Things are moving along!

I know that it's been a while since I've posted but have been on the grind. In addition to mounting the show I'm still auditioning and FINALLY booking work. (Shooting an industrial this coming Monday. It's been a long dry spell for me as an actor) :(

Anyhoo. . . LOTS TO REPORT:

Had a kick-a** production meeting with my partner on June 4th! Decided upon the FIRST FUNDRAISER for "2NDS" which will be on July 21st. It will a monologue slam at a place named LeTage in South Philly. All proceeds from the event will go to the Marketing budget for the show. I'M PSYCHED!!! We decided that the SECOND FUNDRAISER will be closer to the show in SEPTEMBER during the rehearsal period. It will be a partnering with another organization to have a happy hour/meet and greet with the cast and a way to recognize and honor those who have supported the production monetarily or otherwise. I REALLY like the thought of recognizing donors at this event. Hopefully there will be LOTS of them to honor at that point! (LOL)

Organizing callbacks has been a pain in the you-know-what! The three guys that I'd really like to cast are wonderful actors so they're all extremely busy AND two of them are based in New York. Trying to balance that with everyone else schedule, including my own, has been a challenge. FINALLY hit upon Thursday, July 8th as a date that everyone can make. Whew! Looking forward to this part of the process and locking in my cast. I have the potential to land a VERY exciting cast for the show. I originally approached (and I THOUGHT had locked in) a particular actor A YEAR AGO about the role of MALCOLM who I've worked with before and was EXTREMELY disappointed when he pulled out. However, I now have a chance to get an actor who's just as talented and even more exciting on stage! Getting him would be quite the coup. I'm praying that, if it's meant to be that it happens. Just think, if that other actor had not dropped out, I NEVER would have even considered this guy! Funny how things work out, isn't it? :)

I'd been attempting to connect with Howard Shapiro of the Philadelphia Inquirer about a series he was allegedly writing about new plays being produced in Philly. Well, he actually called me back this past Monday and we had a WONDERFUL conversation! Turns out he is not writing a series on new plays, however, he was extremely interested in the project and said that the Inquirer would DEFINITELY come out and review the play in October! (yea!!!) He also said that he might be interested in doing a feature story about the show (how it came about, why I'm producing it, etc) depending upon what's going on in the arts community this fall. (In other words, if nothing more exciting is going on, he'll write about us, LOL) Heck, I'll take it! The opportunity to be featured in the city's largest newspaper is tremendous and if it DID happen, it would be GREAT for the show. (Keep fingers crossed for us on that):)

Let's see, what else has happened since I last posted . . . Oh yeah! Just got a new draft from the writer Thursday. Looking forward to reading it today. Hope this is the draft that we can start working with and possibly lock in, to some degree. Even though a dear friend, who's a kick-a** dramaturg, offered to help, right now I'm essentially dramaturging the piece myself. Oy!

Lastly, I've been working with a graphic artist to create a logo/brand for BanjiGirl Productions and she came up with some great stuff! I'll be finalizing things with her in the next few days so by next week, we will have an original, cool a** logo!!! Look for it, I'll be adding it to the blog and facebook page as soon as I have it in my hot little hands!

I guess that's it for now (it was a LOT, I know). I'll try to do better at posting more often. BTW, I will soon have a link on the blog to donate to the production funds of "2NDS" in case you have a couple of extra dollars you wanna throw our way! :) Also, follow us on FACEBOOK! I'll have a donation link and more info posted there soon as well.

Thanks so much for taking this ride with me! Wouldn't be able to do it without your interest and support!

K, the original BanjiGirl