Last weekend of BRIDGE (two more shows) Losing Weight - sometimes it comes with the territory.

As the weekend approaches, I am already starting to feel a bit melancholy about Saturday night. It will be the last time I go through my pre-show ritual and transformation into Niki or Woman (as she is named in the play.)

When I first audition for the part, I showed up as myself, the actor impersonating a transvestite. I had never before made an attempt to do a full on transformation. For starters, I had always thought I made a very ugly woman, so I wasn't going to start now that I had this audition. I thought, if they like my work, they'll probably have makeup people who will guide me through the transformation. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was a small production. I was on my own.

So after my audition, the director, Kelly Galindo, asked if I owned a dress, wig and high-heels. I told her I didn't. She said, "Well, we really liked your audition, but this is a transvestite. She's got flawless makeup, hair, the legs -- she is the real deal. We need to know that you can pull it off." My brain rushed with endorphins as I felt I had to seize the opportunity. This was a very unique and exciting challenge. So I said to her, "No worries. I will be in full drag for the callback," which was only a few days after.

So as soon as I got home, I went on youtube, just to have an idea of what I was supposed to do. As it turns out, everything I needed to know was there. I mean everything, from makeup to hiding my manly parts, which I won't go into details right now I promise.

So I was on a mission for the next few days. I acquired some makeup from the 99C store, went to a thrift shop to look for shoes and a dress, bought a wig and then started to play with the transformation. The eyebrows were the trickiest, but once I figured it out, Woman started to come a live.

It was a very interesting experience. I was able to appreciate why this sort of thing is an art form and why the guys who do it are real artists and sometimes geniuses.

So I went down my check list, (makeup?! - check!) I wasn't an ugly woman. I actually looked like a decent looking drag queen. Then I put on the dress ... (dress?! - check!), a bit muscular, but can be fixed. Then I put on the high heels ... (legs?! - check!) those high heels basically started walking by themselves. All those years of professional dancing came in handy.

picture on the left by Miguel Torres
Even though I am not a big guy per say, you'll be surprise how many muscles show up when you're wearing a dress. I looked pretty buffed to be wearing a revealing gown, so I decided I had to get a scarf and lose some weight.

In the pictures on the left, you can see what I looked like before and after joining the show. I lost ten pounds to fit in that dress. I was 170lbs before joining the cast and I am 159lbs currently.



I guess I'm looking forward to the gluttony and decadence of the holidays, and also getting back to the gym and working out like a "man". I'll still miss Niki terribly though. Like I said before, I have fallen in love with her. WOMAN has been quite the dame.

Only two shows left (this Friday and Saturday) Dec 16 and 17.
Remember to use the discount code (205) to get $5 off each ticket.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

WOMAN ... HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU (two more weekends- four more shows)

When I read the posting for the role of WOMAN on actors-access, I felt something actors rarely feel in this mechanical, endless process of submitting ourselves for parts. I felt true excitement. Like that special thing we all human beings feel when we know we've just encounter an opportunity to something wonderful, beyond ordinary perhaps, and we're going to give our all in order to attain it. So, you put all fears aside and do everything in your power with all your heart and soul to give it your best shot. Alas in the end, you've arrived. You've attained that thing you really wanted. You feel a great sense of accomplishment and the satisfaction of knowing that one thing was meant to be yours all along.

In an actor's case, in regards to your craft, it means wanting that role you must play because you feel you were born to play it, or wanting it because it is a blessed opportunity to push yourself to places you never have before. WOMAN has been that role for me, not necessarily because I felt I was born to play it but because, beyond the challenge of the physical transformation, there was a raw, gripping, human journey that I had to explore in order to serve this exceptional character. Playing her has been a tremendous enriching experience. I have fallen in love with her broken heart and her despair and all the reasons behind it, her sense of humor and the kindness masked behind her cynicism. WOMAN ... I feel so blessed you came to my life.

Here is a little tease from BRIDGE...




Only four shows left (Fridays and Saturdays) until Dec 17.
Remember to use the discount code (205) to get $5 off each ticket.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

BRIDGE - second week well under way

So we began our second week of BRIDGE, a play by Willard Manus, directed by Kelly Galindo, where I play a desperate transvestite living with AIDS, who is unable to overcome the pain of having being abandoned by her lover.

