Actor Called Tim

The Blank Page / Empty Space

2012-01-06T20:37:00.001-06:00

Just read Anne Bogart's latest blog about starting a brand new project and all the terror and violence that comes with it (Bogart believes that art is an act of violence, among other things). You can read it all here. And then, I started digging through my files (which are quite unorganized) and found this quote from A Director Prepares on the violence of art: “To generate the indispensible

PINA

2012-01-06T19:23:00.000-06:00

I have never been so entranced by a film trailer before. I can keep watching this over and over and over. Needless to say, I've got to see this. And soon. There are more clips if you're interested: Obstacles Wet Dance Hall Love Dance

What Movies I Saw in 2011

2011-12-29T23:34:00.000-06:00

This is a new list for me. It's safe to say I've watched a lot more, but fell asleep during or quit halfway through, or something. I also haven't counted the amount of television I've watched. Some honorable mentions of television series include (in which I've watched at least four episodes--at least): Mad Men Breaking Bad Downton Abbey New Girl Parks and Recreation Party Down Battlestar

Plays Attended 2011

2011-12-29T23:28:00.000-06:00

Plays Attended 1. Compound/Complex by Steve Moulds (Brouhaha Comedy Festival) – Jan 2. The Winter’s Tale at the Guthrie – Jan 3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Steppenwolf - Feb 4. Metamorphoses at the Commonweal (apprentice prod.) – March 5. Sylvia at the Commonweal – May 6. Boom! at the Legion – June 7. Little Shop of Horrors at the

Books and Plays Read in 2011

2011-12-29T23:18:00.000-06:00

Books Read 1. The Write to Write by Julia Cameron – Jan 2. Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon – Feb 3. Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays by Zadie Smith – Feb 4. Prayer Book (poems) by Matt Mauch – March 5.

My Blogging Metabolism Has Slowed Way Down

2011-12-28T23:17:00.001-06:00

It seems every time I come home for Christmas, I get the itch to blog more. I consider making a list of resolutions. I have ideas of posting every day. I also have plans to share what culture I've "consumed" over the year. I think about extended essays, short anecdotes, pictures, quotes, videos, etc. But this year, I've been less enthusiastic. Writing about all my grad school homework does

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T14:19:00.001-06:00

The AC's off. The heat isn't on. The windows are open. Happy Thanksgiving Eve Day! It's surreal. I think this juxtaposition of the Texas weather and the (lack of) change of seasons is a perfect analogy to graduate training. It's bizarre. I'm two weeks away from being done with my first semester of grad school. That means, I'm about 25% complete with the degree. It's scary. It's empowering. I

Mosquitoes and moldy jack-o-lanterns

2011-10-22T19:33:00.003-05:00

Greetings all 5 of you readers! Grad school comes and goes in all kinds of waves (as you can probably tell already). Here I go with an update. Part of my duties as a grad student is that I’m a TA for an Intro to Theatre class. There are 9 of us and 400+ students. I’m in charge of 45 students for grading. It’s tedious work and we’ve got play critiques to grade this week (3-4 pages

Weeks 4 - 8 or something

2011-10-08T15:38:00.000-05:00

I'm still in grad school. It's tough, illuminating, frustrating, strange, and exhilarating. It's starting to get to the point that I'm becoming increasingly ingrained into the training that the minute I attempt to explain it, it would require a whole treatise to describe. Right now we're diving into acting technique through Tennessee Williams scenes. I'm working on a Blanche/Stanley scene with

Grad School: Week 3

2011-09-04T19:40:00.000-05:00

This week went in waves. There were times when it felt like I was back in junior year of college (the spring--and that was a tough one). I was also battling a nasty sore throat. Thank goodness for Throat Coat tea and Immune Boost Emergen-C. I mean, I'm putting in 10-hour days AT school (when you compound classes and rehearsals). In voice class, we did a long session of pelvis/hip stretching.

