The 70

One of the goals which I set for myself was to do a show in D.C. I have now accomplished it - or am on the road to doing so. I have been cast in a new play entitled The 70, which is based around a notorious bus route here in Washington. It's being produced by Dream City Theatre Group, a group of upper class college students mainly from George Washington University who have formed a theatre company. I'll be playing an overly anxious mormon, who's name escapes me at the moment. The piece will be performed at a few venues throughout the area including the Atlas Performing Arts Center and The Lincoln Theatre. It's also part of the Hip Hop Theatre Festival which will happen in Juneish. And better yet: this role PAYS! My first paying gig in D.C. I love it. It's nice to be branching out and anticipate working on this piece.

It's becoming spring outside! The sidewalks that cover this campus look like rivers as the melting snow water finds its way to the drains. Spring Break is quickly approaching. I'm trying to organize a trip to Orlando to use my entrance passes. I hope it all works out. I long to be back at Disney way too often. Perhaps that's where I will work professionally, I am most happy there it seems. We'll see though.

Being An Actor

That's the title of Simon Callow's book: Being An Actor. It was reccomended by an instructor for my Theatre Capstone class, so I bought it and began reading it while I was running the light board for The Distance from Here tonight. It's an interesting book in which Mr. Callow shares his comments on the world of theatre through his own journey. He holds nothing back and is completely honest - even with the most intimate details. This book is very provacative but yet completely agreeable. I - as well as any performer - can connect with this book: the akward situations between director and actor, the great joys and triumphs through job offers, etc. I'm only partially in and am very much enjoying it. I love getting the back story on British and Irish theatre in the 80's as well. It's very interesting to read about the deplorable state of Belfast when Simon Callow toured through there. It's very comforting, in a way, to know that people need theatre - that they will cling to it and feed from it even in times of great pain and suffering. So to anyone that reads this blog - actors and non-actors alike: go and read this book!

So anyway, in my last post I said that I would remark on the run through of The Distance from Here the following day. Obviously that didn't happen. I have been so busy with everything the past few days that we're now two performances deep into the run. But I will comment now, none-the-less. It's a very well done show. I like the script, not because it's happy or feel-good, but because it's very deep. I learn something new about the characters every night upon seeing the show. The way lines are worded and the actions that they juxtapose. It all makes for a very deep script - like a Hemmingway novel: good writing is only like the tip of the iceberg. And that's definitley true for Neil LaBute's character's in Distance. The cast does a good job. There are three Equity cast members in this show as it's the production in conjunction with Wooly Mammoth Theatre for the year. They do a brilliant job. James Garder as Darrell does an excellent job bringing the gritty wit and narcissism of his character to the stage. I totally get wrapped up in his performance when I watch him. He's so intense in this role, so wildly thoughtful. I can almost see the thoughts racing through his head. I met Tim Getman, the man who plays Rich, the step-dad, tonight on the Metro after the show. He's a really nice guy, reminded me a lot of Mike Ostroski from Barter. It's such an extreme shift in character seeing him in real life. He does such a great preformance being the asshole husband that I almost felt guilty at how nice he was. So kudos to him. Kudos to the entire cast. They've all worked really hard and it shows through. I'm very privelleged to be working on this show.

The Bitter Cold

It is way too cold outside! It's not just that it is cold, but rather it is a biting cold when mixed with the treacherous winds that consume Washington, D.C. I'm glad that I do not live in Chicago and am very thankful that I don't have to be outside for very long periods of time. With that being said, I don't mind cold weather a whole lot. I would prefer a fall day though.

I was cast in The Lab: An Experiment in Grand Guignol. I will be playing the part of Mitchinn, Dr. Gorlitz's deformed and estranged assisstant. It should be loads of fun and I expect to grow very much as an actor. Lindsey Snyder and Kris Messer, who will be directing the project, will be appearing in it as well. It will be a great experience to work with such talented, intelligent actors on such a great performance genre. I look forward to sharing this process with you through my blog. So stay tuned!

