ADAM NELSON | ACTOR
  • ABOUT
  • RESUME
  • BOYSCOUT
  • MEDIA
  • REEL
  • CONTACT
    • SOCIAL
Picture

ACTOR'S EQUITY ASSOCIATION | CENTENNIAL COUNTDOWN

1/25/2014

0 Comments

 

A CELEBRATION OF UNIONSHIP BY ADAM NELSON

Picture
Happy 100th Birthday Actor's Equity Association. I lucked into my card in 1991 through the Philadelphia Drama Guild's production of Macbeth at the cavernous Annenberg Center. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer "The title role played by a black actor is a fact that made the show somewhat of a landmark in Philadelphia's theatrical history". Directed by Mary B. Robinson and starting Andre Braugher (Glory), I played a series of small, spear holding roles. But in Act V, Scene 5, through the haze of a bright white spotlight I was cloaked in the role of Seyton; a combination butler / military officer. Seyton doesn't have much character but his name sounds like "Satan". He also gets to utter the tragic news that "The Queen, my lord, is dead" setting up one of the world's most profound statements of mortality ever recorded:

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."

Happy Birthday, great union. For protecting the rights, sounds and stages of our American theater.


0 Comments

DOWNTOWN SENSIBILITY | ADAM NELSON ACTOR

1/24/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
BACKSTAGE THE PERFORMING ARTS WEEKLY | DOWNTOWN SENSIBILITY by Sherry Eaker
There's a group of actors that I define as "down­town performers," though the term has very little to do with the location of any of the theatres where these actors might be performing. It actually has more to do with a certain sensibility that they share. They tend to work at the same theatres, doing less-than-traditional fare and, instead of constantly being on the hunt for agents and doing showcases with the sole intent of attracting agents to come see them, these independent spirits make the art of their business their number-one priority.

Adam Nelson is a typical example of an actor on the "downtown" scene. Currently featured i n the Adobe Theatre Company production of "Notions in Motion" (which, coincidently, just  moved Uptown  to the Raymond J. Greenwald Theatre on W. 26th Street after receiving terrific reviews while playing at the downtown Ohio Theater on Wooster  Street),  Adam has also appeared i n production at New Georges, Cucaracha, Playwrights Collective, Manhattan Class Company, and the now-defunct Malaparte and Workhouse theatre  companies.

"I just want to work ," Adam told me over the phone the other day wh en I asked him what his goals were. "I want to eat three times a day, sleep on a bed ... and do the kind of work that I can be proud of," he stressed. "I'll take anything; the challenge is always there: find ing the director's vocabulary, figur­ing out the way the writer is thinking ..." You can tell that Adam really gets into his roles.

Adam wanted to perform ever since he was a kid. Born in New York, he spent a lot of his growing-up years in Houston with his mom and brother and sister where he attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, taking such classes as stage combat , voice, movement , and scene study. But adolescence was a difficult time for Adam and he didn't do very well i n school. It wasn't until he got to the University of the Arts i n Philadelphia that he began appreciating his studies. "I had a thirst for knowledge that I never had before ," Adam told me . "I devoured as much as possible." His extracurricular studies included two three-month private programs, one at Yale in 1989, and one at Oxford in 1990. The courses got him to meet and work with head s of the­atre departments and well-known actors. After grad­uating in '91, Adam came to New York, but within a few days head ed to Maine for the International Film & TV Workshop , his first real professional job. Work ing with film-industry folk further enhanced his networking opportunities.

I asked Adam if he ever worked with an agent. Actually he did. It was in L.A., where he was "stranded" for a while following their earthquake. He got an agent the fourth day he was in L.A. The agent booked several jobs  for him, none of which Adam felt took any talent or education: "All it required was patience and good looks." Realizing that he wasn't cut out for L.A., he returned to New York ; counting on some of his acquaintances to open some doors for him . Yes, it was easy for him to make first-time contacts with several agents in New York, but the agents weren't interested in him, telling him that he was too "down­ town-looking, too ethnic ." "They told me to call when I was in something, which I did, but they never showed," Adam noted .

Does he see having an agent as a plus? "They pro­ vide the opportunity to go into an audition, to be seen for film and TV work , on stages such as the Roundabout, the Public ...I want to be able to work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at the Public-I want to be able to do Shakespeare in the Park," Adam told me. "But," he continued, "I could spend my whole life doing the business of the art. I won't stop doing what I'm doing now."

