A Fabulous 14th Hollywood Players Actor's Group Workshop

February 10, 2013 was the 14th HPAG Workshop. 

We always do funny group shots. One goofy, the other serious! :)

INTRO
We started off in a circle and everyone introduced themselves and said three interesting things about themselves. 

WARM UP 
After a brief stretch, we did head rolls & shoulder rolls. 
Then we reached for the sky, touched our shoulders, then our waists, then our feet. Faster and faster up and then down. Good warm up.

After that we did the Limb Shake from the count of 8 on each limb down to 1.
We did some "shadow boxing" and then we had a 30 second Dance Party!

VOCAL WARM UP 
We began the vocal warm up with some face stretching and scrunching followed by lip trills.
We sang ME, MAY, MA, MO, MOO from low to high.
Then we sang "Doe a Dear". Not everyone knew it this time.
Then we sang "Row Row Row Your Boat" as deep as we could two times.

ACTING EXERCISES 
We did the "Mirror Exercise" where actors are paired up and one leads and the other copies what the other is doing. After a few minutes that that, we switch and the other one leads.  Always good for a laugh.

We followed that one with what I call "Attitude Walk". The actors walk across the stage expressing different attitudes.  The first attitude was 'suspicion'.  The second was 'peace loving'.  The third attitude was that we couldn't stop laughing our heads off.  That one was super fun!! :) Yay!

ORIGINAL SCRIPT READING (17 Pages)
This was an original script written by writer/director Douglas Knox who I know from "We Make Movies".  He's a pretty risque and racy writer. He likes to write about the dark side of life. This script was called "CREW SLUT".  It was about a couple of girls who travel with the band and basically sleep with the band members and the crew guys. Whoever will have them, basically. A new comer is on board and I played "Bubbly" who is a very bitchy, jaded wrangler of the crew sluts.
We had every role cast in the reading and it all got acted out on stage, well, except for the naughty parts. Thanks to the wonderful narration of Kristin Pickrell, we we able to envision every naughty frame.  Thanks to the cast for making Douglas Knox's material come to life.

The Cast of the Reading of "Crew Slut" written by Douglas Knox.

The cast included: Sebina Shah, Sebina Gavrilov, Kelly Mullis, TJ Wichman, Dennis Hodapp, Cheray O'Neal, James MacLeod, Michael Beardsley, Carl Rolle as a DJ and Kristin Pickrell as the Narrator. 

IMPROVISATIONS
Improv #:  Michael Beardsley plays a sales guy at one of those expensive tennis shoe stores where people line up to buy the latest, coolest brand of Tennis shoe.  There are 5 people in line, but Michael tells the restless, irritable group that there is only on pair left and that they must tell him why they need the shoes and he'll decide who they go to.

Well, Sabina Gavrilov starts to use sex to get the shoes, Azra and Sabina Shah who needs the shoes to run a marathon. They almost get into a fight over the shoes, TJ Wichman wants the shoes for his pet Camel who has bad knees. (what?) TJ just couldn't believe how mean everyone was being.  Kareema tries to tell Michael her reason in secret. It actually got pretty chaotic as most improvs with so many players will get, and Michael decided that no one was getting the shoes, that he was going to keep them! So there.  Great job everyone.

Improv #2: Starring Carl Rolle as the Judge. Cheray O'Neal as the R&B/Pop Singing Star, James MacLeod was her manager who Cheray had had a unsuccessful affair with that ended badly, Dennis Hodapp was James's Lawyer and Michael Beardsley was Cheray's lawyer. Cheray had broken her contract with James and was now going to work with Dr. Dre. This improv got pretty out of hand as well.  James and Cheray kept yelling at each other about their affair gone bad.  Carl kept yelling at everyone to shut up. Dennis the lawyer was trying to get a word in edgewise as he kept objecting to everything. Throughout the chaos, Cheray and James went back behind the curtain and implied that they'd 'made up' (via sex) and that they weren't going to sue each other after all.  So the case was dismissed.  Thank goodness!

COLD READINGS

"CSI:NY" starring Sabina Gavrilov, Dennis Hodapp, James MacLeod, & TJ Wichman. Sabina plays a wife who is separated from her abusive husband who has a temper. James and Dennis are detectives questioning Sabina about her relationship with her husband who as turned up missing. Later she is introduced to the man who saved her life who is TJ. Sabina did a wonderful job with the dialogue. She was very natural and they all sounded like they were being filmed for the show. That was the first time I'd seen Sabina Gavrilov act and I was very impressed.  The guys did great as the detectives on the case.

"Delirium" starring Cheray O'Neal, Carl Rolle, Dennis Hodapp, & Sabina Shah. Cheray was the star of this piece due to the difficult dialogue of the hard nosed Senator Hargrove. She's a smart as a whip, fast talking Senator who suffers no fools. Cheray made clear choices of who this woman was and commanded the scene. Dennis and Sabina played other Senators who really were no match to her strength of character in the scene. In a later scene with Carl Rolle as the Chair of the Security Sub-Committee brings the same strong attitude that Cheray has and the two have wonderful chemistry as they banter and discuss strategy. Great work everyone! I'd cast Cheray and Carl in those roles for sure!

"Killer Women" starring Kristin Pickrell and Azra Isakovic. Super cute scene. Kristen and Azra are long time friends discussing a guy that Azra has had a date with. They were intimate and Kirsten is teasing her about it.  They joke and chat as friends do and I just loved their chemistry.  Very cute girls! Good job.

 "Blood Relatives" starring James MacLeod and Sabina Shah. This was a wonderfully powerful scene where Sabina Shah comes home after drinking with friends and James is suspicious and pissed. James is always good as the angry lover. Sabina held her own as the woman who is really to ditch this relationship. It was intense and I loved every minute. I didn't want to scene to end. Great work! 

