I am beginning to find tick, tick…BOOM! to wear on my patience. I just am having trouble wrapping my head around it. I also feel like we are so behind compared to the other shows. I understand that we have more aspects to deal with, but it can really be difficult to deal with. 
This character is also very hard for me, and it doesn’t help when everytime I am working with someone they are constantly reminding that I need to be more straight. Like I don’t know. I mean come on, the character is male and has a girlfriend, and there is no surprise twist, so yes I know he is a heterosexual. I am constantly afraid all the time that I am coming off to gay on stage. It is not news to me, but it is something that I am working on. Why do my fellow actors and directors feel the need to tell me this? Do they think that I don’t know that I am homosexual, and that in order to be straight I have to change some of my mannerisms? It is hard to work in that kind of environment. Trying to develop a character is hard work and when every 30 seconds you are being torn out of that world by a snide comment about my sexuality. You would think that in a business that is always being associated with homosexuals that these people would know how to interact with them.
I also feel like I don’t know what the director wants for the character. The show is about Jonathan Larson’s life. Who is this man? Is it in fact Jonathan Larson or is he merely an inspiration? When researching the show I discovered that it was originally his one man monologue that was later adapted into a three person full scale musical. If the original purpose for the show was an outlet for him to share his personal frustrations about his lackluster career that just didn’t seem like it was going to go anywhere, then why wouldn’t I try to represent him to as closely as I can. I also feel like we missed an important step that I have become so used to by working on the two main stage show I have been in. Usually, there is a small character discussion between the cast and the director to delve into the world of these people we are portraying and together guide each other through the process of bringing these people to life. I feel like this conversation would be incredibly valuable to me. It may sound ridiculous, but I recognize that I am still a young actor and I need some guidance. I think it is a conversation worth having, especially after hearing a fellow actor remark about not knowing their character at all. I think it would help make this show a really great experience for us all.
tick, tick…BOOM! has begun as a slow process, but I think things are very quickly going to begin to start falling into place. We have been kind of chugging along working on the music, but it is a little slow. I sometimes find it difficult because I am so familiar with the music of the show and my other cast mates are not. No fault of their own, I have just been living with this music since my sophomore year of high school. Working on Forever Plaid I got a good taste of some truly difficult music, and I was convinced I wouldn’t see anything like it with this show, but listening to some of the harmonies that other members of the cast have, good God! I don’t know if any of that made sense. I think this process may be rewarding for me because I have never actually gotten to work on a modern musical from the last decade. The music is completely different from anything I am used to singing. I have probably the largest speaking role ever with this show. Jonathan (my character) never shuts up. I am a little worried about the memorization aspect. This is truly all new territory for me.
I finally finished reading the blasted Shakespeare play. It almost killed me. Ok, not really, but it took forever. It was soooo easy to get distracted. I found that I would much rather watch T.V. or play on the computer. Today, I was reading Gregg Stull’s blog, and he had made a post about a book he had read about ways of making learning more engaging for the video game generation. I find that I myself am a victim of this. Instead of reading I would much rather be playing with the many types of media available to me. I love Shakespeare. So why was it so hard for me to read this one play? I know I had some anxieties about it before I started, but once I got in the swing of things it should have been easy. As I sit here thinking about it, I am a little upset at myself for allowing myself to become so distracted. I enjoy reading. I started a little late with the whole “reading for fun, regularly” thing, but I think I am doing alright now. I wonder if my bibliophile friends find themselves in this same predicament or if maybe it is because I am a “newbie.”
Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct! 
So it occured to me that I have not yet blogged about my current projects. I am currently working on developing my character (Jon) for tick, tick…BOOM! It is an exciting opportunity for me because I have not ever gotten to do a show with contemporary music like this or with such a real story. The life of Jonathan Larson is one that is so interesting. I am excitied to research his life and to research a period that actually occured in my life. I was watching the documentary included in the RENT dvd and so much of what I have read in the show was so real to him. I had no idea that the show was actually a monologue performed by him originally in response to his not getting his musical “Superbia” produced. It was his cry out wondering why his life was not going as planned and it deals with his fear of never achieving the dreams and goals he had set for himself. It is such an amazing journey and I am looking forward to doing it.
