Groundbreaking? What ev's.

With all the hoopla over the current non-traditional casting in Arena Stage’s (DC) current production of Oklahoma! (rumored for a possible Broadway transfer no less!!)  I just want to say - we did it first!  Eat that Arena Stage.  Yes, in our 2008 production at CDC Theatre - two years before Arena’s “groundbreaking” casting of a Hispanic Curly and African-American Laurey - we cast Michael Miguel (Filipino) as Will Parker.  We originally even offered the Curly understudy track to an Asian guy. 

So for our production team’s obviously brilliant foresight, I’m giving us a well-deserved electronic pat on the back.  Now back to spreading crazy rumors about next summer’s conservatory show.  Best Little Whorehouse in Texas?  Dreamgirls?  Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk?  Flower Drum Song?  Hah…you’ll just have to wait until the end of the year.

Our "groundbreaking" casting of Michael Miguel vs

Arena's "groundbreaking" casting.

Michael Bennett is laughing his ass off

How much can one accomplish in 45 seconds? Quite a lot actually. After I stopped bitching and moaning about the time restriction placed on the presentation of my “Outstanding Choreography” by the producers of the Perry Awards ceremony, I began whittling the 15-minute dream ballet down to a 30 to 40 second snippet that would best display my choreographic genius (sarcasm folks, get used to it). Granted, I didn’t stop bitching and moaning until just this weekend, when I met with my two lovely leads, Chris and Corinne. But after some judicious cutting and some creative re-choreographing, we’ve actually come up with a 45 second mini-dream ballet! Not that it’s perfect or that I couldn’t use another 10-15 seconds (or minute or two or three), but necessity is definitely the mother f*cker of invention.

Now just because I was able to figure out a sufficient (though not ideal) solution, I still think 40 seconds is ridiculous. Here’s how the producers explained the time limit to me - and I’m paraphrasing quite freely, of course. Since Michael Bennett was able to accomplish so much in the first 40 seconds of A Chorus Line, you should, too. And that makes sense how? It’s apples and oranges. First, Bennett was a genius and I am not worthy to wash his dance belt, let alone deign to think I could accomplish anything remotely akin to ACL. But I can’t speak for the other nominees. Perhaps one of them is a genius on par with Bennett hiding in the world of community theatre in defiance of the artistically barren, commercial wasteland that is Broadway. But I seriously doubt it. Also, there’s context. The first 40 seconds of ACL are not plot-driven. It’s an audition situation that is meant to showcase technique, not further plot. What are you supposed to get out of that first 40 seconds of ACL? That these are really good dancers at an audition. Of course, that's over-simplifying and God knows I'm not implying that the first 40 seconds of ACL aren't brilliant, but Bennett's genius was that he knew his context, not to mention his knack for putting together striking stage pictures and formations. It's not so difficult to put together a series of difficult tricks. But try to couple those tricks with concise, meaningful story-telling. That’s a different matter. I choose to present a complete, thoughtful section of choreography that tells a full story and develops character rather than haul out a horse-and-pony show of triple pirouettes and tour jetes.

And then there’s tempi - there are a lot of counts to fill in that first 40 seconds of ACL. Not so much if you’re using a slower, lyrical section of music. I know what you’re thinking. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou Fausto, and forcing you to use the Dream Ballet. OK, fine, you got me there. But I was told that it would be “really great” if I could. I mean, how subtle a hint do I need? The producers obviously want me to do that section. Anyway, the other nominees are either tap or traditional “Broadway”-style jazz dance. All of which, in my opinion, are more easily showcased in a 40 second snippet. I mean, 40 seconds of 42nd Street? Puh-leaze. I can have 15 people doing wings and triple time steps and finish it off with front handsprings across the stage and the audience will be creaming in their pants.

And then the shows nominated for Best Production get seven minutes to present whatever they want. Seven minutes? That's three full songs. The Tonys don't even grant seven minutes.

The Perry people complain that their ceremony takes too long. Might I suggest 90 seconds for choreography and 5 minutes for musical scenes? I think that’s completely fair and still manages to cut down the time of presentations by several minutes. Oh well, I’m just bitching and enjoying they view up here from my high horse. The Perry producers don’t give a rat’s ass what I think, although I am part of the Pineda's, an up-and-coming family in NJ community theatre. That should count for something. Or more likely, nothing. But I guess I'm just ranting like a lunatic. But it's far cheaper to do it here than on a therapists couch. Deep breath - I feel much better now.

