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Archives for : Arts

Thankful for 2015

I write this while still recovering from Thanksgiving dinner, so I figured it would be appropriate to talk about what I am thankful for in my professional life in 2015, as well as talk about what 2016 will hold for me.

I am thankful that 2015 was the most successful year of my theatrical life ever. I was fortunate to direct seven productions this year, each one teaching me valuable lessons about myself as an artist and as a person. I closed out the directing year with “Into The Woods” and I have never been more proud of myself, nor the cast and crew that I have worked with. To not only finally get to work on Sondheim, but to work with such wonderful people was a dream come true. I cannot wait for another opportunity to work with the Actorsingers, as well as work on more Sondheim.

I would like to thank everyone who gave me opportunities this year, everyone I collaborated with, and everyone who I learned from in 2015. The lessons from this year will stick with me for a life time, and I feel like I am finally coming into myself as an artist.

My 2016 is already quickly filling up. I will once again be working with the Maskers Drama Club of Central High School, first directing their winter drama, Antigone, which I have written an original adaption of which we will use. I will also be returning to the Windham Actors Guild to direct Fiddler On The Roof, which has been on my list of shows to direct for years. My 2016 will also include the spring comedy with Maskers, and I am hoping to self-produce at least two shows with Cue Zero in 2016.

I do have one final project for 2015, though not directorial. I will be returning to the place where I got my start in the theatre world: Manchester’s historic Palace Theatre, where I will be working backstage on their annual production of A Christmas Carol. I am overjoyed that I will get to be going “home for the holidays.”

Hope 2015 was as kind to you all as it was to me, enjoy your Christmas season, and have a happy new year!

My Fall 2015 Project

Junior year of high school, after viewing the film version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, I fell in love with the work of composer Stephen Sondheim. My obsession was such that my junior thesis was a twenty-five-page paper entitled “Stephen Sondheim’s Effect On American Pop Culture.” I am beyond excited to officially announce I finally will be getting a chance to direct a Sondheim piece with the Actorsingers’ production of Into The Woods this fall! This production will re-unite me with two other UNH alums: my Bye, Bye Birdie choreographer Danielle DiPasquale, who will serve as movement coach and assistant director, and Music Director Amanda Morgan, who I worked with when I was a performer in UNH’s production of Urinetown.

Between now and when Into the Woods begins, I will have five productions going up. May will see my teen productions of Is There Life After High School? and Legally Blonde: The Musical open. Then once we swap over to June, I will be heading up to Holderness for the Little Church Theater’s summer season, where I will be directing The Odd Couple and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, as part of their main stage series, as well as their Young@Arts middle and high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This brings my 2015 show total to an outstanding eight full productions directed.  I will also be serving as producer on two other shows for Little Church, as well as running their season kick-off Cabaret. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunities I have been given, and look forward to getting to work on all of these amazing productions.

Exciting Week Ahead

Just want to write a quick post updating all the crazy things going on right now in my life.

This past weekend, I took in two great shows: UNH’s production of “Comedy of Errors” and my mentor David Kaye’s one man show: “How I Brought Peace To The Middle East: A Tragicomedy.” Both shows were wonderfully enjoyable. “Comedy of Errors” was delightfully hilarious, and David’s show was a brilliantly written and performed piece. After studying under Professor Kaye for years, it was still mind-blowing to watch the master at work. He effortlessly portrayed multiple distinct characters, made the audience laugh, cry and think, and was simply inspiring.

Now on to this week.

On Friday night, I will be heading back to my old high school for the selection processes of 24 Hour Play Festival, presented by TheatreKapow and Wax Idiotical Films. The five playwrights will be given their prompts, pull directors out of a hat, and then assigned their actors. We will all return the next morning to begin rehearsing on the plays the writers will spend all night slaving over. I have been asked to guest-blog for TheatreKapow about Friday night’s process, so be on the look out on their website for that. I cannot wait for this unique directing challenge.

After the 24 Hour Play Festival will have concluded, and I have gotten some much needed rest, I will head to 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee rehearsal. We will have the entire show staged and be having our first full run-thru of the show. I am extremely proud of how well the show is coming together, and that we will have just under a month to polish this musical. Mark your calendars for Nov 21-23rd so you do not miss what is going to be a very special show!