Grad School: Week 2

2011-08-30T01:27:00.000-05:00

This has been the first official week of classes. I’ll just do a brief summary of what’s been going on in each. ACTING A lot of attention is spent on cold reading exercises. This involves two people at a table working on text that we’ve never seen. Everyone’s had a few minutes to look over the text, and then, some kind of “wrench” is thrown into the scene: passing a ball of clay to the

Grad School - Week 1

2011-08-22T23:25:00.001-05:00

First Year Acting Intensive This past week the dream team of ’13 spent 45+ hours working on ensemble building, acting, and orientation for school. We covered the course work for a standard “Acting for Non-Majors” in five days. It was a strange combo of playing the games (involving some kind of degree of improv, usually) with learning the what/how/why behind it (the “why” being something you

Annotated Mess

2011-08-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

1. Tim's Monster Book of Monologues: A 3-inch binder that is starting to fill quite nicely. 2. A graphed Moleskine with notes from the "Monster Reading List" - opened to notes from Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. 3. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare 4. My Life in Art by Stanislavski (I'm reading this right now) 5. American Theatre - a subscription is on of the "Monster Reading

Getting to know you...

2011-07-30T15:45:00.003-05:00

Things are getting better. It looks like I can't move in until the 9th. Kinda stinks, but I'm more at peace with knowing what the heck is going on. I caught the opening of Othello last night at Houston Shakes. It seems as though a million UH people are part of it. I met my movement professor and a bunch of MFA alumni (quite a few are in the productions). It was a swift, fierce production. I've

I've been in Houston for 22 hours...

2011-07-28T15:43:00.003-05:00

I'm in Houston. That was the Sisyphean rock that I have been tossing about for the past two weeks. Now that I've managed to get that rock up the mountain, a giant Zeus-ish figure pointing back at the bottom and says, "now go get the other five and bring them here." I'm not sure how much stock I can put in how I'm feeling right now. But I'm a bit of a wreck. Here's why: 1. I'm not moved into my

Watch This

2011-07-21T13:34:00.004-05:00

Shakespeare with many celebrity voices: George Bush, Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Stewart, Ricky Gervais, Woody Allen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Garrison Keillor--the list goes on and on. You just gotta watch it.

Audiobook Shortlist

2011-07-19T23:17:00.002-05:00

I'd like to listen to an audiobook on my trip to Houston; it's going to be 20 hours I think. I'm looking for suggestions for what to listen to and how to acquire said book/mp3 files for a reasonable price (because these things aren't cheap). Other things to consider: I enjoy contemporary literary fiction that's a bit on the zany side (a good example would be something like Gary Shteyngart's

Time to Play a Bit o' Catch-Up

2011-07-18T17:51:00.002-05:00

In the past 3 days I've finished my job in Lanesboro, packed up my room, cleaned my room, said goodbye to a ton of people, got sunburned, saw some excellent drum corps, saw a fantastic production of Street Scene, and drank some great beer along the way. I feel like a ball in a giant pinball machine. Some of it's fun and all. Other times it's a bit jarring and I've got figurative whiplash. But

The Final Countdown

2011-07-10T16:39:00.000-05:00

We're in the final countdown. I've got until Saturday to move out of Lanesboro. My parents are coming on Thursday. We'll probably see Little Shop together. I think I have an audition on Tuesday (for next summer...already). Orientation begins in 5 weeks. Ack.

We're in the home stretch

2011-06-29T19:30:00.001-05:00

I always intend to update this thing, but I fear it will always veer into the "AH! I have so much to do!" Right now, I'm in a swirled rotation of the following: Work Prepping for training my replacement at work (which is still work, but completely different) Reading the monster reading list (a lot of acting theory) Reading plays and hunting for monologues Pilates Yoga Occasional running

Mamet & LaBute (and more)

2011-06-11T19:52:00.028-05:00

I read two things today: 1. Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things - I tread along, thinking there'd be monologue possibilities, but I'm just not digging the final climactic monologue for Adam. Maybe I'm placing too much judgment on it, but its power lies in its context (I think). And I have a feeling that, yes, I could include this monologue in my portfolio, but I don't know that I'm going to have

Boom!

