The Studio at Signature Theatre

I saw the opening of The Studio at Signature Theatre Monday night. What an amazing night. I would strongly encourage you to go and see it. It is a beautiful evening, and very striking at the same time. I can't put words to it, and was so moved at the end that I could not speak.
Go and see it.

Ira Levin has passed...

The author of Rosemary's Baby has passed. Yes, he wrote much more than that, but that was his triumph. I am sad. Cheers to Ira Levin.

Joshing...

Josh Lefkowitz and I got to hang out and catch up this afternoon. We went to our usual hang out...Cici's Pizza, and ate till we couldn't breathe.
Josh and I met during One Red Flower at Signature Theatre, and since then, he has been back to the area several times performing his one man shows, Help Wanted and Now What?
Currently, you can catch him performing the latter at Wooly Mammoth Theatre, on 7th and D, NW.
After spending about two hours of this afternoon with him, my face hurts from laughing so hard. So go and see him. If you do, you'll get to see him wear this shirt and make this face:
Who could turn that down?

Courtney Love...my patron saint of this show...(for you Matty Gardiner)

...every show I have a patron saint. She is mine for this show. A bloody mess, but yet still amazing. Here are some highlights..

Fall Clean Up 2007

SO, look at this mess! I had to clean up, put away, and winterize my back yard yesterday while I had the time. What a grueling and disgusting job! I usually wait until it is a little bit colder, so I can avoid a majority of the creepy crawlie critters, but my time was limited, so I did it yesterday. I had some Halloween yard stuff to put away, the tent had to come down, the fountain had to be emptied, Halloween lights had to be taken down, and plants cut back to soil level. Where should I even start?







First, all objects for disposal, or to be put away met in separate piles on the table.
I think that Drowned Pumpkin sensed his imminent fate...








I also had to take all objects screwed into the fence down, as we are getting a new fence in a week or so, and take the refrigerator in for the winter. I had to unscrew: a planter, some screws holding up lights, a framed picture, and a singing fish mounted on plastic.
You heard me.




And while I took a swipe at taking down the other Halloween beasties, I had not put them away properly, and had not even attempted to take town Ms. 1930.
Remember Ms. 1930?







Here she is after being stripped nekkid and snatched bald headed...






But what's that I spy on her nekkid shoulder?
UGH! A SPIDER!







No, I didn't kill it, I simply plucked it off and hoped for the best for it. Next up? The tent. Ugh, more spiders, as they tend to nest in it. I took off the fabric part, shook it out (ugh-they flew everywhere!) and folded down the tent's frame...







Now to get the frame into it's protective bag for the winter...wait, what is that yellow speck on the cover, is that? It's MOVING! A Yellow SPIDER!!!










Disgusted by his personage, but inspired by his hue, I painted two outdoor boxes yellow to match his gorgeous color.










I went through all my yard supplies, old pots, Halloween stuff, and decided that I had WAY too much. I went through everything, deciding that things that I did not use this past year, I would not miss by next year. Look at all of the trash!





After all the blood, sweat, and spiders, I am pleased that the yard now looks more open and clear for the cold and (hopefully) snowy months to come. I always like the look of the yard stripped to its bareness this time of year. When Spring and summer roll around, and it is burgeoning with bounty, it almost seems impossible that it sprang forth from this. A wiped clean slate is good to have sometimes. It allows other possibilities to present themselves later.
Hopefully those possibilities will arise without spiders.
;)
luv,
SGS

The finished product:

TICK TICK BOOM! Starts again tonight through Sunday night!

Well, I am just eating dinner and getting ready to start another great weekend of shows. Another review came out. The Washington City Paper. While not terribly bad, I don't really agree with the review on many points. It seems to infer that if I screamed like bloody murder, ruined my voice, and didn't enunciate, then I would have done much better. Damned if you do or don't I say.
What I do know is that I have been getting e-mails (through my blog) from people who have come to see the show. People who I do not know. I normally wouldn't share these, but I have received so many, and I never get e-mails like this from any show that I do.
Here are some of the excerpts:


Here's one...

