Grand Central Casting

I got a phone call the other day, telling me I was booked for a mystery gig. Basically, it meant we wouldn't be told anything about the gig until the day of the event.

Upon calling the hot-line, some basic info was given. We meet up early in Brooklyn for a morning rehearsal, get released around 3:30, then meet up again (sort of) between 6:30 pm and 7:10 pm in Grand Central Station to be in place for the mystery event taking place at 7:25 pm. We are instructed to come in casually, randomly, and through various entrances. We go to our designed locations and "act natural" until the event "happens", then act "surprised" about it (without over acting).

11:00am
The morning meet up was in a cold warehouse basement right by the waterfront. I half expected to see a few Mafia members "taking out the trash."

We sit around, filling out our paperwork, while a group of a hundred or so dancers run through some kind of rehearsal on the floor above me. I then realized that these old warehouses (this one being built in the 1860's) seem really sturdy. That is until there are a hundred or so dancers running through some kind of rehearsal on the floor above you... At this point we haven't been told if the dancing stuff is for the event or not, but since one of the musical selections included a snippet from "Love Train", I'm thinking it just might be.

12:45pm
Someone from up above (both in ranking and physical location) just came down to say hello before we all get herded upstairs for more information. From the accent, I'm assuming she's French. The only thing said was that this would be "historical". Everyone is now speculating what this might be. Is there a celebrity involved? Who's filming in town?

My guess at this point is that it could be an elaborate marriage proposal, where this all culminates with the guy on his knee with the ring. It could be celebrity based as well, as there are a LOT of actors involved with this. That much talent doesn't come cheap, and you'd have to either have the money, or whoever is arranging this FOR that person has money to pull this off.

2:15pm
The director comes down to speak with us all, reiterating that we have to react naturally, which is why they're not telling us anything about what's going to happen. We are told that 40 of us will be picked at random as we exit holding to be more involved, and will be brought in to work with the dancers. I was randomly *not* chosen. They did graciously provide us with a MetroCard with enough credit to get is to Grand Central, which was a nice surprise.

2:30pm
They released us into the wild, with instructions to be at Grand Central sometime before 7:15pm, as everyone needs to be in place when this starts. They apparently have been granted only a 7 minute clearance to perform this.

So now I go to waste four hours in New York. I can deal with a challenge like that.

3:15pm
Decided to go straight to Grand Central to get the lay the land. As I walk around, I overhear two women remarking about the spotlights and speakers scattered around the upper level of the concourse. "They must be having some kind of an event here tonight." one of them says.

Oh yeah. Nobody is going to suspect a thing...

6:55pm
I arrive at Grand Central. I feel worn out from walking around Times Square for several hours, so I should definitely look the part of the weary traveler.

7:07pm
I make my way to the main concourse, and walk wearily around. There are close to a thousand or more people here. The upper concourse is filled to bursting, and cameras are flashing all over the place. I hear two guys talking. "Yeah, I think somethings going on here. Probably one of those things where people suddenly break out and dance." "Oh! That'd be cool!"

A lady just walked out of track 26 (where I was leaning again the wall, resting). She looks at the crowd and asks me "Is something happening here?" I just look at here confused. She walks away saying "Is this normal for a Sunday?"

Yup. This "secret plan" of theirs is working like a charm...

7:17pm
Passing the information counter, I overhear someone saying "Well, my friend said to be here at 7:00, but now it's 7:15!"

Nice work, gang.

7:35pm
A group of people make their way into the concourse dressed in funky ski outfits, and when the lights came on and the music started, they all started a big dance montage with all different songs ranging from showtunes to movie soundtracks to rock. It ended with some girl being raised on a guy's shoulder, and she plays her stomach to a guitar solo. Then everyone crowds around her, focusing all attention on her.

I have NO idea who she is, but somehow I thought it was meant to highlight her. Eventually, I found out it was promoting a line of fashion wear.

The video cameras were all over the place, and we were told back in holding to look for the video tomorrow on YouTube.

If you find it, be sure to look for me.

I'm the short guy being blocked by everybody.

And since so many hundreds of people were there (due to lots of blabbing), our presence was oh-so necessary.

Now I wander around for another 15 minutes to make my leaving look "natural". Oy.

8:35pm
Waiting in line to be checked out. Outside a building on 42nd St near Times Square. The line is long. Quite long. But I wind up being 6 from the end. I see that everybody else just high tailed it over here immediately after the performance ended. This is my reward for actually following direction. I find out that all the people in the upper concourse were press and "invited guests". So perhaps this wasn't as big a secret as we'd been led to believe?

