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