Also, we have been getting everything in place for next year’s Cue Zero Theatre Company productions. News and updates to come soon!

Hope to see you all at both of my next two performances.

Another great announcement!

I am very pleased to announce that I have been selected to be one of the five directors participating in theatre KAPOW and Wax Idiotical Film’ 24 Hour Play Festival 2014! Performances are 7:30 on Oct 18th at the Stockbridge Theater in Derry, NH.

Quick blurb about the Festival (from the Theatre Kapow website): “Some plays require years to write, cast, rehearse and stage, but not these!  The festival will present five 10-15 minute plays created entirely in just twenty-four hours.  At 7.30 pm on Friday, October 17, a group of playwrights will meet at the theatre to learn the theme for the festival, receive their list of guidelines, a director, and their cast. The next morning, the scripts they write that night will be distributed to the actors and directors to rehearse.  At 7.30 pm on Saturday, October 18, the curtain rises! That’s it, just 24 hours to write, rehearse and mount an evening of new plays.”

This will be a very unique directing challenge. As someone who enjoys taking weeks to prepare for rehearsals, hours dissecting characters and plots, and many rehearsals working with my actors, this will completely knock me out of my comfort zone and test myself as a theatre artist. I would like to thank Theatre Kapow for this awesome opportunity and look forward to competing in October!

A Week of Discovery and My Next Big Project

So this should really be two separate blog posts, but I’ve been so busy that I’ve fallen behind on updating the site as need be so I apologize for cramming two huge topics into one post. I want to talk both about my week at the TheatreKapow Artists’ Retreat, and my next directing project.

I spent the 11th-15th of August at the Chanticleer Gardens in Dunbarton, New Hampshire with some amazing artists. The TheatreKapow 2014 Artists’ Retreat covered many different types of theatre/actor training and was extremely refreshing, eye opening, and gave me some great moments of self-reflection. We explored the methods of Michael Chekhov, Viewpoints, and Integral Transpersonal Theatre:  La Poetica dell’ Invisible. The Transpersonal Theatre workshops were especially powerful, we were working with its creator, Valentina Lattuada, a theatre artist from Barcelona. With Valentina’s work, I initially was hitting a metaphorical wall. We focused a lot on breathe and being natural, following our actual impulses and not “creating” (forcing) anything. I really had to turn my brain off (something not easy for me) and just let my body/emotions do what they wanted to do. I was able to gain a whole new level of listening and person-reading through these workshops. The Viewpoints and Michael Chekhov work also helped me get in touch with various places in my psyche and physicality that I had previously not known how to reach. We also had a brief workshop in Shakespeare and Company’s technique called “Dropping in,” which is a way to create instant connection between actor and text. I cannot wait to use all of these discoveries about myself, as well as some new techniques, in both my directing and acting lives. I would like to thank TheatreKapow for their continual dedication to actor training, and for alway pushing me to be a better artist (and person.)

As for my next big project, I am very excited to announce that I have signed on to direct the Windham Actors’ Guild’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” This will be a very unique and fun directing challenge and I’ve spent the past week ripping apart the script, attempting to get at the soul of this character-driven musical that has a lot of heart. It is a show that is very quirky, and a lot more complex than meets the eye. I cannot wait for our first production meeting on Wednesday, and for auditions the following week. We will need some very talented performers to put this show on, and I’m certain we will find them. WAG is full of some delightful people, and it is an honor to get to work beside them on this show.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. I need to get back to dissecting the spelling bee script, re-reading “A Director Prepares” by Anne Bogart (one of my favorite books), reviewing some directing class notes, and so much more. Oh! Also, the first meeting of the school year for FRC Team 3467 is tomorrow. Really excited for that as well. I hope my schedule allows me to continue to mentor these amazing students. Okay, for real now. Signing off!

