If you want to see the new trailer, you can see it on Youtube here. Excitement!
So what is Submissions Only and why am I so anxious for it to start again? It's billed as an "online sitcom about auditioning in New York City. Submissions Only follows a group of friends as they navigate the trips and falls, callbacks and train-wrecks experienced while working in this glorious business we call show."
It was created by Kate Wetherhead and Andrew Keenan-Bolger, and Weaherhead writes and stars as Penny Reilly, an actress who also works as a reader for auditions. Her pal Tim (Colin Hanlon) runs a casting agency, so Penny works for him, reading scripts opposite people trying out for whatever show they've been hired to cast. And Penny's agent, Steven (Stephen Bienskie), tries to get her roles so she won't be a reader her whole life. Steven is also Tim's ex, which can make things sticky, but Steven has a new boyfriend, the impossibly gorgeous Cameron (Max von Essen). We also see director Linda Avery (Anne Nathan) fairly often, as she hankers after male characters who are invariably gay, annoying Broadway star Serena Maxwell (Donna Vivino), Randall Moody (Jared Gertner), the most cheerful and fizzy Broadway boy ever who also works as a reader for Tim, a woman we know only as Adorable Girl (Annaleigh Ashford) and a snotty casting assistant named Donny, played by Andrew Keenan-Bolger, the co-creator who also serves as the show's director, editor and director of photography.
And that brings us to Aaron Miller, played by the adorable and wonderful Santino Fontana, who made a splash in shows like Sons of the Prophet and the current Cinderella on Broadway. Aaron shows up initially as a reader, a self-effacing sort of regular guy, but it soon becomes clear he is a very good actor, and he gets a major gig and a major girlfriend -- Serena Maxwell -- before Penny can really move on the fact that she likes him. As in likes him likes him. At the end of season 2, his big show had flopped and Serena was getting tired of him, moving him closer to Penny. Maybe.
Kate Wetherhead and Santino Fontana are two of the things that are very right about Submissions Only. It's also fun to see the star-studded cameos that pop up all over the place, most frequently as bad auditions. Danny Burstein, Kerry Butler, Bobby Cannavale, Kristin Chenoweth, Lea DeLaria, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Harvey Fierstein, Joel Grey, Cady Huffman, Brian d'Arcy James, Kristen Johnson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Marc Kudisch, Linda Lavin, Beth Leavel, Judith Light, Rebecca Luker, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Pascal, Mary Beth Peil, Condola Rashad, Roger Rees, Chita Rivera, Michael Urie, and a whole bunch of Newsies including Evan Kasprzak... They're all there somewhere!
If you need to catch up on the previous seasons or just refresh your recollection, including what went down with Aaron and Penny when last we saw them, all the episodes are available here. You can also check out who's who, read their press clippings, or tell them you like them on Facebook.
When March 3 finally rolls around and we get to see Season 3, it will once again be available at BroadwayWorld.com. Thank you, BroadwayWorld.com!
This is such very excellent news. It truly made my day to hear it. (They'd been keeping us waiting for so long!) Those who doubt they could get involved with a web series ought to take a look at the previous seasons (it becomes hard not to wolf them all down in one day).
ReplyDeleteAnd a cheer for Santino Fontana, who in fact has become a rather bigger name than most of the rest of the cast (Annaleigh Ashford has a Tony nomination now too, but she does only occasional bits on the series), but isn't letting that get in the way of continuing as Aaron Miller. Why is Aaron still with Serena? How is Penny getting along with Serena in the show they're doing together? Are Tim and Nolan going to make a go of it as a couple? At last I'll get to find out!
Way too long in between seasons. And, yes, blessings on Santino Fontana, the current It Boy, for sticking with a web series.
ReplyDeleteI also plan to revisit the previous seasons before #3 arrives. Marathon!