SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON!!

Sorry I have not been able to write - It has been a crazy few days and today was a challenging day - much to report, just give me a couple of days. School is over tomorrow so then I can breathe again =+)

Cheers

Martin

TRUE FRIENDS

My wonderful friends Kristin & Courtney Stokes came to see the show tonight and it really meant a lot to me. Those are true friends, folks - and I include all of you who have come seen the play. I am really proud of the work that I am doing in this show as well as the entire production so it's wonderful to see friends come out to see the work. A lot of people have said that they were coming to see the show but alas they have not. Don't worry I won't name names....but as the saying goes "an elephant never forgets!"

Only three more performances left and I am already sad. I try to make my peace with a show closing before it ends so I don't feel too bad. I will miss performing the play, my fellow actors, the laughter that fills Diahanna & Martin's dressing room, our wonderful stage manager, everyone at the Stage Company - seriously folks no BS - I love it there.

I have been very blessed, I can honestly say that the last 2 years have been heaven when it comes to theatre (except of course for a certain musical I did some time ago - something with "little" and "night" in the title but THAT's a different story - read it in my upcoming autobiography: "YES! Everything's Coming Up Roses for me so...Fuck You!" =+) Just kidding. I'm tired and have been doing too much thinking this week - don't you hate it when that happens? The show will close on Sunday, I will have my finals, and I have my final exam on Tuesday evening and then I can breathe again. Okay It's almost 2 AM so I better get to bed before I start making more sassy remarks.

=+)

M

Did I say "sassy"? Sorry - I meant saucy.

LAST WEEK

We began our final five performances last night to a very enthusiastic crowd. I am going to miss performing this show and the people involved - I have truly loved this experience. After last night's performance there was a high school acting class there and even though we weren't forced to have a talk-back with them, most of us stayed to answer their questions. We were each asked to give the kids some advice regarding the theatre and I said what I heartily believe - dedication, perseverance and above all respect for the art in others, in yourself and respect for everyone that works in the theatre. It was cool.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

Let me start off by saying that this has been a difficult week for a number of reasons, I find myself getting very "snippy" and I actually have to apologize to someone today for my being "snippy." Thank God that I recognized that in myself because I do not like the person I become when I am "snippy."

On Tuesday evening I drove to the city to see Kathleen Turner & Bill Irwin in the touring production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It was an extraordinary experience in the theatre and one that I will not soon forget. This was theatre at its best. Kathleen Turner did a marvelous job as Martha but I was most impressed with Bill Irwin's carefully selected choices as George. Now I know why he won the Tony for this performance - it was inspirational and I really needed that this week.

I really connected with the character of George and I hope to someday be able to play the part. In a scene where Martha & Nick are seducing one another in front of George, I found myself getting angry because I myself have experienced that in the past - the anger that George feels - but he finds the most horrific way to get Martha back for her betrayal. Did I mention I want to play this part already?!!

As the younger couple, Kathleen Early and David Furr are terrific and are well paired with Turner & Irwin.

I think I've mentioned this before but I saw Kathleen Turner on Broadway in a play called Indiscretions when I was 17 years old - and the only time I have been to New York. Indiscretions hailed a GREAT cast - Cynthia Nixon (who would go on to be in Sex & The City), a then unknown Jude Law (he was NAKED on stage!!! =+), the brilliant Roger Rees and Ms. Turner who was the only cast member who wasn't nominated for a Tony that year - and I can understand why. The part just wasn't right for her - or at least she didn't give herself to the role like she does with Martha.

After that performance on Broadway, I of course was in the prime of my "wait for the star at the stage door" phase and was patiently waiting for Ms. Tuner to come out (Raquel Welch was in the audience that night) and Ms. Turner came out looking like she knocked back a few - she looked like that on stage as well - although I can't confirm that. I asked for a picture with her and in a friendly manner I put my arm around her and she said to me" I am a happily married woman. Happily." I wasn't trying to cop a feel - she was Kathleen Turner. My Dad who was with me thought she was rude, especially when she refused to sign an autograph for someone who didn't have a program of the play. This is the mentioned photo (we were BOTH thinner then =+)

After seeing Woolf on Tuesday night I really didn't want to meet Ms. Turner again (although I would have LOVED to have seen the look on her face, if I showed her the picture I still have taken that night on Broadway, her looking like she's seen better days), I thought about waiting to meet Mr. Irwin to tell him how brilliant I thought he was but I was just too wound up in emotion. I left the theatre shaking - not something I easily experience. I walked to my car and took a deep sigh before entering. As I was driving down 6th Street to get on the freeway I started to sob, thank God that happened because I was wrapped in too much emotion - maybe it was a combination of all the stuff that's in my head right now and the power of theatre - at any rate it was a wonderful evening and I highly recommend you see this production before it leaves town.

