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Goodbye, The World

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Today is my last day as a reporter for The World newspaper, so I’m feeling a little nostalgic. I’ve written a lot of articles and met a lot of interesting people in my time here. I could recount many of them, but this is a blog about acting, so instead I will give you my top five experiences in the local theater.

5. I love baseball, so it was a natural that I would go out for Damn Yankees. But as much as I enjoyed playing Joe Hardy, the more memorable experience was getting to perform Abbott & Costello’s Who’s on First routine for the Little Ole Opry comedy team last summer with Tim Novotny. 

4. Performing before sold out crowds is not unusual for Little Ole Opry, but Little Theatre on the Bay hadn’t seen a sell out for a musical in 18 years until our second-to-last matinee with The Wizard of Oz. Then we did it the following week. Standing backstage waiting for the shows was electrifying.

3. Before the last show of Anything Goes, we crammed the entire cast into the women’s dressing room (don’t worry, everyone was dressed) and we had a champagne toast. Jim Kemp had the most memorable line, saying it felt good to be part of a hit show. After the curtain fell, I got to tell the audience what a great guy our director Byrell Justice was. And how much he yelled.

2. The night before we closed, my parents came to see the show. I hadn’t told them I was playing the lead role of Billy Crocker, so the look on their eyes when I came out after bows was priceless. I didn’t know my mom could hug so tight.

1. Laughter on the 23rd Floor was a great show, especially because it involved co-director Anna Weidemiller. But the most memorable experience I’ve had in local theater came the fall of 2008, when she returned to the stage after a serious neck injury with Little Ol’ Big Band. She couldn’t dance any more, but she could still sing. And of all the singers in the group, I was the one who got to sing a duet with her. It was awesome.

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Millie

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

For many people, summer in North Bend means Little Ole Opry. For me, it means Jill Hanson.

Jill is the torch bearer for the comedy team that allows musicians a break during the summertime spectacle that is Little Ole Opry.

I met Jill at my first Masque Awards, in the glow following Anything Goes. So when she suggested I try out with her comedy team, I was all set to try something knew. Little did I realize what I was getting into. I can’t remember what she had me wear my first year, but since I’ve been doing the show I’ve been dressed as a variety of barn yard animals, women and all sorts of hill-billies. At first I was mortified by participating in such base humor, but I’ve actually come to enjoy it. 

Unlike a production like The Wizard of Oz, there is very little prep work. Sometimes the first time we do a skit on stage is when we’re doing it in front of audience like Theresa Erskine and I did this past Saturday. But it works because Jill has spent months writing the jokes, collecting the props and costumes and making sure she’s got people lined up to deliver the lines.

She’s also a great friend. My first conversation I had with her, she asked if I had a girlfriend. That’s been a common question since then, and whenever the answer was no, she tried to solve the problem. She’s also her comedians’ biggest fans. As soon as I get off stage, I can expect an immediate critique that always includes a complement.

Every time I have to wear a dress I say to myself “Never again!” But there is something about  Jill that makes me renege on my vow every time.

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The good witch of the gym

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

I didn’t realize I’d been avoiding Angie Kemp until I was cast for The Wizard of Oz.

 Angie teaches the cardio conditioning class at Downtown Health & Fitness, where I go when I’m not getting my workouts on stage. My boss had encouraged me to try out her class (he’s a fan), but I’d kept my distance. I’d seen what they did in her class and I didn’t think I could hang with them.

I saw her at auditions but wasn’t sure why she looked familiar until I went to the gym a few days later and saw her heading into the class. 

It’s only appropriate that she is the Wicked Witch’s  top henchman in the Jitterbug song, the most physically exhausting number of the show. 

I can see how she’d be a good aerobics instructor. She is always upbeat and she can really project her voice. She’s also a kind person. On Opening Night, she gave me a banana after reading my blog. She figured my body was craving potassium after all the banging it had taken. 

I ran into Angie yesterday at the gym and got a high five for making it through the first weekend of the show. She said one of these days she’s going to get me into her class. Maybe I will. But probably not until the end of the show. She’s got me sweating enough in the Jitterbug.

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The gifted gifter

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

It’s weeks like this one that make directors glad they cast actors like Madeline Enos. The Wizard of Oz sets have been slow to come together, leaving us little time to rehearse with them. There have been problems with costumes that don’t stay up, or won’t come off. And with only days to go before the first show, we’ve been working late into the night.

Byrell Justice has a lot on his mind, but worrying about Madeline is not one of them. She plays a variety of character roles (read: not much time on stage) though she easily could have been the Wicked Witch or the Scarecrow. But she was something of an unknown at auditions.

She’s new to the area, arriving last summer to become the volunteer coordinator at Oregon Coast Community Action. But she’s made a good first impression.

She’s very expressive and not afraid to do outlandish things. She plays one of the apple trees that attacks Dorothy and Scarecrow, and her first line got more laughs from Munchkin parents in the audience than any I heard last night. She also doesn’t need to be given directions twice, which is probably what directors value most in their actors.

She also looks out for her director. After rehearsal on Tuesday, Byrell came up to me and asked if I’d told Madeline what his favorite beverage was, because she’d given him a bottle and told him to “drink this.” I hadn’t.

The only thing I’ve been disappointed about with Madeline is that she hasn’t been on stage more. But I have a feeling that if she decides to go out for more shows, she’ll be getting a larger share of the spotlight.

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