Last night I was a rockstar. The show we’ve been performing for the past few weeks opened to warm reception. The audience’s laughter was electric and during the final scene of the play you could have heard a pin drop. We were all rockstars. Except I really wasn’t a rockstar. I didn’t jump in a limo and head out to a club where I drank several bottles of vodka or champagne or bought shots for everyone. I went straight home on the subway afterwards knowing that I’d have to wake in the morning, throw on a branded blue shirt, and lead a bus full of tourists around New York. I suppose I’m really a bit more like Superman. One minute soaring through the air approaching Cloud 9, the next minute a mild mannered tour guide. Yeah. Superman! I can handle that.

In 1945 Noel Coward wrote the controversial film “Brief Encounter” about a British housewife who struggles with her desire to have an extramarital relation. In 1977 Steven Spielberg wrote what would becoming the science fiction blockbuster, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” In 2010 Corey Pajka irreverantly mashed the two into one story filled to the seams with love, temptation, aliens. Extramarital relations meet extraterrestrial destruction!

Come and witness the hilarious world premiere of “Brief Encounters of the Third Kind,” part of The Gallery Players Black Box Festival, on June 9 and 10 at 8pm or June 11th and 12th at 5pm. I place A-lec, the handsome and mysterious alien who falls in love with a human being. The play is directed by Suzanne Adams and features a fantastic cast including Matt Barbot, Barrie Golden, Christine Schwalenberg & Roni Tessler.

The Gallery Players is an excellent theatre and I’m honored to be working with them. They have premiered such exciting works as Urinetown, Yank, and Like You Like It. Each year their season concludes with this Black Box Festival, which introduces new work by up and coming playwrights. “Brief Encounters of the Third Kind” will start the evening, which includes 5 short one-acts – ours is the longest at 30 minutes. Yes, there is an intermission.

To purchase tickets visit: http://galleryplayers.com/plays/bb2011/.

Remember “Brief Encounters of the Third Kind” is in Program 3 on June 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th.

Sometimes I look at that guy who wears designer sunglasses on the subway. I watch him as he walks on to the platform purposely with his head held high and his nose in the air and I wish that I had a plain blue V neck that was as expensive as his. I lust after his carefree relationship with his Prada wallet. I examine my jeans with their post market distress and think about how many of my tshirts are left over from college, high school in many cases. Not all of them are. Some were birthday presents. Some came from the 99 cent store. Some I was required to wear at work. Then I think, to myself, who the fuck wears sunglasses on the subway?

A pale skinned man sat across from me on the subway. He probably was about 5’11 and 160lbs. Strands of gray ran through his otherwise dark hair and he wore a navy polo which fit too well and gray shorts which sat just above his knees and double stapped sandalls. On his finger was a wedding band and in his hand was a small red bible which couldn’t have been larger than five inches tall and three inches wide. There was something strange about the way he looked at the bible, craning his neck intensely. He was obviously in Genesis and seemed to be reading every word but once I caught him skipping a page. The only time he looked up from his book of choice was when the subway doors opened where he would study the commuters as they walked on. Man, woman, child, it didn’t matter. He looked at them with wide eyes and a half smile as if he was a puppy waiting for someone to throw him a bone.

It’s all we’re hearing about these days in NYC. The rapture’s supposed to happen a few days before my birthday. Sad… unless of course you think it’s awesome.

This afternoon at 5pm I will be performing the lead, Ben, a 21 year old Mormon who is determined to free himself of what he believes are curable homosexual tendencies and push forward with his pending wedding in a new work. This is a musical reading called “9 Letters” written by Kelvin Moon Loh with music and lyrics by Avril Lavine and it is part of Primary Stages’ Spring 2011 Playwriting Festival.

Today was a weird day. I’m sitting outside the door of a union casting for a show I really want to be seen for. The cool thing is that I managed to get a copy of the sides (the section of the script used) prior to the audition. That was a big win for this non-union actor being as it’s as yet unpublished. Unfortunately, the theatre didn’t have enough time to see non-union performers today. So I’m sitting outside the room listening to other guys read the role. It’s driving me crazy because I feel like they’ve all failed to realize something very important to the scene. On the surface it appears that you are performing a fight. However, it’s not a fight. There is nothing to be gained by fighting at this juncture. There is a pretty girl in the bed who is a bit highstrung. My character’s job was to try to keep her from getting mad so that he could either sleep or have sex. She even tells him that is seems like he’s just trying to keep her from getting mad. But every actor I heard go through those doors (I’m in the waiting area for another play still) launched headon into a fight. I am not going to lie. It is frustrating to feel like you have something better to offer than what they’re seeing and not being able to go in and share, but I will keep doing this. I love this. I am good at this. I will keep doing this, for the love of acting.

A mere five days after I arrived in Los Angeles, I found myself in front of a judge. Well, maybe I should rephrase, Andrew Hanson found himself in front of a judge, Judge Ross or Boss Ross as he likes to call himself. Kevin Ross was the youngest judge ever elected to the California Superior Bench and like people do in Los Angeles, he got his own TV show! Now every case he hears is broadcast into homes across the country via his syndicated television program called America’s Court. But something’s different about these cases… they’re performed by actors. That’s where I came in!

Now if you’re like me, you’re pretty surprised to hear this. But actually, almost all of the judge shows use actors and this isn’t a recent thing. Until The People’s Court came on the air, all of the shows prior to it had been with actors. Who knew? The majority of the shows are just as fake as the books on their courtroom shelves!

Anyway, look for me on America’s Court in either Episode 26 or 27 portraying Andrew Hanson. I’ve taken the defendant Nicole to court because she sold me a motorcycle without paying the sales tax. It should air sometime in March. I’m confident it’s going to be very entertaining! Here’s a general teaser for the show (a different episode):

For a few weeks I’ve been wanting to hop on MattFalber.com to tell you all that I booked a show at the Broward Stage Door in Florida. Everything happened very quickly. One of the Taffeta Wedding’s cast members dropped out and I received a call to head to Florida ASAP. As I’m heading out to Los Angeles from January 25th through July and this show runs to January 17th, I had a very short amount of time to pack up all my belongs and prepare my apartment to for a subletter. I arrived within 24 hours and started catching up as everyone knew the music and choreography before I arrived.

Taffeta Wedding takes place in 1964. The Taffetas, a musical group comprised of singing sisters have decided to marry their crooning beaus, The Cardigans, on national television. It’s presented with the innocence of a Lawrence Welk style show while Rick Lewis’ clever writing pokes fun at the time and is full of hit tunes from the 50s and 60s in four-part harmony. I play Frankie, one of the Cardigans. My character is probably the most wholesome of the guys. He thinks a lot about what it means to be married and be a good husband to his bride-to-be Peggy.

I’ve really enjoyed working with the cast and our creative team is out of this world. Our director Arthur Whitelaw is a Broadway legend and brought a number of very noteworthy productions to The Great White Way including the hit revival of Best Foot Forward, which introduced Liza Minnelli and Christopher Walken to the stage and my all-time favorite musical “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” — the original and the revival which gave Kristin Chenoweth her big break! Our choreographer is Michael Leeds who wrote and directed the Tony nominated musical revue “Swinging On a Star” featuring the music of Johnny Burke. Our music director Sergio Puig, regularly work for the Florida Grand Opera. We’re in very capable hands.

We opened last night to a very appreciative audience. The music sounded great and the cast was electric. If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth coming to see.

Tickets:

http://www.stagedoortheatre.com/Taffeta.html

Well, the episode aired last night and it was awesome! Here’s a brief clip for those who missed it.