A WONDERFUL RECITAL

I was beyond exhausted last night when I drove to perform at my friend Julia Louise Hosack's recital but I was really happy to be there. Julia did an amazing program of opera & musical theatre songs. Her rendition of Jason Robert Brown's Christmas Lullaby was one of the best I have ever heard. Our duet from Most Happy Fella was beautiful and it was a real pleasure to sing with her.

Oh P.S. By the way - only 5 more performances of The White House Murder Case.

NEW HEADSHOT

I have been using the same headshot for years and it's sad because I don't look like that anymore - and guess what: LOTS of actors don't look like their headshots so I was thrilled to have new headshots taken by the amazing Dave LePori - I chose this one - I think it captures who I am - flaws and all. =+)

We had a great show and audience last night - our Thursday & Friday night crowds were a bit quiet so it was nice to have a responsive audience again. It's amazing - I find that every audience is never the same but with this play - they laugh are different things. The subject matter is sometimes not a laughing matter and I have heard from people that they laugh and then feel guilty for laughing which is great - even though the play is a hilarious satire it is also a sad reality of how corrupt the government is.

Tonight I will be singing at my friend Julia's recital - I am going to sing a duet with her (My Heart is So Full of You from Most Happy Fella.) I am very tired - by Sunday night I am so tired I don't want to move. The play is not physically demanding but it does require to be mentally present and by Sunday I am just a wee bit tired (not to mention school & all the other crap I do during the week.)

Alright kids - that's all for now.

Have a great week y'all!

=+)

Martin

p.s. Only 7 more days of school left before the semester is OVER!!

WELCOME NEW BLOGGER

My friend Jon Rosen, who is directing HAIR this summer in San Jose has a blog about the production - here is the link. Check it out!

RESPONSE TO 'DYING TO PLAY"

My friend, fellow performer & blogger Andrea St. Clair was inspired by my "dying to play" entry that she lists her list of roles in her blog. Check it out. Please feel free to e-mail me yours and I will happily post them here.

=+)

M.

ROLLING ALONG

Last night my friend Julia & I went to see TheatreWork's production of Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. I am a bit divided on how I feel about the show because even though the production is out of this world - Kelley's direction and his amazing production team, terrific casting with three amazing lead performers, a delicious band led by Billy Liberatore and of course those Sondheim gems (Not a Day Goes By, Good Thing Going, Like It Was, Now You Know, Our Time) the show... just doesn't really work. It's no surprise that the show failed on Broadway and all subsequent efforts have not really worked either.

Rolling backwards from 1976 to 1957 - the show (with a flawed book by George Furth) doesn't roll along like a musical should. The show lags and you just don't really care about the main characters enough so sit through the musical (although Act II is a lot better in pace.) Kudos to TheatreWorks for reviving this piece after producing it twenty years ago and making the very best of the material. True Sondheim aficionados will LOVE the show and the theme - "how do you get to be who you are?" - and the production itself is terrific, after all Robert Kelley is the best Sondheim interpreter director in the Bay Area.

It was wonderful to see so many local actors in the production - kudos to Leslie Martinson for seeing there is so much terrific talent here in the Bay Area! Of course having said - New York actor Damon Kirsche is dynamite as Franklin Shephard. I was introduced to Mr. Kirsche after the show and he was so gracious - not to mention incredibly handsome =+).

My friends Robbie Brewer, Diana Torres Koss, Stephan Smith Collins & Jackson Davis were terrifc and Robbie works his number Franklin Shephard Inc - those lyrics alone!! Bravo Robbie!! I was most impressed with Molly Bell's portrayal of Mary Flynn who was the character I really connected with. It was the reprise of Not a Day Goes By - sung as a trio with Molly off to the side singing about her unrequited love that really got me and of course the closing song - Our Time. Molly also gave great pizazz to her song Now You Know.

When I went to see this - I really wanted to like it (I am a great Sondheim admirer - I've studied him for goodness sake) and I did - I can't praise the production enough -but compared to other Sondheim material like Passion, Sweeney, Night Music, Forum, Into the Woods, Sunday in Park... this show just doesn't roll along for me.

Photo by: David Allen

TEARS IN HEAVEN

What the fuck is wrong with people?!!!! My heart goes out to the victims & their families of the tragedy that happened today at Virginia Tech as well as the rest of the students, staff & faculty. I am not hearing much on the news regarding the fact that eight years ago this happened at Columbine - when are these sick fucks going to stop? When will gun control be finally something that we don't have to worry about in this country? Things like this should not happen - EVER. If you are unhappy with your life - fine - but do not take it out on innocent people. I am so angry about this - now more than ever because I am a University student and I don't ever want to think about being gunned down in class - no one should.

