Teahouse of the August Moon - Success!!
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: www.glendalecentretheatre.com
Topic: Comedy
Teahouse of the August Moon opened last week, and for those of you who managed to get tickets, Thank You for Coming! - the show has been a resounding and unqualified success! We've had over a thousand thoroughly happy audience attendees in just the first week (...for a better first-time big production experience, ask, I could not). We even received a "Best GCT Show of the Year" last night! For those of you who weren't able to make opening week because we managed to sell-out 4 of the first 6 shows, there are still 4 more weeks of run scheduled before Thanksgiving, so if you get your reservations in sufficiently early, there are still plenty of seats available (and because most shows are first-come, first-served, you just arrive early enough and you can have your own front-row center seating.) For those of you already reserved - you're in for a guaranteed treat! There are discount coupons - a printable version at:
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/teahouse_coupon.pdf
Program info (final print version as of 10/19/05 - 1st week attendees haven't seen this):
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/images/teahouse_program.pdf
Tickets and showtimes:
http://www.glendalecentretheatre.com/2005.teahouse.asp

Dark Gables - 10/1/05
Nicely played - Thorne's back (Brian Lohmann); Aubrey's aware of Doruk and knows she "killed" the un-dead Thorne; Tobias killed Montague (who was recently bitten by a werewolf, so he also might be un-dead now). Gretchen and Tobias are flirting. Francisco can read - this was a surprise? Next week - the return of Musette and Mrs. Leticia Norburton.

Teahouse and Dark Gables
DG was Tracy-less and Kristen-less this Friday (9/23) - Travis filling in. Solid work, good communications, specific intent expressed throughout. The Gretchen character (Porter Kelly) is stuck between objectives at the moment, but is otherwise full of smiles, giggles and clueless (which is odd since the character started out stronger during the first episodes and didn't seem so needy and cautious). Sue and Chris are working a lust relationship that's melting the stage. Stay tuned for that channel to go NC-17 quickly.

Scandals was... tiring. Many one-liners. Many odd pauses as people were caught thinking of clever things to say. Odd watching direction coming from arbitrary continuity transitions (e.g. "....end scene at airport including Doctor, Flight Attendant and Boss. Meanwhile, Doctor is showing Flight Attendant his pad/apartment" Did I miss a transition there?)

Teahouse is solid. Working on extra backing props to continue story entanglement. Opens October 12th. Sets are in rough finish stage. Costume tests this coming weekend (10/1). Looks like a great run ahead. Crickets keep wandering onto the set without provocation - a lucky sign.

Teahouse Coupons
... so I managed to happen to be in the right place at the right time and
get myself cast in a supporting lead role in the local Glendale production
of "Teahouse of the August Moon" (Yea! with George Stratten - Directing)

Teahouse is a charming, funny and smart post-WWII family-friendly comedy set
in Okinawa about the US military's early attempts to bring democracy and
industry to a small island village.

Delightfully timely in it's particular content, we have a strong ensemble
cast that I'm really proud to be a part of for my first big stage piece.
Plus, the audience gets to see me make my way through a completely
Japanese-speaking role - which is a fun challenge right up front (and no, I
don't normally speak that particular language...luckily we have a dozen
native speakers in our cast, as well as a funny round-up of character
players... and of course, a baby goat!).

Will be playing October 12th through November 19th, Wednesdays through
Saturdays (5 shows per week) at the Glendale Centre Theatre (which is the
beautiful little ivy-covered theatre on Orange St. directly behind Portos).

ht
The discount coupon [attached] are good for multiple ticket purchases
(including free beverages at the theatre); call for reservations - print,
fold and bring-em along.

And yes, in case there were any doubt, this is way more fun than applying
and testing Oracle patches.

See you at the theatre!

Impro Theatre - Find the Heat
Found out many of my lower status characters are showing similar characteristiCS: rounded shoulders, tendency towards mouth tics (popping, chewing, tongue rolls, etc.) Need to concentrate on less distracting nervous movements and focus on intent and motivation.

Dark Gables - August 19, 2005 at Acme Theatre
Everybody should know now about the change in schedule to Friday nights at 10 p.m. through November, which at the end will make this show 3 weeks longer than last year's Carnal Peaks, taking the new title of "Longest Running Improv Show in the World" whenever this run concludes (and as strong as this story has become - that may take a long while...) Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) and Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie) in absentia. Very strong choices for physicality during wolf-transformation scenes. Nice work in "fighting the growing forces within." Haven't found as much with the newly included performance lab show that immediately follows (3-way) - but that's the primary difference between Impro Theatre's training and Acme's (primarily short-form based and it shows). But we'll see if that tones up after about another month. Tonight's the Fellowship! Soundtrack CD Release party at Molly Malone's Pub on Fairfax - http://www.mollymalonesla.com/music.html / http://www.fellowshipthemusical.com

Moot and Whipple Reviews
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Santa Monica Playhouse - The Other Theatre
Topic: Drama
http://entertainmenttodayonline.com/theatre.html#Anchor-Th-13890 Also, the Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier for Wednesday, July 27, 2005 Vol. 61, No. 30., pg. 26.

