Kevin Massey - Where to Next?!?

A Christmas Message

2011-12-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

I have been absolutely dreadful putting up new posts. Most of them now go on my "Facebook page"

Here is a little song a couple of us from MEMPHIS threw together for the holidays. I hope you like it!

Merry Christmas!!

Hurricane in the City

2011-08-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got our share of natural disasters in the Big Apple: Blizzard (normal for us), Earthquake last week (not so normal), and finally Hurricane Irene (some of worst flooding since the 1800s).

I was lucky enough to get one of the last subway trains out the night of the Blizzard, but I had to take at least one last picture of Times Square before I left (approximately 1am):

I'm not sure how to take pictures of an earthquake. Let's just say I was sitting in my apartment on the top floor and wondering why someone was jumping on the roof! Then I wondered why my building was so flimsy that one person could jump on the roof and cause it to sway so much! Then I promptly took a nap. It wasn't until turning on the TV a couple hours later that I realized it was an earthquake.

Hurricane Irene caused some first for NYC: mandatory evacuation of some of the flood zones, a preemptive shut down of the entire MTA system, and cancellation of all weekend Broadway shows. While it didn't hit us quite as hard as we thought, we did sustain some carnage. These are some pics from my neighborhood out in queens.

Extra water in case electricity goes out

Taped up windows...which actually doesn't really help at all.

Tree blocking a main road. Yes, there is a car underneath.

I know it's hard to make out, but this used to be a grocery cart. Tragic...

Umbrella: "I am worth $3. Please have mercy"
Hurricane Irene: "Ha, I laugh at you and your cheap construction. Inside out you go, poof."

Perhaps the most tragic: a dust buster separated from it's better half.

My home street. We escaped with little damage.

Bujigali Falls

2011-03-12T23:27:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out how to put video up on this thang! I...thought I used to be technologically savvy. As you can see, there is a lot of water flowing a mere feet from us. No guard rails. No rules. This is Uganda after all...ok maybe there was one rule:

This rule was quickly broken...shhhhh

You can see how close we could actually get!

Crazy thing is, the whole Nile flows through this fall. During the rainy season, it is full enough to make two falls. The second fall to the left actually dries up at the peak of the dry season. The sad thing is that much of the Nile in Uganda will change once a new dam, Bujagali Dam is completed this year. I am glad I was able to see it before, but it is heart breaking knowing life will be very different for all humans and animals that depend on the Nile for life.

That cement stub on the edge of the rock is the only thing left of the bridge
that used to go across the raging Nile.

The two falls at Bujagali

Safari!

2011-01-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Twas an early beginning to get to our animal kingdom. We had to leave by 6:30am to get a coveted spot on the early ferry...and you can see why. It only held about 10 cars!

We lucked out with a cool morning that lasted until at least noon. In a way, it felt like a huge park for off-road go-carts where you could choose from a myriad of tracks based on a hunch to try to spot some wildlife. There were some typical watering holes that raised your chances of seeing something, but it really was all chance! I'll just post a list of some of the highlights below.

Couple o' Baboons causing mischief near the ferry

One of the many elephants we saw. This one was with about 8 others.

There were about 8 giraffes in this group. Two of them were "necking"...literally ;)

A male hippo and his harem of females. He must really know what he's doing!

Water Buck

I love this one. Just a lonely water buffalo, looking for a friend.

We spent the whole day in the safari van, but barely sat down. There was so much to see, and it was a much better view from the pop up top. HOWEVER, it also became a battle for your balance that rivals a NY subway ride! This is a view of the crew rattling as we go along.

We took a boat ride up the nile and ended up seeing the motherload of hippos (see the pic above) as well as some crocodiles and elephants. We stopped before we hit Murchison Falls, which we explored from above the next day. I got some video of that and will try to find a way to post the clip! For now, I'll leave you with a teaser...from kinda far away ;)

Just take note, this is about the 7th day straight appearance of those jeans. My luggage has yet to arrive, so my wardrobe is...shall we say...limited.

Wedding to the Wilderness

2011-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

We woke up at The Haven to a sun kissed view of the nile. I slept in a tent, but our happy couple got the bungalo with the Jacuzzi!...and well deserved. I did not mind sleeping in the tent though, because the view, company…and maybe most of all the breakfast made it all worth it!

The pineapple is UNBELIEVALBE here, not to mention the other delicious fruits. We also had eggs and bacon along side our incredible African coffee and tea. The coffee is grown all over the country and has a much smoother finish that most of the coffees we get in America. And the African tea!....oh my, to my understanding, it is made by steeping a tea bag in heated milk and then adding a mix of spices that are a little similar to chai. It cannot be beaten!

Next was a drive home. Here is a typical scene on the road. Yes, they drive on the left side. No, the roads are not always this nice. In fact, some of the worst roads are in the middle of Kampala (huge potholes!). And yes, there are kids and women always walking along the side of the road carrying something. Most of the time it is a journey for water in those yellow “jerry cans”.

Back at the homestead, the newlyweds opened their wedding presents. A typical gift was a couple mugs or plates wrapped carefully in cardboard strips. Our favorite gift was a small box with two potatoes and a pineapple.

Then, we packed for SAFARI!!!! Thank goodness Grace owns a van, because we would have had trouble fitting into the normal “family car”!

Soon, we got off the beaten path and headed towards Murchison Falls Park. We were not yet in the park, but we began to see warthogs, baboons and different kinds of antelope on the sides..and even on the road.

Even our campsite had its own family of warthogs. Notice now the one on the right is actually walking on its elbows to make it easier to eat the grass…perhaps it’s just laziness.

We rest well tonight, for tomorrow…WE RIDE INTO THE WILD!

Uganda Arrival!

2011-01-12T00:05:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe I am really here! It has been almost 11 days since I landed, and I am still amazed that I finally got an opportunity to come to this wonderful continent. I left the blizzard filled world of America and arrived in the warm, dust filled world of Uganda after 36 hours of travel time and an unexpected trip through Ethiopia (thank you snow). Unfortunately, my luggage forgot the make the entire trip with me, so I am still without my…well, without anything really. Note to self: always pack one extra pair of socks and underwear in carry on!

Luckily, I have generous friends here that lent me essentials (and I realize that you don’t really need much), and I soon found myself bouncing from wonderously new place to place….and no, not always in a safari van pictured above ;)

The first major even was my friend’s wedding. In fact, Tara is the reason I am on this journey. As a true friend for 9 years, I could not miss the opportunity to watch her join her life with a wonderful Ugandan man named Grace Nyanga. And for a bonus, she immediately gets to be the mother of the spunky 11 year old, Edith Nyanga, who will surely grow up to have as big an impact in people’s lives as her parents have been to others.

The Ugandan ceremony has many unique traditions as you might imagine. One of my favorites is when they introduced this large crowd of Ugandans as Grace’s family. “Now,” they say to Tara, “this is YOUR burden”….HA! Family is more than immediate here!

This was followed by many introductions, pictures…and of course food! Ugandans do not usually send invitations to weddings. If you know them, or even just know of them, you come….and you come expecting to be fed as well. Grace and Tara are both well known here in Jinja, so we had to enlist a couple “bouncers” to ensure all true friends and family got fed!

Finally, as the wedding party got whittled down to the most intimate, we drove 45 minutes down the road to a wonderful getaway right on the Nile River called The Haven. The view from its perch was incredible. Needless to say, we all slept well that night.

Wrapping up for the Holidays

2010-12-11T18:15:00.000-08:00

Well, one more week left of Bonnie & Clyde here in Sarasota. We've had a great run here, although it zipped right by. Opening night was really exciting.

