I Saved the World From Global Warming has now graced three festivals, with more coming, and has won "Best Short" and "Best Dark Comedy" awards at a couple of them. Great for Kyle and Nolan, and great for me, since it's the first successful bit of film with me as a lead. Whoo-hoo!
In other news, we've started filming the web series, GOLD. Things are going swimmingly, the footage looks and sounds great, and everyone in it is amazing. It's a full narrative story, and more completely produced than most of what I've seen online. I think the first episodes will drop in the fall, and I have high hopes.
I Saved the World From Global Warming, the short I was in this spring, is finished and being submitted to festivals (according to Kyle and Nolan, the creators) like crazy. Check out the awesome trailer on the video page.
Over eight months. Sigh. I've given up on running commentary -- I'm just not a blogger at heart. If you wanna read my writing, go to Clark Schpiell Productions (www.readcsp.com) for my essays, political rants, short fiction and poetry. This space will be reserved for acting related events.
LbP's newest show, Multiverse closed about a month ago. It was just three of us onstage -- me, Jerome Anthony Hawkins and my incredibly talented and lovely wife, Shannon. We got some killer reviews (Backstage West called me "hilarious" and "heart-rending" and the LA Times called me "Adept"), and the show was extremely well-attended. That said, it is over and, as with almost every play I do with Lucid by Proxy, I miss it deeply. It was especially wonderful to share the stage with Shannon -- I cannot accurately express the joy I feel acting with her.
More good news: I've finally got a new commercial agent, Daniel Hoff. It's ben less than a week, but I like the dude more every time I meet with him. Next up: new pictures. Then: world domination.
Only four months between updates this time, so I'm getting better;-) The run of Asymmetry in October/November was a smash -- great reviews for me and the rest of the cast (and for the writing and direction) and my picture in the LA Times (which has happened only a few of times in the past, but twice this year!). Houses were even very good -- the last eight shows or so (after the reviews) were almost completely sold-out. If only we could figure out how to pack those early shows...
The really good news is that, for the first time, I've gotten some interest in the film/tv community based on my stage work -- a couple of phone calls and inquiries at this point, but it's still a huge breakthrough for me. I do theater because I love it, and for no other reason. But when my work onstage helps to promote my (hopeful) film career, that's an unexpected and totally welcome bonus.
Five months between updates -- is that bad? Bad or not, it's been five productive months. I've been writing a lot, not just for CSP, but also on a couple of exciting projects for film about which I am not ready to talk just yet. We'll likely be remounting the very successful Asymmetry late this fall, which (thanks to the fantastic reviews from the original [short] festival run) should be a great opportunity to showcase myself.
Three new headshots on the site today (thanks, Diana). And thanks to Sharon for sticking her neck out for me lately.
And somehow time slips away again...
The good news is that I've been productive. Not only have I been doing a good deal of writing and a fair amount of performing, but Lucid by Proxy's latest show, String, opened a week or so ago, to pretty good reviews. LA doesn't embrace the romantic comedy on stage the same way it embraces our darker, more cynical stuff, but the reviews all had great things to say about the acting, directing and design. Since I co-directed, designed scenery and lights, and am playing a role in the show, it makes me feel pretty good. Plus, they used a picture of Shannon Jarrell and me for the LATimes review.
Oh, check out my wife's new site. I finally finished it. As with this site, it looks best in browsers which are at least close to W3C compliant (such as Firefox, Opera or Safari) so you get all the benefits of transparency, size consistency and anti-aliasing, but it looks pretty darn good in Internet Explorer as well. If you want the web to look nice, though, you really should ditch IE and get a standards compliant browser. [end geek diatribe]
Jiminy (yes, I just wrote "jiminy"), it has, once again, been a long time since an update. A recap is in order:
Redesign of the site, obviously. You be the judge of that.
Asymmetry came and went. Despite a very short run during the EdgeFest (only 6 performances), we got fantastic reviews, myself included, and we will likely be re-mounting next summer.
