action

the past two weeks have been awesome- a whirlwind of all-day rehearsals, and superquick 1.5 day trips to new york.

after almost three weeks of table work, we sat down to the table to start another long day, when jim, who plays brutus, said: "arthur, i'm not sitting at this table and reading any more. we can keep reading, but i'm going to stand up." arthur's face was inscrutable for a moment, and then, in his thick french accent, said: "okay. we have a run-thru."

now, a run-thru is what you typically do after blocking each scene in the show. you work on the pieces, then you put them all together. when you go see a play, you are watching a run-thru. what arthur proposed was to skip everything that typically goes in the middle of the process. three weeks at the table reading, and now, hey, let's put on a show.

long story short, it was awesome, albeit messy, weird, and funny-looking. we had a blast, and out of the sheer shock of trying to act out a whole play on the fly for the first time, we came up with a lot of fun stuff that remains in the show now. we've spent the time since then working on scenes individually, and running the show in parts and wholes.

it's great fun to do. during the show i get some great little monologues, plus i get to perform a dance, to murder an emperor, smear my hands in his blood, kill myself, and after dying, help another guy kill himself too. i get to wear a skinny 60's suit, smoke a cigarette, and scream at the top of my lungs. and all the who's of the who in cambridge will come to see it. and the best part of it all: i'm getting paid for this!

(pic is of me in rehearsal waiting for my next scene.)

strangers website

the russian version of the 'strangers' website is up- not super helpful to people who don't read cyrillic, but still fun to check out. once you click on the title page, if you click on the word 'foto' (in russian it looks like POTO), there are some fun pics from the set.

http://www.chuzhiemovie.ru/

spring is early

in the middle of the second week of rehearsals for julius caesar, and it's going great. we're still sitting at tables, and on our fourth pass through the script. we keep discovering new things, and we're making serious headway towards developing an understanding of the complex world of our production. but it's getting harder and harder to sit at that table for hours upon hours per day! i don't know if it's the old theatre chairs from the seventies, or the windowless basement room, or the pasty fluorescent lights, but i'm getting more and more restless sitting there. i'm fully engaged in the work at hand, but my butt cries for some walking around, or at least an ergonomic chair!

the director told us at the beginning that the table work is the most important, and that his style is to keep actors at the table until they're chomping at the bit to get on their feet- the idea being that there will be an energy and excitement and a literal speed to staging things since we'll be so excited to be rid of the table. i think his technique is working!

i did have a costume fitting, which was fun. i'm gonna have a pretty sweet skinny black suit, and possibly some thick black-rimmed glasses. i'd love to get the glasses, because that's a real gift for character development. i've started wearing a suit jacket in rehearsals, even at the table, just to get a feel for speaking shakespeare in one. it makes a difference, even if it is a very small one.

cambridge has been unseasonably warm the last few days, which i've thoroughly enjoyed, but has definitely made the atmosphere outside weird. it's odd that i can pull off flip-flops in january! in some corners and parking lots there are still huge melting chunks of dirty snow!

cambridge is cold

just finished my third day of rehearsals here in cambridge for JULIUS CAESAR. it's been amazing so far- i just pinch myself in rehearsal to see if i'm dreaming- it's an cast, and amazing director, an amazing theatre, and of course shakespeare's play is pretty good, too! i'm tremendously lucky to be here.

 

that being said, it is COLD. the day before yesterday i got lost trying to find a castmate's apartment and when i finally got inside, everyone lauged at the icicles in my mustache. seriously. icicles in my mustache. it's colder here than it was in moscow!

 

plus, i'll have to get internet installed by Comcast if i want it in my apartment here. i am sitting in kinko's now, breathing a sigh of relief, having gone nearly three days without internet. clearly it's an addiction.

 

in a few minutes i go to my first costume fitting, then i will go home to do more homework on this play. shakespeare is demanding!

 

more soon.

welcome aught eight

well, tonight's the last night of a long, luxurious visit to fort worth, where i had little to worry about besides the IRS (which was enough) and writing an article or two. tomorrow morning i fly to new york to be with monica for new year's, and on the 2nd, i take the express train to boston to begin rehearsals for julius caesar. an extremely exciting way to start the new year!!

russia was a success, although the trip back had to be the worst plane ride of my life. i was sandwiched between a temper-tantrum-ing toddler and a big obnoxious guy who drank (too much) cognac for the entire flight. even dad's super-powered Bose earphones couldn't drown out that kid, and i didn't have noseplugs for my other neighbor's fragrant belches. to top it off, the electronics in my seat didn't work, so i could not douse my light, or listen to the audio of the movies they were playing. now it seems like a good setup for a comedy sketch, but then i was miserable!

xmas was amazing, gorging myself on more sweets than i could name in a single breath, and spending quality time with dad, darius, and all the lovely ladies in my life: mom, emily, anahita, and monica.

happy new year to you!

one dub down, one to go

spent the last 8+ hours standing in a huge dark studio staring up at the movie, listening to audio in headphones and trying to talk along. the fun part is i don't just have to do the lines and make them match my lips onscreen, but i also need to make all the 'sounds' of my character as well, which includes breathing, laughing, grunting, exhaling exasperatedly, etc.... then it's wacky to hear your emotive grunting booming back through the room over the loudspeakers.

