At the risk of losing friends...

My name's Scott. I'm 24. I live in Toronto. I'm an actor, singer, musician, stage fighter, production assistant, etc. I went to school at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College's joint Theatre and Drama Studies Program (go Erindale). I live in Leslieville, and like it quite well. I'm currently single, having recently ended a long term relationship. I have two roommates. They have a cat named Angus. I have a small bedroom with an uncomfortable bed. My computer is old and too slow. I originally come from a country home outside of London Ontario. My parents are divorced, one is remarried, the other in a happy relationship. I love theatre, music and film. In fact, those three things are my life pretty much. To some, that may not seem like much of a life. Those people are usually the ones with aspirations of Bay or Wall Street. Money doesn't rule me, though it's nice to have (neither am I claiming those that want to have Bay/Wall Street jobs are money grubbing tyrants... not all of them at least). In fact I wrestle many days with thoughts of "what am I accomplishing by living my life in theatre and film?" "What am I contributing to the world?" And yet all I keep coming back to is the feeling I get when I step out onto that stage under those lights, when I sing that first high note with a full band backing me up, when the applause erupts not because I want to lavish in praise, but because I've been able to move the audience so much that they can't contain themselves... that's utter satisfaction. If I was in this for personal glory I would have left ages ago from disappointment. For the most part this is a thankless job with no guarantees. But I do it because I love it. Not many people can say that

This is a place for me to rant, to review, to question and to reflect on life, theatre, film and whatnot. As an actor, I live and work in a very tight knit community. Everyone knows everyone, or at least is a friend of someone else. Therefore, if I take this blog space to comment on theatre that I see, there is a good chance that I, or someone I know reading this, will inevitable know someone or a bunch of someones in a particular show, and if I give criticism of an individual or a show that they participate in I run the risk of not being a very well liked person in the theatre community (take Mr. O from Toronto's most popular paper as an example... you love him but you hate him because he seems to never have anything nice to say to hardworking Canadian actors or Canadian theatre unless it falls into a specific category that he personally likes).

At any rate, if I comment on a show on here I will use this as a disclaimer to say that I only ever endeavor to be truthful to the specific show and performance that I see, and I tend to give actors the benefit of the doubt, knowing full well someone can be off their game, nervous, sick, tired, hung over, whatever. I know what it's like to do shows under all those circumstances, and it's an actor's job to be able to do the best show possible under any circumstance. I will always give an actor credit even if I don't enjoy a specific performance, because there are many factors that can inhibit an actor from truly filling a role to its fullest potential. Casting, for example is huge. Brent Carver is a fantastic actor and singer. But was he Gandalf? Not really. Doesn't mean he's not wonderful, he was just miscast. I digress. The point is, I just call it like I see it folks.

I will also use this to comment about films that I see. Much less risk of losing friends, but feel free to comment, agree or disagree with anything that I say. I'm a film junkie and I see as much as I can, and I've always wanted a place to write about my thoughts on all kinds of film. Enjoy.

Lastly, this will also be a place to comment about life in general, things that happen in my life that seem important enough to talk about, things I learn, discover, wish to share. I won't become too deep, I won't get all sappy, but I do want to put things out there to make you think, relate, question, wonder, laugh, ponder, etc. And if you read something like this and have anything to say, I'm always interested in hearing what you have to say.

So, that's me. That's it. Let's go.