The Play Has Played

(written 7/12/11)

Hey Bloggers!

So it has been a long three weeks or so since I last wrote to you all. I wish I had more to tell you than normal, but there really is not much to report other than the results of my play....

#ShakespeareIsDead has finally had its debut in Hollywood this past weekend! We had over 125 people show up for the play, and we sold out 2 of the 3 nights. How great is that? I was totally surprised by the support of the local theater community towards our show. I really did not think more than ten or so people would show, but I was dead wrong. Thanks to all whom came out this weekend! I appreciate it.

Of the three nights, the last night was our best performance night, and the night i made all of the lighting Q's. I was the stage manager, and in charge of the Q's for the show. It was not as easy as it looked. Once I got the hang of it though, I was able to do well. The first night, I missed one or two cues which made one actress go to black while she was in the middle of a monologue and another was during the scene transition, where I raised the lights way too early. Oops!

The second night, Saturday, there was an audience work light that was on for the first 9 scenes of the show. I could not figure out how to turn it off! I was panicking because it was ruining every scene and transition. Finally, I figured it out, but I was sweating!!

Then the third and final night, I finally made and hit all my Q's! YAY! I was so proud of myself!

It seems crazy that the play is now over, when it feels like we just debuted! One audience member, and family member to one of the actors, wants to take this play to Shakespeare festivals and hopefully get a production team behind it, and bring it to off broadway (??!!). I will believe it when I see it! But it is amazing to have touched someone with a local project and has an even greater vision for it. Who knows what will happen.

Thank you, Kyle, my brother, for designing the amazing program and banner! It looked wonderful. Thank you, again, for your amazing support! You would be glad to know that was hung on Santa Monica Boulevard for three days at the beginning of Theater Row. Woo Hoo!

So, yep. Good last three weeks, especially the last week and a half. We had rehearsal everyday, plus an overnight rehearsal in the space, tech night, then three straight performances. Not too shabby for a first production.

I will admit I am proud of myself. We created our own original play, made our own project, and performed it in Hollywood to several people. Not many people can say they did that. Yay!

Who knows what will happen from here. Until then.... good night!

Newest Project - A play?

Hey Bloggers!

So far, it is Tuesday, and nothing this week has happened yet. My job search has not yielded any responses from last week's interviews. I had a few job applications completed, but still waiting to hear.

Anyway, that is not the purpose of this post. In this post, I wanted to tell you all about a project I have been working on with a few friends of mine out here. We are putting on our own play production!

This is something new for me, but I have been following my love for theater, and I joined a group with 6 actors my age and we teamed up. We are all getting frustrated with how life has not gone the way we planned it would, and we wanted to make something for ourselves. Make our own break if you will. So, our group director, wrote a script in April, and we have been rehearsing it every Monday night since.

I am the only non-actor in the group, but it has been amazing to watch how these guys work. It has really exposed me to the methods of acting, and the process one really goes through to get into character. I have never experienced that before, and I have a whole new appreciation for actors.

Anyway, the play is called, Shakespeare is Dead. It is about 6 students in a Shakespeare class want nothing to do with his plays, but the more they learn it, the more they realize it parallels their own life. In other words, the scenes they need to "memorize" for class are directly corresponding to current drama in their life. It is actually a really cool and funny message. I do not know much about Shakespeare, if anything at all, but this play is really funny and has a lot of potential.

We premiere at the Flight Theater in Hollywood July 8-10th. Tickets are $10 or $5, if you talk to me before hand. It is a 40 person theater, and we are hoping to sell out each night. It is a simple production, but we have needed to raise 900 dollars to rent the theater space. So far, we have $725, but still needing a bit more. I am sure we will get it. If you are interested in supporting this, I have pasted the link below. If you want to spread the word, you can tweet #Shakespeareisdead or forward the link below for donations.

My role with the show will be the tech and lighting director. This is a new role for me, but being a part of the theater world has been really rewarding so far. I just hope we can pull off our opening night.

I am proud of myself for being involved in a project that is different, but also exciting. I am proud of the cast and crew for being so dedicated to the project. I hope you will enjoy it too! Until then...

http://www.indiegogo.com/Put-a-roof-over-our-performances-head?a=160134&i=reli&key=qN7BMeHk