Good thing it's a leap year...this February has been jam-packed!

Sorry I've left the blog for several weeks. Here's what's been going on:

"TEENAGE JONNY QUEST IN TOKYO"
The play is going full steam forward. Despite some early disappointments--several actors did not accept their roles once the time commitment was more fully understood, some were dismissed for absences--the cast is now completely off-book (not bad for a month and a half from opening!), will soon complete their second movement/dance workshop, and has just begun Aikido training with Sensei Eric Harrell.

"SYLVIA" and "THE SEAGULL"
Recent Greenville-area plays have been less than impressive. To be honest, I found SYLVIA at CentreStage and THE SEAGULL at The Warehouse to be a bit of a bore. Though both productions had fine casts and some outstanding performances, neither show gave me much to think or talk about after...except to muse about why I left so unmoved. Ultimately, I decided that SYLVIA was a story over-populated with characters I cared little about, and THE SEAGULL felt suffocated by an overly-ambitious directorial vision.

"TO MY GREAT CHAGRIN"
Felt proud to attend the New York City premier of my friends Jeff Sumerel and Jeter Rhodes', documentary feature film about influential performance artist Brother Theodore. Playwright and actor Eric Bogosian, legendary TV talk show host Dick Cavett, and SNL short film auteur, Tom Schiller were in attendance for the screening which took place at the world-famous Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Midtown Manhattan. Jeff and Jeter plan to screen the film for Film Criticism students next month!

"FEURZABRUTA"
The best theatre experience I have had since this Argentinian company's last show, "DE LA GUARDA." Still, the most visceral, emotionally riveting...inspiring theatre in the world as far as I am concerned.

"WAIT UNTIL DARK"
This is the real reason I've not been writing on the blog: too busy preparing for my annual foray into live theatre acting. The WAIT is over when the show opens next week at Greenville's CentreStage for a three week run. A true-crime thriller with a cast of colorful character actors (Mann grad and Greenville stage legend, J. MICHAEL CRAIG, Long John Rhydwyn, Jeter Rhodes, and Mann Social Studies teacher, PAUL CALVIN), this is a show no Mann Show member will want to miss! Mann show plans to attend a performance en masse, Friday, March 7.

"SLINGS & ARROWS" Season 3
In the middle of the third and final season on the best television show ever. SLINGS is a Canadian-made comedy series about a Shakespearian theatre company. It will make you laugh, cry and figure out what's so great about The Bard.

MANN SHOW February

2/4 Film Criticism: CASABLANCA (1942)

2/4 MANN SHOW Leadership Meeting

2/6 MANN SHOW Membership Meeting

2/11 Film Criticism: SUNRISE (1927)

2/19 Film Criticism: CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981)

2/25 Film Criticism: THE KING OF KONG A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS (2007)

3/7 “Wait Until Dark” STARRING COACH WHITE! @ CentreStage

I am both.

How is it I can like SINGIN' IN THE RAIN so much and also like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN?

Or, why do I still love HALL AND OATES, when I've experienced R.E.M., U2, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS...RADIOHEAD?

I love my iPod, but I crave more silence. I can't wait to start a new book, but sometimes crack TV (for me, talking head news programs) keeps me entertained for hours.

I like listening to THIS AMERICAN LIFE as much as I like listening to idiots on a local call-in show.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Or...what is right with me?

How about you? Do you have schizophrenic taste, too? Or are you totally consistent? What is your most embarassing guilty pleasure?

Just what kind of person likes CARRIE UNDERWOOD and TOM WAITS? Are we sick?

REHEARSAL CANCELLED.

Instead, we'll block section A on Saturday morning, 9 AM - Noon at the school. We'll see all BLOCK A actors, then.

(Have fun in the snow, kids.)

TEENAGE JONNY QUEST IN TOKYO: The Company

CAST
JONNY KNOX WHITE
SONY JOCELIN LEHNER
HADJI ROHAIL RK
BANDIT JAY BRIDGEMAN
DR. QUEST ROSS OVINGTON
RACE MIKE REAL
JADE ASHLEY BROWN
DIGGY EVAN PIERCE
DR. ZIN SEBASTIAN GRIER
FRIGHT THEO GASH
SPIN BLAKE BOWEN
JEX ALEX HOUMANN
SYLVIA EMMY TRAN
MUSEUM GUIDE GABRIELLE HAMMOND
JAPANESE SCHOOL GIRLS (*SPEAKS) KAE BENTON, MARY DO, PAYLEEYA, NICOLE SCHMIDT*
BARTENDER PAULEY FRANCISCO
VENDOR SID HALTIWANGER
CAT GRACE MUSSER
SECURITY 1 (ALSO, VIDEO MANIMAL) JUSTIN SEAY
SECURITY 2 DANIELLE GIANAKIS
ROBOGUARD 1 TANYA ANWER
ROBOGUARD 2 TARYN MILLER
JAPANESE CHEF MASON KAZER
THE GORE MARLI ANDERS, MARTAKIUS DENNIS, CALVIN HOOD III, JUSTIN SEAY
VOICE IN ZIN’S LAIR BRIDGET CATE
NINJAS JOHN AWADALLA, DANIELLE GIANAKIS, GABRIELLE HAMMOND, SID HALTIWANGER, MASON KAZER, NICOLE SCHMIDT, MICHELLE SLAYTON
KABUKI PLAYERS BERYL CALHOUN, BRIDGET CATE, REID COX, CALEY DEGROOTE, KIERSTY DEGROOTE, RACHEL EVERS, SCARLET WALKER