And so, to fill the time, Adam wrote and performed his one-person shows, doing one here in New York at the Workhouse theatre right before the theatre closed. Adam was with the Workhouse for four or five years , and cal led himself an "orphan" now that it's no longer around. "I lost my true home. The Workhouse is where I grew up, where I learned; it gave me an identity . It gave me a cachet.

Adam described the appeal  of  working  with ensemble groups like the Workhouse or like the Adobe where he is presently . "There's this incredible working relationship , a vocabulary that you begin to share. The work is far more rewarding."

Adam has also just completed  work on a film which stars  Scott Glenn, John Turturro, Amy Brenneman, and Elizabeth Perkins. "Lesser Prophets " was written by Paul Diomede, is being produced by Richard Temtchine and directed by William DeVizia all independent filmmakers, working under the banner of October Films , and doing a major studio film for the first time.

So, if moving  to an uptown  theatre and  working  on a major studio  production  doesn't quite  fit  the  image of  Adam  that I just  described, he asserts, "As long as it's not taking me away from my  original navigation.

Adam is the first of a few "downtown" artists that Back Stage will focus  on in an upcoming  issue.




0 Comments

SEX & LIES | SEDUCTIVE ACTS WITH ACTOR'S ADAM NELSON + ANDREA MAULELLA

1/12/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
SHOW BUSINESS WEEKLY THEATER REVIEW: 
SEX AND LIES | SEDUCTIVE ACTS
By Guy Giarrizzo and Scott Manus Directed by Guy Giarrizzo
Theater 3 | Review  by Nicholas Moore

Every  time  you  glimpse  up  at  an apartment   window,   imagine   two people   are  inside,  engaged   in   hot, unholy  sex. Wait,  you  don't  have  to imagine,   it's  really  happening . . And these two commit this act in the face of one very simple truth: sex and love in the  city can  be  a  dirty business.  For those  brave  enough  to  hunt  it  down (like our bedroom lovers) and join the emotionally exhausting rat race, filled with  shame and bitterness,  Seductive Acts, smartly directed by Guy Giarrizzo, will gladly indulge any of your anxieties and/or paranoia concerning the matter. Martin   (Adam  Nelson)   and  Paige (Andrea Maulella)  met in their therapist's waiting room and fell in love­ kind of. Well, they're both desperate and coming off bad break-ups (as opposed to good ones), and they do have great sex with each other ...sure, they fell in love. In actuality, that's just a word for it; both are a little self­ absorbed and distracted, so they're not quite sure what they've got yet.

The desperately neurotic duo live in a sitcom-like world swarming with love-starved singles willing to swallow their bitter frustrations and  hold  out for true romance. If that's even one of the options. It's a city where your friends, thankfully, are more screwed­ up than you, and answering machines talk back, making sarcastic quips at your feeble, failed efforts to find somebody to love. The script, co-writ­ ten by  Scott Manus and Giarrizzo, is light and enjoyable live television. Each scene is fueled by just one idea which is usually dragged a bit too far, 


But the play's clever moments are nailed by a terrific ensemble cast headed by the quirky, manic perfor­mances of Nelson and Maulella.

It deals with three Manhattan  cou­ples:   Bill   (Michael   Bassett)   and Danielle (Dana Bledsoe) are devoted to sex. Jonathan (David Folwell) and Blythe (Malindi Fickle) are devoted to­ love, while Martin and Paige haplessly drift  somewhere  between  the  two. And they're all a little mixed up, try­ ing  to  sort  out  that  sometimes dis­ turbing   prospect   of   an   authentic romance. Each actor in the cast has a unique  charm  and  comic  timing  of their own. They find the bittersweet chemistry  within   each  relationship and rise above_ the light weight of the material, bringing  life and blood  to otherwise stereotypical characters.

Seductive Acts dutifully tries not to overdo its down -to-earth intentions and fails on that count only when the relationships lapse into repetitive, diched melodrama. Still, Giarrizzo's direction keeps the pace relatively brisk. In the end, he delivers a slick, tightly packaged, slice of life and love in mean Manhattan. If you  happen not to have cable television and were curious about HBO's new series, Sex in the City, check it out live and in the flesh at Theater 3.

