Shows I've Seen

Keith Johnson and I attended closing night for the adaptations of Jesus Christ Superstar Wars and The King and I Know What You Did Last Summer by Danny Casillas and Steve Silverman (who also directed). Very nice work--though the first act was way on the long side--from some 15 Minutes of FEM players and new discoveries Joseph Corri, Phinneas Kiyomura, Richard Debner, Judi Evans, Ethan Wilde, and Geoff Meed.

One of the coolest things was--and you know this saves buttloads on printing programs--all cast bios and photos (and ads) were projected onto a small screen on the stage using slides before the show began. What a neat idea!

Great costumes, wonderful space (Egyptian Arena Theatre, 1625 N. Las Palmas Ave., Hollywood), and with a little tighter editing in act one's script, I'd bet I'd have been 100% thrilled. So very clever.

Juliette Jeffers, as usual, is amazing. She has done this one-woman-show piece at various lengths and this one was about 30 minutes. It was a part of the Los Angeles Woman's Theatre Festival which ran for four days with most performances--including this one--at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre (great space), 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles.

The other performer Keith Johnson and I saw at this particular segment (called Footprints and hosted by Adilah Barnes with celebrity performer Ted Lange) was Anna Homler who did a performance art piece called Breadwoman. Let's just say I do NOT get performance art. Weird.

I highly recommend that all female performers--wherever you may live--apply for the 2005 festival. From the press release: Women solo performers of all ethnicities: actors, performance artists, dancers, comedians, storytellers, singers, performance poets from throughout the world, send videotapes depicting exact program under consideration for festival (cued to 10-minute viewing segment). Also include headshot or action shot, resumé, and all supporting materials. $10 submission fee and SASE for returns to: Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival, 11411 Cumpston Ave., Ste. 204, N. Hollywood, CA 91601. Performers will be paid. Questions? 818.760.0408, 818.760.0506 fax. DEADLINE: August 30, 2004.

Anyway, great space, lovely location inside and out, Juliette was just inspired... tears and laughter bursting throughout the 300-seat space, standing ovation... the whole bit. Well done, lovely Juliette! You continue to make Lloyd proud.

Champale, fried catfish with black-eyed peas and spicy green beans, plus loads of amazing blues and down-home fun at Babe's and Ricky's Inn (4339 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles). One chaotic little set where there were too many guitarists on stage at once, but Mama put everybody in check and got things going smoothly again. Got to hear Deacon Jones playing his keyboards--wow--and met Nikki Chapman, the local legend. Wow, can she sing! Many very talented performers, including casting director Billy DaMota, whose heartfelt tribute to Mama and the nirvana that is Babe's and Ricky's Inn was just wonderful. I was quite impressed and not at all surprised!

In the house were Keith Johnson, Dea Vise, guest of honor Tony Ybarra (open mic night host for 23 years), plus Richard and Rain Pryor, enjoying the music and general vibe. Really cool place. We shall be back.

This was the second time Linda Palmer and I went to see this show at the Zoo Theatre (1611 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood). This time, we got to see Linda's friend Samuel Bliss Cooper, who really is brilliant. Also in this version, Matt Chaffee, the writer/director. Wow! Such great stuff. Got to see Sangini Majmudar and Jennifer Hagedorn again, plus Kristi Miller and Joe Nieves. New to us this time was Gina St. John and the young woman who played Allison. Of course, I've since forgotten her name. Ack! This time we brought along Keith Johnson plus Scott Ritchie and a bunch of other Runaway Productions types. Went out after to the Cat and the Fiddle, which is always big fun.

Can't wait to see the sequel to Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies, Fluffy Bunnies Frolicking in the Rain. I just know it's going to be great. Seriously, I have to say that this is some of the BEST theatre I have EVER seen in Los Angeles.

Not really a show, but we did get to see 20 actors perform. I got to audition actors with commercial casting director Danny Goldman, and it was really interesting to see where his needs and my needs as casting directors differ. Much more about the look, to him, and that's certainly understandable. We did both really enjoy doing the "general" interview chit-chat stuff though. Far more interesting than having them cold read the sides; though we did have them do that too.

