Shakespeare Word of the Day

While rehearsing the play Much Ado About Nothing, which I'm playing Balthasar in for the CCPT organization, there came a word I was not familiar with. The word is BUCKLER. So, thanks to the Internet, Google, and some very useful websites which give word definitions, I found out what it is. A bucker is a small hand held shield used in battle with a sword. Found the definition here. Also I heard the word used in the book I'm reading "Winter's Heart" by Robert Jordan (see a previous post) for more details on that book. Well, it's back to rehearsing lines and songs for the show!

Books I've Been Reading

Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time Series Since I spend a LOT of time in my car (who doesn't, living in L.A. you may ask?), I've had to find a way to better use the time. Well I discovered Audio Books, and what a GREAT discovery! You can find TONS of audio books available on a wide range of subjects. I've been trying to split my time between something "useful" like personal development titles - be a better person type books, and other books for sheer reading pleasure. I particularly like fantasy and suspense books. It all started with the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown but I'm currently reading (or more accurately - listening to) a series of books by Robert Jordan called "The Wheel of Time". I have to tell you this is a really good fantasy series, but the author is a powerhouse writer. There are so far 11 books in the series, he's reportedly working on the last book currently. I only just started book 9, called Winter's Heart. If you're up for a good, LONG story check out the series - but I suggest starting with the first book. This story isn't done justice starting in one of the later books - you miss too much back story. If you have other good books to suggest, I'm all ears - drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

Weird Wide Web

 

Just felt like sharing this bit of info on which countries I've been getting visits from here at my Blog. Mostly my viewers have been from The United States, with an interesting smattering of various other countries. I find it cool and a little creepy that my humble little blog is being viewed (if briefly) by people around the globe. I'm not sure how interested my foreign visitors are, and judging from the stats, most of you aren't staying on my site too long, but it is cool to see that people around the globe are taking a peek. I can mostly thank Blogger's "Next Blog" button for most of my foreign views, but viewers are viewers. If you click on the "Next Blog" you apparently get sent to a randome blogger's site. There doesn't appear to be any connection between the site you're on and the one Blogger sends you to, so you find some blogs from all over - some interesting and some, not so. Try it and see, but remember to come back and visit me often. I love seeing that I've had some visitors!

The Ancient One, Blessed Be He: Moon Over. . . .Culver City

The Ancient One, Blessed Be He: Moon Over. . . .Culver City Leon posted a really nice photo of the moon he snapped at one of our rehearsals. Check it out!

CCPT - 2007 SEASON

CCPT - 2007 SEASON Hi everyone. Here's a link to the Culver City Public Theatre website and more importantly the dates and information about Much Ado About Nothing, the show I'm performing the role of Balthasar in. It's only 3 weeks away now (but who's counting). Rehearsals are going really well and I'm very impressed with the level of acting and directing we have!!! Everyone in the cast ROCKS! I'm VERY proud to be a part of this production. See you at one of the performances!

The Ancient One, Blessed Be He: Tune Up Time. . . (CCPT)

The Ancient One, Blessed Be He: Tune Up Time. . . (CCPT)My pal and fellow actor has been posting some pictures of the rehearsals of Much Ado About Nothing as well as King Midas (of which he has the title role) over at his blog. Thanks for the great pictures Leon, AND of course the continued support of my acting adventures and my blog! You Rock!

Weekend Get Away

For a much needed weekend get away I visited Red Rock Canyon State Park in the Mojave Desert over the weekend. I found out about it from some Google searches and decided it would make a fun outing. So camera in tow, me and a friend I often travel with took off. It was fun, if HOT. Got some interesting pictures and even took my freshly washed car on some dirt roads - that is until the dirt started to turn to sand and I was afraid of getting stuck. It made for a fun weekend.

Now it's back to 'real life' and of course learning my lines for the play. The Director Ken MacFarlane wants us off book (meaning we KNOW our lines) for Tuesdays rehearsal. Some of the actors have their work cut out for them. I have a new respect for learning Shakespeare monologues! Thankfully, I don't have any page long monologues to learn, but I'm still not completely off book myself, so I have a lot of memorizing to do in the next few days.

