Summer?

Alright.

Where did Spring go?

I'm not ready to jump into this kind of weather yet. Not at all.

91 degrees in April? 91?!?

Clearly I'm not a fan of warm weather. It's really the warm weather in New York that I dislike so much. The city sweats like a greasy armpit. I don't like humidity. And New York City is humid.

Unlike women, I can't sport a summer dress. I watch some of my female friends relax into their lace thin clothing and walk down the street in 91 degree weather saying, 'Oh my god! How could you NOT like this?!' Well, I don't have tissue paper and a thong on.

And I'm pretty sure that the minute god gave me hairy and pale Irish/Italian legs, he wasn't intending on me wearing these new short-shorts I keep seeing everywhere. Seriously, when did hot pants for men make a comeback?

Anyway, that's my rant. I love the freezing cold. Give me that with a light jacket and no gloves over hot weather any day. :)

I've had a great day of rehearsal for a reading I am doing at the Rattlestick theatre. We are performing tonight and I am so happy to be a part of the project. The play is called the Sandreckoner by Dan Dietz and focuses on a boy who may or may not have been invloved in a Columbine-like event. Truly haunting stuff. I am sure we will be seeing a lot from Dan Dietz. His writing is phenomenal.

I also have had the pleasure of working with Tom Caruso again. Tom directed me in my first show in NYC (The Butcherhouse Chronicles). He's a great guy and a wonderful director. It has been fun to reunite after all this time.

I have spent the past 30 minutes trying to deny the fact that it actually is pretty wonderful out right now. I'm writing this on my iPhone at an outdoor cafe. But hey, it 7:00 right now and has dropped 20 degrees.

Spring

It has finally arrived.

This weekend I had my first NYC roof-cookout. I'm so thrilled Spring is here and can't wait to get the ball rolling on other projects I am involved with this summer.

Right now I'm taking it easy after a very successful run in Toronto. Melchior is a marathon of a role and I surprised myself at how well my voice and body handled jumping back into it after not touching it for two months. It was a blast. I am so happy I was able to play the role full time and blessed to have done it with such an incredible company. I especially loved working opposite Christy as Wendla. The two actors who play Melchior and Wendla have to build a special bond pretty quickly and I was alway excited to share the stage with her. If anyone has time to go see Christy as Wendla on the tour...do so. You will not be disappointed.

I have decided not to continue on with the tour. My last performance with Spring Awakening TRULY was April 12th. A couple fans asked me if I was sad on that day. To be completely honest...it was a great day. I went through the grieving process two months ago. It was a shock to the system when the broadway show closed. I am thrilled I had the opportunity to go back and play Melchior and now I'm ready to move on.

I am trying to get the ball rolling on a concert right now. I wish I could give more information than that, but it's not the easiest task to throw one together. I hope to do a night of mostly soul music (contemporary and classic) and put it in a more low key venue like Ars Nova. No matter what, the night will include some songs from past projects and what not. When I have a better idea on how things are coming together, I will indeed talk about it more.

If you're looking for some new music a couple of my favorite artists have recently produced new albums. Andrew Bird's "Noble Beast" is stunning. The orchestrations are captivating. Martha Wainwright also has a new album out. I haven't immediately fallen for it like her last, but there is no denying her songwriting skills. I'm excited to get into it more.

While I spoke about him a long time ago, I'm not sure if I ever went into detail on Foy Vance. This is an artist that I have completely fallen in love with. He is a contemporary soul/blues singer who has an incredible voice. Please take a listen to his album "Hope." I've been listening to it for a couple years now and recently got back into it. The songs "Gabriel & the Vagabond" and "First of July" are brilliant.

ROA Productions

Surely it's no surprise that some of us Spring Awakening cast members managed to make our way into the series. What may be surprising is in what way...

Rock of Ages Productions Presents: The Haunting of The Brooks Atkinson Theatre

Enough Said.

Congrats to the cast of Rock of Ages. What an incredible night of reviews of them.

New York Times Review