Hot Coffee

While I was an intern at The Lamb's Church of the Nazarene on Times Square from 1993 to 1998 I performed in a number of productions in both the main Off-Broadway stage and the smaller black box theatre. That space went back and forth between Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway status by adding or removing one chair. If we had at least 99 seats it was Off-Broadway, but there were times it was advantageous to be an Off-Off-Broadway space, so we'd remove chairs. 

We did two workshops of Hot Coffee, a musical written by Mac Nelson, who was later Best Man at our wedding (which was in the main Off-Broadway theatre and our church's sanctuary). That's Mac on the far side of the stage in the second photo. These shots are from the second workshop in September of 1995. In this scene I'm playing Robert Earl Turnipseed, whose car was blown by a tornado (played by dancer Elvon Borst) from Mississippi to Plains, Georgia, where Rosalind Carter (Becky Rogers) found him and offered him a peanut.

Because of a conflicting booking I was unable to perform in the full production during the fall of 1999.

Here's Mac under the sign leading into Hot Coffee, Mississippi,
but Justin Hullinger has added its claims to fame.
Here's the real sign.

I quit my day job

In July of 1995 I stopped accepting any work that wasn't connected in some way to the performing arts. So I haven't had a 9-5 since 95! Praise the Lord!

Performing at The Lamb's Church

I arrived in NYC in 1993, and my friend, Dorothy G. Ubben, is posting some great photos from the four years I lived at The Lamb's Church when it was on Times Square in a building designed by Stanford White (known for his iconic structures throughout the Eastern Seaboard). I lived on the sixth floor, above two Off-Broadway theatres, including the largest with 350 seats. I served the homeless lunches, and performed in several productions in both theatres and here in "The Grill Room."

I think the other performer's last name is Peach and she lived across the street above the Un Deux Trois Restaurant in apartment 2B. I never visited her, but I always thought it was cool for an actor to live in 2B (or not 2B. That is the question). I vaguely remember that piece because of the scroll. I think it took place in the Middle Ages... or the first century? I'm guessing on the year, but I'm basing the day on the hearts the bear in the upper right is holding.