Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Mat Kearney--New York to California

What can I say, I'm California dreamin' today!!!! Here's a song I like:

Under the TV lights, you fell asleep again
Dont know, I'm writing this song about you
There's a picture of a Hollywood sign, reflecting off your skin I
Don't want to live another day without you
You woke up and said baby I, had one of those dreams again
The rain came down and I lost you, In the wind
You said something about don't leave, before you fell back asleep
Before I could sing my song back to you

But you could find your self lost out in this world
And I found a way to get back to your side
no mountain's too high, no stone is too small
I'll build a bridge through the fire, for you I would crawl
From New York to California

I could hear you softly breathing, oh what you do to me
But baby I could climb down into your dreams
I Build a ladder down through the clouds
Where the storms Is raging now I
Don't want to sing another song without you

If you find your self lost out in this world
Then I'll find a way to get back to your side
no mountain's too high, no stone is too small
I'll build a bridge through the fire, for you I would crawl
From New York to California


Ohhhh, It's not too far,
Ohhhh, to where you are,
Ohhh, It's not too far,

Cause you, could find your self lost out in this world
And I, Could find a way to get back to your side

If you find your self lost out in this world
Then I'll find a way to get back to your side
No mountains to high, no stone is too small
I'll build a bridge through the fire, for you I would crawl
From New York to California, To California, To California

T.A.B. at the Manhattan Rep!

Where have I gone, you say? I have been balls deep in rehearsals for T.A.B. and it opens tonight! So I have resurfaced to give some details to those on the Internets who would like to come.

Presented by the Manhattan Rep, T.A.B. is a surreal examination of a true story. In 2000, an MIT student named Elizabeth Shin was found burning alive in her dorm room and suicide by self-immolation was discussed as the cause. Like so many Korean-Americans and people of all ethnicities with immigrant parents, Elizabeth suffered from an inability to reconcile her parent's heritage with the American society that consumed her life. After having mono in high school, she missed a Physics test that contributed to her only being Salutorian, not Valedictorian--something her parents also attributed to racism and Elizabeth's laziness. One day after her family visited her at MIT with groceries and stories of home, Elizabeth lit some candles, wrote in her journal a macabre entry about how yoga is the only way she was able to feel relaxed, and the next minute she went up in flames. Like a Buddhist monk she became an offering, a sacrifice.

Playwright Susan Pak read a NY Times article about Elizabeth and it prompted her to write: about Elizabeth, about Koreans, about Americans, and the imagery and words flow on the page like a stream-of-consciousness from someone on the verge of a great discovery.

It's fun. It's insightful. It's heartbreaking. But most of all, it's something that I don't think has been done in theatre before. If you want to argue that point with me, why don't you come see for yourself? (see what I did there?)

Also, you might be wondering why myself, as a Whitey McWhiterton, is anywhere near this play. As well as Erin the producer, I've been with this project since its first New York premiere playing this part of the semi-retarded and totally clueless roommate. Growing up with 60% of my friends Asian really informed how I worked on this character...I was indeed the white friend, but I can only hope I treated my friends better than Kathy treats Victoria. And the worst part is that Kathy's insensitivity is never intentional.

So go to manhattanrep.com to find out more and to listen to a podcast our director Tracy recorded with the Artistic Dir of Manhattan Rep. For tickets you can call (646) 329-6588. We go up tonight at 8pm, and tomorrow and Friday at 6:30pm. Seating is VERY limited, it is black to the box. And if you're industry and wanna come, first of all, hey! And second of all, just call the number and mention you're industry and you should be able to get comps. One caveat: apparently they check business cards when you show up to get a comp ticket. Sketchy much?

In other news, I shot a short little piece for a Columbia grad student a few days ago about...dun dun DUN....abortions! That was a lot of fun, actually. I got the call to do it last minute so I went from eatin nachos on my couch to crying on a stranger's bathroom floor in about an hour. Ah, the actor's life.

Finally, I was an extra in a movie with a star type person last week, and it was my first experience with a name actor being a total douchebag to everyone. She was such a bitch. And we weren't paid, and kept there hours longer than we were promised we would be out by, and they ran out of food. Serves me right for working on a non-union, unpaid job. I learned my lesson though. But luckily I was able to make friends!

The End?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

What do you cling to when it all becomes overwhelming?

When the Backstage listings pile on each other after each refreshing, as you look at them and go, "is that part worth changing my Thanksgiving trip?" or, "can these be anything more than internet porn?", it's hard to keep going. And it takes a lot for me to say that, especially me, because I don't find it easy to admit that I'm struggling. I think we all should, it actually makes me feel better to admit that what I'm doing isn't a typical way of life, nor is it the easiest way of life. But it's all I can do, and even now as I sit on hold with some person in need of a password to our website, it's so obvious that I should never be behind a desk. Not because I'm stupid, because my knees knock together and I finish everything too fast so I get more and more work piled on and I feel GUILTY about leaving to go on auditions. Guilty! Ridiculous!

That, friends, is why I applied to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire today, so don't judge. Besides, it's on tv, and you have to go through an extensive audition process so it's not completely unrelated to acting.

I guess you could call me hungry. Starving. And it's not like I'm not working--I've been rehearsing or performing almost every day since freaking mid-August! I'm just hungry for more. Every day I don't work makes me try harder to get auditions, stay in shape, and book something. And every day I do work, while it seems weird, just makes me even hungrier. I guess it's like someone who quit smoking and then sneaks a cigarette in one day. Sure, every day you don't have a smoke is hard, but if you cheat and have just one puff, your brain must instantly go crazy with the possibilities of smoking a pack a day, cancer be damned, not a care in the world.

