12 Films. 12 Weeks. There are worse ways to spend a summer.

“The Proposal” cast announcement! (Warning: it’s a doozy.)

July 16, 2009 at 7:09 pm | Posted in Keith Boynton | Leave a Comment
Tags: actors, cast of thousands, casting, ensemble, epics, melting pot

When I announced “The Proposal” as this weekend’s film, I mentioned that it would be our largest cast yet – a full fifteen roles!  I was basing that figure on Mike’s script, which included a “cast breakdown” on the title page.  As it turns out, Mike was understating things a bit.  When I counted the roles myself, I realized the script actually had twenty-one characters, nearly every one of whom had at least one line.  In short, the whole thing was looking even more unwieldy than it had at first.

I called Mike, and after an hour or so of bitter insults, we buckled down and started paring down the cast.  As it stands now, there are seventeen roles, one of which is a voice on a cell phone, bringing us to sixteen on-set actors.  That’s slightly above Mike’s original count, but slightly below “completely terrifying.”  Not that I’m not daunted, mind you.  I’ve never directed a cast of anywhere near this size before, and since most of our crew members are also cast members, there’s practically no one I can turn to if the cast starts getting out of hand.  But they won’t, of course!  They’re all consummate professionals.  Or so Mike tells me — in truth, I haven’t met all of them yet.

Anyway, here’s the cast list as it stands now.  We’re juggling so many different schedules that I feel certain this info will change between now and Saturday — but hopefully not too drastically.  Who knows?  Maybe the final version will just be two or three characters after all!

• Mike Lavoie (of growing 12in12 infamy) will be playing the lead role of “Mike.”  He insists that this time, he’s not playing himself.  You be the judge.
• Brigitte Choura (whom Mike knows from a play reading called In Search of Hope) will be playing Mike’s confidante, “Brigitte.”
• Joshua Conkel (of The Management Company) will play “Conkel,” an English and Theater double major.
• Jennifer Harder (also of The Management Company) will play “Harder,” a woman who changes partners.
• Julie Garrison (from Keith and Mike’s Improv 201 class at UCB) will play “Julie,” an actress who is being underused.
• Adam Toback (who actually auditioned for 12in12!) will be playing “Adam,” a man with rotten luck.
• Jamal Sedayao (also from Improv 201) will play “Jamal,” who was really, really drunk.
• Alexis MacDonald (artistic director of Strings Attached Theater Company) will play Alexis, who is curiously forgiving.
• Clint Byrne (of the “Script 2″ behind-the-scenes peanut-butter episode) and his friend James Fauvell (of “Sublet” and “Script 2″) will tackle the demanding roles of “Clint” and “Fauvell,” two friends of Mike’s pulling kitchen duty.
• Shawn Dempewolff (with whom Keith used to do theater at Smith College) will be playing “Shawn,” who says the wrong things to the wrong woman.
• Abby Holland (James Fauvell’s way better half) will be playing “Abby,” the wrong woman.
• Mario Hernandez (a pal of Mike’s from the Georgetown days) will play “Helper #1,” a vital contributor.
• Sumi Lee (12in12‘s guardian angel) will play “Helper #2,” an even more vital contributor.
• Christian Rosakis (Mike’s fellow Esper graduate) will play “Rosakis,” a man with a boom box.
• Madelyne Camera (crew member on “Captivated” and “Script 2″, as well as a wonderful choreographer) will play “Madelyne,” a dancer.

And that’s the cast!  They’re drawn from every source, from every walk of life, with every possible degree of connection to this project so far.  In short, it’s a hodge-podge — but then, all the best things are.

Posted by Keith