An evening with the King.

This past weekend I went to see Roger's and Hammerstein's classic musical "The King and I", which was playing at my local community theater. Now some of you may be asking yourselves why, because some of you know that I have an unbiased hatred for that show. The answer to that question is that I have a very good friend who was playing the King, who stepped in on short notice and needed the support of his friends. That being said I now know why I do not like this show.

I first developed a dislike for this show as a little (yes I was little at one time) boy when my sister would watch the movie starring Yul Brenner with some regularity. I really think it was the song "Getting to Know You" that did it for me, to this day I cannot hear that song and not cringe. But after a few years I began to reevaluate my dislike for the show and try to give it a fair shake. After all there have been many movies that I could not stand as a child that I have grown to love in my adult life, The Wizard of Oz is one that immediately springs to mind. However no matter how many times I watched it with an objective eye there was always something that grated on me about it and I never could figure it out.

This weekend however I think I know. The show is very uneven. You have arguably one of the most dynamic characters in theater in The King, surrounded by a group of under defined characters that no matter how good of actors you have to play them are always coming up short. Now before you get angry at me and misconstrue my words, I am not saying that the only person I saw that did a fantastic job on Friday was my friend the King. I have many friends in that show and I was astounded by how good some of them were. I never before realized just how good a singing voice Lady Thiang or Lun Tha had until I saw them this weekend.

What I am saying is that no matter how good they are, the characters they are playing are so underdeveloped it is painful. There is a whole story in and of itself for the Lun Tha/Tuptim relationship. Now I know that the show is about the relationship between Anna and the King, and all others are support, but it just seems to me that with a little bit of tweaking in other areas of the show it could be so much more than it is.

Anyway I have probably made no end of enemies by this post but I felt that these were things I needed to say.

'Til we meet again

Paul

P.S. A word of advice. Never play Clue with lawyers.

Well Deserved but tainted.

So the Oscar's were last night and big surprise Heath Ledger won posthumously for his portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime from Last year's The Dark Knight. I would like to take this time to convey my congratulations to Mr. Ledger's family and friends and say that it is an award well deserved.

However I would be remiss in this post if I did not point out the obvious hypocrisy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. What hypocrisy you ask? Well I am a firm believer that the voting of the Academy members was based less on the actual performance of Mr. Ledger and more on the fact that he died tragically a couple of months before the film hit the theaters.

Now before you get all upset and start yelling at me, I am not saying that Heath Ledger does not deserve this award. What I am saying is that if he had not died, there is no way in hell he would have won. And that is the hypocrisy I am speaking of. I saw a good deal of movies last year and I can say without a doubt in my mind that Ledger had the best acted, most fully realized, and most dynamic character of any movie last year. His performance is doubly impressive when you consider what he was up against. The Joker is by far the most recognized villain in comic book history. He has had the good fortune to be portrayed by some of the most distinguished live and voice actors our generation has ever known. As such everyone who knows the character has there own interpretation of how he should be played. From Cesar Romero's campy clown, to Nicholson's dark gangster, to Hamill's zany Daffy Duck-esque voice work, it seems almost impossible to bring something new and fresh to this character. Not only did he do it, but he put this icon of evil into a new realistic light that has never been seen before.

This and this alone should have been the basis for the voting this year. However, it never would have happened if he were still alive. This has nothing to do with Ledger and everything to do with Hollywood. It hates Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Comic Book movies. This is best illustrated by the 1978 awards in which Star Wars, the movie which had the biggest impact, was snubbed in all major categories for other winners. It, like it's predecessors and successor's was relegated to the technical categories like visual effects and such.

In the last 50 years only one film has ever won any Oscar's for any of the main categories, that being The Lord of the Rings: Return of The King, but this is the exception that proves the rule. I suppose I should not be surprised, seeing as how the whole thing is really a popularity contest and not one of validity. It just makes me mad that it takes something like a tragic death to bring a modicum of respectability to a genre of storytelling that just about everyone enjoys.

Anyway that's enough for this rant.

Til' we meet again.

Paul

28 things about me.

Hello all. For those of you who know me you know that today is my birthday. So I thought I would let everyone get to know me a little bit better by answering a few questions.