CREW
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ROSS OVINGTON
STAGE MANAGER BROOKE ALBERSON
SPECIAL ASSISTANTS TO THE S.M. CHRIS ABEL, JUSTIN SEAY
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER KALYNN HIX
ASSISTANT PRODUCER BRANDON BROWN
MASTER CARPENTER JAY BRIDGEMAN
VIDEO DIRECTOR LUKE DOUGLASS
COSTUME & MAKEUP DESIGNER NOELLE LAI
TECHINAL DIRECTOR PHILLIP CALVIN
ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR CAMERON FLIETZ
SET DESIGN ROSS OVINGTON, MOOSE VONWALTER
ASSISTANT VIDEO DIRECTOR MASON KAZER
COSTUME & MAKEUP ASSISTANTS LOREN BRIDGES, MARY DO, DANIELLE GIANAKIS, TARYN MILLER, NICOLE SCHMIDT
TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS NEAL GARNER, CORAL GERE, CASEY REALMUTO, SHELBY STECK
SPECIAL PUPPET EFFECTS ROSS OVINGTON, ADAM SILER, MOOSE VONWALTER
SPECIAL CREATURE EFECTS AND MAKEUP MASON KAZER, ROSS OVINGTON, ADAM SILER, MOOSE VONWALTER
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS TANYA ANWER, KAE BENTON, BERYL CALHOUN, HEATHER DOYLE, ALEX HOUMANN, PALYEEA, MATTHEW RIDDLE, EMMY TRAN, CASEY WILSON
MARKETING TEAM ERIKA SPINELLI & JIM HARRIS, MELISSA BJERKE, REID COX, MASON KAZER, LILLIE MINOR, KNOX WHITE
HOUSE MANAGERS REID COX, LILLIE MINOR
FACULTY SPONSORS PAUL CALVIN, JOSH EVERSOLE, STEVE GARNER

Almost Cast

Mann...this is hard.

I've got two days before I announce the cast for TEENAGE JONNY QUEST IN TOKYO, and I'm not even close to being finished.

Monday afternoon, I see about 20 auditionees again, but some of the ones I've not called back are still likely to be cast in the show. At least a third of those I've called back will probably not be cast in the play.

Just in case you're wondering, my goal in casting any show is 1) match the right actors with the right parts, 2) put together the best team of actors possible, and 3) find the ideal mix of seasoned veterans and rookies. As always, I am willing to discuss my reasoning with actors not cast any time they want to.

Just know this: this year's crop of 59 auditionees was probably the largest and most talented group of actors auditioning for a play at J.L. Mann in a decade or more. It will be a real challenge to find the top 25-30.

HAPPY NEW YEAR MANN SHOW 2008!

1/3-4 FILM CRITICISM: The General (1927)

1/7 MANN SHOW Leadership Meeting after school in 344

1/7-9 FILM CRITICISM: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

1/8 AUDITIONS: Teenage Jonny Quest in Tokyo, 4-6 PM in 344 (MANN SHOW members only).

1/9 MANN SHOW Membership Meeting after school in the Auditorium. AUDITIONS: Teenage Jonny Quest in Tokyo, 6-8 PM in 344 (MANN SHOW members only).

1/10 AUDITIONS: Teenage Jonny Quest in Tokyo, 4-8 PM in 344 (all J.L. Mann students and faculty welcome).

1/14 CALL BACK AUDITIONS: Teenage Jonny Quest in Tokyo, 4-6 PM in the Auditorium.

1/15 CAST LIST POSTED: Teenage Jonny Quest in Tokyo

1/15-17 FILM CRITICISM: Singin’ In the Rain (1952)

1/20 “SYLVIA” at CentreStage, 3 PM

1/22-25 FILM CRITICISM: La Strada (1954)

1/28-30 FILM CRITICISM: Spirited Away (2002, Directed by Hayao Miyazaki)