Five Women Wrap-Up and Dude with Balloons

Wow, I haven't been in to update this in some time. My apologies to everyone for that -- I, apparently, am a big old slacker.

In truth, I was so focused on my character and my role in Five Women Wearing the Same Dress that I completely forgot about all of my other responsibilities, what with having to deflect the paparazzi, meet my agent for lunch to discuss my next project, and I've enrolled my dog in this puppy play group that also includes Sandra Bullock and Eva Longoria's pooches, and I'll tell you what, they are such sweet women but man, can Sandy go on for HOURS when you're trying to pick up the pup to take her to the nanny's so that you can get to rehearsal.

That's all a lie. What really happened was that I was really tired and didn't have the brain cells to be funny, so I procrastinated about posting.

BUT. All that said, Five Women... was a great success -- we got wonderful reviews from the audiences, made good friends who we'll all actually keep in touch with (I'm notorious for being horrible about getting together with people, and after most shows I've done, we all go our separate ways -- but I can say for a fact that I will actually make the effort to see all of these women again, because they're amazing and fabulous), and given me enough fodder to create an entire post of ridiculously long sentences.

Special thanks go out to the wonderful team of beauticians at the Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa in Reston Town Center, who volunteered their time and about 50 cans of hairspray (seriously, they ran out and had to go buy more at the Harris Teeter next door just to finish out the two weekends of the show) to make us look good onstage. Caron, Remona, MariJane, and the rest of the team (I feel so bad, but I don't know the names of the two makeups artists who worked on Brittany and Betsy) were all so kind and welcoming, and I for one hope to work with them all again soon.

For our next trick, we will be flying a lawnchair. Well, sort of. Auditions for CCT with 2FT's spring musical, Flight of the Lawnchair Man (affectionately known by the cast and crew as "Dude with Balloons"), were held this weekend, with callbacks happening tomorrow evening. When I have a cast list, I'll be sure to post it, and a new show means new cast and crew interviews, so stay tuned in the coming weeks for pictures, quotes, and other various shenanigans.

Oh, and on a totally unrelated but totally awesome note, the Great and Wonderful Michael Schaaff has purchased me a BeDazzler, so if there are any requests for BeDazzled items, I am more than happy to staple rhinestones to things for you. My husband told me I'm not allowed to BeDazzle everything in the house, but I think that those rhinestones are probably enough of a pain to take off that if I do it while he's not home, I can probably keep the sparkly potholders and sofa and placemats and all his work clothes. Right?

The cast list is out!

Sorry to all who were hoping for an update earlier in the week ... I didn't have anything exciting to report earlier. Callbacks for "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress" were Wednesday night, so if I'd tried to do my Tuesday update, it would have just said "Callbacks are tomorrow, and that is all."

We had a really, really strong turnout for auditions and callbacks (I think everybody in that callback walked out thinking "Wow, I rocked out my callback, but so did everyone else, so that's gotta be a tough call for the director to make!!"). But, after what I assume was much deliberation and banging her head against the wall, director Susan Devine has announced the cast as follows, in order of appearance:

Frances: Betsy Eames
Meredith: Lauren Feliz
Trisha: Melissa McConnell
Georgeanne: Erin Anderson King
Mindy: Laura Scott
Tripp: Felipe Cabezas

Congrats to the cast -- it's gonna be an exciting ride!!!

Rehearsal updates and cast interviews will be posted over the next few weeks, as usual. I'm hoping to have some ugly bridesmaid dress costumes to post soon -- at least a couple of the cast and crew members have discussed taking a trip to David's Bridal to take pictures of each other in ridiculous dresses to post up here ... if that happens, you'll be the first to know :)

Auditions are TONIGHT and TOMORROW!

In the Waddell Conference Room (114) from 7:30 - 9:30 pm.

Actors will be brought into the audition space 2-3 at a time to read sides from the script.

Synopsis: During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below.

Characters:
Frances, the painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist cousin of the bride
Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom
Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior
Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret
Trisha, a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question
Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye

Characters' age ranges are early 20s through mid 30s.

You do NOT have to be a NOVA student to audition.

