11 days to go: A bitch that slipped

So today's rehearsal went great! We took time today to really work some scenes. Of course they were only in the 1st Act, but it was still awesome. We needed to work on some of those scenes. The timing really felt like it was dragging in parts, and today we really put our foot on the throttle, and it made a huge difference to me, and because they had everyone from my cast there tonight I took the liberty to pick fights with a few of the Cardinal guards. Well...we went over our fight scenes on our own anyway. I also worked a scene I've been struggling with on the timing with d'Artagnan, and it got a lot better. I'm getting so excited about getting the show going, 11 days to go, oh wait, It just turned midnight...10 days to go!

I got some great news today at rehearsal today too. My boy is 3 years old now, and they don't let kids less than 5 in to see the play. We've taken him to see his Uncle Jesse in a couple of plays at The OBT in Salt Lake and he's done pretty well sitting there and watching, (at least while there was action on the stage and the lights are on anyhow) and I was bummed that he wasn't going to get to see his Daddy perform on stage as a Musketeer. He watches the Mickey Mouse version of The Three Musketeers all the time, and I know it's not the same story, but still he'd get that it's the Musketeers. So today I asked if he could come to one of our full dress rehearsals, and I got a green light! I'm so excited! He gets to come watch the show on the Monday night before my opening night! I just hope he enjoys the show and stays riveted. If we can keep his 3 year old mind glued to what's happening, I'll have no doubts that we're going to electrify the rest of the people who see the show.

So one other thing. The Director of this production is John Adams. He is a great joy to work with, and I really like his style and way of thinking, and he really does bring the best out of his actors, but he says the funniest things sometimes. Especially when you think of what he says as a sexual reference. It's really hard to not let your mind go there, because I get what he's saying, and it's extremely helpful. Today however he went right after it, and it certainly made me chuckle, I'll leave it up to you to decide. He said, "W-H-O-R-E It's like a bitch that slipped!"

Full costume

So here are a few of the costume shots, the first is a publicity photo and the second is a shot from my phone. wearing the Musketeer tabard.

I'm getting pretty excited about this. Next week is tech week. We'll be rehearsing on the stage, and in costume so we can work all of that out. I'm looking forward to it, there are still some things that I've got to work out, like the hat. Will it stay on, or is it going to constantly fall off? The stage is a lot taller in places than I originally thought, and I have to jump up on it in one of my sword-fighting scenes. I've got to get my legs into game shape to be able to handle that on a nightly basis. Not to mention getting from one spot when I come off stage to get to my next spot that I enter the stage. We've had 2 full run-thrus so far and they've been pretty decent. I'm really getting along great with my fellow Musketeers and we're starting to bond in ways that are going to be really helpful on stage. It should be an amazing show!

Balls! Balls! I love Balls!

That is the line the King says when he enters the room and we're all dancing. Great line, especially the way he says it. Hilarious! So we danced and danced for 3 straight hours. We only learned 2 dances, but they were pretty complex dances. We spent 2 1/2 hours on one dance that we learned last week, which meant we only had 30 minutes to learn the second one. Thankfully it wasn't as long of a song, but still, it was more technical, and to be honest, I totally sucked at it and was feeling like I really did have two left feet. The scary thing to me was that I consider myself a decent dancer. I'm not Barishnikov by any means, but I can hold my own. I was being proved wrong in this case under a time crunch. The cool thing is that because it was so short, we were able to do it over and over. I think in the 30 minutes we had, we were able to run through the dance about 18 times. By the time we got to the end, it really started to look pretty good. Of course we'll need a little more work on this, but it was really cool that the whole cast was on board with running this over and over. It was to the point that near the end, we would have the Monday Wednesday Friday cast run through the dance with the music, and as soon as it was over, we were all running to get into place for the Tuesday Thursday Saturday cast to run through it. We were all saying, "let's run it again!" It was awesome.

