Match Director's Blog
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Week 103 - Slam 2
>Big audition last Wednesday. I’d say I’d give myself a B+. I read this
>thing about Leo DiCaprio - he was going up for his big role in Marvin’s Room
>and he had to read with Robert DeNiro, and they came out into the hall to
>get him and he was doing karate kicks with his friends in the hallway.
>Karate kicks in the hall. This kid goes in to the room, reads, screams his
>lines at DeNiro, gets the part, yadda yadda yadda, Titanic. So that’s how I
>approached this audition. I knew the material, wanted to be loose, so I
>found the room where we were going to be reading, got there early, loosened
>up, did some Bruce Lee shit in the mirror, was feeling pretty good about
>things. We do the reading, I make the producers laugh - everything’s all
>good. Yadda yadda yadda, laughter
>
>I get the call the next day. ‘Dave, you’re great. We loved you. It was a
>pleasure watching you read. I can’t encourage you enough. We went
>the other way.’
>‘We went the other way’ means one of three things.
>1. I’m lying, you weren’t good at all, and so we didn’t cast you.
>2. I’m sleeping with the guy we did cast, so we didn’t cast you.
>3. The guy we cast is untalented, and a prick, but his father’s the
>director, so we cast him.
>
>Or, I suppose,
>
> 4. You were good, sport, but somebody else was A) better, B) taller
>C) shorter D) Chinese and E) fit the bill better than you did.
>
>In these situations you want to yell
>A) if you wanted to encourage me, why didn’t given me the part, jagoff?
>B) Why don’t you love me? I love me!
>C) I didn’t want to be in your stupid play anyway.
>D) Well, I’m never acting again.
>
>But then I remember. The swim teams I coached, greatness takes time.
>Collegiate didn’t win states the first year, or the second, or the third.
>They got 8th, then 4th, then 2nd, then first. So maybe the fourth or fifth
>time you’re up for a plum part at that theatre with that particular director
>- you know - maybe that’s when it clicks. After all, all of these people
>are new contacts - you’re on their radar screen now. You shared a room with
>them. They asked you to come into that room - it’s a start - it’s something
>to build on - so the faster you can brush it off, the faster you can
>regroup, turn it around, the better off you’re going to be. You’re not
>going to quit, so get on with it. Those are your choices. Quit, or get on
>with it.
>
>So enough whining. I ain’t quittin - I got shows to do. Project 7 is
>producing a show called LIVE COVERAGE at the Access Theatre. You should
>check it out. It has war, sand, camels and biting political satire. We’re
>at the Access Theatre, 380 Broadway, 4th floor on the following dates:
>
>Tomorrow, 8/18 3 pm
>Friday 8/20 9:45 p
>Weds 8/25 4:45 p
>Sunday 8/29 noon
>
>And I will be back on stage for EST’s political festival: WHOSE COUNTRY IS
>IT ANYWAY? on
>Tuesday, August 24 at 8:30p
>Wednesday, September 1 at 8:30 p
>
>Mega laughs guaranteed. You know the deal - you come to a show I’m in and
>you don’t laugh out loud, I buy your beer at the after party. So, hope you
>can make it. Email me for directions or ticket info. Word. ¶ 9:51 PM 0 comments links to this post
>thing about Leo DiCaprio - he was going up for his big role in Marvin’s Room
>and he had to read with Robert DeNiro, and they came out into the hall to
>get him and he was doing karate kicks with his friends in the hallway.
>Karate kicks in the hall. This kid goes in to the room, reads, screams his
>lines at DeNiro, gets the part, yadda yadda yadda, Titanic. So that’s how I
>approached this audition. I knew the material, wanted to be loose, so I
>found the room where we were going to be reading, got there early, loosened
>up, did some Bruce Lee shit in the mirror, was feeling pretty good about
>things. We do the reading, I make the producers laugh - everything’s all
>good. Yadda yadda yadda, laughter
>
>I get the call the next day. ‘Dave, you’re great. We loved you. It was a
>pleasure watching you read. I can’t encourage you enough. We went
>the other way.’