Because there is a lot of potential for this show to move to Broadway, there were a lot of people from New York and other areas in the audience hoping we would put on a good show! Luckily, we have a fantastic creative team and a super talented cast. Everyone worked really hard, and we ended up with a really good story to tell. I'm definitely proud to share this with my friends and family.

(The tragic couple, Bonnie & Clyde...and Ted on opening night)

There are a bunch of production shots on BroadwayWorld.com if you want to check it out.

The flip side of working in Sarasota is access to some of the most beautiful beaches in America. Siesta Key Beach has sand that I liken to Splenda. It is made of finely ground white quartz and is always cool to the touch. In fact, let me me show you how to end a long day in Florida:

I know, I know...how do I get through it? Well, it's tough to bear such a horrible sight, but I always remember that there must be beauty somewhere in the world :)

Next stop for me is NC for the holidays and then a trip to Uganda for my friend's wedding and non-profit work. I finally got all of my vaccines. Luckily I only needed 4 shots...and I didn't faint! I will definitely post more about my Uganda trip once I'm there or soon after I get back. If you'd like, you can look at my friend's non-profit called Sewing Hope: empowering African organizations caring for orphans and children by teaching practical skills. I'm really looking forward to being outside of my comfort zone again. That is when I learn the most!

Merry Christmas to all!

Everybody cut, Everybody cut...FOOTLOOSE!

2010-10-24T22:30:00.000-07:00

View from the back of the MUNY

I'm actually down in Sarasota, Florida at the moment working on my tan....and Bonnie & Clyde :) But I realized I forgot to write about a couple things that happened this summer after PRAIRIE ended. So...let's be kind and rewind (a reference that is lost on the generation that only knows DVDs and missed the wide wobbly world of VHS).

Lights up. 100 degrees and 100 cast members. 1.5 weeks of rehearsal and 7 night shows. 11,000 audience members fanning themselves and eating popcorn.....Will the show be ready? Are we going to pass out form the heat? Most importantly...can I make them laugh?

Willard's "goin' out" look. Don't espect him ta dance!!!

That was my biggest worry about playing Willard in FOOTLOOSE. It turns out, everybody loves an honest goofball. Most importantly, we all had a blast. The MUNY stage is probably the largest stage I have performed on to date. Of course, it has to be that big in order to put on a show for 11,000 people! They actually have airplane propellers in the audience before the show to cool everyone down. I'm not kidding!!!

Another great MUNY perk is that 50 or more high school students get a chance to be a part of the productions. Some of these kids have done more shows than I have! They brought so much energy that it made the rest of us "outsiders" have to kick it up a notch. It's great when you can feed off each other's energy...especially when it's still around 100 when the sun goes down. Luckily we had lots of water and gatorade in the wings to keep us going.

Willard's attempt at being sexy...

If you are ever passing through St. Louis during the summer, you really should try to catch a show at the MUNY. You can even get one of the 1500 free tickets they give away each night. They cast some amazing talent in each of these shows. I got to work with actors that have won or been nominated for multiple TONY awards like Dee Hoty and Jeff McCarthy. The MUNY has a rich history of talent...believe me...I looked at the list..wow!!! Don't miss it if you're near it.

I wish I had some pictures of the show from the audience's perspective, but I can't seem to find them. Sorry they're just me bein' goofy backstage!

Gym class...don't we all miss it?...

The night of the DANCE Y'ALL! And no, that's not a real flower.

New Project = New Adventure

2010-08-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

I'm super excited to say that I've officially accepted the role of Ted in BONNIE & CLYDE this fall at Asolo Repertory Theater in Florida. I was a part of one of the first readings in NYC back before the 2nd act was finished. Ted is one of the deputies in a small town who happens to be in love with Bonnie. After seeing his feelings are not returned, he has to join and eventually hunt down the notorious killers, B&C.

The hope is that the next stop for this production will be Broadway. Below is the announcement on the Asolo website. The production is directed by Jeff Calhoun with whom I worked on Big River, my Broadway debut back in 2003. I'm glad to have another opportunity to create something new again! I actually had to turn down the role of Sky in MAMMA MIA on Broadway in order to do this. I may be crazy, but I wanted to see B&C through to completion and hope that MM will have a spot for me again down the road.

This business is never dull!
November 19–December 19
Bonnie & ClydePRE-BROADWAY RUN!
book by Ivan Menchell, music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Don Black

Everybody had a dream. They had a plan.
Bonnie and Clyde’s riveting adventures are brought to the stage in this vibrant and stylish new musical from the composer ofJekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Svengali and Wonderland! This seductive and cinematic new musical examines how a troubled Texas teen and a love-sick waitress became America’s most infamous couple, with a thrilling new score that combines  rockabilly, blues and gospel music. See it at Asolo Rep before it hits Broadway!

Free Performance!

2010-07-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

Come on out and enjoy some fun, free music tomorrow (sorry for late notice!) It will only be an hour long, there are 2 performances....and it's right on 42nd street, so it's actually harder to NOT come to that it is to COME to :)

Where: Studio Theater at Theater Row (410 W 42nd Street, NYC)

When: 1:30pm & 3:15pm

What: "Joshua the Musical is a new musical based on Joseph Girzone's ground breaking series of novels about Joshua, a mysterious stranger who arrives in a small town and may or may not be Jesus himself.

Joshua is a Broadway style musical that is written for and speaks directly to people of faith. This musical is a family-friendly story that we hope will resonate with viewers of all faiths and backgrounds and be relevant to our times." - as quoted from the website. (I'm playing Joshua)

More: www.joshuathemusical.com

How much: FREEEEEEE!

Deep in the heart of TEXAS

2010-06-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

I think I ate my weight in barbecue during our 5 weeks here. That's right, between 3 cities (Houston, Dallas & Ft Worth), we spent 5 weeks of the spring in one of the biggest states in America. And everyone in Texas tells you where the "best BBQ in town" is....and it's NEVER the same place :) I probably went to 5 different places that all claimed top prize. But one of the spots was actually in-between shows in Houston when the local crew brought in their own meat, grill and sauce to feed us right in back of the theater.

It was HUMID down there....wow. I remember dreaming about warm weather when we were freezing in Toronto earlier this year. But a couple days here almost made you pine for the frigid north. And it wasn't even the dog days of summer yet!

Houston also gave us an opportunity to get a private tour of the NASA Space Center. This was probably one of THE BEST field trips we made on tour.

Above is the HUGE pool where the submerge mock-ups of the space station and practice space walks with astronauts preparing for a trip to do the real thing. A pool is as close to weightlessness as we can get. Below is a picture of the trainees coming back up from the practice.

We got a chance to talk to one seasoned astronaut that had done 9 different space walks! He was so cool, actually asking us questions about our show. We got him to tell a story about one of his space walks where he almost lost his life. All of our jaws were dropped as he was telling the details. This was no movie...this was the REAL DEAL! WOW! The also let us in Mission Control (the very one that was used in the Apollo 13 mission and many others. Below is probably how I would have reacted to the dire situation.....

Ft. Worth had a fantastic new performing arts house that looks like an old opera house. Plus, we got a chance to go down the the stockyards and saw many more boots than bulls. Check it out!

Sorry it's not rotated...I can't figure out how to do that on my blog!

