In the last few months, I've been on a number of different projects and shows. This is an update post... since it's been a little while since I've written anything.

In April, I played Lord Aster in Peter and the Starcatcher. It was a fun show, though it definitely had some ups and downs. I hope Mesa Encore Theatre survives - I wasn't able to see Heathers unfortunately, but I heard it went well. The theatre was in bad shape, but it'd be a shame to see it go. On the other hand, there are a number of new theatre companies up and coming in the valley, a few that just got founded this year even. I've thought a bit about doing my own theatre... I definitely see the appeal of having complete control. I've been to a lot of places where being the lower rank, just as a measly actor and not a real stakeholder, leaves many things out of my control that I would have done differently.

Here's the catch though - I want to do theatre and acting. That's obvious. I don't particularly want to run a business, especially one in the theatre industry, where getting funding is impossible and stressful, you have to deal with lots of boring organizational stuff and grant writing, and you're going to be constantly critiqued by your workers and patrons alike. I don't really wanna deal with that, and I'm afraid new company founders don't actually understand the sheer amount of work that it takes. Of course I wish them well, and everyone's gotta start somewhere, but I wonder if all these people have really put in the time and energy to comprehend just what a massive undertaking it actually is... especially if they have any ambition to grow to a nonprofit, semi-professional or professional stage. Maybe it's just the cynic in me that thinks some of these new organizations are arising out of artistic discontent working for others and a thirst for a degree of power. Again, I understand the impulse, it just isn't for me right now. I am 100% for creating new opportunities around the valley, I just want the opportunities to be solid, and backed by competent and sustainable companies and practices. Don't found a company if you aren't ready. If you're not sure you're ready, you're not.

Speaking of new companies - one of my other recent projects was in a one-act for Explorers' Theatre Collective. At first I wasn't sure what to think, since I missed the first two (of four) rehearsals. But they were overall really chill. They're relatively new, too, and it looks like they've got a strong core team of students and alums from Scottsdale Community College. Chatting with their director a little bit reveals just how much effort really has to go into this thing - but I have immense admiration for the project we did. This guy understands what it takes, and it hasn't deterred him either. Anyway, the show was a low-stakes staged reading of a handful of one-acts. It was a lot of fun, and I like that they did it just as a means to get to know some more local artists, rather than staking a lot on it. It had an excellent turn-out, too, which was a breath of fresh air after practically nobody came to see Peter and the Starcatcher. Overall it looks to me like ETC is on the right path and they have both a good idea of what to do, and the team to execute.

The next project I worked on the next month was B3's Seventh Festival of Shorts. It was actually very similar to ETC's arrangement - and performed in the same place as well. The only major difference I can think of, in terms of the work I did, was that this one wanted us to be memorized. However, I have mixed feelings about the shorts themselves... the first major glaring problem is that there were nine shorts. Some of which were almost 20 minutes, and a few others that were short and sweet. All nine shorts together made the show almost three hours long, which is WAY too long for a production like this. In fact, there were originally supposed to be ten shorts! On top of that, the order of the shows was far from the best and here's why:

• Act 1 opened with a low-energy short that went on much longer than it needed to,
• Act 1 ended on an incredibly heavy and somber note,
• Act 2 was longer than act 1, and not by an insignificant amount,

Maybe it comes from my experience doing a lot of performances like this in college, but there's a lot of solutions. Here's a few that I wish they'd thought of:

• The strongest show (in my opinion) was second-to-last. It should have either been last, or moved to open or close act 1.
• The last show could have been made the first. It was the one I was in, and it was fun to close the show, but by that time in the night the audience was exhausted and wanted to go home.
• Swap the first two shows, so it opens on a high-energy and audience interactive note.
• Enforce a time limit on each short. I have a high level of faith that they'll do this next time anyway.

Maybe there was something going on that required this order to be the case. I don't know. But nonetheless I'm surprised that these mistakes were made... did nobody push back? Out of all nine directors of the shorts, out of all the board members who were present, out of all the collective years of experience, did nobody think about what the show as a whole would be like? At least the turnout was decent, and the people were fun - although because of how the place was laid out, and how many actors had to be there, and how even the smallest peep would be heard by the audience... it was a little hard to get comfortable. All in all I did enjoy it, and I think I did good work for it. I do like B3, but sometimes it feels like a hit or miss. To be fair, this show was the first one by the new artistic director, so it could've been worse. And it's just community theatre, so who am I to complain? Maybe I should aim higher.

Speaking of B3, my next project is with them as well - They'll Love You For It by Ilana Lydia. We're going into tech week soon, and I'm not sure what to expect yet. On one hand, I think the show is quite powerful and makes some strong statements... on the other hand, I'm concerned about scene changes totally mangling any good momentum we might gather. I think the cast as a whole is strong and there isn't anybody I'm concerned about. The play is written in a similar way to Cannibal Diaries, with a lot of scene changes, ambiguous staging, and a lot of one-time characters. We'll see how it turns out over the events of tech week. So much of it, in my mind, is going to depend on our venue... I just really have my fingers crossed that they're pushing the show hard enough that we'll have a decent turnout, and that the venue will have enough space for the operation.

Anyway, I'm doing well. I've been working on shows continuously since Cannibal Diaries last October - it seems like right at the end of each show, a new opportunity comes around. I've been having great luck on casting too for the most part. I have my next projects lined up now too, so I won't be out of projects until about the end of August... subject to change of course. Now if only all these shows paid me enough to survive!