E. Michael Evans.Com

Journal

2006

January 25

2005

December 14

2004

1/25/06

This semester has brought me many opertunities to perform here in tallahassee. I will be working with a very well respected telivision, film, and theatre actor Anthony Zerbe. I do not know exactly what kind of show it will be, but It will be a wondeful experience and I cant wait to meet the man. I am also very excited about starting rehearsals for Troilus and Cressida. I am looking forward to portraying a boxer. I have been studing tapes of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. I love acting. I get to know what its like to be anything! Hopefully I will get in a football movie in my near future. I would love to do a film like that.

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12/14/05

Well, I hope everyone likes the new site. I just took headshots with Beth Kelly on the 12. She is one of NYC's best headshot photographers.

Also, I was cast in "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." We begin rehearsals on the 9th of January and the show goes up on February 13-14. From what I understand the 14th is sold out, but if anyone is interested in paying $75 dolars a ticket, just contact FSU's School of Theatre's Marketing Department.

We will try and get an open dress rehearsal in on the 12th for an invited audience to come see the show for free. Check back for updates.

Merry Christmas!

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11/17/04

I SEE LONDON, I SEE FRANCE...

The days left here in the FSU London Program are numbered. I have been all around Europe and most recently France. I liked France, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed Italy. France has some beautiful sites, however, I felt like they were too far away from each other. Not to mention, it was the coldest it has ever been. Our hotel was very nice and the breakfast consisted of more than just a roll and some tea. That was one of the highlights of the trip. I also got to spend a lot of time with my, soon to be workshop teacher, Fred Chappell.(Sp?) He is a cool guy and I am looking forward to working with him next semester.

He was able to convince me and a few others to go see a play at the Comedy Frances. It was very strange to see a show in a language in which I know nothing about. The show was "Fables" directed by Robert Wilson. There was some very interesting mask and costume work. Even thought I usually had no idea what was going on, I still appreciated the production and I could definitely see why Robert Wilson is a famous director.

So I am heading to good 'Ole Amsterdam this weekend. I hope to see all the fine culture and cuisine..... umm,... yeah and art... that kind of stuff. I will be back Monday.

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10/29/04

ITALY, NATHAN LANE and LEE EVANS

So I know it has been a while since I have updated and I am sorry for that. I have been preoccupied with many other things but this morning we are on our way to Stonehenge and Salisbery so I have time do make all of my updates.

Can I just tell you, Italy was amazing. Quite possibly the most beautiful place on the planet. We flew into Milan and decided to go straight to Venice. Venice is everything I expected and more. They have a slight obsession with masks, but the town is simply breathtaking. There really are not words to desribe this place. You just need to see it in your lifetime. Ohh, and bring a lady. I'm sure it would have been that much better if I remebered to bring one. The next city we went to was Flourence. What can I say about Flourence.... well yes, it is beautiful as well, however, I was a little tainted by the fact that I had to sleep with mosquitos in my room. Cameron had 37 bites on his face. Ouch. After seeing all of the sites in Flourence and being a buffet, we moved onward to Chinque Terre. This city was incredible. Its five citys that are along the coast and built on a mountainside. These citys were connected by the train. We stayed just outside the Cinque Terre in Levanto. Our hostile was awesome. Very Clean and Hospiutable. We hung out the first night in Levanto. The city shut downb completely at like 7:00PM. Trying to find food after that was like searching for the Holy Grail. There was an amazing beach that we sat at and got off of red wine. Very relaxing times. The next day we began our hike up the sides of mountains. It was great exercise and great site seeing. Finally, we moved on to Rome. Rome was quite large. It was very inimidating at first after the night train from hell the night before. Our hostile in Rome was voted number 8 in the world. Why you ask? Because it had free internet access, which was always busy. Other than that, I didnt think it was very special. The first thing we did was take a tour all around the ancient sites of Rome. That was a good idea because it knocked a significant portion of Rome off of our to do list. The next day we did the Colloseum, Forum, and Palentine Hill Tour. Standing in the Colloseum was a moving experience. It is very well preserved and the feeling you get when you are standing inside is most likely the same as how the people of Ancient Rome felt back then. Its neat to see that sports stadiums arent built that much different these days. Rome was a great city and Italy was worth every Euro I spent there. (P.S. the food was 50% of the amazingness of the country.)