Gold Rush: SACRAMENTO

2010-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ah California, we finally made it to the ocean…well, almost. We sit down in Sacramento for 2 weeks, a perfect amount of time to get to know a city that size. The Govenator’s Office, the CA State Capital, is right down the street from our hotel. I don’t think we’ll be seeing him this week, though he has MUCH to attend to with the economic troubles in CA. However, those troubles didn’t seem to keep people from coming and enjoying LHOP. They were some of our most responsive audiences to date! Thank you Sacramento J

The highlight of this stop was seeing my sister who currently lives in Berkeley. Kara and I took that first Monday of travel and drove down to the Bay Area to see my sis, her friends, and throw some serious Frisbee! I also showed Kara around some of my hold haunts near the Berkeley campus where I used to live when I taught summer school to middle-schoolers when I was in college. What a great, eclectic town!

The 2^nd Monday we had there, we made a trip out to Yosemite National Park. If you are EVER near this amazing place, you must take the time to explore. The mountains, sheer rock cliffs, majestic waterfalls, wildlife, and up close hiking trails can take your breath away at every turn.

We also met a wonderful couple from London at our B&B the next morning over breakfast. It turned out that they were on a trip around the world because she won a contest for boucoups of free nights at any Hyatt in the world and tons of airline miles. Wow, I guess people actually DO win those sorts of prizes. Kara and I managed to convince the two of them to come down to Sacramento and see our show since there was a Hyatt conveniently located right next to the theater J Two more wonderful friends to add our lives! However…as we were gabbing over breakfast, snow started to fall..and I’m talking huge flakes of white fluff. I wasn’t too worried because it was at least 60 degrees the day before. But low and behold, the snow was sticking. So instead of a couple more hours in the park, Kara and I decided to head back to make it in time for our performance that night. It wasn’t 30 miles into our return journey that we got stuck behind a slow car attempting to go up a hill….sliding off the road. So, I pull pass them on the left, trying to keep momentum. But we were too slow already, and I ended up sliding off myself. AHHH! It all happened in slow motion, literally! I was probably going 3 miles an hour. After about 40 minutes, a plow came by to clear the road a bit. We were able to back out and be on our way. Not a couple hundred fee down the road, the snow was merely rain. AHHHH! So crazy.

We saw a huge field of strawberries on the way back and scored 8 cartons of huge, juicy deliciousness for $10. I definitely think we got the fat end of the stick on that one!

Thanks Sacramento for your great audiences, fresh produce, delicious downtown eats, and reliable snow plows. Until next time!

Back from Break, Let's go WEST! (Spokane)

2010-05-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

Yep, a goat....but not just any kind of goat. Though unassuming, this meek metal animal packs a powerful special skill. Just inch your way towards it...SLOWLY...slowly...have your piece of trash or pine cone or small object you never want to see again in your had...push button to right of goat....now feed your trash to the friendly animal...don't be shy...go ahead...and watch it...WOOSH!...the goat has sucked up your trash so quickly you barely know what to do with yourself ;) You HAVE to try this if you go to Spokane. It is one of the left over exhibits from the '74 World's Fair held at the fantastic park right in downtown Spokane.

We also met a fascinating street musician called Tommy G from the 509. Kara and I found another fantastic breakfast spot, Madeline's (which has coffees the size of the milchekaffes I found in Germany!). This guy was playing is guitar in the corner of the cafe, singing with more soul than I've heard in a while from a white guy :) We got to talkin for about 30 minutes or so, and he has quite a life story. I found him in the park a couple days later "busting" (defiantly playing on a bench with his case out for money...which is currently illegal in Spokane). So, I guess I broke the law with him and bought one of his CDs....take that Uncle Sam!

(This is another famous landmark in the park. We made a cast photo before we left!)

All in all, besides the small hail storm we got, Spokane was a great little town. I was excited to get to our next destination because it is near my sister in CA!

Raleigh and Appleton

2010-05-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Raleigh was definitely a highlight for me, coming back home in a way. I grew up in North Carolina and even went to school at UNC-Chapel Hill which is near Raleigh, but I never actually spent that much time IN Raleigh. I believe, as with many cities, they are trying to revive the downtown and are making nice strides. It was nice to get to know my own "backyard" a little better.

The best part was seeing old friends. My parents came, my voice teacher (pictured above), a couple friends from college as well as one guy who voted me in the all male a cappella group I sang with, The Clef Hangers. The Clefs were a HUGE part of my time at UNC. I also got a chance to reconnect with the scholarship foundation, the Morehead Scholarship (now called the Morehead-Cain Scholarship), that helped change my life by bringing me to UNC. Below is a photo with my girl in front of one of the most famous UNC landmarks, the Old Well!

Appleton was probably the nicest city we've been to. Granted, we've gotten great treatment everywhere, but Appleton kicked it up a notch...cranked it to eleven, if you will. I celebrated my birthday out there, and a number of people in the restaurant (who I did not know) insisted on singing to me and buying me a drink. Granted, they were a little tipsy but genuine :) Our audiences were so boisterous that we had to hold for applause and laughter in places we never had to hold before! What a way to close out the 2nd section of our tour. We're looking forward to getting our original Laura back, and I'm looking forward to getting my girlfriend back on tour :)

See you in Spokane, Washington!

Florida Sunshine: Tampa & Naples

2010-04-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

For me, Tampa was more than just hope for warmth. It also meant a chance to see family...LOTS of family. Most of my father's side of the family live(d) in Tampa as I was growing up. Consequently I have many memories of making the 12 hours drive down from NC after Christmas to spend the rest of the holiday with the Masseys. 60 or 70 degrees on New Years Eve was always weird though!

I was able to stay with my aunt during the week and see almost all 6 of my cousins and their families. My oldest cousin is a pastor in a new church. He asked me to sing on that Sunday and played for me as well. That marked our first "duet" together :)

While it was warmer than Toronto, it wasn't ALL that warm. In fact, it was quite windy. That didn't stop us from enjoying the awesome art fair that was going on right outside the theater downtown. I liked it so much that I made my first real grown-up art purchase. I was nervous :) But I got to meet the artist of the unique piece and can't wait to hang it up in my apartment back home!

*I have to mention that I was surprised at one performance by the older couple that was camping next to us last summer in the Adirondack Mountains (see an earlier post). Can you believe they remembered us from upstate NY!! I love those kind of stories :)*

Naples gave us the first chance to hit the beach...and we did as soon as the rain stopped :) It was SO WONDERFUL to sit in the sun. I definitely got a little more color than I bargained for...cause I guess I was enjoying it too much :)

I also found this fantastic cafe only a couple of miles from our hotel called the Sunburst Cafe. The owner is Jerome, a Boston transplant who probably makes the best muffins I have ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately I couldn't eat them myself because of the gluten, but by the smell and my cast members reactions I could tell he knocked it out of the park. Plus, he was SO generous, giving more than a plateful as gifts to the cast. The best part was that he brought his family to see our show on Saturday night. I feel like I made a friend! So, if you are ever in the area you will be delighted with the food and welcomed by the owners of the Sunburst down in Naples. I got to borrow Melissa's convertible (shown in the pic above) and it was AWESOME! :)

We also had to say goodbye to the smallest member of our cast, Carly Sonenclar, who played Carrie. She will be missed!

Soon we'll be back in my home state, North Carolina!

Canadia: Our friends to the North!

2010-03-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Toronto was our longest sit-down of the tour (5 whole weeks!). It finally gave us time to really get to know a city. I was able to rent an apartment north of town and used the subway to get everywhere. Though it's not quite as extensive as the NYC Subway system, it definitely takes the cake for punctuality!

We were in the beautiful Canon Theater pictured above. It is owned by one of the biggest producers of theater in Canada, the Mirvish's. Though the audiences were a bit quite and the reviews were less than stellar here, we had a great run. In fact, the size of the audience grew steadily over the 5 weeks, indicating that we are a word of mouth audience favorite...the kind of show I would rather be in :) Funny enough, right across the street was a music venue with quite a sensible name (see below ;)

The weather was pretty good considering we were in Canada in the dead of winter. Actually, my parents in NC got more snow from all of those crazy storms in February than we did! We did take advantage of some winter sports.

