Closing "The Afflicted"

This production was hard to say goodbye to, especially since we were playing to sold-out houses for the last half of the run. People loved this show and I LOVED being in it. When I first started, I was very hesitant about playing a stripper (my typecast usually falls into the teenage dork area). I felt intimidated by the fact that I don't have "sexy moves" and that the last girl to play the role of Tamara was an actual stripper who already had sexuality coded into her body language and demeanor. The lap dance was the most terrifying part but... I did it! Possibly even well! I'll have to ask attendees what they thought of my exotic shimmies, but all in all, I feel really good about having this part under my belt. Ass waving and hair whipping in a priest's crotch? Check that one off the ol' bucket list.

Here's some pictures to make you feel like you were there!

Cast of "The Afflicted"

Jeremy "Turbo" Luke as "Cop Guy"

Daniel Hutchison as "Priest". Shelly Hacco as "Tamara"

Daniel Hutchison as "Priest". Shelly Hacco as "Tamara"

Daniel Hutchison as "Priest"

Ariel Hart as "Judith"

Eddie Alfano as "Douchebag"

Leif Gantvoort as "Karl". Ariel Hart as "Judith". Lincoln Castellanos as "Afflicted"

Perry Smith as "Rich Bitch". Ed Cosico as "Duane"

Lincoln Castellanos as "Afflicted"

Cast and crew of "The Afflicted"

Tommy Kijas and Nadeen Currie as "Afflicted"

Ed Cosico as "Duane"

Cy Creamer - Stage Manager. Shana Gagnon - Assistant Director.
Danny Cistone - Director. Bradley Estrin - Stage Manager

Lincoln Castellanos as "Afflicted Clown"

"The Afflicted" @ The NoHo Arts Center

It's Thursday! A day away from our second weekend of The Afflicted. See trailer here.

After a grueling rehearsal process, the cast and crew of "The Afflicted" (formerly known as "They're Not Zombies") opened last weekend to a SOLD-OUT HOUSE. The fire hazard of people literally sitting anywhere they could in order to catch this show, the non-stop screams and laughs, the bonding of audience members holding each other, and the need for PONCHOS blasted us off into what is sure to be a great zombie-filled run. Even though I literally get showered with blood and am totally disgusting by show's end, I simply cannot wait to put on my stripper suit this weekend!

Hatchie Matchie! Am I right? Come on... I'm totally a young Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (says me and no one else ever). Regardless, you should see this show. If anything, everyone should see it because of this guy...

It's Jeremy "Turbo" Luke. You know him as JGL's little friend in the newly released film Don Jon and as that guido guy in Syfy's Jersey Shore Shark Attack. He's got some KILLER lines, man. KILLER... you know... Kil...anyway... here's another picture.

Join us!

The Zombie Defense

Can you believe it? That's me. Pretty gross, right? Luckily there were no mirrors around or else I would have cried all my make up off. As for things that were around. We had... Pedestrians. Gawking Pedestrians. These guys were fun because I got to play real zombie with them, walking all slow-like toward them, twitching and grunting, until they quickly moved along. Though we shot the bulk of the short this past weekend, I still have one more day to go, pre-zombie. Can't wait to see the finished product.

The Zombie Defense

Written by Jarrod Robbins

Directed by Jarrod Robbins & Jason Snellman

Produced by Josh Doughty

Left to Right: Jarrod Robbins, Shelly Hacco, Josh Doughty, Jason Snellman

Left to Right: Jason Snellman, Jarrod Robbins, David Sound Guy, Dominic Jones, Kyle AD

September Happenings

GUILTY AS CHARGED. I took a break. I'm sorry fans. Life caught up with Shelly Hacco and she needed to get off the map for while.

... Who am I kidding. No one cares. BUT, in case your name is No one, I've got news for you! September has been a busy and promising month. There's been happenings galore; so many... I need to list them out.

1. I'll be signing with a new manager today - Jean-Marc Carre of Central Artists, Inc. I have high hopes that Jean-Marc will help me flourish into an unstoppable moneymaking machine. A small tangent... According to an interesting Huffington Post article I read about Generation Y kids (of which I am), high hopes such as these make folks like me unhappy. Though I tend to agree, I also think that considering myself "not-special/ not-likely-to-succeed" is a pretty shitty reality check. I'll stay delusional for the meantime. Thanks for the insight though! I'll remember it on the inevitable days when the only thing that makes sense is to eat Taco Bell until I puke while watching reruns of "Rock of Love."

2. I just got cast as Tamera the STRIPPER in a play called "They're Not Zombies," written by Leif Gantvoort and directed by Danny Cistone. Just in time for my favorite holiday HALLOWEEN, this show will be a blood bath and I will be a hoe-bag. I'm so excited. Stay tuned for more info as it comes.


3. Speaking of Zombies! I will be playing the role of Laura (the zombie) in the comedy/horror short "The Zombie Defense," written by Jarrod Robbins and directed by Jarrod Robbins/Jason Snellman. We're shooting at the end of the month!

4. I'm getting new headshots done this Saturday. I even got a fresh (expensive...) skirt suit for my "professional" look. Shelly is all grown up...sort of. I still talk in the third person apparently.

