FlynnFest

The Return of the BLOG!!!!!!!!

2009-07-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

I write to you all with the Warner Bros. water tower taunting me out my balcony window. Yes, I am in Los Angeles, finally. I arrived here in my new car in May.

For work, Im training the other half, the upper class at Equinox in Santa Monica with hopes of paying more than just my bills. While the pay is low and slow the flexibility it offers keeps me going with the hope that I will use

the free time to be involved in the local theater

and film scene.

Currentl

y Im in rehearsal for "The Cherry Orchard" in S

tudio City. I play Trofimov which is basically the only role I could play, but its a great role and Im happy to be doing something after my break from Les Miserable. Its good practice and hopefully people will enjoy working with me, watching me, exploiting me, whatever it takes. Its small po

tatoes but at least Im eating.

I live in an apt in Universal City, its the backside of the Hollywood Hills, but if I say hollywood hills I feel too pretentious, like Im giving a false impression. But, maybe I should just own it...Yeah I live in the Hollywood Hill

s, Im that badass that fast!

The first 4 nights I was here I rented a weird studio right off the freeway as seen right here, t

hen I subletted a smelly cat hair infested apartment in Burbank from a guy who went on a hike for 5 weeks. The

arrival here, in the new apartment, with the help of my family and the liberation of my storag

e unit has been the closest thing to comfortable Ive felt since Provo. Not as cool as my little house which Im sure is a hole now, but still cool.

It should also

be noted that concerts at the Hollywood Bowl are celestial.

Hollywood....?

2008-10-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

In two weeks my death on the barricade will be final, I will no longer fight for the liberation of France. This has been an insanely quick summer, though at times it moved at a snails pace, in the end, which is usually the case, it was very quick. 6 months of my life have been dedicated to these performances. I have never spent that much time in one show. At the end of any piece of life it always seems sort of sad that its ending and that the future is so unknown. And with the "artsy" path I have chosen, the unknown seems more prevalent than ever before. The future is wide open with options! So it looks like Im moving to Hollywood, yes the pipe dream that has spat out hundreds of aspiring Grants and Clooney's has entered my path.

We finish up here on the 18th and then I get kicked out of my apartment so its off to Salt Lake for a short regroup and then off to Cali. Between now and then I will audition for Romeo and Juliet at Pioneer theater company which, if cast, could actually be more complicated than its worth.

I have also been looking at grad school options and the possibility of pursuing and MFA. Which could put me right back where I am in 3 years but with debt and famous friends. I could also teach at a University if I so desired, which truthfully is appealing to me.

But in the mean time, Kam and I will head to San Diego to use her dad's place as a home base for us to find places to live in Los Angeles, hollywood, whatever.

So Im bad at blogging

2008-07-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

So Im bad at blogging, sue me.As of last week the Apartment I sold my soul for in Harlem was vacated completely by my roommates and the beginning of my third month in St George came about. Strange business. But coming here was a good decision. I do miss New York sometimes and if anything I will always be grateful I got to be a part of it while I did. But I really love driving a car. And I love doing laundry at a house and I love being warm.
Last weekend I went on as Marius, and I hope that it went well. Im sure the audience can't help but feel ripped off when they hear the announcement that the Understudy is going on. I'll bet you can hear a sigh of disappointment from the crowd when that announcement echos across the canyon. But tough luck, cuz I went on anyway. Let me know what you hear.
I was just hired as a trainer at the Summit Athletic club here in St George so i can start supplementing my meager peanut income with a bit extra. The bad news is that we start rehearsing for Big River in about 3 weeks and if you take all the rehearsal time into account I think I make less than 4 bucks an hour. Thanks College!!
On the upside, I think the shows are going well. The theater is selling more in advance than usual and Les Miserable is fun to do nearly every time. Sound of Music is not. In Les Miz I play about 10 characters total, some of which have names, Bamatabois and Grantaire. Im lucky to have pretty featured parts every night and a good amount of solos to calm my ego. In the sound of music I play the butler, Franz, an older man near his 50's or 60's with just enough stage time to drive me crazy. Maybe I haven't aged well, who knew you could look at me and think, "old butler" but maybe its a compliment. I seem to get older every night as I play with the character so if you see the show in August I should be on my death bed.
Speaking of seeing the show, come on down!! If you've never seen Les Miz you are missing out and I would be thrilled to have you see me in it. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday's til Oct 18.
Kam is the female swing in Les Miz, which means she is the understudy for all the of the female ensemble and there hasn't been a week yet that she hasn't gone on and been awesome at it. She's pretty damn good at it is what Im sayin. She works in the Box office part time to deal with student loans and such.
We only have Sundays off and those are usually spent with church and naps, but I have a goal to start getting out and having some more fun. I don't feel the crazy coming on but I have seen The Shining and all work and no play....well you know.