The play has been getting very encouraging reviews not only from our audiences, but also from the critics. The LA Times says "All the actors, under the guidance of director Kelly Galindo, deliver performances that are unquestioningly heartfelt. "

Donald Roman Lopez & Leslie A. Jones / photo by René Veilleux

One of the great things about acting besides being able to move your audience, especially in theater, is to be able to communicate and connect with the people your sharing the stage with in order to bring some true to what is happening in the present moment on that stage, and this has undoubtedly been the entire cast main goal from day one under Ms. Galindo's direction.

Although I am part of the main cast of Bridge, I have had the opportunity to perform with the understudy cast as well, which performs on Thursday nights. This experience alone has been a tremendous treat. Both casts are equally strong. Performing with Leslie A. Jones one night and with William Stanford Davis the next has definitely kept me on my toes, or better yet, on my high heels. Both actors are very different in their approach and their delivery, but they are both equally connected to the material.

I feel very lucky to be sharing the stage with these extraordinary actors. The weekend of Thanksgiving I will be performing with Mr. Jones, who is truly a generous, caring, and a fantastic partner to have on stage. After that, I will be performing only Fridays and Saturdays until Dec 17 with Mr. Davis, a powerful veteran actor who has a great understanding of the moment by moment experience on stage. I feel so much excitement by just thinking about the remaining performances. If you've seen me with one, you might want to come back and see me with the other. I promise you won't be disappointed. Their two different performances are not to be missed.

Dates remaining that I will be performing:

Nov 18 - Dec 17, Fridays and Saturdays ONLY at 8 pm

Remember to use the discount code (205) to get $5 off each ticket.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Ah, and if you haven't become a friend on facebook, I invite you to visit my page Donald Roman Lopez . Till next time ...

Donald Roman Lopez in BRIDGE, an original play opening at The Complex

Welcome everyone to my new blog. I don't intend to bore anyone with useless info. I promise.

As I already explained to all my facebook friends this is an attempt to begin doing some shameless self promotion that goes with the territory of being in the entertainment industry. In today's digital world, we are expected to promote and brand ourselves in order to survive and have a presence on the web.

That being said, let's get on with it:

This coming Friday Nov 11, I will be opening in the original play BRIDGE by Willard Manus at The Complex in The Ruby Theater.

In “Bridge,” an aging saxophonist finds what he believes will be a solitary spot to practice his music in the middle of the night---on a bridge. He finds himself confronted by three disparate individuals at different times who also seek the solitude of the bridge with a common purpose---the intent to jump off. There’s a substance-abusing woman harboring a terrible secret, a Japanese tsunami survivor stricken with survivor guilt, and a transvestite living with AIDS, who’s been abandoned by his lover.


Obviously I won't be playing the woman dealing with addiction or the Japanese tsunami survivor. So yes, I will be playing a crossdresser and she is larger than life, and she has been quite the journey to get her to exist. I have grown fond of her, not only because of her powerful heartbreaking story but also because she is one smart-ass lady. She has been a big challenge, but a lot of fun as well. I would say just a tad different from the dirty mechanic I had to play in The Putt Putt Syndrome.

I will explain in a future blog about the interesting process that was researching and learning a few tricks of the trade in order to make the transformation into "WOMAN," her name on the play. I have given her a name of her own though, Niki. I'm thrilled to be bringing Niki to life and share her with the world.

The show has a free preview this Thursday November 10 and opens officially this Friday November 11, playing until December 18. I have a discount code for all my guests, (see attached flyer) you can get $5 off of the regular price.

Dates I will be performing:
Nov 10 - 13 Th, Fri, Sat at 8 pm, and Sun at 2 pm
Nov 17 - 19 Th, Fri, Sat at 8 pm
Nov 25 - Dec 17 Fridays and Saturdays ONLY at 8 pm

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Ah, and if you haven't become a friend on facebook, I invite you to visit my page Donald Roman Lopez to join the fun. Till next time ...