"Thanks for an amazing performance.
We met briefly with Felicia Curry at the end of tonight's (Sunday 7:00 PM) performance in the Lobby of Metro Stage. I grudgingly came to see the performance (I was kind of down), which turned out to be (as I said in the lobby) totally amazing.
The three of you have awesome voices, especially your voice, which is so suited for that kind of score and music.
I truly believe that you could easily do RENT on Broadway or most anything both musical and non-musical. You have a fantastic energy in you.
I left with a smile on my face tonight and hope to keep it for the rest of the week, maybe longer."

One from an obvious youngster...

"I hope you don't mind, but I got your email off of your blog and just wanted to compliment you on tick tick BOOM. I was in the audience Friday night and thought it was wonderful. It has always been one of my favorite shows and as a huge Raul Esparza fan I came in fully biased towards hating you, quite honestly, but you (and your cast mates) completely won me over. I hope you all are enjoying yourselves, good luck with the rest of the run!"




Here's a really touching one...

"I was at "Tick, Tick ... BOOM!" tonight (Thurs.) with my God Mother, and I have to say we were both extremely impressed by the show you, Matt and Felicia put on.
If words could explain the sensations we were both feeling by the end of the evening, they would probably reflect the following: incredible, uplifting, inspirational, and ... incredible (again).
Watching the three of you on stage was not only powerful, it was exquisite, elegant and meaningful. The thesis of the show hit home, and ... it hit hard -- but was so well done that at the end, I felt inspired, not faulted; which sometimes is often the unbearable truth.
Caroline (God mother) and I have season tickets to Metro Stage and have seen Felicia preform in a previous production "Three Sistahs." We have been blown away by her performance before, and were truly blown away again. She's excellent. You all are. Truly wonderfully talented artists -- if it weren't for your great performance as a team, this email would have never been birthed.
What was so beautiful was the nature in which you each worked off of each others energies; together as one acting body you transformed the emotions of your audience to care, think, feel, react. You left our hearts pounding at the end of the night. And for that, we can only respond: Thank you. Our hearts needed it."


So come out and see us, and then feel free to write me after.
Today is the start of the 3rd to last weekend of shows. Not much time remaining!
www.metrostage.org


PS- I will check in later, after the show and tell you all about Fall Back Yard Clean up. Sound like fun? No, it was NOT! TONS of...ugh...SPIDERS!!!
yuck!
Talk later,
SGS

Tuesday night...checking in.

Well now...where to start? Matty is still recovering. He is keeping things down and able to eat today (soup, pudding, crackers) and has had some Pedialyte and Smart Water. He is just exhausted. I don't think that he has been awake for longer than 3 hours today. My poor baby. He is surely on the mend, but just wiped out. I have never seen him like this. I feel so helpless. I wish I could just do something to make him feel better, but I can't. I just hope he'll feel better by tomorrow. I'm sure he will.


The weather is starting to turn colder, and with that in mind, I look ahead to the Winter months to come. Kind of strange to think that after TICK closes on the 25th of this month, I have nothing lined up for the rest of the season. Nothing. So weird. I'm not really stressed about it yet. Just wish that something would turn up.

And finally, Buddha is ALMOST done with all of his medication. He had his last Prednisone today, and tomorrow morning is his last Antibiotic pill. He just has a few more days of antihistamine left. He is a new pug. Although, now that the cold has set in, he has to wear his red hoodie out on walks. He hates the hoodie, but puts up with it because he also hates to be cold.
Currently, Matty is drinking SMART water and eating yogurt, so hopefully it will make him feel better. Keep the positive thoughts up, as always. I am a firm believer that positive energy heals everything.
Goodnight, all. I hope you have a wonderful night/day.
Luv,
SGS

To hold off a civil war...

...against Babs fans on the verge of an assassination attempt on my part, I present a peace offering...one of my favorite performances of hers, from Funny Lady.
There. I kind of like her sometimes. Now hopefully the Babs armada will let me escape with my life.
;)
luv,
SGS

Hello,Gorgeous...

