My Road to THE ROAD TO QATAR, Part 1

JAMES BEAMAN WILL STAR IN THE NEW MUSICAL, "THE ROAD TO QATAR," BY DAVID KRANE AND STEPHEN COLE, AT THE YORK THEATRE COMPANY IN NEW YORK BEGINNING JANUARY 25!

I received the best of all possible holiday gifts this year. Just before Christmas, I was offered the leading role of 'Michael' in the new musical, The Road to Qatar, which will have its Off-Broadway premiere in January at the prestigious York Theatre Company. Aside from the enormous blessing of having an actual job in New York (the last time I performed on an NYC stage was the fall of 2007), I will also have the incredible experience of originating a terrific part in a new show.

The Road to Qatar is written by David Krane and Stephen Cole, and is based upon their true life story of a bizarre series of events in which they were commissioned by the Emir of Qatar to create a Broadway style musical to be presented in a soccer stadium in Qatar. The two writers, who had never met nor collaborated before, found themselves whisked away to the Middle East where they wrote the musical Aspire in just five weeks. Check out the two part documentary of their true life adventure here.

David and Stephen took their wild adventure and turned it into the hilarious musical comedy, The Road to Qatar. Fortunately for me, the show is about "two short Jews who write musical comedy!" It is rare that a short, gay, Jewish character actor gets to play a lead in a musical, so you can imagine my delight when I was offered the part of Michael. Michael is sort of the 'Oscar' half of the odd couple of Michael and Jeffrey, based on Krane and Cole themselves. I am also delighted that I will be directed by Phillip George, who was my director in my very first New York show, Howard Crabtree's Whoop-Dee-Doo!, back in the early '90s. Phill, who staged Forbidden Broadway for many years, is a clever and ingenious director and I am excited to work with him again.

We begin rehearsals just after New Year's, so be sure to tune in as I blog the whole adventure. For more information on the show itself, visit the authors' website. For tickets and performance information, visit the York Theatre Company's site. What a great way to start 2011!

My Holiday Letter

I have friends and relatives who include in their annual Christmas cards a letter, detailing all the events and activities of the year past, sharing the losses and the triumphs, and wishing everyone a great year to come. Since I am spending a quiet Christmas in Manhattan, with plenty of time to ruminate on the many adventures of 2010, I thought I would write my own letter and put it out there to my friends, loved ones and supporters.

What an incredible year it has been. The prior two years were so completely immersed in my journey with the Spamalot tour; this year has been about really getting back into the mix of fine performers looking for work, and making amazing new inroads in the business with extraordinary people. In addition to my artistic and professional growth, I had the chance to explore a new relationship with a loving and wonderful guy after four years of singlehood. And I rediscovered a passion for teaching and coaching young actors through a magical series of powerful events.

The year started with intense activity of all kinds. Challenging auditions were balanced by the extraordinary growth I experienced in the acting classes of Matthew Corozine. I created an entire new career plan with Jodie Bentley, a fantastic career coach and co-owner of The Savvy Actor, which led to a new website and a host of new networking strategies. I also got the chance to return to The Nutty Professor musical in our second backers audition reading of the show, directed, again, by the incomparable Jerry Lewis.

I was delighted to break through with Goodspeed Musicals, winning the role of Charlie Davenport in Annie Get Your Gun.
I had long wanted to work at this prestigious two time Tony-winning regional theatre, and what a great first experience it was. The cast was incredible, led by Jenn Gambatese as Annie, and I enjoyed the changes of season for the many weeks of the show in the beautiful Connecticut River Valley. I also did some exciting educational outreach for the company, finding a terrific teaching partner in triple threat performer Molly Tynes.

