IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Jay Brannan - String-a-long Song

Why So Serious?

I saw The Dark Knight today. Like the press everywhere, I was bowled over by Heath Ledger's performance. He was the closest in true accuracy of the comic book's depiction of The Joker. I was truly unsettled whenever he was on screen. I never knew what he was going to do. He was amazing. I found myself thinking back to Jack Nicholson's performance, which I like as well, but let's face it - that was nearly 20 years ago. Times have changed, and this is definitely the definitive Joker for our times.
I found this fan video that intersperses Jack's Joker with Heath's. Unfair, to be sure, but still interesting.
Enjoy.

Ps...this is post 999.

A Bumpy Night...

So...how was it? I have to say, it was really cool to see this film with a large room full of people who know and love it. The anticipatory giggles that started to erupt during the INFAMOUS party scene were too much. Several of the famous lines:
"Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
" Nice speech, Eve. But I wouldn't worry too much about your heart. You can always put that award where your heart ought to be."
- got rounds of applause. Even small looks from certain characters got huge bouts of laughter from the loving audience. I laughed at lines that I never thought of as funny, but couldn't help myself once sucked into the group mentality of the audience.
That all being said, we arrived there at 5:50pm, and we were the LAST people let in the door. This film was screened NOT in the theatre, but in a long area upstairs.

It was nice to see that Bette could still haul in a nice crowd. Of course, it was free. While in line, a youngish teen asked the gentleman behind me "What is the line for?", to which the man remarked, it is for All About Eve, a black and white film starring Bette Davis".
The teen said to his friend, "Man, let's go - it's not for a real movie, it's for an old movie."
Apparently old movies aren't "real".

We were very lucky that we just got let in the door. I will say that it was not the most comfortable temperature in there, and felt like there was no air circulating at all in the screening area. That being said, I would not have traded the experience for anything. The chance to see one of my all time favorite films on a big (ish) screen was priceless.

A full schedule (only two weeks left) of the Bette Davis film festival is available HERE. Mr. Skeffington is next Monday, August 4th, and...wait for it...Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?is August 11th. I will definitely be there if at all possible on the 11th! That will be TOO much fun!

INSOMNIEOKE - JULY 18, 19 AND AUGUST 1ST

Well, I have finalized my song list, and I have to say that I think you will have an absolute blast if you come to see me! You will hear songs by:
Amy Winehouse
George Michael
Stevie Wonder
Dixie Chicks
The Carpenters
and...wait for it...
Olivia Newton-John.
oh yes.
It is going to be a fun evening, so put on your pajamas and come have a sleep over!
Visit SIGNATURE THEATRE's website for tickets, which are ONLY $15!!!
Hope to see you there!

King of Pizza!

We had a reading of Matt Conner, A.K. Brink, and Ryan Dean's new Children's musical, The King of Pizza last night at our house, and the response was terrific! Felicia Curry, Kara Tameika Watkins, Kurt Boehm, Laura Kelly, A.K. Brink and Nancy Hollenbach were in attendance.
The reading went over very well, and I think that they learned many things from it.
I think that the piece is so adorable, and can't wait to see it fully realized soon (Matt has had meetings with a theatre to be named later that is interested in producing it very soon!).
The evening was fun, and we all ate (of course)pizza as we read the show.
The book and score are very Shrek-ish, as in funny to adults and children at the same time(I love when the old King kicks the bucket). The songs had us all in stitches, as they pastiche all kinds of genres and musical styles (as there are many different ingredients in making a pizza).
It was fantastic to see Ryan Halbrook, A.K. Brink, and Matt Conner's work come off of the page. Highlights were Laura Kelly's hysterical Mozz character who keeps passing out at random between fits of hysteria, Kurt Boehm's Martha Stewart-esque Gardner by the name of Basil, Kara Tameika Watkins' French baker that was played with a Josephine Baker style, and the force of nature that is Felicia Curry as "Patti", a butcher who sells her patties on her Patti Wagon and used to be a star singer. She now belts out numbers on her wagon while trying to sell her wares. All were hysterical, and handled with ease by the very talented cast.
Look for this show which will be equally enjoyable to adults and children very soon!

I hope this show comes to DC...

Because They Have No Words, the true story of one man's journey into "the chaos of animal rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina," is making its Chicago area premiere at the Piven Theatre in Evanston, IL.
The play has done very well in California, where it started out. It garnered two L.A. Stage Alliance 2007 Ovation Award nominations.
I think that the story sounds beautiful.
I hope someone here snatches it up so that I can see it!
More on the Piven Theatre Workshop and the play, Because They Have No Words.

MUST WATCH TV TODAY: PUPPY BOWL

If you have never seen THE PUPPY BOWL on Animal Planet, you have really missed out. It is on in a little less than an hour, at 3PM. It goes from 3pm to 6pm, and is just about the cutest thing that you could imagine!
Here is a taste of Puppy Bowl 3, from last year. Enjoy!