1. Dream Car- Aston Martin DBS

2. Favorite Book- The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

3. Dream Vacation- Worldwide Theme Park tour followed by a tour of all Major League Baseball Stadiums

4. Favorite Obscure Movie- Life as a House.

5. Favorite Movie Quote- "Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in." -Secondhand Lions

6. Aside from my acting, my greatest catharsis comes from my writing.

7. Contrary to popular belief, theater is not my first love. That place belongs to Baseball. Every spring I miss being able to play more than anything.

8. My brother and I used to get mistaken for each other all the time. Once, while we were working at the same grocery store, we both dressed up as gangsters for Halloween. I got called up to the front to bag, but my brother told me he would do it because he wanted to see how long it would take them to realize it was him and not me. The answer.......45 minutes.

9. Probably the greatest irony of my life to date is the fact that between my brother and me, I was always the inferior athlete, but I was on a State Champion Wrestling team, a two time conference winning football team and the first Baseball team to win any trophy of any kind for our school in like 25 years. He on the other hand was always on teams that were inferior to his own abilities.

10. I was born with a collapsed lung.

11. I am not a sports nut. For the most part I follow sports with passing interest. I know enough to be able to hold conversations and to know what is going on. I follow the big sporting events of the year, i.e. The Masters, The Superbowl, Daytona etc..... However when UGA football is on I become a raving lunatic. It is actually quite funny.

12. My perfect year in sports would consist of. Georgia winning the BCS championship, Atlanta winning the Super Bowl, Tiger completing the Grand Slam, Dale Jr winning the Nextel Cup, and Atlanta winning the World Series.

13. If I could only watch 5 movies for the rest of my life they would be. Star Wars (OT), Casablanca, The Godfather, Lonesome Dove, and The LOTR.

14. Favorite Dog- UGA

15. The people I most admire- My Parents and my Grandaddy.

16. My dream job- Paid Rollercoaster rider.

17. Favorite historical figure- Jesus Christ. Even if you don't believe in him as the son of God you have to admit he had a wonderful philosophy on life.

18. Favorite Quote- "Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed." -G.K. Chesterton

19. Favorite Chuck Norris Fact- While urinating, Chuck Norris is easily capable of welding titanium.

20. My inner circle- J9, love ya babe, Pete, he's da man, The Dwyer, although have not heard from him in a while.

21. I often feel as though I was born in the wrong period in time. I feel more at home dressed as a Medieval Knight, or a 1930's newspaper reporter than in my normal street clothes.

22. My biggest fear- Snakes. Hate them.

23. My birthday wish- That my parents can get away for a few days and escape the financial state that we are in right now. They are both so weary of penny pinching, I wish that I could send them on a weekend retreat or something.

24. Places I would most like to visit- Scotland, Ireland, Australia, The Grand Canyon, Montana

25. I am expecting the birth of my very first niece. I can't wait to be the crazy uncle.

26. I am a fan of music. I love harmony, dissonance, and the magic of hearing it all come together. That's probably why I don't listen to much Pop music.

27. I still have many movies from my childhood that I will watch again and again.

28. I am beginning to regret the fact that I got an XBOX for Christmas. This not getting to sleep until midnight is killing me.

Well that's it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did in creating it. If not, then I really don't care.

'Til we meet again

Paul

A Memorable Meal.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the cast and crew of one of the best shows that it has ever been my privilege in which to perform. "The Man Who Came To Dinner" was a show that I knew little about before reading it. It struck me as a show that could be very very good or very very bad depending on the type of cast that was assembled. I consider our interpretation, a complete success in all ways. So, to all of you who shared the field of battle with me over the last 3 months I wish to extend my heartfelt congratulations to a wonderful show, and I fervently hope that I will get to share it with you again for many shows to come.

'Til we meet again

Paul

My most abject apologies.

To all my faithful blog followers, I first wish to extend my heartfelt apologies for the lack of posts in the month of December. For those of you who know me you know that December was a freakin' crazy month of one thing after another. So I thought that with this post I would catch everyone up to speed as to what kept me so busy that I could not post once the entire month.