empty chairs and empty apartments

2008-04-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

It's ridiculous how this path Ive chosen is so damn twisty. It seems in no way to resemble a straight line but continues to spiral like David Bowie in Labyrinth, dance magic dance. I came to New york to be a professional actor and have just been offered my first professional stage job which will take me back to Utah. That's right, Im comin home! already. I have been offered a spot at Tuacahn summer theater for the next 5 or 6 months as an ensemble member and if it all goes to plan I will be understudying Marius in Les Miserables. (thats another story) So Im comin to st George and Kam is comin with me and we are leaving this coming Saturday on a cross country trek to the wild south west. These are equity shows and thats a pretty big deal as far as being taken seriously, so while I may have to do some work in the trenches of the ensemble, I think it will be worth it to get ahead in the long run. Who knows what comes next.

But in the meantime, we had easter (went to church, painted awesome eggs, played in the park, rode a carousel), st patricks day (wore green, saw a parade, ate corned beef hash) , the pope came (thought of funny things that rhymed with pope) , I got promoted at work (who knew the guy who couldn't hula hoop in the Junior High School pep rally would be a fancy personal trainer, I still can't hula), had some voice lessons, and explored many new places on the isle of Manhattan. This place is amazing when its warm enough to be outside! It comes to life and morphs into an entirely different city, vibrant and inviting. We've explored riverside drive, tribeca, walked across the brooklyn bridge, the gardens of central park and the museum mile of the upper east side. The city is just beginning to open up its vehement arms that seemed so cold and full disdain to finally invite us in to be a part of it and see its fantastic version of Spring, what a great time to leave.....hmmm?? Life comes at you fast.

Unconditional

2008-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

I saw a play at the Public theater last night, the title of this post is of the same name. Kameron is now the assistant box office manager of that theater and she was offered a couple of free tickets. The company who put on the production has a familiar artistic director named Phillip Semore Hoffman. Kind of a cool thing. The theater is a pretty big deal as far as real "theater" goes. Its not the big flashy stuff that we all love to see in New York, its the real gritty off broadway stuff that attracts people who fancy themselves artists before stars, or at least want to be interpreted that way. The little girl from the My Girl movies was in it as well as a bunch of familiar faces . Just to be clear, this is not the kind of show you bring home to your mom. Most of real theater, which is a term Im using but not so clear on how to define it, is programmed to get a reaction, not just entertain, but to elicit a response from the viewer. Often times the production ends up searching for shock value, something so wild or so perverse, some language that is pervasive and unapologetically offensive. This is the kind of theater that is meant to change the viewer, at least I think so. But what I found is that in this city which is already pervasive perverse and wild, they have to go pretty far to get a response. Im not sure if Im offbeat here but I think its pretty fair to say that some people didn't get it. I say this because I can't stop thinking about the black man across the theater from me who couldn't stop laughing as a white human resources employee of an airline hung in a noose from his neck on the stage while the black man he just fired kicks the chair out from under him letting him fall to the sound of a neck breaking like a dry branch of pine in an empty room and the lights go black. So I say to you Rob Thomas, how far have we come?

Its still cold here but this week should be warmer. The last two weeks we attended church in a different ward where I had the pleasure of seeing my old mission trainer Ryan Howes. Pretty cool, but I can't help but envy a guy who I always envied before, he's a good man. I also had the opportunity to be embarrassed by a former classmate from Bingham High who approached me and I looked at her like a deer in headlights, is it just me or did Sarah Borg not wear glasses in high school! I hate that.

