Tully Casting and 18 Other Reasons to Become a Vegetarian

I find the process of casting to be a lot less pleasant than would normally be expected of a notoriously ego-maniacal director.

(Joshua William Gelb pauses, reflects on the comment… And thinking better of the generalization, begins to put it into context)

Perhaps I should begin with the “Chicken Salsa Wrap” I consumed at a particular, shall we say anonymous, diner in Midtown around and about 44^th and 9^th. It was noon or so on Wednesday (Our first day of auditions), I was hungry, I had an hour until the Equity open call began, and my stomach seemed to crave something with a hint of a fiesta, something that evoked warm nights in a sombrero and shots of tequila. Can you blame me for choosing the ever so enticingly named Chicken Salsa Wrap?

(Joshua William Gelb takes a poll of the blog readers. The outcome looks grim. Joshua William Gelb wonders if anyone is reading this blog in the first place. He moves on)

So anyway… An hour later, I’m bent over the toilet at Ripley Grier Studios instead of behind the casting table where I belong. Lucky for me, the casting was in the capable hands of our ever so delightful casting director… Daryl Eisenberg!

(Guest star canned applause)

Thank you, Daryl, thank you so much, thank you for stopping by. What a crowd! What a crowd! But on a more serious note, I’d like to apologize to all of those amazing actors and actresses who waited on line to audition that first Wednesday and during whose auditions I ran out of the room screaming, “Oh dear lord, I’m going to hurl. Damn Salsa Chicken… What was I thinking!”

(Uncomfortable laughter)

It was no way a reflection on the auditions themselves. In fact, over those two days of auditions and the next week's callbacks, we were continually startled and frustrated by the amount of talent that came before us. So give yourselves a hand. You all deserve it!

(Loud applause)

Anyway… with that out of my system (both the apology and the chicken salsa wrap) we’re able to begin casting.

Next Week: Casting Announcements (Pending when certain agents get back to us…)

Also… N.B. (That’s Nota Bene for you Latin scholars out there… it means: Note Well) - Tully’s website -- www.tullymusical.com -- is officially up and running!

(Ooh’s and Ah’s. Overwhelming applause)

So... Thank you, Kyle Walters, thank you so much, you’ve been great! Thanks for stopping by! What a crowd! What a crowd!

(Cut to pharmaceutical commercial)

"Terror in Toledo" and Other Titles to get your Attention

(A simple room in summer. A broken ceiling fan. A desk. A chair. A Remington Typewriter somehow connected to the internet. Joshua William Gelb mops his forehead, murmuring…

“Summer… Damn summer… Moving to Greenland…”

Or something to that affect. He proceeds to blog…)

It seems unlikely for me to be blogging thus. Unlikely, first, that I’m the one chosen to present this weekly feature. And second, perhaps, that Tully has made it this far at all. (Not to comment on the quality of the piece. Hardly that. I needn’t tell you, it’s brilliant.) But the sheer magnitude of this impending festival. The New York Musical Theatre Festival, after all.

(Glibly slapping his thigh)

I know, I know… some of you haven’t even heard of The New York Musical Theatre Festival… That’s NYMF for short. But as I gloat to my extended family,

(In a stuffy RP, reminiscent of Basil Rathbone)

“They call it the Sundance of Musical Theatre”

(Retaining the accent for good measure)

So here we are. And after almost three years of writes and re-writes, two readings, one workshop, three drafts (one I’m ashamed to catalogue), and countless hours of tedious indecipherable banter between myself and Ms. Stephanie Johnstone, we prepare ourselves for Tully’s first full-fledged production, awaiting impatiently the approval of musical-theatre queens far and wide.

So check in weekly, as myself, Ms. Johnstone, Mr. Michael Height (our illustrious producer) and countless other quirky endearing characters scramble to mount Tully (In No Particular Order) in time for our fast approaching September opening.

Next week: Difficult Casting Decisions and Midsummer Culinary Delights.