Revelations

I've stumbled upon some brilliant revelations this week.

#1: No matter how hard you try to break one, a curse is still a curse.

#2: The most major setback the theatre industry is facing is not the internet, lacking attention spans, rock musicals, stunt-casting, the melding of singer-dancer choruses, or 800 producers above the title.  It is, in fact, the audition studio.

Who decided it was a good idea to make performers sing in a concrete wooden-floored box?

I had the fortune to audition this week on a stage.  In a theatre (albeit the basement of a church, but that's practically the definition of off-Broadway these days).  Facing a rise of seats with the casting director and director occupying the house seats.

And I performed my a** off!  With 110% tonis (RIP, JPT)!

We're performers.  Not monkeys in a box.  We deserve to strut our stuff on a stage.  In a theatre.  It doesn't have to be under stage lights or on a set, but I think we truly have lost something from 50 years ago when you went to the Stage Door to audition.  When people booked their debuts on Broadway.... on Broadway!

People can be great auditioners and terrible performers.  Because moving the audition (or at least final callback) from the stage to the rehearsal room denegrates our technique and the energy of a performance to merely another interview.

Not that I can't work it in a box (don't get me wrong), I just think we deserve the chance to truly strut our stuff.

But who am I to tell producers how to spend their money?

#3.  Great friends and great conversation continue to challenge and excited me.  And through these great friends I'm aware what terrible trouble our society is in.  ("with a capital T and that rhymes with....")  As hate fills our hearts further and further every day in internet comments, where people hide behind the guise of anonymity on their couch and say things they would never dare to actually confront someone with, we slowly are turning the tables on ourselves.

People are fighting words and sound bytes and each other, instead of taking a stand for the true ethics of a gracious society.  Now that morality has replaced ethics, I wonder how hate became a form of currency.

#4.  Evan's coming to visit.

GRIN!

Tony Disappointment

You honestly didn't think I'd forget about the Tony awards, did you?

Too bad the Tony awards forgot about honoring great work and only looked at your star billing.
Thankfully, with a few exceptions.

Honestly, if it weren't for Katie Finneran's win and exceptional speech and Levi Kreis's piano skills, I might be convinced it's time to quit the business, since there wouldn't be much future left for someone like me.

When the dazzling effervescene of Sherie Rene Scott's hilariously heartbreaking journey, Kate Baldwin's sublime soprano meltings of the Harburg/Lane score, Christiane Noll's riveting interpretation of a changing woman, and Montego Glover's powerhouse physicality and vocals are sidelined by a sub-par, whiplash-inducing, needs-to-go-back-to-the-fermata-of-focus-in-Body-Movement performance because it was delivered by a movie star, things are rotten in the state of Antoinette Perry.

I'm not denying CZJ her Oscar, but any of the other 4 ladies truly deserved that Tony.

Apparently the only way to win a Tony is if you're British or famous.  Though that's not to say I'm not supremely delighted that SPD's British-import show received so much attention and he'll have a job for quite some time!

Don't get me started on the fact that Finian's Rainbow didn't even get represented in performance despite being deservedly nominated for Best Revival as well as Leading Actress and Featured Actor.  While much of that is probably due to Kate's cross-Atlantic scheduling nightmare, it's a snub nonetheless.  That sublime revival deserved more than a screen capture.

Especially when Green Day got 5 songs, Promises x2 got several features, and even Addams Family got special attention because (not even despite!) it was snubbed from nominations (deservedly so).

ScarJo stealing Jan Maxwell's award in Supporting started the evening off all wrong for me.  Even the presence of fave Ryan Reynolds on her arm could not sway the tide of discontent.

And sound issues?  AGAIN?

I'm glad Memphis won Best Musical over Fela.  At least they supported the original material concept, if only because that show is more bankable on the road.  And they shouted out to great regional theatres (HOLLA NORTH SHORE!).  I'll still never understand that awkward "re-perform" ending, though.  And I wish since it was gonna win that anyway, they'd have given Book to the super-deserving team for Everyday Rapture.  That show seriously blew me out of the water.

I am supremely happy that Barbara Cook and Angela Lansbury did not overshadow Ms. Finneran's brilliance, in part because I did not care much at all for Barbara's performance, and Angela got her older-age Tony for a much better appearance in Blithe Spirit.  For once, true scene-stealing was rewarded.

