Spring Street - The Webseries has launched!

Dear Friends,

I am beyond thrilled to share with you my latest adventure, Spring Street - The Webseries!  

I wrote this psychological thriller as I was influenced by New York's grit, it's diverse community, and the strength and resilience of its community.  Please take a look to view our video pitch in the link below, and please share it will your contacts!  

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/320676168/spring-street-the-webseries-season-one?ref=user_menu

An Autumn Update

Hello friends!

This fall has been a busy season!  Several staged readings, including playing Sherlock Holmes in the new libretto Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant, commissioned by American Lyric Theater.  This was my second reading this season with ALT and Larry Edelson, and I thank them and my management Uzan International Artists for these unique opportunities.  It's such a fascinating process to be a part of any new work, but this is a particularly special experience because the final libretto will, naturally, be sung!  I hope that we actors helped the composer Evan Meier and lyricist E.M. Lewis in clarifying this invigorating text, and I anxiously anticipate hearing the opera, set to workshop this spring!

Two other readings I had the privilege to take part in were:   Love, Genius, and a Walk by Gay Walley and directed by Myriam Cyr, performed at the legendary restaurant Sardi's and commissioned by the Gustav Mahler Foundation; and the family comedy-drama The Octette Bridge Club with The Twelfth Night Club, the oldest continuing female theatre group in the world, dating back to the 19th century!  My dear friend and wonderful actress Joan Shepard directed.  As a teenager, I interned with her summer stock company River Rep in Ivoryton, Connecticut.  We did everything from The Mystery of Edwin Drood to Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare to Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart.  Where does the time go?!  

I also recently finished recording my eighth book for the blind with the New York Public Library, The Trace by Forrest Gander.  Finally, and most significantly, I signed on with a fantastic director and producer for my feature film The Thin Place.  More details on this coming soon....all I can say right now is that I am absolutely ecstatic, as all the pieces seem to be falling into place...it just proves that if you trust and do the work, it'll happen!

OH...and my non-profit film company The Great Griffon has officially received tax exempt status from the IRS!  This might be the best news ever!

Below is a picture I took Columbus Day weekend when I did a bit of location scouting for The Thin Place.  That's my friend Lindsay's dog Ede (short for Edelweiss) in the photo.  My doggie Mickey was there too, of course (He's the official mascot of The Great Griffon!), but he's hiding in the bushes.  

Have a fantastic day, and thank you, as always, for your support.

Thank you to everyone who came out to see "Animals Out of Paper"

On the closing night of our critically acclaimed run, we were privileged to have our playwright, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, in the audience.  Below is a picture with Rajiv (center), the cast, and our director Merri Milwe (left).   Producing and acting in this beautiful play has been quite a journey, and it was an "honest to goodness blessing" (as my character Andy would say) to have received such high praise from the writer himself.    Onward!

The reviews are in....and we have a hit! Only 7 more performances!

Below are some quotes from the reviews about my performance as Andy Froling, but the play as a whole has been highly praised thus far!  Click on the full reviews to read more.

"Beck is charming as Andy, eliciting all of his naturally nervous qualities in actions as sweeping as confronting his idol or as tiny as donning or removing his jacket; he really seems to treat it as though he believes it doesn't want to touch him, which adds a sad pathos to a man you can't help but like."

-Matthew Murray, Talkin' Broadway  Full Review

"...If all that spells "nerd", it's true, but Beck manages to combine bashful gaucherie and yearning and self-knowledge without ever seeming weak, effeminate, or just foolish.  It's a beautifully modulated performance.  

"Beck shows Andy's hurt and manfulness as he tries to recover from his disappointment, but the quiet tragedy of Animals Out of Paper is that , like the folds that cannot be erased in origami, the creases in one's past prove just as complicated and indelible on the human soul."

-Edward Karam, Offoffonline Full Review

"It is difficult to overpraise the cast...At the curtain call, just for a second, I looked at Beck and thought who is this guy?  He'd created such a completely other physical persona for Andy that I almost didn't know him."

-Kathleen Campion, The Front Row Center  Full Review

"One of the strongest elements of this production is its stellar cast...David Beck as Andy works for every ounce of sympathy and endearment.  He is very grounding throughout the play....When you have a cast of talented actors and a smart script, all you really need is an audience.  I recommend that you provide that element to this production.  It’s well worth it."

-Richard Hinojosa, nytheaternow.com  Full Review

"Joining the cast is the adorably nerdy and completely smitten calculus teacher-com-Origami enthusiast Andy (David Beck) who never fails to make you laugh as he barges into Ilana's life to collect membership dues for American Origami."   

-Caleb Ryan, theatrescene.net   Full Review

"As the optimistic math teacher Andy, David Beck brings a delightfully manic tone, sometime toeing the line of exceedingly eager...Andy is a literal open book - he keeps a book in which he counts his blessings and openly shares some of the secrets contained therein with Ilana and Suresh.  Beck delivers the pronouncements from this book of blessings with ceaseless earnestness."

-Rachel Weinberg, Broadwayworld Full Review

"Beck is endearing as a man hypnotized with a woman just beyond his reach."

-Bianca Garcia, Stage Buddy  Full Review

Press Release of Rajiv Joseph's "Animals Out of Paper" Limited Run Feb. 4-28

Our production is featured on broadwayworld.com!  Check out the press release and buy your tickets while you can.  One week into the rehearsal process, I am having an absolute ball working on such compelling material with this fine group of artists.  Reserve your tickets at smarttix.com.   Special thanks to Lendon Flanagan for the publicity photo.  See you on opening night!

Thank you to everyone who attended our screening last night...

and for the great questions at the Q&A!  The cast, Viktor, Susan, and I really enjoyed sharing this short film with all of you...and we know this is just the beginning of this journey with "The Exalted".  We have exciting plans which we will announce in the near future!  Stay tuned. :)