This promotional post card came in the mail yesterday. I love that the entire cast is listed on it. Very cool. So, I’ve been up since 0630 working on lines and now the singing parts. Love it! It was too early for Miss Kona, but she joined me anyways. The third pic is the theater where we’ll be performing. It will be my first time on that stage. This company has done some great shows and after last weeks rehearsals, we’ll carry on that tradition of bringing Broadway shows to our community.
TBT - My First Commercial
THROW BACK THURSDAY
This was one of the first commercials I did when I started out as an actor/model. It was to promote the New Jersey Shore post Hurricane Sandy. What’s funny about this was that we filmed it in March and had to make it look and feel like it was a sunny summer day. It wasn’t. When the director said, “Cut!” we all ran for our winter jackets to get warm between takes. This fake family and I really bonded those two days. 😂 There are a couple more commercials from this campaign, one was even in Spanish, but here is the link for this one...
Rebel Yell
At last night’s PETER AND THE STARCATCHER rehearsal, I was talking with a great young actress about our roles. I mentioned that after talking with a fellow actor, my age, about one of my characters in the show, we got a Billy Idol type of vibe from the words. I then asked her if she knew who Billy Idol was. She politely smiled and sad, “No.” 😢 Well this is a reminder that MTV once actually played music videos and Billy Idol was awesome!
Busted
Damn. I should have returned that Blockbuster copy of STAR TREK II.
NYC Agent Night
It’s been four and a half years since I did one of these NYC Agent Night events. You choose a dialogue to perform with a provided reader in front of a panel of agents. When I first did this four and a half years ago, I really had no idea how to professionally read with someone and I was way too dramatic. I’m much more experienced and prepared this time around. I also need to thank my friend, Lyman Chen, for introducing me to the Line Reader app to make learning lines faster so I can then focus on the acting/moment. Huge help. It’s a very good scene and I’m pretty stoked to get in that room with the agents and hopefully leave that favorable impression with them. Hell yeah!
Cardio Needed
We’re one week into this production, and I’m so stoked to keep exploring my two characters and work with the rest of the cast as we tell this prequel to PETER PAN. It’s going to be a lot of fun and I like the challenges its offering. I’m going to definitely need to get my cardio at full strength because there is so much movement that I’m guessing we’ll all be physically drained by curtain call. I’m glad I got new running shoes, swam, and lifted weights these past three and a half months. I’ll be more then ready to return to my CrossFit training once this is over.
No Pressure
When I first auditioned for this Peter Pan prequel, I wasn’t asked to sing, but I did anyway. I sang a humorous song a cappella and I had the director laughing throughout the song and then joining me doing “jazz hands” when I finished.
I took a huge chance doing that since I wasn’t asked, but I was riding a wave of success coming off of the play I just finished. I believed in myself and my abilities to just go for it. I walked out feeling very confident and ready for more. It all paid off when I got the callback notification and then the email saying I was cast.
Now, this is going to be another great acting challenge and opportunity since I haven’t done a play like this one in years AND it’s being locally produced, so more of my friends and former coworkers, students, and current students will get to see me act on stage for the first time. Yeah, no pressure Wellman.
🤘😜🤘
DIASPORA, TX is Wrapped
Well, DIASPORA, TX is now over. I’ve been fortunate to work with talented actors and directors with many projects, and this production continued that trend. I really enjoy live theater as each show brings a new reaction to what’s been rehearsed and how the audience reacts. This play was an emotional story to tell since it involved so many themes that brought happiness, heartache, and individual awakening. Thank you to our director, Samantha Lee Manas, for bringing us together to tell Gary Jaffe’s original script to the stage. Also, thank you to Sarah Villegas, Priscilla Diaz, Jacques Leon, Lisa Dennett, and Samantha Talbott for accepting me as the last member of the cast. We shared some great laughs during rehearsal and in the dressing room. I loved working with them and hope we get to work together again. Even though we are now moving on to other projects, auditions, continued acting classes and their methods, and ultimately hearing those two glorious words, “You’re booked!” and the exact opposite, “(nothing)”, I’m still exhilarated we got to share a month together for six shows that showcased our diverse cast and our professionalism to this art. Cheers to all of you astonishing actors, our punctilious director, and our ingenious writer. Aloha ‘Oe.
