blog officially moving

neilneilneilneil.tumblr.com

is now officially 'where it's at' to follow all things neil-related.

possibly switching to tumblr

to move away from the 'diary' format of my blog, i am investigating and playing with a new blog site called tumblr. i will post here if i make the permanent switch.

the url is http://neilneilneilneil.tumblr.com/.

it is a micro-blogging site, and it will automatically import any twitter posts i make (yes twitter! it's 2009 i gotta get with it) and is very easy to work with when it comes to posting pictures, videos, or links. 

we'll see if it sticks!

outbreaks

just a quick dispatch from busy, busy BTP to say things are going well!

this summer the project has been hit by a few external challenges: the threat of a gunman on campus, lice and bedbug outbreaks, and some minor harassment by a mysterious man in a pickup truck. but it's only helped us internally to come together. we're madly rehearsing our various shows for the upcoming festival weekend. i've got students stretching telephone cords across the stage as they chat on a singles line, bumping around wildly as mind-controlled zombies in "time warp," and carrying out the assassination of julius caesar. fun stuff!

monica came for one measly day this weekend, but we had a ball team-teaching a round of classes together, and i was very glad to see her on her birthday. 

austin's shadow

i've had a couple more grueling and wonderful days at btp. a large portion of the past couple of days i dedicated to shuffling along behind austin pendleton, a theatre legend and bona fide genius. you might remember him as the stuttering lawyer in my cousin vinny or as gurgle the fish in finding nemo, and he's been in countless plays and movies and tv shows, in addition to getting a tony nomination for directing elizabeth taylor in little foxes, as well as penning several plays!

i had the honor of introducing him for his Q and A, and i sat with him during his master classes, using my audition notes to select kids to perform their monologues for him. his coaching and teaching were at once both simple and profound, and i tried to absorb as much of it as i could!

i've also had the pleasure of hanging around with an old friend of mine from my early btp days, josh cooke. he's here for the week as a master teacher, and was an apprentice here along with me in 96 and 97. he's been living the LA lifestyle, driving his motorcycle to auditions- he's worked very consistently in commercials, movies, and tv. we see eye to eye on teaching philosophy, and it's fun to have a generational 'peer' here with me in the acting department.

i finished directing my first scene, and we tech it tomorrow morning. in the evening we'll begin my next great opus- a full-out production number of rocky horror's time warp, which i'm directing at debbie's request. it's gonna be a big, loud, freaky, and fun party number, and it's sure to overwhelm me!

classes continue to go really well, and i'm thoroughly enjoying being down here surrounded by so many friends that i only get to see once a year.

(in the picture: austin pendleton giving his Q and A. you can see my bearded self seated in the background. photo by tom porter.)

she's huge in russia

my russian friend evgeniy sent the following message this morning:

"Hey Neil!

 

Great news! "First" channel - the main one in Russia - started to broadcast "Lie to me" this week - http://www.1tv.ru/anons/16.07.2009/id=147866 Now it's on TV every weekday night. Furthermore, "Lie to me" has entered the top three most popular subjects in Russian blogs.

Hope this will gladden you and Monica.

 

My best,

Jenya"

btp 2009!

it's the second day of BTP here in tampa, and things are in full swing. i've already seen 180 monologues from the students, and taught two acting classes. tonight i begin rehearsing one of several numbers i'll be doing this year. i'll also be guest blogging sometimes on the official BTP blog, which is at broadwaytheatreproject.blogspot.com, so feel free to check in there for updates!

i had an EXCELLENT week on lake winnipesaukee, teaching with my friend ron piretti at the heifetz international music institute. it's a beautiful lake, a classy program, and the students are full-on virtuosos. they were a bit shy at first, but they made amazing progress in our public speaking classes, and by the end were like old pros. not bad for a week!!

(in the picture: master teacher patrick wilson and btp artistic director deb mcwaters on the first day of classes. photo by tom porter.)

longer, fuller, darker

The makers of Botox have recently unveiled a new product called Latisse. (latisse.com) It is the "first FDA-approved prescription treatment for inadequate or insufficient eyelashes." Brooke Shields is the face of the new campaign.

Firstly, yes it's Rogaine for the eyelid.

Second, do people really feel INADEQUATE because of their EYELASHES? This is amazing to me.

Third, 'insufficient?' Insufficient for what?

