Save the Last Dance for Me - Photos

Here are some photos, taken by Jose Luis Diaz of my last cabaret, Save the Last Dance for Me. Photos feature yours truly alongside Karissa Swanigan. Enjoy!

Eyes on Earl

I have my attention focused on Hurricane Earl this week, and hope that it doesn't wreck the last weekend of summer in our area. He is a category 3 right now, is forecast to become a category 4 by tomorrow morning, and the cone of possibility could take it to our area by Friday. I will be watching it verrrrry closely.

Surfacing...

Wow. This has been an incredibly hectic Summer! Singing in 4 different cabarets, Performing in a Fringe Festival show, teaching camp for 12 weeks, bar tending at Signature, and writing a show! Wow!
No wonder the blog posts just sort of evaporated on here. Now that most of that is done, things are returning to somewhat normalcy. I have many pictures to share with you, and we have much to talk about. For now, my next performance will be at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, singing a few songs from The Boy Detective Fails on Labor Day. After that, the next thing definitely on the books is a reading of me and Matt Conner's new musical, Night of the Living Dead on Monday, October 18th at Kensington Arts Theatre. I start rehearsals for Sunset Boulevard on November 8th at Signature Theatre, and am incredibly excited to be a part of all of these amazing projects.

Everything else is fine, Buddha is as funny as ever, and is doing well. (As you can see from the picture above).

So more posts will be put up here this week. Summer is almost over, and the blog is back!

xoxoxo

sgs

This Saturday: The Kid Inside: A Cabaret about Teaching and Learning

My Latest cabaret will be this Saturday night at Falls Church Art Space. It is about me teaching children there at the art space, and what I have learned by watching them. Some songs that you will hear include: Go the Distance from Disney's Hercules, Out There from Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Rainbow Connection, I Won't Grow Up, Any Dream Will Do, and many others! Children under 12 get in free with the purchase of one adult ticket. 571-239-5288 or www.creativecauldron.org for tickets. See you there!

"Johnny and Me"

This is a video of Karissa Swanigan singing "Johnny and Me" from the musical "Night of the Living Dead" written by Matt Conner and myself. This performance was filmed during our cabaret, "Least Complicated" at Signature Theatre. Enjoy!

xoxosgs

COMING ON TUESDAY!!!

BUY TICKETS NOW!

Jump On!

Super Claudio Bros. is almost ready to show itself to the world on Saturday. We had our first dress rehearsal yesterday, and have another today. Tomorrow we move to the actual theatre, Saturday we open. It has been quite a whirlwind, but way worth it, and the results of every one's hard work are clear across the board. Here are some assorted photos from the dress run. Enjoy!

SUPER CLAUDIO BROS.

Moustached Update.

Hey all! Hope everyone is staying cool in this ridiculous 100+ degree heat! I am in my break between summer camp in the morning, and Super Claudio Bros. Rehearsal in the evening! (This photo is a candid from rehearsal the other day, with Lauren Williams and myself showing off our moustachios). The show is soooooo good, and I really hope to see you there. Details on the show are posted on one of the posts below, so check it out!
In unrelated news, I turned 32 yesterday. I celebrated by teaching camp, and rehearsing. lol.
Super Claudio opens this Saturday at Studio Theatre, so come out and see us!
I will update again very soon! xoxoxoxosgs

Hello Again...

So I have been busier than I have been in quite awhile of late. I have not had much spare time to post on here, and if you scroll below, you will see why. Below are some crass commercial announcements for my upcoming gigs. Between cabaret prep, Claudio rehearsal, Pirate Choreography, and several other dayjobs, life has been an action packed, never a down moment affair.

The picture to the left is of no significance to what I am writing, but it was taken by me in the last few weeks. It has become one of my favorite photographs that I have ever taken. It was taken in Amazonia at the National Zoo about a month ago.

So, if you scroll below, you will see some of the things that I have cooking in July. It promises to be quite a hot month, so stay tuned!

XOXOXSGS

SIGNATURE THEATRE OPEN HOUSE 2010 - JULY 17th

I will be singing some songs from last summer's The Boy Detective Fails at the annual Open House on July 17th at 5:15pm in the Ark Theatre. Songs from this musical, by Joe Meno and Adam Gwon are being presented in tandem with other songs by composers awarded by the American Musical Voices Project, including Matt Conner. This event is free, as always, and has always been a great deal of fun for everyone, so come on down and check it out! Full schedule of events is listed HERE at Signature's Website.

LEAST COMPLICATED - JULY 20TH @ 8PM

Karissa Swanigan and I will be presenting a cabaret at Signature Theatre on July 20th entitled, Least Complicated. The show is a funny look at love and relationships from grade school to present, with songs by Madonna, The Pretenders, Bruce Springsteen, Heart, Steve Winwood and many others. The cabaret will also feature Gabriel Mangiante on piano and Sean Jenness on guitar. Tickets are available at Signature Theatre's website, HERE.

SUPER CLAUDIO BROS.

