ATAC Globes vs SA Current vs the Fabulous Actors Guild and Supporters (aka the FAGS)

Please take my humor in stride and disregard anything that might seem offensive. I promise the title will be my only attempt at contempt. ;-)

Finding motivation to write has always been a bit of struggle for me, particularly when it comes to this blog. If you peruse my past entries, you'll find major gaps in time between posts. This has less to do with laziness than with motivation.

After not visiting New York for more than a year, I found my entries to be devoid of any actual content that I thought wasn't already being said out in the blogosphere by more adept bloggers. So then I started posting more entries about the local theater scene here in South-Central Texas. When worked kicked in, it single-handedly affected not only my participation in productions, but my attendance as an audience member for dozens of shows. As a result, my blogging took a side step to work and sleep.

But nothing like an awards show and a newspaper article to bring blogging blood back into the gestating veins of an anxious theater queen...

My first exposure to the Alamo Theatre Arts Council's Globe Awards was in the Fall of 2007. Urinetown the Musical was the first show I was cast in in San Antonio (is that proper grammar?). The production was in May/June of 2007 at the bar-excellence Sheldon Vexler Theater directed by the phenomenal Ken Frazier (I'll see you at his and Tammy's Halloween party!). Globe award 'nominations' <---*note the air quotes* were announced in the Summer and Urinetown was among the honorees. I was ecstatic! Up to this point in my acting 'career,' (note the air quotes again) Urinetown was the best production I had ever had the privilege to be a part of (I still feel this way today) and for it to be recognized by the elusive Globe Awards was reason enough for me to go batty with glee. We were then asked to perform at the ceremony and my elation went through the roof! The Globe Awards must know what they're talking about - Urinetown was a kick ass show. Of course I was a bit biased, but clearly if it was nominated by the ATAC Globe Awards, I wasn't the only person who thought so. Right?

The competitive spirit within me ignited. "So, we were nominated for Best Musical? How about acting noms? I'm sure Ken got a nom for directing, right?" My questions were met with uneasy complacency. To my perplexed revelation, our show wasn't nominated for anything. As a matter of fact, no shows were nominated per se for any awards. The Globes had a different way of recognizing excellence in the local theater scene. Awards are based off of a point system that ATAC judges use to rate different categories for each production. An average score of 8 (out of 10) constitutes a Globe honor. There are no limits on the number of possible honorees. And the shows I thought to be nominated were in fact shows that are already winners. For what categories? Category winners are announced at the ceremony.

"Huh?"

An usual setup to say the least. But it's a system. The Obies do it. So be it.

And then the problems start. If you've ever been involved in the San Antonio theater community, you've heard the complaints. You've seen the snubbed shows. You're aware of the flaws. It doesn't take a Pulitzer-winning journalist to discover the cloud of animosity and irreverence that such large numbers in the community adhere to the aura of the Globes.

Thomas Jenkins of the San Antonio Current recently brought up those boiling issues in an article dated this past Wednesday, October 14. Jenkins' writing is pulsating with a tone of passion; he is clearly a lover of theater and of the city of San Antonio. He writes with confidence and backs his opinions on shows with well thought out and intelligent reviews. Whether or not you agree with his taste is irrelevant (as is the case with any good critic). His article, titled "Another gold star! How to make the Globes more like the Tonys, less like school attendance awards" is a piece that is getting all sorts of theater queens (this is a term of endearment) hot. Just read the comments section.

Among the comments you'll find personal attacks, a call to arms, demands for reform, supporters of change, defenders of the process, and satirists/wannabe-comedians supplying ongoing commentary... it's like the 2008 Presidential debate on health care and their associated political campaigns filtered through an episode of Fox's Glee, or at least through the hearts of a bunch of Sondheim-ites. I have to admit the humor I find in it, but I can't deny the overwhelming response it is receiving from the community. Every comment seems to be coming from a place of passion (no matter how ill-advised some of them are), which is more than can be said for any actual Globe award ceremony in the past decade.

What's my opinion? It's less a matter of opinion and more one of taste. I prefer award shows that offer a single winner among a small group of nominees that were voted on by peers or critics or press or fans or those few bloggers out there. The ATAC Globes are what they are and have been for years. Their website clearly states their guidelines, rules, eligibility requirements... heck, it even gives the names of the ever changing roster of judges who vote. I don't know when it was decided that the Globes were gonna be San Antonio's answer to Austin's B. Iden Payne awards or New York's Tonys, but who ever said that this was the case in the first place? We have to realize that it's the community itself that put the awards in such high regard in the first place. Now that a significant portion of the community feels disenchanted with the Globes, it's a matter of focusing energies on a second awards show that meets the demands of those detractors (if a 'better' awards show is indeed what the community wants).

