Watching something scary!

Well here we are, we have one week left of our shows here in Sarasota, Fl.
It has been a pretty incredible journey here, from our crazy rehearsals, and circus lessons, to our sold out performances. It has been an even more challenging experience for me taking the role of dance captain. And I wish I can say everything has gone ok, but actually I was the first one to get hurt and therefore have to be cut from my circus tricks. Yup, for a week I couldn't juggle, or do my spanish web in the finale cause I had hyper extended my thumb playing catch with a football. It still hurts but I just where an ace bandage during act 1 now, and just pray for it every day( also 4 200 ml of Ibupropin). But the absolute scariest thing happened yesterday afternoon during our matinee.
While Matt was flipping down the straps he dislocated his shoulder. Talk about one of the most scariest things to be watching on stage. Usually it is a very disctinct 3 slow flips down that goes with the music. There was only one flip and then pretty much him just twirling,spinning, or more like unravelling down to the ground. Everyone on stage knew something was wrong. I was backstage getting into my stilts, and could only see the straps, and from the specific change of movement I saw in them, I knew something had happened. Everyone was running around back stage trying to help and figure out what was going on, and everyone on stage wast trying to perform there best improving off the top of there heads, and fill in His scenes. It was pretty scary. The paramedics came and took him to the hospital, and we had a cast meeting during intermission to figure out how to do the second act. This was the other challenge for me, now I had to step up and figure out who would do what in his stead. And all on the spur of the moment. Well it all worked out fine, but we had to have a meeting after the show with the musical director, stage manager, st mgn ass, Crew chief, circus captain, and me to figure out how we would work the show out, it ended up being alot smoother then we thought. But while they were all done and resting I had to specifically go over dance numbers, so I was on the stage going thru choreography, and trying to make the show look good again. We had to call everyone in a half hr earlier to go over all the changes and to make sure things worked out. To my surprise I ended up having to run everything, and Praise God it all worked out, and everyone was attentive. Matt came back to the theatre and hes doing just fine, he'll be back in th show next week, though his circus tricks are cut. We almost made it thru. Just one week left, darn it!!!!

Quatro Marketable

Wow! what an incredible journey this has been so far!

Man it has been quite an exhausting feet but it has all come together and we are finally having a good time running the show.

Now this has been one of the most frustrating and tiring shows I have ever been involved in, but it has also been one of the most beneficial. I have to admit when we first started rehearsals, I was startled by some of the other actors, for I thought as professional and big this production was going to be, that people should've been at a higher level of professional maturity, but I was reminded that people work at different paces, and learn and take things in very uniquely, so I had a little life lesson in character, and dealing with differences, (it was good for me).

The amazing thing about our cast is how amazing the cast really is!!! All our leads accept 1 has been on Broadway, and fairly recently as well. THE PRODUCERS, MISS SAIGON, THE PAJAMA GAME, CHORUM BOY, FUNNY THING...FORUM, just to name a few. We have a National baton twirler, and a National gymnast, 2 people who were dancers and clowns for Cirque de Soleil, A guy who was a clown for Ringling Brothers, an Opera singer from China, and a girl who does character voices for Disney! Yeah, pretty tight right. And on top of that, we were directed by an up and coming sought after Director who just directed the tour of HAPPY DAYS, and The Broadway dancer Josh Rhodes, to choreograph it, and a fabulous costume designer.

Now the rehearsal process was gruelling. There was a new concept they had for the show where they wanted to add more of the ensemble into the show. There's alot of solo numbers for the main characters, but not many big production numbers. So they changed the format of the show as if we were all telling the story of Barnum's life, helping unfold the stories. So there was alot of music rehearsals, cause we would try something, change it, learning something new, and change it, and so on. So it got kind of hard memorizing parts and then doing totally different parts. Also on top of that, our director had to keep leaving to go direct another show, so it got very wonky cause Our Choreographer would stage numbers and do blocking, and then the director would come back and change everything, so it got very very, did I say very yet, frustrating, and it kind of set us back a little. We ended up having the longest week in theater possible. 3 ten hr days, and then 3 12hr tech days, which is unheard of, and nothing I have ever done before.