It's an honor just to be nominated...

Ok, so I'm sure this post is going to get me blacklisted from every community theatre in New Jersey, but, oh well. I've never run with the "popular kids" before, so why start now? I found out this week that I was nominated for a Perry Award for Outstanding Choreography for the production of Oklahoma! I choreographed this spring at the CDC. First, I give a hearty "thank you" to the nominating committee and to my awesome cast (and I mean that without the slightest hint of sarcasm). But I know Michael Bennett is spinning in his grave at the thought that I'd top any list of choreographers. Honestly, I could barely hand jive when I booked my first national tour, Grease!, back in the 90's (as my good friend and that show's dance captain, Chris, will definitely attest to). God, I'm old.

I know I should feel honored and sh*t and I am, truly. But the Perry people just seem so out of touch with the theatre community (not community theatre) at large and, dare I say it, almost feel like a cult. When I talked to the representative, he exclaimed that we (the Pineda's) were an up-and-coming family in the NJ community theatre world. Really? Up-and-coming? Juan - Broadway veteran; me - couple of national tours, prestigious regional credits and a Carbonell nomination; Trish - soloist with several national symphony orchestras; and Val - conservatory grad (well, not officially, but that's another story) and successful producer of professional opera. So by their standards, if you haven't done NJ community theatre you haven't "made it"? How sad. I know I sound jaded and snotty, and perhaps I'm acting a bit high and mighty, but I don't really see it that way. It just struck me as so ridiculous when I heard the guy actually say "up-and-coming." Technically, I guess we are "up-and-coming" in the community theatre world in NJ, but it's purely semantics. Isn't it just a bit ironic to put "NJ community theatre" and "up-and-coming" in the same sentence anyway? The whole conversation and "buzz" around the Perry's just seems so Guffman-like.

Never one to pretend that I'm a pillar of righteousness, I have to admit that I was sort of an asshole to the Perry guy (I use this moniker throughout as I don't make it a habit of printing names unless I'm complimenting someone, I know the person can handle the criticism or if I just flat out hate the person). Our phone conversation went something like this:

Perry dude: Congratulations, the Pineda's seem like an up-and-coming family in the NJ community theatre world.
Me (deadpan): ...or maybe we just got lucky.
Perry dude: (moment of stunned silence)...well, uh, ok.

I guess my singular brand of sarcasm just doesn't read over the phone. Or I just don't take compliments well. Or maybe I'm really just an asshole. Either way, it's too late to take it back now. I guess I can kiss any future nominations good-bye. Sigh.

I'm sure they do a bang up job with the presentation and that the ceremony is entertaining, etc. But the Perry guy actually said it was "like the Tonys." In what way? Radio City vs. hotel banquet hall, Broadway/movie stars vs. local community theatre talent (minus the Pineda's since we're just "up-and-coming"), voters seeing at least most of the shows under consideration vs. point system where no one sees a majority of the shows under consideration. Just like the Tonys? Hmmm. What I'm hoping from the ceremony is an entertaining night of people-watching, so that I can have lots of juicy stuff to write about the next day. The one thing that seemed truly exciting about his description of the event? - 700 drunk theatre people staying overnight in a hotel together. Now that's drama. Can't wait!

Deconstructing the reviews

For the most part, I think reviews are basically meaningless ego trips (for the performer, if it's good, and for the reviewer, if it's bad). I mean, really, isn't a review basically just one person's opinion about one specific performance anyway? I know what you're thinking, "Why, Fausto, that's quite hypocritical of you, considering you post your own very opinionated reviews of every show you see on this very blog." Well, just calm the f*ck down, sister. The difference is, I'm always right. Oops, did I just type that? Sorry, that wasn't supposed to work its way down to my fingers from my brain. Too late. Moving on... Yes, good reviews are also a nice box office boost. But if you can't sell a 7-show run with a cast and crew of over 40 in a 200 seat house, you've got some serious PR/marketing issues. It's friggin' Oklahoma!, for God's sake. The title alone guarantees to pull in the q-tip crowd (Janet's, one of our violinists, affectionate term for the "more mature" audiences - think about it, you'll figure it out). While I don't mean to look a gift horse in the mouth, I can't really take the basically glowing reviews for our recent Oklahoma! production seriously because they're filled with either non-sensical criticism or blatant hyperbole.

