Master Thespian Master Thespian© Archives Back to Archive Links Page For your maximum enjoyment, please use Microsoft Internet Explorer set to resolution of 1024x768. Contact 11/15/02: Play rundown. Seems everyone I know is currently appearing in a play. Over at the Studio One Performing Arts Center, the Arizona Republic's Kyle Lawson continues to rave about Jason Barth's performance of Hamlet in the "Is What It Is Theatre" production of "The Tragedy of King and Lady Macbeth." Kyle really is excited about the chemistry between Lady Macbeth and Jason as King Macbeth. You bet there's chemistry, they're engaged to be married! The last shows are this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15th & 16th. Phone 480 994-9495 for information. Then over at Peoria's Theater Works Black Box Theater (9850 W. Peoria, 623-815-1791) we have many actors from the cast of the 2001 Desert Foothills Theater production of "You Can't Take it With You" in the Robyn Allen directed, Algonquin Theater produced, "Laughter on the 23rd Floor." We've got Ron Hunting, Tom Rees, Bruce Helperin and Gary Vos, all who appeared in the "YCTIWY" performance in Carefree, Arizona. Okay, Gary was the stage manager. As a matter of fact Robyn Allen was the director of the Carefree production. Also in "Laughter," and what drew my attention to it in the first place, sorry guys!, is my fellow Herberger Stages student the beautiful Jill Harris. (Damn! She's a great crier.) The show runs through Nov. 17, 2002. Then at the full-sized stage of Theater Works the 'Gospel-Musical' "Smoke on the Mountain" directed (I think he's the director) by Scott Campbell who also was in "YCTIWY" with Master Thespian, is singing its way into audience's hearts. As mentioned in an earlier posting, "Smoke" has the very cute and very talented Sandy Harris, a fellow student and former scene partner (yes, pray for her) in my TV/Film Acting class at PVCC. "Smoke on the Mountain" runs through November 24th, 2002. Don't wait until the last few days to order your tickets, this place always sells out. Then at the Little Theatre at Phoenix Theatre we have the "Nearly Naked Theatre" production of Peter Shaffer's Equus. Only this time it is "Totally Naked Theatre" because the lead is unclothed most of the time (please don't bring your hungry roosters to the performance.) Charles Sohn, who was in the indie film "Smoke and Mirrors" with me, plays the psychiatrist. Info at 602 274-2432. Over at what I still call "The Mesa Little Theater," Bruce Klefstad (fellow PVCC TV/Film Student and skilled screenwriter) has a small part in a production there. Then, on the personal side, my 16 year old son Zach, is appearing in the Scottsdale Christian Academy production of, deja vu, "You Can't Take it With You" directed by the ariZoni earning (Pharaoh in "Coat of Many Colors") and long suffering Mark Stoddard. What will I attempt to get tickets for? I'm looking at "Smoke on the Mountain," "The Tragedy of King and Lady Macbeth" and of course my son's play, for which I already have two tickets. Break a leg all. 11/11/02: I was down at Border's last night memorizing the few pages I have in an upcoming television pilot. I was as giddy and hyper as my sixteen year old son teetering on a testosterone rush as he's dealing with the scheduling of his multiple girlfriends. Sitting at my little table with my maroon Border's travel mug filled with $1.47's worth of mediocre mud topped off with four Sweet & Lows and skim milk, because they always seem to be out of Half & Half, I began one more session designed to memorize lines and work out my character's business. So, for multiple thirty minute stretches, I'm flipping through my "Fat Little Bungee Book" reading my cue lines and then memorizing my own lines. I've gotten far enough along now where I'm starting to make the obvious discoveries about my character that most good actor's seem to make in their first reading. And, I'm in the process of tying in my character's business (movements) and firming up my active listening responses as the other character speaks. That's where the fun comes in. With this fat old guy in his wide-brimmed hat wildly waving his arms about, while the other mostly static, stoic or studying patrons watch with a mixture of fear and amusement in their eyes. Yeah! Gawd, I love this business. At times like this I wonder why I just don't try so much harder than I do to get a foothold in the acting game. Why I put up with the bucket-loads of manure thrown on me every workday by individuals whose lives are so devoid of everything but money, that harassing the destitute security guard who drives the beige Suburban with the "This is not an abandoned vehicle" bumper sticker, is the highlight of their awful day. I put up with it cause that's what I need to do for now. I put up with it knowing that at least I have achievable dreams, whereas the only thing these assholes have waiting for them is a $35,000 mahogany sarcophagus finally signifying the end of their bitter and emotionally destitute existence on planet Earth. 