Duct Tape Wedding Ring

5/9ths of the cast of Theatre Tuscaloosa's NOISES OFF. Photo credit: Ben Flanagan / al.com

Once again, Constant Reader, I have totally neglected you. And  as always, for that I am deeply sorry. At least this time, I have a good excuse. (And what’s that you, ask?) I’ve been rehearsing six days a week for the past six weeks, and finally, the moment has arrived: Tonight is opening night for Theatre Tuscaloosa’s production of NOISES OFF. It has been an exhausting process, but once we got our first live audience last night (it was a public dress rehearsal of sorts) it was all worth it.

So, today, I’m going to share some of the local media coverage (pictures, videos, interviews, etc) because…well, it’s nice to have it all in one place (or something).

Me and a good 25 percent of a castmate. Ben Flanagan / al.com

Let’s start with my buddy Ben Flanagan at al.com:

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama — In film comedies, actors have the luxury of multiple takes as their crack-ups wind up on blooper reels we see on DVDs.

Stage performers don’t have that luxury. If an actor genuinely finds the lines they’re reading funny, it could spell trouble for a live theater performance.

So how does the Theatre Tuscaloosa cast for Michael Frayn’s popular “Noises Off” farce find the focus to go through one take without cracking?

“It is very difficult when you crack up on stage and generally people just turn upstage away from the audience and try to pull it together,” says Tuscaloosa acting veteran and “Noises Off” cast member Gary Wise.

[...]

Having had some high school parts and a role in a George Washington University production of “The Importance of Being Earnest” in 2005, the University of Alabama doctoral student says once he saw “Noises Off” was being performed locally, he had to try out for it. Getting back in the acting saddle was definitely a challenge, especially when performing with seasoned pros in Tuscaloosa.

“It was strange for a while,” Nevin said. “These people here have worked together a thousand times with each other. It was a bit like meeting the in-laws. You’re thrown into this new situation where everybody else knows each other. But you get up to speed really quick. These are great people here. It’s been a blast.”

Nevin says finding the confidence to get on stage with veterans when you have such little experience takes “a little bit of crazy,” especially when the Ph.D student is taking and teaching classes at UA. But if it’s something you enjoy, you find time for it.

“It kind of informs my teaching in a way in that part of teaching is you have to get up in front of a lot of people and be confident and know what you’re doing,” he said. Doing something like this kind of helps that. If I can do a run of eight performances, in front of hundreds of people, then I can teach undergrads. No offense to undergrads.”

Ben was actually awesome enough to record and post my interview — which you can see here. I would totally embed it if I could. I think the video is great because you can see my funky costume.

Something I can embed, however, is our segment from the local TV news station, WVUA:

See, that’s much easier, isn’t it?

Continue reading ‘News dump: NOISES OFF opening night media blowout’

A choice selection of the health news that was. All in one convenient dump.

Mic check.

Is this thing on?

A thousand apologies for missing last week, Constant Reader. Between a morning class, the gym and three hours of rehearsal a night, by the time it comes ’round to writing a post, I am completely pooped. But not tonight. (Cuz I got the gym in earlier today, thank goodness.) The play, by the way, is coming along well in advance of our Feb. 17 opening (holy sh*t that is getting closer and closer).

Aight, let’s get on with the news before I get too full of sleepies to type. We’re going to start off with the big news from last week before picking up a few nugget-related items.

So first off — Paula Deen. And diabetes. (If you were thinking it was going to be anything else, what’s wrong with you?)

Continue reading ‘News dump: Paula Deen’s diabeetus and gettin’ hooked on nuggets’

A choice selection of the health news that was. All in one convenient dump.

How was the first week of 2012 for everyone? Good? Bad? Somewhere in the middle? For me, the week was not much more than rehearsals for NOISES OFF and getting ready for the m*th*rf*ck*ng BCS national championship game in New Orleans in three m*th*rf*ck*ng days. (Good lord, is it really only three days away?)

We start our news off with this item from Deadspin (the only sports blog worth reading, if you ask me) about how an open mike caught Charles Barkley’s real thought’s on his endorsement deal from Weight Watchers:

“I’ve been on weight watchers three months. I have to lose two pounds a week. I’m at 38 pounds now. They come and weigh me every two weeks. I ain’t never missed a weigh-in. Never going to…I’m feeling much better. But I ain’t giving away no money. I’m not giving away no free money. I thought this was the greatest scam going—getting paid for watching sports—this Weight Watchers thing is a bigger scam.”

Key point to note here: He’s not calling Weight Watchers a scam. He’s calling his deal to make money for losing weight a scam.

Continue reading ‘News dump: Sir Charles thinks WW deal is a scam and wait ’til you hear what Mountain Dew can do’

A choice selection of the health news that was. All in one convenient dump.

Seasons greetings and whatnot as we get ready to say goodbye to 2011. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and may your New Year celebrations be even lovelier. This week’s news has a certain local flavor to it as we take a look at three Alabama stories that may or may not have personal connections (which I’ll get into).

We go first to the South Alabama town of Atmore (and the Atmore Advance) for a story about a wedding band tossed from a car, meth tossed from a back pocket and a certain meat-like product stolen from a gas station:

An intoxicated suspect wandering near Fountain prison and a stolen can of Spam led to the arrest of four people on drug charges Wednesday, sheriff’s deputies said.

All have been charged with possession of a controlled substance and precursors of chemicals used to create methamphetamines.

Twins Misty and Christy Faircloth of Walnut Hill, Fla., Richard Gohagin of Atmore, and Derek Price of Poarch, were arrested after one suspect was apprehended near the prison and found to be in possession of a controlled substance, officials said.

Deputies responded to a call of an unknown suspect walking close to the prison fence on Highway 21 next to Fountain Correctional Facility, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Forbes said.

“The prime subject was walking close to the fence next to the prison when correctional officers contacted their K-9 units into investigate,” he said. “They then called into us about the white male, and I arrived on the scene to find him appearing to be under the influence of a controlled substance. I asked him if he was under any controlled substances, which he said Adderall, which is a controlled substance. I then asked him if he had anything on his person to which he answered no. At the same time, he took his hand to his back pocket and tried to toss away a pink baggy that contained a controlled substance believed to be methamphetamines.”

After questioning the subject and taking him into custody, the subject was asked why he was walking next to the prison.

The subject’s answer soon followed with another call related to his incident that led to the other arrests, Forbes said.

“When asked why he was walking there, he said that he was looking for a wedding band that he threw out the window of his car,” he said.

“The car was at the BP station down the road waiting for him to call to pick him up. We then received a call from the BP reporting a theft had just occurred. The descriptions were of a white male and white female that had just stolen batteries, a can of SPAM and left in a white Grand Am.”

The suspect told Forbes he was waiting for a “white Grand Am.”

This story has it all. Meth. Spam. Marital strife. What more could you want?

Oh, and yeah, my cousin was one of the guys that got arrested.

Continue reading ‘News dump: Stolen Spam leads to an arrest, a favorite hangout closes and more’