Category Archives: My Work

Ketchup. Catsup? Catch-up.

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So, it’s been a while. Those awkward moments when you attempt to re-establish a rapport after months away from a colleague, you know, the person you had that ‘finish-each-other’s-jokes’ vibe with; you know those moments. I hate those moments. I’m going to bullet-point this update just to get through with it, and then we can carry on like we used to back in ’13 (or maybe ’12).

Joseph Coors and executives re-shape the world- with dance.

Watt?!?. Village Originals Developmental Production. Photo by Sam Freeman. Property of Village Theatre.

– August, 2013 – “WATT?!?” was a big, vulgar, funny, provocative success during Village Theatre’s Festival of New Musicals. We got great receptions from our audiences, provoked lively discussion, and came a way learning a little something . . . about ourselves. (The more you know!) Last December, I was even privileged to re-unite with my “WATT?!?” cast-mates (you know who you are), band (ditto), musical director (Aaron Jodoin) and composer (the ever-awesome Brendan Milburn) to record the premiere cast album at Seattle’s famed Studio X (some minor bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, R.E.M.,  and Soundgarden recorded some marginally significant albums there.)

– September, 2013 – Vacation. Mexico, baby.

– September, 2013 – Rehearsals for  . . .

MuchAdoPoster-225x300

– October, 2013 – Much Ado About Nothing at Seattle Shakespeare Company. Really, there’s far too much for me to say about my experience in this show. I was given the opportunity to play one of the roles that got me interested in Shakespeare, and in Theatre. I was acting opposite a fantastic Beatrice, and with a tremendous cast of familiar and new faces. I was working with a director I for whom I have tremendous respect and with a company that has been one of my artistic homes. It was a dream job, and my hope is that I did justice to the role, and allowed the audience to enjoy what is one of my favorite plays. I haven’t read them (another post for another time), but I’ve attached some links to some of the notices we received from local reviewers:

Seattle Times- Seattle Shakespeare stages a jazzy, ’50s-set ‘Much Ado’

Seattle Weekly- Opening Nights: Much Ado About Nothing

Heed The Hedonist- Two Plays Worth Seeing End November 17th

Arts Stage- Seattle Rage- “Much Ado About Nothing” presented by Seattle Shakespeare Company       

Seattle Gay News- Love wins out – Seattle Shakespeare Co. jazzes up a romantic comedy classic

Jim Gall as Don Pedro, Matt Shimkus as Benedick, and Jay Myers as Claudio in Seattle Shakespeare Company's 2013 production of "Much Ado About Nothing"

Jim Gall as Don Pedro, Matt Shimkus as Benedick, and Jay Myers as Claudio in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of “Much Ado About Nothing”

Matt Shimkus as Benedick in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Photo by John Ulman.

Matt Shimkus as Benedick in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Photo by John Ulman.

Jennifer Lee Taylor as Beatrice and Matt Shimkus as Benedick in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Photo by John Ulman.

Jennifer Lee Taylor as Beatrice and Matt Shimkus as Benedick in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s 2013 production of “Much Ado About Nothing.” Photo by John Ulman.

So, there you have it! The latest news (a mere few months old)!

There is more to come, very soon!

And this time, I really mean it.

Dude! You’re destroying the Earth, man dude!

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Watt-bannerJames G. Watt has become something of a punch-line in discussions of U.S. politics in the 1980’s. Now, there’s a whole musical play about him, and I’m in it along with some of Seattle’s finest. Below is the blurb from the Village Theatre website. Click the link below or the banner above for more information, along with performance times, and ticketing. See you after the show!
WATT?!?

A Village Originals Developmental Production

With book and lyrics penned by 12-time Emmy Award-winning David Javerbaum (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All), this over-the-top political satire musical is based on the true story of James Watt, Ronald Reagan’s infamous Secretary of the Interior. Watt is best remembered for opening millions of acres of federal land for exploitation, banning the Beach Boys from 4th of July festivities, and successfully offending nearly everyone he came across. An eclectic score by Jonathan Larson Award-winner Brendan Milburn boasts music ranging from gospel, to rock, to country, making this a brazen musical experience unlike anything you’ve seen before.

