Stonehenge/Date Number One

Last Sunday, May 18th, I attended the first ever Baltimore Stonehenge mass casting call at the Creative Alliance Patterson theater. Stonehenge is a DC-based event which brings hundreds of actors auditioning before area filmmakers and getting people paired up with projects. Over 120 actors auditioned, and I'm glad to report that, despite the rainy weather, the event was a success. I saw plenty of potential talent at this first 'Charmhenge' that I hope to call upon for future film projects. There was a wide scope of actors there, from cute, lively child actors to charming, attractive actresses; and from interesting mature character actors to multi-ethnic leading men. I can even name some of talent that shone at the event--actors with names like Giselle Gilpin, Rob Patterson, and Kami Locklear. I'm glad to report that there were no 'stage disasters' at this Stonehenge in comparison to the DC March Stonehenge (where a couple of actors just bolted from the stage), and I was glad to see that the Baltimore acting pool held its own.

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Last night, I drove down to Silver Spring, MD, for a screening of DC filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake's 'Date Number One'. The event took place at Jackie's (8081 Georgia Ave), just a few blocks from the AFI Silver Spring theater. Sujewa is working with Jackie's management to program a series of local shorts and features all thru this summer (the next screening looks to be on June 26th).'Date Number One' is a charming, DIY feature romantic-comedy presenting a refreshing, positive outlook on the trials of contemporary dating.A multi-ethnic cast, among them a seductive Indian man, a french-speaking hottie, a curvy blonde seeking a blissful three-way bi-sexual relationship, a Buddhist African-American woman, and a lonely career Ninja seek love in the modern city. The episodic film, completed through a long period by Ekanayake, exhibits a vibrant 'can do' attitude that's spreading along the world of independent cinema today. 'Date Number One' will have a one week run at Jackie's this summer, in case you missed it and want to go and check it out.

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Memorial Day weekend is here again. This time I opted to make it a working weekend, instead of going out of town for a vacation. At least, I'll be saving on those exhorbitant gas prices. I got projects to write, and an apartment to thoroughly clean in preparation for a big film production meeting next weekend. I will definetely make some time for 'Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull', as well as heading down to DC for some salsa dancing on Saturday night. This Puertorro needs a little play!