Much Ado Rehearsal Pix

Hi all. Well I was told in no uncertain terms that I HAD to post some pictures I took last night at rehearsal. My Buddy and fellow actor in the play Leon Cohen threatened me within an inch of my life (OK, not really, but I'm an actor - you'd expect something dramatic right?) to post some pictures. Actually I went a little crazy taking photos but since I wasn't actually in most of what was rehearsed last night, I had a lot of free time to play at being the paparazzi.

I have to give credit where credit is due so any of the photos that I'm actually in, and some at the end of the group were taken by Leon - I asked him to take some with my camera. Actually you should have seen him lusting after my Big, Fat, Well Equip ed Camera... We were taking about pictures you know - get your minds out of the gutter. OK, so my camera is pretty impressive, but remember, you have to know how to USE it to get a good picture and I'm still very much a beginner when it comes to photography! Anyway... On to the pictures. I've created a sideshow for easier viewing, but the pictures are also available online if anyone wants to download some. - I can send a link.

Beautiful Side of Somewhere

This is the video for the Walllflowers "Beautiful Side of Somewhere" from their Rebel Sweetheart album - released in 2005. I was fortunate enough to be cast in several parts of the video. It was obviously released a couple years ago but due to recent advances in my blog postings, I'm able to put video online (and not just through YouTube) so here it is. See if you can spot me in the various parts of the video. [Video courtesy of MTV.com and of course The Wallflowers - Hi Jacob, and thanks!]

King Kalimari - a Tribute

Well here goes - my own little tribute to the great actors and all our hard work making King Kalimari the Musical come to life. These are the few pictures I had from the show. Most are from our load in day where we first got to the theater. The first few are a couple pictures taken the very last night of the show. I'm sorry I didn't take more. If any of my fellow cast mates have pictures they'd like to share, let me know. If you don't know how to share them on the Internet, I'll be happy to help. I'll have some pictures from our Wrap Party which took place over the weekend in a future post. Until then, enjoy the show!

Hello...Anybody awake out there?

Well, I'm a little in disbelief. I had a really stellar week of people checking out my blog - Thanks to all of you! But now I can't believe that some of you MUST have checked out my previous post "Omazing Graze" and survived, and yet, to date, I haven't received even a single comment on that post! What's up? Anybody awake out there? Or are you just too stunned and/or mad at me for posting it and subjecting you to it that you didn't want to leave a comment?

Either way, I love getting feedback from you guys about my posts good, bad, or otherwise. So, feel free to post comments to my various posts. It's great to hear from you and it let's me know what you think about my blog.


OK, I'll step off the soap-box now. Have a great week! I know I am. I bowled 5 strikes in a row tonight! Yay for Me! For those of you who don't know that I'm also a bowler, now you do! Not a good one - but I'm getting better and 5 strikes in a row is pretty awsome! Yep, tooting my own horn, but then hey, what's a blog for anyway!

Omazing Grace

First I have to apologize for this post, but I just couldn't help myself - OK, you may say I'm sick, depraved or several other colorful terms, but, this one was so incredibly moving (and by moving I mean "AWAY FROM THE SPEAKERS"!!! Anyway, if you have a strong stomach, an even stronger EAR, give this video a viewing - and remember to have your speakers on! BUT BE WARNED! It'll make you realize that even in your worst attempts to sing, there's always someone worse than you! Praise the Lord! - A special thanks to Tif for sending this my way!

Kudos to my Fans/Friends/Supporters

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to give all of you who've been checking out my site this week (or at any time) a big THANK YOU! I got the most visits this week in the history of my site! That's really exciting for me and I owe it all to you! I'd give you a big piece of cake if I could, but since I haven't found a way to send real cake over the Internet, and it would probably spoil if I sent it via snail-mail, so you'll just have to live with a digital picture of it.