And finally, I have to fight back against all the Glee hatred.  While yes, there seemed to be a lot of Glee faces, and yes, there were two extra performances from Glee cast members, let's truly dissect this.

The five Glee faces have bankable appeal, but unlike many of the presenters tonight (Paula Abdul, weird Jets guy), they also actually have Bway street cred.  The 3 guest stars have all won Tony's, and would have been there had they not appeared on Glee.  Kristin is also starring on the Bway next to the nominated host of the evening.  Matthew Morrison has been nominated before, and Lea Michele has been performing since we were 8.  And was in a Best Musical original cast.  They have legitimate NY theatre credits.

Better yet, the numbers they performed were classics and better than much of the poorly-produced out-of-context sampler we saw this evening.  Oh, that and the fact that Lea was clearly auditioning for the 2012 revival of Funny Girl.

At least she got a full song.  Which apparently is too much to ask for Christiane Noll.

Forcing her to reaudition her exceptional talents with a 32-bar from-the-bridge cut of "Back to Before" from her already shuttered revival?  Shameless.  What's next, making her go to an ECC and wait in line on the street at 6 AM?  Guessing Catherine never had to do that.
Not allowing the Cagelles to perform their numbers since previous telecasts (from 25 years ago) have shown them?  Also shameless.
But those Cagelles still got a box office boost.

Cuz it's all about money and numbers and a glorified 3-hour commercial.

They should think next time before putting Daniel Radcliffe, in all his amazing humility, next to Katie Holmes's ridiculously clothed bust.
Green Day should just let the OBC sing their album, cuz I kinda hope a set piece Bret Michaels-es them.
Making actors read from moving teleprompters is evil.

I just have to remember: "our work is the greatest passport".  Congrats, Miss Finneran.  You deserve it!

A Cool Weather Week

Have you ever seen "The Goonies"?

I did, for the first time yesterday, courtesy of a post-poned interview and a cool, rainy day.  I'm glad I didn't see this classic when I was a kid, because it would have freaked me out, but now I just want to ride that awesome water slide.

"Hey, you guuuuuuuyyys!"

Monday was an overwhelmingly exhausting and bi-polar day.  My roommate's psychology book said that all performers are a little bit bi-polar, which I'm still on the fence about, but if you mix in the fact that I'm a Gemini and had 3 auditions that took about 12 hours...  I guess it kind of makes sense.

Luckily, the overall vibe of the day was a good, albeit exhausted, one.  However, after the first dance audition in which I got cut despite feeling I'm rather perfect for the show, I was feeling a bit down on myself.  There isn't a lot to look forward to this summer, and I felt like I choked when the right audition was in front of me.  Doesn't help that my roommate is now in final callbacks for the show, though I am happy for her!

The afternoon, however, went much better.  Much like Radio City, I finally broke through the glass ceiling of a certain long-running holiday show that I never make it past the second cut.  No matter what dance we do, I never get to sing!  Unlike Radio City, though, I not only broke the second-cut barrier, I made it through the 5th and final cut, and had the opportunity to keep dancing one-on-five with the choreographer in a little work/add-on session at the end of the day.

Of course, I was freaking TIRED by this point, mentally and physically, but I just struggled on through the 5 PM slump and did my best.  I don't suspect I'll book this show, but I think I have a good shot at it after Monday's madness.

And boy, did it feel good.

Helped wipe away that crappy Young Frankenstein audition too!

Tuesday I got to hang out with my cousin Evan who's been staying in the city for a couple weeks, and we found this crazy awesome rooftop Irish pub in Midtown East.  The Perfect Pint.  What was really perfect about it though was the apparently required-to-work-there Irish accent.  I love a good brogue!  Even better, our waitress for dinner at 515 had one too!  Apparently I know where they all work:  Murray Hill!

Today I have my third and final interview for a waiting job at Hillstone's, formerly Houston's.  A friend kind of hooked me up with the gig, and though I'm not necessarily sold on selling my time (and probably soul) to a waiting gig, it does seem like a nice way to spend the summer and make some money, rather than sweat to death and be poor in my apartment.  HA!

And on that note.... I better get moving.

