Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Not In DC: Part One

I have decided to start a little feature on my blog while I am on vacation. For the past week every time we get in the car we always pass something that makes me think, "I remember that!! We don't have those at home." They are mostly restaurants but there are some others as well.

This is the first installment of "Not in DC" and most of you will be surprised to see what it is... rather what its not (its not Sonic).

Last night Mom, Dad and I ordered Little Ceasars Pizza. I have to say that it is still some of the best pizza around but the novelty is no longer there.

The Little Ceasars logo is that little Roman guy on the box. In the commercials he always used to say, "Pizza pizza" and when ever you went to LC you got two pizzas... buy one get one free.

They also never came in boxes. There was a long sheet of cardboard that had the pizzas with a paper sack around. It was great. You got it home, put it on the table and ripped the sack open. They were also known for the square pizzas similar to the Ledo Pizzas back home in the DC area.

There you have it. Little Ceasars Pizza... not in dc!

Monday, May 29, 2006

The Fallen From Proust Reading

Pictured: The cast of Fallen From Proust at Shawnee Little Theatre.
From left to right Rebecca Fry (stage directions) Jess W. Speaker, III (Gary)
Amanda Stephens (Michelle), Spencer Hankins (Roger), Kit Haraughty (Alan).

Saturday night was the staged reading of Fallen From Proust at Shawnee Little Theatre. It went REALLY well!! There was not a lot of publicity because the folks at the theatre were afraid that the surprise for my parents would have been spoiled. So considering that there were just a few articles in the Shawnee News-Star and it was a Saturday night during a three day weekend (Oklahomans go to the lake on three day weekends) we were very pleased with the turn out.

Everyone enjoyed the play. There were lots of laughs and I was very pleased. Proust is pretty edgy for Southern Baptist Oklahoma!
It was a lot of fun to get a group of my best friends together and play. I had not performed in five and a half years so I was pretty nervous but had a blast.
Thanks again to everyone who made this possible! A very special thanks to Norman Allen for letting me share his play with my family and friends at home.

Friday, May 26, 2006

One Night Only




ALL OKIES- BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!!
Fallen From Proust
By Norman Allen

A Staged Reading of a Brand New Play

Saturday, May 27, 2006 At 7:30pm
Shawnee Little Theatre, Shawnee, Oklahoma

Directed by Jess W. Speaker, III

Starring
Spencer Hankins, Kit Haraughty, Jess W. Speaker, III, & Amanda Stephens
With
Rebecca Fry

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

A Happy Surprise

I can finally write about something that I have been wanting to share for weeks!! I couldn't write about it here since my parents have started reading my blog.

Monday at 6:05am I got on a plane to Oklahoma City! My mom and dad had no idea that was coming home! A couple of weeks ago Spencer called mom and dad and told them that he was going to be in Shawnee and wanted to have dinner with them.

The plan was for them to get to the restaurant at 5:30pm and we were going to arrive at 4:45pm. I had already arranged with the restaurant to be the one to deliver the chips and salsa. It was a great plan!

When Spencer and I arrived Taren, my sister, was sitting in her car in the parking lot. Spencer drove to the side door, dropped me off and circled the block to try and make Taren think she might not have seen what she thought she had.

It was great!! I hid in the back of the restaurant and when everyone was in and seated I walked over with this tray of chips and dip.

Taren was the first to spot me, "OH MY GOD!" Mom just sat there silent with her jaw on the table. My dad (who was coming back from the restroom) said from across the restaurant, "Well, I'll be damned!!"

It was a total surprise! They didn't have a clue. Mom admitted that a couple of times she thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if..." but never thought about it to much so as not to get her hopes up.

So I am home in Oklahoma on vacation with my family and best of friends. I am here until June 15th.

For anyone in Oklahoma who might be reading this... I expect to see you at Shawnee Little Theatre at 7:30pm this Saturday for a staged reading of a play that I did in the DC area. My friend Norman Allen is letting me use his play to celebrate being home!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Remembering Bug




Those who know me well know of the tragedy that happened on May 23, 1999. That is the day that my best friend was killed by a drunk driver. I knew Ryan "Bug" (I don't think I have ever called him Ryan) from Jr High School. We were in band together and practically inseparable.

Bug's mom and dad sent me this link. Please take a moment to watch it as a favor to me and to Bug. This was done by Bug's cousin who was 5 when he passed. She is now 12 and has crafted a beautiful memorial to him on you tube.

Monday, May 15, 2006

What a Closing Day!!