Two Great Tastes that go Together!

Today, January 31st is the last day that you can order the January Candles!
After today, if you order any of the subscription packages, the first candle package you will recieve will be the February ones.
So go ahead and take a visit to Candles By Stephen to place your subscription order today to make sure that you get these gorgeous January beauties before the day is out!
Also, don't forget that Valentine's Day is coming up, and what a better gift to a loved one than a gift made LOCALLY by a LOCAL ARTIST! :)
At Candles By Stephen, you can see all of the different and very affordable packages that are available for your purchase.
Said a recent candle subscriber, "Just wanted to send an e-mail thanking you for the first shipment. I was very pleased with the quality and presentation of the January shipment. The quality of the candles far exceeded my expectations. The basket had an extremely personal look which will be wonderful for gifts or display. I am looking forward to the next shipment!"



So visit CANDLES BY STEPHEN today and place you order!

NEVERMORE at Kensington Arts Theatre garners 12 WATCH Award Nominations!

You can see which ones over AT THIS SITE.
Congratulations to all!

CANDLE NEWS

Pricing and Subscription Packages are up over at CANDLES By Stephen. Go and CHECK IT OUT!

A NEW ENDEAVOR

After making homemade candles as Christmas gifts this past season, and after incredible feedback as to their design and scent, and due to many friends comments and advice, I am trying to start a new endeavor for myself. I am going to go ahead and sell my candles online, through this and a few other websites.
They come in many different colors and styles, can be custom made and designed to color specifics and sizes, but will always be one of a kind.
A new website devoted to this endeavor alone will be launched in the next day or two with much more information, but I wanted to go ahead and give a heads up to all of you, my faithful readers.
The featured candle style of January is pictured above and below. The design features a snowy white, pale baby blue, and deep navy to reflect the color characteristics of this Winter month. These candles are offered in votive size, medium oval size, and large star design size. Pricing is still being determined, but these will not be ridiculously priced. I want to sell these candles not only as a means to help support myself as an actor living in a very expensive city, but also because I genuinely LOVE designing and making them.
There will be a different candle theme/color scheme for each month of the year, plus other unique designs featured on the website, all available for purchase. I am also going to offer a candle of the month subscription, where the featured design of the month will be delivered to your house.
These candles make fantastic gifts (as I know from this past Christmas), and also look elegant anywhere in your house. More details will soon follow, along with the website, that will be linked on my side bar.

You can look at some photos of a selection of the candles I have made so far at CandlesByStephen's Flickr Photo page by CLICKING HERE.
Shoot me an email at candlesbystephen@yahoo.com to let me know what you think or if you are interested in pre-ordering the candle of the month!
Thanks,
Stephen Gregory Smith

TONIGHT...

I'm going to attend the tale of Sweeney Todd! I'll let you know my take on it tomorrow!

Crafty Bastards...curtains and pendant lamps

I looked in the closet and found my winter curtains that I will replace with new ones come fall. I decided to make them my corner drapes of the tent. I attached them to the bars of the tent by piercing them with paper clips in three places (left end, middle, right end) and bent the clips around the tent metal. I secured them with clear duct tape (which I did did not think existed until I stumbled across it at the Rite Aid yesterday...brilliant invention!). I know that this sounds crude, but it did the trick and you can't really see the nuts and bolts of it with the curtains up.
I dug into my box of ribbon remnants (purchased at AC Moore craft store for $1.00, and a must for any crafter. You can always use bits of random color and pattern ribbon) I cinched the curtains on the left side with a contrasting pattern ribbon (black and white hounds tooth), and the ones on the right with a different ribbon (green apple to tie in to the chairs.)
I dug out my pendant lamp that I purchased at World Market last year and rigged up a lantern light to it, hanging it in the center of the tent. It is light green, yet again tying in the green theme. I do agree that maroon and Green apple might be a strange color palette to mix, but somehow it works and looks fun, colorful and cute.
I painted a small plate hunter green to tie in another green color of a deeper value, and placed it in the center of the table, putting a potted plant (yellow) in a green apple basket at the center.



From everything that I have read in various design magazines, color is in big time...mainly pastels of the 50's variety...(pink pastel, green apple, baby blue, lavender), and thought I never thought that I would go for such "girly" colors, as I prefer deep and rich textured hues, I have to say that the lightness of it is quite inviting. I have balanced out the lightness of the pastel with the dark maroon, and that is the key to a healthy balance of pastels. Balance it with a different hue with rich texture and you won't feel like you are living on the set of "My Pretty Pony".
Green Apple is the new it color this summer, and it or any of it's companion colors in the pastel market of 50's nostalgia kitch would be a welcome additive to your home or garden.
Peace out,
SGS

Barbie...

Go Check out Barbie...Quite an adventure!

