"I was Never in the Chorus!" - Ok, Yes I was...

I’m staring at a “Congratulations” card which has been sitting on my desk since….oh, gosh, I don’t know how long. I’m assuming that I bought it way back in March (before live theatre was put on hold) for an actor friend to celebrate a performance which never happened. Oh boy, this entry sounds like it’s going to be a downer….so I’ll try to keep it upbeat.

Just a side note, if you’ve read my blog entries, you’ll already know that many times I simply don’t know what the topic might be when I start. Believe me, I could rage about the current state of the country, but I’d like to think that my small handful of devoted readers come here to escape the stress and anxiety that pollutes the atmosphere today. So, I’m not oblivious to the world around me.

But back to theatre. Or perhaps my journey into theatre. I hope you won’t mind if I chat about me. Don’t actors love talking about themselves? Well, I don’t really. Most times, I don’t dwell on the past…I’m grateful for the lessons I’ve learned throughout my life, but I prefer to focus on the present and the future. I suppose if I had the chance to go back in time, I’d probably make some different decisions, but the decisions that I HAVE made have lead me towards who I am today. And I’m pretty happy with my life, despite wildfires, COVID-19, hurricanes (my family lives down south), civil and political unrest. Of course, recreational cannabis and anti-depressives help!

But back to the topic at hand. I started doing theatre way back when I was 15, but not at my high school. Well, I did perform in some high school productions, but, to be honest, my high school drama department really sucked. It’s true. No, I got my experience working at my local community theatre, the Baton Rouge Little Theater nka as Theatre Baton Rouge. Community theatre evokes images of “Waiting for Guffman, but I assure you that simply isn’t the case. Theatre Baton Rouge has wonderful resources….a mainstage which has a capacity of 327, a studio theatre which holds 95, a rehearsal room, dressing rooms, storage, etc. The facilities would rival any large regional Equity theatre. I started out doing chorus boy roles (yes, I was an ingénue!) and small supporting roles. Eventually, I had a crack at a couple of leading roles, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and ALL MY SONS. And I have to confess, I didn’t excel in either role. In fact, in the former, I was described by the local critic as the only serious problem with the production. Ouch.

My theatrical endeavors as an undergrad at LSU were not especially stellar either….mostly small supporting roles, although I did play Horatio in HAMLET and The Writer in THE GOOD DOCTOR. In the latter, I played the title/leading role, and I guess the same local critic was merciful when he didn’t mention my performance at all in his review! Double Ouch! It really wasn’t until, I moved to Chicago and established my own identity (by coming out) and attending DePaul (to earn my MFA in Directing) at my theatre training began to kick in and I reached a level of semi-competence.

After DePaul, I did a little directing and much more acting…and my casting got much better…and my reviews moved towards the positive. I could go further into further details about my various productions, but that would make this entry much too long. Suffice it to say, once I moved to the Coachella Valley, my acting and directing projects gained more recognition. Believe me, nobody was as surprised as I was, and continue to be surprised. I guess the theatrical community hasn’t caught on to my ole bag of acting tricks. I know that I’ve been very fortunate….especially this season, which seems crazy considering that the 2019-2020 season was cut short in March due to the pandemic. But I was very busy from September through Mid-March, directing one project and performing in four other productions. I’m not counting THE PRODUCERS (which opened and was immediately put on hold the day after opening).

So, anyhow how….that is a much abbreviated history of my personal theatrical history. As you might have guessed, I was a very late bloomer, not really understanding what I was doing until I was almost 30.

Maybe I should send that congratulations card to myself for hanging in there.

How about a little except from Stephen Sondheim to tie up this entry?

“I've run the gamut, A to Z Three cheers and dammit, C'est la vie I got through all of last year, and I'm here Lord knows, at least I was there, and I'm here Look who's here, I'm still here.”