Unicycling in Rehearsal video!

So this is my very first Vlog! (not really)

During rehearsals for the WILD WILD WOMEN OF WAKKY NUNU, I took a little break to practice my driving skills for an audition later that day.

Not bad for not riding all winter on top of being sick.





The rehearsal space is located at 440 Lafayette. Right across from the Public Theater. (Shakespeare in the park, joe's pub, etc.) They're pretty good rehearsal spaces save for the floor shaking from the hoofers on the floor above us.

And the good news is...I got the part. We film this sat. Gotta love special skills picked up in a college circus class. Just a little clowning around, eh?

Wakky Audition and Eye Candy Rehearsal

The Wild Wild Women of Wakky NuNu.

Last Sunday I sat in on auditions for the remaining ensemble members of the cast of this upsoming comedy extravaganza. We are almost fully cast and beginning rehearsals this Tuesday. I don't have much info to give you just yet, its all very hush hush, but I can tell you it runs for a month at the Red Room from May 11th to June 3rd.

(Director: Frank Cwiklik and Choreographer: Sarah Jacobs)

Of course I'll post more info as we go and about our adventures in rehearsals. Until then we're in the hands of these two capable people. They look harmless, right? I hope...



and moving on....


Today found me back in the rehearsal studio for yet another project. This time we were way down town in the meat-packing district at Nancy Meehan studios. This is the downtown facing view from the space. (Its more impressive in person)

(a view from the rehersal studio)

So we are back in rehearsals for EYE CANDY, with MariaColacoDance. This is the same piece i helped create and perform in as part of the NYC fringe fest. of 2006. Its still got a hearbeat and is in the process of coming back better and stronger cause, you know, we have the technology and all that. The biggest news is that P.S. 122 is heavily looking at producing the show, so here we are relearning and brushing up on sections and getting ready to go back into the studio full force.

(patrick pizzolorusso)

The section we were working on today is a duet between myself and partner Carrie Malernee. This section is performed to At last, by Ella Fitzgerald. Its a charming tale of a first date. Gorgeous girl, dorky boy. Hilarity ensues. Now we haven't touched this piece since 8/06 and after reviewing the dvd of the performance it came right back. Muscle memory is an amazing thing.

So one rehearsal this evening and we're in a pretty good place, memory wise. Now its just a matter of tightening a few things up and working on the lifts. First time back we opted to not get too crazy with all the lifting. Coming up on 2/22 we have an open rehearsal for a small group of invited guests and this section will be one of the pieces we 'work' for the spectators and possible funders. And then after that, well, we're on the way.

(maria colaco, patrick pizzolorusso, carrie malernee)

One of the great things about being an actor in this city is the ability to see so much of it that most people don't see. The building we rehearsed in is currently an artists residency. (Gotta figure out how to get in there) But at one time it was part of Edison's main building here in NY. In fact, the infamous high line subway line used to run through the building about 2 stories up. You can still see where the tracks are and were cut when the line became defunct.

Who esle gets to look out over the Hudson and the lower part of the West Side Highway while rehearsing a piece that is on its way to being produced?

Shakespeare For the Summer

So as actors, of course I might be alone in this, we pound the pavement possibly more than any other group of people out there. There are auditions and lines of people waiting to audition everyday and all over the city. After a while you start to see the same people every day. in fact I have a few friends I've made because after the third time seeing them in a crowded waiting room you latch on to that familiar face to alleviate the boredom and thus a friendship is born.

With all of this auditioning and footwork rejection becomes a standard part of your life. More than likely you wont even hear if you didn't get the part. Sometimes you'll get a call or email apologizing that you weren't cast.

As an actor...WE LOVE THAT!

It allows us to get on and not focus on that one possible gig we might land.

All that being said, it is such a wonderful change of pace when the casting director/producer/artistic director, whoever it is sitting on the other side of the table is actually with you and enjoying your audition. A colleague once told me when i was first starting out, "remember, they want you to do well. They need you to do well so they can cast their show successfully".

Well, I just auditioned for the Carolinian Shakespeare Festival on Friday and if i don't get cast I don't care. They are casting this summer's production of Romeo and Juliet. The audition went very well and it was one of those instances where the artistic director was there in the room and you can tell she wanted me to succeed. From start to finish she was with me every word of the way. In fact, Ii received a smile and a laugh at the end of my monologue. (yes is was a comic monologue) So over all just based on that it was a positive audition.

But wait, theres more.

I got a call back.

Thats right! So in 2-3 weeks i'll be going in again for my call back and we shall see. They're looking for movers and stage combatants as well as actors trained in Shakespeare. (check, check, and check)

So who knows, I might be spending my summer in North Carolina. Not a bad possibility, no?

