Whatever you do, DO IT NOW!!

My good friend, ex-actor, ex-Buffalo Bill, writer, sculptor, and ever-creative Jim McMullan recently wrote that he's made this new video to inform folks about his inspirational book, "Do It Now! Book & Clock Set." Jim writes on his website,

THE CLOCK IS TICKING...

Find inspiration to make all of your dreams come true in this handy book of motivational quotes about living each day to the fullest. Do It Now! Book & Clock Set will help you forge a new path leading to calm and serenity. This collection of quotations from such luminaries as Ernest Hemingway, Eckhart Tolle, and Goethe teaches us to live in the NOW—not in the past or future, but the present. Their wit and wisdom will help center the mind and give the NOW all of your attention. Just as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present.”

So DO NOT DELAY! BUY THIS BOOK! DO IT NOW!!

Red River Sings Brice 'Happy Birthday'

I made some notes on September 19, 2009 for stories to include on The Casual Reporter, but I got sidetracked and didn't publish them. Better late than never, here they are: September 19, 2009 - First Show Brice’s birthday today. After he won the roping contest I suggested Christian, the Red River Clown, celebrate by having Red River sing him Happy Birthday. They did and he raised his hat to them in salute. Nice moment. Second Show Annie started shooting out the candles and a dog started barking. My brain didn't know how to handle this information. Was it a person barking like a dog, or a sound effect of some kind, or was there actually a dog barking in the audience? Another round of shooting and it barked a few more times. No mistake or confusion this time. It was a dog. The lights went up and I could see him between the first and second rows of Gold Star, next to the stairwell, plain as day, a full grown chocolate labrador with a thick red collar, panting, barking, and watching the show with great enthusiasm. "Well, I see we have one fan at least" was all the improvisation I could muster to try to regain some of the focus. It worked. Further investigation revealed that it was a seeing eye dog. Usually seeing eye dogs are trained for everything, but apparently they overlooked 'watching a Wild West Show'. General: A month or so ago the rodeo games started and I noticed there was no bunting anywhere in the arena. "Looks naked" murmurred Annie Oakley. It had been removed, my manager told me later, as part of mandatory maintenance for all the cables, lights and other things that occupy the rafters of the show. It took more than a month to re-dress the arena, which leads me to wonder if 'bunting cleaning' had been deregulated like the phone industry. Between France Telecom and Free Telecom I waited over 6 weeks for phone and internet. Eventually the bunting and all the other decorations made their way back into the arena.

Eleana Turns 90, Buffalo Bill Sings

A few weeks ago a guest of ours honored us by choosing to celebrate her 90th birthday at our show. Eleana, I learned, and 25 of her family members, took her to watch us in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill), Disney Village, Disneyland Paris, France. To show my appreciation, I leapt up over the rail during the start of the Medicine Ball pass into the Red River Ranch where she was seated, and took her hand. She was clearly delighted. 'J'ai quatre-vingt dix ans!' she said with a big smile, her soft, arthritic hands grasping mine, 'I'm 90 years old!' I told her I'd heard as much and that we were honored she was at the show with us, and I wished her a very happy birthday. She glowed. Later, during the final review, I announced to the public, 'I have a very special announcement. One of our guests, Eleana, is celebrating her 90th birthday today, that's nine oh.' The public applauded loudly and I continued, thanking her for choosing to celebrate with us. Her family started singing 'Bonne Anniversaire' and I joined in, in English. After the singing had stopped I promised that I would personally sing 'Happy Birthday' to anyone who chose to celebrate their 90th birthday with us. Guaranteed. I'm no Opera star so I'm not sure if that was a promise that will lead to more or fewer such occurrences, but I stand by it nonetheless.

How One Horse Bought a Ranch

Sonna Warvell of the Warvell family soon to be inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, and also Annie Oakley in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill) Disney Village, Disneyland Paris, France, recently emailed me a link to an article written about Jim and Jan Warvell, her parents. The article, "Great Horse: White Feather," is a touching account of an extraordinary horse whose talents were so remarkable the Warvells based their show around him for 12 years. According to Jan, the shows success, on the back of White Feather (literally) paid for their ranch. It's worth a read. Click on the title above to do so.

Sonna "Annie Oakley" Warvell Inductee to Hall of Fame

As reported recently in the Star Telegram, the latest class of inductees into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame includes the Warvell Family: Jim, Jan, Toni and Sonna Warvell of Weatherford. The Warvell family performed trick riding, trick roping and comedy routines worldwide. Jim and Jan now own and train racehorses, Toni is active in judging horse events, cutting and training, and Sonna has starred as Annie Oakley at Disneyland Paris in its production of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show (La Legende de Buffalo Bill) since the park opened in 1992.

Also to be inducted are legendary baseball player Nolan Ryan, Olympic gold medal winner and Hollywood stuntman Dean Smith, and James Jennings, the voice of Mesquite rodeos. The Hall of Fame, in the Fort Worth Texas Stockyards, will introduce the class at a January 14, 2010 ceremony. The honorees were chosen because of their excellence in competition, business, and support of rodeo and the Western lifestyle in Texas.

Sonna shared this news with the Wild West Show cast last week, with much pride and to much applause. One of my favorite pictures of her is at age 4, laying down a horse in a Wild West Show. She and her family are now officially living legends. Congratulations to Sonna and the Warvell family for this much-deserved recognition.

Trent's Buffalo Bill Shows are "Electrifying"

The Artistic Coordinator, Artistic Director, and a returning principle actor each recently took time to pull me aside and tell me my performances have reached a level of excellence they describe as "electrifying," "amazing," and "unbelievable." They say I've attained a quality of performance that is now "untouchable," "in a league of it's own," and "beyond compare."

The level of their compliments caught me completely by surprise.

Despite my disgruntlement over the ridiculous idea of management asking us to deliver each show in 90 minutes, striving to keep a 90-minute pace has required that I intensify my energy and focus, which has apparently, unexpectedly, resulted in noticeable improvement to my already strong performances. I was tickled to watch the Artistic Team search for superlatives with which to laden their compliments. What an honor and surprise to have accidentally, even reluctantly, achieved something worthy of gushing approval. According to the Artistic Director, the new pace and intensity inspires other performers and the whole show is improved.

As a side benefit, I get home earlier to watch American Football!

So now you REALLY must come see us!

WWS Finishes Under 90 Minutes

Lest there be any doubt that the WWS is more factory than theatre, the latest directive from management is that the show must finish in 90 minutes. So I kept a ruthlessly rapid pace throughout both shows last night, bulldozing through moments where I normally allowed slight pause for theatrical drama, clipping the end of my fellow actor's lines, ignoring interruptions where improvisation is called for, not waiting for audience applause to die down before delivering text, and cutting words from my own text where possible. With the aid of the other actors, we delivered the show in 90 minutes the first seance and 87 minutes the second.

Management was perfectly tickled.

Pace is important, to be sure. Too often actors overindulge in their own stretched out moments of drama, or confusion, and the show slows to a crawl. Or. Stop.

But to ignore the audience and the occasional special moments of improvisation makes the show impersonal and can undermine the credibility of the characters, in my view. Allowing for special moments yet keeping a good pace is not easy. It's an art that not everyone can master. Hence, I imagine, a blanket solution for all to a problem that belongs to a select few individuals. (Me, of course, not one of them. I can't be to blame - this is my blog!) Perhaps one day we'll be able to relax again and respond to the audience in a natural way that allows each show to be individual and special, and builds the credibility of the characters and the moment, without being slave to an arbitrary time limit.