Thursday

The weekly rundown:

First, I finally broke the Radio City audition glass ceiling this year and didn't get a "Thank you!" after I sang...  I think I finally had some idea of what to sing when I walked in the room.

Too bad I got let go at the final cut today after working my tail off in the callback.

Guess that glass ceiling just got a little higher.  At least I don't have to wait 2 months to find out I didn't get the job though, right?

Oh, and on that note, Wednesday was frightfully cold and rainy, and after keeping us out in the cold for 2 hours, the nice folks at Radio City didn't bother to tell us we wouldn't be able to leave once we got inside and would be held hostage until our number was called... 4 hours later.   With no chance to eat.

WTF, Radio City, WTF?

Secondly, I am looking forward to this weekend to finally sleep in past 7 AM.  Seriously, when did I turn into my father?

Third, it was my father's birthday today.  This year was the year I kinda forgot about him for part of the day (because I was busy pulling up for Radio City) and it just felt weird.  Thank goodness I had the afternoon to spend some time at home, and pizza and beer to eat my feelings for Thursday Night Pizza Party.

Sadly, that tradition has fallen by the wayside now that the old apartment is gone, but Kate and I resurrected it partially this evening.  We just need to get some of our good friends back in the game of Grey's and Papa John's.  At least in time for the dramatic season finale next week.

Fourth, well, that's really all.  My life isn't that interesting now that I'm not living in Japan anymore.  I really miss it, so much so that I found an amazing Japanese restaurant on 49th and stopped in to have a bowl of ramen after the cold imprisonment yesterday.  Sapporo was 99% authentic, though I wish it hadn't been two Hispanic guys cooking my food.  And the ramen noodles were a little thin... And not quite white-yellow enough.  But the broth and pork were spot on.

Seeing the Japanese people's faces when I shouted "gochi so sama deshita!" as I left the restaurant was PRICELESS.  They so didn't see that one coming, nor the fact that I understood half of what was happening in the restaurant.  It made me feel oddly at home.  Sigh.

I'm heading to see Leslie Jordan's show tomorrow night (since he was so great at the Easter Bonnet), and I was devastated to hear that Doris Eaton Travis passed yesterday.  I met her years ago doing Will Rogers and have seen her at the Easter Bonnet twice since then (the last time still kicking away only 2 weeks ago), and sadly our last-living-at-106 Follies girl has joined my dad on the other side.  What an honor to experience her joy and memories 3 different times.

My father was a man who understood the importance of words and the power of listening.  Something I'm still learning every day.  A man who believed "sainthood is achievable", that "something worth doing is worth doing right", and who taught me the true power of music with his guitar strums.

Happy Birthday, Dad, I love you.

Back in the Game

I'm sure you are wondering why a guy who spent so much time blogging his adventures in Japan has paused his blogging while readjusting and adventuring back into a New York way of life, and the truth is I've been adjusting.

And for all my brain has been able to accomplish in the last two weeks (which wasn't much), I haven't felt much like writing at the end of these long, early-morning days.

Take last week for example.

I auditioned every single day (except Tuesday because I left my cell alarm on vibrate) and therefore left the house by 7:30 AM, if not earlier.  I often was out all day with a side trip home for a break, and Monday and Tuesday I had late night affairs that didn't get me home until 1 or 2.  And jet lag has left my bedtime at a respectable 10 PM the past two weeks.  I'm not sure I'm auditioning particularly well, but at least I'm there.

I did have a good audition for a couple of agents on Monday night, but I haven't heard anything yet.  At least it felt good, right?

I then worked 30 hours for a special event over the course of Friday morning through Sunday at noon, and each morning progressively got earlier until Sunday's wake up call of 4 AM.

So I'm brain dead.

And when audition calls are run like LA/reality TV/open call auditions (I'm talking to you, Debbie Allen) with a lack of understanding and complete disrespect for union rules, including telling union members they should leave their union so the producers can operate the calls the way they want to, I don't have much energy to be witty at the end of the day.

TV on the couch time sounds much better.

Especially now that DVR is back in my life!

But I'm present now.  And after a week of jet lag and spring hibernation, and a super-productive audition/working/unpacking week, I'm ready for a week with a little less crazy.