But seriously, thanks for checking out my little chunk of the Internet. I hope to keep things interesting by posting a variety of topics, so please do check back regularly, and if your a blog junkie, you might try subscribing to my blog, with a news reader (like Google Reader). That way you can get up-to-the-minute updates when I or other blogs you subscribe to post new articles. I didn't have a clue what News Readers were good for until I realized I was manually checking out several blogs every day and was spending too much time finding my links to them, or worse, typing the name of the site manually, Then I discovered Google Reader and now I just open my Reader page, and like magic, all the recent, unread posts of all of the 20 or so sites, I regularly read are there waiting for me! It's kind of like checking email, but it's actually the posts from the various sites I like. It's fun and addictive and now I have yet another reason to like Google and the Internet. Also, if anyone wants a Gmail account, let me know - I can probably hook you up!

...Much Ado about Much Ado...

Well we've finished another week of rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing with the CCPT group. I have to say I'm VERY impressed with the actors and the director Ken MacFarlane! Everyone is doing so GREAT! Many of them have already gotten 'off book' (actor speak for "they know their lines") and that's no small feat considering this is Shakespeare, and the lines are, complicated, often long monologues, of Elizabethan English, of which the meaning in modern English is often not clear to the actors. My hat (or feathered cap) goes off to the many talented and dedicated actors involved. You guys rock!

Also, there is a big dance sequence which we're all learning and everyone is doing really well with that too. It's really fun for me to see this coming together so quickly. It's really interesting also for me to work with Ken MacFarlane, the director. His style is very different from Derek Taylor Kent, who wrote and directed King Kalimari, the Musical. It's really interesting to see how different people approach the art of Stage Directing. I say Art, because I feel that's what it is. You are creating a world, a mood, an environment, where the actors can bring their characters to life. It's really fascinating, and QUITE challenging. I'm learning a LOT about acting through this process. I look forward to next week and each week of rehearsals.

It's only one month until opening! Rehearsing for this play seems much more fast-paced than KK, we had a much longer rehearsal time for it, but judging by the level of talent of the actors, I know it's going to be great by opening day!!!

My friend and fellow actor Leon Cohen (Dogeberry in Much Ado) has been posting some photos of the rehearsals - check them out on his blog. I hope to start taking some myself and posting them as well.

Friday Fun Picture

 
This is a picture I took at a friends house. I like it because the plant looks so 'plastic', almost fake - but it is a real plant. I like taking pictures of interesting plants and foliage, the trick it to make the photo interesting. I'm not sure I achieved that with this picture, but let me know what YOU think!

Friday Funny

OK, so I"m a few hours early. Saw this cartoon while perusing my gigantic photo collection and thought it was worth sharing.

...about Much Ado about...

Well, we officially started rehearsals for Much Ado About Nothing last week and have continued this week. It's a little weird for me to jump right from one play to another. It's interesting to go from something I've grown very familiar with KK, to something totally new to me. New blocking (where the actors go on the stage for each piece of the scene) to learning new lines (and some very challenging lines to boot), to getting familiar with a completely new set of actors. But it's also been a lot of fun so far.

My only issue is that I hurt my back over the weekend so I'm moving VERY slowly this week. It's unfortunate that we've been doing a lot of physical stuff in the rehearsals - there's a big 'dance number' in the play. It' pretty hard to learn dance steps when you can barely move!

Fear not - with each passing day I'm feeling better, but it's a SLOW process letting the body heal.

My friend and fellow actor Leon Cohen is chronicling the rehearsals with pictures. He said his goal is to take (and post) a picture each night of rehearsal! That's fairly ambitious, but it sounds like a good idea. So if you want to see pictures of the play in progress, you can check out HIS blog.

Well, there's a lot to learn and a short time for us to do it. The play opens July 14th and runs for 3 weekends. I'll be keeping you posted occasionally from my perspective on what I'm going through in the process.

