After several years working as a writer and media director/editor, it’s good to be back in the neighborhood of a vital community of actors and the Chicago theatre scene in general. That’s really where I’ve spent most of my career as a writer/director/actor. It feels very comfortable and yet stimulating all at the same time.
Things have changed since I shuttered my intensive 40-week actor-training program in 2000. If you said the word “blog” at that time almost everyone would have thought you were mispronouncing “bog”. The closest thing to blogging in those days happened when actors would hit the bar after class or rehearsal or the curtain call and get into deep discussions about their “craft”.
I’m starting this blog because a) I can and b) because I’ve always seen actors as my most important creative allies. As a writer/director I learned pretty quickly that no matter how good your script or how brilliant your directorial concept, if your actors can’t pull it off, it really doesn’t amount to much. In a way I became an acting coach out of self-defense. I dug into the art and science of acting because great acting is the only thing that can make a great show. On top of that I really enjoy acting. I love the spontaneous possibilities that just come out of nowhere. It's way more fun than writing a script.
I’m going to use this blog to do what I don’t have the time to do in an audition or a rehearsal or a class. I’m going to ruminate on acting and the actor and I hope it encourages my visitors to do the same. In the next blog I'll catch everyone up on my latest show, 200 Funny Things. It's about the most actor-driven show your ever likely to see.
Best of the season to everyone,
