Trial Week

Rehearsals for APIS begin next Monday. We will be rehearsing 3 hours a day, from 6-9 pm. I should mention that the first week is considered a trial week, during which actors may choose to drop out of the production with impunity, if they feel they are unable or unwilling to continue. The director also reserves the right to remove someone from the cast if he feels the person is "not right for the show due to certain conflicts." Yikes!

Big Easy

I booked my tickets last night for a trip to New Orleans. I'm going there the last week of March in order to attend the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival. This will be my first visit to the Big Easy. My friend Steve, who has been there once before, will be accompanying me. The timing is perfect. It will be just after Apis closes at Imago, and I'm sure I will be primed for a cool mint julep. By the way, our round trip tickets were only $162.00 each, so I decided to save my frequent flier miles for a more costly journey.

Movies and More

Today, I went with my brother David and his daughters to an event at their pre-school called "Doughnuts and Dudes." I was filling-in as a dude, since my brother couldn't be in two rooms at the same time. I thought perhaps the event should have been called, "Letting Children See Their Fathers Behave Awkwardly," as the other dudes looked somewhat uncomfortable, and none of them (us) interacted with one another. The kids were excited though.

Over the weekend, I saw two films: Revolutionary Road, and Slumdog Millionaire. I'm sorry to say that I didn't like Revolutionary Road at all, although I tend to like both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett. The period stuff all looked realistic enough, but I just didn't belive much else about this film, including the characters, the relationships, and the motivations. On the other hand, I loved Slumdog Millionaire, even though it's a most implausible story. Partly I think it was the movie's freshness, including fresh faces, that appealed to me.

Friends for Breakfast

I met my friends Jon and Jill for breakfast this morning at the Bijou Cafe in Portland. Both Jon and Jill used to work together there. Jill and I used to work together at the Virginia Cafe. Jon and I have been steady friends since we met more than 25 years ago. For Jill and me, there was a gap of several years where we weren't in touch. When I moved back to the U.S. I got in touch with her. She was living in Berkeley, CA & I was moving to L.A. In certain senses, it was as if the gap in time never existed and we picked up where we left off. It was great to see both Jon and Jill. Jill was in Portland to commemorate her 50th birthday. I gave her 2 Sandman pillowcases as a present.

Sandman

Getting ready to leave Astoria. I had an excellent fish and chips dinner last night at the Silver Salmon Grill over on Commercial St. Then I headed up to the Fort George Brewery to catch the Sandman show. The brewery is nice, hip, and has great beer. It was great to see Sandman's live act too. As I once wrote, his is a unique artistry. He is also an accomplished entertainer. I remember reading something about him where the writer was comparing him to Woody Guthrie. I got that same feeling seeing him in person. Got me 5 Sandman pillowcases--2 are for me and 3 are for gifts. I also enjoyed the 1st act, Woke up Wrong. Their first few songs reminded me of Greg Sage and the Wipers. They seemed pleased when I told them this, as they were familiar with the Wipers' music.

Astoria

At the Rivershore Motel in Astoria. It's a fine place! Goin' to see Sandman the Rappin' Cowboy tonight at the Fort George Brewery.

Notification

This email came from Imago tonight:

Congratulations!
You have been cast in Imago Theatre's original production APIS
Please respond to this email whether or not you are accepting the role.
You have been offered the role of: Ensemble Member (everyone is an ensemble member until roles are defined)

Yay!

2nd Callback

Got a phone call while working today. It was Jerry, the director of the piece I auditioned for at Imago. I must say, I was surprised to hear from him. He asked me to come to another callback tonight at 6:45. Another callback...

After the Callback

Tonight's callback at Imago consisted entirely of movement sequences. I was without a doubt the oldest person to be called back and I had not felt that agile during the 1st audition. After about an hour the director said we would have a 5-minute break and anyone who wanted to leave should. Of course I stayed--I wouldn't give up that easily. It was tough though, and I feel like I got my exercise in. We'll see what happens.

Odds and Ends

Thea and I went swimming today at Willamette View. It was crowded, so Thea got out and sat in the jacuzzi for a long time before coming back into the water. I was sharing a lane with a couple of people, so I alternated doing the crawl with breast strokes. I was feeling a bit peaked, and it was nice to slow down for a change. I did 40 laps--a mile in their pool is 48. Afterwards, Thea and I stopped by Fred Meyer's as I wanted to look for a T-shirt to wear to my callback tomorrow. She found a white T-shirt with a large bar code design on the front and the words "Generic Costume" printed underneath. We both thought that was funny. But now I'm not sure I'm going to wear it. Thea had previously given me a large black T-shirt that has a small abstract drawing and Estonian text on the front. I may wear that instead. Light or dark, yin or yang?