I have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm not even a smoker!

All I want to do is act. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I have to keep that in mind or I'll go crazy. I guess I just resent when people act like I had no idea how hard it would be. Everyone on the freaking planet knows how hard it is to make a living, let alone as a professional actor.....but NOBODY and NOTHING can prepare you for the reality of getting through each day and ending on a positive, hopeful note. For now, I'm working, I'm young, and I'm doing good things in my work. I'm growing, and improving, and learning, and always raising the bar to something greater. And as long as I can keep that up, I won't ever be satisfied with the present, always looking to the next thing. And that's quite alright with me.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Adventures in Temping

Someone just called my office's customer service line looking for "Stimulating conversations." Confused, I responded telling him I thought he had the wrong number. He sounded drunk. He sounded dirty. I could hear lust in his voice as I repeatedly and politely informed him that I was not, in fact, a phone sex operator but a temporary customer service manager. I was so confused, because it's not really something you expect to have to deal with at a publishing house. So "stimulating conversations", whatever that may be, are not (fortunately) in my job description. I hung up after he thanked me for my help (and my soothing voice, I can only assume) and I went back to my Excel file bemused and a little creeped out. Speaking of which, that Excel file ain't gonna complete itself...

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

PINK! Praise and other goings-on

So now that PINK! is past, what better time to post other's thoughts on it? Yes, it is backward, but better late than never. Besides, PINK will be back. Oh it will.

"I am the Managing Director of the WorkShop Theater Company where the production of PINK is taking place, and I had the good fortune of seeing the show last night.
Besides the setting (a sleep-a-way camp for 12 year old girls. ), there is NOTHING saccharine about this play.
In fact, I would best describe it as a "God of Carnage" for "tweens."
It is coarse, vulgar, innocent, sweet, deadly dramatic, and most importantly, very, very funny.
It only runs a week more -- but the play and performances are so good, that I just had to write to those of you who were wavering, to check this play out.
It will be 90 minutes very well spent."
--David M. Pincus, Managing Director WorkShop Theater Company
www.workshoptheater.org
Chair, Theater Task Force
Manhattan Community Board 4

And here is Broadway After Dark's Review, which gives such a nice summary of my character I chuckled in agreement:
http://www.broadwayafterdark.com/Durell.htm
Cabaret and Other Wanderings with Sandi Durell
Welcome to Camp “PINK”
Down Payment Productions WorkShop Theater Main Stage
Reviewed by: Sandi Durell
September 20, 2009

"Ah, pubescence, those wonderful years of honesty, no cares, exploration. In this case, however, the girls at Camp “Pink” are the result of a more modern day phenomenon. They are the Me Generation capable of saying and doing anything. They are nasty, vicious and abusive. Five nymphets finding womanhood at sleep-away camp, obsessed with everything sexual as they refer to each other as Vagina and batter each other with brutal honesty, eventually turns into the ultimate horror.

Samantha (Julia Giolzetti), the quiet book reader, sensible and mature is the butt of much battering and ‘odd girl out’; Ashley (Caitlin Mehner) sexually mature, is the leader of the pack, suffering from the dysfunctionality associated with sexual abuse by her father. She is mean, lies and capable of anything as we see at the conclusion. Zoe (Kaela Crawford) is Ashley’s shadow, slave and play toy. Tracy (Alison Scaramella) is good natured, fair and understanding but sometimes caught in the web of being just a 12 year old trying to grow up. Abby (Stephanie Strohm), a bit overweight, would like to have experienced more and finds herself confused much of the time as she is tossed around in the emotional play of the Me Me’s.

The 90 minute ride provokes both laughter and riveting disgust as they tear each other apart with everything from whose Bat Mitzvah they will attend ( 2 of the girls have the same date), the experience of a first menstruation, dealing with parents’ affairs, fashion, cheating, boyfriends, first sexual experiences and all the bitchiness one might imagine.

The final horror occurs as Ashley wants to give Abby the experience of sexuality and, with Zoe’s assistance, Abby is tied up and inadvertently smothered to death. In typical Ashley style, she immediately blames Zoe as she tries to deny who and what she is and has done.

The cast is top rate in their performance abilities, the play disturbing and thought-provoking, and although playwright Stacy Davidowitz assures that the content is entirely fictional and none of the characters and events are based upon real people and events, there remains a BIG question mark in my mind! The run of this play is complete but should it be revived I recommend you see it and decide for yourself."

Whew! Good times!

So rehearsals have begun for T.A.B. (take 2) and I'm really excited to see the play in a new light and go back to work on Kathy. Since this time around we're treating everything much more abstract, I'm going to need a much firmer grip on the character so I can then go crazy with the text. The director, Tracy, is wonderful and has so many great ideas that it almost feels like I'm working on an entirely different, but still awesome play. And it's cool to see new actors playing the other parts; while nobody is necessarily doing it "better", it's fun to see how different people interpret the same characters and dialogue...sometimes the line readings don't change at all, sometimes they're radically different...I love it!

Also PUNCHDRUNK is coming to the USA and I'm in the midst of a field trip planning to go for Halloween! If you're not familiar with the troupe, Google that ish NOW. They are amazing, and I only know that from firsthand accounts.

Aaaaand what else? It's getting colder around here but I am resisting busting out the big jacket because that means winter and winter is poopie.

Well off to rehearsals!