Is a second awards show the answer to the Globes? Maybe. Maybe not. But I do love what Stephanie Elbel (multiple ATAC Globe winner and B. Iden Payne award recipient and friend) has to say in the comments about perhaps focusing on other issues that affect the San Antonio theater community (getting people to actually attend live theatre, making San Antonio an equity theatre community, paying [contributing] artists [...] more than a mere stipend...).

Now that's not an answer to the issue of the Globes as a barometer of excellence for San Antonio theater, but I don't think that's an issue that's on the forefront of Stephanie's mind.

Is it on yours? And if so, what do you think?

Curtains Cast at San Pedro Playhouse

UPDATED 7/29 at 5:17pm
Thank you to my friends Jillian and Amy for this! (And by the way, congratulations to both of you!)

The San Pedro Playhouse has been shooting its proverbial casting wad the past couple of weeks with its 2009-2010 season audition announcements. With a high profile season coming up (Evita, A Christmas Carol [again], Beehive, Curtains, Boeing-Boeing, and The Music Man), San Antonio theater peeps have been anxious for any further announcements concerning casting.

I was given the cast list of Curtains a couple of weeks ago but hadn't posted anything on it. It was still early in the process and people were still needing to accept roles. Now that some time has passed, I've decided to go ahead and post what I believe to be the final casting of the Spring 2010 production of Kander and Ebb's backtage-murder-comedy musical.

The cast will include Ben Gamble as Lt. Frank Cioffi, Annela Keys as Jessica Crenshaw, Anna Gangai as Carmen Bernstein, Jillian Cox as Georgia Hendricks, Jason Mosher as Aaron Fox, Paige Blend as Niki Harris, Lizel Sandoval as Bambi Bernet, Chris Berry as Bobby Pepper, Byrd Bonner as Christopher Belling, Taylor Maddox as Johnny Harmon, Mark Hicks as Oscar Shapiro, and Greg Hinojosa as Sidney Bernstein. The ensemble will feature Chris Rodriguez, Petra Pearce, David Davila, Ashley Mitchell, Mike Duggan, Amy Sloan, Rita Duggan, Robby Vance, Shane Noel, Constanza Roeder, Kate Miller, Alyx Gonzalez, Kenny Patterson, Jim Frazier, Julianne Snyder, David Stautzenburger, Amy Dullnig, and Dave Watts.

Congratulations to all my close friends and past castmates Ben Gamble (The Pajama Game), Jillian Cox (Man of la Mancha), Jason Mosher (Man of la Mancha), Paige Blend (Side Show, The Pajama Game), Lizel Sandoval (PJ Game), Chris Berry (Xmas Carol, Frankenstein in Love, PJ Game), Byrd Bonner (Urinetown, Xmas Carol), Taylor Maddox (PJ Game), Mark Hicks (Urinetown, Vexed), Chris Rodriguez (Thouroughly Modern Millie, Sound of Music), Petra Pearce (Beauty and the Beast, High School Musical, Jekyll and Hyde, Bye Bye Birdie, Xmas Carol), David Davila (Millie, Hair), Ashley Mitchell (Xmas Carol, PJ Game), Amy Sloan (Rimers of Eldritch, la Mancha), Robby Vance (Sound of Music), Shane Noel (PJ Game), Kate Miller (PJ Game), Alyx Gonazalez (Xmas Carol, PJ Game), Jim Frazier (Xmas Carol), David Stautzenburger (B&B, Jekyll and Hyde, BBB), Amy Dullnig (Xmas Carol, PJ Game), and Dave Watts (Frankenstein in Love).

Judging from the cast list, it seems like it's gonna be a fantastic production and a fun cast! Curtains is scheduled to open March 26 (my birthday) and close April 25, 2010.

Boeing-Boeing at San Pedro Playhouse Cast List

My friend and stage manager of San Pedro Playhouse's 2010 production of Boeing-Boeing, Amy Dullnig announced the full cast list today for the super fun and sexy play written by Marc Camoletti.

The cast will feature Brad Adams (Bernard), Joel Crabtree (Robert), Haley Burnside (Janet), Rainya Mosher (Judith), Emily Spicer (Jacqueline), and Gloria Sanchez (Bertha).