One Full Trip Around The Sun As A Real Person

May 18th 2013, at about noon time I was handed something I had worked extremely hard for during the previous four years… well sort of. I was given my University of New Hampshire diploma…holder. The actual diploma would come in the mail about a month and a half later, but the symbolism was there. I was officially a owner of a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. I was now what I joking refereed to as “A Real Person.” I am an adult, with debt, a need for a career and a whole bunch of scary life choices sitting in front of me. One of my favorite teachers in college, Dan Raymond, usually made us write a “What I learned in this class” reflection paper to end every semester, which was always extremely insightful. Since today is sorta like my “first birthday” with respect to the diploma, I would like to reflect upon everything I have accomplished professionally and personally since graduation.

I guess my first major accomplishment was making my professional directing debut, which took place not long after graduation. The entire process that was “Bye Bye Birdie” was certainly an adventure. It was the first true test of my education while at the same time one of the most valuable learning experiences I ever had as a person. It tested my character. It tested my work ethic. It tested my ability to handle pressure, deal with many of the lesser than enjoyable parts of show biz, and made me realize a lot of things about myself. All things considered, we put on a damn good show. I’m very thankful for the opportunity I got, for the moments of self-discovery, and the continuous affirmation that the world of theatre is the world I belong in.

I also served as lighting designer on two very different productions. Both of these experiences involved me being a bit out of my comfort zone (for different reasons each time) which I find is one of the most important things when wanting to grow as an artist. Risks need to be taken, acceptance over the fact that you don’t always know 100% what you’re doing needs to be had, and you need to alway trust in yourself, and your fellow artists. I never want to accept easy tasks; challenges are where the real fun lies. My fulfillment in life comes from accomplishing, not necessarily the impossible, but the improbable. Now, is lighting design what I want to do forever? No, but it is something that pushes me artistically. Also during the two productions (as well as my time as “emergency technical director” for another production) I believe I earned the deep respect of a lot of people, which is something I value highly. I have nothing but respect for my craft, and I want to be respected for my craft and work ethic. When I lose either of these things, I will need to seriously reevaluate where I am in life.

Something I did not expect to be so life changing were the two major trips I took this year, first to NYC, then to Disney World. Both trips woke me up, allowing me to see there is so much more than just the world just outside my window. For a while I think I had set my goal as being a major player in the arts and entertainment scene in New England, but now I’m not so sure that’s the best thing for me. I think this guy has to go out and see the world as a whole, experience many different places, cultures and people. I can’t let my geography limit myself. So when the time comes, I’m going to explore all of my options across the country, and possibly even globally. I’ve said it for a while, but now I truly accept it: I’ll go wherever the road of life takes me.

Had I not made a pit-stop on an impulse, I would have missed out on an extremely important experience this year, and that was my joining of FRC Team 3467. FIRST shaped a major part of who I am, and I am always in favor of giving back to the community, so the partnership just made sense. What I originally envisioned as a minor amount of helping out burst into a full on mentorship of the team. I really feel like my year with the Windham Windup was very much like Kevin Garnett leaving the Minnesota Timberwolves for the Boston Celtics. I love (the now no longer active) FRC Team 241 of Pinkerton Academy with all my heart, but 3467 was just the right place for me. Everyone on this team has a great mindset, understand the culture, and wants to achieve big things. I don’t want to take more credit than I deserve, but I really did enjoy coaching the team to some major awards, as well as being along for the ride when it came to the robot’s successful season. I hope all of the students learned as much from me as I did from them. I’m not certain that my career path will allow me to continue being as active with the team in the future, but I will give them everything I can for as long as they will have me.

On a purely personal level, it has been a very crazy year when it comes to friends and family. Going back to slightly before graduation, I’ve spent the last 14 months solidifying some amazing bonds with people from all parts of my life. I have surrounded myself with the right people, cutout those hurting me or holding me back, and I love all of them deeply. My friends and family always go above and beyond for me, and for that I will always be forever thankful.

I’ve also put in another year as a mobile entertainer/master of ceremonies/DJ with Sowa Entertainment. The wedding industry is always an interesting place to work, and I have met some wonderful individuals. It’s kinda strange, I never wanted a job where wearing a tie was a requirement, but I never thought there were jobs this fun that require formal wear. I’ve had a very good eight years in the DJ biz. I take pride in the fact that I have had such a successful run since starting to do my own events. I hope the remainder of my events this year are all memorable and exciting for my clients and myself.

