It’s been a little over a week since the show closed, and I’m certainly glad about one thing - that I get to sleep in on Sundays again! But really, I’m done with Oz and it’s been nice to be done with it. Especially with the recent heat waves…I would NOT want to be performing in 95 degree weather.

Closing wasn’t as hot as opening was but it came close. Closing was also sold out, and they kept packing people in. The crowd was packed, noisy, and eager to see a good show. Also, I had more of my friends there to see me than any other show I’d done before so that was just an added bonus.

The show went smoother then it had ever had. Maybe it was because the crowd was with us every step of the way, but it truly felt like a performance. The cast party was bittersweet. It was nice to finally be done with Oz, but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the group just yet. I had a great time dancing with the girls from the dance ensemble, laughing with the munchkins, and of course, being with my boys for the last time during this run. The highlight was the award ceremony however, which was a brilliant idea thought up by one of the stationary ensemble members. He made up awards for all of the cast members and crew. I was given two award titles: the “Iron Fortitude Award” for being able to perform while sick and being eaten by insects, and the “Lover of Smelly Dogs Award.”

Eventually we did leave - had to make it back in time to catch the Tony Awards. I find that I haven’t been missing the show that much, but after hearing such wonderful praises from friends and friends of friends, I’m very happy that the show was able to make such an impact.

So now, I guess I’ll have to say goodbye to the yellow brick road, and say hello to a fun-filled, relaxing summer It’s been a pleasure for me to share my experience with all of you out there. Hope you liked reading about it!
~Sarah~

There is absolutely nothing like Beach Blanket Babylon. Created, nurtured and fueled by the genius of Steve Silver, it was born one evening some 34 years ago when Steve and a few of his talented actor friends slipped on some crazy costumes and performed on the streets of San Francisco’s North Beach. Over the years it has evolved into a “must see” show that has entertained royalty, head’s of state, and visitors from all over the world. It is a show that is at once creative, zany, politically incorrect, current and just plain good entertainment for all ages.

The show has become known for its iconic hats and outrageous spoofs of current events by its talented musical artists. If it happens in the morning, it will be in the show that evening.

Sadly, Steve Silver passed on in 1995 but the producing leadership of the organization was passed on to his best friend and widow Jo Schuman Silver. Under her capable eyes the show has continued to flourish and Steve’s dream has been kept alive.

One of the commitments the organization has made to Steve Silver’s dream is to continue to support young artist’s in the community through college scholarships to continue their study in their craft. The scholarships are awarded in the areas of Dance, Theater, and Musical Theater. In this sixth year of the competition more than 400 San Francisco Bay Area students auditioned to become one of 9 finalists, three in each field, competing live for a $10,000 scholarship.

One of those 9 finalists was Keelin Woodell, a wonderfully talented high school student from St. Ignacius Preparatory High School, and an alumnus of our UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television summer Theater Conservatory. US Performing Arts co-founder, Craig Patterson and I attended the live performance at Club Fugazi Monday night. It was a star-studded evening. The Beach Blanket Babylon cast opened the show. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom introduced the evening, followed by former Mayor Willie Brown. It was an evening of polished performances from beginning to end and I’m sure a difficult decision for the celebrity judges to make.

In the end, Keelin didn’t receive the scholarship, but her Shakespearian monologue showed her to be a standout as a talented artist who is ready to take the baton and run with it.

This past weekend was the double show weekend. Usually we don’t have shows on both Saturday AND Sunday, so it’s always a challenge to keep the show fresh. I have no problem doing a show more than once a week - I usually prefer it. This past weekend however, it was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

On Wednesday of last week about 5 minutes after I left school, I started to feel awful. I had an instant headache, ear ache, sore throat, and my body started to feel like I’d been hit by a truck. My mom sped me to the doctor who diagnosed me with an ear infection and a bad sore throat. Luckily it wasn’t strep, but it sure felt that way; I could barely swallow. I was forced to stay in bed for two whole days while I got better, forcing me to miss the last days of advanced drama and the senior farewell. It killed me to miss school, especially such an important day, but I knew that the most important thing was to get better for not one but 2 shows that weekend. I have no understudy, so the importance of my health was even greater. I lay in bed, almost permanently drowsy, drinking so many liquids I thought I would drown. If I tried to walk around I usually had to lean on something for support, for the ear infections had given me vertigo. By Friday evening I was feeling much better than the first day, but still I wasn’t doing so well. My ears were killing me and I still couldn’t eat many foods that weren’t noodles or applesauce. I was incredibly concerned about the show, and whether or not I could even get through it without getting vertigo or losing my voice.

