Karen Gunn's Gabfest @ Soiree Fair

It's Ms. Producer, To You

2011-08-29T21:08:00.004-04:00

As part of the growth of Soiree Fair, Inc., I personally, branched out into producing. As of April 10, 2011 I had my first official film opening with the title of associate producer. The film is called “Nicky Newark” by David LaRosa who remains one of our cherished clients.
This was a truly exciting and fulfilling experience. Just like so many others in the business, you have to make more and more maneuvers to keep yourself engaged in the industry. Solely working with actors had stalled my creative juices. Being a producer is bringing it back. The folks at Feenix Films, I thank for this uplift. I’m working on their next feature, “DEALeR” and I am in the groove again.
Here at Soiree Fair, Inc. we have another project that we have the rights to and are in the process of developing these scripts into a television series...will clue you in later.

Happy Birthday Kay Francis

2011-01-13T11:51:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite actresses! Thanks to TCM for the marathon of her movies. It's my snow day every year.

Actorfest NY Report

2010-10-12T12:30:00.006-04:00

My experience at Actorfest on October 2nd, 2010 in NYC--
Must toot my own horn—the panel I was on, “Working With Representation: Getting An Agent Or Manager” was sold out.

Thanks to my colleagues, great actors, casting directors and staff at Actorfest. I had an excellent time. It was great to see and meet you all.

A special shout out to Simi Horwitz—Thank you for discovering me!

Shout out to my new pal, Eddie Rabin--the best piano man accompanist in all of NYC.

Dave Clemmons--you are Musical Theatre heaven--what you don't know about it hasn't been written yet.

I met some crazy talented, dedicated and cheery people. It has renewed my faith in what I do.

Thanks, gang!