Spiderman 3

Ryan and I went to see Spiderman 3 this morning, despite reading and hearing mixed reviews. I am SO glad I saw it! I loved this film better than the other two. I was not a big fan of the "mechanical look" of the Green Goblin in the first movie, and Doc Ock was cool in 2, but I still prefer the third movie's villains, Venom and The Sandman.
I also loved the fact that the movie was very intelligent, focusing on inner darkness, and how these characters deal with it. The Sandman says, "I am not a bad person...I've just had bad luck". He doesn't want this to be his life, but feels as though he has had no choice. "You always have a choice", Spiderman tells him.
Spiderman himself goes through an alien imposed morality crisis. An alien symbiote has attached itself to Peter, changing his suit black and amplifying his personality. I love this physical and mental darkening apparent more as the movie goes on.


Harry Osborne, (The Green Goblin's son) is also going through a darkness of his own, vowing to avenge his father, he attacks Parker/Spiderman at his heart by kidnapping Mary Jane and forcing her to break up with Peter. She tells him that there is another man and leaves. Later, Peter has lunch with Harry and tells him about all of this, and Harry reveals that he is the "other man". Thus begins Peter's descent into darkness. The symbiote further amplifies his own bad feelings and he begins a series of dark actions and incidents.
Eddie Brock, who is a rival photographer of low morals is trying to edge Parker out of the Daily Bugle, and successfully does it by falsifying a photograph. The dark Parker exposes him as a fake, and later steals his girlfriend. Eddie is ruined, and goes to a church to pray. Kind of. He goes to a church to ask God to kill Peter Parker. Talk about going to a dark place...little does he know that Spiderman is in the bell tower of the church trying to rid himself of the alien symbiote. Eddie hears the noise of the scuffle and follows it to the bell chamber, looking up, he happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet again...the symbiote is freed from Parker and descends to Brock below, and thus Venom is born.
All of these characters are dealing with inner turmoil that shapes them all in one respect or another.
This film is easily the most campy and comical of the three, and that was very much part of my enjoyment. The sequence of Parker delving to his darker self are very funny at first, even as he dances down the street thinking that he is hot stuff. Not high camp, but smart low end camp. Bruce Campbell has a fantastic cameo in a French restaurant. Spiderman's creator in the comic book form, Stan Lee, also has a brief cameo.
If you are expecting "Vera Drake", don't go to see this film, but if you are going to have fun and enjoy a summer blockbuster, than here is your film. It's action sequences are to die for, with way cool special effects...the Sandman's transformation is incredible, as is his rise to a three story giant who travels in the form of a sandstorm.
Ignore the critics and your shallow minded friends who hated it, believe me it is worth your time.

A favorite of mine...

Check out Barbie...

Hey folks, I wanted to tell you all about a new blog that I have started tonight.
Let me give you some background. The girls in the dressing room upstairs have taken to lowering down barbie dolls with messages to our dressing room one floor below.
Well, I took the last messenger hostage, and she has started a blog.
Go and check her out at:
www.barbieintrouble.blogspot.com

Hot List: Fables by Bill Willingham

I have discovered a new obsession thanks to Sarah Farmer and Michael Glenn. "Fables" is a comic book by VERTIGO comics (a DC Comics partner), in which the story line is such: Fables that we know (Jack of the tales, Snow White, The Big Bad Wolf, Cinderella, Prince Charming, Little Boy Blue, The Frog Prince, etc.) have been chased out of their fairy tale world into ours by a force known only as "The Adversary". The fables that can pass as human live in a district of NYC called "Fabletown" to those in the know (not us, however...us regular people are called "Mundy's" because we are SO mundane). The fables who cannot pass in the mundy world (The 3 bears, Giants, all of the Kipling fables, the mermaids, the Lilliputians, the Lewis Carroll fables, etc.) live on a farm in upstate NY.
Now this comic is NOT for kids, as much sex, murder, etc. is involved, but it is like an addiction.
Right now, Jack (me in Into the Woods) has just started his own comic book, since he has been banished from Fabletown.
(Such a troublemaker, that Jack.)
This may all sound a bit geeky, but I promise you, once you start, you won't be able to stop. The writing is SO smart, and makes you want to look up all of the fables that you don't know about that you read about.
One of my favorite bits: "Frau Tottenkinder" who we know as "The Black Forrest Witch", or the witch of "Hansel and Gretel" and "Baba Yaga" have a witches duel. We learn that "Frau Tottenkinder", who is clearly the witch from Into the Woods, was also the witch who made the beast from Beauty and the Beast the actual beast, who also made the Frog Prince into a frog, who also stole away Rapunzel, and the list goes on. Needless to say, Baba Yaga is no match for her.
The story is so well written and researched that it hooks you in.
Even if you are not so much a comic book fan, you should check out "Fables".
They are on my "Hot List" of this Spring. Check them out!