Penguins Can So Fly

I managed to work myself into a good blue funk for a while today. When I got over that, I drew this for you:

Ego

A happy accident: Jen and I went to a Starbucks for a snack. Jen dug through that bin that people drop their pre-read newspapers in, and look-y what she found on the cover of the Washington Post Weekend section:
Yeah, that's me dressed as the King, with some kids who had just seen Sleeping Beauty. At the exact moment this picture was taken, I was plotting with the kids on how we were going to raid the lobby area and take all the cupcakes for ourselves. For the moment, you can also find the pic HERE and the related article (with a picture of Margo Seibert, SB's Aurora) HERE.

Orsino-ful and Fasch-less

I've been avoiding my blog. It's a dangerous time right now. Too much space around me.

Sleeping Beauty closed on Sunday. It was a great experience, and I miss those folks. I want to work with them again.

I am ready to return to more adult audiences now, after listening to the little ones laugh for a while. The batteries are feeling refreshed. With that in mind --

I'll be playing Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night at Cumberland Theatre -- a quick run, opening Dec. 6 and closing Dec. 17. He's a fun, lusty, egocentric character, and I'm very ready to play in that territory for a litle while. Also, on Nov. 27 at 7pm, I will be in a staged reading of Voodoo Today Here Now 5, by Joe Musso, at Rep Stage / HCC, in the recital studio in the new performing arts building.

So I guess that's all good. But it's not all, not quite. See, I recently had an audition for Bach at Leipzig, and I didn't get the role. Life of an actor, yes . . . but this one I worked very hard for, pushing for the audition, and memorizing and working and reworking and reworking two long monologues and a couple scenes. So I was very disappointed when it went to someone else (even though I like the guy), because this role meant a lot to me. It's taking some time to wash away. Odd. I have the most success with the auditions I'm casual about ( tho' not, NOT, apathetic!) -- which is why I've been really successful with commercial auditions, because I'm absolutely incapable of taking them too seriously.

Well, well. Sometimes I hit, sometimes I miss, sometimes Republicans win, sometimes Democrats (and boy-o-boy, the R's earned the drubbing they got this go 'round), and throughout it all, the big blue world keeps turning regardless. That I love.

Bang for a Buck

Yesterday morning, while driving on the DC beltway, I saw this in my rearview mirror:

A police officer pulled out his pistol and shot a buck.

The buck was lying on the side of the road -- apparently hit by a car, severely injured but not yet dead. The officer was doing a good thing. Still, it's a heck of a way to start halloween morning. I heard the shot, too.

Fat Dog, Nice Flower

What's been taking me so long? I've been busy -- that's my lame excuse. I think I had a true day off about a month ago. I'm tired, but happy, and not sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Imagination Stage has been keeping me busy. Along with Sleeping Beauty and the reading for The Christmas Doll, I also took part in their fundraising Gala, which involved the SB castmembers and a few dozen kids of various ages, scenes and musical numbers (I sang solo for the first section of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and sang and signed in a presentation of "Aurora's Song," which featured a member of the Deaf Access program), some awards and presentations and the dedication of the Christopher and Dana Reeve theatre, featuring a touching speech from a video-taped John Lithgow. The part that amazed me most was during the reception that followed -- a number of the kids gave me hugs before they left, and I realized that they enjoyed being a part of the Gala immensely. One of the kids, Elijah, dragged me over to the piano player (Glen, I believe) who was playing in the newly named Reeve Theatre, and he made me sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with him again! Soon I noticed that a number of people had crowded around for this new, impromptu performance. Elijah continued, singing songs like "Paper Moon" and "Margaritaville" with the pianist -- I managed to escape after "SOtR."

Monday two weeks ago I went to a general audition at Center Stage in Baltimore. Last Monday I did a photoshoot for an online "English as a Second Language" training program (through a series of 70-some pictures, I portrayed an occasionally bungling street cop). I had a couple of commercial auditions on Thursday and Friday. Last night I had an audition at Rep Stage for Bach at Leipzig, and today I drove to Cumberland for a general audition at Cumberland Theatre.

Wee!!!!!! And Sleeping Beauty has one more week to go. Not sure what happens next.

And below is a picture for a dog food commercial that made me laugh out loud. I first found it at Neatorama (where you can also see another funny commercial from the same company), and you can see a bigger copy of it HERE.

