UPDATES: CAREER AND OTHERWISE

Back to Burbank for another Audition on 11-29-2011

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:24:43 -0700

As luck would have it, I was able to 5take a 9:30 AM flight to Burbank this time. What this means is that I did not have to get up with the chickens and hustle around to get to the airport extremely early. No this time I had plenty of time.

I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare, went through the ticketing process, then went through the TSA area. This time I was not required to test my fingers for whatever it is that they test fingers for.

My flight was scheduled to depart at 9:05 AM. It did. While waiting for the boarding process, I sat amongst about five uniformed American soldiers. They were all busy with various projects, from reading a newspaper to speaking to someone on their cell phones. Shortly an employee from SWA came by and shook hands with and thanked each of the soldiers for serving this great country of ours. Very nice move - I thought.

Shortly after that, our flight was called, and we all boarded. There were lots of empty seats, so I chose one near the rear of the plane. I sat down, pulled out my novel, and began reading. After take-off, I read for a while until I became sleepy and dropped off for a short nap. Almost immediately, it seemed, the pilot was announcing our descent into Sky Harbor International Air Port in Phoenix. The landing was near perfect.

(More to follow.)

New Chicago audition for new Reality TV Program 11 16 11

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:03:07 -0700

Fortunately for me, on Saturday, November 12, I was notified by Actor's Access that I had been selected to audition for a new Reality TV movie. The audition was to be held in Chicago, Ill. I made all the arrangements to fly to Chicago, and, as it happened, I was able to fly to Chicago and back all in one day! It was quite an experience.

On Tuesday morning, Nov. 15, I awoke around four A.M. and prepared to head out on my exciting journey. All journeys to auditions are exciting, regardless where they are conducted. I left the house around four forty five, and got to the Park and Shuttle lot, that's where I always leave my vehicle. A van was all ready to take me to the Airport.

I'm going to guess that it was around five thirty when we arrived at the airport. I went inside and approached the ticket counter. The lady looked at my resevation and commented,
"Wow! You're in for a long day!" She processed my paperwork and sent me on my way telling me to go to gate A7 to get my ticket and board my flight. (I always fly stand-by.)

When I walked up to the counter at gate A7, the lady told me that I was lucky because there were many seats available from Albuquerque to Chicago on the 6:20 AM flight. We exchanged the usual amenities and she gave me my boarding pass. I went upstairs, got some cash from the ATM and headed for the security area to be tested for my air worthiness. It went fairly smoothly, and I was on my way to gate 7.

The lady at gate 11 was very friendly, gave my boarding pass, and told me it would be a few minutes before boarding time. I thanked her and proceeded to a Fast Food and got myself a Sausage and Egg biscuit. I took the sandwich and went back to the waiting area. I had only been back a few moments when they announced the loading of the Chicago flight.

Still at it!

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 08:55:44 -0700

On Thursday morning last week, I flew to Los Angeles to film another domestic production, this one for a diabetic pharmaceutical company. It was a fun experience. The director, Oscar, was a really neat guy. He was understanding and very cooperative with me, as was I with him.

I left my hotel in at two PM, thinking that that should givce me plenty of time to arrive for my scheduled 4:45 PM shoot. Initially, the timing worked out fairly well, but then, after about fifteen minutes, the traffic began backing up tremendously. I and the rest of the residents of Los Angeles began crawling down the freeway. I mean, we were moving inches at a time. One nice thing about it was that everyone was very calm and placid as we all moved to our personaldestinations. I enjoyed the ride immensely until the time approached three thirty, and I was nowhere near my destination. I finally had to have a talk with myself and tell me to just relax. there was swtill plenty of time, and i was moving along fairly steadily.

Then I realized that I had heard nothing from my GPS for several minutes, and began wondering if it were still functioning properly. I began thinking that it seemed that I had already traveled further than the announced time on the GPS when I left my motel, so I decided to pull off the freeway and check-out my location.

I pulled over to the right, and crawled off the freeway. I drove about four or five blocks before I found a place I could get off the street, and just as I pulled over, the lady on the GPS said, "Refiguring route!: Or whatever it is that they say when I goof up while driving. So, I immediately realized that I had no choice but to return to the freeway and continue on my fretful way.

Ultimately I managed to squeezed my way back upon the freeway and the lady on the GPS told me, "Atta Boy!"

By then, it was probably about four PM, and I was squirming a little. So I gave myself another pep talk, telling me to relax, I still had plenty of time to make it to the shoot on time.

I crawled along a little further, and by about four fifteen, I realized that I was very close to my destination. I was elated. I pulled into the parking garage where the shoot was to be held at four thirty PM on the dot! Lucky me!

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:54:00 -0700

Semi-Biannual Update

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 07:52:30 -0700

Well, obviously it has been a while since I approached this magnificent web site. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's like this. I have been sort of disilusioned by the multitudinous array of "experts" who have climbed out of the woodwork to take advantage of the influx of movie making in the state of New Mexico to reap huge monetary rewards through "tutoring" aspiring actors from the Land of Enchantment. Interestingly enough, damned few of those of us who have trusted our dollars to their industry "expertise" have moved ahead in the world of acting. Perhaps a few have been assigned to minor acting roles - one or two lines - but not one that I know of has become successful in gaining meaningful employment in the field of acting.

