Sunday, January 24, 2010

Take You To My Castle Far Away

You guys.

One mere week ago, I was up at 8:30 in the morning to sing Peter Cetera.

Now, granted, I'm not what you would call "musically inclined." I don't often sing in shows, but I've been singing more than a bit in Kidstuf recently. We've got an interpolation of "Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera (The theme from Karate Kid II...) that the comic hosts had to come in and record for the February show.

I will say this. I went for it. And no one can take that away from me. But that man will break your soul if you have to sing like him without properly warming up for eleven hours.

Eight thirty, you guys... That's too early for that.

Tune into the website after the show, too. Jon Williams, Brandon O'Dell and I also shot some videos. They're all improv. I'm not sure whether I would rather someone write for us or not...

AND go to the website NOW to see the very last landing page that Allison and I got to do together. And, after you see how hilarious it is, write to the Kidstuf staff and convince them to bring it back.

Although, real talk time, I guess I understand why they're getting rid of them, and all I can say is that I'm so happy to have had them for so long. I go back and watch the old landing pages, and you can really see our relationship and chemistry mature. When she came in, I'll admit, it was a tumultuous time and not exactly the way I wanted my first couple of months at Kidstuf to go. Without the time we spent working together in those landing pages, it would have taken much longer for us to get our patter down. And, even beyond that, become such great friends. Truly, she is someone that I look at as a big sister now, no matter how I treat her on stage.

And so much of that was built on the landing pages. I loved the opportunity to do them for so long. It was a blessing.

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I had a couple of auditions last week. I feel like the one for New Harmony in Evansville, IN went pretty well. I'm not as happy with the one I did out at Actor's Express (my first audition for them!), but I do think I showed them what my interpretation of the character would be like, so in that respect, I'm pleased.

I have a couple more the next few weeks. But I'm worried about going to UPTA. It's going to be a bear of a drive alone.

I also think my Georiga Shakespeare audition went well. Diany's Georgia Shakespeare audition, on the other hand, was... not what one would expect.

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There's not much to update, really. Things are going as well as they can, I guess. I'm starting rehearsals for And Then They Came For Me on the 1st, so there should be more to talk about.

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Good to talk, blogfriend. Here's hoping I have all sorts of stuff to talk about in this new year.

Monday, January 11, 2010

This is real...

So, the new year, huh? It's already better than the last one.

As I've said before, I think that my problems stemmed more from my years on Earth as opposed to the calendar (I.E. my 26th year, as opposed to the year 2009...), but I'm still happy to see 2009 in my rear view.

It was eventful.

I initially had a lot more stuff typed up, but let's just leave it at that, what do you say?

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I've got at least an audition a week to close out January. That's great, even if I don't necessarily think I'm going to get any of them. I'll still take it. One is at ART Station, one is a Georgia Shakespeare, and one at New Harmony in Evansville, Indiana. I just love logging miles.

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Speaking of which, as of my most recent count, I had travelled more than 12,000 miles for theatre last year. My poor car.

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2010 is my year... Mark it, kids.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Quiet Time

It's been pretty quiet in my life, folks, which is why it's been pretty quiet on this blog. Now, I'll try and figure out some things to talk about.

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Auditions have been pretty few and far between recently. I'm hustling to find as much work as I can, and I have had a couple of moments I'm proud of, including on ALMOST general audition at The Shakespeare Theatre in DC, but there just isn't much going on right now.

I do have a couple of auditions scheduled for January, at least. That's nice. And at places that I've never worked before, one in Atlanta. Keep your fingers crossed for me, though, for there are still so very many places I haven't auditioned for, and even more than I simply haven't worked for yet. Hi, Theatres That Haven't Seen Me Audition Yet. My name is Jacob. I'm sure you'll just love me.

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I've done two readings in the last month, after having not done one since that baseball play I did a reading for out at Market House Theatre. One was called Behind Closed Doors and was written by good friend and fellow Middle Schooler, Bernard Jones.

Secondly, but first chronologically, was Spoon Lake Blues by Josh Tobiessen. It's a play that The Alliance is looking to do next year. Here's hoping I acquitted myself well. All the bigwigs were there. That was intimidating.

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They're cutting the Kidstuf landing pages, those hilarious videos featuring me that you'll see when you log onto kidstuf.com and click on the Buckhead button. If you're only now finding out about them, I do feel sorry for you, because we've had some pretty hilarious shoots. Some of my favorites have featured me singing songs about love to my co-host, dressing up as a superhero and, of course, chewing on a grotesque cud of candy corn.

Complain to anyone who will listen. This was, truly, one of my favorite parts of Kidstuf. I'm sad it is going away.

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Christmas is just around the corner. My proud return home, a mere three days away. It's going to be a hard holiday.

After that, New Years! I'm sure I will have something to say about it.

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Hey...we're coming to the close of the first full year of me having a blog. I'll throw a party. We'll eat cake. That's how I get down.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Cusp

Wow, but it has been a busy couple of weeks. Let me catch you up.

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Middle School: The Musical at The Alliance was a rousing success. Everyone involved was just lovely, and I looked forward to spitting my rhyme at the end of the show every day. I'm sad that it was such a short run, but maybe we'll be back...

