Auld Lang Syne

Forgive my neglect.
Happy New Year!

2014 is already feeling pretty good.

At the risk of jinxing anything, I'll resist going into detail on my major development; more will be announced when things become more official.

Other than that - I've been based out of PA since I returned from Florida.
Doing the "dutiful son" thing that I do.
Being such a brutal winter, I am grateful to be around for my parents (i.e. shoveling snow, stacking wood, general winter maintenance, etc) however, I am going a bit stir crazy...feeling a bit out of touch with the business.
Yes, I've had some auditions during this typically slow period, but I need to get working again.
Kinda going nuts here.
I see friends/colleagues doing stuff, getting work, moving forward. While I am so happy for them, and proud; it's hard not to be a little jealous.

Jealousy - a natural human reaction. I have come to terms that it happens without my effort. I acknowledge it when it surfaces, focus on the happiness I have for those working, and move on.

But all this shall pass - if all goes as it should, I should be living in the NYC area in the next few weeks.
Then - back to classes, and auditions, and Manhattan!!

The spring semester begins in a few weeks.
2 classes at Rider University (including a new class!), 1 at Rutgers.
The first few weeks will consist of a bitch of commute (from PA)!

Again, I'm looking for normalcy by the 3rd week of February.

Will keep you posted.

May the best of 2013 be the worst of 2014!

All good things must come to an end...

Well, I can't believe that my time here at Palm Beach Dramaworks is almost done.
We are in our final week of Of Mice and Men. We extended due to how well this show was received. I am proud to have been a part of it, proud to have been invited to work here.
This particular company has been working hard to grow into something quite special. After a significant renovation, the facilities are beautiful (a converted movie house that once housed Burt Reynold's theater a while back).
I feel like my work has been well-received here. I'd like to think they'd ask me back if there was a role appropriate for me. This is a great place to work and I would not hesitate to work with them again.

That said, this was a tougher project than I anticipated:
Curley is very unlikable. I don't like to say that about any character I play as I feel it is very important for an actor to empathize and identify with the character in which he is to portray. However, facts are facts and Steinbeck doesn't give a great deal of opportunity for anyone playing this part to expand on what is written. In other words, he comes in and out in a flash, instigates and incites altercations, and then darts back out.
Whenever I work on a role, yes - I have to acknowledge the characters role in the play (how does my character fit in this world? what purpose does my character serve in the story? etc.), but I never judge him. I always work to pin the lens of perspective to justify my character's actions (which are tied to his wants and needs). While I know I did that with Curley, I must acknowledge that it was/is a near impossible get to receive much empathy from audiences for reasons I just explained.
Bottom line - it wears on a person (it wears on me) to play such a damaged character and receive very little back. There's no real pay-off with him. He just is...
He is amongst the saddest of characters in this play, I believe.

Anyway...Florida...hmm...a mixed bag.
To be blunt - it's weird down here.

Stand your ground laws
People high on bath-salts eating each other's faces off
Bullying in the NFL (what?? really???)
sinkholes

Enough of that - high notes?

MoonFest - a fun outdoor Halloween party up and down Clematis Street
(lots of scantily clad hotties walking around - never a complaint from me on that one)

The weather is ridiculously beautiful, constantly.

I met and worked with some wonderfully talented people.

I couldn't not go to the Florida Keys while here...and I have to admit...I get it.
I get why people go and don't come back.

Sunset at the Sunset Pier
(you bet your ass there was a cocktail in my hand!)

Tourist-y?

Hell yea!

But fortunately there is enough around the tourist stuff that still makes it all wonderful.
FUN FACT - The Keys are, in fact, a network of fossilized coral reefs; about 800-1700 separate islands (the higher number includes those islands that are only a network of salt-water dwelling trees), no dirt on any of them.
In addition, some of the tourist-y stuff is actually interesting:
                    
                

                           Ernest Hemingway's Studio

The Hemingway House was pretty cool; cats all over (Around 45 in total, all polydactyl cats [6-7 paws] - all descendants of "Snowball," one of his son's pets).

Beautiful house, utopian property; easy to see how one could do such work in such a setting.

What a character he was. I will read more of his stuff immediately. 

