Interesting Television Line-up tonight

Ok, so now I am a frequent blogger, but I needed to share. Tonight, TCM had two interesting films back to back. The films were also shows that I have done (surprise, surprise) You Can't Take It With You, which I have had the pleasure of doing twice, and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. In You Can't, I played the Russian Ballet Instructor Kolenkhov both times, the first at 17 and most recently at Stage West in January of 2005. In How To Succeed I played Finch in 1980. The curious thing is that How To was the show that derailed my desire to be an actor. It was the best cast I ever worked with until Beckett- so professional, so many varied ages- it was one of the biggest community theaters in the state of New Jersey, quite nearly professional- a number of the cast had agents and were trying to go pro- our choreographer left us early to join the cast of A Chorus Line in New York- and as I worked with these people, I came to my previously stated epiphany about being a ham as opposed to an actor; a personality as opposed to a talent (see my first blog). I did not want to be a 45 year old man still wanting to be an actor. I did a couple of shows after that, met my wife, got married, and stopped acting cold turkey. I did some theatrical things, but not many, for twenty years. Then, in October 2004, I auditioned for my first part in many years- You Can't Take It... and I got Kolenkhov again. It was like coming home, both being on stage and getting into the Russians skin again. It was funny seeing both shows tonight, and impossible to dodge the flood of memories and feelings they invoke in me. I got really choked up singing Brotherhood of Man at the end- "Your life long membership- is free- keep a-giving each brother all-you can- Oh aren't you proud to be- in that fraternity- the great big brotherhood of man" I know I am proud to be in the brotherhood of man and actor, as well. Thanks for reading this. See you next time- Pete

Beckett update, and Goodbye Majel

Well, here is my second post. I think I probably am doing this wrong, but I have never seen blog frequency requirements listed anywhere, so maybe not. I see that a number of people post frequently, and others do not. I am surprised that I have fallen under the "others do not" category, as I always seem to have so much to say. Anyway, here goes- Beckett was an incredible success. While the crowds were intimate, they got bigger each evening, as word of mouth spread. We had some wonderful comments and reaction to the performances and the direction; I am so proud of everyone involved; there was such growth from each talent; as a director you take great pride in seeing that. Of course, the level of talent to begin with was such that not much direction was needed. Just tweaks. But it was incredible, and I can safely say that I have never been more proud to be associated with a production in my life. And the feedback about my performance was heartwarming, but I was not satisfied. I never really am. Now, to change the subject. I was saddened to hear of the passing of Majel Roddenberry. She was an integral part of Star trek in each incarnation, playing Number One in the original pilot with Jeffery Hunter to Nurse Chapel in the TOS and the first films to Troi in TNG. She was always the computer voice, and appears as the computer voice in the new film, which arrives in May. One of my most treasured memories is of meeting her in New York City in 1976. That was the Star Trek Convention where I played Spock, and have gone into that story countless times, so I won't again here now, other than to focus on Majel. As we stood in the Library of the Presidential Suite at the long gone Commodore Hotel and basked and hobnobbed with Gene Roddenberry, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, James Doohan, DeForest Kelly, Issac Asimov and others, I took a step back and just watched. I took refuge next to a beautiful, large wooden desk. A very attractive woman sat on the desk, legs crossed, taking it all in as well. She was stunning, with piercing eyes and black hair. I smiled at her; she smiled back. We were basically alone. No one fawned over her. As I looked at her, she seemed strangely familiar. Now at that point, I was not a Star Trek fan, but had just done two months of hard core Trek research, watching the reruns on WPIX at 6pm each night, and reading all that I could. And then, it hit me. It was Nurse Chapel- I knew her as a blond on the series, and at this point had not yet seen the pilot episode and did not put The Menagerie episode into perspective. So I asked her- "Are you Majel Barrett?" and she said "Yes I am. Thank you for noticing" And I mentioned the blond thing, and we made small talk about Chapel and Spock, and she told me how much she had enjoyed the performance (we had not known that the cast was watching US play THEM- and a good thing, too). I thanked her and asked for her autograph- she pulled out a note pad from the desk and signed her name. And then she gave me a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, told me she always had a thing for pointed ears, hopped down off the desk and vanished into the crowd. That whole experience was so special and surreal then; the passage of time makes it even more so, especially since both Roddenberrys, DeForest Kelly and James Doohan are gone. So I say goodbye, Majel. Thank you for you kindness and for years of entertaining me, and thank you for our special moments together. Until next time, I remain everybody's favorite Peter.

My first blog post

I have read blogs for quite some time now, always with great interest, but never took the "leap". Well, here I am, leaping. I would say that I am now a leaper, but already having lept, I suppose this makes me a "leper". Or not. Well, this appears to be a fine start to my blogging career. Ah well, to the purpose of this entry- me. Or specifically, how I feel about me, which is not very good. I spent the better part of today preparing for the upcoming production of "Beckett" at Stage West in Spring Hill. For those who read this and do not know me, I am an actor. Or a ham. Or both. I have a face and a body that were just made for radio, but find myself on the stage. As a teen, I had every intention of becoming an actor, but I realized that I was more ham than actor, more personality than talent, and I got cold feet. I married, had a beautiful family, and put acting out of my head, but it was never far from my heart. I would watch Tony Awards each year and my heart would melt. In late 2004, I got the bug back and returned to the stage after a 20 plus year hiatus, and have not looked back. I have done show after show after show, which I know pisses a lot of people off, but I am trying to both make up for lost time and also do as much as I can before I cannot any longer. I have been blessed to have been well received and thought of by the public; I have met and worked with some incredible talent, and I have worked hard to try to be an actor as opposed to a ham. However, most parts that i have had in my artistic "rebirth" have been characters, and I have embraced them, using my usual schtick and ham charm to bring the parts to life. So to "Beckett". I watched a recording of one of our rehearsals from this past week- last Friday. We were missing a number of people, so George and I stepped in and did several parts in addition to our own. This cast is remarkable, and so far as I can see, has one weak link- the Director, and not so much as in his direction, but his performance. As Director, I can say that. As the actor, I feel horrible, and am ashamed to be the blemish on the production. Aside from being short and fat, and as I age shorter and fatter, I look like a hobbit without pointy ears and hairy feet. My delivery, which I thought was good, is actually not, and it appears that my initial fears from 25 years ago still ring true- no actor I, just ham. Personality I got- talent not so much. I just hope that my cast forgives me and focuses on themselves and their collective remarkable performances. We open Thursday; we shall see. I wish I had only been the director. These folk deserve better. Ah well, that's all for now. Thanks for reading! See you next time, and until then, I remain everybody's favorite Peter (except for me)
Pete