But I wouldn't have been able to take part in this ice-skatery if it weren't for the good folds at the Sports Medicine Clinic. My PT, Chris, was great! Check out how pain free it was:

That new fangled thing in the bottom picture is a laser that helps accelerate tissue recovery. Medicine has definitely advanced since I was a kid...oh no, I'm starting to sound old!

All in all, it was a wonderful stay in Toronto. Everyone from my dresser, Woody, to the doorman, Mahesh, was so friendly in the theater. I got to see some of my Canadian friends that were in The Three Musketeers with me in Chicago. Plus I got to experience both sides of the coin: watching with amazement as America defeated Canada in Hockey at their first meeting and then eating a good dose of humble pie when Canada defeated America in the final game. It was great to be in the host country during an Olympic season.

Onto sunshine in Tampa, Florida. I could use a day with just a T-shirt on :)

Anniversaries are die besten!

2010-02-20T17:45:00.000-08:00

I was reminded by the our dear Julia, now known as Julschi, and Kirsten that today is the 1 year anniversary from my debut as Tarzan in Germany. I can't begin to tell you what a wonderful year it has been, full of adventures, new friends, new languages and lots of flying! I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures from my trips back and forth to Hamburg. I was nervous and excited that first trip out in February...but every time I came back, I couldn't wait to get off the plane and be reunited with the show, friends and fans, all of which I have come to care for deeply!

(One of the many nights we spent at the Boston Hotel lounge)

(After a long day in Lubeck, our reactions to a dinner of currywurst. I guess I missed the memo that it was a "crazy face" shot)

(Breakfast with my girlfriend at my favorite neighborhood morning spot. Check out those beautiful, huge milchekaffes!)

(One of the first sunny days for me in Hamburg. My German friend from 3 years earlier came to visit and we went to Blankenese)

(Luckily this picture isn't real! These are Mark's crutches. It was my birthday, so we had to have some fun :)

(from my wonderful birthday night. I was so touched by how many of the cast, crew and fans all celebrated with me!)

(And my wonderful German friends showing support for this ole American boy).

It's just a glimpse from the past year of Hamburg, but it was definitely one of the bright spots. Thanks to all of you who made it so memorable. Hopefully I can return the favor someday.

I'll post about Toronto soon. We've never been in one place longer than 2 weeks!...ha

3 Stops, Constant Snow

2010-01-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

It is definitely winter! Our first stop after the break was in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and it gave us the coldest temperatures yet on tour. This was unfortunate because Fayetteville was a great small town with a college campus attached (similar to Tempe). But there was a gluten-free pizza place! These are rare finds, so congrats AR! I was also able to see a friend of mine that I met this past summer in NYC. I was his "artistic" mentor for a couple weeks. It was very serendipitous to be able to catch up with him again and hear the new things in his life. Otherwise, much of my time in Fayetteville was spent in the theater or the hotel....too cold!!!!

Believe it or not, Omaha was much warmer. Funny enough, even though it was warmer, I ended up getting really sick for the first true time on tour. It was a cold that has been circulating our cast for a week or so. I almost lost my voice. But, somehow I was able to pull it together (lots of steam and mucinex!) and didn't miss a show. I have to admit, I was a little loopy for some of the shows. It felt like I had a couple beers before the show...but I was clean! Ha. One day I was walking to the post office which happened to be much farther than I anticipated. On my way back, I decided to take a different route and came across the building pictured above. I had nothing to do for a while, so I decided to take a peak inside. And take a look at what I found below!

It turns out this was an old Union Pacific train station from back when trains were the major source of transportation. It is now a museum about the history of Omaha and a home to various other permanent and traveling exhibits. The city recently refurbished the lobby to it's former glory. It is a amazing how this country was settled and how certain cities made it and other ones passed by the wayside. I must have spent about 3 hours looking around. A must see! We also took a trip to the Omaha Zoo which has quite a collection for a midwest town.

And now we are at our last stop (Madison, WI) before the "international" portion of our tour in Toronto. And I have just added another first to my career in the business. I had to call out because of an injury today. This is also the first time since I got cast in Little House back in 2008 that anyone else has played the role of Almanzo! Luckily, we have great understudies in our company. I'm sure Will, one of my understudies, will knock it out of the park today. Having been an understudy in other shows before, I know how exciting it is to finally get to go on.

So, here's hoping the next memories won't be sickness or injuries :) It makes us grateful for the times we are healthy.

New Years in the Appalachians

2010-01-13T18:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, it was so great to be home with my family. We PRAIRIE folk are lucky that we all get along and enjoy each other's company. However, everyone needs a break here and there when you are seeing each other ALL THE TIME :) So, this holiday break was the perfect timing. On top of it all, we had a white Christmas in Denver and one at home in North Carolina.

This is the house I grew up in (pictured above). You are only seeing a portion of the house, an original log cabin that my parents found in another section of the mountains, took apart, reassembled here, and then built the rest of the house next to it. One of the best parts of the house is actually what it allows you to look at from a cozy dining room table. See below!

It is hard to leave a place like this. However, duty called and I answered. I soon found myself in the next stop on our tour (Fayetteville, Arkansas) missing my mountain home. One gift I gave to my father this year was a new ax for chopping wood. It was needed, to say the least. His other two axes were hanging on by a thread...soon to be the culprit of a home tragedy! So, before I left, Dad made sure he got some action shots with his new ax. The "sensible" one is at the top of this posting. The "home tragedy" is below. Thank goodness I like my brother, or it would have been off with his head!

Detroit, Tempe, Christmas in Denver!

2010-01-01T19:23:00.000-08:00

The next 4 weeks were a bit of a blur. I think we were all looking forward to the holidays and a week off to see our families and loved ones we have put on hold. It is a funny thing we do, always working when others are playing. Then we are free when others are working. Luckily, we have a week after Christmas to travel wherever we'd like. I'm in North Carolina, where I grew up...but to that later!

Detroit...well, it was pretty cold in Detroit. Michigan has been hit especially hard with the economic crisis and has been recovering from the riots of 1967 ever since. Though the downtown, where we stayed, feels vacant and unsafe at times, it is a vast improvement of what used to be. Times Square in NYC used to be completely off limits to families and visitors and now feels as safe as any small town in middle America. So there is hope for Detroit. All that being said, I wasn't able to see too much of the city. However, one of the highlights was the Motown Museum (also known as Hitsville USA) where thousands upon thousands of Motown songs were recorded. The number of famous people that came through there was unbelievable. This is a MUST SEE if you are in Detroit. A few of the cast members went to the Detroit Historical Museum which is supposed to be one of the best collections of Americana in the nation. Lastly, the Fox Theater in Detroit (much like the one in St. Louis) has the same tradition of painting murals on the wall. We left our mark again...part of history now :)

Tempe was a nice change of temperature!....eventually. We arrived to one of the biggest rain storms they have had this year. Even with the rain, it was much warmer than Detroit. The Gammage Auditorium hosted our little skit, right on the corner of the ASU campus. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is very memorable :) We had some great crowds here and some great outings on the main college drag where shops and restaurants line the streets.

