The Seth Ledger

Can it be that I haven't sent an update on my life since the end of June?  Please say it ain't so!  But you can't, b/c it IS so.  So (a needle pulling thread), I apologize for the lack of up-to-date-ness.  It was an exceedingly busy summer, and I spent the last few weeks recuperating, but as fall has fallen near, it is time to send an email catching up the hundreds of people who mostly skim my emails!

Assuming that most of you won't get much further, let me put important updates right here.  First off, if you have yet to watch the premiere of my new WEDDING SONG, please click and watch now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGPH_xGNcmc

In less than a month, it is up to 1,053 views - the fastest watched video I've ever had - and it has zoomed up to the 5th most watched video of mine, as well, so please watch and forward to anyone you know - especially those looking for wedding songs for their weddings!

UPCOMING SHOWS

For those of you who like to plan dates in advance, besides my weekly showcases, I will be doing a solo show at Theater 1010 for the 5th year in a row in November, and we will be doing another benefit concert with Broadway talent in December!  The dates are as follows:

Sunday, November 8th at 7pm  SETH SINGS MORE BISEN-HERSH, Theater 1010.  I will probably put the entire show up on the youtube as I did with the first one... this time I'll be performing songs I haven't performed in years with a few world premieres! (Rhyme unintentional, but definitely awesome.)

Monday, December 14th at 7pm  BROADWAY CAN!, Don't Tell Mama - this will be a benefit for foodbanknyc.org - a can raising drive - bringing cans will get you a discount off the cover - we have a lot more details in a few months, but for those of you who need advanced notice - voila!

A GREAT SUMMER

It was really a great and quite full summer.  In to particular order... Broadway Meows was a huge success - we raised $800 for the Humane Society, and got a great review on a cable access show (transcript on sethbh.com on the news page).  It was one of the best evenings of my life so far, and I hope to have repeat success with Broadway Can! - and then if that goes well, we'll do at least 2 benefits a year of my songs...

Also in July, we did the first full reading of MORE TO LOVE - which got raves and raves - but unfortunately not a single industry person was in attendance - partially b/c it rained!  Confound the weather...  However, we have applied to a few prestigious reading series, and I am cautiously optimistic we can get into one and do a fuller reading in the hopes we can get someone "important" to come.  Basically we just need ONE producer and/ or $1 million -- whichever comes first!  Then it'll run off-Broadway for at least a decade, I can promise you that.

What else did I do this summer?  Oh, the STAR TREK exhibit in Philly was great - though they don't allow you to take pictures on the bridge!  So sad!  They actually have people there to take pictures for you, but then they're like $5 each - ridiculous!  In any case, my sister's apartment is ridiculously huge - I don't know what she needs all that space for... but we played Seinfeld Scene-It - and I really would've been better if I had watched the show in the last decade or so...

The biggest trip I've taken since 2002 was to OREGON.  Overall, the vacation was sublime... though, I slept less than 7 hours one day, and that put me in a foul, asocial mood for 2 days - but after 2 days of full sleep, I was back to my amiable self...  other than that, besides overdosing on nature and exercise (ala my new song "I HATE NATURE" which will be premiered at Seth Sings More Bisen-Hersh!), it was a grand time.  It was really nice to hang out with my best college friends - re-solidifying a bond that will last a lifetime. 

The wedding itself was incredible and completely unique - and totally secular.  McHale's father re-did their entire backyard and frontyard and created a Matrimonial Meadow in the shape of a heart in the middle of the forest... it was all great (except for the trees that made me sneeze).  In any case, I have 473 pictures up on facebook, which I captioned and commented on for those of you with extra time this weekend... I tried putting them up on flikker or whatever, but it wouldn't let me post more than 200 - so those of you not on facebook are out of luck, I'm afraid...

WORKING 3 TO 9 WHAT A WAY TO MAKE A LIVING

Not much new to report - I have audition and cabaret workshops lined up for the fall - assuming there are clients who want to take them... And the showcases are lined up weekly through the end of 2009.  I'm having auditions on Wednesday - and if most of the people show up, that should keep me filled through the end of October - then I'll probably have a smaller round to get through the rest of the year... The next one is on Sept 15th, and it will be the 78th showcase I've done since 2007!  Not bad!  Almost 300 singers have performed in them to date!  Woo!

Anyway, other than that, it's audition accompanying and coaching, as usual - both of which will pick up after the weekend. 

TV IS RELAXING FOR ME

Alright, so we've made it through the summer of barely any new tv, and it's time for fall!  The best summer shows have been MAD MEN and TRUE BLOOD - I also enjoyed Nurse Jackie...

In horrible news, Time Warner completely changed the DVR interface - it is SLUGGISH and has 10 fewer features - it's really a step backwards - I called and complained and wrote emails and letters - and they are promising to start to fix things - but if there were any other option for cable right now, I would switch.  Unfortunately, there isn't.  I did manage to get the DVR for free for a month while I "adjusted," but I didn't need the stress at all...

In any case, here are the new shows I am trying out this fall, in order of premiere date.  I'm hoping that at least a few end up being really worthwhile...  If you find something else worth watching, please let me know... (Here's a cohesive list of star dates: http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/09/02/fall-tv-cheat-sheet-find-out-whats-premiering-when/#more-2487 )

Glee, Vampire Diaries, Community, Bored to Death, Cougar Town, Eastwick, Modern Family, Flash Forward, V, The Wanda Sykes Show

Besides those, there are my returning shows (again in order of return date) - the one I'm most looking forward to is Curb Your Enthusiasm for the Seinfeld anti-reunion!  Second place goes to Dollhouse - you can watch the entire first season on hulu - it's GREAT!!!

Supernatural, Gossip Girl, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, Parks & Recreation, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Big Bang Theory, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Dollhouse. Smallville, Californication, American Dad, Family Guy, Dexter, The Simpsons, South Park, 30 Rock...

Other than that, I finally finished watching all of Buffy's 7 seasons - and I have one more season of Angel to go.  After that, I need to borrow Roswell from my friend... and I might try to find all of Chuck online b/c 5 people have now recommended the show to me - plus Scott Bakula guest starred on it... so that might be my winter break show...

MOVIES MOVE ME

I didn't end up paying for most of the movies, thanks to fandango's Reservation Rewards program, but I have seen a handful since the last ledger...

Harry Potter 6 in the IMAX - wonderful!  As always, they left too much of the book out, but I found the movie very enjoyable overall.
Bruno - not as good as Borat, but still quite amusing.
Funny People - 30 minutes too long, but Adam Sandler does a great job at playing a serious character...
Time Traveler's Wife - read the book! the movie was horrible!  the acting and writing were horrific!!!
District 9 - this was a surprise - I have to thank time magazine for recommending this movie - this was one of the best sci-fi movies (besides Star Trek) I've really liked in awhile - go see district 9!!

TAKE A LOOK, IT'S IN A BOOK

I was so sad to hear that Reading Rainbow was getting the axe... poor Geordi!

Tender is the Night - I loved this Fitzgerald classic...
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - I only borrowed this book from Kevin b/c he had 2 copies - but I'm really glad I did b/c it was an INCREDIBLE novel - and I highly recommend it - it won a pulitzer and is by the guy who wrote "the wonder boys" (michael chabon)
Muppet Show Comic Books - I was in barnes & noble a few weekends ago, and discovered that the muppet show is back - in comic form!  I won the first 4 on ebay for $3 - they're cute - not great, but for $3, definitely worth it!
The Grass Harp - I am now reading this Capote novelette that I found at the Strand book store for only $1...

THEATRE

Tin Pan Rag - off bway play about Berlin and Joplin
Vanities - off bway musical adapted from the long running off-bway play
Town Hall: Tony Winners - splendid concert at town hall
Town Hall: All Singing and Dancing - even more amazing concert at town hall starring Marylin Maye...
Hamlet - great production in a park (not THE park) that used 3 hamlets during the soliloquoys...
9 to 5 - cute bway musical that sadly closed already - I love Allison Janey now that I'm a huge west wing fan now...
The Bacchae - THE shakespeare in the park - saw it in the rain - got very wet, but it's such a dark show that I think it worked really well in the rain - music by Philip Glass, who I always like...

