The year is nearly past.

Tomorrow, I leave and end this chapter in my life, as well.

Funny how in this business life can line up like that.

It has been an incredibly tumultuous year - personally and professionally.

Personally, there have been hills and valleys like I have never before experienced, and though I know there are more to come as time marches on, I really would like to just stop for a bit. You go ahead, I'll catch up. I need a breather.

Professionally, I got the best notices, exposure, and did some of the best work I've ever done in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and "Titanic" this year. I also did "Christmas in the Country", so there you go. I spent a lot of time in the doldrums this year trying to carve a niche for myself in a place where I just don't think it's going to happen; that doesn't bother me too much - except that I don't enjoy being led on.

I can only hope for a 2004 half as good and not half as bad as 2003.

Return of the King was nothing short of a religious experience. That also is tinged with sadness, because unless they're just teasing and they've already filmed "The Hobbit" in some under the table manner with the other films, we may never see such a lovely film again.

Mimi passed this year, and with her the idea that one day we'd connect in a more concrete way. I love her and know how hard it is for my mom to be without her mom; that's why I can't wait to get home and have a late Christmas there.

I don't like to go into "personal life" too much here, it's sort of a "professional" thing, but ... it's New Year's Eve.

Have a safe and happy new year's eve and a wonderful new year all... write me!

Christmas is near, and since I likely won't post again before then...

Merry (whatever you celebrate)!!!

Tonight, tonight, Lord of the Rings tonight, tonight I'll see Return of the King.

I cannot help but think there are kids on farms who are being formed by the Lord of the Rings experience almost as much as the Star Wars experience did for my friends and I growing up. It's a touchstone in the life of nearly every contemporary I call "friend"... I honestly meant something growing up.

Now, I'm being a bad Star Wars fan here, but Lord of the Rings is different - in an entirely different league. These films, this one "big film" as it really is... this is absolutely some of the finest work ever done in the medium of film. Star Wars is a classic, true, and wonderful, and absolute dear and original and epic... and will always hold the closest dearest place in my heart... but, let's face it, Old Man Lucas has never been the greates writer of dialogue, or director of actors. Not at issue.

However, I don't think perhaps LOTR will be quite AS formative for children growing up now as Star Wars was for me, because LOTR hasn't taken as long to present itself. Star Wars took 1977-1983 to come to reality. One movie roughly every three years. LOTR was filmed all at once, and the first movie only came out in 2001. So, maybe there isn't as much time to affect as there was with the galaxy far, far, away.

I digress.

It warms my heart to think of kids growing up in small towns everywhere finding something to love in this. My friends, most of whom I cannot be with tonight, whom I've seen every other LOTR with, and I have found that in this.

Just a LITTLE excited here for midnight tonight.

And you think I sound excited? I'm calm compared to a few people here... wow...

Anyway, to absent friends, I wish I could be seeing this with you. This is an experience to share. This is... a moment.

Snowy! Icy! Treacherous! Beware!

Had a matinee cancelled today, which provided all of us with some much needed, morale-boosting playtime. We went out and a couple of us bought these digital cameras at Radio Shack entirely based on an ad we saw on TV. Then we went hunting for The Muppet Christmas Carol on DVD, which I've seen on shelves a hundred times, and it was sold out at all TEN PLACES we went.

Bah. Humbuzzle.

Working on booking my 2004 workload, so more info on that will be up here soon. I'm sorry the above marquee is SO out of date (I think - haven't looked in ages) but I'll correct it soon.

Everyone send the best of wishes and thoughts and feelings to my friend Adriana, her mother is dealing with intensive chemo and other treatments for cancer. They've travelled from Albuquerque to Omaha to fight this thing. www.adrianaroze.com

BABES IN TOYLAND - the kiddie show I'm doing on the side during the run of CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY here in Lancaster - opened last week.

If you were going to see either, see BABES.

IF you were going to see both, see... both.

For info, call the box office at (717) 898-1900, or go to www.dutchapple.com

More posting later. MUCH has been happening. Deluge of busy, but still enough time to enjoy "JEDI ACADEMY" on the xbox.

I haven't been posting much lately because I debate the wisdom of posting certain things, being that this website is primarily a professional resource for me.

"So why don't you update it more often, Don?"

Because we have dialup here at the cast house I'm in right now.

The Christmas revue which I am in right now is...

Less enjoyable than Christmas shows I've done before this.

Audiences seem to enjoy it, but I've said it before and I'll say it again... Audiences will like pretty much anything. If they come to it, there a 75% chance they're going to like it, or at least try to like it.

To be fair, it's fun. The cast is all, entirely and without fail, in the same boat in its feelings about the show but most of the cast (I'll say 75% again) is really talented and gives what they can to this concoction of Christmas hoo-hah.

So, reminder, I am NOT on the national tour of A CHRISTMAS CAROL this year - that was a decision I made in September. So, if you come see this show, let me know.

Here's a link to cast souvenirs for this Christmas show. Buy something!

Last Thursday morning I began compiling a videotape for my grandmother, who was ill. I left the last pieces of performance footage dubbing when I left for rehearsal so the tape would be done and ready to mail when I got home.

Between the time I left the house and got to rehearsal, I got a voicemail on my cell phone that Mimi (my grandmother) had taken a turn for the worse and didn't have much time.

By "Much Time" I thought they meant... shockingly, perhaps, a week...

Mimi was gone by noon.

I miss Mimi, and I can't home for the funeral tomorrow.

The Christmas show opens Thursday. It's not very good.

Doesn't offer a lot of solace or reason for missing such an important family event.

The point is, I loved Mimi, and I miss her. Very, very much.

Not a lot of time to post lately, and not much to say - starting rehearsal, waiting for word on recent auditions/callbacks, contemplating an upcoming holiday which I have no idea for a costume for...

COSTUME IDEAS! Leave comments about costume ideas, for me...

By the way, here's an interesting conversation I had yesterday.

Everyone is very concerned, around Christmas, Thanksgiving, Independence Day, Easter, even Valentine's Day about making sure to capture/to not forget the "true meaning" of these holidays.

Not to let them be too commercialized and to enjoy their spirit and their joy.

But Halloween? No, dress your daughter up as a princess and give her some candy, don't let her stay out past dark, and for God's sake don't tell her the true meaning of Hallowe'en.

I guess they think the other holidays are okay... celebrating Jesus' birth three calendar months from the actual anniversary of it's happening (thank you, calendar revisions of the 16th century) in order to conincide with a pre-existing Roman festival (Saturnalia).

Celebrating a Roman fertility festival as an entirely different holiday without even bothering to change the name (Easter)...

When I was a kid, Hallowe'en WAS after dark. People DID get scared.

I miss that.

Anyway, I thought that confab was interesting... Later...

Wow, no news for days. Nothing's really going on.

That's so untrue. The things that are going on I can't talk about yet, as not to jinx them or they're just not set enough to put it "print" yet.

There will be news shortly.

FYI - First change: I will NOT be doing the Christmas Carol tour. Unfortunately, I had conflicting work offered that took me through a longer and more lucrative contract period than the tour would offer. I'll... more later.

I know, I know, I know - I need to update the top scroll on the website.

There are significant changes to the rest of the year's schedule that I'll need to include, but I won't reveal those yet. Take THAT!

The bad thing about (knock on wood) continually working is that when you have a night off so do most other shows; thus you can't get to see much. Some B'way shows have Monday nights, but thus far I've encountered none I want to see.

I don't think I know the full list of those with Monday shows. Please, leave a comment and fill me in with any info about that...

I wish there was something to report...

shows, shows, shows.

...saw "Underworld", do NOT bother with it.

Easily the single worst vampire movie in the history of movies with vampires. Including "Blacula."

Nothing else to report. Buying "Fargo" and "The Tick" today. My life right now is shows, the gym, and watching movies.

Hey, that's not a complaint.

Ah. A day off. Nice free time.

Bought "Mighty Wind" and the new Eddie Izzard DVD today. Alone time.

