This week “B-Side Man” opens at THE TANK in NYC, and I’m feeling, as they say, JACKED! Why shouldn’t I? It’s 80 minutes of me talking, and hopefully acting. And, on November 9th, I do 4 performances with the Charm City Fringe Festival. Working on “B-Side” definitely has been the proverbial “labor of love.” I started memorizing in late July, and I’ve been working on this thing for what feels like EVERY WAKING MOMENT. It’s been a very consuming project. Not just because of it’s length, about 20 pages non-stop, but because there are so many nuances and emotional tidal waves in the play. There are some “easy” coming-of-age moments, the end of the play dives into a kind of unknown territory. Not gonna say what the play takes issue with, but it does involve the loss of my son. But, that’s way down the line. We have to get through a little roller-coaster ride to arrive there. I always think of works like this, not just my own, as having a lead character who goes into “the forest.” The issue is how he comes out of the forest. Ahhhhh, there’s the rub. How we tackle maturity. Adulthood. And we all arrive there in different vehicles, don’t we now. Wiffee Nicole has also jumped into the rehearsal/editing process with both barrels blazing. I think her comments and suggestions have been “sooooo money.” She’s been very natural and confident in having her voice heard and sticking to her guns. I knew this collaboration would inherently arrive with this production. It was building after “Zulu Fits,” and now it’s full-blown. I told her I can see her on a panel talking about her experience(s) with theatre.

I have high hopes and have been using the fall colors and sunshine to propel me into the right mental space. Where will the play land in the future? Who knows! Who cares! It’s just doing it right now that matters.