Live Under a Stage

The following post is approved by Bathtime Maeby:



I didn't realize that on Sunday morning while we were rehearsing for the play at The Next Stage, which is where it is going to be performed, that there were three homeless men sleeping under the stage the entire time. One of the producers, Jeff Hirbour, went under the stage for some unknown reason and saw them all sleeping down there and after discussing it with Jeff Morris, the director, (I know, too many Jeffs in my life) they decided not to tell the cast which was probably a wise decision. They told me last night while at rehearsal and it's one of those horrifying, hilarious ocurrences in life that says so much of one's current state. I mean, I'm guessing shit like that don't happen at the Ahmanson or at the Disney Concert Hall. I love it.

I think I might actually know all my lines! I mean, it's not like I was mocked by a six year old because I still hadn't learned my lines after having my script after a month when she had her script for a week and had learned all her lines for her play "I Look Ridiculous" opening next week at St. Matthew's Elementary School. Le sigh.

Audition tomorrow for a Verizon Commercial. I feel like I have been to this casting director at least three times and each time I go they tell me I am too white to play a hispanic girl. Let's see if it happens tomorrow. Only good sign is that this is the third time I have auditioned for Verizon, who really seems to like me, the other two times I have auditioned for them I have gotten callbacks and avails. Fingers crossed. I'm broke as shit.

I think i forgot to mention that on Saturday Checkmate was screened and I think it was well received. It looked really great and I can't wait to get a copy. It was very fun to be able to go to the screening and see people's reactions. Definitely weird to see my 8 foot face. It's really unnatural and probably goes against the natural order of things and will in some way make me slowly start to go insane from the complete unnaturalness of it. Maybe that's why all actors are crazy. We are doing something inherently contrary to nature by being so overly conscious of ourselves and being able to watch ourselves. Barf.










peace.

my poor sentimental heart.

Went to go see my new friend Erwin in Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice at the Hayworth Theater last night. Sarah Ruhl is one of my favorite playwrights and I knew that I would enjoy the play and I was not disappointed. It was a really beautiful adaptation of Orpheus and Eurydice, one of my favorite Greek plays. Sarah Ruhl has a really musical and lyrical quality to her dialogue that makes every word incredibly poetic and beautiful. The cadence to all the lines is really beautiful and adds to the almost dreamlike quality to all her plays. They are all very other-worldly, and not just in the sense that this play actually takes place in the Underworld.

Erwin did a beautiful job as Orpheus, one of my favorite male romantic leads. Would it be weird to name my kid Orpheus? I just love him so much! Maybe my next dog? hmm..

Anyone who is in the area should check this play out, it is incredibly romantic, beautifully acted as well as visually lovely and of course, utterly tragic. My sad heart cried but as everyone knows, it is not exactly difficult to make me cry.



Tuesday night I went to Improv Olympic in Hollywood and was surprised at how wonderful the performance was. There were two groups on at the 11o'clock hour which is when I went. The first one, Gypsy Lou, was incredibly hilarious and just spot on. I find improv to be incredibly difficult and horrifyingly scary so I never do it, so when it is done well I am in awe. I could tell the amount of work and rehearsal that went into it.

The second group however was a good example of shit improv. It was hard to sit through, in fact, I got up to use the bathroom which I would normally NEVER do during a show even if my bladder was bursting. But it was just embarrassing. I went with my friends Sean and Malcolm, both actors as well. The trick is to have lots of actor friends to take me to all these amazing shows and buy me beer. It works well. Sean is filming a sex comedy right now and the details of it sounds pretty grotesque. Sex with a bagel? Oh Sean, I like how as the economy gets worse and worse our standards and ethics get lower and lower. We gotta hustle right? Malcolm would never lower himself to such indignities as he is a member of the Actor's Gang. Fancy pants.

Got lots of rehearsal coming up this weekend for As You Like It as well as doing the voice overs for Checkmate so it can be edited. As much as I say I would love to be a stay at home doggy mom (which lets face it, some weeks i am) I am so glad to have lots of work right now. Even if it is unpaid.

BUT next week I am also doing extra work on the new Noah Baumbach film called Greenberg, My sister's friend has a part in the film and got us all into a party scene. By all I mean Mariana, Me, Ty and David I think. Normally I am not a huge fan of extra work but rumor has it that SAG vouchers will abound so I am ready and willing to kiss lots of ass for a voucher. And hopefully it will be fun as well and I'll be making some skrillaaaa.

Peace.

P.S. I apologize to anyone whom I may have called "homeslice" this week. I don't know what has gotten into me. It needs to stop.

Le sigh.

Fin.

Finished principle photography today after a ten hour shoot as well as a late night shoot last night as well. Between that and my rehearsal this morning for the play at 8 am I am pretty burned out. Glad to be home again with my little Mae.

This morning we went through the first scene that I am in in the play, basically the wrestling scene. Blocked it out almost completely and did a couple of runs. It looks good already.

