Working for the Mouse http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ An ex-Disney character chronicles the backstage shenanigans at the Happiest Place on Earth. en-us trevor@workingforthemouse.com Copyright 2011 2011-11-08T21:04:30-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 The Reviews Are In...and Good! http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2011/11/the-reviews-are-inand-good.php Oh my goodness! These are the things that don't upset me! Sorry, I had to lapse into my Mad Hatter voice--because the reviews are in, and they're terrific! Here's what the critics say: "An uplifting comic tale well told." SF... 41@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Oh my goodness! These are the things that don't upset me!
Sorry, I had to lapse into my Mad Hatter voice--because the reviews are in, and they're terrific!
Here's what the critics say:

"An uplifting comic tale well told." SF Chronicle

"An entertaining, no-holds barred look at life as an employee of Disneyland...This is a surprisingly and impressively physical performance by Allen." Stark Insider

"For anyone who loathes the upcoming high holy days of manufactured cheer, Working for the Mouse is the best antidote. Ever." Dogmom's Dish

"...Allen's uncanny ability to immerse the audience in his backstage-Disney world..." SF Appeal

"Engaging storytelling, hilarious impersonations and wonderful imagination..." Bay Area Arts Blog

And catch my interview on KRON!

I'd love to see you at the EXIT Theatre. The show runs through Dec 17!

]]> 2011-11-08T21:04:30-08:00 Working for the Mouse in San Francisco! http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2011/09/working-for-the-mouse-in-san-francisco.php Hey kids! Working for the Mouse resumes its ride at Exit Theatre from November 3 to December 17. Tickets are on sale now! We had an awesome run over at Impact Theatre in June and July--picked up some sweet reviews,... 40@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Hey kids!
Working for the Mouse resumes its ride at Exit Theatre from November 3 to December 17. Tickets are on sale now!

We had an awesome run over at Impact Theatre in June and July--picked up some sweet reviews, including the clapping man from the San Francisco Chronicle, and we even extended the run! And now we're back at the Exit, where we had some terrific shows as part of the SF Fringe Festival some years back.

Come on down and see us!

Details:
Thurs-Sat 8pm
$20 advanced
$22 at the door
$15 preview on November 3

No shows during Thanksgiving weekend.

]]> 2011-09-27T19:52:13-08:00 The Live Show Returns! http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2011/05/the-live-show-returns.php Hiya, Mouse Heads! So, as promised (you thought I forgot, didn't you?) I am happy to announce that Working for the Mouse, the play, is coming back to the Bay Area! Yep, the solo show that started it all is... 39@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Hiya, Mouse Heads! So, as promised (you thought I forgot, didn't you?) I am happy to announce that Working for the Mouse, the play, is coming back to the Bay Area!

Yep, the solo show that started it all is returning to Impact Theatre on June 23! They're the scrappy little theatre in Berkeley that was brave enough to mount that very successful production several years ago. I've been very busy working as a playwright on a few projects and working with my own little theatre company, Black Box Theatre, but now I am really pleased to work on this new production. But this is just a limited run.

So, if you've never seen the live show but you've been enjoying the YouTube clips and you want to know the rest of the story...c'mon down! If you did see the original run, well...come on back, all your favorite characters will be there! It's been a blast getting this baby back on its feet. It's really energized me to get back to working on the book...but more about that later. I hope to see you in the theatre!

]]> 2011-05-31T22:21:54-08:00 Working for the Mouse Returns http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2011/01/working-for-the-mouse-returns.php Hey kids, exciting news: we're working on relaunching the popular Working for the Mouse stage show! Keep watching this space for an official announcement of the show's summer/fall 2011 dates around the San Francisco Bay Area!... 38@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Hey kids, exciting news: we're working on relaunching the popular Working for the Mouse stage show! Keep watching this space for an official announcement of the show's summer/fall 2011 dates around the San Francisco Bay Area!