(My silhouetted girlfriend in Dillon, Colorado...she's pretty even in the dark :)

And Denver...ah Denver, how I have missed you! This is my 4th trip to the Mile High City, and it is great to celebrate Christmas in a city you know at least a little. Plus we have friends in the Christmas Carol playing at the Denver Center, so we are surrounded by familiarity...not normal on a tour! We visited our favorite restaurant, Rioja, 4 times now. It is a little pricy, but I have never had such diverse flavors so successfully paired than I have there. And most importantly, we had a little apartment with a kitchen and a REAL Christmas tree (the tree was a gift from Melissa Gilbert to all of us). If we couldn't be home, this was the next best thing.

Thank you Little House for a great first leg of the tour. Here's to another great run next year!!!

Thankful St. Louis

2009-12-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

These last couple weeks were a bit crazy for various reasons. We had some understudies on, some cold weather, and VERY SLOW INTERNET. I'll tell you what, I remember the days of dial-up internet...and I would prefer not to go back. Some hotels are slower than a modem!

But, St. Louis had many great things to offer. We checked out the arch which I could see right from hotel balcony. It was literally right there! This is a shot from the top looking down. It really is an amazing structure.

I was able to spend some time with a good friend of mine from New York. It realized it had been a while since I had spoken with someone about career goals and dreams and there was a synergy that fed both of us to make them reality. Those kinds of conversations are so energizing! Thanks John!

The Fox Theater in St. Louis is a huge and wonderfully historic theater. So many tours have passed through. It was originally built as a silent movie theater by Fox, and now it provides live entertainment all year round. The best part of the theater is actually backstage where the walls are COVERED with murals painted and signed by each of the touring companies that come through. You can see a couple sample pictures. There isn't a corner or wall untouched.

There was also a fantastic museum called "The City Museum". If you are ever in town and have 1-3 hours, you MUST go and become a kid again at this adult jungle gym. I definitely broke a sweat climbing, throwing balls, sliding through nooks and crannies. This is the essence of "hands on".

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was lucky enough to share it with many people I love here on tour.

Chihuly & Cheese Grits

2009-11-22T13:33:00.000-08:00

Oklahoma City had way more than I expected. We were walking distance from the hip "Bricktown" with great food, a movie theater, and ice cream mixed on a marble slab. They had a botanical garden complete with thousands of colored lights at night. Their theater is only 8 years old after the renovation and is quite beautiful with TV's and couches in the backstage dressing rooms (was great for watching some weekend football).

But my favorites were definitely the Museum of Art that was housing the glass exhibit by Chihuly. WOW! This guy is amazing. I saw his work at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, but had no idea it was him. If you are ever near any of his work, you MUST drop by and see it. This picture above is one of the many whimsical and beautiful works he created.

My other favorite was the Oklahoma City Memorial commemorating the OK bombing in 1995. We were lucky enough to have a personal tour of the outdoor site by the designer, Tori. She and her husband managed to incorporate peace into a site remembering such a violent and tragic event. You MUST see this if you are every near as well.

This morning, I got to have breakfast with a mother of one of Kara & I's friend. She was sweet enough to treat me to the best shrimp cheese grits I have ever eaten....WOW!!!!!! What a great way to close out OK City.

MY HOME!: Rocky Ridge, Little Rock, and Springfield

2009-11-12T00:14:00.000-08:00

Well, these three places were my home for the past week, BUT the house in this picture was built by the REAL Almanzo for the REAL Laura. We were close enough to Mansfield, MO to make a morning trip over to this gem. Having lived with this character and the Little House story for so long now, I almost cried when I saw Pa's original fiddle in the museum right next door to this uniquely and lovingly designed house. My favorite room was the kitchen where each counter was about waist level, the perfect height for his 4'11'' bride, Laura. All of the cabinets were well within her reach. When they finally got electricity (a luxury piped in by their daughter Rose), Almanzo carved out a perfect cubby for the refrigerator...and I am talking PERFECT. There was nary an inch of space between the sides of the fridge and the wooden walls of the cubby. My father would have been impressed! As you can see, it was a beautiful fall day. Looking out over their land, my heart yearned to own something as peaceful one day.

This was our first and only split week, playing two towns in one week. While it does not compare to the one-nighters I did on tour in Europe with Grease!, it still is difficult to travel and perform on the same day. Both cities gave us some great crowds. I have to say I was a little partial to Little Rock because of our stay in the fabulous Peabody Hotel (complete with live ducks in the fountain) and a restaurant/bar called the Flying Saucer which served not one but TWO types of gluten free beer. It is once in a blue moon that this happens, so I made sure to taste them before I left. :)

Our presenter, Larry, is taking care of us for the next 2 or 3 cities. He's a good guy, so I'm looking forward to bringing the show to each of his venues.

One last picture: Every picture that I have seen of Almanzo and Laura has them standing at least 3 feet apart from each other, and awkwardly looking at the camera. So, Kara and I tried to recreate history in front of "our" house :)

NASHVILLE: Music City USA

2009-11-07T23:01:00.000-08:00

Why a pumpkin, you may ask. Well, as my Nashvillian cousins would say: why not a pumpkin? !?! Well, I guess it was pretty appropriate since it was Halloween during our stay in Nashville. Can you see the theme? The eyes are "little houses"....get it? :)

But Nashville did not disappoint. In fact, it would have been nice to spend two weeks there. I think I probably had about 5 different meals involving BBQ. There was live music wafting through the streets near Broadway every night. The crowds were great, hooting and laughing. We planted trees with Habitat for Humanity one cool morning on their 7 acre or so plot. It was great to have a man there who knew about trees and how to plant them. "Almanzo" learned something new that day :) Our van driver who took us home from the Habitat plant was named Ms. Daisy, and she was proud of her city. She took us the long way back and showed us several universities, a local hospital, and of course, her favorite BBQ spot: Mary's BBQ. Luckily I had a car that week, so I made a special trip out to meet this Mary and taste some of her delicious cooking. When I asked her what she recommended, she said, "well, I don't eat it, but it's all good".

The best part about my Nashville stay was getting to see some of my cousins, aunts and uncles. I don't get to see them enough, and they were kind enough to let me crash at their place for the week. I had 7 family members and 2 friends in the audience for our last show. Luckily I did not fall off my sleigh during the show (that happened to me a couple days before for the first time since I started this show). I love my family. They make me laugh.

I will trade in the comforts of a house again to spend another week in a hotel. Let's hope it's a good one next week!

Snowy St. Paul

2009-10-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well, the title isn't completely accurate. We did have the sun for 1 and 1/2 days, but the rest of our stay here has been rainy or snowy. It's not even Halloween yet!

But, I've managed to get a taste of the town. I think the most unique place so far has been an old dining car called Mickey's. It's been in business for over 70 years and operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In fact, it's on the National Register of Historic Places. My girlfriend and I had breakfast there one rainy Minnesota morning: blueberry buttermilk pancakes for her and a Denver omelette with hashbrowns for me. WOW! It was so good that our stomachs ached afterwards. Good thing I took waited a half an hour before going to the gym :) If you are ever in town, you should definitely check this place out. Sit at the bar so you can watch the guy cook everything on the griddle and multi-task like a banshee (amazing) and watch the middle aged waitress look busy no matter what she's doing. For all you actors, this is a great place to character study!

I'm looking forward to our next stop: Nashville, TN. I have a lot of family in that area, and it looks like I'll get to see a pile of them!

Stop One: St. Paul, MN

2009-10-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

We arrived on Monday to a fresh blanket of snow. Wow, that is a change from the balmy 70 degrees we were enjoying in NYC. But I have a feeling we will be experiencing many a harsh temperature change (going from Toronto to Tampa in February.....I prefer this change :).

