If you had asked me 3 years ago what life would be like, I would have spouted tales of glory. Agents would be crawling on their knees for my talent, casting directors would be crying out my name as they cast me in three different broadway shows and a national tour...all at the same time.

In other words, I was a naive, conceited human being.

Today I find myself more reflective, calmed down person. Showcase is over. This is a fact that hasn't sink in yet. Showcase is over. With it the last act of my college career, and the first affirmation that yes, I am going to do this with my life. A new chapter starts on Sunday but it may as well be today. What do I have to do on Sunday but passively receive my diploma? I have no more active goals while at IC, and that fact is terrifying. What happens next? Before, my head was filled with thoughts of showcase and I forgot to look farther. Recently I began my plan, my path forward post Ithaca College, and with it I've found a sense of peace and zen. I'm so happy with my responses out of showcase and so proud of my classmates for theirs as well. The Ithaca College Class of 2012 is about to take the world by storm and I'm so excited to graduate alongside this amazing group of people. Next week I will be able to proudly announce myself as an Ithaca Alum and stand proudly beside my fellow members of 2012. Congratulations to my peers, I'm so proud of all of you.

~ Ned Donovan

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It's a bit scary knowing that tomorrow could help make my career. It won't break it, that I know, but absolutely could help give me a jump start into this crazy profession. After that I head back to Ithaca, graduate this weekend, pack up my house and take it all to my dad's in Allentown, drive back to Ithaca, collect two of my friends and drive to New London New Hampshire, then drop them off and head to Maine. In Maine I'll be helping my Mom move, and performing in Hackmatack Playhouse's production of Burt and Me. I then jump back in my car and head to Auburn NY to do Merry-Go-Round Playhouse's production of My Fair Lady, and then it's off to the races. I move to New York and I start my life. It's strange knowing that within the next year I'll be truly trying to be a successful actor. It's one thing to go to school for it and imagine it, but actually doing it is a completely different, scary story.

But for now, I sit on this bus and focus on tomorrow. I sit in the wonder of the talent of my classmates, and revel in the class of 2012. No matter what happens, I know that we are about to take the world by storm, we will make waves, and we will successfully reach the places we are destined to go. I love each and every member of the Ithaca College Theatre Arts Class of 2012 so much, and if you guys read this, I can't wait to make this journey alongside you.

Forever yours,

~ Ned Donovan

"Always be yourself....unless you suck."
- Joss Whedon

Joss Whedon is the writer/director who created such iconic television shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and my personal favorite, Firefly.  His career doesn't stop there, however, he also created the TV show Dollhouse, wrote the Firefly spin-off movie Serenity, and created the Time Magazine Top 10 Web Series Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog.  At the start of his career, he wrote two movies which were huge in my childhood, Toy Story and Titan A.E., and most recently he is a writer/producer of the horror movie hit The Cabin in the Woods and is the writer/director of the new record-breaking box office hit The Avengers.

Before his two most recent movie hits, Joss Whedon was a bit of an enigma.  He has a rabid fanbase, who fight tooth and claw to support every project he signs on to, and yet none of his projects besides Buffy, Angel, and Dr. Horrible have been very successful.  Firefly was cancelled after only 13 episodes, and despite a couple of seasons, Dollhouse received lukewarm reviews from critics and fans alike.  Despite all this, the members of the Whedonverse (as diehard fans call themselves) have always spouted his praises to anyone who will listen (myself included).  There was a period of time, however, that Joss was underground enough that people who liked knowing new, undiscovered movies and tv shows would jump on the chance to learn about Joss Whedon.  He was like The Shins after Garden State, he was hip and cool to know about.  Then Joss Whedon got just large enough to lose those people.  Suddenly there were newer, lesser known "genius'" and no one was willing to explore Joss Whedon anymore.  Everyone had heard of him, but he had so many flops that people felt he must not be very talented.  Despite my cries of his genius, and at the injustice of the canceling of his tv shows, no one was willing to give Joss the time of day anymore.  I did what any good member of the Whedonverse did when such a moment arises, I sat down and watched Firefly from start to finish followed by Serenity, I watched the entirety of Buffy, and I cursed the world that ignored my celebricrush, and waited until next year's Comicon in order for Joss to reveal something awesome for me to look forward to.