I was very happy to be a part of this Senior Career Day sponsored by AFTRA and I know Keith Johnson had a good time too. Always helps an actor to see lots of other actors auditioning. I was happy to meet a few actors whose posts I knew from online discussion forums. Great to see some new (to me) talent too.

How is it possible to make light of two pretty serious medical conditions? It's possible when very cleverly crafted by Jan Pessin and Colleen Wainwright (#1 and #2, respectively). This workshop performance, costarring Tom Jermain and Derek Bentley, is really very funny and wonderful. Keith Johnson, Jonna Tamases, Eric Halasz, and I went to the show at the Ventura Court Theatre (12417 Ventura Ct., Studio City--a GREAT space) and enjoyed it immensely. Can't wait to see it mounted in-full. This musical comedy is, in fact, "a graphic journey full of song and dance and seltzer in the pants!" Very excited to see what happens from here.

Another great day. We again rented space at The Complex (upstairs rehearsal space, 6472 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood) and this time hired Fred Goss (our lead) to come in and play Leslie against all the called-back actors. What I learned is that it's so very obvious which auditioning actors NAIL IT when you see them playing with the actor who already has the job. Actors come in one after the other and really do those nervous actor things. They stumble and second-guess and simply don't connect with the material or live in the moment, which really contrasts with the booked actor they're playing with. So, when an actor gets on stage and absolutely DOES own the role for that moment, matching the energy of the cast actor, it is obvious to everyone in the room. Several times during callbacks, producer Linda Palmer and writer/director Scott Ritchie looked at each other, and at me, and we decided to cast actors on the spot. That's fun for them and for us!

Still have a few offers out and a few decisions to make, but I'd say Perfect is pretty much at 90% cast now. I have become a fan of so many actors through this process. I am always so very pleased at what I see in the talented people in this town. Great energy. Great work. Good people.

Linda Palmer and I went to see her friend Samuel Bliss Cooper in this show at the Zoo Theatre (1611 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood). Well, since the show is double-cast, we didn't actually get to see him. However, this was still a spectacular night of theatre. I came home raving about it and I've recommended it to everyone. Such a great show! Tightly-written, well-acted, and so very humorously done... down to every detail.

After the show, we approached Sangini Majmudar and Jennifer Hagedorn (who starred with Kristi Miller, Joe Nieves, Andy Lazarus, Stephen Heath, Jenny Eakes, and Laura Ellis) and asked them to come straight to callbacks for Perfect for the roles of Patchouli and Ruby, respectively. They were just so right-on.

Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daisies will soon have a sequel, Fluffy Bunnies Frolicking in the Rain. I'd love to see my favorite actors get involved with this group and this show. Such good stuff!

Adam Drucker put on this cute one-man show at Masquer's Cabaret (8334 W. 3rd St., W. Hollywood). I'd have liked it to be longer, as it was quite funny and showed a lot of potential for a character he's working out. I really see Gator Reid as a great match for Luann, Crista Flanagan's amazing alter ego. I put these two good folks in touch with one another. I hope they'll do some magic. I see that great pairing from Saturday Night Live of Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer as the high school music instructors who do amazingly-unhip gigs. We'll see.

Not the best venue, as Masquer's has that cover, food and drink minimum, and some of the worst service and selection on the planet, but what are you gonna do? Great show. Good fun. And Keith Johnson and I loved getting to see Faith Salie, Nick Holly, Lindsay Jewitt, and Dan Sturman out socially again.

Fun gathering of friends and supporters of Faith Salie and the entire cast and crew of Significant Others at Lindsay Jewitt's and Dan Sturman's place. It was the first time Keith Johnson and I had been there since their second child was born in 2002. Really lovely, as always, and we enjoyed getting to hang out with Adam Drucker, Eric Garcetti, Kara Keeley, PJ Byrne, Hubert Lin, Amy Wakeland, Ginna Carter, and Nell Benjamin. It was Dan's birthday, so we also had a little celebration. Faith provided her legendary Coca-Cola Cake and White Trash Lemon Cake, plus some other bars and snacks I didn't sample, but recognized as favorites from her kitchen.