August 9-18, 2013

Matt at Taproot in “Bach at Leipzig”

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Bach at Leipzig - Taproot Theatre 2013

Bach at Leipzig – Taproot Theatre 2013

Even though it is the middle of audition season here in the greater Seattle area, production continues, as ever, as companies put up their last few shows before the summer. There has been some great work on the boards this spring, with lauded productions like NCTC’s The Trial, Balagan’s August: Osage County, ACT Theatre’s Assisted Living, Seattle Rep’s Boeing, Boeing, Seattle Shakespeare’s indoor re-mount of Wooden O’s The Taming of the Shrew, and Taproot’s The Whipping Man, just to name a few.

I hope to carry that baton as well in Taproot Theatre’s production of Itamar Moses’ Bach at Leipzig. A bit of background, cribbed from the back of the script:

“Leipzig, Germany – 1722. Johann Kuhnau, revered organist of the Thomaskirche, suddenly dies, leaving his post vacant. The town council invites musicians from across Germany to audition for the coveted position, among them young Johann Sebastian Bach. In an age where musicians depend on patronage from the nobility or the church to pursue their craft, the post of a prominent church in a cultured city is a near guarantee of fame and fortune – which is why some of the candidates are willing to resort to any lengths to secure it. Bach at Leipzig is a fugue-like farcical web of bribery, blackmail, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Enlightenment questions about humanity, God, and art.”

Sound like your cup of tea? Want glittering, witty dialogue, tights and wigs, and some swordplay? Itamar Moses’ script is a multi-faceted gem of intelligence, character, and comedy, with depth to surprise and ideas to challenge you to think further.

Being a reader of discernment and excellent taste (as demonstrated by your choice of electronic literature, ahem): I know this show is for you. Click the banner above to be magically whisked away to Taproot’s webpage for information on dates, times, and how to get your hands on what is sure to be a hot ticket.

Movin’ on (up?)

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There’s always something to closing a show. Whether it’s wrapping a film, closing night, or the end of the tour, there’s a combination of feelings that leave you a little drained the next morning, regardless of the experience you had doing the work, or the beverages you imbibed at the party the night before.

For me, I usually find that for the first week or so, I miss the routine and the people that make live performing so unique. I miss my role. I find myself mumbling lines from the play to myself in the checkout line at the supermarket, or to my family members. Your fellow actors, the crew, the theatre’s staff are all an everyday part of your life in a way that approaches family. You’ve made friends onstage and off. You’ve lived with another person (your character) for every minute of every day of rehearsal, through performance. Whether you admit to it or not, you miss them.

After that, regardless of whether or not I have a gig to look forward to, I wonder if that might have just been my last play/film.  Rational or not, I always have the sinking feeling that my career might just be at an end with my last project. It’s a difficult business in which to persist. Those of you with ‘secure’ jobs, just try interviewing for a new job every couple weeks (or, often, more frequently), pile up a stack of rejections in hope that one interview will hit and you’ll be able to work for a couple months. Rinse and repeat. It transforms how you consider your future.

Then, there’s the fire and determination to get back in the saddle/on the boards/in front of the camera again. Ask nearly any working actor, and they’ll tell you to get out of the business unless it’s the ONLY thing you can do. An unquenchable thirst needs to exist to do the work of storytelling in theatre in order to make the sacrifices worth the time, the stress, the heartache, and the effort of making a life in the performing arts.

Here’s to the next project!

Jeeves? Fetch my Blog, will you?

