Tales from Beyond the Pale Live Recording of "Ram King" and "Like Father Like Son."

It was a dark and foggy night on the Lower East Side, and Dixon Place is a small theater and lounge just steps from the infamous corner of Chrystie and Delancey Streets, which figured prominently in the film "Happy Accidents." I arrived almost an hour early for the 9:30 PM show, a live recording of the radio series "Tales from Beyond the Pale" on the first of four Tuesday nights in October when episodes for the second season would be recorded live. Vincent D'Onofrio had appeared in "Man on the Ledge" from Season One, which was recorded in a studio. Tonight, he would appear in both episodes "Ram King" and "Like Father Like Son." Not having seen him since the DGITW screening in Westfield, NJ last year, I was so anxious to see and hear Vincent in action live and in person. Thank goodness Dad and Alberto were both home resting and not out in this humid weather but I had a mission to fulfill tonight. I had my brand new copy of the "Chained" Blu-ray with me and a Halloween card Alberto made that I had planned to give to Vincent. I had wanted also to thank Vincent for signing the two DVDs I had sent to Toni last May before the Meth Cops event in Utah. I ended up not even speaking to him due to another bad case of nerves, but I did get to enjoy his performance in both radio plays and got a few pics and even a short video from "Ram King," the first of the two episodes recorded tonight. Just a month after losing Mom plus the subject matter in the two plays presented tonight, I was afraid I'd break down and cry in front of Vincent, so I kept my distance, sitting in the middle of the first row in the tiny theater, although Vincent was sitting just to my right. Vincent's daughter Leila was there, also, and she has grown into a stunning young woman. Vincent was decked out in a black shirt, rust-colored slacks, black and white sneakers and a gray hoodie. He also produced a cool pair of reading glasses when he took the stage during "Ram King" and again during "Like Father Like Son." The first episode "Ram King" written by Joe Maggio, is set durng medieval times, probably in England, judging by the accent Vincent used to voice his character, Fridrik the Wise, a village elder who condemns a young goatherd to death for witchcraft and orders the boy to be burned alive because "fire purifies all." Guess what happens when the boy calls out to the Ram King as he is being burned alive? Well, you'll have to wait for the broadcast of "Ram King" to find out! Heh heh heh. Btw, Owen Campbell, the young actor who plays Lassa, the unfortunate goatherd who's condemned for witchcraft, resembles Lou Taylor Pucci, Vincent's co-star in "Thumbsucker" and in the LOCI episode "Cruise to Nowhere." :)

The second episode "Like Father Like Son" was written by Clay McCleod Chapman and was equal parts horror and comedy. Larry Fessenden, who co-founded Glasseye Pix Productions and co-created the "Tales from Beyond the Pale" series, plays a scientist who gets tipsy one night and crashes his car, an accident that kills his young son Jonathan, played by Tobias Campbell, a passenger in the car. Grieving and desperate to bring his boy back from the dead, dear old Dad creates a "Lazarus serum" to revive him. Trouble is, the side effects are pretty gruesome! Imagine a five year-old zombie/Frankenstein creature on the loose. EEEEEK! The birthday party scene is pretty awesomely hilarious-"Jonathan, give him back his eyeball!" Vincent plays the group leader of a support group for bereaved parents who appears only briefly in the play, but he brings a little sanity to the proceedings. We enjoyed watching the sound effects being created too. I never thought the sounds of heads of lettuce and celery stalks being ripped up would be so creepy!

The subject of cremation in the first episode resonated with me because we had Mom's body cremated the day of her funeral, and the subject of sustaining life beyond death in the second episode also hit home because of our experience with Mom being on life support all summer. What an excruciatingly painful situation that was for all involved. Her death last month brought her suffering to an end, but also many regrets and much sorrow for us. May she and we be at peace now. God bless.

Kathryn Erbe in LIC filming LO:SVU on 9-7-2012

I had received a tweet from Antje aka @havers_barbera with the scoop about Kathryn Erbe filming the "Acceptable Loss" episode of SVU in Queens on Friday, September 7. I didn't reply right away, as I had just lost my mom and I was feeling overwhelmed emotionally. I didn't tell Antje about Mom's passing in my reply that Thursday night, I simply said "Thank you, Antje." On Friday morning, after sending my brother off to school, still unaware of our tragedy, Dad and I went to the funeral home to make arrangements for Mom, order the flowers for her wake and funeral Mass the following week and get a bite to eat at the Kellogg Diner. By 1 PM when I arrived home, I was pretty beat and planned to take a nap. However, I remembered Antje's tweet and decided that I wanted to visit the SVU set in Long Island City to see Kate. Why not? If I didn't go, I knew I would regret not going, despite the circumstances. Plus, I wanted to try out my birthday present, my brand new Canon Powershot camera with a 35X optical zoom feature. So, in my Honda Accord and off to LIC! The cast and crew were camped out for several blocks along 36th Avenue near the Queensboro Bridge, and I parked by Ravenswood Houses, just two blocks from where they were filming exteriors near a private home on 11th Street. Just after 2 PM, I spotted Kate arriving on set from across the street and tried to snap some pics, but we were shooed away from the corner by a production assistant, as they were about to resume filming and we couldn't remain so close to the action without getting in the frame. I ended up on the other side of 36th Avenue, trying to focus my camera lense and get a good closeup of Kate and the rest of the SVU actors, but she was sitting underneath a tree and the shade made my view of her too dark to shoot from a distance. A woman named Jasmine and her three young sons had just arrived from a nearby school wanting to see Mariska Hartigay, who was also on set, and we crossed 36th Street and stood outside the fence of the house where the SVU crew was camped out. Several cast members were seated in their casting chairs under the shady tree in the 80 plus degree heat and I called out "Kate! Kate!" She heard me and got up from her chair and came over to greet me with a sweet smile. I gave her a hug and introduced my new friends to her before we posed for some pics along that fence.

I spoke to Kate briefly and congratulated her on crossing over to "SVU." I also told her about Antje's message to explain how I knew she'd be in LIC that afternoon. Kate was happy to see me, as always, and that made me feel better. Then I heard myself say that I almost didn't come by the set that afternoon because my mother had just passed away. Why did I do that? Babble, much? Well, Kate frowned and told me how sorry she was and listened while I spoke about Alberto and my worry about breaking the news to him. She was very kind and I appreciated Kate taking the time to listen. Later, as I was leaving to get home before Alberto got home from school, Kate wished me luck with telling Alberto about Mom's death, which I was planning to do over the weekend. I asked Kate about whether Goren would be mentioned on SVU and she said that he would not appear, only that when asked about her partner, Eames would just say "He left." Wow.

Tales from Beyond the Pale-Ram King and Like Father, Like Son

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From the pale depths of tech rehearsal…

From the pale depths of tech rehearsal…