I made two trips over the summer to Washington, D.C. in a pair of collaborations with Marcus Kyd, Lise Bruneau and their Taffety Punk Theatre Company. The first was a powerful staged reading of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser. I played the role of Norman, dresser to a rapidly unraveling Shakespearean actor-manager, played, to my great pride and delight, by my teacher and D.C. veteran star Edward Gero. This is a role I have always wanted to play and to get just a taste of it was so rewarding. A week later, I returned to D.C. to play the role of Theseus in Taffety Punk's "Bootleg Shakespeare" production of Two Noble Kinsmen at the Folger Theatre. Exhilarating stuff.

Surprise, surprise. Goodspeed invited me back to join an outrageously talented cast in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.
Preempting the forthcoming Broadway production through the generosity of Jo Sullivan Loesser, Goodspeed mounted a stylish and sizzling production and I got to kick my heels up as a dancer again, and play the office womanizer, Mr. Gatch. More educational work was also a highlight of my fall at Goodspeed, and the company commissioned me and Molly Tynes to create the first ever Goodspeed Musical Theatre Audition Intensive, a weekend boot camp in audition preparation and performance for high school students contemplating trying out for college theatre programs. The workshop, which took place earlier this month, was a powerful and hugely successful endeavor. Talks are already underway for the next one!

The year is coming to a close on a truly high note. This week, I was offered the lead role of Michael in the Off Broadway premiere of David Krane and Stephen Cole's new musical The Road to Qatar.
This hilarious piece is based on the authors' own true story of their collaboration on a lavish musical commissioned by the Emir of Qatar. The adventures of "two short Jews who write Musical Comedy" will run January and February at the York Theatre Company. I couldn't be more excited to be finally doing something great in New York--and a wonderful lead role to boot. I've been waiting for my short gay Jewishness to pay off! Happy Holidays to me. So much to be grateful for. Truly, all I have ever wished for is a life in my art. And it is all happening for me. On the most personal level, I was given the incredible gift of trying my sea legs in a relationship this year. A loving, free spirited, challenging, talented guy named David touched my life and my heart. It's hard to try to love again, but what a beautiful thing to know that it's still possible. Thank you, David, with love.

My greatest wish for the season would be for all of us to really try and be in the moment. And realize how incredible, bountiful, and full of possibility our lives are. Releasing the wounds of the past, not being overly obsessive about the future. Hold those you love close to you, and have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year!! Love to all.

My Year of Goodspeed

"Lloyd always said in the theatre a lifetime was a season, and a season a lifetime..."
~"All About Eve"

As actors we all have our wish lists: lists of roles we want to play, lists of directors and prominent actors we'd love to work with, and then there's the list of theatres where we would love to tread the boards. It is part of an actor's ambition; ever reaching for better and better opportunities--desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, as it were. My career is increasingly split between my passion for classical acting and my love of musical theatre, and in each genre we have in the US our leading institutions. On the musical side, Goodspeed ranks at the top. To be asked to perform here twice in one season was a rare opportunity and it has been such a rewarding journey for me.

Eight months of near continuous work has afforded me the opportunity to work with two new directors, two new choreographers; it has put me in the mix with some of our finest Broadway performers, both seasoned veterans and rising young stars. Goodspeed's reverence for the classics they revive and their unflinching determination to present fresh and refined visions of those classics have give me the chance to experience the magic of Irving Berlin and Frank Loesser in two of their finest creations.
I was able to create my own take on a delicious character in Charlie Davenport, and then to join an amazing ensemble of triple threat performers in "How To Succeed...", rediscovering my love of dance and enjoying the process of creating the wacky 1960's world of that show. Throughout these many weeks of work I have also had the chance to get to know this beautiful part of Connecticut, to revel in the changing seasons, to taste of the art and fine food and history that make this area so unique. In short, my year at Goodspeed has enhanced my life and my career, and to be almost continuously employed in my craft during these challenging economic times is a gift that I am truly grateful for.
My deepest thanks to Michael Price, the fearless leader of Goodspeed, and to his entire producing team, the artistic staff, stage management team, and dedicated crew, and people both behind the scenes and in the front of house whom I have had the pleasure to get to know this season. I feel a part of your family.

