Category: Stage

Plays I have done

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2014 Broadway World Atlanta Awards

Let the voting begin. BroadwayWorld.com is hosting their annual awards for acting. So please go vote. Get everyone you know to vote. Get everyone they know to vote. Thanks

http://www.broadwayworld.com/atlanta/vote2014region.cfm

Shows I have been involved with over the last year:

Best Actor in a Play (Non-Professional)
Jay Croft – Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company
Jay Croft – Plaza Suite – New Dawn Theater
Nat Martin – Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company
Scott King – Plaza Suite – New Dawn Theater
Steven Miller – Harvey – New Dawn Theater

Best Actress in a Play (Non-Professional)
Gloria Szokoly – Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company
Katie Tucker – Plaza Suite – New Dawn Theater

Best Director of a Play (Non-Professional)
Mercury – Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company
Sherry Ingbritsen – Plaza Suite – New Dawn Theater

Best Play (Non-Professional)
Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company
Plaza Suite – New Dawn Theater

Best Scenic Design
Mercury – Driving Miss Daisy – Gypsy Theatre Company

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Christmas show

I had not planned on doing a Christmas show. I had been in rehearsal, show, or studying lines since February. The first opportunity I was asked to consider was being the foley artist for “It’s a Wonderful Life” radio show. I was considering that. That would have been a lot of fun.

Next was “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” at New Dawn Theater. They are in need of a lead male.

Third offer yesterday was doing multiple supporting roles in “A Christmas Carol” by the Gypsy Theatre Company in Cumming. They had someone drop out and are in need of an actor.

So, I had 2 companies asking me to do a show. I was forced into making a decision. So 4 options (the 4th being nothing at all).

Things to consider: I have season tickets to the Gwinnett Gladiators and doing a show means missing games which I have already paid for.

I also wanted a rest break from doing shows, but lately I have been feeling antsy. I believe I was ready to do another show.

Finally, I do want to audition for New Dawn’s production of “The Great Gatsby” which rehearsals start in January and shows in February. So this would mean 4 strait months of rehearsals/shows starting now (assuming I landed a role in Gatsby).

Other considerations: Mercury at Gypsy Theatre Company is one of the best directors I have every worked with. Also there is a stipend for doing “A Christmas Carol”.

Weighing all options I decided to go with the lead role in New Dawn’s “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”.

No, I am not going to justify my reasoning. Deal with it.

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MASH Song

At the end of the play, the case sang the “MASH Song” at curtain call. For the cast party, STEVEN MILLER (Hawkey) and KARIN GOSS (Hotlips) re-wrote the song for the cast:

Sherry guides and leads us.
She keeps us all in check.
Without her fine direction,
The show would be a wreck!

(refrain:)
Oh, I don’t want no more of army life.
Gee, M*A*S*H, I want to go home.

Each night we have a meeting.
You’d better not be late.
Unless you’re dead or dying,
Her wrath will be your fate.

(refrain)

Sherry wants us quiet
When waiting in the wings.
No cell phones are permitted
Or E-lectronic things.

(refrain)

“Good and Plenty” licorice
Is Sherry’s fav’rite treat.
So if you want to bribe her,
Just buy her something sweet!

(refrain)

For sound effects and lighting,
You’ll want a Sherry there
To help the floor in sighting
A Bonwit derriere.

(refrain)

When ev’ry set piece fits in,
We’ll know who heard the call.
And, look!  It’s an Ingbritsen;
We always call in Paul.

(refrain)

To change the set, don’t dally!
And so, without a doubt,
We’ll call upon our Kallie,
Till she’s all tuckered out.

(refrain)

Amidst the olive green’ry
And ringing of a bell,
To help in shifting scen’ry,
There’s Megan and Michelle.

(refrain)

We need a handy fella
Who knows what goes in clothes.
Let’s call on Bruce Saarela,
And pay him through the nose.

(refrain)

Agnes, Fritzi, Mitzi —
They need to look their best
In something itsy-bitsy
With stitching by Celeste.

(refrain)

The war in poor Korea —
It hardly was a romp.
But ev’ry day there’d be a
Martini in the Swamp.

Oh, I don’t want no more of army life.
Gee, M*A*S*H, I want to go.
Fin’lly, they’ll let me go.
Gee, M*A*S*H, I want to go home.

