Acting in Atlanta
Just received a call from Jeannie Hinds at Kudzu Playhouse. I got the part of Frankie in Breaking Legs. Jeannie was telling me I played the part perfectly during auditions.
Our first read through is next Wednesday. For me that will be after rehearsal for Heidi.
I had been not acting to build a business and it was pure torture not to act. I have had the best time and have been so excited to be back on stage. Now to have two plays back to back is just, well, I am speechless.
I went to audition for Breaking Legs last night at Kudzu Playhouse. I met some people I know who are currently rehearsing for Kudzu’s Family Theatre production of Heidi. They were looking for someone to play MR. SESEMAN and well I accepted.
Rehearsals have been going on for a while, with just 7 more rehearsals before opening day. MR SESEMAN is only in Act III and Act IV. I should be able to have all the lines memorized by opening day.
I was planning on vacation starting opening day, but looks like my vacation will be cropped the first and second weekend. Still 5 days will be fine.
Show times:
May 26, 2007 – 2:00 PM
May 27, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 2, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 3, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 9, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 10, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 16, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 17, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 23, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 24, 2007 – 2:00 PM
June 30, 2007 – 2:00 PM
July 1, 2007 – 2:00 PM
Kudzu Playhouse will hold auditions for Breaking Legs, May 15 (Tuesday) and May 16 (Wednesday) from 7-9pm. No appointment necessary.
Seeking: One woman, around 28;
Five men, 25-late 50 s.
Audition requirements: Cold readings from the script. Auditions will be at 608 Holcomb Bridge Road, Roswell, Georgia 30076.
Performances will be July 13 August 11, 2007, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2:30pm.
Performances will be at 10743 Alpharetta Highway, Roswell, Ga 30076. Non-Equity, No pay offered.
For more information, contact Jeannie Hinds at kudzuplayhouse@aol.com or call 770-594-1020.
It was very interesting, instructive and, I suppose, fun doing light and sound for the 2006 run of A Christmas Carol at Kudzu Playhouse.
There were lots and sound and light changes. And now for the combinations: Simultaneous light and sound, simultaneous sound with actor (each ghost had a sound for pointing), simultaneous light with actor actions, and several of the more difficult light and sound followed immediate by another sound (I had two Mini disk players), and a few fade sound, queue and play another sound.
As long as I took my time and paid attention I had no problem, but with 120+ changes I never had a perfect night. My hope was to be as transparent to the audience as possible. As long as the audience did not notice, everything was cool. For the most part I was.
On the final night (of any play), Wally and Jeannie hand out a package with a letter, cast photo, VIP passes, etc. In the letter to the Cast and Crew of A Christmas Carol, there was high praise for me: A big thanks goes to Jay for such a great job as our tech. He came in as a novice and finished as a true professional.
So I have been running light and sound for A Christmas Carol at Kudzu since the beginning of December. Now we are down to the final week (seven shows in six days). This past weekend, I finally felt really comfortable doing this. (I still prefer to be onstage instead of backstage.)
There are well over 120 light and sound changes during the show. And there are many simultaneous light and sound changes. I stay very busy during the entire show.
Of course I have it a lot easier than most with modern technology. I don’t have a 24 channel light board that I constantly have to adjust. My lights are programmed on a computer and all I have to do is hit a single button to go to the next light change. It?s nice.
The sound is on a Sony MDS (MiniDisc system recorder/player) and all the sound is more or less in order that I need to play them. There are times when I need to jump back to earlier tacks. Actually I have 3 disks on two decks. The second MDS has some sound affects for each of the spirits and two voiceovers. The second deck is fun. It will not stop and queue up the next sound track. It is in loop mode, so I have to stop the sound or else it will repeat. I have had that happen several times until I get better.
Now for the sounds I do have to adjust the volume on a sound board. I have had it too high at times and sometimes after fading out music, I forgot to turn the volume backup when I started the next bit of music. A lot of the music is for songs.
There have been lots of fun times when I mess up. Even with the modern technology it is not easy. Timing is a lot of it.