The Lost Blog From Mother's Day

2010-06-11T00:53:00.003-04:00

This crazy entry took a walk on the wild side and blew away. Here it is again from May 11, 2010.
The semi-disappointment of my Mother's Day was the "Turkey Lurkey" number in "Promises, Promises" on Broadway. I took my lovely Mom to see the show. (…and, yes, you meanies out there, I do have a mother who is kind, leads by example and for short, I call her "Google" because all I have to do is ask her anything and she knows. There's just no substitute for experience and impeccable intuition. She's a living genius. She's that rare quality of book sense AND common sense—a remarkable person. But just like you out there, at times she finds me boorish, silly and crazy but that unconditional love thing keeps her from putting me away, I suspect. Now, she saw the original production back in 1968. Her and my Dad used to go to the theatre so much until they used to have to wait for new shows to open on Broadway. They saw them all. I just had the cast album of "Promises, Promises" in my youth (no jokes from you, CM). It's always kinda fun to go into the show knowing the lyrics to the bulk of the songs. This production touted additional Bacharach and David pop tunes of "Say A Little Prayer" and "A House is Not A Home" which weren't in the original production. I had read the review in the NY Post by Elisabeth Vincentilli in which she said, "… Ashford underwhelms as choreographer, which is odd considering the bang-up dances he created for "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Cry-Baby." The biggest letdown is "Turkey Lurkey Time," an ensemble number with a single purpose: to kill. Here, it delivers only a flesh wound." I wished with all my fiber that this wouldn't be true. I was so looking forward to it. But alas, I must agree, clutching my pearls that Elisabeth was right. The "She Loves Basketball" number was the better of the Rob Ashford choreography in the show numbers. People, check out the original Michael Bennett choreography with that darling, Donna McKechnie (as Gwen Verdon was to Bob Fosse) to "Turkey Lurkey Time" on YouTube—it's dynamite!~ This revival is comme ci, comme ça. The Jonathan Tunick arrangements are smokin' and that's what will guarantee a sale from me of the original cast album.
Sean Hayes was yummy and nothing like “Just Jack”.
But here's the real jewel in the crown if you're a big Bacharach and David fan like I am and want to hear songs from the show like "Wanting Things," "Whoever You Are" and of course, "Promises, Promises" do yourself a favor and check out Dionne Warwick's (Whitney Houston's cousin) "Promises, Promises" album released in 1969 on Scepter Records. It's one of my favorite albums (yes, album, as it was called then—not CD) of all time.
Bacharach and David songs with that trademark Flugelhorn line –just like an analgesic balm on your sore and aching heart.
I once had a musical theatre audition session for representation a few years back and I gave anyone who wanted to come in and sing a choice of two songs to prepare. One was "Promises, Promises" and the other was "Anyone Who Had a Heart" (another Bacharach and David) song. Well, low and behold, I got this screwball accompanist who played the piano like Ed Norton and would play this ridiculous intro much like "Swanee River" just in different keys before going into the songs. It was just ridiculous. These were tough songs to sing for most and I knew that to be the challenge. I didn't acquire any new musical theatre talent from that day.
Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield are the quintessential singers of the interpretation and phrasing of Bacharach and David songs as Barbara Cook is to Sondheim.
Kristin Chenoweth is a phenomenal talent and singer. This show is not Chenoweth's singing lane. What happened to that Dusty Springfield project in which she was going to play the title role? Was it scrapped? After this, I may know why.
I'll be seeing "Sondheim On Sondheim" before the Tonys and I'll let you know what's up with that…Love me some Sondheim!
I aspire to be a Tony Voter one day after this chapter of my life is closed.
..And here are some of my favorite Broadway tunes (popular and obscure) that are the perfect marriage of song and singer—meaning I haven't heard anyone sing a better rendition of the following:
Barbra ("hello gorgeous") Streisand—"My Man" from "Funny Girl"
Nancy Wilson singing "Fireworks" from "Miss Liberty"
Julie Andrews singing "Crazy World" from "Victor/Victoria"
Liza Minnelli singing "I Had A Dream" from "Gypsy"
Chita Rivera singing "All That Jazz" from "Chicago"
Stephanie Mills singing "Home" from "The Wiz"
Sammy Davis, Jr. singing "There's A Party Going On" from "Golden Boy"
Len Cariou singing "Pretty Women" from "Sweeney Todd"
Robert Goulet singing "If Every I Would Leave You" from "Camelot"
Larry Kert singing "Something's Comin'" from "West Side Story"
Sarah Vaughn singin "Maria" from "West Side Story"
John Raitt singing "Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'" from "Oklahoma"
Yvonne (Lily Munster) DeCarlo singing “I’m Still Here” from “Follies”

…and I'll keep sharing these renditions as the blogs go on and on and on…

--Posted By Karen Gunn @ Soiree Fair to Karen Gunn's Gabfest @ Soiree Fair at 5/11/2010 01:38:00 AM

The Back Stage Story

2010-06-04T12:05:00.001-04:00

For the remaining dozen or so friends and colleagues that didn’t know, here is a link to the “Ask the Manager” column in the national edition of “Back Stage” that I was asked to participate in. If you have the actual paper it is the May 20-26, 2010 issue (with the photo of that dreamy Matthew Fox of “Lost” on the cover) on page 7. It was very flattering to have been asked. Thanks to Simi Horwitz and shout out to Dan Lehman over at “Back Stage”. You guys sizzle with professionalism and know-how. As a result, I signed up for a subscription and I urge all you theatrical types to follow suit. The articles are magnificent with information and insight and there’s an ad for anything or anybody you might need to make it to the big time. Big, big thanks to those who checked it out. Thanks for your time to read. Yippeee!
http://www.backstage.com/bso/advice-ask-a-professional/whom-to-recommend-plastic-surgery-for-1004092675.story

Those Days That Make No Damn Sense, Natch!

2010-04-21T00:08:00.001-04:00

We the unwilling led by the unqualified for so long, with so little, we now attempt the impossible with nothing!

The Tax Man Cometh vs. Evil Economy

2010-04-12T01:50:00.002-04:00

It's tax time and the results are in.