Not only did we have our regular rehearsal for the show, but we had our Circus lessons before. So we would have to go to the Circus tent downtown Sarasota, and meet with our Coach and trainers, Pedro, who is a world class circus performer and sought after trainer and consultant, Susan, and Anna. Dudes let me just tell you the first day we were in there, as I was stretching and looking up at the circus tent, I just thought" Oh my gosh, look at where I am!" Who ever knew I would be learning to do amazing things under a real circus! It was definetly a moment that most of us had. Now the guy who plays our Ring Master is the one who was in RINGLING BROTHERS CIRCUS, so he was also our circus trick coach, and taught us all how to do our little tricks and gags in the show. Juggling, plate spinning, unicylcling, flame tricks, magic scarves, all those fun things clowns do. We had even different times set up for those lessons, at an even different place from the other 2. SO it was pretty extensive.
But It all worked out. I actually ended up being one of the most used actors for the press. They came to the Tent with the cameras, and took footage of us there, and interviewed 2 of us, which they played on their local news station a couple of times. Here's the link to it, http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081110/VIDEO01/811100380&template=video . Now I hate the way I sound on it, my little lisp comes out, and I was caught off guard, so don't hate me. Anyway, I was also in the sunday Paper, and I was on this local community show that this old lady with Hats has, that was cool to be inteviewed on a show, it's just getting me ready for the big time, Good Morning America here I come!! And then I again was on A live segment of news FOX 13 down here, which was also pretty cool, got a little more exposure for some other cities in the area.

I was also after some debate, and some relinquishing, and some declines, asked to be the Dance Captain. So I now have another credit to add to my resume! Man this show has just been the most amazing gift from God for me, 4 wonderful things to make me more marketable, and more wanted. AND THEY WILL WANT ME, MARK MY WORD!!!!!! AHAHAHAH

HEY LOOK OVER TO THE LEFT!!!! THERE'S A NEWS REEL FOR YA!!!!!!!!

becoming a circus freak

Well hello again, it has been 2 weeks now here in Florida, and we have been workin our butts off 6 days a week. We have been busy learning songs, adding new vocals to other songs, changing harmonies, revamping music, addind longer dance breaks, and going back again and changing it all over.



On top of that we have had circus rehearsals as well, having full juggling lessons with different sizes of balls, hankerchiefs of varying weight and color, 3 and 4 rings, and big ole bowling like pins. Those who have that down are advancing to 3 man juggling stunts. I have also had to learn how to walk and be comfortable on 4ft stilts, because I and another guy will be dancing on them for a number with Tom Thumb, who is suppossed to be 25 inches tall( by the way this was an actual real person in life, he actually found another small person and married her.) That would be fine but the stilts that I was suppossed to be using our one cast members old stilts which are not as supported as the new stilts, and are way more wobbly and uncomfortable, and not even easy to walk in let alone dance in, and so being I fell back off them and landed on my hip. So now I'm am going to fight and make sure the theatre will buy me the right stilts for the show. I was on the good stilts today, and O was able to do kicks and everything with them on.

The other really cool thing I have been learning is the spanish web!! As you see in the video up top. Now this isn't really that hard, you basically have to learn how to climb the rope with your strength mainly coming from your legs. And then you just get whipped around, and have to create different positions and shapes while you're turning. No I have to admit I have put the stopper loop to far down my wrist and have cut off my circulation, and have felt that tingly sensation in my arm for 2 days, and was worried when I put my foot in the loop that I was going to have to get my foot amputated, but it all worked out fine.

Now since we work our butts off like crazy, our one day off is filled with absolute relaxation, which consists of laying by the pool, or even better, going to the BEACH!!! Of course since we're crazy dancers and performers, and now weird circus freaks, we act goofy at the beach. Did I mention I love my job!!

Las Gracias

So 2 weeks ago today I was arriving in Madrid, Spain with no real idea what we were going to be doing, besides the information that pretty much everyone didn't know what we were getting our selves in including the executive producer. So it was already turning out to be one incredible adventure.

I got a call on monday (2 weeks ago) and on wednesday I was flying to Spain! Talk about wanting to live the life. I was so excited and grateful. Now I want lie I did have to let them know I was interested in going. I was talking to my friend Jeff who went to Germany with me, and he told me that Pilobolus had called him for this gig, but he couldn't do it. So I called the office and asked if they still needed a guy, and they called me back and said yeah.

It was awesome being in SPain. From the moment I got on the plane I felt that I was in for a new experience. The people were of a european look that I had not been so accustomed to seeing, and the language of spanish that was spoken was more regal, more formal it seemed, not accented or yelled out that I hear most days, but respectful, and I loved it. As soon as we arrived I understood why things were so different, the average look of people is handsome, and good looking. The culture is way laid back, and it's just infused with history and decorum that shows in the architechture and design of the city. Every major intersection has a some kind of big plaza, and usually some kind of fountain or statue or both. It was absolutley amazing.