I have to work tomorrow from 10-2 rating writing tests online. Every time I do this work, I have to be tested myself to be sure I am rating appropriately. The last two times I worked, I failed the initial test and had to take a second, which I managed to pass both times.

Battlestar

Yesterday was the 1st episode of the final season of Battlestar Galactica. My sister, Penny had a get together at her home in N. Bonneville to watch it. I am a big fan of the show. Edward James Olmos is great as the captain, now admiral, and all of the acting is quite good as is the writing. I used to think I was losing it because I would tear up during some of the episodes. Then I heard, Eddie Olmos say that he frequently cried while reading the scripts. I once met 3 of the actors by chance at Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco. They were doing a photo signing promotion at a memorabilia shop there. I walked up to Tamoh Pennikett, shook his hand and said, "Best acting on TV." He jumped up in excitement, and thanked me profusely for saying that. Then, in his excitment he yelled to the other actors, who play Chief and Anders on the show, "Guys, guys, you gotta hear this--Best acting on TV, best acting on TV!" You would have thought I was Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese. I thought his reaction was quite sweet.

Callback

I was happy today to get via email a callback notice from Imago. To my surprise, it was for one of the non-verbal pieces they will be doing. During some of the movement stuff last night, I felt a bit like Lucy Ricardo trying to pass as a dancer in Ricky's nightclub act. I was certain that I would be called for a scripted piece, if called at all. I guess nothing is certain!

Audition

I auditioned tonight at Imago Theater in Portland for upcoming shows in their 2009 season. They do a lot of nonverbal movement work, but also scripted pieces, which is what I auditioned for. We were supposed to prepare a 1-minute monologue or nonverbal audition. First, one of the directors had us doing a lot of movement stuff, while imagining alternatively that we were earth, air, water, or fire. That was OK--kind of fun. Then we had to do our monologues or other 1 by 1. We were forewarned that he would only let us go for 15 seconds or so, and indeed, no one finished his or her entire piece. We had to walk forward and say our name as well as the title of our piece. I called mine "Combing my hair with a monologue from Zoo Story." It went pretty well, and I got close to the end of it. I was wearing tan slacks with cuffs, a bright yellow shirt, and a necktie with frogs and rhinestones on it. And my shiny black wingtip shoes as well. We are supposed to hear by next week if we are called back. I think I will be if they have a part for me.

Eye Openers

I am up late because I have been taking what are called "Implicit Association" tests on the Project Implicit Website. These tests are designed to reveal our unconscious prejudices and/or ideas about race, gender, sexuality, and other social classifications. I won't share the specifics of my own results. I'll say only that I was proud of myself in some areas, not surprised in others, and dismayed by a couple of the tests. I recommend these tests to everyone, especially if you think you are not prejudiced. Click HERE to go the their Web site.

Goodwill

I went shopping at Goodwill today to look for some items to use in my audition next week. I bought a pair of shiny black wingtip shoes and a brown houndstooth jacket. The shoes may be a half size larger than I'm used to, but they have smooth leather soles and feel good on my feet. The jacket is a little snug, but looks nice if I leave it unbuttoned! I saw some shirts there also, but didn't buy any--might go back tomorrow.

I slept late today, and had a hard time getting myself motivated to do much of anything. I enjoyed the shopping, but felt rather down afterward. I'll go to the gym again tomorrow.

Auditions

Last night I auditioned for the part of George in Christopher Durang's one act, The Actor's Nightmare. I am a Durang fan, and have worked on a monologue from the play. The audition was in Milwaukie, Oregon, near where my friend Thea lives. I only found out about it late the night before, and I didn't really have any time to prepare. I decided to go to the audition anyway, if nothing else than to get back into the swing of things. It was a cold reading for me, and I felt pretty cold indeed, at least in the beginning. I warmed up a bit towards the middle. I was the only one who showed up to audition last night, but I'm told they had a crowd the night before. At the conclusion of the audition, I got the vibe that the director already had in mind who she wanted to cast--someone from the better attended previous night.

I have another audtion next week, but I'm not going to write anything about it yet. I have in mind how I want to prepare for it and what I want to do. More on that later.

I have been to the gym once this week and swam once. My goal is to double that by the end of the week.

Tomorrow I will go shopping at goodwill for some additons to my outfit/costume for next week's audition.