The Weird Wide Web

This post is a little strange - even for me. The Web is weirding me out! A friend and fellow actor of mine Leon Cohen, was telling me about a site metering program he uses which tells you where in the world people ARE when the browse to and view one's blog. Being the geeky guy I am, I decided to check it out.

Now, knowing my limited audience and viewer ship, I figured I'd get a few local people viewing my site, after all I'm not Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks (are all the most successful actors named TOM?) Anyway, the last few days I've seen some surprising and almost alarming things. I'm being viewed (if briefly) by people not only locally, but around the world!!! I admit I got a little sweaty-palmed when someone in Washington D.C. viewed my page, but today I've been viewed by someone in Budapest Hungary! WOW!

Now I don't know how all of you people from across the globe are finding my site, but if you are one of those people, I'd love to hear how you found my site, and if you find it interesting! So, please if you're from somewhere other than Los Angels viewing my Blog, post a comment and let me hear from you. This web thing is indeed a little weird - knowing that people around the globe are viewing my humble little acting blog!

Much Ado About...

Well they say that when one door closes another one opens. That's certainly true of me this past month. I finished one play and am beginning another! As I said in a previous post, I'll be performing the role of Balthasar in the Culver City Public Theater's Production this summer! The Play opens in Early July and runs for three weekends. It's performed outdoors, at the Dr. Paul Carlson Park in Culver City. Admission is free! You can come, pack a lunch and enjoy some Shakespeare, and for those of you with children, there's a show preceding Much Ado, which is geared for children called "King Midas" (which I also audition for, but ultimately got a role in Much Ado.

Stay tuned (or subscribe to my blog with a reader such as Google Reader) for further information.

Final Thoughts on King Kalimari

Well it happened - the show finally closed this past weekend. Whew, what an exciting ride it was for me. All the great actors in the cast made it so much fun. I also learned a TON about, acting, actors, and myself. I can't thank everyone enough who was involved in the show and also all of those who threw caution to the wind and came out to see the show. It's kind of funny how when you're so closely involved in something, it's hard to be objective about it, but everyone I talked to who came to see the show liked it for various reasons so on that level, I feel it was a great success!

I especially want to thank Derek for giving me the opportunity to be in the show, for writing such an inventive script, and for bearing with all of the actors as we brought his words to life.

For me, it's a little sad that Jean Jacque is now only a memory (and a great one for me). It's odd, but even though it's only been a couple of days since the closing, I already miss being able to breath life into the character each week. Life does however move on.

Thanks again to all - the cast and the crew were really great to work with, and those who came out to support me in my acting adventures, I can not express how much that means to me! I'm truly grateful to know so many of you care enough to support and encourage me in my pursuit of acting. Words truly can not express how much that means to me. THANK YOU.

Well I suppose that's it for Kermopoly and King Kalimari for the foreseeable future.

P.S. Those of you astute viewers will recognize that the picture at the top of this post is for early on, before we had final costumes. Things changed a lot when we finalized the costumes.

Kermopoly Update

Hi everyone. Well it's finally here - the LAST WEEKEND for King Kalimari the Musical. As I write this, I have a mixed bag of feelings. On one hand, I've been sick since yesterday and am just about to leave for tonights show. My energy is pretty low right now so I guess I get to test my acting stamina tonight and do the show with the same amount of energy I'd usually have. I'm actually sure that once I'm on stage, I'll be right where I need to be with my energy and emotion. Moreover, tonight marks the first show we're doing without Dylan (who played 'Dave') who has been somewhat of an unofficial 'leader' for the cast. Both in terms of his energy and enthusiasm. I know Derek will be GREAT in the role, but it's going to feel different (at least for me). Also, the show has been such fun and a learning experience for me that I'm REALLY sad to see it coming to a close. I will miss each and everyone involved with the show!

On the other hand I'm looking forward to what the future is going to bring me. I've already started rehearsals for another show (more details to follow), so as they say "Life Goes On". Now it's on to the show for me. If you haven't seen the show yet, you have two more nights.