Our theater here, the Ordway, is beautiful and quite large. Though it is not the largest we will play on tour, it feels quite a bit bigger than the Paper Mill. There are small lights that line each balcony. When you are gazing out "over the Prairie" from the stage, as we do in the show many times, there are times it looks like you are gazing into an endless starry sky. The staff here is great. We have new dressers in each city, so you never know what you're going to get. But my dresser, Dale, is ON IT! I have one full costume quick change to do in about 15 seconds, and it went swimmingly well.

Now we begin to explore the city. St. Paul is connected by a series of "skyways" from building to building, so you really don't have to walk outside at all. Although, I enjoy the crisp air. I hope to get back over to Minneapolis for at least a day to remember all the places I got to know last summer during the previous PRAIRIE run.

Pulling on my parka and out OUT THE DOOR!

One Chapter Closed, Another Chapter Begins

2009-10-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

It is official: PRAIRIE in New Jersey is closed. But the show lives on!!!! We just finished a 5 week run at the Paper Mill Playhouse tonight to another sold out crowd. It's great to be in a show that is so well received by the audience. But there is nary a moment to rest, for we are packing up and heading OUT WEST.

Our first stop is St. Paul, Minnesota. We originated this show last summer in Minneapolis, which is only a hop, skip and a jump from St. Paul. It will bring back a lot of great memories. On the abrasive side, it snowed there the other day. Really cold weather is not high on my priority list at the moment. I just hope for some nice sunshine. Any kind of weather is bearable if there is a little sunshine :)

I am also looking forward to a moment when I am not exhausted....I feel it on the horizon...but where or when?...I don't know.

LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!!!!

(Oh, some good news: During a talk back with the audience today, someone asked about the possibility of a Cast Recording. Our lead producer in the audience was there and yelled out, "It's Coming, It's Coming".....I hope he meant it! I'll certainly post if that happens.)

THE PRAIRE IS OPEN!

2009-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

It seemed to have taken a real-time journey out west, but we finally got this puppy open! There was much celebration in the small town of Milburn. They shut down Main Street, set up bails of hay, and the party spilled out onto the street.

As always, the opening night crowd was fantastic. It is full of friends and family, and of course a critic here and there. You can really feel that almost everyone really wants the show to be good and everyone to do well. Luckily, since many of us (myself included) have lived with this show for over a year now it wasn't as crazy as our first opening in Minneapolis. Though we probably had just as many changes, there was something comforting about knowing who our characters were and having lived in those lives for a little while before. I had a lot of fun, though I was DOG tired.

Two dear friends of mine got to come and celebrate at the party afterwards. Although, it is hard to hangout with friends and family because there are so many important people that want to give congrats or take a picture or even introduce themselves for the first time. If you remember back to the first rehearsal description when I wrote about the 100s of people in the room that were a part of this show....well, they all came to that after party and wanted to say hello :) But "networking" included, it was a very nice party.

DAY BEFORE THE SHOW, Y'ALL

2009-09-19T22:17:00.000-07:00

So, it is the night before we open. We have just finished another full week of rehearsals on top of a regular show week. But we will keep the energy up as high as we can for the opening night show. In fact, opening can be very exciting, so I don't think it will be a problem. Many friends and family members will be in the crowd tomorrow night, so it is always a generous audience. We will probably get applause and laughs in places we have never gotten :) But, we have had some really great responses already. All I know is that people really seem to be enjoying the story, some pleasantly surprised, some ecstatic...and if there are any others, they drove off before they got to tell us :)

Ok.....

Cards for the cast and creative team: check

Outfit pressed and ready for tomorrow: check

New lines and blocking memorized: I hope so!

Good night sleep: checking that right....now.....

If YOU BUILD IT....

2009-09-13T16:36:00.001-07:00

Well, the people came and went.....and they seem to like it so far! :) The show definitely feels different than our run last summer, but in a good way. It is wonderful to see all the little girls in the audience dressed up in their prairie dresses and bonnets. They are SO CUTE! And most of their mothers grew up watching the show, so they are extremely excited to see Melissa Gilbert. It really is amazing how far her influence has reached. The TV show and books have touched upon something pure and innocent that pervades humanity. It seems there are only wonderful memories attached to the Little House name.

There was a fella here yesterday that has been a primary school teacher for years and always has his class read "Farmer Boy", the book about Almanzo. Naturally, I thought that was quite astute of him :) I wonder what I would have thought of the book if I had read it at a young age. One set of parents said they came because their son got tickets as a birthday present from his girlfriend and he recommended it to them. I asked him how old his son was....29! I love it! See, even dudes can enjoy this show, hah!

Labor Day

2009-09-07T22:21:00.001-07:00

We didn't get the day off (it's a US holiday today), but they did give us a BBQ on our dinner break. I suppose it's the next best thing, right? It really is beautiful out here in this part of New Jersey. I hope some of my NY friends are able to come out and see the show. It's a pretty easy commute.

Tomorrow is our second 1o out of 12 (1o out of 12 hours) day. We will probably get a run of the show in by the evening. We BETTER, because our first audience is on Thursday. Gideeyup!

LONG WINTER

2009-09-05T18:04:00.000-07:00

It's COLD in the dressing rooms!....ok, maybe not that cold. But we've got to act like it on stage. We're in the second day of tech out in New Jersey. While the weather is SO beautiful outside, inside we are dressed for a 9 month blizzard! As you can tell from the picture, my "cold acting" is brilliant...haha...ha...ehem....well, i hope it is :)

It's going to be difficult acting like it's freezing on stage when we are on tour in an open air arena...and it's 100 degress. We will be sweating as the snow falls!

I'm sharing a dressing room with Tony, our swing. Unfortunately, he's so busy that he won't be in here much....so it gets a bit lonely. Hmmm, I may have spoken too soon. As I type, our Tony is going on as one of the 14 year old boys. It's fun when grown men play kids! Anyway, even if I'm playing a principal, I usually like to share with the boys. It makes for much better memories and laughs! It will be different in every city anyway.

A Day to imPRESS!

2009-09-04T08:04:00.001-07:00

The picture above is Laura & Almanzo (Kara Lindsay & Me). Can you tell which is which? :)

On our last day of rehearsal in NYC, we invited the press to watch us perform a couple of our musical numbers and then we gathered for photos and interviews in the next room. Days like this make a lot of people nervous :) But it is a great opportunity to advertise your show and hopefully give people an idea of all the work we've been doing. Prairie has had a fairly long journey to get to this point, and we've put a lot of sweat into it's making. So we hope people enjoy the end product!

Press day can fool you...at least for a second...into thinking that you are a movie star! :) You walk down the line of cameras and they all shout, "look this way" "over here" "one more"...(flash flash flash)..."one more this way" (flash).....and then it's over and they all move on. ha! We get a little extra attention as a show because Melissa Gilbert is attached. It's pretty cool to watch her in these situations, because she's fairly used to the attention and press. In a sense, it really is part of her job. While we get glimpses of the flashing bulbs in the "theater world" during opening nights, press events, fundraisers....it truly pales in comparison to Hollywood. I may prefer it that way....hehehe.

If you want to see more pictures from the press event, check out this link http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Coverage_LITTLE_HOUSE_ON_THE_PRAIRIE_THE_MUSICAL_Meets_The_Press_20090903

Day of Rest

2009-08-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

New York City is really amazing. It's so crowded everywhere you go. I was taking an innocent nap in the park and next thing I know, someone is popping up out of the ground RIGHT NEXT to me. RUDE! I hope the person didn't mind me snoring on them a bit :)

The picture is from an outdoor sculpture park in upstate New York called Storm King. It was a HOT day, but I managed to find a little rest in this shade.

