Rainy Weather is the Worst

Now that we are officially in Spring season it needs to become Summer so that it can stop raining! The rain in New York isn't like rain anywhere else. It is a 360 degree wet mess. It's as if you were going through a car wash without a car. The wind is so ridiculous that it will blow the rain every direction, your umbrella doesn't really do the job - however it does keep your head dry. The other week ago I came home from work soaking wet - no joke - drenched. I had an umbrella! I did my part!

It rained all day yesterday, raining all day today. Okay, it wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have to go outside. I would love to stay inside and take naps, watch movies, but no, I have to commute 1 whole hour to work.

Whitney and I watched New Moon last night after we skyped with Shirley, Fred, Granny, Papa, and little Ella:) We really enjoyed it overall. It's amazing watching movies with my wife because we pick up on the same things. We'll laugh if the scene was bad = bad delivery of lines, or bad writing, or the fact that you can't understand anything that they are saying! I mean I get that these actors are teenage heart throbs and that is primarily why these Twilight movies are such a hit, but the actors NEED to enunciate!!!! I think that I paused the movie probably 20 times just trying to figure out what they just said. Every time I went back and played it again and luckily Whitney sounded it out and got it. I hope this isn't a glimpse into the future - me losing my hearing and Whitney repeating everything for me.

If any of you have seen New Moon you'll know that you are either rooting for Jacob or Edward. They call it, Team Jacob and Team Edward. Edward is a vampire and Jacob is a wolf, they both love Bella who is a human. Whitney is on Team Jacob and I'm on team Edward.

In the movie Bella was having many nightmares and I was thinking that has got to be the worst, more so than all of this rain. I also felt grateful because I haven't been getting bad dreams lately, not that I had before but occasionally here and there. Well, last night I had a bad dream. I was performing in Godspell once again and Shellee was directing/choreographing and we were going to perform in my Church. Keith Haan was musical director. I did this show my junior year in high school. In my dream I was playing Jesus yet again, and I hadn't gone to any rehearsals. The opening night, I finally opened my script and started to memorize all of the songs and lines.... Christine Goodall looked at me with disgust and asked if I knew my material. I said of course and was just going through the show. I started to panic because we were about to start the show.
Then all of a sudden we were on a bus and I witnessed this guy choking a man outside, so I naturally jumped off and stopped him and he began to choke me. I then grabbed the liquor bottle from him and smashed it over his head. Weird.

30 ROCK

A week ago on Friday I got randomly called from a casting lady for the show 30 Rock. I was so shocked because I saw a notice on backstage.com and submitted my headshot. The day of the shoot they called me in for a rush call. Luckily their studio is in Queens just about 15 minutes from where we live in Astoria. I was told to bring my suits and blazers / nice button up t-shirts because they are filming a wedding episode. It's the season finale!!! I was thinking - this is a HUGE deal - I'm about to see Alec Baldwin, TINA FEY, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, and Jack McBrayer.

Now, to be honest I have never seen this show - I KNOW - I'm the worst! When I was on set I asked somebody, "So what season is this for 30 Rock? Is it the second?" And then I felt like a complete fool when he answered fourth! I'm an idiot! Right when I got there I got approved for wardrobe and got to go on set right away:) I was so happy. Within in minutes of being there I saw Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, and Jane Krakowski. These people are huge stars!!!! Alec Baldwin just hosted the OSCARS! Inside I was peeing. I kept clinching my fist and sweating. But after about an hour of being around all of them, I felt normal. We, as background actors are encouraged not to speak with the main actors, bummer. Well - I had a little break so I went to go find a bathroom and there was Alec Baldwin in a hallway - we passed each other. I could have hugged him... I could have shook his hand... I could have asked him all of the questions... but I didn't. I just passed him like he was any other person in New York.

While I was waiting to go on set I was put in Jane Krakowski's dressing room along with 8 other people. It was so neat. The room was about the size of our guest bedroom. She had a mirror with lots of notes from other celebrities. I of course read all of them. One was from Katie Holmes (Tom Cruise' wife) it said things like, thank you so much for coming to our wedding, you're so funny ... blah blah blah.. she signed it Katie and then crossed it out and put "Kate, Tom prefers this!" There was a note from Jake Gyllenhaal, Britney Spears' younger sister.