>‘We went the other way’ means one of three things.
>1. I’m lying, you weren’t good at all, and so we didn’t cast you.
>2. I’m sleeping with the guy we did cast, so we didn’t cast you.
>3. The guy we cast is untalented, and a prick, but his father’s the
>director, so we cast him.
>
>Or, I suppose,
>
> 4. You were good, sport, but somebody else was A) better, B) taller
>C) shorter D) Chinese and E) fit the bill better than you did.
>
>In these situations you want to yell
>A) if you wanted to encourage me, why didn’t given me the part, jagoff?
>B) Why don’t you love me? I love me!
>C) I didn’t want to be in your stupid play anyway.
>D) Well, I’m never acting again.
>
>But then I remember. The swim teams I coached, greatness takes time.
>Collegiate didn’t win states the first year, or the second, or the third.
>They got 8th, then 4th, then 2nd, then first. So maybe the fourth or fifth
>time you’re up for a plum part at that theatre with that particular director
>- you know - maybe that’s when it clicks. After all, all of these people
>are new contacts - you’re on their radar screen now. You shared a room with
>them. They asked you to come into that room - it’s a start - it’s something
>to build on - so the faster you can brush it off, the faster you can
>regroup, turn it around, the better off you’re going to be. You’re not
>going to quit, so get on with it. Those are your choices. Quit, or get on
>with it.
>
>So enough whining. I ain’t quittin - I got shows to do. Project 7 is
>producing a show called LIVE COVERAGE at the Access Theatre. You should
>check it out. It has war, sand, camels and biting political satire. We’re
>at the Access Theatre, 380 Broadway, 4th floor on the following dates:
>
>Tomorrow, 8/18 3 pm
>Friday 8/20 9:45 p
>Weds 8/25 4:45 p
>Sunday 8/29 noon
>
>And I will be back on stage for EST’s political festival: WHOSE COUNTRY IS
>IT ANYWAY? on
>Tuesday, August 24 at 8:30p
>Wednesday, September 1 at 8:30 p
>
>Mega laughs guaranteed. You know the deal - you come to a show I’m in and
>you don’t laugh out loud, I buy your beer at the after party. So, hope you
>can make it. Email me for directions or ticket info. Word. ¶ 9:51 PM 0 comments links to this post
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Week 102 - The Big Slam
Returning from camp last week was something like Roald Amundsen returning from the South Pole after two years in the ice and snow to find the world had gone and changed on him. His friends and enemies had switched places, his mentor was dying, the world was on the brink of World War. Re-entry is a bitch. When I left on June 30th, Spiderman 2 was getting ready to come out, Fahrenheit 911 was the talk of the town, and Gephardt was still in the running for John Kerry’s running mate.
It was a great summer. Five weeks of stirring success after stirring success capped by a two day workshop with Romulus Linney. I think I have gushed about this man before. After two hours with him, I felt inspired – I didn’t want to go to the campfire – I wanted to stay up all night and write a play by morning.
The way the workshop works – each writer brings 10-20 pages of material (usually the beginning of a play) to the table to be read aloud. There were 12 of us. I went 10th or 11th – we had been basking in the man’s vast knowledge and experience for a day and a half.
So we read my play. In the middle of the reading, the man gets up and goes into the other room to get a Coke and some pretzels. I took this to be a bad sign. When he sat back down, he listened until the play was over, and then he said with a smile, ‘It’s a kaliedescope of icons, an American farce set in heaven with Jesus, God and the Devil as the three stooges.’ The class was silent.
‘Is that good?’ I asked.
“I like the three stooges,” he said
But?
‘But your freewheeling imagination is getting in your way. The theatre demands that we write something that touches others. Go write something that you believe in.’ He was looking at me like he felt sorry for me. I was crushed. I really liked this guy. He quoted Aristotle, for God’s sake. He got straight to the point of things.
Well, if you know me, you KNOW I’m going to finish that play now. Three Stooges or no. I will deliver it to you by Christmas, dear reader, or you can poke me in the eye.
