Monday, November 27, 2006

Philadelphia Theatre Caravan: Aesop's Fables Fall of '98








So it's the summer of 1998. I had just decided to take the year off from college to pursue acting full-time. My mother was very upset by this decision but I had to do this for myself. I enrolled in an acting class at the Walnut Street Theatre called Acting By Mistake with Bill Roudebush. I loved him as a theatre coach. He really loved working with me as well. After doing comedy improv for the past four years of my performance career with Peace Theatre, it was a welcomed change of pace to be doing dramatic scenes from the Amen Corner. I was recomended a manager from Antonio Benidict, an actor I worked with in Peace Theatre that summer. Her name was Debra Phelps with Quiet Tip Managment. She had got Antonio a gig as Dennis Rodman's stunt double in the movie Simon Sez. I auditioned for her in August of '98 and she signed me on the spot. She started sending me out imediately. I got called back for a Sean Conery film called Finding Forester and I had three call backs for Animal Factory directed by Steve Buschemi. You might reconize him from the movie Big Daddy with Adam Saddler. He played the homeless guy. He was also in Armegedon. I was very suprised to meet him at my call back. I couldn't put a name with his face. I then auditioned for Philadelphia Theatre Caravan. This company was run by Drucie McDaniel. They were doing a touring production of Aesop's Fables. The tour was going to upstate New York and parts of New England. I was very excited! I went to the audition and it went very well. I then had to wait to hear something. The next day Drucie called me at home to tell me I was cast! I tried not to sound too excited but I wanted to jump up and down like I won the lottery! I did jump around after I got the phone. I needed this gig so bad! I needed to prove I belonged in the real theatre world. I needed to be apart of real professional productions and feel like I belonged. I needed to be reconized as a significant talent. It was a vindication of sorts. I remember signing my contract and feeling such a sense of accomplishment. We started rehearsals in October of 1998. The cast included two other actresses. Monica Moran and Thea Chaloner. Our stage manager was also an actor named Jason Stockdale. Me Jason did a show together three years later called The Secret Garden. I learned from my cast mates and aspecially Drucie. She would coach me after rehearsals. To this day I never forgot how she preached about discovery. I needed to bring that element of discovery and newness to my role and performance. Thea and Monia were older than me. Thea was 24 and Monica was 25. They both held degrees in theatre. They taught me alot. We used to to these physical warm up before shows. Strecthing, jumping jacks etc. This got my body lose and ready to to do a physically demanding show like Aesop's Fables. We had great time doing that tour. Our first week on tour we drove straight to Buffaloe NY! The tour closed in January of 99. I wanted to compromise with my mom so I renrolled in Community College. That semester lasted a month before I left school again. This time to do a much bigger tour!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Peace Theatre: Nothing To Lose





Peace Theatre was the genesis of my acting career. It was the summer 1995. I was a freshman at Martin Luther King High. Good Shepherd Mediation Program had come to our school to start a peer mediation program in conflict resolution. Not that I cared. I only went to the training because the program director, Elisa Hines, promised summer jobs to students who completed the training and became peer mediators. So me,Patrick Williams and Canard Stratford agreed to we would go the training so we could get a job. I was fourteen going on fifteen and the thought of having my own money was a dream come true. I had applied unsuccessfully to Chicken George and this seemed like my last shot to get a summer job. At the end of the school day I was walking down the hallway to go the training. I then remembered my mom telling me and my brothers that under no circumstances would she let me get a summer job. I thought for a second I might be wasting my time. My mom wouldn't let me keep the job anyway.

I must have stood there for a few minutes stagnated in indecisiveness. I didn't know what to do. After a while, I decided to go to the training. I had nothing to lose. I would get the job and see if my mom would let me keep it. I had no way of knowing at the time just how much this one decision would change my life. I got to the training late. The training lasted four days during after-school hours. Once I was done the training we received certificates to be peer-mediators. Our job at the school was mediate disputes when needed. That job didn't pay. We were only interested in the paying gig! I got an interview with Good Shepherd a week later. They were located at 5336 Chew Ave. For some reason I couldn't find the office. So I went home and stood up Elisa Hines the director of the program. I thought I blew it.

The next day I ran into Elisa Hines and to my surprise she rescheduled. A week after that I was offered a position at Good Shepherd. First of all, when I was hired, I didn't know my job description. Secondly, my mom still didn't know about the job yet! So I went to my mom and told her about the the job and asked her if I could keep it. She said yes! I was shocked! I didn't even have to do much convincing! I still didn't know my job description. I told my mom that we were hired to be peer mediators. I didn't lie. That's what I assumed.

