neurotic soliloquies of an otherwise calm guy

theaterdude @ 2009-04-14T16:20:00

2009-04-14T23:20:40Z

.........hello? ..............

is there anyone out there?

god, it's been forever.

incentive!

2007-04-14T08:43:53Z

So, as a kind of "sneak peek" at 'Earnest', go to www.michaelcraig.net for pictures of a run of my show, "The Importance of Being Earnest".

Perhaps it will inspire many to come to Tucson to view it!

We have had great previews and a VERY successful opening...howling laughter in the Black Box Theatre. An event not to be missed, indeed!

:)

Lemme know if you're coming!

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2007-04-09T03:05:00

2007-04-09T10:07:03Z

i realize i just posted an entry 'advertising' my show......but it aggravates me that people think that just because it's a "community college" production as opposed to a "university" production it's less of a show.

bull-fucking-shit.

steve-o

shows, shows, shows

2007-04-09T09:59:20Z

So, I know you all are being bombarded with "come see shows in Tucson!" but you really should!

In fact, you could make a weekend out of it! See Joel's great show, "Tommy" and then enjoy another great show, "The Importance of Being Earnest", both will be treats for the theatre-lover, I imagine!

Free place to stay, great theatre, reuniting of old faces one hasn't seen in forever...sounds like a blast to me! :)

"Earnest" is going amazingly, this has been the most challenging role I've played onstage. I would love if you could come see it! Tickets are only $10 bucks for students (ANY student).

"The Importance of Being Earnest"
PREVIEW: Tuesday, April 10th & Wednesday, April 11th @ 7:30PM
SHOWTIMES: Thursday, April 12th-Saturday, April 14th @ 7:30PM, Sunday, April 15 @ 2PM
Wednesday, April 18th-Saturday, April 21st @ 7:30PM, Sunday, April 22nd @ 2PM

Love you guys! Hope to see you soon! Comment and lemme know if you want to come and, if so, what day!

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2007-04-04T17:09:00

2007-04-05T00:11:31Z

So the guy who just won NBC's "You're the One That I Want" (the competition to find the next Danny and Sandy for an upcoming revial of 'Grease' on Broadway) graduated from Pima last year.

Weird and coincidental? I think not!

People from Tucson are successful, dammit! And I will (hopefully) be too!

Come see "The Importance of Being Earnest" {a trivial comedy about serious people} by Oscar Wilde!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11TH-SUNDAY, APRIL 22ND, 2006!

COMMENT FOR MORE INFO!

theaterdude @ 2007-03-26T13:58:00

2007-03-26T21:10:29Z

I've decided to dust off the old LJ and give 'er an update or two. But what do I have to update about? Hmmmmmm....I miss you guys! I read LJ everyday, reading your entries, but I don't quite know what to say myself.

Life has been...interesting. Let's see-what's happened?

-42nd Street closed, with rave reviews, on March 4th.
-Hannah and I regretfully broke up due to immense busy-ness. But we have dinner still, regularly.
-I got a job at a coffee shop called Caffe Diva (I know, I know) and I love it immensely.
-I found a wonderful apartment complex in this little neighborhood called Starr Pass to live in next year for FREE because I applied at the office and got the job starting June 1st...in return, they give me free room and board. YAY!
-Over Spring Break, I had 6 hour long rehearsals for "The Importance of Being Earnest", which coincidentally opens in 2 weeks, on April 11th. For the weekend of Spring Break, I drove to Thatcher, visited Nicki, then drove to Phoenix and saw "Forum", which was absolutely FANTASTIC! gah!
-I saw "Rent" for the first time onstage at the Tucson Music Hall last night. I cried.
-Next year's season at Pima was recently released: "The BFG", "Picnic", "Wonderful Town", and "Much Ado About Nothing". I'm excited!

I haven't done anything remotely exhilarating in the past month and I wish to goodness I have. But what can you do in Tucson that's remotely exhilarating, I don't quite know. Fly a kite on a windy day? Write a nice story? Watch the latest flicks, see Shakespeare in the Park, rehearse piano pieces, work on dialect, concentrate on graduating, find someone to love. All I wish to do.

I wanna go on a trip. I think I will.

theaterdude @ 2007-01-22T16:47:00

2007-01-22T23:47:52Z

Oscar nominations come out tomorrow!

I love awards season...

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2007-01-05T00:58:00

2007-01-05T08:01:37Z

I just got back from a date with the most wonderful person, her name is Hannah Richter. She's so great. Not to mention gorgeous, funny, sweet, all the things one would like about a person.