We have picked the show for our Fundamentals Capstone Project: a one act called Can Can, written by Romulus Linney, Laura Linney's father. It should be a great project and I look forward to being assigned a role and getting to work on the piece. The play is very remeniscent of show's like The Baltimore Waltz and Our Town. Very expressionistic through its disconnect. I'm not sure which position I would like to be given, but I believe I would be most happy in either the directorial or actor role. In any case, I will still be very happy and enjoy the work I put into the piece with, hopefully, fruitful results. We're doing here at UMD through the Capstone what I was able to accomplish at Abingdon High School: a group of students coming together and producing a show completely free from any instructor's aid. We did, at AHS, have more freedom's because there are rule involved with the Capstone project. But the rules are more like challenges that will test our ideas and inspire further creative involvment to overcome them, because, as actors, we have an innate sense of rebellion against the mainstream. So I will definitely keep you posted on the progress of this project as well.

The puppetry studio with Blair Thomas is coming along as well. We've studied (over the last few classes) bunraku puppets, watched an amazing performance by Phillipe Gentry, and explored how motion can tell a story. We begin every class with yoga, which I am moreso beginning to appreciate, and the class takes off from there to an unspecified location. Not having a syllabus really makes for an interesting class, I have no idea what to expect upon walking through the door but anticipate finding out. Our main theme for the semester is to create some type of puppetry performance based on John Newton and his life transformation, however concrete or abstract we wish it to be. So we have read a series of correspondance by John Newton and have begun to explore the themes of them, what we're drawn to and what we find interesting about them. We are now beginning the dramaturgical aspect of bringing John Newton's world to life by researching various "things" from his time. I am to research houses. I will soon make a trip to the arts library to find some images that I can share and search for some books remarking on the living quarters of people from this time. How they lived, the structures which housed these amazing events, and how the structures influenced and remarked on their society. It will be an interesting time, none-the-less. I truly do enjoy this class. Blair Thomas is an extremely intelligent person and I admire his vast knowledge and honest love of puppetry. This studio is definitely opening my eyes to what this artform truly is and the infinite possibilities which lie within it. Getting past Avenue Q and Sesame Street to an artform of complete honesty and beauty. I am becoming more enamoured and respectful of it. And that is good.

I'm seeing a run-through of The Distance from Here tonight since I'm the light board operator (LBO) for it. Yay theatre practicums! I still need to finish my training for the board though... But tonight will be fun to see the show together. Before the public! It's the professional production for the semester, produced in league with the Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company and directed by Mitch Hebert. There are three or four professional actors in the cast, the other three are students. I like Neil LaBute's script for Distance, and look forward to seeing it staged. It's such an angry, raw play. A downer for sure, but enjoyable if done right. Hopefully it will be done right, they spend enough money on the shows here! If it isn't good, it's such a waste. I'll be sure to post on my thought's tomorrow evening. I feel like I've been so unproductive recently, or more like I've been getting behind on things while I submit myself to doing even more! It's crazy. I get up at seven a.m. and get home at eight p.m. or later and manage to accomplish nothing, or seemingly nothing, in the intermittent time! Maybe this feeling will subside eventually, I hope so. But I have to run and get ready for the Distance run through. Thought's tomorrow!

Off-Center Auditions

As usual, my life has been as busy as ever. It's honestly amazing how busy things get with the commencement of the semester. Classes, work, auditions and now the addition of a 479! I've sold my sould to the devil. Well, maybe not the devil, because this is my career and I willingly give my time to it for good reason. But it's sometimes quite tiring, even with the love and gratification that comes from it.

I've had two off-center auditions for this semester on Wednesday and Thursday, both of which I have successfully, and fortunately, recieved call backs for. On is for La Dispute, directed by Brad Wilkins, and the other is for The Lab: An Experiment in Grand Guignol, directed by Kris Messer and Lindsey Snyder. I really, really want a role in The Lab because I love Grand Guingol and would love the oppurtunity to work uner Lindsey and Kris. They're such amazing people and I feel that I could learn a lot from them. If not this project, I'd love to work on something with them. I had Play Analysis class with Kris last semester and Lindsey guest lectured in a couple of my classes as well as worked with Laren and I in Stonewater Rapture.

Well I have to run. 288