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I walked out of "True West" in the first act. I was just bored to tears by how one dimensional the characters were and how they were talking past eachother. People see a show because of what you promise is in it. Very few people are like "I'll see Romeo and Juliet again" if you don't do anything that will make it NEW. Sell me on why I should see your tiny version of it.
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Nov 28, 2010 04:05
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Golden Bee posted:I can send you a copy if you want. I'd be down for a copy too if you're sending them out. It's always fun to read new plays. I've got a couple student written plays I'm trying to help whip into shape for next semester's One-Act festival, and it's great seeing the writing/re-writing process in action. onionfarmer5 at gmail dot com beer_attack posted:The question is, Would YOU come see it? Hell yeah. I think you'd be able to get a crowd in almost any college town or campus. I can't vouch for cities though. You'd have to do a good deal of promoting. I made a similar plea in another thread a LONG time back, but on a related note, if anyone knows of any good 15-30 minute One-Act plays they think would work well in series of 5 or 6 or so, PLEASE let me know. I'm the festival coordinator at my school again next semester and constantly in search of good plays to help even out dynamics. I'd even be interested in self-written stuff. Thanks a ton. Also, is anyone planning on going to The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival this year, specifically region II? I went last year as one of the acting competitors, but am planning on going on my own this year for more of a theatre job fair type experience. It was pretty great with the exception of the keynote speaker, Bill Pullman, being a complete and utter douche. Tons of work shopping and scholarship competition opportunities if you're looking for that kind of thing. It's in Maryland this year. Info/registration can be found here: http://kcactf2.org/
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Nov 28, 2010 04:52
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beer_attack posted:One of my pals who's working on his phd in theatre at the University of Kansas asked me if I wanted to be in True West with him and do a tour with the act. Small sets travel well, so I think this could totally work. Probably at coffee houses or bars. I'd come see it. Golden Bee posted:I can send you a copy if you want. Cool. Let me know when you've got the draft you want to send. PM me or something. I'll probably put something up for ya'll sometime soonish.
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Nov 28, 2010 06:58
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I don't have a PM; gimme your email and we can exchange. Pious, I have a self-written 22 minute superhero play that I recently staged. It's kind of children's theatery, but it's a lot of fun and may be a respite from darker or more minimalistic stuff. I've sent it along to your OnionMan account.
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Nov 28, 2010 08:29
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beer_attack posted:One of my pals who's working on his phd in theatre at the University of Kansas asked me if I wanted to be in True West with him and do a tour with the act. Small sets travel well, so I think this could totally work. Probably at coffee houses or bars. I love Shepard (Buried Child is probably one of the top 10 American plays) and True West is one of his stronger works. I'd definitely go see it! I just saw the touring production of Peter Pan out here in California. The set was incredible but good lord was the acting annoying. No listening, no spontaneity, no living in the moment. As an actor, it was very frustrating to watch. Yes, you've done it 150 times, but you've got to make it fresh god drat it. Even Jonathan Hyde, who had a nice characterization for Captain Hook, was presupposing constantly. LIVE IN YOUR MOMENTS AGGGH
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Nov 29, 2010 11:35
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Pious Pete posted:I made a similar plea in another thread a LONG time back, but on a related note, if anyone knows of any good 15-30 minute One-Act plays they think would work well in series of 5 or 6 or so, PLEASE let me know. I'm the festival coordinator at my school again next semester and constantly in search of good plays to help even out dynamics. I'd even be interested in self-written stuff. Thanks a ton. It's a bit of a cliche because "everybody does him" but have you tried David Ives' shorts? There's a collection of them called All in the Timing and it's worth your while because the plays are funny, short, and sharp. T-Bone posted:LIVE IN YOUR MOMENTS AGGGH I think staying fresh and present in touring productions is one of the hardest things to do in the entire business of acting. Hell, I've worked in repertory at summer stock companies with 3 plays going at a time and it was still hard to stay fresh; doing the same show again and again in a different city every couple of nights is murderous. That said, it doesn't excuse lazy acting.
