Break a Leg

Hey, guys --

TV Week is writing an article about the top web video creators, here's what they say:

Who are the top Web video creators? Tell us!

We are working on a feature story for mid-September listing and profiling the top Web video creators. We want to focus on creators, on-air and behind the scenes, for scripted entertainment content. Who is the best? Who should be on this list? Tell us what you think? Write in with a comment.

I think the answer is pretty clear, don't you? Arrested Development! Wait, no... I meant us.

It's us! It's us! And if you agree with me (oh I hope you do!) go to the TV Week website and let your voice be heard -- after all, we got friggin' Timmy from LASSIE!

Thanks, guys! Hope you're enjoying the episodes!

-Yuri

Yo everyone, Dashiell here.  As you hopefully have seen by now, our newest release is up, titled "The new Child Actor's Guild!" am I supposed to use quotes for that? Yuri? I no good at grammar :0(.

The latest vid is a production straight from Jimmy Scotch and his band of child and ex-child revolutionaries bravely moving forward to change CAG for the better and overthrow the vile evil kitten-hating Adult-Size Gary Coleman.

I actually wasn't present for most of the shooting of this video, I was there for the scenes with Brian Forster and Jon Provost, who if you're wondering are in fact themselves, just like Gary Coleman is (himself that is).  He was reluctant at first to take part, since he was still in recovery from his adult surgery (I understand it has a fairly long recovery time).  After that I had a bachelor party to attend, so I wasn't there for the remainder of the filming.  By the way, I'm running on about 2 hours of sleep and still somewhat recovering from previously mentioned Bachelor party, so if I'm rambling a bit, I think I have a fair excuse.  Watchmen is a seriously amazing comic, anyone and everyone should read it.  Anyhoo, apparently I missed the fun, including a bonked noggin incident.  Which hopefully won't lose us our budding new star Ronin.   Drew apparently handled it quite while, even going so far as to test the damage of the bonking exclaiming "oh, yeah that actually does kinda hurt".  Ronin, when asked how he felt about filming with us and his old man, simply exclaimed "owie".  I can relate.

Keep in mind I got all this information second hand, so this whole blog could be just one big lie.  Except for our video being out.  It is, so you know, go check it out! And as always we greatly appreciate any and all support.  So spread the word, rate and comment on YouTube, mail us your lunch money, and put posters of me up in your room (10 bucks a pop, I also do calenders).

Thanks and I hope you like it!

-Dashiell

Well, it's been busy week all around.  New people coming into existence, people celebrating another complete circuit of the sun, the release of the hilarious Episode 14, and a sudden, unexpected fascination with burritos. 

Though I will admit that burritos ARE tasty.  Did you know that "burrito" means "little donkey"?  Hope I didn't just ruin the experience for anybody.

Anyway, the pirate version of Taming of the Shrew that I've been babbling about for months finally opened this weekend.  For the most part, everything went swimmingly...hmm, perhaps that's not the best term to use when talking about pirates.  People loved the show.  People have called us a dream cast (not the video game system, but a talented assembly of actors).  The park has been full almost every night, and even when it wasn't we were given standing ovations.

There were a couple hitches, though.

One of the actors had some personal emergency, so two hours before opening night, the director had to find a replacement.  The producing director of the company went on stage that night with book in hand.  The next night he went up with the part fully memorized.  This is not the first time I've seen this guy do this.

- A couple years I was doing a show with this company called The Fourth Wall.  There are only 4 people in that show: two men and two women.  After the 1st rehearsal the director had to drop out because his wife had cancer.  It took two weeks to find a replacement director.  During that 2 weeks one of the female actors dropped out for whatever reason.  So we had to replace her as well.  THEN, 1 week before we opened the other male actor still couldn't learn his lines.  It turned out he had a brain tumor.  So the Producing Director (Scott) learned the part in a week. Pretty impressive. -

So, everything was going well, the audience was loving the show, I got to sing pirate songs to a group of people who had, by and large, never heard them before and laughed at all the funny bits.  A bunch of my pirate friends came and saw the show in full pirate garb.  They dranka lot and had a lot of fun, as pirates do.  Because of this, the director said they could come back any time and see the show for free as long as they came in garb, got drunk, and had too much fun.  Which is how we always roll, so no problem there.

Then, Sunday night, just as we finished the 1st scene of the 2nd act, the lights went out.  Probably some bad wiring because they could get the lights to flicker, but not stay on for more than a few seconds.  And what did we do?  Well, as they say: the show must go on.  There was some meager lighting from the park lamps, some of the lights backstage werre still working, and one of the volunteers went to the back of the lawn and stood there with a flashlight for the rest of the show.  As I mentioned, the tech crew was trying to fix the main lights, which would flicker now and then, so we had a sort of strobe effect, but only if the strobe machine was being run by an epilecptic cat with no rhythm and a serious case of the trots.

But the audience hung in there, and yelled "Yarrr!" in all the appropriate places.

That's one of the things about live theater that is so unlike film: in film when you're watching it, if you haven't seen it before everything is new and hopefully exciting.  Then, when you watch it again, it's the same.  With live theater, every night is new for both the audience and the actor's and we all have to find ways to deal with whatever goes on.  You know that tingle of excitement you get every Monday morning when you log onto this site to see the new Episode?  Well, take that excitement, multiply it by 10, then add that same amount of knee-trembling, bladder-squeazing fear and give it to about 300 people and squeaze them all onto a small lawn.  Because it really is a shared experience between the actors and the audience, and if the actors are doing their jobs right, then the audience is right there with them, sharin whatever it is they're going through.  And at the end everybody feels like they just survived something.  It's powerful stuff.  The stuff that dreams are made off.

Happy Jenday!

I've always wanted to use this blog not only for Break a Leg matters but for matters that revolve around the people who we love, who take part in the show, who are talented beyond all measure and who deserve to get various kinds of recognition, like Oscars and Happy Birthday blogs from me.

So, that said -- I want to wish Daniela DiIorio -- our very own Francesca Scala -- a very, very happy 25th birthday (oh that's right, we're all very young -- aside from Old Man Drew and Old Man Vlad)!!

Daniela (and actually Dustin [Mint]) was in the second play I've ever written, a one-act called Courting 101. We had been friends in our acting class then and decided, on a whim, to perform this play. I didn't bother auditioning her -- something I rarely do -- because, aside from the fact that we had two weeks to put up the show, I also could tell the amount of talent she had in her little firecracker body.

And I was right!

The show was a big success in our college and was eventually published. Daniela went on to work with me in pretty much every thing I've ever put up (and even a few things I didn't). She's a phenomenal actress, and is as ready to cry and show emotion as she is to throw on mime make-up and look ridiculous in the middle of a very, very populated area. She has the ability to give an honesty to every role she plays and she's able to do it while being funny and charming -- and that, by the way, is very, very hard.

Aside from her massive talent, she's also a supremely good person. Generous, insanely empathetic and Italian to the very core of her being, she's passionate just about everything (wine, theater, fashion, laughter -- you name it) and cares deeply about everyone. To work with, she's a joy and will trek out to a cowboy town to do one scene while having a full-time job and finals at her University the following week. That, by the way, is also very, very hard.

Not only do I love her, but everyone who's ever met her loves her too -- she's that kind of person. The kind of person you'll be friends with your entire life.

Unless your soccer team just beat Italy, in that case, you are and will forever will be her eternal enemy.

So, in short -- have a Happy, Happy Birthday, Daniela! We all love you dearly!

-Yuri