Out Of The Woods

Man, I don't know where to begin...

It's strange to be ready/glad something's over and sad/down that it's over - all at the same time. Since I consider myself a hobbyist, not an actor, I've always said that I'm in shows to meet people, make new friends. (Yes, there is the whole attention whore part of myself, the huge blackhole that needs to be filled with other people's laughter, applause, praise - psychic vampire - but that's off topic). Every significant friend I've made since I moved down to Orlando has come to me through performing. And that's funny cause I don't consider these people "theatre" people - just friends. And Into The Woods is another example of what I think I love about doing theatre - you create this...organism...you build it up from all the strange DNA on the table...mixing and bouncing all the energy off of every person in the cast...and like some terrible insect, it only exists for a short period of time...then it's gone...frozen in your memory...insert your own Jurassic Park amber reference here...and all the inside jokes, the waiting in the wings, the labor pains that get you to an Opening Night...all fade into a familiar pattern in your mind, maybe labeled under "This Is How It Always Goes"...but at the same time, within the same sense-memory of repeated steps...there are also moments so unique that only a handful of people will ever be able to talk in the short hand language needed to describe them. You and a bunch of strangers (or if you're lucky, friends...and if you're luckier a few strangers that become friends) get together and do something that nobody else will ever do...there's never another show like it...and if you changed one person (and sometimes you'd like to) you change the whole creature. And when it's tick tick ticking away....when everyone is in the zone...God, it's a beautiful fucking thing to be a part of...it makes you want to laugh and cry all at the same time. And the added bonus (for me) is walking away with a few more friends than when I started out...friends who go on to other projects and who'll one day will invite me to sit out there in the dark and watch them create other worlds, other creatures...and, if I remain the lucky bastard I am...I'll get to work with them again on something else...somewhere down the line. There'll never be another Into The Woods like this - David, Amanda, John, Tyler, Zinnia, Angela, Mirianette, Geoff, Charlie, or (God help us), Chad or Ashley. And we'll never spend as much time together as we did with this show, that's the sad thing...the thing that gets me down. The same way I got down after Rocky, knowing that Tammy, Tyler, Todd, Jenn, and I would never be those phantoms, those creations again. But I've gotten the chance to work with Todd and Tyler again....and now, with Oedipus, I'm working with Jenn and Tammy....and I know that I will work with the rest of you as well. That's good to know. That makes me smile.

And now, we present: Chad Is Only Afraid Of CockRoaches.

Chad: (repeated for the last ten minutes): Cockroaches are the only thing I'm scared of.

Josh: (he knows it's like kicking a puppy but he just has to) What about sharks, Chad.

Chad: (he's been ready for this and is just glad someone is talking to him) No, cause I swam with sharks at Sea World.

Josh: (knows that those sharks at Sea World are a bunch of pussies that don't deserve the name) No, what about great white sharks off the coast of South Africa, jumping outta the water like heliocopter...would that scare you?

Chad: (I wonder if Josh is annoyed with me?) No.

Josh: (can feel the savage Lord of The Flies vibe in the dressing room and is now on a roll) No? Giant fucking sharks flying through the air? Not scary? How about cobras, Chad. How about you're taking a shower and someone throws a bunch of cobras in there with you? Maybe, huh. Maybe a little scary. Just a bit. How about drowning, Chad. Is drowning scary, are you scared of that? Or maybe of being burned alive, scary yet? Or how about this, you jump into a pool and someone spreads oil on the surface of the water and sets it on fire and everytime you try to come up for air they punch you in the face -- GET BACK IN THE FIERY WATER CHAD!!!!! GET BACK IN THE FIERY WATER CHAD!!!! -- Would that maybe be a little scary?

I would like to thank Kevin and Marcie and Steve and Heather and Kevin and Megan and Elizabeth and Michael and Jeff for coming out to the show this weekend. Again, I'm lucky to have friends like you guys.

Damn, last day on February. 26 years and 10 days old.