The show will start performances May 21, 2010 and end its 5 week run on June, 20. From what I gather either Frank Latson or Kevin Murray (that could be very wrong) will be directing. I'll know more in a couple of days.

The Matthew Warchus-directed revival of Marc Camoletti's comedy was a London hit before the American production on Broadway was put together. The staging at the Longacre Theatre starred Mark Rylance, a holdover from London, who won the Tony as Best Actor in a Play for his daffy turn as a Wisconsinite caught in the middle of his pal's threeway infidelity. The production also won the Tony for Best Revival of a Play.

Take Me Out tonight at the San Pedro Playhouse's Cellar Theater

Tonight I'll be taking in the San Pedro Playhouse's production of Take Me Out in the Cellar Theater. The original play, written by Richard Greenberg, debuted on Broadway February 27, 2003 at the Walter Kerr Theatre and closed on January 4, 2004. The show had a successful run and even won 2003 Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Direction for Joe Mantello, and Best Featured Actor in a Play for Denis O'Hare.

The play is a well written piece commenting on social stigmas of homosexuality and America's favorite pastime, baseball. San Pedro Playhouse's Cellar Theater website offers this description:

This Pulitzer Prize nominated play took the nation by storm with its story of one superstar's coming out and the explosive repercussions which shook him, his teammates and "the great American pastime" to their very core. A shocker for its locker-room language, on-stage shower scenes and violence, it is nevertheless the most brilliant and frank exploration of the personal destruction of living a lie in a homophobic "don't ask, don't tell" world, the fallout from coming clean and the discovery that honor, integrity and true worth must be the benchmarks by which we live.

The Playhouse production cast includes Mark D. Hicks (Kippy Sunderstrom), Butch Anderson (Darren Lemming), Rob Barron (Shane Mungitt), John O'Neill (The Skipper), Rhys Sanchez (Toddy Koovitz), Ryan Ramirez (Jason Chenier), Ian Bunn (Rodriguez), Miguel Diaz (Martinez), Jonathan G. Itchon (Takeshi Kawabata), Vincent Contrell (Davey Battle), and Andrew Thornton (Mason Marzac)with direction by Frank Latson.

Mark Hicks, Rob Barron, and Ryan Ramirez are friends of mine and I'm looking forward to seeing their work. I had a chance to meet Butch Anderson recently after opening night at the champagne opening (which I totally crashed) and subsequently at a San Antonio theatre peeps party hosted by God himself, Steven Bull. Anderson is a newcomer to the cast apparently, but has been getting very good press for his performance. Also getting good reviews is Andrew Thornton as Marzac (but that could be because Marzac is by far the best written character in the show).

The San Antonio Express News and the SA Current have offered up positive reviews and tickets are apparently selling out fast. This is the final weekend for performances, so please get yourself downtown to catch the production ASAP.

I'll be there tonight and afterward I'll be upstairs catching some bubbly enjoying opening night celebrations of Sound of Music. Break a leg tonight to both casts!!!

Cast Announced for Psycho Beach Party at the Cameo in San Antonio

The Cameo Theatre of San Antonio has been home to some stellar productions in the area. Particularly well done was their 2007 production of Kander and Ebb's Cabaret. That production had the benefit of two strong lead performances by Anne Gerber as Sally Bowles and Rick Sanchez as the Emcee.

Rick has become an acquaintance of mine in recent months (we've even had the opportunity to party it up - a welcome pastime of mine). I have yet to actually work with Rick on a show (I had opportunities for the upcoming production of Sound of Music at San Pedro Playhouse and the recently closed Man of La Mancha. Unfortunately both shows I was unable to commit to because of work), however that hasn't stopped us from still being friends (we did go see Transformers 2 at a midnight showing along with other friends - thank God for alcohol.).

