Duel/Benihana

So I got a call yesterday from the casting director of "Duel"! She said that I was one of the favorites and that she had a few more questions for me. I answered her questions and she said that "we would be in touch", whatever that means. It made me feel good to be one of the favorites.

In the evening yesterday my friend took me to Benihana's for a pre-birthday dinner. He was going to come to my party next weekend, but he booked a job doing lights on a cruise ship and leaves in a few days, so I got to celebrate a few days early. It was a lot of fun. The picture is of the onion volcano that is a staple at Benihana's.

Commercials

Yesterday I went to a seminar at the Screen Actors Guild about commercial contracts, payments, residuals and rules. It was very informative. One thing that many actors forget is that their career is a business. They are often either not informed or mis-informed and depend heavily on agents and managers for the business side of things, but I like to know what is going on. I learned many things about negotiation tactics and what is okay and not okay to request when a job has been booked. I am very glad I went and I feel it was very productive. It is nice that the guild offers seminars like this for its members.

After the seminar I went to invited dress rehearsal of my roommate's play. Invited dress rehearsal means that it is the last rehearsal before previews start and the cast is aloud to invite friends and family for free. It is also usually advertised in the community. The play was great and the whole cast did a great job. There were a lot of older people in the audience so couples who couldn't hear were repeating lines to their spouses which was really funny commentary. Afterward the audience left and the cast got notes. I'm going to see it again in a few days on opening night and I can't wait to see what is different!

Dance

Yesterday I felt like I was cramming for a dance quiz. I took a really intense ballet class followed by a really intense jazz class. It felt good to be back in dance and I hope all this prep helps me with my audition on the 17th. After three hours of dance, I work up this morning with sore muscles. It is a good sore, though, the kind that makes you feel like you are accomplishing something.

The other cool thing is that the woman who taught my jazz class works at ABC in LA by day and she knows a lot of people that I know from when I worked in ABC's casting office in New York! Such a small world!

Duel Interview

The Duel Gameshow interview yesterday was crazy! I had no idea how specific of a "type" of contestant they were looking for. They wanted really energetic, competitive, cutthroat people. All of the questions they asked were very pointed and leading questions that garnered responses that were what they wanted the feel of the show to be. Also, there was a fairly difficult trivia written test, which I passed:) There were questions about science, health, history, politics, pop culture, wine, theater, and other random things. It was all in all quite a fun experience.

Then I drove up to the table read for episode 101 of "The Riches" and when I got to the production office, I was handed the scripts for episode 101 AND 102. SURPRISE, a double table read! It was the first time we had ever done that, but it was kind of cool, because it is a two part episode and at the end of 101 I wanted to know what happened in 102:) I am really hoping to get a part on the show this season!

Interview

I have an interview today for a brand new game show called "Duel". I know that it is trivia based and that there are cash prizes, but that is all of the information that I have. I will write more afterward. This afternoon I am driving up to the studios where "The Riches" is filmed for a table read during crew lunch. It is actually a great gig being the table reader and I really hope it lands me a role on the show:)

Great Week

This was a great week for my apartment. One of my roommates booked an international Samsung Internet commercial. He is also in a production of "Crimes of the Heart" at the Long Beach Playhouse which opens this weekend.

My other roommate signed a contract to Salmon Fish in Alaska next fishing season as part of a Deadliest Catch type show and got a REALLY nice advance for signing in addition to the money he will make for doing the show as well as back-end residuals.

I not only got invited to my first red carpet premiere but I also was called to audition for the role of the Magic Carpet in Walt Disney's 30 Minute Aladdin show that plays in the California Adventure Theme Park. I've seen the show and it would be a GREAT role for me. The audition is on the 17th, earlier in the day than the red carpet event, so next week is going to be filled with brush up dance classes and such. Even though the park is a little far from where I live, it would be awesome to be doing live theater for a good living every day!:)

When it rains it pours! We all had really slow summers, but now that LA is back in full swing, we are all doing well.