What's new?
I haven't updated in ages. What the heck is going on? I'll spare you a political screed and get right to how I am keeping busy.
In a nutshell: I'm in the middle of a 2 month run of Big, the musical at the El Centro theatre in Hollywood, and from there I'll head out to Arkansas for a month to make an indie film.
The Musical
Our production of Big, the musical differs somewhat from the Orginal Broadway and Touring versions, in that we've taken what we liked best from those two versions and combined them into a more satisfying whole. I saw West Coast Ensemble's production of Zanna, Don't last year, so I was excited when the musical director, who's an old friend, called to offer me a role in this production.
Because we've crammed a Broadway show into a 99-seat space, I often describe my role as "Utility Infielder". I'm Mr. Kopecki/Voice of Zoltar/Cotton Candy Guy/Arcade Guy/Saleperson/Birnbaum/Nick. There are four non-principal adults in the show, and we're having a ball. The first act is basically one quick-change after another for most of us.
The kids in the show are all terrific. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but most of them have better resumes than the adults. Sterling was Young Ben on Lost, Joey was in Click, Alex was in the Original Cast of Jason Robert Brown's 13 at the Taper... I could go on and on.
Reviews have been mostly positive. Most reviewers picked up on our slightly shaky opening (we had some very last minute replacements) and we put Mom's moment of closure back in after cutting it for a few nights. I think we're much stronger now in week 4. Christine Lakin's choreography is as much fun to do as it looks, and the vocal charts Daniel wrote for us to make up for the lack of Orchestra at the top of the second Act give the four of us a chance to sound like Manhattan Transfer. If you're curious, the reviews that I know about are here: Backstage, L.A. Times, Hollywood Reporter, L.A. Weekly, and the following blogs as well: Talkin' Broadway, Grigware Talks, and Stage Scene L.A.. (There were a lot of nice comments from users on Goldstar as well.)
The biggest challenge isn't the length of the run, which is relatively short at 2 months (plus an extension which I can't be a part of due to my movie shoot, see below) but the tiny amount of backstage space. The El Centro is certainly historic, but it can also be accurately described, at least backstage, as tiny and sweltering. Luckily, I have to shed a few pounds before heading east next month anyway!
The Movie
I took part in a staged reading years ago, at the Grand Central Art Center in downtown Santa Ana. (I performed in the first few shows in that newly-renovated space with the now-defunct Alternative Repertory Theatre. I think CSUF uses it now for small graduate works, but it's tough to tell exactly from their site.) The author, then an Assistant Professor at Chapman University, was Joe Dull. He called me a couple months back and said, "Hey, I revamped Table at Luigi's into a screenplay. Wanna come live in my guest room this summer and make a movie?"
He had me at hello.
So I'm headed to Conway, Arkansas (where, in the small world department, my Uncle coached basketball for a while before getting his Ph.D.) for the month of July. In a 5 week shooting schedule, I currently have 0 days off, and I couldn't be happier about that. The project was a lot of fun it its larval stage, and I can't imagine it being any less so now that it has chewed its way out of the cocoon.
The genre is definitely magical realism, and I play a guy who can create living dreams for his customers through the food he prepares. Luckily, I have a cousin who is an accomplished Chef (if you've ever eaten at the Long Beach Yacht Club, you may have tasted his cooking) so I have a local go-to guy for some of my prep work. In the staged version it was all space work (which is what we call it when we don't want to use the word "mime") and although we may have a hand double for some of the super flashy knife work (I like my fingers!) I'm going to make a determined effort to handle most of the on-screen cooking myself.
I'm a decent cook, but beyond bachelor chow my menu is pretty much limited to stuff that can be drenched in spaghetti sauce. And while I didn't receive any complaints about my Chicken Parmesan last Valentine's Day, I'm still glad that this is not a documentary about a sous-chef, y'know?
It looks like someone has set up a MySpace page for the film: Table at Luigi's on MySpace. I, of course, will be tweeting like mad throughout the production.
It's been a long time since I could say that I had work lined up for the next couple of months. It's a good feeling!
