The Violet Hour Opens Tonight!

“The Violet Hour” opens officially tonight! Don’t miss this remarkable play in its first NY revival. It’s a beautiful production and only runs through 3/25! I am thrilled to be working with such a superbly talented cast (John P Keller, Cheryl Freeman, Lincoln Thompson, and Heather Lee Harper) and director (Nathaniel Shaw) and stage manager (Kerri Lynch) on such a surprising, funny, and thought-provoking script. I think it’s Richard Greenberg’s best play. Join us!

Click the image to read more about the play and buy tickets online.  Remember: we only run through 3/25 and you don’t want to miss this production!

The Violet Hour Begins Performances Tonight!

This is it!  Tonight is the first performance of The Active Theater’s production of Richard Greenberg’s amazing, surprising, and humane play The Violet Hour.  We open officially on Monday, 3/12, then run through 3/25.  Click the image on this post to see more information and to buy tickets.  I’m incredibly excited to be a part of this production and hope you can join us for an evening of intimate, beautiful live theatre.  The production stars John P. Keller, Cheryl Freeman, Lincoln Thompson, Heather Lee Harper, and yours truly.  Kerri J. Lynch is our wonderful Production Stage Manager, and Nathaniel Shaw is our inspired director.

If you like parties, there are still tickets available for Monday’s Opening Night performance.  Any donation to The Active Theater that night will entitle you to join us at the opening night party!  I encourage you to give freely, and join us.  This is a theatre group well worth your support.

Special Note to fellow members of Actors Equity Association: remember that if there are still seats available, you can see the show for free if you stop by right before a performance with your AEA union card.

New Cast Photo and Fundraising Video for The Violet Hour

Here’s a great photo of our five-person cast: Cheryl Freeman, John P. Keller, me, Lincoln Thompson, and Heather Lee Harper.  Not pictured are fabulous director Nathaniel Shaw and stalwart production stage manager Kerri J. Lynch.

Click the photo to see a cute little fundraising video The Active Theater created for this production.  They asked us all (including the designers) for words to describe this wonderful play.  The variety of answers is fantastic, and should give you some idea of the complexity of this beautiful script.  If you can help Active fund the costs of the production, they would be very grateful, as would I–every little bit truly helps, and their fundraising deadline is our opening night, Friday March 9th.

Again, if you’ll be in town anytime between March 9-25, I urge you to come see this beautiful production.  The play is remarkable.  It’s a mystery to me why it wasn’t a massive hit on its 2003 debut, and why there isn’t already a movie of it.  But then, I think part of its magic is that some of what happens simply wouldn’t be as magical in a movie; you need to see it happen live right there in front of you.  The show is beautifully cast and directed.  And tickets are very inexpensive.

If you are or know casting directors or Off-Broadway producers, urge them to catch this show, and to arrange for their tickets soon!  The house is small, and I’m told tickets are already starting to sell nicely.  This one’s a gem, and the people who see it will be talking about it.  Don’t let it slip by!

If you’re industry, please click here to request tickets for the date of your choice.

You can see the performance calendar, and if you’re any other audience member, you can order tickets, right on The Active Theater’s web site.

See you there!

Get Your Tickets Now For The Violet Hour!

We have just finished Week Three of rehearsals.  I continue to be inspired by the job director Nathaniel Shaw is doing with shaping our production of Richard Greenberg’s beautiful play The Violet Hour.  It’s a very ambitious script, and it calls for all five characters to go through the emotional wringer in the course of the story.  It’s a genuine tragicomedy–hilarious one minute, almost like something out of a period comedy, and then heartbreaking the next when reality and fate rear their ugly heads.  Yet by the end, it’s also healing and even hopeful.  In short, Greenberg is working some pretty potent and challenging theatrical magic, and Nathaniel has his eye out for every connection, every realization, every surprise.

I told Nathaniel this week that he’s my favorite kind of director–he picks a fantastic script, hires wonderful actors, and brings a lot of ideas to the table from the first day.  Yet at the same time, he’s completely open to the ideas we actors bring to the table, and to what happens spontaneously in the rehearsal room.  He creates the perfect respectful playspace (ably set up and overseen by our production stage manager, Kerri Lynch), so that we can just throw ourselves into the story and see what we bring out of each other.

Showcase productions don’t always come together so beautifully; this is an exceptional script and an exceptional bunch of theatre artists, all working at the top of their game.  Sunday we have our costume fittings with designer Bobby Pearce, Tony nominee for Broadway’s Taboo.  Then we run through the show again.  Monday, they bring in the office set designed by D. Craig M. Napoliello.  Tuesday, we go into Tech Rehearsals, and add Mike Inwood’s lighting, Jacob Subotnik’s sound design, and David Ojala’s special effects.  (I can’t say any more here without giving away some major plot twists!)

This is the most ambitious production The Active Theater has ever done, and it’s also the most expensive.  The set has been built by one of the best pro shops in town, and there are period costumes to be provided, not to mention some surprises.  If you can help support this production in any amount, click here to visit IndieGoGo and contribute.  As of this writing, the theatre still needs to raise another $6300 before our opening on Friday, March 9th!  Even small amounts add up fast, so please do pitch in if you can.