Every year it's always shoulda, woulda, coulda…if only that booking had come through, what a great vacation I coulda went on. If only we had cancelled AT&T and paid the penalty for early contract termination...Shoulda dropped that client and smack my mouth for spending over $1K in postage and the post office is losing money because I email too much. I don't want to squander this great invention of the blog on venting, ranting and just plain being a sour puss. Sometimes I want to rejoice, jubilate and dance. But this is not that day. We are in our 15^th year of operation and so many, many aspects of this business have not changed or even evolved. A number of "that's the way it is" kind of stuff has gnawed on me and may eventually kiss the spirit of what this journey means to me, goodbye. It's just about to pick my bones dry. But I think about how far we've come in our own right, and I can get rejuvenated from time to time.

Every year is pretty much a wild ride. There's always the underlying excitement of the next big thing. One phone call or one email and there's a chain reaction of triumph or failure. It all comes in waves. The tide of gigs can ebb and flow in the course of a day, a week and so on. When the tumbleweeds blow into town that's when we dig deeper and deeper to find those jewels we call new clients. It's brutal. New clients are so gung-ho until the tide goes out. The lesson here is that we all have to find that "thing" that sustains us between opportunities. I personally hold it together by watching re-runs of the TV series "Mission Impossible", Burt Bacharach music (yes, I already have my tickets for "Promises, Promises") reading Jackie Collins' novels and the outlandish to the garden variety stage plays and screenplays that are submitted to our literary department. Come to think of it, I'm always going off on actors. I will blog very soon about our writers. I also have 5 lbs. of Aviv Passover Matzos that I get every year free from my supermarket that I nosh on for the next few months. This is my recipe for sanity.

It's getting crazy mad with the expenses and the time that is expended in scouting talent and supporting talent. Last year in particular, there was an influx of criticism about my phantom existence. The deal was that clients were getting downright disgusted that I didn't come to showcases, hold special individual meetings and other absences that got on their nerves. Let me explain. We lost our lease in 2008 to a public transportation friendly location in New Jersey. As the economy tanked, our search to find a new affordable rental office was not successful. So actually, clients with cars was the only way to meet at our main office in New Jersey, or we'd rent a studio in NYC for a couple of hours. Efforts to attend performances in NYC proved difficult because even though we are located 12 miles west of NYC, the traffic is horrendous in this area, so I have to plan to leave at the very least 90 minutes to two hours before performance time. What happens is that this ends up being a 5-6 hour excursion even if it's just for a one hour performance. Plus, the parking is costly. It's just not feasible time-wise during the work week especially since the bulk of the appointments come in after 5pm and at that time I'm on the road and unable to dispatch appointments to you rapidly. Hey, one day I'll have that income that affords me that pied a terre in the city where I can work during the week and scoot back to Jersey on the weekends to be with my friends The situation and Snookie down the shore.

I use to love when I worked as an agent in the city to go to all the hovels in the city that were doing theatre and screening films, taking my life in my hands. I miss it, but as always I'm there in spirit.

I will be writing another little eBook about the things talent reps REALLY don't care about and other things that actors offer other than their talent that is totally useless.

I don't post this to put anybody on blast or drop a dime. I just put it out there to give anyone who's following along a glimpse into my morbid thoughts.

Shout out to my longtime accountant STELLA! Every year, I come stumbling into your office like Stanley and you smile politely and tell me what and whose talents to build upon and what and who to vanquish.

www.soireefair.com

It's All Talk, Talk, Talk, And More Talk

2010-01-11T01:37:00.004-05:00

So this NBC debacle with Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien is a wreck. It was a bold gamble to think that a 10pm talk show on weekdays would be a ratings draw. The deal is, we are saturated with talk shows. I personally don’t find very many talk show guests whether they be actors, athletes, authors, musicians or partridges in pear trees, fascinating, enthralling or easy on the eyes. This rumored deal for Leno is perfectly disturbing. It’s like the 15 minute “Nat King Cole Show” for white people in comparison to Conan O’Brien doing the “Tonight Show”.
I do like the “Wanda Sykes” show on Fox-TV. That’s primarily because she has vowed as executive producer and star of her show that she will not have celebrities coming on to hawk their movies, appearances and series with clips or other out of context malarkey that isn’t funny or compelling.