Well. It happened. Jacqui Piro Donovan made me a fan of Funny Girl. I know it might shock some who know my sexual orientation, but I am NOT a Streisand fan. NOT a fan of this show. Till tonight. Jacqui made me love the songs that I thought prior to tonight were the elevator music you would hear on the way down to Hell. Sorry, is that harsh? It's probably a Streisand thing. Hearing her sing "People" makes me sick. Not that she's not good, it's just that...I dunno...she knows that she is, and you can hear that when she sings...it's all about a voice. Oh well. What do I know, BUG is one of my favorite movies.
Jacqui enabled the songs with such life, heart, and soul. She stepped into a Streisand role and made me forget about Babs. (thank God). It made me want to see a full production of this show to see her do it fully. She was remarkable.
The cast of tonight's concert was terrific, and we all had a great time doing the show.
It was really sad, though...Matty caught an extremely violent stomach bug and was sick all day, and night. He did the show anyway, (like Fanny would), and after the show, we ran right out to get him home. He is currently on the couch as I play the part of Nurse Ratchet. My poor baby! :(
But the show went well, we raised a lot of money for the Signature Outreach and Education projects, and that is what we were there to do, so it was a huge success. The house was packed, and VERY responsive.
Standout moment of the evening: Jacqui singing the final "Don't Rain on my Parade", hitting that last note as the twenty something member pit blared and red glitter confetti rained down on her. Stunning and breath taking.
Keep Matty in your thoughts, and I will talk to you tomorrow.
PS...
I have to share this with you...a video passed to me by my friend, Yvonne...Utterly amazing...yet...weird. Enjoy.
Goodnight,
Luv, SGS

Thoughts on a Friday night...

On the way home from our show tonight, I was driving down Braddock Road, and suddenly saw something on the road. I hit the brakes till they screamed and as my headlights honed in on the object in question, I saw that it was a possum.
It had already been hit. It was writhing in pain, not dead yet. I saw it's teeth gnarling in pain. The image has not left me all night. I know that some might say that possums are not very nice critters, but I don't care about that. You are talking to someone who when he finds a moth indoors, captures it and releases it. I have too much of a reverance for life to extinguish it.
I still see that poor creature on the road trying to push itself up from the road, and in agony. I did not run over it again, which might have put it out of more pain. I couldn't have.
I still keep seeing it.
The pain. The suffering. The confusion.
I can't shake it. It is 1am, and I can't find anything else to fill my head.
The worst part is that I will have to travel up and down Braddock 4 times tomorrow, as I have 2 shows tomorrow. I wonder if it's corpse (by then) will still be there.
I need to shake this, but have not been able to.
I have rehearsal for Funny Girl in Concert, which is Monday night at Signature, in which I will be playing Eddie Ryan, the choreographer, and Fanny's best friend.

Visit www.signature-theatre.org for details. One night only. Monday night.
I have rehearsal at 10AM till 1PM, then 2 shows. I need to be in bed. I can't sleep.





I see a small creature in pain.
I flip through the channels, and what is on? Rent.
Though I am not a fan of the movie, it has its points.


One of the high points is this...

Very honest song, very good actors, very simple filming.
Well done, Jon.


I still see the possum.

I know what I will dream of tonight.


Ugh.

Sweet dreams, all...
Luv,
SGS

Ticking Away Again...

Well, I just got back from the first performance of the week for us. It went well, even though we had a brand new drummer playing the show for the first time in front of a live audience. I think he did extremely well, considering that this show is no musical picnic to play.
We had a fantastic and responsive house, and I thank them all for being such! Have you come out to see us yet? I hope you do soon...maybe even this weekend! We would love to see you out there. And if you have come, please tell all of your friends to come and see us. Theatre audiences are not really full all over our fine Metro Area right now, and I am sure that it is due, in large part, to the economy. Being on the lower end of the income bracket, believe me, I understand. But tickets to our show are not badly priced, and you can also get a special deal from Metro Stage's Myspace page. So, if you feel as passionately about the show as you seem to react, then please...pass it on to others.
Thanks so much, guys.
I hope everyone has a fantastic night's sleep, and I will write more tomorrow afternoon.
Goodnight!
Luv,
SGS

Scenes from a Bar on Halloween Night...