CONCLUSIONS

Watch my videos!  Watch my videos!  Watch my videos!  (Please?)

I hope you all had great summers - please respond so I can hear about them!  Best wishes for the fall - I'll try to send another update before 2010 hits... and hopefully we'll have universal health care by then!!  (Sorry, I refrained from mentioning it most of the email, and few of you will make it this far anyway...)

Always,
Seth

The Seth Ledger

Yes - the year is half over.  I apologize for not sending a massive update sooner, but 2009 has been flying faster than something that flies really fast.  Superman?  Or Smee when I'm putting food in his bowl?  I guess he doesn't fly, though.  He just runs really fast.  Speaking of Smee, the first item I will mention is that he recently filmed a commercial!  You can view it on his webpage:

www.sethbh.com/smee !

Speaking of viewing, I haven't sent a ledger since more Writer's Block clips have been made available (ie made available by me):

www.youtube.com/sethbh42 !

Not only did I have a busy spring, I have had an even busier summer so far.  I can finally announce the 2 major things that are happening this July.  First off, on 7/20 at Don't Tell Mama, we're doing a concert for the Humane Society of NY - the inexpensive animal clinic that saved Smee's life in January.  It's going to be called BROADWAY MEOWS and will feature much Broadway talent.  Second, on 7/23, at Theater1010 we are doing the first full reading of MORE TO LOVE with the finalized scores and actors singing the songs (as opposed to me trying to do harmony with myself). 

And since I admire people who read my updates so much, I am giving you the first peak at the spam for the concert:

SMALL POND ENTERTAINMENT and STEPHANIE ROSENBERG present:

BROADWAY MEOWS:  a benefit concert for the HUMANE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK
featuring the songs of SETH BISEN-HERSH

starring:
SETH BISEN-HERSH
BRIAN CHILDERS (Helen Hayes Award Winner, Danny & Sylvia)
JENNA COKER-JONES (Evil Dead)
KIMBERLY FAYE GREENBERG (Danny & Sylvia)
WESTLEY TODD HOLIDAY
AUTUMN HURLBERT (Legally Blonde)
CHRISTOPHER KALE JONES (Jersey Boys)
CAITLIN KINNUNEN (Spring Awakening)
MARY ORZANO
ZACH REINER-HARRIS (Spring Awakening)
BRANDON RUCKDASHEL (Ascension)
DARRYL WINSLOW (Evil Dead)

MONDAY, JULY 20TH, 7PM

$20 Cover/ 2 Drink Minimum (cash only)
Don't Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St.
Call for reservations after 4: 212-757-0788 or reserve online at donttellmamanyc.com

Other than that, Stanley's Adventures has been pushed back to Spring 2010, but I am hopeful that it will have its premiere at Manhattan Children's Theatre eventually!

BUT WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING FOR MONEY?

Thanks for asking!  Well, I had my audition workshop this June - the final session of which is this Sunday, and the year started with showcase #48 - this week we are already up to showcase #71!  By the first week of August, it will be #76... so I have managed to do one practically every week so far this year, and that pretty much is where all my time has gone...  I will tell you that if I die young of a heart attack it will be brought on by the stress of doing weekly showcases!  It has definitely been a lot of work, but at the moment I think I'm booked through the first week of August... and while I've had people drop out here and there, by some miracle, I occasionally get an inquiry for slots a few hours later... and only 3 people owe me $$ still... not bad for having over 260 performers to date!

I played an 8 hour audition call today.  The auditions have been a little less than last year, probably because there's some sort of recession, but I still have been doing it fairly steadily.  And then I still coach people for auditions and cabarets, as well.

The moral is I haven't had much free time, and even though I wanted to send this ledger weeks ago, it took a two hour nap and the knowledge that I need to send a press release for Broadway Meows on Monday and that I wanted to send a ledger first, and that I can only send up to 1000 emails a day or Time Warner shuts off my email access, and that this was a huge run-on sentence, to write this ledger now.

VACATING THE CITY

I am spending a day in Philly at the end of July to see my sister and to go see the Star Trek exhibit at the Franklin Institute!  Speaking of, I went to see Star Trek at the IMAX opening night, but I guess that belongs in the movie section... I got a $1 ticket on the bolt bus going and a $1 ticket on the mega bus back - so it's cheaper than ONE subway ride in the city to go to and fro Philly!  That is truly insane.  I am not too thrilled with the subway hike, but it's not like I subway very often...

I will be spending 10 days in Oregon for my best friend's wedding... Check out the jingle I wrote for them here:  www.sethbh.com/mp3s/weddingjingle.mp3  !  Having a MAC is AWESOME - between Garage Band and iMovie, I am just in HEAVEN!!!!

Before I go to Oregon, I promise to stop by Summer Theater to congratulate Elliott on making it to his 50th year/ retirement!  I'm still really bummed that the wedding is the same weekend as all the celebratory events, but at least it is cheaper for me to take the bus to EB than it is to get to Newark Airport from the city... (Unless I want to take the painstakingly long trip of taking the PATH to the Newark Bus...)  (Besides if I go home the night before, I can bring clean clothes to Oregon!)

For those of you worried about Smee, have no fear - my friend, Lauren, needs a place to stay in August, so I have offered her my couch that week and a half in exchange for taking care of the kitty!!

OBAMACARE

I just wanted to officially declare that I am for universal health care - and for a government run policy - in fact, I would be for getting rid of all insurance companies completely and having the government run it b/c they make a ridiculous amount of profit always - and if the government had it, the $$ would actually go to useful things like education and space flight!

Btw, I am also officially outraged at the NY Senate.  I think it is unconscionable that NY hasn't legalized gay marriage yet.  I think it is truly ridiculous people are fighting against it, as it will happen eventually no matter what they do!  Get over it, and move on is what I say!

Other than that, I keep very informed on all politics, and I must say that it is important to remember how much bleaker everything was at this point last year - and the year before - and every year since I graduated MIT!  So that's the silver lining, folks!!

MOVIES

Well, I saw the new STAR TREK movie at the IMAX at the early Thursday preview with a bunch of (guy) friends.  It was GREAT, as I'm sure you all know b/c for sure you've all seen it by now!  But it really was refreshing to see a GOOD Star Trek movie again!!  The tickets were a ridiculous $20.50 after the fee, but I joined a reward program and got $10 back, and then a free ticket!  So I used the free ticket for opening night IMAX HARRY POTTER 6!!   WOO!!!  And since I canceled the program after getting the gift certificate, I was able to REJOIN the program and get $10 off (the gift certif was only for $13.50 - so I made $3 since it only cost me $7!) and then another free ticket which I used to see WHATEVER WORKS - the new Woody Allen movie starring Larry David last weekend!

So Star Trek, Whatever Works... HARRY POTTER 6 at the IMAX in 2 weeks!!  Whatever Works was great, btw!  I agree with the Time magazine review, not the NY Times one - it was just wonderfully Woody!  Highly enjoyable!

And UP !  I saw UP - which is the WORST title for a movie EVER, b/c you say - "do you wanna see UP?" and people have NO idea what you mean.  I think they should've named it "Up and Away"... but that's me.  Anyway, it was great - we saw that at the Ziegfeld in 3D - which, even though it was the largest theatre in Manhattan, was actually cheaper than going to the regular movie theater and seeing it in 3D by a $1! 

So it's all about saving $$ b/c movies are too expensive!!

TV

Well there is practically NOTHING on tv right now.  It is a barren wasteland of nothingness.  It makes me long for summer shows of the past - the 4400... Swingtown...

Even Weeds hasn't been so good this season.  Nurse Jackie is okay... True Blood is quite wonderful at least... And I think a few shows are finally back in July - Eureka... and there's a new Sci-Fi show about a warehouse or something... Psych and Mad Men aren't back till August... You would think they'd put something on during the summer so we wouldn't go insane!!

Tonight after I make myself finish this ledger so that you all have something to read this weekend, I will be finishing the West Wing.  I watched all seven seasons in just a few months!  But now I have to find a new show to watch from its start, and I'm running out of critically acclaimed series I haven't yet seen!!!

