Why do I agree to these things?

God.

I -- under much peer pressure and duress -- agreed to play the part of Santa Claus in a Christmas play to open in July.

Yep. Christmas. In July. I suppose that may tell you all you need to know about it.

Actually, it's a world premiere of a Christmas show, and the idea is to attract theatres to produce it in December, so it's showing now....so it's not quite as dumb as it sounds.

Still, though, it's going to be amazingly under-rehearsed. Our first rehearsal is tonight, so I'll have a much better feel for how good the rest of the cast is after the read-through.

As for my role, I'm playing a Santa that mostly lounges on the couch, watching TV and burping. It'll be a hell of a stretch for me, but I suspect I"m up to that challenge, anyway.....