.

It seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that I attended The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I remember the experience like it was yesterday… because… well, let’s face it, it was practically yesterday. I mean, hell, I still haven’t had the chance to even really begin paying off my student loan debt. Unfortunately, New York City is not a woman who is overly sentimental, and not even my love of the nostalgic will stop her from changing more rapidly every day.

While I was away during the course of the past year (working to try and pay off some of that aforementioned student loan debt), I was saddened to learn that The Grand Saloon (on 23rd b/w Lex & 3rd) was being closed for good, and I wouldn’t even get the chance to have one last drink there. I mean, Grand Saloon was part of my development at The Academy. Relationships were forged there, relationships were damaged there, my opinions of people were forever changed (both for the good and the bad), money was spent, cigarettes were smoked (outside, of course), and plenty a night was wasted in the nearly-almost-empty-unless-an-AADA-alumni-threw-a-fundraiser-party dive bar… and I’ll never get to revisit that establishment for one last pint of Stella.

Now that I’m back, I find another part of my AADA experience fading into the past. During my first year at the school, I stayed in the New Yorker Hotel along with other freshman students (part of an agreement made through AADA and a company specializing in Student Housing). While this might sound kind of cool, you need to realize that the New Yorker is on the intersection of 34th St. and 8th. Avenue (which, for the uninformed, is the epicenter of hell). 34th Street, while being home to Macy’s department store, is also where some of the filth that was chased from Times Square ended up. In fact, 34th Street is the only place in the city I’ve ever almost been pickpocketed. 8th Avenue, on the other hand, is somewhere that I don’t ever want to find myself. It’s just plain dirty… and, apart from needing to visit rehearsal studios around 8th, I’d never go there.

Back in my first year of school, I didn’t know any better. I hadn’t traveled the city (apart from the walk to and from school), didn’t give myself the time to, and knew that 8th Avenue was the only thing that separated me from the magnificent Times Square.

Like I said, I didn’t know any better.

Anyhow, my first year of The Academy was also when I experienced my first drink (which, for the record, was Georgi vodka and room temperature Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi — is it any wonder I don’t like drinking?), and thus, the first time I was intoxicated. I vividly remember sitting in Zoe’s room on many a night slipping into a stupid happy state of semi-consciousness. Now, I’m a drunk who likes his food… and I rarely ever did food shopping for my New Yorker shoebox (this wasn’t for a lack of grocery stores, I just didn’t know they were there; in fact, I only shopped at the K-Mart on 34th, because it was on the way to school). Because of this, I needed a source of food… preferably cheap food that was available very late at night.

Just around the corner was this establishment… “Halal Bakery & Pizza.” The only thing worth touching was the pizza, and by “worth touching”, I mean that the pizza was incredibly cheap. Now, it didn’t taste like pizza… but when you were as drunk as I was, it didn’t really matter. I still remember the almost cardboard texture of the tasteless imitation pizza hitting my tongue… and then how it felt again shortly thereafter as I threw it up on the pavement.

Yet now, I discover, it’s to be torn down to create something new… true to form to that Chameleon-like state that New York constantly finds itself in. Again, it’s not the food that I’ll miss — on the contrary, the food was terrible — it’s the memories. Passing that red awning reminded me of living in the New Yorker, stressing far too much about being kicked out of school — my mind far, far away from worrying about continual employment or repaying student loans. I’m afraid that without that disgusting food being so readily available, it’ll be harder for me to remember being woken up late nights by my drunk classmates Joey and Maggie knocking on my door; of excitedly rehearsing repetition work sitting on the carpet; or of shoes strewn on my floor after a hazy night walking back from the Grand Saloon.

Perhaps those memories will fade without any landmark to remind me of their existance… or perhaps they’ll come blowing back to me with the breeze one night when I surprisingly don’t find myself angry walking through Times Square, and I remember how I felt as I excitedly walked down 8th Avenue on my way to hang around Toys “R” Us, passing the Halal Bakery & Pizza joint as I left the New Yorker.

I guess all I wanted to write was…

Thanks for the memories.