So, I have decided to let the chips fall as they may, and rely heavily upon my agent and my own ingenuity to get myself moving in this terrific business.

Meanwhile, I have been spending a lot of my time traveling around these great United States, observing how my fellow Americans are living and enjoying their lives. I have learned that New York City and Chicago in particular are two magnificent cities. I love going to both places, and can hardly wait to return to either of them. I have visited Branson, Missouri, and have found that town to be somewhat "tinseltown"-like. It is an entertainment giant, with performers and wannabees at just about every restaurant in town. Unfortunately for them, just like the lack of fortune for us here in New Mexico who aspire to excel in the entertainment industry, the performers in Branson perform mostly for tips. But I guess even that is better than not performing at all.

Anyway, I have just returned from Virginia where I visited an old and dear friend of mine whom I served with in the US Navy back in the sixties. He and his wife have become family to me and my wife. We so much enjoy being with them. It is always a laugh a minute when we are around them.

While we visited Roanoke, Virginia, I found an old friend or mine, actually she was a student of mine when I was student teaching at Andrew Lewis High School in Salem, Virginia, back in the early seventies. It was a real thrill speaking with her on the phone and making contact again after so long a separation. When she was a student at ALHS, she was a funny, funny young lady. Turns out she still is. She really makes me laugh.

I also enjoy taking photos of just about everything I see, but particularly people, when I am traveling. The problem with that is that I use a digital camera, and I always take far too many photos, and my collection is already almost unmanageable. But I love doing it, and I shall continue.

Recently I landed at La Guardia Airport in New York City, and was walking down one of the passageways thinking to myself what a wonderful place New York City is. I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to La Guardia", so I stopped and took a picture. A security guard was walking along the passageway toward me, and I just knew he was going to say something to me about taking the photo. He was walking along with a delightful young lady and I knew he was going to impress her by exerting his authority. So, after walking past me with the lady at his side, he turned around, approached me boldly and asked the following brilliant questioin, since I was pointing the camera, and the flash was firing, "Are you taking pictures?"

"Yes." I responded.

"What are you taking pictures of?" he demanded.

"I was taking a picture of the 'Welcome to Laguardia" sign." I lied.

"Well, you had better not be taking photos of the Logos!" he demanded.

Not fully understanding to what he was referring, I assured him I wouldn't. So, I now have a photo of this turd and his prey and he doesn't even know. Or maybe he does. Perhaps he was merely flexing his muscles to impress the young lady. He did not impress me.

Later I met my son in downtown New York, and we had a couple of beers together. He is quite a character, my son. He is retired from the Albuquerque Police Department, and is now free to travel as he chooses. This time he chose to travel with me.

We were in New York because he had won two tickets to go see the live broadcasting of Saturday Night Live. It was a real gem of an experience. We spent Saturday walking around the Times Square area, generally having a great time. We even went to the top of the Rock. What a view from there. Photos are included in the photo section of this site. Later we went to the broadcast, and as we waited in line, we saw Kiki Barber walk past our group. When we got inside the theater, we got fairly good seats and immensely enjoyed the broadcast hosted by Bon Jovi. At the end of the broadcast, Jack Nicholson came to the stage. What a thrill that was.

The next day we returned to Albuquerque with lots of warm fuzzy memories of our trip to New York. We also had a few souvenirs for those who did not get to participate in the experience.

From The Studio of the Moving Dock Theatre Company

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:43:48 -0700

The Studio of The Moving Dock Theatre Company
The Chicago Studio Specializing in the
Michael Chekhov Acting Technique
Fall Workshops

“The beauty of his approach is that he offers a direct route to the actor’s
creativity by the simplest means.” Simon Callow in his forward to Chekhov’s
book, To The Actor.

Weekly Workshops – Six-Week Sessions
Wednesdays, September 12 - October 17    7-9:30 PM
Tuesdays, November 6 - December 11      7-9:30 PM

Weekly focus on your acting, working with essential elements of the actor’s
body, the qualities, action, and gestures. Actors new to the Chekhov Technique
learn how it works while actors continuing their study hone their skills and
deepen their awareness. Actors will work on characters they want to develop as
we explore the many tools Chekhov designed for characterization.

For many actors, Michael Chekhov’s approach to the actor’s art is a
revelation. It validates their natural instinct towards their own creativity, gives
them practical tools for the realization of their abilities, and presents an
approach that serves them well in workshop and rehearsal.

What is it like to take a Chekhov workshop? You are on your feet, exploring
your mind/body connections and tapping your imaginations. You are in process,
guided by the directions of the teacher. Only in this way can an actor
understand acting. You are not asked to perform, you are asked to act on the impulses
of the points of focus that are the elements of the technique, learning how to
be aware of the energies that make up human experience. Very soon, these
essential elements seem to become for you character choices and actions.

