Well, dear readers, we’ve now had day two of the Nudie Musical casting sessions. Once again, we had quite a few no-shows, which I find astoundingly astounding. I can’t imagine these people really are serious about their careers and I do hope they never attempt to book an audition for me because I will not see them under any circumstances. Of course, if I wanted to have a little tit for tat (so to speak), I’d make a little list and send the little list to everyone I know who casts shows and say these people can’t be bothered to show up, so don’t waste your time. And since, in essence, these people cost me money in studio time, not to mention wasting my time waiting for the next person to show up, well, I might just be doing other producers and directors a service. I shall ponder. Then again, I probably don’t have to do anything because these people clearly have death wishes, career-wise, and they are strictly from amateursville. Meanwhile, we had some good auditions today, including a surprise appearance by my friend M’Lisa MacLaren’s daughter Caitlin. M’Lisa appeared in my show Stages, and Caitlin’s on the CD singing the newly recorded song Opposites. She sang really well, and read for both Joy Full and Juanita – since she’d watched the DVD in the morning (smart girl) she had the vibe down pat. I probably won’t go with her for Juanita, as I want to use someone who’s of the proper ethnicity, but she might end up in the ensemble (and the ensemble members get to play a multitude of roles, including Joy Full). My choreographer will have a lot of say in that regard, and we’ve sent him videos of the dance call. We actually had some wonderful female ensemble candidates and virtually no male ensemble candidates. The male ensemble is a little more difficult because one of them has to play the Stunt C*c* and the others have to play the backers – so these guys have to have a lot of acting versatility and still be attractive and able to sing and dance. We have a couple of really good Eunice candidates, and one terrific Juanita candidate, whose mother is actually Cuban. Her accent is wonderful, she’s really cute, and she seemed to get the vibe. She’ll definitely get a call back. We still have only one Harry candidate, and I’m going to be doing some looking while I’m in New York. So, if anyone has any suggestions for New York actors (preferably someone with some name recognition), drop me an e-mail. What I’m basically looking for is a Harry Groener type, the Harry of Crazy For You – good looking, quirky, funny, and able to carry a show.
The dance call was really fun to watch. Afterwards, we went to Hugo’s for supper and to figure out who would be getting call backs and who, if anyone, we’re just going to cast. Oh, and just to reiterate to the people who didn’t show up: Mr. Kimmel has a very long memory.
After supper, I came home, answered a lot of e-mails, and sat at my computer like so much fish.
Hearing the actors read the Nudie scenes brought back many memories of the shoot. Like our Eddie, who must have been in his mid-60s but seemed older, who was always falling asleep, even while we were changing camera positions. We really had to keep on him about his energy level. And the time we were shooting the Perversion number – a very long day, and we brought in Arby’s for everyone – and it was so bad no one would eat it and that included the dog who was in the scene. I remember on the first day of shooting how Cindy was doing the scene, one of the few sort of serious moments in the film, where she tries to console Harry after Mary La Rue has been fired and it looks like they’re going to lose the studio. Cindy played the scene beautifully – very subtle and simply. My co-director came to me (since I was the only one who was directing the actors) and he told me he wanted another take because he didn’t think she was doing anything. I told him we were moving on and that the take was fine. Then I got insecure and started to worry about it. But the next evening, when we saw dailies, Cindy’s scene was fantastic and perfect – and I turned to my co-director and told him that that was what great screen acting was about – that you weren’t necessarily going to be “seeing” it on the set live, but that it would be there in spades on film. You really have to know what you’re looking for – we, of course, didn’t have any video assist, nor would I have used it if we did. I like to be next to the camera and as close to the actors as I can, feeding them my good energy and support, which they definitely feel and appreciate. I certainly would not want to be at the back of a soundstage staring at a video monitor – not this guy.
Then there was the re-shoot we did at Paramount’s behest. They felt we needed to replace a seven-minute stretch in the film that wasn’t getting laughs – can you imagine – seven lousy minutes. Today you’re lucky if there’s a TOTAL of seven minutes of laughs – then you had to get a good solid laugh every two minutes or something was wrong. My how things change, comedy-wise. So, I came up with Dancing Dildos, a ten-minute sequence that I directed all by my lonesome, which I had a great time doing. At the end of the sequence, when chaos has overtaken, Mary La Rue calls cut and says her now-famous speech. We did the first take – and the actress did it wonderfully, but VERY seriously and VERY real. After it was done, I said cut and went up to her and told her I felt it was just a hair TOO serious and that I thought we should do another take, just a little lighter in tone. She was a good egg and we did it and I printed both takes. When I saw them it was instantly clear that she’d been totally right to do it as she first did it – VERY serious and VERY real – it was so much funnier that way. Lesson learned.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s sleep and be ready to greet the day. Hello Day. And don’t forget, Mr. Kimmel has a very long memory.
Today, I’ll be doing the long jog, then some errands and whatnot, and then I’ll be picking up the tapes I delivered to my transfer guy yesterday, plus a CD-R of what was on those tapes. I’m told there’s a hum throughout both reels, but the transfer guy seemed to think that the mastering guy should be able to alleviate it completely. I hope that’s correct. I’m very anxious to hear what was on the tapes, most especially in terms of quality and extra music, if any. After I pick up that stuff, I’m thinking I have to write the liner notes for the new soundtrack release, and get all that stuff going – I have to have that announcement completely prepped and ready to go, even though I won’t announce until the day I get back from New York.
Tomorrow, I’ll return the tapes back to USC, and then I’ll be seeing my friend Doug Cohen’s show, No Way To Treat A Lady, at the Colony. I’m hoping I see some good actors.
I have, I think, almost no plans for the weekend, which I’m hoping will stay that way.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, I must do errands and whatnot, I must pick up tapes, I must write, I must relax, and I must eat something amusing and not too heavy. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite comic performances in film – the ones that really make you laugh out loud every time you see them – both male and female. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we bid a fond farewell to the likes of April, and we bid a big, beautiful hello to a little month I like to call May – may May be a big, beautiful, bountiful, healthy, happy, wealthy and wise month for all. And do try to remember that Mr. Kimmel has a very long memory.