The Computerization of Alex Kent

My wife and I had a terrible experience with a theater company called Gold Crown Productions and we want to share it in order to hopefully spare others the same sort of treatment.   This past April she auditioned for a role in their production of an original script called The Computerization of Alex Kent, written by Rex Mitchell and directed by Mark Contorno.  It appears that Gold Crown Productions (no affiliation with Hallmark) was created solely to produce this play, which Rex wrote in an apparent fit of creativity.

After my wife auditioned she received an email from Mark Contorno saying that they wanted to offer her the role of Krystal but they wanted to make sure they could cast all of the roles first.  And if they couldn’t find the exact right actors for the remaining roles, they would cancel the production.  So, she was very close to being cast in the play but only contingent on finding the right people for some of the other roles.

For one, they were still looking for a male in his late 40s for another role in the script.  My wife wanted to help them out and posted everywhere trying to help find just the right person for the role.  My wife even suggested me for the role since she felt I was the right type they were looking for.  When she asked me if I wanted to audition she said that they were so particular that they would simply cancel the production if they couldn’t find someone they felt was exactly correct for the role.  This should have been a warning to me.  In a metropolis overflowing with talented performers of every shape and size, producers making King Lears out of their characters probably lack objectivity to say the least.  But I thought I’d give it a shot.  Mark called to schedule an audition time for me.  I work two jobs so scheduling anything without a week’s notice can be challenging but we figured it out.  On the next Saturday, my wife and I would go into the city straight from my job at Walmart and I would read for the part at Rex’s barber shop.

We live in Aurora so getting into the city on a Saturday night can prove to be a challenge and this night proved to be no exception.  We encountered horrendous traffic obstacles on the way in—we even had to turn around and change our route due to a car fire on the side of Butterfield Road—so I called Mark to let him know that we were running late.  We finally arrived one half-hour late (also very hard to find parking—parked 5 blocks away).  I read and it looked like I was going to get cast.

They were naturally concerned about the distance that we would be travelling to get to rehearsals and whether or not we would have problems making start times.  I was glad they wanted to discuss this—better to be on the same page with everything before they offered me a role.  We told them that, yes, the distance is great and travel is a challenge.  But we had worked on many shows in the city that were even further away and we found that we were always able to figure out the travel time.  We were concerned about the gas cost.  Rex said that he was going to buy gas cards for the cast who had to travel far.

To help make the scheduling easier, Mark explained that they already knew which days they would rehearse: Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.  He thought it might help me with my work schedule if I knew what I had to deal with immediately.  He repeatedly emphasized that rehearsals would only be on Sundays, Mondays or Wednesdays.  Plus, we wouldn’t have to be at every rehearsal.  In fact, my wife was originally told that she would probably only be needed at two rehearsals a week.  This was great news for her because she was understudying two roles in another show which rehearsed Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  She figured she could go to two understudy rehearsals per week and still be able to work with Mark’s scheduling needs.  We also stated that starting later was better because I did not get off work until 5:00 p.m. and they wanted to start rehearsals at 6:30.  No matter what, this would prove very difficult.  I work at a Walmart on the west side of Aurora; getting from there to the north side of Chicago during rush hour would be difficult under any circumstances, but in an hour and a half?  Not possible.  But they insisted on a 6:30 start time so we tried to figure things out.

After clarifying exactly what days we would be needed, I should have been suspicious of where things were going when Mark decided to schedule our first read-through on the following Thursday!  After telling me the specific days I needed to clear each week for rehearsals, he went and picked a different day to start things off with.  After assuring me that rehearsals would only be on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, knowing that I had to clear my days off in advance, he decided to schedule our first rehearsal on a day that I could pretty much guarantee not making.  When my wife reminded him that we never discussed rehearsing on Thursday nights, he responded with “well everyone else can make it Thursday”.  Did he say, “I know I didn’t give you Thursday as a possible rehearsal day.  If you can’t make it, I understand”.  No, his response was, “everyone else can make it Thursday”.  Well, I could not make the read-through because there just wasn’t enough notice for Walmart.

But I would be there for the first blocking rehearsal which would be Monday night.  Why wasn’t the first blocking rehearsal on Sunday—the only day of the week where traffic would be relatively light?  Well, Mark cancelled rehearsal for Sunday because the lead actor—who lives ten minutes away—couldn’t make it.  A pattern was forming.  If my wife and I couldn’t make it, we were told, “well, everyone else can make it”.  But if another person had a scheduling conflict, Mark altered the schedule!