Today we play our last performances of "How To Succeed..." and then the diaspora begins. Most of us will pack up and head back to New York City; a lucky few of us are slated to begin rehearsals for new Broadway shows; most of us will get back into the hustle of auditions, taking a stab at the next gig before settling in for the holidays. Tomorrow when I return to the city I have two auditions! No time to rest on my Goodspeed laurels--the next thing awaits. I will be back in East Haddam next weekend to lead the first ever Goodspeed Audition Intensive, introducing a new generation of young talents to the process that will become one of the fundamental components of their life in theatre. I discovered, or perhaps decided, at one point in my career that we must love ALL of what we do, the auditions as well as the performing, for truly they are all a part of the thrill ride that is an actor's career.

Say "Uncle!"

TWO MORE WEEKS OF "HOW TO SUCCEED..." AT GOODSPEED!

This production may prompt audience curiosity about how well the planned Daniel Radcliffe-John Laroquette version will do on Broadway in early 2011. It may be hard to top how well all of the separate components of the Goodspeed production flow satisfyingly together. ~Hartford Arts Examiner



The joys of live performance are sometimes contradictory. Stage actors are, by nature, creatures of habit; we love the athletic repetition of our performances, and the attendant routines of signing in, warming up, donning our disguises--the reassuring daily motions of the working performer. However, one of the realities of theatre is that it is in many ways spontaneous, and indeed, works best when there is sense of danger, of unpredictability. And, no matter how strong an actor's technique or his level of concentration on stage, sometimes something happens to just, well, crack him up. The Brits call this "corpsing" because in the moment those inappropriate giggles arise, one's character dies and the actor beneath is exposed. Last week, regrettably, a mass expiration occurred on the Goodspeed stage, during the rousing 11th hour number, "The Brotherhood of Man." It all began so simply--a small slip of the tongue by our esteemed "president", Ronn Carroll as J. B. Biggley. Brian Sears, as Finch, setting up the number, says, "We're all brothers." Ronn is supposed to glare at Bud Frump and say, "Some of us are uncles." On this night, he mistakenly said, "Some of us are nephews." I know it seems so innocent, so banal, but it took Brian and the rest of us by surprise; by the time Brian had to turn and sing to the group of us executives, a red faced grin had erupted on his face. The rest was a chain reaction--shoulders began to shake, serious expressions gave way to struggling grimaces unsuccessfully masking open hilarity. The first part of the song was broken up by a bunch of performers trying to regain their composure while a mystified and bemused audience watched. Torture!! And of course we were all heartily ashamed of ourselves while acknowledging that it was indeed quite funny and we are human, after all. The next night, when we returned to the same spot in the show, I know more than one of us was gripping his feet, holding his breath until the moment passed without a giggle.

Thanksgiving approaches, as does the conclusion of our run. Dusk falls early now; the nights are cold and dark. Pumpkins and mums are giving way to yule logs and twinkle lights. I watched all the seasons change here at Goodspeed this year: I arrived to start "Annie Get Your Gun" in the frigid cold of March and capered through the Wild West through spring and summer, then returned during the last dog days of that season to take up my position at World Wide Wickets through a blazing New England fall. With the coming of the holidays, I can only feel gratitude that in these uncertain times, I have been gainfully employed as an actor at one of our finest theatres for virtually an entire theatrical season. What a gift. I plan to savor these last performances, even as my eyes turn inevitably to the horizon and the search for that next gig.