I've been auditioning a lot. Only a few commercials, but a lot of short films. I've filmed two short films (both sci-fi -- I guess I just have a sci-fi look about me) in the past couple of months, and I have another callback this week, this time for a festival film.
On top of all that, Sharon has been acting as my agent for film and TV as well as commercials -- she's hip-pocketed me, and has sent me out a couple of times. Let's hope my luck holds out.
Okay, this is crazy. I've gotta be updating this more regularly. What's new:
New Pics and a Video Slate. Also, good mentions for the very successful "i r l (in real life)," which ran this spring. I'm also gonna be in Rick Robinson's new play, "Asymmetry" in October -- more about that soon.
What else can I say? The acting is cruising along more slowly that I'd hoped when I moved to LA, but good things are always happening to move me forward. On top of it, my day job has actually been getting more supportive as time goes on (unhead of in LA, right?), and my recently published book got it's first (glowing) review. Add to that Shannon's recent success (two national commercials in as many months), and things colud definitely be worse. I certainly won't complain.
Well, it's been a long time since I've made an update! Last summer's production of Quickening went well, and it has been a hectic fall and winter, both for me as an artist (working on a handful of new plays with Lucid, and a couple of screenplays on my own), and in my real life (we bought a house, etc., etc.). My agent has picked a couple of new headshots she likes, and I should have video headshots(!) soon. Also, look for me back on stage with Lucid by Proxy in March -- more on that soon.
A few new headshots are up, for your enjoyment.
New headshots coming in the next few days (already up on LA Casting -- what is up with thier $50 fee for a new primary headshot, and no way for me to do it myself? Can we all say, "Scam?"). Also, casting is complete for Quickening. As I'd hoped, I'm playing the male characters (sort of a representation of common "maleness" in a primarily women's piece). Rehearsals start in late June, with an opening late July. Check it out.
The most exciting kind of news: I've got a new agent for commercials. her name is Sharon Kemp, and she's one of the premiere agents in town -- I guess I lucked out BIG TIME. We're getting contract and picture stuff ironed out this week, and then I'll be hooked up. Never underestimate the power of Keith Wolfe (more on him in coming weeks).
Spare Parts & Cynic just closed. We got some really great reviews, including a great mention for me from Backstage West. Check it out.
Lucid by Proxy's next show is a World Premiere Musical called Spare Parts & Cynic. I play Sam Samuels, the sad and lonely IT guy. We open Sept 26 -- check it out -- it's gonna be a great show.
We are sold-out for our last weekend of SOJF. Both the Backstage West and LA Times reviews were glowing, especially toward the performances ("vivid" and "knockout" are used to describe us), and Backstage West called me "appealing." I think that's nice.
The School of Jesus Fish review appeared today in the LA Weekly. While the critic took a couple of jabs at the writer, the overall review was very solid. None of the actors were specificaly mentioned (except to say which roles we played), but he did say the cast "turns in gripping, convincing performances." You can read it on the LA Weekly website, or here
Opening weekend of School of Jesus Fish has come and gone, with what feels like some considerable success. Time will tell, of course, but the audiences responded extremely well. We'll see what the reviews say, and how the next four weeks play out.
I've just been cast as Dr. Ben in a new, expanded version of School of Jesus Fish. The show opens in mid-August in Silverlake, and runs thru mid-September. More info soon. Click here to read comments about me in the review from the original production (in 2001), or here to read the full review.
The 2003 Lucid by Proxy fundraiser has been scheduled for June 21, 2003. I'll be performing in an encore of Jack Cracker, Viking Slave Detective. Go to the Lucid by Proxy Website for more info about the fundraiser.
Just closed another play with Lucid by Proxy: I.R.L. (In Real Life). Backstage West gave it a Critic's Pick, and gave me a good mention. click here to read my mention, or here for the full review.