Then something strange happened, Marvel announced that Joss was their man to write/direct the culmination of all of these superhero movies, The Avengers.  

I sat up a little in my seat.  "I'm sorry, who?  My man?  Joss Whedon?  The guy who creates everything that is good and holy for television/movies, but the studios never like it so they fire him and cancel his shows?  Marvel Studios is trusting The Avengers to him?  They're trusting Joss with Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, and Edward Norton as The Hulk?  Dear sweet jesus this is going to be the greatest movie of all time, and no one but me is going to like it!  Wait, what?  Oh they fired Edward Norton and hired Mark Ruffalo?  Well he's gonna suck in that role."  All of those thoughts went through my head.  I told everyone Joss was taking it over, and predictably, everyone told me that like all the rest of his movies and tv shows, this would be underwhelming, and only a select few people would get it.

Guess what didn't happen?

The Avengers broke box office records for an opening weekend in fine style, far surpassing the final Harry Potter installment and setting a bar so high, that the only movie on the horizon that might beat it is Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.  Not just that, but Mark Ruffalo didn't suck in that role!  In fact he sort of stole the movie.

Joss was already on the tip of everyone's tongue in the last couple of months, because his horror movie homage/spoof/reinvention/mindfuck (pardon my french) The Cabin in the Woods got reviews so wonderful that people took a second to pause and wonder if they must be reading the wrong review.  Horror movies don't get reviews like the ones The Cabin in the Woods got.  Someone, somewhere always hates them.  The main critique the movie got was that it was so smart, so cerebral, that many people were turned off by its intelligence.  I'll say that again, it got critiqued for being TOO SMART!  A HORROR MOVIE?!  How is that possible?  I will say that The Cabin in the Woods was one of my favorite movies I've ever seen, and not just because I'm a Whedon fan, but because it was a brilliant movie.  People were scratching their heads, not sure what to make of this man whose resume is so oddly eclectic that he's sort of hard to define.  With the release of The Avengers, Joss is now a household name.  He will be able to pick up any project he wants for the next 10 years, and probably get any project he would like produced, picked up.  

One of the reasons I love Joss, however, is not because of his brilliance as a director, but of his brilliance as a writer.  Joss has always been acknowledged as a champion of women on television.  He writes strong, female characters, or smart female characters, but in every project there is a female character who breaks from the norm and allows the viewer to look at such a character in a new light.  Now sometimes his work is not understood (please read this, excuse me, MORONIC critique of Firefly) and some people view him as the oppressor of women.  Those people are wrong.  Sorry, I know, opinions can't be wrong, but that one?  It's wrong.  Just looking at the characters of Buffy (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, she'sa self-strong high school girl who is all alone standing up against the forces of evil), Zoe (from Firefly, an ex-army woman married to a bumbling pilot who kicks ass, takes names, and fights to protect what she views is right and just), and Echo (from Dollhouse, a woman who gives up everything to make money to protect her son, and becomes a champion fighting on behalf of the other Dolls), his female characters are both different, and strong.

Anyone who's friends with me on Facebook knows the video that I'm leading up towards.  In 2006, Equality Now honored Joss with an award for his progressive female characters, which was presented by Meryl Streep.  If Meryl Streep gets behind you for your feminism, doesn't that mean you have to be a progressive feminist?  Sorry, still mad about the above blog post.  Anyways, upon accepting his award, he gave a speech where he explained that in every interview he's ever given he's asked, "so why do you write all these strong female characters?"  His response is worth a listen.  It's a long video, but it's worthwhile, because Joss gives a statement that everyone should take to heart; and now that he's famous, the world might actually listen.

Isn't that beautiful?!  I mean absolutely stunning.  It's so wonderful, that I'm actually going to write out his words, just to be sure that we can all see just how brilliant the man is, just how relevant he is, and just how correct he is.

