A Look Back at 2017

On New Years, people make lists. They look back at the last year and list their top 10s or just reflect on the highs and lows of the past year and make resolutions or perhaps set goals for the next year.

I am not one for making New Years' resolutions.  Why use the first of a new year as a reason to make changes or improvement in my life?  It should be ongoing.  Right? However, the end of the year can't help but make you reflect on the past year. And so much has changed in my life this past year, I do want to take stock of where I was and where I am.

I spent all of 2017 working in the theater. And I got to play a variety of roles in various genres. I started the year playing (don't laugh!) Cornelius Hackl in Hello Dolly. The reason you may be hearing about for the first time here is because it was for a one-weekend only church benefit cast mostly with church regulars and I was one of the pros brought into the production.  You may scoff at me playing Cornelius at my age but based on the age of the other actors, it worked and I got to check off a dream role from my bucket list. Cornelius is the heart and sole of this show and I got sing a beautiful, ballad, dance and show off my comedy skills.

I went straight from Hello Dolly to 42nd Street at the Candlelight Pavilion Dinner Theatre in Claremont.  I had a great time working there and may some new friendships that have lasted beyond the run of that show. I played Pat Denning and while not a huge role and once again I was back in a musical in an almost non-singing role, Pat Denning sings about 16 bars of one song. But he does play a pivotal part in the plot as Dorothy Brock's love.  I played opposite the wonderful Sarah Meals as Dorothy and I know I'll be back to Candlelight in the future.

While performing in 42nd Street, I began rehearsals for Hello Again, the musical which I directed at Chromolume Theatre in the spring. It was a big challenge. Not only is it rarely produced but it is the compete opposite of a Broadway blockbuster like the previous two shows.  And as is typical of me, I had some pretty serious doubts that I could pull it off. But I did.

While in rehearsals for Hello Again, I heard from two other theaters in town asking if I would be interested in auditioning for their upcoming shows. Crown City Theatre in North Hollywood was producing an original play written by one of their Co-Artistic Directors. Somewhere in the Middle was a comedy-drama about a Jewish-Catholic family whose college-age daughter brings home a black, Palestinian, Muslim fiancé to meet the family on Passover. Think Norman Lear 1970s sitcom. I played the father and I loved being able to play a straight role as the patriarch of a family.  We got great reviews and extended for a couple weekends.

And finally, I was asked to audition for the part of the Old Man in a stage adaptation of A Christmas Story, not the musical recently seen on FOX, but a straight play based on Jean Shepherd's stories. We opened in mid-November and closed on New Years Eve. The show was amazing. We sold out almost the entire run. The set, props and costumes were all top notch and the reviews were all raves. And best of all I had a role that was a real showcase for my talents. It was probably the most physically demanding role I have ever had. I was constantly out of breath backstage early in the run but as the run progressed, I noticed I wasn't as out of breath. And I lost some weight. Like seriously, my pants are hanging off of me.

And next, to start 2018, I return to one of my favorite roles of all time, Harold in The Full Monty, opening January 26 at San Diego Music Theatre and running through February 25. I start rehearsals tomorrow. Its a great to start the new year.

As I look back at last year, one word comes to mind...GRATEFUL. Look at the parts I played this year. All very different. Big budget musicals, small family dramas and comedies. I got to stretch my acting muscles and play so many different roles.

But the biggest step I took this year was quitting my job of 11 years so I could focus on my acting. Scary. Risky. Some might say Bold, maybe even crazy. Time will tell. I am scared but I also know that if I want to make a living as an actor, I need to focus on that and nothing else.

My goal this year is to book some co-stars on TV. I'm already off to a decent start with some auditions in the last couple of months. Based on the words listed at the top of this blog, what shows would you cast me in? Let me know in the comments section of this blog.

Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2016 A Year in Review

Much has been said and made about 2016.  All the famous deaths, the election. It has not been a good year.  Many feel that 2017 can't get here soon enough. And who can blame then? I'm not going to go into it here. So many others have done that. Let's just move on and take on 2017 with a positive attitude.

2016 was not my best year but not my worst either.  I took a leave from my job in the first quarter of the year to try and figure things out...I went back to work after three months. Nothing changed. Or did it? My co-workers and manager claim that my attitude/behavior has not been the same since my return. I don't know what the F they're talking about. I've been a frigging peach. F-heads! LOL! (That was a joke for this of you who don't get me.)

I thought by taking off time from work, my acting career would get a boost. It has become increasingly difficult to balance the acting career with my day job. But not much activity took place during the leave. So back to work I went. And of course days before I went back, I booked a commercial that shot on my second day back to work! Ain't that always the way?

I spent the Spring rehearsing and performing as Twimble in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Glendale Centre Theatre. The show received a few Scenie Awards and was nominated for some BroadwayWorldLA awards. While performing in How to Succeed, I was rehearsing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Sierra Madre Playhouse which opened less than two weeks after How to Succeed closed. Spelling got unanimous raves reviews, received a few Scenes and was also nominated for a few BroadwayWorldLA awards. But no audiences. We actually cancelled two Saturday night performances!  In addition, it has received three Ovation award nominations. The awards are in two weeks and I'm very excited to attend. I've never been in a show that was nominated for Ovation Awards, despite having been in two dozen shows in Los Angeles over the last 13 years.

The week Spelling Bee closed, I was asked to jump in to rehearsals for Chico's Angels Five-0, Aloha Angels. Closing day of Spelling Bee was tech night for Chico's.  Chico's sold out before it even opened. And the audiences were loud and raucous. It was a hoot! The Angels have a built in following and it was amazing to perform for sold out houses every night.

I flew to Sydney and New Zealand for two weeks in September. I flew in a helicopter, hiked on a glacier, bathed in a hot spring, and pet a koala and a wallaby. A nice retreat from LA where the traffic seems to get worse and worse. I get so stressed out driving from work to audition to work to rehearsal.  The stress really gets to me trying to do it all. And I think as I get older its getting harder to do it all.

While in New Zealand, I got word that I had booked a commercial shooting in Denver the day after I returned to LA, on my birthday. But the flight to Denver was on the same day I flew into LA form New Zealand. Seriously. I flew into the International Terminal at 6:20 am and was scheduled to fly out of Terminal 1 at 7:35 am. I managed to get them to push me back to a later flight and left LA at 11:30am just five hours after arriving. I went home, unpacked, re-packed, and went back to LAX.

It all worked out and I got a cupcake and birthday song from the crew upon wrapping.

These last two months the commercial auditions have increased. Yay! No bookings though. But I did book two films that are shooting this coming month. I look forward to playing the understanding Dad of a teenage boy coming out and dealing with bullies in high school. A departure for me. Then I play a priest in a gay Mean Girls parody film.


Happy New Year! Here's to a better 2017! Here I am with my sisters celebrating New Years a few years ago.