So the last thing item to reflect up is the fact that in little over a month and a half, I’ll be making my debut as an independent theatre producer. Creating Cue Zero Theatre Company has been a tremendous undertaking, and against all logical judgement, I knew this was the next step for me. I’ll go into longer detail later as to what exactly sparked this need to produce, but I’m really excited for this, in every sense of the word. I’ve gotten all the encouragement and support of some great people, and I cannot wait for July. There’s so much to do between now and then, but I am not afraid. I say “Bring. It. On!”

So, that’s where I am one year later. Where do I go from here? I honestly have no idea. As I said in a text message to Dani Pancoast the other day: “I feel our entire existence right now is ‘Well, I have several sets of plans for the next six months that may or may not happen… and beyond that I’ve just got some hopes and dreams.” It’s kinda nice knowing most of my friends are in the same boat, unsure if they have under or over achieved, and uncertain of the what the future holds.

I’ve got my goals. I want to be a successful theatre artist/director. I’ve got some ideas on how to accomplish that. I’m never going to stop working until I’m the best. How do I define “successful” or “best?” I don’t know. I don’t think I ever will, but I’ll know it when I reach it.

Thanks for reading.

Recapping a Super Busy March and April

So it’s been a long while since my last update. I really want to get back to making this a weekly (or at least bi-weekly) update on all things me, so I’ll just need to make it a priority.

Theatre related happenings:

April started off with the great experience that was light designing for the Windham Actors’ Guild production of “Oliver.” I had never lit a show quite as big, nor in this big of a space, so it was an exciting challenge and grand learning opportunity. Sticking with my commitment to always challenging myself, I tried a few new things, used bold colors, and experimented a bit with what I could do with the lights. The two parts that made the entire tech process extra “fun” were having less instruments that I thought I had, and the “Murphy’s Law” moment when I spent six hours getting my Act One cues perfect only to mistype a few commands and erase all my work. Despite all of these mishaps, the show still went up with the lights being a hit. I would like to thank WAG for the opportunity to work with them, and hope we can continue to have a good working relationship in the future.

Cue Zero is rolling right along. Being an independent producer has proven to be a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but we are still in great shape to open our inaugural show in July. Auditions are this Wednesday night, and I can’t wait to get to share my beloved script with some wonderfully talented actors and actresses.

Non-Theatre related happenings:

My vacation to Orlando was wonderful. It was great to spend time with my family, watch my sister play softball, and hangout with some very good friends of mine at Disney. I was really inspired by the trip, with the countless things to do. Before the trip, I had never really entertained the thought of working down there like many of my fellow theatre friends, but after the trip, I finally understood the appeal and have added it to my list of possibilities for future paths, although I know there is very stiff competition to be apart of any major attraction in the Sunshine State.

FRC Team 3467 had an extremely adventurous end to our season. After being ranked number one in New England going into the event, the team had a solid showing at the New England Championship event, making it to the quarter finals of the event, and taking home the Engineering Inspiration award. Between the award, and the robot’s performance, the team qualified to compete at the world championship event in St. Louis, Missouri. Getting to St. Louis as pure insanity, as we had our coach bus breakdown on us with no replacement available. We were informed of this shortly after midnight the night before we were scheduled to leave. The team somehow managed to find three twelve person vans to carry our team, another team that agreed to transport all our equipment on their bus, and extra funds to cover any additional costs in eleven very stressful hours. Once the team completed the two day journey to the event, our bad luck continued for our first few matches. Luckily our students are very resilient, and never let any of our misfortunes get them down. We came back from some bad losses to still qualify for the playoffs in our division (which had one hundred teams competing, compared to the 40-60 teams we saw at all our other events). Our alliance played brilliantly and we upset the division favorite to take home the team’s sixth medal on the year. We were eventually defeated in the final four by the eventual world championship alliance, but that didn’t take away from how much we enjoyed the entire weekend. I am extremely proud of all our students, and I am very happy I decided to come out of “retirement” from FIRST to be a part of this very special team.

