David Schrag

National Parks slide show

david — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:40:38 +0000

As a way of introducing myself to video editing, I created a slide show of the photos I took in June 2010 at Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon National Parks. I’ve posted it to Vimeo. Watch it in full-screen mode if you can.

Auditioning for commercials

david — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:36:05 +0000

Auditioning for stage plays and auditioning for commercials are about as similar as teeing off with a driver and making a putt. And right now, I think my commercial audition skills might be even worse than my golf game.

I just finished a callback for a thirty-second commercial in which I was to play a football fan with a Boston accent. There were two characters with speaking lines in the commercial and they called us in three at a time. We rotated through the parts and sometimes did two takes, so I did the scene five or six times for a total of 2-3 minutes of on-camera time. In that short time span, I think I managed to make all of the following mistakes:

During the ad-lib before the lines started, I was in character but didn’t have a specific action in mind. As a result, I don’t think I did anything interesting or memorable.
When I delivered a line talking about the product, I don’t think I smiled. I might have come across as excited about the product, but not happy.
One one of the two takes when I had a line, I stumbled on a couple of words. They were small stumbles, but if you only have a couple dozen words to say, you probably ought to get them perfect.

I’m not quite sure how to improve my commercial auditioning skills. It’s a very challenging task. You often don’t get the lines until minutes before your slot, you generally have no opportunity to rehearse with the people you’re auditioning with, you never have the opportunity to rehearse with the people who are feeding you lines from off camera, and you rarely get feedback or a second chance.

Maybe one simply gets better with more experience. I hope so.

Interview with CringeFest artistic director

david — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:16:25 +0000

Melba LaRose was interviewed about the International CringeFest, now running in Times Square. She mentions that one of her favorite pieces in the festival runs under five minutes. Hmmm … Phil in Customer Service runs under five minutes. Could she have been talking about me?

Harvardwood

david — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:00:55 +0000

I’ve recently become co-chair of the Boston chapter of Harvardwood, a group of Harvard alumni, students, faculty and staff involved in arts, media, and entertainment. If you have a relationship with Harvard (and with the arts, media, and/or entertainment) and would like to get involved in chapter activities, please contact me.

Upcoming audition

david — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:45:50 +0000

On August 1, I’m auditioning for Christopher Durang’s Durang Durang, to be produced by Bad Habit Productions this fall. Wish me luck.

Sex Encounters getting a big profile

david — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:42:38 +0000

The International CringeFest in New York is divided into several themed evenings, and my two short sketches are both part of “Sex Encounters of a Disturbed Mind.” (My film, “The Boss Gets Some Bad News,” will open every night of the festival.) “Sex Encounters” is looking to be the marquee event. It will be playing the night of the festival’s gala event, and one of the actors in the cast is Richard Pryor, Jr. (yes, the son of that Richard Pryor). Read more at Playbill.com.

I won’t be going to the gala, but I will be in New York to see the show on July 31. If you’ll be in NYC that weekend, let me know!

Extra! Extra!

david — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:10:57 +0000

I’m not supposed to blog about it, so all I can say is that I spent the day working as a background actor in a major motion picture that’s been shooting in and around Boston this summer. It was a lot of fun and it was terribly boring — but worth doing again!

Hysterium

david — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:00:17 +0000

I’ve been cast as Hysterium in Sondheim’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Woodland Theatre Company in Sherborn, Mass. The show has only three performances, September 24 – 26. It’ll be my first musical since 1988. Hope I remember how to sing.

StageSource general auditions

david — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:30:35 +0000

I did the StageSource audtions today. I played George, the lawyer, in Constance Congdon’s Losing Father’s Body, and Herbie, the father, in Donald Margulies’s The Loman Family Picnic. The audition has already led to one part, which is a good sign.

I am the very model

david — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:52:42 +0000

I did my first modeling gig ever on June 14, for a corporate brochure. Given my, um, “character actor” looks, I don’t anticipate a lot of modeling work. But it was fun and it paid well, so I’ll take what I can get.