Getting there by 6:30 on Monday proved to be an extraordinary challenge.  Although we tried a different route—completely avoiding the expressway—there just was no quick and easy way into the city.  We just couldn’t make a 6:30 call.  We got there a half-hour late, with everyone waiting.  Why didn’t Mark simply work other scenes with the actors who were there while waiting for us?  I have no idea.  There were plenty of scene that could have been rehearsed.  Even though we did everything we could to educate him on the impossibility of a 6:30 start time for us, he refused to adapt in a way that would work best for his show; for some reason, he chose to not to utilize his resources and instead allow our travel situation to be an obstacle.

Despite this, the rehearsal went very well.  Mark even commented that both my wife and I had great chemistry with our acting partners.  But travel was still a concern so, at my wife’s urging, we talked about how we could work things out.  I reiterated that my work schedule would be ironed out but that it could not be changed for the immediate two weeks because there was just not enough notice.  I also told them that my boss wanted to work with me on this.  In fact, my boss gave me the next rehearsal day—Wednesday—off at my request.  But Mark had—according to Mark-- already given me that night off—very intentionally, he said,  because he thought that I would still need time to alter my work schedule.

So when, the next day, my boss asked me if there was any way I could work in the evening on Wednesday, I was happy to tell her that I could, that I was actually not needed at rehearsal.  Our store was going to get a surprise visit from a corporate big wig on Thursday and she wanted me to help get the department in shape Wednesday night.  So, she switched my schedule.  But when my wife double-checked the rehearsal schedule she saw something Mark missed: I was actually very much needed at that Wednesday rehearsal, based on the scenes that were to be worked.  She told Mark who, in turn, assumed I would then be there.  But I already committed to work on that day based on what Mark told me at the previous rehearsal; I felt that I should honor that.  Mark was not pleased with this but I had hoped he would see the fairness in the situation: I was given the night off.  Based on that, I made a commitment to someone else.  It would not be fair to expect me to back out of that commitment because of his mistake.  In fact, if it wasn’t for my wife, Mark would not have been aware that I was needed at that rehearsal until it was well underway.

Wednesday came and my wife was determined to make it to rehearsal by the 6:30 start time.  Since she didn’t have to get me at Walmart, she was able to leave the house at 4:00.  She got to rehearsal at 6:10—twenty minutes before the start time.  In fact, two of the actors didn’t make it until 6:45—fifteen minutes late.  They told Mark that a 6:30 start time was impossible to make.  So what did Mark do?  He finally changed the start time to 7:00!

There was another scheduling issue that we needed to address with Mark.  Two actors (one of them the lead role) couldn’t make it for a week’s worth of rehearsals each.  What Mark did to compensate for this was puzzling: he filled the time they would be absent by scheduling to work others scenes in excess—much more than made sense.  It’s as if he couldn’t stand the thought of cutting rehearsals and thought he had to fill the time with something. My wife emailed Mark asking if, because we had to travel a great distance (with the price of gas), and the fact that she was in rehearsals for another show, could we also have a similar amount of days off (or at least a couple more)?  Especially since he had originally stated that she would probably only be needed at two rehearsals per week and he was not honoring what he originally stated.  She only gave one night as a conflict but she didn’t think that meant that he would demand she be at all the other rehearsals.  She stated this as nothing more than something to consider:

Hi Mark--

I'm just throwing this out there--as chief financial officer at the (name deleted)--lol.

It is costing us $15+ in gas on weekdays to get to/from rehearsal so that is the only reason I am asking about this.  I notice on the schedule that [name deleted for actor’s privacy] (our leading man) is getting 3 rehearsals off and [name deleted for actress’s privacy] is getting 4 rehearsals off.  I know it's based on when people gave you conflicts for--BUT--is there any way that we could even it out a bit and give Dan and me 2 more rehearsals off?  When David is back you could rehearse his and Ginny's and St. Pete's stuff.  I know this involves a lot more pre-planning on your part and I know it's a pain so if it's not doable I understand but if it is it would allow us to purchase $30 more in groceries so it would be very much appreciated.  I am freakin out with the gas prices.  We have spent $100 in gas so far this week.  Albeit, that was partly because of my SAG commercial audition in WI-but yesterday was $20 and I only drove to rehearsal and dropped Dan off at two local jobs.

That being said, we accepted the roles knowing how far the gig was and the direction the gas prices were going in--and we certainly did not expect Rex to be helping out with gas--so I accept whatever you decide.

Mark said he would ponder this. My wife sent him a casual, quick off the cuff email thanking him before she had to run out the door. She was actually really relieved and grateful:

Oooooo what an awesome word: Ponder  Thank you.  And you the boss.  It is all just a request--for pondering.  I have some errands to run this evening so I may not get back to you till tomorrow.

Nothing earth-shattering, just a typical correspondence between an actress and director.  In short, things seemed to be going along fine with some small issues getting ironed out.