Fee: $225

Weekend Intensive Workshops
September 29&30
November 10&11
December 8&9

Saturday and Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm

The basic concepts of the Chekhov Technique are explored in these two-day
intensives. We start by working with Chekhov’s ideas on preparing the actor’s
body and awareness and then continue to develop the actor’s creative process –
the tools for characterization such as Qualities, Centers, Imaginary Body, and
the Psychological Gesture. Each actor works on a character of his/her
choice. All the explorations are done in an ensemble environment, supporting the
individual actor’s explorations in a way that moves easily to interaction,
demonstrating Chekhov’s ideas on rehearsing. Actors new to the Chekhov Technique
are welcome as are those continuing their work on the art of the actor.

Fee: $200

Individual Coaching

Individualized attention on character development or audition monologues.
Fee: $35 per hour session

The Studio of The Moving Dock
Fine Arts    Building 410 S. Michigan Ave. | Suite 720 | Chicago IL 60605 |
312.427.5490 | www.movingdock.org | classes@movingdock.org

Instructor for the Workshop -

Dawn Arnold is an actress, director, and teacher of theatre. She is the
founder and Artistic Director of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, which is
dedicated to the actor’s creative process, bringing the ideals and techniques of
Michael Chekhov into their ensemble-creating. With The Moving Dock she has
directed/devised Einstein’s Dreams, Celestial Mechanics - or the Questionable
Attraction of Entities, Savage/Love, Galway Bay, Ocean Sea and The Quiltmaker’s Gift.
Prior to devoting all her time to The Moving Dock, she was on the faculty of
Roosevelt University's Theatre Conservatory for eleven years. She is now a
Certified Master Teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique. She teaches workshops
in the Chekhov Technique in the Studio of The Moving Dock Theatre Company, with
the Michael Chekhov Association, and for colleges and theatre companies.

The Moving Dock Theatre Company’s Studio is in the historic landmark Fine
Arts Building on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. Two blocks south of The Art
Institute and just across from the famous Buckingham Fountain, this area is
convenient, safe, and right in the middle of Chicago life.

There are many hotels in the area. Use The Art Institute as a reference point
for distance. There is also Hostelling International Chicago a few blocks
away and we have an agreement with Roosevelt University’s dormitory.

Continue reading "From The Studio of the Moving Dock Theatre Company"

Comins and goins

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:06:24 -0700

Day ta day
Well, so far this has been a very interesting week. It actually started off with a real bummer of a "Actor Training" sessioin this past weekend. The "workshop" given by some total stranger who is home-based in Denver, charged the attendees $300 for a two day diatribe on how wonderful she is, how many directors are clamoring to get her into their photos, and also hundreds of folks are bombarding her with requests to tape "Inspirational Tapes" because she has such a "soothing" voice. Basically, that was pretty much what the "workshop" was about. I have now learned a very valuable lesson. Don't sign up to learn from folks about whom you know very little or nothing.

Funny thing is, though, since the movie business is expanding here in New Mexico, "Acting Teachers, Coaches, Mentors, Trainers, Guides, etcetera, have been oozing out of the wookwork. One "Trainer" started off a program by annuncing that they had a degree in engineering from MIT. As time passed, and she began getting more and more students, the degree became a degree in acting from Harvard or some such backwoods school.

So, I suspect that those of us aspiring to "make-it" as actors here in New Mexico are going to have to be far more cautious with whom we place our dollar bills.

As for me, I have attended a training class in Los Angeles taught by Bob Fraser which I felt was a most valuable experience. His course is entitled, You Must Act. And you can contact him through You Must Act.com. If that is not correct, contact me, and I'll get the correct address for you.

Another really good trainer here in Albuquerque is Steve Willmon. He has a studio on Morningside NE, and his classes are very actor centered. In lieu of sitting, listening to some alleged Instructor go on and on about the same stuff you can easily read in just about any book on acting, Steve brings his students together in front of a camera during each class. Later we get a chance to observe the film and hear valuable advice from both him and students about the performances. I find that style far more valuable to me than sitting listening to an instructor tell how great they are, or listening to an instructor giving pin-point instructions to another student.

So, from this point forward, by training will be from Steve Willmon. Check him out if you are interested.

On Monday, I had an audition that I completely blew because of the stressful experience I had over the weekend. So, I just hope that I can contnue to get more chances to audition, because, I AM NOT DONE YET!

Aside from those minor problems, my life is going quite nicely. My "Real" friends are keeping in touch and are very supportive, and that is very important to me. I appreciate all of you.

Oh, did I mention that I have a new cat? Yeah, my daughter and her family moved in with us for a while, and when she left, she conveniently forgot her cat
"Angel" who is now my cat! I'll try to remember to post a photo of her in a day or so. She is a very arrogant self centered egoistic creature. (Kinda like the instructor I had this past weekend!

Well, as they say, bye, bye. Email me. Call me. Love me. But don't abandon me.

Gary

On the set of Tennessee

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 10:01:08 -0700

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How to Get Arrested - Michael J. Wallach

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:15:01 -0700

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Your Most Important Role Is - Bob Fraser

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 09:18:02 -0700

Everything happens for the best?

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 10:17:09 -0700

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New experiences

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:01:14 -0700

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Thank you for visiting my new Site!

nospam@example.com (Gary S. Dannenbaum) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:06:00 -0700

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