2011-06-05T12:39:00.001-05:00

Last night, I saw Boom! It's dubbed as an "international lost and found marching band." Six actor/musicians comprise the band. You've got members from Jersey, Nova Scotia, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, and Ireland. And they're all brothers and sisters due to their "careless" scientist parents (or something). (The crew is actually from Kansas City...) It was a zany, zany stuff that had

"Feed Me, Seymour"

2011-05-22T12:47:00.000-05:00

WALKING TO WRITE These Sunday walks are actually much more helpful to my writing than almost anything else. This is where the ideas come together for what will eventually be books, especially if I’m writing a New York book. I wander these streets — my mind attuned to the idea, “Must feed ... must feed ... must feed” — but the wandering is really an excuse to look at the city and to reacquaint

Some Robert Lewis quotes

2011-05-11T11:32:00.000-05:00

Lewis to Brando: "Why go to class at all if not to stretch yourself? Even if you never play a part like that, it will at least help you find the prince in any bum you have to do. Don't hang around in comfortable places." "When you are relaxed, with no muscular tension, your technique is not apparent." "In acting...you must not think 'leaders' as being BETTER than 'followers.'" "The actor should

I'm on a reading/media diet

2011-05-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble in Sioux Falls—mainly to get a change of scenery from the plush couch at home (and to get away from the monster that is Samson—this pup thinks he’s a lap dog and needs someone to constantly pet him. It’d be okay if he was only 7 pounds. He’s not. He’s at least 55 pounds). I can spend quite a long time perusing shelves and tables at a bookstore. This fall and

Happy Star Wars Day

2011-05-04T21:31:00.000-05:00

May The Fourth Be With You... Local Twin Cities artist Jeremy Messersmith hopes to make this an annual carol. It's awesome. YouTube/Blogger is being dumb. I wanted to embed it, and it wasn't able to find the video or something weird like that. Just trust me on this. It's not spam.

There's Nothing To See Here

2011-05-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

Today, I felt quite adult. I went to the optometrist (appointment scheduled all by myself), got a checkup, and got new glasses and contact lenses. I hate dealing with paper work and insurance. The guy selling lenses was upselling up the wazoo. I'm lucky I didn't take the bait (well, most of the bait), but it still cost a pretty penny. Ah well, I'm all set with eye care for a good year. But

Insomniac?

2011-05-02T01:05:00.002-05:00

I cannot get to sleep. It’s been a strange day. I finished Tina Fey’s Bossypants. This is one of the funniest and smartest people in the world. Her life isn’t glamorous (not that I ever thought it was). This book is a scattered selection of essays that tracks her life chronologically. I was most fascinated by her 30 Rock and Sarah Palin impersonation chapters. It made me laugh many, many times. I

Insurmountable and achievable

2011-04-26T13:28:00.000-05:00

I'm freaked out by my ability to read rather quickly, but hopeless when it comes to full retention of material. I have a good sense of everything I've read for grad school so far. But I'm terrified of being responsible for specifics come September or October (or beyond). And then, having to re-read things, which makes me wonder if I've already wasted time reading them in the first place (this is

Ibsen Tour Day 11

2011-04-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

Grand Rapids My phone alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. This is too early for an actor on tour. But I had some radio interviews to do over the phone for our upcoming performance in Duluth! This hotel is already awesome. We know that, but the breakfast sends it in the 5 stars (in my book). Grabbed some fresh fruit (like sliced peaches!) a sausage, egg, English muffin sandwhich, coffee, and juice. Then

Ibsen Tour Day 10

2011-04-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

Traveling to Grand Rapids THE FOOD: Went to the North Grille (or something). They had some of the best hashbrowns I've had in my life. Not too greasy. Yum. We drove about 2 hours north to Grand Rapids. It was a nice, sunny drive. Midway en route, this giant deer frolicked onto the road. But our great driver, Irene, slowed down, honked and avoided a collision. This was in broad daylight. THE

Ibsen Tour Day 9

2011-04-08T15:26:00.003-05:00

Brainerd/Baxter Caribou Coffee: Yes. JYO told us about his experience with this invitational callback for Dell’Arte. It seemed exhilarating and terrifying—not unlike my auditions for Houston. At noon, we all met at the theatre to practice the scene changes (always a tricky thing with new venues and vastly different wing/backstage areas). The theatre is smaller than the historic opera houses we’ve

Ibsen Tour Day 8

2011-04-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Baxter/Brainerd We did load-in at Central Lakes College. We've got this baby down to a system. After that, many had laundry to do. (This could quite possibly be the most boring post of all time). Once that was done, we headed back to the hotel and I did a bunch of work for the theatre. Then I received an email from the head of my grad school program. He sent us dates, a mondo monologue