The script for Prairie is frozen!!!...for the time being. This allows us to continue fine tuning what we have without worrying about constant changes. If we were always in a state of flux, it's possible to miss some good things that might actually work. It will also give us a chance to run the show a couple of times before we go into tech (technical rehearsals were we move to the real stage, add light and sound cues, costumes, etc.). It's also our last week working in NYC, so I'm trying to savor it. Though the theater in New Jersey is a short drive, it is much more of a hassle because of the infamous NYC traffic.

The NY Times will be there tomorrow...I better put on some extra rouge :)

POISONED BY POLLO

2009-08-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

or potentially titled "POISONED BY POISSON" Either way, I think I got some food poisoning from a birthday part where paella was the main course. The dish looked like a huge wave had swept up the tastiest bits of the sea and left it perfectly on a bed of rice just in time for the birthday festivities. There was also some chicken in there...chicken of the sea?....hmmmm. In any case, I got knocked out for a couple of days, but I'm slowly recovering. The creative team was nice enough to let me go a little early yesterday. I don't think I had another horse race in me anyway :)

Today we ran the first act with all the new changes. It's amazing how far away the first act felt since we had been spending so much time recently on the second act. But, I suppose it is half our show...so we must! We had some producers come to watch, so there was a little nervous energy in the air. I can't imagine the task of pleasing every single one of the producers (and we have MANY in this show). You just hope everyone is striving for the good of the show, first and foremost.

My new song in the 2nd act is now lengthened...for the time being. We needed a little more "umph". Laura has a newer song as well which made us change the final duet. You see, everything is connected! Then, they ask us to give it a try right away. You don't even get a chance to memorize it and all of the sudden your whooshing around the stage singing a new song. Sometimes you just repeat the only words you know over and over again to the tune :) They don't expect it to be perfect at that moment but just need to see if the new idea works. That is true "live theater!".

We Have Broken Through!

2009-08-20T20:15:00.001-07:00

As of today, we have finished blocking the entire show, from curtain to curtain. Well, I guess there is an extra 2 curtains in there for intermission (or what I like to call "halftime"). I suppose I'll never shake my soccer roots!

We are moving so much faster than we did last summer with the show. It is mostly because the creative team has such a better idea of what they want this time, so we spend a little less time "reinventing the wheel" so to speak. We kept what works and spend the time on the new changes. Interestingly, it seems that we spend the most time on some of the smallest sections: transitions, short chorus crosses, adding in the new words to the same song 10 times or more! This morning we spent almost 2 hours on a short "dance" that Laura and I have at the end of the show. In reality, this section will only be about 20 seconds long. But, we wanted to try some new things. Whatever we end up with, I hope I can do it 8 times a week for almost a year! Those are the kinds of things you have to keep in mind when you are creating a long running show. It may be cool and fun in the moment, but after 5 months..1 year...you can regret creating that "cool" moment. hah!

Now we will begin finessing, smoothing all the rough edges, and clearing up the story as best we can. As I think I said before, everyone is really taking the changes very easily. I don't anticipate and meltdowns...yet :)

Onto tomorrow to "turn that prairie gold!"

WHERE IS THE LOVE?

2009-08-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you where the love is: all around me!

I just got home from another long day of rehearsals. I was having a deep, unexpected, but honest conversation with my girlfriend. I have to say that I haven't felt that vulnerable in a long time...maybe ever. I was amazed by the love I felt and how blessed I am to have her in my life. I also have a wonderful, supportive family (who are all planning on seeing PRAIRIE at some point!...right family? :).

And to top it off, I check my email this evening and have an inbox full of friends across the ocean with pictures, flags, memories, and of course, nutella! Thank you so much for thinking of me. I feel the love, really!

And where did you find such a great flag? I was over in Germany during America's independence day this past year (July 4th) and Ingolf was sweet enough to pick up a small flag for me. It was not easy to find! So, well done with that too!

Thank you for sending the pictures, Julia. Thanks to you all!

DO YOU SMELL SOMETHING BURNING?

2009-08-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Notice the body position of that guy in the middle of the picture there, holding the reins. Looks pretty easy right? Now imagine basically holding that position for about 3 hours straight, two days in a row. In fact, go with me a bit further here and imagine bouncing up and down as if you were "riding a horse-drawn wagon" for those solid six hours. If your imagination is not working so well, just try it wherever you are right now. Go for 5 minutes. How do you feel? Do you FEEL THE BURN??? I do!

I have a great time in this scene. It is the same basic idea that we used in our last version of PRAIRIE, a square dance moving into a great mix of song and horse race. But, since there are changes and new cast members and because it is quite involved in terms of lyrics, music, and movement...you can imagine we spent a lot of time rehearsing this scene these past couple days. I'm remembering why I got my soccer legs back after the last run of PRAIRIE. No pain, no gain right?

We are pretty much done blocking the whole first act. Today, we ran it in it's entirety. Everybody is really working hard, and it definitely shows. Tomorrow we tackle the second act! Let's see if Nellie can thwart Almanzo's pursuit of that free spirit, Laura.....only time will tell...with the help of a kick ball-change and some fantastic movie-composer-turned-theater-composer underscoring!

Full Steam AHEAD!

2009-08-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

We are literally plowing through during rehearsals now. It feels like a beast of a show at the moment. Because we don't have any automation, flying, special effects etc., we actually have all our props and most our set that we can use during rehearsals. So, it's as if we were doing the ACTUAL show instead of just rehearsing. And because we are still figuring it out, we keep repeating or changing each entrance...which means we set and re-set each prop and set piece every time. Usually, you are able to "mark" or "just act" like you are moving set pieces during rehearsal until you get onstage. That makes rehearsing, changing the scenes, switching entrances so much easier. Not the case with us!

There is also quite a bit more "dancing" or "movement" in this version. PRAIRIE isn't a 42nd Street or Chorus Line, so we don't have many dances like that. However, we do have jigs and square dances, types of movement that normal people did out on the prairie. It really works with the atmosphere of the show.

After quite a full day of new material, we were asked to run all the new and old work we had done for the orchestrator. This would allow him to have a visual idea of the song, hopefully adding even more "layers" to his choices while orchestrating. Wow, it really makes you think on your feet.

All that said, I still LOVE my job :) We are experiencing freedom in "play". The creative team allows us to bring and add our own personalities and choices, many of which get incorporated into the final version. We play until it feels right!

Play On, my friends! Play til it feels right!

America's Heartland

2009-08-09T21:05:00.000-07:00

I was looking through some old photos and found this jewel. You see before you a hog weighing over 1200 lbs. The picture really does not do her fat rolls justice. I would not want to be one of her piglets trying to get a warm drop of milk only to be smothered by one of her 6 thighs!

This was part of our "research" for PRAIRIE: meeting real farmers, seeing real livestock, and experience real food that they somehow fried and shoved on a stick. Many states in America have a State Fair once a year to celebrate and cultivate farmers. I will not forget our visit to Minnesota's State Fair last year during our 1st run of PRAIRIE. Every year they have a new food specialty. This past year was chocolate covered bacon. I think I managed to get one piece down. For a fuller description of the State Fair phenomenon, click THIS LINK to read Garrison Keillor's article in National Geographic. He captures the essence of the heartland and Minnesota in particular better than any other writer I know.

As with Laura Ingalls Wilder's books about living on the prairie, the state fair was a showcase for WORK and FOOD. Her books seem to spend most of their time talking about the endless supply of work and the particulars of making and enjoying each meal. It is amazing that she found any time to play as a young girl! It certainly puts things in perspective regarding my own workload. I have NOTHING to complain about. And if I do, shove some chocolate covered bacon in my face and remind me I've got it good!

