Shows I've Seen

Went with the wonderful future star Mitchell Fink to his first Hollywood screening, a short film he did about a year ago called Black/White by Displaced Yankee Productions. He did a fine job as one half of a gay couple raising a daughter in a society where an abusive heterosexual couple is considered to be more fit for parenting. The film had three little segments about such topics and included quite a few people I know from Hollywood Happy Hour and Women In Film (including Dick Derry, Selma Pinkard, and a few other fine folks who appeared on screen but not at the screening itself).

It was fun! I always love screenings at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood. The last short I saw screened there (Down on the Waterfront) went on to be nominated for an Academy Award! So... that could bode well for Mitchell's little film. Thrilled to be a part of his journey in Hollywood. He's kicking ass in so many ways.

Attended the Beverly Hills Playhouse's Working Actors Showcase at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, 254 S. Robertson Blvd. Luckily, this show was extended, as my casting gig for The Moor kept me from going when I'd first RSVP'd for April 2nd.

I was eager to see more of Michael Petted's work (saw him in SubUrbia a few weeks earlier) and learn the work of BHP people. Joe Regelbrugge was the cool emcee. No headshot from him in the industry packet, which is disappointing, as I can imagine wanting to bring him in in the future. Very funny little standup bit he did about being "a homosexual alcoholic, so either way, after the show I'm getting shitfaced." HOWL!

Keith Johnson and I attended and spent a little time chatting with Hollywood Happy Hour-goers David Edelstien and Molly Hawkey, plus commercial casting director Danny Goldman (been seeing a lot of him lately). I was in a migraine haze, so my notes may be sparse, but I do generally remember having a very good time.

While I liked Tania Gonzalez and John Griffin in their Serendipity scene, I didn't know that that was the best choice of material for them. Still, their performances were enjoyable and they were both very cute. Fun to watch. I liked seeing them on stage and will bring them in.

Tracy Wilson and Andre Hotchko did a great job in Rocket to the Moon. Really went on the journey with them. Well done! And, without a doubt, the performer with the most STAR-quality (she walked on stage and I could NOT take my eyes off of her) was Mary Ann Hermansen. She was in the Chicago number. Wow. Hot stuff!

Finally got to see the wonderful Stephanie Griffin in True Story at the Coronet Theatre, 366 N. LaCienega.

I had noticed the review poster from LA Weekly at the Coronet while we were at the ACT Showcase earlier in the week and recalled that the darling Stephanie had invited me to the show via email a few weeks before. She had been Juliet in a film on which I did makeup: Romeo & Juliet, Revisited as well as being one of my costars on Who Knew. She was great, as always. Really simple, understated work. Very nice.

True Story is the first play by the new company called Conspiracy Theory (cofounded by show stars Joey Adams and Stephanie Griffin. I'm excited about what this new company will do as it works out its earliest kinks. Dear friend Michael Donovan, CSA/CCDA, cast this show by Kelly Masterson. Keith Johnson and I joined Jonathan Spencer and Eitan Loewenstein for the show, which ran a little on the long-side for my tastes but I'm all ADD.

Joey Adams could be Conan O'Brien's little brother. He's good. Very good. And at that "type/age" where he can do the teen thing, even though he's "legal." That's always a plus in this town. His role was a workout, for sure: on stage the whole two hours and doing gut-wrenching stuff. Mark Harrison did a great job as the doctor, after being pulled in as a last-minute understudy. Very impressed, considering he was studying his script in the wings between his scenes. And, as I've said already, Stephanie Griffin did a great job.

The upstairs of the Coronet is good space; interesting. And the set was all filled with levels that the actors made great use of. The folding chairs were uncomfortable, but--again--that could be just due to the fact that two hours is too long for me to sit anywhere. Favorite line from the script, "He's a born again hypocrite. He didn't get it right the first time." Howl! I look forward to more work from this new company.

Keith Johnson and I attended the ACT MFA showcase at the Coronet Theatre, 366 N. LaCienega Blvd.

Favorite actors I'm sure we'll be seeing again in Los Angeles (if not in New York first) were Rob Seitelman, D.J. Lapité, Crystal Noelle (her excerpt from Danitra Vance's Live and in Color! was howlingly funny. I wanted MORE!), David Valdez, Davis Duffield, Jud Williford, and Marilee Talkington. Really strong among a VERY good class. All were very talented; these folks stood out.

Really liked the bound volume of headshots and resumés (very classy--and since this is my first league school showcase, I can only assume that it's standard) and the "contact sheet" they provided for us to drop off as we left, should we want any of the actors to follow up with us on current projects while they're still in town.