Ibsen Day 7

2011-04-05T11:19:00.000-05:00

Breakfast: Meh. I don’t know why I have big expectations for continental breakfasts, but I do. I’ve nearly given up on coffee. Drove a couple hours to Baxter The Jams: constant searching stations on the radio. I hate commercials. And that new Pink song. The Reading: A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill. Boy, these plays are hard to begin. It’s getting easier, and I think I’m training my

Ibsen Day 6

2011-04-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

Traveling to Fergus Falls This is probably one of our busiest days on tour. We drove to Fergus Falls. The Jams: NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me – A lot of fun. It reminded me how much I’d like to listen to more podcasts and stuff. Dave Barry (the humor columnist) was on, and it was quite funny. I’m just not trained to sit and listen to podcasts. I can’t have them on when I’m working. I suppose

Ibsen Day 5

2011-04-05T11:06:00.000-05:00

Detroit Lakes I honestly can’t remember what all went down on this day. They’re starting to blur together; the thrill of tour is fading. We performed the show that evening, I know that much. Since JYO is off for a callback/weekend retreat with Dell a’rte, our director stepped in and played Captain Horster as an understudy. We arrived at the venue early so we could get Scott into the show and

I'm going to steal

2011-04-01T17:02:00.001-05:00

Great artists steal. A lot of people said it. Picasso, Bansky, the characters on Slings and Arrows, Austin Kleon. Me. I've been perusing the archives of Austin's blog. It's great. This guy blacks out the large portion of New York Times articles, leaving only a few scattered words that form poems. He's got a book out on Amazon called Newspaper Blackout. Here are a couple of my favorites: "How

Ibsen Tour Day 3 & 4

2011-04-01T13:16:00.000-05:00

I'm combining the days because A) I'm behind. B) Not much happened. C) I'm lazy. But first! A video: DAY 3 - We drove to Detroit Lakes. The Jams - Another Live Lounge mix, a Michael Buble CD, and the Current (J-YO took his iPod cable; he's going to a Dell a'rte International callback in California). The Reads - I started on two books Teach Yourself Transatlantic and the first part in the

Ibsen Tour Day 2

2011-03-30T10:22:00.001-05:00

Red Wing, MN Breakfast - bad! I could just tell the continental breakfast juice was full of corn syrup and food coloring. I shudder about that orange juice. The cranberry was a bit better. I'd give it a 3/10. I didn't even attempt to get the coffee. Stayed in the hotel room and finished reading Desire Under the Elms (I will soon be a master in reading and deciphering O'Neill's written in

Ibsen Tour: Day 1

2011-03-29T15:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we piled in the cars and started off on the road. Our destination: Red Wing, MN--just southeast of the Cities, on the Mississippi River (about two hours away). The jams: Ray LaMontagne and a Live Lounge Mix The reading: I began Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill The venue: is awesome. I can't get over how Broadway it looks. It's a deep stage with a brick wall along the back.

The Reading Dilemma

2011-03-21T12:52:00.000-05:00

I’m a reader. I wouldn’t stick “voracious” or “rabid” to that title, but I enjoy reading and do a fair amount of it. I peruse quite a few book blogs and follow some great lit folks on Twitter. Their recommendations send me to authors and titles I would never known otherwise. This is all great, great, great, great! I have aspirations of attending a Books and Bars gathering sometime. Heck, I’d like

2011-03-19T17:59:00.000-05:00

34.Much has happened in the past week since my last post. 35.For one, I received an offer to attend grad school. 36.I also accepted that offer. 37.This means I’ll be moving to Houston in August (or the end of July). There are dozens, if not hundreds of little decisions and details to sort out. 38.BUT I'M GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL, PEOPLE! 40.We started the Ibsen tour on Thursday. It was a quick jaunt

2011-03-10T17:29:00.000-06:00

22. Read this. 25. I'm in tech week for An Enemy of the People. We don costumes tonight. I'll have a better idea of what the facial hair situation is going to be. It all depends what the other guys have. I'm quite certain, Hovstad won't be wearing a full beard. I'm guessing I may be in the mustache/goatee realm. But another curveball could be mutton chops (not that I can wear those all that well

Excerpts from the past couple days

2011-03-05T14:22:00.000-06:00

2.I must keep up with West of Here by Jonathan Evison. It’s this great novel about a fictional town of Port Bonita in Northwest Washington. It follows an ensemble of characters from the late 1800s who are out to tame the land and manifest their destinies. Then, Evison mixes it up with the folks who live in it during 2006—complete with shattered hopes and a general sense of “I’m stuck and haven’t

