Dreams

I have so many dreams, it is crazy, so I made a small list of T.V. shows I want to be on right now as a permanent cast member. I know you probably don't care, but I wanted to put my dreams in writing and in the universe.

My Dream T.V. Gigs

1. Brother's and Sisters
2. Greys Anatomy
3. Vampire Diaries
4. True Blood
5. Treme
6. The Young and The Restless
7. United States of Tara
8. Damages
9. Mad Men
10. Law and Order SVU


Next I'm putting in the universe the people I want to work with asap!

1. Lee Daniels
2. Spike Lee
3. Jeffrey Wright
4. Viola Davis
5. Sean Penn
6. Clint Eastwood
7. Al Pacino
8. Tyler Perry
9. Steven Spielberg
10. Meryl Streep

Ok this is my dream list, Universe listen to it, and read it!!!!!! Most importantly, make it happen! LOL

The New Karate Kid

I am the biggest Karate Kid fan, and loved the movie franchise when I was a boy growing up. I was so excited to see the new incarnation of this iconic film! WOW, did this movie, live up to the first incarnation! It was cinematography at its best, the land scape's and the view of China was stunning! However, when the film first began it took me a moment to get into it. I felt like that took too long with the opening sequences, and the introduction of the characters. I thought to myself in my seat, hurry up, and get to the point and the heart of the film. The bulling aspect of the film really got to me, as I lived some of these scenes, being bullied as a child. It was easy to connect to all of these moments, ex specially the boy hiding behind trees and cars to be so afraid to walk home! Although, the fighting scenes on the streets got on my nerves a little, I felt like I was having a stroke, as the director chose the shaky camera approach. HATED IT! When they finally got around to it, and Jackie Chan made his first fighting entrance. The movie finally began for me, and I was taking on a beautiful journey, that give me chills at times. My hairs stood up on my arm, and my heart pounded. I also found myself biting every nail off my fingers! Jaden Smith is definitely Will Smith's son, and there is no denying it. He is so charming, honest, pure, and amazing in this film. Some of his facial expressions remind me of his daddy, but still holding onto his own persona! Jaden must of trained so hard for this film, because his physical work was extraordinary! The heart and the shocker of the film to me, was Jackie Chan, his performance was so amazing! It was so nice to see him in a dramatic role, and he handled the character with Grace! I almost would dare to say that he was better than Pat Morita, OK, I will say it he was better than Pat Morita. If you seen the first movies, you would know Pat Morita was amazing! Jackie Chan took this movie, and stole it from everyone else involved! Much praise to Jada Pinkett Smith and her husband for producing a work of art, that was just as good, if not better than the first!

Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting The Soul

I was suggested to read a book, from my mentor, Ken Roberson, who is best known as a Broadway choreography. Google him for his extensive resume, lol. At any rate, he noticed some stress in my energy, at a dinner party he had for me and friend. He told me to go out and get this book, "Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting The Soul" written by Deepak Chopra. This was my first Chopra book, and it was exactly what the doctor ordered and more. This book has relaxed me, and helped change my ideals on many life things. Somethings were common sense and I already knew, but the things that I needed, has enlightened me on a higher level. If I was to have tried to read this book, two years ago, I would have laughed and thought it was a bunch of mumbo jumbo! At this point in my life, reading this book and taking the exercises seriously. It has completely changed my well being, and life forever! So many things I have held onto, and now I have released it all to the universe. It is a great self help book, and I highly recommend it!

Broadway Bares

Last night I went to an awesome performance of Broadway Bares, the time of the year, when the Broadway community gets together and strip for charity! It was hot as hell up in the Roseland Ballroom, literally and fugitive! With sweat pouring down my face, and watching some of my closest friends get naked, it was so much fun! The show pulled out all of the stops, with performers like Christin Chenowith, Alan Cumming, Bruce Valanch, Lucy Lu, Vanessa Willams, and many many many more. The show raised approximately one million dollars to support Actors Equtiy Cares, which is an organization that helps people living with HIV and Aids! The theme this year was monopoly, and I give it to the creative team this year, for amazing fun, creative juices, and lots of sexual exploration!

Highlight performances for me is Sebastion La Cause, John Caroll, Tracy Wholf, Michael McGurk, Adam Hart and Alex Ringler. OK OK OK I just lied, they were great, but that was me being bias, cause I just listed all my friends. LOL! Truly my favorite performances of the night was Vanessa Williams, who was class act, stunning, and mesmerizing on that stage. Rachelle Rack, dancing her face off, up there, and tearing off her pasties at the end of her number. Katie FInnerian's amazing funny skit with Jen Cody, was awesome. My friend John Caroll's Jersey Shore number was actually really spectacular! Lillas White missing her entrance and coming out on Cheyenne Jacksons entrance, just about had me laughing so hard, that I was crying. There was a beautiful Asian number, with people flying, and it was stunning to the eye! Lucy Lu had an amazing one liner "No I have never hosted the view", had me chuckling loudly! My all time favorite number was the "water sports" number, it was so funny, and made my evening! All of the dancers performed with grace, and there bodies were sick this season!