]]> 2011-01-28T21:06:10-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 11 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/08/an-actors-life-for-me-part-11.php Sometimes unpleasant things happen, even in the most magical of kingdoms. Toward the end of the Pinocchio unit's Village Haus set, when we were all doing our walk-over to get back to the Egg House Break Area for lunch, we... 35@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Sometimes unpleasant things happen, even in the most magical of kingdoms. Toward the end of the Pinocchio unit's Village Haus set, when we were all doing our walk-over to get back to the Egg House Break Area for lunch, we ran into a little situation.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 11...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-08-18T21:24:07-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 10 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/08/an-actors-life-for-me-part-10.php It was the end of that long breakfast set. The Pinocchio unit was heading towards the exit of the Plaza Inn, like coal miners trudging back toward the light of day. Our cranky lead, Roxanne, had just given us her... 34@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ It was the end of that long breakfast set. The Pinocchio unit was heading towards the exit of the Plaza Inn, like coal miners trudging back toward the light of day. Our cranky lead, Roxanne, had just given us her version of the character "break-time" sign. This was usually done by flashing a surreptitious hand sign based on the ASL motion "to break." However, "The Red Queen's" break-time sign was a bit more colorful, imaginative, and graphic.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 10...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-08-04T21:19:54-08:00 We Interrupt This Program http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/07/we-interrupt-this-program-1.php Hey, kids! Check out the new video and podcast in the media room!... 33@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Hey, kids! Check out the new video and podcast in the media room!

]]> 2009-07-28T21:50:33-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 9 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/07/an-actors-life-for-me-part-9.php It was about halfway through our first Plaza Inn breakfast set, and I was over at one end of the restaurant near the windows, working the room in my baggy cat suit, walkin' and wavin' with Pinocchio, when we got... 32@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ It was about halfway through our first Plaza Inn breakfast set, and I was over at one end of the restaurant near the windows, working the room in my baggy cat suit, walkin' and wavin' with Pinocchio, when we got waved over by a large group of very friendly and talkative Italians. One of the younger women, who could speak English, asked for Pinocchio's autograph on a paper napkin. I waited my turn to sign and watched as Pinocchio obliged and a smile of recognition passed across the woman's face and she said something to the group, which got a really positive reaction. I signed my autograph: G-I-D-E-O-N in a large script, quite easily with my gloved hand instead of the usual three-fingered furry mitt. But when she read it, she frowned and passed it along. When I walked down one side of the table, the formerly friendly Italians kept saying "Bad kitty, bad kitty" to me and shooing me away.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 9...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-07-28T21:04:41-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 8 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/07/an-actors-life-for-me-part-8.php As a performer, I take my character work seriously. Really. No matter who the character might be.... 31@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ As a performer, I take my character work seriously. Really. No matter who the character might be.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 8...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-07-20T20:56:14-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 7 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/07/an-actors-life-for-me-part-7.php On that magical Main Street USA, a model of a town that never was, an avenue without dirt or debris, where the streets were always clean and there were never any homeless people to step over, I would encounter many... 30@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ On that magical Main Street USA, a model of a town that never was, an avenue without dirt or debris, where the streets were always clean and there were never any homeless people to step over, I would encounter many Europeans who had been told the original versions of these fairy tale stories in their native tongues by their grandparents who had heard them in turn from their own grandparents and so on back to before the founding of our own optimistic, if woefully na�ve, nation. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, King Arthur. These were their stories. But I had been shown a bigger, brighter, shinier version of the real thing, and I had bought into it with every fiber of my adolescent being. The castle in the heart of the Magic Kingdom had always seemed more real to me than any outside of Orange County. But I was beginning to see the difference between the pixie-dust-soaked tales of my youth and the darker more grim stories that the rest of the world knew to be true. For example, I knew that the character costume that I was currently walking around in, Gideon the cat, was supposed to be a bad guy. But as far as villains go, I thought he was pretty tame, even by Disney standards. I had forgotten the original.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 7...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-07-13T22:43:39-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 6 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/07/an-actors-life-for-me-part-6.php Think of a curtain on the stage of a big Broadway theatre. You cross the threshold and the darkness backstage gives way to a blinding light, and when the spotlight hits you, bang! At least, that's how it all seemed... 29@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Think of a curtain on the stage of a big Broadway theatre. You cross the threshold and the darkness backstage gives way to a blinding light, and when the spotlight hits you, bang! At least, that's how it all seemed to me in my ludicrous cat suit. By walking onstage in costume, as a member of Pinocchio's cartoon family, I was an actor putting on a show! I was part of that magic.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 6...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-07-06T21:37:37-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 5 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/05/an-actors-life-for-me-part-5.php I arrived in the character Head Room just in time. Jerry, the ever vigilant, always punctual lead, glanced at his watch and frowned. Realizing that he couldn't write me up for tardiness, he gruffly handed me an oddly shaped little... 28@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ I arrived in the character Head Room just in time. Jerry, the ever vigilant, always punctual lead, glanced at his watch and frowned. Realizing that he couldn't write me up for tardiness, he gruffly handed me an oddly shaped little piece of paper. It was my new Pinocchio unit set schedule. He said in a hushed voice with no hint of irony, "Guard that paper with your life."