A DAY WITHOUT MUSIC, THIS WAS NOT

2009-08-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

What a day on the PRAIRIE! We sang from dusk til dawn and then some more. I believe we will sing all day tomorrow too. But, I LOVE IT, though it is tiring. In spite of having a previous production, almost every song has changed. Some are large changes and some are just a word here and there. There is a new song for Laura, the main girl...and my eventual bride :) And they gave me a new one as well for the second act. It's quite lovely. I wish I could post it online. But alas, you will have to come see the show!...or I suppose you could just get the CD. But the show is much more fun to see live!!!

(Picture is of Rachel Portman, Oscar winning composer who also wrote our music for PRAIRIE. She and Donna DiNovella created all of our songs...and all the changes! Pic from Telegraph.co.uk)

As usual, with new shows, there are changes upon changes. As we were singing some of the songs, the writers were sitting in the room and saying, "you know, do you think you could try singing "have" instead of "will"?" or "do you mind singing a high G at the end to fill out the chord?" We are literally making it up on the spot. I LOVE IT! It's always interesting to see what you end up with in the end.

Actually, on the Broadway TARZAN recording, you will hear a different musical ending than we actually used in the show. The CD has Tarzan and Jane singing "With every ending comes a new beginning..." before the cast comes in. That was cut before we opened, but we had already recorded it for the CD. That's why many new shows don't release the CD until after they are already open.

We will see what new notes await us tomorrow.....

PRAIRIE- It Begins...

2009-08-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

We had our first full day of Little House on the Prairie (from hereafter to be referred to as "Prairie"...we're trying to be a "green" show...). There were TONS of people in the room at the beginning. It reminds you that it truly takes a village, or a small army, to put up a show. Prairie, in particular, has been kicking around for a while and has made some unconventional moves in terms of how is being produced. The times are changing, and we must adapt!

It was heart warming to see the creative team again and many of the cast members from the last production. The new additions seem like a fantastic fit. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all in the coming weeks. First up: memorizing names! I've decided I am good at this now. No more blaming forgetfulness on my father's genes. I am changing my destiny :) The mind is a powerful thing, folks. What are YOU telling it to do?

I'm resting up for what will surely be a rigorous costume fitting first thing in the morning. Trying on clothes is hard!... :) wow, do I really get paid to do this?!?

If you haven't yet, check out www.littlehousethemusical.com so you can see some of the cast and info. This will be a big chunk of my life for the next year...whew!

ART or FOOD?

2009-08-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Well, if it's ART...then it's tasty ART!

What a way to start off the day after so many international trips:

Banana from Canada (ooo, that has a nice ring)

Nutella from Germany

Bread from down the street

AND it's completely GLUTEN-FREE...just like me :) Show some love to your gluten-free peeps today. They will be happy you even know what "gluten" is!

Back Home

2009-08-02T22:59:00.000-07:00

Call off the police dogs! I'm back! It seems my traveling days were not quite over. I managed to make another trip upstate NY to camp. Can't you just FEEL the peacefulness from the pic above? Yep, I knew you could. I started that fire with my own two hands, Tarzan style! If you haven't spent the night in a tent, under a tarp, in a teepee, or something other than a wooden or steel structure then consider it your homework to do it!

We also made a delicious meal which included some fantastic wurst I picked up in my local grocery store before I left. There is nothing like a meal cooked over the fire....I can still taste the caramelized onions....mmm...

The next stop was a bit of

"research" for my next show, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. All the characters are based on real people and are actually pretty accurate. My character, Almanzo Wilder, grew up in upstate New York. We visited this farm on our way to Canada. I'll make a more in depth post about this later. But, here is a picture of one of the barns. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!

And the final stop was in Montreal...oh me oui! We had so much fun in the city that I forgot to take many pictures :) I did manage to snap this one in the Old City section just before sunset. It was fascinating to be able to drive to another country who's official language is English but where everything is French. I know it is normal in Europe to jump from border to border and culture to culture so quickly. However, it is not so easy in America...unless you walk from neighborhood to neighborhood in NYC...then it's even quicker than Europe! haha

2009-07-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

I put some pictures of the last reading I did up on my website (including the one above). It was a musical written around the music of Peter Gabriel called US. These types of events happen all the time in NYC. It's a chance for writers, composers, etc to see their work performed without having to put up a ton of money for sets, costumes, a venue, etc. Most of these works are "a work in progress", so there are many changes to come.

This was the first public performance of US. It's great for we actor folk because you meet a lot of new people in a short amount of time (a reading usually only take 1 week to rehearse and is only 1 performance). Plus, you have to think on your feet and learn the show VERY quickly. An added bonus is discovering great new music like Peter Gabriel's. I really had no idea of the depth of his work. You should check out some of his stuff from the late 1980s to early 1990s.

Tarzan started like this. In fact, I think there were several "readings" before they moved forward with a full production. Even from the first rehearsals, there were many changes before we finally opened on Broadway. There are actually lots of different things in the German production too. It's fascinating to see how art progresses.

2009-07-18T23:04:00.001-07:00

I just got back from another road trip to see two good buddies of mine, one I met last year on Little House on the Prairie and the other I went to college with @ UNC.

I drove down to Philadelphia to see the first buddy in the tour of GREASE! Now, I have to admit I was not expecting to be blown out of the water by the production since I have done over 500 performances of it myself in Europe and tend to go catatonic at the first trumpet blasts of "Grease is the Word"...BUT....I have to say, I was really impressed, and mostly by my friend's performance. He really was tremendous in the show, and THAT's saying something for a performance in Grease! He really stood out.

Then it was on to Baltimore where my friend and his new wife have a wonderful "row house" in the heart of the city. We went to a art festival downtown with tons of free exhibits and DELICIOUS food. We actually sat through an hour talk on the history of "row houses"....again, was not expecting much but it was QUITE fascinating. Ended the evening with a rooftop BBQ. My dessert was a hot fudge sunday on my drive back to NYC tonight.

While I am exhausted, it was well worth the trips to spend time with the people you care about. I'm trying to practice what I preach, "invest in people, not in things".

2009-07-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, I've finally had some time to clear my desk of all the clutter that has built up this spring and found this gem amidst the rubble. My life is slowly getting back in order, but it was fun with a little chaos actually!

This picture was taken on what I believe was our first and only canceled show. After 40 minutes or so of waiting to start the show, we had to cancel because the sound was not working at all. And so, there we were, lil' Tarzan and me, all dressed up and nowhere to fly :) This was snapped in the house before we went out to announce the final sad news of canceling the show.

It's funny that we play the same character in the show, but we rarely get to see each other on or off stage. Back stage, the young Tarzans are always with the "wrangler" (at least that's what we called the child supervisor in America). On stage, when one of us enters, the other exits. I see him for a brief moment when I fly in for "So Ein Mann". And then, for one magical moment, we get to connect when he descends on the trunk. It's one of my favorite moments.

I love this pic!

2009-07-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at a blog. I guess to answer the title "where to next?": TO THE BLOG, MATES!

I was inspired to start a blog because my sister and dear friend have made the plunge, so the blog-water is a little less scary now. Plus, there were some lovely people I recently met in Germany that gave me the last encouragement to try.

Hopefully, the content will get better as I learn the art of the blog, so please bear with me.

So, in the past three weeks I have flown from San Franscisco-Kansas City-NYC-Germany-Denver-NYC. Let the frequent flier miles rain down on me :) I finally have a little time to change focus from grunting and singing in Deutsch in TARZAN to riding horses and winning my gal, Laura, in LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE. I get to wear a bit more clothes in the latter.

We'll see what will come in the meantime....!