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Nov 29, 2010 17:43
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Pious Pete posted:I made a similar plea in another thread a LONG time back, but on a related note, if anyone knows of any good 15-30 minute One-Act plays they think would work well in series of 5 or 6 or so, PLEASE let me know. I'm the festival coordinator at my school again next semester and constantly in search of good plays to help even out dynamics. I'd even be interested in self-written stuff. Thanks a ton. I'm going to region VIII as a competitor this year. It kind of sucks how they have grads and undergrads competing against each other. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. As for one act plays: Savage/Love To the Chicago Abyss Holier Ground Hello Out There The Mystery of Twicknam Vicarage The Problem Strangers The Author's Voice Bench at the Edge Life Under Water Never Swim Alone The Man Who Turned Into A Stick La Ronde The Serpent The Lesson Clara My Head was a Sledgehammer The Lady Aoi The Lover Wasp Is It Worth It? Fool for Love One For The Road The Love Talker The Duck Variations The Most Massive Woman Wins Play Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You Correct Address Tall Tales All Men are Whores: An Inquiry The Apollo of Bellac
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Nov 29, 2010 19:12
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Good One Acts: Eric Bogosian: Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and Pounding Nails in the Floor with my Forehead. (Both of these are technically One Man shows of pure monologues.) Christopher Durang: 'dentity Crisis, The Actor's Nightmare, Beth Henley: Am I Blue? David Ives: The Other Woman, All In the Timing (Collection) Maurice Maeterlinck: The Blind (very old, very strange, very awesome) Steve Martin: WASP Terence McNally: Bad Habits Joe Orton: Funeral Games Clifford Odets: Waiting for Lefty (really political)
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Nov 29, 2010 22:30
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Meeting with an agent today. Fingers crossed!
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Nov 30, 2010 16:05
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Break a leg. What agency?
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Nov 30, 2010 16:46
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Gray Talent. Would be a good get if I can swing it.
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Nov 30, 2010 21:06
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OSheaman posted:Gray Talent. Would be a good get if I can swing it. I think I'm auditioning a few of their clients on the 12th. Looks like a good agency, especially compared to some of the others in Chicago.
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Nov 30, 2010 21:47
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antiloquax posted:I think I'm auditioning a few of their clients on the 12th. Looks like a good agency, especially compared to some of the others in Chicago. Probably. Dawn used to work with Encore, I think, but she split off to form her own group and she works really hard for her people. I also have submitted a couple of times to: Geddes Stewart Grossman/Jack Aria Encore Shirley Hamilton but Gray is the only one I had a connection to (a teacher of mine) and thus a chance to get in the door. Getting an agent is a real pain in the rear end!
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Nov 30, 2010 23:23
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Yesterday I read a casting call to a play with a very similar premise to one I've been working on for six months. It opens the week before mine goes up and was written by an Emmy winning former Second City cast member. It's just a coincidence, right? And the fact that I'm less well known and am going up a week later isn't going to make me look like I've stolen their idea, right? To clarify, my play revolves around people like Oprah visiting Richard Daley during his last days as mayor while theirs sees people like Richard Daley visiting Oprah during her last days as a TV host.
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Dec 1, 2010 16:09
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The comparisons are going to be unavoidable amongst people who are aware of the existence of both shows, I think. Which sucks, but look on the bright side: go see the other play, and if yours is better then you can say to everyone that you out-wrote an Emmy winner! That said, sketch comedy is full of basically similar ideas. When the Rod Blagojevich thing happened I must have seen 15 different revues in town built around the story, most of which probably had the exact same jokes. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Where is his taking place, and where is yours taking place?
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Dec 1, 2010 17:31
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OSheaman posted:That said, sketch comedy is full of basically similar ideas. When the Rod Blagojevich thing happened I must have seen 15 different revues in town built around the story, most of which probably had the exact same jokes. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Ours is at Gorilla Tango, theirs is at The Annoyance. I'm pretty confident it's just a freakish coincidence. You're right, too: this is probably an idea that's going to get used by other groups too and is one of the risks of relying on pop culture to generate ideas (and also one of the reasons I generally tend to avoid using it). To combat that, I'm rewriting the script a little to make it a lot more off the wall and unpredictable.
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Dec 1, 2010 17:37
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The nice thing about working at Gorilla Tango is the bar is set so low that simply putting on a functioning show puts above at least 50% of the things you're going to see there, so if your show is even in the neighborhood of the quality of the Annoyance show I think you'll probably be very successful. Assuming you market the show well . . . I don't know many people who see something at Gorilla Tango on a whim or "just passing by"
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Dec 1, 2010 21:32
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Going second gives you rewrite wiggle room to rewrite jokes if they're desperately similar. But when you write about big names and current events, don't expect to be 100% original. There's a rule for standup: If one late night comedian uses a joke similar to yours, you have a week. If two do, you have three days. If all three of them do, write a new joke. It was everybody's first thought anyway.
