COMING SOON...

ELEASHA GAMBLE IN A PRESS PHOTO FOR INTO THE WOODS...

MFL CLOSES...

Here are some photos of closing night at the theatre, and then at the cast party.
This show has been a fantastic experience, and I am a better performer for having watched and learned from all involved.
This was the last full production in the old Signature Theatre, and as I left the theatre, I was suprisingly moved. I didn't expect this. I still have to perform in The Last Garage Hurrah in 2 weeks, so I never viewed this show as my last time in the building...but it would be the last full production. I don't know why...I just got all sad. This theatre has harbored many warm memories for me. This theatre has given me my chance in Washington. So strange to say farewell...one farewell of several to come, I know. I somehow think that the next and final farewell will be harder.
I think of how strange it will be to move into a brand spankin' new building that doesn't have the history that you can feel oozing through the cracks in the old theatre's walls...that will feel strange; to not feel the energy of the hundreds of performers who have passed through the space, but to be the first to give that initial energy to a brand new building. It makes me think of a quote sung in a show done in the old building, Allegro, " We have nothing to remember so far, but now we can look forward to the things we'll never forget."
Enjoy and God Bless,
Luv,
SGS

HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY!

Christmas decorating starts today!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

Mrs. Mig pays a visit...

( This Photo of Donna and I is from about January 2004, backstage at Signature Theatre during a performance of Allegro)
Donna came out to Arlington way yesterday. She and I had an interview at 3PM for the Signature Theatre Documentary which proved fun for the both of us. I did my best not to feel like I was in a Christopher Guest movie as the interview was going on. That was the most difficult part of it all. I kept wanting to crack up through the whole thing.
Another funny thing was that we both wore black, as it is the "artsy" and slimming thing to do, well...at least that is why I wore black, I can't speak for her. But halfway through the interview I noticed this, and looked around and saw that we were on an all black set, and directly behind us were two huge black doors. I thought that we might look like members of a satanic cult. This made me have to bite my inner cheek to stop the urge to giggle.
Then she had rehearsal for The Last Garage Hurrah, and I thankfully did not...I am still recovering vocally. I have been getting through the show fine, though. I went home and attacked my library.
I have been trying to reorganize my library shelves...it is a daunting task. One whole wall consists of VHS tapes...these used to be alphabetized, but that has long since has lost it's order. I also have an array of blank tapes that aren't labeled, so I have been going through them, finding out what is on them and labeling them.
Oh folks...I have found many a lost treasure.
Then I reported back to the show, which Mrs. Mig came to see after her rehearsal.
It was so good to see her. We chatted for a few fleeting moments about one of our next two endeavors together, Into the Woods...in which she will be playing my mother. What a hoot we will have together. I told her that I have spotted my "Milky White" cow being constructed in the scene shop. :) The prop designer told me that I will hopefully have my cow for the first rehearsal. :) I can't wait!
But before any of that happens, you can catch us singing together at The Last Garage Hurrah in December.Stay Tuned,
and have a Happy Turkey-Lurkey Day!
Luv,
SGS

Get Down with the Sickness

So, I have learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Before I get my panties in a twist about this, that, and the other, I need to calm down first and think about the situation. Yes, I am still sick, not really showing any signs of improvement, but I still got through the 5 show weekend, AND felt like I sang competently at my call back.
Now, I won't lie to you, I sure do wish we had today off, as my voice surely needs a rest, but...I also know that I will still get through it.
I've been pumping airborne, chicken soup, vitamins, lozenges, and Advil Cold and Sinus...with shots of Robitussin on the side. Sounds appetizing, huh?
I have finished watching the whole Star Wars saga ( yes, I'm a nerd), and now I am still feeling the need to view an epic saga, so I have started re-watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy ( yes, again...I am a nerd).
Tomorrow, Donna and I are being interview for a documentary being made about the Signature Theatre. This will air on Arlington Cable Access channel at a later date (details to follow). So, that should be fun...I hope I don't sound like Stritch while I am talking. That might be funny.
I am also happy to announce that my diet has been going very well (aided by this cold, too). I started out this run at roughly 170 pounds. I am now...(drum roll, please...) 159. I am very happy about this! I have basically tried to stay away from pizza and too much meat. I have been eating, when I eat bread, the Weight Watcher's bread (1 point for 2 slices), also, I have totally converted to the I can't believe it's not Butter spray, which is 0 points, for it has 0 calories. The south Beach and Lean Cuisine frozen dishes are fantastic, I highly recommend them. Also, South Beach puts out these little snack bars that are granola, peanut butter and chocolate. They are 100 calories, and when you feel a little peckish, they are really great to tide you over.
Well, that's all for this chilly Monday of Thanksgiving week. My Christmas Decorations are just about to bust out of the closets, but they will have to wait till after Thursday. They may have to wait until after the show closes this coming weekend. Well...maybe a few things might sneak out of the closet before the show closes, but the bulk will probably wait until next week. Probably. It is me we're talking about.
TTFN,
SGS

Buddha has TWO NEW BLOGS! A special holiday greeting and then below that, his second edition of "My Friends are Your Friends" starring Vivian the Kat. Check it out!

