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April 14, 2017:

AUDITION

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I hit save already so even if we have a repeat of last night, this line is saved. Whew! Our second day of auditions and first day of appointment auditions was fun and we saw a lot of terrific people today. Not all were right for this particular show, but I love actors and I always try to make them feel positive energy, because there is NOTHING comfortable about auditioning – I used to HATE it. They were a diverse group of folks and we’re calling back a fair share because we had a few excellent candidates for each role. I don’t really say anything at the singing auditions. The musical director asked for this and that but I’m just watching, trying to see what the personality is, how real they are, what their energy is, and this I like to do watching what they bring into the room without being given any notes. For callbacks I will, at times, give a note or two, just for focus purposes but I’m pretty good at trusting my instincts in terms of casting.

We saw several people I’ve worked with before, and that’s always fun. I did pipe up every now and then with a line or two just to get people laughing – my favorite of the day was a talented gal who sat, played guitar, and sang a totally wacky, one-off kind of song that none of us had ever heard – it may have been original, who knows? After she finished we all complimented her and I said, “You know, you’re the seventh person who’s sung that song today.” It got a nice laugh, especially from the singer. The whole day was rather like that. And we had our producer with us, who’s a terrific lady and a positive spirit.

We did get a lunch break so we walked over to Tom’s, which is like the Valley Astro Burger. I had a bacon cheeseburger and we all shared a few fries and onion rings. It was fun. Then it was back for the rest of the auditions – we actually finished a half hour early due to a couple of no-shows. Then our wonderful casting director laid out all the photos of the folks we want to call back – that was very interesting – each role had a set of photos. Looking at them and discussing pros and cons, we eliminated three or four folks, not for lack of talent, but because the fit just wasn’t a good one.

After that, I immediately went to the bank and got there and was able to do my business. Then I came home and began to slog through all the e-mails. It turns out Rocket to the Moon is ready for pick up, but I’m not sure the helper can actually do it today, since we got that news very late in the day – it may have to wait until Monday, which is fine. There were lots of e-mails, but the Mac Mail program was being completely idiotic, kept freezing, and when I’d nuke e-mails they’d just reappear. I kept force quitting, but it kept happening until finally it began to work as it should – very irritating. After that, I had an interesting telephonic conversation with a friend from the East Coast, and then I made some popcorn and finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a little documentary on the Flix of Net entitled Strike a Pose – it was very short and I just couldn’t commit to the rest of Blow Up. This eighty-minute documentary was about the male dancers on Madonna’s Blonde Ambition tour back in 1990. We meet them all twenty-five years later, and, as you might imagine, it’s been a rough road for some of them. Two of them sued Madonna and two years later a settlement was reached so it never went to trial. There are some affecting moments, certainly, but it all felt a little manipulative. I enjoyed it for what it was.

Then I put the motor car in the garage, took a hot shower, and relaxed.

Today, I’m back at the rehearsal studio at nine-thirty and we begin at ten. We have an early lunch break at noon and I’m hoping we bring in Dino’s pizza. We’re scheduled to finish around four or four-thirty so I’ll definitely have time to pick up mail or packages, should any be there (there wasn’t yesterday).

Tomorrow we start callbacks at ten and that will go most of the day, as we want to pair people up and see them in groups and mix and match – the hope is that at the end of the day we’ll have our cast and the casting directors can put out the offers. I will say we did see one actor who we all liked a lot – and he was quite a big up and coming star in the 1980s, so it was fun to see him. I honestly would not have ever recognized him if I hadn’t recognized his name. Sunday is a ME day, plain and simple, but I will have to do work on the Kritzerland show. It does appear we have our second female and I’m so bored of trying to find a male that I’ll probably end up doing a couple songs and that will be that. And we have an ask out to another guest star and if he can do it, it will be GREAT.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have our second day of appointment auditions, hopefully pick up packages, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, the new William Alwyn film music CD. Blu and Ray – Blow Up. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have seen so many very talented folks give excellent auditions.

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