Oh boy, it’s a sorry state of affairs for network television when we’re hung up on whose talk show should stay or go. I miss my escapism TV shows. The soaps are getting axed and we’re forced to watch news programs, court shows and talk shows along with socially and medically informational shows that make you sick and possibly encourage you to put your husband in a headlock for working too hard trying to make a decent living. It’s preposterous what our fellow John and Joan Q. Public think are healthy habits as we slog through life.

Hey, I’m not adverse to all the dramas on TV, but Entertainment—yes with a capital “E” is gone. Most dramas are tutorials on how to outwit the system and outfox the fuzz (or so it seems).

Happy New Year—and as they said on the “Dr. Phil” show, “Don’t Do It Again In 2010.”

My Troubled Scottish Roots

2009-08-22T21:15:00.003-04:00

It’s a terribly sickening day for me with my Scottish roots. I’m ashamed of the Gunn Scottish Crest Badge that reads Aut Pax Aut Bellum (“In Peace and War”).

However, there are Gunn ties to Norway as well, so, I’d rather at this time embrace my Norwegian roots and do wholeheartedly support a travel ban to Scotland for the next year due to the release of the convicted Lockerbie terrorist bomber and wretched hero's welcome he received.

Sponsor Liz Lewis Casting--EIF Revlon Run/Walk For Women

2009-04-30T11:05:00.003-04:00

Entertainment Industry Foundation Revlon Run/Walk For Women—SPONSOR LIZ LEWIS CASTING

Our great colleagues at Liz Lewis Casting Partners are participating in the Revlon Run/Walk for Women this Saturday, May 2nd (2009) in NYC. Please pledge your support.

You can click on Liz Lewis Casting Partners donation page at https://www.revlonrunwalk.com/ny/secure/teamwebpage.cfm?pID=46902

Soiree Fair, Inc. wholeheartedly supports and thanks the Liz Lewis Team for their charge in helping this most worthy cause.

Hey everybody—pitch in. It’ll fill your soul.

IT'S TOO MUCH NONSENSE FOR SO LITTLE...

2009-03-01T00:05:00.011-05:00

For the love of Pete!
As we all try to stay afloat financially, mentally and socially I still have to take to my bed on occasion for having the last ounce of patience, hope and stuffing knocked out of me.

The most recent blow to the jaw (and you can't have a glass jaw in this racket) came when an ex-client (and he had to become ex after this crap) had booked a modest paying film and after a week of production delays decided he didn’t want to do it anymore, stating he “didn’t like the way he was being treated” and decided the salary was too meager for his middle-aged responsibilities. I was vociferously informed at that point that he lived in an $8 million dollar home and didn’t NEED to do this film. This was all news to me that I frankly didn’t believe or give a rat’s behind about. He knew the salary when he accepted the booking. My theory is, is that his wife or some other influential relative chided him for putting his J. Worthington Foulfellow, actor’s life dream ahead of his good sense and he caved under deep embarrassment.

I screwed up on this guy. I should have known when he started calling me sweetheart after a couple of auditions that this was the type of guy that would go out to get a pack of cigarettes and never come back. What a dump!

This was one of the extreme cases. I can usually nip this stuff in the bud. What usually happens is that I can smell the crazy burning when actors and actresses go on a series of auditions with great feedback and no cigar and then I start getting suggestions for other types of projects they should be getting seen for that they can book. It’s always the same buck and wing dance—when someone’s getting film auditions, they want voiceovers, and when they’re getting commercials they want TV and when they’re getting theatre they want print. Count to ten and think about it folks! Fear is the greatest eradicator of ego for some, and the greatest motivator for others. In this day and age of being an actor, it’s all about what you do during your “down” time to stay focused and fresh and ready for when your number is called. So, yes, essentially you are expected to be able to do any audition you are given in just about any medium—that’s why you are a Soiree Fair, Inc. client. I stay in the hunt for clients that have the ability to work non-stop. All I need is the second coming of Scatman Crothers. Careers are made through a laborious process. Yes, it is a process…so let’s all suck it up like a ShamWow!™.