1st on my list,  To Have and Have Not (directly inspired from his time in the Keys).

The whole place reminding me of a mix between Venice, CA and New Hope, PA

Easy Living.

The drive to and from was an experience in it of itself.

The oft single-lane route 1 was awesome: windows and sun roof open, blaring tropical music...magical.

The water is a crystalline blue (sometimes aqua) that I had never seen...sometimes lapping right up to Route 1, bridges allowing one to hop from key to key, ending in Key West.

I didn't spend enough time there. 

I will come back to snorkel and enjoy the waters.

Till then...back to life, back to reality...

 What's next?

Spring semester: 2-3 courses
More acting?  Yes, please!

although, now that I think of it...

...they may be salamanders.

Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward. -Victor Kiam

I've been here in West Palm Beach for two weeks now, we've been "on our feet" with the show for 7 days and we just did a run-through.
Pretty impressive...what's more...it went fairly ok.
A few hiccups here and there, we got through it.
We open in 2 weeks and to have a run-though under our belt already is quite an achievement; this all feels attainable; thank you to our director, J. Barry Lewis.
The set is almost done...can't wait to get on it.

It's going to be a successful production, I believe.
A solid cast, with the likes of Frank Converse, Dennis Creaghan, and John Leonard Thompson.

The area is interesting, West Palm Beach, Fl.

While I've lived near the ocean for quite a while in LA, Florida is very different (duh). Atlantic Ocean has a different vibe than does the Pacific. Maybe it's psychological....it feels different.

I see geckos running around all over the place (scurrying like cockroaches but not nearly as offensive), exotic birds that look like something out of the opening credits from Miami Vice just outside my window, humid as hell, yet the heat somehow isn't as oppressive as it can get in NY.

It rains different here, too. Very spotty; a torrential downpour in an instant while 20 yards away it's dry as a bone. Thick rain.

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. - Mark Twain

I feel so lucky to have been invited to work on an interesting project in Brooklyn this weekend.
It's a couple of audio plays that is to accompany a pop-up art installation near the Brooklyn Bridge.

It goes up next month.
We rehearsed today, record tomorrow.

The producers are:

I do wish I could be around to see/experience it.

It's been nice to have a creative outlet to distract me from my move (almost done!).
When we finished rehearsal, I decided to walk back (yes, from Brooklyn!)...it was such a beautiful day!
How could you blame me?
Look!

I do love it here!

“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I am almost out of my apartment.
Everything I own has either been given away, thrown out, or in storage.

Despite the ever-present fear of uncertainty, this feels like the right thing to do.
A cleansing.
Purging.
Liberation.

I do encounter small bouts of panic from time to time, then it passes.
Sometimes I feel I'm too old to do something like this...that's another reason why it feels good.
Risk big, win big...right?

And hey! I am heading out of town to work after all! Let's not forget that!

On another note - I went to a reunion last week.

Before I left for Los Angeles, I lived and worked in Washington, DC. While there, I worked at a restaurant/bar called, Clyde's.

I was hired there as a busboy while I was still an undergrad at GWU. When I left, I was running the bar. Needless to say, some of my best times were there. Great friends were there, amazing memories.

A lifetime ago. How much has happened since then...

Last monday was their 50 year anniversary.

I was asked back to guest-bartend; I gladly accepted.

Was fun to be back...kinda like I never left.

Reunions bring reflection; for me, at least. 

Puts much into perspective. 

Provides a forced, honest look at my time since then. I acknowledge that I am hard on myself; I never am fully satisfied with where I am. Always wanting more. Comparing my progress to others' (for better or worse).

Is that a good thing?

Free Fall...

After much internal debate, I'm doing something drastic (for me).

I gave up my apartment.
Removing the net.
No harness.
Free fall.

I strongly considered subletting my place however, I would have taken a substantial financial loss, while working in Florida. I couldn't justify it.

The apartment had a great number of conveniences, it was set up well.
It was easy for me to "just hang out at home," to settle.
However, I fear it all was causing me to become complacent.

Time to move on...

What next?
Who knows.

I am currently moving my stuff into storage and will figure something out upon my return from Florida.
When I do...is it New Jersey? New York?
If so, Manhattan? Brooklyn?

We'll see....