It was a long, long time ago that I stopped caring about my male pattern baldness. But I understand that it's a real source of insecurity and anxiety for some men. I'm trying to imagine a world in which I agonize that my eyelashes aren't "longer, fuller, and darker," and I can't do it.

sanaya rose

quick news:

most importantly, emily and darius welcomed sanaya rose lakdawalla into the world on the 23rd! she's the cutest little blob you ever did see.

the first season of 'lie to me' wraps today, and it was officially picked up for a second season. tonight monica starts a much-needed vacation, and she'll be in for a long (22 episode) haul starting late july.

i'm staying very busy for an out-of-work bum, working out and playing volleyball at the local ymca, writing, helping out at emily's, and poking my nose into creative interests- meeting today to talk about doing some simple directing, and auditioned today for improv classes, both in hopes of sharpening some slightly rusty skills i have in my toolbox.

santa monica is beautiful, and the ocean-scented air coming in the window is a far cry from new york.

slogging through my mental bloggage

been a few months since my last confession, and much has changed.

i'm now living quasi-semi-permanently in LA, and very happy to be with monica. also enjoying fulfilling uncle duties more frequently, and looking forward to emily's next serving of niece, coming up very soon.

santa monica is beautiful and i'm very happy except for that little important sticking point... a job. no bites on the teaching front, even though i've begun working with a teacher placement agency of good repute. looks like i missed out on next academic year, but i'm far from giving up. going to do the whole process again next year, and this time even better!

the good news is i have some really fun gigs lined up over the next few months. monica and i will teach public speaking at the heifetz institute on the campus of brewster academy on lake winnipesaukee in early july, and i'll teach acting at the broadway theatre project in tampa for the rest of the month. from late september through november, i'm going to tour france with the same production of julius caesar that i did last year. that is gonna be GREAT.

all in all, i have plenty of reasons to be happy- i'm just a little restless and confused about what exactly i want to be when i grow up. it's all about the journey, not the destination, right?

thanks for checking in.

IMDb

the russian movie was finally listed on the IMDb! i submitted the request several months ago.

search for 'chuzhie' at imdb.org.

lie to me numbers

Nielsen ratings have never been an important thing to me. Now, with Monica's show on prime time, they take on a very real implication for our lives. Following them has been interesting.

Opening night last week had very good numbers, but not incredible ones, and I think Fox was expecting slightly better. It started at 13+ million viewers, and by the end had dropped to around 11. It beat Lost in its time slot, but was second behind Criminal Minds.

Last night, however, it had a solid 12 million, and was first in its time slot, better than Lost and Criminal Minds! The only show with better numbers in ALL of prime time last night was American Idol with a RIDICULOUS 26 million.

For context, there are about 114 million television households in the US. So, roughly one tenth watched Monica last night. Crazy!

With good enough numbers, the show can go a second season. If it does, it means many more months for Monica in LA, which is why I'm planning to move out there! If it doesn't go a second season, it means tough decisions for us.

It's all very exciting!

new meaning to la la land

just came back from a very short but wonderful weekend in LA. hanging around with my gorgeous girlfriend, eating organic meals outside, visiting my laughing, talkative, cute little pumpkin of a niece, it occurred to me that i am very, very lucky.

the st. pete times in florida recently published a great little piece on monica. link below.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/article970028.ece

movie star

my buddy jenya was our translator and friend during the russian-movie filming process. i'm glad to have his friendship because, besides being an outstanding guy, he's my eyes and ears in russia. he's been the one to tell me how the premiere went, what the posters are like, etc...

while i still don't have a copy of the DVD of the movie, it is out in russian stores. (the producers have promised us a copy, and say it is 'in the mail.') jenya tells me that the bootleg movie stands, which are just like the ones in new york, have an alternate cover for their copies of Strangers.

it's delightfully strange to imagine my silly dance moves peppering the covers of DVDs all over the streets of moscow...

crazy stalker fan

i don't think i'll EVER get used to the commercials. hooray for DVR!

lie to me!

monica FINALLY sent me a DVD of the pilot that will premiere next week and i watched it last night.

it should suffice to say that i LOVED it, and though i understand logically that there i no way i have an objective perspective on it, i am going to forge blissfully ahead in my fandom anyway. i love that it's a crime show but it's colorful and bright- i love tim roth's disaffected gestural performance- and mostly i love the insanely gorgeous latina newcomer that will be the viewpoint character in the series.

the show airs on fox, wednesday nights after american idol, starting a week from today.

photo album 2

album part 2

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=63E434QZU32MYCEBXF3YT

photo album 1

first of two vietnam photo albums is posted on facebook! link below:

