Plays & movies, movies & plays

I saw two great movies and one awesome play this weekend -

1. Source Code - starring Jake Gylenhall this is one of those mind-f&*# movies - a soldier wakes up in the body of an unknown man, later to realize he is part of a mission to find the bomber of a train - hard to explain - but fun fact, Michael Arden, who stars in the film, was an old friend from Interlochen Arts Camp - I had no idea he was in it till I saw his name in the credits at the beginning!

2. I've begun to get comps for some Broadway shows - and I was lucky enough to get to see The Motherf**ker with the Hat - a wonderful play starring Chris Rock & Bobby Cannavale. Bobby plays a recovering alcoholic, and Chris Rock is his sponsor - In the first scene Bobby's character gets a new job and comes home to celebrate with his girlfriend (who is an addict) - They are about to have sex and while she is in the shower he discovers a man's hat on the table - of course he is immediately suspicious that she is having an affair, and the action ensues - wonderful play and AMAZING acting from Bobby Cannavale & newcomer Elizabeth Rodriguez.

3. New movie Hanna - AWESOME - it features an icy Cate Blanchett and wonderful young actress Saoirse Ronan - who also played Susie Salmon in "Lovely Bones" a few years ago 

Pitmen Painters

Went to a great play tonight on Broadway - The Pitmen Painters - knew one of the understudies in the cast. Wow it was great!

Afterwards went out with one of the cast members and her friend. They are from England and they wanted to go to Shrine (where I've played a few shows) - We went and caught the end of this Reggae band, and then there was a DJ playing some awesome throw back stuff. It was great!!

Weekend

has been pretty uneventful. Lots of sleeping/relaxing.

Hung out with my friend Demond Nason at his awesome apartment in Astoria.

He cooked some salmon and we watched "Inglorious Basterds," awesome movie! I love Quentin Tarantino!

Saturday I went to see my friend in a play at the Cringefest at the Producer's Club. Silly fun!!

My Custom Van

I went and saw a great play that my friend Ruark Downey is in, called "My Custom Van," written by Michael Ian Black. It was on the Upper West Side, which was kinda random, but a cool little place called The Drilling Company Theatre.

Afterwards, I met up with Cara for the last time before she goes on her cruise ship!

We went to Lime Jungle, an awesome cheap but sit-down, really good quality Mexican restaurant. Amazing corn on the cob appetizer, quesadillas, and tacos. Afterwards, we went to Holey Cream AGAIN for ice cream.

BLOODSONG

Bloggity-blog-blog...

My day was pretty great, how was yours?

Got some errands done, getting flyers printed, sat in the park for a little bit and had some of my favorite Dunkin' Donuts blueberry iced coffee...

Tried to schedule freakin' rehearsals for my release party, and it's so hard! Everyone's schedule is so wonky, it's hard to find time that works for everybody. AAAH!!! We all so busy! But it's good. We still have time.....I have to BREATHE....

THERAPY.....is great....

I went to see my friend Lance Rubin in the play "Bloodsong of Love."

It's a spaghetti western musical, and it was really fun & funny, and there was lots of blood. In fact, the front 2 rows were a little cheaper, because they are considered "splatter zones." HAHA, they give you ponchos, and you get splattered on. Fun!!

Then we got ice cream at this place on 9th @ 50-something, by "Eatery"

It's called "Holey Cream"

Soooo good, they have amazing birthday cake ice cream

Album is here!!!

Forgot to write in my blog yesterday......what was I thinking??

CD's have arrived!!!!

I have about 1,080 CD's in my apartment in boxes.....That's right, "Suitcases" has landed!

Today I did a show with "The Story Pirates" at the Drama Bookshop in midtown, including some songs such as "I Like to go alot to school" and "Killer Pineapples of Hawaii." HAHA.

Then I did a gig with "The Bloodsugars" in West Babylon (Long Island) at Looney Tunes record store, for Record Store Day. It was an acoustic set. There were a bunch of high school kids really into it which was cute.

I went to my friend's play tonight in Queens, "Vampire Lesbians of Sodom," a Charles Busch play. So funny!! I was "tee-hee"-ing a whole lot! Afterwards, we went to the diner and I got down with some pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Yeeeee-ah!!!!

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

* Met Devin Bing in the morning to go over some of my music for my gig on Saturday. I met him last week for the first time, and looking forward to writing some music with him as well as performing together. I think our voices will sound great together, and he is a sick keys player, big into jazz, which works for me.

Tonight I saw the show Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Public Theater. It was awesome! It's like an emo-rock musical based on the life of Andrew Jackson, who was president during Native American displacement, Trail of Tears, etc. It was really funny, twisted, and at times dark & real. I definitely recommend it!

One of my friends was in the play, which is was took me to see it, but then I realized that I knew the guy who was playing the lead, Benjamin Walker. We went to school together at Interlochen Center for the Arts years ago. Great guy, and great performer. He used to go by Ben Davis, so I was confused at first, but then I realized, sure enough, it was him!

Sweat, theater, & Erin Christine

Went to Bikram Yoga Lower East Side again today....but it was ROUGH.....I dunno if it was from the BBQ's last night (see pictures on previous blog entry) or I'm just feeling a little under the weather. But I made it through, and of course, sweat a ton.

I went and saw my friend Mike Crane in the play "Brack's Last Bachelor Party," at 59e59 theater. He is a brilliant actor, and I'm so proud to know him.

Was talking tonight on Facebook with Erin Christine, an amazing singer & artist who has been rocking it in NYC, doing live shows. She offered me a lot of encouragement, as I needed a little uplift. We are both working really hard, and though sometimes I feel a little crazy trying to do this whole artist thing, it is something I enjoy, and like she said, you just gotta keep working harder, and maintain a positive outlook. Thanks Erin! She has a show this coming Tuesday at the Bitter End.