Saturday finally came, and I was allowed to show up late to the call time in order to rest a bit more. I wasn’t feeling well at all, and mistakenly I decided to join in with the musical run-through that takes place before every show. I felt my throat start to get rough and painful, even though I wasn’t pushing at all. During the lunch break, I took a quick nap in the rock house (where the costumes are kept during the week) and then tried to isolate myself as much as possible while getting my hair done, makeup done, and microphone on. I wasn’t feeling well at all, but after I heard that this was the biggest Saturday crowd we’d ever gotten, I knew I had to rally.

When I stepped onstage I felt miraculously ok, no trace of any sickness. My voice felt strong and clear and I was feeling great, until I started to sing “Rainbow.” I usually stand on the porch of Dorothy’s house during the first part of the song, but as I gripped the railing, I felt like I could tumble over at any moment. The whole show felt like I was on the edge of collapsing from loss of coordination. I somehow danced and sang like it was effortless, but inside I was just counting the scenes until the show ended. After the show I felt surprisingly exhilarated, like nothing was wrong. Many people told me that they felt like this was my best performance, which was weird as I had never felt so sick before a show in my life. I went home and got vertigo the second I stepped through the door, and quickly went back to bed and stayed there until I fell asleep, anticipating a similar result the next day.

However, when I woke up I felt almost worse. I was allowed to come late again, which helped but I still was exhausted and ached all over. Even though I rested before the show I was feeling worse than I had all week, and I was definitely questioning my ability to deliver a decent performance.

This time when I stepped onstage, I felt shaken and detached, like I was just going through the motions but couldn’t put any effort into it. I started to feel better as the show progressed though. “Rainbow” felt a bit shaky, but Munchkinland went smoothly and the Scarecrow scene felt great. All was going well until a few minutes into the Tinman’s song, “If I Only Had A Heart.” He was singing the second verse when I felt something crawling on my chest. I didn’t know if it was a fly, a bee, or worse, but I panicked. I had to stay in the scene however, so I tried desperately to just concentrate on the song and not the unknown insect crawling across my chest. Pain shot through my body as I felt it sting/bite me, I wasn’t sure what. My hands instantly went to the spot, and I tried to make it look like I was just putting my hands over my heart, not trying to squish the attacker. The second I did so, I started to get dizzy and lightheaded, but I knew I had to make it through the rest of the first act so I tried not to think about it.

As soon as act one ended I ran offstage and collapsed out of vertigo and panic from the sting/bite. It turned out to be a small bite from a horsefly on my chest, but the lump looked huge to me at the time so I couldn’t relax. I broke down out of panic from the bite, breathing heavily from the heat and swaying a bit from the vertigo. My mom came backstage to give me my medication for the infection, but it just made me sicker. I felt like I couldn’t go on, even though I knew I had to. Eventually my balance returned, but I still don’t recall anything that happened in the second act of that day, it was like I was running on auto-pilot. It only proved to me that I really do know this show inside out, which is a good thing because I definitely didn’t know what I was doing that Sunday. People later told me I had delivered a great performance, and I weakly thanked them but told them that I didn’t know why because I was practically unconscious.

I’m finally better now, and resting up for Sunday’s final show. I’ve only recovered so quickly through the help of a lot of rest, antibiotics, tea, water, and throat spray. Doing those two shows took a lot out of me, and I still can’t believe I actually did it while being as sick as I was.
Hope those of you who haven’t already can make it up for the last show this Sunday. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’ll be able to remember this one
~ Sarah ~

Some of the duties as a non-profit theatre company that you kinda have to do are outreach events and promotions. Recently, I’ve just been on three of these and I figured I’d share the experiences with you all.

