AWAY IT ROLLED: a reading of a new play

I've wanted to produce a reading of Dan Kitrosser's new play AWAY IT ROLLED (formerly known as A FEW THINGS BEFORE I LEAVE YOU) for a long time, and it finally happened! Dan is a good friend and one of the most talented and unique playwrights of his generation.

Here's the plot: on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Eddie breaks up with his caustic comedian girlfriend Holly. When Eddie asks his (mostly) gay brother Hugh, an art dealer, to retrieve some books from his apartment, the mutual animosity between Holly and Hugh bursts into an affair that somehow seems terribly, awfully, horribly right. AWAY IT ROLLED is a comedy and a drama about how much it actually takes to move on.

Sherri Eden Barber was our director, and get a load of this cast: Michael Chernus (ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) played Eddie, and Clea Alsip (BOARDWALK EMPIRE) played Holly. I played the role of Hugh, and the role of Michael was played by the magnificent Jovan A. Davis. Lacy Allen added her talents as our reader of stage directions. 

We had a successful and well-received reading on May 12 at Ripley-Grier Studios in New York.

From L to R: Michael Chernus, Clea Alsip, Dan Kitrosser, Sherri Eden Barber, Matt W Cody, Lacy Allen, Jovan A. Davis

Accents of IRELAND

Last month was time for another accent class with Jane Guyer-Fujita at Primary Stages/ESPA! This was my second time working with Jane on accents of Ireland; specifically Dublin and cities in Western Ireland.

Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin, was my Dublin accent sample, and I worked on a text from The Lieutenant of Inishmore by Martin McDonagh for Western Ireland.

BLUE BLOODS - Season 7

I shot a co-star role on the long-time CBS hit series BLUE BLOODS in February and the episode aired April 7. I play a City Council Member (again, my passion for politics paid off!) who is trying to get a photograph with the popular Commissioner Frank Reagan, played by Tom Selleck. It was a great day on set with Tom, Gregory Jbara, and the wonderful crew.

Check out my scene below! And below that, some photos from the set.

signed with ATLAS TALENT AGENCY for voiceover and commercials

I'm thrilled to announce that I've signed with the great team of agents at Atlas Talent Agency. Tim Walsh is handling me for voiceover, and Mike Milmore is overseeing commercials. I couldn't be happier about being with these guys! 

readings of NEW PLAYS

Regular readers of my website know how much I love doing readings of new plays, and 2017 has already produced some great opportunities. Jeffrey Vause's I DON'T/I DID/I DO takes a new look at gay marriage, and in that reading, I got to work with the great Amos Wolff. My friend Paul Moon wrote an intense piece called EYE FOR AN EYE, and he also acted in the reading with us.

Currently, I'm working on five (!) incredibly good plays at Primary Stages ESPA, one of my favorite places in NYC for the development of new theater. Leif Meneke's STARDUST examines the life of men who survived AIDS, and ALL MY LOVE, KATE by Joseph Breen is set on the eve of Pearl Harbor. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS by Alice Gordon finds a lonely woman trying to find her true voice with the help of Shakespeare, and SINK, FLORIDA, SINK is David Kimple's play about a pair of twins coming to terms with their past amidst a devastating hurricane. Finally, John Ryan Martine, Jr.'s EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE checks in with Reggie and Grant, a couple whose relationship is on the rocks.

Stay tuned for more news on the progress of these great new plays.

INTERCEPTED PODCAST

My old high school friend Jeremy Scahill is co-editor (with Betsy Reed and Glenn Greenwald) of THE INTERCEPT, an online news publication that pursues greater transparency and accountability in government. A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to do a voiceover on Jeremy's weekly podcast INTERCEPTED. The great Trump impersonator Anthony Atamanuik and I recreated some scenes from A FEW GOOD MEN. Anthony is unbelievably good as Trump--take a listen and enjoy! 

INDUSTRIALS for Rampage, Inc.

I was pleased to work with Lucas Van Engen, Michael Markham, and Roseanne Almanzar on a series of four industrial videos for Rampage, Inc., a consulting firm that works with sales organizations. The first of four is below; click here for the whole series.

readings of two plays by JOHN ALBAN COUGHLAN

I rounded out the year with readings of two plays by actor and playwright John Alban Coughlan. His play TIMBERLAKE is an homage to 1950's American pulp (think Douglas Sirk), and had a production with the Working Artists Theater Project in 2008. OF LIVES AND LEAVES is inspired by the short plays of Anton Chekhov and reveals the passions of different generations. Rumors are that he wants to also have a reading of his third play, THE SIDE SHOW SOUL, soon. Stay tuned!

a new horror short: THE SURGEON

My latest short film for The Studio's iPhone film festival was THE SURGEON, a collaboration with Corey Allen, George Primavera, Amanda Dolan, Erik Taylor, and Colin Buckingham. We shot on an Android Galaxy 5. The film premiered at the New York LGBT Center on October 30, 2016.

