Autumnal Update:

This little guy has been hanging outside my apartment for the last couple of days.

I forget how unbelievable the Fall is in the Northeast. I was riding home on Metro North this morning and the countryside is spectacular. How many shades of orange can their be? Dozens of reds. The yellows can't make up their minds. It's so overwhelmingly beautiful. I wanted to jump out of my skin I was giddy.

I continue to marvel how lucky I've been this year. My professional life is flourishing and my instincts tell me the best is yet to come. I'm slowly reintegrating back into New York City. I feel this time is much better than last. Having a gig in the city certainly creates a level of buoyancy that make it easier to stay afloat, which in turn makes it easier to stay productive professionally. I've reconnected with my old agents, and naturally I'm thoroughly turned off by their hyperbolic grandeur. I've decided that I'm too lazy to pursue other agents given the circumstances of how one procures agents in this town, and I might as well face up to the fact that no matter who I go with, it will be the same bullshit. Might as well hang out in the pile I'm familiar with? I don't know. The gut is indifferent on this one, so I'm letting my impatience get the upper hand. This might be a mistake, but I feel like I can get over this one.


We started rehearsal for George Bernard Shaw's MISALLIANCE last week. This is the second time in the last year I've played a leading man. As many of you know, despite the 6'2" frame, and my crooked Cary Grant-esque looks, I tend to be put in the background or in a character role. I've enjoyed myself in these roles and find myself a fish out of water as I look across the table to my scene partner. I'm supposed to be the lover. Interesting as I've become shy around this in rehearsals. It's fun opening this part back up. Of course, I had an excellent teacher this summer in PRIVATE LIVES. One can't help falling in love with Carol Linnea Johnson. This time I have to work at it.

This is partly due to the fact that MISALLIANCE is really an anti-romance. While I play the one half of a due that ends up "happily ever after", the conventional form is blown out of the water in this story. I woo her with practicality. It's a marvellous and elusive play to wrap my brainpan around. I'm so glad to be working on it.

Have I mentioned what an amazing year 2009 has been? Just incredible. So many ups, so many downs (down I went indeed)... but I sit here typing this blather away with an incredible color of light coming through my window, and I feel profoundly present to my surroundings. I think this year has been just about that: discovering what it means to be genuinely present to the world. It's not glamourous, it's painful at points, but it makes life way more worth living.