Now Rick will soon be directing a production of Psycho Beach Party at the Cameo Theatre due to open I think on August 14 (dates have been somewhat up in the air and sources still are conflicting a bit. I'll update as soon as I know for sure.). The movie and the original Off-Broadway play that it's based on are send ups of 1950s and 60s beach movies with a nod to 70s slasher films. The Cameo's website offers this description:

Summer, 1962. Malibu Beach. Imagine ‘Gidget’ crossed with ‘The Three Faces of Eve’ and ‘Mommie Dearest’. Sun, surf, sand, and ‘Chicklet’ Forrest wants nothing more than to learn to ‘shoot the curl’. Ride the waves. And who better to study under than the Great Kanaka? The macho king of the surfers, who rode the killer wave off the coast of Bali... handcuffed....But something isn't right...People are turning up shaved from head to toe by a mysterious assailant. The star of “Sex-Kittens Go To Outer Space” has disappeared from the set of her latest film. Surfers are coming out of the closet. And who, exactly, is Ann Bowman, the dominatrix who has risen to claim her birthright: World Domination? The big luau is only days away. Will our heroes thwart her evil scheme in time? Will Chicklet learn to surf? Will they still have time to prepare the finger foods? Will any of these questions be answered? Come see this bizarre hybrid of the best the Sixties had to offer: beach movies, bikinis, psychological melodramas, bikinis, surf guitar, bikinis, laughter, and... surfing. Not to mention the bikinis!

The movie is entertaining enough with the always fantastic Lauren Ambrose (Exit the King) cast as Chicklet. Rick has cast the show true to playwright Charles Busch's original intentions; that is to say he has cast major roles in drag.

My good friend Walter Songer - the Jeffy to my Hunter - (Side Show, The Pajama Game, and Vexed are the 3 shows we've worked on together) has been cast as the central female role of Chicklet. Other friends of mine cast include Chris Berry (A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein in Love, The Pajama Game) as Kanaka, fellow New Braunfels native Kate Miller as Marvel Ann, Chris Rodriguez as Yo-Yo, Paige Hansel as Bettina Barnes, and Cassie Moczygemba (who I worked with originally in Bye Bye Birdie and later Frankenstein in Love at the Overtime Theater).

The rest of the cast includes some people I don't know and a few others that I've seen in other productions. Judging from the production team and cast list alone, the show is gonna be a blast; at least it'll be fun for the actors. Lots of friends working together can amount to a lot of fun (it's also been known to cause lots of drama too, but I don't see that happening). I have a small regret of not auditioning; unfortunately work has gotten in the way of my Summer acting.

But nonetheless, with so many productions coming up, at least my Summer viewing will be plentiful. This Friday I'm stopping in at the San Pedro Playhouse to catch a final weekend performance of Take Me Out (with my soon to be going away to NYC buddy Ryan Ramirez) in the Cellar Theater with a brief stop upstairs in the Russell Hill Rogers Theater to catch the opening night celebrations of Sound of Music (gotta love champagne); hopefully by Saturday night I'll be able to get over my hangover and catch Cal Collins original revue titled Broadway's Best at the Brauntex Theater in New Braunfels; next weekend I'm looking forward to productions of Buddha Swings! at the Overtime Theater and the previously mentioned Sound of Music; and somewhere in there I'll squeeze in Seussical at Circle Arts Theatre in New Bruanfels, the Cameo's current production of I Hate Hamlet, and AtticRep's Blackbird.

Yay for local theater!

Wow, a new post!! or: how I got over being lazy

So, yes. I have been done with A Christmas Carol since the end of December. Here are a few pics from that wonderful show.






The show was quite a success, commercially and artistically. We sold out nearly every night (even during the week of Christmas) and the show was well received by the San Antonio critics. Michael E. Barrett of the San Antonio Express News wrote in his glowing review, "At the risk of gushing, there's nothing to say but that it's almost perfect." We also made the SA Express' end-of-year best-of list for 2008, citing the show once again as "the perfect holiday musical."

Playing Marley was a blast. Byrd Bonner, who contributed his Little House on the Prairie review here, was a delight to play against as Scrooge. What a generous actor.

I'm really happy I took part of this production. I met a lot of wonderful people who I still hang out with every week. It's been an amazing gift to be around people who are just as nutty as me.

And along the way, I started a new show which I am currently playing, Frankenstein's Creature in Love. The show opened at the Overtime Theater in San Antonio 2 weekends ago and so far has been a decent hit. The SA Express thoroughly enjoyed the screwball comedy. The show is a send up of Saved by the Bell, 90210, and bad 90s teen movies (with a bit of Halloween and The Goonies thrown in for mucho fun). With a little bit of effort, you can search my facebook page and find links to pics and the theater around there somewhere.

Alas, a lot has happened since I last posted. We got a new president (a black one at that), Broadway has experienced many closings, the Oscar nominations were announced (the subject of my next post), and a new year has begun.