 

now after a couple of beers in the casino (aka hotel lobby) and a good dose of jet lag, i'm ready to hit the hay and try again tomorrow. i've been invited to my director's house for dinner tomorrow night, which, according to my friend jenya the translator, is a rare honor. apparently he has a world class modern art collection in his home. it's gonna be a trip!

 

still miss xmas in texas though.

russia, again

things have been great in fort worth- family friend betsy is in town and we went out for dad's 62nd birthday the other night, dining with some serious zeal at Lanny's. the next morning was reminiscent of pre-xmas saturday mornings of years long past- waking up to the sound of christmas music on the twin bed that is way too short for me, padding downstairs and receiving a made-to-order egg breakfast from dad. my longtime friend the cap'n came over to install some bathroom cabinets that he'd been working on, and i sipped coffee and yakked with him while he worked.

 

so it was with some major reluctance that at around 2pm i piled into the car with dad and betsy to take me to the airport. after nearly 24 hours of interminable travelling, i arrived last night in the Korston Hotel and Casino in moscow. i tried to postpone sleep, but succumbed at 8pm after wolfing down room service pasta.

 

so now it's 6AM, i've been up for a couple of hours and i don't go to work doing ADR for the egypt movie until 330 PM. i've wandered the hotel lobby which is basically a full-service casino and filled with a lot of tired looking gamblers.  of course i don't have an adapter for my laptop, and of course the hotel doesn't supply or sell them. so i'll read and watch bbc news for the next several hours until it's time to work. i know once i'm in the studio i'll have fun, but i just want to get this over with and get back home to xmas!!

 

 

from cairo to cambridge (with a layover in moscow)

it's been a month since my last confession. i mean post. and a lot has happened!!

the great news is i'll be headed to cambridge on january 2 to start rehearsals for 'julius caesar' at the american repertory theatre. i've been to many auditions in the past month, but this one was the first one i went to after returning home from cairo. it's awesome to be hired by the a.r.t. again! the show is going to be weird and awesome. it runs from early feb to late march, and i'll be updating this blog during the rehearsal process.

the medium news is i'm going to moscow this weekend to record audio for the russian film! it's going to be two days of flying and two days of work (for not a lot of money) but it's worth it to me to have my voice in the film. already one of our number has withdrawn, which means a new actress will do her voice... this has very negative repurcussions on the film, and on its potential to be marketed in america.

the bad news is i'm being audited here in fort worth, which is really what the holidays are all about, right? seriously, it's a pain in the booty. if you want to be prepared for an audit, this is what you should do: keep EVERY bank statement on record for five years. on every bank statement notate EVERY deposit and mark whether it was a payment, and if not, where it came from. keep copies of every tax return and every earnings statement. keep detailed receipts of every expense, dated and itemized. all things i SHOULD have done, but also all things i've never heard of anyone doing. and they are practices which i get to start now because a. getting audited is like a financial bar mitsvah, and b. getting audited begets getting audited, i.e., chances are high that i'll get this privilege again in the next couple of years.

and full circle to great news again: at least the audit is an excuse to be home in texas, hanging with dad. we've been baking and decorating and generally being holiday-ey already, and been getting mutually excited to have the family together for xmas. the house is fully anahita-prepared, with high chairs and changing stations and a truckload of toys. all told, anahita, emily, darius, mom, dad, and monica & i will be here for the holiday. that makes me very happy.

brutal

this is gonna be brutal.

dropped off my first load of headshots and resumes at my agent's office this morning, with her promise to begin sending them to casting directors for specific projects. then i get to hope that, based on my headshot/resume, they give me an audition appointment. then it's simple. i just show up and get the job! first one she's sending me out for: alabama shakespeare festival.

film and tv are shut down because of the writers' guild strikes. it could last months. i can do student films and the like, but they don't pay. i'm officially eligible for the stage actors' union, known as Equity. now i can join, and audition for shows that actually pay on the kind of scale i could scrape together a living on. the catch: i have to pay $1100 to join. YIKES.

meanwhile, i'm going back to my old job at the drama book shop a few days a week to make a little (emphasis on little) spending cash, and i just got a writing assignment for los angeles confidential, massive thanks to the two friends i still have at the magazines!

and i'm also acting as my own agent, trolling backstage casting notices and submitting myself for audition appointments. tomorrow i'll just show up for an open call for the roundabout theatre company.

here goes!

