Today we had our first rehearsal and read-through for Sean Hagerty’s amazing adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Richard III. This play is so of-the-moment that audiences are going to gasp in recognition. It’s a darkly funny descent into hell at the hands of a clever maniac who will stop at nothing to become king.
The press releases have gone out to announce me at the despotic Richard, accompanied by this incredible image by our amazing photographer Will O’Hare, who has photographed all our productions at The Curtain.
Here’s our amazing company from the rehearsal room!
And here’s our poster! Tix are on sale now at The Curtain and seating for this March 5th-29th run is very limited. Buy your tickets now; you won’t want to miss this exciting and all-too-timely production!
I’ve announced this on social media and I’m just now catching up on my website. I don’t even have words to express how excited I am: Sean Hagerty, Founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Curtain theatre company in Jersey City, NJ, has asked me to play one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains in March 2026: Richard III.
Sean and I have been talking about this since we worked on his company’s inaugural production of Hamlet together back in 2019. At last the pieces are falling into place to make it happen. Also joining me on this thrill ride are pals Aria Shaghasemi and Christianna Nelson. Aria played my son Laertes in Hamlet, and all three of us were in The Curtain’s 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet. Aria will play Richmond and Christi will be our Queen Elizabeth. Last week we held callbacks for the remaining roles and I can only say that our entire cast is absolutely terrific.
Sean’s new version of the script is lean, mean, and very funny. It’s the best version I’ve ever read. This will be unlike any other production of Richard III that you have seen. I’m honored that Sean is entrusting me with portraying this witty, vicious, larger-than-life monster in what is shaping up to be an absolutely incredible production. And timely? Wow. Wait till you see how Shakespeare’s words resonate with our current times.
Rehearsals start February 3rd and performances run Thursdays-Sundays March 5-29 at Nimbus Arts Center in Jersey City—a five-minute walk from the Grove Street PATH station. It will be so worth the short commute! You’re not going to want to miss this one.
I’m thrilled to share news that Anthropocene, the short dramatic film I worked on earlier this year is finished! And it is beautiful. Quietly surprising, a bit scary, nakedly human, and deeply thought-provoking. All in 15-minutes. I think it will resonate greatly with today’s audiences in these uncertain times. Congrats to writer/director/producer Nathan Crane Cohen and Park Bench Pictures co-producer Paul Grant on bringing together the perfect team to tell this unsettling American tale. The role of Jim is something of a departure for me, and I’m grateful to Nathan for entrusting him to me. And my fellow performers Austin Cassel and Emily Celeste Fink are simply terrific. I’m honored to be in this entire team’s company.
It was a wonderful shoot with wonderful people, and I can’t wait for you all to see the finished film. Anthropocene will be at the festivals in 2026—watch for it!
I’m delighted to share that my two latest audiobook narrations are now available—and they couldn’t be more different! Big thanks to @HachetteAudio, @LittleBrownYoungReaders, and Andy Paris and the team at @VoiceworksAudio for both of these fun gigs.
For the family audience—all ages, truly—check out my new recording of Robert Lawson’s classic fantasy novella Ben and Me, about Ben Franklin’s secret best friend, an irascible mouse named Amos who decides to set the record straight about who had all those great ideas!
And for grownups only, you can check out my narration of Joe Dolce’s Modern Psychedelics, which is both a history of mind-altering substances and also something of a how-to-use-more-safely guide. It’s quite a trip!
I’m delighted to share that @hachetteaudio and @littlebrown have chosen me to record their new version of Robert Lawson’s classic 1939 comic tale Ben and Me in which Ben Franklin’s life is reinterpreted by his best friend, a singularly opinionated mouse named Amos, who feels his own contributions have been unfairly overlooked. This one was a joy and I can’t wait to share it with you later this summer! Thank you Andy Paris and Voiceworks Audio for another audition leading to a great gig. #Audiobooks #BenAndMe #Narrator ❤️🙏🎤🎧📚
Even if, like me, you didn’t read Ben and Me as a child, you might recognize Lawson’s illustrative talents—he also illustrated the classics Ferdinand the Bull and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Now, of course, you won’t “hear” his illustrations in the audiobook version—but you will hear my playful renderings of Amos the mouse, Ben Franklin, and a host of other fun characters.
I’ll let you know when the audiobook launches! It’ll be a short and sweet little listen—probably about 2 hours at most.
“Whose dreams do you subscribe to?” A couple of years ago, I went down to Atlanta for two weeks to shoot a new series with two of my favorite people, brilliant writer/director/producer Charles Huddleston, and his leading lady, Michele Martin. The project was a mind-bending rethinking of a fantastic sci-fi project we had shot a few years earlier that never hit prime time for technical reasons.