On this set I got to do so much more than I did for Mercy, including dancing with a 50 year old MAN. Yup, since I was a late call, all the other girls were already paired up and I was the loser that didn't have a date at a wedding. Well they wanted people to dance - so they had me dance with this 50 year old man who apparently was a regular extra on 30 Rock since season one. I felt VERY awkward. We didn't touch each other but he was definitely putting on the moves. When I got done - I immediately called and updated Whitney and she died laughing and insisted I show her the moves I learned from a 50 year old 'flamboyant' man.

My experience was amazing and I will never forget it. This cast was so much more professional and on que than Mercy. Tina Fey was openly making jokes in between takes and everyone was laughing and laughing. In between takes I noticed that Tina's assistant or coordinator or helper etc. etc.... was showing her on a laptop some kind of preview for the movie Date Night that she's in with Steve Carell. I thought.... wow no big deal, just a normal day for Tina Fey - starring in a tv series in which she writes and watching a preview of a movie she's in.

The food was so much better as well, but they were saying they always go all out for season finales.
On set for the wedding, I was sitting at a reception table and this guy was going around and asking our table if we were available to shoot April 5th or 6th. I don't really know what that meant other than maybe they need to re-shoot something. So I guess we'll see. After each actor finished their last scene everyone applauded them because it was their last hoorah for the season. OH and also - when you all watch the season finale their is quite an interesting character that literally looks like he is two women. I mean... hysterical!! Can't wait to see it! I believe that it's going to air in the beginning of May.

For those who have no clue on who these stars are....

Tina Fey                                                     

Alec Baldwin

Jane Krakowski

Jack McBrayer

Tracy Morgan

'Mercy' & More!

     Today I (Whitney) got to experience my first EXTRA work on a TV show. I got a call to be 'background' for the TV show Mercy. (Nathan was just recently a 'frat boy' on this show) I was called in to be 1. a person at the bar and 2. a nurse. I was super excited to see what the TV world is like! I learned SO MUCH today, so let me let you in on all the scoop. :)
     I also got on the 'obscure' white bus in the middle of the city which brought me to set. Mercy's studios is in Secaucaus, NJ. The studio is pretty much a really HUGE garage. Outside of the unmarked building (which is the studio) you will find trailers for the main actors and tents with a lot of food under them. When we went inside the studio, there was every type of tea, coffee, and soft drink you could imagine all out on display. (Really the food display was like at a wedding. A huge catering service does it everyday for the cast and crew) I immediately went to wardrobe where I showed them a few options for my 'bar attire'. They approved of my outfit and then gave me some scrubs to wear as a nurse. If they don't like what someone has brought to wear, then they give you something to wear from their plethora of outfits hanging neatly behind them. I was glad because I got pink scrubs! Also...I looked inside them to see what size they were and I surprisingly saw this:

 Yup! I was wearing the scrubs from Grey's Anatomy!!! I mean, I can't even believe they have scrubs made specifically for these shows anyway. I just felt so amazing wearing the scrubs from one of my favorite shows! 
   Inside the MERCY studio you will see about 20 different sets. If you walk through it, you will see the inside of a house, a porch, a camping tent, a bar, a hospital, an outdoor scene, etc. It was pretty amazing! 
    I got lucky today because the director of background actors seemed to like me, or like my look at least. (It probably helped that I kept smiling at him as well, ha!) I was used all day and was on set from 11am to 4:30pm. In the bar scene I was originally right in the viewpoint of the camera and then I got moved because I was wearing a similar colored shirt as the girl next to me and that was distracting to the camera. However, the background director said to me, "Don't worry...I have something better for you to do." I was then told at the top of the scene to cross infront of the camera. So, when the director said 'action' I was supposed to walk from one side of the bar to the next. Hopefully, when this bar scene is seen on TV, the first thing you will see will be me walking across the screen. (or maybe my shirt, or something, haha) It was very fun to shoot and I met a lot of great people. It was very challenging because we were supposed to be pretty lively however we had to pantomime it all. We couldn't make a sound! It was quite hard having a 'conversation' with someone when you really had no idea what you were saying to eachother cause you couldn't say a word. It was a lot of reading lips!
     We shot this scene about 20 different times. In the scene, the main character, Veronica is signing her divorce papers in front of her husband, who is the bartender. After each 'take' (time the scene was filmed), a prop master gave 'Veronica' a new stack of divorce papers so she could have a fresh line to sign. To set the atmosphere, they were blowing smoke in the room and gave each actor an alcoholic beverage that was filled with apple juice or water.
     After this scene we were told to go change into our hospital attire. We were then 'propped' which is where we were given stethoscopes, clipboards, etc. I was placed behind a computer and desk for this scene. I'm not sure if I will be seen, but there is always a possibility. I thought it was so interesting how everything was in such detail. At my desk, I had a real computer that worked that had all these different patient files on it. On my desk I had papers with patient info, tons of pens, paperclips, frames, etc. It was just as if you walked into an actual hospital.
    Today was a blast, and even if I'm not seen in either of these scenes, the experience was amazing! I'm looking forward to doing it again, hopefully.

On another note:
    MATT DAMON came into Nathan's painting pottery studio today! He painted with his daughter and mother. He painted a little dog figurine.
I'm so jealous of Nathan. :)
Wow...no big deal.

EXTRA EXTRA Read all about it!

This week has been such a huge blessing in more than one way. The weather has been in the upper 60s lower 70s with no clouds in the sky and the sun is warm and bright. Yesterday we were 1 degree warmer than in Miami!!!! Our relatives Teddie and Abby were with us and then the day they left our good friend Paige Salter was in town and stayed with us the past two nights. We haven't seen in her in a year so it was amazing getting caught up with her - she is planning on moving here in September! YAY! I wasn't scheduled to work but one day this week for some odd reason but luckily I got a call from Central Casting on Tuesday night for background work for the television show "Mercy." Whitney and I are registered with Central Casting in NY where we are in their website so that casting directors can call us for background work. It's pretty cool, we both got calls last week but had to say no because we were scheduled to work at our pottery painting store. So all day Wednesday I was an extra on Mercy. You're probably wondering what the show Mercy even is.... well here is a rather long preview on what the show is all about. It's kind of like another Grey's Anatomy. They are on their first season - brand new.



The girl who plays Chloe - the dark haired one - she was the girl in Harriet The Spy.

The episode that I was apart of took place in Newark New Jersey in a Frat house. Everyone was on Spring Break so it worked out well for the crew. I woke up at 6:45am on Wednesday took the subway to Manhattan to 43rd Str. and 10th Ave. I was told there would be a bus there to take the people who needed rides to NJ. I was a little skeptical about this because once I got there, I saw no signs, no people, no clues. Around the corner I saw two very large charter buses and I chose to go in one of them. There were people in them but no leader was around. I asked a person and they said Mercy so I grabbed a seat. Strange I thought - I hope I don't get murdered or sold today.... A few minutes later a guy got on the bus and started taking role call. I was handed a voucher so that I could get paid. I'm sure you're wondering how much an extra gets paid... Non-union which is what I am, gets paid around $80 for the day - so it would be the same if I was there 1 hour, 2 hours or 10 hours. However, after 10 hours you get paid overtime. The union is different than theater union (equity).

Okay... you have Equity for Theater and then you have AFTRA and SAG for film. AFTRA is 5 lines or less = The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and SAG is the potential for the big time. SAG = Screen Actors Guild. Stars like Kate Winslet, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts are all SAG actors. So if you are AFTRA or SAG that means you are in the union. They obviously get paid more than non-union. Union extra work (background actors) get paid $160 for the day and if they work overtime they get $160 per hour that is over. But with the union you have to pay dues and a fee to get your card. So if you're not wanting to take your career seriously and go far there is no point on becoming union.

