SELF INFLICTED SABOTAGE, A GUN SHOT TO THE HEAD

Quite a sobering title for this weeks self deprecating diatribe. Challenges and pressures in life come at us from every direction. Sometimes we plow through and sometimes we’re stopped in our tracks in need of re-grouping. Sometimes we see ourselves as loyal subjects prepared to do battle but in reality we are far from that. Our subconscious tells us we’re not worthy and we sabotage ourselves even though we have the tools for success hand and the ability to command an audience with the king. Do I not deserve success? Do you not deserve success?

I attended a class several evenings back and came out feeling rough like an expired can of store bought chili that suddenly finds itself in the midst of a 5 star chef chili cook-off in the southwest (where Chili should be king no less)! I had died with my boots on. It was as though I’d had open heart surgery without a doctor. Ouch! I then proceeded to further add to the bruising and beat myself up on the way home and the rest of the evening before bed as well as the following day. I awoke the next morning with a sabotage hangover from the previous evenings fight and subsequent destructive behavior. There was and/or is no one else to blame but me, myself and I.

You see I hadn’t put in the time necessary for my once pristine memory to absorb the dialogue and digest (that is analyze) the subsequent objectives, moments before, secrets and so on amidst the pages of dialogue before me. Somewhere, somehow I’d allowed halitosis of the spirit aura to flush away the golden light we all have access to. In plain English I crashed and burned. You could say my flight missed the runway. You see I didn’t do the work, spend enough time on it, really immerse my body, mind and soul in it cause I didn’t think I had too for the desired results but here’s the kicker, I convinced my subconscious I had. Sly huh…

I put this out in the universe in hopes that someone reading this blog will not fall into the very same pit I allowed myself to slip into and then wallow in, not for one second. My life journey with all its’ twists and turns has the potential to deliver priceless growth. All of us have such potential and it befriends or confronts us everyday, depending upon our outlook on our constantly unfolding life experience. As performers we are for the most part sensitive creatures that all too often go through our day wearing many layers of armor just so we can attempt to appear like we’re not wearing any. I’d better go put my study hat on and get to work…I ain’t goin’ down again, at least not without a fight…


TAKING COMMAND WITH A SURGICAL STRIKE, CREATIVELY

Additionally should we not also consider the possibility that maybe our creative receptors are clogged from time to time and a rejuvenated mind might give rise to deeds of perfection?

I awoke this morning with a call to arms ringing in my head, amass the Teddy Bear army and ready them for battle! As Supreme Commander of the magical realm my mind stands at the ready on the edge of a vast alternative reality as far as one’s imaginative radar extends. I thought soon I shall command loyal legions of a stuffed menagerie, my stuffed menagerie, loyal legions that responded in turn with a resounding silence. They can not talk. But first I must arm these battalions of the battle hardened so their dance on the edge of darkness will be devastating for all who stand in their path. What powers shall we deliver unto them? Take your place atop The Suitcase Throne, center of the garage universe, where decisions of merit are made and orders carried out. If life were only that simple…However, on screen we can make it appear that way. Its’ called film making and the demand for content is on the rise as the small screen begins to take hold of a market in turmoil.

Study and create. Do the work before it does you. Get back on your feet and never leave yourself for dead while there is still a creative breath to be had. O.k. so now that I’m out of my head let’s go to work!

DYING TO GET IT RIGHT

Heaven is a state of mind, another dimension or to some maybe even a sea of dark chocolate. For Joe Pendelton it’s a realm where the spirit resides when his body is accidently taken by an overzealous angel before it’s time. “I only want what’s comin’ to me” he states but once he meets and begins to fall for Bette Logan he just can’t seem to find an acceptable replacement though angelic guide Mr. Jordan wants him to know he’s still himself inside and states emphatically “It’s just like “donning a new overcoat”.

Heaven Can Wait is a play about the antics of one Joe Pendelton, snatched from his body like a wine before it’s time. It’s about unrequited love, stocks bonds and greed and the fight game…The 1941 film “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” is based on the 1938 play which was produced on Broadway after the film, not to be confused with an unrelated 1943 film starring Don Ameche and Gene Tierny of the same name that takes the stars to hell. A subsequent 1978 film entitled “Heaven Can Wait” reflects an updated version of the stage play with some changes in direction, though keeping much of the plays premises intact.