The DC Fringe Festival show that I am in, Super Claudio Bros, has me very busy in rehearsal right now. (Hence the lack of posts on here). The show is hysterical, and touching, and everything that you would want a video game musical to be. Sam Ludwig and I play the two brothers in question. The show also stars Lauren Williams, Gia Mora, Matt Anderson, Chris Sizemore, Karissa Swanigan, Gillian Shelly and Harry A. Winter. We will be performing the show at Studio Theatre's Mead Theatre for the first 2 weeks, then to Warehouse Theatre for the last weekend. Full Details are available at the show's website, HERE.

How I Became a Pirate is OPEN at Imagination Stage!

The show that I spent the past month choreographing, How I Became a Pirate at Imagination Stage has opened at long last. We had a fantastic week of previews, and opening night was this past Saturday night. The reviews for the show are out and are very good. The show runs till August 15th, and is running in rep with a different pirate show. For more information, visit Imagination Stage's website.

To read some reviews, click HERE for The Washington Post, and HERE for DC Theatre Scene. Also, there is an article on the show HERE from the Gazette.

Day 59

Psycho at 50

Fifty years ago today, Alfred Hitchcock's classic film, Psycho opened on the big screen. This movie revolutionized how films were made, and has been imitated time and time again. The most shocking thing about the film, besides the fact that little violence is ever really seen, is the killing off of the main character 20 minutes into the film. This "red herring" storyline was a genius device that is still shocking today. For me to write about the further brilliance of this film is redundant, and I am sure that most of you have already seen it. Psycho being brilliant is no news to anyone.

I remember the first time that I watched it (way too young - like most of the first time I saw many of my now favorite horror films) I felt like I was watching the ultimate no-no. The way the film was talked about and whispered about in school (MANY YEARS after it's release!) had whipped my imagination into a frenzy. Finally, it was AMC (back when they actually showed classic movies) who brought this film to me on Halloween night. It was a doozie of a night that year, with me experiencing both Psycho AND Night of the Living Dead for the first time. Suffice to say, I was absolutely terrified. I have never forgotten that night, and the fact that I snuck watching the films so my Mom and Dad didn't know that I was...and how scared I was later when it was time for bed...haha - I guess I brought that on myself. Happy Birthday, Psycho. Movies everywhere owe so very much to you.
Enjoy this old theatrical trailer of the film as Hitch himself gives you a tour of the film set...

1 part Wisdom removed

I have been suffering from one particular Wisdom Tooth for years. My top left one. It has grown in on an angle, so that the sharp part actually veers out toward my cheek. For years I have growled through as it went through growth spurts, and just hope that it would fix it self eventually. (The male school of most things health related).

We all know how that ended up, right?

Well, I was on the phone about two weeks ago with Fred, when I felt something in the back of my mouth that felt like a hard piece of food or something that had dislodged. Nope. It was a piece of my crooked wisdom tooth. I freaked out at first, but then thought - well - it doesn't hurt, though....knowing that I was only putting off the inevitable.
The next day it started to hurt. I realized that it was indeed going to be an issue that just continued to get worse. So after consulting many friends and asking Dental opinions of where to go, I came to work, and my co-worker, Steven Cupo recommended his own dentist. He even called him up and told the doctor of my situation (the fact that I was an actor who couldn't afford a crazy amount of money to get this tooth out), and he said "Send him on over".

Never even having had a tooth pulled, I became terribly nervous. Several times on the way there, I thought that I might pass out. I didn't, of course, or you would be reading an even more pathetic post than this, probably from the hospital. But no, I made it there, holding my new book that I am reading (Under the Dome by Stephen King - 1100 pages and AMAZING) tightly against my body, as if it were a shield...which by it's size - it could be.

I was handed paperwork to fill out, and before I was even finished with it, to my horror the receptionist called out to me that the doctor would see me now. "But I haven't finished my paperwork!" I protested, stalling as much time as I could before the inevitable tooth sharking to follow. "You can finish it in the chair", she pleasantly chimed. She was enjoying this little fear game with me, I could tell. I began to construct nightmare scenarios in my head about being lead into what could only be an "Organ Hatching" operation, whereupon I would be gassed, my kidneys and other organs removed, then dumped on the curb somewhere in Anacostia. Sweat broke out on my forehead as I was lead to the chair.

I continued filling out my paperwork as the dentist (a very sweet man, for the record) asked me a few questions, then started rooting around in my mouth. Before I knew it, he had swabbed the area with a numbing solution and was pulling a needle out. My hands gripped the handles of the chair. I could barely feel the needle, nor the two that followed as his injections continued around my wreck of a tooth. He told me to finish up my paperwork as he waited for the Novocaine to go to work. Country music gently played over the sound system as I did this. I laughed to myself, thinking of the irony of my current situation juxtaposed with the singer on the radio telling of cool breezes and country hills. The Dentist had left my cubicle and gone to the next and I soon heard the unmistakable sound of a drill roaring to life. My stomach suddenly felt like it got invaded by army ants.

