🎼 And I’ll Take With Me The Memories, To Be My Sunshine After The Rain…🎶

Hello Gentle Reader,

I have been unfortunate to find this sad news in a multitude of ways. First, a phone call, then an email, and in my mailbox today, I found a letter. The sad news in question, dear friend, is that the place that I have called my theatre home has announce that after 60 years, they would be closing the doors.

This is devastatingly sad information to find out. And as hard as it is for me, I can only imagine how it must feel for the board of directors and some amazing friends who have given so much time, energy and love to this endeavor.

I have been so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to experience so many firsts with this incredible non-profit. Before I get in to any of that… buckle up, this is gonna be a little long.

Dear WVLO,

When I walked in to my first audition with you, I could never have guessed that for the last 33 years I would get to play so many incredible characters on that Saratoga stage under your banner.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to WVLO for being a safe space to play, grow, learn, experiment and connect. I learned so much with this company and many of those things that have made my life so much better and more complete. This was the first space that I felt safe enough to try new things but most importantly, was allowed to try them. I don’t know that I would have had that chance in other places.

My first show should have been King & I back in 1993. The production had just started rehearsals and I was a late addition. At this time, I was heavy into competitive dance. It was an all boys group and we had won seven championships for our category. One of those wins got us into a national competition that was going to be at the event center right by Disneyland. The only down side was that this occurred during the tech week and opening weekend of the show. It was decided that maybe this wasn’t the right time to try and be in a show since I was committed to this event. I was bummed but it made sense. I didn’t know what “tech week” was at that time or how much of a commitment that alone is.

However, I met Nancy and the Hand family at that time. I also met the Pincus’ and I am pretty sure, their daughter Judy. I never would have guessed that these people whom I have come to adore, we be so gracious to welcome me back to work as part of the stage hand crew for Meet Me In St. Louis. I had a worry that there would be some sort of hesitation to have me work on another show. Silly thought.

MMISL is where I got hands on experience being part of the group that works on the physical transition of the stage into a new look between scenes, or helps hand out props to the actors and sometimes assists with a quick change, just to name a few tasks. Without a stage crew, a show would be impossible to happen. At this time, I was still in high school and my drama teacher was directing the show. Since I was still competing, I knew that I most likely couldn’t be on stage. I spoke to my teacher about it and he made the suggestion of stage hand. I was able to compete and miss a weekend of shows so that worked out really well. It was a lot of fun and I had learned a new part of the theater world. Up until this point, I had only been a performer. Having the chance to do backstage tasks, helped me to learn how each job in the project was super important. It wasn’t just about the actors on stage.

It was this point that I truly fell in love with the world of the theatre.

In 1995, I had given up competitive dance, mostly because I wanted a job so I had a little spending money of my own and found that my drama teacher was once again directing for WVLO, so I auditioned for West Side Story. As part of the ensemble, I was so jealous at how much dance there was in the show but that I didn’t get to do. I would jokingly say this show should have been called Jet Boys and Shark Girls. And even though I was envious of the dances that I wasn’t a part of, I still got to dance quite a bit and it was SO much fun. The team of John Healy and Debbie Norris always put on a great production.

Then, later that year, I was cast as Tulsa in Gypsy. My first featured role that was outside of a school setting. From there, it has become a lot of featured roles and an occasional choreography gig and then a directography gig, the only thing I didn’t do with WVLO was strictly a director’s gig.

Since that time in 1993 as a stage hand, I have always tried to make a point of helping other areas of a production if I was able. Whenever I am an actor, I always offer help to costumes. And when I am just doing choreography. Ok, pretty much every show I offer help to costumes. 🤭

While learning a lot of this stuff in school and conservatory is great, I only really ever got the chance to be hands on when working at WVLO. My learning was focused on performing, so all the other aspect of theatre was really just reading and talking with people maybe seeing that person at work. Never actually touching a lighting board to see how to blend color or creating a sound cue.

I am really going to miss this place. I feel truly lucky that I was invited to be a part of the Diamond cast for the 60th anniversary celebration. But even more lucky that I got to be on stage as two dear friends, Nancy Hand and Judy Pincus actually got to take that bow that they so very richly have deserved.

