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Greg Jbara Pulls the Plug on Scoundrels Webcam on July 23

By: Feb. 14, 2006
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Gregory Jbara informs BROADWAYWORLD.COM that his "curiously popular" live dressing room cam, which has broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays for almost a year, will draw to a close at the end of July. The date coincides with the end of Jbara's run as Dirty Rotten Scoundrels own French police chief, "André Thibault". "I originally used the web-cam as a way to help babysit on two show days. It was set up via private password access and my wife would simply connect to me on the computer when our boys were missing Daddy. After a few weeks my sons lost interest in "internet Daddy", but I was hooked. So my web-master and I set up what is now this... sometimes zany, sometimes somber but always entertaining webcast that reveals everything that happens in my dressing room from half hour at the matinee straight thru to changing into the balcony scene bathrobe at the end of the evening show.

The entire cast typically pays at least one visit on camera during the course of the day. Sometimes I do a 'roving cam' showing more of the crew's backstage antics and once I even aired images secretly taken onstage using my TREO. To add variety there are "theme" webcasts, I do text "shout-outs" to viewers who e-mail during the webcast and even take image requests. It's not streaming video... the wireless router at the Imperial is so overtaxed with all the stage hands accessing sports stats that the best I can do is send a medium res color image every sixty seconds. Which gives me plenty of time to change costumes or whatever I need to do in privacy. There have been a few close calls, but the software allows me to override, within seconds, any images that may accidentally upload to the site.

The viewer-ship is mind-blowing. There are a couple live chat boards including one at BWW.com for those wishing to commune with other voyeurs, but there are hundreds of "secret" viewers tuning in from all over the world! (Our server allows my web-master to track the city and country of our viewer-ship). On any given night at the stage door there will be a handful of people who admit to being cam watchers. Some of them whisper it in my ear while I'm signing autographs as if shamefully admitting something naughty... it cracks me up!"

WHAT'S NEXT FOR JBARA?

"I have had the best time being back on Broadway with DRS... have missed this city so much. While being here in NY I got to work on the Oliver Stone film, "World Trade Center", the Jennifer Westfeldt starer "Ira and Abby" and voice a guest role on Disney's animated children's series, "Higglytown Heroes".

But, it's time to head back to Los Angeles. There is a family wedding mid August in San Diego and we're going to drive cross country. There's a lot of work to do on our house in LA and it's time to focus on getting Jason Connor's play, There is Someone Living in The House That Jack Built produced as a feature film. I originally had the privilege of playing the title role when the play was first staged in Daniel Henning and Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company Young Playwright's Festival in 2003. I believe it will translate well to the screen and be a gift to revisit the material as actor and producer."

You can peek in on Greg's Dressing Room Cam Wednesday's and Saturday's and view the archived webcast images by visiting www.GregoryJbara.com.










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