Any suggestions?

BOOKS

Well, I guess I have been watching too much tv b/c I have barely read anything.  I finished the Correctors, which was pretty long, but I mentioned starting it last ledger... I read Fitzgerald's The Love of the Last Tycoon, which he started before he died - but unfortunately he died in the middle - talk about a let down - just as I was getting into it - I started Tender is the Night, and promise that I will read lots of books between my Philly bus rides and especially the 6 hour flights to and fro Oregon...

THEATRE

I feel like I don't see nearly as much as I used to, but here is what I've seen since the last ledger was sent:

Billy Elliot - Best Musical of the year - quite a spectacle !
The Wizard of Oz - caught the tour at MSG - it needed more songs - too bad the composers have been dead so long...
Broadway by the Year 1931 - songs from the year of the great depression...
Reasons to be Pretty - wonderful Broadway play that closed prematurely
Next to Normal - Tony Award winning musical - Alice Ripley is breath-taking...
The Toxic Avenger - really fun spoof musical - Nancy Opel is hilarious!
The Philanthropist - Matthew Broderick in this revival of a British play...
Desire Under the Elms - revival of an O'Neill Oedipian drama...
Broadway by the Year 1944 - another great evening at Town Hall !
Guys and Dolls - revival starring Lorelei Gilmore aka Lauren Graham...
Ruddigore - wonderful production at Theater 1010 - G&S is just so much fun!
Drama Desk Awards 2009 - shortest award show ever b/c few of the British people showed up...
The Grand Tour - wonderful staged reading of my favorite Jerry Herman score - it was so nice to finally see a production of it done so well!
King Lear - great production in the park where we had to run around for each scene - and I can finally answer King Lear questions o Jeopardy...
Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe - wonderful modern version of Tartuffe co-starring my friend, Reji !  Truly great production - it was like my song "Positive Thinking" expanded for a whole show...
Our House - great play that for some reason got mixed reviews - I thought it was quite effective personally.

CONCLUSIONS

It has been a busy summer so far, and July will be the busiest month of all!  But then I will relax in August and be refreshed for the fall!  I hope you all are having wonderful summers.  Please watch my YOUTUBE VIDEOS - some of them have a paltry dozen views, while some have over 1800!  We need to balance them out!!!

Also, let me know how you are doing if I haven't heard from you in awhile - which I probably haven't since this is only the 2nd ledger I've sent all year - pathetic I know!  I'll try to send them more often...

Live long and prosper!

Always,
Seth

So after my 12th successful April Fools email prank, I decided it might be fun to reminisce since many respondents were saying things like "I remember the year I fell for" such and such... or "I haven't fallen in a few years"... or "I meant to not fall!"

For those of you who don't know, every April Fools day I send out an email playing a joke.  Sometimes I go outlandish, but lately I've gone very realistic - which generally garners more people falling.  And that makes me smile.

Also, every year I go around with this ancient can of after dinner mints, which when open spouts out a snake!  And every year for the last 15 or so, I have gotten at least one person!   This year included... (Thanks, Charise!)

So without any further ado, here are my joke emails from the last 12 years.  (Another point of this blog is to actually use the fact that I converted all 160,000 emails I've ever received/ sent since 1997 first to MAC, then from Eudora to MAIL, such that I can actually produce all 12 joke emails!)

    Subject:     Guess what???
    Date:     April 1, 1998 12:43:23 PM EST

Hey guys!!

I just wanted to inform you all... I met this really, really cute prefrosh
last night... well and things sort of led to... well, I lost my virginity
last night... just thought you all should know.

Hope everyone's doing well...

Always--
Seth   

    Subject:     as the semester reaches its halfway mark...
    Date:     April 1, 1999 12:00:10 AM EST

Hey everyone!  I can't believe the semester is already halway over... the
show is going SOOOOOO well!!  it's SOOOO nice to be back in a dress again after all these months...

In other news, I just got a test back to today, and well it appears I am
failing a class.  In fact, I think I might be failing 2.

I really, really can't take the stress of MIT anymore.  I am very probably
going to transfer out next term to some place easier so I can actually have a
life.

I just wanted to tell all my friends out there both here and at other
schools of my decision.  I will miss my MIT buds greatly, but I think this
is the only thing I can do.  Hope everyone's well.

Always--
Seth         

    Subject:     awesome news!!!
    Date:     April 1, 2000 12:00:03 AM EST

So as you all know, I've been dating Melinda for 7 months now.  Well, I
can't imagine life without her.  I have never been this happy ever.

So I asked her to marry me tonight at dinner, and she accepted!!!

So I'm engaged!!!!!!

Thought you all should know.  More details about the wedding itself when we
figure them out....

laterz.

Always--
Seth      

    Subject:     Spring Break!!
    Date:     April 1, 2001 10:17:59 PM EDT

..

Today we went SKIING!  It was really fun!  UNTIL I BROKE MY LEG.  You know,
people have told me for years to "break a leg" but I never do.  So we had to
go to the 'ospital and get a CAST.

YUCK.  I hate hospitals.  And I hate casts.

So I'm coming back up to BOston tomorrow with my BROKEN LEG.

..

Hope everyone's doing well!  Talk to you soon!

Seth

    Subject:     Is it summer YET?
    Date:     April 1, 2002 12:13:07 AM EST

I have been SWAMPED of late, but I wanted to send out a quick ledger.  I
promise to send out a bigger one in the near future, one that details all
about my trip to London!  I've been exhausted and jet-lagged since.

I had earlier sent out a ledger saying I was staying in NYC this summer, but
my internship fell through, and I don't really have any source of income...
and they're offering me $15/ hour...

So, yeah, I just wanted to let all you eb types know, that it looks like
I'll be going back to Summer Theatre for the 13th year. 

As much as I would love to spend the summer in NYC, I know it's better to
actually EARN $$, not spend it, and I figure one more year w/ Elliott won't
hurt me...

So I hope you're all doing swell!  I PROMISE to send a REAL ledger soon!

Always--
Seth         

    Subject:     the straw that breaks the camel's back
    Date:     April 1, 2003 2:26:40 AM EST

So first off, I want to apologize for sending SO many e-mails lately; it's
been a REALLY hard time for me.

And it just gets worse and worse.

I got this letter from the Fringe in the mail today.  And it was one of
those small letters, so I was wary... it's an early rejection letter.  They
said they're weeding out shows w/o full scripts b/c they got so many
applications for musicals.  :(

So yeah, that's pretty much what I was looking forward to all year, so I
don't know WHAT I'm going to do w/ my summer or my life NOW...

Hope you're all doing better!  Thank you for your continued support.  I just
don't know what I'd do w/o it.

Always,
Seth                   

Subject:     ledger supplement
    Date:    April 1, 2004 2:44:48 AM EST

I've been so busy and stressed I forgot to report some kind of upsetting news. 

As many of you know, I have been having many fights with the neighbors
below.  They complained about us walking around really loudly after midnight
-- about me chasing the cat around and screaming (which I have since stopped
doing after midnight), etc.

The asshole actually jumped up and down on our roof screaming "wake up you
assholes" for many weeks.  This did not phase me of course b/c I sleep
through just about anything.

However, then they put a push pin in our cable wire, which negates the
signal -- I mean, HELLO that shows SO much premediation.  I mean, who
besides a nerd would know a push pin can cancel out cable service?

Anyway, I was livid (Tango will attest to this b/c she was here), and I
called the landlord who has since locked up the roof.  (Which saddens me to
know end, but I refuse to have no cable!)

He said to get carpet and padding -- so Adam and I spent hundreds of dollars
and padded every inch of this apartment.

However, they are still being jerks, and before the cable incident they
stuck gum in our buzzer so it went off incessantly... and he even put gum in
my mailbox key slot.

Anyway, most of you probably know all this.  But the new news is that our
landlord has asked us to leave.  It's not an eviction per se; it's more of a
mutual it's best for us to move for everyone's sanity thing.  But yes: WE
ARE GETTING EVICTED.  :(

So if any of you know of any apartments opening up, the cheaper the better,
I'd be appreciated.  Planning to move out May 1st.