How To... HALLOWEEN

Actors love in-jokes. I think this stems from the joy that we all experience when we are asked to join a temporary family within a production; our little catch phrases and private gags make it feel like a special club of which we are honored members. I also think that the in-jokes are a way of lightening the pressure of the eight show week. We took full advantage of a chance to blow off steam with our company Halloween party this past weekend. The theme of the party was to dress as a line of dialogue from "How To Succeed...". With limited budgets and creative imaginations, we all hit the outlet malls, Wal-Mart, and party stores to find the bits and pieces that would get across, in the wittiest possible way, the line we had chosen to represent. The results were hilarious: everything from a hula girl with leprosy ("an extremely tropical disease"), to a church lady covered in plastic ivy ("Grand Old Ivy"), to my own contribution--a head dress made from two martini glasses, one of them containing a prop olive ("You call this a double martini? It only has one olive in it!"). Here I am wearing my creation, next to cast mate Lianne, who came as "Making a clean breast of the whole thing" (she carried around a Comet can with a revised label on it that read "Boob"). The party was a blast--pot luck goodies, a fire pit and S'more making, jack 'o' lanterns, and much autumnal frolic. This is such a bright and funny group of people. The last month of shows will continue to be great fun.

Goodspeed has also offered me the opportunity to hone my skills as a teacher and coach, through their education outreach programming. I have greatly enjoyed leading workshops with area middle school and high school kids, and have been especially impressed with the talent and motivation of the students from the Community Music School in Essex.
I love coaching young talents; they are eager sponges that absorb everything I throw at them, and their enthusiasm is a reminder of the fresh faced drive that led me to a life in this profession. I am delighted that Goodspeed has collaborated with me and my teaching partner, triple-threat performer Molly Tynes, to create their first ever Audition Intensive for graduating high school seniors preparing to audition for college theatre programs and performing arts conservatories. This exciting weekend seminar will take place December 4 & 5, and Molly and I will be teaching the nuts and bolts of the audition process, and coaching the students on their songs and monologues in preparation for their college tryouts. We will also be joined by a distinguished panel including Brent Wagner, chair of the musical theatre department at University of Michigan, Michael O'Flaherty, musical director of Goodspeed Musicals, and choreographer and master teacher Parker Esse. This panel will view the students' mock auditions and give invaluable feedback. It is truly a remarkable opportunity for young actors, and an exciting project for me and my fellow educators. Visit the Goodspeed Musicals website for more information.

Les Feuilles Mortes

"HOW TO SUCCEED" OFFICIALLY OPENED OCTOBER 20! REVIEWS TO COME, PLUS PHOTOS, ETC. AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE. WE ARE OFF AND RUNNING AT GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE!

While I am sad not to be in Manhattan to enjoy the autumn, this best of all possible times of year in the city, I am comforted by the joys of fall in New England here in the Connecticut River Valley. We are at peak foliage time here, and the countryside is ablaze with reds, oranges, golds. I enjoyed a picture postcard of a Columbus Day with apple picking at sprawling Lyman Orchards in nearby Middlefield, bringing home pies and pumpkins to fill my actor's digs with seasonal delight. Bundling up and shuffling through the leaves, poking into the many antique shops that populate this quaint area; enjoying sunsets over the river that would make Maxfield Parrish jealous: pinks and lavenders reflecting off the water as the Opera House rises against the crazy quilt of fall foliage, a fantasy place that seems carved from ice cream. Truly there are many blessings that accompany this autumn sojourn with the rollicking joys of "How To Succeed," if one can put up with the lunacy of Connecticut drivers, who have made me christen this "the tailgate state."

We opened our show officially this week, with a warm and raucous first night audience. The show has found its legs, and all of us are enjoying our eight shows a week. My creative energy is not reserved only for my performances at Goodspeed. I am also teaching several classes for area high schoolers via Goodspeed's educational outreach programs, and am working on the details for the Audition Intensive I will be co-conducting at the beginning of December; a weekend of coaching for high school seniors preparing to try out for college theatre programs. In addition, I am also enjoying being a part of another artist's creative process by commissioning a piece from an extraordinarily talented local sculptor, Kara Knobelsdorff. I discovered this artist's work while working at Goodspeed over the summer, and have asked her to do a portrait of me as a birthday gift to myself. Some of my friends feel this to be a slightly narcissistic enterprise, but I see it as a way of celebrating this moment in my life while being on the inside of an artist's creative process. My first sitting was this week and I find the whole thing fascinating.

