A Working Actor's Lament (Chapter 65)
What A Memory-al Weekend This Would Be
As the actor sat down and opened his 2.1 oz single-serving container of Frosted Flakes, he thought back to the last 4 days and how the roller coaster ride was almost coming to an end.
He had received a call from a feature film production company who was interested in him for the character of 'Bobby - Male, small but important role, Mid 20’s to early 30’s - The businessman behind Andy’s genius. Millionaire and in huge debt, has a family and kids. All ethnicity's.' He contacted the casting director who informed him they would like to see him at 11:00 AM in Santa Clarita on Friday. It was a good thing that the actor decided to take that Friday off. Sure, it was because his wife's birthday was that following Sunday and he thought it would be great to have a 4 day mini vacation with her. This wouldn't cut too much into their time, as it was only a 30 minute drive north.
Around the same time, he received an email from Shainna, the producer from the short film who had contacted him earlier in the week. She wanted him to come down to their studios in Newport Beach at 4:30 PM on Friday (yes, that same Friday), 57 miles to the south. Since there was plenty of time between the two appointments, he agreed, thinking he could maneuver around Memorial Day Traffic.
He went to his audition at 11:00 AM, actually arriving early. He was in and out and happy with his performance. Arriving back at home to take the dog out, he also could get a quick bite to eat and then off to loop his dialogue. At 3:00 PM he jumped in the car with his wife and off they went. Or so he thought. By 3:30, they had only traveled 5 of the 57 miles on their journey to Newport Beach. After a phone call to the director to inform him of the situation and getting their Yaris up to the maximum speed of 20 miles an hour, they finally arrived at the studio at 5:10 PM.
Looping went great...the crew was professional and it was painless. The one thing the actor was happy about was to see a rough copy of the film. He could not stop smiling as he knew this short would be making the festival rounds soon. He was also informed by the director that the short film his father had shot with this exact production company years before was going to be in the Boston Film Festival. Even though traffic was a pain and over 300 miles were added to the odometer, this day could not have gone any better.
Saturday came and went with no excitement, but Sunday was the day...the birth day. The actor had wanted to get tickets to "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" for a present. The original Broadway company was touring and he knew his wife liked the musical. However, with ticket prices at $140 a seat (later discounted to $86), he knew he would have to come up with another plan. Luckily, his wife wanted to go and see "Wicked" again. They would try for the lottery and hopefully be one of 26 front-row seat winners. When they arrived at the theater to stand in line, they noticed there was no line. The lottery had already taken place and they were a half hour late. The actor's wife talked to the Box Office and asked about "Putnam" playing at the sister theater across town, and if there were lottery tickets for that show. "No", the employee said, "but I can call over to that theater and see if they have 'rush' seats available" (seats that are released to the public one hour prior to curtain at a cheaper rate for any number of reasons). The actor's wife crossed her fingers in hopes for great birthday news.
"You do?" she heard the nice lady say. She hung up the phone and told the actor's wife that if they got there as soon as possible, the theater did offer rush seats but couldn't promise that there were any available for that particular show. She jumped back into the car where her husband was illegally parked and told him the news. He looked at the clock...they had about 20 minutes to get about 20 miles...could they do it. He hit the gas pedal and off they went. Nothing was going to stop them, not even Memorial Day traffic.
They arrived at the theater, paid the $7 for parking with no guarantee that they would even get any tickets, parked the car and ran to the BO Window. Mark, the man behind the glass partition gave them a big smile when they walked up, out of breath. "Rush tickets?" It was 12:02 PM. "Yes, we just started to offer them, let me see what I have." He pulled out a seating chart and slid it through the hole at the bottom of the window. "I have these right here," and pointed to the front row, center. "No way," the actor heard his wife say in disbelief. Mark said "Okay, well I also have these here in the back." Realizing that Mark had misinterpreted his wife, the actor quickly told Mark that the front row center would be fine. "Okay, then. That will be $28 per ticket." The situation could not have turned out better, the actor said to himself.
After the show, the actor took his wife out to dinner at Black Angus, thanks in part to their friends birthday present to his wife, and then headed home. As his wife laid her head on his lap to rest from the days activities, he knew this would definitely be a birthday to remember.
Monday morning, the last day of this Memorial Day, would start off with a bang. The actor's wife woke him with great news that was coming across the computer screen. They had just received an email telling them their short film, "Lucidity", was just accepted into the New Film Makers Festival in New York City. With all of the rejections over the past couple of months, this was the last submission they had planned and it paid off in spades. Come September 26th, 2007, they were going to be screened on both sides of the country.
The actor thought, "When would this roller coaster ever get back into the station." It had been going up for such a long time, he was just waiting for the first hill to take him down. When? When would that be coming? He still couldn't see the top of the hill, so he was hoping the drop was far in the distance. However, the higher he went, he realized the fall would be just as long.