~j
In a nutshell: I'm in the middle of a 2 month run of Big, the musical at the El Centro theatre in Hollywood, and from there I'll head out to Arkansas for a month to make an indie film.
The Musical
Our production of Big, the musical differs somewhat from the Orginal Broadway and Touring versions, in that we've taken what we liked best from those two versions and combined them into a more satisfying whole. I saw West Coast Ensemble's production of Zanna, Don't last year, so I was excited when the musical director, who's an old friend, called to offer me a role in this production.
Because we've crammed a Broadway show into a 99-seat space, I often describe my role as "Utility Infielder". I'm Mr. Kopecki/Voice of Zoltar/Cotton Candy Guy/Arcade Guy/Saleperson/Birnbaum/Nick. There are four non-principal adults in the show, and we're having a ball. The first act is basically one quick-change after another for most of us.
The kids in the show are all terrific. It's a little embarrassing to admit, but most of them have better resumes than the adults. Sterling was Young Ben on Lost, Joey was in Click, Alex was in the Original Cast of Jason Robert Brown's 13 at the Taper... I could go on and on.
Reviews have been mostly positive. Most reviewers picked up on our slightly shaky opening (we had some very last minute replacements) and we put Mom's moment of closure back in after cutting it for a few nights. I think we're much stronger now in week 4. Christine Lakin's choreography is as much fun to do as it looks, and the vocal charts Daniel wrote for us to make up for the lack of Orchestra at the top of the second Act give the four of us a chance to sound like Manhattan Transfer. If you're curious, the reviews that I know about are here: Backstage, L.A. Times, Hollywood Reporter, L.A. Weekly, and the following blogs as well: Talkin' Broadway, Grigware Talks, and Stage Scene L.A.. (There were a lot of nice comments from users on Goldstar as well.)
The biggest challenge isn't the length of the run, which is relatively short at 2 months (plus an extension which I can't be a part of due to my movie shoot, see below) but the tiny amount of backstage space. The El Centro is certainly historic, but it can also be accurately described, at least backstage, as tiny and sweltering. Luckily, I have to shed a few pounds before heading east next month anyway!
The Movie
I took part in a staged reading years ago, at the Grand Central Art Center in downtown Santa Ana. (I performed in the first few shows in that newly-renovated space with the now-defunct Alternative Repertory Theatre. I think CSUF uses it now for small graduate works, but it's tough to tell exactly from their site.) The author, then an Assistant Professor at Chapman University, was Joe Dull. He called me a couple months back and said, "Hey, I revamped Table at Luigi's into a screenplay. Wanna come live in my guest room this summer and make a movie?"
He had me at hello.
So I'm headed to Conway, Arkansas (where, in the small world department, my Uncle coached basketball for a while before getting his Ph.D.) for the month of July. In a 5 week shooting schedule, I currently have 0 days off, and I couldn't be happier about that. The project was a lot of fun it its larval stage, and I can't imagine it being any less so now that it has chewed its way out of the cocoon.
The genre is definitely magical realism, and I play a guy who can create living dreams for his customers through the food he prepares. Luckily, I have a cousin who is an accomplished Chef (if you've ever eaten at the Long Beach Yacht Club, you may have tasted his cooking) so I have a local go-to guy for some of my prep work. In the staged version it was all space work (which is what we call it when we don't want to use the word "mime") and although we may have a hand double for some of the super flashy knife work (I like my fingers!) I'm going to make a determined effort to handle most of the on-screen cooking myself.
I'm a decent cook, but beyond bachelor chow my menu is pretty much limited to stuff that can be drenched in spaghetti sauce. And while I didn't receive any complaints about my Chicken Parmesan last Valentine's Day, I'm still glad that this is not a documentary about a sous-chef, y'know?
It looks like someone has set up a MySpace page for the film: Table at Luigi's on MySpace. I, of course, will be tweeting like mad throughout the production.
It's been a long time since I could say that I had work lined up for the next couple of months. It's a good feeling!
~j