Friends!

Hey gang!

My life has come to this: dipping delicious italian bread in a jar of peanut butter. How did this happen? I don't know, but it's actually pretty delicious. Some may say, "Choosey Moms, Choose JIF", but I'm getting dippy with some Skippy and I must say: me likey!

I've just returned home after another night in a darken theatre. This evening, however, was spent in Broadway's newest house: Henry Miller's Theatre. Currently, the first-ever revival of Bye, Bye Birdie is taking up residence here, but only until this Sunday. Produced by Roundabout Theatre Company, it features a pretty impressive ensemble of celebrities headed by none other than John "Uncle Jesse" Stamos and Gina "Showgirls" Gershon. I'm sure Ms. Gershon wouldn't appreciate that reference, but I wasn't sure how many of you would be able to pin point her if I said "Face/Off" instead... Anyway, both actors were pretty decent and had their very own shining moments. But I must admit that this show belongs to Bill Irwin as the father of a small-town girl chosen to receive a kiss from Conrad Birdie (an Elvis-wannabe). Mr. Irwin not only steals the show with his perfect mix of neurosis and slap-stick, but he's one hell of a nice guy to meet at the stage door. Yes, theatre dorks, I met BILL IRWIN! And he's awesome! And yes, non-theatre dorks, I met John Stamos! He is equally as kind but was on his way out the door to meet a huge crowd of adoring fans (mostly middle-aged women...). Before I close off this paragraph, I do need to mention the kids in this production. They really do command the stage and make the most of every second on time. Since they took up residency at the theatre, I've been privileged to get to meet a lot of them and admire them. This is probably mostly due to the fact that they have my life, but I won't hold that against them. Great job to all involved!

On subject of shows, I forgot to mention the most incredibly emotional theatrical experience of the year: HAIR!!! As I mentioned in an early post, my friends Sean and Amanda bought me an incredible ticket to see HAIR for Christmas/my birthday. As expected, I cried during "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In". A few years ago, I saw a production of HAIR at Miami, but I believe there were substantial cuts for that production, I'm not sure. However, the entire show is pretty random in its structure, but is powerful in so many ways. The music and story are wonderfully interwoven, but it's the complete dedication of the cast to each and every word that makes this show such an phenomenal treasure for an audience. Most importantly, after the ensemble moves the audience to tears singing "Let the Sunshine In" at the end, they come back on stage, the band starts it up again, and the cast invites audience members to join them onstage for a dance party. I know what you're thinking: Nick wouldn't go up there, he's too shy. BULLSHIT! You KNOW I did! I looked out into the audience of the Al Hirshfeld Theatre and knew that was exactly what I wanted to see for the rest of my life. But the evening didn't end there, I proceeded out of the theatre and over to the same stage door where I met David Hyde Pierce after Curtains a few years ago. But tonight, belonged to the tribe of HAIR. Each and every single person came out and signed each Playbill or poster or whatever people wanted signed. More importantly, they listened to each person's reaction to the show and looked each person in the eye and said, "Thank you" in a beautifully genuine tone. They've had this very same reaction for almost a year now--some of them for longer since they've been with this production since it premiere at the Public Theatre during the summer of 2008--and yet, they seem to never tire of the power their performances have. I really admire them all for their candor and for their "leave-it-all-out-there" performances. Peace, Love, and HAIR!

This past weekend saw the return of someone to my life it had definitely been missing: the Morgmaster! My good friend from college Morgan was in town visiting with a friend and she was kind enough to pencil me in for some time. We got to hang out at my place, then we had dinner at my restaurant, then we--wait for it--went to a show! As Morgan was a psychology major in school, we decided on Next to Normal as an appropriate show. As you may remember, I saw N2N back in November with KTD and Emily. However, seeing a show a second time has never been so wonderful! More than anything it was great to spend the evening with a good friend I haven't seen for quite a long time. Morgmaster, let's please not spend so much time apart?

UPDATE: So last week I told you all that I got my first role in a reading called A House Divided. Well, unless you stalk me on facebook, you may know that I've also been cast in readings of FOUR OTHER SCREENPLAYS! It's incredibly exciting, brilliantly humbling, and fanastically schedule bulking. Fo rizzle: I have so little free time between now and the end of the month since I'll be reading up on 5 scripts. Thankfully, one isn't all that involved and I don't have that much to learn. The down side is that I've only seen two of the scripts, so I have no clue as to how involved the rest of my work will be. More to come...

In other news, I recently rejoined the human race in Netflix. More importantly, I've joined race of laughing humans by watching 30 Rock. In about three sittings, I watched the ENTIRE first season. Holy crap! It's so good, it's making me like Tracy Morgan, which if you know me at all know that I do NOT find Tracy Morgan funny--so that's saying something. Furthermore, I have received the first two discs of season 2 of Mad Men. I've already given the first season a try and wasn't all that impressed because it didn't feel like anything really happened, but I'm willing to give it another shot to win me over.

And just as an added bonus for making it this far, I present to you my good "friend" Susan Blackwell in her own Broadway.com series entitled "Side By Side By Susan Blackwell". Basically, the handsome lady hangs out with her fantastic act-y friends and asks them random questions that are HI-larious! (My new life goal is to lick or be licked by Susan Blackwell) Enjoy!

http://www.broadway.com/videos/all/side-by-side-by-susan-blackwell-episode-two-gavin-creel-beth-leavel-kelli-ohara/

Happy Adventures!

My first role!

Happy (Not-so) Monday everyone!

