Time? One breezy November morning

Place?  Torrance Cultural Arts Center, Torrance, CA

Why?  To meet Anthony Zerbe.  I had recognized him in The Matrix sequels, but to recognize someone is to already know him.  Where did I first see him you might be asking?  That really cool Western series from the 90′s, The Young Riders.  Of course that’s not all he’s done, but that’s what I’ve seen.  So what was Anthony Zerbe doing in Torrance?  Somehow the Parks and Recreation Department arranged for a performance by him and Roscoe Lee Brown of something that they had put together and they had also arranged for a master class with both of them the next morning.  But Brown somehow finagled his way out of it.  No, he had legitimate reasons, but regardless, he wasn’t able to go.  So we (that is, the members of the Torrance Theatre Company and friends) sat in the black box and listened to Anthony Zerbe for about 2, maybe 2 and a half hours about theatre, his career, and a little bit about his acting technique.  It was very interesting, and incredibly funny.  Within the first ten minutes, he had dropped at least 3 f-bombs (you know, the f-word?  No, I don’t mean fire truck).  I took notes the whole time and it was just…well you’ll have to see the notes for yourself.  But I really learned a lot from him.  You want proof?  Look at the picture!  (Please note that’s not how I normally look, I was really tired that day).

Anthony Zerbe Master Class Notes. PDF

When I went to a preview screening of The Terminal at the Block of Orange (I love how movie screeners love college students), it wasn’t only promoted by UCI, but also by OC Weekly and KZLA and guess what… Shawn Parr was at the theatre giving away T-shirts, CD’s and license plate frames.  I got a T-shirt.  Funny thing was, I didn’t know Shawn was Shawn for a while, so I was just joking around with him.  He handed out free posters and was on a microphone in the theatre, and when he said don’t sing, I basically laughed in his face and belted out Jingle Bells.  I felt like such a fool when I figured out who he was (when he started out giving away stuff).  They had planted stickers under certain seats, so I scanned under the row of chairs I was in, and found one.  He was going to those with stickers and asking them to name a country star and then asking a trivia question about them.  When he finally got to me, I named Jeffrey Steele, even though I knew nothing about him.  Apparently, he started out in a California group named Boy Howdy, which I couldn’t name for Shawn and he gave me the shirt anyway.  But even after that, I didn’t know he was Shawn Parr (I thought he was Buzz from the Peter Tilden with Buzz Morning Show) until after the movie.  OOPS!  Oh yeah, after the movie, I was just standing around listening to Shawn chat with some patrons, when all of a sudden, Kobe Bryant walks into the theatre, sans bodyguards.  It was really surprising and freaking awesome.  He just walked in, walked up to customer service, then headed off to the upper number theaters (to the right).  I asked the customer service guy about Kobe, and he said the he usually comes when they’re closing (apparently, he lives in Newport Beach) and with security, but not this time.  He just stopped by to see The Chronicles of Riddick.  I didn’t rush over to get his autograph, merely because I think celebrities deserve more of my respect than for me to be a rabid fan-dog.  Or maybe that’s just my opinion?  Let me know…