I am a big nerd

Confession time! (though I admit, for many of you, this is not news).

I am a big ol’ geek.

For many years, I have participated in a form of Role Playing that does not involve a table or dice, but instead was (for me) more of an acting exercise: I am a Live Action Role Player. I have made many friends through this hobby, and it has provided me with some opportunities to tell some stories. As well, it has provided me with some valuable lessons both in character development and in story telling.

On the downside, it has also taken up more of my time than it probably should. When I first started participating in this hobby, I have put more into this hobby than I did to my acting career. Sometimes, I have wondered where I might be with my theatre career if I had put as much time into pursuing that than the LARP hobby.

Moving forward though, I have made some decisions about my life. I have made a commitment to myself to do more theatre. To write more theatre. And to generally pursue this theatre thing. I need to put more time and energy into the theatre. I need to write the stories that have been kicking around in the back of my head, and to do that, I can’t put as much time into the LARP hobby as I used to.

Does that mean that I won’t still play? Yes, I will. I just won’t be doing it as much as I used to. Nor will I be able to put as much time and energy into it as I once did. I don’t want to get to age 40 (which isn’t as far off as I would like) still wanting to do things. I’d much rather hit that particular milestone knowing that I was not wanting to do them…but was instead doing them.

It is my hope that as time progresses, I will be reporting more about the things that I am doing theatre and writing wise on this blog. And I hope that you will stick around with me for that ride (and for whatever this future holds).

Wicked

On Saturday afternoon, I went to see Wicked with my parents.

The show is highly entertaining, and the audience (as might be expected with a show that’s been hyped as much as this one). The cast was excellent, with only a couple of weak links. Shoshana Bean made an excellent Elphaba, and Megan Hilty as Glinda managed to exorcize the ghost of the originator of that role: Kristin Chennoweth, making the role her own. Shoshana herself was so confident in the role that I never once compared her to Idina Menzel (no small feat).

The play itself…lacks a strong ending. The end of Act I kicks some serious ass, but Act II just…ends. There’s no strong climax, and it just…ends. With the kind of ending that’s given in Act I, you might really hope for something just as strong to finish off the show. But, sadly that doesn’t happen. Yes, there’s some decent character resolution, and the play ends on a happier note than the book (purportedly, since I haven’t read it), but there’s just no stirring ending with the kind of eye candy the show gives us in all its other moments.

The show is a hit, because of two things a) the music and b) the lead roles. These are the things that hold the show together. At least one of the witches (Glinda or Elphaba) is on stage in every scene. And its through them that the story is told. So, its their story that the audience is being told, and its them whom the audience relates to.

Its the ending that really gives me the problem. With a better ending, you would have heard me raving endlessly about this show. Instead, I can only say that it was a “good” show. I can’t tell you that it was “amazing” or any other word descriptive of its awesomeness.

And that, in its way, is sad. Yes, I enjoyed it. But I didn’t think it was amazing.

One thing that was interesting to me was the merchendise. There were two merchandise tables on the main floor, and one on the balcony level. Basically, there was one beside every entrance or exit from the theatre. And the merch tables were booming from the time the house was open to the time the last people left the theatre (I know, because I happened to be one of those last people…standing around was easier than trying to elbow my way out). And watching the money change hands the way it did, I could only think: I have to come up with a show that lends itself to merch. Of course, you have to have a show that’s a hit for the merch to make a difference (especially in the Toronto theatre scene), but really…its a form of revenue that can subsidize the production as a whole. Merch can’t work with every produciton though. Because there is a significant cash layout at the beginning (to pay for the merchandise). You need to have a show that your audience wants to keep a piece of. From the way that audience behaviour seems to work, you have to give them a spectacle: a visual spectacle that they want to remember. Allowing them to take away a piece of the show lets them connect with the show, in a way that a simple programme cannot. The merch also allows them to display the fact that they saw the show, and gives them ‘bragging rights’.

I gotta tap into the merch somehow.

Trapped in Taffeta

It is with great pride that I am announcing that Trapped in Taffeta by Leslie Seiler (directed by Richard Beaune and produced by Simple Truth Theatre) has been nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award!! If you, or anybody you know, belong to either ACTRA, Equity, WGC, DGC or The Comedy Association, and you have seen or heard of this wonderful show, you can help by voting for us in the One Person Show category by simply visiting the website at: http://www.canadiancomedyawards.ca/ and clicking on the “VOTE NOW” icon at the top right of the home page. Every vote is appreciated.

Hamlet?

First read-through of Hamlet today.

And my thoughts?

Well, its not Hamlet, per se. Not truly. This is more of a treatment of Hamlet. The play is very different, with much cut out, massive changes in scene structure and text.

Do I like it? I’m not sure. At this point, I’m undecided. Its definately not what I expected. Is it interesting? Definately. How will it look on stage? I have no idea. I can’t picture it in my head…probably because it wasn’t what I was expecting.