Just a casual conversation between a zombie and a human...














And my favorite Halloween costume of this year, Kara Tameika Watkins as...
Lt. Uhura from Star Trek. HOT!!!

WATCH THIS AND YOU WILL DIE!!! (just kidding- it's Samarra's video from the film, "The Ring"

Halloween 2007 - trick or treat night...

Here is the front of our house tonight for trick or treat night...








The smoke machine added a creepy quality to the lights, and made several children shriek. I was delighted.














I looked like this....

and some little girl said that I looked beautiful. Wow. Kids today. A young black heart after my own.

I had a great time sitting out in front of my haunted house and scaring (some) of the children, also hearing many of them say, "this is the coolest house ever!!!"
It made MY Halloween to make so many memories for other kids, as I remember and appreciate all of the times that I would be marveled and terrified by neighborhood displays as I walked through them petrified to get my little sugar-coated reward. Isn't that what Halloween is about? Facing your fears to get a prize if you do it well?
In my book, that's exactly what it is about.
Happy Halloween everyone.
Luv,
SGS

PHOTOPLAY: Halloweens past...

Me decorating the yard as a child...












The back yard of the "fire house", circa 2003...













Pumpkin Carving at the old Signature Theatre last year...










A party at Eric's 2 years ago...me and Ilona Dulaski...












R. Scotty and Matty helping me clean and decorate the back yard, Fall 2004.












Me as my usual costume, a zombie - back at S.U. in 1998.

A CHILLING MOMENT...

The twins in the hallway from The Shining...

The Pug is Healed!!!

Buddha got a clean bill of health from his Doctor today! Yeah!!!!
Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers for my little devil dog!
Now back to more Halloween goodies above!
Luv,
SGS

Happy Halloween!!!

Here are two treats for you...two of my favorite Halloween cartoons...first, Donald Duck goes up against Witch Hazel in "Trick or Treat"...


Next is the showstopping song from Disney's fantastic "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", with Bing Crosby here singing "You Can't Reason with a Headless Man". One of my favorites!!!


More treats a bit later, but now we've got to get BOOdha to the vet and make sure his tumor is harmless! Be back with hopefully good news and much more Halloween fun a little bit later...keep it tuned here today for MUCH more Halloween fun!

Luv,
SGS

Jess Speaker's Carvings

From 2005's carved peppers and cucumber...











To last year's carved coconut...












Jess has always thought outside the box as far as introducing vegetables to flame for All Hallow's Eve. This year's creation has an air of the holiday, and I mean more of a prelude to Christmas, feel. Behold the Brussel Tree. Not so much a carving as an art installation.















What was funny was the fact that it spontaneously combusted after only a few seconds lit...but that is the true definition of performance, or in this case, vegetable art. Gorgeous, strange, beautiful, but only temporary. A thing that must be witnessed fleetingly with one's own eyes before it expires.
Bravo, Jess. Well Done.

The Carving O' the Gourds - 2007

Well, tonight we had a few folks over for the carving of the pumpkins. Nancy, Ryan, Kurt, Danny, Priscilla, Kara-Tameika, Emily and myself partook. I have one more to carve that I am going to save for tomorrow evening, right before the Trick or Treaters come. (I have already spray painted it black...I'm thinking of making it a cat...
But for tonight's monstrosity, I opted for something more sinister...


First I worked on the basics...holow it out, carve the face...
















Poking out the fake eyes and created the distressed face...I also fashioned a tongue to hang out from the mouth...















Then I rinsed it out in the sink...













Next I applied some pale blue paint to give it the oxygen starved look, then paint the tongue pink...




















Then comes the glow stick inside, weighed down to the bottom of the pumpkin, the clear plastic bag over the gourd, the mater is then added last...













And there you have it...Drowned Pumpkin...














And here are every one else's gourds...in light...















and in dark...