Melancholy.

I'm back home in North Hollywood after a really fantastic month in Wichita. The travel day yesterday was arduous due to a canceled flight and lost luggage, but I had good company in my daughter Kim and the luggage has now made its way home, so all is well.

I keep thinking about My Fair Lady and Forum and the friends I had the good fortune to play with. And I'm sad. I'll miss the gang. We really accomplished some great things. Best wishes to those who forge on at MTWichita. Big River is next, then All Shook Up and Les Miserables.

Now, since the luggage has arrived, I think I'll head to the laundromat and do some laundry before grabbing a bite with Sammy. Although I miss Wichita, it's really great to be home. Take care, all! Peace and love!

Grateful!

Have you ever had someone who believed in you? I know you all will answer in the affirmative, and I'm blessed to have numerous folk that could be described that way. But I want to point out one person in particular. Wayne Bryan has brought me to Wichita once again, but this time it was for the zany Forum... and then when a replacement was needed for Alfie Doolittle in My Fair Lady, he extended the invitation to stay on and tackle this great role. I was floored since I never thought for a minute that I would have a chance to tackle Alfie for another 10-15 years. I felt the pressure of so many great expectations (mostly my own), but Wayne was a constant guide and support through the process. I felt his support and trust, and I am incredibly proud of our result. The show is going incredibly well, and while I will not rest on my laurels, I am celebrating a personal victory as we head into our last four performances. I will treasure this weekend of shows with a stellar cast and near sell-out crowds that are eagerly embarking on our journey every time we put it out there. My heart is full and I'm so thankful. Peace and love, y'all!

Another openin'!

My Fair Lady at Music Theatre of Wichita opened well this evening. Now that some of the nerves are gone, I look forward to settling in a bit and playing a little – digging deeper into the director's vision in our short run. The show really is good and I'm going to cherish each and every day we have. (Photo courtesy of Jerry Fritchman.) Take care, all! Peace and love!

Pluggin' away...

Just a quick one... My Fair Lady is rolling along. Tech rehearsals are complicated with this show but have been going rather smoothly, and we're finishing that up today and welcoming our first audience tonight for our final dress rehearsal. The cast is great and the show is going to be wonderful. So on we go! Peace and love, y'all!

The end of a loverly week.

For those familiar with the Music Theatre of Wichita schedule, you'll understand the relief and the resolve that comes on this particular evening. We've rather successfully completed the dreaded designer run through which is where – after a five and a half days of rehearsal – all the disparate pieces of the show come together for the first time and we run the show for the staff and see what we've got. Overall, it went just swimmingly. Personally, I still have moments of tripping over words and harmonies, but I know what I need to tackle. I've got to give a shout out to Damon Kirsche (Higgins) and Kim Huber (Eliza) for a-ma-zing work on their roles in this schedule. They are absolutely fantastic. And the work that the directorial team has done is astounding and clever – Wayne Bryan (director), Sharon Halley (choreographer), and Thomas Wesley Douglas (music). This behemoth of a show is being guided with such heart and smarts, and it makes me want even more to excel at my piece of it. (Photo above courtesy of Jerry Fritchman.)

Tomorrow is our day off and will also include a lovely soiree to watch the Tonys at producer/director Wayne Bryan's house (aka Wayne Manor). And now I'm off to dinner with Wayne and the other members of the creative and leading player teams. I feel so blessed to be a part of another amazing MTWichita show if for no other reason that in multiple ways it reminds me why I love the theatre so much. Take care, all! Peace and love.

With a little bit of luck you'll run amuck...

Rehearsals are well under way for My Fair Lady at Music Theatre of Wichita. (Photo above: Kim Huber as Eliza Doolittle, me as Alfie Doolittle, and Damon Kirsche as Henry Higgins. Photo © Netappz Creative Solutions.) And while I'm having a blast, I feel a bit like I've been hit by a Mack truck. Down side: I'm exhausted. Up side: Most of my show is staged and choreographed in just three days... and it's a good kind of "exhausted". I get a nice chill day tomorrow to regroup and practice my stuff and prepare for cast shenanigans. I'm so thankful for this experience and am not taking a minute for granted. So onward we go! Peace and love, y'all!

Nod to Forum and looking to Lady.

As expected, A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum closed last night, and the run ended on a high note. It was a great day of two performances, a dinner hosted by the Guild, and a closing party that went into the wee hours. I'll miss the show and the experience so much. Over there on the right is the sketch I did for the Forum family. Thanks, all, for a lovely time!

