The Floating Market

A couple of weeks ago I participated in Lifeline Theatre's annual benefit. This year's theme was Neil Gaiman's Floating Market from NEVERWHERE. I wandered the venue and recited stories written by Lifeline ensemble members. Photographer Paul Metreyeon took this photo, which I think is rather awesome (if I do say so myself):

Previews

After many weeks, NEVERWHERE encounters its first audience tonight. This is not opening night; it is the first night of previews.

The preview process is a luxury many (perhaps most) theatre companies in Chicago are unable to afford. At best they will have previews on Thursday and Friday, and then open the show on Saturday. While that does give the show a chance at a little audience feedback, there really is no opportunity to fix anything that just doesn't work.

Lifeline, the company producing NEVERWHERE, owns its own space. As a result, we have the chance to perform an entire weekend of shows, take what we learned from those audiences and continue to work during the next week, then test those changes on a second round of preview audiences the next weekend before we finally open the Monday afterward. The result is that the show we will open on May 10th will be a different beast from the one we'll perform tonight.

In this particular instance the changes probably won't be too dramatic. A shortened line here, a tighter entrance there. That sort of thing. However, I've heard stories of musical productions that added entire songs during the preview process. For an actor these changes can be dizzying, but there is nothing more exhilarating than the moment all the pieces of a show finally fit together.

If you're in the Chicago area and want to help us put the final touches on NEVERWHERE, we'll have preview performances April 30-May 2, and May 7-9. Click here for more information.

Thanksgiving

I hear the phrase "in this economy" three or four times a day. I have friends who have been out of work for over a year. I have friends who have sent resumes to the far ends of the country to find work. I have friends who have sent out over a thousand resumes and have barely scored any interviews. I have friends who have given up their chosen careers to go back to school after being laid off.

Two years ago I was laid off from a job I'd held for seven years. I had spent most of those seven years complaining about the job, but for a couple of weeks after my last day I felt as though I'd been kicked in the stomach. I couldn't get to sleep until three or four in the morning, and I couldn't get out of bed until noon. I got back into temping for a few months, but that world had changed dramatically since the last time I'd gone that route back in 2001. Assignments were fewer and far between, and the work was menial and monotonous.

Then a good friend suggested I come and temp at her office for a few weeks. She suggested I could at least get a higher hourly rate than what the agencies had offered me. Those few weeks turned into a few months, and then a little over a year ago turned into a new full time job.

I am ASTOUNDINGLY lucky. I want the universe to know that I am fully aware of just how lucky I am. I do not have an impressive resume by anyone's standards, haven't even finished college, but I have a job that not only pays fairly well, but that I genuinely enjoy. I have a theatre hobby/career that has never been more fulfilling. I have an extraordinary circle of friends. I have two cats whom I adore. I have a fantastic wife, and soon we might be buying our own home. I really, really, have little about which I can complain. I am grateful for all of the wonderful things that have come my way.

I am getting ready for rehearsal and watching the snow fall out my front window. Gonna be a good day.

Bikram

I tried Bikram yoga for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It's the kind of yoga where they crank the thermostat up to 105 degrees and then you do yoga for an hour and a half while sweating balls. Did I say sweating? The word "sweat" does not really encompass the sprinkler-like way my body's moisture reserves evacuated through every pore. Dripping. Drenched. Soaked. They warned me in advance to bring a big towel. I don't know if one was enough.

When I first walked into the room the temperature was pleasant. It was a like being in a sauna, only not as humid. I wasn't doing anything strenuous yet. Plus, it was freezing outside and the warmth was more than welcome. It doesn't take long, however, before you really start to feel the effects.

I am proud to say that I made it through the full ninety minutes without feeling light-headed or needing to lie down. Several other people in the class lie down on their mats for a few minutes at a time. I'm told it's common, and in fact during the brief orientation the instructor made it clear that it was not only acceptable but encouraged to do so at any point during the class. The only real difficulty I encountered was that some of the poses were just beyond my skill level, and while we were told to only go as far as we comfortably could go, I wasn't always sure what to do when I couldn't do the full-out pose the more advanced students did.

Did I enjoy the class? I would have to say no. At one point the instructor came by and asked if it was more intense than I expected, and I said no. I wasn't trying to be badass. What I meant was, I'd been told ahead of time that this was going to be VERY intense, and the class lived up to its expectations. By the end I felt dazed, and my body felt like it was made out of jelly. The studio is only four blocks from my apartment, but I still waited for the bus because I just wasn't up to the walk. However, for the next couple of days I felt AWESOME. Sore, but awesome.

I thought maybe I should try a less exhausting yoga class, but one of the things I liked about this was the sense of accomplishment when it was over. A few days later I did go back and try a beginners' Vinyasa class, which was informative but didn't have the same "holy crap what have I gotten myself into?" vibe that made the Bikram class so exciting.

