“Strange Devices” at Berkeley Rep
3/4 – And so the show opens with style.
Read the San Francisco Chronicle REVIEW!
The Cast of "Devices" at Opening Night
Hey all, I’m up in Berkeley, California working on the World Premiere production of Naomi Iizuka’s latest play “Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West” at Berkeley Repertory Theatre with Les Waters at the helm as director. Les’ last play “In the Next Room” (or “The Vibrator Play”) written by Sarah Ruhl started here in Berkeley Rep and just closed after a fantastic run on Broadway. I saw it. It was exquisite. Now, you’re invited to catch Les back in action with a stellar team including yours truly back on stage after a year break. Watch this video I put together and hope to see you at the show!
CONCERNING STRANGE DEVICES FROM THE DISTANT WEST
by Naomi Iizuka
directed by Les Waters
@
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Previews Begin – February 26
Opening Night – March 3
Closing – April 11
For more info and tickets: http://www.berkeleyrep.org/season/0910/3653.asp
And here’s a video that Pauline Luppert, our lovely multimedia manager at Berkeley Rep, has put together of Les’ design presentation on the first day of rehearsal:
Thanksgiving Volunteering Goodness
Okay, as promised, my first video in HD. Volunteered at the Downtown Women’s Center here in LA this past Thanksgiving. So here’s a slice of how a holiday might be enjoyed in an setting apart from what you’re used to. For more info on the DWC, and to volunteer, visit www.dwcweb.org. Next up, I’m back home in NYC on the 15th for the holidays (all my NY heads, holla at me!), shooting like crazy to bring you a holiday video…look for it on Christmas Day! Until then, be warm, love others, and enjoy the season!
San Francisco and COLD CASE Air Date Revision
11/18/09
COLD CASE final airdate time revision: Sunday, Nov. 22nd at 9pm on CBS!
Hey all, first and foremost, my homepage says that my COLD CASE ep is airing this Sunday but due to NFL runovers, the
New Air Date is: November 22, 9pm on CBS.
Scroll down to see pics from the shoot in a previous post.
Okay! Had a tremendous weekend in San Francisco. Haven’t been since the only other time at age 14 on a family trip. Don’t remember anything about that trip but whining about walking up hills, and listening to my Sony Walkman, trying to ignore grownups as much as possible. Made a video for the first time in a while, hope you enjoy it!
Yes, fun times! I hope to shoot future vids in HD…you know…gon make that upgrade.
Shout to Wiley, Bails and others up North!
Until next time friend!
NYC: 2 Weeks of Family, Friends, and Home
Once again, New York has revitalized me. Two weeks of amazing times with outstanding people in the best city in the world. Pics now, shoutouts after, then a theatre review. Get it.
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- Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the East River
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- Foxwoods Casino, CT Up at 1/2 NL
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- 59th and 2nd
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- View from 43rd and 10th, 44th Floor
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- Miguel and Mia
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- Citi Field: Mets vs. Astros
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- Midtown Tunnel
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- A program. For a reading. Of a play. Review below.
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- Tribeca Bridge into 2nd Fl Stuy entrance
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- West Side Hwy from Tribeca Bridge
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- Stuyvesant High School front entrance
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- Stuy main lobby
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- Stuy chorus room
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- Stuy 5th Fl cafeteria overlooking Hudson
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- “Pro Scientia Atque Sapientia” – For Knowledge and Wisdom
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- Jersey from Battery Park
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- Empire State baby
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- Midtown West and a bit of Jersey
Okay, shout to first and foremost the fam, for feeding and housing me. Shout to my boy Shan, and my boy Frank, welcome back! Shout to Miguel, Annie, and Mia, the sweetest baby alive! Shout to Matt, Katie, and Ben, you did good Matt, don’t fuck it up. Shout to Nicole and Beth, amazing reconnect. Shout to Natalie, and Julian at NYU doin it crazy. Shout to Jessica, handle that shit girl…and Edmond, holla at me in LA homey! Shout to Eilis. Shout to Pearly. Shout to Adria, happy bday! Shout to Reggie, until a better day man. Shout to Sally Taylor, haha! Shout to my manager, James, and Roger at Suskin Management. Shout to Jay and Danielle at TalentWorks NY. Shout to Meg Simon! Shout to Ms. Hall and the Stuyvesant High School Concert Chorus and Chamber Choir, you guys rock! Shout to MacKenzie.
