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Taming of the Shrew for NY Classical Theatre

Apologies! I’m posting this very late, but we’re coming to the end of our long run of The Taming of the Shrew for NY Classical Theatre. I play Gremio, the rich and cranky old suitor to the young and seemingly virtuous Bianca.

For those of you who have never seen a production by NYCT, they are now in their 16th year of providing free Off-Broadway classical theatre to NY audiences in city parks. We played in Central Park for a month, in Prospect Park for two weeks, and now we are ending our run with four final performances in the tiny and beautiful Teardrop Park in Battery Park City.

All performances start at 7pm and are weather permitting. We will be at Teardrop Park on Wednesday, 7/8, and then Friday-Sunday, 7/10-12. For more information: http://www.newyorkclassical.org/whats-playing

If you’re in the city with one of these evenings free, stop by for about 90 minutes of silly Shakespearean fun!

I’m Playing Multiple Roles in a Staged Reading of “A Question of Country”

I’m delighted to share that I’m going to be playing multiple juicy roles in a staged reading of a fascinating new fact-based play about apartheid called A Question of Country by the supremely talented Janet Neipris. Janet is head of graduate screenwriting and playwrighting at NYU, and has turned out a host of wonderful writers in her many years there. Janet went to South Africa and lived with one of the two women her play is based on, so she’s writing what she knows in a very powerful way.

The reading is being directed by the wonderful Susan Einhorn, who has headed the acting program at Queens College for 25 years, and recently completed her term as department chair. Her professional relationship with Janet has spanned many years and many plays.

On top of it all, we have a wonderful cast, including my dear friend Anne Marie Cusson; we haven’t seen each other since the five months we spent together last winter playing down at Asolo Rep. It’s so great when people I love working with come back into my orbit!

There are only two performance of this free staged reading:

Monday, May 4th at 7pm at Theatre for the New City
Tuesday, May 5th at 7pm at the Colden Auditorium at Queens College

If you’re free either evening, come see our reading of this compelling tale!

Call 212-254-1109 for more details, or view the PDF flyer attached to this post.

A Question of Country Flyer final

The Foreigner Wins 2014 Carbonell Award for Best Production of a Play!

Last night, I attended the 39th Annual Carbonell Awards in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of the delegation from the fabulous Maltz Jupiter Theatre. And I’m thrilled to share the news that our production of The Foreigner, in which I played the title character, beat out the impressive competition to land the coveted 2014 Best Production of a Play award!

Our terrific director, Matt Lenz, accepted the award on behalf of everyone involved in this special production. The Foreigner means a lot to me for many reasons, not just Charlie is a tour-de-force role. The script is incredibly inventive, and frequently downright hilarious. I’ve never done a play that made an audience laugh more. But by the end it also manages to be surprisingly touching, and seriously thought-provoking. Its messages of tolerance, and of the importance of second chances, resonate with every audience that sees it.

I am so grateful to have been Charlie for this wonderful production, to have been part of such a well-cast production, which included Michael Edwards, Brooks Anne Hayes, Matthew Minor, Maddie Jo Landers, David Sitler, and Carrington Vilmont. Our incomparable stage manager Brandy DeMil and her assistant stage manager, Neil Krasnow, kept us running every day like a well-oiled cuckoo clock. My thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in the production onstage, offstage, and in the administration at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. It was a joy, starting with the auditions in NYC at Bob Cline Casting, to the first read through with the wonderful cast, to the sold-out, standing ovation closing performance with the wonderful Jupiter area audience.

My thanks to Bob Cline for bringing me in to audition. And special thanks to Matt Lenz for directing us with such a gracious and generous hand, and to the theatre’s brilliant Producing Artistic Director, Andrew Kato, for championing this play, this production, and me. I’m honored to have been a part of this terrific show, and so happy that we are ALL receiving this recognition from the South Florida theatre community. It means we made playwright Larry Shue’s voice heard.

To everyone involved, I can only say: Blasny, blasny!!

Fun Q&A For My Carbonell Awards Best Actor Nomination!

Here’s a link to a silly and fun Q&A session I did for South Florida’s Carbonell Awards, as a Best Actor in a Play nominee for my work in Larry Shue’s wonderful comedy The Foreigner at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Win or lose, I’m looking forward to attending the ceremony with the Maltz Jupiter team in Ft. Lauderdale on March 30th.

Click the image to read the article. Enjoy!

Closing Day for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Portland Stage

It’s closing day for our production of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” at Portland Center Stage. My heartfelt thanks again to director Rose Riordan, company manager Don Kenneth Mason, and everyone else at PCS who gave me this opportunity and made me feel so welcome. And of course special thanks and hugs to our stage management team, Kelsey-daye Lutz and Stephen Kriz Gardner, and to my sweet and funny fellow actors, Sharonlee Mclean, Carol Halstead, Olivia Negron, Nick Ballard, and Eden Malyn. I’m sorry to see our little family disperse, and will miss magical Portland as well. But it’ll be great to get home to Tim and on to new adventures. Safe travels, all!