halloween

i love running errands in manhattan on halloween. it's nice to see neon red hair three times on one block, and to glance down a subway car and see a giant banana reading a newspaper. it makes me wish that every day was halloween, because i'd love it if people typically had so much fun expressing themselves with how they dress. of course, when i expressed that to monica she had to be a party pooper and said, "Well then Halloween wouldn't be special anymore."

she's right, but when i imagine a culture that wears plastic devil horns as much as neckties, i also have to think that their halloween would be something truly worth seeing.

caesar audition

it's amazing how i can spend more than half my life learning and accruing experience in this profession, the last two years training to be a versatile and skilled professional, and yet i can still walk into an audition and behave like a nervous schoolboy. hopefully as i audition more and more in this city, i'll get over the pressure of the moment and just do what i've been trained to do.

regardless, i felt i botched my julius caesar audition pretty badly. oh well! i plan to get 'em next time!

bbq bliss

I just saw an ad on TV for a restaurant here in new york. Towards the end of the ad, it flashed quotes from positive reviews of the place in print. One was "'BBQ bliss.' -Gotham Mag." It was pretty sweet to see my own words displayed on a commercial!

I know, I'm easily amused. But it's the simple joys, ya know?

scarlett's blog

for anyone yearning for more anecdotes and impressions from the egyptian experience, visit my fellow actor scarlett mcalister's blog. http://www.scarlettmcalister.com and click on 'scarlett's blog.'

she has photos of all of us and stories that include my antics.

ps headshots

by the way, if you look at the gallery, my headshots of choice are 97 and 114. let me know if you particularly love any others!

headshots

getting back on my feet here in nyc, gearing up for hitting the streets (i.e. auditions) as an aspiring actor. on thursday, i have a private 'callback' audition for a really great gig- i'm doing a lot of preparation for it (3 new shakespeare monologues!).

putting in an order for a second set of headshots- my new agent wants me to have two different pics, for two different 'looks.'

if you're really masochistic, want to see the anatomy of a headshot shoot, or just love staring at my face, you can see the best 150 shots from my photo shoot at www.philipkesslerphotography.com. follow the tiny link at the bottom for 'photoshoot client access' and find my gallery under headshots. the password is 'Neil' with a capital n.

i will keep posting updates every now and again- if anybody is out there still reading, thanks!

home

after a lot of limping and a very long flight, i am home at monica's in new york. tomorrow... the rest of my life!

pictures

pictures of my last night of shooting and post-injury at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9692&l=49030&id=514867448.

rusty nail

the good news: i'm finished! we shot a LOT of scenes today, including a cross-dressing scene and a brawl, and i'm finally done.

the bad news: during one of the shots tonight a malicious thick rusty nail punctured my foot and bored about 3/4 of an inch inside. boy did that hurt! luckily i had a tetanus shot right before leaving for cairo, and a doctor immediately came to set and dressed my wound and prescribed me three medications to avoid troubles.

i fly home monday. i have some great pictures from today which i will post soon.

wetness

tonight we had a lightning storm and, for about five minutes, RAIN! pretty sweet. we were going to eat at Mom's, but since it's out in a field, they brought it to us instead!

going to bed. tomorrow is a 730 AM call for my 'sobbing' scene. oh boy...

people everywhere

three shooting days left (they added one) and tomorrow is a daytime one.

the two nights in a row were exhausting, but great. i really wish that yuri wasn't so frugal a director. he is so confident in his editing that he is usually satisfied with two takes, sometimes just one! but this is all new to me, and i watch the playback, and i know i can do it better. but it's ok, it's his movie! the best part about all this is that i'm finally learning a thing or two about film acting. part of me wishes we could go back and start over now, with what i've learned, but part of me just wants to get it over with and move forward with my life!

we drove into the thick of downtown again and went to... wait for it... yet another mall. (i'm not the social director!) this time a really big mall, called City Stars. and when i say big, i mean big. the atrium in the center opens up to reveal 8 stories of mall rising up, with mirrored escalators and those fancy clear elevators that you see at hotels. we ate where anybody would eat while in egypt, at a tex mex place called cantina laredo. the beef was imported from the US! we had tableside guacamole, queso, fajitas, everything. it was a cruel imitation of real tex mex, but satisfying to partake in anyway.

the traffic was insane. it's already insane in egypt but the people were out in force. at 11pm on a monday night! i think when Ramadan ends, there is a big rebound of social activity. it's an amazing thing about egypt- people, everywhere. the vans are stuffed like sardines and sometimes people are on the roof or standing on the bumper holding on for dear life. many drive with the sliding door open like it's a big window. the cars park two, three deep on the side of the street- i don't know how somebody leaves if they want to! and there's sidewalk cafes on sidewalks that are barely wide enough to walk two abreast. people are hanging out at street corners, on medians, and they even stand around in intersections! the gates to the mall were closed and there were men in suits letting people in single file as if it were a nightclub! the result was a huge throng of people crushing each other against a gate. you'd think britney spears was on the other side!

a week left before home...