Yup, moving out of my 5 floor walkup is going to suck ass... ..

Hope y'all are doing well!  I'm having a seeing shows again week!  (Sadly
the last one of its kind for awhile esp w/ this new hassle...)

Always,
Seth                   

    Subject:     I'm making my broadway debut!!!!
    Date:     April 1, 2005 12:21:29 AM EST

As most of you know (or some of you?) I played for AVE Q auditions a few weeks ago.  Well the guy liked me so much that he recommended me to the Musical Director.  He put me on the extensive SUB LIST.

And it turns out that a lot of people are going out of town next weekend.  So they are asking me to come in THIS weekend and watch the show -- the KEYBOARD 2 part.  Then I will practice it all next week, and make my BROADWAY debut next Sat matinee, 4/9, since they have been unable to find anyone else to sub on that day.

SO OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO EXCITED!!!!

I hope y'all are doing well - do drop a line to say hello!

Always,
Seth

    Subject:     spring is here...
    Date:     April 1, 2006 1:47:18 AM EST

First off, I want to apologize for not sending a ledger sooner, but I've been insaaaaaanely busy.  And truth be told my myspace blog (myspace.com/sethbh) has gotten most of my writing attention lately.  But you should go catch up there for news of meeting SONDHEIM and highs and lows of daily life.

Things have been up and down lately -- very sporadic.  As some of you know, I've been working on a top-secret project at Playbill Online the last few weeks.

Well this week, they offered me a full time position there... with benefits...

And after some consideration, I think it's time to hang up the starving artists' hat for awhile.  It's just exhausting having to push myself so much.  And promote myself constantly.  Of course, I'll still find time to write, and we still have applied with Meaningless Sex for NYMF, but that whole not knowing when I'll be playing next for an audition, etc, is just growing old.

So maybe I'll actually allow myself to eat dinner this way or something.

Anyway, that's really the big news.  I hope you're all doing well!!
Always,
Seth

    Subject:     I'm moving again - need moving help :(
    Date:     April 1, 2007 12:46:59 AM EDT

Dearest friends,

So I came home tonight to find yet another roach nest.  This time behind my desk.  This coupled with the fact that I had a roach crawling in my bed a few nights ago, has made me decide to move again.  :(

I am very sad to have to move again.  So I hope I can count on the help I got last time... (Aaron and Dave: taking a couch DOWN five flights is easier than up!!)

So, I'm giving my month notice.  That means May 1st.  If anyone knows of any apartments opening up PLEASE let me know.  And please keep your calendars open to help me move -- free pizza as always!!

Roaches are heinous.
Always,
Seth

    Subject:     positive thinking
    Date:     April 1, 2008 12:27:22 AM EDT

Dearest friends:

As some of you know, I've been battling with negativity and depression since puberty.  I've been hearing chants of positivity and positive thinking from a myriad of directions lately.  After hitting rock bottom last weekend, I have decided to try this life coaching called Personal Dynamics.  I had been arguing against it for awhile, but after attending a guest session awhile ago, and seeing the improvement it has made on a handful of my friends' lives, I figure... why not give it a shot?

I wanted to send an olive branch or a friendly hand to each of you.  If any of you are having problems functioning or are longing for some more meaning or purpose in your life, I highly recommend you come with me to the next guest event.

Together, we get to change our lives and our perspectives to free ourselves of the shackles of negativity.

Always,
Seth

    Subject:     confound life!!
    Date:     April 1, 2009 12:09:42 AM EDT

OMG,

I need to vent.  Like seriously.  So after 2 painstaking weeks of trying to get my mac mini all set up, it CRASHED tonight!!!

CRASHED completely!  I think it's a hard drive failure.  So now I have to send it back to Apple and PRAY to a god I don't believe in that Apple can retrieve my files from the last few weeks.  And that it'll be okay!  This is worse than when Smee was in the hospital!

So, yes, after all that, I am back on my crappy PC.  So slow.  So archaic.  And I have the busiest day tomorrow EVER!

Life isn't fair, people!  It isn't fair at ALL -- I warn you!!!  When you think things are going well - BAM BAM BAM -- that's when life bites your ass with such veracity!!!

I need to cry.

Or watch tv.

Or have chocolate.

Or all 3.

I hope you are all having better nights than I.

Always,
Seth


I hope you enjoyed reviewing the past 12 years of foolery.  Happy Spring!

                                            The Seth Ledger

This is going to be a long update since I haven't written one in 3 months.  I apologize on both fronts.  This will also be the last ledger I ever write on a PC, as I am making the switch to my Mac Mini very shortly!  Since this will be long, let me put the important thing first...

Please go watch my youtube videos! I uploaded about dozen from earlier acts, and right now they have a paltry dozen hits... youtube.com/sethbh42 will work - or go to sethbh.com/songs3.html and click on videos!  GO watch them NOW!  What ELSE could you possibly have to do this weekend?  It's still cold out!  Also, check out my new store - The Seth Store - sethbh.com/store - I am now selling sheet music of my songs!

WRITER'S BLOCK RETURNS IN MAY

The other thing of utmost importance is to make sure I announce that Writer's Block is coming back in May for those of you who missed it.  It's back with 2 new cast members and a world premiere song in the encore!

Sunday, May 3rd at 5:30PM and Monday, May 4th at 8:30PM.

So plan your life accordingly if you missed it this fall.

JANUARY SUCKED

2009 has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs.  I realize that I was saying "2009 is gonna be fine" - I thought that was enough of a low key optimistic maxim, but I was wrong.  When I said "2008 is gonna be great" I was plagued with a break in among other things.  Yet, I was still plagued in 2009.  Perhaps in 2010 I'll just say... "2010... here we go again..."

Anyway, I guess it's best to go chronologically.  The sucky thing that happened first was coming in second at the MIT Mystery Hunt.  I mean it's not SO sucky b/c it means my team doesn't have to organize a huge hunt for next year, but if I thought doing well and not winning was bad - actually being so close that one puzzle answer keeps you from winning is a lot worse!  However, I believe that our team is now more gung-ho than ever to win next year... which would be my first time winning on my 13th year.  Sounds good to me!

The rest of the bad things were worse. 

Smee almost died.  That was hard.  Being away for the weekend, I had left him a lot of dry food.  And my friend, Aaron, came over to look after him, but he refilled the bowl with a lot of food b/c that's basically what you do when you leave your cat alone.  Unfortunately, Smee has FUS with is a urological disorder which basically means if he eats too much dry food, his bladder clogs up.  But who knew that?  The only way you can find out is when the cat almost dies.  So the Wednesday after I got back from Boston, he started having trouble peeing... I guess symptoms started Tuesday night, but I didn't notice until he was obviously is pain.  I was, fortunately, able to get an emergency appointment with the Humane Society, which is the only affordable pet clinic.  The emergency pet hospital would've cost four times as much. 

Anyway, the good news is, I got him in in time - the vet was able to puncture his bladder so he could release his urine.  Smee, then, stayed over 3 days at the hospital - which was all the way on the east side of Manhattan... so every day I walked over 45 minutes and then back just to see him during the visiting hour... So, now, I have to get Smee a specific, expensive diet, but he is my responsibility, and it's worth it, I'd say.

As always, to combat those of you with endless baby picture attachments, here are some recent pictures of my baby:

http://www.sethbh.com/images/2009-smee1.jpg
http://www.sethbh.com/images/2009-smee2.jpg

The last week of January, I had to be at auditions at 9:30 five days in a row.  As you all know, being up at 9:30 one day is more than enough to throw me off completely.  Add to the 5 days of auditions the fact that I had 2 showcases that week, and by Friday I was dead.

However, something horrible happened in the middle of that week.  I received an email from Manhattan Children's Theatre saying that they still hadn't gotten the rights to the children's musical I wrote for them.  Those of you who pay attention and read the entire ledger (three of you?) will remember I was supposed to have my kid musical premiere this April.  Unfortunately, it has been postponed.  Postponed for now.  I got really depressed because I had 2009 all planned out and already by the end of the first month, it had been derailed.  I had already listed out all the important industry I wanted to invite to the show, etc.  And planned out making a cast recording, etc.  I am very hopeful that this postponement is truly that.  In theory, Stanley's Adventures should premiere this September.  I am very hopeful that the rights will get sorted out. 