Good food. Good bar. Great catering team and organizers who were very wonderful. Met a couple of last year's performers who were finding Los Angeles to be quite different than what they'd expected, a year ago. Should be interesting to see how many of these folks follow up. Initiative is a funny thing in this town. [Update: got a follow-up mailing from Edward Nattenberg, as promised. He and I had met while comparing geek-toys (Palm/Treo stuff). Also got follow-up calls/emails from Rob Seitelman. Good job, kids! You've got the edge!]

Favorite line from the intro: "The human condition is to NOT know. The moment you learn, you die a little."

The cast of Significant Others performed standup comedy at the Improv, 8162 Melrose Ave.

We showed up with a posse, for sure. Keith Johnson, Tracy Eliott, Eric Halasz, Jonathan Spencer, Rachel Scheer, Rachel Hardy, Mitchell Fink, Pamela Newlands, Scott Ritchie, hooked up with Louie Maggiotto, Brant Rose, Toochis Morin, Allison Kingsley, Francene Selkirk, Rob Roy Thomas, Fred Goss, Eric Beck, Mary Pat Dowhy, Nicole Randall Johnson, and the legendary Bud Friedman.

Performers on stage included Stephanie Courtney (pinch-hitting for Brian Palermo, who got a last-minute commercial booking in New York), Gary Lucy, Jane Edith Wilson, Andy Kindler (the guy who plays Fred's best friend on the show who is really brilliant and was one of my favorite comics of the night), Faith Salie (on the day after her birthday, no less), Andrea Savage (who organized the awesome event), Herschel Bleefeld, Chris Spencer, and very funny redheaded former Navy guy Jamie Kanler (sp?).

Really funny show. Some amazing talent and lots of good, happy vibes, despite the NBC/Bravo exec-heavy room. That much weight tends to make comics nervous, but this group just really shined and celebrated their season two pickup. So great!

An aside: various candids from the Perfect casting process and the night at the Improv are here, if you're interested. Also went to Amagi for karaoke and connected with Bill Lippincott, Eitan Loewenstein, Vida Ghaffari, Hal Perry, and Rich Eck there. Big fun.

Wow.

Seriously. Wow.

How many shows do you attend and just sit, mouth-agape, for so many moments? And then laugh and laugh and laugh. And shiver. And leap out of the seat at the end for a standing ovation that you're sure must be too enthusiastic, just in time to see that everyone is up and clapping wildly. Hooting. Shouting. Thrilled to have shared in such an experience.

Good Lord, that was good theatre.

Another smoking play, which usually would bother me (a whole pack, at least, smoked on stage in under three hours), but the structure of the Skylight Theatre (1816-1/2 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood) lends itself to amazing staging and--thankfully--lots of ventilation. I didn't realize that Lisa Soltau and I were choosing seats that would put us just under the penis of the lead during a "strip naked" moment--and generally I think such tactics as stripping down in plays tend to be forced and gratuitous--but it was such an organic moment that I barely noticed.

The brilliant, sexy, talented, gorgeous Jennifer Fontaine is in this show, and she is the reason Lisa and I attended. I first cast Jeni and Lisa in a show in October, 2000, along with four other amazing ladies, all of whom I keep tabs on to some degree (even brought one in for an audition just last week--the amazingly goddess-like Baadja-Lyne Odums). Anyway, the point of that statement is that it is absolutely delightful to see talent grow and bloom and become richer with time. Jeni blew us away.

But she wasn't alone. Most of the cast was simply outstanding, despite the fact that we attended on a night when three roles were understudied. I'm not exactly sure why my presskit included the headshots of the propsmistress and one of the producers... and NOT one of the actors on stage tonight... but I think Jeni's going to get me one of the actor who played Tim tonight. He was really great. Name's not even in the program. WTF? [Update: Received his headshot/resumé in the mail, per Jeni's nudge. It's Ronnie Gene Blevins. Great job!]

J. Scott Shonka was quite good. Really loved Natalie Avital and Al Faris. Absolutely adored Michael Petted, who says on his resumé that he is 5'9" (he isn't). But I'll forgive that, just as I forgive those who spell "principal" (as in role) incorrectly. But I still get to bitch about it.