When we got back, we had to wind down slowly. We took a few days to relax and rest. Then it was back to classes as usual. Monday night, my roomate pulled me out of my apartment to go see the Producers. She told me that Nathan Lane mysteriously took over for Richard Dreyfus, who had only been doing the part for a week during previews. How could I pass it up. The closest I was ever going to get to seeing the original cast. This show rocked. It, as well, was everything I expected and more. Nathan Lane is a genious and I developed a new level of respect for Lee Evans as an actor and as a person.

After the show we waited by the stage door to meet the stars. After 20 min. or so, Nathan Lane walks out. He is about five feet tall. He is wearing a black beenie and long black coat. He walks out with his eyes down and no one realizes it is him. A beat passes and then everyone realizes who it is and these kids swarm him wanting autographs. You could tell he was exhausted. He signed and Signed away in near silence. Then to break the silence and show my gratitude, I announce, "Mr. Lane, thank you for comming back!" "Thank you." he mutters underneath his breath as he is in deep concentration signing. I couldn't get close to him to shake his hand because of all the autographs but frankly, I didn't want to. He didnt seem too friendly, but I cant say I entirly blame him. I dont think he though two weeks ago that he would be back in the show. But I am glad he took over for the injured Richard Dreyfus becuase I wouldn't have accepted less. After he left, Lee Evans came out. You may remeber him as Tucker in "There's Something About Mary" This man is my idol. He came out well dressed, in a good mood and smiling. He is a stand up guy. He loves his fans. He joked with us and had conversations. When we were ready to leave he was still there chatting away in his cockney accent. I went up to him shook his hand and said "Mr. Evans, I really enjoyed your work." I then turned away and began walking back to my group and he stopped me and said, "Well thank you, So you enjoyed the show then?" I was just dropping in my respect and he called out to me as I was leaving and stopped me to have a conversation. He actually cared what a fan had to say. I know he is not a huge celeb, but he is an artist and a very respectful one at that. I hope that I can be like that with all of my fans as time goes on. It meant a lot to me that I met an actor that loves what he does, and has respect for his role in society.

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10/06/04

IRELAND, CLOACA, and KEVIN SPACEY...

So, I have returned from my voyage through the heart of Ireland and boy is my wallet tired. Granted, the Euro is a little sweeter than the Pound, I learned an important lesson about flying, a little more than just how to buckle the seatbelts and how to turn my seat into a kayak.

I flew into Dublin airport all by myself and waited for Ellie, Nikki, Elana, and Lilly. While waiting I dove into Michael Moore's book Stupid White Men. The book has some interesting facts and personal experiences by Moore that are both hilarious and moving. There is also an interesting chapter at the end about his trip to Tallahassee, and his fight with Whattaburger. Definitely an interesting read.

Ten Chapters later and three hours of waiting at baggage claim and I was finally reunited with my piers. Now it was off to find a place in Dublin to rest our heads. We stayed in an six person dorm and luckily we were able to keep it just between us five. We had a big day ahead of us, so I went to bed at a reasonable hour, so I could fight off my little cold that had hindered me all week.

The Next day we picked up our rental car and the learning curve began for us all. Nikki was driving for us, so she had to learn how to drive a stick on the other side of the car. She caught on VERY fast and we were on out way to Cashel. What can I say about Cashel,..... Absolutely Breath Taking. God himself has created this little town and on top of the Rock of Cashel sits a beautiful castle. The view from this castle is amazing. I cant describe it in words. I felt truly blessed to watch the sunset on the Irish countryside. We liked this town so much we decided to stay overnight. We shopped around for a bed and breakfast and we found a beautiful one right down the hill from the castle. The lady was so nice and she gave us a HUGE discount. Our room had the best view in the city. In the distance the castle filled up our window high atop the hill.