Dark Gables - ACME Theatre [7/30/05]
Mood:  incredulous
Now Playing: ACME Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
The entire cast's back for the final run for Saturday nights - the show switches now to Friday nights at 8 p.m. through November.

Doruk (Robert Covarrubias) no longer merely accepts whatever pretend offering is in front of him - he's full of challenges and raising stakes left and right.

Musette's back too (Tracy Burns) after an extended hiatus. More than a little concerned that her reputation has become soiled, she too, fought back for character with plum and spunk.

Moot and Whipple / The Walrus - Scene photos
Topic: Drama
https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/jlui/moot_and_whipple_walrus Starring (7/22): Brendan Bonner (Moot) Dan Cotreau (Whipple) Sean Lawlor (Frank) Hugh Fitzgerald (Walter) Brendan Bonner (Sonny) Laura Richardson (Elna) Amy Shelton-White (Lillian) Ginger Hanner (Tuesday)

Moot and Whipple - Official Opening Night at Pasadena Playhouse [7/23/2005]
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: Pasadena Playhouse
Topic: Drama
Friday's Moot and Whipple was a bit better in terms of emotional intensity and listening to each other. Scene precision was about 98% on-target. Another 90% house-fill too, audience-wise.

Walrus's acts were cancelled tonight due to a family emergency for one of the actors, and inability to pull the remainder of the cast together for rehearsals early enought to work out several more changes to the show (simplifying the sets among the top order).

Well-attended and happy crowd, in general.

Lighting cues were extended by 2 secs. fade-in/out to provide a little more drama. Sound effects were pretty tight (though we're still working on the radio opening to Moot, timing-wise).

Decided to drop additional lit cans at Moot's exit hall location during the Moot Exit in Scene 1 in order to emphasize the departure and re-appearance later.

Dark Gables Show 11 at ACME Theatre 7/23/2005
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: ACME Theatre www.acmetheatre.com
Topic: Improv
Missing in action were Brother Tobias (Chris MacKenzie), and the director (Joseph Limbaugh). Travis Oates (ACME's capable Theatre President and all-around Improvisor filled in for Joseph by providing the narration and scene switches.

Felt more pushed than usual, with most scenes ending on one-liners and punch-lines, which are more Travis's personal style than anything intentional.

Dark Gables Show 10 [7/16/05]
Mood:  spacey
Now Playing: ACME Theatre www.acmetheatre.com
Topic: Improv
Physicality was through the roof on this one! Tracy Burns missing in action for a total of 3 episodes. Thorne Dupree (Brian Lohmann) returns this week. Protagonist alliances re-asserted. Demand for resolution on the Evilyn/Gretchen situation is increasing. Doruk Mamut Aktas (Robert Covarrubias) is almost stealing the show with his refusals to allow other cast members to get away with pimping. Audrey Fessenden Fitzpiglet (Kristen Trucksess) keeps breaking-up every time she looks Doruk in the eyes.

The Beast as performed by The F5 Group of Hothouse
Mood:  special
Now Playing: The Hothouse in Studio City www.hothousestc.com
Topic: Improv
Very powerful 3-act show featuring 100% Organic Improv based upon the work of Viola Spolin. Todd Stashwick co-founded this place.

Each act produced 3 to 5 parallel stories with unique interactive characters following evolving spontaneity all based upon movement and mannerisms found from another improvisor.

Dark Gables Show 9 [7/9/05]
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: ACME Theatre www.acmetheatre.com
Topic: Improv
Slow start with an excellent finish - with only a bumpy chatterblast to comment on. Avoid commonplace chatter like the plague - it rarely adds to a character's depth and seems to detract directly from forward movement of the story.

ACME Theatre and Impro Theatre (at the Actors Forum)
Dark Gables went without Thorne and Francisco (Brian Lohmann and Edmund O'Brien respectively) and brought in the Brother Montegue (amiably played by Travis Oats) himself to enlarge the cast back to critical mass. Strong positive up-turn in the couples relationships abounded with the absence of Thorne. Doruk Mamut Aktas (Robert Covarrubias) won the prize for finally establishing the history behind the Stone of Forgiveness and Healing - it was bounced off the forehead of Christ during the walk of the Stations, and was endowed with power when Jesus immediately forgave the caster of the stone, which was picked up and safely stored by Joseph of Aramathea for centuries. Strong work re-incorporating the disembodied Gretchen (Porter Kelly) using off-stage mic work.