Which is why I'm so thankful I have two afternoon singing appointments in a little bit and already had a most excellent tapper call that was short, simple, concise, yet with the perfect amount of challenge and technique required courtesy of Christopher Gatelli.  It was so pleasant to be in a room with 20 men who could all actually tap well, and then, rather than watching each person to see if he could tap, I was enjoying watching each person to see how he could tap.  His style.  His sounds.  His sense of rhythm.

It really was a beautiful thing.

And to have a cold, windy weekend that has turned into a cool, sunny and gorgeous spring day, well... I couldn't be more content.

This makes being home feel easy.  And right.

Not those crazy SoyJoy-grabbing nut cases yesterday.

I'm unpacked, but I still have a lot of decorating and planning of our living space to do.  For now, I'm here.

Tuesday morning

So jet lag has officially kicked my @$$.  And I think that's rather rude.  Just rude.

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened...  though it mostly consists of me being awake on the couch or in my bed at very strange hours, and a lot of early bed times.

Here's how the sleep hit the fan-powered engine.

Friday night, after a very pleasant, but far-too-large-portioned meal with Meg and Erin, I came home and hit the hay about 10 PM.  I had spent 2 hours in the afternoon walking the Hudson River and exploring the new Highline park, which is really cool and a great place to enjoy the sun.  Which helped my body clock get sleepy since I had to wake up at 4 AM.

Which went swell.  Made it to the Bronx Zoo event, it was even easier to work than last year's, and we were out by 10:30 AM.  So I had plenty of time to return home, rest, nap, maybe unpack a little, and get to Brooklyn around 8 or 9 for Hilary's party.

But...  That didn't exactly happen.

I made it home.  To the couch.  To take a nap.  Around 1:30 PM.

And woke up 11 HOURS LATER!

Now that's not to say I didn't groggily roll over a few times there in the middle, but I was in that sleep mode where it takes at least 20 minutes to be able to de-paralyze yourself and open your eyes, and well...

I failed.  At least 3 times.

Rather, I found myself wide awake at 12:30 AM, too late to head to Brooklyn for a party that was already winding down, and too early to start my day.  I felt too cruddy to try to do anything, and so I got to sit on the couch and play Farmville (among other things) until the sun rose.

Yeah.  I got screwed by jet lag.

I forced myself to attempt being productive through the morning and tried to stay awake, but by one I could feel another repeat over-extended snooze-fest on its way.  No, I'm not talking about Dances with Wolves...  I DID set an alarm to keep it to an hour, which luckily only turned into two and a half.

That night I had dinner with Jared at his house, which was great since I was pretty beat and it's so close, but not so great now that he has cats.  Yes, I still like them.  And yes, I'm still heinously allergic to them.  So I took a Benadryl (in addition to my once-a-day Claritin) and it worked its magic.

At putting me to sleep until the food came.   What a great friend I am!

Sadly, I didn't have any Benadryl when I stopped by Zak's apartment for lunch after auditioning yesterday, since his cat since my system into Orange Level terror alert, and I nearly was unable to breathe, sing, or get my eyes to stop watering for my afternoon appointment.

Awesome.  Now all my friends have cats and we can't play anymore.  Boo.

But I forced myself to try to sleep on a normal schedule that night, and managed to make it from 10 till 6.  Which helped since I needed extra time to prepare for auditioning.  I'm SO not ready to be back yet.

Clearly, since I woke up at 4 AM this morning after another 10 PM pass-out.  Oh well.  At least I'm rising with the sun.

Which, by the way, daylight savings time is mucking me up more than anything else right now.  I'm pretty much (maybe) on a sun schedule, but it makes NO SENSE that it's still light out at 19:30.  My body does not understand this DST theory after living in Japan.  I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's seriously WACK.

And yesterday, well, I forced myself to go to 2 auditions and then see the Easter Bonnet first show.  I'm glad I made myself resemble a normal NYC actor again, more for jet lag and adjustments than anything else.  But it was so amazing to see so many of my dear, close friends and how ecstatic they were to have me back.

That's what I was missing.

I finally got to hug my best, see SPD in drag, and enjoy the audition buddies I've been without.

Yet, at the end of the day, nothing's changed here, and somehow everything that's happened to me already feels like a dream...

Gotta hold on to Japan.  I've just got to.  Clearly my body doesn't wanna let go...