That’s the super brief version of March and April. My life doesn’t get any less busy, between Cue Zero rehearsals and funding finding, wedding and prom season, and figuring out what I’m doing with my life beyond the month of August, the adventure never stops! Thanks for reading.

My Two Days In New York City

This past week, I spent a few days down in NYC on vacation with my good friend Dani Pancoast. Originally we had just planned on seeing “Waiting for Godot” but once we were in the city, we added two more shows to our docket, and that was the best decision we could have ever made. It was a wonderfully inspiring trip that taught me much about theatre, the city, and myself. Let’s recap the week, shall we?

Monday: After the robotics meeting got out at 5, I started on my venture to Dani’s residence in New Jersey. It was about a four and half hour drive from southern New Hampshire, just over 250 miles. To date, this is the furthest I have ever driven in a car alone, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I was making very good time until I hit the CT/NY boarder and traffic came to a standstill due to road construction. Fun times. Other than that, my only other hiccup was not being able to make a five lane change at the George Washington bridge. Didn’t set me back too much tho, and I made it to NJ by 9:30. It was great to see Dani, who I believe I hadn’t seen in person since graduation back in May. She’s been very busy and working all over. Even though I was exhausted from the drive, we still stayed up for another three hours and caught each other up on our lives, as well as fun gossip about all our mutual acquaintances. We set our time of departure for the morning and headed to bed. I had a very comfortable couch to sleep on and actually was able to get a very good night’s slumber.

Tuesday: We set out around 10:00a to catch the bus to the city. I would never want to drive in a major city. I don’t even like going into Boston, I always try to stay on the outskirts of the city and ride the T to wherever I need to be. It just seems too dangerous and not worth the hassle.  After walking around for a bit, we decided to see if we could get some discounted tickets to any other shows. We popped into a few box offices, and came to the conclusion that the best course of action would be to see “The Glass Menagerie” that evening and then attempt to get rush tickets for either “Once” or “Pippin” the next morning. I was a little upset that the box office worker at “Glass” was rather snippy and rude, but we didn’t let it ruin our mood. We set out to explore a little, hitting some shops, Dani’s favorite $1 pizza place, and then going to Madame Tussauds wax museum, which was a delightful distraction. After wrapping up at the museum, we found some cheap eats, and then head over to the Booth Theater for “The Glass Menagerie.” Every aspect of the play was mind blowing.  Dani and I spent most of the pre-show examining the set from our nosebleed seats. It was a stunning design, and we were both very impressed with the ambition and imagination in the entire layout. The set had a few fun magically aspects to it, including a very special couch that Celia Keenan-Bolger, who played Laura, entered and exited through at the top and finish of the play, respectively. All four members of the cast brought life to these well-known characters, and the director made many bold choices with every aspect of the show, most of which were extremely effective, and those that weren’t did not detract from the show in any way. Even though I have read this play many times, I found myself praying for a happy ending that I knew wasn’t coming, which is always a sign that a production is top notch. After the show, we did wait by the stage door for a chance to meet all of these brilliant performers, but only Keenan-Bolger and Brian J. Smith, who played Jim, came out. We were a little sad that we did not get to meet Zachary Quinto or Cherry Jones, but we didn’t let it ruin our night. The one unexpected awesome moment of the week was seeing Katie Holmes going in the stage door, who apparently also saw the show that night, so I did get to have my moment of  “Oh my God, I saw a celebrity in public” that everyone likes to brag about while they are in NYC. We caught the late bus back to NJ, and figured we had to get up super early the next day in order to try to get the rush tickets when the doors opened at 10.

