Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet: The King and the Beggar
In the space between the Capulet Ball and the famous Window Scene, we have a terrific mockery of love performed by an inebriated Mercutio, with a tipsy Benvolio laughing and shushing him. Early on, Mercutio tries to summon Romeo by invoking ‘love’: MERCUTIO Romeo,...
Nellie Bly Interviews Dr. Charles Parkhurst
In 1891, Dr. Charles Parkhurst, a clergyman elected president of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, launched a campaign against Tammany Hall's political and social corruption. He exposed their connections with the police and their role in shielding...
Nellie Bly’s Melancholy Christmas
Nellie Bly made several attempts at a regular column across her career. She was much more successful towards the end of her life, but she had a run of several months from the end of 1894 to early 1895 under the heading of "Nellie Bly Says." These seem to be nothing...
Recent Posts
We Are Not In Competition
Tonight I was engaged in a conversation I find myself having more and more. It's as infuriating as it is baffling. I was once again trying to dispell the Myth of Artistic Competition. I'm lucky enough to have two careers in the arts, as actor and as an author....
We Are Not In Competition
Tonight I was engaged in a conversation I find myself having more and more. It's as infuriating as it is baffling. I was once again trying to dispell the Myth of Artistic Competition. I'm lucky enough to have two careers in the arts, as an actor and an...
The Rules Of Violence
There's been a great deal of talk about violence in media (meaning film and video-games), painting all fictional violence with a damning brush. It’s an important conversation, and one I’d like to have. But I’m not for toning down the violence in film. I’m for making...
Rubicon
On this day in 49 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar led a single legion, the Legio XIII Gemina, south over the Rubicon from Cisalpine Gaul to invade Italy. His own country. I never think of this as happening in January, though it was just at the start of the Roman New...
A Sneak Peek At THE PRINCE’S DOOM (Merry Christmas!)
THE PRINCE'S DOOM PROLOGUE Verona, Italy - Saturday, 26 November 1328 “Show me ‘yes’.” Dark as an angry sky, the polished marble teardrop twitched, then began to describe a sinister circle. “Show me ‘no’.” The stone at the end of the chain adroitly changed...
Gratitude
2014 has been pretty astonishing. There is so very much to be grateful for, and so much to rail at the heavens over. But I'm going to focus on the things I'm grateful for tonight. The Michigan Shakespeare Festival had a truly stellar season. Under my...
THE PRINCE’S DOOM is here!!!
I've been silent on the blog front for six months. A lot has happened, and every event deserves its own post. Among the good news, I won Best Actor In A Comedy at the Wilde Awards for playing Algernon in The Importance Of Being Earnest; I got hired to be the Fight...
Sincerty – A Halloween Story
“So. You finally show up.” It was a tick past the witching hour, and the thing had risen from the field, blinking and staring about in confusion. In its powerful, vibrating basso it said, “Where?” “This is my field.” The thing bent down, squinting through its giant...
Guest Post – Cindy Thomson
The best part of being a member of the Historical Fiction community is introducing readers to new authors, allowing them to dive into new periods of time so they might delve the details that makes the genre so marvelous. With that in mind, allow me to introduce the...
Coffee with the Count, 12 Years Later
After the huge event at the Castelvecchio and the excitement of the Torino Book Fair, Jan and I were looking forward to a day to ourselves. On Sunday we took a mid-day train back to Verona, then Jan cooked a dinner for our hostess, Joyce, and Anna and Antonio. She...