Broadway Bares was a great evening, and I got to be with some amazing friends. Stripping for a good cause, I am all about it!

Welcome Back J.R.

I had a week this current week, and I'm glad it is all over! I was so overly emotional about everything, and starting to doubt my talent. It happens from time to time being an actor. It was so rough, that I wanted to lock myself in my room, and never come out! However, I believe in GOD, meditation, and prayer! This is the best thing ever for a person who loses faith at times. This business can be so brutal, honest, and tough! However, I am back, and more confident than ever. What is mine is mine, and I have faith in what will happen around the corner. It feels good to smile again, and to feel whole! Welcome back J.R., Welcome Back! Thanks for all of your beautiful comments and prayers blogger friends!

Fighting, Fighting, Fighting!!!!!

I have been meeting with some big folks in the business we call show. I am blessed to have the opportunity to meet with people who can further my career. However, I am fighting so many curses in this business called show! I had no idea that being a working actor on Broadway would prohibited my career, and scar me at times. When casting people say that I am too musical theater because of my resume, and dismiss even giving me a chance to audition, bothers the crap out of me. When you can't get seen for a project because they think musical theater is a curse of the over actor, is fight that I have to fight!

I have been reading the agents breakdowns lately, and I won't tell you how I get them, but I get them. LOL Everyday I read it, and every project lately to audition for is Caucasian. WOW, I knew it was bad for the ethnics, but it almost slim pickens in the film/t.v. world for an African American Actor. I can't believe how much work I would have the opportunity to audition for if I was just Caucasian! It is a crazy thing, and there is even less for Asians, and Latinos. We need more writers out there, who write for us, or who just writes, and has no race attached to the project! It is so discouraging to read the breakdowns and the first thing you see is Caucasian actor, Caucasian actor, Caucasian actor, Caucasian actor, Caucasian actor, straight down the list!

Auditioning is fun me, and I love to prepare, and I put my whole heart into my work. There is nothing I enjoy more than acting, and nothing else I want to do. I know this is what I'm supposed to be doing as well. I have had too much success thus far, and have been blessed to be able to touch people in the world with my work on stage. This fight against the natural circumstances of the world, is going to be a tough battle. Send prayers, and good vibes my way, as I go on my journey! Wish me luck as I fight things I have no control over! HERE I GO!

A Piece Of Work: Joan Rivers

I had the privilege of seeing one of the most brilliant documentaries there ever was. "A Piece of Work", the Joan River's story, is an up close look at one of the funniest women alive. To see her passion, love, for what she does was enough for me. However, this story goes deeper into this women's personal life! It is her struggle to work, struggle to be beautiful, struggle as a caretaker, struggle with the critics, struggle with her love life, and struggle to support her lifestyle. Not to mention that I laughed so hard at the theater, and so loudly, Joan is the queen of comedy! I know you would probably think to yourself another documentary, but this is so interesting, entertaining, and well done. At one point, I even found a tear fall down my face, while watching, and identifying with her pain. I won't go on more about this movie, because you have to see it. Joan Rivers is a true piece of work, and a piece that I want to see, and treasure for a lifetime!

2010 Tony Award

Hey, where is my Tony nomination???? I guess I have to get a lead in a show to get nominated! OK OK OK I will try, and keep holding on to that dream! So was I watching the Tony Awards or was this The Oscars or Grammys? In the attempt yet again to make the ratings high, The Tony awards is pulling out all stops to make it full of celebrities. If they would just stay true to who they are, I think the telecast would do much better. Why did Greenday perform twice? I am so confused!!!!

One of the great parts of the Tony telecast was the host Sean Hayes, his performance on the show was hilarious! My favorite moment of Sean's was him running through the audience singing "Don't Rain On My Parade", in a Spiderman costume. His jokes were theatrical, political, and so relevant to the audience that was watching the show. BRAVO SEAN HAYES!

Just like 2009 The Tony had major sound problems, and it is appalling that it happened two years in a row! EEEK! Fire the sound guy please!

I'm going to say something that could get me in so much trouble, as I have many friends in this show. However this my blog, and I have to be honest and it's just my opinion! MEMPHIS sucks, and I can't believe it won The Tony for best musical! That is just an awful show, with a terrible book, terrible over staged choreography, and the music sounds straight from a cruise ship! IN MY OPINION the best musical of the season was clearly FELA, and they got seriously robbed!