I am very happy, however, the many of my scenes are with my friend Adrianna, however. I think that working with her will be great fun.

Overall, I really don’t know what to say about this version of Hamlet. The purist in me is crying out in outrage (or at least mild disgust or discomfort). However, as an actor, there are very likely to be instances in the future when I will have to swallow my purist tendencies and trust the director’s vision. So that is what I am going to do. Trust that the director’s vision will work.

After all, were I the director, I would expect the same of my actors.

Now, I am off to bed, since I’ve been up since 4am (stupid work).

Audition News: the plays/Roles

So. Got the cast list today for the Forward Theatre shows.
First up: Hamlet.

Now, for some reason I had got it into my head that I might possibly play Claudius. I don’t know where I got that into my head, but hey…it would be nice, right?

No dice on that one. The role for Hamlet is: Polonius.
Yeah. that’s right. Ophelia’s father.

I have mixed feelings about that. Mostly because…the character of Polonius is referred to by everyone as an old man. In fact, he’s considered by most of the characters to be a useless, doddering old man.

Now, my casting in this role is likely due to the young age of the rest of the cast. At 36, I’m probably one of the older members of the cast.

Now, of course, Polonius dies at the beginning of the second half. Which leaves me free to play the Gravedigger. Which, I suppose is alright.

After that, I have the role of Cornwall in King Lear. That could be fun, since the character is described in some synoposis texts thusly: “Cornwall is Regan’s brutal husband, vicious and savage when thwarted in his efforts to seize ambition”.

So yea, that could be fun.

After that…They are doing Romeo and Juliet, which places me in the role of the Prince and the Apothecary.

So, although these aren’t the roles I thought I wanted, I suppose that in the long run…they ain’t bad for my first experience with the company.

Waiting Impatiently

Have I mentioned how much I hate waiting? In a regular, every-day context, waiting is horrible. But waiting after an audition is even worse. I auditioned last weekend, and have been waiting with baited breath ever since.

They told me after the audition that they would let the actors know around the 18th. That’s over a week. And that’s been a week of torture. Because I feel good about the audition and really want to just…finally find out.

I am impatient. It has been a week. And I won’t find out for another 24 hours.

Of course, its possible that I won’t get any role. But even then, I’d rather know now.

Ah well, the 24 hours will pass, and then I will have my answer.
Unless they torture me more by making me wait…

Audition aftermath: it went well

The audition went well. You can here my thoughts on the audition before and after on the “skullCast” which you can find here. I think I got the date wrong in the first section of that podcast and kept referring to the day as “Sunday, September 11″. But hey, there are worse ways to screw up than just getting the date wrong.

Overall, the audition went well. It wasn’t perfect, but no audition ever is. I was feeling pretty good before going in, but when I walked into the room, my throat tightened up and I was slightly hoarse. I don’t think that hurt me too badly, but I just found it annoying.

I’m told that they will be contacting actors by September 18th, so I’ll hear by then.

Audition Madness

Today I am running out to Mississauga for an audition.
The play is Hamlet.

No…I’m not auditioning for the role of Hamlet. I’m not a Hamlet type. If I’m lucky, I’ll get Claudius.

Of course, there is a chance that I could get the role of the Player. That’s something that fills me with some trepidation. If you don’t know why that would, I have three words “Two Short Greeks”. If you’re a newcomer here, you’ll really want the context, so take a look at that story from the last time I played the Player and you’ll understand why that makes me nervous.

I’m going to record a podcast with the iRiver immediately before and after the audition to give a sense of how that went.

In case you missed it, yeah, there’s an in frequently recorded podcast that I’m doing to record my acting experiences and such as they happen. Perhaps I should call it the “SkullCast”? You can find that here.

Music and Writing

I find music a highly inspiring thing, especially when writing. Music takes me through the various emotions that I have mapped out for a piece, and helps me visualize and feel the parts I am writing. It helps me visualize the characters, as I tend to select a theme for each one: a song that sums up the character (or in some cases, the character in that scene).

Unfortunately, although I find the music very helpful, it is also distracting. I find it difficult to listen in a passive manner. The music can’t just be background for me. I listen to it too actively.

And so, the music is both a help and a hindrance. So, tonight I’m trying a bit of an experiment, writing in relative silence, going between the music and the writing.

Let’s see how that works.

A Realisation

Recenly, I came to a realisation about how I’ve been approaching theatre things and acting. I have recently caught myself looking at auditions for plays and movies and not submitting for the audition because if I got the gig it would interfere with my current job.

Yes. That’s right, the current job that I don’t like all that much.

Which means that I have been self-sabotaging myself. I’ve been chosing the security of having a job, albeit a job I don’t like all that much, over the career that I supposedly have wanted to pursue my whole life.

This is definitely something i’m going to have to stop doing.