My Shameless Plug

Okay, it's my turn to shamelessly plug a project I'm working on. As the poster says, it is, indeed, an evening of music and one acts under the stars. More specifically, it's a night of Christopher Durang one acts punctuated by musical performances from members of the cast and other local musicians. In addition to being assistant director for the project (and handling the marketing -- including the above poster design**), I also appear in two of the one acts. In "Phyllis and Xenobia," I play a potentially homicidal sister opposite, in a bit of inspired stunt casting, my own sister. It's a very short little script but very funny. I really get to let loose and just play balls-to-the-wall crazy by the end of the script, something I've never really gotten the chance to do before. In "The Hardy Boys and the Mystery of Where Babies Come From," I play the school nurse, Nurse Ratched, who holds the key to the mystery the boys are trying to solve -- and who also just so happens to be a sex maniac. I get to be just this total maniac, throwing around double entendres and doing my own homage to Kim Cattrall.

In addition to those two pieces, the night also features "Mrs. Sorken," "Funeral Parlor," "DMV Tyrant," "Canker Sores and Other Distractions," and "Naomi in the Living Room," which features my sis as Naomi. You know, I've always thought my sister was a pretty decent comedic actor, and then I saw her in rehearsals as Naomi and realized she is a freakin' AMAZING comedic actor. I don't think I could ever pull off the kind of performance I think she will next week. It's absolutely inspiring.

So, if you're in or around Galesburg next weekend, stop by for a free night of music and laughter. It's better than a lot of the other options out there. :)

** A note about the poster design: It was actually designed per request. I was a little "weird" about using a picture on the poster design, particularly one that has my face pretty much dead center. Do you know how awkward it is to walk down Main Street and see your face in every store window? But you have to respect the wishes of the director on things like that, and, my own lack of comfort aside, it is a pretty cute poster, I guess.