Happy World Theatre Day

Richard III Audition: Edgar served up with a side of Caligula

I was in rehearsal yesterday for Modern Minstrelsy when I got an email from Independent Shakespeare Company, asking me to come in today and audition for our guest director for Richard III. I spent that evening looking at a monologue that I had been preparing for my audition for Long Beach Shakespeare's production of King Lear coming up at the end of the month. I accelerated my study of the piece a bit and took it into the audition this morning on my way to rehearsal at Rogue Machine. I got three quarters through the monologue before I blanked and broke. I picked it back up from where I left off and finished. Not wanting to conclude my audition on that note, I told him that I also had my Romeo audition still in my back pocket, as well as a piece from Albert Camus' Caligula. (Truth be told, I hadn't performed the Camus piece since November.) He asked the see the Caligula piece. I love doing that monologue, as nerdy as that is to fucking say, that's what this blog is all about! It's one I've worked for hours and it's never left my brain I guess because I could just do it on the spot, as I did it before for Theatre Banshee. It seemed to leave an impression anyway, and I felt great leaving the room after that. Fingers crossed on this one.

Beware the Ides of March

King Lear audition

That's right, I have an audition for the roles of both Edgar and Edmund in Long Beach Shakespeare's production of King Lear! It will be quite the commute if I get the part, but it's a paid gig and a great speaking part. Oh, theatre, you kill me.

Modern Minstrelsy by Kermit Frazier, a new play

Modern Minstrelsy by Kermit Frazier

Sunday, March 23rd at 6PM

Beverly Hills Playhouse

254 S. Robertson Blvd

Bevery Hills, CA 90211

Theatre company logo drafts and a new play

I suppose I could use these interchangeably, I can't decide at the moment between the black and the white. I'm also drafting a new play that I think might be longer in form then I've attempted before. There's no title yet, I'm trying not to preemptively title things anymore so it doesn't inform how or what I write. But I can say that it's a touch autobiographical. More to come, stay tuned.

Bat Paper's Audition EP (dAR 93)

Stream it here: http://soundcloud.com/diagnostic-1/sets/bat-paper-audition-ep-dar-93-1

Download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/un3dh0pi1j277gc/Audition_EP_(dAR_93).rar

FPM

Valentine's at the theatre.

The Moscow Ballet brought their productions of Giselle and Romeo and Juliet to the VPAC this Valentines weekend, and I had the pleasure of running spot for them. I found it to be a very appropriate and cathartic way to spend Valentine's Day, both as a single man, and a theatre maker, as it were.

No dice.

Never heard back on that gum commercial, which filmed today while I was loading in for the Moscow Ballet at the VPAC. It's just as well though, I made money backstage today and it was my first callback after all. It would've been dumb luck to have booked it this time around. 2014 is off to a strong start, all in all. Tiny victories and all that.

Callback.

I had my first commercial callback today. It went really well and I got to read with a really cute girl. There's always a plus when giving up your entire day for a shot at a national commercial. And then there's that few thousand dollars you get paid for two days work. It was for a Swedish gum brand I probably shouldn't mention for fear of being blacklisted from commercials forever. If I get the part it's going to throw a huge wrench into my work schedule at the theatres, but hi diddly dee, an actor's life for me. Fingers crossed.

Three Minutes

The past few nights I did about three or four minutes of nice, clean stand up for the students, parents, and faculty at our school's little talent show fundraiser. The first night went the best, but all I used were clean jokes that I found online, public domain kinda shit. The second night I cut that stuff by half, and did some original Star Wars material that the kids really enjoyed but left the adults wanting. I closed with the scarecrow joke both nights to cover my ass on my exit. I got applause, it was a nice, safe place to try that shit for the first time. But now it's time to aim for some open mics.

Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field. During his acceptance speech he said, "This job ain't for everyone. But hay, it's in my jeans."