Wisdom. Clarity. Foreknowledge. Compassion. Sound judgement.

If anyone out there has any one of these things and can spare some, send it my way.

Long week... and a half. Tech.

There's a formula somewhere for how theatre time is longer than real time. Meaning, any situation where you spend essentially 24 hours a day every day with other people for a long period of time must be translated into "real time" by figuring that normal people see each other what, say eight hours, ten hours a day max? Do the math, it's been a long week.

On our third day of tech today... fourth really.



Going to Philly for the weekend, doing the touristy thing. Theatre weekend, of course, meaning mon-tues. Have been nearby long enough that I no longer have any excuse.

Have been advised to avoid any part of town that is not the touristy part of town.

Our rehearsal schedule so far has been more than light - almost nonexistent. We'll be paying for that ease come tomorrow.

Yesterday we had the day off, and the theatre got any of us who wanted to go tickets to the PA Renaissance Festival. I went with a few people, and a guy in our group ran into a friend from college working there. The friend worked part time at the jousts, part time selling weapons at one of the many sword shops.

He went to talk to the guy who ran the shop - and suddenly they delcared a "special ten-minute pirate red light special" on all Lord of the Rings replica swords. For ten minutes, they sold these $200-300 weapons (Nasril, Strider's sword, Gimli's Axe, Sword of the Witchking, etc.) for $40 each. Needless to say, we got some. I now own a big ol' broadsword exactly like Aragorn's. My friend Thom here bought himself a copy of Nasril, and ... there you go.

Happy freaks. Back to work.

So, I get to rehearsal this morning, expecting to have very very little to do. See, I'm the Phantom "cover", which usually means you're given the smallest ensemble track possible to minimize adjustments should you have to go on in the role.

Instead, I get there and I've got a role, LeDoux, which isn't huge but enough that I was surprised. I wasn't contracted for it, but at least I won't be bored. AND I won't have to do a lot of obnoxious costume changes on an ensemble track. Still some.

This very morning, I drove away from the Poconos and into my two-day mini-vacation before my next job begins. I'm trying to reward myself for escaping with my sanity, but I could use some help. God, I'm shameless.

Thanks to everyone who enjoyed a performance of THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL and / or TITANIC at Bucks County Playhouse and / or Pocono Playhouse this season!

Thanks to Matt J., Jason B., and Louis P. for being downright inspiring to work with.

Ad astra per aspera.

Just a quick post to give some requested info. Finishing up TITANIC here in the Poconos.

Here's the rest of my schedule for the year. I'll clean this entry up later, but for those who wanted to know here you are!

September 18 - November 1
PHANTOM at the Prather's Dutch Apple in Lancaster, PA. (717) 898-1900
I'm not doing much in that, but I'm the Phantom cover - so there's a small chance you might catch me in the role.

November-December
A CHRISTMAS CAROL national tour with Big League Theatricals/Nebraska Theatre Caravan.
Note the dates near you, especially those of you in PA and VA!

The itinerary:
11/24/03 9:30am Peoria Civic Center
Peoria , IL
7:00pm Peoria Civic Center
Peoria , IL

11/25/03 9:30am Peoria Civic Center
Peoria , IL

11/26/03 8:00pm Smoot Theatre
Parkersburg , WV

11/28/03 7:00pm Shubert Theatre
New Haven , CT

11/29/03 2:00pm Shubert Theatre
New Haven , CT
7:00pm Shubert Theatre
New Haven , CT

11/30/03 2:00p.m. Shubert Theatre
New Haven , CT

12/1/03 10:00am Proctor's Theatre
Schenectady , NY
7:00pm Proctor's Theatre
Schenectady , NY

12/2/03 10:00am Proctor's Theatre
Schenectady , NY

12/3/03 3:30pm Dana Humanities Center-Koonz Theatre
Manchester , NH
7:30pm Dana Humanities Center-Koonz Theatre
Manchester , NH

12/4/03 7:30 pm Chubb Theatre at Capitol Center for the Arts
Concord , NH

12/6/03 2:00pm Edward Nash Theatre
Somerville , NJ
7:00pm Edward Nash Theatre
Somerville , NJ

12/7/03 3:00pm 1869 Bardavon Opera House
Poughkeepsie , NY

12/8/03 7:30pm Strand-Capitol PAC
York , PA

12/9/03 6:30pm Carpenter Center PAC
Richmond , VA

12/10/03 7:30pm George Washington Auditorium
Danville , VA
12/12/03 2:00pm Garde Arts Center
New London , CT

12/13/03 2:00pm Zeiterion Theatre
New Bedford , MA
7:00pm Zeiterion Theatre
New Bedford , MA

12/14/03 7:00pm Flynn Theatre
Burlington , VT

12/17/03 7:00pm Jesse Hall Auditorium
Columbia , MO

12/21/03 7:30pm Vilar Center
Avon , CO

Very, very funny. Kudos, Hulk.

http://www.incrediblehulk.blogspot.com

Go there.

There is nothing to do in the Poconos, especially once you've been here for over a week.

It's gotten to that time of the summer, ladies and gents, where everyone is sort of checking their watches and wondering when the bus out-o'-here comes.

Because there's nothing to do in the Poconos. The symptoms of overboredom are seen and felt by all of us. Don't get me wrong, it's really gorgeous up here, but the charm of that has worn a bit thin. It's like staying too long on vacation. We do, of course, have work to do, but other than that we can either eat, go to the Wal-Mart 20 miles or so away, or make another campfire.

The campfires and breakfast at The Bloomin' Onion (best breakfast EVER) at least make for pleasant repetition.

Went to Boston as a sort of spur-of-the-moment thing Sunday night after the matinee, accompanying a castmate on an audition he had set up there and to visit MattJones, whose name is now one word. I saw Boston for a couple of hours, and then came back yesterday... to the Poconos. Send help.

SCARLET PIMPERNEL reopens Wednesday, this time at the Pocono Playhouse in Mountainhome, PA.

Don't forget TITANIC has been pushed back a week in favor of extending PIMPERNEL through the 24th!

TITANIC returns on August 27th - 31st.

Okay then... I am reposting links to reviews for both SCARLET PIMPERNEL and TITANIC for several reasons.

If you've asked, here they are.

If you have seen PIMPERNEL and/or (less likely) TITANIC and are one of the very gracious people I understand are trekking up to the Poconos to see it again, you can give these links to people you know to encourage them to do the same.

I would highly encourage those of you seeing PIMPERNEL again to see it in the first week or the Pocono run, though I wouldn't DIScourage you from seeing it in the second week... see it in the first week if you can. And if you didn't catc TITANIC at Bucks, you know what you have to do.

Let me know you're coming if you haven't already!

Review links below (click on them to go to the full text of each review):

SCARLET PIMPERNEL:
"The exceptional performance... was delivered by a newcomer to the Playhouse: Donald Winsor, who played Chauvelin, the French villain. Winsor not only convinced that he was "the bad guy" with his excellent performance, but he was equally appreciated for the London stage-quality of his voice during his musical efforts."

"The cast makes this evening worthwhile. In particular, Donald Winsor, as the villain Chauvelin, stands out with his powerful baritone voice and command of the stage."

PIMPERNEL/TITANIC (a weird one):
" Baritone Donald Winsor as the wily Chauvelin recaps his excellent performance here, as in 'Titanic.' "

TITANIC... the only one I could find... there is another one out there, at least, but I don't have it... Just click here. I'm tired!

Well, today... now, my regular access to this lovely T1 line ends. The company now trades places with the company at the Pocono Playhouse, so we move up there and I'll no longer be near Phil's Internet cafe.

I'll still be able to blog up there but it won't be as much fun, and I won't be eating chicken cheesesteaks while I do it.

Sigh.

Someone excite me.

ADDED LATER...
Hey, Jeepers, over here! Check this s**t ou-how-how-hoot.

Favorite moment of Character Pants show Saturday, from Eva D., midway through the set.

"So, they're going to need a situation... a setting."

Silence.

"Anything."

