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October 9, 2008 -- the month beginning with O... The Seth Ledger With a cool breeze permeating the room via the window, I sit here preparing for yet another monthly update. Will it be long or really long? Will it be funny or sentimental? Will it ask pointless questions at its start? Yes, yes and yes. PROJECT UPDATE That's kind of like weekend update, but w/o the jokes. The More to Love demo is now available on sethbh.com - I suggest you all listen to it if you need some laughs! My collaborator has sent out nearly 50 packets to producers/ theatre companies, and now we must sit back and wait for someone to take the bait. It is my hope that someone will, and that we can get the show off-Broadway in 2009... though with the economy being in the toilet, it might be 2010. My kid's show, Stanley's Adventures, is nearing completion! We'll be doing a reading at some point soon; it's slated to open at Manhattan Children's Theatre (mctny.org) in April. It's been really hard writing a show about a dog without making any urination jokes... it's also hard b/c I really dislike dogs in general. But it's good to grow as a writer... There are 6 videos of Writer's Block up at sethbh.com for those who missed the show. We're recording mp3s of the score on November 7th, so that weekend look for those... Also that weekend, I am doing a SOLO show called Seth Sings Bisen-Hersh on Sunday, November 9th at 7pm at Theater1010 on the upper east side... It's a suggested donation, which means people can just pay what they can! So no financial excuses for missing it! It's my 4th annual cabaret up there! Seth Sings Bisen-Hersh will feature me talking about many FAQ's I get - for instance, I will reveal the answer to the question: "Do you write lyrics or music first?" I will also explore how my writing has evolved over the years, while performing songs I wrote at 13 through songs I've written recently at 29 and a half. It will feature some new songs never heard before, as well as some forgotten gems, including songs from Trivial Pursuits, both fringe shows, A Kid Like Me, all 6 cabaret acts, More to Love and Stanley's Adventures! MAKING THE DOUGH I'm starting my 6th audition workshop this Sunday night! I'm looking forward to it... I have enough students, and I have all the guests lined up... I'm doing at least 8 showcases this fall - specific dates on sethbh.com . I had auditions again, and I have a whole new crop of talent to showcase! I really enjoy doing the showcases b/c I don't have to worry about getting an audience to come and then remember who I'm not talking to anymore afterwards... and of course, I get paid for doing what I love! That's a perk, I suppose... Other than that, it's the usual - not as many auditions in the fall as in the spring, but still a handful... and coaching for the showcases a lot, in addition to regular clients... I'm doing showcases with the Actor's Project, as well, and they're doing songs from my cabarets in them... I guess that's really it for this section. VOTE YOUR HEART I have become addicted to politics this season... I hate to become a public service announcement, but it is IMPERATIVE that you vote on November 4th!!! IMPERATIVE. But only if you're going to vote for OBAMA. As we know, I wasn't the biggest Obama fan, but after seeing his debate performances, I am more and more convinced that he will get us out of this MESS that the republicans have created. He has a cool temper, and can steer us out of this crisis. W is now the most disapproved president in history - his 70% disapproval rating is higher than Nixon's AND Truman's were at their peaks!! NO MORE REPUBLICANS. NO MORE. I obsessively go to the following websites: electoral-vote.com and fivethirtyeight.com in case you want up to date polling info. If the election were held today, we'd win by a landslide - there's even a 21% probability of reaching 60 seats in the Senate... However, there are still WEEKS to go, and who knows what will happen, so VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!!!! AND DON'T BE RACIST. IT'S A JOLLY HOLIDAY Happy Yom Kippur! I hope you have a good fast if you're fasting. I, personally, am slowing instead - I feel like I do way too many things fast and then stuff comes out cursorily... And besides, I feel like I suffer enough every day living as an artist, who needs to be starving, as well!! Speaking of Jewish holidays and vocabulary words... So we're at Rosh Hashana and talking on the couch, and I use the word mellifluous, and my sister and her friend and my uncle think I made it up! So then I not only spell it and give a definition, but they're still wary... my mother comes in, and I ask HER, and she gives the same spelling and definition, and yet they still think we made it up!! http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mellifluous So there. Guess we know who the educated people in the family are. Take that, PHD! Finally, Halloween is coming around again - I am excited to be able to wear the COW costume I invested in for a 3rd year - since I paid $40 for it, it's now been $13.33 per use... if I continue to wear it every year till 2046, I will hit $1 per use!! Wouldn't that be aMOOsing. (Yes, I will be MILKing the puns all day, as per usual.) SMEE, A FRIENDLY CAT This section is to combat all of you with BABIES. I keep getting emails full of BABY pictures!! Instead of inserting 20,000 pictures into an email, first you should: 1. Make sure you don't send redundant pictures. (Make sure you don't send redundant pictures.) 