High School Tony Awards

Today is my father-in-law's birthday. A retired attorney, he has successfully returned to the DC stage. He's been in several distinguished area productions and even gets paid for some of them. As a former acting student, I'm inspired by his example.

"The theater is a cruel mistress, Mike," he frequently muses aloud over a glass or two of red wine. Hey, I only stopped asking for his autograph just last week.


High School Tony Awards Honor Nation's Biggest Drama Club Nerds

Romanes Eunt Domus

My father-in-law is featured in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's current production of the Tragedy of Julius Caesar. He's officially a paid Equity actor in the ensemble. He's even on stage as a Senator when Caesar finds out who his friends are. Steve doesn't pile on and stab away, but he does look believably horrified when the blood starts gushing.

And speaking of horrified, watching this play again for the first time since high school, I had some ferocious 9th grade Latin flashbacks.



It's a very exciting and relevant production at the new Sidney Harman Hall If you can't make it, or are just pressed for time in general, there's always 60 Second Shakespeare over the BBC website.

On a related note, one of my favorite sketch comedy troupes of all time was recently in DC. The Kids in the Hall were at Warner Theatre as part of their Live As We'll Ever Be Reunion tour. I didn't go, as I have seen them twice live (once at the Warner and once at Town Hall in New York) but I heard they were good.

KITH alum Mark McKinney recently was in a great CBC series called Slings and Arrows. I enjoy and recommend it highly, particularly if you enjoy seeing thea-tah types fret.

A Rock and Roll Creation

The creative folks promoting Christopher Nolan's upcoming The Dark Knight are having a fun viral marketing campaign for Halloween. The Joker sent out his clowns all over the country on a scavenger hunt. "The Only Sensible Way to Live in this World is Without Rules." The film is out next summer, but the teaser trailer is here.

I was going to dress as Vincent Van Gogh today at work, but, complicated back story, I ended up going as a hippie. Ugh. My colleagues weren't that into it. (One of them I dubbed "The Ghost of Ann Taylor Loft".) There was a creative girl, our new customer service coordinator, who dressed as a zombie prom queen. I admired her pluck (if not her smell).

Tamburlaine last night at the Shakespeare Theater Company was incredible. Avery Brooks, Commander Sisko himself, was a visceral force on stage. Hilariously, the director came on near the end of the second act to inform us that a stage chariot wasn't working. "The noises you're hearing are it stuck in the ceiling," he mealymouthed. Every production now has an obligatory Spinal Tap moment:




Anyway, so we waited until the cast thundered out of a huge door lead by three chained guys on their hands and knees. I thought to myself...why didn't they just do this in the first place? That looks pretty wild.