Whitefire Theatre will be presenting their latest edition of their SHORTS series, FALL SHORTS, opening September 26, 2017. Whitefire Theatre has been a reliable San Fernando Valley fixture providing countless entertaining theatre pieces and workshops.
Whitefire Theatre’s artistic director Bryan Rasmussen took some moments from his creative multi-tasking to chat with us.
Thank you for agreeing to this interview, Bryan!
This is your fifth year of presenting your evenings of original short comedy plays. What was the genesis of inaugurating this series?
When Jake O’Flaherty (the producer) and I started the company; we still didn’t know exactly what material we would be presenting as a company. Because the choice of the material you do is your reputation usually for the company itself. I had already been working in the 10-minute format for a while and thought it was just amazing. And then it all came together, being able to use every actor in the company for every show. And they would basically get cast as leads in their short pieces. So everybody got great roles, and we could use 25-to-30 actors for a show. So we started using that format. It worked so well, we just kept using it, and we use it now exclusively for the company.
How do you select what shorts become a part of each production?
We have a core group of writers that we work with on a regular basis, both within the company and outside of the company. Many award-winning comedy writers are involved. It takes approximately 16 weeks to find the plays, rehearse and develop them. Because these are plays and not sketches, it needs that kind of rehearsal process. We pick the nine or ten best plays we can find, and we cast them that way rather than the opposite way of finding plays that fit the company. But it happens anyway every time. Amazing!
Have any of the 100-plus shorts you’ve presented in the last five years grown into full-length plays?
Some have, but that’s not necessarily the reason this is happening. The 10-minute play is its own genre. It’s not just a short clip in order to get the long-form produced, etc. And many great things can happen in that arc of 10 minutes. I did one that covered the characters from babies to Alzheimer’s, and it was incredible! The format that these lend themselves well to is the web series. And we are developing many of those as well.
Any specific success stories to brag about?
Well, we have many great relationships with artists, but collaborating with Academy Award-winning writer (Crash)/director/producer Bobby Moresco for over eight years is a great one! Many of our projects that we developed in the Gym have gone on to full-length play productions, feature films, scripts and other projects. We’ve been developing a new work inspired by Studs Terkel’s WORKING but with completely new characters and written by members of the Actors Gym and Bobby Moresco who conceived the project called WORKING 2017, starring a world-class cast that we will be streaming live worldwide.
This is the 35th anniversary of Whitefire Theatre. What made you decide to stake ownership in Whitefire eight years ago?
It was actually a very serendipitous event. I was an actor at the time bartending with no real ability to start a business whatsoever. But a friend of mine stepped in and put up a little money, and then I was able to get a few others to do the same. Amazingly, it all took place over the course of a six-month period. Then after about three years of steady bookings, the recession hit and changed everything drastically.
I had run spaces and produced before but having my own theatre was not a realistic goal of mine. I think everybody would like one, but it was certainly not on my goal list. I was on full steam ahead for an acting career, and had already done a lot by the time this came along. But it came along in my life when I was at a crossroads trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life and, Boom!, this came into my life. It’s been an amazing ride!
Your Whitefire website pictures a core group of eleven company members. Do you choose the plays Whitefire produces to fit their talents?
Actually, our core group is 25 company members. The biggest difference is most casting is the actors becoming characters that have already been written. But in film and television, it’s very important to understand what your ‘personal’ essence is, as opposed to your ‘casting’ essence. So these parts are all customized for each of their individual talents and diversity or ethnicity. And it’s worked just fantastically that way!
Do company members get first crack at new roles? Or do they have to audition at your open auditions?
Yes, they do…we always consider our company members for other shows playing at the Whitefire. Theatre company members read all the submitted plays and are then cast based on who can represent the characters best as written. We have open auditions after the close of each show for any new company members who would like to join for the next show. Our producer Jake O’Flaherty arranges the audition process.
How does one become a company member?
Auditions are held on the week after the current show closes. The actor needs to prepare a two-minute comedy monologue of their choice to perform, and bring a headshot and resume.
You, Bobby Moresco and Jessica Lynn Johnson offer classes at Whitefire. Does one need to audition to enroll in your classes?
Yes, but they aren’t as much classes as they are workshops. Bobby’s are by referral and he has writers, actors, and directors in that. Jessica’s is a free ongoing workshop developing solo shows. Mine is an ongoing on-camera, working-actors class for all pro-actor needs. Bill Chott (This is Us) teaches an ongoing improv workshop on Saturday and Sunday 11am-1pm. Portia Scott runs a Sunday morning voiceover workshop. Jake O’Flaherty has commercial and business of acting classes as well. The rest of the time we are in production.
What are your long-term goals for Whitefire?
We are launching our live-streaming program as we speak. We are very excited about what this could all mean!
What’s in the immediate future for Whitefire?
I’d love to make the Whitefire the Netflix of theatre. Broadcasting our content nightly live out of the Whitefire, and creating a stream of income for theatre artists so they can make a living doing theatre in LA!
And in the future for Bryan Rasmussen, acting or directing?
The Company show FALL SHORTS that opens Tuesday, September 26 at 8pm. Then, I am acting in a feature film in October, shooting in New Orleans about the aftermath of Katrina. Jake O’Flaherty and I are also doing multiple web series together. So life is good when you get to do what you love. That is true success. After my heart attack a year ago, it helped me hyper-focus on what is important, and who I wanted to work with. I’m the luckiest guy in town.
Thank you again, Bryan!
For FALL SHORTS ticket availability and schedule thru October 31, 2017; as well as, ongoing Whitefire Theatre class schedules; log onto www.whitefiretheatre.com
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A photo montage of Gil’s Halloween Carnavale photos through the last decade was recently included in the WeHo@ 25 juried exhibition.