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Dec 1, 2010 21:47
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OSheaman posted:I don't know many people who see something at Gorilla Tango on a whim or "just passing by" I've had some weird people show up to shows there in the past, which isn't really a good thing and can lead to heckling or walk outs if people don't get what they expect. We do typically get a good turn out for shows there, but that's a result of developing an audience for two years. This is probably the last show I'll do at Gorilla Tango for a variety of reasons, one of which was just mentioned. But, yeah, I think this could be a positive if handled as a positive. And I'm with you on that rule, Golden Bee. I can't tell you how many times I've had to cut sketches and jokes because of South Park or Conan. It encourages you to try harder.
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Dec 1, 2010 22:03
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So since I'll be getting my BFA next semester, I'm naturally terrified of where to go. I'm probably leaning towards Chicago, but I was just curious if anyone here was operating out of the big cities and, if so, if you had any advice on how to make the rounds.
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Dec 2, 2010 19:45
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Leaf Coneybear posted:So since I'll be getting my BFA next semester, I'm naturally terrified of where to go. I'm probably leaning towards Chicago, but I was just curious if anyone here was operating out of the big cities and, if so, if you had any advice on how to make the rounds. Yes, I think we can probably help out with that  What are your long-term goals? Be as specific as possible with this. Also: what medium (stage, TV, film) do you prefer working in?
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Dec 2, 2010 21:46
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Hey antiloquax, when is your show? If I'm free I'd like to try and make it; most of my sketch comedy friends haven't been doing a lot lately and I'd love to see some comedy with the new girlfriend.
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Dec 6, 2010 18:56
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I have one this Thursday at 9:30PM (Gorilla Tango). And next Thursday. And then a bunch of shows in March. We just discovered that Gorilla Tango is right next to a bar that does karaoke on Thursdays and serves $2 beers, which makes me like the location a lot more.
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Dec 7, 2010 15:12
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Nice, I can't make this Thursday's because it's the last weekend of my show. Maybe next Thursday . . .
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Dec 7, 2010 16:02
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I got ahold of an audio recording of the 2002 Kennedy Center production of Merrily We Roll Along (it was really easy to find, too; why didn't I think of that before?). It's not bad, though maybe I'm just so thrilled to be able to hear the show in its entirety that I don't want it to be less than spectacular, which it is. Furth's dialogue is incredibly witty and the acting is fantastic ("Oh, no...now I'm not going to be invited back...") but it suffers not necessarily from its structure (it's better in that regard than the original play, and I liked how well they adapted some of the elements, e.g., the answering machine guy) but from a lack of closure. At the end the feeling is kind of like, okay, so he was happy and optimistic once but now his life is in the shitter, despite all his wealth, so what? Frank does have an epiphany in the first scene about how much he hates his life, or at least he's able to verbalize it, so it feels like there should be some kind of denouement; despite it playing backwards and thus having a solid "end", it still feels wrong chronologically. It's like the end of Gypsy; you have Rose's Turn, which could definitely be the show's climactic end, but then Arthur Laurents puts in that reconciliation. My first vague idea was to have Charlie on-stage before the overture, typing at his desk; his phone rings, he picks it up, answers "Hi, this is Charlie", or something to that effect. A look of recognition passes over his face: "Frank..." Then the lights go out and the overture bursts from the pit. That would probably just confuse the audience, though. I don't know why I think about these things for so long when I could be pursuing other more productive activities Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Dec 8, 2010 |
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Dec 8, 2010 06:52
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Speaking of Sondheim, I netflixed the recent release of Evening Primrose. It's worth checking out if you're not familiar with it. It aired as a television special in the 60s, and although it only has 4 songs it's vintage Sondheim. The plot is pretty bizarre, involving a man who wants to get away from society and live in a department store. Anthony Perkins is ok as the male lead, but the female lead's acting is pretty bad. Recommended for die-hard fans.
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Dec 9, 2010 04:21
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My play, Sidekickin' It, is ONLINE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-bJZh7hUjM&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL Oddly, 28 views on part 1, and a combined 8 views on part 2 and 3. That's real odd...I've set them all in a playlist, they SHOULD autoplay.
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Dec 9, 2010 07:10
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Youtube views are some of the weirdest things on the internet, so I wouldn't worry. They may not have gone through yet and sometimes they don't count them at all.
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Dec 9, 2010 17:45
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Okay, kind of a strange question, but has anyone had any experience in making the leap to professional acting with only web experience and improv training? I've been thinking of taking the evening program at The Atlantic for some time now to get formal acting training, but my schedule at my day job is getting more and more demanding. How big of a factor is formal training during the audition process?
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Dec 9, 2010 18:42
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It's not a strange question or even a particularly uncommon one. I know a few people doing this, but they have absolutely no emotional range as actors and while they can be funny improvisers, they're usually playing themselves. Most famous improvisers or people to come out of improv were good actors first. Eventually you're going to go against someone who's funny but can also cry and show varying ranges of anger and all the stuff that directors like. Not saying you can't do that, but if all I have to go on is your resume, I'm going to think it. Acting classes are a big plus, just be sure to find a course that works for you.