Out of courtesy, I asked if I could post her myspace page link so you all could see her picture (I promised it would only be friend's only so it wouldn't be to the public).

www.myspace.com/r_is_for_richter

Ahh..tonight, we went to see "Charlotte's Web" (a great first date movie). Tomorrow brings dinner and ice skating.

Not to mention secret smiles and casual glances at one another during rehearsals this week.

*butterflies commence*

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2007-01-03T17:09:00

2007-01-04T00:10:39Z

Have I gotten too "oh, this is what's going on in my life, look at how happy I am"-esque with my journal entries? I feel like I'm gloating and I feel awkward about it.

:(

steve-o

New Year's re(vol)solution?

2007-01-02T04:14:19Z

So I guess I'm supposed to have New Year's resolution, huh? I was thinking about it all last eve when I was enjoying drinks among friends in Marana. But it's hard to think about one sole thing that you want to have done at the start of a new year (especially being inebriated). I can't say I want to improve upon any relationships with friends or family, for all seems to be going well there. I know I want to be fiscally more responsible. I want to broaden my horizons and experience more culture. I want to be more honest with myself, about who I am (truly) and who I want to be around and why, specifically. I want to find love.

Wow. In all the hustle and bustle of trying to find a resolution, I just listed off a bunch subconsciously.

Go me.

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2007-01-01T00:09:00

2007-01-01T07:10:08Z

Happy New Year!

May 2007 bring great joy and happiness to the people I love the most.

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-12-26T19:27:00

2006-12-27T02:28:05Z

So I got a watch for Christmas and a big book of Disney songs arranged for piano solo.

That's it.

But I don't care! At least I got to run around Phoenix and see all the people I wanted to see. I missed everyone. I unfortunately, however, didn't get to see Emilie (WHOM I HAVEN'T SEEN SINCE the ICE AGE). I miss you, Em! Dammit! :D

I visited Nicki, Joel (who, I suppose, doesn't counts as "visiting" because I live with him, but whatever), Telle, my mom and family, and that's it. I miss the ol' Goldwater gang: itzdatkrzymix, the1calledblunt, mellamokayci, etc. Tucson awaits a visit from all of you! Shelter and food are indeed prepared for your arrival so HURRY UP! :D

Ah, so it's back to Tucson this post-Christmas night, where I shall be studying like mad my 42nd Street script for rehearsals start on January 2nd.

Hope your Christmas was great and get drunk responsibly on New Year's!

That is all. :)

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-12-24T17:32:00

2006-12-25T00:33:01Z

Gah! Christmas Eve! Presents! Gifts! Stockings! Money! Presents (again)!

I love you guys! Merry Christmas!

GAH!

steve-o

"A Queer Carol" review

2006-12-14T08:16:06Z

A gruff, aging man sits alone in front of his television on Christmas Eve. He's too cheap to pay for premium channels, so he flips irritably through the usual offerings: It's a Wonderful Life. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Humbug, all of it.

The joke is that this man is a 21st-century version of Ebenezer Scrooge, and he inhabits one of the hoariest Christmas tales of all: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Yet we find this "Ben" Scrooge not in Victorian England, but in contemporary America. He's a bitter, self-loathing interior designer. He's gay. And so is nearly every other character in Joe Godfrey's A Queer Carol, being presented by the Alternative Theatre Company.

Godfrey's treatment of the Dickens story doesn't actually stray too far from the original. True, it's updated and queered, but it remains a serious-minded account of how one man's soul gradually withers but is revived by ghostly visitations on Christmas Eve.

The primary differences between the original and Godfrey's version are that Tiny Tim is not Bob Cratchit's crippled son; he's his gay lover being treated for AIDS. Also, Jacob Marley is not merely Scrooge's deceased business partner; he's Scrooge's philandering ex-lover. Oh, and the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present are drag queens, the former bearing an uncanny resemblance to Marilyn Monroe.

What's surprising about the Alternative Theatre Company's production, directed by Joe Marshall, is how heartfelt and direct most of it is. The camp quotient is amazingly low. For example, when the ghost of Jacob Marley appears, decked out in chains, you figure he'll also be in full S&M gear (especially considering some hints dropped about his tastes later in the show). But Marshall, as both director and as Marley, plays it fairly straight, if you'll pardon the expression.