Silence.

"A setting, a place... who here knows what a 'setting' is? Raise your hand."

Nothing.

"So, maybe we could give you examples of a setting and then you could tell us another one."

Yes, Character Pants' first foray into the improvisation performance world was marred by a few things...

First, The band we were billed with (whom we'd never met, and didn't really meet then...) was funnier than we were, at least to us, though they weren't intentionally doing comedy. They actually had laser gun sounds in their songs. The kind that go "Pew pew," not the... more manly(?) laser sound ..... Every song they played that wasn't a cover I decided was in the same family as "She Blinded Me With Science," and it helps you to understand why that was a one hit wonder. We sat in the back interjecting (quietly) our own spoken lines to make the songs more interesting. Yes, I should point out that some of these "SBMWS" style songs were INSTRUMENTALS. Yes, we shared the bill with a band that aspired to the musical heights reached by the original synth versions of the Legend of Zelda and Metroid themes... but without actually being kitschy enough to cover those themes. No, when they covered, they covered "Radiohead," and ... yeah.

Second, we had a nearly last-minute substitution of a new game that seemed to work out okay in our warm-up sessions but then tanked in front of the audience.

Then one bit we thought would be at least reliably funny ... once in front of the audience it became apparent that we hadn't thought it through or been prepared for a less-than-helpful audience... most of us had to sit back and watch as this one painful bit, which had lasted 2 kinda funny minutes in rehearsal, and was TWELVE AWFUL MINUTES in performance.

We were none of us brilliant.

It never mattered - the audience was almost entirely the band and friends of the band. The band was two guys and they each had one and a half friends.

Lessons learned? Nothing specific, but... we know. It's all for fun, so it really doesn't matter. It was fun, though, and God forgive us we may do it again. Why? Because it'll go better next time.

It'd have to.

Okay, now the new pictures are really there. Enjoy responsibly.

SITE UPDATED!

New photos on the photo page. Video stills, mostly.
Marquee now not four months out of date.
Resume now not six months out of date.

Monkeys on the... damn, no monkeys...

Anyway, will miracles never cease.

Ah, hiatus, for a break of a few weeks while Scarlet Pimpernel moves to a new theatre.

Hello X-Box, meet "Knights of the Old Republic."

My birthday is Friday. The 25th. I have no idea what I'm doing, it's going to be a weird one, being so far removed from anyone I've known longer than this gig.

I'm turning 29. That makes it, what, about 366 days to last day, 367 to carousel?

Review links:

Review one...

Review two...

Review three... okay, I can't find a link to review three. It's syndicated, by someone named Anita Donovan.

Reviews! Wow. All I can say is, wow.

I'll post links when I can find them. These are easily the best reviews of my life, and perhaps will remain so until... well, for the rest of it.

I'll post links ASAP.

I never really ... well, I try not to care about reviews, and certainly you can't take reviews to heart whether bad or good.... but... it's nice to get a pat on the back for all the sweat, sturm, und drang.

:)

Per request, copied from comments a few days back:

adriana @ 5:31PM | 2003-07-11| permalink

vocal tonic from the mouth of tori amos herself:

Half a teaspoon of slippery elm
One dessertspoon of honey
two teaspoons of lemon juice
Add just a drop of water
and cream this to a paste.
Then add
6 thin slices of root ginger (or more, to taste)
3-4 thin slices of lemon cut into halves or quarters
Add boiling water, stir, let it sit, and let it cool a bit before drinking.

Tired voices? Well, the voice kinda "went away" as of Friday night. Learned a lot about restraint and adaptation throughout the weekend.

Now, resting and hoping for the best for tomorrow. Send me your good will!

Had a very interesting weekend, in several ways - met some great new people, learned how to fake my way through a difficult performance vocally, then Monday spontaneously decided to daytrip to Atlantic City.

R & R. That's what's required. Also, a monkey.

Thanks for the voice tonic recipie, Adriana!

Press night last night, followed by debauchery.

The show went well, tired voices considered. Now, we await the reviews.

What a LONG week. Universally everyone has been less than satisfied with the rehearsal process for SCARLET PIMPERNEL, but thanks to a great cast and an overworked crew we are in good shape.

Deep cleansing breath...

The scoop is, if Luis (the Pimpernel), Amy (Marguerite), and I (Chauvelin) can keep our voices in shape for opening after all the running and lack of sleep, we'll have a great show. It looks great. Pay no attention to the promo photo on the website, the actual costumes are first-rate. Please send us all your good juju, we need it. Here's a theme for the comments : What tonics, cures and etcetera do you use for vocal health or rejuvenation?

It's been over a week since I last posted. Not much has happened, really, but SCARLET PIMPERNEL rehearsals are in full swing as well as a full performance week of TITANIC. Playing principal roles in both shows makes Don a tired boy.

I have no idea how much of anything I'm rehearsing is being retained, because the schedule is so quick it's hard to review.

Still, working hard is good.

Any news in the real world? The last movie I saw was THE HULK, and unlike many people, I enjoyed it.

Why?

A) I know the Hulk as a comic book character, pretty well, but I'm not a purist and the tweaking of the origin didn't bother me too much. I'm also not that huge a fan of the Hulk to begin with, and this made it new to me. I was afraid it'd just be an overblown action film with a guy who turns green when he's mad.

B) Ang Lee really got to the meat of what the character is all about.

C) The ending was classic and I think now that the exposition is out of the way the next film can be a truly great HULK film for purists and newbies alike.

I'm sure that someday in the future I'll have time to see another movie. Perhaps.

Went to Atlantic City for the weekend, and am poorer than I was when I left town.

However, it's mostly due to buying drinks and dinner and stuff like that, I was lucky enough not to lose tooo much on the gambling. Didn't have a lot of patience for it, was having too much fun just being there.

Great trip though.

I have learned an important lesson recently.

Never, ever, make any decisions about anything. Ever.

Apply as needed.

You know, being that just a couple of days ago I posted that I didn't have reliable internet access, I certainly have posted a lot.

I have two words to say, today.

Really one word and a vocalized sigh.

Aw, crap.

Forgot to mention - no consistent e-mail access here. Luckily, a friend of the theatre happens to own an internet cafe.

So if you don't get a quick reply, that is why.

TITANIC officially opens tomorrow night, but we had our first real audience today for a matinee. It's going exceptionally well. The cast has taken it all to the next level and beyond...

It's so refreshing to feel everyone supporting and caring for one another, the way things should be. I remembered that people used to do that in the theatre, but hadn't experienced it lately.

VERY happy here right now.

MAN OF LA MANCHA closes today, after a two-show day. Then it's off to the Titanic.

Yesterday I woke at 5 a.m. to commute up to the Poconos to do the first run-through of TITANIC. It went... well..? It's such a bear of a show. I remember when I second-acted it on Broadway and hated it. Knowing the show now, I know why I did.

A) The Broadway production wasn't particularly good.
B) Second-acting a show whose second act is primarily full of "evocative reprises" of single lines of songs from the first act doesn't do much for you.

Second-acting a show, for those of you unfamiliar with the practice, is what you do when you're bored in NYC and want to see theatre. You wait until the show lets out for intermission and intermingle with the crowd outside. It helps if you can find a discarded playbill. Then, when the mob returns inside, you let yourself be shuffled in with them.

You know, I think eventually I will have to learn to trust myself and my abilities as a professional actor.

By that I mean I was very concerned I would struggle vainly to grasp what I had to do in TITANIC in the short, short time I had to learn it. Instead, the preparation I did (without a script or score) really paid off. However, had I not been so concerned with making sure I was prepared to hit the ground running I might not be feeling the relief I am feeling now. So the stressing, in my mind, served a valuable end. Being that a (poorly) trained chimp could do what I'm doing in this MAN OF LA MANCHA (let's just be honest), it's nice to actually do something again.

I had several hours of relatively low-key rehearsals on Monday during which I was blocked through the entire show, then some music on Tuesday before driving the just >3 hours back to Lancaster for the performance last night. I return only for the run-through on Friday morning, then leave again and don't come back to stay until tech rehearsal Monday. We open with a matinee Wednesday.