Upcoming? Well there's a few auditions this week that I will try to hit up. God willing one will be my big break, assuming I can get in. I had my first audition for Law and Order SVU last week, I am more than confident in saying I did not get the part, sometimes you can just tell that your not the one they want. This week also consists of the last portion of a massive mailing campaign to all the agents in NYC that are looking for talent in hopes of getting some meetings with someone that will push harder than my current representation. I figure it couldn't hurt.

Heres to spring and to St Patty's day in a city where I am actually looked at as an Irish guy.

It will never be warm again

2008-02-21T18:34:00.000-08:00

Monday morning I went outside bundled up like the little kid on a Christmas story thinking about how I couldn't put my arms down, and then...I got sweaty, it was 62 degrees. Amazing! But alas, that was just a teaser and the feature is nowhere to be seen, cuz man its cold.

The good news is the Writers Strike is over, at least I think thats good news as it hasn't really affected me at all yet, but in theory that should open up more opportunities for me to break free of my adult film franchise and make some good movies.

I actually did have my first film audition in New York today. It was for the US Army, a training video for recruiters to help them be more effective at getting people involved in a questionable conflict. It went well but they always go decent and more often than not the circumstances of a casting situation are very far out of my control.

Life at Equinox fitness is getting better and I acquired two new clients this week, look out!

As far as auditions go this has been the best week so far, I had a few auditions that I actually got into and they all went swimmingly with one leading to a callback which took place earlier this evening. A musical called "soul searching, a rock musical". Its a new musical being developed for off broadway release which possibly sounds cooler than it is as I don't find the music so inviting. But you can google the show title and read about it on its website and if by some chance I end up in it you can know and judge for yourself if Im in a mess or a blessing.

Well Im off to polish my wood floors and clean up mysterious hairs on the bathroom floor. Love to you all.

the life and times of a new york "artist"

2008-02-02T21:36:00.001-08:00

I use the term "artist" here very loosely as I have yet to create any "art", at least in the traditional sense. Though I do think the way I have transformed what was once a "breakfast nook" into a bedroom with the use of wood, cloth and metal deserves some credibility.

So I am in New York city and have been for a month now. Yes a whole month, anyone miss me? Well I don't miss you either.

I live in Harlem, and its basically like you think it is, the only white people around are myself and the handsome guy in the mirror. The street is 142nd. Thats basically 32 blocks north of the north end of Central park and 100 blocks north of times square. This part of the island of manhattan does not possess the same charm as what you kids see in them picture shows. But if you are looking for some late night chinese or fried chicken, this is the place to be.

I live on the top floor of a townhome. Its a four story building and we have access to the roof. Given the appropriate weather, that feature could prove to be pretty sweet. As I mentioned earlier, I live in the kitchen it what was formerly the eating area. I thought it would be a great way to cut the costs of the city and I think it was a good idea. One word..IKEA!!! I live with friend who graduated with me from my program and today we got our third roommate who seems pretty cool, but so did Britney Spears so who knows.

I am employed as a personal trainer at a gym called Equinox in Tribeca. The gym is one block north of where the trade towers used to be and is about a 45 minute commute by subway. I currently clients with a potential 4th. That sounds pretty sweet but the time commitment is intense and at some point may become a hinderance to the original purpose for this move.

Which brings me to the art portion. I have yet to work as an actor, granted its only been a month and most of that month has been doing other things, but I want my oscar and I want it now!!!

The biggest trick in this town is getting seen, If your not a member of the Actors Equity association, which is the stage union for actors, you end up on a waiting list to audition and more often than not they dont see you at all. So no matter how good you are, it doesn't mean much if no one knows it. This may prove to be quite a process, but New York is my block of marble and I shall carve a David. Chipping away bit by bit I have auditioned for a few things and have a callback for a new musical showcase in a couple weeks. (I only mention that to sound cool as I think it may be a bust) and the writers strike has all film and tv on hold out here and we all know my face is my moneymaker, woopow!

Kameron, my love, is here chipping away slowly as well. She is currently working at the Planet Hollywood in times square, so technically, if you squint a little she is entertaining people on Broadway.

Well my friends. I blog you the best. Stay tuned for more updates on the life you all are living with me.