If you are a casting director, or producer, please make your reservations to see this show by contacting Virginia the Active Theater right away to reserve your industry comps.  The performance venue only has 65 seats, and tickets are already selling for this first NYC revival of this remarkable play. 

If you are an audience member, I encourage you to buy your seats now, as they are going quite quickly.  Click the image on this post to see more about the production and to buy your tickets.  This is a production that will move you.  And it deserves to move to a larger venue for a longer run, too. 

We open a week from tonight.  Join us at The Violet Hour to see for yourself, and help us make that move happen!

The Violet Hour Rehearsals Are Looking Great!

I’m getting extremely excited about this production of The Violet Hour.  The more we explore Richard Greenberg’s dazzling and intricate play, the more funny, heartbreaking, and profound it seems to become.  This is a beautiful piece of writing that deserves to be a major hit.  And I have to say, this production is looking like a winner.  All that’s needed is a perceptive theatrical producer to catch this production during its limited run and move it to an Off-Broadway venue for an extended run.  Yes, after two weeks of rehearsal, this revival is already looking that good.  My fantastic fellow performers are John P. Keller, Cheryl Freeman, Lincoln Thompson, and Heather Lee Harper.  Kerri Lynch is our resourceful Production Stage Manager, and Nathaniel Shaw (co-founder and Artistic Director of The Active Theater)  is our insightful and inspiring Director.  All five roles are incredibly challenging and equally rewarding.  And Nathaniel is weaving everything together beautifully.

The basic storyline is simple: It’s April 1st (note that date), 1919.  The Great War to End All Wars has just ended.  The world is starting to hope again.  In Manhattan, John Pace Seavering, a young man from a wealthy family, is trying to launch his career as a publisher of great literature.  But he can only afford to publish one book, and can’t afford to make a mistake or he may be ruined before he starts.  Should he pick the sprawling, unwieldy burst of genuis from his less privileged college friend Denny?  Or the pure, uncluttered autobiography of Jesse Brewster, a beautiful, mature, self-made black celebrity?  When he can’t bring himself to make a choice, Fate steps in, and the game changes in ways that no one could have seen coming.

The Violet Hour has not been seen in New York since its 2003 Broadway premiere, and now that we’re in the thick of rehearsals, all I can say is that it’s more timely and thought-provoking than ever.  I love a play that makes me laugh, breaks my heart, and makes me gasp.  The Violet Hour does all of that, and more.  It will challenge you to take another look at the world around you.  It will surprise you.   And isn’t that sorely missing in a lot of the theatre you’re seeing these days?

You can see more about the production and the team by clicking the image on this post to visit The Active Theater’s web site.  From there, you can also see the performance calender and buy tickets.  The show plays March 9-25 at the Workshop Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, 4th floor, NYC.  I urge you not to miss this production.  One performance is already sold out.  If you’re a casting director or anyone in the entertainment industry, you will want to see this play and these performances.  People are going to be talking about this one.

Free Man Film Screened in LGBT Festivals Around the World

Back in 2010, I played a small role in an independent short film by Kathryn Rotondi entitled Free Man.  I appeared in the opening scene as a well-meaning Funeral Director who finds himself caught between a grieving mother and her late son’s partner in the planning of a memorial.  The script was beautifully written: simple, and powerful.  When the hero loses his partner of 13 years, he finds that without the proper legal protections in place (such as those guaranteed by the right to marry a same-sex partner), he has no say in carrying out his late partner’s last wishes.  Instead, the mother does what she believes is best, even though it directly contradicts everything her son actually wanted.  The film is a heartbreaking cautionary tale.

I’ve learned that the film has been playing to great response at some LGBT festivals around the world, including the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival,  Out in Africa, and Canada’s Inside Out festival.  And I’m thrilled to see that the film now has a distribution deal  in Canada as well!

I hope the film continues to receive attention around the globe.  The message is a sobering and timely one that many people still need to hear.

First Look at the Living Skeleton Character I Voiced

I recently contributed my voice to an animated short film being created by the very talented writer/director/animator Alexandra Huzsvai.  The piece is called Majnun’s Dream Theater Shadow Show, and I play the role of The Living Skeleton, a mysterious character who appears before the heroine when things look bleak.  I’m delighted to be able to share this conceptual rendering of my character, courtesy of (and copyright by) Alexandra.