Now to trudge through seven more performances or a greatly deteriorated from what it once was, but still passable, production of Man of La Mancha.

This is going to be a very, very long week.

I leave after the matinee tomorrow for the 2 or 3 hours drive to Bucks County for TITANIC rehearsals Monday. Then, at 2pm Tuesday, I'll start back here for the show Tuesday night. Two shows Wednesday, two shows Thursday, then driving late at night for a rehearsal on Friday until 2pm, at which point I'll head back here for Friday's show. Then we close here with two more LA MANCHAs Saturday, after which I think I'll let myself sleep here before returning to Bucks County to go into tech for TITANIC.

And I haven't gotten my score for TITANIC, so I'm at best "familiar" with it.

Also, I'm in the process of having to make decisions about my fall - winter bookings this week.

So, wish me luck. What'd I get myself into?

Extra-spicy good news comes down the pike today. Turns out one of my favorite fellow geek-out buddies is going to be doing the next gig with me. Color me "Psyched"; if you bought the cheap crayons and couldn't spring for the big box with "Psyched" substitute "Burnt Umber."

Woo hoo, Matt-tastic!

The video camera rules. If I ever get my Firewire port PC card to upload video, currently reordered for a third time from Amazon.com, I'm going to post some video on the site - always my intention, but might take a while to come to fruition.

Working on some stuff right now to line up some future gigs - wish me luck / send good thoughts / say a prayer / do whatever it is you do for me this week.

Start commuting for TITANIC rehearsals a week from today.

Hey - anyone who reads this I have either not heard from in a long while (or heard from and lazily not responded to)... drop me a line.

Remember when I wrote, several entires back, that I was excited because I had begun to write something I was making real progress with?

Well, guess what happened.

Everything is working again. Sitting here anticipating my very early, very nifty birthday gift of a digital video camera. It probably won't arrive for days, but I find myself laughing with fiendish glee in anticipation of the receipt of this long-awaited tool of my evil plans for world domination.

My birthday isn't for nearly two months, but this present was given early due to my recent spate of less-than-happiness. I mean, it's not as though there's anything I really want, even.

Even though "Bah" has been and probably always will be my favorite word, I'm generally a happy guy.

Learning "Titanic" now. Great show, great music. Used to hate it - didn't know enough about it. I have some great music and a great death. I'll be very interested to find out how they're going to stage the death. Actors love stage deaths. If you're an actor and you don't enjoy a good death, then you obviously haven't seen "The Impostors"... Actually, you aren't really an actor and you're likely some kind of spy or mole or rogue part of the Matrix trying to destroy our simple way of life. Be gone!

In case you haven't noticed, there are apparently major problems with the blog host. If you see the comments links and more than this and/or the previous post, it's fixed. Thanks for letting me know about the problem, and anyone else who notices anything else screwy -i.e. the marquee not showing up - let me know. You'll get a no-prize.

Wil Wheaton is a damned cool guy, in case you don't already know that. Read his site, and I highly recommend his book, available from links on his site. His blog post today was especially smile-inducing.

So the troubles referred to in earlier posts are touch-and-go, but hope is a hard bitch to kill and though assassination attempts have been made she remains ever vigilant.

Tonight I went out with some people in the cast and a friend who's in town with his show for the weekend, and I lasted all of five minutes. I might be getting old, but really loud, crowded yuppie bars are not my scene. To each their own.

Lately, my own thoughts are loud enough inside my head - crowds and shouting don't really help.

So much goes so well, so the great cosmic scorekeepers who watch over us reach out to try to put things in balance.

Damned cosmic scoprekeepers. I'd like to kick them in their cosmic asses.

Current Donmood: Extra unhappy with a side of bah.

On the plus side, we've been getting reviews which almost universally agree we're superior to the current b'way revival. That's not really saying much though.

Also, one review described what I do in the show with what is now my favorite word used in one of my reviews ever:

Malevolent.

Major unhappy upheaval in Don's world. No film at 11, the station has been overrun.

Opening weekend: Done. First day off: Almost entirely behind me.

Going into a long week of performances and promo stuff. Bah.

Went outlet shopping, bought too much stuff, am now pretty well broke.

My back is touch and go, right now it's okay.

Saw "A Mighty Wind", must see it again soon. I liked Best In Show, though only about 70% as much as I loved Waiting For Guffman - but A Mighty Wind is right up there.

Of course, This Is Spinal Tap is the gold standard.

A little down right now. Send me the funny.

Son of a bitch.

We opened our show - which has grown so much, I honestly think it's solid all around - not a significant "weak spot" I could point to. All went well.

Then I threw my back out. It was during the combat scene in Act II, on Thursday afternoon. It didn't happen DURING the combat, but as I jumped onto a platform to get to the combat. It wasn't an impact thing, just a wrenching as I jumped. Pretty much just pulled muscles, I think, but it's made me ache pretty much constantly since then.

Still, the show goes on and I'll be fine. Hrmph. It'll be fine, after the day off I imagine.

About time to start learning TITANIC.

"Man of La Mancha" opens Friday, previews are tomorrow night and Thursday twice.

Still waiting for my script and music to start learning "Titanic."

The big news - for the first time in a good long while, I've STARTED A NEW PLAY!

I write a lot, of course, but I haven't ever done anything better than a false start or an abortive run at a bad idea for the past ... well, awfully long time.

What's it about? I have no idea. It's going somewhere though, like nothing else I've written. It's taking me along with it. So far it's about (not to "pollute my own process" or anything... don't believe in that nonsense. Bah.) two roommates, one wakes the other up in the middle of the night because he's afraid he's going to be the target of a terror attack. It goes on like that for quite a while, until a big reveal points out that he was afraid and upset by something else entirely. Or maybe not. As I said, it's taking me with it. It's nothing special, it's just good to feel like a piece is going to be completed.

Someone out there bought a copy of my play "Martin and Olive" off the site recently, you know who you are... We were discussing the play and were mid-conversation when we stopped e-mailing. Fix that!

We played "La Mancha" to our first audience today - sort of. Theatre employees and cast members from the currently running show watched a run-through in the afternoon.

We have a solid show. Our Cervantes/Quixote is very, very good. Our Aldonza and Sancho are... fine, okay, a bit uneven. We have a splendid ensemble, dedicated and involved. So far. Our director is wonderful, with a real love for the material that breeds respect from all involved. It's a great group of people all around. No one from the show reads this, so no worries. I'm being honest.

It's such a great piece, it's hard not to commit to it.

Saw X2 tonight - good stuff!

X2 opens tomorrow. I refuse to bow to the corporate whim of the 20th Century Fox marketing department and call it "X-Men United" - that was added post-production by people who had nothing to do with creating the film.

Very excited. 15 from the cast are going, we'll own the place.

A quote came to mind from the director of "Tartuffe" I did ...wow, eleven or twelve years ago. It applies to "Man of La Mancha" as well. Mutato nomine de fabula narratur.

Anyone who knows what that means wins a no-prize.

El Presidente Bush is giving a speech to an audience that must applaud, on an aircraft carrier.

If you're not very familiar with it, I suggest you run - not walk - to find a quality live production of MAN OF LA MANCHA. Maybe the one here that opens May 8.

See, I wasn't all that familiar with the show before rehearsals began. I knew what everyone knows, of course - "Impossible Dream" and "Dulcinea," and "I, Don Quixote."

I now understand how this piece can evoke the passion it does from those who've seen it, performed it, or been otherwise touched by it. It's a perfect piece of theatre, tight and layered. Among the best musicals for people who are jaded against musicals.

It's touching and empowering and a joy to be part of. This production in particular is going to be pretty damned good.

...and we don't even open for more than ten days.

Rachel's birthday is today, and by some amazing stroke of coincidence two other people in the cast also have birthdays today. After rehearsal, we went out, had some good food, drinks, then all returned to the hotel. Something like 13 of us went to the Lancaster Brewery - ate a lot, drank more.