The next morning we came downstairs to an AMAZING Irish breakfast. It consisted of Tea, Coffee, Orange Juice, Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Toast, Cereal, etc. We left ten lbs. later, and traveled up the hill to the castle. We took the tour and got to see the cathedral and many other historical sights. It was amazing to stand in the ruins of the Cathedral and imagine just what it was like in its entirety. An awesome feeling. We then moved on to Dingle Peninsula, where they spoke Gaelic. This was a cute little town that even had its own Dingle Cleaners. We stayed on the part of the town that had the clubs and pubs and Lots of B&B's, and after some rude negotiations, we found a very nice lady that gave us the same price we got in Cashel and the breakfast was equally as good. We then went to the club and saw those crazy Irish people get drunk and dance wildly. It was fun times.

The next day we just took our time getting back to Dublin, and seeing more of the Irish countryside. Our flight left at 7:45am so another early night by Mikey and in the morning we got to the airport with time to spare.... or did we... As all of my group checked in, I was just behind them in line. As the lady got to me, she said we are closed, no more people can check in. But there was still 45 min left before departure!?!?!! Well, I guess the lady had a shamrock up her ass, so I was directed to the Ryanair ticket counter, and 60 euro later I had a flight home an hour after my original departure. So needless to say, I was late to class but I learned a life lesson and that’s all that matters now.

Last night we saw Cloaca, Directed by Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic Theatre. Aside from having terrible seats for the first act, I thought the show was very funny and I really liked the choices Kevin made. I decided to dress up in my Three piece suit just in case I got the opportunity to meet the man. After the show I didn’t see him anywhere so I looked for my group. Then, one of my classmates tells me hysterically that he is downstairs at the bar. Of course, I didn’t believe her, but I went to check anyways. Sure enough there he stood. My stomach tightened as I connected eyes with him. This was the biggest star I had ever seen up close. As he talked to a few people, I looked around him, so that he didn’t have to feel my stare. When he finished with those people, he looked at me and I reached to shake his hand. This was no ordinary handshake. This was one of those firm, "pleasure to meet you, I would catch you if I fell off the cliff," handshakes that I didn't get from Christian Slater. I said, "Great work Mr. Spacey" "Thank you," he said. I then proceeded to introduce us as the Florida State University School of Theatre. We then invited him to come and talk to us. He told us to send him mail at the theatre with all of the details and we can go from there. Kevin is one cool cat. Very laid back and surprisingly easy to talk to. He is a man that I admire in so many ways. And I believe that one day I will be able to work with or for him. Time will tell.

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9/29/04

Well, I am off to Ireland tomorrow. We are flying into Dublin and then who knows from there. Either way it should be fun. Its my first weekend traveling beyond the country.

These past few weeks we have't done anything too terribly exciting. last weekend we went to Stratford Upon Avon where shakespeare was born and got to tour his house. It was decent but not something I would want to do twice. We then got to see Hamlet by the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was an excelent production with an awesome sound design, however the set left much to be desired by the RSC. It was very basic and I feel like it was somewhat of a cop-out. But that is just my opinion. We also had to sit way up high in the third balcony so the cast didnt neccesarily play to us.

The best piece of theatre I have seen since I have been here is a play called Festen. It is a play about a disfunctional rich family and their breakdown during daddy's birthday. I will most definitely see this play again before I leave London.

And thats all I got for ya...