Speaking of fascinating... I must devote some of this post to rhapsodize about the current production at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre, a new musical version of the Roald Dahl classic "James and the Giant Peach." Our company was invited to attend the final dress rehearsal of this workshop of a promising new piece, and I have to say it completely captivated me.
The music and lyrics are by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, a bright, witty contemporary score; the book is by Timothy Allen McDonald. The piece truly captures the simultaneously comic, macabre and touching aspects of this classic story. The cast is energetic and talented, with standout performances by Denny Dillon and Ruth Gottschall as the deliciously nasty Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. The revelation in this production is the incorporation of the elegant, gravity defying dancers of Pilobolus, who succeed stunningly at bringing to life everything from a man eating rhinoceros to a flock of seagulls, to the peach itself. Graciela Daniele, the visionary director behind this adventure, has returned to the essence of what theatre really means. Using a bare stage and the most rudimentary of props and costumes, she blends the musical and acting talents of her cast with the glorious movements of her dancers to create a world inhabited by insects, carnival creatures, paparazzi, sharks, swiftly moving clouds... the audience's imagination fills in the rest thereby engaging us in the creation of this world and never letting us go. Theatre is storytelling, at it's essence, and it is about the sharing of stories that illuminate the human experience and that touch our souls and our dreams. This show is doing just that. I couldn't stop thinking, as I watched this magical piece, about the daily reports coming in from the multi million dollar behemoth, "Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark"--the technical tangle of incorporating high tech CGI and other technologies with dangerous stunts that have produced injury after injury amongst the cast. Julie Taymor's vision for this new musical is pushing the limits of financing and technology, but only time will tell if her trademark creativity and inventiveness will shine through. Personally I remember Taymor's work at American Repertory Theatre when I was in college; productions that relied upon classic storytelling, shadow puppetry, mask and Commedia dell' Arte--the simplest effects created moments that sent chills down the spine. Graciela Daniele has given us a creative jewel that needs no fancy pyrotechnics or elaborate sets; she trusts the material and she inspires her performers to lead us into Roald Dahl's fanciful world. At the heart of "James and the Giant Peach" is a small and universal story of an orphaned boy searching for a family. I alternately cheered, gasped and wiped away tears as I witnessed this wonderful work. See it if you can!!

It is ironic to me that at this season, most often thought of as a time of decay and dead leaves, that I find myself a part of, and surrounded by, so much art and creativity. Truly, I feel very, very blessed. Fall passes so very quickly and soon we will hunker down for the long winter. Mull some cider, break out those fabulous layers and something spooky for Halloween, and savor this time, wherever you may be.

Merrily Machiavellian

"HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING" CONTINUES AT GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE THROUGH NOVEMBER 28!

This week I decided to wax a little dramaturgical, for no other reason but that I am a dork and love to trace the common threads between theatrical works we consider modern or contemporary and those of ages past. I find these classic themes fascinating. There is a reason that pieces like "How To Succeed" endure in the popular repertoire; of course Frank Loesser's witty and timeless score has much to do with it, as does Abe Burrows' well crafted book. But additionally, the story of the rise of the young opportunist J. Pierrepont Finch draws on classic themes that are a part of western cultural consciousness and it's fun to draw those connections.

As you probably know, the musical was adapted from a sharp, satiric best seller by Shepherd Mead of the same title, with the subtitle "The Dastard's Guide To Fame and Fortune." The dictionary defines a dastard as a 'mean, sneaking coward.' While we might disagree with this as a description of young Finch, our hero is a manipulator, a sneak, and will do just about anything not only to get ahead, but to save his own skin. Shepherd Mead drew upon his own experiences at an advertising firm, where he rose from mailroom clerk to vice president, and his witty observations of the corporate world were the basis of his comic 'self help' book, but the book itself didn't have a plot line or a main character. It was Abe Burrows and his collaborators on the book who created Finch and his story, drawing, in my view, upon the classic archetype of the Machiavel.