Thing is, some smooth criminal in our cast, who phil shall remain namelessphil, went and paid the check for us. We were instructed to leave only a tip for our beleaguered waitress for having to deal with rambunctious and loud actor types. We probably doubled her night's take, at least, with what we threw down, but ... that's not the point. It was a very kind, totally unneccessary gesture of generosity from a guy who's probably not going to pay for another drink the duration of this contract. Many thanks, masked stranger quixote.

Happy birthday, Rachel... and the rest of ya...

First day or rehearsal for "Man of La Mancha" at the Dutch Apple is complete.

None were harmed.

Everyone seems great! I say that now in hopes of not having to refute it later. I honestly think it'll be pretty smooth sailin'.

(knock on wood)

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT... drumroll, trum trum turrah, etc.

My plans for the next few months have finally firmed up.
AT THIS POINT my schedule read as follows: (The farther away the gig, the more subject to change it is)

Captain of the Inqusition in
MAN OF LA MANCHA at the Prather's Dutch Apple in Lancaster, PA from May 8 - June 14
Tickets call (717) 898-1900

Thomas Andrews, Esq. in
TITANIC at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope (episode IV), PA from June 18 - July 6
Tickets call (215) 862-2041

Chauvelin in
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at Bucks County Playhouse from July 9 - July 20
Tickets call (215) 862-2041

Turn 29 on July 25... one year to carousel...

Chauvelin in
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL at the Poconos Playhouse in Mountainhome, PA from August 13 - 17
Tickets call (570) 595-7456

Thomas Andrews in
TITANIC at Poconos Playhouse from August 20 - 31
Tickets call (570) 595-7456

There are plans beyond all that but I'm still working them out.

IMPORTANT - If you should for any strange reason elect to plan on attending one of my shows, let me know! Also, when you call or e-mail the box office, mentioning why you're coming to the show certainly doesn't hurt my feelings. It is a business, after all, and that kind of thing keeps me working!

I didn't plan to have all these consecutive gigs in PA, but it happens that way. Same thing happened in Indiana in 1999.

Okay, no continuation as promised, the topic I was going to expound upon... has ceased to amuse me. Take it AWAY!

Monday, bright and early, I will begin my trek to Pennsylvania. Plans are still forming for the extent of my time there, but I can't go into any more detail than that. I promise I'll post.

I've had a lovely, busy week enjoying friends and home in a very interesting and kind of detached way. There aren't many people I know around here, anymore, even one of the friends I spent time with was someone I knew from Illinois who was here working. Other than that, there has been miuch packing, unpacking, and repacking of things, much taking things to storage. There has been much movie watching - Mom and I watch movies a lot when I'm home, and I went out with friends a lot. "Phone Booth" is one of the best, bravest things I've seen from big Hollywood in a long time. And, of course, being a new proud papa of an XBox, there has been some time spent late at night playing Halo. And MechAssault. And Obi-Wan. And Superman. And... well, isn't that enough?

Thing is, something's in the offing and I'm not sure what it is. There's this feeling I have like I'm forgetting something - not so much that as that maybe even I'm trying not to remember something. Neither of those explanations are indeed the case, but that's the feeling. It's constant, and I want it to go away. Shoo.

I have spent three days driving, covering a little over 1200 miles (a short first day out), and not posting. I drove from Virginia to Kansas, and had a lot of time alone with my thoughts. Thus I have a few different things to write about, and if you hate one topic move on to the next. Really three posts in one - hey, I believe in VALUE, and for the same price of admission I'm giving you THREE thought provoking topics. Brace yourself, and don't touch that dial...

The topics are, arranged in no particular order:
1) I Drove All Night and the American societal need to co-opt cool
2) War and the Idiocy of Absolutely Everyone
3) Memory, or Why I Think Old People Sit On Porches

I DROVE ALL NIGHT AND THE SOCIETAL NEED TO CO-OPT COOL
I have had the same favorite song since 1992. It is "I Drove All Night," originally recorded by the man with only somewhat arguably the best voice in the history of rock music, Roy Orbison. Covered in an amazing homage of a remake by the underrated Cyndi Lauper... and let's just not mention "(Goonies R) Good Enough" in this conversation.

Recently purchased by a major car company, along with a popular songstress, for a commercial and release. Silly drum machines and uninspired, dull perhaps even synthesized guitar work. Totally a corporate watering down of an amazing, quintessential, and until now lesser-known wonder of popular music.
See, I'm not going where you think I'm going with this. I think Celine Dion is a hell of a singer. I think given the right producers and arrangers she's great. She should record entire albums of Jim Steinman. However, this was so obviously a thoughtless work for hire that it show nothing of her ability to make a song tell a story or go anywhere - the build of this song, that's the important thing. I won't go off on a musical tangent here too much, I'll just say do yourself a favor now, regardless of your opinion of the new version, find an mp3 or CD of Roy Orbision's or Cyndi Lauper's tracks of this number. Celine's version is okay, I think, but only on strength of material and the fact Celine has a really powerful sound and is faithful to the source vocally. On the other hand, another of my favorite songs - with even stronger source material - was recently covered by the Dixie Chicks. "Landslide" is in my mind an AMAZING song and I would've thought very, very hard to ruin. The passionless, corporate, rote version regurgitated by the Dixie Chicks had me believing that was the reason people were bulldozing and burning their CDs until someone told me the real reason. I still choose to believe it's musical karma. This song, too, has been well-covered - check out Tori Amos' live cover, easily available on mp3 shares. Another bad cover of a somewhat obscure song? Dire Strait's "Romeo and Juliet" covered by a group that is usually much better than this, the Indigo Girls. A quiet, pensive little unique piece of Mark Knopfler's brilliant guitar band music becomes a thoughtless mess of chordstrumming every-person-in-college-with-a-guitar dreck. These covers would be fine and dandy in their own worlds if it wasn't for the fact that, as was the case with the Indigo Girls version of "Romeo and Juliet", the awful cover becomes better knwn than the honest-to-god original song in some circles.
Sometimes it doesn't work, though, and people don't buy it, because the original is just too beloved. Anybody else hear that AWFUL cover of the classic Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes" that came out a year or two ago? That went away fast. That was perhaps the second most awful popularly-released cover of a great song I've ever heard, next to "Landslide" as listed above.
Every musician has, I imagine, songs or artists they love and want to pay homage to through their music. However, when you reach a certain level of celebrity and you cover a lesser-known song like that, you're really looking at the original artist and co-opting their cool. Who'll question it? Not the bulk of music buyers, whose musical memory stretches back only probably half their lives, you know, to when they were seven, eight, or nine. Enough of this, next topic...


WAR AND THE IDIOCY OF ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE
All these things are possible for a person to simultaneously believe, without contradicition:
1) To be against war. I mean, really, who is FOR it?
2) That we should be happy that the war is going well and we're doing what we're doing.
3) That Saddam Hussein should have indeed been removed from power
4) That going to war in the first place, at this point, as we did, with the information and reasoning we the U.S. public were given, was wrong.
However, one thing I learn from watching more and more debate about the war, hearing people from both sides talk more about it than they should, is this:
Everyone on both sides of this issue, who speaks out publicly about it, is an idiot. Idiocy everywhere.
People on the no war side saddened, its so tragic, "this war is affecting us all," well, YEAH, it's a frickin' WAR, they DO that.
People on the pro war side screaming about how they were right all along and how dare anybody express dissent when our troops are over there fighting for our lives.
And, of course, people on both sides spending a hell of a lot of time bashing anyone who dares to be on the other side.
You know what? I have YET to hear ANYONE speak in opinion about this war with an informed, unbiased view. I listened to an awful lot of talk radio on the road, with views from both sides, and all the callers on either side of the issue were either un- or misinformed to the point of embarrassing ignorance. Of course, it's talk radio, so what do you expect, but seriously - this is bothersome. There is no grey area to most of these people. And people get so ANGRY and - on the liberal side, condescending; on the ocnservative side, self-righteous. See, I consider myself a liberal, but lately I just want to step away from all of it. No one seems to see both sides of this picture. Many people I talk to about it do, just no one who speaks in any public forum I've heard.
So, from now on, whenever anyone asks how I feel about the war, what will I say?
Shut up, that's how I feel. Just shut up.