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9/16/04

Another Huge Step taken in my acting carreer. Wednesday I visited Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. We saw an all female production of Much Ado About Nothing. It was some of the best Shakespeare I have seen in my twenty years on this planet. It doesn't get much better. I got to experience the production as a groundling. for those of you who don't know what that means, that means I stood for 3 and a half hours with my arms folded on the stage while some terrific actors played. It was a great experience. At one point in the show, one of the actors came up to us and grabbed a camera that one of us had sitting on the stage. In the middle of his(her) soliloquy, she picked up the camera and said something to the effect of, "Tis the devils work" as she accidentally takes a picture of herself. I believe it was in the script. Another hilarious moment was when a hellicopter was flyinf up above and it was so loud, the same actress stopped and mouthed, "what the hell is that" to another actress. It was one of the biggest pops of the afternoon. It was a fun show and my legs and feet hurt terribly aftereword, but it was all worth it.

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9/8/04

I can honestly say, I feel like a local in the West End of London. I can get around by myself from show to show, pub to pub. Its pretty simple once you get the hang of it. I would compare it to your first day of High School: Scary and enourmous at first, but once you get a grip on things, it gets smaller and smaller. That is why I feel i am ready to venture out of the nest. here are some of the trips I will be taking in the near future.

Oxford and Blenheim Palace

The Globe Theatre to see Hamlet

Stratford upon Avon (Shakespere's Birthplace)

Paris(Not Hilton)

Amsterdam

Bath

Well last night, I went to see One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, with Christian Slater. I was a little unsure of what to expect from Slater's performance, but I must admit, the brother has stage presence. And his charm has gotten more tolerable through the years. Now I wouldn't normally admit this, but by then end, I was in tears. Maybe It was because of the highly carbonated beer Cameron and I had kicked back in the second act, maybe it was some of Cameron's peppers that he cooked with earlier somehow finding its way into my eyes as well as his, or maybe the guy can just act. I was very impressed, and I wasn't afraid to tell him that when I met him after the show. You can imagine how I felt. A man who was at the peak of his career when I was ten years old was shorter than myself. We got to talk to him for a little bit before he got in his car. Cam and I wanted to take him out for some beers, but he had broken his hand the night before so he was in a sling. He had no sling in the performance so I am sure he was in a lot of pain, especially during the fight scenes. My hat is off to that man for sticking it out in opening week with an injury. Here is the funny part about when I was talking to him. All I could think about was The Family Guy. "So tell me Christian, in your new movie do we get to see your butt? Ohh my god he's going to do it!" Funny stuff.

After that we walked to the SOHO Theatre to see Eddie Izzard workshop his new material. He is a funny guy. He wasn't a girl this time. He had several good bits that I'm sure will make it into his finished product.

This trip will be one I will take with me for the rest of my life. Nothing I have ever done has compared to this experience. This is State Thespians on Sterroids.

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8/29/04

This trip is amazing so far. I am living with 6 other people, three guys , and four girls, in a three bedroom flat. 2 stories, and two bathrooms, the shower upstairs is a midget shower and I cant fit in it. No one can figure out how to work the hot and cold water. But all and all its good, its a little chilly a little rainy and I didnt pack enough pants. Everything here is VERY expensive. The number of the prices are the same but the american dollar isnt worth crap here. A whopper value meal is £3.99. Which converts to about $7.45. But the best way to get over that is to just to not convert it because there is simply no way around it. I like my roomates. They are very nice and we all pitch in our part. I cant wait to start my acting classes, my Professers are awesome. They are from the best acting schools in London that we have come in and teach once a week, and on the second day of the week we have a different professer come in from the London acting scene. we are working with the best in london and perhaps all of Europe. There are some interesting show playing here. The first night we saw "A funny thing happened on the way to the forum" at the National Theatre. The National Theatre is three huge theatres stacke upon one another with three different shows a night. It was funny, they were doing a lot of improving and one of the actors had a moment on stage which i would compare to the understudy show In midsummer. He went up on a line and it was the funniest thing in the show, that and him getting his toga caught in the door. The next night we saw "Bat Boy" which was a crazy show. Walking around the other night I saw some interesting shows that are going up such as "One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest" starring none other that Christian Slater. Also, David Hasselhoff is in "Chicago" hmm wonder how thats gunna be. Keep an eye out for the Fsu London 2004 website I am in the process of designing. It will have pictures and updates and video clips. Anyways I guess I will start to plan my night since it is already 8(3 in the states). We have tomorrow off since it is a national holiday. Talk to you guys soon.