0 Comments

    ADAM NELSON 

    Conspirator. 

    Tweets by @AdamNelsonActor

    Archives

    January 2022
    December 2020
    November 2019
    October 2018
    November 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    July 2013
    January 2013
    March 2012
    January 2012
    September 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    November 2010
    November 2006
    February 2002
    September 2001
    September 2000

    Categories

    All
    1010 Wins
    20th Century Fox
    21st Century Pictures Group
    3 Arts Entertainment
    ABC TV
    Abrams Artists Agency
    Academy Awards
    Access Hollywood
    Acting
    Acting Coach
    Acting Teacher
    Actor
    Actors Equity Association
    Actors Studio
    Actors Theater Of Louisville
    Ad Age Magazine
    Adam Goldberg
    Adam Nelson
    Adam Nelson Actor
    Adam Nelson Backstage
    Adam Seth Nelson
    Adam Seth Nelson IMDB
    Adjunct Theater Teacher
    Adryenn Ashley
    Aftra
    Agency For The Performing Arts (APA)
    Agent
    Alcon Entertainment
    A List
    Alley Theatre
    Alliance Theatre
    Al Pacino
    ALS
    ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
    ALS Ice Bucket Challenge Fail
    American Conservatory Theater
    American Horror Story
    American Theater
    Amsel Eisenstadt Frazier & Hinojosa Talent Agency
    Amy Yasbeck
    Anderson Cooper
    Andre Braugher
    Ann Magnuson
    Anonymous Content
    Another Magazine
    Anthem Magazine
    AOL
    AP
    Appian Way
    Apple
    Aqua Talent Group
    Arden Theater
    Arena Stage
    Arkansas Rep
    Art
    Article
    Art Pimp
    Arts & Entertainment
    Aspen Peak Magazine
    Associated Press
    Atlas Entertainment
    Audition
    Authentic Talent And Literary Management
    Author
    Avenue Magazine
    Backstage.com
    BADA
    Bad Robot
    Banksy
    Barneys
    Bboy
    Benderspink
    Ben Stiller
    Bergdorf Goodman
    Berkeley Repertory Theatre
    Best Actor
    Beth Henley
    Billy Crudup
    Black Box Theater
    BlackfriarsPlayhouse
    Blumhouse Productions
    Blurt Magazine
    Bohemia Group
    Boxing
    Brandalism
    Bravo TV
    Break Dancing
    Breakin'
    Brillstein Entertainment Partners
    British American Drama Academy
    British Esquire
    British GQ
    Broadcast Media
    Brooke Smith
    Brooklyn Nets
    Bruce Vilanch
    Bullet Magazine
    BusinessWire
    Buster Keaton
    Bust Magazine
    Buzz
    Buzzfeed
    CAA Agency
    Caliber Media Company
    California
    Cannes Film Festival
    Capital File Magazine
    Carla Gugino
    Carnegie Hall
    Carnegie Hall
    Carnival
    CBGB
    Celebrity
    Centerstage
    Charlie Chaplin
    Chicago Shakespeare
    Chicago Sun Times
    Christina Applegate
    Cincinnati Playhouse
    Cinema
    Circle Of Confusion Management
    Clark Gregg
    Clear Talent Group
    Cleveland Playhouse
    Coast To Coast Talent Group
    Comedy
    Comic Book
    Complex Magazine
    Cool Hunting
    Couture
    Crains
    Creative Artists Agency (CAA)
    Crumping
    Cunningham Escott Slevn & Doherty
    Daily Beast
    Dailycandy
    Dallas Morning News
    DANIEL DAY LEWIS
    David Letterman
    DELAWARE THEATER COMPANY
    Denver Performing Arts Complex
    Director
    Directors Guild
    Dogs: The Rise & Fall Of An All Girl Bookie Joint
    Don Buchwald & Associates
    Downtown Scene
    Dreamworks
    Dujour Magazine
    E!
    EARLE GISTER
    Echelon Artists Agency
    Editorial
    EDMUND
    Electronic Media
    Elizabeth Hurley
    Elle
    Emmett/furia Films
    Emmy Awards