Coming next post, because now I'm too tired:
MEMORY or WHY OLD PEOPLE SIT ON PORCHES

I've been riding a wave of pleasant (if that's possible) nostalgic melancholy since my getting to Richmond.

Now, keep in mind that simply coming back to Richmond - in 2001 - was probably a mistake. A career and personal misstep in a big way. Wasn't good for the relationship, was several giant steps backward in the job market (though that was acknowledged at the time), and generally wound up messing things up in a big way.

However, I had some great times here. Those are the memories that last, that gleam when the light of memory is on them. I'm a very sentimental person, especially when it comes to trivial things. I can't intentionally throw away any card Rachel has ever given me. Packing up the apartment here, I'm having to get rid of a lot of stuff - mainly stuff we accumulated in Richmond, some older stuff. I'll run across some little trinket that will trigger a memory of some trivial event that involved it, or the acquiring of it. Thing is, tht makes packing take SO MUCH LONGER than it should be. I should be done, but I have moments of "I want to enjoy my couch. It's my couch and I'll miss it." or "Wow. I haven't looked at this since _____ gave it to me, I should take a look."

Memory keys I've run across, and things I'll miss... many of which are long gone regardless...
I'm not leaving yet, but at this moment it's important to me to let those of you involved know that you meant/mean a lot to me, and I'll always smile remembering these times.

Putting up my original show, Martin & Olive, and working with the people who gave so much.
Visiting Ross in his shop every Wednesday.
Eating Mongolian barbeque at the Greywolf Grill with well, pretty everyone I knew here.
Driving around to shop and see movies on "geek-out" days with Matt and/or Chris.
Even though there are many negatives wrapped up in the circumstance, touring in Hamlet with a great group of people, doing damn good work most of the time.
My Christopher Walken-themed birthday party. You guys are the BEST.
"The Tempest" - the dressing room and "we're goin' to VIET-NAM! woohoo!"... that still kills me. That and Foster's interpretation of my "Patrick Stewart's one-man Back To The Future" idea.
Hawaiian shirt / driving hat / carry your broadsword day on the "Rumplestiltskin" tour.
Aerobie.
John Waldron, Jonathan Manning, Matt Jones, Matt Woods. Chris Booth. Stephen Seals. Larry Tobias.
Ross Aitken. James Denvil. Scott Wichmann. Katie Roecker. Robbie Winston. Drew Etheridge.
That's just the beginning of a list of great friends I met and worked with while around here, and would love to work with again.

Regardless of the bad things that may've ever come down at any point, I smile when I remember how much good there was.

I won't get into itemizing anything negrantive, because it's not worth my time.

Okay, I've been in Richmond for about four days ... anyone who reads this in the Richmond area I haven't already been in touch with please get in touch with me. I'm terribly, terribly bored with packing and etcetera... finishing up old apartment nonsense and all that rot.

Yawn.

Does it occur to anyone else that once we've deposed our Generalissimo... er, elected a new president, that our next president will have a lot of gift baskets to send?

We all think Bush is a fool, regardless of our stance on war. That's a warm fuzzy idea that all Americans can drink cocoa behind. So let's make sure this DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN.
Repeat after me, everyone under 40 in America:
-I will never again
-Think my vote doesn't matter
-I will always be sure to vote
-I will be sure to know what the hell is going on
-And will make educated choices about the issues dear to me
-I will kick the asses
-Of my friends who didn't vote
-In ANY election
-And complain about the result.
-I will participate in America
-So we still have one when we're old

Here's a fun April Fool's link.

And another, an oldie but a goodie.

Finally, Have you gotten your free cupholder yet? It's pretty cool, worth a lot, and yet free!

Tomorrow is a holiday I eagerly await each year; when the whole world gets into the act I maintain every day.....

The merciless torment of the gullible. Oh, the possibilities this year.

Let's not misuse our gifts... With great power comes greater responsibility.

Yeah, I was tired. I'm still tired, and it was two days ago. My frame of mind has improved, though. To think I was just days ago I said to someone else, "Look, you've done say 20 or 30 auditions in the past month, done very very well at pretty much all of them, and you have one audition which you think MAY have been less than stellar.. and what do you focus on?"

Then the same thing happens to me.

It goes to show that you're most affronted by witnessing in others those things in which are in your own nature.

Somebody post a funny comment or something. It's cold and rainy. I have nothing to do.
Pizza is calling me. . . . . . . . . .

UPDATE: Just watched something called "Heat Vision and Jack," which is an unsold pilot from a few years ago. BRILLIANTly funny. Too good for the troglodyte viewing public that keep "The Bachelor" and "Joe Millionaire" on the air. You have to see this. If you have ways to get hold of such things, find it, you won't regret the time or effort. If you want a copy from me... well, I'm looking for something, too, and it's hard to find. Anyone who can help me get a copy of the demo CD for Charles Strouse's STAR WARS musical, mp3s or whatever, I'll .. I'll... be glad? I have the other, less "official" Star Wars musical, but I want to hear this other one. Thoughts? E-mail me.

I've come to a few important conclusions today.

First of all, I'm a dumbass.

I'm dog tired, which probably contributes to or explains this all, but I'm kinda down simply because I didn't absolutely nail, totally knock out of the park, two callbacks I had today. By that I mean I did fine - very well, in fact - but I'm just not satisfied for some reason. Thing is, I'm actually swimming in work - job offers to beat the band, knock on wood and no jinxes allowed. So I have no pressure, I'm happy with what's out there. Still, I keep auditioning, because... it's my job, and freakishly enough I like auditioning. Most of the time.

For the past several weeks pretty much every audition and callback I've had, save two, has been really solid. Yesterday, though, I barely squeaked through to get to today's (probably) final round of callbacks for Fred in the "Kiss Me Kate" tour. Though today's callback for that went well, I felt I could've done much better and that perhaps my (personally perceived) level of performance at the previous callback could be a factor in casting. Totally second-guessing both myself and the casting people with no tangible reason.
Before the KMK callback today I sang for a big Cameron Mackintosh cruise show for Jean Ann Ryan Productions. Sang well, got a callback to "move," around 4, which just fit the schedule. It was the last thing in my day, my week, and it's a dance callback.

After they sang me, they talked amongst themselves, passed my resume around, then said, smiling, " You didn't come to our dance call, so I'm guessing you're not a dancer? Do you move?
Standard answer I give to that, "Well, I walk upright. I move."
Ha ha, ha ha ha courtesy laugh, "Well, would you be willing to come in and take a combination from us at 4?"
"Sure."
"It's just so we can know where to place you, we don't expect you to 'dance', per se."

So I went, and didn't really stink up the floor... maybe just left a slight lingering odor. I could've hit that a little better. Then again, they'd probably expect me to dance if I did much better and that's just crazy talk. Though rationally I think I gave a very hireable kind of audition, especially vocally, I'm not confident about it. Again with the second guessing. Now I'm kind of depressed, for no good reason, because rationally I know I gave two reasonably good auditions. However, I've been doing this long enough to know that reasonably good will get you called back but not necessarily hired.Why worry? I already have far more work than I can take, and am trying to solve the problems of making it all fit. Apparently I have two levels of self-confidence right now: A) Comic-book hero self-assured, or B) Early John Cusack character self-conscious/morose. I think I'm just tired. No more auditions for a while, anyway.

