All I do is win

Hmmm...

I really don't have much to talk about, but feel like I need to post something.

Hamlet has been going well. This is the last week. Then I'm an unemployed actor again.

Excited for basketball again on Thursday, and for this summer.

I have my contacts in today, so I keep reaching up to adjust glasses that aren't there.

Had a pretty hard week, folks. Had a pretty hard month. Months. Life has been more downs than ups recently. Keep me in your prayers, if you're the praying kind.

Nervous but excited about the future. Joyous, yet painfully separated from the past.

The AppCo scene night was last night. It was sweet and wonderful. Every thing it should be for their final scene night. I want to always be there. It makes me happy to see people shine.

I heard a rumor...that rumor makes me feel like I need to put in some work to get cast in certain things at the Tavern... That is all.

Stage Door has announced their season. There's another one. I'm pretty sure I'm going to publish the "My Atlanta Theatre Life" document that I keep... So you folks can know what I'm aiming for. It'll be more clear when I fail.

Speaking of, I'm also pretty sure I'm going to be keeping a fitness diary. I'll incorporate that into this somehow... Maybe once a week, I'll give an update. I'm always hungry for content on here.

Speaking of fitness, anyone want to work out together? I need a spot.

It is weird to not be in a relationship after three years. That's it. That's as personal as I'll get. Just sayin'.

Keep it poppy.

Monologue Monday - Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare

I've had some personal stuff happen, but I didn't want to go another Monologue Monday without a post, so here's something. It ain't much, but it's something. More eventually.

Angelo, "Measure for Measure"

ANGELO
Who will believe thee, Isabel?
My unsoil'd name, the austereness of my life,
My vouch against you, and my place i' the state,
Will so your accusation overweigh,
That you shall stifle in your own report
And smell of calumny. I have begun,
And now I give my sensual race the rein:
Fit thy consent to my sharp appetite;
Lay by all nicety and prolixious blushes,
That banish what they sue for; redeem thy brother
By yielding up thy body to my will;
Or else he must not only die the death,
But thy unkindness shall his death draw out
To lingering sufferance. Answer me to-morrow,
Or, by the affection that now guides me most,
I'll prove a tyrant to him. As for you,
Say what you can, my false o'erweighs your true.

We'll be kings again.

Just recording a quick, good memory.

We had a two show day of Hamlet today. Between the matinee and night show, Doug Graham, Josh Jones, Daniel Parvis and I went to the park by Doug's house and played some basketball. It had been forever since I had played an actual game, so I was pretty rusty. We all were, but it was a phenomenal time. Doug put in some impossible shots, Josh was a beast in the paint, and Parvis put in the winning shot in both games (For our team, of course. The North Druid Hills. Watch out for merch, coming soon.) I even hit a couple of threes...there are few feelings as sweet as the ball leaving your hand and knowing it's going in.

After showers, Josh, Doug and I headed to Gladys and Ron's Chicken and Waffles and ate some delicious chicken (and waffles) before the night show. We were all tired, but it was a good tired. We're hoping to do it next week, but we'll see how that goes.

This made me go back to my old blog and review a post I had there. If you'll allow me the moment, I'd like to quote part of that post. It's after another beautiful night of basketball.

As I sit and type this, my skin smells like sweat and smoke from Log Cabin. I'm tired, my legs hurt and I really couldn't be happier. On nights like these, you realize how much is possible. You realize how much you love all of the people around you and how important they are to you. You realize that you don't tell them enough and you can't possibly tell them enough. This goes beyond Murray, for that matter. It's Rothbury, it's New Jersey, it's Benton, it's Charlottesville...it's every place that you have to say goodbye to after really making it your home. You can only hope that when you do leave to go on with your life, as we must all do, they remember you fondly and hold onto these moments when, for just a bit, we're all perfect. Because that's what happened tonight...tonight we were all perfect.

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.

You remember my checklist from yesterday? Let's scratch off "getting paid for it." Today, I was simply finding time to enjoy the fact that I love what I do. And I love the people here. And I may...MAY have just fallen a little bit in love with Atlanta. Occasionally, life is very, very good.

Things to do tomorrow...

- Send off headshot, resume and cover letter to Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
- Send "Thank You" postcard to Orlando Shakespeare. More on that later.
- Find Year of the King for Amee.
- Do two performances of Hamlet.
- Play some basketball.
- Start memorizing a short monologue for Tennessee Shakespeare.
- Figure out plans for the upcoming Actor's Express Intern Showcase I'm going to attend.
- Download the FreeDarko podcast.
- Start figuring out my plan of attack on Atlanta theatres. Seasons announced so far (that I've seen) - Theatrical Outfit, The Alliance, Georgia Shakespeare, Horizon...is that it, really? More on that later, as well.
- Find some time to enjoy the fact that I'm truly doing what I love to do and getting paid for it.

Busy day.

---

So, I just got back from Orlando Shakespeare on Monday. It was a whirlwind trip, to be sure. My friend, Amee and I left immediately following the Q&A for Hamlet, so we ended up rolling into town at...5? That area? We conked out immediately, got up at about 11:30, got ready and went to our audition.

I had a great time at the audition. I did two pieces that I feel comfortable with (Ford from Merry Wives, Lewis from King John) and simply love the area. Coming to Orlando always feels mildly like coming home. I'm obviously not banking on getting anything from them, but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't be eager to get some work there. What can I say? I'm passionate about Orlando?

