An Early Summer's Daydream

Summer is just around the corner, here in San Francisco, and yesterday I took my last train ride home from Stanford this academic year.

What a journey being a full-time lecturer has been! The perpetual quest to determine what is most essential, what is most exciting about acting, and then how to best communicate it with my students has only deepened my love for this art form.

Last Wednesday, my solo performance students bared their souls and found the humor and pathos in their struggles as they performed their original solo pieces for an adoring audience. Yesterday, a student in my advanced acting class said “I think I now know what all the rehearsal and preparation is for. It’s so I can stop thinking about myself and just be present with another human being.” I love it when my students school me!

I am thrilled to return to teaching in the fall but till then I'll be busy with some delightful projects and I'd love to share them with you!

This summer you may refer to me as "the King of the Fairies and the Duke of the Muggles" as I'll be playing Oberon and Theseus in Shakespeare's beloved A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Folger Theatre in Washington D.C.

This production, directed by Victor Malana Maog, will take place in an Elizabethan theatre being built from the ground up in the majestic Great Hall of the National Building Museum. I can't wait to rumble in the zany world of this magical play and I hope that you'll join me in the forest if you happen to be in D.C. this summer. We run from July 12 to August 28.

This Saturday, June 4 at 7pm, my solo showbiz satire, MANIFESTO: The Film, will be screened at San Francisco's Brava Theater alongside AhSa-Ti Nu's epic Overlooked Giants. Come for my "panoply of delectable caricatures" (SF Chronicle) and stay for the post-screening discussion featuring yours truly, AhSa-Ti, and some of my favorite Bay Area artists including Tina D'Elia, Mary Guzmán, and Tammy Hall.

This Saturday June 4, before you come to the MANIFESTO screening, kick off your Pride Month by celebrating the transgressive spirit of queer ancestor James Baldwin with me at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

I will portray James Baldwin and then lead attendees in reflecting on his words and doing some writing of our own, inspired by Baldwin's questions. This FREE event takes place from 1pm to 4pm and features four other amazing artists, each celebrating queer ancestors Gloria Anzaldúa, Kapaemāhū, Walter Mercado, and Guan Yin with performances and interactive activities.