A lot has happened personally, too. I've been a 'victim of the economic crisis' and am now officially unemployed. Which sucks ass, but I'm still young and hopefully can get back on my feet again. Not the end of the world. But it is one contributing reason to my blogging absence. Blogging has just not been a top priority for me the past month. Which is really a shame, since I enjoy it so much. Had I kept it up, I probably could have dealt with a lot of the crises with much more emotional stability than I did. But everything kinda got turned upside down, and as they say, when it rains, it pours.

But I am here now. Writing again. And if feels great. Thank you to all the bloggers who emailed me and/or left comments here asking about my MIA status, even as recently as last week. If it weren't for you, I probably would have just left this blog alone and had it fade into obscurity. Thank goodness I didn't. And thanks to those bloggers who I read everyday (SarahB, Esther, Steve, Chris, ModFab, Vance, Alicia, TAAL) who keep a consistent number of interesting and well written posts daily. Believe me, I feel I haven't missed anything over the past month due to your exemplary work on your blogs.

So what was it that made me want to pick up and start posting again? The end of the year movie awards season. Look forward to lots of posts over the next week dealing with film. And of course, you can start expecting all the wonderful theatre news and announcements as usual too. Can't wait to start interacting with all of you again.

Special shout out to Broadway & Me, Joie to the Max, Loves Mind Travel, The Resident Artist, and Theatreisms for all the quirky posts in the past month. Yous guys rock.

Opening A Christmas Carol, or: I shall return

On hiatus as I open my first show since this summer. I'll be performing in San Pedro Playhouse's production of the Alan Menken/Lynn Ahrens musical version of A Christmas Carol. We open on Saturday night. I play Jacob Marley. I am totally busy. I'll be back though. Promise.

Circle Arts Theatre Founder Elizabeth Elliot's Final Bow, or: the death of the matriarch of local theater

From the Herald-Zeitung of New Braunfels, TX:

New Braunfels performing arts community lost the woman perhaps best described as the matriarch of local theater with the passing of Elizabeth Elliott.

The founder and executive director of Circle Arts Theatre, Elliott was 76 when she died Saturday. She recently underwent surgery and had been unwell for some time.

Elliott has influenced thousands of community actors of all ages in New Braunfels since she founded Circle Arts, including her daughter Roberta, the theater’s artistic directory. Just last month, the company drew down the curtain on its 40th season and currently is staging its annual Wurstfest melodrama — this time entitled “Raiders of the Lost Wurst.”

A single mother who raised two daughters with disabilities — and a theatre from scratch — Elizabeth has directed 91 major productions to date, including the award-winning “Seascape.”

Speaking in October, Roberta Elliott said she was a teenager when Elizabeth, became interested in opening a theater.

“Originally, she wanted to renovate and reopen an abandoned theatre called the Peninsula Playhouse, which used to be where the (Landa Park) dance slab is now,” Roberta said.

Taking on the challenge of raising $10,000 to save the building, Elizabeth worked hard on a local petition and various fundraising activities.

When the playhouse fell into disrepair it was torn down in the 1960s. Elliott said she was livid when she learned that repairing the building would have cost the same as demolishing it — about $10,000.

"But anger is not a bad thing," she said. "It's what you do with your anger that makes a difference. I was so angry that I said, 'I'll show them. I'll build my own theater.' Then I got 20 friends together and borrowed $10 from each of them, and got the rights to do Calamity Jane."

Although, she ultimately was not successful, her determination and the fire in her belly eventually gave birth to what originally was the Community Actors Theatre.

“The name was changed because we want to show all different aspects of the arts; the serious side, as well as melodramas and comedies. Even Shakespeare has played here,” Roberta said. “Circle Arts is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in the performing arts and the affirmation and growth of the human spirit.”

Apart from its annual five-show season, another goal of Circle Arts’ is its “Klasses in Drama” program, which is meant to encourage self-discovery and build self-confidence, while teaching theatre to 2nd through 8th grade students. Another program, the Inner Circle company focuses on bringing live theatre to area elementary and middle schools. To date, the company has performed nearly 600 performances for more than 120,000 students.

Elizabeth was the recipient of the First Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater New Braunfels Arts Council and, in 1990, was named by the San Antonio Express-News as the “Outstanding Woman of the Year in the Arts.”

In recent years, Elliott’s mobility has been restricted and she got around using a motorized scooter. Up to age 75, Elizabeth Elliott continued to direct one show per year — her final show was “Driving Miss Daisy”

Speaking to the Herald-Zeitung in April, Elizabeth Elliott recalled that when she could still walk, she was often the last person to lock up the building each night.

