Around the World in 80 Days at The Matrix Theatre Well look what's happening in my backyard: Lost Dog Productions is producing Around the World in 80 Days at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood, California. I went to the opening the other with an old friend of mine from university and had loads of fun. It was the first time I had ever been to the Matrix Theatre. It's a cute theatre. Wide. A very wide stage. You could get all [...]
Tom Jones - I Won't Break Your Heart Again Paul has a brief hiatus from The Voice so he and I went back into the studio to record another demo for Tom Jones the Musical. In a nutshell, here's how we work: I write the music and lyrics and record a rough demo I take it to Paul, who listens to it maybe twice He arranges the song in a few hours I sit and watch Here's a video of our [...]
The NJACT NJ Perry Awards The good people at Maurer Productions OnStage have informed me that their production of Around the World in 80 Days has garnered seven eight Perry Awards nominations. Whoo hoo! Of course when they told me about the nominations I had never heard of the NJACT NJ Perry Awards. Turns out it's a pretty big deal. The Perry Awards are given for outstanding achievements in New Jersey Community Theater. The awards are a wing of The New Jersey [...]
Pendragon Theatre I got an email the other day from an old friend of mine and sent this picture with the caption, "Where I am today." I'm not sure if he lost a bet but I was glad he was there. Bucolic Lake Saranac. Turns out it was a production of Around the World in 80 Days at the Pendragon Theatre in "It's So Far North It Might As Well Be Canada" Lake Saranac, NY. From reading a review of the [...]
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Oh my lord I'm excited about the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In case you've been living under a rock or you're not a Harry Potter nerd like I am, Fantastic Beasts is the prequel to J.K. Rowling's series Harry Potter. It opens November 18, 2016. I'm all a twitter. And what should come out today but a teaser video entitled Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The video shows [...]
May is Mental Health Month. Yea! I'm a big advocate for mental health, as I am a veritable Vegas buffet of mental illness (depression, anxiety, OCD, and BiPolar 2). For the longest time I kept it a secret. I was afraid of the stigma that comes with mental illness. I didn't want people to shun me, or tell me to just be happy, or tell me it's all in my mind. Telling someone who has mental illness to just cheer [...]
Ghostbusters Trailer a Bust The new Ghostbusters Trailer has reached an epic milestone. As of this writing it is #18 in the Most Disliked Videos on Youtube. Wow. (FYI - Justin Bieber's "Baby" featuring Ludacris is #1). I'm thinking that making the most disliked list is not something the producers of the new Ghostbusters were aiming for. They keep saying it's not a remake of that awesome original but a wholly new film that can stand on its own but it [...]
Around the World With Long Beach Playhouse Long Beach Playhouse is in the midst of a lovely run of my play Around the World in 80 Days. Long Beach Playhouse is in the midst of a lovely run of my play Around the World in 80 Days. When I wrote the play, I wanted it to be a show that both adults and kids could enjoy. I grew up on the Marx Brothers and Monty Python, so I wanted to [...]
The Singer Prince is Dead at Age 57 It was wishful thinking on my part that this was a hoax but it's not. Prince is dead at the age of 57. Prince's body was discovered at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota early Thursday morning. Multiple sources connected to the singer confirmed he had passed. Prince had a medical emergency on April 15th that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois. But he appeared at a concert the next [...]
Watch the Sinking of the Titanic Are you just sitting around saying to yourself, "Gee, I really wish I could watch the Titanic sinking in real time?" Then I have some awesome news for you. Now you can, thank to Titanic: Honor and Glory, a "fully interactive recreation of the most famous ship in history." The company behind Titanic: Honor and Glory has just released a 2:40 hour video of the Titanic sinking. It's mesmerizing. Don't skip to the end. [...]
