Screenplay Readings
Summer 2019
Bob Greenberg
Joe Gannascoli
Ron Orlovsky
Stuart Green
Jon Scott Freda
#MegaBalls
#Oroloro
Copyright ® Oroloro Ent
We wanted to offer our cast - who were not only friends but professional actors - a small stipend. After all, they were putting in a full day. We did a small request for contributions of funds on Facebook and were surprised and delighted by how quickly we raised our target. The funds covered costs of stipends programs, prizes and refreshments.
We had made door prize tickets out of realistic fake $50 bills for logo merchandise. We had real scratch off lottery tickets in each program. We held the first reading at The Lambs, a theatrical club founded in 1874 and located in the heart of Manhattan. Invitations went out to industry guests, potential investors and our production team.
Ron Orlovsky
Stuart Green
Darren Levine
Coffee, pastries and wine were set-up for the expected 55+ guests. Actors arrived for their rehearsal, BUT news spread quickly that a helicopter had crashed atop a building nearby during the rainstorm. Roads in the entire area had been blocked and mass transit diverted. But we forged ahead.
Less than half of the RSVP's attended and none of the potential investors. We were very grateful for those who braved it through the mess. Among them were Mike Reiss, a 28+ year writer of The Simpsons, and his wife, Denise, who had donated toward the expenses....and they loved it.
Most importantly, the audience got it. They laughed...a lot...and were pleasantly surprised with the ending. Prizes were awarded - and some won money with the scratch-off lottery tickets!
Lin Tucci, from Orange is the New Black, has attached to the film and played her role in the reading.
Many thanks to the wonderful cast of the first reading- real troopers who made it through rain and a downed helicopter, and brought their A-game.
But we were not satisfied nor deterred. We set out to do a second reading. Without helicopters/ Some of our cast were not available for the second read, so we did a search for replacements.
We secured another venue, The Players, a similar theater club like The Lambs located in Gramercy Park. Email invitations were sent, and RSVP's came in quickly. Lots of them.
This time - luck !! Actors arrived and rehearsed...no helicopters crashed .. and we opened to a packed house. We had 100 programs printed, and all were handed out. The energy inside was fantastic - an excited audience of friends, industry people and curious strangers filled the seats.
#MegaBalls
#Oroloro
Copyright ® Oroloro Ent
The cast was again nailing it - both the returning members and replacements - every line delivered on point. The audience got every joke, even most of the hidden ones. At this point we knew the script was solid and is an audience pleaser.
Dave Patterson
Bob Greenberg
Nick Fondulis
Thank you to all who attended, and the generous casts of both readings. And a big thank you to those who generously donated funds underwriting the readings, and the friends who staffed the events. See the full cast bios below
