I haven’t really taken the time to talk about my theatrical pursuits lately. Time for some catching up.

In early December, I played Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, in Stage Right Theatre’s* presentation of “Christmas Heirlooms”. For me it was a tough role to play. Not only am I physically incapable of growing a beard, it was the first time I had role with so much emotional depth. In Heirlooms, Joseph hears of Mary’s pregnancy from a friend and is forced to confront her about it. He runs the gamut from rage, to heartbreak, to shame, and finally reconciliation. I also had to sing, but only a little.

On February 8th and 9th, I’ll be part of an ensemble cast in Stage Right’s dessert theater show, “You Know the Old Slaying.” It’s an “interactive” murder mystery in which the cast and audience work together to figure out who done it.

As an actor, this requires me to stay in character and improv throughout the show. In order to separate our own personas from the roles we are playing (since 90% of the audience will know us outside of the theater) most of the cast will learn new accents for their parts. I’ve always been pretty good at doing foreign accents, but I had to pick one that no one has heard from me before. That is to say, I had to learn a new one. I went with a North Plains, Minnesota/Wisconsin accent (think “Fargo”) and I think I’ve pulled it off.

This show is going to be amazing and the best part is that the audience, for the most part, gets to decide how it ends. If you’re going to be in the area, I strongly recommend attending. We’ll get started at 7:30 PM both nights. Tickets are $7.50 each and desserts are served during the intermission. I can hold tickets for you if you let me know. You can also use my PayPal link at the bottom of the sidebar to pay in advance.

See ya there!

*I continually rib Stage Right’s founder Michael Winters about misspelling “theater.” He insists that the correct spelling, if you are serious about it, is “theatre.” Then I follow with something like, “So if you want to be hoity-toity, you spell it wrong on purpose?”