04/22/02: I received my Actorfest 2002 reservation form the other day. If you'll
recall I attended last year's Actorfest 2001 using a free ticket given me by my buddy, fellow attendee and current California resident, the comely Renee Weltzien.  Your $40 gets you into the melee and includes one "Career Seminar" and one "Focus Session." The "Career Seminars" involve hundreds of people in a ballroom and cover subjects such as "Building Character" and "The Changing Relationship of Actors and their Reps." While the "Focus Sessions" involve fifty or less in a room to hear what various important, current, casting directors or their assistants can tell you about improving your chances of finally getting cast. Last year, I found everything I attended very worthwhile (I even got excited during the two "Focus Sessions" I sat in on) but it's not something that an actor needs to attend every single year. If you haven't been to one, I think you'd find it very informative and possibly, as they say, "career enhancing." The same forty bucks also includes 'permission' to wander the exhibit hall crammed with all kinds of businesses trying to sell the actor just what he or she needs. Right. Visit www.BackStage.com for more information.
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04/20/02: Pleasant news for students of Judy Rollings because I see where
the very capable drama department of Paradise Valley Community College, guided by the renowned Allen Tongret, is presenting the play based on Edgar Lee Masters' collection known as the Spoon River Anthology. Showtimes are at 7:30PM April 24th through April 27th and the cost is $5 per ticket. I assume the location would be at the PVCC 'Black Box Theater' at the northeast corner of the campus just south of Union Hills Road entrance. I understand that many Herberger 'Stages' graduates will be attending the performance of Saturday, April 27th. Don't be left out, get your tickets early by visiting the cashier located in the Administration building and picking up a ticket. You can dial (602) 787-7350 for more information.
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04/15/02: I got the call Friday, April 5th, 2002. The stumbling voice informed me
I had been chosen for the 'lead' in an Scottsdale Community College produced student film to be shot in picturesque Sedona, Arizona. After I read the fax-warmed eleven page script, I accepted the part and joyfully advised my bosses that I would be unavailable for overtime the weekend of April 13th and 14th. That decision, sadly, removed two hundred and fifty sorely needed dollars out of my drought-stricken cash flow. After a miscue that involved me jetting directly from work up to 'Red-Rock Country' on Friday afternoon, skirting a dead bear on Dynamite Boulevard that had been slammed by a construction truck, only to then discover that shooting had been moved to the following day and after a repeat trip 18 hours later, we began filming Saturday night. As is typical of 'low-budget' projects the production was trimmed from three acts to only one and a new bout of on-site memorization was required by your raisin-brained Master Thespian.
 I was once again reminded at how very, very different the process of making a movie and stage work was. Of course the whole hour of rehearsal we had together surely prevented any of us from a peak performance, but regardless, film work is a far cry from work in the theater. One thing that really struck me was that exact memorization of dialogue, because of the several angles of shooting in a movie, is even more important than in theatre. You've got to say the exact same line, at the same sound level at the same pace for retake after retake after retake. And then you have got to be able to pick up your dialogue, seemingly at random, where ever the director deems necessary. The process of movie making is the definition of the term "hurry up and wait" because for every minute of film successfully recorded there seems to be at least a one hour wait. I also gained new respect for film actor's for being able to, with all the off camera distractions, convey any type of believable emotion. Which, by the way, I was totally unable to achieve in this particular movie shoot.
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03/26/02: Of course, as actors involved in the typical round of rehearsals, we have
all learned to temper our egos, and in an collaborative effort geared towards the finest possible production, to humbly accept virtually constant criticism and negative input from our director. We do this knowing that shortly after call on opening night the pent up praises from our fascist dictator and emotional greeting cards, 'Thank You' notes and thousand dollar gifts (remember that if you ever work with me) from our fellow thespians will freely tumble out of the actor's cornucopia into our too small, too hot/cold, and too fragrant dressing room.  But, when our work-a-day world employer behaves in the same manner, and being faced with the reality of there never being an opening night bulging with its praises and presents, it becomes time to look for something better. That being, while perusing the want-ads this Monday, I came across a few acting-related blurbs that I believe you all should rigorously ignore. The reason being, that 99.5% of the time, any calls for actors are religiously released through outlets geared to attract qualified actors, or by word of mouth between actors, or by agents to their actors, never through ads in the newspaper. For Phoenix, Arizona, here are the acting related businesses that place ads in the newspaper that I would stay away from: movieworknow.com, Starmaker, starbiztalent.com, and Elizabeth Savage Talent.
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