Summary of my involvement in Perchance to Dream” Theatre’s 24 Hour Play Festival and Duncan Pflaster’s upcoming reading of “Nothing Human.”

Cast for our play “The Believers” in the 24 Hour Play Festival included Hanniel Choi, Bret McCormick, and Vibe Normann. Our writer was Alexandra Cremer and our director was Amanda Junco. Special thanks to Perchance to Dream for an awesome experience.

I normally don’t post about auditions but many of you are aware that I have been doing all I can to get my foot in the door of film and TV in New York. Earlier in the year I had to turn down a role on One Life To Live due to a theatre project. I’m still disappointed about this. Unlike theatre, TV and film auditions usually require representation to get you in the door. While, I’m still searching for the right representation, I am particularly flatter to have been called in by Claire Traeger of Suzanne Ryan Casting to audition for CBS’s new hit show Unforgettable. If you’ve not seen it, you need to check it out. Poppy Montgomery plays Carrie Wells, a detective who literally remembers everything. Apparently there are about 150 people in the world with this rare gift. Anyway, I met Claire recently when I had the opportunity to read for something else and I couldn’t be happier that she remembered me. It’s a huge compliment and I definitely am grateful to her for the chance to come in and share my abilities with Suzanne and the folks at CBS. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

This weekend, the cast of Tennis in Nablus (including myself) performed an abridged version of Tennis in Nablus for the Culture Project 2011 Producer’s Weekend where two of the six plays presented where chosen to be produced in The Culture Project’s 2012-2013 season. The piece was very well received and I am so happy that I was able to take the stage with my cast mates to share Ismail Khalidi’s fantastic new play with a new audience of theatre-goers. It was determined that the play would be produced Off-Broadway by The Culture Project and we are all exceptionally excited and proud to have been a part of getting it there.

About Tennis in Nablus by Ismail Khalidi
It is 1939. World War II looms over Europe as Palestinian rebels teeter on the brink of defeat at the hands of the British empire which rules Palestine with an iron fist. As the Arab revolutionaries fight for their freedom, the Zionist movement is getting stronger by the day. A collision between the two peoples seems inevitable, especially as the English sow discord in between their daily tennis matches.

About The Culture Project
Culture Project’s productions have garnered an array of Drama Desk, OBIE, and Outer Circle Critics awards. But they have also won unprecedented awards outside the sphere of theatrical production including the Champion of Justice Award and the PASS award from the National Association of Criminal Defenders. This recognition reignites Culture Project’s passion for its goal and reinforces its commitment to hard-hitting and provocative theater as a powerful ingredient in shaping our nation’s values and debates.

I return to the wonderful island of Manhattan to be slapped in the face by the cost of living. I love it here but to live in the areas I want to currently seems impossible. I upped my budget for a room to $700/month and people told me it was extremely modest. Out of curiosuty, I said $900 and people said, “not in Manhattan.” I had a whole apartment for $1050 in Los Angeles. But this is New York and it’s amazing. Oh, well. I’ll find something and one day I will live in an area that inspires me.

Working on Tennis in Nablus has been quite a journey. I’ve had the pleasure of working with tremendously talented individuals and bringing life to a character who is essentially the villain of the show. Our brilliant and kind playwright wrote some fantastic comedy into the script for my character, Lieutenant Duff but at the same time, he made me a man who is doing his job and several inhuman things at the same time. I really enjoyed finding the truth that straddled both elements. Performing the role has been a thrill and it seems the critics enjoyed what they saw as well:

“Matt Falber mimes a flawless British accent as the priggish Lieutenant Duff.” – Lisa Mullenneaux, Mondoweiss

“Matt Falber plays Falbour’s aide and tennis partner (notice that similarity in names… hmmm), a junior edition of the General. He is a maker of moué and it works well for the man he portrays.” – J. Peter Bergman, Berkshire Bright Focus

I just wanted to take a brief moment to recommend a great Central Park tour. If you’re visiting New York, you’ve got to see Central Park and I’m here to tell you this tour is absolutely the best! It goes through the Central Park Zoo, by the statue of Balto, and even through the Ramble, Tavern on the Green and Strawberry Fields. Also, the sunset is absolutely perfect in Shakespeare Garden where the tour ends. Hands down, it’s the best tour of Central Park in the city.

Have I ever been in love? No. Probably not. I’ve been smitten a few times. A few in Vegas and a few in Los Angeles. But recently, no. In New York I’ve been confused about whether I’ve felt “love” but it’s usually because I deeply care about the person that I’m don’t want to be with. What is love like? How can you be physically attracted to them and appreciate their personality but not want them to get any closer? Have I been wrong? Have I missed a potential love because I was too quick to dismiss someone? Have I missed a potential love because I was young and too quick to embrace them? Why does dating always seem to result in someone getting hurt? I say that I’m happy by myself. And I am. But I wonder if I could be happy with someone else. I’m attracted to people. I admire them physically and mentally. In fact, I can’t usually be intimate with someone if I don’t value them beyond their physique. I used to only want to be intimate if I thought it might lead “somewhere.” Now I realize, or at least I think I realize, that you don’t need to know where physical intimacy will take you. But still, I need a “connection” to be intimate. I don’t like to be with someone I don’t feel totally comfortable with. This indicates that there’s a desire for more than physical intimacy but still the desire to be intimate is very much a physical and chemical one. But at somepoint in life, we won’t look the same. But I’m assuming the urge will remain. Isn’t that when I’ll long for element that’s always missing? Or maybe, I’ll still be happy and single. Or maybe I’ll have finally fallen in love. I guess there’s not point in thinking about the future when I am soaked in the present.