"Equality is not a concept. It's not something we should be striving for. It's a necessity. Equality is like gravity, we need it to stand on this earth as men and women, and the misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. It is life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and woman who's confronted with it. We need Equality, and we kind of need it now. 'So why do you write these strong female characters?' Because you're still asking that question."
- Joss Whedon

That's all I have to say.  I think that quote alone illustrates just why he is my icon.  I hope one day to work with him, hell if I was in one of his shows or movies I'd jump and scream for joy.  However he's sort of conquering the world right now, maybe he'll write a play, god knows we could use another talented human being writing plays, new playwrights seem to be in short supply right now.  Joss Whedon is someone to watch out for.  His career is going to skyrocket, without question, but he's smart, he's talented, and after The Avengers, he's filthy rich, so he won't be taking any job.  Get excited for the wealth of Whedon passion projects that are sure to come out in the next couple of years.  I know I'll see everyone of them.  The next one on the list?  A movie of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing that Joss filmed while on a break from filming The Avengers.  It's in black and white, and Firefly's Nathan Fillion is playing Dogberry...you can bet I'll catch the midnight premiere.

Oh and Joss, if for whatever reason you end up reading this post?  Please, for the love of god, hire me!

Hey everyone!  Next Tuesday is the Ithaca College 2012 BFA Showcase in NYC!  We'd really appreciate anyone who sees this post and knows someone in the entertainment industry to forward this along to any contacts that might be able to help us out!  Here's the information on the showcase, and thank you in advance for helping us out!

Yep, it's a great day in the world of my blog! A truly great day!

Love to everyone!

~ Ned

My friend Chris is a certifiable genius.  He is a Music Composition major here at Ithaca College, though his work goes beyond just being a student.

As his website states, Chris began studying piano at the age of six, and began composing at the age of eight.  Eight.  At eight years old I was doing a lot of things, and most of them involved playing soccer, pretending to be a power ranger, and overall NOT COMPOSING MUSIC.  Sometime between the age of eight and eighteen, Chris got accepted to the program here at IC, a competitive one to be sure.  

From there Chris hit the ground running.  

During his time at IC he has scored several films, written music for two plays, released six albums (available on iTunes), two of which have benefited the Bravest Fund and Make-A-Wish Foundation.  How is someone that accomplished?

His junior year in college he spent time in Vienna studying Composition at the university of Vienna.  P.S. he's fluent in German.  He will be returning to that school to receive his Master's in Music Composition.

This past friday, Chris held his senior recital in Ford Hall here in the Whalen School of Music at Ithaca College.  It was one of the most movingly beautiful musical experiences I've been a part of.  Chris was kind enough to allow me to be the speaker in a orchestra/poetry presentation called "Elegies and Laments", but beyond that, just hearing the depth of his talent, and emotional connection was amazing.  He started with an electroacoustic piece made from the sounds of storms, followed by this spoken word piece.  Chris and I then ran around to the audience to hear his masterpiece, The Iris.  The Iris is this piece of music which is beautiful beyond compare.  I sat there, with tears streaming down my cheeks, just blown away by this piece of music.  A long-time member of the Ithaca music community behind me stated, "I've been here for a very, very long time, and that is the best damn piece of music I have ever heard coming out of this place."  After the intermission, we were treated to an SATB a'cappella chorale using the words of poetry written by Chris' grandparents.  Once again, as close to perfect as I've ever heard.  The whole concert ended with a double quartet, fighting each other in their melodies, rhythms, and ideas to create a constantly panning experience where the quartet on the left vs the quartet on the right so that even your ears were getting different musical experiences.  As the concert ended, the audience leapt to its feet, making Chris take far too many bows, and joined him for a reception afterwards.  It was probably the best concert I've seen at IC.

I don't really have a point to this post except to spout his praises, but really, for those of you who don't know Chris, head over to his website and listen to some of his works.  Head over to iTunes and buy one of his cds, they're amazing.  Most of all, just support his work, because someday he's going to be changing the face of music as we know it.

For more information on Chris, head over to his website at www.chrislarosa.com