Sara and her niece, Jenny

Don't ask me to decide who's cuter!

I'm officially a nerd!

Here's the link to the theatre: 

http://madisonrep.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=95

Cut and paste that in your browser to see more.

Sara and I will both be in the show, and it should be a lot of fun!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Now keep your grubbin' hands offa me gold!

Current Lee

Right now I'm sitting in the sunny front room of the house I've called home for the last 7 years.  I rent from my good friend and long-time roommate, Bo Johnson.  He's a fine actor and musician I met when we were both performing improvisational comedy back in the 80's.

I've recently returned to Milwaukee, following a month on the road out in Northern California and Southern Oregon.  That trip was multipurpose.  My colleague, Dr. Fred "Doc" Heide, teaches at Alliant University's California School of Professional Psychology in San Fran.  Most years I spend some time out there, staying with him in his Berkeley cottage while we work on whatever our current writing project happens to be.

Doc was my writing partner on PACKER FANS FROM OUTER SPACE, and we are now in the early stages of a new musical about deer hunting in Wisconsin.  So we hiked around the area and wrote.  Above you can see one of the places we hike, at Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County.  

We also had an additional project, teaching a class at his school.  We've been teaching the use of improvisational acting exercises to psychologists, grad students, therapists, etc. for the last 10  years, both in California and in Wisconsin's Door County for the Medical College of Wisconsin's Summer Institute.

This works out nicely, since that is usually where I am in the summer, working with American Folklore Theatre.  Where I will be again this summer, starting in late May through Labor Day.

My other reason for heading to the Pacific Northwest recently was to visit Sara in Ashland, OR and see the shows that she worked on as an assistant vocal coach at the prestigious Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  It's a wonderful place to work, both artistically and geographically, and it was a thrill to see the wonderful work that Sara is doing.

So for the next few weeks I'll be here in Milwaukee doing some work on the house to offset my rent, before Sara and I both head to Madison to start rehearsals on "The Nerd."  More about that soon.

Now I have some phone calls to make and laundry to do.

Lee out.

Meet my Sweetheart, Sara!

Since it's been terribly long since I've been in touch with lots of youse, I first need to make sure you all are caught up on the number one blessing in my life.  Sara Phillips is her name and she's a gem.  In addition to being an actor, she is an up-and-coming expert in the field of Theatrical Voice.  She's talented, ambitious, and way smarter than me.  Her family is from Laurel, MD where George Wallace was shot.  She had nothing to do with that, however.  I feel I know her pretty well, and can safely say she would never do such a thing.

Sara most recently worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is the biggest of it's kind in the country.  She has worked and trained with the best in the business, and I'm confident she is on her way to becoming one of them in due course.  

We met back in Fall '06, when I was performing in a show called "Muskie Love" in Madison.  She got her Masters in Acting at the UW with one of the other cast members, and so came to see the show.  Turns out she had seen me the previous winter in "Guys On Ice" in Madison.  So her first impressions of me were as "Ernie the Moocher" and "DNR Doug."  If you haven't seen me in either of these roles, let's just say that the fact that she was still interested in me after that is proof of her quality.

I'm ridiculously lucky to have her.

This is only a test.

If this had been an actual post, you would have been instructed where and when to click to see or hear more about something or other.