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.

Neverwhat?

As I mentioned before, I have been cast in a stage version of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere at Lifeline Theatre, to be produced next spring. Our illustrious director Paul Holmquist, who also directed me in Lifeline's Busman's Honeymoon, has decided to embark on a busman's holiday of his own by turning a vacation to London into a research trip. He will be documenting his travails on a new blog, Neverwhat? I, for one, am looking forward to some enlightening entries.

The Sharp End of the Sword

On Saturday I and fellow Treasure Island castmates Patrick Blashill, Rob McLean and Sean Sinitski along with fight director Geoff Coates sat down for the Talk Theatre In Chicago podcast to discuss our show and the art of staged violence. It was a huge thrill for me as I've never been interviewed before. The interview took place in Lifeline Theatre's rehearsal space, and you can hear the El going by the window every couple of minutes.

We followed this interview with our first two-show Saturday of the run. By the time I got home that evening I was so tired I couldn't even sleep. I've lost twelve pounds since we started tech. And if we can maintain audiences like these for the next few weeks we'll probably extend the run into November. By the time we close I should be lookin' GOOD.

I Don't Mean to Toot My Own Horn...

... but BEEP BEEP, people! The reviews for Treasure Island have been rolling in, and it looks like we're a hit! I've linked below to several of the reviews, and included a few choice excerpts here and there.

Chicago Sun-Times - Dig up 'Treasure' at Lifeline show - "The ensemble is terrific, with Chris Hainsworth, Christopher M. Walsh, Ezekiel Sulkes, C. Sean Piereman and Eduardo Garcia as a fine bunch of battered and battering gold-diggers."

Chicago Theater Blog - Lifeline creates an all-hands-on-deck winner - "Chief among equals: Christopher Walsh as the rum-and-rickets-infused Billy Bones, a rogue whose “thundering apoplexy” proves the catalyst for the story’s rollicking treasure hunt."

Chicago Tribune - Full-blown 'Treasure Island' sails into Lifeline: Prepare to be boarded - "Thanks to the inventions of designer Alan Donahue and a slew of deliciously droll performances from the likes of Robert McLean, Christopher M. Walsh and young Warren Weber, this is an engrossing adventure that Kauzlaric unfolds at break-neck pace."

Chicagoist - Shiver Me Timbers! Lifeline's Treasure Island Is Explosive - "This show is as close to perfection as they come, and if you have a thing for pirates, it’s just that much better."

Dining Chicago - Fabulous coming-of-age classics: ‘The Fantasticks’ and ‘Treasure Island’ - "Along with Sinitski, Christopher M. Walsh, as Billy Bones, and Patrick Blashill, as Dr. Livesey, deliver exceptional performances, and director Robert Kauzlaric’s staging is impeccable."

Gapers Block - A Pirate's Life for Me

Newcity - Review: Treasure Island/Lifeline Theatre

I am tired and bruised, but immensely proud of this show. Yar.

Dead Men Don't Bite

I am sore and exhausted and it feels fantastic. Lifeline Theatre's Treasure Island has occupied all of my free time for the last month and will continue to do so for the next couple of weeks. We have this brief respite tonight and for the next twenty-four hours. I'm not sure if we have the day off because it's Labor Day or because the designers have more work to do or just because they thought we'd need a break right about now, but whatever the reason the respite is more than welcome. This just might be the most physically challenging show I've ever worked on. Defiant's A Clockwork Orange was a beast but I was five years younger and I think that makes a huge difference. Plus, Clockwork didn't have the crazy costume changes that TI has. I'm sweaty and out of breath in the first five minutes.

The show is coming together swimmingly. We had one casualty: An actor dislocated his kneecap during a fight scene last week and now his understudy is doing yeoman's work getting up to speed. He's doing a great job, and we'll get the original actor back in a few weeks, but the whole thing has served to focus the cast as a unit. Today we finished our cue-to-cue and accomplished the first full tech run of the show. We avoided a clusterfuck because we were able to dig in as a group and look out for each other as we made our mad dashes from one entrance to another while scrambling out of one costume and into another. There was a fair amount of rough spots but nothing beyond what one should expect from a first run. It's gonna be a good show.

To add to my fun, I may have a small fight choreographer gig coming up as well, which I will discuss when I know more details. It's for a group I'm fond of, and a cool script, so I'm keeping fingers crossed. Scheduling is tricky, so it's not a done deal as yet.

As much as I'm loving keeping busy in theater, I must confess I am looking forward to my self-imposed break after Treasure Island ends. I'm not committing to any more acting jobs that start rehearsal before next January 1. If the itch is there I may try to get a show that starts around then just to keep busy until Neverwhere begins. Oh, did I mention that I got cast in a stage version of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere? Hmm. Well it's true. As you can imagine I completely jazzed about this development, but we've got a while before we start work on it. After my Treasure Island experience, however, I do feel like I may want to consider some real physical training to get ready for it. I play several parts, most of whom have some serious violence work attached to them. Should be fun, but I don't want my ass kicked again the way it is now.

We shall have to see about that, though. I want to join a gym but I'm not sure where yet, and we are having some apartment issues that may have us moving sooner than we had planned, so we shall have to see. Until then, Treasure Island is giving me about all the workout I can handle.