    Empire State Building
    Entertainment Weekly
    Equity
    Esquire
    Eugene O'Neil Theatre Center
    Evolution Entertainment
    Exposure
    Extraterrestrial
    Facebook
    Fashion
    Fast Company
    Film
    Film Festival
    Focus Features
    Forbes
    Fords Theatre
    Fortune Teller
    Fox Searchlight Pictures
    FOX TV
    Freak Show
    Fuel TV
    Gawker
    Girls HBO
    Glory Road Productions
    Golden Globe
    Goldie Hawn
    Good Theatre
    Google
    Google Plus
    Gossip
    Gotham Group
    Gotham Magazine
    GQ Magazine
    Graffiti
    Greenwich Village
    Groundbreaking
    Guest Of A Guest
    Hamlet
    Hamptons Film Festival
    Hamptons Magazine
    Harpers Bazaar
    HARRY DEAN STANTON
    Harvard
    Harvey Weinstein
    HBO
    Heavyweight
    Henry Fonda Theater
    High School For The Performing And Visual Arts
    Hip Hop
    Hollywood
    Hollywood Reporter
    Home Box Office (HBO)
    Houston Chronicle
    Hspva
    Humor
    Huntington Stage Company
    Hype
    ICM Partners
    IFC
    Image
    Independent Talent Group
    Indie Actor
    Indiewire
    Industry Entertainment
    Ink
    Innovative Artists
    Instagram
    Instyle Magazine
    Interview Magazine
    Ione Skye
    Iphone
    JAMES DEAN
    Jane Adams
    Janeane Garofalo
    Jason Weinberg
    Jazz
    Jeffrey Jones
    Jennifer Collidge
    Jennifer Grey
    Jeremy Piven
    Jeremy Piven
    Jersey Shakespeare Festival
    Joel Grey
    John Ritter
    John Varvatos
    John Waters
    Jon Favreau
    Julianne Moore
    Juxtapose Magazine
    Kaplan / Perrone Entertainment
    Kate Hudson
    Kazarian Measures Ruskin & Associates (KMR)
    Kevin Spacey
    Kickstarter
    Killer Films
    KING LEAR
    Kritzer Levine Wilkins Griffin Nilon Entertainment
    Kyra Sedgwick
    La Jolla Playhouse
    Las Vegas Review Journal
    LAURENCE OLIVIER
    LA Weekly
    LBI Entertainment
    LEE STRASBERG
    Legendary Pictures
    Liev Schreiber
    Life & Style Magazine
    Linkedin
    Lionsgate
    Long Wharf Theater
    Lookingglass Theatre
    Los Angeles
    Los Angeles Confidential
    Lower East Side
    Luber Roklin Entertainment
    Luxist
    Macbeth
    Madison Square Garden
    Magazine
    Magnet Magazine
    Management 360
    Manager
    Marie Claire
    Marilyn Monroe
    Marisa Tomei
    Mark Taper Forum
    Mark Zuckerberg
    MARLON BRANDO
    Mary Louise Parker
    Marylouise Parker
    Matthew Modine
    Maverick
    Mavrick Artists Agency
    McCarter Theatre
    Media
    Media Artists Group
    Merriam Theatre
    MERYL STREEP
    Metro
    Miami Herald
    MICHAEL CAINE
    MICHAEL LANGHAM
    Midsummer Nights Dream
    Mila Kunis
    Millenium Films
    Millimeter Magazine
    Miramax
    Mog
    Morgan J Freeman
    Mosaic Production
    Movie
    Movie Studio
    Msnbc
    MTV
    MTV Awards
    NBC TV
    NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYHOUSE
    Neil Labute
    Netflix
    New Dramatist
    New Jersey
    New Line Cinema
    New Regency Pictures
    Newspaper
    Newsweek
    New Wave Entertainment
    New York
    New York City
    New York Daily News
    New York Post
    New York Press
    New York Times
    Nightlife
    NJ
    Not Cot
    Notions In Motion
    Npr
    Nyc
    NY Knicks
    OBIE AWARD
    OK! Magazine
    Old Globe Theatre
    Old Vic
    Open Road Films
    Oscar Award
    Overbrook Entertainment
    Oxford University
    Pam Mackinnon
    Pantheon Talent
    Paparazzi
    Papermill Playhouse
    Paramount Pictures
    Paridigm
    Parody
    Participant Media
    Paste Magazine