At the start of the day they told us they'd probably be done around 9:00. They must mean 9am on Monday, considering how slowly they're filing us into the building entrance and into the cramped elevators...

9:58pm
Finally checked out, and heading back to the subway to get back to Penn Station, and catch the next train home. I miss the first subway train by seconds, but fortunately the next one comes along a few moments later.

10:11pm
I arrive at Penn Station with three minutes to make it to my train, or I'm stuck here for another 45 minutes. Luck is with me for a change, and I slide into my seat with under a minute before the doors slam shut. The ride will take about 70 minutes, with another 45 to drive home.

Was it worth it? Of course it was! After all, I was part of something historical.

Then again, the woman's French accent was rather thick. Perhaps she really said "hysterical"?

Fin.

Visit the Geek Boutique on Zazzle! Interesting apparel for interesting people!

"I'm a very patient man"

Today I'm doing one of my "playing patient" gigs. My local university hospital has what's called a "standardized patient" program, where actors (well, *some* are actors) play the part of being a patient for student doctors in training. The students sometimes have to just diagnose, sometimes treat, and sometimes have to learn bedside manner techniques.

Today I play a patient who has had a headache for over 20 years. He's had surgeries and treatments but nothing works.

As fate would have it, I actually have a headache today, with pain in the areas that are described in the case. I must be working on my "method acting" techniques without realizing it.

My first doctor was a nice young lady. Very personable. Good with notes. Pretty much asked all the right questions.

Second doctor looked the part, but didn't ask pertinent questions which might have gotten me to reveal information which would have helped his diagnosis. Was very unprepared too. Constantly looking at his cheat sheet, ignoring me for minutes at a time. Find even perform a basic physical exam (which is standard procedure on ANY patient). FAIL.

Doctor three asked lots of pertinent questions, but got all flustered during the physical exam, constantly apologizing when she messed up or took too long doing something. Wearing sandal/shoes didn't do much to make me admire her professionalism either...

My final doctor was a bit... flamboyant, but asked a lot of good questions, took a lot of good notes, but despite this, continued to ask many of the same questions over and over. You'd think having it in front of him in his own handwriting would jog his memory. Oh, and if you haven't gotten that reflex action with the hammer after three tries, move on. Seven whacks in the same spot DOES get irritating...

Tomorrow I go back to have them practice Osteopathic Manipulations. With any luck, my spine won't get severed.

The Actor Says "Moo!"

Attending a 2pm open call in NYC today. Open Call is the official term. It's otherwise known as a "cattle call", where anyone and everyone is invited to attend. Plenty of actors, some students, some moms, and plenty of New York's unemployed masses, hoping to get some work. I'm told that this is a broad spectrum call, encompassing many different current and upcoming projects.

As of the start of this writing (1:50pm), I am about a block away from the entrance, in the back third of the line, which has just started to move (if you count walking four steps forward moving.) The last time I attended an open call, an accident held up traffic, getting me here with only 30 minutes to spare. Sadly, the fates were against me, as they cut off the line NINE PEOPLE in front of me. Hopefully I will fare better this time around.

2:05pm. We've moved about half a block, and I've gotten to see one of the more colorful residents of this fine city. A man, approximately 6'4" tall, dressed all in suede patchwork, wearing a fur hat, fur boots, feathers, sunglasses, and many many ornate chains around his neck. Some kind of eclectic fusion of a Viking, Mr. T., and that native American guy from The Village People. And, no - he wasn't part of this open call.

3:10pm. We've moved another half block, and then the truth is seen. We're entering on the next block over! We're no where near getting in yet, and this is supposed to be from 2-4pm. This doesn't bode well. I'm having flashbacks to my previous open call, and pray that I karma will work with me this time.

3:45pm. The gods are smiling upon me for a change. The line suddenly picked up speed, and I was inside by 3:30pm. A quick sit down to fill out paperwork, then handing in my somewhat outdated headshot (as I have my beard now - although I did attach a smaller photo of me with the beard), then they took two digital photos. I wore my black suit with dark blue shirt to try and look professional.

As I head towards the uptown subway station, I take a look, and notice that the line is almost TWICE as long as it was when I first got in line. Oy. Glad I got here when I did (although I tried to get here earlier). Now, I'm on my way back home. Hopefully, this will bear fruit, otherwise I'll have spent more coming to NY for the past month, than I'll have earned. Only time will tell...