A Class Act

If I ever open-up an acting school, that's what I'm calling it. With a possible "With William C. Vaughan" attached to the end to make sure people know what's what and who's who.

When last we left our hero(?), I was auditioning for the Scooby-Doo Prequel. Well, the audition went well. Not much more to say than that.

After I did the "Doo", I was called to audition for the most far-off thing for which I've been sent-out for so far. A 35-year-old gay Russian geologist who is blasting-off 400 million miles away from earth. Yeah. I thought a coaching was in order.

Optimally, I'd get a dialect coach, but without a phone number for one and with limited time, I could only get an acting coach. I wanted a dialect coach for the accent, but after working the scene once with the acting coach it turned-out my faux-Ruski was acceptable. This is the first time I've coached with this particular teacher (another VFS instructor). His methods are a little different, but he really helps bring the character closer to the actor, to make the scene more real. I got a pretty good reaction from the Casting Director at Brooksbank, so the coaching paid-off. Whether I got the role or not, I gave a good audition, the most real and natural I've done thus far. Given the challenging role, I'll chalk that up as a success.

I was supposed to go back to set for "I Love You, Beth Cooper" on Wednesday, when I received a called from the 2nd AD telling me they may need me instead on Thursday ... or not at all. Y'see, the 2nd AD told me that Chris (as in Columbus) has cut the scene together (as in "edit", not "erase" or "discard") and he found that the scene can work without my shot. So, Wednesday afternoon, before my first Cactus Club shift, I get the call telling me they don't need me anymore. And that's the end of that tale. I'm pretty disappointed, but hey, it's out of my hands. All that's left to be done is book the next role ... hopefully with more lines and, if I'm lucky, a shot of my face. Here's hopin'.

The worst part about not going to set is that I had to pay for my haircut instead of getting hair and make-up to do it for free. I got my ears lowered on Thursday at a place called "The Chop Shop", which has a kind of 50's car-motif thing going. It looked way too cool for me, but I excel at being a round peg in a square hole and fitting into places I don't belong. Or not.

Like I mentioned, I had my first Cactus Club shift Wednesday at the Ash St. location. It was trial by fire, and I certainly didn't expect to be walking with a tray and running food to tables on my first day, but aside from a handful of table-number-screw-ups, I did alright. I had a second shift added Thursday because I wasn't going to set (dang) and therefore I'd be missing the opening night of Indiana Jones (daaAAAAaang). I did better that night, felt more comfortable. It's way more hectic than security, which is a good thing, as two hours can pass without even noticing it when it gets busy. It'll be a hard-working, short-staffed summer, but I hope to be serving within a few months. It's all up to me. And them, part of it is up to them.

It's my last Friday at Black Box, tomorrow's my last shift. I shall miss it so. Paladin's treated me well, and the people at Black Box have been great. My Manager said there's always a job for me at Paladin, so I know that, even in my darkest hour, I at least won't be homeless. Not working graveyards has been a great choice, and the hours got worked-around if an audition came-up. I need to keep telling myself that once I reach server at Cactus, I'll be making more money. It's the name of the game.

To bookend on the acting class theme, I finally registered and paid-in-full for a Scene Study Class with one of my favourite VFS instructors, in a class specifically for VFS Alumni. I've wanted to branch-out and try classes with instructors I've never had before, but I know I can still learn a lot from this guy. It's been ten months since I've graduated and taken a real acting course, so this is way overdue. It promises to raise my audition-success quotient by 200%!*





*Results not typical.