Playbill Three

Here are some more information for Playbill Three:

Casting director Mary Clay Boland goes into more detail about how Theatre Actors are hired. After getting feedback from the producers, directors, and playwrights, the casting office puts out feelers for the actors who best meet the needs of the production.

Susan Dansby: So then you get a feel for what everybody is looking for and then...

Mary Clay Boland: And then, the casting director or the casting associate -- it depends on who's taking the lead on the project -- has multiple pre-screens: Which means you put out what's called the breakdown, through Breakdown Services and list the roles that you're looking for.

Then you get agent submissions, and then you also come up with your own idea lists. And if you going to go celebrity -- if you are going to do that type of casting -- it's all just lists. And then you have meetings and make offers.

If you're looking for a fresh face, then you put out the breakdowns, you get agent submissions, and then you pre-read people; and then you bring people in for the producer and director.

Susan Dansby: Now, when you send out the breakdowns, only agents get those?

Mary Clay Boland: Only people who pay for Breakdown Services. It's usually agents, some managers -- there's a rogue actor here and there, but technically actors are not supposed to get them. But I think a few individuals have been known to get them -- more power to them. It's usually just the industry people who represent actors that receive them.

Susan Dansby: So, is that generally the only place that that you post those things?

Mary Clay Boland: It is. I mean, back in the day if I was doing was non-union project or something, or when I've done open calls -- which I've done for multiple projects -- then that's a different beast. Then you promote that in Backstage and on Equity's bulletin board, or now online, or Playbill.com, and newspapers and radio stations. And you put out basically open calls.

That happens quite a bit, but we try and keep it a little more contained than that. It's usually with children that you do massive searches.

Susan Dansby: Because that casting pool changes over.

Mary Clay Boland: Exactly.

Susan Dansby: So, you put out the call...

Mary Clay Boland: Right, and then we have what we call the producer-director session. And that's when you try and narrow down to three-to-five actors for a specific role. You bring them in for all the powers that be. And then, hopefully, after those sessions, you come up with a cast.

If there's specific people that are working together, you want to kind of picture it all as an ensemble. We've been known to put head shots out on the floor and kind of look at the cast -- if it is a huge cast -- and see if it's all going to work and who is going to go with who.

Usually, you try and only have a couple days of producer-director sessions; but sometimes, if they don't like what they are seeing, then you have to switch gears.

Read/hear more great interviews, and find out how actors, producers, directors and others get their dream jobs on Susan Dansby's How Did You Get That Job? blog at http://yougetthatjob.com.

Forging an Indelible Mark on Destiny's Anvil

MODE of cosmic Therapy: Becoming Malleable in Our Relationships

Why do we, as mortals, erroneously believe that we have some sort of conscious definitive control over the direction our lives take, including the heavily guilt weighted responsibility driven attitudes attached to/for the ‘spoiled' relationships, foiled affairs, missed opportunities, tragic accidents, and unfortunate events that transpire? Why do we insist on ‘mulling over and over' in our minds how we could have caused things to turn out differently if we had only done so-and-so? I am not saying that we don't possess innate celestial power in which the ultimate destiny we embrace was not constructed prior to coming to earth; and, that we fully accepted the various ‘ins and outs' of the cosmic assignment. But, what I am inferring is that we, as mortals, tend to veer off the chosen course of providence, inventing for ourselves another way of existing that somehow excludes the "trouble spots."

Honestly, to conceive, even for a moment, that we have any authoritative preferential bearing on exactly how the day's activities will turn out is ludicrous and unproductive. In as much as much as we can not control our basic bodily functions such as eating, sleeping, and going to the bathroom, the other relative situations and circumstances will arise of their own designated accord in line with what we must experience each day. In other words, that's the reason why some things just don't work out the way we planned. {No matter how hard we trevailed to manipulate the outcome} And, why some things turn out better than expected. It's all a matter of getting with the deliberately deliciously divinely selected ‘learning to be fully human' program, of which, the majority of time, we are the least bit concerned.

Because we are not vested enough in the most apparent cosmic imbued rhythm of our own lives, (the sacred musically coded DNA [blueprint]) we often times seem surprised when things take place differently than what we thought would occur. We, humans, can make all of the elaborately contrived plans we want to, only to have them fall apart---or so it seems---before they come to fruition or more specifically, abruptly change lanes in the middle of the course. [Most especially where intimate relationships are concerned.] The heart breaking problem lies in the realization, that in and of ourselves, we are pretty insignificant in the scheme of personal matters. We want to believe that we are SO important when, in fact, we are not, have never been and will never be. We are just part of the cast in the "what's next on the lesson agenda" universal playbill.

So who's the maestro director behind the scenes running this supposed cosmic fiasco? Who knows for sure? Certainly, not you, or I. The indisputable fact that the show is being guided from another sphere of activity and invisible realm needs no further discussion; however, where that vortex point of celestial magnitude is located remains and will remain a daunting mystery. Something much more ‘divinely majestically definitive' {entirely unknowable to us except by and through our preferred spiritual/religious projections and identified convictions) runs life's projector.

