If you’re unfamiliar with the internet sit-com “BREAK A LEG” then you are WAY out of touch. I’ve been watching this show since it’s began. It’s one of the unique times that you can start watching a show in new media when it just starts because you have the ability to openly communicate with alot of the people who are making the show. I did this and have talked to the shows creators and stars on several occasions. I’ve gotten shooting advise from several of them as well. Always very approachable and always very friendly and helpful. 

Anyway, awhile back, as they were starting to get popular and gain sponsors/backers and trying to get into the public eye, they held a contest where you would vote and review them, then send in your name and they’d add you in their credits. I, of course, did this. I was the second or third person to do it, actually, I think. I’m sure that this, and because I talked to them, asked them for advice, encouraged them is why they had my name in their thank you video.

Awww yeeah, boyyyyy! I also got an ENTIRE VERSE devoted to me. And how I make Mint (a character in the show) so CRAZEHHHH, in the HAZEHHH, FO SHAZEHHH. You can watch it at 1:18 in the video below.

Well, I haven’t been able to update my blog in awhile. I’ve been so incredibly busy, it’s been ridiculous. So I’ll attempt to write a not as long update on everything that’s been going on. I have to save myself for this month because of the Post-Off, which I’ll get to in a little bit.

The main reason why I haven’t been able to post regular blog posts is because I’ve been doing back-to-back shows for…well, I don’t even know how many months now. It can really kill you doing shows back-to-back at a repretory theatre like Top Hat Theatre Club is. For example, my schedule for these past several months have been: rehearsals Monday-Thursday and then shows Friday-Sunday. Absolutely no break, although there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I should be able to get a break after we open “The Nerd” on Friday. Come see it by the way…it runs October 3 – November 16. 

Also, on September 29th, I scored an acting gig thanks to my good friend Brian Neufang from homelesscomic.com. Apparently in Japan, karaoke videos have videos playing behind them. So I scored $150 for only 6 hours of work (in actuality, I only spent 2 hours actually working). So that was actually pretty interesting. It was cool to see how different cultures film movies as well. Here’s a few pictures I took on my cell phone on the set:

They were shooting on Sony HDV for anyone that is interested. And that second picture is the camera mounted on the truck that I had to drive. Pretty crazy, but it was fun.

Now, the other reason that I’m starting to post more starting now is because it is a blog POST-OFF, yet again! Back in June, Jacob Karnas and friends had a blog post-off, and we are doing another one for the month of October. So far, the contestants include:

Myself
Jacob Karnas
Ryan McShowoff
Nikki Brzescinski
Kate Russell

And hopefully more to follow!

Anyway, that’s all for now. Next post will be about my new camera, etc.

I haven’t updated in awhile so I should probably do that.

I finally got the job at TSA. It took 7 months to finally get the job. It’ll be worth it though. I’ll be getting paid $13.25/hour for 20 hours a week. I’ll be making more money working there part-time than working full-time at Best Buy. So, I’m pretty glad about that. I get sworn in on February 4th and then I have to go through orientation. I’m pretty excited about that, hopefully I won’t hate doing it.

I’m also moving forward with several different shows. I’m going to be in “Fifth Planet” downtown at the Beowulf Theatre Alley in the beginning of Feb. and I’m also going to be Assistant Directing the Jonathan Larson musical “tick, tick…BOOM!” at Studio Connections starting January 29. The show itself will be in March.

Not to mention several different projects that my brother and I are going to be starting in the near future. Which reminds me…I should probably get in contact with him. We haven’t touched base in awhile.

That’s all for now. And remember not to stop, this here’s bat country.

I have been abusing my blog and not adding changes in my life like I’ve wanted to, so I decided to go ahead and write another entry.

I’m half way through my performances of “Mister Roberts” and they are doing pretty good. Semi-decent houses, but I wasn’t expecting it to be a hit. It’s kind of nice to do a serious part, but it’s definately a challenge when almost all of my other parts have been comedic. All in all, it’s kind of nice to do a 6-week run. It helps me tune and understand my craft as an actor.

I’ve also finally found a place of employment. Best Buy. Not exactly my first choice and it’s not the most satisfying or fun job, but it’s better than not getting any money at all. I need to save alot before next summer when I move. Every time I start a job, I just think about a conversation I had with my brother about just dropping everything in life and drive around the country without any reservation. Jobs just always make me think about how much of your life you waste doing relatively meaningless work in the scope of things.

Jesus…soon I’ll start quote Emerson…enough of this.

Anyway, there’s my update.

James Gooden, the owner of Top Hat (where I’m performing Mister Roberts), handed out a paper to everyone in the cast before our opening. It’s a quote by Moss Hart and I find it very inspiring. If you’re an actor, have a read:

“Is success in any other profession as dazzling, as deeply satisfying, as it is in the theatre? I cannot pretend to know, but I doubt it. There are other professions where the rewards are as great or greater than those the theatre offers, there are professions where the fruits of success are as immediate, and still others where the pursuit of a more admirable goal undoubtedly brings a nobler sense of fulfillment. But I wonder if success in any of them tastes as sweet. Again, I am inclined to doubt it. There is an intensity, an extravagance, an abundant and unequivocal gratification to the vanity and the ego that can be satisfied more richly and mroe fully by success in the theatre than in any other calling. Like everything else about the theatre, its success is emphatic and immoderate. Perhaps what makes it so marvelously satisfying is that it is a success that is anything but lonely–everyone seems to share in it, friends and strangers alike–and a first success in the theatre is the most intoxicating and beguiling time imaginable.”
-Moss Hart

The opening weekend of Mister Roberts went very well. One weekend down. If you’re in the Southern AZ area, please come see it. Details are in the previous post.