Well we found out that we were going to be taping 4 different commercials for this Bank BBVA that is taking over alot of stuff in Spain, and wanted to show that they were going to be good for everyone. So the themes we had to work with were, security, protection, and helpfulness you know stuff banks want to be associated with. We spent the first days brainstorming, and coming up with ideas, and then the last 4 we were there taping them. It was all shadow work, so I didn't have to worry alot about live performance movement. We ended up surprising ourselves with how good we were at creating the images they wanted us to create, and how much we got done. Just shows How much God has blessed this P-lo crew. What was also amazing about this experience, was that every meal was taken care of, and since we were doing tv stuff, we were catered. Dudes I have never had so many different forms of Ham in my life. I never knew there were so many ways to have ham and cheese. from regular grilled cheese and ham sandwiches, to cordon bleu style breaded and everything. It was pretty cool, they would even just slice pieces of ham right off this leg of a pig right in the window of the food truck, which I have to admit was kind of scary looking, but tasted great!! Oh and the other staple food we had was Calimari! yeah can you believe it! at least once a day I felt we had it. If not a breaded snack, then scewered, on a stick, or in some kind of pasta. It was an pretty cool gig.

We really only had one day off, and the morning and early afternoon of the day we left . SO when we went out we had to totally do it up, which meant party hard the night before out late, and up early the next morning to get as much as we could in. And they have a crazy night life which doesn't even start til midnight and gets hopping around 3am, and goes all the way until the sun comes up, pretty crazy.Needless to say I was tired most of the time. But I really got to see a lot of the city, and felt that I got a good taste of the area we were in. I would walk back to the hotel from wherever I was so that I could really get a taste for it. And I ended up loving it, I have totally fallen in love with Spain!! I got to go to the famous Prado Muesum that has the famous painting " Garden of earthly delights". I was so excited to be able to see all this history and beauty in these renaissance paintings and glorious marble statues.

SO now I am back home, and running around trying to take dance classes, work out, and get everything done so that I am ready to go to florida. My plane leaves this sunday!! and there was lots of things I still had to take care of from faxing papers, to getting boxes to pack, to registering to vote, it's just crazy, and trying to see as many friends before I leave. This busy life is not easy, but I love it, and I praise God that I am WORKING!! BARNUM here I come!!

I love dancing

Alright last week was my last audition for a while, since I'll be going down to Florida soon to do BARNUM. In this bizness you're always trying to work, and have consistent work, which means setting yourself up to have back to back gigs or shows, hince why I have still been audtioning for stuff. Just trying to make sure I have work next year. So Last week I auditioned for the tour of DORA DORA. Nothin special to report. The only thing that really happened was when I was called to dance the casting Lady had to also add the fact that I had a job already to my name, pretty much putting me on blast in front of everybody. She is the same casting company that cast BARNUM, so she knew me from that. So I felt bad that she did that in front of everybody. With my mind on all of that it made me totally mess up my audition, but I still made it thru, and sang my song. Oh yeah and the pianist is a friend from school who was actually in my choir at Penn State, who is now a piano sub for THE LITTLE MERMAID

The more important thing that happened last week was my dancing gig for this Bahtmitzpha. My friend contacted me ealier this summer to dance for her for this gig. I also found out that the man who was her, and our boss, was also another Penn State graduate that I had known. Go STATE! Any way the theme for the party was old Hollywood Glamour, so Katrina came up with the idea of the IT girl thru the ages, and to have the birthday girl come out at the end to be the it girl of 2000. We had 3 rehearsals during the week, and then performed at the party saturday night, though we had to be there all day. Let me just say that I knew this was a big deal when I found out how much I was getting paid for this, and then times that by 10 for all the dancers, and realized wow if they're planning on spending that much just for our part of the entertainment. Then I found out that they didn't like they carpeting in the country club of the ball room, so they had it taken out and white tile put in. Yeah it was like that. They even had little California Pizza Kitchen, KFC, and McDonalds stands for the kids, and to top it off, at the end on the way out they had a whole mock Dunkin Dounuts stand set up. No joke. I heard the whole thing was around....$250,000. And that's all I have to say about that.