"I'd close the back doors, and come out and walk on the stage, and look at the seats, and wonder to myself, 'When did we do all this?'

"We were so caught up in the job of building the theater and getting the seats and doing the shows, we were so busy doing the work that I didn't notice it until it got quiet at night. Then the theater's empty and you walk out on-stage and say, 'My God, when did all this wonderful stuff happen?"

Funeral services for Elizabeth Elliott are pending at the Zoeller Funeral Home in New Braunfels.

----------------------------------------------------------

Dazzle the dark, dazzle the dark, dazzle the dark.

I met Elizabeth when I was in second grade. I was a part of the Klasses in Drama program (then known as the Fantasy Factory) where I performed in one of my first shows ever, "Turkey Day," written by Roberta Elliott.

Ms. E (as she's known to most who work with her), was a woman of staunch demeanor. She was very wise and very professional, a trait that some incorrectly confused for strictness and stubbornness. She knew what she liked and let everyone know.

She also knew what she didn't like. To say the least, she was a mighty presence to a second grader doing one of his first productions of a theatrical nature. But she left an indelible impression.

And she has kept that same presence all throughout her long and productive life. No one who met Ms. E ever forgot her. The Herald-Zeitung article doesn't mention that she not only affected thousands of actors in the New Braunfels area, but her impression of thousands of actors in the San Antonio community as well.

My most recent production with Circle Arts Theatre was Honk!. It was a fun show directed by the insanely talented Robin Williams (yes, that is her real name). It was a show that was somewhat out of Ms. E's taste for theater. She preferred classic musicals that appealed to a large demographic or meaty dramas that enriched the culture of theater in New Braunfels. Honk! was a little too cute for Ms. E (a word she despised as a descriptor of any production), but she whole-heartedly championed the strong production and the talent involved. Every night there she was in the front row, offering her wisdom; offering her unwavering support and dedication.

My previous role at Circle Arts was back in January and February as Will Parker in Oklahoma!, a show that was right up Ms. E's alley. A classic musical with strong material and music that made the audience hum along in delight. Oklahoma! for me was a particularly strong production (thanks in part to the steady direction of Roberta Elliott [or Rob as she is referred to as by those closest to her ] and a committed, versatile, talented cast).

During that production Ms. E gave one of the most cherished compliments I have received. She called me a great actor. It was offered in a sort of back-handed compliment way, but it was accurate in its bluntness.

"Joseph has a wonderful voice. He may not be the greatest singer in the world, but it doesn't matter; because when he sings, he acts. And you feel every moment of his performance."

Coming from Ms. E, I took it in stride. That's the kind of woman she was. And to this day, it's one of the most cherished moments of my theatrical career. Everyone wanted her approval. And I knew I had it.

She will be missed. Next time I perform on that intimate stage and I look out to stage left and see her empty chair, where she so dubiously wrote and read detailed notes for actors, I will take a moment to appreciate all she has done for arts in the local area, all she has done for her theater family, and all she has done for me.

Namasté.

Voter Registration, or: Rod, the next Elle Woods

For those of you who didn't register to vote by yesterday's date, shame on you. The 6th of October was the voter registration cut-off date. Early voting begins later this month. Just do it.

On a side note, the touring production of Avenue Q is making its way to San Antonio this week in the gorgeous Majestic Theatre. I have my tickets for Saturday night. Yay for puppet porn!

New Braunfels Theatre Company presents Hello, Dolly!

Tonight is my opening night in my hometown of New Braunfels, TX as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! The show had its official opening weekend lask week, but becuase of many contributing factors, my understudy filled in for me while I finished my stint in San Antonio in Side Show at the Sheldon Vexler Theatre.

I'm incredibly sad that I missed opening weekend. The show, from reports, seemed to really come together despite last minute hiccups. So I'm happy for them. The cast is such a blast (hee hee, that rhymes) to work with and they deserve to have a great show. New Braunfels Theatre Company had tons of support to produce the show from volunteers and donators. And it's perhaps one of the largest shows to be produced in the area (last year's Jekyll and Hyde with Cal Collins Productions was another large scale show).

Another reason why I'm sad (which I blogged about earlier) is that the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung featured its premiere theater review for the newspaper over Hello, Dolly! But the critic went to see the show opening weekend and missed my performance. The review is in the paper today and as soon as I get a copy or it's available online, I'll post a capsule.

