Oscar Night Made our Group Small, yet Powerful!

February 24th was our 16th Hollywood Players Actor's Group and Oscar Night!

INTROS
Skipped them due to small group. We all knew each other! 
I didn't want to cancel the workshop for the Oscars. The work is just too important! 

WARM UPS 
Stretch out, followed by Fake Jump Rope.
Sword fight across the stage two at a time.  Some people got faked cut and fake killed! LOL!
Jazz dance moves across the stage.
Comedy Moves across the stage.
Ballet across the stage!  We are officially warm!

VOCAL WARM UPS
AEIOU starting low and slowly climbing up the scale.
Random Humming to warm up those vocal chords.

AFFIRMATIONS
Repeat after me: 
"I am a unique and a one of a kind special person!"
"I have confidence in my ability to make it as an actor!"
"There is a series with my name on it in my future!"

EXERCISES 
Everyone did their best Impressions.
"What are you doing" exercise.
Then we did some Meisner Repetition.  Some did great. Some have a bit of trouble getting the concept!

IMPROVISATIONS
We all did Oscar Award Winner speeches!  These were so fun! Dennis Hodapp played audience applause on his cell phone.  A water bottle served as an OSCAR and I announced the winners.  It was fabulous! Everyone really got into it!

Improv #1 starring Kelly Mullis and Dennis Hodapp.  Kelly played a HOMELESS Woman who is minding her own business when a police officer, Dennis, decides to harrasse my character. He asks me if I have a permit to be there. I put out a fake gun from the 99 cent store. He thinks it's real and some how, we both end up dead.  I was doing some really weird voice and it was fun to play a crazy, homeless person. I think I'll have to work on that one! 

Improv #2 starring Rachel Quinn and Dennis Hodapp. Dennis played a US Senator who is having an argument with his mistress Rachel.  Dennis says that he's running for re-election and that he's leaving his wife because he's fallen in love with Rachel.  Rachel drops the bomb on him that she's pregnant. Things got really tense. He kept trying to go to her.  She kept yelling "Stay away from me, keep your hands off me." It was a great improv!  Loved it!! So Scandalous!

Improv #3 starring Rachel Quinn and Kerry Liu.  Kerry played a celebrity who has killed her boyfriend and Rachel is a 'fixer'.  Kerry comes to see Rachel and Rachel was fabulous as a character similar to the lead on "Scandal" (Kerry Washington).  Rachel started rattling off instructions to her co-workers and coming up with a solution to the problem at hand.  Kerry was so funny, because she said that she knew her boyfriend was gay and that couldn't get out. She was more concerned about the questions that the police and press would ask her. She was asking if she could get Woody Allen or Scorcessi to come direct her.  It was a really funny and interesting improv.  I loved it!

Improv #4 starring Kelly Mullis and Kerry Liu.  Kelly and Kerry play hookers.  Kerry ends up on Kelly's 'corner' and things don't go very well. Kerry kept calling Kelly 'the good wife' because she's on the conservative side. She accuses Kelly of wanting to meet a husband and not be a good prostitute. Kerry was on a rampage.  It was really funny.  Kelly ended up getting so frustrated that she left her own corner.  Good job!

COLD READINGS 

"Kill Bill" starring Kerry Liu and Rachel Quinn.  This was a long wordy scene thanks to the writing of Quentin Tarantino. Kerry and Rachel really got the fake pleasantries that they were trying to convey. Then out came the claws and the threats.  Wonderful dialogue and a really fine performance! That would be a good scene to memorize.

"Basic Instinct" starring Kelly Mullis and Dennis Hodapp. Kelly, me, played the Sharon Stone character. I've also wanted to play that character.  I just did her really straight and serious with very confident and flirty undertones.  Dennis did really well in the Michael Douglas role. We have decided to memorize this scene for next Sunday.  I think it'll go really great once we get off book. :) Can't wait.


"Traffic"  starring Dennis Hodapp, Kerry Liu and Rachel Quinn. I loved this scene. Dennis and Kerry play the concerned parents of Rachel whose friend has died of an overdose.  They are worried that Rachel might be getting into a bad crowd and they want to ground her.  Rachel was playing a 16 year old and she did it great, with just the right amount of spoiled, bratty attitude.  I've asked them all to memorize that scene and it is going to be amazing once they get off book. 

"Nikita" starring Kelly Mullis and Rachel Quinn. Kelly plays Zoe a hit woman who is looking for payment for a recent job and needing to disappear because she's been 'made'. All the agencies know who she is.  Rachel hands her a memory chip with an important and valuable list on there. She knows what to do with it and thanks Rachel for all her help and gets out of there to go into hiding after getting a lot of money for the memory chip. Rachel did great in the scene. She's fab with dialogue!

"Lonestar" starring Kerry Liu and Dennis Hodapp. This was a lovely scene of flirtation, hidden love between Pilar and Sam.  They are talking about a time gone by and it is evident that they have history and still a lot of love between them.  I've asked Kerry and Dennis to memorize that scene. We'll be performing all the memorized scenes in next Sunday's Workshop. It's going to be very inspirational to watch! 

"Getting On" starring Rachel Quinn and Dennis Hodapp. Rachel plays a doctor who is having some trouble at work. Dennis plays another doctor who makes her feel better about the issues she's having. Clearly Rachel's character is attracted to Dennis and doesn't mind showing him. She was perky and sweet whenever he was around. Dennis was very charming as the kind doctor!  Great scene you two!

"Changeling" starring Kelly Mullis and Dennis Hodapp. I played the Angeline Jolie character in this piece where she is following the detective down the hallway telling him that the kid calling himself Walter is not her son. That he's four inches shorter. Dennis is trying to convince her that she's wrong, but a mother knows her own son.  She's not buying it!  She begs and pleads with him to help her get to the bottom of this! She says that she's not trying to cause then any trouble. He decides to help. We are going to memorize this scene as well!  I personally can't wait to see how this one turns out!

So that was our wonderful workshop on Oscar Night!  I loved it.  The work was great and the improvisations blew my mind.  I thank the actors for their dedication to coming out to the workshop during one of the most important SPECIAL EVENINGS of our Entertainment Industry! 

If you'd like to get on the list for the next Hollywood Players Actor's Workshop on March 3rd, just send me an email (kellyart@pacbell.net), Facebook me, or text or call: 323.428.3739

See you on the STAGE!!!

Best,
Kelly Mullis, Artistic Director
Hollywood Players Actor's Group