Impro Theatre presented a Quirky English Comedy - "The Brides of Toad Hill" played as a double-play with the Passion Noir "The Funeral Home." Only a few moments of communication loss occurred, with strong random story generation and intense but subdued emotional connection. Misha Collins demonstrated strong use of the 'identify when lost' characteristic to the other players during specific moments when the audience was quite lost as well. Carla Rosati produced some heavy-hitting characters with strong identity and physicality. Nils Vaule did an outstanding marionette scene as a posing corpse. Gary Rae played one of the first lead roles with aplumb and disgust. Nick Massouh was being kicked and punted into the story twists in every scene. And Jo McGinley... tended a gentle flock of performing sheep with resilience.

Dark Gables [6/18] - Acme Theatre
Topic: Improv
A nice recovery from last week's story-telling festival, with 2 particularly strong monologue scenes (by Leticia and Aubrey, individually). - both emotionally anchored, and focused on exploration of the singular element. The story evolution seemed much more organic compared with last week's journey.

OAUG Connection Point 2005 - Grapevine, TX [6/14]
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: www.oaug.org
Topic: Improv
I received the surprise of a lifetime while at this Texas conference...
One of the keynote speakers is a fellow named Joel Zeff (www.joelzeff.com) - I knew he was associated with Ad-libs down here so I was interested inwhat he'd do for a bunch of techies. Long story short, I got to perform in front of a crowd of some 3,000 people because... He started doing our impro exercises as the "act!" To me it was all familiar territory work because we went through picking up hitchhikers, marionettes, place/occupation/thing, one-word stories - all the stuff that the wonderful people at Impro Theatre (www.theatersports.com) have put me through for the past 2 months.

Besides that, both technical session presentations went well, were well attended, and I hope lots of people find value in my white paper contents because in the end, that's what really counts.

Dark Gables - Acme Theatre [6/11]
Now Playing: Acme Theatre - www.acmecomedy.com
Topic: Improv
Well, well, well... now I know what can happen when a whole cast get focused on story elements too much - people start losing connection with each other and the whole performance sort of feels like someone reading a story to you, but without any characters interacting in it. There were many moments that started out fundamentally nice, and then a character would begin launching off into intricate detail on their own background, or something they were personally fascinated with, but the other scene character would do essentially the same thing. The net result is - neither character effectively works off the other, leading to an odd staleness to the ensemble. Felt weird, looked weird. Makes perfect sense now.

ACME Theatre - Dark Gables (6/4) and Tiny & Les (6/2)
Topic: Improv
6/2 - The closing show of Tiny & Les - perfect call for the ending which started to reek during a techno-dance version of Kick the Donkey, and instead was saved by performing "another catchy number" from the Broadway period revival of Space "The Final Frontier" Heywold's greatest hits.

6/4 - Episode 4 (or 3, if you're not counting Preview nights) - with Thorne returning (Brian Lohmann) we had a number of hilarious prop failures to work with. Francisco's cross immediately broke during the introduction. Thorne pointed out that his re-emergence coincided with many unusual occurences within Dark Gables, including the inexplicable fracturing of several crucifixes. Thorne produced mystical Starbucks tea from backstage, which turned into Leticia's (Sue Peahl) bottle of wine. Then Francisco produced a different jug of wine to refill Lester's tea cup, and was chastised twice for attempting to pour without actually unscrewing the cap, or actually pouring the liquid into the cup. Proves you can't get away from the obvious in Improv.

Tango-Pasodoble for Don Pasquito Voice Warm-up
Topic: Improv
"Tango - Pasodoble" - as presented by Jo McGinley of Impro Theatre (www.theatresports.com) for voice warm-ups...

Text by Edith Sitwell (1887-1964)
Music by William Walton, from the Fa?ade settings

When Don Pasquito arrived at the seaside
Where the donkey's hide tide brayed, he
Saw the bandito Jo in a black cape
Whose slack shape waved like the sea -
Thetis wrote a treatise noting wheat is silver like the sea,
The lovely cheat is sweet as foam,
Erotis notices that she will steal the
Wheat-kings luggage, like Babel
Before the League of Nations grew -
So Jo put the luggage and the label
In the pocket of Flo the Kangaroo.
Through trees like rich hotels that bode
Of dreamless ease fled she,
Carrying the load and goading the road
Through the marine scene to the sea.
'Don Pasquito, the road is eloping
With your luggage though heavy and large,
You must follow and leave your moping
Bride to my guidance and charge!'
When Don Pasquito returned from the road's end
Where vanilla coloured ladies ride
From Sevilla, his mantilla'd bride and young friend
Were forgetting their mentor and guide.
For the lady and her friend from Le Touquet
In the very shady trees on the sand
Were plucking a white satin bouquet
Of foam, while the sand's brassy band
Blared in the wind. Don Pasquito
Hid where the leaves drip with sweet...
But a word stung him like a mosquito...
For what they hear, they repeat!