LionSnax are tasty morsels of theatrical madness, raw, delicious, and done to perfection. Created by (or involving) Bill Toscano. ~Snax
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Amazing & Hilarious w/ an Unexpected Twist!
Friday Night's Staged Reading of Mirror Mates: A Two Faced Farce was Amazing and Hilarious, the audience roared with laughter throughout, but it ended with an Unexpected Twist that surprised everyone!
And, I'll tell you more about that later, tomorrow, today ~um, Sunday.
Because, Saturday, was filled with Family and Friends and food and festivities which all wound up with "The Book of Mormon!" (Which was also Hilarious.)
So, right now it's pretty late... but I wanted to get the word out that, ultimately, the Mirror Mates Reading was a great success! ...except for a few things. (Which make me laugh.)
Goodnight for now... More soon,
Much Love & Gratitude,
Bill & Team LionSnax
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Don't worry...
It's just a quote from one of the characters!
Actually, they all say that at some point.
And it's a little how it feels putting this thing up in 29 hours (including the performance). That's all the union will allow.
But, ultimately, I believe it's going well.
YaY!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Much Love,
Bill & all the Mirror Mates!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday! ...and Other News.
So, it’s Thursday. ~Wait, Thursday?! How on earth did it get to be Thursday?
Goodness… it’s been a busy, busy week! And even still, you might not read this ‘til Friday! And that’s one week before the reading… Yikes!
Thank God it’s going well!
Yes! Last Sunday’s first official rehearsal went great! Now we knew that 2 of our actors weren’t going to be able to make it… and in this play, 2 missing actors means 4 missing characters! So, it was, indeed, a challenge! However, they were original cast members from the Living Room reading we held last December; so, they know the show pretty well. Still, our 2 new performers surely would have benefitted from their theatrical input. But that is often the way these things go.
On the up side, we are dealing with a room full of pros; so, in the end it will be fine.
It just makes the middle… somewhat adventurous.
But that’s not why I’m writing! ~The reason I’m writing is to announce the LionSnax Theatricals Website! It is online and has a full listing of the Mirror Mates Cast and Crew! You’ll be able to check out all our Headshots and Biographies! It’s a very talented group.
I’m very excited.
You’ll also find The Kickstarter Backer List! If you're on it, please let me know if there are any typos or corrections needed in you listing.
You can also read about past shows and even “Like” us on Facebook!
It’s all there at
And just a reminder for those of you who are planning to come the Mirror Mates Staged Reading… it is for invited guests only.
Soon, hopefully they'll be a full production to which we'll be able to sell tickets to everyone! But for now, you must be on the list!
This reading is being held on Friday, April 29th @ 8pm
Theater54 @Shetler Studios
244 W. 54th Street, 12th Floor, (Between Broadway & 8th Aves)
New York, NY 10019
Much Love,
Bill
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Conflicts & Headshots & Scripts! Oh My!
Once the casting process was complete it was time to move on to other tasks.
Conflicts!
First, we had to double check each actor’s conflicts against our potential “early” rehearsal schedule. And, a couple of actors came up with new conflicts… that they couldn’t avoid, so it was back to the scheduling drawing board. Johanna, Corey & I got together over burgers and a beer or 2, to reschedule. We selected 2 new dates and communicated these to the cast. Okay, good… handled… Next!
Headshots!
Some of the already cast actors still had not sent our stage manager digital versions of their headshots and bios for the website and the program. Why not? Actors get busy, yes, but so, do stage managers, and directors and producers who are all handling, 2 or 3 jobs, and auditions and other readings, etc. And, of course, sending out several requests is frustrating for a stage manager, and unduly delays thwart attempts of a DirWriterActor [TM] trying to complete a website and design a program on time. But as it turns out, the culprits are junk mail mailboxes and spam blockers! Some emails, need follow up phone calls, and texts, and reminders, indeed… frustrating, yes, but these things are all settling down and coming through. Okay, next!
Scripts!
So, I’ve got one last shot at cleaning up the script: removing typos, building slightly stronger character motivations, polishing up punch lines, etc. before taking the final PDF copy of the file to the printers for professional printing. A normal reading often uses music stands on which the actors can place the … WAIT, WHAT?!?! (I had just gotten a startling email.)
Oh My!