It's sort of like a Blacksmith working laboriously in his forge. A Blacksmith is a highly skilled craftsman, who performs the talent of shaping hot metal (steel) and iron with a hammer. Using hand tools such as hammers, tongs and chisels on an anvil, this painstaking time-consuming process is known as forging the material. The forge is also the place that holds the blacksmith's fire, whether that be in a hole in the Earth or a box lined with clay. {Human Flesh being tempered by divinity's hands} Can you imagine the amount of sparks that fly up and out from the resounding tapering method applied?

In similar fashions, our unique individual destines are shaped and molded. Most decidedly, our difficult relationships are honed, chiseled and mauled. Dross, impurities and residue are all part of the intricately battled process that must be worked with in order to produce a shoe for a horse that won't cripple him when he walks or runs. In other words, we, as humans are learning (remembering) what it means to walk upright without the heavy burden of personal loss or gain in the process.

So, let's look at the matter of our relationships and the complicated thorny events contained necessary for us to walk and run effectively. The Blacksmith will tell you he has little to do with the exactly how the product turns out. He knows with each strike he administers, the force and the delivery comes from some unknown power outside of him. And, so it is with the events, circumstances, situations, confrontations or affable agreements of our day regarding our specific relationships.

By learning to accept the intricate patterns linked in various episodes in relationships as being part of the ‘forging' process, we will achieve a ‘rare' contentment yet experienced in our life up until now. A peace of mind that passes all comprehensible understanding will be ours to enjoy when we bypass our ‘jumping to conclusion' apparatus that immediately goes off as we so conveniently allow our emotional eyes to betray us.. Stop it! Once and for all times, remember: We are not responsible nor are we ever in a position to direct the outcome of any state of affairs. It's all a matter of being forged. [Extremely hot, volatile and unstable, with a lot of blows to it shape just right.]

In blind essence, (like the steel beneath the hand of a blacksmith's anvil} we are learning how to serve. Yes, I said ‘serve'. [A most revered activity to behold.] Although we can't possibly realize how much genuine satisfaction we will receive, the benevolent act brings with it untold rewards. Serving does not mean doing those things we want to do, like to do, feel good about doing but doing those things we don't necessarily want to do or want to go through to get it done, for that matter. Think of Mother Theresa who declared that "cleaning toilets' was highest profession one could ever aspire to. In fact, we are preventing ourselves from truly enjoying all sorts of delicious pleasures simply because we have ‘jumped the gun' in the interpretation of a certain unpleasant situations, involvements and/or circumstances. "Get over it." As long as we drag it behind us, (meaning: twisting and turning the blame-guilt-regret-grief game over and over in our mind}, we are unnecessarily heavy, unproductively old, sexually unappealing and in- affectionately ugly. Let's get on with the sacred ‘rocking and rolling' high-spirited, life-producing, youth-generating, sensually artistic, mentally stimulating, incalculably curiously undefined direction of our beneficent lives. I'm up for it, are you?

About the Author

Proud Native {Born, Bred, and Resident} of North Carolina, married 40 spectacular years, 6 children, 11 grandchildren. I am passionate about love, living, laughter, liberty, learning, listening, loosening up, lounging, lunch, liveliness, literacy, lip stick, letting my hair down, leaping, leaning, libido, lifting, linking, looking, lodging, lemons and lyrics. My personal and professional background is wide and varied. I have a BS in Communication with a MA in Art Education. I am a Cosmic Therapist, artist, entertainer, singer/songwriter, musician, composer, playwright, perfumer, astrology, author, teacher, speaker, poet and self-taught chef. I am also a radio/television talk show creator, host and director. In addition when I'm not busy, I maintain a presence at M.O.D.E International School of Esoteric Arts and Sciences of which I founded many years ago,

word Bastard in A choice of kings by John Mortimer in Playbill three means? illegitimate child or villain or?

In a conversation between Harold and Villiam, Harold says to Villiam "I was 14; bastard son of a dead Duke with a poor dark dukedom."
Thanks

William the Conqueror is often known in history as "William the Bastard"; he was the illegitimate son of the previous Duke of Normandy, and there was considerable opposition to his inheriting the dukedom because of that. So the word here is meant quite literally; the point he's making is that at 14 with his father dead he didn't even have an unchallenged right to his inheritance.

CELEB PlayBlogger John Tartaglia: March 8
Last week Playbill.com launched Celeb PlayBlogger — a new feature that will run sporadically in PlayBlog — with celebrity blogger Tony winner Victoria Clark. This week we’re happy to welcome guest celebrity blogger Tony Award nominee John Tartaglia, who is best known for his acclaimed performances in Avenue Q and Shrek the Musical. The Emmy-nominated [...]

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