Hooray for Hollywood!

Rest for the Weary Spirit was born as a passion project for myself and talented actor/director Ellen Chambers in the late summer of 2009, inspired by life in small-town Illinois, the death of Michael Jackson, the revolution in Iran, the music of Sam Cooke and Camille Saint-Saens, and most importantly the desperate people in trapped relationships, those friendships, romances, affairs and even marriages that persist not out of love or even lust but because of a shared past and a fear of being alone. Those relationships are the core of my favorite genre, that of film noir, but there are no guns, cigarettes or fedoras in Rest for the Weary Spirit: just two tattered motel rooms in which some very hurt people are searching for something that  may be bigger than themselves, but may also lead to a disappointment to which they've become accustomed.

Last year, Rest received its world premiere in a production by The Smiley Face and the Frown Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, California, thanks to company member (and my best friend from high school) Matt Dodge and director J.P. Rapozo, and next month selections from that play will be part of the new piece Vivaldi's Winter at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, starring J.P. and Ashley Victoria Robinson.  If you're looking for a little bit of Midwestern tragedy tinged with the flavor and humor of real life, give it a look. Best to J.P., Ashley, Matt and the whole Smiley Face team, and thanks again for bringing it on home.