(Publisher's Note: David continued to revise the play for eight months but never finished it.) ¶ 9:47 PM 0 comments links to this post
It was a great summer. Five weeks of stirring success after stirring success capped by a two day workshop with Romulus Linney. I think I have gushed about this man before. After two hours with him, I felt inspired – I didn’t want to go to the campfire – I wanted to stay up all night and write a play by morning.
The way the workshop works – each writer brings 10-20 pages of material (usually the beginning of a play) to the table to be read aloud. There were 12 of us. I went 10th or 11th – we had been basking in the man’s vast knowledge and experience for a day and a half.
So we read my play. In the middle of the reading, the man gets up and goes into the other room to get a Coke and some pretzels. I took this to be a bad sign. When he sat back down, he listened until the play was over, and then he said with a smile, ‘It’s a kaliedescope of icons, an American farce set in heaven with Jesus, God and the Devil as the three stooges.’ The class was silent.
‘Is that good?’ I asked.
“I like the three stooges,” he said
But?
‘But your freewheeling imagination is getting in your way. The theatre demands that we write something that touches others. Go write something that you believe in.’ He was looking at me like he felt sorry for me. I was crushed. I really liked this guy. He quoted Aristotle, for God’s sake. He got straight to the point of things.
Well, if you know me, you KNOW I’m going to finish that play now. Three Stooges or no. I will deliver it to you by Christmas, dear reader, or you can poke me in the eye.
(Publisher's Note: David continued to revise the play for eight months but never finished it.) ¶ 9:47 PM 0 comments links to this post
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Week 101 - More Tales from Camp
(This one rated R for language)
> Good news: got an audition at Manhattan Theatre Club, coming soon
> Good news: found out my younger brother is getting married to a
super-cool chick named Lynn
> Good news: one more week to go in Lexington, culminating in a weekend
with Rom Linney, who I understand is not only 'erudite' but 'learned'
> Good news: was voted 'Most Fuckable' at the campfire last night (sorry, mom, but I am pretty cute)
> Bad news: waited too long to do laundry - got a rash
> Bad news: had to take six trips up five flights in the 100 degree heat today to drop off files at my boss's apartment.
> Bad news: have cleaned a few too many camp toilets since my last letter
to all of you, but
> Good news: got tons of cool birthday presents - oh, wait, I didn't get
any.
> But thanks to all three of you who wished me happy birthday by email. I
was emotionally overwhelmed.
>
> Met some super-cool playwrights last week named Edward Allan Baker, Arthur
> Giron and Shirley Kaplan. They told me my work was 'not completely
> unbearable' and said while they 'read it twice and had no idea what was
> going on' my enthusiasm for the work 'was contagious, and puzzling.'
> Hmm. See you next week. ¶ 9:40 PM 0 comments links to this post
> Good news: got an audition at Manhattan Theatre Club, coming soon
> Good news: found out my younger brother is getting married to a
super-cool chick named Lynn
> Good news: one more week to go in Lexington, culminating in a weekend
with Rom Linney, who I understand is not only 'erudite' but 'learned'
> Good news: was voted 'Most Fuckable' at the campfire last night (sorry, mom, but I am pretty cute)
> Bad news: waited too long to do laundry - got a rash
> Bad news: had to take six trips up five flights in the 100 degree heat today to drop off files at my boss's apartment.
> Bad news: have cleaned a few too many camp toilets since my last letter
to all of you, but
> Good news: got tons of cool birthday presents - oh, wait, I didn't get
any.
> But thanks to all three of you who wished me happy birthday by email. I
was emotionally overwhelmed.
>
> Met some super-cool playwrights last week named Edward Allan Baker, Arthur
> Giron and Shirley Kaplan. They told me my work was 'not completely
> unbearable' and said while they 'read it twice and had no idea what was
> going on' my enthusiasm for the work 'was contagious, and puzzling.'
> Hmm. See you next week. ¶ 9:40 PM 0 comments links to this post