Heaven Can Wait features an accomplished ensemble cast with award winning Director Lucien Jervis at the helm. Cast members include; Daren Dukes as Joe Pendelton, Bob Farber as Mr. Jordan, David Tinsley as 7013, Greg Philippi as Tony Abbott, Linda Shaver as Julia Farnsworth, Dawn Meyers as Bette Logan, Paul Newman as Max Levene, Penny Krevenas as Mrs. Ames, Martha Hules as the maid, Nat Gertler as Inspector Williams, Elena Mills as the nurse, Ken Endress as the Doctor and Ian McLean as the plainclothesman.

Conejo Players Theater boasts 180 comfortable plush (well sort of) almost stadium seating seats (they’re nice anyhow), fabulous lights and a Hollywood set like no other in Ventura County plus the costumes of Shawn Lanz. The show is Produced by Ken Patton and Paul Duffy.

Heaven Can Wait
April 23-May 15
Conejo Players Theater
351 S. Moorpark Rd. Thousand Oaks CA
3 blks south of the 101 Freeway on Moorpark

Thursdays 8pm $16
Fridays 8pm & Sundays 2pm $18
Saturdays 8pm $20
For tix www.conejoplayers.org or call 805-495-3715
Use code GOD12 for discount tix

Acting is to Auditions as Icing is to Cake

The other night I drove into the city for an acting audition stopping at a favorite Chinese food haunt and proceeded to close out the meal consuming a traditional Fortune Cookie and in my zealousness half the fortune as well…From what I could make out (the uneaten half) read something like “A project you’re (missing bitten half) … (next line) will receive (missing bitten half)… Having just come from an audition I saw this not as the indiscriminate digestion of mere wood pulp but a sign from the heavens. Yes, the universal consciousness, smiles down upon me this night. I guess that’s a good way of seeing the glass half full.

In this land of youth driven culture that celebrates the 20 something mind and often the 20 something mind coupled with sex, there is a movement neath the covers toward really celebrating our elder statesmen, as audiences grow in age and more importantly as audiences grow in tolerance of all ages.

Overnights for the latest NCIS episode show 17.6 million viewers, numbers which should put the show in second for the night. However, NCIS appears in third place for the night due to a 3.4 share in 18-49 year old viewers while Lost which only garnered 8.8 million total viewers claimed that second position for the night ringing up a 3.8 share in 18-49 year old viewers. Years past the 18-49 year old share would have almost always mirrored overall viewers for most shows. Television audience demographics as a whole are skewing older as niche programming and viewing habits also take hold.

While working at ABC Television, I once had a conversation with the late Vic Mizzy (composer of both the Adams Family and Munsters television themes among many others). Some 20 odd years ago this movie music great complained that he couldn’t get interest from any studio or production company to compose anything, even with his very successful track record…Mizzy felt he had such creativity to share but the system didn’t even want to hear it because he was too old. For what it’s worth I told him I’d have hired him if I could have…

Flash forward to 2010. A Betty White fan in Texas starts a fan page suggesting Betty White should be given a chance at hosting Saturday Night Live. The fan page takes off virally garnering over 500,000 fans nudging the Producers of the NBC stalwart series to take note. Now sometime in May of this year, Betty White has been booked to host Saturday Night Live. At 88 years old, Ms. White is somewhat of an anomaly. The point is that the world today is instantaneous. With the advent of real time social networking the collective consciousness takes on a whole new urgency. It appears we’re speeding toward on demand programming customized to our individual needs by us and for us…

So what does this all mean for the here and now? Definitely change for one and that for the time being we’ll all have to peddle a little faster to keep up!

Greg is appearing as Tony Abbott in Heaven Can Wait at the Conejo Players Theater in Thousand Oaks from April 23rd – May 15th Thursday – Sunday. Call theater for showtimes and ticket availability or just write me direct Greg@firesofaugust.com.