Some things just make you happy, and this is one of them.

I grew up with Sesame Street and was and am a big fan of the Muppets. In some ways, the Muppets inspired me to get into performing. I'd do little comedy bits and, if no one noticed, that was fine. I'd be playing to the fourth wall and the home viewing audience.

Sesame Street has been around for more than 40 years and incredibly, many of the performers who began on the show are still with it. What a great opportunity for the performers but also what a wonderful gift that they've given to viewers in staying with it. I could turn on the show with my daughter and see the same people who were there when I watched it. In a world where things can move far to fast, Sesame Street has evolved but also remained a constant.

The song Sing was written by the great Joe Raposo in the early days of Sesame Street. He also wrote such memorable songs as Bein' Green, C is for Cookie, and the Sesame Street theme song.

A few years back, my wife and I directed a children's theatre benefit and used the simple and lovely tune to close the show.

Here's a wonderful rehearsal video in which several of the actor who first sang Sing in 1969, sing it in a casual rehearsal for a performance, 40 years later. How cool is that?

And, just for fun, here's a celeb version. The Muppets bring out the best in everyone I think.

Well, it had to happen sometime. I got a negative review. Being reviewed isn't a new thing, I've been doing this acting thing for quite awhile. I've been in shows that have been panned. I've been praised (sometimes too much) and, I've also been ignored -- perhaps the worst insult of all.

But, as far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever been singled out for negative comments by a reviewer before.

My first inclination is to dispute the reviewer's opinion or to say that, "Well, he just doesn't like the way the character was written." But ultimately, people watching a show don't usually separate an actor from a role. It's not really realistic to expect them to be able to do that. They haven't read the script and don't know how the show's come together.

Essentially, if you don't like the taste of a cake, you don't know why it turned out that way, you just know you don't like it.

So, it sucks and hurts because we all want to be liked, especially when you've put a lot of time and hard work into something.

At the same time, it's really okay. It's part of putting yourself out there. It's one person's opinion and I certainly don't like every performance I've ever seen. (Of course, I also don't have the bad taste to share/post those negative opinions publicly.)

In the end, if there's something that rings true from someone's negative comments, use them. If not, let it go and move on. It's not how we react to the good stuff that defines us. It's how we deal with the bad [reviews].

And, in case you're curious (I would be), here's the dagger. It's overall quite complimentary about the show which is nice.

Postscript: So then a couple days later, a gay-focused arts site reviewed the production and I was one of a few mentioned. Go figure.

I've been part of shows that have been put together in a short time but not one with the scope of Elizabeth Rex. Everything that you usually do in the six week rehearsal process is condensed into just a few weeks.

In my ideal scenario, I can take some time to get to know my character, memorize the lines, play with my performance for a couple weeks, add costumes and props and then open. Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury this time around and I've been feeling like I'm always two steps behind where I want to be.

It hasn't helped that the show has been tough to cast and people's schedules are such that we still haven't had a rehearsal with everyone in the large cast present. This has also made it difficult to bond with some of my fellow performers. Those connections are important, I think, to establish trust on stage. I think all involved are doing a fine job, it's just not always the easiest.

Though everyone was not present last night, I felt we had a wonderful rehearsal. It felt comfortable and fun, yet challenging and focused on the job at hand. It was truly a breath of fresh air. We open on Saturday.

As part of my upcoming role as Shakespeare, I have a looong soliloquy that opens the show.

Monologues can be fun but a challenge in that you're responsible for your own acting as well as what your (invisible) partner gives back. I was listening to an interview with Christine Lahti and she was expressing similar thoughts about monologues.

She said they are, "very challenging. I'm one of, I'm the kind of actor who is only as good as my fellow actor. I really depend on what they're giving me. I am so locked into them, moment to moment, which is the Sandy Meisner kind of technique that I completely embrace. So to be alone up there and to have to imagine the responses from whoever I'm talking to... to have to imagine responses is a 100,000 times more difficult than being able to look into someone's eye and get a response."

As an example of how much easier a monologue is when performed to another person, Lahti mentioned a memorable scene in Running on Empty that I remember as being quite wonderful. The film stars Lahti, Judd Hirsch, and a brilliant River Phoenix.

In the movie, many years earlier, Lahti's and Hirsch's characters took part in the bombing of a napalm plant that accidentally killed a janitor. They have been on the run for years and their children have known no other life. Phoenix is a music prodigy and secretly auditioned for a prestigious college and was accepted.

Lahti meets briefly with her stoic father (Steven Hill) in a restaurant to ask him to take Phoenix in so that he can follow his dream. During the tense conversation, she finally and tearfully apologizes to her dad and begs for his help. He sits emotionless but, as she rushes to leave, his tears and sadness flood out of him.

Of the monologue, Lahti said, "I remember people saying, 'Oh my God, you were phenomenal.' And truly, Steven Hill, what he gave me, is the reason I'm good in that scene. Truly. That's my perception of that scene, which I think is a great scene... He might say the same thing but, for me, it was what he gave me."

To listen to the whole interview, you can go here.

One thing I love about acting is that, whatever seems to be going on in your life can somehow be used to fuel your work. Aside from a couple auditions, I haven't been acting for a year or so. I'm now doing a play that goes up in two weeks and I'm feeling a little stiff and out of practice. I understand why but its frustrating nonetheless. The rehearsal period is short so time isn't in my favor.

The play is called Elizabeth Rex and I play Shakespeare at the end of his life. As far as we know, he hadn't been writing as much or at all and this morning, while out on a run, I realized that (duh!) I should be incorporating my own feelings and frustrations into the character. Not only does it give me some common ground with the character but it takes a bit of pressure off of me as well.

Okay, now for scene two...