Danke Schoen, folks.

Mrs. Gunn and Mr. President--The Winners!

2008-11-05T22:26:00.003-05:00

Just like Barack Obama’s David Plouffe, campaign manager extraordinaire, Soiree Fair, Inc. has a secret weapon. It’s my Mother and she’s very hot right now—Not Paris Hilton hot, but topical--hot.
Here’s the deal—she’s voted in every general and primary election for over 50 years. Her aunt who raised her for a bit was a Republican, so how my mother ended up being a Democrat I don’t quite know. But what I do know like so many others that when asked that burning question of their respected elders at 11:00pm eastern standard time on November 4, 2008—“Did you ever think you’d see the day that an African-American President would be elected in the USA?” Like so many other respected and learned elders, she told me “no”. My mother is a Yankee and never had an affinity for the south with the stories of its racial injustices which made her all the more skeptical in the reality of this day. The bittersweet aspect of the Obama victory is that she was forlorn because with all ecstasy there is pain, and it was all about the ones who have gone on to their glory despite never having witnessed this historical event in their earthly lifetimes. The sadness is to not having experienced it with them here and now, especially with my Dad who was a southerner.

She’d throttle me as this implies that she is like 100 years old…oh, but she has always had the knowledge and foresight of Nostradamus. She’s a wonder and every business and hothead like me needs her. She has perfect common sense. Law enforcement could use her acute insights and uncanny ability to suss out evil motives and toxic human wastes. I’m truly blessed to be able to share this remarkable time in history with her. She gives me a profound understanding of all that is complicated in life due to her experience as my mother, a wife of 46 years to a man who had perfect nerves and diplomacy. My parents were world travelers and an all-around class act couple. I always said my parents may not have always been right, but they were never wrong. What an incredible life they gave me. They instilled in me that all things are possible. That is how I live my life.
I don’t have to Google anybody or Ask Jeeves anything. All I have to do is ask Mrs. Gunn. She’s that good.

Don't Let the Door Hit Ya, Where the Dog Shoulda Bit Ya

2008-11-04T19:19:00.002-05:00

They have a sign up sheet for volunteers to help George W. Bush pack his s*** and get out, Nov 5th. I put us all down for the 3pm-8pm shift.

The Bloody Climb

2008-10-13T23:04:00.001-04:00

When I was first starting out, trying to make my mark and put Soiree Fair, Inc. on the map, I did all of my own schlepping through midtown and Chelsea, NYC. I delivered the majority of my breakdowns personally. What a chum bucket I was. From being an agent at Fifi’s, I learned that time is of the essence in getting submissions into the hands of casting directors. Thank goodness for the advent of electronic submissions! Going on—I had some adventures in messengering, though. I was working at Harper C. (my survival job at the time) in the east 50’s so it was a little out of the way from the majority of the casting offices. I would snake my way across town from Port Authority at 8:00am, hitting, Hughes-Moss, Elissa Myers and some lesser one-hit wonder casting directors along the way. But a couple of instances stand out that you’ll all get a kick out of. My office at the time was pretty close to Lynn Kressel’s “Law & Order” casting office. She was located on Park Avenue and I decided to sneak out one day and drop off the submission. Of course, I saw a busybody on the floor on my way out who asked where I was going and I told them I was on my way to the ladies room. I dashed to the elevator and out onto the street. On my way back, don’t you know, it began to rain. I got caught in a downpour and came back soaked. Remember, I wasn’t wearing a coat to the “ladies rooms”. I ran into the same idiot on my way back to my office and he insinuated through a foul exchange of words that I obviously fallen into the toilet in the ladies room. I had to keep my cool. I was building a business and it was only a matter of time until I could resign. Another time, wow, I dropped off a submission at Liz Lewis Casting on West 19th at the time. I had to hop a subway downtown in hopes of not getting stuck and not getting back to work semi-on time after lunch. I only had enough dough for a one way trip and would have to hoof it back 30+ blocks with a pretzel for lunch. The good news is I got there to Liz Lewis on the subway without a glitch. The bad news is, I presented my submission and in this case one single, solitary headshot. The receptionist saw the project written on the envelope and flipped it right into the trash saying it was too late without ever opening it. She didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know who she was. I was only the “messenger”. I had gone the extra mile (and them some) for that client and had failed. That one kicked me in the gut, but good. I swallowed hard and turned around to wait for the elevator. It was a long walk back and I had no appetite for my pretzel. But hey, it’s all good now. I bucked up and kept working and Liz Lewis Casting is now a great champion and friend to Soiree Fair, Inc. That was a valuable lesson in amping up my game. They’ve taken a chance on so many of our clients with tremendous success. Shout out to everybody at Liz Lewis Casting Partners—Thanks for making me strong and a contender!