 

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=514867448&k=Z41XXVT5U23GUDEASK26TQ

down and out in westwood

the post-script to the main body of my vietnam trip is less fun. this weekend i'm in LA, and i've been knocked out completely by some sort of major stomach bug i got in vietnam. major abdominal pain and inability to sleep has made the past couple of days difficult! i just started on an antibiotic this morning which seems to be doing the trick, and my appetite just came back.

i return to new york on monday and get back to real life!

hanoi to hong kong

hanoi was a blur. what a big, loud, active, incredible city. we stayed in a very nice hotel in the very center of downtown, and, thanks to new year's, we felt like we were living in a tornado. nica and i both developed healthy headaches soon after arriving- we think it was the incredible amount of smog and exhaust everywhere- the perpetual symphony of horn-honking could have something to do with it too!

 

we toured yesterday morning around the city by 'cyclos.' this is definitely the way to do it for people who want to keep a low tourist profile. nothing blends in better than a grand parade of 14 westerners each under a red-fringed canopy in front of their very own personal pedicab driver. it was a hair-rasing adventure, toodling around the city, facing down oncoming traffic, bumping elbows with motorcycles, and regarding pedestrians coolly from our thrones.

 

we didn't read the tour itinerary closely and all we knew about our first stop was that it was a mausoleum. we surrendered our bags and went double-file by dozens of rigid soldiers. inside, we encountered the pale, chemically-preserved body of ho chi minh. it was spooky, unsettling, and terrifically odd! it was exactly the experience i had purposefully avoided, what with the moscow art theatre's proximity to lenin's tomb during my stay in russia. the image of the body flanked by four soldiers certainly won't leave me for a very long time.

 

next we stopped at the hoa lo prison, known to most of us more affectionately as the 'hanoi hilton.' we enjoyed exhibits that consisted of leg irons, guillotines, and john mccain's flight suit. (you'll remember that he spent quite some time there) there was an odd photo gallery, including ones of POW's playing volleyball in the courtyard, and the americans getting souvenirs upon their release. souvenirs!

 

all in all, it was a strange tour! we ate an awesome lunch and spent the afternoon wandering the clogged streets and shops of hanoi.

 

i finally succumbed to stomach issues last night, suffering from severe cramps. i muddled through our new year's eve farewell feast with as much good humor as i could muster. (i skipped the slabs of fois gras and the piles of caviar, but enjoyed the vietnamese band with a male singer covering tracy chapman)

 

our hotel was only a quarter mile from the restaurant, but it took monica, her mom, and i a good thirty minutes to navigate through the throngs! we formed a human chain and literally squeezed ourselves through crowds of people, motorbikes, and stands, all the while ducking and avoiding these strange flaming parachutes revelers were setting off. they were mini-hot air balloons, complete with a baseball-sized flaming coal attached at the bottom. most soared into the sky, but some crashed into buildings, trees, and people. we saw a tree catch fire and we held our breath as we watched an apartment building decide whether it wanted to go up in flames or not when the fireball landed on a tar balcony roof.

 

i was asleep by 11:30, half an hour before 2009 in vietnam. when 2009 hit new york, i was reading newsweek on my plane from hanoi to hong kong.

 

all in all, it was an unforgettable trip. i learned so much and saw so many incredible things! (and ate a lot of amazing food!) i owe a debt of gratitude to mr. and mrs. raymund for welcoming me on this surreal journey!

hue part 3

still in hue, our flight to hanoi is delayed due to 'weather.' this is amazing to me since as far as i can discern, the only weather hue sees is rain.

last night we had dinner in an ancient house, hosted by a grandson of one of the senior advisors to the last emperor. he gave us a bit of a tour- think intricate woodwork stained black, and ornate carvings everywhere, even in the ceiling beams! he demonstrated the ceremonial weapons (huge halberds and my favorite, a spear with a carving of a fist on the end), and showed us how his grandfather smoked opium. (hint: with his head on the lap of his most beautiful concubine, puffing from a beautiful hand-carved elephant tusk.)

we're taking advantage of the extra time and leaving in a few minutes to go check out a tomb.

no more diaper pants, hanoi will be our last city and totally cycling-free. i'm fine with that. it's been great, but my butt is sore and i'm really sick of being soggy! i don't know if i'll ever get the mildew smell out of my suitcase.

it's really been fantastic so far. this country is filled with warm, gracious, sensitive, subtle people.