With my entire heart, thank you to WVLO for being such a massive part of my life and for everything you have offered to me. I thank you for every person that I have ever had the chance to share that stage with. I thank you for the incredible people that I have had the chance to learn so much from behind the scenes. I thank you for the billions of times that I have laughed so hard I lost my breath. I thank you for the hundreds of dance steps I got to make. I thank you for the chance to play characters that took me out of my regular life and let me figure out someone else’s story while I was trying to figure out my own.

But most importantly, thank you for the amount of love you poured in to me. I would not be who I am without that and I am so sad that I will never get to repay it. – j.

Thank you, Kind Reader, for letting me share that little story. It has been stuck in my chest all week. I have been trying to think of ways to save this place. I am sure that the group has already thought of these things a million times. Hoping against everything that there is a way, and I am sure there is. I would love to be the person to revive this brand. I have some ideas and I have some insight where the struggles are, now it is just a matter of how to get these dots connected.

I am sure that I have mentioned at some point in the last 20 years of writing, that I would love to have my own theatre company. I don’t think that will actually happen, but what if I could help to reestablish one?

Do you have any place that means a lot to you that helped you grow? Or maybe some nonprofit that you love because of the mission? Let me know what are some of the reasons you love those places.

As always, Dear Reader, stay safe and alert. Take care of yourself and those around you. Until the next time our paths cross… ❤️

🎼 When The Lights Go Down In The City, And The Sun Shines On The Bay…🎶

Hello Gentle Reader!

Well, Sunday marked my final performance for a while, but it was anything but uneventful. 😂 I get to the theatre that afternoon with the mindset that we are going to have a start time of 2pm and I would be back home and in my pajamas relaxing the rest of the night away before chaos week at my survival job. First, I think I have to note that the temperatures were easily in the 100 degree range and possibly hotter. Once you start broiling though, you can’t really tell if it has gotten hotter.

5 minutes to curtain and my casemates get into their places for a reveal that happens shortly after we begin. The “Places” call is made and I head over to spot where I catch a pair of pants that are thrown to me offstage. The curtain speech is made and the main curtain is pulled open and I listen… waiting for my cue to enter.

Up to this point, you could hear this group of people is ready to laugh. They had some good vocalizations while the first actor is giving his exposition speech. I hear my cue “they’d eat the linoleum off the floor if it had a vinaigrette on it”

With that, I am on stage. I get to say, “Maybe his plane is late.” Then slowly, the lights flickered out. Or maybe it felt slow. 2 minutes into the play, the power dies! My cast mate and I stood patiently waiting for a minute or so, in the hopes that it would be a quick little blink of the lights.

And there we stood for what felt like 10 minutes, but was more like a minute in reality. I finally turn to the audience and said, “so how are you doing today?” We had a laugh, but I wanted to keep people in a cheery mood, so I kept talking…

I recall saying “believe it or not, this isn’t the first time I have been in this predicament.” I told them a short story about when I was in White Christmas there was one performance that the lights went out due to winds from an upcoming rainy night that was expected. While we had 2 flood lights at the back of the theatre, they weren’t powerful enough to light the stage safely enough to complete the show. Instead, we offered conversation and the cast gathered on the stage and we sang some carols with the audience. It was really quite a lovely moment to be a part of.

Very kindly, many of the people offered to use their phone lights to keep the stage lit, but I said, you don’t want to drain your battery! Especially if we are in a true power outage.

One of the people asked me to recount the time that I was in Lend Me A Tenor (which was the whole reason why I wanted to be in this show) and how it is to take on the role of Max again. I know I had written about my experience and as I am sure you know, Dear Reader, I am terrible at marketing myself. Instead of saying that I had a whole blog post about it and they could read it on TheActorvist.com, my face hole said “I can’t fully remember the details. But I have a reason why…” then spouted (like some sort of snob) that I was in several shows that year that rolled into each other that it was hard to recall all the details. Only after someone from our stage crew gave us the hook did I think about trying to recount the blog post itself.

UGH!!! I could kick myself. LOL

I feel very lucky that even though it was only a small majority of the audience would come back for the postponed start time, they were a lively bunch. What a way to end a super fun run! The cast and staff were absolutely wonderful and the rehearsal period was short as was the run. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Even with all of our oopsies. 😂 Or would a plural of oopsies be oopsieses?

What out of the ordinary thing has happened to you in a theatre? Did I tell you about the time that someone was breathing oddly and unresponsive during a show? Wait this isn’t about my stories 😳 I want to know more about YOU!

