Filming on the Streets of NY 26

The day came for the first day of shooting for "Baker's Dozen"TV pilot  for CBS Television. I was nervous as this was my first job on film to be shown across America and  possibly a life changing venture.

The first scene I was to shoot was the scene I had auditioned . I was determined to play moment to moment and create the illusion of the first time. This is essential in film, to be spontaneous and in the moment.

So here I am in my own trailer on Broadway and 45th Street waiting to be called to the set. I looked over my scene and was sure of all my intentions and what my character wanted. The knock at the door came and the ad escorted me to the set, passing onlookers behind barricades. I felt like a star, as the spectators looked at me with respect and awe. I got hold of myself and not let it go to my head. After all, I haven't shot anything yet.

We shot the first scene and it went great basically because I was working with a great actor, Ron Silver. We hooked into each other and created a relationship between the 2 characters, Ron's Detective Locasale and mine, Jeff Diggens the pickpocket.

After we rapped my scene, the producers Sonny Grosso and his partner Bud Jacobson came over to me and complimented on my performance. This enabled me to relax and enjoy myself for the rest of the shoot.

All the theater I had done over the past 7 years paid off. The scenes I had in the pilot were easy compared what I had created on stage. The major difference is the lack of rehearsal. In theater there is usually 4 weeks of rehearsal but on TV the only rehearsal is right before you shoot while the crew is setting up the scene.

SCORE 25

So now I had someone in the industry representing me, Lynn Kressel at least for this project, Bakers Dozen.

A couple of days later I had another call back with the producers to read with the lead actor in the pilot, Ron Silver . Again the waiting room was full of actors auditioning and I recognized a few from the previous auditions. I nodded my head hello and received a cautious response in return. Every actor in there knew that a job like this could change their whole life and the tension in the room was thick. Strangely, I wasn't that nervous, maybe because going this far in the process was a morale victory.

I went in and again I gave a good audition and a day later Lynn's assistant called me in the state of amazement. I was going to Network, CBS to audition again. She said that the producers wanted me for the role but the network had to approve of me. She seemed astonished that I was getting a network audition being that I had no film or TV credits . This was a choice job, not only because it was a sold TV pilot for CBS, but also it was to be shot on the streets of New York.

The day came for the big network audition. When it was my turn to go in I was ushered into a small theater with about 75 seats and everyone of them was filled by different employees of CBS. This would have been a good house for most of the Off-Off Broadway shows I performed.

I read and I got some good laughs from the CBS audience.

When I left, I went over to Jimmy Ray's to unwind and check my answering service. There was a call from Nina, Lynn Kressel's assistant, to call right away. When I called Nina sounded like she had seen a ghost. " You got It" You got it" she said in amazement.I got off the phone  and mentioned to a couple of actors hanging out that I just was cast in a TV series for CBS. They looked at me with suspicion as if I was just another bullshitting actor. I didn't care and walked dreamily uptown with no destination in mind.  I was happy but not  surprised.

IMDB for Baker's dozen

Trying out for the Big Leagues 24

Sorrows of Stephen finally closed at the New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater after 195 performances. I wasn't that surprised as the replacements were not as good as the original cast members. John Shea, the original Stephen in the show , was replaced by Don Scardino a nice enough actor but without the easy charm of John Shea. The attendance went down and this exciting and happy time in my life was over.

I had thought I would get a job in one of the other equity theaters around town but it was as if I never worked at the Public and now back to where I was before, without an agent or prospects.

I did have that audition,that I got myself, coming up for a new CBS pilot called "Baker's Dozen" a comedic cop show . I worked on the scenes I was to read at every spare moment I had and when the day came, I was ready.

I went to Lou Digiaimo's office for the audition and the waiting room was full of every different type of actor as several parts were being cast. I waited for my turn as actors went in one at a time and came out a few minutes later. I watched as they went in ,head held high ready to impress, and when they came out of the audition, head down with a slight look of dismay on their face. It is obvious when they come out of the room, which actors thought they did well and those that didn't.

When it was my turn, I took a deep breath. This is important to do in order to bring maximum oxygen to the brain. I went into the room and was introduced to Sonny Grosso, the producer. Sonny was a former narco cop and the film, The French Connection, was about his police career . He also was the producer of the film, The 7-Ups.

I read the two scenes and when I finished , Sonny had a smile on his face. Lou said .thank you very much and I walked out. I think my shoulders were more slouched than normal but that is normal after a audition as you not sure how well you did. No one fell out of their chair laughing but I felt I did what I wanted to do with the character and was satisfied that I was able to show these people that I am alive in this world and put it behind me as a morale victory.

Two days later I received a call from Lou's assistant to come back the next day for a call back.The assistant asked who my agent was and I told him I didn't have one at the moment. He just gave me the time and place and didn't react to my lack of representation.