So below are some of my critiques of our critic's comments. Obviously, I don't give a rat's ass whether these reviewers read my comments. And quite frankly, they probably don't give a sh*t what I think anyway. Since I get paid zilch to write my reviews and they are making a living writing professionally, I'm sure they're laughing (or cursing me) all the way to the bank. So here goes.

"Choreographer Fausto Pineda's vision awakens at the end of the...first act..." - what the hell does that mean? Was it asleep during the beginning of the first act? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it appropriate? Is it pedestrian? Is it interesting? Review the choreography - I'm a big boy, I can take it.

"Co-directors...have given license to the actors, with the comic roles especially, to go full out in their characterization" - as opposed to "half-out" in their characterizations? Who would want to see any show where the actors didn't go full out in their characterizations? Does this mean the dramatic roles weren't fully characterized?

"The staging of two songs, which features girls sitting on the floor, provides the audience with merely a view of talking heads. A small movable platform would have remedied that situation." - I'd actually have no problem with this criticism except for the fact that 1) the sight lines were specifically checked from all parts of the house to make sure that the blocking would be seen and 2) the same reviewer wrote a rave (with no mention of floating heads) for our recent staging of Madama Butterfly - in the same theatre - where at least a third of the opera was performed by singers sitting on the floor. And a movable platform? On the Oklahoma plains? Um, OK, sure.

"...[the creative staff presents] their surprisingly wonderful offering of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical, " Oklahoma!" - "surprisingly"? What was she expecting, a train wreck? Wow, talk about coming in with low expectation.

"...dances — where no one, astonishingly came near to bumping into each other..." - I had to laugh out loud at that one. Is that supposed to be a compliment to the choreographer (me)? Was she expecting people to crash into each other and kick each other in the face? That's why we have rehearsals.

Yes, I'm sure this is all coming off as just a rant from a pompous, egotistical know-it-all. And it sort of is. But I've been called way worse. At the very least I expect professional reviews to be coherent and contain real criticism. Be specific about what you like and don't like and why. And exaggerated praise only makes you sound like a gushing sixteen-year old girl.

Oh, and lest you accuse me of being ugrateful, thank you to the Cranford Eagle and Westfield Leader for their positive reviews of our show!

Oklahoma! pics...

*Curly (Chris Grimm) and Laurey (Corinne Chandler)

Curly and Laurey

Will (Michael Miguel)

Curly

Jud (Kevin Kessler)

Ado (Allison Acquafredda)

Dream Ballet

Dream Ballet

*Farmer and Cowman

*Pictures courtesy of Ann Riegel.

All other pictures courtesy of Brooks Crandall

Tech week

Have you missed me boys and girls? I've been busy this past week in tech hell with Oklahoma! I can't believe the damn thing finally opens tonight. Having participated in numerous tech weeks throughout my career, I didn't think I'd be learn anything new with this one. Well, color me surprised. I have learned one new thing. Never move to New Jersey. Before you Jersey freaks start burning effigies and boycotting my show, I have nothing against Jersey personally. It's just that the commute sucks. Well, I guess the commute itself doesn't suck as much as having to do it on very little sleep. Since rehearsals were scheduled late into the evening and I had to be at work early in the morning, it seemed only reasonable to pack up some clothes and just stay in Jersey- thus, the commute. So I've spent the last couple of days getting on a 7:00am train to Penn, jumping on the subway to work, sitting at my desk for eight hours, running to Port Authority to catch a bus to Jersey, going straight to a five hour rehearsal, going to bed at Juan and Val's, hitting the sack for a couple of hours and then starting again from the top. Glamorous? Hardly.

The show itself is shaping up to be quite good. But It's sometimes a challenge working with non-professionals, not because they are less talented, but because they consider this their hobby. Certain things that I expect from an equity cast, i.e. learning your lines, writing down blocking, knowing upstage from downstage, are considered "optional" in community theatre. At least the one I'm working at. The stage manager actually set a date by which the cast had to have their lines memorized. A date that was over a month after rehearsals had started. Really? Um, I was always under the odd assumption that after a scene was blocked, it should be memorized. I guess I'm just crazy that way. Oh, and forget requiring actors to memorize the lines as written. God forbid you say what Oscar Hammerstein actually wrote. I don't want to name names, but there were actually actors who showed up to rehearsal without ever having read the scene they were about to rehearse. And yes, the scripts were distributed before rehearsals began, so don't even try to defend them.

