COMPLETELY HOLLYWOOD (ABRIDGED) opens June 21 at the Backstage Theatre.  It's a high-energy, screamingly funny (and unabashedly cheesy) poke-in-the-eye to the film industry and the glitter and glam that is Hollywood.  The show features three actors (Chris Boeckx, Seth Maisel, and Christopher Willard) condensing the 186 greatest films of all times into 97 minutes.

In advance of our opening, we conducted an interview with David and Kateri at He Said/She Said Critiques.  Here are a few of the questions asked and a sample of our responses.

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HE SAID/SHE SAID:  What is the most challenging part of performing in this show? What is the most rewarding?

CHRISTOPHER WILLARD:  The main challenge is keeping the energy level high and nailing that second act (where we do their own version of a Hollywood blockbuster). You drop the ball during that act, and you're toast!

SETH MAISEL:  This show presents several serious challenges.  We have to bring the audience with us into this show.  It has absolutely no fourth wall.  We can't present the story and let the audience take it as they will, they are right there with us (or not).  That's also the most rewarding part, too.  You know immediately if they're with you, having fun, and living in the same zany world of the show as we are.

CHRIS BOECKX: Yup . . . it's all about pace . . . frenetic pace . . . if we have time to breathe, we are going too slow!

CHRISTOPHER WILLARD.  The rewards are working with the other two guys onstage.  Absolutely.  They may be despicable characters in real life, but onstage, they're pretty good actors!


HE SAID/SHE SAID:  This show can be really exhausting to perform. How do you keep your energy up?

CHRISTOPHER WILLARD:  Really good recreational drugs.  :)   There's that special thing that certain actors have - where they can turn on the juice, find their second wind - and I think Seth, Chris, and I have that.   It's weird.  You hit the curtain line from offstage, and you're just "on."  Of course, a killer audience helps, too.

SETH:  I have my little rituals, but they mostly involve very sweet, very strong coffee.  The hectic pace is one of the things I like best about this show.  I hate down-time.  The audience gets me fired up, the laughs and the Chrises keep me going, and if I can still shamble afterwards, I wasn't working hard enough.  We dwarfs are natural sprinters!

CHRIS B: I work at a desk all day long, which means that by showtime I'm normally pretty exhausted mentally . . . but fresh physically.  This show is a great way to make sure that I'm exhausted both ways by the time I hit the sack.  In terms of keeping the energy up though . . . it's all about taking inspiration from the two other guys on stage -- and there is plenty of inspiration to be found there.

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COMPLETELY HOLLYWOOD (ABRIDGED) opens this Thursday (Champagne Opening) at 7:30 PM - doors open at 6:30 PM.  For a complete list of show dates, times, and ticket prices, visit our website at www.backstagetheatre.org.

The entire Ge Said/She Said interview will be released shortly via: http://milehighcritics.wordpress.com/