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I’m in Memphis right now.  Kyle and I are here representing MTSU and the TN Governor’s School for the Arts.  This afternoon we each did two workshops and tomorrow we are observing the auditions for the Governor’s School program.  The workshops and auditions are all part of the Tennessee Thespian Conference.

There was a pleasant surprise in store for me when I got here.  It seems that two of my fellow SMU students were also to be in attendance doing workshops for the conference!  So, I had a nice mini-reunion with Shawn Davis and Paizhe Pressley, which was unexpected and random to say the least!  They are both living in NYC and loving it.  What a treat!

The workshops went well, and thankfully, my numbers were very small.  Only the truly dedicated high school student will go to a conference like that and take a workshop on Shakespeare for the Actor when there’s all kind of fun stuff like juggling and improv going on!  I got a great response from the students and that makes it all worthwhile.  It was also a nice dry run for the same workshop which I will be giving at this year’s SETC Convention in Atlanta.

Oh yeah, and Sunday I begin my “Jesus Year.”  I’ve never been all that big on birthday’s, especially my own, and this year is no different.  I don’t dislike getting older, I have just gotten to a point where my birthday is just another day to me.  I know when most people say that, they are actually fishing for the birthday wishes and someone to throw them a surprise birthday party and stuff, but I really mean it.  My birthday has become more about celebrating with my family rather than trying to make a big deal out of it with my friends.

Of course, I’m going to have to change this feeling in the coming years.  I can feel that coming.  My daughter is constantly talking about everyone’s birthdays and the types of parties they will have.  In 2007, she will be 5 and she’s already planning what kind of birthday party she will have.   I think this year is the year of the Little Mermaid.  Apparently, I’m supposed to have a Shakespeare birthday party this year (that’s all she can talk about after seeing me in Hamlet–it was her first time to ever see me on stage).  I’m not sure what kind of birthday Mommy is supposed to have, but Brother is having either a Superman birthday or a Prince birthday party (not the Artist Formerly Known As…) depending on the day.  I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.  I’m sure I’ll be posting pictures in the Gallery regardless of the final decision.

In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy a nice lunch with the family, an afternoon playing with the kids, and then an nice evening (perhaps even a bottle of wine) with my wife and that’s it.  Nice and simple.

The way things aught to be.

Just before Christmas, I had a first for me:  a modeling shoot!  Mid-December, I was sitting in a room at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville posing for the camera as though we were having a business meeting.  Pretty cut and dried.  I did get a cool new shirt out of the whole thing!  Oh yeah, and they paid me really money, which is cool.

In other news, I’ve been asked (and have accepted) to be a charter member of the repertory company with Green Room Projects in Nashville.  This is the same group that co-produced the October production of Hamlet.  In other good news, there are going to be a couple more performances of Hamlet in the Middle Tennessee area in the coming months!  My first production as a company member of Green Room Projects is going to be Tuesdays With Morrie.  If you don’t know the book, I’ll let you guess which part I’ll be playing.

There’s a possibility of some directing work coming down the pike, too.  I’ll keep you posted on that either here or over at The Mirror Up To Nature (and the podcast).

I also had two more auditions yesterday; one for a CMT Promo Spot with Jimmy Kup Casting, the other for a feature film which will be shot in Nashville in a couple of months with Casting Director Jo Doster.

The podcast continues to grow and we’ve got some pretty neat stuff in the works to announce in 2007.  Be on the lookout for that!

Christmas with the family was wonderful.  Bekah and I celebrated our 11th anniversary by painting accent walls in our house and unpacking boxes of stuff that hadn’t seen the light of day since we left Texas over two years ago.  And, let me tell you there’s nothing more romantic than being covered in paint and packing peanuts for your anniversary.  H - O - T!

This weekend I’m off to Memphis to do a couple of Shakespeare workshops for high school students and to run the Tennessee Governor’s School of the Arts auditions.

I’m very remiss in getting this (or anything else, for that matter) posted, but here it is. This is the video of Morgan’s Christmas Concerts 2006. She was the only student from her class chosen to play the Autoharp (in D Major, she is quick to point out).

Next stop, Simon’s house. We’re going to talk them into skipping a season of American Idol and just give it to her one year.

 

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