Fully Committed at The Aurora Fox

So last Sunday I got the chance to see Fully Committed at the Aurora Fox, which, I have to say, is possibly the funniest play I’ve ever seen. It’s definitely the funniest play I’ve seen this year, that is certain. If you get the chance to catch it, do! You will not regret it.

The play is about Sam, and out of work Midwest actor trying to find his break in New York City. To make money he works the reservations line at a “four star, multiple award-winning, ridiculously expensive, trendy, Upper East Side Manhattan restaurant”, according to the playbill. It’s normally manned by three people, but his two co-works are out (one because his car has stalled out on the LIE and one because she recently learned her father has Lyme disease). So poor Sam is stuck alone, manning the line all by himself. At Christmas. And the restaurant is booked through February.

Sam has to deal with several customers, an unhelpful staff and a demanding and egotistical chef.

The play has 40 characters, and just one actor, the very talented Steven Burge. A show like this is always an enormous undertaking, and it’s always great to see someone take it on so well. There are 40 very distinct characters and all are brilliantly acted by Steven. I couldn’t take my eyes off him the whole night. Each character has its own distinct voice, body language and aura, I nearly forgot that the whole play was just that one actor.

As the dorky theatre vixen I am, I have incredible respect for Steven in taking on this role, but I also have a crazy amount of respect for director Terry Dodd. When I was reading this play I couldn’t for the life of me, figure out how to direct it. I’ve directed large casts, small casts, but a cast of one? One man who does 40 characters? I was stumped. I felt like every idea I had felt phony and staged. Terry Dodd’s direction is neither of those things. The play felt honest and natural, each character was distinct and alive. It was intriguing to watch.

The other element of the play that I really loved was the sound, by El Armstrong. The opening music to the show sets the mood for the entire play. It almost makes the play seem like a movie or a TV show, which adds a great contrast to the intimate 72 seat theater the show is playing in. It makes the experience unique.

I can’t even begin to think of an element I didn’t like. The show was great all around, and I had so much fun seeing it. Anyone who has ever worked in the food industry, especially around Christmas, can easily relate to the show. Heck, anyone who’s experienced Christmas can relate to the show.

A word of warning though, get your tickets soon. The word is out on this show and tickets are selling fast. I have been assured that there are several left, but that shows are selling quickly. For tickets you can call 303-739-1970 or go to www.aurorafox.org. Tell them the Lobby Vixen sent you, and you can get a free concessions item (Try Sam’s White Christmas Dream!! It’s dreamy!!). Hurry the show closes December 20th!

The Holiday Season=Chaos

Oh dear readers, the holiday season is always chaotic in the theatre world. It's chaotic in general, but add on holiday shows and holiday audiences, and the chaos is intensified!

That has been the major reason for my absence. Truthfully, no matter how many times I do it, it takes a bit of adjustment. Now things are settling slightly into a pattern and I can go back to doing what I do best.

So stick around faithful reader, I will have some lovely new posts soon. I saw two shows this past week so I have plenty to talk about as well!! Until then, Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

The Theatre is Magic-Opening Nights!

So I might as well just come out with it. Your dear Vixen is delightfully dorky? Want proof? I'm about to quote Doctor Who. "Oh, yeah, but the theatre’s magic, isn’t it? You should know, stand on this stage, say the right words with the right emphasis at the right time… oh, you can make men weep, or cry with joy. Change them. You can change people’s minds just with words in this place."

It's a brilliant quote!

And so it is that I spent my night at the Aurora Fox for the opening night of Fully Committed. This is by far one of my favorite theatres, and this has become one of my favorite plays. Now though I didn't partake in actually seeing the show tonight (I am waiting to see the benefit industry night performance on Monday), I did get a great big dose of an opening night atmosphere.

It doesn't matter how long I have been in theatre, there is still an insatiable magic about opening night. The nerves. The anxiety. The trepidation. You don't even have to be involved in the show to feel it, the whole theatre seems to buzz with it.