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Taproot Jeeves in Bloom BannerHappy New Year! Yes, yes, I know it’s been too long since I last posted, and for that, I’m truly sorry. For those of you seeking news about my theatrical exploits, wait no longer: here’s the dish:

I’m in a fully sold-out comedy on the boards of Taproot Theatre in the beautiful Greenwood neighborhood of Seattle. I defy you to purchase tickets. Can’t be done. They’re all sold. Unless you want a standing room ticket (those with arthritic knees/hips need not apply.)

Adapted from the famous “Jeeves and Wooster” stories of British humorist P.G. Wodehouse, Margaret Raether’s “Jeeves in Bloom” follows the hapless Bertie Wooster and his ‘gentleman’s gentleman’ Jeeves (portrayed by, well, me) and their misadventures in the gardens of an English country manor.

Some reviews, for your perusal:

The Seattle Times: ‘Jeeves in Bloom’ a valentine to Wodehouse fans.

Seattle PI: Jeeves Definitely Blooms

Examiner.com: Taproot Lightens up Winter Gloom

Edgeseattle.com: Jeeves in Bloom

To have a show sell out is a real privilege, and I have truly enjoyed bringing our version of Sir Wodehouse and Mrs. Raether’s ‘Jeeves and Wooster’ to the Seattle community.

There are projects on the horizon. Stay tuned (or, maybe check back in a couple weeks) for more!

An unlikely lesson from “Music and Lyrics”

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Music and Lyrics- 2007

Music and Lyrics- 2007

As artists, we sometimes find ourselves taking projects just to keep working. The performing arts can oftentimes be a ‘what have you done for me lately’ industry, where your most recent effort on  stage or screen becomes the entirety of how you’re viewed. To keep yourself in the eye of people who could/should be hiring you in the future, and to prevent the formation of artistic ‘rust’, you continue to work.
I know, as an actor that work itself is hard enough to come by, and completing roughly 3 full productions a year, plus or minus film work and voice-over gigs, is a pretty good pace. However, I’m not always doing the work I have a desire to do; the work that inspires and compels me to do it.

Which brings me to “Music and Lyrics,” the 2007 romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. I really was taken with this film, because I love music, lyrics, romantic comedies, Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. It’s a story about honesty, artistic excellence, and integrity. Oh yeah, and two really neat characters fall in love. Formulaic? Yes, however there’s some great stuff in the formula, and it’s executed so well that I find myself drawn nearer to the characters, themes, and plot, rather than distanced from them.

In it, Hugh Grant’s character, an aging 1980’s pop star coming to terms with his nostalgic fame and lowered expectations says, referring to his accomplishments in light of his greatest musical influences (Smoky Robinson, Bob Dylan): “They write DINNER. I write dessert.”

Dinner. A satisfying meal that sustains one through the night. Simple or complex, it is artistic food he’s getting at. While I’ve grown through each project, developed as a performer and refined my craft with each opportunity to work and perform, I find myself really yearning for those fulfilling roles. The ones that stick to the audiences’ ribs. The roles people take home with them. I’ve had a taste of this in the last year and a half. I’ve had the great fortune to bring Dietrich Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis to the stage. I’ve also left my mark as Aguecheek in ‘Twelfth Night’ and formed part of a tremendous ensemble in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’. I stand behind all my work, but I find myself hungry again.

As another year draws to a close, I find myself making lists (it’s a compulsion of mine) and thinking about the year to come. A colleague recently asked me what roles I WANT. Not what roles I could be interested in, but what I desire to do; roles with words that compel me to speak them. What roles do I want?

I want dinner.

Oh, Nothing Much, Really.

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What have I been up to recently? Celebration.

Celebrating  a successful run in Seattle Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” about to go into it’s final week of performances at the Intiman Playhouse at Seattle Center. This play is EPIC. Grand in scope and scale. Imposing. It’s not only one of Shakespeare’s great ‘late play’ triumphs, with indelible characters and themes that resonate as loudly today as they did when first produced 400 years ago, but for the same reasons, it’s far from dry or tedious. Sex, Politics, Battles on Land, Sea, and in the Bedroom, Ego, Hubris, Humiliation, Comedy and Drama are just some of the elements which combine to create a story that spans 10 of the most tumultuous years in the history of the Ancient World. Go see it. Here’s a link to Seattle Shakespeare’s website for tickets and more information.