I went on the call back and this time the room had about 10 people there to watch my audition including Bill Persky, a established TV director from Hollywood. I wasn't too nervous as by now I had the material memorized and was confidant that I had the character.

I auditioned and felt again that I accomplished what I wanted with the character. The next day I received another call from Lou Digiaimo's himself saying that I would be getting another call back and that I needed someone to negotiate for me if I was to go further in the casting process.

Wow, this was real, they wouldn't be asking me back again if they were not really interested in me for the project. But who do I get to speak for me, I had no relationship with any agents.

I called some of the actors I was friendly with from "Sorrows of Stephen" and Bill Converse, a Yale Graduate and understudy for Stephen, said I should call Lynn Kressel, at the time a top commercial casting director. He said she had seen the show and commented to him how much she enjoyed me in the show.

I called and Nina, Lynn's assistant, said that Lynn was going to manage 5 actors. I asked what about me and I was brought in to interview with Lynn Kressel, who agreed to represent me for this project.

Now I had a well known person in the industry to represent me. It was now 1981 and have been pursuing acting for the last seven years and now all my hard work may be paying off.

A Turning Point 20

After I was approved by everyone at the Public Theater , I had to wait two months to go into rehearsal. Well, doing a play at this theater was a goal that I wondered if I would ever attain. I was told when I started out that no one would take me seriously and take a chance on me unless I added prestige to my career. This would do it. Major film stars were first noticed at the Public theater and now they would notice me. The O'Neil was great and it got me this job but now I was going to be put in front of the most sophisticated audience in New York , be reviewed by the New York Times and be on stage with not only good actors but connected ones.

For the first time since I went on this path ,I relaxed. I didn't pick up a copy of backstage, to check the up coming auditions, for the first time in years. In fact I was offered a part at the Pittsburgh Public theater that were doing a production of "Mr. Roberts" and I had to turn it down. At any other point over the last 6 years I would have jumped at the chance to work at any major regional theater, that would put me up and give me a good salary, like I was being offered at the Pittsburgh Public Theater and with all the fringe benefits that go along with it. But the time line conflicted with the NY Public and I had to turn it down. The Pitt. CD said I should take what is guaranteed now. He was right, there was no guarantee, somebody could change their mind. But I was going all in this time.

It was funny, but when I told other actors what was happening, they didn't seem that impressed. Actors always talk about what they have in the fire and are mostly optimistic and say they have this going on or that going on for them but until it happens, it is not real.

While waiting for this new venture to begin, I got myself in the best shape of my life.I rode my bike from Astoria ,Queens to Jones Beach in Long Island every other day. When I went into the city, instead of taking the subway, I rode my bike over the 59th Street bridge. After two months of this, my stomach flattened and my leg muscles bulged.

The first day of rehearsal came and I was ready. It was to be a workshop production, which meant it would not be reviewed until the theater felt the play was ready. Workshop or not, less money than I thought, I didn't care, this was going to be a turning point for me.

The character I was playing, Howard Fishbein, is a homeless writer that runs into the hero of the play and asks for a quarter. I am in the first scene in the play, I open the second act and I close the play in the last scene of the play when my character goes through a major change in his life. So, my character was very important to the plays success or failure.

Rehearsals went pretty smooth and I was given liberty to find the character on my own. The style was fast paced, so any pauses or slowdowns in delivery had to be completely justified.

The first performance came and the audience was full. These were not the normal theater goers but professionals in the industry, actors, directors and writers. I couldn't wait to get on stage and show them who I was and that I belong there.

Like I said, I had the first scene in the play.I entered through the audience, while the lead character was on stage  hailing a cab. I walked through the audience and just at the moment when I stepped onto the stage, an arm grabbed from behind. I swung around surprised and shocked. It was the security guard thinking I was a real homeless and try to throw me out in front of the whole audience. I whispered loud and angry that I was part of the play. The guard, not sure what to do, let me go but stood right there, ready to jump me if I was lying. I said my first line and he went away. The audience, tense now, did not laugh once during the scene.

After the incident with the security guard I went back to the dressing room as angry as I could get. Here I am, making my Off Broadway debut and the security guard almost throws me out of the theater. Anyway, I wanted to go back out and beat the shit out of the guard for ruining my debut. Luckily, one of the actors held me back. The rest of the performance went OK and after the show everyone complimented me on my authenticity , as this had never happened in the whole history of the Public Theater.

Another door opens 19

  I returned from the O'Neil with renewed confidence. I had more than held my own on stage with some of the best actors from New York and Los Angeles. Even though I still had no agent, I was called in for a interview for a major film.

I was given no script but I had an interview with the casting director that went very well and the proof of that was a callback to meet with the lead actor that I had a lot of respect. Again the interview went well as I was able to talk about acting with the star and again I was callbacked to meet with the director.