The show had a great opening night! The audience was in love with the play, they had a brilliant reception with some of the best pie I have tasted, and I was drinking those delightful White Christmas Dreams I told you about a couple of posts back. So yummy!

I also found out the neatest thing. Tonight the lead actor of Fully Committed was celebrating his 5th anniversary with his partner, and they had met at the Fox! How romantic is that?

See, theatre is magic!

Too Many Discounts

We've been having a big discussion in our theatre about discounts. When is the best time to use them, when not to use them, are they worth it, are the better ways to go about doing something. So many questions.

Personally I am frustrated by discounts. For some very strange reason, people who use discounts get very entitled. Like we owe them something for some reason because they were special enough to recieve a discount. Why is that? Obviously we've given you a discount, what more do you want.

We've been using one particular coupon where you get $5 off. Now yes, we don't say you get $5 off a regularly priced ticket, I understand that, but you can't use the coupon on a senior or student tickets. Those are already discounted tickets. Basically you are asking for a discount on a discount. And just FYI, the $5 off tickets is cheaper then the student or senior tickets. So take it and enjoy it!

I've never tried to use the two together, I don't understand why you would. I usually just figure out which is the best deal and take it.

Now I understand that economy is bad and times are hard, and if that is your excuse I have one question to ask you. Do you understand that the economy is bad and times are hard? You want to save money and we still have to make it, so shouldn't we meet in the middle? Think about it!

See, now I feel like I am griping too much and boring you with my complaints. So I've decided to offer you a discount. (I know, I know!) I have negotiated a deal with my fellow Lobby Vixen's at the Aurora Fox, where I will be seeing Fully Committed later on this weekend. If you use the code word "Lobby Vixen," you will recieve a free drink from concessions. And that includes anything, water, soda, beer, wine and even their drink special for the show "Sam's White Christmas Dream," which I suggest, I got to taste test it the other night and it really is a dream!

Enjoy!

The Rolodex Everyone Wants

Versatile Vixen needs to remind you that she doesn’t always prowl lobbies. Occasionally I can be found backstage. I had a bit of a fun experience backstage this week and it was so silly that I felt the need to share it.

I had the chance to help out on props for the Aurora Fox’s production of Fully Committed that opens this Friday, November 13. I had showed up to the Aurora Fox for another reason and I was suckered into helping out on props. So I was given a blank rolodex and given the instructions to fill it. With what? How? Oh yes, I really had to sit down and write out several fake names and phone numbers.

I went with themes: Celebs I Find Attractive, Characters From The Office, Actors From The Office, The Beatles, Daily Show Correspondants. But that just didn’t fulfill me. So then I turned to friends names and numbers. So dear friends, those of you who know the Vixen’s true identity, it is very possible that you are permenantly immortalized in the Fully Committed rolodex. Well, at least until the show closes.

And don’t worry, Vixen’s number is hidden in there too!

Audience Differences

Lovely Lady Vixen is always intrigued by audience behavior. I spend a lot of my time watching audiences, and I spend even more thinking about audiences while waiting for a show to get out. Like I said, I'm always prowling.

Our regular audience has their own flow, and I have become very accustomed to it over the past few years. So when we have rental groups coming through, I am always taken by surprise. I’m sure my fellow vixen’s will agree, it can be jarring. The want different things, need different thing, act different, behave different. It’s odd.

Recently I have worked a few very interesting rentals. A few weeks ago I worked a foreign language movie showing, which was interesting because the whole day seemed doomed from the beginning. I arrived at 3:30 to meet the group at 4:00 so they could be ready for their 4:30 showing. Instead, I arrived at 3:30 to meet the group at 4:30, who ended up starting their movie at 5:20.

Rule 1 with Miss Vixen, DON’T BE LATE!! Theatre is a time tabled art, and since I also work part time as a stage manager, time is very important. And late = bad.

Not to mention, 9 times out of 10, if you show up late, it means you are going to stay late, and when you stay late, you are biting into my personal time. So this group doesn’t only start there showing at 5:20, but they also had a second showing at 6:30 that I knew they weren’t going to make. And sure enough, the second showing began at 7:30.