Crumble Reviews

Now that we are two weekends in, people are starting to talk. People.. who write for things on the interweb. For the most part, I like what I'm reading. My favorite - seeing our photo shoot pictures IN PRINT in USC's newspaper, The Daily Trojan. The review was by no means golden literature (due to some contradictions and faulty logic) but the IN PRINT aspect made the whole thing so romantic. Newspapers are like men who never leave the house without a hat. Neither the item nor the style are necessary anymore; technology and social customs have changed all that, but don't they just scream classic? Tangent. Anyway, here's some pulled SHELLY IS AWESOME quotes and links to the full reviews. I'll keep adding to this as they come out!

"Shelly Hacco (who also produced) delivers a standout performance as a grieving, borderline-manic adolescent.  Her comic timing is pitch-perfect in those early scenes that depict the ridge between herself and her mother thereby setting up the story’s conflict.  Even after the laughs subside, the aura of anxiety, left onstage for the actors to work with by her tornado-like tirades, is tangible." - LIFE IN LA PUBLISHING
Full review...

"The most haunting moments are centered around Hacco, who plays a convincing 11-year old oddball who creates satanic tea parties for her dolls." - DAILY TROJAN
Full review...

"Hacco’s Janice is an impressive mix of irrational and sympathetic. She grasps the pre-teen gait without making it too much of a caricature." - FRONTIERS IN LA
Full review...

"Shelly Hacco is believable as the precocious but unhappy Janice, whose ostracization at school and unhappiness at home have driven her to live in a primitive, hallucinatory state." -BC BLOG CRITICS (STAGE MAGE)
Full review...

"Spectacular acting skills from the likes of Stephen Kline as the Apartment and Heidi Rhodes as the mother, along with Shelly Hacco as Janice, only make this difficult and painful production a truly beautiful piece of art." - THE CALIFORNIA THEATRE CRITIC
Full review...

"It was the best play I’ve seen in Los Angeles." - LA SPLASH
Full review...

GOOD TIMES!

CRUMBLE is officially OPEN!

Oh jesus. I have a lot to report. Not only did we make it to the $3350 Indiegogo goal, we opened this past weekend without a hitch. I'm still in shock about the whole thing. Serious. Shock. As usual, tech week was a bit nightmare-ish. Despite our headstart, the set was still incomplete at our dress rehearsal and the sound was non-existent. The amazing Danny Cistone worked his last minute magic though and the results are nothing short of phenomenal. The set holds many surprises and the soundscape is so inventively eerie, I can't help but smile at how cool it all is. This first review by Frontiers in LA had a ton of great things to say about this aspect of the show (and a thing or two about yours truly!) Frontiers in LA "Crumble" Review

I meant to release our promo pictures as they became ready but with all the commotion, I'm lucky my head is still on straight. (Side note: Since I've been writing a lot of thanks yous and promotional copy for this thing, I've noticed that my writing style has become pretty grandma-ish. i.e. full of old cliches and catchy say-isms. This needs to stop. Now.) Let me re-phrase that last part in my normal custom - I meant to release the promo pictures earlier but I've been so fucking busy, I haven't had time to eat or poop. Here they are though, in all their wacky glory.

Now Open @ Theatre 68

5419 W. Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Running until May 18th, 2013

Fridays/ Saturdays - 8pm

Sundays - 6pm

Stephen Kline as "The Apartment"

Julianna Bolles-Morrison as "Barbara"

Bill Doherty Jr. as "Father/Justin Timberlake/Harrison Ford"

Shelly Hacco as "Janice"

Heidi Rhodes as "Mother"

Stephen Kline (Apartment), Bill Doherty Jr. (Father), & Heidi Rhodes (Mother)

A Crumbly Photo Shoot

This last weekend, the cast and crew of Crumble took some photos. Our location was at 68 Cent Crew member Kristin Lerner's home.  

Cast and crew pose in front of the house for photographer Crystal Mandel. 

Though Kristin swears this Victorian relic houses no ghosts, our group shared a different view. HOW COULD IT NOT!? Regardless, this house was the perfect choice for an on location shoot. It had crumbly walls, dark shadowy corners, and an all around somber atmosphere. It short, it was AWESOME. I'd love to live in a house like that. I bet the people that live in the attic-converted apartment upstairs have found some pretty neato, perhaps haunted, artifacts from previous owners, maybe even way back from 1906! I have to believe that kind of stuff actually happens, and not just on "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

From a marketing point of view, this shoot was extremely important to me. I wanted to get shots of each character so that I could slowly present these wacky folks to the general public. I got the idea from Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." I loved how they rolled out pictures of all the different characters to show the internet public the production's take on some of the story's unnatural characters. Of course, the movie used this tactic to showcase Burton's artistic visions of classic well-known characters whereas my plan more introduces Crumble's generally unknown cast to anyone intrigued enough to click through the photos. I just think that all five of the play's characters are so interesting that a picture of each could really entice a person who knows nothing about the show to want to know more. The Mother with her endless food, Barbara with her endless cats, etc. I know I'd take a peek.

Here's some production shots! The official ones will released soon!

Crystal Mandel and Jarrod Robbins help me set up Janice's room.

Julianna Bolles-Morrison gets into Barbara mode, cats, tuna, and more cats!

We stand around as Heidi Rhodes prepares for the "Mother" photograph