I'm content sitting at the kids' table

2011-02-16T21:09:00.000-06:00

In late December, I remember hoping to become more actively engaged in the communities I'm a part of. I'm especially talking about the social media/theatre landscape.There's a lot of buzz on 2am theatre and bloggers galore. Most recently, people are freaking out over supply/demand and Michael Kaiser. Part of me really does care about this stuff. It's interesting to me. It's exciting to know

The Final Day in Chicago ( long bulleted list)

2011-02-09T10:32:00.000-06:00

While in Chicago I have: Witnessed a few nutso people on public transit systems. I am not a public transport kind of guy. I have a car, and used it all the time in the Twin Cities (not that they have an exquisite system). But in the past couple days, I've been navigating the L with aplomb. I even took the bus from Downtown State Street to the University of Chicago late last night--all has gone

Note To Self: Deep Breaths

2011-02-02T21:29:00.000-06:00

I have just spent the better part* of 45 minutes writing in my rehearsal and performance schedule for AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. I also began working on the LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS schedule. I had a mini panic attack. Anyway, It's come to my conclusion that yours truly has very little free time for the rest of the winter, spring, and summer. Fall is completely undecided, but I have a strong feeling

The Winter's Tale

2011-01-31T23:58:00.001-06:00

I loved it. The more I think about it, the more I enjoyed it. I'm going to stand by my opinion. I haven't read any reviews, no one else I know has seen it (yet). I say all this because the big G gets quite a bit of gruff from theatre folks in the city. There's a TON of theatre, and I would love to see it. But not too many companies do shows on Sunday nights. Anyway, the Big Blue Palace is a

This post is kinda incoherent, but I want to post anyway.

2011-01-28T23:59:00.000-06:00

I really should just go to bed. I'm beat. We've done 6 performances of The Odyssey this week. We have two left. We had two shows both today and yesterday. About 5 cast members have this same cold/throat thing. I can only imagine it's going to get worse and proliferate. I just had a cold at the beginning of the month. I was just feeling like I had gotten over that. And now it's something else.

I claim full responsibility for how insane this post may be

2011-01-26T19:15:00.000-06:00

I'm a little restless right now. I'm also a little hungry. I can't decide if I want to scrounge around the house for food OR take advantage that I'm in the Twin Cities and get some great eats. Of course, I'm not rolling in the dough. So the SMART thing would be to just eat what I have. It's pretty bland though. Now, remember, I did say I was restless. So maybe getting out of the house would be

The Odyssey's just begun

2011-01-23T12:11:00.000-06:00

I'm working on an official website. I screwed up with my domain, and I don't have the energy to deal with it/fix it right now. In any case, I've opened The Odyssey. You can read a preview/feature about adapting the hundreds of pages of the epic poem in to a 2-hour production here. Here's a photo of the Cyclops that I help maneuver. I'm in the right of the picture, holding the left arm and

Tech Week

2011-01-09T10:33:00.000-06:00

I just completed my first 10-of-12 rehearsal ever. 10-of-12 means you rehearse for 10 hours in the span of 12. We had a 2-hour dinner break about midway through. I'd say half the cast (or so) went to a Thai place, and it was delicious and it was fun to hang with them (and chat above a whisper--which is what we'd been doing in the wings all day). This show is technically epic. The play is

What I Read/Saw in 2010

2010-12-31T16:39:00.001-06:00

I've been doing this for a few years, it seems. Here' s list of the plays and books I read this year (along with plays/theatrical events I attended). 2010Books Read:1. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (novel)2. A Director Prepares by Anne Bogart (non-fiction)3. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman (novel)4. Unincorporated Persons of the Late Honda Dynasty by Tony Hoagland (

2011 is already shaping to be a crazy/good year

2010-12-25T23:11:00.000-06:00

So, I've been committed to the whole Reverb 10 thing. At the beginning of the month. Now, we're in the final stretch, and I've completely stopped. I'm a bit disgruntled about that. As you may recall from some of the posts, I have been excited/proud of the but at the same time, some major things have happened in the past week. The biggie: I got a call asking to fill in for a role up in the Twin

5 Minutes

2010-12-15T23:32:00.000-06:00