More Rehearsals

The rehearsals are going great. We have all the fight scenes choreographed now and solid. So now all we have to do is nail down the moves and the intent of our characters in the fights. Oh, yeah, and do it with real swords while not injuring or slicing anyone.
It's been scary and fun at the same time. The show is really starting to come together. I'm excited to see it all put together again. We're going to be running the full show next week and then fine tuning it from there. I think next week we'll be able to practice on our stage as well, so we'll be able to incorporate the stairs in all of our fights. Now if they would only get us our hats and scabbard belts. I think that's going to be a big adjustment in our fights once we have those. It's too bad we don't have them already. All we can do is work with what we have for now, and for now it's looking good!

Sword Play

For the first 3 weeks of rehearsal, we've been learning stage combat. Everything from fisticuffs to sword fighting. They gave each of us a wooden dowel the length of our swords and about the same weight to work with in order the strengthen our arms and muscle memory. The fight sequences are pretty technical, and we've finally choreographed all of them. Last night I got to finally go through one of the fight sequences with a real sword. We took it really slow, and I have to say that's a great thing because it was kind of scary knowing that I was wielding a real weapon that could actually kill someone. Here is a video that shows some of the moves from the stage combat training. My neighbor was gracious enough to learn some of the fight with me and played it off beautifully.

The Three Musketeers

Up to about 4 months ago, I was having a struggle. I saw something about this 11 year old boy in England who is already a master painter, like in the ranks of Picasso good. His paintings are incredible. I remember thinking, "Wow, how cool would it be to learn what your passion is at such an early age!" I was jealous. I've coached kids on my soccer teams who are just freaky good at that, and they have continued to play the sport on a highly competitive level all the way through high school and possibly beyond. I see it in their actions. They do something everyday it seems to get better at something that they are already better than 95% of the population. Why, because it's fun to them. That's why it's called a passion.

So during the past 3 years, I've been trying to figure out what my passion is. You know, like really find out what it is that I love to do, that I'm willing to work on nearly every day. I've dabbled with painting, but I don't have the desire to clean up my mess each time I finish, not to mention I've got a nearly 3-year-old boy who would probably make an even bigger mess with it if I were to forget to put things away. I've picked up the harmonica, and have learned quite a few songs, and I really enjoy playing it, but I'm certainly not passionate about it. I was beginning to wonder what I would be willing to do every day of my life - aside from having sex that is.

My wife and I took this course called The Landmark Forum in October. It was absolutely amazing and has really helped me to let go of the past and work with a clean slate from the present and live into a future that I've created for myself. But what future am I living into was the big question.

Shortly after that we took the boys to a local theatre and watched my brother-in-law perform in a play. It's been a long while since I've been to a play, and as I was sitting there, I felt a burning desire to be on stage again. It has been over 4 years since I was in a play, and it was 6 years before that that I've been onstage. Aside from my brother-in-law, the show was abysmal. I began tearing it apart - how sloppy it was, and how unprofessional the whole thing seemed to be, and how some of the actors didn't even take their acting seriously. I had to stop and ask myself why it upset me so much. What did it matter to me? Well, the answer hit me pretty hard. I knew that I would have done a much better job on stage, and was disturbed by such poor acting, because it's something I know I'm good at. So on the drive home I said to myself, 'I'm going to be onstage again!'

I found it! My passion! It's been under my nose the whole time and for some reason I've been dismissing it. Here is the definition of the word passion according to thefreedictionary.com:
pas·sion (pshn)n.

1. A powerful emotion, such as love, joy, hatred, or anger.

2.

a. Ardent love.

b. Strong sexual desire; lust.

c. The object of such love or desire.

3.

a. Boundless enthusiasm: His skills as a player don't quite match his passion for the game.

b. The object of such enthusiasm: Soccer is her passion.

4. An abandoned display of emotion, especially of anger: He's been known to fly into a passion without warning.

5. Passion

a. The sufferings of Jesus in the period following the Last Supper and including the Crucifixion, as related in the New Testament.

b. A narrative, musical setting, or pictorial representation of Jesus's sufferings.

OK so aside from number 5, acting for me fits into all of these categories. I must admit it, I am a performer through and through. It's almost like it's in my blood. I love to be in front of a crowd performing. My bones almost ache to be on a stage of some kind. I feel in throughout my entire body. It is undeniable.