AN AWESOME DAY

The family came to see the show and they loved it - we had one of our best houses too. The theatre was packed and the discussion after was great. We headed down to my new favorite San Jose restaurant - Original Joe's which I love - the food is amazing. Stop by before June 4 when they'll be closing for renovations for three months. Here's a great pic of all of us in the lobby - check out the awesome production shots behind us:

FAMILY DAY

So I am a bit nervous because the family is coming to see the play today and they haven't seen me to a "play" well since I did Tom Stoppard's Hapgood when I was 18 years old. You do the math. Today there will also be a discussion with the cast, director & audience after the performance.

I forgot to mention that I just had new headshots done - my first set of professional shots (the one I have been using for years was taken by a semi-professional photographer who worked at Max's and I do not look like that anymore) these pictures were taken by the great Dave LePori who took our production shots of The White House Murder Case and is the resident photographer at the Stage Company - and from what I saw - I don't look half bad. I really don't like seeing pictures of me but I love these. I will post the one I choose here soon.

In other theatre news - TheatreWorks has snagged the great Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Reefer Madness, Wicked) for the New Works Festival - amazing. In the New Works Festival (besides my friend Courtney) are also her sis Kristin Stokes, my Urinetown pals Darrin Glesser & Austin Ku. I really wish I could see this but alas I will be performing when they are as well.

Okay must get ready for show.

=+)

M.

AVENUE Q!!!

I can't believe I bought tickets for something that is 4 months away but I had to get good seats to see AVENUE Q. I might have to see this one twice because I love this show. Yay!! I got two front row Loge seast - which is fan-fucking-tastic.

I totally forgot that yesterday was Friday the 13th. After the show I put on my SAW III DVD and realized that it was much cooler in the movie theater.

I was supposed to see Showboat at BBBAY today but slept in and slept some more and before I realized - it was almost 2 PM. Oops.

Tomorrow is a huge day because my family is coming to see the play and this will be the first professional production my Dad sees me in - which is way cool. =+)

Okay - that's all for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend

=+)

Martin

CATCHING UP

Hello everyone - I hope y'all are doing well. Not much to report - the show is going good - we had a great performance tonight. I am having way too much fun with my pal Diahanna Davidson who plays the first lady. We share one of the dressing rooms and we just crack each other up. She was just cast as the infamous Alexa Vere de Veer in Dragon Production's upcoming As Bees in Honey Drown - she is a superstar. I love our little scene in the play.

I am going to see some theatre this month - I realized that I haven't had the time to see many shows this year but this month I will be seeing Broadway By The Bay's Showboat (this will be the third production I see of this musical - I love it) then of course TheatreWorks' Merrily We Roll Along and I managed to get a seat to see Kathleen Turner & Bill Irwin in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

That's all for now.

=+)

Martin

p.s. Have you gotten your tickets to see The White House Murder Case yet?!

WHITE HOUSE MURDER CASE - REVIEWS

Metro

San Jose Mercury News

A NICE DAY

Today was a good day.

That's all

=+)

M.

AN OPENING NIGHT TO REMEMBER

For some reason at around 5:30 PM panic officially set in and the ass-kicking machine started where fear & doubt clouded my better judgement. As I drove to the theatre I wondered if this was it- could this be the end of my career?! You fellow actors will know what I am talking about - at least the humble ones. Before every performance I always say "what am I doing here? I have no talent!!!" It keeps me grounded =+)

When I walked into the theatre I was overwhelmed by the beautiful pictures that Dave LePori took of the production - they are stunning. I couldn't believe my eyes - there in the lobby of the Stage Company was a full poster picture of ME - and all I could think about was years ago and me driving around downtown San Jose and driving by the Stage Company and saying "someday I hope to work here" and to be working there for the second time in a great play with a delicious role and a dream cast - too much emotion to hide.

I had to fight back tears AGAIN when Randy made his toast on stage - a tradition at the Stage Company and when Rick Singleton presented all of us with a beautiful card & present that reminded me that even though the play is a satire - it is also a sad reality of the worl we live in today.

Our opening night performance was amazing - we were ALL on tonight and the audience went right there with us. It was a great feeling. My friend Julia Louise-Hosack and her Mom were my guests and I was thrilled to see my beloved friend Dottie Lester-White and my fellow Urinetown pal Klhar Thorsen. We all headed down to Eulipia - which as many of you know is the place where I had major drama once before - so I still went and sat with Dottie & her friend Barbara and we had a great time - of course I was nowhere near the bar =+) besides - after the performance I celebrated with a few shots of Gentleman Jack whiskey (which if you know me is as BUTCH as I can get) - I had a toast with my man Kevin Blackton and also Randy King and went to the boys dressing room where Gary Martinez & Michael Storm joined in as well.

