History of The Talented Talent Bros -- Chapter XIV

The months leading up to the opening of The Broken Jump were pretty darn eventful. I had dreamt up a new concept for Baby Hippopotamus Productions while in San Francisco for a CfMC Conference. A friend and I had talked briefly about the advantages of a company (not necessarily a production company) being an Employee Owned Enterprise … where the employees were able to buy stock in the company and thereby have a stake in the company’s future. It is an interesting concept that rewards loyalty and allows everyone to participate in the success of an organization. Wouldn’t it be cool if Baby Hippopotamus functioned in a similar manner?

Entertainer Owned Partnership?

The basic concept would be simple: Baby Hippopotamus would promote and, in some cases, produce gigs for a variety of entertainers. The entertainer would “invest” a small percentage of their income for the gig in Baby Hippopotamus … a certain percentage if Baby Hippo only promoted the gig, a higher percentage if Baby Hippo produced the gig. This capital (and we’re not talking about a lot of money really) could then be used to produce bigger and better gigs. The entertainers involved would have a stake in the success of the other entertainers, thereby almost forcing a situation where we all worked together and supported one another. Baby Hippopotamus Productions could be more than just The Talented Talent Brothers.

Right out of the gate, I had another entertainer … or “entertainment package” … which was my new career as a stand-up comedian. Thanks to Laz Viciedo, I had really become invested in this new venture. I enjoy stand-up (and am intimidated by stand-up) more than I imagined I would. After twenty-plus years of being a performer I suddenly had this new outlet and I was (and am) only a beginner. There was so much to learn, so many more challenges … I was a novice all over again and it was exciting.

On top of that, Rebecca was really becoming interested in putting together her own little cabaret act and had been invited to put a show together at Vlada Lounge. She did and was terrific. After her first show I could envision how a little time, a little money and a little effort would be all that was necessary for her to have a full-fledged act that could be booked into any lounge, cabaret or club in New York. She has the pipes, she has the charm and she comes fully equipped with a following.

With my comedy act, Rebecca’s cabaret act and new Talent Bros show on the horizon, maybe this silly little idea could work. And more importantly, maybe this silly little idea would bring in more talent and more commitment from other entertainers. Maybe this could create the sense of community and ownership I was hoping for.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Of course this would all be academic if we couldn’t get The Broken Jump put together. Being part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) could bring us some publicity and recognition, but we had to have a solid cast come show time. So JB and I set to work preparing for our next set of auditions.

To this day I am not sure why we received so many submissions for Weasel Erotica and so few for The Broken Jump (only about 100 really, if that many). The most likely culprit was that we were looking for specific types this time around, primarily a girl young enough to play Christina. Since there was only the one female role available, I guess the biggest reason was that actresses in their late-twenties or thirties and actresses who just didn’t look young enough simply didn’t submit. After all, it was that type that submitted in bulk for Weasel. We were also looking for older males to play Senator Drew and Mr. Klein, so we weren’t bombarded with the young leading man types either.

Ultimately this was an advantage. There were fewer headshots and resumes to sift through. Auditions were scheduled for a single day at Shetler Studios and we did our best to see all the men first and then all the potential Christinas later when Rebecca was available. JB and I agreed that having Rebecca’s input on casting somebody who could actually sing would be invaluable.

Desmond Arrives

I had also decided to make one major change to the script. I would add a new character, Irish comedian and singer Desmond Donagal. He was written explicitly for Jack Boice to play. Once Jack had expressed interest in doing the show I began to look for how we could include him. I am a firm believer that if you have somebody with remarkable talent, you don’t let that go to waste. Since none of the roles left in the script were for a singing part (and since we wouldn’t expect just to randomly add a song for the Senator to sing), I set to crafting Desmond for Jack’s unique talents.

I had met Jack during The Passion Play in 2006 and developed a good rapport with him. He is a gifted performer who can “sing the sh*t out of a song” and I knew early on that his personality would be a good fit with the Talent Bros.

I redistributed some lines from Jack and from Milton (and from Julius, for that matter) and created the role of this nuisance of a performer who would be an old friend of Julie’s and an annoyance to Jack. Not a terribly big part, but a scene stealing part … perfect for my old friend Jack. All we would have to do is dress him like a leprechaun and let the magic just happen.

From The Audition

Greg Homison was the first person to audition for us and, as he left, we knew that somebody was going to have to blow us out of the water to take the part of Senator Drew away from him. He looked right, he sounded right, he felt right … JB and I didn’t really have to debate much at all. The role is demanding and features an extremely long monologue (a campaign rally speech) near the top of the show that would be daunting to anyone. We just knew that Greg would be the one to tackle it.

Casting Christina was an altogether different experience. JB wanted them to perform a monologue, perform their song and also read a scene opposite me. I knew what he was looking for … could they act? Could they sing? And did they look and feel right with Julius? We had one actress that looked perfect (she really could have been related to Melissa) but her song wasn’t strong enough. We had another who had a good song but felt wrong with me (JB commented that he thought she wanted to get in my pants. Not a bad thing, but certainly not right for the part. Damn his artistic integrity!) when we read our scene together. Others just didn’t look like they could pull off the youth of the character convincingly.

Only little spitfire Caitlin Mehner fit the bill in all categories … she had the pipes, she looked young, she looked like she could be family (although JB commented that she looked much more like me than Melissa, which was certainly an interesting element for the show) and she certainly had the energy. In retrospect, there was no other choice. She may not know what she was getting herself into, but pretty little Caitlin Mehner would be joining our merry band of misfits.

We were still without a Mr. Klein though. We had auditioned a number of guys for the part but none of them really stood out for us. In fact, some of them seemed completely wrong for the part … and one of them frankly freaked us out a bit. Ah well, it wouldn’t be the first time we proceeded without one role cast … no reason to stop us now. We would find a solution soon enough … or at least we had better.