The other really amazing thing that happened last week happened on Monday. I gave myself the goal this year that by the end of the year I would be tumbling. I've found that with my body size, and look people assume I tumble, and everything has tumbling in it these days, especially Disney shows. I thought I wouldn't be able to uphold that goal cause all summer I was in Ok city, and the only place I knew gave classes here in the city was expensive. That is until I found out that the dance studio where I have been taking most of my classes has an acro class, Great!! So I took last monday to try it out, Lets just say that after the class was over I was doing standing back handsprings, and roundoff back handsprings!!!!!!!!!!!

UMM YEAH TOTALLY AWESOME!!

This week in class he moved me into the power tumbling group with him, and made me perfect my roundoff backhandsprings so that I could start doing more handsprings. I also started working on my back tucks, which is just standing and jumping up and doing a back flip, they usually come after you do a tumbling pass to end it off. It's all very exciting, And everyone is pretty amazed that I am learning so quickly without ever having tumbled before. I just give all Glory to GOD. As Albert Einstein said, "dancers are the atheletes of God." So maybe He gives extra grace and strength to us. I'm just sayin.

So the other cool thing that happened Monday of this week was I got a call from Pilobolus to see if I could go to SPAIN for a gig for them, and if I could leave Wednesday(today). Umm, YEAH!!

Monkeying, for Jesus

So, as of right now this will be the first week since I got off the plane from Ok city on july 29, that I will not audition! Can you believe that. Actually the funny thing is on monday I was slated to go to 2 auditions for a new semi/broadway show(which means it is at the Lincoln Center), and GYPSY, which is currently running on Broadway right now. But I was just tired of it, so I planned on staying home and chillin out. That is until my friend Kenneth texts me, and says I should be there, so I grab my stuff and go, only to just miss the last group to go in, cause they decided to rocket thru all of the groups, and then when I got to the GYPSY call, I just really didn't feel like being there. there was alot of people, and You know they're not really looking for guys, and all the guys in the show are only on stage for a hot min, and look young, oh and are all white, so I left and went to work out. Oh well.

So last week I also Auditioned for TARZAN, and also had my callback for JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. TARZAN was a really fun combination very atheletic and of course all about being a monkey so it was very low to the ground, rolling, jumping, like an animal, and I looked really good(people told me). I felt really good doing it, I think one of the pluses I have for myself is I can portray different characters well in dance. Praise God for that. I made it all the way thru, but when the guy came out to read off who they wanted to sing, it was only one guy, which we were all totally shocked at. whatever, then they started lining the people up to sing, and then we got yelled at by the monitor saying if we're not singing to leave, (sometimes these equity monitors act like there job at that moment in time is the most important thing in life, and take it way to seriously!) So what ever I grab my stuff kiss my friends and leave. So I get a block away from the Chelsea Studios and get a call from a number I don't know, now I usually don't answer unknown numbers, but lately they have all been about some kind of work, so I did. It turns out it's my friend Will, who is at the audition still cause he got asked to sing. He proceeds to tell me that I am in the group for people they wanted to stay and sing!

"WHAT"! Yeah apparently the guy was walking around with a group of headshots of people they wanted to keep from my group, and I just happened to be on the outside, they asked to look at my pic, to call me to tell me to come back. It was absolutely crazy. Praise God I had not almost turned to get into the subway. So I run back get back upstairs in the studio, and am like whats going on. Well, the guy hadn't finished reading off the list of people they wanted to hear sing, just started moving on. It was such a disorganized audition. And then when we had to line up, I had to save someone else from not getting the info that they called his name. It was crazy. After I sang one of the artistic team asked me about being in Pilobolus, so we talked and I told him How I went to Germany, and then he's like you know Holly! and I like yeah, I love her!! It was great to connect with the team like that. Then of course the old man had to shove me out, saying I'm sorry Alfie, we're on a tight schedule. Man I swear.

Again to prove how disorganized they were, when I finally get home at 930pm I get a random call from an unknown number, asking me to come to a callback almost 12 hrs later, 10 am the next day. Gee wiz I thought.

The Callback consisted of all the same stuff, made it thru again, sang my song, saw great friends made new friends, yadda yada,

Off to my JCSUPERSTAR. It was a much smaller callback, of 13 guys, so we were really the last guys they were lookin at which felt totally cool. Now what was hard about this was the woman who choreographed it was kind of crazy in her mind, so you felt like you weren't getting the same information out of her all the time. and since she was older and her assistant was an older non dancer guy, you couldn't figure out what the full extended shapes of the movement was suppossed to be. But after learning 2 combinations, we turned to face the table of onlookers, which totally sucks I might add, especially when a combination is a traveling one to have to shorten everything, and maintian spacial awareness. We went in groups of 3. Now we had been doing the 2 dance for a while, so remembering the first dance was hard, and lets just say when I went I didn't remember all that well, and had not 1 but 2 brainfarts. Oh well I thought, I have a job, hahaha. But low and behold, I made it thru and got asked to sing! Wow, God must be all over me today! The only thing that made me feel even more sunk was hearing Her assistant from the hall way singing my song, and really singing my song. The only thing that is really cool about this musical, is that this version is being done all gospel, and they got the rights from mr weber himself to do it, so its a big deal.