But moving on, I feel pretty good about my opening night. I think I play the part well and have great chemistry with Raquel Hindman (Irene Molloy) and Cody Jordan (Barnaby Tucker). And my best friend Adrianna is a hoot as Minnie Fay. Yesenia McNett plays Dolly and is wondrous in the role. She has a great voice and is extremely funny.

To opening night! Curtain rises at 7:30pm!

"L'chaim!"

I am jealous of my understudy...

Sorry for the recent "lack of posting." My run at Side Show ended and I started rehearsals for Honk! the following day. Plus, I open this Thursday (tomorrow!!) as Cornelius Hackl in Hello, Dolly! Oh and the critic from the New Braunfels Herald reviewed the show already - without me in it. I'm soooooo bitter. Stage rage is emanating from my ears.

A little self-indulgence goes a long way.

Ok time for a new post.

I've been so uber (I love that word) busy the past month, I have yet to contribute anything worthwhile to the theatre-going blogosphere since my last clever post title concerning a certain ingenue in danger (see previous post). While the SOB Steve pumps out new posts everyday, I sit at work fighting sleep. And may I add, I lose the battle most of the time.

My lack of sleep is due to my rehearsal and performance schedule. I am currently in my 4th week of performances with Side Show, that other Henry Krieger musical that deserves to be considered "the other one." I've always considered Side Show a great premise with awful execution. I think the score and the book are ridiculously melodramatic and not subtle. The show wears it emotions on its sleeve and holds nothing back.

However, I'm performing under the direction of a certain Ken Frazier, who has become a house-hold name in the San Antonio theater scene. Ken is always a creative director with a true vision and loves to take risks. As was the case, he fell in love with the premise of the show and was considerably underwhelmed with the actual material itself. He's created a seedy underworld of side show freaks including a disfigured woman, a reptile man, a geek who walks on stilts and eats chickens, a he-she in a wonderful costume, a 500lb lady, and of course - yours truly, the bearded lady. There is great talent among the cast, most notably Stephanie Bumgarner and Kimberly Stephenson as the 2 conjoined twins, Daisy and Violet Hilton.

I'm drawn to the direction of Ken Frazier and the staff of the Sheldon Vexler Theatre. This is a rare instance that I'm not drawn to the material, too. But I'm giving it my all. And I really enjoy singing in "The Devil You Know" - belting out high C's is always fun. And I'm enjoying the cast as well.

But that alone isn't enough for me to lose sleep over. What's killing me is that on top of these performances, I'm in rehearsals for another show that opens a week after my stint at the Vex closes. Just North of San Antonio is the small town of New Braunfels, TX. My home. And the home to the greatest water park in the world. And the home to the June production of New Braunfels Theatre Company's Hello, Dolly! I play Cornelius, which is a great part. And I feel that I'm doing a great job with it. Unfortunately, the production has been suffering from a management standpoint. And it has bled its way into the ensemble. People are frustrated, people are annoyed, people are bitter. And quite frankly there is only room enough for one diva in this town and that's me. I'm not gonna even go into more detail here because no good will come of it. But hopefully the cast can come together and pull out a great performance. I hope.

Oh yeah and then on top of that I just started rehearsals for Honk! I play the Cat and open in July, a week after Hello, Dolly! closes. Oh and I just got done with a stint as Snoopy in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Will Parker in Oklahoma! - my best performance yet in my opinion. Extremely proud of my work on that show.

And then of course there's work. And home life. And school. And my New York plans. Meh.

Oh and our reviews for Side Show were appropriately polarizing. Here's a snippet from Deborah Martin's glowing review in the San Antonio Express News:

“It's a little weird,” an older gentleman said to one of his companions at “Side Show” Saturday night.

It's a fair observation for a show that opens with a number titled “Come Look at the Freaks.” The show is a little weird, but it's a good kind of weird. It's also frequently moving and hard to forget.

And here is Thomas Jenkins' snippet from the San Antonio Current, a less favorable review:

The Vexler’s current production presents a mixed case for the merits of this cult musical, with several strong casting and creative choices, but also some real head-scratchers... Unfortunately, some baffling casting choices undermine the musical’s potential as a more affecting piece of theater, particularly in the romantic subplots.

Well there you go. Now that I'm through with this endless self-indulgence, on to blogging about things that people care about. Well, theatre people.