Next Season

I had been given a copy of Michael Blakemore's novel, "Next Season" by my best friend...a fellow actor, as an opening night gift on the eve of my debut as Max Prince in Neil Simon's "Laughter on the 23rd Floor". My rehearsal process had been a stressful and confusing one - professionally and personally. As I thankfully landed with success on opening night, I avoided all of the festive pageantry and retreated to my room, hopped into bed and opened "Next Season". I was fully engaged from the first line. My post performance exhaustion was warmly soothed, all personal drama evaporated and I was swept up in an endless smile. As I devoured the entire book in one night my mind soared, and my yellow highlighter got a workout, underscoring the endless streams of insightful observations, humorous experiences and creative concepts that spoke so clearly to me and my life. This is what I do. This is about me. This is about all of us. Actors. I related easily to it all – yet up to this point in my life I had never read anything that had come close to putting it all together with such wit and honesty. How wonderful to find a novel that so clearly humanizes artists and reveals to perfection the craft of being an actor. I have re-read this book several times, and I give it as a gift frequently - to actors and audience members. I am ordering one today for my new friend ... on the eve of our opening night - the world premiere of "Just So." I am confident he will find the same joy in reading "Next Season" and sharing it's wealth and beauty for years to come. Tom Demenkoff is a professional actor, having worked on Broadway, Regional Theatre, and Television & Film for over 30 years....