Suddenly the promise that I would be out the door by 9:00 was shattered. Sure enough, I left at 10:00 that night.

The other weird thing was audience behavior. For the most part they were quiet and respectful, which of course normally would please me, and would even make up for the fact that they were late. But there were three gentlemen that decided that a quiet, contemplative Vixen sitting at her desk, needed desperately to be hit on. Badly! One insult my love for my job, the second encourage me to cheat on my significant other and one hit on me after his girlfriend went to the bathroom.

When the end of the night finally came, I was thrilled to be out of there.

Now bad audiences are actually few and far between. I don’t mind the bad ones so much because we always have a really cool one to make up for it. The really cool one, was this past weekend. We had, in our little theatre, a fabulous little old school Vaudeville Melodrama group. It was great! Moustache twirling, hero cheering, and chainsaw juggling! It was fantastic.

The cool part was that their audience was so into it! It helps of course that the group had sponsorship from a local beer manufacturer and they gave said beer away. So the audience was wasted! Truly wasted! One gentleman in particular had to have had 4 or 5 (don’t worry, I checked, he had a DD!) and each time he came back to the bar he would start increasingly more interesting conversations. First about the beer, then the group, the he talked about volunteer work, then Robot Chicken and finally he rounded out at the end of the night with complimenting my hair. He was fun! He also used all his free tickets on beer, then would buy other people, he didn’t know, cookies and candy. I loved him!

The group was into the show, and ended up staying for quite a bit after the show ended. It typically takes me 20 minutes after a shows end to close up, that night I was there for nearly an hour. It’s always a good sign.

My only complaint is with the group itself. Though they were incredibly sweet and lovely people, they were very needy. They must have asked me for at least 5 extra services, which is normally fine, but when asked at inconvenient times in inconvenient ways, it become hectic, and tends to unnerve me. Normally my response would be anger, but these people were so damn nice, I couldn’t be mad at them. So I ended up being frustrated at the fact that I couldn’t even really be mad at them for asking me to do things I should do for them despite the fact that they asked me while I was busy trying to do the best job I could for them. What kind of ridiculous complaint is that? It makes me sound so silly!

It was a fun show! I caught about 50% of it, including the chainsaw juggling (how could you not watch chainsaw juggling?) and I have to say, I wish I had caught the whole show. It was a ton of fun!!

Things are heating up in the theatre world as it is the Christmas season, so stay tuned. I’m sure I’ll have a ton of stories! And video blogs are certainly on their way....

The Best Part of My Job!

And what is the best part of my job? Picking (and testing) the drink specials for each show! And the best time of year to pick drink specials is Christmas. You can have so much fun. We are offering a series of drinks this year, so we all have been plowing through mountains and mountains of recipes.

It's a bit of a science because it can't be difficult to make, we have too little time and too little space. And it has to be yummy! And it has to tie into the show somehow. All the factors have to come out right in the end. I have done things as specific as a Southern Sour (Jack Daniels, SoCo and sprite) and things as common as a Cosmopolitan (cranberry juice, vodka and a spot of vermouth).

This show I am working with the kid and adult friendly hot chocolate. Kids get to enjoy delicious hot chocolate and adults get to enjoy delicious schnapps flavored hot chocolate! Brilliant! So far we have the classic peppermint, cinnamon (which is my favorite), butterscotch (a suggestion from a mammoth) and raspberry. And for an extra added cocktail, one of my darling co-lobby vixens suggested a White Christmas Dream (amaretto, vodka and cream with a dash of nutmeg!). Let's just say it is going to be jolly around here this year.

I'll let you know what makes the final cut. And maybe I'll offer a coupon or two!

Attention Actors: New Rules for Auditions!!

So your favorite, formidable Lobby Vixen doesn't only work shows. I also work auditions, and as auditions are looming in the distance, I want to give my actor friends, and even actor strangers, a few rules on behavior for auditions.

