Oh man, how happy am I?  As happy as a clam, or peach, or however that saying goes.  Rebecca, our new Cougar, is FANTASTIC.  She so adds life to the character of Lana and kept all of us laughing at rehearsal last night. We are starting to find the little moments that make this show great, and I really feel like the show itself it on the right track.
Now getting people into the seats...I AM FREAKING OUT!  I've been that actor that casually gives out postcards to my show, that doesn't really see it as my responsibility to push the show I am in, and now I am on the other side.  It is SO clear to me how important it is that actors push the show, especially when it is a show without a huge budget. 
Ugg...it becomes so much more important when you see how much posters and postcards cost.  Granted within the last few years I have gotten more savy about promoting just myself, so perhaps it is gaining some maturity as an actor that helps me realize the importance of promotion.  I have been that actor that takes posters and lets them sit in my car or house, and now I am on the other side and it pains me to think of that happening.  Literally hurts my being.  It's probably pretty classic for a producer to be freaking out that people get in the seats, but man it is really scary.  The art, no prob.  The biz, eeek!

Finally we have our new Cougar!  We are welcoming to our cast Rebecca Montalvo.  A Texan, just like me, Rebecca was referred to us through Dionna Griffin-Irons, who runs the diversity casting at Second City.  John Hildreth, a Second City director, suggested I contact Dionna, and voila we found ourselves a Cougar.
So now I'm on to new obstacles, like rehearsal space.  Turns out my dining room isn't as big as I thought it was.  At least not when there is 8 people in it.  So the pursuit for a space has been interesting.  I put out feelers again.  I like the idea of these long fuzzy tentacle things reaching out into the world.  Most places run around $10-15/hr.  But when you multiply that by 3 hours and then again by twice a week for 6 weeks, you start talking a heap of cash.  My friend Scott Allen Luke, who printed our postcards, suggested I talk to Rough House Theater.  They are in Logan Square off Milwaukee and turns out they are the cheapest rental in the city.  Horray! We start rehearsing there tonight.  So it will be a grand adventure.
We got our postcards and posters from the printer today www.urbanimaging.com.  They look great, and I can't wait to put them out places.
Almost all of the music is complete.  We have two reprises to solidify and one more song, but that's it.  I can listen to our soundtrack on my iTunes and stay in a state of perpetual Cougar love.
You know, the kind the rest of you will be in when you come and see the show!  :)  Let's do this thing.

Horray! I am so in love with this poster.  Scott Williams out did himself.  Really this is great.  I hope you guys like it too.  It's pretty sexy.

It's hard to tell but Justin has claw marks down his back. Super Sexy.  And he wasn't totally naked in the shoot but somehow Scott got him to look super naked.  I swear he added a butt to the bottom.  Either that or I wasn't paying attention when Greg was taking pictures. 

Hey Cougars Lovers!
So still on the hunt for that new hot Cougar to take over Mo's part.  I reached out to Teatro Vista and Luna, and also John Hildreth from Lifeline Theater was kind enough to offer some names.  I will find that special Cougar!  She's just waiting in the wilderness...
We have our first rehearsal today!  Hooray!  It's gonna be sassy.  I'm certain of it.
Also we got the first draft of our poster by Scott Williams Designs.  Holy Moly does that thing look sexy and awesome.  I couldn't be more pleased.  Can't wait to show it once the final is done.
On the music front, we're starting to make some real headway.  We have only a few songs left.  And as soon as Chuck Malone stops wrestling squids, we'll be all done.  :)

So I am having a "heck of a" and "hell of a" time trying to find a replacement for Monique Madrid.  It seems that Latin Actresses are difficult to find.  I contact Lori Diaz and Wendy Mateo and they are both too busy.  for a hot second I thought I had the role cast with Amrita Dhaliwal, and I was going to re-write the character as Indian.  Alas, she will be on tour for Stir Friday Nights in April.  Wendy and Lori were both kind enough to offer some additional names.  I also talked to my agent about possible people to suggest, and sent our PR Guru Steve Hickson a casting notice.  So if anyone out there in the virtual void knows anyone send 'em my way.
In exciting news, our press release went out today!  So "we have to do a show now" as Steve Hickson would say. There is no backing down.  It is time do a show people.  Also we have new viral vids up on our website, or just look at them below. :)  There are for certain, KITSCH!