I SPOKE TOO SOON...

Well, about 2 weeks ago, Matt started coming down with a cold. He and everyone else in the universe, it seems. I kept telling him the usual things that I tell myself, like " It's not a cold, it is allergies...you're fine". That is my personal mantra during cold season. As everyone around me in the cast seemed to be succumbing to this cold, the backstage started to sound like a Tuberculosis ward. Instead of "Hello!", the new greeting seemed to be, "Don't come too close, I've got a cold."
That always makes me laugh, anyway...as if I can avoid illness if I stand 1 extra foot away from you. I would always say, "Oh, it doesn't matter-Matt's sick too, so if I'm gonna get it, I'm gonna get it."
When Lauren told me that she was sick, and I should stay clear, I laughed and said "My immune system is strong like bull...RED BULL!"
Heh.
Pride cometh before...later that same night.

Last Friday night, I was at Capitol City, and I had a headache. I felt like someone hit me in the forehead with a baseball bat. Kathy gave me two excedrin, and I took them. I sat trying to carry on conversation, while massaging my temples and neck. I soon realized that (duh) I should just stop pretending that I was listening and partaking in conversation and just go home. I made sure Matty had a ride home, and took to home.
I got home and drank a bunch of water. I suddenly felt tons better...hmm...maybe it was just a stress headache. I even bragged to Matty when he got home that I felt MUCH better.
We went to bed.
I woke up and oh yeah. That headache was the harbinger of the dreaded head cold that has been stalking through the theatre. (We like to call it "the creeping crud")
Funny enough, that sounds like the title of a movie I was watching last week...I digress.
I whined to Matty...I'm sick! I have a cold!
He said, "It's just allergies."
I guess I deserved that one.
Well, I drug my sniffling butt to the CVS between shows on Saturday and stocked up on the essentials...lozenges, chicken soup, and ...where is the Advil Cold and Sinus? A little sign says (located behind counter in Pharmacy).
???
I go and ask the pharmacist for a box. She asks for ID. ? I show it. She opens a folder that looks to be filled with registry forms...She asks me to fill in my address and phone number, and to sign my signature at the end. ?
I suddenly start wondering if I am hallucinating, so I ask.."Why?"
The woman sighs and says that because kids have been using certain decongestants to make Meth. Now you can only buy so much of it, and sign off for it. She tells me a story about a woman with about 4 kids, all of which were sick, and she was trying to buy several boxes for herself, husband, and the sniffling family around her. She was not allowed the multiple boxes.
Isn't that a bit ridiculous?
A few drugged up brats ruin it for everyone else.
I went about this past week pretty much like normal, as I didn't really feel bad, per se, the cold was merely an annoyance. Then the cough came. The cough started Tuesday. My voice started getting "thin" on Wednesday. It is now Friday, and we have a 5 show weekend, plus callbacks for Reefer on Sunday morning, and then no Monday off, because we have Thanksgiving off. I'm not sure what will happen, exactly. I am resting and not speaking unless I absolutely have too, and I will be going home like a good boy all weekend to get rest. I'm not pushing the panic button yet, as I have been much worse before...but it does make me a little nervous.
As most of the world says "TGIF", I say, "Oh God, here we go! Hope I can get through it!". Funny, that.
Well, ta-ta for now.
Luv,
SGS

Sally Murphy

I miss Sally already.
I love this woman. I learn from her every night.
I love watching her work.
I'm getting a little bit sad.
Close to the end.

TRACY LYNN OLIVERA

I had the pleasure of spending most part of the evening with Tracy Lynn Olivera. She was down in Virginia for rehearsal for the "Last Garage Hurrah" cabaret, and stayed for the show.
She went out afterwards with us, and I miss her SO much. It was great to reconnect with her.
She is singing some amazing things for the cabaret, and yinz should get tickets to the show if you haven't already...
Luv,
SGS

This Past Week

So, it is early Wednesday morning.
2 weeks left in MFL, and the show is going great.
I am practicing music from the "Last Garage Hurrah" cabaret.
I am rehearsing "The Riddle Song" and "One Red Flower" with Will tomorrow.
I am currently obsessed with "Don't Blame the Prince" from The Fix. What an AMAZING song that I get to sing.
I have been on a kick of watching the STAR WARS movies of late.
Don't know why.
I have been falling asleep to either "A Christmas Story" or "It's a Wonderful Life" for the past 2 weeks.
Soon enough the Christmas decorations will emerge.
That is all the scoop tonight.
I am trying to get over a cold. EVERYONE has it.
Luv and more to follow,
SGS

So Long, Farewell!