Well, 2AM is always a good time to post.

My brother’s finally all moved in. Christian and I have swapped rooms (a 5-hour task, as it turns out) and Craig and I are in the larger room now. I must admit, it’s a bit strange to be living in this room and for Christian to be in the other one — it’s been one way since January, and suddenly the 8-month order of things has been disturbed. Hopefully I’ll get used to it, but not too used to it (as we’re moving out in about a month).

I’m growing increasingly frustrated with my excessive facial hair growth (beard) that I’ve been keeping for my play, “Chekhov in Yalta.” The play goes up in under two weeks at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Should be a funny one. Hopefully, I can make it until the end of the week-long run without shaving.

I finished watching the second season of “Lost.” Amazing fucking show. My blood is itching for my next fix, but it won’t come until October. Thankfully, the Lost Experience will appease me every day until then. I also aught the season finale of “Entourage.” Words can’t express my sorrow. I knew what was going to happen going into the episode, and know how this arc will (probably) end, but it was still heartbreaking. Additionally, I’m pissed that I have to wait until March for new episodes. Fuck. Well, with “Lost” returning in October, and “Scrubs” coming back mid-season (with “Nobody’s Watching”… which I told you all to watch!), I should be held over for a while. Now if only “Arrested Development” could come back…

I guess I’ll try and catch some sleep. It may be futile, as I’m a bit too wired to sleep and the apartment needs to have some work done tomorrow at 8AM, but I’ll make an attempt anyway. Good night, Gracie!

So, apparently I only have time to post during rehearsal.

That’s odd.

Anyway, I’ve had an extremely packed schedule as of late, working my ass off both in school and at Max Brenner. I’m starting to think that the Max Brenner thing may not be the best deal, as it’s going to be hard to make rent on a monthly basis with my wages being what they are. At the moment, I’m working about 40 hours per week (which is far much more than I can handle) and still struggling.

School’s going particularly well. It’s an emotional rollercoaster wherein on any given day I’ll feel like the worst actor in the world and become confident in my abilities the next. Regardless of the internal struggle, the play I’m in (”Chekhov in Yalta”) performs Sept. 12-15.

I finished watching all of “Arrested Development.” It’s such a shame that that show was cancelled. It’s on my top-ten list of greatest sitcoms ever. I’m currenly waist deep in the second season of “Lost.” Also amazing. I can’t wait to catch up — and then I can’t wait for the premiere in October. While on the subject of TV… I love Sundays, for they bring me “Entourage.”

Well, I should probably dash back to rehearsal and see if I’m needed yet. I’ve got an interview this afternoon for a server position at a location-to-be-named-if-I-get-the-job (let’s just say that I’m not distancing myself from chocolate or coffee as of yet).

I’m homesick. It’s killing me that I can’t see everyone before they head back to college.

See you all back on here soon!

Whenever I think back to high school, the first thing I think of will (unfortunately) not be the times I spent during regularly scheduled lunchtimes, immersed in friends. Nor will it be times spent playing Freshman Baseball (although that’s probably for the better), creating craft buttons for the art club, or even confusing a great number of non-English speaking parents onstage performing “99 Red Balloons” for the International Show. In fact, the very first memory I have of high school is in the auditoriuim, standing on a platform eight feet above the stage singing “Mansion” in my senior year production of ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona.’

Although that was over three years ago, it still strikes my memory because that was one of the many moments that solidified my decision to become a professional actor. Now that I’ve moved on in the profession of acting, I still think back to my days of performing in high school shows with fondness.

As a result, I try and make it a point to go and see the plays and musicals that Tappan Zee High School puts on every year. With each year that goes by, I see the students that I’ve shared the stage with graduate. Just this past year, the last remaining group of actors from my senior year’s shows (”Midsummer Night’s Dream” and the aforementioned “Two Gentlemen”) had their final show, “On Your Toes.”

