Hold the Last Note

Or maybe the next to last notes, while I’m still working on this list:

I can not remember what I had in mind with “scared straight school of acting.” “Scared Straight” was the program where they’d bring at-risk youth face-to-face with convicts who would attempt to frighten them into a life outside of crime. Would this show have been very theatrical and seasoned actors screaming at young actors?

Actually, the more I think about this, the more entertaining it might be. The young, starstruck actors entering with their youthful swagger, filled with all the confidence that had been infused into them by their (limited) high school and community theatre experience, and suddenly coming face to face with hardened actors who have seen it all—headshot scams, false flattery, multiple auditions followed by rejection, and various forms of harassment throughout the process.

The experienced actors would be like the mirror exercise I do with actors when, instead of being a direct mirror image, the mirroring person becomes a distorted funhouse version. Here the older actors would be those young kids years later, with better posture, period mannerisms, trained voices, and all the cynicism their experience has accumulated.

Of course, I hate to discourage young people from pursuing their passions and, if they want to be actors, let them try it. But this could be the basis for a fun “reality show,” if not a brief sketch somewhere.