The entire festival was horror-themed for Halloween, so we wrote a script about a man forced to commit a heinous crime against his will. Check it out and leave a comment if you so desire!

An Original Scene: "The Campaign is Over"

Before I even auditioned for HOUSE OF CARDS, I had been thinking of writing a scene in that show's style for me and the great Virginia Logan. I wrote it, Virginia and I worked on it, and we brought Ahren von Aschwege on board and shot it. Just the three of us on a Saturday morning. I think it came out great!

Campaign manager Eric Martin argues with Kate French over the direction of Wisconsin Governor Sara Bloom's campaign. Will the campaign continue? Will Eric keep his job?

HOUSE OF CARDS - Season 5

In August, I had the thrill of booking a co-star role on the hit Netflix series HOUSE OF CARDS. I play a pundit--which is a perfect match for me, politics junkie that I am. Having watched all those hours of Charlie Rose finally came in handy. I'm in Season 5, Episode 4. As everyone knows, the entire season drops at once, next May, 2017.

HARMONY'S AUDITION: a new play at the Lafayette Salon Series

Mac Brydon and his cohorts launched The Lafayette Salon Series many years ago here in NYC; it's a group of extremely fine actors reading a play--new or repertory--once a month. I've had the pleasure of reading with them before, and in September, we read HARMONY'S AUDITION, a new play by Robin Rice. A beautiful, magical play.

COTTON BALLS FOR CLOUDS, a new short film

Working in the wonderful world of short film yet again, June's entry for The Studio's iPhone film festival is COTTON BALLS FOR CLOUDS, a collaboration with Pamela Bob, Kaitlyn Bausch, Max Feinblatt, and Bronagh Lawe. We shot on an Android Galaxy 5. The film premiered at the New York LGBT Center on June 5, 2016.

It's a hilarious mockumentary (think A Mighty Wind and all those Christopher Guest classics) about a children's band struggling to get along. We had a blast putting it together and I hope you enjoy it! Please hit "like" or leave a comment!

FILM NOIR wins a SILVER AWARD at the LA NEO-NOIR FILM FESTIVAL

FILM NOIR, the short film created by me and Kaitlyn Bausch for The Studio, won a Silver Award at the 2016 LA Neo-Noir Novel, Film, & Script Festival! We were featured in their awards ceremony in Los Angeles on May 21st. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out below!

New Narration Voice Over Reel

I'm excited to post my all-new narration voice over reel! Check it out here on my Voice Over page. It features demos for TV shows in the style of HGTV, the History Channel, and Investigation Discovery channel. Thanks to Doriane Elliott and the friendly folks at Phantom Audio.

Accents of GERMANY, FRANCE, and ITALY

If it's spring, then it must be time for another accent class with Jane Guyer-Fujita at Primary Stages/ESPA! Beginning next week, Jane takes us through German, French, and Italian accents over a period of four weeks.

I'm already beginning my research, listening to actors like Paul Henreid, the Austrian-American star of Casablanca and Charles Boyer, the French actor who appears in Gaslight.

The other challenge is to find texts that use these accents. For German, I'm planning to re-watch The Pianist; Incident at Vichy has French characters; for Italy, I'm leaning towards Rodolpho in A View From the Bridge.

I love working on accents, especially as a foundation for character work.

A new play by David Adam Gill

More details are forthcoming, but I'm getting ready for a reading of a new play by David Adam Gill, whom I met at this month's PlayGround Experiment. More soon!

The PlayGround Experiment

Mike Lesser has created The PlayGround Experiment, where playwrights and actors get together twice a month to develop new works.

Last month, I was privileged to take part in the Experiment for the first time, with playwright Evan Edwards, and next Monday, April 11, I'll happily take part again, this time in a work by Tim Lorge.

Bravo to Mike for building this great program!

REQUIEM, an original short film

My latest short film installment for The Studio's monthly iPhone film festival is REQUIEM, a collaboration with Dina Montefuscioli. We shot on an iPhone 6 with assistance from Kyle Fisher and Megan A. Zebrowski. It was premiered at the New York LGBT Center on January 26, 2016.

Dina is a wonderful rock musician (she heads a great cover band) and I'm a recovering conductor, so we worked with the simple idea of a brother and sister trying to agree on an appropriate musical tribute to their late mother. Check it out below and please leave a comment if you like!

A FEW THINGS BEFORE I LEAVE YOU: reading presentation

I'm thrilled to continue work on Dan Kitrosser's brilliant new play, A FEW THINGS BEFORE I LEAVE YOU. We started table work on the play last November, and now, with a new cast and director in tow, we're working towards a formal presentation of the play.

Quick plot recap: I play Hugh, a gay man wrestling with his relationship to his depressed, psoriasis-afflicted older brother, his moody, cerebral palsy-afflicted boyfriend, and his brother's bossy, serpent tongue-inflicted girlfriend, who may or may not become HIS girlfriend. It's complicated, still.

Mark Olsen is directing a cast that includes Isaac Byrne, Katie Northlich, and Jak Watson.