Machiavelli, the Renaissance philosopher who many consider the father of modern political science, laid out in his treatise The Prince, his proposed guidelines for achieving and maintaining power, mainly through cunning and manipulation.
The Prince was a very popular book during the English Renaissance, during which it formed the basis for many of the great villains of the plays of the era: Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta (in which a character called Machiavelli actually delivers the prologue), Shakespeare's Richard III, and Ben Jonson's Volpone (The Fox). Moliere's Tartuffe and Don Juan also share similar characteristics; they are deceivers, chameleons who can put on just the right facade to fool those they wish to gull or manipulate. And they get where they want to be by their talent for playing on the weaknesses and vanity of others--it is in their astute, albeit cynical grasp of human nature that they find their power to get what they want. Finch plays on the weaknesses and foibles of those he meets at Worldwide Wickets-- J.B. Biggley's desire for his extramarital 'bit on the side,' Hedy LaRue; Bud Frump's lack of subtlety and desperate need to get ahead; Mr. Gatch's lecherous tendencies; the chairman of the board, Wally Womper's, disdain for elitist, college educated men. This is part of the reason that audiences love these merry villains; we don't want to identify with the Machiavel's victims, since they are so fatuous and so weak-- we want to align ourselves, perhaps despite our values, with the master manipulator, with an ego that can lead someone to climb the ladder of success without any concern for who he tramples on on the way up those rungs.

These Machiavellian heroes are attractive, charming, with steel trap minds and infinite ways of escaping the consequences of their actions. And often, like Finch, they not only get away with their machinations, but they triumph. There is something simultaneously thrilling and deplorable about such triumphs, but it is part of our human nature that we fantasize about getting everything we want without hindrance from others and without consequences. We often look askance at those who are so self centered and driven but we secretly wish we had the cahones to be that way ourselves. Eve Harrington in "All About Eve" is a great example of a feminine Machiavel. She is a great actress in every day life, playing on the weaknesses of those she encounters in the theatrical world, with a sophisticated strategic game plan for becoming the leading lady she so desperately wants to become. Would she have risen to such a success without all that conniving? Clearly, she's a talented actress, but going the usual route of working the way up the ladder is too slow for a single minded vixen like Eve. Shakespeare's Richard III isn't waiting for dust to settle on him either; he'd rather kill off everyone that stands between him and the English throne.
And he tells us through soliloquy at the very start of the play that that is his intention--and by confiding in the audience, he makes us complicit in his plots--part of the guilty pleasure for the spectator. Finch does the same thing in "How To Succeed" but it is in the form of a mischievous grin directed at us, checking in with us to make sure we are appreciating the master manipulations he is concocting. Funnily enough, I see a lot of similarities between the hunchback king and J. Pierrepont Finch. It is interesting to me that one of the hits from our show, recorded by many of our finest singers over the years, "I Believe in You," is actually a love song sung by Finch to Finch in the washroom mirror. The ultimate narcissist sings a stirring love song--to himself. In one of Richard III's many soliloquies he has a line that keeps coming back to me: "I am myself alone." Ultimately, while Finch ends up with Rosemary (she herself a sort of Machiavellian secretary striving to manipulate Finch into marrying her), he really is in love with only one person--himself. And in spite of ourselves--with perhaps a secret wish that we were as ballsy as Finch is--we love him for it.

As of this posting, it is Columbus Day and another crisp, sun drenched fall day in Connecticut. We have been blessed with several such days here, and I am reveling in the fresh breezes, falling leaves, and nights of starry skies and cold air slightly tinged with the smell of woodsmoke. Truly beautiful. Our show is playing to enthusiastic houses, and I am enjoying the many pleasures of working at Goodspeed, including teaching some outreach classes for area high school students, and activities with my comrades in the show. "How To Succeed" will play through the fall and I hope that many will make East Haddam a destination, enjoy the foliage and the many pleasures of autumnal New England and come have a good laugh with our merry Machiavel, Finch, and the gang at World Wide Wickets!