All in all, fun trip. Being there for less than 24 hours is still a thrill. Plus, Amee was great company.

---

But, I'm not all joy and lollypops right now. So, what is up with, like, every theatre not wanting me to work in the beginning of their seasons? Everything I've seen so far is either a musical or all women. 7 Stages - Hair. Alliance - Come Fly With Me. Theatrical Outfit - Cotton Patch Gospel. Theatre in the Square - Some show whose name escapes me right now but is entirely women except for one priest that is cast and I might look up the name of this show later and I love run on sentences.

So...yeah! What's up with that?!

---

I am starting to wear face lotion. I fear my vanity is overtaking me.

---

Go read Year of the King if you trust my taste.

Go listen to the new Royksopp album if you trust my taste.

Go watch Friday Night Lights if you trust my taste.

Slings and Arrows is good...but not blowing me away yet. Deal with it.

Kisses.

Reeling

I am in love with the new Passion Pit song The Reeling. Now, that being said, I think I might just be in love with Passion Pit. They're coming to the Drunken Unicorn in June! Who wants to come with?

We're a week into Hamlet. It's going pretty well. We're getting a lot of good response to it, so what else can you ask for, really?

I've had a couple of odd e-mails the last few days that have knocked me for loops. No true offers yet, but the idea of an offer is throwing my life upside down a bit. One of the e-mails wanted me to audition for something next Thursday in Manhattan. Guys, I would sincerely love to, but I've got two shows that day. So I don't think I'll be able to make it. To New York.

I'm still champing at the bit to find out some seasons... Theatrical Outfit was ON IT, but most other places are still a mystery to me.

I saw Suddenly Last Summer at The Express last night. It was pretty fantastic. Both of the leads were Amazing (Note the capital "A".) and I was pleased as punch to see my former Lost Colony castmate Erin Burnett. She'll be in Zanna, Don't, which is the next show out at AE, so go see it if you get the chance. But, you should ABSOLUTELY go see Suddenly Last Summer. They were pretty great, y'all. No lie.

I'm suddenly feeling a little bit less panicked about my options, post-Hamlet. Let's hope this feeling sticks around.

Neck cramp

And everything slows down for a day.

My neck hurts. Hence, the name of the blog post.

Today, I slept in. It was phenomenal. Though, I still say that my best day of the last two months was last Wednesday, just because of the simplicity of it. Drew cancelled the 10 out of 12 for Hamlet and make it into a dress rehearsal. I woke up late, worked out, did laundry, all the little stuff. So glorious.

This week is going to be another busy one. In fact, I think they're ALL going to be busy until May, when Hamlet wraps up. I don't anticipate having a day off this month, in fact. Let's check the stats!

The only chance I will have for a day off is a Monday, since we've got Hamlet every other day. Sooo...

April 6th (Today) - Day job. At night.
April 13th - (Fingers crossed.) Orlando Shakespeare's General Auditions (Fingers crossed.)
April 20th - reThink, probably.
April 27th - I WILL be going to App Co '09 scene night... Does that qualify as work? I bet I'll open that day...
May 4th - Tennessee Shakespeare General Auditions.

What a schedule, huh? After that, it slows down CONSIDERABLY. In fact, it slows down so much that I'm not schedule for anything outside of Kidstuf. Once again, I face the truth of being an unemployed actor...

This summer is going to be an interesting one. To my knowledge, I won't be involved in any performance, outside of whatever I'm doing with Kidstuf. On one hand, that's good, because it will give me time to straighten up my life (Degree, fitness, home, etc.). But, on the other hand...it's still so long between performances. I've worked really consistently since coming to Atlanta. Gulfs scare me.

The Unified auditions were a lot of fun! I need to ask Jeanette how I did...

Disjointed blog post!

Wednesday, I'll be going to see Suddenly Last Summer at Actor's Express! If you happen to go see it, as well, you make sure you tell Erin Burnett I said hi. She's pretty great.

Also, tell Freddie Ashley I said hi. And that I am available this summer.

...are dead.

So, we had our first (and last) preview of Hamlet last night. It went well. I mean, it went well for me. No explosions. No one shoved me off stage crying that I was a charlatan. It was pretty low key. But that's not bad.

The only problem I see myself having over this opening weekend is my energy level. I'm going into another one of those times where I'm working, going straight from work to the Tavern, going straight from the Tavern to home and bed, and getting up and starting it all over again. Now, I'm blessed to be acting. I know that. I'm not complaining. I'm just fatigued, is all. I'm looking forward to Monday, which is the next day that I can get up later than 7:30, and the last day that I can do that for...two weeks? That feels right, looking at my calendar.

But it's been a very good week. I've found that I'm closer to graduation than I thought. Yes, folks, I'm not a college graduate. But that is truly a conversation for another day. And, I don't know if you've heard this, or even care, but the University of Kentucky has a new basketball coach that I might be a little bit excited about. PLUS LOUISVILLE LOST IN THE TOURNAMENT! This has been a really good week...

I really want to find some people to play basketball with... I need to play some ball, even though I'm not particularly good.

Hamlet opens, for proper, tonight. I lay my services freely at your feet to be commanded.