It all started the 1st weekend of the month. A two year love affair with a particular play known as "Beckett" premiered at my local community playhouse on the 4th and ran the entire weekend. Needless to say the entire week leading up to it was filled with frantic rehearsals and long nights. I am pleased to announce that it was met with rave reviews even if the crowds were very small you can read the review here if you are interested. http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/article918006.ece



The next event that shaped my month happened the very day after Beckett ended. The company where I work was audited by Texas Medicaid. I was trapped for two days with very nice people from the state reviewing our ability to service the product that we are contracted to service. Following that wonderful experience I was then allowed to be part of a new training class as an instructor, for that same product. That took up the next week of my life and then I was finally at the one thing that I had been looking forward to the entire month. December 18th 2008 I started my Christmas vacation. 10 days of not having to work. That being said I by no means had a slow vacation. On top of having rehearsal's for The Man Who Came To Dinner, which incidentally has opened and been reviewed,(see http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/article964618.ece if interested.), I got to play Taxi to my Brother and his lovely Wife and my Sister, who came to visit for Christmas.



Not that I am complaining understand. I love my siblings and hate the fact that we are so far away from each other. But this was my vacation. Thursday December 18th drove to the Orlando/Sanford Airport 2 1/2 hrs away to pick my Brother and his wife up, then rehearsal that night. Friday thru Tuesday at the house relaxing. I guess I could have spent this time updating my blog but you know I was on vacation and did not feel like it so sue me. Tuesday Dec. 23rd drove with Dwight and Jenny to Daytona Beach to visit with the Grandparents and my Aunt Lynda while we waited for my sister to arrive at 11 p.m. in Orlando, did not get home until 2:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve. Wednesday Dec. 24th had Christmas at the house with everyone. Got an XBOX almost creamed myself. Thought you'd like to know. Thursday Dec. 25th drove back to Orlando/Sanford to take Dwight and Jenny back to the airport. Friday went to the mall with my Mom and Sister and bought a bunch of games for my XBOX. Saturday said goodbye to my Sister as she and Mom drove back to Orlando/Sanford to get her to the Airport with a side trip to IKEA. Then spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and getting ready for a business trip that I had to go on for work to Fairmont West Virgina.



That next morning Sunday the 28th I got up at 4:30 a.m. so my Father could take me to the Tampa Airport for my 8:45 flight. He had to be at work anyway. The flight was an experience to say the least. We got stuck in the Charlotte Airport for 12 hours because our plane broke. Because of that delay we did not reach the hotel in Fairmont until 1:45 a.m. on Monday the 29th. The rest of the trip was uneventful. We spent the day at one of our outsourced sites helping the new hires and spending the evenings at the Hotel. New year's day I worked for six hours then came back to the hotel to watch the second half of the Capital One Bowl and a Looney Tunes marathon on Cartoon Network. Our flight home was only disrupted by the complete shutdown of Pittsburgh International Airport because of some yahoo breaking the security rules.

But I'm home now and glad that December is behind me. I am in the second week of the run of a very good show and enjoying my Christmas Toy.

I hope you will forgive me for the delay but this should shed some light on the situation.

Til we meet again

Paul

Well worth the sacrifice.

This past weekend was spent in my ancestral home with my family. This is not meant as a metaphor or clever play on words, it is literal. Over the weekend my parents and I crammed ourselves into the Sebring and made our way to Jasper, Georgia for my Grandaddy's 80th birthday. We were able to enjoy good food, good company, and most importantly the company of possible the greatest man that I have ever known...

...my Grandaddy. Born in 1928, he has graced this earth for 80 years and my life for 27 of those. I have never met a man more giving, or forgiving than him.

In addition to seeing him I was also able to visit with the entire Wade clan. A feat that does not happen very often, the last time occurring 7 years ago when my brother got married. It was wonderful having everyone together for this wonderful occasion, we laughed, watched football, and were able to catch up on the lives of those we hold most dear.

The weekend was best summed up by a DVD that my brother put together and that you can view at his blog, just follow the link on mine if you are interested.

This weekend was special for me in that I gave up the chance to be in 1776 at my local community theater. It's second weekend of the run was this past weekend. It is a show that I have dreamed of being able to be apart of for a long time.

Looking back I wouldn't have traded this weekend for anything.

'Til we meet again

Paul

Give credit where credit is due. Part Deaux

Congratulations to Senator Barack Obama who is now the first American of African descent to be elected to the presidency.

I wish him the best and hope he will lead with common sense and wisdom.

And I hope he is able to come through on all the promises he made during this campaign.

But don't blame me if I don't hold my breath.

Til' we meet again.

Paul