MAD HATTER PRODUCTIONS....

I contemplated for a moment today of switching the production company's name from Don't Even TRIPP Productions to MAD HATTER Production because as of right now I feel like the real life version of the Mad Hatter....

Wearing all these different hats, as producer, director and actor, is quite interesting! Words such as rest and sleep now sound foreign to me! And the actual act of experiencing a full 8 hours of sleep now seems like a far off fantasy that will not be taking place for some time... =)

However, despite the many roles and responsibilities I have, rest assure I AM HAVING FUN!

If I'm not doing blocking notes for rehearsal, I'm on the phone with the Lesher people going over ticket sells...

If I'm not setting up a production meeting with my team, I'm working on getting into character for the next scene for rehearsal!

But I'm not alone in this! ALL of my cast/production team is taking on different roles and responsibilities. I cannot stress enough how much I value and cherish their support!

It's quite fun, we'll get done with rehearsal around 11 only to sit down to discuss lights, sound, set, and flyer designs! Speaking of, as you can see in this blog our flyers are officially done! We'll be getting them printed very soon!!!

The design for the flyer was done by my good friend/Virgo brother Damon Hastings who is also ACTING as the character Niko. He truly is multifaceted man! Check out his website...

www.oneofonedesign.com

Another multifaceted man is my actor Steven Grier who is playing the character Jacob. He also is a producer/sound engineer! He is handling all of our sound PLUS he came up with the grand idea of getting our cast together to record an ORIGINAL SONG for the play! So stay tuned for that because that track is about to be the business!!

In other news.... :)

We are officially donating half our ticket sell to the Youth Uprising Center in Oakland! We are super excited that we not only get the chance to entertain our community but we also get the chance to give back!! :-)

Make sure to check out their website as well...

http://youthuprising.org/

The pressure is on the cast and myself because even though we hit the main stage on April 23rd, we are scheduled to do a sneak peak show the 2nd week of April.

It will be an exclusive invite only event!

The purpose of this event is for us to invite different media outlets of the bay area so we can show people what we are doing and what to expect when we hit the main stage!!

We hope by doing this, the right people will be inspired and motivated to write articles and inform others about what we are doing as a production company! So if you know any theatrical/film theatre groups, companies, professionals or anybody who you feel may have some type of influence, please contact our PR Miss Arielle Vaughan at...

arielle@donteventripp.com

(She too is another multi-talented young lady who is handling all of our PR/promotions. She also sings and yes, she'll be making an appearance in the play too! ;-)

So yes! A lot is popping off on this end! Rehearsal tonight ended a bit early (8pm)Because I had some production things to handle....BUT I informed the cast the next 4 days are going to be intense! My goal as director is to go over all blocking(meaning movements, entrances/exits) as well as give acting notes for each scene by the end of this week. We already have worked half through the play and are just about to start ACT III. SO I anticipate that I will have gone over the entire play by this Friday! The cast is expected to have all their lines memorized by MARCH 22ND!!!

But between all the producing and directing I've been doing, I have yet to memorize any of my own lines.... :-P

So you already know, what I'll be doing this weekend, on top of the other hundred and 10 things to do=)

38 more days!!!

Until then.....

Have a blessed week!! =)

A set back? NOPE! Just a setup!

So it has to be a norm...no maybe a custom, oh no no, let's just call it a TRADITION! Because this is the third time this has happened. This is the third I have had to deal with an actor backing out...

I remember my first student film, the day before the shoot I had two actors back out so I had to rewrite the script the night before only to come to the set the following morning to have the main actor NOT show up!! But my friend/associate at the time(who is now my roomie arielle) made some calls and BAM a young nice man by the name of Matt appeared and took on the role that day and the film was a success! =)

For our last production we had a guy who signed up to play the character Rashad only to disappear 3 weeks before the play(i never got my script back from that man) we had to go on a wild goose hunt and ended up getting the character replaced two weeks before show time!

So I guess it would only be normal that we have some type of casting issue in this play right? Lol, I guess I can be thankful though that it happened NOW as oppose to a week before the production...

So our lead decided on the third day of rehearsal that the production was conflicting too much with his school. He didn't feel confident taking on the role and decided to back out. At first we all were a little bummed out about it, but that feeling of disappointment was soon replaced with a feeling of determination. My production team never ceases to amaze me with their constant encouragement and hard work ethic! We were all ready to move forward and make things work!

And in the end everything worked out just fine. One of our other actors(Mark Gatewood) who truly is an angel, originally had read for Malachi. We were going to cast him but we thought to go with the other guy(Arrillious) cause he was taller, so we casted Mark for the character Jacob...funny thinking back on it, i had a friend joke with me weeks ago saying it was discrimination to not cast someone cause of their height lol but we weren't discriminating according to height, we just had our preferences for the character. However as I have come to learn, what truly matters when it comes to casting, is knowing the persons' acting capability, confidence and drive.

And Mark has all of these qualities! We had a few other guys read for the part but none of them matched the passion and dedication that our new lead Mark has! =)

So with Mark now playing as the lead, we had to re audition for the character Jacob. We came across a young man who is down to do the part AND he does sound engineering so we now have someone handling our sound for the play!

so yes, things worked out just fine!!! Like they always do because God would never leave us, he hasn't before so why would he now!? We experienced a minor set back only cause God had something greater waiting for us and besides in this type of industry I've come to learn you have to flexible and BE PREPARED for anything!

In other news, there is 45 more days to the play premiers and I am collectively all over the place, meaning I have all it together but i have a hand in every department...I would go into more detail but considering I have to be up in less than 4 hours, I'll save it for my next blog...

So Stay posted!!! Flyers, and ticket information will be coming your way very very soon! Because as my PR Arielle would say, "It's more than a play, it's an experience!"

And please believe this production process thus far has been THE experience, so I can only imagine what the final result shall be =)