"Straight to the Top"

Last night was the staged reading of George MacDonald's play "Straight to the Top". It's a story about a bunch of comics who get scouted by a Tonight Show type booker. Though there is no particular time it plays in, I think of it as the 80's back when people could actually make money performing comedy without having had a sitcom or an HBO special. It was at Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway Theater in Somerville. My character's name was "Cookie"-an ex-stripper turned comic. I had only read it once, at last week's rehearsal. I think I did okay. The audience seemed to like it. It was nice to hear the laughs.
However, I was mostly inpressed with the audience. Jack Lynch, Joey Carroll and Dan Margarita were in the audience. As was Jim McCue, the guy who runs the Boston Comedy Festival. Also, Warren MacDonald who was a headliner, back in the day. He also happens to be George's brother and the guy who the play is dedicated to. And Rick Jenkins who runs the Comedy Studio. I can't believe he came out for this on his night off. What a trouper !
It was nice to be on stage with such professional performers-Doug Marsden, Stacey Yanetti,Aaron Crtuchfield ( a former ImprovBoston guy - after my time)Jerome Smith,Patrick Small and Andrew Slack. Originally , Larry Myles was supposed to play the male lead, but he unexpectedly had to leave on a USO tour. So, George stepped in for him. Of course , George was great because he knows what the characters sound like in his head. Randall Forsythe played the Sheakespearean trained actor who feels he's sullied himself by performing comedy- he was brilliant ! The way he got the inflection and trilled his Rrrrrr's. Really great. George assembled a really great cast, if I do say so myself.
I felt really good doing this.Again, I forget what it's like to be performing with real actors. This cast might not have sheepskins from Yale, but they certainly studied their craft. It showed. It showed for me. I was glad I did it.