Uh-oh... One of our newly cast actresses has just sent me an email which she was loathe to write, but, her bank account gave her no choice. She had just been offered work that landed right on the date of our Mirror Mates reading! She had to take the job; (It paid really well.) so, she had to back out. Damn! She was wonderful in that role! Oh, my. Now what? … Of course, this kind of thing happens all the time… though it’s never really easy. So, I sent an email with the difficult news to our behind the scenes crew. And while I was still mourning the loss, Johanna, our director shot back an email, saying… what about that other actress – (who was also brilliant!) – but didn’t get cast for various reasons that had nothing to do with her talent! So, I got on the phone and called her agent, who, just happened to be someone we had been attempting with on another front, (but that’s another story) and before the morning was over, our wonderful actress, was replaced with another wonderful actress! Wow! It is not always that smooth! I feel very fortunate! Let’s hope that’s the end of the re-cast shuffle! We do indeed have a wonderful cast and I’m very excited for the Read!
...Okay, now, so, where was I? Scripts, yes! Scripts. Well… suffice it to say that the professionally, printed & bound scripts have come in and have been distributed to the cast & crew! Now they will be able to hold the thing with one hand while they read and “emote” with the other as they “run” circles around on the “set”!
(The “set” of course, is a taped out on the floor version of the stage diagram. You’ll see.)
Meanwhile… oops! Nevermind. Gotta Run! First rehearsal is this Sunday, April 17th!
Much to do! More soon…16 days to go!
Much Love!
Bill
Conflicts!
First, we had to double check each actor’s conflicts against our potential “early” rehearsal schedule. And, a couple of actors came up with new conflicts… that they couldn’t avoid, so it was back to the scheduling drawing board. Johanna, Corey & I got together over burgers and a beer or 2, to reschedule. We selected 2 new dates and communicated these to the cast. Okay, good… handled… Next!
Headshots!
Some of the already cast actors still had not sent our stage manager digital versions of their headshots and bios for the website and the program. Why not? Actors get busy, yes, but so, do stage managers, and directors and producers who are all handling, 2 or 3 jobs, and auditions and other readings, etc. And, of course, sending out several requests is frustrating for a stage manager, and unduly delays thwart attempts of a DirWriterActor [TM] trying to complete a website and design a program on time. But as it turns out, the culprits are junk mail mailboxes and spam blockers! Some emails, need follow up phone calls, and texts, and reminders, indeed… frustrating, yes, but these things are all settling down and coming through. Okay, next!
Scripts!
So, I’ve got one last shot at cleaning up the script: removing typos, building slightly stronger character motivations, polishing up punch lines, etc. before taking the final PDF copy of the file to the printers for professional printing. A normal reading often uses music stands on which the actors can place the … WAIT, WHAT?!?! (I had just gotten a startling email.)
Oh My!
Uh-oh... One of our newly cast actresses has just sent me an email which she was loathe to write, but, her bank account gave her no choice. She had just been offered work that landed right on the date of our Mirror Mates reading! She had to take the job; (It paid really well.) so, she had to back out. Damn! She was wonderful in that role! Oh, my. Now what? … Of course, this kind of thing happens all the time… though it’s never really easy. So, I sent an email with the difficult news to our behind the scenes crew. And while I was still mourning the loss, Johanna, our director shot back an email, saying… what about that other actress – (who was also brilliant!) – but didn’t get cast for various reasons that had nothing to do with her talent! So, I got on the phone and called her agent, who, just happened to be someone we had been attempting with on another front, (but that’s another story) and before the morning was over, our wonderful actress, was replaced with another wonderful actress! Wow! It is not always that smooth! I feel very fortunate! Let’s hope that’s the end of the re-cast shuffle! We do indeed have a wonderful cast and I’m very excited for the Read!
...Okay, now, so, where was I? Scripts, yes! Scripts. Well… suffice it to say that the professionally, printed & bound scripts have come in and have been distributed to the cast & crew! Now they will be able to hold the thing with one hand while they read and “emote” with the other as they “run” circles around on the “set”!
(The “set” of course, is a taped out on the floor version of the stage diagram. You’ll see.)
Meanwhile… oops! Nevermind. Gotta Run! First rehearsal is this Sunday, April 17th!
Much to do! More soon…16 days to go!
Much Love!
Bill
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