Would I go back? If I could afford it, I'd like to think maybe I would. Yoga ain't cheap. I have a couple home yoga tapes, but they really don't do it for me. It helps to have the instructor there. At the same time, not knowing anybody there added to the anxiety level. Also, I'm not a fan of all the talk about "chakras" and "union" and whatnot. It gives me the embarrassment shivers. I'm there to lose weight. I'm not on some kind of spiritual journey.

So, yeah. Bikram yoga. I'll give the whole experience two and a half stars out of four. Two and a half sweaty, sweaty stars.

Epic Fail

I seem to be on a bit of a self-destructive streak, diet-wise. My whole plan to drop 10 percent of my body weight for Neverwhere? Check it: I gained four pounds. I've had the house to myself most evenings for the last month while Mandy is in rehearsal. I thought it would be a good opportunity to really dig in and make the whole diet and exercise thing happen. Not so much. I watched a lot of movies, and recorded a lot of music. And ate a lot of crap. And exercised... very, very little.

So today I walked to work, and I walked home. And I intend to repeat the process tomorrow. That's four miles a day. I'm not sure what to do about the diet yet. For reasons too ridiculous to go into, my office is continuously supplied with cake. It's out of control.

1 Down, 364 To Go

2010: The Year We Make Contact. If Arthur C. Clarke is right, we should be getting a second Sun due to an alien race accidentally detonating Jupiter this year. That should be cool. Of course, he was wrong about the orbiting tourist destinations being ready nine years ago, so maybe Sir Arthur wasn't such a smartie after all.

The holidays are winding to a close, and as per usual they went much better than I always fear. Christmas Eve saw a lovely dinner and gift exchange with my wife's family. Christmas day was spent lounging around with the in-laws, with more gifts (Check it! I got an Amazon Kindle, AND Final Draft! No excuses now; I've got to get some real writing done.) and another nice dinner. The day after Christmas we met up with my family along with some old family friends out in the burbs. A nice time was had by all. Then Mandy and I rang in the new year with some friends up in Rogers Park and spent New Years Day on the couch eating junk food and watching bowl games. The Northwestern game was a great one; too bad the Wildcats couldn't pull it out.

It's resolution time again. Every year I make a few, and they pretty much always get forgotten. This year I am not "resolving" anything. I am simply make a few suggestions for myself. First suggestion, lose some weight. This morning I weighed in at 288.8 pounds. Five of those pounds were added in the last week. I need to spend less money on food, and therefore I need to be more selective about the food that I buy. Plus, I've got this kettlebell thing, and I want to give it a serious try. My goals are modest. Right now I want to lose ten percent (28 pounds) by the first rehearsal of Neverwhere. I think this is a reasonable, attainable goal. After Treasure Island I owe it to my knees to make the effort.

Suggestion #2 involves my theater career more directly. I have decided it is time to find an agent. I have no idea how to go about finding such a thing, but I have friends with agents and I will start by getting feedback from them. I will probably start by preparing headshots and resumes for a mailing. I'm gonna wait until the postcards for Neverwhere are ready, because I think that would be a cool thing to send along. But I'll ask around a bit first and make a plan.

I have one or two other suggestions for myself, but they are private. I'm sure you'll understand.

In the meantime, I still have the fight direction on The Ring Cycle and Under Ground to keep me busy. Plus, I've created a new website for my music at www.clownstigmata.com, and posted several songs at Last.fm. I'd love your feedback!

Happy New Year, everybody!

December Daze

The year is winding down. (The decade is too, and good riddance to it. But that is not what I'm writing about.) I have a hard time concentrating during December. The weather has taken the season's first real turn toward unpleasant. I have to adjust my wardrobe accordingly. I have to worry about shopping for Christmas gifts. I worry about my plans for New Years. I worry that I don't see enough of my family during the holidays; then I worry that I won't find a reason NOT to see my family. And I have to weave my day job and theater schedules through it all. And now I've got a head cold and feel like crap.

Bah. Humbug.

It's not all bad, of course. I've got some great stuff going on. I'm the fight director for perhaps the most ambitious project I've ever been a part of: The Building Stage is doing a 6-hour adaptation of Wagner's Ring Cycle. The project is being co-directed by Joanie Schultz and Blake Montgomery, and features none other than my lovely wife Mandy. It will be Mandy's and my first theater collaboration in a really long time.

I'm also doing fights for a cool one-act called "Under Ground," written by Jessica Wright for this year's Rhino Fest. The story is awesome. It would fit perfectly in an issue of Weird Tales.

Beyond that, of course, is Neverwhere. I have begun working out. I'm trying this kettlebell program I found. So far so good; each workout leaves me with a full-body soreness the next day. I kinda like the feeling.

It's been over a month since my last post, but quite frankly I can't think of much else right now. Must be the Sudafed.