It's also odd that the cast seems surprised that we have so many notes for them after each run-through. It's as if they just want us to say, "That was perfect." I don't think I've been in any production, even one that received stellar reviews, where the director didn't have notes for us all the time. There is always something that can be tweaked, made clearer or improved. Anyone who thinks their performance is perfect is seriously deluded. Anway, enough ranting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, knowing my cast will come through for opening night. We're actually nearly sold out. That's some crazy sh*t. Stay tuned for details about my big opening tonight (hehe, that sounds dirty - at least to me.)

Below is a crazy pic of our Ado, Laurey, Curly and Asian Will (more on that scandal another time. God forbid we cast the most talented person for the role - regardless of their skin color) in a "lost" number from Oklahoma!, "The Farmer and the Cowman - Just Friends?"

I need show ticks. STAT!

I'm totally going through show withdrawal. I mean, I haven't been in a theatre (movies don't count, fyi: I saw The Ruins last Thursday- gross, but in a good way) in a week! It's embarrassing, but I'm actually becoming one of those show freaks that I used to make fun of.

When I was performing full-time (read happy but starving) I had neither the time nor the economic means to accommodate a lifestyle of weekly theatrical consumption. I take that back. I had plenty of free time (when I wasn't participating in Shakespeare readings, tap class, Alexander technique sessions, Lincoln Center archive study and...oh, who am I kidding, I just went to the gym and watched a lot of TV), but not during that magic 8PM time slot. And who can afford to go to the theater on an actor's salary anyway? Well, now that I'm transitioning into the actor/director category - watch your back Joe Mantello - attending shows feels more like research and less about making fun of people you don't like or grumbling about how much better you would have been in fill-in-the-blank's role. 

Luckily, I'll get my fix Thursday when Trish and I go see the off-Broadway play, Good Boys and True. And yes, I do actually see plays, too. But hopefully I'll get my fix sooner, since I'm planning to try and TKTS A Catered Affair tomorrow night. And I cannot believe I just used TKTS as a verb.

For anyone interested, the production of Oklahoma! that I'm co-directing and choreographing opens in two weeks. I hear you snickering Chris Johnson. I am equally as surprised and confounded that I have suddenly become a choreographer. We shall never again speak of the hours you spent watching me stumble through the hand jive lo those many years ago on tour. Anyway, we've been rehearsing for over a month now and I can't wait for it to just start running already. I know that sounds like an unusually long rehearsal period, but it is community theatre, so we only get to rehearse on the weekends and maybe one other day mid-week.

The community theatre dynamic is quite interesting. Although the same type of political bullsh*t occurs in professional theatre, at least everyone's getting paid to put up with it. Well, I guess in community theatre at least the production team is paid. Well, actually just the choreographer and musical director, but NOT the actual DIRECTOR (at least at this theatre)! The person in charge of the show's artistic vision/concept/staging is not compensated, but the choreographer is? What the f*ck?

Not that the choreographer shouldn't be compensated, but the director's work is at least of equal import. Is it any wonder that community theatre has the reputation it has? Does it make sense to pay the construction workers and contractor of a building project but not the architect? Does it make sense to pay the navigator and the cruise director of a ship but not the captain? It makes absolutely no sense to me. Maybe someone in the community theatre ranks can explain this rationale to me. But that's a totally a rant for a different day. Anyway, despite all that, I'm very proud of this production and the cast of local actors who have dedicated their free time and weekends to sweating it out with me and the other Pinedas.

Playing catch-up

Signing on to my blog this morning I realized I hadn't even mentioned last weekend's rehearsals or the benefit concert we put up for First United Methodist Church in Scotch Plains, NJ. I guess I got so caught up in my cupcakes and ranting against Jay Leno that I plain forgot. Though the cupcakes are long gone, I still hate Leno. No, I take that back. I don’t hate Leno - this is America for f*cksake and if you want to base your shtick on stale Brokeback jokes and homophobia - go for it. It’s a free country. What I hate is that an average talent is rewarded with big bucks and national recognition for not being very funny and for giving poor to mediocre interviews. Bitter, party of one? - right here, biyatches! And I want a window table, not the nasty one by the toilets you usually sit me at.