Thank you again, Kind Reader for your time and until next time… Stay safe and alert and take care of yourself and those you care about.

❤️

🎼 4, 3, 2, 1… Earth Below Us, Drifting, Falling, Floating Weightless🎶…

Hello Gentle Reader!!

I hope you are well. With only 3 more performances to go, I find that the idea of having time back to myself is levitating me as I move through space. There is a sense of joy and fear.

Joy for all the things that I want to try and fear because what if I can’t return to this same level? But in the end, I have spent so much time putting off things that I have wanted to learn and finally decided that if not now, when?

In the past, when I “planned” for time off and I would get a call asking to see me, I would oblige with the idea that I was only using auditions to keep skills in check. Then when casting would call, I would have an internal struggle of should I or shouldn’t I. Clearly, in the end I always should-ed.

However, this time around feels different. I feel more mentally in tune, and sure of myself that this is the right thing to do. I have already been asked to consider looking at a show and I politely declined. I am not even going to give myself an opportunity where I would be tempted.

Dear Reader, have you ever put yourself in situations with one mindset only to find that it created an internal struggle? What did you do? In the end, did you keep your original intention? I am curious as to how often we put ourselves in these kind of situations and the outcome becomes something that sticks with you through life because of the experience. I am not so much thinking about how the experience affected, but the idea of that intention you had and whether you discovered something new in that little inner conflict.

I have been wondering how these little battles within myself have changed my perspectives, colored my choices and what that does for my process when I think about the characters I play. Is every little battle in that character evident? How far back do I need to go when I build this backstory and how will that color the world the character sees?

When I am looking at characters, I build a backstory, but this new idea has sprung in my head that has my curiosity just tickled so I have been contemplating how I personally have been informed by this.

In any case, Kind Reader, it is just 6 more hours until I begin the prep for the final weekend of performances. As always, I thank you for spending a few minutes to read my ramblings. I would love to know if you have ever thought about what these mini conflicts do to your view of the world. I always kind of just shrugged it off, but it was pointed out to me that more and more lately, I have had moments where that battle comes up and comes up big.

Until the next time, stay safe and alert and take care of yourself and those you care about.

❤️

🎼Happy In My 2nd Life, Headset On, I Could Be Anything…🎶

Hello Gentle Reader!

Life is quick and fleeting. You blink and a season is gone. You can busy yourself to the point that a whole year has gone by faster than you feel like it should have.

But you already know this. None of this is news… right?

A lot of time at work I am clock watching, just hoping to leave my survival job to be turned loose onto the world to play with whatever idea my brain has an itching for. Sometimes the scratch feels so nice it becomes a passing hobby. Then sometimes that hobby entangles you in its web of intrigue, detail or escape. Then sometimes it can swallow you up and fuel you as you burn the candle at both ends learning, doing, becoming.

And then, when you come up for air, Dear Reader, you find that time has become a stranger to you. Well to me. Nieces and nephews sprout like corn stalks, Mom looks a little more sleepy, Hubby is a little shorter and Dad becomes a little quieter. I wonder to myself, “was I being selfish to follow this passion of mine to the floors of so many different stages? To meet literally hundreds of people? To tell stories to people that may change someone’s heart?”

How could I not see all of these changes to the people that mean the most? So I decided that I was going to actually have my cocoon year that I wrote about a bit ago…

and I was going to include the last quarter of this year as an added bonus!

A glorious 15 month hiatus is in the books for me and it begins very very soon! Already I can feel that this was the correct choice. On Sunday, it was the first night where I didn’t go to bed thinking about what my character’s childhood was like, or how he would react if the stakes were only life and death or his relationship with the donut guy who is only in one scene. I didn’t stop to think when I could find time the next day to study my script.

And I slept through the entire night.

I couldn’t believe it myself. My overactive brain, shut off like it was supposed to and I slept.

When I woke up on Monday morning, I noticed immediately that something was different. Here’s a small confession, Kind Reader, I always wake up a little grumpy. For like the first 30 minutes of the day or my shower which is one of the first things I do. My step was a little peppier. The day felt pleasant, even the sunshine was welcomed when I opened the curtains in the living room.

