Jeeves in Bloom is a new work by Margaret Raether, based on characters and situations from the stories of P.G. Wodehouse.  The cast includes David McMenomy as Bertie Wooster, Jim Cada as Jeeves, Jane Froiland as Madeline Bassett, and Sally Ann Wright as Aunt Dahlia.

I’m playing Gussie Fink-Nottle, friend to Bertie and admirer of Madeline Bassett.  From Wikipedia:

Described as “a teetotal bachelor with a face like a fish”, he wears horn-rimmed spectacles, and is a noted newt fancier.

Here’s Richard Garnett as Gussie in the excellent TV series Jeeves and Wooster.

Certainly, it’ll be an enormous struggle for me to play so egregiously against type.

Anyway, my last post is from when I was playing Lorenzo in Theatre Pro Rata‘s production of The Spanish Tragedy.   I guess a lot has happened since then.

I returned to Bemidji, Minnesota, this summer to perform in two shows at Paul Bunyan Playhouse.  I played Eugene Jerome in Biloxi Blues and Barry Klemper in The Boys Next Door.  Both were good shows and great experiences.

I was promoted from actor to moderator at GTC Dramatic Dialogues.  It’s an interactive theatre program that mostly tours college campuses.  It’s inspired by Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed, Forum Theatre type of stuff.  There’s a moderator/host and three actors.  The actors perform scenes, stay onstage in character after each scene, and engage in a moderated talkback with the audience.  Far from the cheesy, after-school-special sorts of “issue” shows, GTC Dramatic Dialogues is always an engaging, even heated.  I love it.

Anyway, I’ve been an actor with GTC since 2006, and this year, I became one of the moderators.  It was a daunting position, as it requires a unique and intimidating skill set.  It’s like part discussion leader, part stand-up comic, part conflict mediator, and requires an enormous body of knowledge about our topics (diversity, sexual assault, & substance abuse) and all of the actors’ material as well.  By the time our Fall orientation tour commenced last month, I felt prepared but nervous as hell.  Thankfully, it was a completely wonderful, exhilarating experience.

Now, I’m about to start rehearsal at Old Log Theater in Excelsior, Minnesota, for Jeeves in Bloom, a new play by Margaret Raether based on P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves stories.  Not only is it a fun new comedy with a great cast & company, it’s also five months of continuous, well-paying employment!  Whoohoo!

The Old Log gig is also presenting me with the choice of whether or not to join Equity (the actors’ union).  In the Twin Cities, there’s a widely held opinion that non-union is an easier and more fruitful career path, but the reasons to join the union are extremely attractive.  Right now, I’m leaning towards joining, but I haven’t decided yet, and I’m asking around for advice.

In between theatre projects, I’ve been shooting a film for Dave Ash (which I may’ve mentioned on this blog before) called Connected.  It’s a feature length black comedy in which I play a frustrated, lonely computer programmer who can’t quite make his interpersonal relationships work.  He starts dating a woman (played by Bethany Ford) whom he found via an online dating site, and the film tracks their tragic attempt at a relationship.  The film will also feature Sam Landman and Charles Hubbell.

OK, so there’s me catching up in a ridiculously abridged way.  Hopefully, posts will be more frequent and entertaining in the future.  Or will they???

Carin Bratlie, director
Keith Prusak, actor – “Heironimo”
Me, actor – “Lorenzo”
Kit Gordon – dramaturg

Go listen! http://bit.ly/d16639

Ladies and gentlemen, I present Lorenzo. Well, Lorenzo’s head, anyway.

It may be a bit late in the game, but I went to Booksmart and scooped up Machiavelli’s The Prince and Mandragola for research a few days ago.  There’s no overt reference to Machiavelli in The Spanish Tragedy, but Lorenzo’s actions are certainly informed by his medieval political theory.  Maybe I’ll have finished reading them by the time we close!

This is a really solid show.  A committed cast, straightforward, open staging, and lots of violence.  Whee!

Allons-y!

Here’s the flyer:

From the Joking Envelope website:

Adventures in Mating is an audience interactive romantic comedy inspired by the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure novels of the 70s and 80s. YOU play the role of cruel fate! When the dysfunctional couple on a terrible blind date can’t make simple decisions such as red or white wine, leave or stay, kiss or slap the audience votes and the show takes off in wildly different but always hilarious directions.

It’s a very funny script, and I’m having a lot of fun playing with it. I don’t do enough comedies.

Joseph’s doing a major rewrite (he’s produced this play several times already), extending it into a two-act play. Since it’s a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure play, there are lots of different scenes to learn, so I’ll be cramming one metric buttload of lines into my brain.

I’m also in rehearsal for The Spanish Tragedy. Rehearsing two shows, each quite challenging in their own way, makes me glad to be dayjob-free. Until I have to buy food, that is.

Allons-y!

My character is Davy, a Scottish soldier in the British army, and I am supposed to have a “thick Scottish accent.”  Now, I like to think that I’m pretty good with dialects, though I’ve discovered that (somehow) I’m better at speaking extemporaneously with a Scottish accent than I am at applying it to my actual lines in the script, but hey…I’ve got a month or so, right?

Anyway, tonight, I just so happened to find a YouTube channel of a Scottish gentleman named Mark Day, and I will make him my unwitting mentor.  Here is his scathing indictment of the Snuggie, featuring his cat Mr. Saunders.

Some Girl(s) hones in on lonesome men

Careless, calloused, perhaps clueless: Walking Shadow Theatre Company’s well-acted production of “Some Girl(s)” portrays the strengths and limitations of Neil LaBute’s script.

Man, this show has been going great!  I’m really proud of the work we’re all doing, and it’s nice to see that critics and audiences are responding favorably.  I really get off on hearing the audiences’ horrified reactions and incredulous laughter.

Two more weekends left!  Four performances down, six to go!

www.walkingshadowcompany.org

‘Some Girl(s)’ has sharp staging, creepy characters

Tonight is our Pay What You Can! Come on down to Pillsbury House for cheap theatre on a Monday night!