Thursday, April 2, 2009 » Laura Beitman (fr) is not an actress or a romantic, but after auditioning for “Keep the Change,” Beitman became both.
Beitman will play Julie, wife of main character Sam, in this sitcom created by Indiana Wesleyan University’s studio production class.
For Beitman, a nursing major, time has been an issue, and as a self-proclaimed pragmatic, so has the on-screen kiss.
“My dad . . . called me and said, ‘Laura, I just wish there wasn’t that kissing scene,’” said Beitman.
Beitman and the rest of the cast of “Keep the Change” have been rehearsing weekly since mid-March.
Though some scenes have already been recorded, the majority of the sitcom will be filmed in front of a studio audience.
“Keep the Change” is about two brothers who inherit their parents’ diner. The older brother, Ben, had always been around to help with the business, while younger brother Sam had gone to college and married. According to cast member Jonathan Smith (jr), “Keep the Change” follows the conflicts that arise as the brothers make decisions concerning the diner.
Most of the filming is done on-sight in either the diner or Sam and Julie’s apartment, said Smith. The scenes filmed off-set and off-campus are done by the production team and supervised by Executive Producer Grace Briner (sr).
Briner also oversees the different groups involved in the production process: design, production and the producers. According to Briner, the producers wrote the script, while the production and design teams are in charge of creating the set and filming.
Making a television sitcom is very different from working on stage, according to Briner, who is a theater major and has been involved with multiple theater productions at and away from IWU.
“You get to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff when you watch the TV production,” Briner said. “I’m excited about the audience and their input, and just to see how their laughter or their reactions affect the show.”
A group of the studio production students traveled to Los Angeles over spring break and met a few moguls like Tony Hale from the television series “Arrested Development” and Dean Batali, a writer for “That 70’s Show.”
According to Producer Ashley DeNeff (jr), Hale, Batali and about four others in Hollywood have a copy of the “Keep the Change” script.
“Even if nothing comes out of it, how many can say that someone in Hollywood is reading their script?” said DeNeff.
The script for “Keep the Change” was inspired somewhat by Hale’s own “Arrested Development” and the sitcom “Friends.”
“I don’t know if it got there,” said DeNeff, “but those are the two we had in mind.”
DeNeff hopes that the comedy of “Keep the Change” is up to par. Still, the possibility of receiving blank stares instead of laughter concerns her.
“The entire class read it together and hearing people laugh reassured us that maybe this [script] is funny,” said DeNeff. “[But] it’s still my fear. I might be hiding in a corner on production night, but it seems to be going pretty well.”
The completed project will be playing at the Communication Arts Festival on April 16 in the Globe Theater.