The first I went on was a two-assembly performance at Davidson Middle School. Going there brought back a lot of memories about MY middle school experience for me, which wasn’t so pleasant, but it was reassuring to know that I would NEVER have to go through any of that again. That day I was a visitor, and therefore everything was good. We sang a few musical numbers for each assembly (We’re Off To See The Wizard, If I Only Had A Brain, If I Only Had A Heart, If I Were King Of The Forest, Over The Rainbow, and Merry Old Land Of Oz) and then had a quick question and answer session. The assemblies were for the 6th graders, and then the 7th and 8th graders. Some of them were very disinterested, but there were a few kids who I could see attentively listening and completely tuned in to what we were doing. It was cute. The questions we got asked were mostly about stage fright and if we get it or not, and what the costumes were made of and how the dogs were. It was a little nerve wracking to be there (most of the kids were at least 2 feet taller than me, so it was a little intimidating), and also a little frustrating because during my song a lot of them decided they were bored and started to talk amongst themselves. I didn’t stop or make a scene however, I just did what I usually do in situations like this: turn up the volume. I must have sung “Rainbow” louder than I’ve ever sung it before in my life, but it actually turned out really well so I was pleased. The whole day went way better than I expected, and I had a great time being with my fellow principles or my “boys” as I so fondly call them. (Note to anyone planning an assembly for middle schoolers: they really hate sing-a-longs. not a good idea.)

The second event I participated in was the Memorial Day Parade in Mill Valley, CA. I’ve done this parade once before when I was in Annie, but this year it was very different. For a start, they didn’t want costumes, so all of us who decided to do it wore our Mountain Play t-shirts. Also, they didn’t have a vehicle like they usually do, so we had to walk carrying banners and flags. The munchkins who participated sang and danced down the streets of Mill Valley and the crowds loved them. I, on the other hand, wanted to save my voice and not risk injuring myself, so I simply smiled and carried a flag. The whole day was tiring, but fun, and it meant that a lot of people saw us and were reminded that they need to come to the show!

The third event happened on Tuesday the 27th, and that was a special “highlights” performance at the Redwoods retirement home in Mill Valley. This is something the Mountain Play does every year and it’s special because most of the people in the home are old Mountain Play veterans that can no longer make it up the mountain to see the shows, so we bring the show to them. We usually bring all the costumes down for them to see, but because there are over 150 (I think…) this year and a lot of them are very fragile, we couldn’t, so again we wore our Mountain Play shirts. It felt like a short show as we only did 11 musical numbers, but this really isn’t a “musical” to me, it’s a play with music. Despite it’s length and the lack of costumes, the residents enjoyed the performance very much, and that was enough for us. This is probably my favorite thing to do when I’m in the Mountain Play, because it’s just so fulfilling putting on a show for people who truly appreciate it.

The show is still going well. 3 more weekends and 4 more performances for those of you who live in the Bay Area! June 1st, 7th, 8th, and 15th, all at 1 pm. Hope to see you on the Mountain!

Hey guys,

Some of you who read this may know me (how awesome). At any rate, I’m Matthew Burstyn and here’s a little a bit about myself and how I’m linked to the USPA family.

I’ve attended 7 different courses (8 weeks total) in the summers of ‘06 and ‘07. Spectrum Theater (One of the first students for this course, alongside the lovely Sarah Smithton), Theater, Acting For The Camera (Twice!), Theater Conservatory, SitCom acting and lastly, College Audition Workshop. All taken at the UCLA campus. All wonderful experiences. Since then I’ve been doing theater at my High School. I can hold my head up rather high saying that I’ve had quite a successful career there thanks to all my training. In my two years there, I’ve come to love everything Judith does here with the rest of USPA, and a lot of my fellow campers and mentors are still friends I keep contact with daily.

I recently created my own blog, dedicated to acting and arts. I’ll be posting and updating often here on Judith’s Blog and my own: ActorsPrepare (ActPrep for short).

Please check back and forth between the two, as I’ll be creating individual content for each.

Take Care,

Matt.