Some people don’t think I can stay away. And they may be right, but it won’t be to be on the stage. Maybe I will pop in to help friends learn lines or just to support the rehearsal hall one night a week. I am not expecting to fall out of the community, I am just going to refrain from committing to any shows so that I can run away for the weekend if my whims should demand me to. 🤭

In my survival job, we accrue sabbaticals over time, so I am just taking a small sabbatical from theatre while I learn some new tricks and try to do a little exploring. Strengthen my familial bonds and create more familial bonds with my dearest friends since they are already like family. I guess this is my bondage era… wait that came out wrong. 😳

Thanks so much for offering me up a little bit of your time, Gentle Reader. I appreciate you and it. I would love to hear from you about something you are looking forward to. Something I am excited about is the fall season. I think next month I will do a 30 Days of Noir and of course October is 30 Days of Horror. November could be 30 Days of Rom-Coms, but that is still up in the air.

Let me know what you have coming up that you are excited for!? Until next time, stay safe and alert and take care of yourself and those you care about.

❤️

🎼Hot Summer Streets & The Pavements Are Burning, I Sit Around. Trying To Smile, But The Air Is So Heavy & Dry🎶

Hello Gentle Reader,

OMG I have tried to complete the post about Kinky Boots for the last 2 months and by this time, I can’t add any of the photos that I want to now that the writing was finally finished. But then I went back and read it, and it was trash. There was no flow to the post and the thread of thought that I initially had doesn’t work because I literally spent 52 days trying to add to it to get all my thoughts out but it was a jumbled mess.

So I am scrapping that post altogether and just moving forward. 😵

The newest project is a fun little farce that is a great way to wrap up a really fun summer! Although, I have to say that I think unless I am rehearsing in an air conditioned hall/space, I don’t think summer shows are going to be for me going forward. 😄

I thought my big ass was gonna pass out with the heat we were dealing with here. Several days in the triple digits when my optimal functioning temperature has a max high of 75 degrees 🤭 made me feel like a polar bear in the middle of the dessert. All I wanted to find was a fridge to crawl inside.

This next project is Ken Ludwig’s Comedy of Tenors. Not exactly a sequel to the hilarious Lend Me A Tenor, but could be considered as one since 4 of the 7 characters are the same just older. With that being said, please note that one is not dependent on the other. And to make it even better is that this is my 6th team up with director Allie B! I may be more of a nuisance to her at this point. She is probably thinking “Why do I keep bringing this fool into my projects?!” as she shakes a fist to the sky. 😂

Of course, Sweet Reader, I am saying all of this in jest. At this point, she is a dear friend and I enjoy the shorthand that we have accumulated over the course of these projects. Nearly a decade ago, I was lucky enough to play Max in Lend Me however, Allie was not the director of that project. As a matter of fact, I have a post about it. It was a great lesson that I learned doing that show. It was one of those things where I was so sure that my way was the right way but found that I can keep my intentions the same but add different actions and the stage picture would be what the director was aiming for.

That lesson has helped me in so many ways. It has given me the courage to ask for clarification when I need it if something isn’t clear right away so that I don’t build up frustration. Not only does it build and feed the collaborative spirit but it really makes me feel like I am freer to try creative choices. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t but being able to feel the impulse and adjust your intentions to it in the moment really lets me live in the world on stage.

Opening night is just a few sleeps away, Kind Reader and we are getting into costumes and mics the next few rehearsals. I wish I still had the glasses that I wore for this character last time, but alas, the frames bent at some point and I could never get them back to the same shape they were before.

Interestingly enough, that is the same feeling that I get when I think back about Max. Being much older and a little wiser, I know that the way I am revisiting this fellow isn’t quite the same. Granted, the character has also done some growing up. So maybe not having the glasses is a good thing. One can still see that squirrely, tense, ambitious dreamer that he used to be but time has altered the shape of his world a little with a balancing act of artist and husband. It is a very interesting emotional arc that I get to play with and shape and I hope that the way I am playing it will pay off for that beautiful ending that this play has.

Well, Dear Reader, I thank you for once again, taking a few minutes of your life to entertain the ramblings of a vagabond actor looking for ways to make sense of this human experience called life. Before I sign off though, I am curious if any of you have looked back and examined where you are now versus where you were 5 or 10 years ago? Have you grown in the areas that you have wanted to? I hope you have accomplished what you have wanted. I know that Max has some unfinished work. As do I.

Until the next time, stay safe and aware. Take care of yourself and those around you.