Secret City - 2011 in review.

Last night we performed the last show of 2011. I always have to qualify this by saying we are back next weekend with our regular shows. As 2011 comes to a close, I can't help but think of our past and to think of our future.

Let's start with the past.  One year ago today, out cast did not know each other. We held our first audition in January 2011 at the Fullerton Marriott hotel. I took on a crew of 12 people and 7 still remain as our veteran cast.  Since then we would hold two more auditions.  We had many people come and go but I will always have a soft spot for my current cast.

Getting into our current venue was an adventure. We had a theater all locked up in Fullerton but because we couldn't come up with 30 parking spaces, we had to give up the location.  In the meantime, we began rehearsals at the Stage One Dance Studio. After talking with the owners of this fine business, we found that it made sense for us to team up and Stage One would become our home.

In June, we had our grand opening. Because of some issues with the city, we would open 3 months late. But we're grateful to be open. We've been open every weekend since. In just a few weeks, we would ultimately fall in love with the city of Fullerton.

Here are some quick highlights. We hosted a show with Improv City from Tustin. Performed our first Halloween shows. Teamed up with other local improv troupes and participated in the OC Improv Cup. 

Our best achievement was being named by the OC Weekly as 2011 Best Improv Team. Funny story we didn't know about this honor for three weeks. We also have no idea when the OC Weekly was at our show. The best part was we didn't have ask you, our fans, to vote online.

That's the year in review. I'd like to thank you, our fans for being a part of the fun and supporting us with your tickets and telling your friends.  I also have to thank my cast for their support, patience and their humor.  This is everyone who has performed at Secret City since we opened:

Alan Ng

Amy Valdez

Audrey Grace

Cody Wallace

Chuck Hayes

Daniel Eachus

Dimithri Perera

Jared Lomeli

Jessica Lowerre

Keegan Lund

Kristin Ferris

Leah Burnette

Loren Kling

Manual Ortiz

Marc Chester

Michael Garate

Rocco Ambrosio

Sarah Brooks

Stephanie De La Cruz

Taylor Moore

The Society Grows Bigger

As you may recall, we held auditions back in July. As a result, we almost doubled in size. It's may pleasure to say that for the most part, we have increased our ranks. Now joining Secret City Comics Society is...

• Cody Wallace
• Jered Lomeli
• Jessica Rose Lowerre
• Keegan Lund
• Sara McLain
• Sarah Buster Brooks
• Taylor Moore
• Tyson Pestner

This weekend, Sarah Buster Brooks will be the first to perform. Please stop by Friday at 8:00 pm or Saturday at 8:30 pm and see how much her training has paid off.

See you this weekend.

It's Our 3rd Week

I guess this is our first official post after the opening weekend. For Bryan and myself, the road to opening day was a long one. We had a lot of red tape to cut and last minutes negotiations with the dance studio and the building owner. But we opened to a fantastic weekend.

Now we're in the unenviable position of building a following. We were told that we'd have a great opening weekend and by the 3rd week attendance would drop after all of our friends and family have come to the show. All this is true. We are in the fan building process.

For those of you who have been to the show, thank you for your support. It is greatly appreciated and we hope to see you back soon.

For those of you who have not yet been to our show, I encourage you to clear a Friday or Saturday night before we live up to our tagline "Comedy's Best Kept Secret." I can't tell you how proud I am of our inaugural cast: Alex Queen, Amy Valdez, Audrey Grace, Chuck Hayes, Daniel Eachus, Dimithri Perera, Kristen Ferris, Leah Burnette, Loren Kling, Manuel Ortiz, Marc Chester, Michael Garate, Rocco Ambrosio, Stefanie Curtis, Vivian Martinez and Jeff Parks, who was a week away from actually being in the show before he moved to Washington DC.

Our shows have been excellent for a cast that has been performing together since January. You really need to come down and see this talented group. You won't be disappointed.

We're here every Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday nights at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. for now until forever.