Wednesday: We somehow dragged ourselves out of bed and caught the early bus. We got to the street that the two theaters were on, and the line for “Once” was shorter than the line for “Pippin” so we decided “Once” was the show to see, which turned out to be a great decision, but I’ll get to that later. After getting our tickets, Dani took me to visit the theater that she works out, The Pearl Theatre Company theater, which is a nice little theater just outside of the main theater district. She gave me a backstage tour and it was fun to see that the theaters in New York do look and run just like the theaters in the rest of the world. We followed up our tour with a stroll down by the river, then headed over to Jamba Juice for lunch. With our smoothies in hand, we headed up to the Cort Theater to see Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen in “Waiting for Godot.” While sipping our drinks and waiting for the doors to open, Sir Ian did walk by us, and we had a both had to stop ourselves from geeking out and making a scene. The show was brilliantly hilarious. As someone who doesn’t usually find absurd, unrealistic theatre all that appealing, I loved this show. As I have come to learn recently, I don’t always have to one hundred percent understand what a show is about in order to enjoy it and get something out of it. To me, this piece was about how we expect life to have rhyme, reason and logic to it, but it never has and never will. Sir Ian and Sir Patrick had wonderful chemistry with each other and I laughed harder at this play than I have at any performance in quite sometime. After the show, all five members of the cast did come to the stage door, and were wonderful people.My favorite moment of the trip took place at this stage door.

For those of you who don’t know the show, the play consists of two men waiting for a third man named Godot, who never shows up. When Sir Ian made his way to our side of the crowd, a man behind us called out that his name was Godot, and held up his driver’s license to prove it. Sir Ian found this to be the most awesome thing and called over to Sir Patrick to show him that they had finally found Godot. Godot asked if he could have a picture with the two of them, and Sir Patrick said he could only if they could get a picture as well. Patrick then reached into his pocket and asked the crowd if anyone knew how to use an iPhone. My hand immediately shot up and he handed me his phone. I snapped a few pictures (the first one was blurry from my hands shaking a bit) and then took one with my own phone. This is a story I will be able to tell forever, and I am glad that these two knights were such delightful people.

This is a picture of Godot, Sir Ian, and Sir Patrick.

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Dani and I left the theater and went to grab food at the Oliver Garden in Times Square. We sat at the bar rather than waiting to be seated and made friends with the man sitting next to us. After discussing all our backgrounds, we some how got on the subject of “Avenue Q” and the man asked to hear my Trekkie Monster voice, which made me feel like I was a real New York actor, even if most people usually get asked to sing something, rather than just say a line in a crazy character voice. For some reason, I blanked out on actual lines from the play and ended up just growling and then saying “TREKKIE ANGRY” which is what I do in real life when I get frustrated. We had some more time to kill, so we went into a few more stores, where I ended up buying my one souvenir.

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We finished up our shop exploration in Toys-R-Us, where I momentarily lost my scarf, which would have ruined the entire trip for me, as this scarf has a lot of personal meaning to me, but I luckily found it stuck to a box of Lord of the Ring Legos on the third floor. We ran over to “Once” and made it just in time to see the start of the pre-show. This had to be the coolest pre-show I have ever seen. The set for the show consisted of a large bar, which served as the actual concession stand before the show and during intermission. Fifteen minutes before the show started, the cast came out on stage and played a bunch of music, as the actors also served as the pit for this performance. It was really fun watching the actors play around with audience members on stage. “Once” was one of the most beautiful and moving pieces of theatre I have ever witnessed. I have to admit, I knew nothing of this show before going to see it, and I fell in love before the first act finished. The music went “straight to the feels” and all the characters were unique and quirky. That night I immediately bought the soundtrack on itunes and listened to it on the drive home on Thursday.

Thursday: After sleeping in and then eating some pancakes, I hugged Dani good-bye and headed back to New Hampshire. I once again missed an exit, but this time it seemingly worked in my favor. Five hours later, I was home and added my tickets from the week to my collage wall.

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The trip was very inspiring, as I saw three of the best shows on Broadway, all very different types of theatre, and each show makes me want to experience more theatre, as well as work so much harder at being an artist. I now know that I do need to travel more to grow as an artist. As much as I do love the New Hampshire theatre scene, the more of the world I can experience, the more I can bring back to my work. This was the best way possible for me to start 2014, and I once again would like to thank Dani for inviting me.

Thanks for reading!

First post of 2014

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year, I know I did. If you came here from the main blog directory, you will have seen the picture for this post is of me with my good friend Jacob Randlett from the 1920’s themed New Years Eve party that we attended. Good times had by all.