After dusting off my passion for acting, I decided to take action. I called the theatre that I used to perform improv comedy at, and asked them what it would take to get back into the rotation. The owner recommended that I take his next "performing improv" class. So I signed up. I was once again in my element. It felt right. It felt good, and I had a renewed sense of confidence in my abilities. After a few weeks, I realized that improv may not be the best thing for me, and I really wanted to get into some kind of scenes class or something like that, but the stage was still calling me. I did a google search for "acting auditions Salt Lake City" and came across a site that gave information on local auditions. As I searched through what was out there, I remembered where the passion for the stage really cemented in me...

I was 15 years old and my High School acting class attended a performance of "See How They Run" at the Hale Centre Theatre in Salt Lake. After that show was over, I was a changed man. I knew that was something I wanted to do. I even went as far as being cast as James Keller in "The Miracle Worker" and I performed on that very stage that started it all for me. Of course that was 18 years ago, and they moved into a new building since then.

I didn't see anything that was interesting to me on that web site, so I looked up the Hale Centre Theatre, and their site was pretty easy to navigate, they had a tab that said Auditions. I looked there and they had auditions coming up in 2 weeks for The Three Musketeers. I was floored, this was perfect! It was in the right time frame for me and the characters were perfect for my skill and abilities. I decided to go for it. I called and set up an audition time, printed a copy of the 1 minute audition pieces for Aramis and Porthos, and began to memorize them.

I went to my audition on a Saturday, and I was nervous as can be, but still I felt good about it. I went into the room with all the directors and producers with 5 other people and gave my reading of Porthos. (they only had time to hear one piece from each person) After everyone was done, we walked out to find a hallway filled with other people there waiting for their turn to audition as well. The gal that sent us into the room told us to wait around, and they would tell us if we got a call back to the 2nd round of auditions. So I waited with sweaty palms, and 15 minutes later was relived to know that I made it to the next round! I had to come back in two days!

On Monday, I came back to the theatre to the audition room full of about 60 people who got called back. They took all the men into another room and the choreographer taught us a sequence of a fight scene and we had to perform it two at a time after going through it about 8 or 9 times. I was having a heck of a time remembering all the moves in the correct sequence, but some guy put a dowel in my hand, and I was on. I felt like I did OK. They then took us back into the audition room and we had to read a few scenes. I got to read some of Aramis, Porthos, Rochefort, and Athos. I just tried to be loud and clear every time I read, and then they sent us all home and let us know that they would call us if they wanted us to come back for a final round.

On Tuesday they called me and let me know that I made it to the final round! I was so excited, and had to go back to the theatre on Wednesday night. I was right in following my passion. Even if I didn't get past the final round, I knew that I was good enough and that I belonged in that environment.

I returned to the theatre on Wednesday evening. The room was full of about 20 guys. They must have already decided on who would fill the female roles. I read for Porthos, Athos, and Rochefort. It appeared that they had already cast Aramis and D'Artagnan because they only had the same guys reading his stuff. At Hale they double cast all their shows, so I knew that 4 guys were not going to take one of the roles I was after. I really wanted Porthos, or maybe even Athos, but I was reading for Rochefort an awful lot, and I was a little nervous because although it would be fun, I really didn't want the role of bad guy. I just did the best I could, but everyone there was really, REALLY good.

Thursday at lunch time, I got a phone call from the stage manager. She offered me the part of Porthos! Woo Hoo!!! I was so excited. I really wanted that part, I felt like that was my part right from the beginning, and lo and behold it really was mine!

So we're in the middle of rehearsing now. Lots of sword fighting, fist fighting, and all sorts of running around. I'll continue to post, and hopefully the next one's won't be as long as this one. Stay tuned.

So I started a reading group...

We've been reading "Think And Grow Rich" by Napolean Hill. We read out loud, a chapter a week, and then we discuss what it means to us, and how we can benefit from it. We just read Chapter 2 last week, and were about to read Chapter 3 tonight.

Chapter 2 is about getting specific with your goal. I know I definitely have mine, but I have more than just one. I've got a few I've realized, and I thought that it would be good to post them on here in an effort to "Burn my bridge" or "Throw my hat over the fence" or whatever you wanna call it. To me, it's my commitment, I'm in this all the way, and there's no going back, it's as they say in Chapter 2 time to "win or perish." So here I go.