Amazing show. Really. Jeni has to leave it in a couple of weeks to do a film, but this is a must-see. There are very few of these "out there." Go. Really great stuff. Kudos to director Alex Craig Mann for bringing Eric Bogosian's work to such vibrant life.

at Alessi (6602 Melrose Ave., Hollywood). Starring Nelson Aspen and Bonnie Gillespie with Significant Others casting director Francene Selkirk; star of Significant Others and the forthcoming Runaway Productions feature film Perfect, Fred Goss; and jewelry designer to the stars, Jonathon Arndt. Last-minute guest appearance by Kris Burtt, who ran right over after her shoot!

Audio files from Uncle Bob will be available soon, meanwhile you can hear last quarter's HHH audio files and see all the wonderful photos at our website.

Make sure to check out Hollywood Reporter in the coming days, as they sent out a photographer to cover the event... again... and at the very least, that means photo coverage on WireImage.com. Woo hoo!

A total blast, as always!

Oh, I'm so glad we went to this show! Keith Johnson and I took in an early (but delayed... due to technical difficulties that really only somewhat impacted the show itself) staging of La Ronde, set in the 1979 Studio 54 scene. Really cool take on the original script by Arthur Schnitzler, who wrote Reigen in 1897 Austria.

Just really well done.

One drawback was the, "but WAIT, there's MORE!" slant to every one of the scenes. Keith suggested that perhaps it was a convention of the original work and work of that era, but since there was adaptation done to the script in order to put this play up in this context, some of that could've been edited out for conservation of time (ours) and energy (the actors'). A really small gripe, though. This play was wonderful.

Lots of sex, lots of sex, lots of sex. Glad to learn the work of Etienne Eckert, Darcy Halsey, Brett Hren, Ken Arquelio, and of course Kim Estes, who invited us in the first place. Really great stuff and totally worth checking out, if you have the chance. Yes, even though there was on-stage smoking (and that awful kind where the actor lights the cigarette and then lets it smolder in an ashtray for ten minutes) in this play too, it still gets my seal of approval.

[Update: received by mail the headshot/resumé of one of the actors whose material was not in the SpyAnts package. Bowd Beal. He was a real pleasure to watch in this piece, as a non-speaking-narrator of sorts.]

La Ronde, at the Elephant Asylum, 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood.

Keith Johnson and I went to see Alice Ensor and Drew Droege at the The Theatre District at the CAST's production of 39*21*50 (804 N. El Centro, Hollywood). I'm guessing the numbers represent the turning-point ages at which we find some of the characters.

The bad news is, the writer wanted the whole play to be a turning point. It was very heavily written and even excellent acting by our buddy Drew and a delightfully comedic Suzie Kane couldn't overcome the self-important tone of the play itself.

This came from a one-act, from what I hear, and I'd be willing to bet that the one-act version is far better. Odd choices from the director--having every character put on some sort of odd accent, never using music... until that ONE moment where we're supposed to cry, and having the actors smoke--twice--on stage without having given fair warning in the program. Gotta say, that last one is a really big problem for me (you know how we former smokers are the most militant anti-smokers, right?).

I really enjoyed the last play I saw Alice in at this location (Meetin's on the Porch). This was just much less... everything. Bummer. I've since learned that a major glitch came at 3pm on show day. An actor had to leave town on an emergency/family trip and the cast and director spent the few hours prior to showtime rewriting the play WITHOUT a character! That certainly explains the unevenness.

But, WOW, what gorgeous sets (again)! Two Blue Chairs Design is a group I will definitely keep on my short list of "gotta work with you" when I mount a theatre production in the future. Really great visuals.

A former co-star of Keith Johnson's--Mark Irvingsen--and an actor we met at the AFTRA Senior Showcase--Beverly Caplan--in Wrong Way, NY at the Actors' Forum Theatre, 10655 Magnolia Blvd. Jeff Blumberg was very good as the nerdy bald guy with glasses (classic character) and Mark did a great job as the dim-witted mooch. Very funny.

It seems the writer/director/instructor--Eugene Butler--has quite a following. I was pretty amazed at how very well-received some of the less-inspired lines were by this packed house. Yes, there were some brilliant moments, but the entire script could've benefited from another heavy edit. Way way way too long (and it started late, had a long intermission, etc.) for my taste, but I'm glad we went.

I've learned, though, that the more I go to theatre, the more I know GOOD theatre from AVERAGE theatre right away. Obviously, the EXCELLENT and the HORRIBLE stand out for everyone, but the way I now feel about average theatre has changed, since I'm seeing so so so very much of it. This just isn't the town for being average.

A great actor will always stand out in something... even something awful. But it's always a pleasure to see tight, short, great theatre. While it had its moments, this show wasn't any of that. Still glad we went.