OK - breathe in, breathe out, think lovely thoughts. I’m fine now. Anyway, now that that is finally out of my system (doubtful), let’s move on. The benefit concert was "uneven," to put it mildly. We did raise $1300 for the church. So I guess it was at least a financial success since it definitely wasn't an artistic one. Though it didn't suck as badly as last year's Holiday concert, which could only have been made worse had we performed only in bikini briefs and covered in feces. No, wait. That might actually have been an improvement. Anyway, last weekend’s benefit concert was sort of a surprise to Trish and I since we had only found out about it the week before, after it was announced at the Easter Mass we were hired to sing at. Trish and I were under the impression that it was a "Juan and Val concert” and that we were added guests to help fill out the evening. Wrong. We were in fact given equal billing, which would have been great if this was Broadway and we had a nice four week rehearsal period and previews. Unfortunately, this was a church “cafetorium” in Jersey and we had about five hours of rehearsals and no previews. We basically rehashed old material and made up cheesy dialogue on the spot. Thinking I’d only be singing one song and a duet with Trish (I ended up singing those songs plus my Wizard of Oz medley, four ensemble numbers, a duet with Juan and accompanying most songs on piano) I foolishly decided I could brush up on my lyrics the day before. Let’s just say I took some artistic license and made some “in the moment” creative “cuts” to some of my songs without alerting the accompanist. I like to keep things fresh and spontaneous.

We’ll thankfully get a chance to redeem ourselves in two weeks when we present basically the same material, with the addition of songs by the opera company’s Young Artists, as a 50/50 benefit for LOC and All Saints Church in Scotch Plains. Keep your fingers crossed.

Rehearsals for Oklahoma! are progressing in fits and starts. It’s difficult because I think I’ve staged/choreographed a pretty great (pat myself on the back) “Kansas City” production number. Unfortunately, this makes it imperative that I top it with each progressive production number. But I’m so tired and drained that it’s difficult to continually be creative and energetic. Already I’m not too happy with “Many A New Day” and I’m getting very discouraged with the “Dream Ballet.” I’m trying to refuel my creative juices by watching a lot of dance videos and Youtube. I’m optimistic, but need some sleep. I can’t believe this week has already whizzed by.

Mountain Dew Me!

After two days confined to my couch - well, the couch and the porcelain “throne” - I’m finally back to work. Which reminds me, remember that soft drink from the 90’s, Squirt? What an unfortunate name. I’m sure the guy that came up with that one is bagging groceries somewhere now. But I digress. It sucks being sick and I unfortunately had to cancel an Oklahoma rehearsal. But it does appear I’ve lost about three pounds. Hooray for the flu! Juan was complaining about stomach problems all weekend, so perhaps I caught a bug from him. Anyway, all seems fine now but why is it that after lying on a couch and relaxing for two days am I so damn tired? I think I willed myself back to health knowing that I have tickets for the Broadway revival of South Pacific tonight. When it appeared that I might be suffering a prolonged illness, Trish informed me that we’d be going to the theater no matter what and that she would supply me with an adult diaper. Luckily for me (and probably my seat neighbors) I’ve recovered and will not have to resort to Depends.

If you haven't read Seth Rudetsky's Onstage & Backstage column on Playbill.com (appears weekly on Monday's), you are missing a hilarious and dishy insider's view of the Broadway world. An interesting tidbit in this week's column:

[Angela Lansbury] accepted the part [of Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast], and they went into the studio to record the title song. She did it once all the way through…and they kept it! The version we all know from the movie was done in one take! Go "old-school Lansbury"!

Sayonara Mad Butt

Congrats to my Madama Butterfly cast who closed the weekend with a sold out show and a visit by the police department. The show literally stopped traffic. The cause? An overflowing parking lot. We can only hope for continued violations in the future. As for the show, the audience reaction was amazing. We actually received a phone call already inquiring about Carmen tickets for next season. So now that the pressure is off for the current opera season - well, not completely since we start rehearsals for the Young Artist’s Pirates of Penzance at the end of March - we move on to the next project, Oklahoma!

So this is how crazy the Pineda family is. Sunday’s Butterfly matinee ends at five-ish, we strike the set, Trish runs out for MacDonald’s and we start rehearsals on the same stage for Oklahoma! at seven. Crazy, no? Anyway, the cast is fun and will sound amazing once we really start drilling them. But the stress is already mounting since we’re already dealing with cast members dropping out and rehearsal conflicts piling up. We had a major argument at the post-rehearsal production meeting with one of our producers and stage manger regarding understudies. Of course, we’re used to getting our way since we’ve always produced independently. But today we had to munch on some humble pie since CDC is not our theater and we must constantly remind ourselves that we’re now employees. It’s difficult, since we all have pretty large personalities, to put it mildly, and if we want to keep this relationship cordial and long-lasting, we’re going to have to make some compromises. It certainly is going to be a challenge considering the Pineda clan has definite control issues. It’s difficult to admit that the world does not revolve around a Pineda-axis. Well, at least not all the time, hehe. But we seemed to iron it all out by the end of the meeting.