Now, lovely, learned Miss Vixen is an actor herself, though my tendency to audition had dwindled since college. So I know the basic rules of auditions, and I know most of you know the basic rules of auditions, so we are going to bypass those and I am going to give you my extra rules.

It's about behavior!! You would not believe how many actors I get who are so badly behaved. And all the well behaved actors are going to outshine a badly behave actor every time!

First, SHOW UP ON TIME!! I cannot even begin to tell you how many professional actors show up late to auditions. It's damn near ridiculous. Write down your auditions time, than give yourself 15 minutes. You want to show up early because you are bound to have an audition form to fill out, and if I have to wait for you, it just throws everything off.

Remember that you start your audition from the moment you leave your car (or bus, or taxi or subway train, whatever). You should be ready to impress from that moment on. You want us to like you. And once you enter the theatre that is most important. You never know when the person you deal with in the lobby, has pull backstage. For example, some auditions ago, I was working the lobby with the stage manager for the particular show that was auditioning. She had taken a call from a very pushy actress. This actress demanded she be put directly on the call back list. That's like if when asked to interview, you called back and asked if you could bypass that interview and just go to the final interview. Who does that? No one! Why? It’s completely illogical! We checked to see if she knew the director or producer, she, of course, said she did. When we checked with them, we learned it was false. So she remained on the audition list where she was. Then she called claiming that the reason why she needed to be moved directly to the call back list was because she was doing a movie and just simply did not have the time.

Here's the thing actors, if you want the job, you make the time. If you don't have the time, find another job. An actor who can’t make time for an audition, is the sign of an actor who can’t make time for rehearsals. That doesn’t sell you to us. We want people who are reliable.

So this charming actress had been rude on the phone to both me and the stage manager. Not a great start. And we were not having it, but when the actress walked in for her audition, I gave her the benefit of a doubt. I said my normal schpeal in my normal tone, and then informed her, that unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we were running late. She had a cow! She couldn't stay, she was doing a movie!! Again she copped an attitude, and we copped one back. The stage manager laid down the law and stated that that was just the way things were, and she would have to deal.

When the stage manager went into the theatre, she cornered me. "You know I talked to so and so (naming the stage manager by name) to see if I could just go straight to the call back list." So I was forced to inform her that said stage manager was the woman she had just verbally badgered.

To this day, I cannot describe the "oh crap" look on her face. But it was priceless and you bet I enjoyed every last second of it. She knew then, that she had royally screwed up. So to make amends, she jumped on the stage manager immediately as she came back out into the front of house apologizing profusely.

Of course, then I told the stage manager why that had happened. At this point, we opted to discuss her with the director and the producer. They then took time out of what was a VERY BUSY and VERY HECTIC audition schedule to politely tell the woman that that was just not how we worked and that she could stay and audition, but she would have to wait.

She left.

I found out the next day that she wrote a long apology note to the director, via the box office manager. I found it hilarious. To this day, I remember her name, and I will always be wary of her.

Lastly, I want to say, always be auditioning. From the time you make the appointment, straight on through strike, you are auditioning. The house staff, backstage staff, director, producers, designers and other actors may just be the deciding factor on your next job. This brings me to my last story.

For this set of auditions, I got two calls regarding the same thing. Both actors had conflicts and wanted to move their auditions. Actor 1 called and rudely demanded that I talk to the producer to get him on the callback list. I'm sorry, if you want a job, you need to try and get it. I could care less if you get cast, don't ask me to work for you. You get the numbers you need and do the work yourself. Not to mention, everyone heard the story.

Actor 2 called and politely and apologetically asked if there was any way at all I could change his audition. His appointment was moved. Everyone heard this story as well.

In truth, I get asked at almost every audition about how behavior was in the lobby. And you never know when my say is going to count. Even if it doesn't, that shouldn't prohibit you from treating me kindly, or anyone for that matter.

I know it’s a stereotype for actors to be egotistical and demanding, but that doesn't get you cast. Hold your attitude until you start bringing in million dollar paychecks and there are several high profile awards on your resume.

I hope this helps! Break-a-leg!!