Actors will be asked to read both with and without a Southern accent. If you can't do a Southern accent, don't let that stop you -- director Susan Devine told me that she's more concerned with actors being able to pull off the timing and comedy, and that she'll work with them on the accent if need be.

Reminder: Auditions!!!

Just a reminder to any and all that auditions for Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, directed by Susan Devine, are next Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 pm. Come prepared to read sides from the script (no need to memorize a monologue -- hallelujah!) and if you can do a Southern accent, be ready to bust it out.

This is one of the lamest updates ever ... not only is it super short, it's also the same information I've put in the last two updates. So, to make it a little more interesting, I'll leave you all with some pictures of some truly awful bridesmaid dresses. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed finding them :)

(This one actually won an award for the ugliest dress at the "Once Was Enough" Ugly Bridesmaid Dress competition. I want to go to this thing.)

Not much new to report ...

... since we're between shows. (I just typed "shoes" on accident, and almost left it, cuz I thought it was funny, but I figured it would really confuse people.)

We do, however, have the poster for the next show! At least, a draft of it. Once the show is cast, all the "Does" will be removed and real names put in.

Again, audition info:

Auditions are December 2-3 at 7:30 pm. Callbacks, if necessary, will be December 10 at 7:30 pm. Actors will read sides from the script; no monologues need to be prepared. See the post below for more information about the individual characters.

Further clarification on 5 Women Audition

I spoke to Susan Devine, the director of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and this is what she said regarding the ages and the accents:

I don't care about the ages. Meredith should play a little young - that's all. I will work up character descriptions and sides for auditons over the next few days. And - I will ask actors to read without and accent and then with one. I just need to know that they can acquire a little southern accent. But, it's far more important that they can carry off the comedy and character.

So there we go. Meredith and Frances are early-to-mid 20s ish, Trisha, Tripp, and Georgeanne are early 30s ish, Minday is late 40s ish, but those are all flexible.

If you can't do a Southern accent now, start working on it, but it's not a deal breaker :)

EDIT: Reminder that there IS a male character in the show; his name is Tripp. He appears towards the end, and has a good one-on-one scene (and kiss) with Trisha.

Elephant Man and 5 Women

I know, I know. I promised an update yesterday. But since I haven't been around to know what's been going on, I had to do some digging to get information for you, and it took a little longer than I'd thought.

Thus far, The Elephant Man has been getting great reviews from the audiences; the cast has been getting standing ovations every night, and director Natalie Safley's Master's program mentor came to see the show, which was Natalie's thesis project, and loved it. So Natalie is now a Master of Directing! Go Natalie!

Also, the CCT/2FT website now has an RSS feed. I had to get Michael Schaaff to explain to me what that means, but essentially, it means that you can get automatic updates whenever something new is added to the website. I'm still fuzzy on the details of how that works, but when I figure it out, I'll let y'all know -- it's a good way to keep abreast of audition notices, show dates, etc.

Finally, CCT/2FT will soon be holding auditions for its winter show, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. Auditions will be held in the Waddell Conference Room (114) on December 2nd, 2008 from 7:30 - 9:30 pm and December 3rd, 2008 from 7:30 - 9:30 pm. Callbacks (if needed) will be held in the theater on December 10th, 2008 from 7:30 - 9:30 pm. Actors will be brought into the audition space 2-3 at a time to read sides from the script.

Synopsis:
During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below. They are Frances, a painfully sweet but sheltered fundamentalist (early-to-mid 20s); Mindy, the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom (mid-to-late 30s); Georgeanne, whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior (early 30s); Meredith, the bride's younger sister whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret(early-to-mid 20s); and Trisha, a jaded beauty (early 30s) whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp, a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye (early 30s). As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny.

EDIT: Yes, Tripp is a character who appears onstage. Meaning there is a male part in the show. Meaning we will need guys at auditions :)

The age ranges I just gave are approximate, and my own opinion based on what I've read of the script. If you are younger than mid-20s but look older, or older than mid-30s but look younger, come on out! I'll check with the director about how hard she's sticking to these ages and post back soon.

You do not have to be a NOVA student to audition.

We've also had questions about whether actors should come prepared with a Southern accent; I'll check with the director on this and report back. My guess would be that it can't hurt to start practicing your Scarlett O'Hara voice.