1. Get my web based business off the ground. I've been thinking about this business for the past 3 years. I've done quite a bit of the formatting and design work for it (on paper) and I've written a bunch of the wording for the website so far. I really need to get in touch with a good programmer who does MySQL and builds websites. I need someone who knows about text messaging, and I need a good business lawyer to make sure I do this all right legally. But I am bound and determined to get this thing off the ground. I'm shooting for July 20th of this year to have a working website.

2. Learn how to play the piano. I grew up in a house that had a piano most of my life, and I've never had one piano lesson. I was even in Madrigals and Jazz Choir in high school, and I couldn't tell you if I was singing an F or and F#. I had no clue, I just knew that when the note was higher on the scale, I needed to sing higher, and I knew rhythm from playing drums in 9th grade. I've always wanted be able to play the piano. We have my step-son in piano lessons, and we bought him the beginner books to learn. He practices every day for 30 minutes, and I figure that if that's the way it's supposed to be done, then why not do it at the same time? I should be able to learn how to play the piano at least as quickly as him, right? I think I'm doing pretty well. I learned how to play a small part of Beethoven's 5th already. I don't know why, but I've always had the ridiculous idea that playing the piano should come instantly to me. In the ripe age of 36 I've realized that some things just take time and action by you to become a reality. It's perfect that I'm going for two pretty big goals at the same time. I'm going to be able to judge my progress in both and be able to see if I'm falling behind.

3. Get into the best shape of my life. I love to mountain bike. I went 3 times last year, and all three times I felt like I had my ass handed to me on a platter. I was getting smoked by my fellow riders, and I used to do pretty well on uphill, but not last year. This year, I'm devoted to get back to the fitness level I was at 7 years ago. I started swimming at the local rec center. I swam 2-3 times a week for the month of February, and I was increasing the number of laps I could swim in 30 minutes every time I went. I need to get another pass this month, but I should still be able to do some stuff at home. If any of you have a Bowflex that you haven't been using, let me know. I'm the kind of person who would exercise more often if the stuff was right in my own home rather than go to the gym. I'm going to start doing push-ups and sit-ups daily as well, that can't hurt.

4. Simplify my house. Alright, what that hell are you talking about, simplify your house? Well this is what that means. My garage is full of crap that I don't need. In fact, there is a lot of stuff in my home that I haven't used or even looked at in over a year. My house is full of clutter, and I used to believe that a clean room or desk or what have you, was the sign of a sick mind. In truth, I'm sure it helps keep your mind clear. I've been thinking that the clutter of the house is like a metaphor for the clutter in my brain. With reading this book, I'm getting focused on what I truly want, and I'm going for it. In order to do that, I have to eliminate outside distractions that prevent me from putting in the effort and taking the necessary actions. So I should also clear out any unnecessary clutter from my eyesight as well. I recently visited a friends house, and they took us on a tour of their huge house. The one thing I noticed throughout the tour was how clean the house was. There was virtually no clutter! Their bedroom looked like it was about to have a picture taken of it for some magazine insert. All of the kids rooms were impeccably clean. I'm sure it's a team effort in their house, but really it starts from the top down. I wouldn't want to bring anyone into my room except family at this point. We're not slobs, we just have a lot of clutter. I know a good portion of it is me, and I'm working on that. Spring cleaning is going to have a whole new meaning for me this year though. It's starting to warm up now, and my garage is calling me in my sleep to clean it out. Can you say yard sale? Target date for completion: garage 3/29/09; upstairs 4/30/09; downstairs 5/17/09; basement 5/31/09.

5. Start getting to bed at 11:00PM. I have realized that I am not getting enough sleep for the past few years. My excuse for this has been that I'm used to it now. My body is telling me otherwise. I'm not going to hold myself to this bedtime every night, but if I can manage to be in bed by eleven 4 nights a week my body will thank me for it. Eight hours of sleep has got to be better than the 5 1/2-6 1/2 I've been managing lately.

So there it is. My 5 commitments. I know it's pretty ambitious, but it's also very doable. I'll be sure to write updates on how it all goes. Any encouragement would be much appreciated.

I'll finish with this quote by Les Brown:
"You don't have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great." Well, here are my first 5 steps to greatness, and now I can't say that I don't know what it is that I need to do either.