So... back to the week killing me.  By the end of the week, I developed the worst flu I have ever had.  I hadn't been sick in 2 years, so I guess I had it coming to me.  It was HORRIBLE.  I had a fever of 104.  I slept 20 hours from Friday into Saturday, then 15 hours into Sunday.  The most horrible thing is that I had to postpone my cabaret workshop - I had a bunch of extra people lined up for the lecture, and by the week after, they had disappeared.  Which brings us to the next reason this year hasn't been so great...

THE ECONOMY SUCKS

I don't know if you've noticed, but the economy is in ashambles thanks to horrible, heinous Republican rule for eight years.  It has finally trickled down to affect me.  Not only has it been near impossible to find people for my workshops, there are fewer auditions, too.

The reason there are fewer auditions are that a lot of the regional theaters that I have played for for years are going out of business.  Others are cutting corners by not having NYC auditions or by using the musical director of the show instead of hiring an audition accompanist.  Furthermore, since 50% of the Broadway musicals have closed, there are much fewer union jobs up for grabs... none of which are trickling down to me this year. 

I actually am playing a lot of auditions this month, but March generally is the busiest month of the year.  I am playing for less money per hour than I used to, as well, but it is my feeling that I would rather be out there keeping busy and being seen than not.

I did have a wonderful moment today, and I mean wonderful.  I have been playing for auditions for the off-Broadway musical, Everyday Rapture, which is an autobiographical show by and starring Broadway star, Sherie Renee Scott.  Today was the final callbacks and on my way out Sherie thanked me and said I was "wonderful."  I have been a fan of Sherie's work for quite some time now, so to hear someone I really admired and revered and respected have such high praise of me really moved me to tears.  I felt validated. 

THE SILVER LINING

That's a good segue into the silver lining section... with so many people out of work and so few shows, the demand for my showcases has gone through the roof!  I am very thankful.  We had the 50th showcase celebration in February, and it went very well!  I have showcases lined up at Don't Tell Mama every week until mid-May at the moment.  I am hopeful to manage to get through the entire year doing a showcase nearly every week.  I enjoy performing in them so much, and I love every (well almost every) person who has come through - I've had over 200 performers showcase their talents so far!

Other than that, my clientele schedule has been pretty full.  I'm even putting together 2 solo shows for clients that go up mid-May and in June...

In final cabaret news, I was pre-nominated for 6 MAC awards.  MAC is the Manhattan Associate of Cabaret Artists... don't know why it's not MACA... Anyway, that isn't SO big a deal given that I pre-nominated myself.  I am hopeful to get at least one actual nomination... It's kind of a popularity contest, but half of the categories I submitted for are selected by a panel, rather than the entire membership - so I think I have a better chance at those.  If I get nominated, then I will try to get as many MAC members as possible to Writer's Block, in the hopes of actually winning an award... However, I have never won an award in my life, so I am not going to be too devastated if I fail to accrue some nominations...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOI

See, I put all the depressing things early on, so that the rest of this ledger could be happy and peppy!  And, thus, people who were too lazy to make it this far, are such being depressed.  It's punishment for those who haven't the time or inclination to read my updates!  Muhahahaha!

I had a wonderful 30th birthday.  I guess that's my word of the day, but it was great.  I got taken out 4 days in a row... on my actual birthday, which happened to be a Saturday night (Feb 28th for the date deficient) I had a huge party - about 50 people came... first we went to a fancy Italian restaurant, then I reserved a room at this bar midtown.

I set up pin the tail on the hippo, and flashcards for that game where you put a celebrity on someone's forehead and they have to figure out whom they are... and I had a Muppet Diva mix, which was.... awesome.  At least to me and a few of my friends...

I also solicited donations for my Mac Mini.  Talk about disappointment!  So, I was holding off on buying a Mac Mini until the new ones came out b/c all my apple friends told me to wait.  Timing could not have been better.  Three days after my birthday, 3/3, apple announced all their new desktops... the new mac mini is AMAAAAAAAZING -- it has a 320GB Hard Drive, which is DOUBLE the space of the old mac mini for the SAME PRICE.  Also, I got double the RAM (4GB) for the same price!  Not to mention, they claim it's faster and greener... I bet my electric bill goes down without this Dell making strange noises in the middle of the night!!!

The disappointment stems from the fact that the mac mini requires an adapter for my beautiful flat screen monitor to work with it.  Rather than pay an exorbitant amount for adapters for the monitor, keyboard and midi, I went on ebay where I found each item for under $10 with free shipping... I also got Kensington lock for $1 with only $4 shipping.

Unfortunately, all my items are coming from Hong Kong.  I ordered everything on Tuesday, 3/3.  The Mac Mini arrived first on Monday.  The first thing to arrive from Hong Kong came Thursday - the MIDI wire.  The thing I needed the absolute least.  I ended up caving in and getting a new MAC keyboard (b/c they have more buttons, and more USB ports, and please, it looks horrible to use a crappy dell keyboard with a brand new mac mini) on ebay for $25, which I won last Thurs, and even that had arrived all the way from CA by ground today before the rest of the Hong Kong adapters.

So, basically, I am not able to use my brand new, wonderful Mac until the monitor adapter from Hong Kong arrives.  And since I'm playing auditions all next week, there isn't much chance I'll have the energy for the long, long transfer of everything and conversion of certain files, and the setting up all my programs exactly how I want/ need them for maximum functionality before next weekend at the earliest...

However, I am SO EXCITED to have a MAC and to be able to do video and audio editing REALLY simply.  And to be able to USE ITUNES without it freezing constantly!!

Anyway, I thank those of you who donated financially to my Mac Fund.  It truly is the best birthday present EVER.

In other wonderful birthday present news, I received the LOVERLY presents of: many cards, a gift certificate to Macy's, a cryptic crossword puzzle book - these are the hardest type of puzzles ever created by man, and it is my goal to be adept enough to help out on them at next year's mystery hunt - I did the first one all by myself - it only took 2 hours... Miss Piggy's new book - of course, moi would have to get a copy of it... Barney from How I Met Your Mother's the Bro Code... (both of those are great audition reads b/c there's not much on each page) ... and a kitty litter mat!  So hopefully Smee will start wiping off his paws, such that I won't be having to vacuum litter up all over the place...

Speaking of Smee, he is doing his exercises right now - running back and forth... jumping on the A/C... then running to the toilet... back and forth.... very fast..... it's kind of like an obstacle course since I left him all the empty boxes to play with...

FUTURE PROJECTS

Well, there isn't so much I will say about the future for fear of jinxing.  We haven't gotten any positive result from our mailings of More to Love yet, which is also kind of depressing.  I do chalk that up to the economy, as well, though I still believe the project will find a healthy life off-Broadway.  I have one possible lead, but I will not jinx it here...

I have a few other projects in mind, but collaborators are a fickle bunch.  I do have one very promising project, but again, I really don't want to jinx anything. 

I am hopeful that this summer things with Stanley will work out, such that it will have its premiere this fall.

Also, this fall, I am going to do a one night only concert of the best of all my work.  I have written over 100 songs, and I believe it's time to get them out into the world more... My agent friend suggested that I hire some bigger names to perform my work in a one night only concert.  It is my hope that by putting youtube videos of Broadway people doing my work, it'll get me more clout and publicity.  Obviously, I will not be able to get Bernadette Peters, but I am at least acquaintances with a few lesser known celebrities, etc...

BOOKS

This looks like I've been reading quite a bit, but in truth, only 2 of these are actually novels...

The Razor's Edge -- this classic was WONDERFUL - simply WONDERFUL - highly recommended
The Tales of Beedle, the Bard -- a really quick, but enjoyable read with notes by Dumbledore himself before he died!
The Diva Code: MISS PIGGY on Life, Love and the 10,000 Idiotic Things Frogs (or Men) Do -- Miss Piggy has very good advice... for herself.  But it's an amusing read.
The BRO Code -- another book by a fictional character -- definitely amusing.
The Correctors -- this is the novel I'm reading - it was a national best seller a few years ago - Kevin had 2 copies, so I took one to read.  It's very good.