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8/25/04

And just like that, the summer is over. I've had some ups and downs but an overall good summer. The best is yet to come however. Other than catching the "plague", and coughing all night for a month and a half, I would say my summer was a good experience for me.

I made some new friends, and tried to cling on to the ones I have already made. By doing so, I have made a very important self realization. I am extremely sensitive. Although I may not show it all of the time, if you ever do something to piss me off, you will understand. I can only apologise for the way I take things personal sometimes. But I have also come to realize that "I'm sorry" doesn't fix things. Sometimes it takes your actions to get back on my good side. If I am not worth your actions, then you are not worth my thoughts.

Moving on, I want to wish all of my friends good luck this semester. 15 years of school and counting. We are the future of this country.

My album is much more worth than I have ever imagined. That is why I need to push back the release date to early spring. Hopefully when I get back from London, I will have a full blown, in home studio to work with. That is currently in the works. I know this album will represent me as an overall artist, not just as a musician.

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7/5/04

Wow, This month really flew by. It's kinda scary how quick this summer is happening. Before I know it I will be in London. Exciting but a little scary. I am going to Ohio today. I havent been in a long time so it will be good to see everyone. I also get to conquer Cedar Point. I havent been there since I was 9 or 10. And I barely rode any of the big rides. I hope it doesnt rain.

Well the barbeque jam did work out perfectly but it was still fun. We got through sound check just before we opened the doors, and thats when the rain started. And didn't stop. We eventually had our set inside, but it wasn't how I envisioned it. We still had a blast and I will have photos up next week.

On the Acting side, Frankie and I are planning a 24 hour production. Jacksonville hasn't really done many of these so I think it will be a good thing. One last chance to hit the stage in the states before I jet across the Atlantic. I will post information on this project as we iron out the details. And that gives those of you who couldnt make it to the barbeque, a chance to make up for it. If you are interested in being a part of this production email me.

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6/5/04

Rehearsals for "The Backyard Barbeque Jam" are going very well. Me Kelly and Chad are really getting our songs down. Were going to do about ten songs all together so it will be fun stuff. Ross will be spinning all the latests between our set(s). Im hoping that everyone comes and has a wonderful time. It will start at 4:00 so there will be plenty of sun and we can still let the party carry on when it gets dark. We can break out the tiki torches and relax in the jaccuzzi.

Its getting down to the wire for my recording session in a few weeks, so I have been preparing my voice and trying to prepare my playing. We have lots of work to do. I'm happy that I took a little break from theatre to work on my music. i think it is important for artists to discover other ways of expressing themselves. IT CAN KEEP YOU SANE believe me. Singing and playing has kept me happy when theatre gets me down. Don't get me wrong, acting is my first love, but this is a close second.

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6/3/04

Today I Decided to add a Journal to my page. I didnt want it to be part of the mainpage. I want to keep that area strictly for updates on my professional work. This is the area to come to see whats going on in my life.

Summer has been fun so far. I've got a nice tan going, and I have slept in almost every day. That is not exactly a good thing though because it has turned me into a night owl. I will try to get up earlier and earlier this week and get myself back on a decent sleep schedual.

I miss my friends back in Tallahassee, and everyone who also went home for the summer. Many of them I will not even see until I get back from London. Speaking of London, I better get my passport order in soon or I will be back at FSU in the fall.

Living at home for the summer is not as bad as i expected it to be. My little sister and I are getting along great and I have 24-7 access to a nice pool and jaccuzzi. Stitch is in heaven here and I dont know if I will have the heart to take him back to Tallahassee in the Spring. He is an excellent swimmer.

Anyways I must get back to practicing for my recording session, check back for updates in the days to come.

~Mike

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