I would devote this space to writing about how phenomenal the show was — how I was extremely proud of the actors involved, in awe of the spectacular dance numbers, etc. — but I’ve decided to let the 2006 Helen Hayes award nominations speak for themselves:

Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical: On Your Toes
Outstanding Achievement by a Director: Edward Clinton
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Alexandra Gable (Vera Baronova)
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Shannon Goldrick (Peggy)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Raffi Chamessian (Konstantine)
Outstanding Comic Performance: Mike Fails (Junior)
Outstanding Production Number: Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
Outstanding Performance by a Chorus
Outstanding Performance by an Orchestra
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography: Edward Clinton
Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design: Edward Clinton

Congratulations, guys!

And so, the reading of Spellbound: The Musical Adventure was held last night at the Mary Macarthur theatre inside 120 Madison Ave., the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest (or quickest) we’d ever performed the show, but I’m convinced that it was still a success. The cast members that comprised our company were among the first (in a while, at least) to do something of such magnitude inside the walls of The Academy. Additionally… I’m not sure that a musical has ever been performed inside the school (I could be wrong). I’m proud of my performance last night (although I’d be frightened as hell to look at a tape)… and I think it was a great opportunity to showcase what can be an amazing show.

I’ll probably post once more about Spellbound, and my experiences with the show since this past November… but I really don’t have the energy at the moment. It’s almost a day later and I’m still physically drained. Imagine doing that eight times a week?

A portion of the Spellbound cast: (L to R) Holly, Samantha [Emischel], Caitlin [Cheryn],
Christian [Garlan], Elyse [Herianne], myself [Raven], Todd [Helmit], Kelly [Sylvie],
Joe [Darlak], Brad [Faerius]

And so, the day is upon us. As the school year winds down, so does work on the open reading of Spellbound.

I’ve spent the better part of my days after school working on Spellbound since November… and it all comes to a head tomorrow night. The open staged reading of Spellbound: The Musical Adventure takes place *TOMORROW NIGHT* at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts’ Mary MacArthur Theatre (1st floor) at 6:30pm.

This is a very important night for quite a few people. Keep us in your thoughts, folks… hopefully, there’ll be some magic in the air (no pun intended, seriously).

My schedule’s really starting to get busy. Not that I’m complaining, I’m actually happy that I’m able to keep so busy… but it cuts down on the amount of time that I’ll be able to post anything on here. Here are the things that are occupying my time at the moment.

Starbucks Coffee - After almost two years away from “the empire” (and a few too many months away from the workforce entirely), I’m making my return to the Starbucks Coffee Corporation as a barista in one of the stores in Midtown West. Unfortunately, I have to re-do my training shifts. Tomorrow will be #3 of 9. I should be completely done with training in under two weeks.

‘When We Are Married’ - The play that I’ve been assigned for the first series of plays at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Easily what I’m spending the most amount of time on (it may be my last three months at school if I don’t make it back to company). I’ve got five weeks to put this character together, as the show goes up in early March. Unfortunately, nobody’s allowed to come see this one.

‘Spellbound: The Musical Adventure’ - A musical that my friend and roommate Christian’s been writing for the last three years. I’ve been cast as Raven (a sizeable part) for a staged reading of the show before agents and producers in the first few weeks of March. Although rehearsals are only once a week, I’ve had to do a lot of extra “homework.” To check out some of the work I’ve already put in, give these tracks a listen: “Fragile” and“Caught in a Moment”.

Stacey’s cabaret - Stacey and her friend Katie are putting on a cabaret show at the Stella Adler School of Acting. Thankfully, the two of them looked past my horrible audition and gave me a spot in the show. Although rehearsals haven’t started yet, the show goes up in April (the same month as my last show at school and graduation).

So, my plate’s a bit full. Maintaining social relationships is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Let’s see how these next couple of weeks go. Hopefully, I won’t have a mental breakdown between now and May. Anyone want to take bets? Worse than that, this is probably how the rest of my life’s going to go.

Sweet.

“So, honestly. What do you think?” I asked, with hope still in my eye.

