I was at the center of the
universe yesterday. Or at least my own little corner of the center
of the universe. I guess that puts me at the slightly off center
of the universe. Yes, I like that better, much more in keeping with
my new the world is not such an evil place attitude. Getting away
from the geography of the situation and getting to the meat of the matter,
I think I saw nearly one or more persons from every aspect of my life for
the last 10 years, yesterday morning.
It all started on Monday
morning. I was meeting up with my friend Eric Schoen at his place
in Dupont. We were heading over to the Source Theatre to sign up for the
League of Washington Theatre auditions. Now auditions maybe understating
this event by calling it an audition. Understating because it is
in fact a Super-Mega-Audition. You audition
for every Theatre Casting Director, Talent Agent, and Porn Director in
this little Berg. And you have exactly 90 seconds to make, for good
or bad, an impression. These auditors get to watch you and the other 700
plus people who think that acting is actually a way to make a living, pour
their souls out. Or at least as much of their soul as they can get
out in a minute and a half. And these actors stand there and whine about
things. Things like "I never told myfather that I loved him" or "I
was touched in an odd place when I went to the movies at age thirteen"
or "I really want that can of tuna fish."
I got to Source with
Eric at 9:00 a.m. An hour before the actual sign-up was to begin.
And there are already a million actors standing in line. Well actually,
more like a hundred, but that is way more actors than I am willing to deal
with first thing Monday morning. And so we have to walk past all
of them. There was Kosha Engler, who I had directed at Potomac's
one act festival, and she says hello. I think "Well that's good at
least she is still talking to me, that's a good sign." Then there
is Grady Weatherford, who I was on Tour 49 with, sitting in a lawn chair
supplied by Paul Mainard, who worked on The Replacements as an extra
with me last year. He was a video guy. I had thought
I might see one or two people that I knew, so every thing was fine.
Then the gates opened up and the actors from Scott's past just started
appearing like some sort of demented curtain call.
There was Patrick Bussink
from Tour 50 and then Elizabeth Richard from Richard III.
Then blamo, Norm Seltzer the guy who directed me in The Foreigner
and now in The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Then it was just boom, Tim
King and John Benoit from Nutcracker. And then bang, September
Merkle from Richard III. And that girl Bethany from that play I
did at Axis four years ago. And Steve Sawicki the old company manager
from Players. Then I finally got to go inside to register for me
and my friend Colleen Berry.
There was Marianne and
as I am leaving Daryl Lazapone walks out of the bathroom, both from the
Nutcracker. I am leaving now and think the whole thing is finally
over and I see Michelle Morocco standing up against the wall, looking particularly
fine, she was in the show I directed with Kosha. And then Eric says
to me I don't think there was a single person who didn't run up and kiss
you and hug you. I said only you bubby and I hugged him as I ran
down the street.
I suppose the whole point
of this story is simple; where do all these fricken people come from?
In this life we seem to gather people to us like tails on a kite.
They trail off behind us and unless we see them every so often we tend
to forget how important they were to us for a time. And how fickle
we are about who we actually try to hold onto.