I am so bummed that we weren’t able to get together next Wednesday. To use a phrase that’s been used on your show many times, “it’s not you, it’s me.” It would have been so awesome to say, “yes I’ll take the job” when you called me today and offered me a role. As you know, I’ll be in Hudson, NY for the next six weeks working on “Tennis in Nablus” and the 17th wound up being a very bad day for me to be away from rehearsals as the playwright will be joining us. I really hope that we can connect when I get back at the end of September. I still think you’re really cool no matter what the other actor that you wind up booking tells you.

;) Matt

P.S. Yes if you’re reading this, and aren’t from “One Life To Live,” I had to turn down a role on the show because of my pre-existing commitment. Now stop reading messages that aren’t addressed to you. :P

I’ve just had the privilege of accepted a fantastic role in the east coast premiere of Ismail Khalidi’s “Tennis in Nablus” under the direction of Laura Margolis at Stageworks in Hudson, NY. The show takes place in 1939, British-run Palestine. Jews from Europe are seeking refuge in response to the Nazi’s assent to power. The native Palestinians have already tried to overthrow the government. Meanwhile, the British are more concerned with living in a civilized fashion among these humans that they consider to be less than proper. Tennis and costume balls fill the agenda of General Falbour and my character, Lieutenant Douglas Duff, a career soldier who is planning to prove his worth to the General and to the crown and be accepted into upper-class British society. In many ways, one could perceive me as a villain. But any actor worth his salt will tell you that they never look at their characters motives as wrong. The character gives me the opportunity to examine what it’s like to seek approval and wield power.

I’ll be taking the stage with an outstanding group of performer including Nassar Faris, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Chet Carlin, Maria Silverman, Shivantha Wijesinha, Chris Smith and Jack Kesey. Tickets and additional information are available at http://www.stageworkshudson.org/nablus.html. The show runs September 7th through the 25th at Stageworks in Hudson, NY.

A year and a half after what you and your husband turned into a once in a lifetime experience, I’ve decided to write you an open letter. My previous attempt to mail you was thwarted. I dropped an envelope in a post office box to you on my way to the airport. I was leaving town to do a show. Three months later, I found the same envelope in a pile of mail. It had been returned and I never got to thank you or your husband for lifting my spirits when I so dearly needed it.

It was Winter. Not too long ago I’d  booked “Rent” in South Carolina. Had I gone down, I would have played Mark in a brand new theatre and gotten my first taste of Southern Charm. However, shortly before I was to leave, the producer made sexual advances toward me. I quickly clarified our relationship and almost as quickly, he told me I was too young to play opposite their Roger. I still have the libretto they gave me on my shelf.

Had I gone down I would have also missed out on what I now recognize as a very important relationship in my life. At the time though, I was feeling the strain of his disatisfaction with his own place in the entertainment industry. I desperately needed a reminder why I was living in New York with hardly enough money to pay my bills much less eat. As luck would have it, a company I do some promotional work with gave me a ticket to see Looped. I’d heard about the show when I was living in L.A. It was at the Pasadena Playhouse  and a manager sent me a courtesy note with the breakdown and recommended I audition. At the time I was foolish and didn’t have my priorities in order. I had to work and never attended.

Years later, it was opening on Broadway and I had a free ticket. Growing up I used to listen to old radio broadcasts and several times had come across Bankhead’s program The Big Show. I was also familiar with her from her appearances on I Love Lucy and Batman. I had no idea what to expect from the play. The moment you walked out on the stage swearing and drinking and smoking I knew that I was in for a treat. Then came the moment where you, no Tallulah, started talking about Tennesee Williams.  How he wrote that role for you. How when you finally got to perform Blanche, they laughed at the ridiculousness of you, Tallulah. Then you delivered that amazing monologue: you Blanche, you Tallulah, you Valerie. The play ended and I felt I had seen one of the greatest performances to ever be on the boards. I thought of Larry Moss talking about watching the greats perform on Broadway and thought, one day I will tell people I was there when you did this. The only other performance that has moved me as much was Cherry Jones in Doubt.

New York was in the middle of a whiteout. Snow flakes assaulted the ground and as the performance ended people rushed to grab cabs or make it to the 42nd Street Station. I couldn’t do that. I had to meet you. To this day it remains the only time I’ve waited at a stage door. For quite some time I was alone in the snow until a man popped his head out of the door. He was very concerned, “Come inside before you freeze.” I gladly waited inside while he asked me where my gloves were. I tried to convince him that I was fine. He finally relented. “Valerie should be out in a moment.” When you showed up I complimented you and you graciously replied, “Isn’t it a wonderful story. They both learn so much from each other.” You also told me I’d make a good Danny when I get a little older. Then you introduced me to the man who’d ushered me inside. He was your husband. As we left the theatre he insisted I take his warm wool mittens and a ten dollar bill. I still have both. I know he wanted me to spend the ten dollars on some food or a hat or something like that but I couldn’t. I decided it was good luck. To this day I carry it around with me in the binder I use at readings. I know if I ever need it, it’s there. The gloves are very warm and I call them my producer gloves.

That night kept me going through what would be months of struggle. At the end of that year I found myself in Florida performing in the world premiere of A Taffeta Wedding and preparing to audition for the Caldwell Center’s production of Next Fall, a role I still very much want to play. I was able to get the audition sides for Looped and prepare the monologue when Danny reveals his love of another man to Tallulah. Before doing it for the audition I decided to show it to our director and co-producer Arthur Whitelaw. He asked me what it was from and I told him about Looped. He told me he knew you and your husband. I’ve thought of asking him several times if he could get my letter to you. But finally, I decided to post it here for all the world to see in hope that one day it will make its way to you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to you and your husband for your kindness and for inspiring me. That night means so much to me and to this day when things get tough, I think of it. May all be well in your lives my kind and talented friends.

Yours truly,

Matthew