By Celyan Yeginsu
El Beit, the Williamsburg coffee shop, opens its doors at 7 a.m. But rush hour doesn’t begin until after 9.
Locals wandered in sluggishly after the holiday weekend. They woke gradually as they waited in line greeted by the energetic staff, the background boom of Van Morrison singing “Brown Eyed Girl,” and the pungent smell of freshly brewed coffee.
El Beit doubles as an office, which means there is workplace gossip and argument. Two musicians debated over whether to choose a Chinese or Arabic background beat to accompany the melody transcribed on the vast manuscripts that covered their table. A writer sitting with his editor squabbled over whether a scene in his piece was too similar to the musical “ Billy Elliot.”
Hidden in the corner under the guise of a man leisurely reading his book, theatre director Zachery Philips was on an undercover casting mission. “I’m not reading,” he said. “I’m looking for someone.”
Looking for whom?
“Ha, so I look like a creep do I?” he asked. “I’m looking for a character to cast in a play. Actors can be spotted more easily when they are out of the spotlight and in their natural environment.”
Philips carries his own mug and will sit in coffee shops for hours before scheduling a formal audition. “You never know where you’ll catch a twinkle in the eye but its not usually in an artificial audition environment. You’ve got to observe people when they don’t know your watching,” he said.
A morning delivery of supplies interrupted the work-flow in the coffee shop and distracted Philips who was ready to move, having not spotted the face he was looking for.
A customer waiting for a coffee attracted attention as he recounted the tale of a turbulent flying lesson that holiday weekend.
“Man I thought I was going to die,” he shouted over the din of Axl Rose singing “Sweet Child of Mine.”
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