Other thing I noticed today, that is actually far more interesting than my petty headtrip...
At most callbacks I go to, after a point, I see the same few guys. Add and subtract a few guys here and there and it's the same group. Many of us have become friendly without ever having otherwise met or spent time together. Today, for example, was the second and final round of callbacks for the lead in a national tour, and I honestly would be glad to know if any one of the guys from the group I regularly see got it. We're all generally friendly with and supportive of each other, genuinely wishing one another luck even when we're out for the same jobs. This isn't true of everyone, I just notice it's especially true of the five or six guys I see everywhere.
TERRIBLE GENERALIZATION AHEAD.
This is quite obvious... It's harder, much harder for women. Auditions for women, especially at dance calls... well, they can be so mean to each other. It's almost sad ... no, no, it is sad to watch. Very Funny and Very Sad. Trying to outstretch everyone else, or otherwise warm up more impressively than one another; wearing skimpier dance clothes, or taking up as much space as possible primping in the mirror-wall.
Now, it's common for people to come to an audition and discreetly change into dancewear... but yesterday I kid you not a girl struts in to the holding room full of men and women, makes a fuss of setting down her bulky things, and undressed. Right there, in the holding room, undressed and put on her dance clothes. Nothing discreet or unobtrusive about it. It's all insecurity, and with some girls you see the same feeling manifest itself in the opposite way - eye-darting, is-anybody-watching-me, self-consciousness. I can see where the whole thing could be really damaging to a frail psyche, to be a woman in theatre, especially in the beginning. To watch the people who can't enter an audition room without making a loud, obnoxious squeal at the sight of someone they met once (who at this audition of course is their best friend from way back...) Of course, there are men who do these things, too... but it's just funny when men do it. It doesn't have the same effect.

In short, power to the women in theatre who keep their heads on straight and remain self-assured and independent in the face of all that.

It's no wonder we theatre people are so ... interesting.

I'll stop vomiting words onto the page now. Longest.... entry.... ever... how much will I read later and cut?

Yes, we're at war. A seriously terrible thing, to be sure.
However, isn't it probably best that we go about our daily duties, working playing, laughing as much as possible, while respectful of that fact?
I'm not in favor of this war, but we're in it and we can't just "stop" being at war. It has a course that must be run. I wish it hadn't started but, as a military friend of mine once said "once begun it must be done."
So much ill will generated by people whose motives for pointless sighs have nothing to do with loved ones in harm's way.
I'm all for protest in every constructive form, but it isn't necessary for us to lead a joyless existence. No one in the field wants us that way, and let's face it: THEY have cause for fear and worry. Let's let them do their jobs, pray for them, and revel in the freedom to do and say as we please.

Don't construe this as any kind of endorsement or support for the "reasons" for this conflict; I simply believe that diplomatically and idealistically we have been painted into a corner by our "elected" government. Simply pulling out now would perhaps be more damaging in many ways than continuing.

I have awakened at 4 a.m. for two days in a row. Voluntarily.

Tomorrow, I sleep.

Yesterday's post was not an attempt at silly typical blog-poetry. It was just me getting carried away with a stream of consciousness about my day start to finish.

I was going to put an example of ridiculous self-indulgent bloggerous poetry here, but all attempts to satirize a little stanza seemed too real. Nothing went far enough. So...

For the first time, I shall place a request for reply here: in the comments, write an example of bad poetry about some aspect of the war. Desire for peace, objection, love for war, end of the world, whatever. Put yourself in the person of a bad songwriter, an angst-ridden teenage outcast, or any person with a blog and make me laugh. One rule: Nothing that in any way disparages our troops in the field. I deleted two posts about that.

Other than that, don't be afraid to be offensive as long as it's funny. Chop chop!

We interrupt this broadcast.
SPECIAL REPORT.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat.
(siren)
kaboom.

dark unfamiliar city skyline with no apparent motion
boom
think I'll play jedi Knight II

morning
train
audition - callback Monday
train
blister on left foot
ow ___ ow ___ ow ___ ow

train stops at union square
ignorant protest leader
really want to be on his side
but with every word he defeats himself
not helping his own cause
dozens of umbrellas gathered around
listless signs
poorly made signs

i keep going
ow_ow_ow_ow

other callback
goes okay
decide to skip last callback of day
reschedule
ow_ow_ow_ow

union square
someone smarter has taken the mic
makes good
unquestionable
er, less questionable points
crowd cheers
signs wave

not sure how i feel
staring
know i don't know if the whole thing is necessary
my feelings are irrelevant
i decide
it's already happening
and all i can do
is pray it ends as well as it can and soon
pray for the people doing this job for us
whether we think we asked them to or not

protesters shout "down with u.s."
in union square
thank god we live where we can say that
while our friends are across the world
doing all the work

train
ow___ow___ow___ow
rachel
ice cream
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Haven't done much all weekend; no auditions appealed to me and I probably won't hit a new one until Wednesday. Hopefully good things will come of all the callbacks from last week.

Everyone check out www.bobfromaccounting.com, read the article I wrote (about "same-self benefits", linked from the front page), write the editorial staff, and demand more - MORE from me.

Thanks.

I've missed New York.

I can't actually convey completely why I feel that way right now.

This return has made me feel as I never have that I really should stay in or near New York - that New York is no longer just a utilitarian location for me to get work here and there but instead is a place from which my life should revolve. A place where I should anchor myself. I don't see myself wanting to retire here, but a good portion of the rest of my adult life would be fine.

The setup I have now is ideal, to me - out of the city in a nice house, 2 blocks from the train, an easy commute.

Today I had some free time and found myself walking all over town, unconsiously retracing steps from years gone by.

I stood outside the theatre where I had my first broadway callback, not realizing where I was going when I walked there.

I grabbed coffee at a restaurant in The Village where I took my first date in NYC when I was like 22 or 23. Didn't even realize it was that place until I was leaving.

I walked by the building where a girl I fell vainly in love with lived once; had a smiling memory of an ill-timed, late-night, stolen rooftop kiss - framed six years ago when it happened on one side by the Empire State Building and one side by the WTC towers. I'd just stepped off the subway when I realized I was there - on my way to a friend's apartment.

It's a big city for that many unintentional nostalgia trips in one day.

Well, auditions are going very well - knock on virtual wood - so must go to bed to get up for a callback in the morning.

Okay, true believers, Monday I'm heading back to New York for a bit. Auditions, etc., are calling. Other than that I've got little on the docket...

So if you want to get together...

Call me, write me, whatever - I've got the time if you do.

Monday night is a very important night; using some of my currently abundant free time to join in THE LYSISTRATA PROJECT.

If you're a theatre professional as well, look into it.

Here's the link:
http://www.pecosdesign.com/lys/spearhead.html

Work right now = a lot of decisions. Many kinds of decisions. I'll keep the blog posted when things are settled.

UPTAs are done and they were a lot of fun. Saw a lot of old friends and got to read and sing for a lot of really great shows and companies.

Thanks and welcome to the company reps who showed interest in hiring me; keep in mind that as of this moment I'm still available February 17 - not even a week from now!

A special thanks to the company reps who, later in the evening, introduced me to my new favorite drink, the Colorado bulldog.


Check out the resume (needs updating) and fun photo pages on the menu bar to the left.

Working on the comments problem. For those of you who haven't figured it out, "poseurs" means "comments" to my comments server.

UPTAs on Monday, #653 if you're hiring... or if you're not, I'm still #653 and there's little you can do about it! Ha!

Take that, everybody.

So right now I'm fidgeting with monologues - not for UPTA, but for a video submission I'm required to do for somewhere else.

I hate video submissions. But when you're working, it's hard to tear off across the country to an audition - even when they pay, it's still got to fit into the show schedule. Hmph.

Hope to see a lot of you at UPTA! Clemo, we're doing lunch!

What a strange thing the human psyche is.

Some days you can just wake up sad, for no reason.

Then a commercial will make you laugh, and everything will be fine again.

Somebody send me that commercial.

I woke up today, late in the morning, to the beeping of my phone.

"AOLALERTS - BREAKING NEWS," the screen read.

I'm sure by now you all know why - the terrible loss of the STS Columbia with all hands on board.

I was taken back to when the Challenger was destroyed when I was in grade school, sixth grade or so I think, and I remember watching the news then in the school library.