So now we're on to My Fair Lady rehearsals. In my first day, I had music rehearsal, recorded a snippet for the commercial we're shooting tomorrow, and took part in the staging rehearsal for "Get Me To the Church On Time." I must admit that probably due to less than optimal sleep last night, I'm pooped. I will be getting at least a full eight hours of sleep tonight to be at full strength tomorrow as we finish "Church" and work on "With A Little Bit of Luck" and scenes. I've just practiced my makeup plot for tomorrow's shoot and now I'm popping a Tylenol PM and hopping in the shower before heading off to Dreamland. Let's hope I dream of lyrics and choreography so it all sinks in faster.

Take care, all! Peace and love.

Preparation.

I received a great big package in the mail today that included the scripts and scores for Forum and My Fair Lady as well as some research resources for the latter. So exciting! It's funny how as an adult I actually look forward to homework. Forum is relatively simple for me – parts of a few songs and some sections of fast-paced dialog (which I do realize are substantial) – but I have a bit of freedom in my approach. My Fair Lady is going to take a bit more work. Alfie Doolittle is a renowned key character in literature. There's that specific dialect, those two big songs, and thanks to Shaw, the lengthy and lovely rants on morality. Add to this the delicious challenge of portraying a character quite a bit older than myself, and I've got my work cut out for me. I'm SO thrilled to have been given the opportunity to tackle all of this, and I look forward to the work. Here we go!

In other show biz news, I had a callback today for a show that would begin rehearsals the day after Fair Lady closes. I think it went rather well, but you never know how things will go for whatever reason. Still, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

On the drawing board, I'm plugging away at numerous projects. I've just finished up a bookmark and two t-shirt designs for the green education project out in Riverside. I'm currently working diligently on the 2008/2009 season artwork for theatre companies in Seattle and Southern California. The work load has been abundant and enjoyable.

Finally – and I'm realizing this has been quite the post – I'm headed to Chicago next week to visit friends Justin, Michelle, and Mindy. Can't wait! Things have been busy and it will feel great to get away for a few days and see these folks. Take care, all. Peace and love!

What's it all about, Alfie?

Twenty years ago this very night, I was in a serious accident. I was traveling with other members of my church youth group and we were hit head-on by a drunk driver. Thankfully everyone survived. There were some significant injuries including my broken leg, but it could have been much, much worse. It’s the closest I’ve knowingly come to dying. Events like this bring focus to a person’s point of view, and I remember even as a high school sophomore honing in on what was important to me – my relationships with family and friends and God – and trying to figure out what I was born to do with my life (yea my second chance at that life). And now, I think I’d be wise to use this milestone as a chance to think about where I’ve been, where I’m going, and what’s important to me as well as the little changes I need and deserve.

I won’t claim to have it all figured out, not by a long shot – life is about learning and growing. But as I look back and look ahead, I feel content in knowing that I’m on the right path. I know that my purpose is to be a storyteller. If it sounds pretentious, I don’t mean it to be. It’s a vocation that’s actually rather simple and grounded. I’m meant to use my own unique outlook to express truths however lofty or relatively inconsequential, and I do this through my visual and performing abilities. I feel incredibly blessed to have a family that embraces me and my vocation and a second family of friends that support me in so many invaluable ways as well. And I also feel so fortunate to be finding ways to turn my calling into a way to make my living. It’s exciting. I love it. End of monologue… for now.

On a side note, I checked another item off my list (see below). I spent a few hours today at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena. How I’ve been in Southern California for over 17 years and never witnessed this gem, I can’t comprehend. Some highlights were viewing masterpieces The Blue Boy and Pinkie as well as the Japanese gardens and the new Chinese gardens, but I think that what fulfilled me the most was knowing that this peaceful and beautiful place has been cultivated here for so long (since 1919) and will be here for a long time to come. I’ll be back.

And finally – and notification of this tidbit came while I was in the midst of writing this entry – I found out that I’ll be playing Alfie Doolittle in Music Theatre of Wichita’s My Fair Lady in June. So adding on my turn as Marcus Lycus in Funny Thing... Forum at the same theatre, I’m happy to say that I’ll be spending a full month tackling fun and challenging roles with some wonderful folks this summer. I’m thrilled! Take care, all. Peace & love!