Category: Monologues

Monologues and Dialogues I have done, liked, memorized, etc.

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Life During Wartime

Life During Wartime

by Keith Reddin

Synopsis: Tommy, a young security systems salesman, made his first sale to Gale, a divorced mother of a teenage son. Gales is older than he is, but that doesn’t keep them from falling deeply in love and planning to marry. After Tommy makes a few good sales, his boss tells him about the company’s sideline: robbing the homes in which they’ve installed security systems. The boss offers Tommy a piece of the action and he replies that he needs some time to think about it. A short while later, Tommy learns that Gale and her son have been murdered as they walked in on a burglary in their home. In the next scene, Tommy is in a bar talking to Richie, a total stranger.

TOMMY: This one time, I brought over this bottle of champagne, we were celebrating … I don’t know, I’d made two or three sales in a row and I was feeling hot, like I could do anything and we sat at the kitchen table, in her kitchen and we drank this champagne and … we drank it pretty fast it was so cold and it was good champagne, it was a bottle of really good champagne and we drank it fast and we got drunk and we were laughing, laughing at anything either of us said, and I was sort of sliding out of my chair and then I said the floor looks really good, why don’t I just lie on the floor and I did, I was lying on the kitchen tiles and they were cold and I said Gale join me on the kitchen floor and she did and we were both so drunk and laughing and the floor was sort of spinning as we lay on it, like we were lying in this boat on the waves and we lay on the floor and looked up at the ceiling of the kitchen and we held each other and I loved her so much and I said that, I said I love you so much and I wanted to say on the kitchen floor for the rest of my life, holding her, holding this beautiful woman that I loved, but of course you can’t. You can’t lie on the tile for too long, because … I’m sorry I forgot your name…

Timed to 50 seconds:

TOMMY: We were sitting at her kitchen table and we drank this champagne and … we drank it pretty fast and we got drunk and we were laughing at anything either of us said, and I was sort of sliding out of my chair and then I said the floor looks really good, why don’t I just lie on the floor and I did, I was lying on the kitchen tiles and they were cold and I said Gale join me and she did and we were both so drunk and laughing and the floor was sort of spinning as we lay on it, like we were lying in this boat on the waves and we looked up at the ceiling of the kitchen and we held each other and I loved her so much and I said I love you so much and I wanted to say on the kitchen floor for the rest of my life holding this beautiful woman that I loved, but of course you can’t. You can’t lie on the tile for too long, because … I’m sorry I forgot your name…

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First full week of 2009

Today, I mailed off the application with headshot and resume for the Unifieds. Deadline is January 16th. Hopefully I will be accepted again this year. Last years attendance got me auditions at The Alliance, Theatre in the Square, Marcus Jewish Community Center Theatre and with Tyler Perry Studios. This year, I plan to work with Pat Hurley on a couple of monologues in preparation for the Unifieds.

Tonight will be one of two things: Ether voice over for on the short film I did in August (The Interview). And/Or rehearsal for Bright Flames TV. Let’s talk about The Interview. My understanding is that this is nearly complete in post-production. Matt McGahren is hopping to submit this for the Atlanta Film Festival. Deadline is this Friday. I assume the voice over is for my part. I guess the sound is not what they wanted when originally shot. If not tonight, then tomorrow evening.

On the Bright Flames TV front, apparently Robert Howell has found a crew with equipment so we are not dependent on the local community TV studio. The local community studio never could get their act together, so this will be good. Robert wants me (and I assume the rest of the cast) to do a voice over for a trailer. And the new shooting location is at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. Looks like a very nice place. If The Interview voice over is tonight and early enough, I can make tonight’s Bright Flames rehearsal.

Tomorrow AM is a stress test with the cardiologist to see if I can exercise without killing myself. I have been on medication for high blood pressure now for 6 days. Not fun. I have to drink plenty of fluids so my pressure does not drop too low. It did Saturday night, not enough intake during the day. So light-headednes kept me from going to the Gladiators game that night. Last night I did not sleep very well. Due to fluid intake/output, I believe I am short on Potassium. My back of my legs really ached. Very painful.

