest and recuperate. This was another special show. I've been in many shows over the years and you get used to goodbyes. Its the life of an actor. You go from job to job. You get close, the show closes. You go your separate ways. When you're young its hard. But over the years, you get used to it. You don't take it so hard.

But every once in a while, you get cast in a show that is really special. This was one of them. I was a little emotional. Just as I was when I did another production of this show 10 years ago. There's something about this show.  But I won't get into that here because I did that in my previous blog.

What do I want to say here? I want to express how much I will miss doing this show. It is so much fun and so moving. I love playing Harold. It is one of my favorite roles in one of my favorite shows that I have ever done and just wish that more of my friends had seen me in it. I'm very thankful for the friends who did make the trip down to San Diego but I do wish more could have seen me. This role just fits me like no other. It plays to all my strengths as an actor.

The owners of San Diego Musical Theatre (SDMT) welcomed all of us who are new to their them into their family when we started in January. And yesterday, when we closed I realized that it is a family. Everyone who works in that theater treated me with kindness and love. ALL of them. The whole crew. Michelle, our lighting designer, Jessica and Brooke, our sound team, Heather, Jonathan and Sarah, backstage, Stephen our TD, and my rock, the women who were there for me every single night through all the crazy, insane costume changes, Keira and Lexi. I can be a rather quiet, conservative person in life. I tend to keep myself at a safe distance. And yesterday it hit me, how at home they made me feel. And that this really was like a family.

It comes from the top, producers Erin and Gary Lewis, who we didn't see much because of their moving to a new house, created this family atmosphere. Don, our music director, Paul David, our choreographer and the two to whom I am most grateful, our stage manager Marie and director Neil.

It was intimidating to me, playing Harold for a director who himself played Harold about five years ago. But he gave me nothing but support and encouragement from day one.

And now the cast...Damn! I'm welling up as I think of them. The six as we were called, Steve, Danny, Jon, Ron Jack and myself. I can't believe we don't get to do this again. Sharing the stage, a dressing room and our fears and anxieties about revealing all to the world is something I will never forget. You guys rule MY world! (sorry for the obvious pun). I'm going to miss you terribly.

The Six.

And now, my favorite moments of the show:
Karyn in Life With Harold. Specifically, her stuff with the boys and her big arm gestures as she went upstage.
Ron on his last exit laughing and strutting after he thanks God for putting the burden on "That Poor White Boy."
Oh, and his Big Black Man. Nuff said.
Luke's "I do this thing with a bull whip." Prompting me to run for the proscenium arch and hug it. Oh! and sticking out his big beautiful ass for "What do we think of that guy?" "I've seen better."
Paul''s hilarious audition as Reg.
Danny, breaking my heart every single night when he grabs Jerry and tells him not to ever call him a fat bastard again. I never told you this Danny, but I used that moment to help get me where I needed to be emotionally for my next scene.
Karyn, again, for bringing me up to your level in our final scene.
Jack, your physical comedy astounded me.  And the expression on your face when Jon took your hand in You Walk With Me. It caught my breath every night.
Jon, the way you did a little Fred Flinstone dance with your feet before running into Danny and Steve's arms for "C'mon, group hug.", your three act cross in Act Two. LOL "Teddy bought hockey tickets." You Walk With Me. Harold melted in that scene. Every. Single. Night.  You and Jack together holding each other. Wow.
The company in the hallway every night at the end of Act One waiting for the six of us to come upstairs and greeting us with high fives, low fives, videos, signs etc...
Alex as the ballroom dance instructor. OMG. My fave costume and wig in the entire show.
Stella as the old woman. Hard to keep a straight face listening to your ad libs. "It's already hot."
Amy, you make a great old Jewish mother. :)
Beth, "I don't think so pop-pops." and all your sass as Estelle in the break room scene. "When are you coming over?"
Joy and Danny. "Who wants to see this?" "Me, Dave. I do." So honest and raw. Every night.
Devlin's stumbling on Jeanette's lines: "Moxyoron" "...and a bad ta, a bad ta, ta, ta, ta...He had a bad wig."
Danny humping the piano and do an Irish jig to "get Harold"
Steve, the anti-wrinkle cream, and my favorite...how you laughed with joy every single night as we walked off stage "nekkid" after the finale.
Keira dressing me as I stripped down to nothing but my g-string before the final scene.
Jon, Jack, Danny and I bumping, grinding and dry humping one another behind the set during "The Goods"
Some of us boys mooning each other from either side of the stage during the bows.

Going The Full Monty...Again

This past weekend I opened in The Full Monty at San Diego Musical Theatre as Harold Nichols. Opening night was electric. It felt amazing considering it was a very daunting experience. Six men getting buck naked every night. It's scary. I've done the show before, but it was still scary.

Yes, that is actually the six of us on our stage.

Fortunately, our production team made sure that the six men in the cast felt safe. We were supported by our entire cast from day one. We rehearsed the show for two weeks in a rehearsal space and then moved into the theater for 10 days of rehearsals prior to opening night. We did not strip all the way until two nights before our preview performance in a closed rehearsal with no one but the director, choreographer, and dance captain present.

Coming off stage after the final bows and running upstairs and down the hall to our dressing room was an amazing feeling. Our entire cast was cheering us on as we ran down the hall. The six of us share one dressing room at the far end of the hall from the stairs down to the stage. Once we were all present, I broke out a bottle of champagne for the six of us to toast ourselves on a successful opening. We earned it. We've shared a unique experience with one another that no one else can share with us. We're in it together...a team.

One of our show posters in front of the theater.

Another poster in front. 

I've done the show before so it was not my first time. So I was not as scared of the final moment in the show as some of the others in this cast. I did the show ten years ago in a small 99-seat theatre production in Los Angeles. A very different experience to say the least. A much smaller theater with a much smaller budget and none of the lighting effects typically used for that final moment of the show.  That was a very special experience for me. I had wanted to play the role of Harold since seeing it on Broadway. And our little L.A. production almost didn't happen. But through a series of fortunate events (a benefactor) and good old fashioned "the show must go on chutzpah" we did it. I'm still very close with most everyone from that cast. Getting naked in front of them every weekend will do that. It remains one of the best theatrical experiences I have ever had and one of my favorite roles I've ever played. I've always wanted to play Harold again.

So here I am 10 years later playing the role in a bigger theater on a much bigger scale. What's different? Well, I'm ten years older. I have arthritis in some of my joints. I get stiff.  My knees bother me. I don't learn choreography as quickly as I once did. The steps come to me fairly quickly, its memorizing the sequence that takes some time. It's frustrating to me because I've always put pressure on myself to be perfect. And I am not perfect. Not even close. My body doesn't work with the agility it used to.

When people hear you are doing The Full Monty, they automatically assume its about the strip. But its not. Its the ultimate underdog story. Six very different men all down on their luck come together and create something. It's about the journey. Not the destination. The audience is so caught up in the adventure that by the time we get to that final moment, they want the men to go all the way. Its not about the strip, its about them following through on what they set out to do despite all the setbacks.

The view of the stage from the back of the house.

And it feels so good to play that story and to go through that emotional roller coaster six times a week. This cast. These six men are so perfectly cast and all bring something amazing to the show. And the actresses playing the women in our lives couldn't be more wonderful and supportive. There is a lot of love and support from everyone backstage that includes the whole cast and our crew at The Horton Grand Theatre. This is why I wanted to do this show again. The love. The story. I hope if you're in Southern California, you'll come and see us.

We run through February 25. Link below to tickets:

San Diego Musical Theatre