Four Years Since Last Post? Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

So... in my previous posts I talked about moving to Los Angeles, working at Universal Studios Hollywood, and doing extra work...

Well, I'm still in Los Angeles and still working at Universal Studios (now in a full-time capacity and not as a scareactor for Halloween Horror Nights)... but I'm no longer doing extra work (even though I LOVE it - well, mostly... some sets can treat their extras terribly).  Something that I *am* is married.  And something else I am is a dad.

And I will leave it at that.

Catching up?

I neglected to say that I also worked Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood in the Nightmare on Elm Street maze. It was a great time. I actually have a scar from it now.. seriously. My left hand was kind of damaged by twisted metal throughout the nights I was working (I was pretty intense) and some of the skin didn't grow back the way I would have liked it to.

Also, I noticed that below I was indicating that I'd have to wait for Godspell auditions. Well, obviously Godspell auditions came and went. I actually did get a role in the show. Only 10 of us did. It was a shock that they went with such a small cast. I ended up with the role of John the Baptist/Judas--a pretty important role. The experience was wonderful and I think our cast really bonded.

It's too bad that the University of Nevada, Reno isn't like all of the other schools that go against the copyright notice and record their shows on video for the cast members. I would have loved to see and hear what the show was ike from the audience's perspective. Apparently we were pretty good. hehe.

More extra work... I'm so special

Basically in my four months in California I've been doing extra work on shows like Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, and Unhitched. I'm now finally getting some movie extra work. This week I'll be doing Seventeen and in the next week I'll be doing Eagle Eye. I'm excited.

I hope to actually act soon, too.

...kind of hard to do that when there are so many actors in "Hollywood.

I've also been toying around with the idea of writing screenplays again. I'm really keen on writing a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Hooray for Hollywood

I haven't posted in a while. I've moved to Southern California. I'm doing extra work and it is amazingly fun and exciting. More later.

I Heart YouTube

YouTube is a nice resource for actors. Even though companies are prohibited from recording productions, it's pretty common to find clips from community theater productions on YouTube. It's nice to see how other people pull off productions, from directing, acting, and designing standpoints. It just goes to show how many different ways you can perform the same thing.

I get a little annoyed when people copy other productions. The point of directing and designing is to make it your own. True, there are some shows that leave little room for interpretation, but there are others where you have a world of possibilities in front of you.

I love directing. Not nearly as much as I love acting, but every once in a while, I get the directing bug. Like now. I'd really like to try my hand at directing a musical. Snoopy!!! The Musical, to be exact. My trouble is that I have limited time (I'm moving to Los Angeles in September), no venue, and no production funds (musicals are expensive). I really wish I was back in school so that I could submit for a student production and get funding through school... I'd have to do fundraising, but it's so much easier to do that when you have a school backing you. UNR had a musical theater club last year that put up a successful version of "How to Succeed in Business...," but no one took the helm to keep the club going. I'd jump at the opportunity, but I'm no longer a student. Sucks.

So now I have to sit around until Godspell auditions in June. Time goes by so slowly sometimes.

Bigger Disappointments Make Actors Stronger

So, I didn't get cast in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at WNCC, but I have to think that it wasn't anything that I could control. I believe, wholeheartedly, that my conflicts were just too much to overlook. It's too bad that I ended up doing The Price (Jack Neal panned my performance in that one, BTW. My first bad Jack Neal review, but it made no sense).

Back on the Charlie Brown note: I was called back for Charlie Brown, Schroeder, and Linus, the three parts I indicated on my form. I didn't think I'd make a good Snoopy. They ended up auditioning me for that role at callbacks anyway. I was the only guy out of everyone that auditioned that was called back for every male role. I was one of two people up for CB, one of 4 (I think) for Schroeder and one of 3 for Linus. This result alone makes me believe I was pretty good. The other auditioners were pretty into me, too. I elicited responses from nearly everyone everytime I'd sing or do a reading. Good responses. Most people came up to me after auditions and told me I'd nailed it or that they'd already cast me in their head as Charlie Brown.

Then the cast list was posted.

It's these kinds of experiences that really help to build an actor. To lose out on a show you want to be in so desperately and still come out of things wanting to audition again really shows drive and determination. You need to be strong to make it as an actor. You need to be prepared for rejection at all times. You'll be rejected a millions times before you get a handful of acceptances.

I hope to do the show in the future.

The Glutton

I haven't posted here in a while, but I was bored so I figured "what the hell!"

So, since my last post in January 2006 (a year ago), I performed in Urinetown the Musical at TMCC, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying for UNR Musical Theater Club, Humble Boy for Reno Little Theater, and The Lady From Dubuque and The Threepenny Opera for Nevada Repertory Company.

I won the Reno Little Theater Blythe Award for Best Lead Actor for my role in Humble Boy, which nearly swept the awards (Best Play, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress).

I severed ties with TMCC after some pretty poor treatment following Urinetown.

I'm currently rehearsing The Price for Reno Little Theater and Lauren Leaping for a Bruka Theater Staged-Reading event. I have auditions for You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown next week.

Next up after all that? I hope to audition for the summer show at Nevada Rep and head to Los Angeles at the end of August. Yes, I'm finally leaving Nevada and it seems to be a done deal (I'm going with a friend who is adamant that this effort will not fail).

Pretty good blog, eh?

Double Duty

So, not only did I end my 9 month theatre dry spell; I ended up being cast in two shows that rehearse during the same time period. I will be seen in TMCC's production of Urinetown The Musical in March followed by UNR's Musical Theatre club's production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in April.

Had I known how little I would have been involved in Urinetown, I probably would have tried my luck with auditioning for Myth, Propaganda & Disaster... for Nevada Repertory Company. I'm notoriously not cast in productions directed by Dr. Bernardi, but that show would have been fun (and probably 3 million times more challenging than my role in Urinetown which consists of very little singing and lots and lots of standing around).

So that's where I'm at right now. Exciting, no?