So we'll see what happens.

BARNUM

So, My BARNUM call back.

Yesterday morning I had an ivitation to go back in to Chelsea studio for another chance to book this show. When I got there I saw that there were other people there I had not seen from the dance call, So I was trying to figure out where they could have come from. Turns out there were people from the singers call, and who had been submitted by their agents. Darn them and there agents! I had recognized a guy from being on BROADWAY in the dance musical HOT FEET, and found out that there were other guys there who had just been cast in the new BWAY show ANGELS, which sadly got put on hold cause of financial decisions.
But here I am, this is the level of my oppisition, everyones trying to get a job. There were probably 20 of us give or take, and right before we started to dance the casting director says "ok and Alfie Parker, you are the only one who is not in the union of equity?"
Gees I thought way to totally call me out and ostrisize me. Oh well, hey at least I made it that far right being the only non ec guy. Anyway we danced in 2s, and I have to admit I didn't do my absolute best, but I ended up making it past that cut. They cut maybe 6 or more guys, and then we had to tap.
So I was debating on whether I wanted to put my tap shoes on or not since they're new, and since I haven't taken a tap class since my sophomore year in college. I am not the best tapper, I know the vocab but not the body weight distribution, I stay to upright and rigid and don't relax my muscles. So needless to say I was scared, but I put them on and stood in the back. Then the worst part happened,
He made us do it one by one, ... oh s*#&^$%!
Well the Choreographer is awesome and he stood right up there with us working on certain parts, just making sure we could get it with 4 weeks of rehearsal, He seems like he would be a great guy to work for. Well they decided to keep all of us to sing. So here we go, made it past dancing phew, praise God.
They wanted us to sing the same song, so I changed it up a bit, and sang it slower and more melodic, which they liked, but then they asked me to sing something that was fun and up beat so I had to pull my Mean Ole Lion out of my bag of tricks so to speak, from THE WIZ. Now I haven't sung that song in a while so I was just doing this for the fun of it. It was fun, I was over the top, and they were laughin right along with me, I even messed up the words, and it was still good.
What was interesting that had never happened to me before was after I sang they asked me what my EMC status was. Which means where are you in terms of getting your equity card, and joining the union. Which I thought was an entirely weird question to ask. But I told them that I was actually presented with a contract that would give me my card in October, Then the casting Lady says, but our show starts rehearsal in October, which I slowly replied, with maybe a slight smikr, or smile on my face, "I Know", and then explained how I have not signed a contract with them yet. SO then they asked me to read another scene which went well, he had me read it twice, and then they let me go.
SO all and all it was a good time, good audition.

Well I got a call around 5pm from the theatre in florida that is doing the show, to offer me a contract in the show. Not just any contract but a Full Equity Contract!!!
WOO HOO God did it!
SO I will be a full fledge union member when the first day of rehearsals starts, which is in 6 weeks!
Yeah Now I can buy groceries!!!

Life in the big city!

Ok Ok, so I suck at keepin up with all my auditions, forgive me. But it's really hard now!

So here I am, I have officially moved outside they great city of Manhattan, and pretty much have just hit the pavement running. I've had up to 3 auditions a week since I moved into my home almost a month ago, starting off with the one that was the next day after getting off the plane. They've ranged from Non equity tours to Symphonic concert performances, to Broadway shows. I've been doing well, so that makes me happy.

Here is just a list of the shows I've gone in for.

MY FAIR LADY

IN THE MOOD

THE PAJAMA GAME

IN THE HEIGHTS

ON THE TOWN

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

BARNUM

LEGALLY BLONDE

I got a call back for BARNUM for this friday so I can go more into detail about that later, that was a pretty fun audition.

Life here is pretty cool, It's kind of surreal in a way, that I actually live here. I have been dreaming about this for such a long time.

WHat OK City got to see

here are some of the professional shots that were taken of us on stage this summer,

You can see more at Mutz photography.com, all credit to them!!