I wanted to put this video up yesterday but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I was on a different computer. It's just too much technology sometimes.



My favorite part of one of my favorite films. It's also a really great example of a short film that has no dialogue other than voice over. Man that shit is difficult.

rehearsing

had my first up on our feet rehearsal on Tuesday at the Odessey Theater in Santa Monica. It's a really nice venue, I had never been there before. We used a side rehearsal room and did a bunch of Viewpoints based exercises mainly focusing on movement and physical work. The cast seems very nice and it's always interesting to see the first few rehearsals when no one knows each other and think that in a matter of probably two weeks we are all going to be best friends, at least for the time being. That's how it goes. Luckily I am not the only one who doesn't know everyone else.

One guy couldn't remember my name and he called me Tiny Lady. It's ok because I can't remember his. And I am only tiny in comparison because I think he is 7 feet tall.

Busy weekend ahead, more rehearsals for the play and it's the final weekend of principal photography for Checkmate. Since I am housesitting in Santa Monica I haven't seen Maeby very much and I miss her like a son of a bitch.

Glad to be working though, and especially that I like the people who I am working with.

Buuuuusy

Still recovering from a busy and slightly overwhelming weekend. But being busy is good I know. I just missed my Mae.

On Sunday we spent the whole day filming outdoor daytime scenes and a couple scenes indoors. I spent the majority of the day slathering on as much sunscreen as possible so I didn't get completely roasted. I also spent most of the day in the makeup chair getting this gross burn on my arm.




and then getting turned into an old lady.




Sitting outside for an hour while Veronica did my makeup was ridiculously relaxing. I absolutely fell asleep for about a half hour of it until I heard one of those carts that sell Mexican chips with chile and lime on it and I ran like a child to get myself a bag. Only a dollar! I totally would have paid at least 3 dollars for it. It was delicious. Then poor Veronica spent the rest of the hour trying to accommodate my eating of the chips. They were just so good I couldn't help myself.

Veronica is an AMAZING makeup artist, and really fun to hang out with. She has really neat eyelashes too.

After the shoot on Sunday I went to closing night of Pounding Nails, as expected my friends put on a highly energizes and exciting performance and I am so glad to have been able to go to their final show.

Yesterday I spent another full day shooting in a theater, so at least I got a dressing room with a very comfortable couch and a Coffee Bean across the way. Veronica made me old again.


We shot very surreal, beautiful scenes with lots of fog and ineresting lighting while Luis and I played the worst game of chess ever. He doesn't know how to play and I am actually awful at it so getting through a game that looked somewhat believeable was a bit of a trial.

Rehearsal tonight!

Owies

I filmed a few night scenes last night for Checkmate, most of them involving getting beat with a candlestick and thrown about. It was fun though doing stunts is always a bit nerve wracking. I am not exactly the most coordinated person, not to mention the fact that I am inherently flinchy. So every time I saw the candlestick coming at my face it took all the strength in my being to not jump back and run away screaming. I was super paranoid I was going to get hit in the face and break a nose or something so I kept practicing it and of course, that went well nothing happened.



And after all that fuss when it was my turn to pretend hit fake hubby on the head with a picture frame we had it perfectly choreographed. We practiced and rehearsed like so many times that my neck hurt from holding it at a strange angle while swinging the picture frame up. When it finally came time to get an actual take they turned on the fog machine and I guess after being flung around when it came time to hit Luis with the picture frame I think the fog messed up my depth perception and I clocked him on the head with the frame. Lucky for Luis I am not very strong and the angle I was laying in made it even more difficult to put any muscle behind my hit but it made a horrific noise.

It would actually have been a great take had my face not instantly flashed total horror at having hit him. Maybe they can salvage that take by taking my reaction out somehow. I felt terrible. I really do blame the fog though, it made me totally disoriented. AND it is toxic for your brain so maybe I was high on the fumes or something.

This morning I had the first read-thru for As You Like It. It's a good, relatively short version of the play, and went quickly as most comedies do luckily. It was alot of fun and there were yummy chips. I am playing two different characters and it should actually be quite fun. They are gonna be wacky I think. My director, Jeffrey Morris, is very into doing lots of movement work and really developing characters through a collaborative, thoughtful process as opposed to just shouting Shakespeare at people.

Am very tired and am going to get some rest before a very full day of filming both tomorrow and Monday. As well as hopefully going to see the final performance of Pounding Nails by The Theatricians.

Well...

I don't have to work this weekend, which is always a nice change of pace but at the same time, since I am starting rehearsals for the play and start filming Checkmate this week also I am not going to be able to work as much at my non-acting job. So I am trying to save up, but at the same time, I want to enjoy the weekends I don't have to work!

It's a lame conundrum.

My puppy is glad I am home though. But she definitely won't be happy when we run out of yummy organic puppy food and we have to start stealing Butterscotch's dry icky senior food when I don't have any $$ in a few weeks. I kid. I'll just share my dinner with her.




Maeby is not amused.