At least this time it was only a ten-footer. Spent a big chunk of yesterday hanging lights for Almost, Maine, the show I’m in that opens this Friday night. Pretty simple rig, only a few lights with one special effect, but we had to put everything in the air including dimmers and cable, so that took a little more time than normal. I also picked up a design gig for later on in the year and one for next year as well. I had really intended to be finished with design after RENT, but now that I’m leaving the day job I feel like I’ll have enough time to do a few shows a year without killing myself.

I’ll be designing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Theatre Charlotte in May, and another show that I can’t talk about yet because it hasn’t been officially announced. But it’s a director that I’ve worked with several times before, and he and I get along famously, so it’s pretty much a done deal. I think I can probably do 3-4 shows a year without burning up too much writing time, and the extra income is always nice. Plus I’m good at it, which certainly doesn’t hurt .

I didn’t write yesterday – I gave myself the day off. I hammered out almost 5,500 words on Saturday across two projects, and I feel pretty confident that the Cindy Slaughter thing will be finished this month. Paint it Black will be done next month, and I need to get a Bubba story knocked out in February as well, so I’ve got plenty to do. I also have some more work to do on Genesis before I move on to Exodus, which is due at the editor’s in May.

Watched most of the second half of the Super Bowl, and was happy to see Eli win another one. I’m far from a Giants fan, but I thought they were the lesser of two evils, so I enjoyed the outcome. And isn’t it about time that people start asking Peyton about his brother, rather than the other way around?

After the game I watched The Voice for the first time and I really enjoyed it. I liked the format, I liked most of the judges, and some of the contestants had good stories. So I’m pretty well hooked on that, which is all I need. Suzy and I have now watched all of the Burn Notice on Netflix, and just started Stargate: SG-1. With ten season of that, it oughta keep us occupied for a good long time. And all I can say is that Amanda Tapping looks downright juvenile with blonde hair. And fifteen years younger. She’s much hotter on Sanctuary.

We take a break from our regularly scheduled discussions of writing and promotion to talk about my imminent return to the stage. On a lark, I auditioned for a role in the upcoming play The Irish Curse, directed by an old friend of mine. There were a couple of factors that made me want to audition. I’ve known the director for ten years or more, and we used to run a theatre company together, so he knows I can act a little. So it was a stress-free audition on that front. There were two roles that I thought would fit my type, which is becoming increasingly rare as I get older and fatter. And then there were the magical words in the audition announcement – “all roles will be compensated.”

You see, I’ve spent more than twenty years in theatre in some form or another. I’ve designed, directed, produced, performed and done almost everything that there is to be done in a piece of theatre. For the record, the list of jobs I haven’t held is – Musician, Musical Director, Choreographer, Dancer, Props Designer, Dresser and Dramaturg. I think I’ve done everything else that has a name, including Costume Designer, Makeup Artist and Poster Designer to name just a few. And I’ve been compensated fairly well for some of those things.

But I’ve never been paid to act. I’ve been paid to speak in front of crowds, and I’ve been paid to perform poetry for an audience and cameras, but I’ve never been paid to be an actor. And that’s always bugged me a little. I haven’t auditioned much (not in years), but it always felt a little off that I’ve never done anything as an actor that garnered me any cash.

So I auditioned. I have no idea how many guys came out that fit the part, but I got it. And having been on the other side of the audition room, I know that there are a lot of things that go into casting. Being friends with the director helps. Being easy to work with helps a lot. Having a proven capacity for learning my lines and not tripping over the furniture doesn’t hurt, either.

So I was cast as Father Kevin in The Irish Curse. The cast so far has been great to work with, and it’s a lot of fun working with Glenn (the director) again after all these years. But I’m working muscles that haven’t seen much use lately, so to speak, and it’s an adjustment. I haven’t been onstage since 2008, and that was only a few lines. I haven’t had a major role since 2007, and haven’t performed any contemporary shows in even longer. So I’m trying to remember how to learn lines, how to learn blocking, and still trying to fit writing in amongst all that. It’s a challenge, to say the least.

But it’s a lot of fun, and it’s reminding me why I decided to do this all those years ago. The friendships, the fun of working hard for a good show, the magic of theatre. If you’re around in August, stop by the show. It’ll be a fun ride.

And I don’t just mean two blog posts in the same month, although that might qualify as well.

Last night, after a production meeting for Annie (funny the kind of shows we’ll accept when we have to pay for a new roof, isn’t it?) I headed over to the auditions that my buddy Jimmy was having for his company’s season. Jimmy was auditioning a bunch of stuff throughout the year, and I basically put on my audition form that my schedule was retarded but we’d work something out if he needed me. I like Jimmy as a person, and respect the hell out of him as an artist, so I’ll work for him in bit parts and for no money just to be around the kind of energy he has going.

But after I’d read a couple of things for him, something odd happened – he asked me if I was going to sing. I don’t sing. Well, I do, but I’ve been told (repeatedly) that I don’t do it well. At all. But here was a guy with more parts than actors making it a welcoming experience to audition for his musical. And since it’s Cannibal: the Musical, it might be okay to be a little off-key to go with the off-color. So I went out back of the bar (auditions were in a dive bar on the back patio) with Mimi, the musical director, and sang an audition.

Let’s be clear – I have NO musical training. Like, none. So when she said, let’s sing your range, I barely had any idea what she was talking about. But she was patient, and apparently I matched notes with the keyboard well enough for her to get an idea of what I can (or more likely can’t) do musically, and it was a good experience.

But the new part, or at least the part where I was reminded of what it’s like for most people, was the vulnerability I felt auditioning. I haven’t really auditioned for anything for a couple years, and even then it wasn’t a big deal. I put myself in positions where I’m either one of the best people in the audition pool, or at least one of the best people for the role, or I’m pre-cast without auditioning because I run the company, or I audition on a lark and don’t really care if I don’t get a part. It’s been a long time since I actually felt like a real actor feels when I’ve auditioned. Like I wanted to do well, and had no idea if I was doing well or not. It brought back a lot of those early-actor fears and insecurities and wonders and newness and was overall very, very cool. I still don’t know if my schedule will let me do the show even if they do want me, but after going through that, I kinda really want to do the show now. It feels like it would be really interesting to go back to something so far outside my comfort zone and try to master it.