11/09/02: A close call, but it still pays to go occasionally to seminars, especially ones held by production companies or casting directors. Last year, my buddy Renee and I went to two or three seminars in California (where she now resides) and we both submitted head shots to several casting directors. Of course, being that I'm unbelievably handsome and rugged looking my head shot never got chosen because it was probably assumed to be a "Glamour Shot." Or maybe it was the fact that I'm physically in Arizona and most California outfits are in California and most East Coast casting directors are in New York? So, Friday, November 8th, I retrieve my voice mail by phoning from my post at the gated community I labor at, only to hear a breathless Gay Gilbert (remember reading about her seminar I attended?) announce that out of 50 or more head shots submitted to the client, it was down to me and another actor for a "print job." The work would pay $500 and 37 cents a mile. I hurriedly, and with much ass and other puckering and by concocting wild promises, soon located replacements for my 16 hour shift Monday, the day of the photo shoot. I told both Gay and the photographer involved that I would be available and . . . that's the last I heard since 1:00 PM Friday afternoon. But still, isn't that exciting? To get that close? To finally be offered real money for being an actor? Oh, you say that isn't acting ? Au contraire my snooty-nosed little thespians; during her seminar, Ms. Gilbert informed us, that as actors in Arizona who would like to eat, who would like transportation other than a city bus filled with 27 illegal aliens and one nut case who thinks he is Jesus Christ, that we as Arizona actors, who would also enjoy living indoors especially during our 115 degree summer months, that we must accept anything, anything that comes our way, from hawking products, to print ads to special appearances for large corporations along the lines of the failed "Joe Arizona" ad campaign we all, especially us actual Arizona natives, suffered through. Onwards and upwards. Now, it's 4:29AM and I'm off to work in my awful day job. 11/06/02: Tuesday evening I filmed my scene at a real dive bar over off of Broadway Road in Tempe, Arizona. After four anxious calls to my cell phone by the director/writer/producer, I debuted, as promised, between 3:30PM and 4:00PM, chugging up to Studio B parking spaces at the Scottsdale Community College campus seated behind the spaghetti-thin steering wheel of my steaming Suburban Assault Vehicle. (Hell, Fernando should have just queried Rachel-on his tech crew-whether I would show up or not. Because for the S.C.C. film shoot she was on, in Sedona, Arizona, sixty miles from my home, I drove there twice in 24 hours for mere frames of celluloid footage. And on the top of that, earlier that same day, facing the City of Phoenix turning off my water due to a silly non-payment issue <grin>, I was forced to chose between $135 worth of overtime offered by my boss or cancelling my appearance in the movie, and forfeiting one piece of KFC chicken, approximately 10 ounces of lukewarm beer of an unknown brand and possible stardom. No choice, eh?) I then survived a bullet-like drive over to the dive with the main character, Joel. We started shooting at 5:30PM and we wrapped at 11:00PM. All for a five minute shoot - which isn't bad. As is typical of S.C.C. film equipment, we had another jammed film cartridge, but the well-trained student tech crew worked around that. Since this was one of the quickest, most professional and well run shoots I've experienced, I will be putting a link on my 'Intro' page to the whole story of what happened, so my neophyte reader's can see what it would be like to be on a movie-short shoot. 10/30/02: There he goes again, Jason Barth got written up in the Saturday, October 26th, Arizona Republic. This time for his painted face "Thane of Cawdor," in the "Is What it is Theatre's" production of "The Tragedy of King and Lady Macbeth." My gawd, Kyle Lawson even quotes Mr. Barth! Hell the last time I was listening to Jason talk it was something about celery and now he's being quoted? <grin> If you want to catch him, after purchasing a ticket by calling 480-994-9495, drop by the cozy and comfortable confines of the Studio One Performing Arts Center east of 44th Street on Thomas Road in Phoenix. Do this before the last showing November 16, 2002. (If anyone, including Jason would like to burp me his new email address, since ".@home" went bust, it would be appreciated.) Over at Theater Works in Peoria, the bravest young lass in my PVCC TV/Film class (so stated because she accepted performing a scene with your Master Thespian . . . as my wife . . . shades of Colorado City!) Sandy Harris, will be enchanting us in the musical "Smoke on the Mountain" through November 24th. Theater Works has a large and loyal audience base so get your tickets early by phoning 623-815-7930.