Hey! Here's a little post updating my life, and a few thoughts.

Just finished opening weekend for Broadway Bound at Masquer's Playhouse in Point Richmond. It went really well, audiences seemed to like it a lot, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. The one thing that was weird/heart-stopping, was what happened opening night. Central to Act II is a radio show, which was previously recorded on a CD, and is played from speakers hidden in an old radio on the set. The CD started skipping just as the scene got rolling. The other actors and I were freaking out a little. Thanks to the fact that the audience had never seen it before, and they were already way into the story after having seen the first act, nobody seemed to notice. My character is really anxious about the radio show in the first place, so I just  worried more. It worked out just fine! :-)

Also, I improvised a little frustrated whack on the prop radio with my hand. I was a little worried that the director would be upset at me for improvising, but she was spending most of her energy pissed off at the CD skipping, which turned out to be because the CD player in the booth was rather old... My fellow actors thought it was pretty awesome that I hit the radio, and that made me feel great!!

There were some great photos taken at final dress that I'll get my hands on eventually, to share here.

So usually about the time I open one show, I'm doing auditions for the next. This time I have a different plan. Seeing as my savings will not last me forever, I'm going to make getting a paying job my top priority. That is, a better paying job than theater. I have been talking to some people who say now is a good time to look for work. I got job applications from Fry's Electronics and Pete's Coffee, and I'll also be considering internships, paid or unpaid, as my non-acting resume is rather sparse at this point.

Today was my first day of dance class at Diablo Valley College, the local junior college. I'm taking Beginning Tap, and Ballet Fundamentals, one right after the other on Tuesdays and Thurdays. This is something I've been meaning to do for a long time, so I'm pretty stoked! We just did introductions and talked about the syllabus today, we'll really start dancing on Thursday. I need to get some ballet shoes, and I'm also gonna need to ask Mom if she kept my dance belt and tights from way back when I took a few weeks of ballet class in high school. The ballet instructor was pretty intense about clothes, because ballet is a visual art, and if you can't see the lines your body is making, you can't tell if you're doing it right. So yeah. It's gonna be fun! I'm not a complete beginner, but I've never had formal ballet training, so this will be challenging, but hopefully not too hard.

Going to DVC was fun today, seeing all the young people, mostly. I don't always run into many people my age in theatre, but college of course is full of them. I saw many friends that I already knew from the community around here, and hopefully made some new ones... I can be a little shy with socializing, but I'm determined to put myself out there a little more, because I'm always happier when I do.

I also tried out for Fancy Dinosaurs, the second improv team in the Theatre Dept. there (the first being Dragon Viper Cobra, which I knew a few members of already, who also has won some competitions in the city). I think I did okay! It was fun anyways. I'll find out about that later.

So yeah. In other news, I've been watching Adventure Time, which I find very enjoyable despite it being a kids show. My friend Jamie is desperate to get me into Sherlock, but I haven't gotten around to it.

When Mom, Dad, and Steven visited last weekend, I used a gift certificate from Christmas to get new kicks! Check 'em out!

Went to a sushi bar in the city with my buddy Odie to watch the 49ers play the Saints for the NFC championship. Tried hot sake for the first time. It was tasty, but unfortunately followed by the bitter of defeat. But what the hell, it was a good game, especially since we hadn't had a playoff win since 2003. Even the Ferry Building was showing team spirit.

Last but not least, after almost a year of being stuck on World 8, I finally beat Super Mario Bros. Many an expletive were thrown at the hated Hammer Brothers, whose seemingly random movements and endless fusillades of smithing equipment vexed me to no end.

On a final note, I just read this article on io9, and found it very interesting.

PEACE
~Chris