[NEohioPAL]A moment with the MU and the cast of "Johnnie Taylor Is Gone"

Tue Jan 18 06:10:41 PST 2005

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What: A Moment with the MU
Where: Karamu House, 2355 East 89th Street
When: Monday, Jan 24, 2005, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm, FREE

Meet the JOHNNIE TAYLOR IS GONE cast, designers, and director in the =
Concert Hall. Get up close and personal about their process with the =
production before opening night. Free to the public and media.=20

Please call 216-795-7070 ext. 242 to RSVP. Seating is limited.

Selected from the 12th Annual R. Joyce Whitley Festival of New Plays =
ARENAFEST in 2004, JOHNNIE TAYLOR IS GONE takes place in the Golden =
Zodiac Lounge, a bar in North St. Louis, is a haven for a colorful group =
of "Old School" misfits led by the owner Will Strong. In their world, =
Johnnie Taylor is king and Koko Taylor is queen until a "New Jack" =
entrepreneur wants to settle a score and turn the bar into a Hip-Hop =
club. Religion, politics, sports and music provide fodder in this new =
comedy.

A World Premier
January 28 - February 20, 2005 Arena Theater
Thurs, Fri, Sat, at 8:00 PM and Sun at 3:00 PM=20
Ticket Prices: Thurs., $5, Fri., $10, Sat., $10, Sun., $10
Special Preview Nights $5: Wednesday, January 26th & Thursday, January =
27th  @ 7:30PM
For tickets, please call 216-795-7070 ext. 226

13th Annual R. Joyce Whitley Festival of New Plays ARENAFEST, =
Monday-Friday at 6:00 pm, March 7th through March 18, 2005, with =
audience discussions following the nightly readings.

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<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>
<DIV><STRONG>What:</STRONG> A Moment with the MU</DIV>
<DIV><STRONG>Where</STRONG>: Karamu House, 2355 East 89th =
Street<BR><B>When</B>:=20
Monday, Jan 24, 2005, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm, FREE<BR><IMG title=3D"" =
height=3D1 alt=3D""=20
src=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/images/spacer.gif" width=3D1 =
vspace=3D2><BR>Meet the=20
JOHNNIE TAYLOR IS GONE cast, designers, and director in the Concert =
Hall. Get up=20
close and personal about their process with the production before =
opening night.=20
Free to the public and media. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Please call 216-795-7070 ext. 242 to RSVP. Seating is =
limited.<BR><IMG=20
title=3D"" height=3D1 alt=3D"" =
src=3D"http://www.cleveland.com/images/spacer.gif"=20
width=3D1 vspace=3D2><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Selected from the 12th Annual R. Joyce Whitley Festival of New =
Plays=20
ARENAFEST in 2004, JOHNNIE TAYLOR IS GONE takes place in the Golden =
Zodiac=20
Lounge, a bar in North St. Louis, is a haven for a colorful group of =
"Old=20
School" misfits led by the owner Will Strong. In their world, Johnnie =
Taylor is=20
king and Koko Taylor is queen until a "New Jack" entrepreneur wants to =
settle a=20
score and turn the bar into a Hip-Hop club. Religion, politics, sports =
and music=20
provide fodder in this new comedy.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A World Premier</DIV>
<DIV>January 28 - February 20, 2005 Arena Theater<BR>Thurs, Fri, Sat, at =
8:00 PM=20
and Sun at 3:00 PM <BR>Ticket Prices: Thurs., $5, Fri., $10, Sat., $10, =
Sun.,=20
$10</DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Special Preview Nights $5: Wednesday, January 26th & Thursday, =
January=20
27th  @ 7:30PM</DIV>
<DIV>For tickets, please call 216-795-7070 ext. 226</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>13th Annual R. Joyce Whitley Festival of New Plays ARENAFEST, =
Monday-Friday=20
at 6:00 pm, March 7th through March 18, 2005, with audience discussions=20
following the nightly readings.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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>From Alan Tuskes" <spfx1 at sbcglobal.net  Tue Jan 18 14:35:25 2005
From: Alan Tuskes" <spfx1 at sbcglobal.net (Alan Tuskes)
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:35:25 -0500
Subject: [NEohioPAL]About casting notices, legitimacy, imdb, and other things.
Message-ID: <006d01c4fd6a$f6d659a0$4001a8c0 at GUARDIAN>

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One of the other notices that was up here about somebody flinging =
allegations at this agency or that person made me look in the archives =
to see what all the hoopla was about. That lead me to another recent =
series of postings regarding a suspect casting notice. I feel compelled =
to fling my own $.02 in having dealt with Hollywood on a full time basis =
for years.