COMING UP...

"LAST GARAGE HURRAH
Featuring Eleasha Gamble, Will Gartshore, Donna Migliaccio, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Stephen Gregory Smith, and Harry A. Winter.
With Jenny Cartney on piano.
What better way to say good-bye to the garage we’ve called home all these years then a night of song? This special Cabaret performance will feature a cast of Signature’s brightest and best singing their favorites from the past sixteen seasons of Signature musicals. This last hurrah will be the final blowout show held in the current building — the perfect send off before we pullout of the garage and rev it up in our brand new home in the Village at Shirlington.
December 13 – 16, 2006"

I am really looking forward to this, everyone. I think that it will be a fun cabaret, and if you haven't purchased tickets yet, I would do so soon, as this only runs for four days!

Halloween left-overs...

They were all so pretty once...but a week and a half later, look at them...










And look at the culprit. Sigh. Well...I hope he had a good dinner, at least.

HARVEST DECOR

This marks the first year that I have decorated with a harvest theme. Here are the results.









I took some of the "candy corn" lights that I bought for the dressing room at the theatre, and put them on my window sills and top of my entertainment center. I put fake fall leaves and put them on top of the lights. The pumpkin is also fake.

5th of November

Yes, I realize that by the time I write this, it is the 6th, however, I watched "V is for Vendetta" for the first time tonight.
One of the best films I have seen this year.
Perfect for an election day warm-up.
Very well written, smartly filmed, and thought prvoking.
Netflix it!

I also had the pleasure of watching "The Prairie Home Companion" Saturday. I have to say that as a fan of bluegrass, I was totally into this film. Also, it is the most accurate depiction of the "half hour" call at a theatre that I have ever seen.
Hysterical!
So there...two quick rental recomendations for your work week.
VOTE!

An Arlington Parable

Yesterday I walked an old favorite dog up in North Arlington. I brought Lucky Spinster with me, to catch up with her on the half hour walk through a civil war park.
It was a gorgeous walk, discussing the events of her MacDowell experience. Getting her up to speed on my MFL life, ect. We were walking through a forest path that was colored by God himself. It was gorgeous.
I got a call at the 15 minute mark of the walk (it was a 30 minute walk). I was exactly 15 minutes from the house. My boss called me and said that apparently the driveway I parked in is a shared driveway. I was blocking a woman in.
I had parked in the same place for the past year that I walked the dog, and never knew any different.
I was never told not to park in a certain place.
I told her that I would be back in 15 minutes...I could not hurry this dog (as it has cancer, and I would not run, as I have a bum knee).
Spinster and I reach the turn off street to the neighborhood, and the woman is at the top of the street, screaming "HURRY UP!!!"
Spinster and I speculate that this might be a good source of inspiration for future plays as we approach the "crime scene".
As I draw near the "scene of the crime", the woman yells at me, "You just won the Stupid award of the day".
"Pardon Me?" I ask in disbelief.
"Any Idiot can see that this is a shared driveway" she clucks.
"I am so sorry, and I did NOT realize this. It will never happen again." I say.
That is not good enough to her.
She asks why I did not hurry more.
I explain that I am walking an 8 year old dog with Cancer, and that I have a bum knee.
She protests that "That dog doesn't have Cancer"...
"Yes," I say, "it does"...
"Well, you could have hurried him anyway!", she says.
This happened on Lorcam Lane.
One of the richest areas in our commonwealth. Funny term, that in itself, "commonwealth".
This is the same sort of woman who would come to the theatre and tell me how wonderful she thought I was.
I ask you as a reader, and will try to do so myself...be nice to people.
Understand that everyone is trying to do the best that they can possibly do in their circumstance.
Do not be hateful. If you are a hateful person, do not continue to read this blog. Spend the time that you do reading this blog and work on yourself.
No one deserves this kind of treatment.
I need a new job.

The Last of Halloween

Jess Speaker always carves ANYTHING BUT a pumpkin for Halloween. This year he carved a coconut.
Here it is, in it's former glory, before it was spirited away by a squirrel who thought he found heaven.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES: Everyone Else

My secondary costume, after Kip... I cannot spend a Halloween without being a zombie.
















My Devlish Dog...


















More Shots from the party...

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES: The Girls

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES:Matt as Mr. Hanky (The Christmas Poo)

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES: Me and Eleasha-LaFawnduh and Kip from Napoleon Dynamite