Greetings my friends, from a mystical island in the chilly North
Atlantic!

First off, theater summer camp: AMAZING. I broke my toe, became
re-addicted to coffee, didnt sleep longer than six hours any night I
was there, and wept openly in front of 20 people on top of a moving
ladder (*I HATE heights), but I had the best time and was involved in
one the most moving and fantastic theatrical experiences I have ever
had. In our final piece, I played Woland (aka Satan)-based on the
book Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, I come to Moscow and cause a
bunch of trouble. Its hard to explain their theater, please feel free
to check out www.doubleedgetheatre.org.
It was the hardest thing theatrically I have ever
done for a variety of reasons that are all rather boring but two of
the more interesting and easy to understand without seeing the
production were 1) I had to hang upside down from a moving ladder and
sing (see *-my own fault I did it in improv) 2)I had to pretend to
fuck a rubber pig. The final performance went well, apparently there
was a Master and Margarita scholar from Amherst College there who
loved and said his favorite part was actually the scene where I hung
upside down from the ladder, sang, and fucked a pig. Anyway, one of
the lead actors, a 55 year-old fellow Carlos from Argentina who
started this very well known Commedia dell'arte troupe called Il
Diablo Mundo, approached me about doing an apprenticeship with them-I
would live and work with them for about six months starting the
summer 2007. I am considering it strongly, but very strongly as it
would take me out one or two seasons of auditioning.

After that I was off to Boston for four days of practicing my
face-off/cocktail parties with Dr. Eric, and a couple of
girlfriends I made in the program. I had a great time, and also had a
romantic encounter with a bohemian filmmaker, whose
favorite things included singing Sinatra at piano bars, Betty White,
witty banter, spooning, and sassy skinny gay men. Needless to say, we
got along splendidly and I wish circumstances were such that I could
get to know him better. But alas.

Which brings me to the present. Nova Scotia is beautiful; I just
rented a bike so I could see more of the island, also because my toe
fucking hurts. The apartment I am subletting is a bit fratastic
(posters on the wall: squirrel with enormous scrotum and caption
which reads "HELLO Ladies," canadian flag with caption "Be Canadian
Drink Beer") and boring, which as my current/past roommates know
means "practical" in Toddese, with close proximity to a shopping
center, working light fixtures, numbingly beige carpet with traffic
marks, a couch with duct tape on it, a sheet thumbtacked into a wall
for a curtain, etc. But for three weeks, it will do.

The other singers in the Don Giovanni are great; good singing for the
most part, so crazy shit flying out of some peoples mouths but generally
good. The acting is pretty good overall also. Also everyone is
refreshingly friendly; the director is absolute scream (picture the
Canadian Danielle Wright)-the production is set in modern times,
instead of aristocrats its celebrities and instead of peasants its
trailer trash. HOT. Don Giovanni also has a drug and drinking
problem-in one of his arias which we are staging tonight he just does
line and line of coke. So needless to say I am totally into it. Also
the poster for the opera: a giant phallus inside a mushroom cloud.
What the fuck is the woman thinking? It is simultaneous the most
ridiculous and most genius poster I have ever seen in my life. The
other guy double cast in my role, Kyle, is a real sweetheart-he is
actually the person I am closest to in the program. I am trying to
hook him up with women constantly (other women in the cast,
waitresses, punk rock girls with pink hair and facial piercings) and
in turn he is helping me cultivate a Canadian accent.

Weird things about Canada:
1) McDonald's has a sandwich called the "McLobster"
2) Canadians have a penchant for puns: "Perks" Coffee, "Hairs to Ya"
Salon
3) All packaging is bilingual with French-who the hell speaks that
anymore?
4) Bad pizza
5) Canadians drink "sweet tea"! I hate sweet tea! Why cant I escape it?
6) Preponderence of electric lawn mowers
7) Gyros called Donairs (?)

Anyways if you managed to get this far, I think I should stop, I have
to go to rehearsal soon.