Some scenes are a bit rocky, varying with the abilities of whatever actors are on stage at the time, but the best parts are the flashbacks following the relationship between Marley (Marshall) and young Scrooge (Steve Wood). The acting is easy and full of natural affection (and natural interpersonal tension) as a solid little relationship drama unfolds. This turns out not to be a mere send-up of a too-familiar tale.

Kenton Jones is also quite fine as Bob Cratchit, tremendously likable but no milquetoast. Jon T. Benda is another cast standout. Initially, one has the feeling that his first character, as written, should be a bit swishier than Benda plays him. Eventually, though, you realize he's been keeping much in reserve for another, more flamboyant figure later in the play, and in between, he's perfectly believable as young Ben Scrooge's abusive father.

Not that we're supposed to take all of this entirely seriously. In particular, the Christmas ghosts (Chadwick Collins and Ajia Simone) are a hoot. And there's plenty of gay badinage, as well as an abundance of Tucson references--given which, it was a mistake to retain a reference to Scrooge's townhouse being built in the Federal style, which predates anything in Tucson. So much for all gay men having an encyclopedic knowledge of design; I mean, just think about how our editor dresses.

Speaking of design, the look and certain technical elements of this production can be a bit rudimentary and don't always sync up, but the facilities are limited; the grandly named Hollywood Cabaret Theater, is, after all, carved out of a corner of the tastefully redecorated bar at the Arizona Plaza Hotel just north of the curve on Oracle Road.

Uneven though the production may be, it's fresh and sincere, and there's plenty to like about it. And it's not just for the gay community; judging from the way people were paired off, there seemed to be a strong straight contingent in the opening-night audience, and I trust they weren't just the families of the actors. Or maybe they were, if you take to heart the story's message that we're all family, after all.

James Reel
Tucson Weekly

theaterdude @ 2006-12-11T18:37:00

2006-12-12T01:37:57Z

Lots to update! Christmas is in 2 weeks! Gifts to wrap and a beautiful tree to put them under await the weeks ahead. Rekindling friendships that have lost that "spark" and finals are priorities this week.

"The Queer Carol" is going great. We opened to rave reviews and on this Thursday, there will be a review in the Tucson Weekly. It'll be my first review in a paper so I'm kinda nervous. Starbucks is finally falling into place. "42nd Street" rehearsals are readily approaching (they start January 2nd), although I'm not quite thrilled about them being 6 hours long everyday for 2 weeks until the semester starts. But, ahh, that's acting.

I need to go to Phoenix for a short while during the holidays to visit the fam and friends (i.e.: Telly, Nicki, Omar, etc...) I miss you guys!

This summer promises many good things: I have an audition for the same theatre company that is producing "The Queer Carol" for a show called "Dirty Secrets". It's a 3 person cast, heavy drama. If picked, I will be touring through 10 cities across the nation during the month of July. The theatre company has a grant for $90,000 that pays for transportation, lodging and actor's stipend. Hopefully all goes well!

I miss you all! Hope things are great this final week of school, just in time for the holidays!

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-30T22:58:00

2006-12-01T05:58:53Z

it's colder than an ice box outside. at 7AM this morning, it was 25 degrees outside my apartment...no joke! i checked.

The musical we're going at Pima is 42nd Street. The auditions were all week, they went smashingly! The cast list was posted today and I am Julian Marsh, the director of the 42nd Street Theatre, who carries the weight of the show on his broad, pale shoulders. Am I ready to take on a leading role? A vocal leading role? I accepted it, I must be ready. I haven't had a leading role since high school. Yikes. Suddenly the nerves of the theatre creep upon me.

Mother.

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-22T21:07:00

2006-11-23T04:07:21Z

The holidays are officially here and with that comes realizations of self, past, future, and most importantly, present. I know I haven't been the best person lately. I know I've been proven unreliable. I know you haven't been happy with me. I would never do anything to deliberately endanger our friendship, especially since it's one of the only things left that I value so much.

I remember the beginning of this year...someone told me the end of 2006 would bring great things and the start of 2007 would bring wonders even better. I hope it starts soon.

Day after Thanksgiving = Christmas tree decorating.

Excited!

Happy Thanksgiving. I am entirely grateful for you all.

Love you guys. :)

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-15T18:31:00

2006-11-16T01:31:36Z

oh the wonderful state-of-being that is awkwardness. and nasty chicken sandwiches from Wendy's. not that that's a state-of-being. just an observation.

i don't know what i'm saying.

"awkwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard."