So imagine my surprise when my wife woke me the next morning to tell me that she just received an email from Mark, firing her and me from the show!  She was in shock. Here’s the email:

As we move forward in bringing "The Computerization of Alex Kent" to performance, it is becoming more and more apparent that our working relationship is not satisfying to me nor one that I want to continue.

You are both very talented actors, but I decided, in the show's best interest, to replace you with different actors.

Rex and I wish you the best of luck,

Mark

Huh?

We had no idea what was going on—and Mark’s email did little to clarify things.  In fact, it obstructed clarity; not a good sign for a director.  “Our working relationship is not satisfying to me…”?!  Was our objective to bring Mark to some personal level of satisfaction?  If so, what level was adequate and how far short did we get?

I think Mark was trying to attain some level of pithy ambiguity, actually; to sound firm and official without needing to get too specific.  After all, the only issue that I was aware of was the travel one—and my wife fixed that (without help from Mark).  Mark and Rex would not budge on the 6:30 start time so we did everything we could to accommodate them—and we we’re achieving that.  So in what way were we not satisfying Mark?

My wife and I were shocked.  She tried calling Mark and Rex.  Rex was apparently busy with haircuts and would call us back.  She managed to get Mark.  Apparently, he was concerned about the distance we had to travel and whether or not we might miss a performance.  He also said he was upset by her short email to him.  Somehow, he misinterpreted the casual, easy-going, humorous tone of her email.  My wife intended no offense but instead of talking to her about this—anyone else would have at least considered the possibility that he was reading into things—he simply took offense.  And none of this was in his email dismissing us.

I think my wife handled everything beautifully, assuring Mark that we were 100% committed and thrilled to be a part of the production, that we are confident that we licked the commuting concerns and that, of course, great distance never caused us to ever miss a performance.  My wife approached this like it was just a big misunderstanding, something we could almost laugh off, nothing to worry about, we’re going to work our butts off for your show.

Mark said he would talk to Rex and call us back.  It felt like things were patched up.  After all, we were part of the cast they felt they needed to do their show right; it’s worth trying to make it work.  Am I wrong?

Apparently. Mark never called back.  Rex never called back, either.  Finally, we received an email from Mark:

After speaking with Rex, we both agree and have concluded that, in the interest of the show, we need to stay with our decision to replace the both of you. Even if you have the best intentions to get to rehearsals and performances on time, you both live just too far and anything can happen.

One more time, we wish the both of you the best.

We don't want any more emails, any more phone calls and any more drama about this. We have made our decision and we are done talking about it.

We were out.  Without discussion, without an opportunity to prove ourselves—oh, wait a minute, my wife had proven herself—she had gotten to the rehearsal the day before at 6:10 for a 6:30 rehearsal and was in fact the only actor who was there on time other than the one who lived about a block away.  Nonetheless, Mark and Rex never sat us down to discuss the seriousness of their concerns.  Mark’s explanations are inconsistent and there’s no way to hold him accountable for his intentions.  Why did he do this?  Because he felt like it.  That’s essentially it.  The problem is, that has in impact on the careers and lives of the people he chooses to dispose of.

Mark and Rex can pretty much do whatever they like.  No legality stops them.  And many actors have been replaced in many shows with little or no explanation.  But in life we do have the expectation of fairness—which may or may not materialize.  This is one of those cases where people were not treated fairly.  It happens a lot in the arts.  In other areas of the world, there might be some accountability but for actors?  You can toss actors about based on your whims and no one can do anything about it.

But we can.  We can warn other actors about people like Mark and Rex.

One more ironic note.  My wife is currently working on a professional production out in our neck of the woods, in Naperville.  One of the leading actresses lives in Chicago—a block away from the performance space for The Computerization of Alex Kent—and travels out here to come to rehearsals.  The same trek we made but in reverse.  Her director’s take on her commute?  He insists that she takes her time, doesn’t stress about the commute and gets there when she gets there.  Rehearsals typically start at 7:00 and they know she may not make it until 7:15 or so.  6:30 would have been totally out of the question.  I’m sure he doesn’t want her arriving late—and naturally, she will have to make it on time for performances—but he seems to understand that you have to be fair when dealing with something difficult like traffic and distance.

Sounds fair.  Is that too much to ask for? Perhaps because Mark admittedly doesn’t drive he just doesn’t get it.

In the end, we still don’t know why Mark and Rex got rid of us.  Mark’s email dismissing us didn’t mention the travel issue and his follow up email didn’t elaborate on what was not satisfying to him.  They made it clear that they weren’t going to talk to us about it.  So what’s left?  I’ll share it with you, the professional Chicago theater community.  If you are looking for organization, communication, fairness and integrity stay away from Mark Contorno and Rex Mitchell and definitely insist upon a contract.