March 18, 1999
Miki Mootsey and I go waaaaay back. Miki was already a member of Theatre Rapport when I joined back in 1991. While I was saying my 6 lines in Roy Cohn: Closing Arguments, she and Larry Toffler were entertaining East Hollywood in the show Bullets are a Girl's Best Friend. Later, when Miki helped form Metropole TheaterWorks, she brought me into the group and she helped mount Five Card Stud among other productions. But acting and producing and coordinating a theater company was not enough. She eventually began writing sketch comedy and then put together her own all female group called Gynacomedy, which performed a handful of times around L.A. That was finally parlayed into this, a full-length romantic comedy feature about the mythical Furstlager Beer Company and their battle for global recognition.
Tonight's reading was for a producer friend of Miki's who actually had commissioned her to write the screenplay. Miki and her friend, P.B. Hutton, put together 16 or so actors to bring the script to life. I played the roles of Philip and Perry, the identical twin brothers and the leads, one of whom is gay, the other straight. I started feeling a little stressed this afternoon because I knew how important the reading was for Miki and I wanted to pull off both characters convincingly and comically as well as distinctly. There were a few scenes in which Phillip and Perry talked to each other and I wanted to establish the voice of each character so that those scenes would make sense to anyone listening (or more specifically, Miki's producer, who I knew would be listening).
The evening seemed to be a big success. The many actors were very talented and funny, and Miki's dialogue flowed nicely. My dual role was fun and I felt I did the job Miki wanted me to do so that was a big relief. It was only a first draft of the script so there is much to be done between tonight and the premiere of the film. As for Miki, it seems that screenplay writing is just another challenge that she has tackled head-on and proven herself very worthy.