Friday, September 30, 2011

The Uploaders


The Uploaders is a funny vulgar, very NSFW web series developed by Jason Salazar.  The premise: eight people decide they want to become famous by creating something spectacular to put on the web. What ensues is deviant hilarity as they each compete for the best idea.

All the talent, so far, is local and many are also theatre actors. Jason and his wife, Sharon run the production fairly raw style with a couple of cameras, extended mike, and some extra lights. They also do all their own editing and set up. I actually really love "homemade" movies. A friend writes and script and convinces other friends to spend a day filming said script. Nothing super fancy and a lot of fun.

I was luckily enough to work with Jason on a recent Uploaders video when he needed extras for an upcoming Halloween episode. I don't want to give anything away, but I will say I had so much fun in this entire experience. I haven't done any film before and have been anxious to get on any project and give it a try. It's pretty much what I expected. Director fills you in on what's happening in the scene, yells action and then cut. And then repeat scene again several times for different angles, etc. If not in a scene you just sort of hang out til it's time for you start and try to stay quiet. Despite it being drastically different from theatre where you rehearse for days and then get one shot a night to get it right, I really enjoyed the differences.

Catch up on The Uploaders series here and be sure to like them on Facebook so you stay up date of future filming and upcoming episodes.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Theatre Review: Eat the RUNT

Photo courtesy of Renegade Theatre Experiment

So two weeks ago I decided to check out the Renegade Theatre Experiment's production of Eat the Runt. I actually remember reading the audition notice for this play and thinking to myself, wow memorizing an entire play and 8 different actor roles. That's amazing. I don't think it's for me though. I still consider myself a novice in acting and while the challenge sounds fantastic I just didn't think I'd be up to personally.

So now that I seen a live production, I have to say I have the greatest respect and admiration for all the actors in this production. Not only was it well executed, it was just impressive knowing that all the actors had to learn everything in the script.

In case you haven't picked up on it by now, Avery Crozier's concept for Eat the Runt was that up to 8 actors could play any of the roles regardless of gender or ethnic identity. The audience selects which actor they would like to see in which role allowing for over 40,000 casting combinations. What you get is a different show every time you see it.

RTE selection of the cast began with each of the actor's introducing themselves with a little quirky/funny sentence about themselves and then each of the character roles were described to us. RTE used an applause-o'meter like device to let the audience decide on who played what parts.

Our casting went as follows:
Mandy Armes - Jean
Robert Campbell - Merritt
Ben Ortega - New Merritt
Alexander Prather - Hollis
Vera Sloan - Chris
David Scott - Sidney
Valerie Valenzuela - Pinky
Katie Vroom - Royce

As much as I enjoyed the way we cast the show I would love to come back and see everyone in a different role.

Aside from the acting, which I thought was great. I also really liked the abstract set. The "art pieces" in the background work well for a play that's never the same thing twice.

Why you should go see it: How often do you get to cast a show as an audience member? This a great experiment in theatre that exceeds expectation. The plot is entertaining and the cast delivers. And if you didn't care for it the first time you can see it a second time and re-cast it.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Ballyhoo Update

Well, guess what? I got a part! Lala, to be exact. I'm actually really excited about this role. I kind of fell in love with this character at the callbacks and am so happy to be given the part. Rehearsal starts in a couple of weeks and I'm trying to use this time to start some character development and start memorizing my lines.

I'm also thinking of signing up for TheatreWorks general auditions, but I really need to find new material now for it.