With three interviews and no script , I had no idea what they were looking for except the character was from a tough neighborhood in the Bronx. That can mean anything and when I went into the interview with the big director, in a condo on 57 st and Park Avenue. I reacted like anyone from that kind of neighborhood and commented how beautiful the condo was and the spectacular view out the window. The director was sort of condescending and remarked that he had a even better place in Malibu.

I didn't get the role and when I went to see the film a couple of years later I got angry. The characters were fighters and wise guys which I could play if I got up 4 in the morning with a hangover. I know that the persona, of a ordinary working man, I showed to the director was not what they wanted and if I knew what they wanted I could have done it with ease. Everybody says just be yourself on a interview but I am many different people, I am a chameleon and can change to whatever is needed.

I didn't get the big film,it would have been a great shot but that kind of luck is not my destiny. So, I had to slug it out off-off Broadway some more and I started to get calls from some of the better off-off Broadway theaters.

 I accepted a role at the IRT theater for a new play "Windfall Apples" a period 1940's original play. I bring this play up because it was the first time I worked with an actor that would intentionally try to upstage me. During our scenes together he would break the blocking, that we had worked on, and walk upstage as far as he could. When I caught on to what he was doing, I would turn my back to him and just talk to him over my shoulder. If I got a laugh on a certain line, the next night he would slam a door or fake cough on my line.

Why an actor would do this is beyond me. It certainly doesn't make the scene better . The thought would  intrude in my mind while I'm onstage with him,"look what this asshole is doing".Thankfully, these kind of actors don't last long and are weeded out because no project can be successful with such a selfish pos.99% of the time, I have had great experiences with actors and the trust we developed with each other on stage would last for years offstage. 

An acting teacher I had at HB Studios recommended me for a play at the Jewish Rep Theater. It was an old play "The Gentle People" by Irwin Shaw originally done on Broadway in the 1930's. The character I was to play was Goff, the main antagonist in the play.

Goff was a gangster that worked alone and also a romantic. This guy was extorting this poor fisherman and the same time seducing the fisherman's daughter. You gotta love this guy. He was totally evil but I didn't approach him that way. There was a piece of dialogue between him and the fisherman that was the key to the character. The fisherman asks Goff "What do you got inside you" Goff answers " I got what I learned on the brake rods,poolrooms, food lines and dive bars all across this country, I got rock inside me old man" .

That was the only way he knew to survive in 1930's depression America. Goff worked alone and in the play it is indicated that Goff uses a gun but I decided to use a flip open knife that with practice, I was able to flip it open instantly with a flick of my wrist.

I received one of my greatest compliments from the audience. At the end of the play, the fishermen, that Goff is terrorizing, decide to kill him as this is the only way they can get him out of their lives. They take Goff out on their boat and mange to throw him overboard and he drowns. Every night when I was thrown over the side of the boat, The audience cheered and applauded.

I received a call from a director that I met up at the O'Neil. He said he was doing a reading for a new play for Joe Papp, the producer of The New York Shakespeare Festival or Public Theater, the foremost equity theater in New York. Many successful Broadway plays have come out of there such as: Chorus Line and many others.

He didn't ask me to do the reading but would I mind reading one of the parts for rehearsal as the actor doing the part couldn't make it that day. Of coarse I said I would do it.

The day of the rehearsal came and there were 10 people in the cast, all on the fast track of acting signed with some of the best agents in town.

The play was a comedy "Sorrows of Stephen"and the part I was reading was very funny and when I read with the lead actor J, a yuppie to his bones, I got a lot of laughs from the other actors watching.

When rehearsal was over, the writer P asked me how I liked the play. I told him, and it was the truth, that I really liked it. The director S, asked me if I was available to do the reading for Papp. Well, I didn't have to look in my appointment book when I said yes. The other actor that was supposed to do the reading was never mentioned again and I was set to do it.

So, this was some kind of sneaky audition in that if they didn't want me, there would be no hard feelings.

The day of the reading came and we were brought into Joe Papp's huge office.My character was a homeless guy who asks some guy for  a quarter and sees that he went to school with this obvious successful person. The reading went very well and the cast and I waited outside the theater as the director was talking with Joe. S came out finally and said it looks very good.

Four days later I received a call from the director saying that Joe Papp wanted to try the play out as a workshop and it was alright for me to do the part and that I would soon receive a call from the casting director. Now, I have been trying to get an audition for years with this casting director to no avail. She called me, in a very cold voice, and asked who my agent was.  I said I didn't have one at the moment and she said I am being offered the part and do I accept. Of coarse I said yes and I do believe from her cold and unfriendly voice that she hoped I would say no. I am sure that wasn't the way she would talk to a big agent or one of the elite, pampered upper class actors that she was accustomed.

I would encounter many people like her and L from the O'Neil and no matter how good I was, to them I was just some street person that wondered off the street into their world.

I didn't care,I would show them, they are no better than me, they just had better parents.