    Patrick McMullan
    PAUL NEWMAN
    People Magazine
    Performer
    Performing Arts
    Philadelphia
    Philadelphia Magazine
    Philadelphia Style Magazine
    Philip Seymour Hoffman
    Pinterest
    Pitchfork Media
    Plan B Entertainment
    Playwright
    Playwrights Horizons
    Portia De Rossi
    PR
    Prestige Talent Agency
    Princeton
    Principal Entertainment LA
    Principato Young Entertainment
    Principatoyoung Entertainment
    Producer
    Profile Magazine
    Public Theater
    Punk
    Rap
    Rap Battle
    Reality Show
    Red Bank
    Relativity Media
    Resolution Talent Agency
    Reuters
    Revolver Magazine
    RICHARD BURTON
    Richard III
    Richard LaGravenese
    Roar Management
    Robb Report
    ROBERT DENIRO
    Robin Williams
    Rockport Film & Television
    Rocky!
    Rocky Balboa
    Ron Howard
    Rosie Perez
    Roundabout Theatre Company
    Royal Shakespeare Company
    SAG
    Sam Rockwell
    SANFORD MEISNER
    San Francisco Chronicle
    Sara Gilbert
    Sarah Silverman
    Satire
    Saturday Night Live
    Saturday Surf
    Scarlett Johansson
    Science Fiction
    SCI FI
    Screen Actors Guild
    Screen Gems
    Seattle Repertory Theatre
    Seattle Times
    Second City
    Semi Finals
    Semifinals
    Seth Green
    Seyton
    SHAKESPEARE
    Sherry Eaker
    Showtime Television
    Signature Theatre
    Skateboard
    Slamdance Film Festival
    Smith Center For The Performing Arts
    SNL
    Sony Pictures Entertainment (spe)
    Sophia Lauren
    Sovereign Talent Group
    STANISLAVSKI
    Star Ledger
    State Of Liberty
    Station3 Management
    STELLA ADLER
    Steven Spielberg
    Stone Manners Slaners Agency
    Strand Theater
    Strand Theater
    Stratford
    Strike Out ALS
    Style
    Sundance Film Festival
    Sunset Magazine
    Superhero
    Surf
    Surfing
    Talent
    Talent Works
    Tat
    Tattoo
    Ted Danson
    The 24 Hour Plays
    Theater
    Theatre
    THE BARD
    The Bats
    The Flea Theater
    The Gersh Agency
    The Marx Brothers
    The Reel Deal Audition
    The Schiff Company
    The Three Stooges
    The Weinstein Company
    The Wrap
    Thrasher
    Thrillist
    Thruline Entertainment
    Time Magazine
    Toronto Film Festival
    Tribeca Film Center
    Tribeca Film Festival
    T: The Style Magazine Of The New York Times
    Tv
    Twentieth Century Fox Film
    Twitter
    UFO
    Unconventional
    United Talent Agency (UTA)
    Universal Pictures
    University Of The Arts
    Untitled Entertainment
    U Of A
    Upright Citizens Brigade
    Usa Today
    USB Theater
    Us Weekly
    UTA
    Utha Shakespearean Festival
    Vanity Fair Magazine
    Variety
    Vaudeville
    Verve Talent And Literary Agency
    Vespa
    VH 1
    Vh1
    Victory Gardens Theater
    Village Voice
    V Life Magazine
    V Magazine
    Vogue
    Voltage Pictures
    Vote
    Wall Street Journal
    Walnut Street Theatre
    Walter Dallas
    Warner Bros
    Warner Bros.
    Warren Leight
    Weinstein Company
    West Village
    Wild Style
    William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment
    Williamstown Theatre Festival
    Winner
    W Magazine
    Workhouse
    Workhousepr
    Working Title Films
    WSJ
    WWD
    Www.adamnelson.me
    XXL Magazine
    Yahoo!
    Yale Repertory Theatre
    Yale University
    Youtube
    Zero Gravity Management
    Zink Magazine

    RSS Feed

AGENCY CONTACT | WORKHOUSE | +1 212. 645. 8006 | [email protected]  WWW.WORKHOUSEPR.COM
  • ABOUT
  • RESUME
  • BOYSCOUT
  • MEDIA
  • REEL
  • CONTACT
    • SOCIAL