Every year Hollywood spends bucu bucks producing television “pilots” (potential series for television networks, both online and broadcast). The hope is the pilots are picked up and become television series. There are many reasons pilots don’t get picked up but when they aren’t, they go bye bye…. kaput…goners… they become dead pilots.
Jake O’Flaherty and Bryan Rasmussen took three brand new, unaired, or DEAD PILOTS and produced DEAD PILOTS SOCIETY as a stage show recently at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks, CA. Each of the three separate shows were performed by 21 TV and Film actors, and each piece was written by Emmy award winning and nominated writers. The show played at the Whitefire on Monday nights at 8pm through May 23, 2016.
All of these pilots were extremely funny, well acted, and produced/directed. And the varying story lines gelled well together, making for an entertaining evening of theatre, particularly for Los Angeles, where it could be said the terms “theatre” and “performance” are used quite loosely. This production would certainly hold its own against any Off-Broadway show out there, in our humble opinion. Our favorite was the third and final pilot “The Hole.” It was a hilarious tale of a father and husband’s relationship to his wife and daughter and showcased the crazy, farcical things that can happen when a guy will do just about anything to make his daughter and wife happy. (Full disclosure: “The Hole” may very well be the favorite here, due to the fact the dad/husband in question was played by the husband (Tom Schanley) of our Editor in Chief here at Hollywood Mojo. But there is no nepotism in Hollywood. We promise.).
“THE HOLE” written by David Misch and directed by Moosie Drier, is about a wealthy, liberal family in Santa Monica, and how they confront a very large hole on their property. It’s filled with sharp-witted quips (“How rich are we?” “Richer than almost everyone in the world. Poorer than almost everyone we know.”) and a hilarious tale that twists and jolts around the moral canvas. It stars Tom Schanley as Cliff, Susan Angelo as Wendy, Dan Gilvezan as Jim, 13-year-old Alexis Jayde Burnett as Larissa, Troy Metcalf as Boyle, and Judy Tenuta as Shannon.
“DELERIA” was written and directed by Russ Woody with co-director Danny Ramirez. It starred Larry Poindexter as Bob Butterfield, Keri Safran as Sandy Butterfield, as well as the following stellar cast members:
Bill Chott – Mayor Schmalz
Bill Glass – Pastor Gaddy
Andrew Lamond – Eddie Thorne
Paul Lauden – Bureaucrat
Robert Peters – Sheriff Norte
Joe Sachem – Chief Dying Tall Grass
Aaron Stall – Bureaucrat 2
Deborah Zoe – Victoria
Bob Butterfield (Larry Poindexter) and Sheriff Norte (Robert Peters) in “Dead Pilots Society: Deleria”
Eddie Thorne (Andrew Lamont), Bob Butterfield (Larry Poindexter) and Sheriff Norte (Robert Peters) in “Dead Pilots Society: Deleria” May, 2016
“GUY GARFIELD: AVENGING ANGEL” was written by Bob Colleary and directed by Jerry Kerning. It starred Grinnell Morris as Guy Garfield, Aly French as Nancii, Carolyn Hennessy as Jen, Erin Murphy as Sarah, as well as the following cast members:
Matt Gardner – Michael
Jack Zullo – Bob