Left to right: James Wilson, Alex Greengaard, Jacob Brown, and myself

Well, here I am at the eve of my 18 show run of Mister Roberts. We open tomorrow (technically, today) and this entire rehearsal process has been wonderful. The cast is incredible and very fun to work with. I just know that the run is going to be great. The play is really good as well; there are alot of funny parts but there are also alot of touching and dramatic scenes. I kind of like that I’m playing a more straight role instead of just the “ha-ha funny guy”.

Here’s the information for the show if you’re in the Southern-Arizona area.

Performance Schedule:

Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 3:00

Preview Performance:

Friday, Nov 2

Opening night: Saturday, Nov 3

Closing: Sunday, December 9

Plot:

Mister Roberts is a comedy about a cargo ship in the Pacific fleet during the Second World War, “a time in the world when courage counted the most,” and the men that inhabit her. Present aboard are the tyrannical Captain, the ne’er-do-well Ensign Pulver, the sage ship’s doctor, the crew, and of course the idealistic Mister Roberts. The Captain denies the crew shore-leave for months at a time, so they devise comical ways to take revenge on him while Mister Roberts tries to keep them in line. What happens when Pulver makes contact with a real, live woman? Will Mister Roberts ever get his longed-for transfer to combat duty? And what about that palm tree?

Cast:

Mister Roberts: Taylor Genovese

Ensign Pulver: Jacob Brown

Doc: James Gooden

The Captain: Bruce Bieszki

Lt. Gerard: Jennifer Sylvester

Chief: John McRostie

Seamen: Josh Galyen, Alex Greengaard, Matt Lipinski, Mike Saxon, Martin Serrano, James Wilson

Production Staff:

Director: Nell Summers

Set Design: James Gooden

Sound Design: Alex Greengaard

Light Design: James Wilson

Costume Design: Elizabeth Gooden

Reservations:
Contact: Elizabeth Gooden 520-326-6800
E-mail: elizabethgooden@cox.net

Location:

Top Hat’s intimate performance space is located at the South East corner of Fort Lowell and Country Club and is dedicated to presenting fun and entertaining theatre.

Admission:

Regular tickets: 17.00

Students, seniors and military: 15.00

Preview performance: 12.00

Groups of 10 or more: 12.00 per person, 11.00 previews

More information can be found at:
tophattheatreclub.com

Well, I saw “Avenue Q” tonight for the third time, and it never gets old! The first couple times were on Broadway, but I’ve got to say that the touring company is just as good! I really enjoyed it and Jacob and I might try and go see it again before it leaves town on Sunday.

Seeing these professional shows always creatively rejuvenates me. It makes me want to move to New York sooner, and it gets me excited about performing. Anyway, I just wanted to make a post about how great this show was.

If you’re in Tucson, make sure to see it before it leaves on the 21st. If you’re in New York, go and see it tomorrow.

Well, last night was the performance of Oscar & Felix way the fuck up in Saddlebrook. Took about an hour and a half to get there, plus I had to help James load up the set.

Anyway, the show went alright. I don’t like it as much as The Odd Couple…something lacks in the writing and it’s not as funny in my opinion. Performing in that space, however, was really fun. The theatre is about 450 seats, which is pretty big in this town. We got an audience of around 300, so it wasn’t a bad house. People seemed to enjoy it. Here are several pictures I took afterwards to give you an idea about how nice the space was.

It’ll be fun to perform there for Mister Roberts. Speaking of Mister Roberts, I should start memorizing my goddamn lines.

Well, The Odd Couple just closed on Sunday and we closed strong. We had one of our best audiences there and it was a great show. All-in-all, the run was very good. It ran for four weeks and it was my toughest role that I’ve done so far, and I’m pretty proud of myself. I think the entire cast was the best that I’ve ever worked with and it was alot of fun.

However, the day after the show closed, I had a read-through for Mister Roberts. It seems like I just can’t get a break! That’s a very good thing though, and it feels good to know that other directors and producers want me as the leads in their shows because of work that they’ve seen me do previously.

The read-through for Mister Roberts and the rehearsal after it went really well. I think I’m going to like this show alot. I play more of a straight-man within the comedy and it’s a good break from playing Oscar.

Anyway, that’s all I got. Busy, busy with theatre work. I just hope that when I get a job, it won’t interfere too much. I go in for my TSA interview tomorrow morning.

Well, I’ve just wrapped up the third of the four weekends of “The Odd Couple” today. It was pretty hectic today, though. We had a decent crowd for a Sunday. After the show today, I then had to go to rehearsal for Top Hat Theatre Club’s production of “Oscar and Felix” which is an abridged version of “The Odd Couple”. I play the role of Speed in that show. It just seems that I am unable to escape this goddamn show. Neil Simon has a hold on me. Below is one of the cast pictures that we took for “The Odd Couple”.

[Top row, left to right: Jacob Brown (Felix Ungar), Clinton Ogilvie (Murray), Myself (Oscar Madison), Mike Saxon (Roy), Evan Engel (Speed) Bottom Row, left to right: Tara Werner (Gwendolyn Pigeon), Tara Schafer (Cecily Pigeon), Josh Parra (Vinnie)]

The cool thing about the “Oscar and Felix” gig is that I’ll be performing in a big 480 seat theatre that, according to their past shows, seat pretty close to 400-450 per night. This means that I’ll be playing for a big crowd, which is always nice. Anyway, I think that’s pretty much it to report about acting.