Once I got on sight for Mercy I couldn't believe how real everything was. They had cops outside directing the traffic and stopping traffic for the crew and actors. For that day of filming just part of the episode, Mercy spent $12,000 - $15,000 on background actors alone! This doesn't include any overtime or the food they had for us. Yes, they fed us all meals and had snacks. I was thoroughly impressed. I brought a sandwich because I had no idea what kind of breaks we would get. The food wasn't the greatest but there was a buffet style for breakfast and dinner. Right when we got there we were put in our holding room which was across the street from the set and they had a wardrobe crew, hair, and makeup. I got the okay for my outfit and didn't have to get makeup or hair done. This guy was going around checking every males neck hair line and if wasn't clean he would shave it. Haha - I immediately texted Whitney. They had the 100 extras grouped by numbers, mine was 83 which was less important than the lower numbers. Some of us including myself waited for 6 hours before were told to do anything. I unfortunately didn't bring my ipod or any books so I texted as many people as I could trying to defy going crazy. Finally they told me to grab a cup of beer (O'douls - it's non alcoholic) and wait outside the frat house for stand by. 6 of us waited there for 1 hour and then were told to go back to holding room. Ugh... I was getting frustrated! I was worried that they wouldn't end up using me. Finally about a half an hour later I got to go on set. It was a pretty small frat house and they had the entire building covered with black fabric so that they could control the light coming into the windows by using their own stage lights. They had fog to make it look more smokey. I just stood in the living room with my cup with many many people around me. They had stand ins for the lead roles. Stand ins are people who do the lead role blocking and rehearse to make sure the director has all of the right camera angles. When they are ready to shoot the scene they replace the 'second team' (stand ins) with the first team (the leads). So ultimately the lead characters don't have to do all of the work. When they make the switch - the stand ins solidify the blocking to the leads. I found this extremely interesting. They used spike marks (colored tape used in theater) for where they wanted each main character to stand. I was so proud of myself for picking the spot I did to stand because it was inches away from the main characters. On every take I tried soo hard to get into the shot. If my face wasn't in I would get my red cup with my name on it in the scene somehow. We were at a party so we all had to dance around - it was very awkward. Right before they say action they say, "background" meaning background start acting, "playback" music is turned on, "action" camera rolling. The music played for about 10 seconds then they cut it off because the nurse Chloe had a line, "We're leaving!" A mic man was holding the mic like sometimes you see in cheap films - the mic is in the picture, you know what I mean? It was seriously insane how many people they had on crew. People running around, very large equipment everywhere. It was extremely disorganized! What is going to take about 45 seconds on the show took an hour to shoot! That was the only work that I did that day - that one scene. We did that one scene with the one line about 25 times. We had to do it many times for each camera angle. Stopping in between, repositioning everything and making sure the camera was just right. After the director was satisfied with the scene she wanted to add a little exit and glance back with the character Chloe, played by Michelle Trachtenberg. Well, Michelle hated this idea and she had a little fit. She started cussing. She was rolling her eyes, saying that this is unnecessary detail that isn't relevant to the
scene or worthy of time. She complained that she has been on set all day since 7 am. All the director did was say that she wanted it done and this is what separated good tv from bad. She finally agreed to proceed and put forth probably about 5% effort into the 'glance back.'

The scene that I was in =  the two main nurses are dancing on a coffee table at a frat party and Chloe finds them and says, "we're leaving," and then all exit - and she glances back. I am wearing a grey shirt with a dark grey unbuttoned shirt on top. So look out for me, I have no idea if I'll be seen or not - but that would be the shot I would be in. They didn't tell us when the episode is airing, but Mercy comes on every Wednesday 8/7c. I assume it will be not this Wednesday but the next. The rest of the day I just waited around and got home around 12:30am. It was a very long day but I was so grateful for getting to experience it all. I had no idea that film takes soo long. I thought rehearsing for theater took time. I was wrong - film is double, even triple the time!

On Friday of this past week, two days after Mercy, I surprisingly got called for the show "30 Rock!" It was amazing! I will tell you about that experience hopefully tomorrow. I have to go to work now. But let me just say that Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin are just as good off camera as they are on.