What makes this new series, Perspective, so incredibly cool? It’s the world’s first 360° VR immersive series! And the first episode has just launched on the new Circuit Cinema subscription streaming channel. In the first season there are multiple worlds/realities in play. I appear in one of them—in multiple incarnations of my character, Sylvester. That’s all I can tell you!
I hope you will check out this twisty and entertaining new show. It will blow your mind. It was so much fun being reunited not just with Charles and Michele, but also buddies Nija Okoro and John Tague, with whom I’ve worked on a couple of projects for Charles, and working with new acting buddies Hari Williams and Kenneth Johnson.
If you have a VR headset, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in the world of our story from all angles, as if you are in the space with us as the action unfolds. You can look up, down, all around—you’ll be in the middle of it all. It’s amazing. There will also be 2D versions of all episodes for those of us without headsets! It’s entertaining storytelling either way. Charles’s dreams are well worth subscribing to!
I’m very excited about this project, currently titled Anthropocene. We did principal photography back in March in the wilds of Pennsylvania and then just last week I shot a flashback scene in NYC, so I’m now officially wrapped on this new short dramatic film.
This one just fell into my lap, and I’m so grateful when this kind of thing happens. I got a call out of the blue from talented and kind writer, director, and producer Nathan Crane Cohen who said I came highly recommended by a director I did a staged reading with a few years ago. To be invited to audition based on another director’s kind words means the world to me. I did a Zoom reading with Nathan and the other two amazing actors, Emily Celeste Finke and Austin Cassel. We clicked, and together we have now filmed a powerful little drama about a future state of America that seems all too possible.
Park Bench Pictures co-producer Paul Grant made sure everything happened on schedule, Michael Della Polla contributed his amazing cinematography skills (what I’ve seen looks absolutely gorgeous!), Maricela Nodar did beautiful costume work, and everyone involved was simply terrific. It was a great shooting experience start to finish.
I can’t wait to share this one with you in Fall 2025!
One of the fun aspects of audiobooks is that I never know what sort of title I’ll be narrating next! Case in point: Modern Psychedelics: The Handbook for Mindful Exploration by Joe Dolce, author of Brave New Weed. Needless to say, I learned a great deal about a topic that was entirely new territory to me. No, really.
This one should be out this summer. I’ll do another post when it’s available, for those who wish to partake (as it were). My thanks to @HachetteAudio for inviting me to take this eye-opening trip!
A life in the theatre is very much like a Dickens novel. People come into your life and go out again. Sometimes they reappear in a later chapter. Sometimes they are written out of the story far too soon. That was the case with the recent passing of talented costume designer and delightful soul Michael McDonald. It’s not that Michael and I were close friends. I met him in 2014 when he costumed me for the 30th Anniversary production of The Foreigner at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and I was thrilled to be reunited with him a couple of years later when he did costumes for the Cheers Live on Stage national tour. I always hoped to do more shows with him. His larger-than-life personality, infectious laugh, obsession with details, and commitment to character all made him unforgettable. Between gigs Michael and I remained in touch on social media to share our (frequently horrified) impressions of current theatrical events.
Michael was from Allentown, PA, like my dear friend Annmaria Mazzini, who first worked with Michael at Muhlenberg college when she was only 16, dancing in a production where Michael was both costuming and playing a role! He always spoke fondly of his many years designing there for a host of productions.
And of course he went on to have a wonderful career on Broadway and in regional theatres around the country, including many years at The Public Theater, and earning Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his truly magnificent designs for the 2009 revival of Hair.
Annmaria and I went to the beautiful celebration of Michael’s life and career at the Public the other night. There were many hysterical stories (Michael had a rapier wit and never minced words!), some lovely music provided by some of the cast members of the 2009 Hair, more than a few tears, and a lot of love. I was sorry that no actors were invited to speak, as any one of us could have added another perspective to Michael’s gifts as a designer: we actors always felt respected and heard and loved in his presence. He collaborated. He dished. The fact that a theatre full of people gathered in his name months after his passing to celebrate him says it all. You didn’t have to know him well to respect, admire, and love him. His passing is also a reminder to me as I grow older myself that nothing is guaranteed and every day is a gift. And every human being you meet in this challenging business is a potential kindred spirit and lifelong friend.
I’m grateful I was lucky enough to spend some of those days working (and laughing) with Michael McDonald. I raise a virtual toast to his memory. He will be missed by many. ❤️
Luke McDonough of the Public Theater pays tributeLisa Zinni, longtime friend, pays tributeMichael McDonald
Thank you to Andy Paris at Voiceworks Audio, where I do a lot of my audiobook narrating, for sharing this rave review from AudioFile for my work on the fascinating book Nobody’s Fool by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris. The world needs a good book on identifying and avoiding scammers and con artists. It should be required reading before any election.
If you’re in the mood for a lively book that gives practical advice using truly amazing (and entertaining) real-world examples, I encourage you to give Nobody’s Fool a listen. It’s available at all your favorite audiobook retailers. Enjoy!