TV

Well, most of the new mid-season shows have been duds.  I tried a handful.  The 2 new ones I really enjoy are:

The United States of Tara - Toni Collette stars in this dramedy on Showtime - she has multiple personalities... it's a great show!  Not as good as Weeds, but it got renewed for season 2, so it'll have time to grow...

Dollhouse - this is Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel)'s new show, and it's definitely growing on me.  Definitely worth checking out, though since I'm starting to get attached, chances are good it will be canceled.

Returning mid-season shows I enjoy -- Friday Night Lights (best drama ever!), Breaking Bad... I caught up on LOST just in time for season 5 - it is addicting and getting nerdy, which I adore... Battlestar Galactica is in its final 2 episodes, and doesn't let up for a second... Scrubs is back - and had an episode with Sesame St characters !  24 is actually good again this season, which is a miracle... South Park just returned and is as satirical and inappropriately hilarious as always!

I do want to give a shout out to Conan O'Brien - he will be missed here in NYC.  I hadn't missed an episode of his show since I got my DVR in 2004. 

Other than that, special shout out to a syndicated show I have been enjoying - The Legend of the Seeker - it's all fantastical - anyone who likes the fantasy genre should check it out. 

Finally, I started watching the West Wing from season one on Bravo.  I managed to check out its listing right when the first episode was showing - so it was fate.  I really enjoy the West Wing - I do not think I would've appreciated it as much when it was first out - I was far less political before the debacle of 2000.  But now I am getting so much out of it -- it is amazing how many of the issues in the late 90s are STILL issues today.  Kind of sad, actually, but I would rather not get into a whole political debate...

MOVIES

Wow, so I haven't sent a ledger since my marathon on 12/25... so here's what I've seen since the last ledger:

Frost/ Nixon - great adaptation of a great play
Role Models - really fun comedy
Bedtime Stories - a little cheesy, but what do you expect from a kid movie w/ Adam Sandler?
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - this should've been better than it was, but it was still enjoyable, if a little long
Four Christmases - I only went to see this b/c Kristin Chenoweth was in it, and that proved to not be a good enough reason
Doubt - another great adaptation of a great play !
The Reader - a little contrived, but still Kate Winslet's performance alone is worth going to see this movie
Coraline - I REALLY enjoyed this movie - especially in 3D - it was GREAT.  Simply GREAT.  I highly endorse this movie - out of all the ones on this list, it is probably the only one that won't translate well onto tv - go see it in 3D!

On my DVR, I recently viewed SICK-O - and I don't want to be political, but I do think it's really sad that in Cuba, citizens can get free health care, and we can't here.  Also, yesterday, I watched In Bruges - which was a very good movie - but not for anyone who doesn't like really, really dark comedies. 

Looking ahead, I am VERY excited for MAY when the new STAR TREK movie comes out!!!  And then in July FINALLY the 6th HARRY POTTER movie is being released!  FINALLY!!

THEATRE

Well, as always, I've seen quite a bit of theatre since the last ledger...

Pal Joey - We went opening night to the revival of this Rodgers and Hart classic...
Young Frankenstein - won the lottery and sat in the front row w/ my sister on the day we switched to verizon...
Dust - off-Bway play that has since closed
Road Show - Sondheim's latest version of his latest musical - couldn't miss that...
What's that Smell? - a celebration of a fictional composer - very tongue in cheek ...
Becky Shaw - wonderful off-bway play - simply wonderful theatre
Hedda Gabbler - Mary Louise Parker can do no wrong.
Nightlife Awards 2009 - star-studded evening celebrating NYC's nightlife
Music in the Air - Encores revival of a really obscure Jerome Kern musical that you would never see anywhere else - I really love Kern's work.
Betty Buckley: Broadway by Request - Got invited to the dress of Betty's new show at Feinstein's - my request ("He Plays the Violin") was actually the first number out of the hat!  What an incredible evening. 
Distracted - another great off-bway play starring Cynthia Nixon about dealing with a child who has ADD (who doesn't have ADD?!)
Broadway by the Year 1924 - what a year!  I would've loved to be like Irving Berlin who owned his own Broadway theater and put up a revue (much like a cabaret) each year...
Blithe Spirit - revival of the Noel Coward play starring the icon, Angela Lansbury - who is always remarkable.
Third Story - another great off-Bway play by and starring Charles Busch - it's been a good season for off-Bway this year apparently...
Rooms - off-Bway musical that just started performances which has some really great moments
Cabaret Girl - another obscure Kern musical - this one at Musicals Tonight
Billy Elliot - I haven't seen it yet - my family is going for my birthday on Sunday, but who knows when I'll write the next ledger, so I might as well put it here - I hear really good things about it.  So I'm hoping I agree with them...

CONCLUSIONS

Well, that certainly was long, as I promised.  I do hope at least a few of you read most of it.  Consider yourself caught up.

I did want to congratulate 2 of my closest friends for engagements - Samidh proposed to his girlfriend of 2 years over winter break while they were training for a marathon - it's quite a romantic story - anyway, on 8/8, I will be going to Oregon to be a groom's man... they're planning a full week of adventures in Oregon - so even though I'll have NYC withdrawal, it sounds like fun...

My friend, Tarang (Tango to some), also was proposed to: last month on Valentine's Day.  She's getting married 10/10/10 in India - she wants me to come, however, October is a bad month to try to get away... and plus I hear it's more than my Mac Mini to travel that far... and also, I think more than 5 hours on a plane would be horrendous - I could barely do 5 hours on a plane when I was in LA last summer... and with all those planes crashing...

Speaking of crashing, it is nearing my bedtime.  I am very content to have managed to finish this before sleep time, so I can officially cross this off of my to do list!!!   Now if only I could do a laundry at this time of night, maybe I'd be able to cross off something else...

In any case, I do hope that your 2009's have been going well.  Please catch me up if it's been awhile!  There are almost 600 people on this list, and I rarely hear from more than a dozen.  Sometimes I wonder if a chunk of these emails from yesteryear are even checked anymore!  Until next time, be well.


Always,
Seth

Someone suggested I should stick my ledgers in my blog in addition to my webpage, so here's the December one...

First off, it appears my blog has had over 10,000 views since its birth - that is incredible.  Second, this blog is a response to the unacceptable behavior I have witnessed on facebook event invitations!  It is time to address the inconsistency and incompetence by laying some ground rules for how to react when you are invited to a show...

Okay, so I realize we all get inundated with many event invitations – I mean I'm even in a group that's called "everything in my inbox is an invitation to your show" or something like that… I'm not saying that you have to go to everything you are invited to – that would be impossible and preposterous… however, I feel like people need to be more HONEST – not necessarily blunt to the point where feelings get hurt – but HONEST.

In the ideal situation, you would put "yes" on the event listing and attend the show.  In the ideal situation, everyone can come to everyone else's shows, and there are packed, sold-out crowds lining the block demanding entry.  In the real world, not every one of your 1400 facebook friends is going to come to your show… some live in Europe… some have insane schedules… some are so poor they can barely pay their cell phone bill… This is fine.  However, lying about coming to a show should not be tolerated.

When you have 22 yeses and during your show, you slowly notice that over half of the people who put "yes" on the facebook invitation have not come.  Not wanting to be too childish or petty, I squashed the urge to confront the liars, and am instead writing this hopefully humorous and poignant blog…

When you put "yes" on a facebook invitation, you are saying:  "I WILL BE AT YOUR SHOW BARRING AN UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCE."  Yes, unforeseen circumstances do come up (for instance, one of the supposed to be attendees from my last show's best friend went into labor – that's a decent excuse) – when this happens, it is courteous to write a note apologizing and explaining what happened.  The day of the show, people receive a handful of texts and notes with excuses ranging from lame to lamer to occasionally acceptable – now, the options here are whether you text right before a show, or wait till after… I would say given my experience, neither is optimal.  Optimal is COMING TO THE SHOW.  But barring that, I think it can be up to you whether you send a "break a leg, I couldn't catch the right train" text or wait till later at night and write an official email apology… though a before the show one does lead to disappointment right before the show, so maybe it is best to wait till afterwards…

The most important rule here is – do NOT SEND an email that is dated at the exact time the show is going on with a lame excuse.  And most especially don't lie and say you had to be somewhere when the show was happening, but accidentally send the email right when the show was happening proving your lying-ness!