AEA Union Members: The AEA Scholarship Voice Program is Back

I’m passing on this information from my terrific and endlessly supportive voice teacher, Eric Michael Gillett, who runs this program. I’ve been a member of the scholarship program for a couple of years now, and it has made a real difference in my singing auditions. If you’re an AEA member and are seeking affordable voice lessons, you really should audition next week!

Auditions Announced for AEA Scholarship Program at Singers Forum

After a brief hiatus, the AEA Scholarship Program at Singers Forum, under the auspices of EMGCollective, which administers the program on behalf of the Singers Forum, has returned to offer scholarships to Actors’ Equity Association members living in the New York City area.

The scholarship, which is a funded endowment, offers subsidized vocal training exclusively to members who apply, audition and are accepted. The subsidy covers almost 50 percent of the voice lesson, including a studio and accompanist. Without regard to age, ethnicity, gender and, for the most part, financial need, the scholarship is offered to qualified applicants to assist them in their quest for successful careers while maintaining the vocal health, strength and flexibility to attain long-term musical goals.

New program members, once accepted, are permanently connected to the scholarship, if they choose. This means a student leaving on tour for a year is welcomed back into the program upon return to the New York City area.

Monday, February 9th from 3:30-7 PM

Thursday, February 12th from 10 AM-6:30 PM

Friday, February 13th from 2 PM-6 PM

Callbacks will be held the week of February 16th

Auditions will be held at

Times Square Arts Center/300 W. 43rd Street, Suite 508

“Being able to study on a regular basis has bolstered my technique as well as my confidence,” said Scott Tucker, a student within the program. “I have been able to work on music and material that would have been difficult to master without the eyes and ears of an amazing teacher, and I’ve been able to set performance goals and meet them.”

To schedule an audition, contact:

Lynn Kearney

EMGCollective@aol.com

E-Mail submissions should include a photo/resume, and should indicate any known conflicts with the listed audition times. Please put “Scholarship Audition Request” in the subject header.

I Received a Carbonell Award Nomination For Best Actor in “The Foreigner”!

I received a wonderful voicemail recently from the fabulous Andrew Kato, wunderkind and Producing Artistic Director of the beautiful Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Andrew wanted me to know that the theatre received a total of 14 nominations for South Florida’s Carbonell Awards. Five of the nominations were for our fall 2014 production of Larry Shue’s wonderfully silly and surprisingly relevant comedy, The Foreigner. And one of the nominations was for me as Best Actor in a Play.

Needless to say, I’m beyond thrilled at this recognition for the production, for my own work, and also for that of my colleagues. Matt Lenz directed us with such grace and wit, Rob Odorisio designed a stunning set that we all wanted to live in, and Matthew Minor was a magical Ellard. We had a great time. And how wonderful to receive this affirmation that we gave our audiences a great time, too!

The ceremony is March 30th down in Florida. I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to make it, but I will certainly try. As they always say, it truly is an honor just to be nominated!

My Audio and Video Interview about Vanya for Portland Radio Project

Here’s another fun bit of PR for my current production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike running at Portland Center Stage through 2/8. This time I’m interviewed by Inessa, Program Director/Music Director for Portland Radio Project, who was a real sweetheart. I’ve had such a good time with all my interviewers here in Portland!

PRP ended up posting a brief video edit of the interview (about 3 minutes), plus a podcast of the entire interview (about 18 minutes). They also include a few fun photos from the production.

Click the image to visit their site, and then you can watch and or listen, as you please! I hope you enjoy it.

_{Image: Portland Center Stage production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Photo: Patrick Weishampel}

New “Vanya and Sonia” Radio Interview on Portland’s Wild Planet

I recently did an interview about Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and my career in general, with Sam, the genial host of Portland’s new gay radio station, Wild Planet. It was fairly early in the day for me, so who knows what I said–it could be very entertaining to tune in and find out!

Click the image to visit Wild Planet’s web site and listen to the interview podcast!

Vanya and Sonia Opens Tonight at Portland Center Stage!

After five previews with great audiences, this is it! Tonight we open our production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at Portland Center Stage. This unofficially qualifies as my West Coast stage debut, too.

If you’re in the Porland, OR area, and need an evening of laughs–buy your tickets now! I’m told weekends are already heavily sold.

Break legs, all! Many thanks to director Rose Riordan, our stage management team, company manager Don Mason, and everyone who has helped bring this project to life. It’s been a treat putting together this wacky production, and I’m thrilled that local audiences are eating it up. Click the image to visit the PCS site and order tickets.

See you there!