Another crazy moment was Catherine Zeta Jones singing "Send In The Clowns", although she seemed emotionally connected. The head bobbing was killing me, if she twitched her head one more time, I was going to run on stage and snatch it off. I know she started in musical theater, but couldn't they direct to her, to focus her head. It drove me up a wall!

Denzel Washington, although, I love his performance in Fences, but his speech, came across as not caring, and blah! It was not hopeful for a major celebrity! Or inspirational for someone like me who idolizes his work. He needs to pull up, and if you gain weight, find a suit that fits!

Christin Cheneowith, officially gets on my nerves..I know that is a sin to say. I appreciate her talent, but I'm sick of that squeaky voice, and annoying persona! America has embraced her as there sweet heart, when meanwhile she is ANNOYING. However, I would not want to see another actress play, Glinda in Wicked, or Sally in Your A Good Man Charlie Brown, as she was superb in those roles. I will never take away from her gift, but yet she is becoming more and more self indulgent. I miss the honesty she used to have, although corky, yet honest, and pure. All of that is gone, and she needs a break to rethink it, I believe!

Highlights for me; Scarlett Johansson deserving win and speech, Bill T. Jones win and speech, La Cage performance, Fela performance, Sean Hayes Everything, Be Be Neuwirth and Nathan Lane presenting, Lea Michelle belting out "Rain On My Parade", and my favorite moment of all times Viola Davis speech and overly deserving win!

The Tony Awards all and all, were entertaining, lots of surprises this season. I just hope we can get back to being honest to the work, and not trying to sell tickets for tours, and ratings with celebrities.

The Commercial World

I have been in a five week commercial class, that my manager made me go take, here in New York City! I want to thank my management team for doing so, because it was a flawless experience. I am taking class from one of the biggest commercial casting directors in New York City, Barry Shapiro! I was so pleasantly surprised at how amazing this class has been for me. I have learned so many tricks to the trade, and how to get people interested in me as a commercial actor. I will miss this class, because we not only learned tricks, but we had a blast while doing. Barry is a man full of knowledge, and you can tell he teaches from the heart. He is very direct in his approach, but so much fun at the same time. I will be so comfortable auditioning for Barry, because I have the inside on his likes and dislikes. This commercial world is so foreign to me, because it is taking all your acting training, and throwing it out the window. It is just making faces, and playing heighten emotions in a very swift period of time. Some things we learned was dissecting commercial copy, performing solo short and long copy, cue cards, eating on camera, improv for commercials, and dialogue auditions. The most exciting part about this for me, is after taking this class, I have just booked my first commercial agent here in New York City. I will be sent out on those types of gigs, and will feel so comfortable auditioning for this interesting world. I'm truly, proud of myself, for taking all these classes, and now being able to try and make it all happen. Wish me luck on my film auditions and commercial auditions, here goes trying to live the dream! FYI blog friends, If you want to do commercial acting Barry Shapiro's class is highly recommended!!!!!

Todrick hall Singing My Order at McDonald's Drive Thru Twitter @toddyroc...

This is Todrick Hall from this season of American Idol, and a musical theater performer, in such shows as The Color Purple! I don't know him personally, (surprisingly), however, I admire his creativity and talent. I think he has a gift as a performer, and think he left Idol way too soon. Maybe the season would have been more interesting if they kept a pop star, instead of some of the boring performers they had on there. That is beside the point, I just fell in love with his, McDonald Commercial project, and I hope the right people see this. Watch this video, and enjoy my blog friends.

When is too much too much!

50 Cent is doing a movie, in which he lost so much weight that you can't even recognize him! Don't get me wrong I would do things for roles, like lose weight or pack on pounds. However, this just looks so unhealthy, and I hope he went about it in the right way. He is actually the same weight, and waist size I am now! However, his face looks so unhealthy and like death is knocking at his front door. I guess that is the way he supposed to look being that he is playing a cancer patient! I'm intrigued to see the movie, because why go through all this if you CAN'T ACT! Did I say that? (not little J.R.) OK I don't have the right to call him out yet, but I will wait and see the movie! There is a rumor the film might go straight to DVD! Anyway, I hope his acting is superb, because if it isn't, would all the weight loss be worth it? Is 50 cent a real actor? Has he been training up for this role, to prove skeptics like myself wrong? These are the questions rumbling through my head! I remember the great actress by the name of Meryl Streep, (LOL) who played a cancer patient, and all she did was put on some make up, and shave her head. Her acting was so extraordinary, that you didn't care what she looked like, you believed every single moment the actress spoke! Is this a gimmick, or is 50 cent for real? Is his real name 50 cent? What will he call himself in the movie credits, so I can take him serious???? Hmmm, I guess we will all wait and see if the proof will be in the final product. Which blog friends, you know J.R. Whittington will be blogging on this acting/weight loss issue!