So, anyway, let's delve: why would someone put "yes" without the intention of coming to the show?  

One of the yeses for my show was a theater company – obviously a company cannot attend a show.  One of the yeses lived in Boston.  When asked, she proclaimed: "I didn't want it to look like you had no one coming to your show!"  This is nice, however, this should be up to the show-haver whether or not he/ she wishes to actively lie about expected attendance – so if you are thinking about putting yes, but know you are a definite no, you should send a message saying that, so at least the inviter realizes you are a fake yes.

Perhaps you had no intention of going to a show, but you put "yes" accidentally?  I have heard that as an excuse before, as well – is it really that hard to work a facebook invite?  I do not wish to insult anyone, but let's think about this for a second – you get the invite on your requests page, and it clearly says "yes, maybe, no" … I think my computer-illiterate grandmother could figure this one out…

In any case, if you have accidentally put "yes" or you have unwisely put "yes" even though you were really a "maybe" there is a simple solution – when you see the event listed on your homepage – CLICK IT and CHANGE YOUR RESPONSE.  I believe that it is your responsibility to actively and accurately attend to your event invitations if you have a facebook account – otherwise, don't have one!

This is not hard.  A lot of times with shows, especially cabaret, there is a minimum amount of people you need to perform in the room.  This is an unfortunate reality, but a reality nonetheless.  If you are lying about coming the performer may not realize that he/ she needs to market/ nudge/ guilt more people.  This becomes leads to a financial loss – something no one in this economy is actively seeking right now (not that people ever actively seek it.)

Moving on… what does a "maybe" entail?

"Maybe" runs the gamut from responsible people to liars…  Responsible people are people who are almost definitely coming, but take their responsibility as an invitee very seriously, such that they do not want to put "yes" in case something comes up forcing them to be an unexpected "no."  I think caution is fine – I think it is far more exciting to find a "maybe" has become a "yes" than a "yes" has become a "no."  

The other extreme are people who are LYING.  They are NOT coming to your show.  They will NEVER be coming to the show.  The reasons for lying are genuinely conscientious, but could also be selfish.  Probably these people want to be nice by not outwardly saying "no."  They want you to still like them, or they sincerely don't want to hurt your feelings by putting "no."

Then there are the outliers in the middle – perhaps even true "maybe"s.  

These people honestly do not know if they can see the show because their lives are unexpected and unplanned.  While I think that planning is tantamount to an existence, most people are not like that.  I plan weeks in advance… I plan 5 minute breaks… But I get it.  People aren't all like me.  In fact most are not.  So, it is possible that there are actual people who are "maybe"s.  But, I would guess out of the 180 people who put maybe for my last show, at most 10% (18 people for the math inclined) were actually sincere "maybe"s.

It is my opinion that people should only put "maybe" if they are a true "maybe."  Lying just brings false hope. If you know you are not going to want to trek to the theater or not want to buy 2 drinks or don't even like the person who has invited you – then CLICK NO.

Finally, if you ARE a "maybe" even if you are NOT a planner, eventually as the day of the show creeps in, you will be aware of your change to a "yes" or "no".  Thus, you should click on the event when it's on your homepage (b/c they put all events you clicked "yes" or "maybe" for) and CHANGE YOUR RESPONSE.

IMPORTANT POINT:  When someone checks the event listing an hour before the show:  THERE SHOULD BE NO "MAYBE"s.  NONE.  PERIOD.

And now onto the NO!

There are two types of NO – real no and careless no.

If you see that the event lasts for more than one day, chances are there are more than one performance – I have had people put "no" only to realize that they could come to a different night – it is too time consuming to write on 400 people's walls, "btw, there are 3 nights" – so now I put it in the message I send with the invite in all CAPS – "THERE ARE THREE NIGHTS" – just to alleviate the problem of people who cursorily choose.

If you cannot see the show and are a TRUE NO, then the classy thing to do is write a note with your excuse for not coming, then to note when the show is going to be, and send a little "break a leg" note, as well as a follow up note asking how the show went!  I realize that most people don't do this… I realize that I don't do this… but perhaps I should.  Perhaps we ALL should.  Wouldn't facebook be a much nicer place if we all took the time to check in!  However, the problem with this is that if you don't have a good excuse for not going to the show, it becomes an issue of guilt… so maybe what we need to do is accept that not everyone is coming to our shows, and blindly accept "break a leg" and "how'd it go" comments without jumping right to the "why didn't you come?" hurt…

On that note, I also recommend that people don't even LOOK at the people who put NO. It gets upsetting, and you'll know who DID show up at the actual show.  Focus on the people who DID show up.  Reward those people.  I routinely send out "thank you" notes to every single person who attends one of my shows.  Also, when I'm offered free tickets to Broadway shows or movie screenings or if I'm asked to refer an actor for a gig, I jump straight to the people who supported me when I am trying to figure out whom to pick…

IMPORTANT POINT: Make sure your audience knows how much you appreciate them so they come back!

The final category on the facebook invitation are the non-responders.  This is perhaps the worst of all.  People not even willing to click on the event… however, these could also be people who are resistant to being on facebook in the first place… people who are so busy they would rather ignore everyone's invitations than deal with all of the problems that come with being a "yes," "no" or "maybe!"  This is perhaps very admirable… or perhaps very cowardly… in any case, though it is obviously not personal, I do believe that if someone has deigned to have a facebook that they should make it a point to actively participate.  

In conclusion, I think what is clear from each of the categories that the best thing to do is to be HONEST.  Respond to each event you are invited to with utmost HONESTY, and there is NO problem!  That is all we want – it might be a lonely word, but it is the only way we will KNOW how many people to expect at the show or the party or the restaurant…

FINAL IMPORTANT POINT:  BE HONESTLY SINCERE.

And while I have your captive attention… if you missed my last shows for a valid or a lame excuse, there is NO excuse for missing the youtube clips and mp3s!  I now have 12 mp3s and 6 youtube clips from Writer's Block available, as well as the ENTIRE 85 minute solo show "Seth Sings Bisen-Hersh" up on youtube.com/sethbh42 … You'll want to catch that before next year's sequel… "Seth Sings Bisen-Hersh II:  The Search for New Songs"   

Click here to catch up on my shows!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-ws1Q1Ty4

Here's the ad we did for Writer's Block!!!

                                                        August 27, 2008, 1AM

Time Warner Cable Customer Service
41-61 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355

Dear Time Warner Cable Customer Service:

I am writing this email at 1am.  My cable modem is blinking impotently.  This is the third time this summer that the cable modem has been taken offline around this time.

This is unacceptable.

I understand that maintenance is being done this summer.  I get that most people are not functioning and awake at this hour, but some of us are in the middle of doing important things, and it is obnoxious that we are always affected this way.

Additionally, it is obnoxious that when I asked for a schedule so I at least KNOW when I shouldn't schedule myself as working, I am told that the customer service people are only aware an hour in advance.  This is unacceptable, as well.

Furthermore, what is even MORE obnoxious and unacceptable is that the service interruptions are less than the arbitrary time of 4 hours, meaning I have not been able to get any credit for the outages.  (This was rectified tonight by a nice operative who gave me a full day's credit because he could tell I was irate, but still warrants mentioning.)

I pay around $150/ month for this service.  I expect this service to work when I need it. 

I cannot threaten to cancel my service because there is NO other cable modem service provider in my building and DSL is too slow for the important business I do.

I am losing money waiting for the blinking to stop – not to mention writing this letter. 

I expect to be compensated in some way, and I expect an official apology.  In the future, I would nicely ask that I be given 24 hours advanced notice and financial credit for any maintenance going on, so I can plan accordingly. 

I will be posting this message in my blog, assuming I ever have a connection again so that the world will know how Time Warner treats its customers.  Thank you for reading this letter and for rectifying the situation in any way you can.