So just like how I had my 10 goals for the 2nd half of 2013, I have drawn up 22 goals for 2014. Eleven of them are professional, eleven of them are personal. For now, let’s just look at the professional ones:

Produce a weekend of theatre
Lead FRC Team 3467 to an award
Read 30 plays
See 25 shows
Write 4 plays
Enter a playwriting contest
Direct a short film
Script a comic book
Do design work for a show
Attend at least 10 theatre related workshops
Read ten educational/professional text

I believe I’ve put together a good mix of accomplishments to shoot for that will all bring about professional growth for myself. The wheels are in motion for several of these already, and I will be keep everyone updated on them periodically.

The first goal I should be knocking off is seeing one of those twenty five shows, as next week I’ll be spending a few days in New York City alongside another one of my good friends, Dani Pancoast (who is an excellent designer and stage manager by the way) and we will be taking in “Waiting for Godot” on Wednesday afternoon. Very excited about this road trip.

When I return from NYC, I am looking forward to continuing attendance at Theatre Kapow’s Open Training sessions they hold every third Saturday of the month. We have done some great work at the ones I have attended thus far, and it is always a pleasure to be in a welcoming creative environment like the one Theatre Kapow creates.

Cue Zero Theatre Company update: We have a lot of good things happening, and a lot of people excited about getting involved with CZTC. I have had some very important meetings recently, and will be making some major announcements as soon we have details hammered out. I don’t mean to keep constantly pumping the hype machine, but I’ve never been more excited for a project than I am for our production that will be taking place this summer.

That’s all I have for now. I’m spending the rest of today watching playoff football (Go Pats!) and tomorrow the family and I are venturing down to see Blue Man Group, among other things.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

 

It’s The Holiday Season

Christmas is right around the corner, and all I want this year is for Cue Zero Theatre Company to have a prosperous first year. While this isn’t really something I’ll know until the end of the summer of 2014, we are already making more progress than I had imagined. The number of people looking to get involved has been overwhelming and I am very moved by the amount of people that believe in the project. The plans for our first show are just about finished, and I will unveil them in January in full detail. On top of that, I’ve already accepted a proposal for our second show, and will be working on the information for that over the next month or two as well.

Quick hits on my other projects:

  • The FIRST robotics build season starts on January 5th, and we have been busy preparing the kids for this undertaking over the past few months. At yesterday’s meeting, I was given the opportunity to help with team bonding, as well gage each member’s public speaking skills. I simply asked each student to talk in front of the rest of the team about something they are passionate about for at least one minute, and it had to be in a positive light. They were not allowed to have written anything down, but they were asked to put a little bit of thought into what they were going to say before they had their turn. I was very impressed with all of the students, and it was a great teaching moment on top of my other pieces of agenda. I was able to point out examples of good things each student did, as well as things they should be aware of and need to improve upon. Everyone enjoyed getting to know their team  mates a little better, and I hope we can do more activities like this in the future.
  • This past weekend, my family attended the Granite Statesmen Christmas Cabaret in Nashua. The Granite Statesmen are an all male barbershop chorus, of which my grandfather was a founding member of all the way back in 1955. While he has since retired from singing due to his age (I believe he is 92 or 93 years old), we still enjoy taking in the show every year, as the performances are always top notch. Some of my favorite childhood Christmas memories are from the Granite Statesmen shows, and I am sure these shows impacted my love for performing. If you are ever in need of some good clean family fun, I highly suggest seeking out these wonderful singers performances. You will not be disappointed.
  • I don’t think I remembered to bring this up in my last post, but I just wanted to take a moment to say that my trivia team finally won the monthly contest at Double Midnight Comics in Manchester. Trivia games has always been something I really enjoy doing, (I’ve often joked my means of making my fortune is going to be winning on Jeopardy) and to win the game after six attempts was very satisfying, especially since the game went to triple overtime.

Well, I think I’ve said everything I need to say. If you haven’t done so already, please like “Cue Zero Theatre Company” on facebook, as well as follow us on twitter @CZTheatre.

Merry Christmas to all!