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Coolidge Corner: Late for the Show

12 May 2008

The promo is out and on the big screen! Here I am, late for the show and in the middle of dating angst — as per usual — then rescued miraculously, and she likes me, and the show is good, and all is well with the world. Because I’m a member.

It was great to work with Siobhan (my date), Shelley (usher), Alice (writer/director), Patrick (D.P.) et al. on this project. And I found it great to see myself on the big screen at the Coolidge. Look for me next time you catch a flick at this fine, fine theater.

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Streetcar Rehearsals

1 April 2008

We’ve had about 50 hours of rehearsal so far for Streetcar and I’m feeling pretty damn good about the whole thing: hopeful that you’ll come and be moved, and hopeful that I’ll do good work. There have been ups and downs, including the usual moments of all-consuming self-doubt, but when I close my eyes, I hear good things.

This is key, if you ask me — what you hear. There. I gave away my big secret to naturalistic acting. Not that the conceit of our production is naturalistic! There are some surreal, stylized moments, for sure. This is in keeping with Williams, though some may not realize it. For example, the Mexican woman crying “Flores para los muertos,” used as a way of bringing death to the mind, started out as a huge disembodied head in early drafts of this play. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, buy a ticket and find out, dude. No foolin’.

Oh, Streetcar!

1 March 2008

It’s March, and so I post about my upcoming role in A Streetcar Named Desire that begins rehearsals later this month and opens in April. In anticipation of playing Mitch in this American classic, I will not be watching any of the movie versions that have been made over the years, though I understand some of them may be moderately well known. However, I do want to watch this episode of “The Simpsons” and would appreciate help in achieving that soon.

Like Marge Simpson, you’ve always dreamed of being in a Worcester audience (conflating Simpsons references, I know, I know), so make plans now to take a commuter rail named The Commuter Rail to Foothills Theatre for some Tennessee Williams. It’s going to be good.

This Weekend and Next !

30 January 2008

Hey kids, there are just four performances of Yes, Yes, Jeanette! (cf.), and this Saturday night is the first one. In Needham. Be there.

Elgar, The Dream of Gerontius

17 January 2008

Edward Elgar wrote a sizable oratorio based on a religious poem that got read and discussed quite a bit back then. Cardinal Newman’s poem tells the story of a soul’s journey through death, and the music is kind of like one big long recitative. The choral moments, as we rehearse and rehearse them, have become quite an excellent experience. In rehearsal last night, we repeatedly worked on one quiet passage and ended up singing the quietest I’ve ever heard us sing, and without crescendo. A sublime moment, made more poignant by the news that day of the death of one chorus member’s husband. A moment to cherish — and to share in some sort as we perform.

At Symphony Hall on the 24th, 25th & 26th of January. I think this will be my first Friday matinee with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, though it’s a long-time tradition with the BSO. And I look forward to working with Colin Davis, another first for me. If you can’t afford tickets, tune in to WGBH on Friday. (And I may be able to get you discount tix, by the by.)

Remember When? (I Don’t Quite ...)

14 January 2008

Yes, Yes, Jeanette!I’ve hopped on another little theater project, of the light-opera / musical-revue sort. It’s called Yes, Yes, Jeanette! and it’s about a huge star of yesteryear, Jeanette MacDonald, and her frequent collaborator, Nelson Eddy. I play Gene Raymond, her husband, who was in lots of movies in the 1930s and ’40s. The music includes lots of songs my dad knows, and it promises to be a good evening.

The director and another cast member, Peter Carey and Mark Morgan, I met once upon a time in 1776. Huzzah for reconnecting!

In early February, come to Needham or Topsfield for some good, clean, historical fun.

That Other Holiday Show

7 December 2007

Miracle is going well (cf.), and now I squeeze in that other Christmas thing I’ve done for several years in a row: Holiday Pops at Symphony Hall. We chorus members rotate and end up singing in about 20 - 25 % of the shows. These are my times to sing this year:

Tuesday, December 11 at 8:00 PM
Monday, December 17 at 4:00 PM & 8:00 PM
Wednesday, December 19 at 4:00 PM & 8:00 PM

Between my two holiday gigs, that leaves approximately one free evening between now and the 25th. I’m all Christmas’d out already!

Miracle on 34th Street

20 November 2007

I’m happy to tell you that I’m going to be in a Christmas show. I’ve never been in a Christmas show. Of course, I’ve done lots of Christmas things before, but never one that runs 6 to 8 times per week throughout December. It will be tiring, but I am glad in advance for it. We’ve started rehearsals and it’s looking good.

Miracle on 34th Street opens at Stoneham Theatre on the evening of Saturday, December the First. I play a tipsy Santa and a radio announcer, and then in Act 2 I’m the D.A. who proves that Kris Kringle is insane because there’s no such person as Santa Claus. And everybody knows it!

11/11 to 11/17

11 November 2007

This Sunday-to-Saturday contains 3 performances for me, a week with an unusual concentration of divers events: Sunday, playing 6 minutes of Scarlatti in a recital at Longy; Tuesday, performing a two-man 15-minute interesting play called Santa Fe at SLAMBoston at the BCA; Saturday, doing our lone evening performance of Hamlet.

Hamlet

24 September 2007

Tonight is the first rehearsal for Hamlet, my next stage performance, wherein I shall play King Claudius. At the beginning of the play, we know that Hamlet’s father is dead and Claudius is now married to his mother. Please, please, please, do not suspect foul play. Claudius is a good guy, I am sure.

It’s a production with David Wheeler directing and Lewis Wheeler playing Hamlet, plus there’s the Shakespeare thing. Good reasons to look forward to it! And I look forward to meeting the other cast and crew soon.

Performances will be in the morning because the producing group, Shakespeare Now, targets school audiences. But anybody can come, and there’s one evening performance on Saturday, November 17. All performances are at MassArt on Huntington Avenue.