So in our world of technology it would seem that promo vids are a must. I find this irritating only due to my lack of knowledge about how to actually make and edit a video.  But that hasn't stopped me.  I have now made two, count them, two Cougars! promo vids.  I'm not sure I would list quality as a word to describe them, but I would list awesome.  I have now learned how to take video from my flip and edit in iMovie.  Hooray!  Our first video we shot with the help of my buddy Jake Garringer.  Jake has a film degree from Columbia, and therefore has opinions.  Which is helpful, when I have no idea what I'm doing.  We shot in Jewel-Osco guerilla style.  Turns out that is pretty hard to do when you keep having to walk up and down the same aisle over and over again.  People eventually start to notice.  I'm not really one to break the rules much.  So I was FREAKING OUT that we were going to get kicked out of Jewel.  So the first few takes I was like a dead zombie delivering the lines and getting the hell out of there.  But after I calmed down, or rather Jake forced me to "get over it", I started...ACTING!
Justin Schumann, who plays Meat in the show, was also in the first vid.  As yet again, sweet young Meat.  We managed to do the shoot in about 20 minutes and then Jake and I figured out iMovie together.  I think it looks pretty dang good.  The only catch is we don't have any music to underscore it.  Doesn't seem very fair to steal something that copyrighted wehn you are putting up a musical.  So Chuck Malone is supposed to be putting together something porno-y.
The second video I made all on my lonesome with my new found knowledge.  That video seems a little bit more wonky, but I think that's part of it's charm.  I shot it in my house by myself and then edited it.  Man I hope people think it's funny.  I'm waiting on music for that one as well.  :)
I know.  You're all on tender hooks.

So there are always unforeseen complications when putting up a show (or sometimes having surgery).  Well this producer got a sweet one last week.  One of my lead Cougars! Monique Madrid and our director Corey Rittmaster were cast on a cruise ship for Second City.  I know.  I know, "But wait Gillian, isn't Chuck already on a cruise ship?"  Heck yes.  The ocean is swallowing up my creative TEAM!
Actually, it is a highly coveted position to get a on a boat for Second City and I am super excited for Corey and Mo.  They are not scheduled to leave until the beginning of May.  So Corey will be able to stay on as the director but that does certainly complicate Mo's schedule.  So I am in the process of recasting her.  It makes me super sad.  The role was initially written for her.  Mo is Hispanic and had commented on how few roles there were for a Hispanic character.  So I wrote one.  Now trying to find someone to replace her is a bit of a challenge.  The acting community in Chicago is certainly dominated by Caucasians.  So I have my feelers out.  We'll see, sea...

Well, you might be asking yourself, "Gillian how have you and Chuck written all the music for Cougars!?"  That is a great question, because it is not a simple answer.  The first time we did Cougars! as a Triple Feature at the Annoyance Theater, Chuck and I would compose together.  I would write lyrics, then we would record what I heard in my head, and then he would rough something out.  We would argue and eventually a lovely song would come out.  
This time is different.  Chuck is on "The Spirit" a Norwegian Cruise Line Vessel for Second City, which means a great majority of the time he is in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  It is dang hard to write together over an ocean, and you can't really sing over skype.  Although, believe me I have tried.

So first I made these ridiculous youtube videos of me singing what I heard in my head.  That is not a pretty video.  Well it turns out you can't download a youtube video very well when your in the middle of an ocean.
So I found "dirpy", www.dirpy.com.  Dirpy takes any youtube video and turns it into an MP3.  It's a pretty dang ingenious.  
So I sent those along with lyrics in an email, and Chuck would rough something out, and send it back to me.  He sings the characters name over and over in places he feels like there needs to be more lyrics, or hums along a tune.
So I listen to these snappy tunes and hammer out the changes.  We go back and forth and argue, gently :), and eventually a song comes out.
"But Gillian, how does the cast learn the music without Chuck?"  Great question.  He sends karaoke versions of each persons part and we do our best to put it together without him.  Then when he comes back in late March, we have extensive music rehearsals to fill in the gaps.  It ain't easy but pretty sure we beat the high seas.

Hey Cougar Fans!
So this is our first blog entry.  Last night the cougars had their publicity shoot with Greg Inda Photography and Scott Williams on set as the design expert.

Katherine Hart modeled for us as a cougar.  She was an absolute hoot.  Katherine has been an amazing actor in Chicago for years, and we couldn't be more happy that she was willing to offer us a taste of her "Cougar Milk" as she referred to it.

Below is a vid of Katherine at work.