Topics / SHOW BUSINESS : Casting Their Talents in the Spotlight

At 22, Kristen Trucksess was flying high. The young actress had just arrived from New Jersey and within weeks landed her first role on television.

At 30, she has fallen back to earth. The roles have become fewer and farther between.

“I feel frustrated because I was the young newcomer, the 22-year-old blonde,” says Trucksess, who waits tables at a Santa Monica restaurant. “Now, it’s harder.”

But Trucksess, who played Howard Hesseman’s girlfriend on one episode of “Head of the Class,” won’t give up. Like a growing number of other actors who hope to transcend the world of bit parts, she appears in “showcases”--talent shows in which actors rent theater space to strut their stuff in front of invited film and television talent scouts.

The showcases, performed in theaters, high school auditoriums and comedy clubs throughout Los Angeles, feature groups of scenes, comedy skits and stand-up acts. Lately, they have been popping up faster than bootleg T-shirt salesmen on Venice Beach.

“Fifteen years ago, if you had an agent, that was enough,” says David Giella, casting director for Reuben Cannon and Associates. “Not any more. Now there’s hundreds of more agents and thousands more actors.”

Besides using agents, struggling actors often try to draw the attention of talent scouts by appearing in local theater productions. The showcases are a more aggressive means of self-promotion. They are usually free, held one or two nights and are only attended by talent scouts and actors’ friends.

On a recent Monday night, Trucksess and 19 other actors were marketing themselves at the Matrix Theater on Melrose Avenue. They performed a series of two-person scenes at a show produced by Marcy Kaplan and her assistant, Alison Gale. The actors paid $175 each for theater rental and other costs. As each VIP entered the theater, they were handed a package of resumes and head shots. After the show, they were feted with white wine and pate.

Kaplan, a 30-year-old actress who has appeared on “Beverly Hills, 90210,” charmed a dozen or so producers and agents into the venue. So far, showcases have served her well. After a performance several months ago, she was invited to audition as Adam Sandler’s love interest in “Airheads,” although she was not cast.

Monday night’s guests included Tri-Star producer Rob Fried (“Rudy” and the upcoming “Only You”) and Gabe Sachs, an executive producer of comedies and reality programs for Universal Television.

“It’s an impressive format because it’s a way to showcase acting ability with writing that most viewers are familiar with,” Fried says. The night opens with a black comedy featuring Benjamin King as a handsome hunk with a nervous streak. The loud applause for King and partner Jules Guevara washes over him like a soothing balm. Since graduating from UC Santa Barbara, King has suffered through audition hell.

“It’s been six months and there’s been rejection left and right,” King says. He recently left his agent. Carey Eidel, 37, has enjoyed as much exposure as any actor on the program. Still, the man who played Richard Lewis’ brother in the Fox sitcom “Daddy Dearest” (canceled after 13 episodes last year) is looking for one more break.

“After 15 years of pursuing a goal and getting on a series, the series ended and my career stopped,” Eidel says. “What I wanted was to let people know who I am at this time. I want one person who I don’t know to say, ‘I like your work,’ and I want to have one person invite me to an audition.”

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Eidel was followed by Kaplan and partner Randall Slavin, who drew several chuckles and a couple of howls as a couple suffering through a first date. On Wednesday night, Sachs, the Universal Television executive producer, was among those at the Diamond Club on Hollywood Boulevard.

Hosted by comedian Laura Milligan, this showcase featured sketch comedy, musical satire and stand-up by actors playing cult members who interrupt the show to hawk a ridiculously expensive seminar.

“I’m not making a dime,” says Milligan, 31. “I’m just hoping to get something out of this and it will be worth it in the long run.” In addition to the troupe of unknown actors, such stars as Bobcat Goldthwait also appear, hoping to polish new material.

The show is scheduled to run five more Wednesday nights. Milligan works the phones every day because she can’t afford to advertise.

Recently, director Ben Stiller caught the program. And Sachs was thrilled by the show: “I’ve paid $20 for a comedy show and I didn’t laugh as much.”

Not everyone takes a shine to showcases. Ron Sossi, artistic director at the Odyssey Theatre on Sepulveda, remains a skeptic. “I don’t know how seriously casting directors take people who do these scenes,” said Sossi, who advises actors to appear in local theater productions.

The actors remain unfazed. Trucksess has “thought of quitting the Hollywood aspect of my career, maybe going into theater, but I would never quit acting.”

After Monday night’s show, Trucksess’ answering machine was blinking wildly. A manager and a screenwriter called. Would she have time to “take a meeting?”

You bet.