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Dec 9, 2010 20:10
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Formal training doesn't matter for poo poo if you've got game. Or if you don't got it, for that matter . . . nobody I know is going to say "Well, I wasn't going to cast her because she can't act/doesn't type correctly/seems like a pain to work with, but it says here on her resume that she went to the Rutgers MFA Program so let's give her the part!" That said, professional training will make you a better actor so I recommend doing it, focusing especially on areas of weakness for you. EDIT: And to answer your question, don't worry about what you've done before. Michael Caine was a filing clerk and an ex-soldier in (I think) the RAF when he got his start. Amount of formal training: 0. OSheaman fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Dec 9, 2010 |
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Dec 9, 2010 20:56
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Thanks for that. I got a lot of good marks in a Meisner class (only 4 three-hour sessions, so I don't count it as formal training), so I thought I might be able to build on it over time.
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Dec 10, 2010 22:48
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Gray Ghost posted:Thanks for that. I got a lot of good marks in a Meisner class (only 4 three-hour sessions, so I don't count it as formal training), so I thought I might be able to build on it over time. Yeah, that's the way to do it. Apparently Deniro still takes classes occasionally. Probably would have meant more a decade ago, but there you go. With acting you kind of just want to avoid one of two mindsets. There's the guys who are in their forties still going from program to program because they're "not ready yet," and there's the guys who think "Well, I just booked that industrial, so I don't need to work on anything ever again." As long as you're honest about your progress you'll be fine.
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Dec 11, 2010 02:25
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I hope a shameless plug isn't too out of place here, but for anyone in the NYC area, I'll be in an off-Broadway production of a new musical at the Theater for the New City starting December 23. It's called Dollface. Despite my involvement in the production, I think I can objectively say that the song writing in this show is some of the best I've seen in a long time. It'd be great to have some goons in the audience!
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Dec 11, 2010 03:44
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I held some auditions this weekend, and I found that the best thing to ask is "Why are you at this audition?" You get a really good feel of what people are wanting from the project, and it's a good way to weed out people who either have really high expectations ("I only want to work with the biggest names.") or just wanting to boost their resume. Also, the show I'm currently doing is really falling victim to its opening twenty minutes. They're really not funny enough to be in a show people are paying to see and by the time the funny forty minutes come along the laughter's been stifled. A complete lack of energy from half the cast probably isn't helping, either.
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Dec 13, 2010 15:13
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antiloquax posted:A complete lack of energy from half the cast probably isn't helping, either. I imagine this has you wanting to tear your (or maybe their) hair out.
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Dec 13, 2010 15:41
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antiloquax posted:Also, the show I'm currently doing is really falling victim to its opening twenty minutes. They're really not funny enough to be in a show people are paying to see and by the time the funny forty minutes come along the laughter's been stifled. A complete lack of energy from half the cast probably isn't helping, either. I recommend liquoring the audience up beforehand. Works for me every time!
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Dec 13, 2010 16:43
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OSheaman posted:Yes, I think we can probably help out with that Well almost all my experience is stage work, but we take two on-camera classes for our BFA program. Honestly, I'm not one of those people that says "broadway or bust"... to tell you the truth, those people annoy the gently caress out of me. Of course, I want to get as far as I can, but if I'm in a good-sized city doing challenging, good work at a respected theatre, and making a living that's comfortable enough to get rid of the need for a day job, I call that success. And even that goal is lofty in this business.
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Dec 13, 2010 22:40
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Geekboy posted:I imagine this has you wanting to tear your (or maybe their) hair out. I've done it myself, so I can't complain too much. I love the differences high energy performances bring, though, so maybe I'll give them all E before the next show.
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Dec 13, 2010 23:19
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Anybody worked with "My First Time" before? Or have any suggestions/tips/things to look out for with sexuality plays? I'm directing "My First Time" and "Vagina Monologues" this year. My campus is rather liberal, but it is in Texas, and people like to complain about plays anyways. So, if anybody has any ideas that would be cool. The very big problem I'm having is that, in "My First Time" there's a speech given my a Baptist minister about how pre-marital, or promiscuous, homosexual, so on and so forth, sex will leave you in hell. Last year's director took the sarcastic route and offended a bunch of people (he thought the campus was much more liberal than it is apparently). Anyways, I'm being asked NOT to take out the speech, but I'm not really sure how to approach it without pissing everybody off.
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Dec 14, 2010 00:23
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