WOW!! That what I have to say... WOW!!

The wonderful run of The Game of Love and Chance closed on Sunday night. I was sad to see it go because it was a good show and a wonderful group of people. 100% ass-hole free.

Let me tell you how the day went down...

Got up, went in life as normal and the first show was terrific. Due to ankle injuries Matthew Eisenberg went on for Ian Merril Peaks and did a fantastic job. Matt got to perform a total of 5 times and I was proud of him. Some where during act one I realize, "SHIT! I forgot my checkbook and I need to write some petty cash checks!"

After the first show my trusty assistant Jenna and I chatted with our good friend Anne Stone for a bit then hopped in "Ziggy" (yes I named my car Ziggy after I drove Scott Backula around... big whoop wanna fight about it??) and set off for my house. Somewhere along 395 I realized that I needed gas. We put just a little gas in the car and continued home.

After arriving home and explaining to Munsen what we were doing there I grabbed my check book, we drove through the dinner store and started back to DC.

I dropped Jenna off at her car near 7th and E and made my way down Penn toward the theatre. I was rocking out to some showtunes when I heard a noise. I turned down the radio, rolled down the window and quickly realized what was going on... a flat left front tire!!

I was almost to the little exxon station on "the avenue" so I decided to push forward so I could pull up to the air machine, fill the tire up and put off dealing with the mess until morning.

PROBLEM NUMBER ONE- NO AIR MACHINE!!! (wait it gets better!!)

PROBLEM NUMBER TWO- NO SPARE!! Ziggy is a 2001 Chevy Tracker... a small SUV... a small SUV with the spare attached to the rear window... my spare was stolen shortly after we moved to Fairlington!! ("There's no crime in Fairlington!?!" BULLSHIT!!) Of course I knew I needed a new one but that the kind of thing that keeps getting put off and put off.

I spent the next half hour on the phone with Geico roadside assistance. I finally realized that they were not going to be able to help me before the show so I walked back the the theatre with head hung in hopelessness... and in the rain.

The second show was a really great show and a great house. After the show I went back to my car where I waited for the tow truck. By the time the tow truck arrived I had missed 98% of the closing night party :( so I packed up all of my gear from the booth and the dressing room and waited for Jenny.

JENNY!! She was originally going to metro to the party after her show and then we would ride home together. Instead, my poor sweet wife had to metro to Pentagon City where the FAB Munsen picked her up and took her home to her car. Jenny then got her car and drove BACK INTO THE CITY to pick up me and twice the gear any stage manager should really have in a theatre.

It was an exhausting night and to top it all off I had a ton of work to do to prepare for my rehearsal and meeting at the Kennedy Center at 10am! (not to mention the fact that I had to get up at 7am to call the tire place and tell them, "yes that's my car and here's what needs to be done with it.")

In the morning I get to walk to the tire place (not far from the house at all), hand over a four digit check (turns out all my tires were shot and the replacement wheel for the new spare was quite pricey), retrieve Ziggy and take him to the Kennedy Center for rehearsal.

That was my Sunday! How was yours?? Please tell me all the fun things that my friends did on Sunday so I can live through you!!

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Another New Gig and A Repaired Link

This new gig has been in the works for weeks not but just became final over the weekend. Remember the production of Meet John Doe that I will be ASMing in the spring of 2007? Before I do the show at Ford's Theatre I will PSM a production of the show at Goodspeed in CT!!

Its going to be a lot of fun. I love working out of town and I am very excited to have Goodspeed on my resume and under the belt.

With this new addition I am now booked through May 20, 2007! Amazing huh?

Those of you who may have tried out my new links quickly noticed that the link to Donna's blog did not work. Well I have fixed it and it is now fully functional.

I have a few things to talk about soon including the adventures of Q5Go and Munsen in "Dark Fairlington" and the 1st birthday party of Kevin Silvia but those will have to wait until I can get some pictures up.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

New Links and New Gig

Hey everyone... long time no blog I know. I'm not very good at the blogging thing but I keep trying.

If you look to the list of links you will see some new additions. I have added links to the blogs of Carl Randolph, Mrs. Donna Mig, My Roomate (not my wife... gets confusing huh), and Raph Bueno. All have very fun blogs about all sorts of topics.

Also, click on "My Schedule" to see more information about a new show I just sign on for. Its going to be a great year!!

More to come soon I'm sure!!

PS... only 14 shows left of The Game of Love and Chance. Audiences are loving. Come see it so you can love it too!!!
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