Celebrating the release of HALO 4. Yes, that HALO 4. THE HALO 4. “Why?” you ask? Because I now get to see my work fully rendered, voiced, realized. It’s such a privilege to have worked with the tremendous artists at 343 Industries to continue to tell the story of Master Chief and Cortana, and to help write another chapter in another grand storytelling universe. Here’s a link to CNN Tech’s Review of HALO 4. Enjoy.

Celebrating completed projects. Recently: Filmed “A Bit of Bad Luck” on location in Morton, WA. Completed a voice-over session at Microsoft Studios for an industrial project. Also voiced a radio spot for Banner Bank. Voiced the role of Captain Jack “Stratosphere” McGraw in Moon Bullet Studios’ “Airship Daedalus” Serial Audio Adventure.

Celebrating upcoming work! I’ve shot a pilot for Mighty Tripod’s “The New Jack” web-series, and am preparing to film a new role in Dead Gentlemen Productions/ Zombie Orpheus Entertainment’s “Gamers: Hands of Fate”. In January, I’ll begin rehearsal for the title role in Taproot Theatre’s “Jeeves in Bloom”, based on the P.G. Wodehouse stories of Bertie Wooster and his “Gentleman’s Gentleman” Jeeves.

Stay tuned, y’all. The best is yet to come.

Antony and Cleopatra

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Yes, we’re coming to the part where I only really post about projects as they’re about to go into performance. I can find two reasons for this:

1) I’m busy working.

and 2) I’m busy enough that projects are coming one-after-another.

Of course, that should keep me blogging and posting: what with all the new experiences I’m having, new insights gained, old ideas rejected, etc.

But it doesn’t, which brings me to the topic of this post.  I’m currently rehearsing “Antony and Cleopatra” with Seattle Shakespeare Company. In it, Antony, living in the lap of Egyptian luxury declares “These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, or lose myself in dotage.”

Dotage: idleness, laziness, thoughtfulness. A static condition. Work gets in the way of this condition and propels one past idleness, through action, toward something else, whatever it may be. My focus when in rehearsal or on a shoot is on the work, the project, the process.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to make the time to post about the work, the process, the projects that I’ve been involved in recently to give my uncountable online readership some digital love.

S-U-C-C-E-S-S! (that’s the way we spell success)

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The “Gamers: Hands of Fate” Kickstarter is a success! The online pledges are above $320,000 and the film is fully funded! Now I get to not talk to friends for quite a while as we dive into pre-production with casting, meetings, more casting, more meetings, etc. Thanks to all who pledged! I can’t wait to get to work. If you’d care to send any more love (and eventually, money) our way, you can still find us on kickstarter for the next four days at:

Support your local geek filmmakers!

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It’s Tuesday! JourneyQuest Season 2, now in full-swing, is taking a teeensy break this week. So INSTEAD, click the image below and take a look at this!

Photo-full

The same production groups behind JQ are making the third movie in the GAMERS series …at least, they’ll be making it if they get the money. 17 days to go and several thousand left… and if we don’t get ALL the money pledged, we don’t get ANY of the money pledged.

Watch the video, check out the crazy fan support in comments, and pitch in $10 bucks if you have it. It will go towards supporting professional Seattle artists–actors, writers, directors, production assistants, camera and sound techs, special effects, composers, costumers, caterers, and sooo many more– doing what they love and what they are good at. THANK YOU!

And if you REALLY don’t have $10 bucks, please re-post or re-share. Getting the word out is crucial, and I GUARANTEE you at least ONE of your friends is as big a nerd as we are and wants to see this movie made!