First of all, one must realize that this is northeast Ohio, not =
Hollywood. Unless your name ends in Cameron, Spielberg, Hanks, Howard or =
something of the like, one shouldn't assume that everyone in town will =
know who you are, even if they're in "the industry". Cleveland is not =
the film capital of the world. Not everyone is in the business full time =
here. For most actors, it's pretty much impossible to do.

The internet movie database (IMDB) is known by those in L.A. as the =
"inaccurate movie database", because it's just that. The production =
company sends the information, whether it's actually the real full cast =
and crew, or select crew folks that get listed per contract, although it =
can be amended by nearly anyone, provided the amendment can be confirmed =
by the production company. However, if the company fails to respond for =
whatever reason, such as "we don't have time to check this out and =
respond to it", you're out of luck. If you were to check the IMDB =
listing for me, you'd only see about 20 listings there even though I've =
worked on over 100 films. Further evidence of whether one should use the =
IMDB to prove legitimacy was shown to me when I was contacted about =
providing effects for a project that was being shot for absolutely zero =
budget with a home VHS camera, pretty much unscripted, unlit, etc. It =
was, for all means and purposes, a home movie being shot by guys who =
were just out of high school. Their proof that it was a "legitimate" =
production was that it was listed in the IMDB, as well as in the =
Hollywood Reporter which, by the way, anybody can have a listing in, for =
free, by filling out the appropriate form and submitting.

Also, one of the things that was very important, especially in L.A., =
where a struggling actress would do literally anything to get a roll to =
further her career, was to be careful about where you attend auditions. =
A casting notice in a weekly periodical like Backstage West, would =
result in literally hundreds of pictures and resumes being received by =
the producers, even if all the payment consisted of was a copy, credit =
and meals. Most of these casting notices required nudity, because for =
the most part that would be the only thing going for many of those =
films. And these girls were happy for the part. But the important thing =
was that the legitimate auditions would take place at casting calls in =
an office, hotel meeting room, or other public place with at least one =
other female in attendance as witness to see that everything was kept =
above board. And legitimate auditions never required nudity, even if the =
role did. One should never attend auditions that require meeting in a =
hotel room, or at a remote location. Which brings up the problem of =
casting in Cleveland. I don't know if enough people would respond to a =
casting notice here to warrant renting a meeting room, however there are =
folks  like Ray Szuch at North Coast Central Casting that provide =
audition space for a very nominal (if any) fee that would fill the bill =
perfectly.

One of the responses to a statement made was too defensive, actually =
defending things that the original response didn't even make. The entire =
air of defensiveness made me shudder, as the same type of attitude =
reminded me of a person working in L.A. right now. That person left Ohio =
right after he got out of prison, where he had just finished serving =
four years for several counts of theft, forgery, and secured writings by =
deception. He was a con man, sociopath, and pathological liar. One of =
his means of getting you to do things his way was to over-react to any =
statement, not in a challenging way, but knowing that most people don't =
like to be confrontational, would end up causing you to be apologetic =
and doing exactly what he wanted. This guy is scum, even going so far as =
running up his wife's credit then, seeing as she was getting to the end =
of her rope, even forged his own divorce documents to show his next =
"mark" that he was divorced, so he'd have a place to go when she finally =
threw his ass out. It worked, too. Naturally, this guy fit right into =
L.A. I could go on and on about this particular dirtball, but I'm out of =
blood pressure medication...

Just saying to be careful. Don't believe everything you read on the =
internet. Take a friend to the audition. Watch your ego. Very few people =
deserve the ego they wield. Good luck.