I made a quick trip to Wayside Theatre Friday a week-and-a-half to see their production of Othello. It was a wonderful production, some great performances from some of my favorite folks, fantastic set (I want it in my house, but it won't fit), great direction. If you didn't get out to see it, too bad for you, it's closed. I suggest you send notes to Warner, saying things like, "Do more Shakespeare! I promise to see it! And don't you think Peter would make a wonderful Richard III?"
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Did you ever notice that the difference between "denial" and "Denali" is just a move of the "i"?
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I have a little dream of creating my own mini-zoo. I already have an aquarium with 3 frogs and a few fish. Frogs are cooler than fish. I also hope to have a little ant farm soon, either by building it or buying it.
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And by the way, I'm enjoying the heck out of Sleeping Beauty at Imagination Stage. After playing a number of serious roles in war time plays, it's a great change of pace. Hearing the laughter of little kids is wonderful. On Sunday, I saw one little kid and his granddad sitting on the floor, watching our show. How BEAUTIFUL is that?!

(And what you see here is a little cartoon of a very young Aurora - a.k.a. Sleeping Beauty - already inspired by "girl knight" Brandamant, a.k.a. Bradamant.)

If you ain't busy, you should check out The Christmas Doll Tuesday the 3rd at 7 pm at the Round House stage in Silver Spring, MD. This ain't purple dinosaurs-style children's theatre. This has some dark stuff in it. I think it's a good show.

And if you're not at this reading, then you'd better be watching Carl Randolph at Round House's Bethesda stage, where they tacked on a couple of extra performances of A Prayer for Owen Meany, including this particular Tuesday. I can't think of anything else worth doin' an a Tuesday night.

Busy Boyer!

Friday at 1:00PM, tune in to 88.5 in the Washington DC area for WAMU's Metro Connection, and listen for some talk about Sleeping Beauty! The cast went to the WAMU studio on Tuesday and recorded parts of a couple of songs, and a little bit of dialogue. We'll be toward the end of the program, which will also air on Saturday @ 5:00am and 2:00pm and Monday @ 2:00am. It will also be available as a podcast.

Also: at 7 PM on Tuesday, October 3, swing by the Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, MD, where I and some other good folks will be in a staged reading of THE CHRISTMAS DOLL by Joan Cushing, based on the book by Elvira Woodruff, directed by Kate Bryer. This reading is FREE TO THE PUBLIC!

Death and Life

Patrick Quinn, former prez of Actors' Equity who was slated to become the new executive director, died of a heart attack at 56. Here's the NYTimes article (registration may be required).

I also found out that my fourth-grade teacher, Edna Jarvis, died, at 63. To be honest, I don't remember much about fourth grade, but I do remember seeing Ms. Jarvis on occasion years later and that she was very nice.

This is all a part of life . . .
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. . . but also, life is a part of life --

My older brother, Phil, just turned 40 on the 24th. His young sons wished him a happy birthday a day earlier, apparently because they thought it was more fun to say You're gonna be old as dirt than to say You ARE old as dirt.

And my younger sister Tenneil is pregnant! She and her husband John seem to be happy about it, and I shall gear up for my 10th uncling (uncle-ing) -- 4 via older sis Laura, 2 via Phil, 3 via marriage / Jen's bro Barry and his wife Sara, and sometime next year (knock wood) a newbie via T&J. I'm goin' into double digits.

Sadness and joy, rain and rainbows.

All's Quiet on the Western Blogosphere

A few items, as I haven't written in a while. Bad blogger.

1 -- I am a couple of weeks into rehearsals for Sleeping Beauty at Imagination Stage. Rehearsals are going pretty well. The other members of the cast and the director are all good quality folks and fun to be with, so my recent work life has been a treat. I think it'll be a good show. Check it out, especially if you have little ones!

I'll also be part of the annual Gala at Imagination Stage on October 21. Last year Jane Goodall was there! This year should also be very exciting!
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2 -- My heart swells with pride, or perhaps it's my glory-loving head, for I now have my own category on Larry Dahlke's blog, titled "That's Wierd Peter" (and I noticed just now that there's no comma between Wierd and Peter . . . hmm).

But there's a couple of things I must say -- first is: Larry, you need to write something new. I'm becoming self-concious my being the first thing I see on your blog. And why haven't you written about Othello (currently showing at Wayside Theatre, directed by "blogfather" Warner Crocker, with Larry playing Cassio)? Inquiring minds want to know! And second: I guess I'd better get to work on some more TWP, if it is to be a worthwhile category . . . . hmm . . . .
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3 -- And speaking of people needing to write, Carl Randolph's blog has been strangely silent of late. He's in a production of A Prayer for Owen Meany at the Roundhouse Theatre. And then there's Malia Arguello, stage manager and knitter extraordinaire, whose blog and myspace pages have also been quiet. Darn it, I'm trying to live vicariously! Write, people!