This ain't your Momma's Dick Tracy

Slam Narrative

and the case of the Purloined Panites

Ladies and gentlemen, the long awaited comic short Produced, Written, Directed, and Shot by Douglas MacKrell is here.

This is the latest video out of Hard Luck Hero Productions, a NY based production company that I have the great honor of working with.

The story....as quoted from Douglas himself:

"After a display of Marie Antoinette's personal lingerie was stolen from a trendy store looking to boost it's business, the shop's owner turns to the only gum shoe that can crack the case- Slam ..."

...and go...

Slam Narrative Starring:

Stewart Hamilton

Jared Hoffert

Jim Mundy

Emily Rouch

Kevin Sebastian

Jenelle Sosa

Patrick Pizzolorusso

I do hope you enjoyed that. Of course check back for more. And for the continuing adventures of SLAM NARRATIVE.

Links of note:

Slam Narrative direct link

Hard Luck Hero Production

Actors' Equity

Ah, the elusive equity card.

We're all striving for it whether or not we claim to.

So many of us have been told to stay non-union for as long as possible. Don't become equity. But deep down we all want access to that lounge and the ability to add our names to official lists at auditions.

Here is the run down.
If you're not union, like me, you can wake up as early as you want. Be the first person on line before any audition. You could have been waiting out in the cold or rain (like i did yesterday) since 7:30 in the morning. When the doors finally open and you're allowed in, ALL equity members get to sign up first.

Thats how it works. So if you're lucky you get seen. If too many equity members show up you have no shot at even auditioning. So you get to add your headshot to an ever increasing pile of young starving artists.


Some theaters and companies hold non-union auditions. Which WE LOVE. THANK YOU!

But how to become equity? How can you do it when the only way to be seen is to be a part of the union. And the only way to be a part of the union is to get in a union show? The great Actor Catch 22.

Of course there truly is plenty of non-union work out there. And i love theater enough to do it. But my goal is to be able to support myself working as an actor. Only a few things pay enough for me to take some extra time off of my horrid day job. But for the most part I'm working interminably long hours for no pay. And often times no recognition.

I wouldn't give up this life for anything. But i'm ready for the next tier of my career. I just don't know how to get there yet.

So for now i continue to wait in lines on cold rainy days praying I'll be seen and then be worth enough for the producers to allow me in.

I'll see you in line.

Penny Dreadful

Penny Dreadful
Episode 3:
The Great Switcheroo

This past January I had the pleasure of working on Episode 3 of this 12 part series being performed at the brick theater. I appeared as the famous escape artist and magician Harry Houdini in "Penny Dreadful: The Great Switcheroo."

What is Penny dreadful? (Quoted from the Penny Site:)

" Inspired by the adventure-filled dime novels of the 19th and early 20th century, PENNY DREADFUL is an innovative epic for the stage co-created for Williamsburg's Brick Theater by Matt Gray and Bryan Enk. Like the original novels, PENNY DREADFUL has been serialized into 12 monthly installments with Chapter One beginning in November 2007. Audiences will be able to follow the labyrinthine plot twists and re-experience the cliffhanger endings through video downloads of each episode following their live performance, available on the Third Lows Productions official website (www.thirdlows.com/pennydreadful).

The year is 1909 and the discovery of a bloodless body has San Francisco abuzz. It will be up to a second-rate showman and an oddball detective of the supernatural to put together the clues - a mysterious hearing aid, a missing creature from the darkest corner of the earth, a secret society bent on world domination, a man who can control earthquakes, and the greatest magic trick ever performed. PENNY DREADFUL is a twelve-part tale of mystery and horror that takes place in the first decade of the twentieth century and guest stars a parade of notable historical figures such as Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Edison as they weave in and out of the suspenseful tale."

Now I know you are all regretting missing this piece, so fear not my friends, the performance was filmed and is now online for your viewing pleasure.

So please, click here for all your Penny Dreadful Needs:

Or click here for episode 3 directly. Cause you know you want to see me perform!

The Great Switcheroo!

Penny Dreadful: Created By Matt Gray and Brian Enk
Starring:
Patrick Pizzolorusso as Harry Houdini
Clive Dobbs as The Magical Mr. E.
Sarah brodsky as The Mannequin
Jessica Savage as Penny
Fred Backus as Simeon Viernikovac
Matt Gray as Leslie Caldwell
Aaron Baker as Robert Ford
Clay Drinko as Artemus Forbes
Valentine lyashenko as Horace Torque

Enjoy the show everyone.
And thank you for all of your support.
Always.