Support DIASPORA, TX
This Wednesday(3/21) to Sunday (3/25), I, along with my cast mates, will be performing this dramatic play. We’re now just fine tuning it so you can share in the laughs and emotional awakenings as two sisters discover more about their family, their heritage, and themselves.
As always, thank you for your support.
Support BLIND FEAR
BLIND FEAR is a sci-fi survival horror film. This is going to be a super fun movie to film and I love that I’ll be getting more experience doing green screen acting. The director, Glenn Bruce (that’s him in the middle), is making the trailer for the movie and I’ll share it once it’s done. Anyway, these were taken the other day with fellow actor, Kim Bowden. Thanks for your support.
Two Weeks Until Diaspora, TX
The play, Diaspora, TX, is now two and a half weeks away from its debut. We had another full cast run through yesterday, and we are all getting to know our characters extremely well. More fine tuning and less laughing from us, so the audience can enjoy the comedic scenes, and we’ll be more than ready for opening night. Speaking of cast, here we are...
Diaspora, TX
For the past two weeks, I’ve been getting ready for the premiere of the new play I’m going to be performing in NYC. I’m playing the father of two daughters in an emotional story of a mixed family and their life journey through laughter, tragedy, and love. I’m going to be posting more about it in the next couple days and right up to the first and last performance. In the meantime, please click here to view the Indiegogo page and consider making a donation.
I’ve been very proud of all the acting and modeling projects I’ve done the past eight years and this project is one which I want to sit with the audience so that I can experience everything this family goes through. Great writing and the other actors and director I’m working with are exceptional. Again, please click on the link and as always, thank you for your support.
Queens
My friend Marissa Feero found me in the wild in Queens, NY!
Reunited
Yesterday I was reunited with my fellow actor, mentor, and good friend Jeni Miller. She asked me to play a part in this movie and I can’t thank her enough for thinking of, and trusting me, to be a part of the project. I was also reunited with Jennifer M Kay, Wayne Shearer, and Trisha Graybill, again. Always a plus when you get to work with Actors you’re comfortable with.
Until the next project, or the premiere of COFFE WITH GOD, cheers Jeni!
Callbacks and Cardio
1st audition of the day done...and I haven’t even had my breakfast. 😂 I have a callback this afternoon and then a cardio workout after that. Good thing, too because yesterday’s workout left my arms and shoulders on the gym floor. I did manage to set one more PR with my jerk: 265lbs! Yeah, baby! Now I can enjoy a cup of coffee.
Smile
Hopefully my smile worked for this audition. On to the next audition(s).
*the pic is from a former audition, but I like my smile in it
Off to Virginia
Call time 9:30 in VA. To quote The Blues Brothers...
Elwood Blues: It’s (117 miles to VA, I've) got a full tank of gas, half a (gallon of bottled water), it's (early morning) and (I'm) wearing sunglasses.
Jake Blues: Hit it!
Philly!!
After a great shoot this afternoon in the city (look at that view), it was time to hit one of my favorite restaurants in Philly. Again, if you haven't tried the food at Poi Dog, you must. So Ono!
Flashback
During my walk with Kona tonight, I was listening to a best of Peter Gabriel album. I started to get a bit emotional because it took me back to 1990 during my first six months on Oahu while stationed at Pearl Harbor.
I didn't know anyone but my coworkers, had 0 friends, my family and life back in DE, and so I was pretty much alone in paradise. However, I didn't let that stop me. I got to know my way around the island by taking The Bus everywhere. I had my SONY Walkman (yes, tapes) and listened to Peter Gabriel's album, Shaking The Tree, many times from base to Waikiki. The album is full of great songs, but one really hit me hard while I was alone: Don't Give Up.
If you know this song, then you know how powerful the lyrics are and how they can help you refocus if you're down. If you're not familiar with it, give it a listen.
"Rest your head. You worry too much. It's going to be alright. When times get rough, you can fall back on us. Don't give up. Please don't give up."
Speakman Print Ad
This past spring I did a video for the Speakman Co. It was a great shoot. I was "cleansing" my eyes in one of their workshop water faucets. I obviously really didn't injure myself and the jets on the faucet would have been highly effective had I gotten anything in my eyes. Anyway, enjoy the pic and check out their products.