And now…
Another J. Wu on Broadway entry:
Okay, it’s not really a Broadway show, it was a reading at TACT (The Actors Company Theatre). Couldn’t get excited about too much actually on a Broadway stage this visit. And the TACT Studio has a Broadway address, so here we go.
“The Devil Passes” by Benn Levy at TACT – October 3, 2009
Recent NYU MFA grad, and my good friend, MacKenzie Meehan, invited me to see her perform in this reading. I show up not knowing anything about the play, the playwright, or the producing company. I ride up a small, shaky, industrial elevator at 900 Broadway to the 9th floor, excited to see my first bit of theatre while back in the city.
From the director’s intro to curtain call, I was reminded yet again that New York City sets a bar for stage work that much of the country struggles to achieve (ahem…Los Angeles…). While huge names quite often headline productions on Broadway to varying results, “The Devil Passes” represented for me the very best of the intimate, small end of theatre.
The play selection committee at TACT deserves a hefty percentage of the kudos. Benn Levy, the playwright, born in 1900 England, writes a play immaculately balanced with wit, humor, all that is language, and questions of social restraints vs. personal ambitions.
The actors had four days of rehearsal to put this up. Coming off of four months in LA, I have a deeper hatred for shitty actors, and consequently an even sharper ability to recognize great ones. Between the prowess, the sense of play, and the impeccable ability to engage, the whole cast gave us a range of colors that held the standard very high indeed, and I applaud them.
Finally, props to the director Scott Alan Evans for finding such a great balance between simplicity and poignancy with this project. Nothing was overdone, which made his specific choices even more dynamic. Everything flowed effortlessly. Bravo.
Bril. NYC, I love you. Now back to LA, back to work. Until the holiday season in a couple of months, New York!
“New York!!!!!!!!…concrete jungle where dreams are made of…there’s nothing you can’t do…..” – Alicia Keys in Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind”
Keep bumpin it NY. Anthems don’t get old.
Not up on Blueprint 3? You’re behind.
From the Cold Case Set…
9/25/09
Wrapped the project yesterday with a 17 hour day on set. For my birthday. 7:30am to 12:30am. Missed my own party and everything. But can’t complain…such a thoroughly enjoyable experience and a very memorable birthday. So, shout to the Cold Case crew out there on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank for doing it proper!
Check out the show on Sundays at 10pm on CBS. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/cold_case/
As for my episode air date: Sunday, November 15 @ 10:00pm on CBS
It’s been real yall…now, back to NY for real this time. Two weeks of doin it crazy in NYC comin up. Hit yall from there!
9/18/09
Shot 2 days…Day 3 today, the biggest day of the episode…guns, explosions, stuntmen doing bigtime stunt things, people shooting each other, death, destruction, shit breaking….I’ll update with more pics next week as the shoot continues up to the wrap on Thursday.
I gotta say, an amazing crew and cast…good people all around. A lot of fun on set. Kathryn Morris, beautiful. Danny Pino, while also rather good looking, is a graduate from NYU’s MFA program, class of 2000. Trained actors gettin their play…that’s wassup. Shout to NYU for reppin it hard there.
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- It’s 1983…so that’s why
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- Director David Von Ancken and 1st A.D. Jeremiah Acerra
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- KM
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- Hair Stylist Dennis Rhoden…true class act.
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- Key Costumer, the lovely Summer Browning
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- Shout to Stuntman Travis Wong for pulling off some miracle shit.