Important News + Broadway Stars

There are so many great things that have happened this past week and we NEED to tune you all in on everything. I (Nathan) have decided to break it down in more than one blog so that you don't get overwhelmed by a very very long post because that can be intimidating! I'm going to start with an audition we had this past Monday. Whitney and I went to the Actors Equity Association also known as AEA to audition for an equity playhouse in West Virginia. They were doing musicals including, 42nd Street, Carousel, Hairspray, etc etc. Great Musicals, great opportunity and a great equity contract. We weren't getting our hopes up because we knew that there would be a huge possibility of not being seen. We signed up on the non eq list and were numbers 21 and 22. After waiting for a couple of hours they informed us that they would see the first 10 non equity people. Well when they read off the list - a lot of people weren't there so our numbers got bumped to 6 and 7. We were thrilled!! Whitney auditioned right before me and she seemed to have been in there longer than other people which is always a good sign. Then I went, and right away the 3 men behind the table asked if she was my wife and then complimented how lovely she was:) I of course said yes to all of the above and sang my song. After I sang, the director asked if we were sticking around for a few minutes because he wanted to talk to us about something. I left - told Whitney and instantly became excited. About 10 minutes later the director came out to the lobby where we all were hanging out and he yelled "where is that married couple?" We felt soooo cool! He took us aside and wanted us to audition for a show that he was directing in California called "Stand By Your Man" it's the life story of Tammy Wynette. He was considering us for the leads. We of course said that we could and then spent the rest of the day with Teddie and Abby. We think they brought us some good luck:)
    THEN>>>>>> About an hour after that audition Whitney got a call from an agent! His name is Jim Flynn and he has been in the business representing talent for 20 years. He was Kristen Chenoweth's first agent..... no big deal. He told her that he was Chris's agent (Chris is a friend of Whitney's family who is currently in The Phantom of the Opera on B-way) Mr. Jim Flynn said he is interested in both of us but already had a type that is like me. He proceeded to tell Whitney he wanted to do a trial run with her. This means that he would submit her for auditions and if she got call backs, good feed back from directors, got any offers, than he would sign her. Agents are really great because they can get you actual appointment audition times for Broadway shows! He already submitted her for the soap opera "One Life to Live." They had a coffee date the other day which went splendidly well! We are very excited where this might lead her in her career.

Important performers you need to know about in the Broadway business!

SUTTON FOSTER - She is absolutely incredible! She has originated sooo many roles it's sickening. She originated Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jo in Little Women, Janet van de Graaff in Drowsy Chaperone, the German yodeling fraulein Inga in Young Frankenstein - which was first offered to Kristen Chenoweth but she turned it down, and Princess Fiona in Shrek the Musical. That is originating 5 roles in really great musicals on Broadway! Out of those 5 she has been nominated 4 times for a Tony Award --- which is like winning an Oscar but in theater world. She ended up winning a Tony for her performance as Millie. She's amazing!




KRISTEN CHENOWETH - This girl has done it all - Originated Lucy in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Glinda the good witch in Wicked, now starring in Promises Promises... I mean she's phenomenal - she's won a Tony and an Emmy. She does film, tv, cds - she is stupid good!

This is a clip of her at the Kennedy Center honoring Julie Andrews.



AARON TVEIT - Upcoming huge star! He's done Fiyero in Wicked, orginated Gabe in Next to Normal and is now working on originating the role that Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch me if You Can the musical.

A Reading of "Catch me if You Can"


"Next To Normal"



CHEYENNE JACKSON - His voice is endless! He is a Broadway barbie and is now working on tv in 30 Rock. This is the Tony performance of Xanadu - it's basically a spoof from the movie with Olivia Newton John. Start at 1:37 for this video



AARON LAZAR - We saw him in Tale of Two Cities and we were BLOWN away by him. He had done The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, and now currently in A Little Night Music with Catherine Zeta Jones.




KELLY O'HARA - She is wonderful! South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza, The Pajama Game.
Skip to 2:37


There are so many more great great performers but these are the few that stand out and are really IT on B-way right now!