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Keeping Character on Stage

Sometimes an actor wants to make a spontaneous change on stage. Here are the reasons why that is a bad idea.

1. An author works really hard to get a script written to his liking. A show may even be produced while he is making edits. He can see what is being done onstage and change the things that do not work. If the author wanted a particular moment (dialog, movement, expression) he would have written it in. That is why it is so important to your fellow actors and to the spirit of the play to learn it as close as is possible to what is in the script.

2. The director, as you know, will make changes to the script to fit the stage or the target audience (such as removing curse words), etc. If the director wanted a particular moment to occur, she would have added it.

3. Your fellow actors have learned (or should have learned) the play as the author has written it and as the director has directed it and try hard to be consistent in every moment every show.

Ninety-nine percent of the moments should have been discovered in rehearsal where it is OK to try new things. The other 1% of discover will happen for things like they way we deliver a line or how we may react. But it should never be changing a line or doing something different without the director’s approval and your fellow actors knowing what will be different.

Doing something different or unexpected or changing a line without your fellow actors knowing can destroy a moment. It could cause your fellow actor to break character which breaks the illusion we are creating for the audience.

A lot of actors, myself included, work very hard on creating a character and the moments that character is involved in. Once in character, small things can break moments for that for the actor. You will notice that sometimes your fellow actors do not want to chat before or during a show so they can focus on becoming that character. One night I forgot a line, but recovered, simply because part of another actor’s costume fell off in the previous scene as was still on stage and I got distracted. It doesn’t take much.

Having respect for your fellow actors and what they are trying to achieve is all part of being a professional actor. Being professional is not just about how good your are but includes all the things that go into a production: Knowing your lines. Knowing your stage directions. Respecting your fellow actors. Being at the right place at the right time. Respecting the crew. Respecting the patrons. That is the most important part. You are there to entertain the patrons. By being professional about everything else, your respect for the patrons will be evident. And the respect from your fellow actors towards you will be evident as well.

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Update for Octorber 2007

Since August 14th: Ramona Quimby has started and we are actually approaching our last weekend; I started a new job; And landed a lead role in A Christmas Story.

Ramona Quimby opened in Kudzu Playhouse’s old location but moved to Kudzu’s Stage 2 on September 22nd. I spent every night, and all of Friday the week before and around Saturday’s two shows building out the set and dressing room. I was exhausted after that week and skipped acting class that Monday night, more on that in a minute.

I also picked up another role in Ramona Quimby, that of MR FROST. Paul Komorner who was MR FROST always had a conflict on Sundays and Saturday nights. He was also in Bermuda Avenue Triangle on Kudzu’s Stage 1. MR FROST was being played by Jerry Harlow in the old theatre where he could escape from the tech booth for just long to do the 30 second part.

I purchased from a Halloween shop, a hat, Elvis glasses and beard to alter my appearance. With an overcoat I look completely different. One cast member said I looked like Hank Williams, Jr. I also use a Texas twang for a voice.

I started taking an acting class again with Chris Cole Harris. She called and said she was trying to get a class together and at the time I was not doing anything other than Ramona Quimby, so I said why not. The class started on September 17th and after a very long week, decided to skip the night of the 24th.

I also started a new job on September 4th.

Every year, Kudzu does A Christmas Carol for the Holiday Season. Last year, I was light and sound tech and had such fun with the 120+ light and sound queues that I wanted to do it again this year. I went as far as telling Wally and Jenny that I wanted to be tech again.

Well, it turns out that Act 1 Theatre in Alpharetta did not fill the roles of RALPH (Narrator) or THE OLD MAN (RALPHIE/RALPH’s dad) in A Christmas Story. I was recommended by several people to Rebecca Coffee who is directing the show. Working with Rebecca I scheduled an audition on Thursday, September 26th for ether role. Rebecca decided to cast me as RALPH.

If you remember from the movie by the same name, there is a narration all throughout the movie. The Narrator is the grown up RALPHIE. For the play, the narrator (RALPH) is on stage for most of the play.

I have finally landed a lead and I am very excited about the play. And a little nervous, there are a bunch of lines. Oh and this play is also being reviewed for the Metro Atlanta Theatre Awards.