A Clear Channel - Day 209

I've been blogging for the past few days about being a stand in on award shows and I suddenly realized that some of you may not know what that is. A stand in is a union actor who is hired to replace the stars of the show in rehearsal for lighting, sound and blocking purposes. This is not be confused with a seat filler. Those people just fill the seats of celebrities during the show so that on camera the viewing audience never sees an empty seat. Seat fillers are used when a celebrity has to present an award, after they accept an award or when they are performing. The problem is, sometimes those seat fillers don't want to give the celebrity their seats back!!
A stand in's job can be very grueling. That's why the celebrities don't do all the rehearsals. Award show rehearsals usually go on for a week before the live taping. Celebrity presenters come in once to read the monitor, learn their entrances & exits and where to stand to deliver their lines. The musical acts usually rehearse all on one day with a couple of other musical acts in the show. The stand ins are utilized all throughout these rehearsals wherever needed or sometimes we are assigned a specific celebrity for that particular show.
I started doing stand in in work because it was fun to be behind the scenes and to meet a bunch of celebrities. Just a couple of negative aspects in my opinion: stand ins are not treated very nicely by the production staff and some of the stand ins actually believed they were the stars they were standing in for. Yikes.
I said I would stop when it ceased to be fun. I can't remember the last time I worked as a stand in.

A Clear Channel - Day 48

It's clear to me that this new food plan is not going to work. Every day for one week I've called a perfect stranger at 6AM so that she could tell me what or what not to eat and at what time. What? I must have been temporary insane. It seemed like a good idea at the time but this week, as I plan for major auditions, a TV shoot on Wednesday and performance on Thurs. it isn't so appealing anymore. I'm an artist and I stay up late. I'm grown and I do what I want. There's got to be a better way. Now that I have all these great food tips, it's time to add some movement. I think I'd like to get a dog. A cute little hypo-allergenic puppy. I know it's a lot of responsibility, but it could be good for me on so many levels. There, I've put it out into the universe. Let's see what comes back.
This morning I had an audition for a major role in a Corbin Bernsen film. He's producer, writer, director and star of the film. He even read the audition sides with me. The casting director usually does that. I complimented him on the script and that turned into a long chat before I even auditioned. It felt OK, I always feel like I could do better even when I know I nailed it. No matter what I am grateful to be in the company of Rolonda Watts and Charlayne Woodard for this role. Parking on the Paramount lot and walking to the casting office, I basked in the warmth of Hollywood. I love my work.
Then I went to rehearse a bit for my solo show before driving to the Disney lot for my wardrobe fitting. Somewhere in between my friend Andrea called and said she had an extra ticket for.....wait for it....the Black Eyed Peas!!!! Whaaat?!?!?! I was supposed to go to Leimert Park and do an excerpt of the excerpt of my solo show and I played hooky!! Can't pass up the BEP's. And what a pleasant surprise....Ludacris was the middle act! There's something about him I like...smart businessman and I've heard a really nice guy. The Staples Center was packed....such a diverse crowd...lots of kids, women...not a lot of Black people. Interesting mix. I can't help but wonder, at what point in my career would I ever be able to draw a crowd that size? Guess I'll have to start with a vision..."If you build it, they will come".