25 June 2004
Gloria Gifford's The Rubaiyat Ride
I had heard a lot of industry buzz about this showcase and had received many, many invitations for past versions of the showcase, so I knew, once my schedule allowed for it, I'd like to check it out. The first place I heard of this showcase, in fact, was at Bob Morones' office back in January 2001. I had asked him in our interview for BSW where he liked to scout new talent. This was at the top of his list. And... sure enough, three and a half years later and he's at the showcase on closing night along with me, Keith Johnson, and another 80 people, including CD Jaki Brown, Kyle Lawrence from Media Artists, and Emily Cho.
We were all held out on the sidewalk until far past the official start time of the showcase as Gloria Gifford swirled among her helpers, barking out orders to them and then thanking us with a sugary sweet voice. Once we were brought inside ("Industry with black folders, you come in first. Your seats are marked. Then invited guests without the black folders, you may enter. We will seat you. Finally, family and friends, you may enter on a space-available basis. Wait for us to lead you in."), I saw a section of stools along the wall. Figuring these were to block off the area that could've been used for walking along the outside of the seats, I was surprised when the orders started coming, "You! Sit there! Yes, on the stool! You're young. You're healthy. You can take it!" Yikes. Twenty minutes late to start and I was not loving the vibe.
Once it began, the show opened with an all-male dance number. After that, we saw fully-staged (props, set pieces, and costumes) eight-minute scenes. Turns out the guys dancing at the beginning were part of the "Patron" crew, as listed in the back of the program (with headshots and everything). They get to move set pieces and props and work their way up to acting appearances in the showcases. The musical transitions were good, but the program was totally out of order. The scene marked as first was sixth, second was fourth, third was eighth, etc. Very confusing. And every headshot in the industry kit was a photocopied version on Gloria Gifford letterhead. Want to contact this actor? You know where to go. Wow. And every actor's bio in the program (where agency info was listed) ended with a tribute to the instructor and her ability to "raise [me] to another level" and such.
Now, on to actors and their work (the whole point of these things). Julie Berke could play Rosario's daughter on Will & Grace. Funny. Cute. Good job. Sylver M'bous and Jeff Feringa were miscast as lovers (25 year age difference that was never addressed) and their scene was all about the "business" and nothing else. Too bad. Benito Paje is highly watchable, though I couldn't tell why. Katy Jacoby and Paul McCarthy-Boyington were the best matched-duo of the night in the best-directed scene, and did the best acting job of the night. They were really listening to one another and very committed. That was nice to see. Pablo Santos and Angelo Perez did a cute scene, even though Angelo kept jumping the lines. Erin Cummings is cute and delicious (that's the only word I could come up with that really nailed how it felt to watch her). Didn't enjoy hearing Dante Basco do what sounded like an Asian Southern accent ("may-ee" is not how "me" is pronounced in ANY Southern state). And their number ended with a dance number... again, a weird choice, as was a lip-sync musical number (with music far too loud).
Overall, the material choice was very odd. Many violent overtones (especially sexual violence toward women and men getting slapped) and it became too much on top of too much for me. And of course, I want a warning in the program when there will be on-stage smoking. It's not too much to ask! The actors involved in this program certainly know the art of the follow-up. Got lots of postcards and thank yous. That's always nice.
This showcase is pretty regular (several times a year) and is part of the class services taught by Gloria and her son, Adam. The location is the GGC Theatre at the Complex, 6468 Santa Monica Blvd.
We were all held out on the sidewalk until far past the official start time of the showcase as Gloria Gifford swirled among her helpers, barking out orders to them and then thanking us with a sugary sweet voice. Once we were brought inside ("Industry with black folders, you come in first. Your seats are marked. Then invited guests without the black folders, you may enter. We will seat you. Finally, family and friends, you may enter on a space-available basis. Wait for us to lead you in."), I saw a section of stools along the wall. Figuring these were to block off the area that could've been used for walking along the outside of the seats, I was surprised when the orders started coming, "You! Sit there! Yes, on the stool! You're young. You're healthy. You can take it!" Yikes. Twenty minutes late to start and I was not loving the vibe.
Once it began, the show opened with an all-male dance number. After that, we saw fully-staged (props, set pieces, and costumes) eight-minute scenes. Turns out the guys dancing at the beginning were part of the "Patron" crew, as listed in the back of the program (with headshots and everything). They get to move set pieces and props and work their way up to acting appearances in the showcases. The musical transitions were good, but the program was totally out of order. The scene marked as first was sixth, second was fourth, third was eighth, etc. Very confusing. And every headshot in the industry kit was a photocopied version on Gloria Gifford letterhead. Want to contact this actor? You know where to go. Wow. And every actor's bio in the program (where agency info was listed) ended with a tribute to the instructor and her ability to "raise [me] to another level" and such.
Now, on to actors and their work (the whole point of these things). Julie Berke could play Rosario's daughter on Will & Grace. Funny. Cute. Good job. Sylver M'bous and Jeff Feringa were miscast as lovers (25 year age difference that was never addressed) and their scene was all about the "business" and nothing else. Too bad. Benito Paje is highly watchable, though I couldn't tell why. Katy Jacoby and Paul McCarthy-Boyington were the best matched-duo of the night in the best-directed scene, and did the best acting job of the night. They were really listening to one another and very committed. That was nice to see. Pablo Santos and Angelo Perez did a cute scene, even though Angelo kept jumping the lines. Erin Cummings is cute and delicious (that's the only word I could come up with that really nailed how it felt to watch her). Didn't enjoy hearing Dante Basco do what sounded like an Asian Southern accent ("may-ee" is not how "me" is pronounced in ANY Southern state). And their number ended with a dance number... again, a weird choice, as was a lip-sync musical number (with music far too loud).
Overall, the material choice was very odd. Many violent overtones (especially sexual violence toward women and men getting slapped) and it became too much on top of too much for me. And of course, I want a warning in the program when there will be on-stage smoking. It's not too much to ask! The actors involved in this program certainly know the art of the follow-up. Got lots of postcards and thank yous. That's always nice.
This showcase is pretty regular (several times a year) and is part of the class services taught by Gloria and her son, Adam. The location is the GGC Theatre at the Complex, 6468 Santa Monica Blvd.
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