HELLO!

It’s funny to me how little I realize the enjoyment I’m about to receive until I’m there in rehearsal putting in the work and then spending every single day working on the work… It’s the work for me, baby! Rehearsals have just been a dive-in on my character, learning lines, discovering character, and choreography for a few of the numbers. This show is going to be pretty tough to nail down, but so far with how I have things scheduled, as long as I maintain that (which, yes, ideals are not always ideal) I can completely memorize the show by Tuesday the 13th. For the folks who sent out love after I announced my role, thank you so much, you can expect a personal email from me in the coming days. I have hardly had a second to attend to emails while getting situated in Mansfield Ohio, and into the show itself so I apologize for the untimely response. 🙏

My Routine

My work right now has been to keep my day fairly well-rounded. Currently, my ideal days have been waking up at a reasonable time (7 am - 8 am) getting my regular morning routine in, and getting myself ready for my 3 working sessions. These are 45 min - 1 hr blocks of dedicated work time. No phone, no email, no calls. Nothing but the work that’s in front of you, whatever you have to do, DO IT. This has been helping me to schedule precisely, how much time it will take me to memorize lines, discover character, and learn choreography. But here’s the most important part of these sessions. With deep focus comes a great deal of learning, and especially when you learn lines you need to prioritize your breaks.

TAKE A BREAK!

Andrew Huberman a cognitive scientist recommends taking a complete break after your focused work session. A deep break does not mean checking your phone, it does not mean watching an episode of something, it does not mean reading a book. This break must be a form of break that rests the brain and stops all intake. When intake stops, it digests all the information that was gained and begins to rewire through the subconscious. I practice this in three key forms:

• Meditation - 10-15mins

• Taking random mental ‘zone out’ breaks

• Walk outside (no music)

• Nap - 24:23 (this is just a random time that has worked for me as a power nap)

I try to have only one nap per day, and I like to save my nap for the time in which I’m going to make a shift in my day. It tends to be the transfer out of my working sessions and then maybe I’ll go to the gym after.

The most important thing in a process that is rushed like this for me is to utilize rest and breaks efficiently and effectively. It’s why I haven’t been checking emails too much, or on my phone texting a bunch of people. It’s me and the work right now, and I’m obsessed with this particular schedule. I’m obsessed with being obsessed, and this is a constant reminder of why I love this work so much.

Engagement and Future Plans

I’d love to hear from you today. Listen, I have a phenomenal camera, and I realize how much I need to utilize it in sharing more of my work with you all. I have a few ideas, and I’ll probably need some help from you, as you all are honestly the first subscribers to come around to read my work 🥹 (I thank you deeply). I plan to bring more to you in terms of visuals like photography and video, but I want to hear from you. From an actor’s perspective, what might you want to see? I have a few ideas that I’ll list out, and if you’d like to add on please do!

• Behind the scenes

  • What the process is like

  • What am I personally working on

• Journalistic approach

  • Vlog style, keeping it casual, and simply allowing you to join along on the journey with particular captured moments.

  • Questions to the cast, (if you have a question for our cast, let me know and I could ask them).

BUT!! Let me be clear, the show comes first, so I want to build this slowly before I get too crazy and start focusing so much on some side project. However, this is a form of expression that I think would be valuable to many people, as well as to support the brand of Matt Piper LLC (🤷‍♂️). Let me know your thoughts!

Writing will continue! in shaping our shared journey.

Much love today and every day,
Matt Piper 🐅🌱♊️