As the actor sat down and opened his 2.1 oz single-serving container of Frosted Flakes, he thought back to the last 4 days and how the roller coaster ride was almost coming to an end.He had received a call from a feature film production company who was interested in him for the character of 'Bobby - Male, small but important role, Mid 20’s to early 30’s - The businessman behind Andy’s genius. Millionaire and in huge debt, has a family and kids. All ethnicity's.' He contacted the casting director who informed him they would like to see him at 11:00 AM in Santa Clarita on Friday. It was a good thing that the actor decided to take that Friday off. Sure, it was because his wife's birthday was that following Sunday and he thought it would be great to have a 4 day mini vacation with her. This wouldn't cut too much into their time, as it was only a 30 minute drive north.
Around the same time, he received an email from Shainna, the producer from the short film who had contacted him earlier in the week. She wanted him to come down to their studios in Newport Beach at 4:30 PM on Friday (yes, that same Friday), 57 miles to the south. Since there was plenty of time between the two appointments, he agreed, thinking he could maneuver around Memorial Day Traffic.
He went to his audition at 11:00 AM, actually arriving early. He was in and out and happy with his performance. Arriving back at home to take the dog out, he also could get a quick bite to eat and then off to loop his dialogue. At 3:00 PM he jumped in the car with his wife and off they went. Or so he thought. By 3:30, they had only traveled 5 of the 57 miles on their journey to Newport Beach. After a phone call to the director to inform him of the situation and getting their Yaris up to the maximum speed of 20 miles an hour, they finally arrived at the studio at 5:10 PM.
Looping went great...the crew was professional and it was painless. The one thing the actor was happy about was to see a rough copy of the film. He could not stop smiling as he knew this short would be making the festival rounds soon. He was also informed by the director that the short film his father had shot with this exact production company years before was going to be in the Boston Film Festival. Even though traffic was a pain and over 300 miles were added to the odometer, this day could not have gone any better.
Saturday came and went with no excitement, but Sunday was the day...the birth day. The actor had wanted to get tickets to "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" for a present. The original Broadway company was touring and he knew his wife liked the musical. However, with ticket prices at $140 a seat (later discounted to $86), he knew he would have to come up with another plan. Luckily, his wife wanted to go and see "Wicked" again. They would try for the lottery and hopefully be one of 26 front-row seat winners. When they arrived at the theater to stand in line, they noticed there was no line. The lottery had already taken place and they were a half hour late. The actor's wife talked to the Box Office and asked about "Putnam" playing at the sister theater across town, and if there were lottery tickets for that show. "No", the employee said, "but I can call over to that theater and see if they have 'rush' seats available" (seats that are released to the public one hour prior to curtain at a cheaper rate for any number of reasons). The actor's wife crossed her fingers in hopes for great birthday news.
"You do?" she heard the nice lady say. She hung up the phone and told the actor's wife that if they got there as soon as possible, the theater did offer rush seats but couldn't promise that there were any available for that particular show. She jumped back into the car where her husband was illegally parked and told him the news. He looked at the clock...they had about 20 minutes to get about 20 miles...could they do it. He hit the gas pedal and off they went. Nothing was going to stop them, not even Memorial Day traffic.
They arrived at the theater, paid the $7 for parking with no guarantee that they would even get any tickets, parked the car and ran to the BO Window. Mark, the man behind the glass partition gave them a big smile when they walked up, out of breath. "Rush tickets?" It was 12:02 PM. "Yes, we just started to offer them, let me see what I have." He pulled out a seating chart and slid it through the hole at the bottom of the window. "I have these right here," and pointed to the front row, center. "No way," the actor heard his wife say in disbelief. Mark said "Okay, well I also have these here in the back." Realizing that Mark had misinterpreted his wife, the actor quickly told Mark that the front row center would be fine. "Okay, then. That will be $28 per ticket." The situation could not have turned out better, the actor said to himself.
After the show, the actor took his wife out to dinner at Black Angus, thanks in part to their friends birthday present to his wife, and then headed home. As his wife laid her head on his lap to rest from the days activities, he knew this would definitely be a birthday to remember.
Monday morning, the last day of this Memorial Day, would start off with a bang. The actor's wife woke him with great news that was coming across the computer screen. They had just received an email telling them their short film, "Lucidity", was just accepted into the New Film Makers Festival in New York City. With all of the rejections over the past couple of months, this was the last submission they had planned and it paid off in spades. Come September 26th, 2007, they were going to be screened on both sides of the country.
The actor thought, "When would this roller coaster ever get back into the station." It had been going up for such a long time, he was just waiting for the first hill to take him down. When? When would that be coming? He still couldn't see the top of the hill, so he was hoping the drop was far in the distance. However, the higher he went, he realized the fall would be just as long.
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