My sympathies are with the families and friends of everyone who was lost.

Now, I'm about to sound insensitive, but I am absolutely not. I sincerely hope that this disaster does not provoke some knee-jerk paralyzation of the space program as the Challenger did. The brave people aboard a Space Shuttle know the risks, and they do what they do because they beileve in it. They dedicate their lives to science, the exploration of space, and the expansion of the human experience. Their deaths would be in vain if this event halted the recent developments of future projects, i.e. Prometheus.

One could argue that the massive cuts and problems NASA faced after the Challenger incident could be partially blamed, if this was caused by equipment failure. The Space Shuttles were built for 20 years of use, max. Less, much less, I believe it was assumed. These are vehicles that were designed in the 1960s, using materials that were advanced in the 70s. Newer, better designs have existed for decades now but never been implemented. The Space Shuttle itself was altered from original specs due to Air Force demands that it essentially be a flying boxcar. That's a soapbox, I'll step off of it now.

I sincerely hope we honor the memories of those lost, including the first Israeli astronaut, by stepping up development of new space technologies to advance the future of man in space. I honestly think they would have wanted it that way.

Finally open. I have little to do now that we're open. I don't do much in the show, ensemble and some specialty stuff, but nothing of substance that takes any real preparation. Now I'm set to gear up for UPTA and get things set for some projects I'm still waiting to hear on. Remember that thing I mentioned some posts back that I needed all your goodwill for? Keep sending it, still waiting to hear. I've officially done everything I can to make it possible, so it's in God's hands now.

And the casting director's.

Anyway, it's awfully hard to stay motivated sometimes. Thinking "Sure, I COULD go finish my mailings and get in touch with someone to help me with this audition music, but I can do that after this level of BOUNTY HUNTER or WARCRAFT III... Then after a long shower... Then after I take some time on the treadmill... then... oh, it's bedtime...

Which it is. We have a "Special" student matinee tomorrow at 10am. A 10am show, that's against the laws of nature. So, to bed I must.

I have been slapped in the face by perspective.

Not the good kind, where you realize that others have it so much worse than you (which is nearly always true), but the bad kind where you realize you yourself could and should have it much better than you do. Not because you deserve it, but because someone you respect and admire points out that you've... made a miscalculation and could be much further down the path if only you'd have taken the less scenic route.

And for the last few years, my life has been all scenery and little forward motion. Let's be honest.

However, simple knowledge of this is helpful. Knowing people who point these things out is helpful.

And if the two jobs I'm working on securing right now come to fruition, that'd be REALLY helpful.

I've put the funny on hiatus until I open the show, then I'll put the links back.

We preview Friday, we open Saturday. Now that I'm pretty much settled that there are parts of the ensemble which will never be... shall we say, "crisp"... I'm just going out there, doing my stuff, and enjoying the fact that I'm sharing a dressing room with people I enjoy.

This has been a very interesting experience.

David and Amanda, our Frank and Annie, are great performers and people and we're all pretty much on the same page which is nice. Gary Sandy was to play Frank but backed out last minute, but David played Frank, Buffalo Bill, and Pawnee Bill/Wilson in the revival at different points (mostly Frank) so he's probably better anyway. Amanda's just finished touring South Pacific with Robert Goulet, and let me just say there are some stories from that.

Again, seriously, to anyone who reads this, if you can spare even one moment to send some good thoughts in our general direction, we're waiting to hear some potentially great work stuff.

I've forgotten, in all my happy times as a principal or featured performer, that ensemble can be SO much more work.

At least during rehearsals. I haven't had a free rehearsal slot between learning huge numbers, covering Frank and Pawnee Bill/Wilson. Tomorrow I don't have anything but 6:00 til 10:30. That's nice.

Here's the deal, everyone: There's a potentially really amazingly great thing workwise that has come up that could be super nice. Send your good thoughts, good karma, prayers, mantras, whatever. I can't say what it is, don't want to jinx it. Just keep us in your thoughts in that way through the end of the month if you would!

Running ragged here with the odd rehearsal schedule for "Annie Get Your Gun." To facilitate various production schedules, our eight hours don't start until 2pm; which is both good and bad. Mainly, I find it's messing with my sleep schedule. Thus when I had to get up today to go to a fitting at 11:30, it was a BIG DEAL.

Promise more writing later, nothing really to report at the moment... not because there's actually nothing to say, but because I'm TIRED. Off to fittings.

Whee.

I don't like to think of myself as an entirely superstitious person. I don't base my life around avoiding black cats or giving a percentage of my income to some church. However, I seem to fear bad juju in some forms. I am afraid to mention good things I anticipate that aren't 100% for fear of jinxing them. Not just a little fear, but a paranoid conflict between the desire to share positive energy and the idea that, once out there, it could disipate and ... disappear. So, I'm not going to say anything. Ever.

Sunday I head to KC to meet Rachel at the airport, then we'll stay overnight at our recent tourmate Lauren's family's home before flying out to Cape Fear on Monday morning.

Thought for today: Death comes for us all; sometimes it comes on rollerskates.

It was brought to my attention that the photo link on the main site is faulty right now. Here's the link until it's fixed.

Look for an actual site update/overhaul this month.

http://hometown.aol.com/scarybari/photomagraphs.html

By the time I post this, it will be 2003 in the whole of the country. Now I shall spitball the requisite top top ten list for 2002. I have two categories... "MOVIES" and "EVERYTHING"

TOP TEN MOVIES of 2002
1. Road To Perdition
2. Punchdrunk Love
3. LOTR: The Two Towers
4. Gangs of New York
5 . Signs
6. Attack of the Clones - Come on, this HAD to be on my list somewhere. I bleeeeed Star Wars, I was nursed on it.
7. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
8. Catch Me If You Can - AMAZING performance by Mr. Walken in this film, by the way. One scene alone should get him a second Oscar.
9. One Hour Photo
10.Insomnia

FILMS I'VE YET TO TO SEE IN 2002 THAT I'M SURE WILL TAKE OTHERS OFF OF THAT LIST:
Adaptation
Confessions of A Dangerous Mind ... I've been waiting for both of those films for over a year. See them!

WORST TEN MOVIES OF 2002
Why would I go see them? I think we all know that "SCOOBY DOO" likely tops that list. Let's just be realistic.

TOP TEN THINGS THAT WERE PART OF 2002
10.In April, ricotta cheese pizza. It's actually still working it's way through my system, and though I loved it I cannot imagine ever eating it again.
9. The opening night of Star Wars in May - Our tour was in Indianapolis, the line was huge, and we waited for hours playing board games. Good stuff.
8. Karaoke at the Radisson in Rapid City, SD, not two weeks ago. A great couple of nights of last hurrah bonding with a wonderful, talented group of people.
7. Being given a turtle by a park ranger in September. If they stray or are taken more than 800 yards from their home they will likely not survive unless cared for... didn't know that. Be assured that "Boxie" is now alive, loved, and well. You can love a terrapin, you just can't LOVE a terrapin. I just like saying "terrapin."
6. Saying "terrapin." No, not really. Actually I should put spending time with my family on here. God knows I don't get enough of it. But when I do, man have I had enough.
5. Finding I'm on the website listing people's favorite performers in "Chess" from my work as Anatoly in CA in 1996. No, I don't have the link, and to be fair I'm like #36, but damn it, I'm #36!
4. So many phenomenal friends gathered by my unbelievably wonderful betrothed for my birthday in July. SO great.
3. My new laptop bought with the assistance and prodding of my oldest friend in the world, Dustin... we've been "best friends" regardless of time or distance for TWENTY THREE YEARS. I think we're married in some states.
2. The blessing of continuing to be able to work in the profession of my passion.
1. Playing frickin' HAMLET, actually doing pretty damned well, and getting to play opposite some great folks.

No particular order, but number one really takes it despite all the b.s. surrounding the job. That's not part of it.

2002 was actually a pretty bad year, all around. Everyone is officially ordered to make 2003 a great year for themselves and everyone around them, you sorry bastards.