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-11T23:06:00

2006-11-12T06:06:27Z

Yes, I am in theatre bliss, in theatre heaven, in acting glory. Okay, maybe not the latter of the three, but I am currently cast in 2 shows: the Mystery Dinner Theatre, sponsored by the Rose Garden Theatre Company, as the Mostly Magnificent Steve (the host of the show) and in the second show: Young Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol", for the Alternative Theatre Company. Mystery dinner theatre pays $125/show (not $100 like I thought) and the ATC show pays $200/show, for a 13 day run.

The only catch in the "Christmas Carol" is...it's written as a gay carol--(the working title is "A Queer Carol"). I play a gay Young Scrooge.... it's very original and it's a great script and I love it to pieces. And I even have to make out with a guy. Call me crazy, but I'm not freaked out by this because I am very open minded and I consider it a show to put on a resume. Any experience I can get is experience I want.

So I'd love for anyone to be able to see one or both of the shows. I'll have dates available ASAP!

I'm excited.....

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-06T23:57:00

2006-11-07T06:57:39Z

*sigh*...what a loooooooooooong day.

Start class at 8AM. Get home at midnight. How does that work? I'll tell you: class is long, tedious, and required. On top of that, the guy that was recast as my role in "Night of the Iguana" (after I broke my ankle) was busted smoking pot on the dock outside the scene shop; as a result, Frank & Betsy candidly asked me to fill in. Luckily we open on Wednesday...(notice sarcasm, hahahaheheehehe)

I also have an audition tomorrow for paid acting job at the Rose Garden Dinner Theatre. It pays $100 per show, for a Friday and Saturday evening performance. Wish me luck!

I get my cast off tomorrow, as well. Huzzah!

miss you

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-04T21:06:00

2006-11-05T04:06:45Z

Everyone's out tonight. Everyone except Steve.

I'm booooooooooooored.

Board game, anyone?

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-03T13:07:00

2006-11-03T20:07:36Z

The class schedule for the 2007 semester is in and i'm sooooooooooooo damn excited!

M/W
ITA101 - Elementary Italian I (830-1130am, 3.00 credits)
THE220 - Advanced Theatre Graphics (12-1pm, 3.00 credits)
THE251 - Intermediate Acting III (110-3pm, 3.00 credits)

T/TH
MUS144 - Advanced Piano IV (910-10am, 3.00 credits)
THE110 - Movement/Dance for Actors II (1210-125pm, 3.00 credits)
THE296 - Independent Studies in Theatre (2-330pm, 4.00 credits)

FRIDAY
LIT267 - World Literature: Narrative (910am-1230pm, 3.00 credits)

TOTAL CREDITS: 22

Gah!!!!!!

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-02T19:51:00

2006-11-03T02:51:17Z

So I'm totally eating the new limited edition ICE CREAM flavored Skittles.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Tonight brings many fun times with friends. We college folk, in a desperate attempt to gain financial stability, are going to bet on playing Monopoly. That's right, everyone puts 5 bucks in the pool and whoever wins gets the pot.

I can't wait!

Also, I was practicing my piano earlier and someone knocked to come in the practice room I was in and said very politely, "Y'know, you should consider talking to the orchestra director about playing in his concert." My inital response was, "?!?!?!?!?!" and he said, "They're doing a concerto about Philip Glass on December 14th. And they need a pianist to play a song from "The Hours". Again, I went, "?!?!?!?!?!?!"

I might do it....

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-01T23:48:00

2006-11-02T06:48:56Z

It's 11:45PM and the soft, distant sound of a train whistle is heard. The leaves are rustling in the cool, November breeze. And the bells of the university quietly chime as if to say, 'Good night, Tucsonans.'

I love Tucson at night.

steve-o

theaterdude @ 2006-11-01T15:26:00

2006-11-01T22:26:01Z

Happy November!

Thanksgiving is in 3 weeks! Christmas is in 7 weeks! Gah! I'm so excited!

The only crappy thing about November is there really aren't any cool decorations to put up around the house, like Halloween or Christmas. Perhaps a horn of plenty will suffice on my dining table?

Does November seem to be a brown month to you? I think if all the months had colors, this is what they'd be (in an effort to avoid memorizing scenes for class):

January: BLUE
February: PINK
March: GEEEN (of course)
April: PURPLE
May: YELLOW
June: YELLOW-ORANGE
July: RED
August: GREY (?)
September: GOLDENROD
October: ORANGE
November BROWN
December: RED & GREEN

Huzzah!

Okay, I'm finding better things to do with my time.

steve-o