I just wrapped up a weekend of playing The Producers. It was my first time playing the show and it was fun.
I was in Philadelphia yesterday and checked out the Edgar Allan Poe house. I didn't know it but Poe had lived in Philly for several years and wrote many of his most famous works there.
The house is not in the best neighborhood, but once you get inside it's very cool. I was able to jump on the back end of a tour and catch a performance of "The Black Cat" in the very cellar that Poe had used for inspiration for the climax of the story. Very creepy!
It was freakin' hot on Saturday! Like 100 degree kinda hot! Despite the heat, I was very proud of the Sweepless cast for putting on a great show!
I mentioned a few weeks ago that, right before rehearsals for Seussical began, I had completed composing the music for a children's musical.
Seussical wrapped up yesterday and I already miss it. Yeah, there's always that small sense of sadness whenever a show ends....even bad shows...but this was a good show and I'm really bumming out.
It's not everyday that you get to meet one of the world's greatest musicians, but I got to today!
He also spoke a lot about how so many players worry about technique and being flashy. When asked to demonstrate a tapping technique, he showed an easy exercise and then asked everyone in the audience who wasn't a bass player to raise their hands.
Another cool moment was when someone asked if it was really important to be able to read music.
A couple of the commercials I shot for the Orioles are on the air. If you can stand the sight of my big head in HD, check 'em out.
They shot ten all together and I was in five of them. So far, I've seen two of the spots that I was a part of. Y'know I'll be watching for the rest!
This weekend I played in the orchestra for Oklahoma down at American University. I really hate all things Rodgers & Hammerstein (Sound of Music, King And I, South Pacific). The shows are all ridiculously long and, in my opinion, really dated, but they are considered classics, so it makes sense to me that schools still do these shows. As for the rest of you, it's time to move on.
Sweet Charity is kind of a racy show....especially for a high school to do......especially for a Catholic high school to do. So I was very impressed that my friends at Holy Cross pulled it off. I'm told there were lots of changes to the script.....it was my first experience with the show, so I'm no expert....but, the story was still there.
Last night, there was an Orioles game on TV from 1996 and it got me seriously misty. Not because it was the game when Eddie Murray hit his 500th home run or because the O's had an amazing team that year and made it to the playoffs and all that, but because in the background you could hear Rex Barney announcing the players as they came up to bat at Camden Yards.
...and inducted him into their hall of fame. I got Rex to sign a baseball for me one day and he personalized it to me. 
It reminds me of him but it also reminds me of the kind of person I want to be. A person who accomplished great things but is remembered first for his kindness.
Have you heard of the ORCHextra? It's a computer that will play the orchestration for your musical. The way it works is that each instrument is programed into the computer and you tap the tempo on a mini-piano keyboard and it plays the show. You can vamp, repeat, make cuts, all the things a real orchestra can do. There are two big differences.....first, you only have to pay one person to tap, as opposed to a roomful of musicians. Secondly, the ORCHextra sounds like what it is....a computer, but who besides musicians and music theater types are really gonna notice. It's also a little unforgiving. If a performer misses an entrance or gets off a beat or two, it's a little tricky to catch up.
'Tis the season for school shows and said season began this week with 13 at Jemicy School. If you're not familiar with 13, it's the newest show by Jason Robert Brown who also wrote Songs For A New World and The Last Five Years and is notorious for writing really difficult music. When 13 was on Broadway the cast AND band were all kids which is maybe why this show wasn't so hard.
The kids were awesome and did a great job!!
So, remember that story I wrote like a month ago about going to an audition and getting stuck in the snow afterwards. Well, I got the gig, so I think it was worth it. It was a commercial for MASN and The Orioles. 
The day started with me waking up to find a huge zit on the side of my face!! WHY!?! Thank God for make-up. Anyway, we shot five different ads which will be put into the mix with five additional spots that they shot yesterday and will starting airing at the end of this month.
I hope I make the final cut. Either way, it was a really fun day!
Rent at Keegan Theater closed this weekend. Yup, another production of Rent and probably not the last.
The thing I really appreciated was being appreciated!!!! With a few exceptions, often in professional theaters, I find that there is an attitude that the performers should bow down and be eternally thankful for the work and just suck up whatever un-happiness they may have about the work situation. I do believe in being professional and doing the job that you are hired to do. I also believe in choosing your battles and that you have a responsibility to do a little bit of research about where you're going to work so that you don't find yourself in a bad spot, but that doesn't mean that a theater can just throw anything at you that they want and then just say, "you should just be thankful for the opportunity I'm giving you." The folks at Keegan really went out of their way to make sure that we all knew how much they appreciated our efforts to perform well every night. When the show started to take off and do well and eventually get nominated, again, they went out of their way to show thanks and appreciation to everyone.
I was glad I already knew the show because it helped me hold my own with them. And I finally figured out "Santa Fe".....it's still hard but I got it.
Singing at 10am is never fun. Couple that with the last remnants of a cold and it took me a couple of attempts to get a good take. I got it done though.
I'm still not sure if this movie is supposed to be sad or a feel-good thing or what, because it kinda pulls at several emotions at once. Peter Jackson is a brilliant director that way! Definitely go see it.
It was awesome to watch him tear down their talking points one by one to their face. Afterwards the Repubs admitted that they shouldn't have agreed to have the cameras present. Oh well. Sucks to be you.
Ya gotta love waking up and having offers for three gigs in your email!!!!!!! Even better was only having to turn down one...I'm only available for half of their dates. It's also nice to be hearing from some new folks. Don't get me wrong, I love my friends, but it's good to know that people are recommending my low notes.
Tarek, our drummer, and I laid down our tracks later that morning and it went really well! It's been a while since I was in the studio, but nailing a song on the first take always feels awesome. I go back later this week to do my vocals.