YES! As the title reads, I have been cast in my first role! Don't jump up and down just yet, it's a part in a screenplay reading for a master class. But Nick, what does that mean? I'll tell you! It means that a bunch of writers are taking a master class from an established writer that has chosen to enlighten the world of these young writers with his knowledge of writing. What this means for me is that they need actors to play out these scripts. I was chosen for a script entitled A House Divided. I have no idea what the story is about, nor do I know anything about my character. Right now, the only information I know is what has already been mentioned and the date of the reading: Saturday, January 30 at 1 PM in the Bridge Theatre (I don't even know where that is...) I'LL GOOGLE IT! [Please wait while Nick googles "Bridge Theatre NYC"...]

[Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your "regularly scheduled" blog.]

The Bridge Theatre is part of the Shelter Studios home on 54th St. in Manhattan. It's not big, but will be the first "professional" acting I'll do in NYC! Can you say "excited"?!?!

In other news, I don't even know if I mentioned this before, but I got an iPhone just before flying back to NYC. I like the phone, I'm not happy with AT&T's service. Hence, I dumped AT&T and have gone back to Verizon where they have given me a great deal on the new Droid phone. I'll let you know how this goes.

In other other news, I've already bought my ticket for my next trip back to Ohio which will be March 16-23. Look out Ohio, I'm comin' for ya!

Not a whole lot else going on recently. I haven't been to the gym in two weeks and it's starting to annoy me, so I'm definitely going after work tomorrow--NO QUESTIONS ASKED! Hey Nick, you wanna go to a movie after work tomorrow? No, kid, I gotta go to the gym!

Happy Adventures!

A new year and I'm already slacking...

Happy New Years everyone!

2010. Honestly, where are the hover-boards and such that were predicted to be around in the Back to the Future movies? Those would have come in good use once I got back to NYC last week: there were a few extra million people in the city for New Year's Eve and I have never seen so little of the pavement as I walked from the train to my restaurant. It was unbelievable, at the very least. I've never been impatient around tourists, but I seriously just wanted to maul them all down so they'd get out of my way. Definitely a new feeling to me. Life was thrown into hyperdrive as soon as I hit the pavement upon getting back and it didn't let up until I got home around 9 pm on Saturday after my third straight double. (This included one 16-hour day on New Year's Eve. In Times Square. Life. Sucks.)

There was a bright, shining few moments between all the madness:

1) After work on Wednesday, I met up with Skittles and his family for dinner. I hadn't seen him since the weekend before I moved in August and let me tell you, I think I missed this guy more than anyone. Have you ever had a friend that never really had to get to know, you just knew the minute you met that this was one person you wanted to be around for the rest of your life? (I just read that and I realize it sounds very I-like-it-so-I-should-put-a-ring-on-it.) That's exactly how it was when I met him over three years ago when he arrived at the New Guy party for Club. It seemed like he was just happy to be wherever he was. I told him while we were sitting at dinner that it was the moment I first met him outside Western Lodge that I decided I wanted him to be my Little. Quite possibly in my Top 5 Best Decisions. Which, of course, has made the last two years being away from Miami even more difficult. In that time Skittles has become Vice President of Club (a position I held four years ago), a Student Conductor, and Musical Director of Cheezies, not to mention some kind of icon around campus. (Don't deny it, dude: YOU ARE!) Seriously, everyone knows him. Anyway, dinner was great with him and, it seemed, his entire family tree. After dinner they went off to see Finian's Rainbow, which I have already seen so I opted out of it. However, we did get to meet for breakfast the next morning and got to have more time to catch up, which just made me miss having that time all the time even MORE. Oh, well. I'll see you in March, bud...

2) While Skittles and his family went to Finian's Rainbow, I made my way up to 52nd St. to see the current revival of Ragtime which has recently announced a premature closing date. The first time I saw Ragtime, I drove down to Lynchburg, VA, with my friends Charles, Charlie, and Amy to surprise Brad (all high school friends). Even at this small school with immense talent and little budget to spend on their productions, I knew this was a very special show. Cut to me losing count of how many times I was moved to tears during the nearly 3 hours I sat in the Neil Simon Theatre experiencing one of the most incredible theatrical productions I have EVER seen. Everything was great. Everyone was great. It was great. I only wish there was a word that could accurately describe how sublime this show is. The energy in the theatre was tangible just waiting for the show to start. As soon as the lights started to dim the audience erupted with cheers and applause. Each number got bigger applause than the previous one which constantly built until the end of the show. As soon as the lights blacked out for the end of the show, everyone in the theatre jumped to their feet. The cacophony of sound rose with each bow until it culminated with a sound that could only signal the entrance of a stage legend. However, instead it was a young man named Quentin Earl Darrington making his Broadway debut in the lead role of Coalhouse Walker Jr. This is a moment I will never forget for as long as I live. Mr. Darrington gives nothing short of a career-making performance and should most definitely be practicing his acceptance speeches which he is sure to make come awards seasons. This man became a star right before our eyes on the stage and even from the second-to-last row of the audience I could see the tears streaming down his face as he came up from his bow. This is what I hope to achieve: move people to the point that their reaction moves me to tears.

3) The money was good.

But now, the tourists are gone and things have already begun to normalize in life: my sleep schedule actually exists and there is no more money to be made at the restaurant, which sucks. I may be looking for more gainful employment for the next few months.

I remember thinking this week that there was so much I needed to write about in this blog, but I guess not as much as I thought. However, I would like to give a shout out to my buddy Brenton that informed me that he is an avid reader of this blog and, dude, I am so happy you do.

Happy Adventures!