Soon it was time for the procedure to start, and I told the dentist at the last minute that I had never had a tooth pulled, never even had an oral shot, and was terribly scared. My rationale at this point was that maybe, just maybe the dentist had some Zanex tucked away in the office, offer it to me, and then I could drift away on happy thoughts as he wrenched my tooth out. No such luck. He told me that there was nothing to be afraid of, that he would go slow, and that I would just feel some pressure, scraping and digging. "That sounds delightful", I managed. My hands gripped the handles of the chair doubly hard.

The procedure began, and yes, I started to feel something - I could feel a tiny bit of pain. I told him immediately, and he gave me another shot. He then put an instrument in my mouth that looked like the scythe that the grim reaper carries around. "Does this hurt?" he would ask as he scraped the thing in my soon to be ex-tooth's gum-dock. "No.." I would say in a small and tentative voice, knowing what was coming next. "How about this?", he said, grunting as he did. Pressure and digging sensations from my left cheek began. "no..." I mustered. I felt two inches tall. "And this?", he asked while really starting to apply leverage to the tooth. I felt like my face was going to cave in, but it was just that pressure that I felt, no real pain. But I have to say, the sounds reverberating through your jaw bones as the scraping and digging are happening is enough to drive you insane. Your mind imagines what a murder scene that your mouth must look like, and your imagination (especially mine) can be a dangerous thing.

He was really grunting and hefting at this point, and I began to see him as a fisherman in a small boat trying to reel in a Blue Whale. I kept thinking - "I just don't want to taste my own blood - if I have to taste my own blood while my mouth is being held open, I will throw up. As if reading my thoughts, he asked his assistant for "suction" and the blood that was indeed flowing was sucked up. My knuckles were whiter than white. Every muscle in my body was tensed and flexed as he finally wrenched the tooth to freedom. I made a grunt of relief as they finished up in there. "All done." he said with little fanfare. "Was that hard to come out?" I asked, thinking of the epic pressure and grunting put out on his part. "No, not at all.", he said very matter of fact. The whole thing took about two minutes total from when he started the tooth extraction process. Of course, it felt like 2 hours.

It has been over a week now since the procedure, and I am well healed at this point, and thankful to be rid of the little deserter of a tooth. I am also relieved at the last bit of information that he gave me before sending me on my way. He told me that all of my other teeth looked to be in good shape, and that my three other wisdom teeth were coming in fine, and looked to have plenty of room to come in. So at least for now, it feels good to know that my dental outlook is good.

The recovery was interesting, however. I was warned by the dentist, as well as many others about the danger of the dreaded "DRY SOCKET". This dental condition was such a boogie man in my mind as friends upon friends told me tales of how they got it. One of which seemed the least obvious to me -touching your tongue to the spot. I never even thought of that, and at once, my tongue moved into an efficiency apartment on the right side of my mouth, not wanting anything to do with the left side. I chewed on the right side of my mouth only, and usually with my head tilted to the right. I must have looked like an inquisitive dog while eating for best part of a week. While I have not touched my tongue to the "area" yet, and am determined not to if I can at all help it, my eating habits have remained fairly the same, with most of the chewing still happening on the right. Brushing my teeth has become a longer process, as I operate the brush with the precision of a surgeon around the left upper side of my mouth. I actually called the dentist on Monday to see if I could go back to the gym, even though it had not been one week, as going to the gym was on the list of things that could cause "DRY SOCKET". He very nonchalantly said, "Oh sure. You're done now."..."but it hasn't been a full week..", I interjected..."Yeah, but if you were going to get it, you would have by now.", he stated.

And so I went to the gym. And all is now seemingly back to normal. My tongue isn't quite back to it's pole position as master of my mouth, it has traded it's small right side efficiency for what I like to think of as a "Half-way house". Going through this process, I have faced a life long fear, and come through it fine. And while my teeth themselves are none the wiser, I would like to think that I am.

How I Became a Pirate

RIP Dennis Hopper

His earliest films (appearances in Rebel without a Cause, and a strong turn in Giant, Easy Rider)are my favorite. I also enjoyed his more recent films, including his classic role in Speed, and the hysterical villain in George Romero's Land of the Dead. RIP, Dennis.

Twins.

Chris and I in our matching coats.

Explanation? When Chris's father retired, he got a whole bunch of giveaways from the company he worked for, including several Carhartt jackets. He got one for both me and Chris in a very thoughtful gesture.

Hence the picture. Next winter, we are really going to have to coordinate which jacket we are wearing on which day, for fear that this will actually happen.

Either that, or become a dynamic duo, fighting crime around Seminary Road.

Hmmm.

The Stairway to Nowhere

My Mom took these pictures and emailed them to me. My parents are in the process of renovating their back porch, and one of the things being replaced was the stairs that go up to the porch. After removing the stairs, my dad hauled them down to the "burn pile" to be disposed of. Seeing this image, and knowing that I would get a kick out of it (I love that she knows my twisted sense of humour so well) she took these photos to send to me. She called it "The Stairway to Nowhere", which is exactly what I call it and have named this post. Thanks, Mom. And, uh...Dad - be careful up there! That looks a bit dangerous...