Anyway, some random thoughts on Butterfly:

This is the first time in LOC history that we ran a show more than once in its entirety before the first performance. We actually had three full run-throughs! That’s just plain ridiculous.

I had some major agita Friday night, having been stuck at the office until well after six. I rushed to catch a late bus and nearly missed my show’s opening night. I managed to get to the theater by quarter of, only to find out that Gustavo (Sharpless) was stuck on a broken down bus, John (Pinkerton) was caught in traffic and Judd (our often MIA Commissioner) was no where to be found. But by eight the cast was complete, the house was full and everyone actually had a costume.

Val went to her bad place during the first intermission, asking me to pass on the note for the principals to "start acting." I decided to hold off on that note which turned out to be a wise decision, since the cast finally relaxed into their roles by the time Act Two got rolling. I’m sure the combination of stress, nervousness and that fact that three leads and the director were missing at half hour greatly contributed to their lack of concentration at the beginning of the performance.

On Sunday, the concert master arrived well after 2:15 PM for a 2:00 PM curtain. Juan and I were very close to losing our sh*t since the conductor didn’t seem to think this was such a big deal. We were about to start without him, but the second chair player informed us that the CM had the only copy of the violin part with the bowings marked in it. Two other orchestra members also arrived late, one by more than half. Val promptly told her to go home. This &%$*%& musician didn’t even have the decency to apologize and instead merely asked how much she was going to get paid. Paid?! She’s lucky I didn’t shove her bow up her ass. I don't care if she's friggin' Midori, who I'm sure would never arrive half an hour after the start of a performance anyway.

The theater has a serious restroom issue. We held curtain for both intermissions over five minutes waiting for people to pee!

Production photos posted shortly.

It's Finally Over...(at least until tomorrow)

Oklahoma! auditions are finally over and we actually have a cast that doesn't suck.  In fact, if all our leads accept their offers we're going to have a surprisingly excellent show.  I know that sounds totally condescending but I honestly didn't come into this audition process with high hopes considering the previous productions I'd seen at CDC.  Not that I'm trashing the theater.  The last production I saw there, Summer of '42, would rival many productions at "professional" theater companies.  But their Secret Garden was almost painful to sit through.  And I know that just like any other theater (or business, for that matter) politics plays an immense part in casting and hiring.  But after seeing the talent that came out for our auditions, there really is no excuse for some of the casting travesties I've seen on that stage.  Of course, the callbacks weren't all smooth sailing.  There was a heck of a lot of drama going on that day, and not all of it good; but all very exciting and gossip-worthy.

First of all, the casting of the leads was a major surprise to us as well as to some of the auditioners (and certainly to some of the regular CDC staff).  Our last day of callbacks brought out a couple of new faces that literally wiped out the competition.  The role of Curly ended up going to a young college theater student who swept in and basically dominated the callback with an overall superior acting, singing and dancing audition.  We offered Laurie to a young actress that we didn't expect would "bring it" at the callbacks.  Our prayers for a Judd were answered when a gentleman who had "never been cast in a role" at the theater before out-acted just about everyone else at the callback.  A pair of Filipinos, shocked to be called back for "white" roles, impressed with sheer enthusiasm and raw talent.  

So after seeing the actual talent that shows up to auditions versus the talent that I've seen in past CDC productions, it is obvious that something other than talent is the major deciding factor in the casting of the shows I've seen at CDC.  Now I'm not naive enough to think that there are no politics involved in casting a show, but there is a difference between choosing a known commodity over an unknown commodity and blatant nepotism.  I will even admit that we came into the callback process with a Laurie basically pre-cast.  But after a day of callbacks, it became clear that a certain actress who initially was not at the top of our list suddenly became the girl to beat.  And although we certainly could have gone with our original choice and still came up with a hell of a show, we'd look like blatant hypocrites if we didn't choose the other actress.  Unfortunately, not everyone can be the lead and there were several extremely disappointed people.  But major reality check folks - rejection is part of the business. Get a thicker skin or be resigned to playing lead roles in third and fourth tier companies.  

Anyway, the craziness has just begun.  More audition hell is to come with Pirates and the Summer Conservatory and Madama Butterfly starts rehearsals in two weeks (with almost a full cast)!