Tomorrow PM. Depending on if I do not have to do The Interview voice over tomorrow night, I plan on auditioning for BOOLIE WERTHAN in Driving Miss Daisy at Act1 Theater. BOOLIE is the son of DAISY WERTHAN. But if the voice over is tomorrow night, then I will audition on Thursday night, missing another Gladiators game.

Wednesday PM is an audition for Sabrina Fair at Kudzu Playhouse. I think I would make a good DAVID LARRABEE. DAVID is the younger brother of LINUS LARRABEE JR.

Thursday PM will hopefully be a Gladiators’ game, but that depends on … well, see above.

Friday PM is supposed to be another Bright Flames rehearsal.

So everynight this week is something. <sigh>

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Stewart

Title: Stewart

From the Book: More Monologues They Haven’t Heard

Roger Karshner
ISBN: 0-9611792-2-8

Description: Stewart, a young, terminal AIDS patient, unloads his anger.

Yes, I’m bitter. And why shouldn’t I be? How would you feel? How would you like to give it up, all of this…your life? Christ I haven’t even lived. Death is something that happens to other people, not you. You don’t consider it; it’s out of the question, an abstract thing.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to leave you and the sky, the trees…people. You think about all this, you know. You think about how it’ll be without you around and how things will be still going on like always and how you’re not going to be part of it. That’s one of the tragedies of it. You’re gone and you’re nothing but an occasional memory or an old photo in a shoebox in someone’s closet.

You know you’re the first to die. You know this, and it makes sense. And you know there’s nothing you can do anyway. You repeat this logic to yourself over and over, try to sell yourself. But you don’t buy it.

Right now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to face death with dignity or not. Right not I’m afraid. And I’m damned mad.

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Auditioned for “Never Too Late”

Damn it to hell! It never fails that when I audition for Robert Egizio at Stage Door Players I screw up. It really annoys me that I do very well at other theatres but not here. Of the 4 times I have auditioned for Robert, I blew a monologue twice, and for a musical I forced my voice as if I were singing to 10,000 people without a microphone.

Last night, after blowing my monologue, I read the part of the Father. Robert said there are 4 characters similar in nature and so a reading of one would do for all of those 4 parts. The Father, HARRY LAMBERT, was described as a “politically correct Archie Bunker” and “blustery”. The side was read with HARRY’s wife, EDITH. So instead of reading it like a “blustery Archie Bunker” like Robert described, I read it like a morose husband, somewhat sympathetic to EDITH but appalled that he may be the butt of a joke.

Another audition I did for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, after reading a side with one actress and was to read again with another actress, I was told that the character was a lawyer. I did not think about it right then, but did after I left. I read the side like I heard other people doing, as an angry person. It should have been read in an analytical way. The lawyer is logically stepping thought what he will do to achieve his goal and not angry.

Last night again, I did not really think about it and just read. I did not have much time to prepare and think about the side, but I did not read it like the director described the character.

What I need to do is to keep that information in my head like a mantra
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
“a blustery Archie Bunker”
even when I am reading the side. I need to force myself to spend 30 seconds and analyze what was told to me. This is critical in following the director’s instructions. I will never get anywhere if I do not.

This is one theatre I really want to do a play in. There are 4 levels of theatre in my opinion:
Professional/Community – Non-Equity only – open casting calls
Professional/Community – Non-Equity and Equity – open casting calls
Professional/Community ? Invitational only
Professional ? Equity only

Even though Stage Door Players states that it is a “metro-Atlanta non-professional theater that provides a venue to showcase the talents of up-and-coming local actors, directors and designers”, but will cast Equity actors, I still consider it a step above and would consider it an achievement if I were cast in one of it’s plays. This is just my opinion and impression of the theatre.

Still, not even a DQ Hot Fudge Sunday could console me on the way home last night.