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 5...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-05-04T21:32:53-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 4 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/04/post.php The three guys playing the Three Little Pigs were all ex-marching band geeks themselves, fans of the Three Stooges and quite accomplished choral whistlers--a skill that they practiced out on set, in violation of the Disney-ian edict against making noises... 27@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ The three guys playing the Three Little Pigs were all ex-marching band geeks themselves, fans of the Three Stooges and quite accomplished choral whistlers--a skill that they practiced out on set, in violation of the Disney-ian edict against making noises of any kind in costume. But they did it anyway and had amassed quite a repertory of whistle tunes and would often take requests. My personal favorite was Roger Miller's "Whistle Stop" song from the animated Robin Hood film. The one they did most often was their own rendition of "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho" mixed with the theme from the Bridge on the River Kwai. They'd been working together since the 1970s. James, Carl and Derek all had faces that, although pimple-free due to their advanced age, were probably best left hidden from the public behind thick layers of Fiberglas in those old big-headed costumes. They were lifers, happy to be under huge smiling pig heads, and they took pride in the fact that they would never have to show their actual faces in the park. But they also knew that their days as pigs were numbered, which could account for their current crankiness.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 4...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-04-30T21:43:09-08:00 An Actor's Life for Me, Part 3 http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/04/an-actors-life-for-me-part-3.php Now that I was an ex-Pluto, I had to scramble to "pick up" shifts. Having no seniority or status, I was at the mercy of the idiosyncratic set schedulers up in the Entertainment office. I was back to calling in... 26@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ Now that I was an ex-Pluto, I had to scramble to "pick up" shifts. Having no seniority or status, I was at the mercy of the idiosyncratic set schedulers up in the Entertainment office. I was back to calling in my availability each morning, with a tone of desperation creeping into my voice. I was just a name and a height to them. How often I worked and what character I played was determined by the number of empty costumes in my height range.

Continue reading An Actor's Life for Me, Part 3...

]]> Playing anything else 2009-04-27T21:21:46-08:00 New Video! New Podcast! http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/2009/04/new-video-new-podcast.php This just in.... The latest video clip is now live! Our hero starts an imaginary baseball game on the parade route--and gives us the central metaphor of the story. Diehard fans: Don't forget about the baseball as you continue reading... 25@http://workingforthemouse.com/blog/ This just in....

The latest video clip is now live! Our hero starts an imaginary baseball game on the parade route--and gives us the central metaphor of the story. Diehard fans: Don't forget about the baseball as you continue reading Mouse Droppings in the future. Also, please rate the video on YouTube and leave a comment if you like.

And, the next podcast installment of A Pirate's Life for Me is also now live!

So, check 'em out, and come back soon to read An Actor's Life for Me, Part 3.

]]> Playing Mr. Smee | Playing the Mad Hatter 2009-04-21T14:01:38-08:00