Runaway Productions/Perfect, LLC, rented space at The Complex (upstairs rehearsal space, 6472 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood) so that we could preread 100 actors for Perfect. Had help from amazing readers: Debra McCarthy, Ashley McCarthy, Pamela Newlands, Rachel Hardy, Mitchell Fink, and of course, Keith Johnson holding down the sign-in fort.

Linda Palmer and Scott Ritchie were very pleased with the actors I brought in. Some were folks from the staged reading, others were folks we'd pre-screened via demo reels and/or headshots over the past few months, and still others were people I brought in without having checked with Linda and Scott first. I loved it when those little surprises were great fits! Looks like we'll have to start from scratch on one of the children's roles, as we just didn't see what we were looking for. But I have faith. A new breakdown will go out tomorrow and we'll bring in a new crop of kids next week.

Got a last-minute call from Bill Lippincott to go to set to visit his writer friend Brooks MacBeth during a taping of MadTV. I hadn't been to a taping since early 1999, when I waited in line for a nice long hour or so in order to get in with friends. This time, we were ushered right in and asked whether we wanted to watch from the floor or seats... or whether we'd like to check out the offices or grab a bite from craft services, etc. Nice hook-up! Heh heh.

Saw a great new cast member, Keegan Michael Key, whose work I really like. Funniest sketch was a Cold Case send-up. Really hysterical. They plied us with chocolate and little dance contests for the youngsters. I think Bill's gonna try and score me a pin. Woo hoo!

This was actor Victor Williams' directorial debut with his new group, the New American Theatre Company. Publicist Deborah Berger had invited us to this industry night and Keith Johnson and I fully enjoyed both the show and the schmoozing with her clients, who were out in full-force. This play was put up at the Secret Rose Theatre (11246 Magnolia Blvd., N. Hollywood) and it starred Sterling K. Brown, Micah Cover, Heather Ehlers, and Nichelle Hines.

Spent some time chatting with Victor after the show about his new company and the casting process he's experienced so far. Looks like we'll get together to discuss the comedy he'll put together for the fall. Very exciting new company and I'm hopeful that I will be able to be a part of it. Two Rooms was a moving story. Touching and romantic and very sad. What a great show!

Keith Johnson and I spent his birthday at a show written by and starring Dea Vise at ACME (135 N. LaBrea Ave., Hollywood) with reception following at Amalfi next door. Sketches were evenly-paced and very funny--howlingly so--and all of the actors were very skilled. Director/performer Todd Rohrbacher also co-wrote a piece, as did performer Kim Evey (whose work I loved back when casting A Dull House. Other cast members were Mark Bernier, Randy Cohlmia, and Susie Geiser.

Great to laugh so hard, see so many friends, and enjoy well-produced theatre by a bunch of pros. I look forward to the next installment.

Keith Johnson and I checked out Crista Flanagan's brilliant comedic stylings at the Flight Theatre at the Complex (6472 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood). But Wait... I Have Impressions costarred Robert Porch and Ken Ward, both of whom are simply wonderful. Great matches to Crista's talent and spirit. Ken was amazingly versatile and Robert is a professional dancer. Just some really good stuff, especially Crista's Luann. She has great characters "in there," but none so well-done as Luann.

There's future MadTV stuff in her show. No doubt.

15 Minutes of FEM is always wonderful. Its Best of... is the top of the top, no doubt. I always leave so very charged up about these amazing, wonderful women and Steve Silverman's ability to keep them coming, year after year. Best of... took place (as it always does) at the Egyptian Arena (1625 N. Las Palmas Ave., Hollywood) and included Rena Malin, Traci Loper, Shannon Tanner--whose work touched me deeply, Erin Quill--who was brilliant, Fylicia Renee King, Susan Isaacs, Kristina Wong, and the winner--deservedly so--Jamie Denbo. Everyone did such a great job. It's always tough to pick a winner among such talented ladies. Can't wait to see Best of... version six!