"Vegas" starring Michael Beardsley and Dennis Hodapp. Michael Beardsley plays the head of the Casino who has come to talk to Texas Billionaire about an issue he has with a guest at the hotel who has supposedly stolen a watch that has been in Dennis's family for a long time. Dennis is pissed and wants to take his business elsewhere.  I felt that this scene was perfectly cast.  At the end of the scene, Dennis's watch is returned to him by Michael, but Dennis goes to another Casino anyway. Great work you two! 

"Sylvia Plath Monologue" by Kareema. Kareema did a great job with this monologue. She sounded really natural. Her eyes didn't know where to plant themselves and she missed a couple of opportunities for some great emotional moments in the monologue. All in all, she did a wonderful job. We'll work on this in the next workshop until its perfect! 

"Company Town" starring Carl Rolle, Azra Isakovic, & Cheray O'Neal. Carl plays a Marine who is a jet mechanic and also seems to be a 'therapist' to his crew member who are ladies. He's a compassionate soul and likes to help everyone. Azra is especially difficult in the scene and asks Carl why is he so nice when she is clearly not nice. Then at the end of the scene Azra got really emotional and started crying. I guess she really felt some emotions come forth in the scene. It is always beautiful when that happens.  Carl did wonderfully well.  Cheray's character was vulnerable in the beginning of the scene with Carl. It was lovely to watch.

Cheray: "My dad wanted a boy."

Azra: "Why are you so nice? I'm not nice."

"Vampire Diaries" starring Kareema, Sabina Shah and TJ Wichman. Kareema plays a witch who knows Sabina Shah's mother, who is a Vampire. Kareema is trying to take a spell off of TJ who is practically reeling and convulsing on the sofa in pain. I was worried about him, because he was really giving it his all. Kareema was creepy and sinister as the witch. Sabina was wonderful with the dialogue, super natural. Can't wait to see more of her work! 

Kristin Pickrell's Audition for Musical with James MacLeod. Kristin had an audition for a musical the next day and wanted to run her scene for us.  She was reading for the lead character of Nicole who is an ambitious singer who wants to put on her own show. She approached James's character to compliment him on his wonderful singing and lyrics and thinks they could possibly pair up. Kristin wasn't giving it her all. We all gave her notes that she needed to be more like SUNSHINE and smiley. After some work and further direction after the workshop, she finally nailed it and her final performance gave me chills.  I hope she gets a callback. I loved directing her in that scene. Cheray O'Neal was helpful as well getting Kristin to the perfect place for the scene! :) yay!

"Emily Owens MD" starring Michael Beardsley, Kristin Pickrell, Cheray O'Neal, and Kareema.  Kristin plays a funny pregnant woman who is in the hospital to have her baby checked on. Michael is her overly protective, loving husband. Cheray is the doctor who gives Kristin an ultra sound. Suddenly there is a problem and nurse Kareema is there to tell the doctor what the stats are. There is chaos and a quick decision must be made to get the baby out. Cheray explains the dangers of getting the baby out early. Michael wants to save his wife and demands that they do the procedure. Kristin is worried beyond belief!  Everyone committed to their roles and I loved the entire scene. Great work to you all.

"Anger Management" starring Dennis Hodapp, TJ Wichman & James MacLeod. Dennis and TJ work on a soup line. Dennis tells TJ that he's homeless but about the life he used to have when he wasn't sleeping on the streets.  TJ feels so bad that he give Dennis some money and wants to give him more. "Here, please I feel bad, I have so much!" TJ says to Dennis as he shoves money in his hand. Dennis was so endearing as the down and out man. TJ was super compassionate.  James plays a lazy soup kitchen worker with a bad attitude who was a war vet. He and Dennis talk about their time in the war.  It was a very good scene.  Wanted to see more of it!

"Client List" starring Sabina Gavrilov, Michael Beardsley, and Azra Isakovic. Michael Beardsley plays the funniest character in this scene. He's a flamboyant wedding planner who loves to introduce himself.  Sabina is the bride to be and her wardrobe session is interrupted by a very upset Azra, who doesn't have time for the ridiculousness of Michael.  The girls seemed like they were in a very different scene then Michael, but it all worked in a brilliant way.  I loved the commitment of the character by Michael! Sabina was great as the harried bride to be and Azra made the scene all about her and her issue at hand. It was perfect casting!  Loved it!

Michael: "You look divine. Ostrich truly brings out your cheekbones."

Michael: "Leslie Kinkaid, wedding planner extraordinaire." Michael killed that character!

Monologue performed by Sabina Gavrilov. Sabina did an impassioned monologue where she tells her boyfriend that he's not what she thought he was and at the end she yells for him to "Get OUT!" It was quite powerful. Great job Sabina! You need to be on TV!

There you have it!  All the fabulous details of the latest HPAG Workshop!

Come out and play with us!  The next Hollywood Players Actor's Workshop is on:

FEBRUARY 17th from 3-6 at the COMPLEX's Shepard Theater! 
If you want to sign up and get on the LIST, please send me a message on facebook,
text me at 323.428.3739 or email me at:  kellyart@pacbell.net

Easy as that!  Workshops are only $20. 

If you are a writer and want to bring something in to see it read, just contact me!

Hope to see you all on the STAGE!!!

Thanks for Reading!

Kelly Mullis, Artistic Director
Hollywood Players Actor's Workshop.

That is one crazy ORB on my sweater! I think this group is blessed!

In this shot, we imagined that butterflies were flying all around us! :)