anthonybagnetto.com

It dosen’t take much in life to bring you back 15 or 20 years and the holidays are perfect for that. The same family dynamics, the same traditions that are the very definition of your own specific Christmas experience are welcome distractions from the rest of the year. I am happy to be fully ensconced in that world right now in my parents basement. My sister and her new husband (celebrating their first Christmas together) are playing my wii as my parents wrap gifts in (literally) the 11th hour. The wide variety of cookies my mother spends weeks cooking is laid out on the coffee table and the lights from the heavily ornamented tree blur in the periphery of my gaze. All is well for the moment as we wind down for the evening to anticipate Santa visiting us in the morning.

So indeed, a Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

With the help of Brian Chirls self-professed indy nerd and internet guru I have made the successful transition to Wordpress. And so dawns a new era at anthonybagnetto.com You can find everything easily with conveniently located toolbars and the new clean layout. My resume and reel are both newly updated and the headshot/pic page should be up in a couple of days. In addition, a Contact page will be up shortly so you can get in touch with me easily and the blog will keep you updated on new developments.

In the meantime, feel free to look around and comment on anything that strikes you positively or negatively. Let me know what things I should have included or what isn’t clear and I will keep adding content and navigation as we come to the end of this year.

It has begun. The revamping of my website and reel. After a year or two of distraction I am changing it up to make it easier to navigate and make sure that the links actually work. Stay tuned and bear with me.

So, we are moving forward nicely this time of year. I am putting up two concurrent one acts at the Wings Theatre the last 2 weeks of March and we are in rehearsals for that now. I was cast a couple of weeks ago off a callback because I wasn’t able to make it to the straight audition. The cast it small (only 3 of us) but good. The short is called the Magic Barrel and is based off a short story by Bernard Malmud. I am playing a young rabbinical student that employees a matchmaker to find him a wife. Very Fiddler but with out the singing or frivolity.

In other news I have an equity audition for the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre this coming Monday afternoon which I am looking forward too.

I also heard from Matt Weiss the director of the feature I played a supporting role in called A Night in the Hills. The cut is finished and he is adding music. So I am looking forward to a few of my scenes in it to add to my reel.

Things are indeed picking up here finally with a couple of auditions last week. I’m planning on attending some Equity open calls this week as well as setting up a mailing.

There has been renewed interest in re-mounting Hamlet this summer so that will be updated on later I am sure.

Brian is back from Sundance and has some new contacts so I look forward to speaking to him about his adventures.

This post is a long time coming but not due to lack of activity. On the contrary I have been amassing auditions this month and sending out headshots at a renewed fervor. Yesterday’s was for a new play over at NOLA studios and last week was a Coors Light commercial. A handful of other commercial auditions came over the holiday as well.

I had a lengthy dinner last night with my director from college Mervyn Willis and he gave me another welcome shot in the artistic arm. Looking forward to crashing some equity calls and attempting to get seen and thinking about finally paying into SAG.

Working my way through Skinner’s Speaking with Distinction as well.

In other news Bruce Sabbath from the Harbor Theatre is doing amazingly well in Company on Broadway and was also picked to participate in a year long series of Backstage articles. Congrats to him!

More to come…

A lot going on recently actingwise I am happy to report. I have an Off-Broadway audition tomorrow afternoon and then meeting with a Professional Artists agent.

Recent auditions for the Sopranos, Miller Lite and Syracuse University.

Spent some time at the Hamptons Film festival a few weekends ago and was able to connect with a few actors who I hold in high regard. Very exciting.

Posting new headshots soon up here as well, stay tuned.

lilanthony
Originally uploaded by enigmaticpuzzle.

Feeling scrutinized at the Nokia N95 launch today

Hamlet closed a couple weeks ago and was suprisingly well recieved.

The film shoot in Scranton of One Night in the Hills was a blast. Looking forward to seeing some of the hi-def rushes soon.

Been going out consistently with a Sprint, CSTV, and Bertoli Frozen foods auditions.

Back to submitting some headshots and finding some auditions.

So, nearly a week later I have finally found the time to post about the tri. Luckily it also gave me ample time to analyize the whole expierence and determine why I (or really anyone else) do these types of things. They are painful, long and nerve-wracking events that really test your physical and mental limits. Cliche I know. But after finishing I began to think about those competing with me (passing me and ocassionally being passed by me) and the different motivations any of us have going into it. (That and constantly being asked by friends why the hell would I want to do this)

For the easist and probably least specific answer, we can easily look to Mallory’s famous quote describing a challange far tougher and more dangerous than an Olympic distance triathlon: that of climbing Everest. “Because its there”

That is never really the truest reason, but it alludes to a simplicity that rationalizes the complicated drives within in us and allows us to engage in an activity that is against our bodies better judgement. Seeking the rush of exertion, the focus that comes with complete exhaustion, and the joy of seeing the end of months, sometimes years of work, is enough to justify the effort that got you there. It is also encouraging to know you are not alone. That all around you (and, during the swim, on top of you) are a diverse, motley set of people all striving towards that same line which lies 1 mile of swimming, 24 miles of biking, and 6 miles of running ahead of you. You know its there, you visualize the steps needed to deliver you there but you don’t feel anything else, panting and sweating in the middle of the race. Tree by tree, street lamp by streetlamp the race lurches past you in short segments which are all you allow yourself to see. Gradually, you begin to appreciate what you put behind you knowing you are now futher in that you were out and that you might as well keep going.

So you do.