… though as a stagehand I feel I am obligated to pay homage to Spinal Tap and give you 11!
1. I lived in NYC for 17 years and was a Stagehand. I was an apprentice for Local 1 and think of that as better than a graduate degree (I have 2 friends who didn’t pass the test and went to Yale School of Drama as a “back up”). I have worked with 3 US presidents, many foreign dignitaries, the king of Jordan, the President of Mexico, Kanye, Kim, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Rosie Perez, Mary Louise Parker, Roger Waters, Michael McKean, Harry Connick Jr., Ms. Piggy, Tom Brokaw and many others. I have worked for Fox, MSNBC, NBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, Al Jazeera, Broadway, Off-Broadway, a few films, and my favorite which was the work I did at Lincoln Center. I am forgetting many things here- it is the nature of the work. I once interrupted a prayer circle that No Doubt was doing just before their performance to kick off the NFL season. I busted through all of these people blocking entrance to the stage and was very rude, but when I turned around I realized that I was the jerk! That said, I was getting something for Mariah Carey’s performance, who was on stage singing live.
2. My first day working on Broadway was loading out the Paul Newman production of Our Town. Our Town was the first play I did when I was a freshman in high school, and to make the coincidence stranger, that night I went to a short film festival where one of the other people in the HS production was screening his film, which was making fun of the Red Sox never winning a World Series. Practically the whole cast of the HS production was there, whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years.
3. I met my wife, Dr. Spain-Savage, on tour. It was an educational youth theatre producing stage versions of 19th century short stories, which I had seen when I was in 7th grade. She was an actress and I was the electrician and helped with some of her quick changes. We were just friends for the first month. I even gave her dating advice, but we dealt with long travel days the same way, by heading to the pool first. She fell in love with me in a Waffle House because I could quote some poetry. I fell in love with her in Georgia about a week before that because she said something sweet and didn’t even realize it.
4. We were married for 9 years before we had our first kid, Vivian. We had fertility troubles and after speaking to a late friend who had survived cancer but gave birth to twins we decided to try IVF. It was a weird experience, kind of like having a doctor sell you a used car for your body. I am very thankful for Leah’s guidance and when she passed away due to remission, I wrote her family a letter thanking her for being open and giving me knowledge which gave us courage which led to our first daughter. Leah was Jewish and to her memory I ask you to say “L’Chaim” right now. Thank you. Though we thought it impossible, 20 months after Viv was born we had our second daughter, Harper, naturally. Christi and I have always been open about this process because we realized many many many people go through this struggle and we feel blessed and lucky! Our “birds and the bees” conversation was pretty funny!
5. I was the Production Carpenter on Project Runway for a few years (seasons 2-7). I guess I was in the right place at the right time. Someone called in sick to the shoot day, and a friend who was trying to get a replacement for the day came up an elevator in the building I was in, saw me and said, “Hey, do you want to spend the day with a supermodel?” Shortly after my second season I also became the Production Carpenter on TYRA (seasons 3-5) and worked with 2 of the most beautiful women in the world, coincidently. I also learned the true meaning of “hot mess.” I think I really got these 2 gigs because I am married to the world’s most beautiful woman, though I love her for her personality! More than I can say…
6. When I was in high school, I joined the choir. As a theatre kid all of my friends were in chorus, and they took cool trips. Being one of very few boys I had a lot of opportunities even though I was terrible. One of those opportunities was when our madrigal group was invited to sing the national anthem at a Red Sox game (I am from Worcester county originally). We had to record the song and lip sync it because it was just after Roseanne Barr had sung it more poorly than any of us could have. They also made us buy our own tickets to the game!
7. I am the only person who you will meet who has made snow angels in the outfield of the new Yankee Stadium. If you have a chance like that, take it! I could care less about baseball, or most sports and never watch them. I will play anything though. Well, except volleyball or basketball. I hate those two … middle school embarrassment.
8. My family has a lot of connection to the sea. My Great Grandfather was the first enlisted man to become an admiral in the US Coast Guard and was port warden of LA Harbor for a long time. He also piloted General MacArthur back onto the Philippines and was the oldest person to have held a Master Mariner’s License. My Grandmother was in the Coast Guard, and then the OSS and in private would “brag” about knowing how to kill a man with her keychain-she was really tough! On her mom’s side, the family owned many cargo ships in Cardiff, Wales, and was the international transportation for Buffalo Bill’s wild west show. My grandfather was found on the doorstep of a convent in New Mexico and eventually joined the Navy as an aviator. He had many pictures with our country’s first astronauts hung on his wall. Stagehands were traditionally sailors while stuck on shore. To this day, many Stagehands come from naval families … knots and sails.
9. When I moved to the Capital District, I took a year as a stay at home dad. I needed something to do, so I started coaching Middle School Wrestling, which I did for three years. I had been part of a club in NYC until my girls were born, and have always loved the sport because it taught me to have more confidence, that if I work hard, I see results. I coached for 3 years and still help out with the youth program when I can.
10. I was Sand Lake Gardener of the year, 2015. I am on the board of my local garden club. I am a terrible gardener, but better than I am a singer. I was actually co-gardener of the year for 2015, but I think it might really be because I could help set up power point at the meetings and dig holes for people. My other co-gardener, Eileen, is a much better gardener and I do not need to compete against her, because I can dig a better hole and change video settings (I’ll get you Eileen-that’s my title!). Oh, and I am not competitive at all.
11. I still play Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition AD&D to be precise, fairly retro for those “in the know”- and pretty historically accurate in our own way. I started playing again after about 15 years when I saw a character sheet on a friend’s desk on Broadway (he tried to hide it and then called me a few days later to invite me to play). My group up here is always looking for another like-minded person, so contact me if you are interested. Sorry students, adults only. We organize around having lunch together and I love to cook (My grandmother was a chef for a while). I love storytelling and RPGs are a communal way to tell a story. Also, my great aunt was a professional storyteller, so it really does run in the blood.