I missed my first day of work because I didn't get my work permit back in time. I was bummed. I didn't even call to tell Good Shepherd to say I wouldn't be there. I just assumed I lost the job! Elisa called me and asked where I was. I told her and she laughed. She said you didn't come in because of that? So the next day I went in to work. I was very excited! That is until they told us the job description. We were hired to a theatre troupe called Peace Theatre. We would develop and perform loosely improvised skits about conflict resolution that would tour summer camps all over the city. I thought it was crazy! But I was getting paid! I didn't complain. Our first performance was July 11th, 1995 at a summer camp in SW Philly. I was so nervous! I remember counting the number streets as we rode on the trolley, 52nd, 53rd, 54th, hoping time would delay the inevitable! Performing in front of people! I was now petrified! I remember there were only eleven kids at our first show. After the first minute my nervousness went away. I remember thinking "I can do this,it's not that bad at all."

Our second show that day was at a summer camp in West Philly for 91 kids. I was a little nervous at first but only at first. I remember I said a line and everybody laughed. That was amazing to me! I never thought I was funny! Ever! By the second day of performing I was totally at ease. I looked forward to making the kids laugh and conveying a positive message at the same time. Me and Pat proved to be a great duo. We had very good chemistry. Our troupe leader Bob Napper loved us and would give us free reign in the performance. I had a blast. I never wanted that summer to end. I went back to school the next year with a renewed self-confidence. I starting feeling good about myself for the first time in my life. The next summer I planed on going back to Peace Theatre. But Peace Theatre changed their policy for the summer of 1996. They wouldn't bring back any performers from last year. They would only hire high school students with a professional theatre background. So basically they told me thanks but no thanks. I was devastated. Pat didn't care. He had a lot of jobs and Peace Theatre was just another job to him. But not to me. It was so much more. It became apart of my identity. So I called Elisa back and asked her what I needed to qualify. She said I needed a resume and a head shot and professional theatre experience. I had none of that. I decided I was going to try and get the job anyway. So in my 8th period Spanish I wrote out a resume listing my experience in Peace Theatre last year. I grabbed an old photo of myself jumped on my bike and rode to Good Shepherd for my interview. I had nothing to lose.

A few days later Elisa called and offered me a position with Peace Theatre! What had happened was they had cast the whole troupe. But then somebody dropped out. Cheryl Cutrona the Executive Director of Peace Theatre thought it would be a good idea to bring me in to replace the actor they had lost because I was the only one with prior Peace Theatre experience. So I was in! The troupe was six high school actors with a lot of theatre experience. They were: Shane Slater, Rachel Brown, Burgandy Holiday, Walter Threadgill, Daniel Thomas and me. Our trope leaders was Robert Schiller and Julie Lake. I was intimidated by them at first and wondered if I could hold my own.

That summer trumped my first summer with Peace Theatre! It was that summer that I decided I would pursue an acting career. It made sense to me and felt so right. I stayed with Peace Theatre for the next two summers '97 and '98. However it was in '98 after my freshman year in college that I decided I was a big fish in a small pond with Peace Theatre and decided to try and audition for real theatre companies and productions. I was eight-teen now. I needed to know if I belonged in the theatre world outside of Peace Theatre. Elisa and everyone at Good Shepherd told me I had a lot of talent and should pursue other theatre and film projects. In '97 my troupe was leader was Judy Nelson. She was the first one to tell me I had a lot of talent and really should start taking classes. So in the fall of 1998, much to the dismay of my mother, I decided to take the year off from college and pursue it full-time. I hired a manager enrolled in acting classes at the Walnut Street Theatre and started auditioning. As a devout Jehovah's Witness there were a lot roles I wouldn't accept. But I was determined to find out where I fit in, if at all. After all, I had nothing to lose...

Purlie at the Ritz Theatre

Purlie!

I've been rehearsing my new show Purlie for about two weeks now. The music is pretty simple and not that complicated. The cast is great. They give off a good vibe. Tomorow we start choregraphing "Walk Him Up". Stay tuned for more updates on the show!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Mike Acting Out

Hello all! I just wanted to inroduce you to my blog. I started this blog to document my acting carrer from the past 11 years. I used to keep mementos from all my shows in a shoe box on my window seat but then it rained one day and the box got wet. I salvaged most of the pictures and play bills from my show but I still needed a safer place to put them. So I started this site with the help of my sister. So stay tuned for upcoming pictures, playbills, news articles and stories. Talk you soon!

Mike Hogan

Sunday, November 05, 2006

All Filler...

This is just filler text to get the blog up and running. Mike should be adding his own content soon. We will have all sorts of great things on here including pictures from past productions, play lists, news articles, and possibly even video clips of plays Mike has been a part of. This will be the place to go to find out what productions he is currently acting in or what may be in the pipeline. So, stay tuned!

Jemilah
blog administrator