Show Biz

This morning I heard about drive-ins being used as concert venues. I look around me and think that perhaps we will go back to living more simply. We no longer live by sun and moon, by wind and stars, but by clocks and calendars, social conventions and expectations, promotions, and clearance sales.

In the last twenty-five years, the average person’s spending increased by at least 30%. Houses doubled in size and in number, as did cars, televisions, restaurant meals, clothes, electronics, and recreational expenditures. Today, 52% of Americans regularly spend more than they earn.

We live in a culture where spending has become the ultimate social art, a frantic quest for more, newer, better. But maybe now with the pandemic, this will slow down.

I got Netflix last month. Some of the shows I watched were Grace & Frankie, two jilted wives who find their husbands that are business partners have been having a clandestine affair for over 20 years. While Lily Tomlin stole the show and had wonderful comedic lines, I felt the writing was slow and the setup was a bit cliché.

I tried another comedy, Schitt’s Creek, the name alone made me want to look the other way, but I gave it a chance. Based on a wealthy family who loses their fortune they go to live in a dreary town they purchased. Episode one and two were funny, but I could see that I was watching mainly because Moira Rose (the mother character) had a fabulous wardrobe and there was a great alignment between her clothes and the absurdity of the show.

I fell in love with The Crown, based on Queen Elizabeth’s first twenty-five years as a Monarch; it indulged my sense of high drama with an appealing ensemble. Great acting. I pondered was Princess Margaret that lost?

I watched the miniseries Unorthodox. Based on a memoir of a young woman who escapes her religious upbringing, this gave me a sense of urgency, I was rooting for her to be liberated. A captivating performance.

But the show I was enthralled by was Outlander. I am partial to period pieces and this docuseries starts off in 1945 as a Nurse on her honeymoon in Scotland gets transported back to the 1700s. I suppose it would be labeled historical romance but it had so much more. It’s a journey with beautiful cinematography lush landscapes, sci-fi, history, and a bit of mystery.

So there you have it. My list. And for those of you who are interested. I was a background actor on the miniseries Perry Mason that’s currently running on HBO-GO.

I’ve included a picture where I was a wealthy congregant and a link to the trailer currently on YouTube where I am seated to the right of actor John Lithgow, as the congregant in mourning.

Ironically he and I share the same birthday except for different years. He’s charming and down to earth and we shared a lively rapport.

The miniseries is nothing like the television show starring Raymond Burr. It was so much fun! I worked approximately 7 weeks over the course of 6 months and have seen myself in every episode.

I come in at 1:16.