When we went into the studio to record the Skeleton’s lines, Alexandra noted that she sees him as someone who was possibly a jazz musician when he was alive.  And in all her renderings, he still sports a lit cigar, so I suggested that perhaps the smoking was what killed him!  She wanted to make sure he came across initially as a character whose motives were unclear, and I suggested that sounded a bit like the Cheshire Cat, an association she loved.  Yet ultimately, he reveals himself to be something of a spirit guide for the heroine.  So I had great fun working that all into my vocal interpretation of the Skeleton’s lines–cool, oblique, raspy breath, playful, yet ultimately kind.  Voiceover work can be so liberating for an actor–you can’t be “typed out” of a role because of your own height, weight, age, gender, etc.  Instead, the only limitation is your own vocal imagination.  It’s a blast.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I think the script for this short film is terrific.  It’s surprising and intriguing, and underneath there’s a strong message about the importance of recognizing and leaving an abusive relationship.  The script is particularly effective in the way Alexandra uses visual metaphors to depict the heroine’s gradual awakening.  I’m delighted to have been part of the project, and can’t wait to see the finished film later this year!  My thanks again to Alexandra for permission to share this sneak peek at my character well ahead of the film’s release.

After the recording session, Alexandra and I chatted briefly, and conversation revealed we both originally hail from New England.  Even bigger coicidence: it turns out we were both born in the same hospital in Cambridge, MA, and grew up in towns right next to each other!  I love “small world” discoveries like that.  It’s a good omen.

I’ve Been Cast in the First New York Revival of Richard Greenberg’s “The Violet Hour”!

I’m very excited.  This has been a very good week.  I landed a neat role in a short animated film, and now I’ve been cast in the plum role of Gidger in the first New York revival of Richard Greenberg’s fascinating play, The Violet Hour!  It’s being produced by the Active Theater here in NYC this March.  I play a publisher’s assistant, an extremely well-educated man who is having a midlife crisis of epic proportions.  He is emotionally on the edge, terrified he will live and die without making his mark on the world.  Gidger is outspoken, sometimes shockingly so, and also extremely funny.  He’s one of those people who holds nothing back, and has an impressive vocabulary with which to express his intense emotions.  The play is slightly fantastical, and full of surprises–including a printing machine that outputs potentially life-changing information!

I had a great time at the auditions held by casting director Cindi Rush and Artistic Director/Director Nathaniel Shaw.  My thanks to them both for creating such a great audition atmosphere, and for inviting me to audition in the first place.  And of course my thanks to my agent, Reneé Glicker at About Artists, for submitting me.  I learned after the auditions that Nathaniel has an impressive resumé, including three years as a featured dancer with the magnificent Paul Taylor Dance Company.  PTDC happens to be my favorite dance company in the world, so I took this as a great bit of serendipity.  I know how hard the PTDC dancers work, and the remarkable quality of their performances.  One of the best directors I’ve worked with to date, Sara Lampert Hoover, was also a modern dancer.  Nathaniel was gracious, insightful, and a lot of fun at the auditions, so I can’t wait to start rehearsals on February 13th!

The Active Theater’s production of The Violet Hour will play March 9-25 in NYC.  I will post more information as soon as I have it.  You can also click the logo on this post to visit their web site and see a full calendar of performance dates.  If you’re going to be in NYC, I hope you’ll come to one of our performances and say hello afterwards.  This is a very funny and thought-provoking play that deserves a big audience.  And in fact, the March 9th performance is already sold out!  Stay tuned for more information.

A New Animation Voiceover Project!

After two rounds of audio auditions, I’m happy to say I landed a cool role in an animated short film called Majnun’s Dream Theater Shadow Show which is being created by talented filmmaker Alexandra Huzsvai.  I’m very excited about this piece because the script is beautifully written, and it takes a fascinating and fantastical approach to the very serious issue of leaving an abusive relationship.  The script doesn’t preach, it just subliminally teaches the lead character Layla by example.  I play a mysterious, Cheshire Cat-like creature called the Living Skeleton, who opens Layla’s eyes to the possibility of another life.  We record next Monday, and I can’t wait!

The Reviews and Photos are in for The 39 Steps!

With the onset of the holidays, I’ve finally found time to sit down and add the reviews and a nifty photo gallery from my recent production of The 39 Steps at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in Jupiter, Florida.  I had a fantastic time there onstage and off, and am only sorry it was over so soon.  Many people have asked to see photos of the production, since they couldn’t make it down to Florida to see us in person.  I’m glad I can finally oblige!  But honestly, as delightful as the pictures are, they can’t hope to capture the level of silliness we reached with every performance.  I played about 15 or so characters, and had 20 costume changes–6 of them in the last 5 minutes of the show!  It was like doing the Actor Olympics–and it was great, giddy fun.

I found a great WordPress plugin that made it easy for me to set up a swell-looking photo showcase, complete with a carousel of thumbnail images for all the pictures, so you can just sit back and watch the slideshow, or you can click any thumbnail in the carousel to jump to that image from the production.

I don’t yet know what 2012 will bring, but I hope it brings more projects like this production, working with wonderful people like all the folks at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, inspired (and hilarious) director Peter Amster, and my fellow cast members Joe Foust, Christian Pedersen, and Beth Hylton.  It was a great experience, start to finish.

You can click the image in this post to view the photos and the reviews.  If you happened to receive an iPad this holiday season, the photo slideshow is supposed to display nicely on those devices; it works well on my iPhone.

Happy New Year!  🙂