Springing Forward

We need to update you on so much. Last week I (Nathan) went to an audition for the production of Rent the musical which would perform in Media, PA. It would be an equity contract and it went pretty well. I sang a song, got a call-back and came back to dance. Rent isn't a 'dance' show but they wanted to see what kind of honesty we brought to the moves... really? I was so annoyed because I hate doing dance calls - they teach you soo fast and then expect you to bring some honesty to the moves? What does that even mean? I think I need Kate Al Shamma! They told us that they would give those who got the job calls later that week. I got no calls, bummer. Then I went to the EPA (Equity Principal Audition) for the National Tour of South Pacific and didn't get seen. So last week wasn't that exceptional. However, I did get a promotion for my Make painting pottery job. The manager upped my pay a little and is making me a key holder.

Sunday was spring forward which means we lose an hour. Whitney and I didn't realize this until we woke up and noticed that our cell phones were an hour ahead. Thank God our cell phones pick up the time digitally! We were determined to get up and go to church but the weather was awful. Walking in the rain with high winds in New York inquires to get completely soaked even with an umbrella. So we ended up sleeping in another 2 hours. Sunday was a great day because we welcomed Aunt Teddie and Abby into our home. They have stayed with us this week and left today. We have loved spending time with them. For the first time since moving here, Whitney and I got to do some touristy things. We went on the Staten Island ferry and saw the Statue of Liberty; we went to the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and went to eat at all the great restaurants. The MoMA was soo neat! They had a Tim Burton exhibit which was of course quirky and did you know that Johnny Depp and him have done 7 movies together? Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow, Ed Wood, and Edward Scissorhands.
On the top floor of the museum they had what Marina Abramovic calls "The Artist is Present." This was.... weird. She had live nudist standing around and videos of nude people doing specific repetitive movements. Now, Whitney and I understood some of the experiments, completely unrelated to being nude however. In acting class we would sit across from a partner and stare into each others eyes and just breathe in the other individual. Much like this picture:

It's in the moment, they are breathing each other in and anything can happen. It is live, it is real. Open vulnerability. How often do we truly look into someone's eyes and not say anything? This is rare. Naturally, Whitney and I understood this exercise. However, the top floor was completely different.
Here are a few photos of what was happening. It was very hard to take seriously.

This literally was present! Two people completely naked
standing in a door frame and people were supposed to walk
through to get to another room. Now there was another
entrance to this room so not everyone had to take this route
but it was an option. We chose the exit sign:) The crazy thing
about all of this was that anyone with a ticket could witness
this raw art. Right when we got into these rooms Whitney says,
"it smells in here," and Abby responds with, "of course - the
naked room smells."

This was a video of
two people screaming
their heads off
at one another....

            Eating Sylvia's! Soul Southern food:) Whitney got her sweet tea!!!

 Haha! There is 21st Century for ya:)

We had such a great time with Teddie and Abby!

Ella Ella Ella

Our niece Ella is too cute to handle! Fred and Shirley have been so amazing at keeping us up to date with the little princess from all the way from Tennessee. We get picture texts from them everyday and she is gets cuter every second. I wanted to share Ella with you all. Shirley, Whitney's mom, has a blog and she posts videos of Ella every so often. I decided to steal 3 videos from her blog (I hope you don't mind Shirley!) These 3 videos are just so precious. I will tell you my favorite moments underneath each one.


Okay - so she is becoming quite the singer / no surprise. My favorite part in this one is how she says "dares a moo moo, dares a moo moo!" . I also love hearing Shirley's laughter in the background:)


By far the beginning is the BEST. Her response to that question is priceless. At 1:43 - so sweet how she signs and says "more"


At 0:30 - when she is asked if she is going to be a big sister! Then at 3:20 to the end is the funniest thing I've ever seen!

Ella is so precious to us and it's so exciting that we have one niece and two nephews. We love them all to the sky and back and can't wait to see if Marissa is having a boy or a girl:)

 I am wanting my sisters and mom to start blogging. We all need to encourage them. Bother them on facebook about it or something. I am wanting to really annoy them until they give in and create one!