“Honestly? I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Although I knew the words he spoke were true, it was still depressing to hear. Sure, I’ve known full well since the trip to Cape May years ago that it was about time for my car to be laid to rest, but I was in denial. That denial didn’t give in when I lost both of my side-view mirrors. In fact, it didn’t give in when the brakes started to stick. Hell, it didn’t even give in when the engine started making a ridiculously loud sound whenever you turned it on (I still maintain that it was simply “purring” like a kitten. An angry kitten, but a kitten nonetheless).

But here was this man — a mechanic — telling me to put my car to bed. You know your car is unsafe when an auto mechanic turns down a prospective $2,000 to fix it… and tells you you’re better off with a new one.

“If you’re going to drive it home, you’ve got to promise me that you’ll put it in the driveway and never, ever drive it again.”

Was that last remark unnecessary? Well, probably not… because the front left tire is in danger of snapping off… but it certainly felt that way. After all, the Falcon’s been a good friend… and, hey, it’s outlived its life expectancy every day for the past year, when I first figured it was dead.

Well… it was a good run while it lasted.

- I’m completely updated for the week over at A Year at the Academy.

- The more I think about Boy Gets Girl from yesterday, the better it gets. One thing I’m always a bit wary about is nudity on stage (a subject I touched upon back in June)… if there’s not a purpose behind it, I don’t necessarily love it. Not that it was unwelcome in Boy Gets Girl, but I didn’t necessarily understand its relevance to the show. Normally, I’d get upset, and write gratuitous nudty to a playwright who knows they’ve wrote crap and is trying to distract people from the inadequacies of their show — but the rest of the show was so well written I knew that couldn’t be the case.

Thinking about it this morning (honestly, I was thinking about the relevance of the nudity, not just the nudity itself… really), I figured it out. A central theme of the play is to examine the way that men perceive women in society. In the course of the play, one of the characters relates himself to the stalker character — saying that he’d seen the woman and thinking that he wanted “to fuck her.” Honestly, I think that the nudity was placed into the show to titilate the men in the audience (which I’m sure it did), but to make them realize that they are thinking the exact same thing as the characters in the play. Who’s really the villain in the situation? Is there one?

Fucking genius.

- Anyhow, I’m off to see a show at Stacey’s studio tonight. This will make three days in a row that I’ve gone to see free theater — that’s amazing. Apparently, this show’s a bit distubing as well… which also makes three somewhat disturbing shows I’ve seen this week. Well, at least I’m not paying anything… right?

- Slafta and Greta are home this weekend. This pleases me greatly. Hopefully, I’ll get to see them both — I’ve been missing them both incredibly as of late.

- Finally, although I can’t state it enough over at my other site, I love Jackie Bartone. For weeks, she’s been forcing us to read the newspaper and have social events discussions, with her intent being to create intelligent actors. I’ve found more and more that my friends and I at school are having intelligent conversations and debates about politics and social issues. To top that off, I’ve been hanging out in the library more often. What the hell is happening to me? Am I actually becoming smarter in two years of acting school than I did in four years of high school?

- Speaking of high school, congrats to TZ for employing those bent on child molestation.

- As that strange foreigner said on My Name Is Earl this week (and some more obscure celebrity is known to say, as well), “Seacrest out.”

Another few days gone by in New York City. I’m beginning to miss being home in Rockland. Not that anything’s all too exciting about it… but I feel that, if I’m going to live there, I should be enjoying it.

At least I still see stars at night.

Anyway, I went to the Broadway Cares / Equity Fights Aids Flea Market today with Stacey. She proved her prowess as a champion shopper (even at a Flea Market), spending $8 and taking home over four items. I, on the other hand, am not that good. I spent a similar $7 and walked away with a script. I could have done that at the Drama Book Shop.

Something cool did come out of the Flea Market, however.

Stacey and I both wound up getting hugs and a personal tapdance from Deborah S. Craig, cast member from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I must now see this show.

Check out the trailer for Waiting, starring Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, and Dane Cook. Looks amazing.

Also, check out the first trailer for The Producers, which looks even better now than I thought it did before.

This is shaping up to be a pretty cool week.

I certainly hope so.