It's Been A While...

...Since my last post on the Brown Note and I know the 2 avid readers are up in arms. To those 2 readers, I appreciate the concern you expressed in your earlier emails but were the death threat notes asking me to return to my blogging ways really necessary?!?!?!?

Anyway, I've been very busy juggling all the productions in my life right now:

- Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opened to a wonderful crowd last night St. Joe's Prep and runs until November 21st. I'm an assistant director at the Prep and also oversee the house managers and ushers. I'll be there Wednesday and Thursday night this week.

- Philadelphia Theatre Workshop's Front Row Seat by Kathy Anderson opens Nov. 20th. I am the General Manager for PTW.

- And of course, Molumby's Million opened last weekend and continues it's successful run until the end of November. I play Jack Dempsey and my latest post for the Brown Note is a co-blog with Iron Age. Click here to read about the pop culture connections with Molumby's Million.

Dempsey Previews

Molumby's Million -- the world premiere play where I play heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey -- opens this Friday! Below is some nice press clips previewing the show. Can't wait to see you all from the stage.

First clip is from Stage Magazine:

The next 2 are from the Hank Cisco show:

Dog Days of Autumn

This past weekend in NYC was the annual Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park. I've never heard of it before, but some of the costumes are priceless. A bunch of photos from the day can be found here, but I wanted to point out one of the funniest pop culture costumes I've seen in recent memory.

You don't recognize who that is? Maybe this refresher will help :)

One Month To Go For Dempsey

This update is a few days late since I was busy closing my 3rd show this weekend at the wonderful Montgomery Theater in Souderton. This time, I said goodbye to "Everybody Loves Opal," a charming play that resonated in a special way with audiences. Thanks so much to all my friends and family that made it out to see me play the misogynistic/drunk Brad Winter. Your constant support means the world. And now it's on to full-time Jack Dempsey in Molumby's Million at Iron Age.

This latest Jack Dempsey update:

8/5/10 (Pre-Dempsey Work Out Weight) = 178 lbs

8/19/10 (Two Week Check-In) = 182 lbs

9/4/10 (One Month Check-In) = 183.5 lbs

9/17/10 (Month and a Half Check-In) 184 lbs

9/30/10 (Two Month Check-In) = 187 lbs

11/5/10 (Molumby's Million Opening Night/Dempsey Fighting Weight in 1923) = 188 lbs

The Void Has Been Filled

On June 10, 2007, one of my favorite shows of all time -- The Sopranos -- ended with a controversial bang. For what it's worth, I loved the way the series ended...but anyway....

Since Tony and his family (actual family...not the goomba one) ordered some of the best onion rings in the state, many shows have come into my life....Mad Men, LOST, Dexter, Rescue Me, to name a few. All great shows with wonderful characters and story lines but none created the hype each week the way my dysfunctional family from North Jersey did. In college, every Sunday night at around 8:45pm, it was like everyone I knew went into a trance. No matter where I was, I always found a way to make it home to 419 Euclid with a least 10 other guys to order food and have my eyes glued to the TV at 9pm. This was not a unique ritual. Similar TV bonding was happening all over campus and from what I would later learn, it was happening all over the United States. Thinking back, I don't think I ever watch an episode of the show with less than 2 other people. It wasn't just an event each week, it was a way of life.

I've yet to do this with a new show. I turn to blogs and emails with people after LOST and Mad Men, but not everybody I know watches those shows (or watched as is the case with LOST). Everyone I knew, everyone I ran into, people I met for the first time watched The Sopranos and shared a similar community watching aspect.

After the season premiere of Boardwalk Empire last night, I think happy days of community TV watching are here again. My parents and I had a countdown for this show since Friday. People I work with were talking about it for weeks. I rearranged my schedule so that I would not have to watch the first episode on DVR. And I am so happy I did -- the first episode was gripping from the opening credits. It's basically The Sopranos 80 years earlier which doesn't hurt the matter -- but it's a lot grittier. Do yourself a favor and start watching this show NOW! It's themes that make for great TV - crime, loyalty, and as is the case with most classics it deals with the dark side of pursuing "The American Dream."

Side note -- Jack Dempsey gets a little shout out in the first 15 minutes of the first episode. Below is the artwork for Molumby's Million as well as the latest weigh-in update from Friday, Sept. 17th (the month and a half mark)

8/5/10 (Pre-Dempsey Work Out Weight) = 178 lbs

8/19/10 (Two Week Check-In) = 182 lbs

9/4/10 (One Month Check-In) = 183.5 lbs

9/17/10 (Month and a Half Check-In) = 184 lbs -- Gotta eat more carbs!!

11/5/10 (Opening Night/Dempsey's 1923 Fighting Weight) = 188 lbs

Um....Ok....

Just got this message from Twitter:

Karl Rove (@KarlRove) is now following your tweets (@HowieBrown) on Twitter. Karl Rove @KarlRove Washington, D.C. Bio Former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Author of Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight 2,611 151,514 172,140 tweets following followers

I don't know if I should take it as a compliment that Rovie likes what I have to say or if I should be scared shitless. I'll go with the latter.

One Down, Two to Go

On my quest to become Jack Dempsey, I had my one-month weigh-in this past Saturday. Eating more carbs and adding lots of whey protein shakes to the diet seem to be paying off. I've gained 5.5 pounds so far!

8/5/10 (Pre-Dempsey Work Out Weight) = 178 lbs

8/19/10 (Two Week Check-In) = 182 lbs

9/4/10 (One Month Check-In) = 183.5 lbs

11/5/10 (Opening Night/Dempsey's 1923 Fighting Weight) = 188 lbs

I have 2 months until Opening Night and I'm very pleased with my progress. I have to say, up until this point the toughest part of this workout has been physically training for Jack Dempsey while mentally and physically preparing for my current role as Brad in Everybody Loves Opal at Montgomery Theater which opens this week. I've had to treat the Dempsey workouts as necessary exercise time to keep me balanced with my already busy schedule. When I first started a month ago, I was concentrating too much on both productions and as a result was having trouble focusing in on Brad/ELO initially. I've never had to prepare for 2 different roles at once. This was far from a serious burden, I just have to compartmentalize my focus and make sure that Brad training comes before Jack. Hope to see everyone in the audience of both shows.