Alan Tuskes

Motion Picture Special Effects
www.alternative-realities.com
phone/fax 216-226-0810
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<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One of the other notices that was up =
here about=20
somebody flinging allegations at this agency or that person made me look =
in the=20
archives to see what all the hoopla was about. That lead me to another =
recent=20
series of postings regarding a suspect casting notice. I feel compelled =
to fling=20
my own $.02 in having dealt with Hollywood on a full time basis for=20
years.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>First of all, one must realize that =
this is=20
northeast Ohio, not Hollywood. Unless your name ends in Cameron, =
Spielberg,=20
Hanks, Howard or something of the like, one shouldn't assume that =
everyone=20
in town will know who you are, even if they're in "the =
industry". Cleveland=20
is not the film capital of the world. Not everyone is in the =
business full=20
time here. For most actors, it's pretty much impossible to =
do.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The internet movie database (IMDB) is =
known by=20
those in L.A. as the "inaccurate movie database", because it's just =
that. The=20
production company sends the information, whether it's actually the =
real=20
full cast and crew, or select crew folks that get listed per=20
contract, although it can be amended by nearly anyone, provided=20
the amendment can be confirmed by the production =
company. However, if=20
the company fails to respond for whatever reason, such as "we don't have =
time to=20
check this out and respond to it", you're out of luck. If you were to =
check=20
the IMDB listing for me, you'd only see about 20 listings there =
even though=20
I've worked on over 100 films. Further evidence of whether one should =
use the=20
IMDB to prove legitimacy was shown to me when I was contacted about =
providing=20
effects for a project that was being shot for absolutely zero budget =
with a home=20
VHS camera, pretty much unscripted, unlit, etc. It was, for all means =
and=20
purposes, a home movie being shot by guys who were just out of high =
school.=20
Their proof that it was a "legitimate" production was that it was listed =
in the=20
IMDB, as well as in the Hollywood Reporter which, by the way, anybody =
can have a=20
listing in, for free, by filling out the appropriate form and=20
submitting.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Also, one of the things that was very =
important,=20
especially in L.A., where a struggling actress would do literally =
anything to=20
get a roll to further her career, was to be careful about where you =
attend=20
auditions. A casting notice in a weekly periodical like =
<STRONG><EM>Backstage=20
West</EM></STRONG>, would result in literally hundreds of pictures and =
resumes=20
being received by the producers, even if all the payment consisted of =
was a=20
copy, credit and meals. Most of these casting notices required nudity, =
because=20
for the most part that would be the only thing going for many of those =
films.=20
And these girls were happy for the part. But the important thing was =
that the=20
legitimate auditions would take place at casting calls in an office, =
hotel=20
meeting room, or other public place with at least one other female in =
attendance=20
as witness to see that everything was kept above board. And legitimate =
auditions=20
never required nudity, even if the role did. One should never attend =
auditions=20
that require meeting in a hotel room, or at a remote location. Which =
brings up=20
the problem of casting in Cleveland. I don't know if enough people would =
respond=20
to a casting notice here to warrant renting a meeting room, however =
there=20
are folks  like Ray Szuch at North Coast Central Casting =
that=20
provide audition space for a very nominal (if any) fee that would fill =
the bill=20
perfectly.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One of the responses to a statement =
made was=20
<EM>too</EM> defensive, actually defending things that the original =
response=20
didn't even make. The entire air of defensiveness made me shudder, as =
the same=20
type of attitude reminded me of a person working in L.A. right now. That =
person=20
left Ohio right after he got out of prison, where he had just finished =
serving=20
four years for several counts of theft, forgery, and secured =
writings by=20
deception. He was a con man, sociopath, and pathological liar. One of =
his means=20
of getting you to do things his way was to over-react to any statement, =
not in a=20
challenging way, but knowing that most people don't like to be =
confrontational,=20
would end up causing <STRONG>you</STRONG> to be apologetic and doing =
exactly=20
what he wanted. This guy is scum, even going so far as running up =
his=20
wife's credit then, seeing as she was getting to the end of her rope, =
even=20
forged his own divorce documents to show his next "mark" that he was =
divorced,=20
so he'd have a place to go when she finally threw his ass out. It =
worked, too.=20
Naturally, this guy fit right into L.A. I could go on and on about this=20
particular dirtball, but I'm out of blood pressure =
medication...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Just saying to be careful. Don't =
believe everything=20
you read on the internet. Take a friend to the audition. Watch your ego. =
Very=20
few people deserve the ego they wield. Good luck.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Alan Tuskes</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Motion Picture Special Effects<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.alternative-realities.com">www.alternative-realities.c=
om</A><BR>phone/fax=20
216-226-0810</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>

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