So the question is- Is my career over? Hardly - if anything it is just beginning. I am glad that these feelings of doubt & fear stay with me because I never want to be one of those cocky actors (there are so many I could mention) - using that nervous energy gave me the courage to go out there and give a performance that I could be proud of. Tonight for the first time in a long while - I felt proud of myself and more importantly of the work that I care so much about. It was a wonderful night and one that I will not soon forget. Here's to many more of these wonderful opening nights!

=+)

Martin

AND NOW IT'S.....

OPENING NIGHT!! I am so glad rehearsals are OVER!! This has been a most trying week. We have had great preview audiences and I am glad that there is a lot more humor in the show than I thought. My friends who came to see previews really enjoyed the show. We had a rough preview last night but I think it was because we were all beyond exhausted. I am feeling fresh & alive for tonight's opening gala.

Have you ever had an actor's nightmare? I had one last night. I dreamt that all of a sudden we had all new dialogue (which of course I had never seen before) and was panicking to learn them before the performance. Of course when I woke up I realized that everything was okay and it was just a nightmare. It's nice to have a jolt of a nightmare to keep you on your toes.

Okay I have some errands to run before tonight so I must go. And all of you who have no plans for Easter - how about coming to our 2 PM matinee? There's an idea!

=+)

Have a wonderful Easter weekend all

Martin

FIRST PREVIEW DOWN

We had our first audience last night and they were a great crowd. It was really funny to hear them laugh about things we never thought were funny. It was a good show - we still have two more daytime rehearsals and two more previews before our opening night and I am very excited about our work. I sincrely hope all you blog readers are planning on seeing this one.

=+)

M.

WHITE HOUSE MURDER CASE INFO

This is all the info for the show - hope you can make it:

THE WHITE HOUSE MURDER CASE
by Jules Feiffer
directed by Ray Garrett
production stage manager: Beverly Grant-Walsh*

Featuring: Kevin Blackton*, Randall King*, Gary S. Martinez*, William Ontiveros*, Michael Craig Storm*, Diahanna Davidson, Mark J. Hetrick, Kevin Kennedy, Bruce Kerans and Martin Rojas-Dietrich

*Members of Actors Equity Association

About the play:

Jules Feiffer's incisive satire is aimed at the war posture of the United States of the future. This year's war is in Brazil where an American poison gas attack backfires. On the eve of an election, the President is worried about how to explain the presence of the gas in the U.S. peace arsenal. While a staunch old general, blinded and crippled by war, demonstrates, by his stoicism, the idiocy of outmoded codes, the cabinet concocts a cock and bull story for the people.

Previews - April 4-6, 2007
Opening Night - April 7, 2007
Closing Night - April 26, 2007
Wednesday & Thursday shows at 7:30 pm, Friday & Saturday shows at 8 pm and Sunday Matinees at 2 pm.

Ticket Prices:
Wednesday/Thursday Preview $20
Friday Preview $24
Saturday Opening Night Gala $45*
Wednesday Evenings $28
Thursday Evenings $30
Friday Evenings $35
Saturday Evenings $40
Sunday Matinees $30

Single ticket discounts are available for students, seniors, and groups of ten or more.For special group rates, please contact the Box Office at 408-283-7142

*The Saturday Opening Night Gala includes an hors d'oeuvre reception with Cast and Company after the performance.

You can also try Artsopolis for discounted prices for some of the performances.

www.sanjosestage.com

DYING TO PLAY

I was recently asked what are my dream musical roles. I wish I would have had more time to think about the question. Now that I have have some time to ponder - this is my top ten list of roles & shows I’d kill to do:

1) PSEUDOLOUS in A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum.
A dream role of mine for years. I was supposed to play it a few years back and for reasons I can’t go into at this time - It didn’t work out. I know, I know - To quote Sinatra:"Regrets, I’ve had a few..."

2) SWEENEY TODD - I know I’m probably too big but hey - a guy can dream can’t he?

3) EDNA TURNBLAD in Hairspray. I also want to play everything Harvery Fierstein has ever played.

4) MAX BIALISTOCK in The Producers. I also want to play everything Nathan Lane has ever played.

5) EULALIE MACKEKNIE SHINN in The Music Man. Just so I could say "Balzac!" Can you see it? Maybe I'll get to do it at some dinner theatre in Iowa somewhere =+)

6) ANYTHING WRITTEN BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM especially his musical reviews Side by Side by Sondheim and Putting It Together. Oh and Passion.

7) MAN OF LA MANCHA. I know I’ll probably play every part in this show but Don Quixote. I sure do love singing Don Quixote’s songs though.

8) THE EMCEE in Cabaret. Again - we’re still dreaming.

9) ALBIE in La Cage Aux Folles. To be able to sing "I am What I Am" - I’d die.

10) TEVYE in Fiddler. My friend Alex Bootzin told me once. "You’ll play this part in your forties and you’ll play the f*#@ out of it." Hope he’s right. Oh yeah and I also want to play everything Zero Mostel has ever played.

What are yours?

=+)

M.