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Also, having done a show at The Alliance, I have found an odd connection. I've found that I'm more invested in Atlanta theatre, for some reason. I mean, this is my second theatre in Atlanta proper, and I made such great contacts that I can't help but feel like something good is coming. Diany, one of my fellow actors in MSM said that she feels like I'm on the cusp of something. Now, I don't know about that, but I DO think that it isn't ridiculous to hope that this little, fun show is the beginnings of a snowball that will hopefully turn my career into, at least, the bottom of a snowman...

Of course, I could be wrong and this could all blow up in my face, so who knows?

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Speaking of Diany, she has been my theatre companion over the last four weeks or so, and I have seen a lot of theatre. Right off the top of my head, I've got Bunnicula at Synchronicity, Richard III and Macbeth at the Tavern, Julius Caesar at Georgia Shakespeare, and A Life in the Theatre and Second City: Peach Drop, Stop and Roll at The Alliance. It's been wonderful! Some of the standouts were Tiffany Porter (obviously...) in MacB, Amber Nash (Of Dad's Garage fame...) in Second City, and, it sorta goes without saying, Andre DeShields in A Life. Many people were very good, but these guys just get a bonus pat on the back from me.

And, I gotta say, this month has given me the itch to do Shakespeare again. Hard. It has also given me the itch to work all over town. Man, I would love to work with GA Shakes and Synchro. Man, I would love to do more stuff with The Alliance and the Tavern. Man, I want to work! I'm hungry...

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Maybe there's more. Maybe there's not. Personal life is going very well, thanks for asking.

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Also, I would be insane if I didn't give a shout out to Veronika Duerr. She turned in one of the best performances I saw last year in Tradin' Paint. Well, apparently, the Atlanta theatre illuminati agreed with me, because she won the Suzi Bass Award for Best Actress. I'm bursting at the seams with joy for her.

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Maybe there's more. Maybe there's not. You'll know if you need to.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake...

Happy Halloween! This is one of my favorite months of the year, especially in the south. I've already been to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween and Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. A few days ago I went to Six Flags to have some Fright Nights fun. Plus, all the Halloween programming and theming around makes me smile. It's a great time of year and I'm always a little sad when its over.

SO, I'm going to be pretty busy next year, hopefully. I've signed on to play the part of Young Ed in Georgia Ensemble's And Then They Came for Me, Remembering the World of Anne Frank. That is a mouthful. It is not that long on my resume. This will be the first time I've worked with Georgia Ensemble, and also the first time I've worked with Peter Hardy, so I'm pretty excited. It runs through parts of February, March and April, so it's a long stint.

ALSO, I've heard that a certain musical I was in this year might be coming back next year. As is my habit, I won't say anything until I've received assurance, but it is seeming more and more like a sure thing. Which should be pretty darn exciting.

Not to mention maybe trying to film something in Louisville. Not to mention all the auditions I've gone on outside of Atlanta. And UPTA. And Kidstuf and reThink. And (HOPEFULLY) some other stuff in Atlanta that I don't even know about yet. I'm loving this town more and more, so all things being equal, I would like to stay here. I just don't know that all things stay equal...

So, that's about caught you up, blogfriend. Week after next, I'm heading to Washington DC. I'm sure I'll have all sorts of adventures.

Friday, October 23, 2009

All Play and No Work

Man, it's amazing what being at the day job less and having my computer die does to my blog output... Don't have a ton of time, so here are some updates.

- Middle School: The Musical has been going beautifully. I'm ecstatic I've been able to be a part of it.

- I may have more information on my next project soon. We'll wait until it's assured to talk about it...

- Also, there may be some interesting things in the works from my buddy Brandon Howell.

There's a lot of stuff going on right now. Here's hoping I'll have a sec to calm down and catch my breath in a bit. I'll let you know how that goes...

Monday, September 28, 2009

King of the Road

So, remember when I said I'm sure I would post another blog last week? Well, that was before the power supply on my computer went kaput thanks to the storm. Oh well...here's a bunch of random notes.

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I'm on the road again this week. It seems like I'm always in my car. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just that I'd like to slow down a bit. I know, though, that I've got AT LEAST one thing taking me out of town through December, and maybe through February... We got American Shakespeare Center, DC trip, Christmas and UPTA. Lots of miles...

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We're about to begin rehearsals for Middle School Musical at The Alliance, which is exciting. I think this is going to be a good show already. We're all bringing a lot of stuff to the table.

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BUT, you know me well, blogfriend... Just because I currently have a job, doesn't mean that I've stopped freaking out about future employment. I've got nothing in November and December, which is...ok. I would have liked to have gotten It's a Wonderful Life out at ART Station, but losing out to any of those folks isn't a diss to me. There are more opportunities coming up in January, which is good, but not exactly something I can fall back on... I'm just hoping I can get in for a few auditions at some places I haven't been before (Actor's Express, Dad's Garage) and maybe get a solid part in Lear or Shrew at The Tavern. Eh, I'm just thinking out loud at this point. I try to plan so meticulously, but it rarely works out...

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There are some people in my life that I really miss right now... Hope I get to see 'em soon.

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The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which a Youth Players show at The Alliance that I'm assistant directing with KG Morton, is going beautifully. There are a lot of really talented, really great kids in it. It makes me wish I had done stuff like that when I was young...

More info on that when we get closer to performance time.

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I'm a man of means, by no means king of the road.