Booked Guest Star on CBS’s “Cold Case”
Hey yall, been quiet for some time on this blog. Been busy running around for a lot of things and as the government was bent on taking half of my check from “24″, I was really hoping to book another gig before my birthday (Sep. 24) so you know, I can pay rent, and eat food and stuff…AND as the universe likes to fuck with me, I’ve booked one..a mere two weeks prior the deadline I’ve given myself, at which point, I would’ve had no choice but to enter into depression. Just kidding. Not really. …Luckily, I avoided that whole mess with this gig.
The show is a cop drama on CBS and the new season premieres on Sunday, Sep. 27th at 10pm. More info on CBS’s site: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/cold_case/
If I’m still as good at math as I’ve been beaten to be since age 4, my episode will air on Nov. 15th, but clearly don’t quote me on that this early. I start shooting Sep. 15th. More info on the role and perhaps a sneak peak from set all coming up in following posts. Stay tuned.
Shameless plug: Please visit www.detourshortfilm.com as that is my best friend Shan’s film that he’s producing, directed by Bobby Webster. Go to the site, read up on it, love it, and get involved!!
Oh, hope summer has been enjoyable for you guys, tell me some good stories in the comments below so when I delete the hundreds of spam comments every day, I can come upon a gem…perhaps your gem. Yes.
Portland. Plays. Peddlers.
Just did 11 days in Portland, working on a reading of Naomi Iizuka’s new play “Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West”. The performance was very much a success. The city itself, was frustrating for me. The homeless: more abundant than any city I’ve been to, high percentage of which is around my age or younger, and they’re just relentless because while unemployment in Portland is the 2nd highest in the nation, the city’s also supposed to be the most generous. The result is as if the culture supports kids not having any drive to do anything in this world, sitting on a corner, and begging very aggressively for money because it’s enough to survive. Fuck that. You’re a healthy 22 year old, get a job, and get out of my face. Not my scene. But did meet some cool people, and Oregon definitely has some scenic elements to offer…pics now.
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- Flying into Portland. Those are farms right?
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- The Mainstage at Portland Center Stage
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- Elephant. And a smaller elephant.
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- On the way to the beach.
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- Big rocks in the ocean. With mist.
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- The sickest faucet ever. Holla Christine!
Guns, Tasers, and Trailers
7/12/09
Wrapped the gig on Friday. Here are the last photos from set that day which was up in Santa Clarita. Beautiful. Hot as balls.
Overall, a tremendous learning experience, tons of pressure, tons of fun. Let’s see how it turns out in January folks!
7/2/09
More pics. Taken from my prop phone. Which was live, and someone called me during a take. Awkward.
6/21/09
YO. Update on my “24″ gig, it’s a recurring guest star now…ridiculous. Can’t wait to get back on set…very steep learning curve out there yall, hard…definitely hard, but fun as hell. Kiefer Sutherland, very pro, very cool. So I walk into my trailer and read the call sheet thinking “hmm, I wonder who’s playing my senior asshole NYPD partner…” The finger scans down the page and BAM it’s fuckin Domenick Lombardozzi. Now, if you’ve talked to me in the last couple of months, you know that I’ve watched the entire series of “The Wire” pretty much straight through. Domenick played “Herc” on that show and Vince’s friend Dom in Entourage. Fuckin awesome. Met Andre Royo “Bubbles” (who I played in Showcase!) at an audition, really cool dude. Watched Deirdre Lovejoy “Rhonda Pearlman” kill it in a reading…amazing. Also, met J.D. Williams “Bodie” and went to the gun range with him and Peter, the night before my first day on set because I didn’t wanna play a cop without ever bustin off some shots…yea son! So anyway, connected with quite a few peeps from my favorite TV show ever…very exciting indeed. And now, some photos.
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- NYPD Officer Lu
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- Patrolmen “Phillip Lu” and “John Mazoni”
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- My trailer
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- Episode 803 and 804 and call sheet
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- Tent
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- Camera
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- J.D. Williams, “Bodie” on The Wire
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- The Wyles
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- My first 6 gunshots ever. Not too bad of a shot…
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- Sig Sauer P220 9mm. Yea son!