In Memoriam--Paul Newman

2008-10-02T23:59:00.000-04:00

Karen Gunn GAB

Ahoy folks! You’ve been warned and now here it officially is—my blog. I’ll tell you stuff and anecdotes of my life that lead up to becoming an agent and onto becoming a personal manager. I’ll also tell you what’s on my mind at certain times but you’ll get a bit of retro stuff that will explain some of my joy, wrath, lunacy and disappointments.

I was terribly saddened by the death of Paul Newman. I met him before the turn of this century when I was a teenager at the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Stockbridge, MA. His utterly divine and most gracious wife, Joanne Woodward was starring in “The Children’s Hour” and I worked as the Prop Mistress on the show. I was rather full of myself because only a select few of us were chosen to work on the show for the fact of her being a world renown star and they selected those with the most discretion and professionalism. My roommate was her dresser so she got the real juice on all the celebrities and family that came to visit her after performances.

There was this one particular performance which I think may have been a Saturday night and as I was gathering all the props left on the table after the performance to restore to their presets for the next day in wanders Paul Newman. I had my back to him and he came up to the table and asked me what something was and I remembering looking over and good golly there he was. He was tan and lovely, not in a “Boy From Ipanema” way but in a way in which you would swear that Tennessee Williams was put on this earth to write about him. He had on a white polo shirt, pristine white slacks and was carrying a can of Budweiser. Now, we’re talking the red and white can of full-throttle Budweiser King Of Beers and none of that piss water light beer mess. I remember explaining the purpose of whatever prop it was in some sort of cockamamie scientific term for a music box, but give me a break. It was Paul Newman and I was a teenager, for goodness sakes, and trying to be a professional and not a star-struck dope. But I failed. I didn’t have sense enough to introduce myself to him. He nodded and left to Joanne’s dressing room. He was a man of few words and such gravitas. And yes his eyes were bluuuuuueeeeeee.

Shortly thereafter, my routine included reporting to Joanne Woodward after every performance with personal items to return to here that she had opted to use in the show. So this time, I got to see Paul Newman again but here’s the kicker—Joanne Woodward took the time to introduce me to him most proper as in “Karen, this is my husband, Paul” proper. We shook hands and he had explained that he had previously spoken to me. It was so cool.

So I can attest that all the stories are true about them being down-to-earth people. Joanne Woodward was a great joy and inspiration to work with. I’ll just throw in that my birthday was during the run of the show and can you image being sung happy birthday to by Joanne Woodward, Shirley Knight, David Selby, Carmen Mathews and a whole heap of young actresses including the late Roy Scheider’s daughter, Max.

I’ve been in some wild places for my birthdays and have gotten serenaded by Oscar winners, Grammy winners, Tony winners—it’s been phenomenal. You’ll get the lowdown on that later.

Rest In Peace, Paul Newman.