2. Make sure that each picture has a specific point and raison d'etre. 3. Upload them to a webpage and send the LINK instead of attachments! Case in point... Here are recent SMEE pictures for you: http://www.sethbh.com/images/smee15.jpg http://www.sethbh.com/images/smee16.jpg http://www.sethbh.com/images/smee17.jpg The first picture is to show Smee hiding. The second picture is to show where he's peaking out of. The third one is a candid shot showing how his girth has expanded as he approaches his second birthday this December... TV IS BACK!! I am SO SOO SOOO happy that TV IS BACK!! There is finally NEW TV again!! I finally have a purpose!! I'm SOOOO THRILLED. That sad, it has been a horrible year for new shows. I have barely added any new shows to my line up, but at least most of my favorites from last season returned. That was one of the only good things about the strike - it made it easier for shows to get renewed... So here's what I'm watching by day now: SUNDAY -- First off, there's the tried and true cartoon line up -- The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad. Then there's HBO - the best new show of the season is True Blood - it's about vampires, so how can you go wrong? I also caught up Entourage, which isn't great but is amusing. There's the new The Life and Times of Time, which is also amusing. The SHOWTIME shows are the best, though - Dexter season 3 has been great so far, and Californication season 2 has been awesome, as well. Other than that, there's the summer holdover Mad Men, which won the Emmy for best Drama... and my new guilty pleasure show, Skins on BBC-A -- it's a British show, so it's much raunchier than anything here, which is greatly appreciated. Finally, I am trying this show Valentine on the CW about Greek gods that become human - it's kind of cute... we'll see if it keeps its place on my list in a few weeks. MONDAY -- Monday's are chock full of holdovers from last season - CBS's the Big Bang Theory still makes me laugh, though How I Met Your Mother is a better show. Then there's the addictive Gossip Girl, which is starting to get better after a slow start... There's the popular Heroes, which is better this season than last, but still not as good as season 1... And finally, Samantha Who? pops back up according to my DVR next week. TUESDAY -- Tuesday's are the weakest day - I tried Fringe, but it's really boring. According to my DVR, though, Eli Stone is back! So that will give Tuesdays an added perk... I guess ABC is finally back next week... it's about time! Now if they'd only say when Scrubs is going to air... WEDNESDAY -- The best show on tv right now is Pushing Daisies! It's just the cutest show in the world. It makes Wednesdays divine! Other than that, I kind of watch the New Adventures of Old Christine even if it's not that funny... and I'm trying Gary Unmarried, though I doubt it'll be on much longer... Other than that, South Park and The Sarah Silverman Program are back tonight! THURSDAY -- Thursdays have been great! There's My Name is Earl and the Office - Emmy winner 30 Rock will be back in a few weeks... I'm going to try Kath & Kim this week, but it might really be bad, and I'll watch the SNL Weekend Update b/c I'm a political junkie... Smallville has been bad this season, but Supernatural has been really good to make up for it. Then there's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia which always makes me laugh... FRIDAY -- Everybody Hates Chris has moved... and then there's my other guilty pleasure Degrassi back for season 8... And Sanctuary on sci-fi, which I haven't actually tried yet... and then Friday Night Lights will be back in Feb... Other than that, the MUPPETS have been on the Disney channel in the kind of lame Studio DC: Almost Live... but it's at least great to see them again - and they have a tv movie in the works, as well as a real movie! I've really gotten into The Daily Show, but I still don't find Jon as funny as Conan... and finally, since people keep telling me to and since it's on 5 days a week, I've been DVRing Lost. It's really slow so far - I'm about halfway through the first season - but I was promised that season 2 picks up. So, I'm going to be caught up right around the time when the new season hits - just so I'll have a new tv show to talk about when it returns!!! And I think that's it - Eureka and Psych are back in Jan - and Lost - then 24... Scrubs... Reaper... A BOOK REPORT ON PETER RABBIT I am reading MIDDLESEX. It is REALLY good. It's also really LONG. But I am REALLY enjoying it. I highly recommend it. Afterwards, I'm going to read the Virgin Suicides b/c it's the same author, and I also really enjoyed that movie, so I bet the book is even better! LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES I saw one movie this month and it was... Hound Dog starring Dakota Fanning who is AMAZING. It was playing at this indi theater that has a student discount, so I was able to use my old ID and get tickets for only $7.50! Isn't that insanely cheap?!? Anyway, the movie was slow but Dakota - WOW WOW WOW. THEATRE Well, I guess with my own show, I didn't see very much theater... here's the paltry list: [title of show] - really sweet musical with heart - it made me believe I could get to Broadway, too... Little Fish CD Release Concert - great concert of the music of Michael John LaChuisa Fifty Words - another play about how marriage is horrible 13 - cute, ebullient musical about being 13 with a score by Jason Robert Brown Romantic Poetry - I'm seeing this tomorrow night, but I'll mention it now - I'm playing auditions for it, so I'm excited to check it out - the bookwriter/ director has a Pulitzer from Doubt (John Patrick Shanley) and the composer had 3 oscar nominations for Dreamgirls (Henry Krieger) CONCLUSIONS Well, I got interrupted before, which is why this is going out on the 9th instead of the 8th, but I don't think that really makes a huge difference. This way it'll be the first email a lot of you read when you awake. What better way to start your day? I'm like Folgers without the calories. I hope all is well! Drop me a line if it's been too long. :) Always, Seth |
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