IT’S CHRISTMAS, IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!

No, that’s not where I’m living, but it looks so warm and Christmas-y.  Merry Christmas to one and all.

And Happy Hannukah to all of my Jewish friends and/or fans.

Okay and Happy Kwanzaa love to Mother Africa and her children.

And all other kinds of love to whoever else I’ve missed.  It’s a lovely quiet time here in Vancouver.   We’ve had what I’m told is an insane amount of snow (for Vancouver).  It just feels like being in Winnipeg which makes it feel homey.    But this is my time coming to a close.  We have 3 more shows and then we close.  It will be so weird.  I’ve had a wonderful time.  It’s a nice way to go out though – with a bang, not a whimper.  Although it’s good timing as the cast is starting to get sick.  I think we’re just going to make it.  One of our leads went down today (Christmas eve matinee) and we had the understudy go on.  He did a wonderful job.  We were all so proud of him.  Bravo Timothy Gledhill.  Really well done.

It’s been a great freakin’ run, y’all.  I look forward to having a few weeks off.  But I won’t be idle.  I’ll be one of the guest artists on the audition panels for the Etobicoke School of the Arts on Jan. 16.

I’m the guest soloist for Jan. 18th services (9:00 and 11:00) at the Metropolitan Community Church  on 115  Simpson Ave. in Toronto.

Home

Then on Jan. 19th, I will be one of the guests at Sharron’s Party.  It’s been a long time.  I’m very excited about that as Sharron’s not only one of my dearest friends but she is also one of my favourite performers.  I love having talented friends.  It means never having to lie after a performance of theirs.  I’m not good at that.  What we do means to much to me.    Anyway, if you guys are around, come see it.  At Buddies In Bad Times.

http://sharronmatthews.com/blog/default.htm

http://www.facebook.com/s.php?q=sharron%27s+party&n=-1&k=400000000010&sf=r&init=q&sid=54d0706b5fe77a2c7820a10b89c30aca#/group.php?gid=2249922256

Okay, it’s still Christmas eve and I’m tired as hell.  I love you all and I love that you’re reading this.  Hope you have a marvellous Holiday Season.

Live it and Love it.

CATCH UP

Hey y’all. I know it’s been awhile. I don’t have much to report as of the moment. The reviews came out for the show and were pretty much glowing. Thank God. It’s not just great for me, although, as you’ll see in the “NEWS AND REVIEWS” section of my website http://www.thomallison.com, I did very well – hallelujah – but for the Max and the theatre, it’s great news. The response from the community has also be so overwhelmingly positive. That is huge for Max as it’s his first directing gig at the Playhouse and he brought over a handful of ‘non-locals’. Luckily, the ‘non-locals’ he brought all got some of the best reviews which as least doesn’t give room for his judgement on the matter being called into question.

It’s a funny thing this aversion many places have to bringing in ‘non-locals’. It’s not just Vancouver, it happens everywhere. Although I do appreciate a place or group wanting to have/find/maintain there own voice but if you never share that voice with larger groups or hear other voices, how do you grow or stay open. Especially as artists and specifically theatre, as that is my milieu, I certainly don’t understand the desire to keep “interlopers” away. If it’s fear that the newbies will take your jobs, well, I’m afraid my question is this, if you’re not good enough to get the job over a newbie, why should you have it in the first place? We all can learn things from each other. I’ve been so fortunate to work in a good handful of different places and each group in those places has a different way of working. You learn things from that and you take what is good for you and leave what isn’t but it informs who you are as an artist. I don’t get the fear of someone coming in. If they aren’t good and they are coming in, that’s different. But if feathers are ruffled just because a different voice is coming to add to the mix, get out of the business. Art is a living, breathing animal. That’s what makes is exciting. And breathing the same air can become stale, no matter how much you think you are “shakin’ it up”.

And working with the same people constantly without shake-up is too dangerous in theatre. Yes, there is absolutely a trust that can built up which can lead to more risks being taken but it can also lead to too much safety. Introducing as least one new voice every now and then creates a bit of danger, a bit of the unknown and that’s when great things happen. It’s the unknown.

Anyway, other than opening, I’ve just been enjoying the cast and Vancouver. Walking around a lot. Meeting up with old friends. It’s been awesome.

FUNNY COMMERCIAL

Okay I know I’m overdue for a post but I had to just post this because someone just sent it to me and it made me laugh . . . REALLY HARD!!!!