Bitterly,

Seth Bisen-Hersh, Account Number xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have an audition for a new reality show -- JINGLES -- to air on CBS this summer. But I am in a quandary. So I figured I'd blog, and you guys can all vote if I should do it or not...

First off, I will say I am leaning towards at least auditioning... for if I do not get ON the show, then this is all moot... but I am under the opinion given how well my other auditions for reality type things have gone that I would virtually be a shoe-in... however, there are caveats which I will list below.

Second off, I should say more about the show.  It's called Jingles and jingle writing song-teams compete weekly, much like American Idol, but by writing jingles for top companies and products.  I was really excited at first, but tonight I was reading the fine print.  The show is having an open call on 5/28... at 8am.  I already asked permission to come at 1pm, and was told that they end at 2, and that there probably would be no line by 1... callbacks are 5/29.  Then, if I get picked for "finals" I'd have to fly to LA in June for up to 8 days.  If I am selected, then I go back to LA for 10 weeks.  I found online that the show is airing 7/27; however, I was told mid-August, so I don't know what to even believe at this point.  Then, I'm in LA for 10 weeks unless I get voted off by America.  If I win it's $100,000 and a contract to write jingles + exposure...

POSITIVES:

There's really only one positive to this whole situation.  I would be on national tv doing what I love - writing.  Not as a character... not as a geek... not as a random contestant on a game show... as a writer.  National exposure is a pretty big thing.  It would do wonders for my webpage.  And my youtube videos.  And maybe even my musicals.

NEGATIVES: (the list is very long, and sometimes petty)

1. The first major problem is they specifically asked for duos and trios.  I asked 2 friends to form a team with me... both said yes... both found out more and more info... both said no.  Then, I found another partner, and she said yes... found out more info and said yes.  Found out that it might start 7/27 - oops, she's out of the country until 8/12.  Moral: she can do the show but only if it starts after 8/12.  This poses a problem b/c what if they don't let me do it alone?  What if they don't want me to switch partners?  What if I can't FIND another partner?  I would need someone who was a writer and a performer.  Someone who knows me well, works with me well, and can censor me well (more on that later).

2.  June.  I have showcases every single week in June.  If I cancel one at this point, I am going to have to pay Don't Tell Mama $150.  Unless by some miracle I can find a replacement.  That's already $150 invested in this reality show that I might not get on, and that I have even more caveats below about.  And what if by some horrible act of fate the week manages to overlap over 2 of my showcases?

3. Leaving woes.  There are so many that I will start using letters:

a. First off, I will need to find someone to sublet.  I pay a lot of $$ for a really tiny studio... that's already filled with a lot of stuff.  I do not want a stranger living here, which makes it even harder to find a subletter, especially given the fact that most people I know can't afford this much rent... not to mention, I am not even sure if I legally CAN sublet, and I'd have to tell my landlord b/c they'd find out... especially b/c...

b. I'm renewing my lease on 8/1.  I would have to ask to do this a few weeks early.  That's not a huge problem, but it brings up the point above that I would have to tell them I would be gone for 10 weeks... oh, and what if I'm voted off? Then I have to kick my subletter out or be HOMELESS!

c. SMEE - I'm putting him up high.  My poor cat would have to live w/o me for 10 weeks.  And I would have to find a subletter who would take care of him... maybe I would knock off a little on the rent, but still... and then if the subletter wants to use the a/c, he/she'd have to pay electric that comes out of my account automatically, and since I'd be sequestered I couldn't even let him know about it...

d.  TIVO -- poor tivo!!  that's a minor concern.  I know.  It's foolish.  But I'd seriously hate to fall behind on my shows -- 10 weeks is a long time, and I'm afraid it'd run out of space... unless they allow me to watch tv there.  Which they'd have to or I'd go insane!!  Which brings me to....

e.  Being sequestered -- I don't know if I could do that -- would I even have a career to come back to if I didn't respond to anyone's emails for 2.5 months?  I would have to forward all calls to a voice mail service?   I don't even know how strict they are!  I wouldn't be able to respond to emails... or anything... like it would be seriously horrible!!!

f. I would have to postpone my next cabaret in Sept... not to mention give up gigs with companies who hire me annually... and once you give up a company, you rarely get it back... when I got back, I would virtually have to start from scratch... unless the prestige from the show worked in my favor... but what if it doesn't? (down below)

g.  I will briefly mention my hatred and fear of flying since this is a complete list.

4.  Bad exposure isn't always good exposure

a.  No I don't mean that literally -- I mean they say there's no bad press, etc... well reality shows pretty much OWN you and COMPLETELY distort you for the viewing audience... what happens if I'm portrayed negatively? That negates the ENTIRE positive list. 

b.  Speaking of my webpage... the show is on CBS -- the most conservative network... my webpage has a lot of sex songs.  A lot of them.  I would have to completely destroy the webpage for them to allow me on that show.  Am I willing to compromise who I am?  Do I really want to sign a form becoming a huge corporation's possession?

c.  I already don't have respect of a lot of people for some reason.  I fear that being on reality tv isn't the best way to get people's respect.  In fact, I fear that I would be ridiculed and disliked even more than I am now... with the other 50% of the viewing audience loving me beyond belief?  Or on a national level will it not be a 50-50 split?  What about the purple states??

5.  A horrible experience?  Much as I always say I would like to have a camera follow me 24/7... I fear it would get exhausting.  I do not know what I would DO for 10 weeks, given that writing a jingle probably takes me at most an hour to write.  That's a lot of time to kill.  I suppose I could use it to finish up More to Love and the kid's show... if they let me...... but also I have no LAPTOP, which is ANOTHER huge negative... and I can't really demand that they furnish me w/ one, although I would like to... so I wouldn't be able to input anything into the computer program I use... which is a problem for the show in general, as well! 

6.  Finally, $100K is barely anything.  Especially if I'm splitting it.  Split after taxes, it's $30K.  That is a nice sum, but not enough to buy anything really.  I would love to eventually buy an apt, but that will be $500K at the least.  $30K isn't even a down payment.  And they barely pay you anything for the rest of your time out there... I'm told it's about $250/ week... that's ridiculously low.  And I'll be treated like a minion.

Did I miss anything?  I think I was very thorough.  As I said, since they haven't officially said when we're starting, and since there's a chance I could go and not be picked, I figure it's worth it to just audition.  Just to be on tv for a split second, perhaps... I think that the best thing to do is to see if I'm cast, and then address my concerns in a sane manner... leaving out things that really will make me look like a crazy person...

So there you go.  There are a lot of worries and concerns, but I feel better having them all spelled out in a blog.  Even if I already knew what the plan was before I wrote it!  But now if I do get asked to do the show, I can print out my list and find solutions for things... or just tell them straight up, this isn't happening.

But honestly... how could I tell someone wanting to put me on tv no?  That runway guy got his own show didn't he?  The stars of Grease right now are still starring on Broadway, right?

I had a very long day today.  The first half was exhausting and rifled with bad news.  But then I had my 20th Talent Showcase, and that all changed...

I love my showcases.  I absolutely love them.  I feel great being on stage with new talent - giving them their first exposure to performing in NYC.  I love working with them to improve their sets, and watching them as they land their jokes.  I love everything about them.  Including only in New York stories... like this one...

So, as most of you know, I end every show with a little ditty I’ve written called "If Only I Were Gay" -- about how I would be having a lot more sex if I were.  The Siegels of talkinbroadway.com reported that last week I "had the nearly packed house roaring with laughter" during this song. 

After the show, this older woman came up to me.  She was going on about how she had seen a lot of cabaret and how she knew talent when she saw it.  She told me I had talent.  Then she said that she thought I was funniest in the last song... she proceeded to then say... and this is a direct quote:

"I’ve swallowed a LOT of cum in my day.  I don’t particularly like it either."

She then continued to tell me how she preferred letting the man orgasm during sex so that she didn’t have to swallow.  And if that wasn’t enough... she told me that she was still able to have 8 orgasms in a session even at 72. 

Isn’t it nice when your on-stage affectation is so approachable that people can tell you information you never imagined existed?

I’ll say... maybe.