Welcome to My Website!

My name is Mychal Leverage and I’m an actor based in New York City. Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my website and for checking out my blog.

First thing’s first, why a website? What are we even doing here?

I won’t use their name here, but a reputable actress once told me during an industry talk back that she has been passed over for jobs because she didn’t have enough Twitter followers. A Broadway actress, you guys. Personally, I'd rather not perpetuate that narrow minded way of thinking so long as I can help it. If I never get to be on Jimmy Kimmel because I’m not trending that week, so be it. I’m optimistic that I can make a dent in the universe by doing my own thing rather than actively trying to be popular. I'm an artiste.

However, like it or not, we are living in the digital age of storytelling, and I do have to face reality: having an online presence is critical for maintaining an acting career and remaining relevant.

And so, taking up the space on your screen is the most appropriate compromise I can muster: mychalleverage.com. It will be an evolving account of my journey as an actor and writer, and will provide some insight into who I am and why I do what I do.

With all of that nonsense out of the way, let’s break down my plans for the site and what you can look forward to as a subscriber!

Navigating the Site

It’s plain to see, but we’re keeping it lean and mean as far as features go. At present, the site offers a short bio, a place to view my resume, and a few select photos and videos. I plan to put our home recording studio to good use by recording some more songs and, eventually, free to download audiobooks. There is also a contact page that links to my email if you have any questions about upcoming projects, or if you have suggestions on how I can better optimize the site. The most often updated and definitely the most valuable feature will be my blog, and below I’ve laid out my plans for what kind of posts will be generated.

Blog: What is the “Weekly Update”?

I hope the name is self-explanatory, but these weekly blog posts will be the most immediate way for me to communicate what I have in the works professionally. It’s here that I’ll let you know how auditions are going, whatever upcoming performances I may have, my fitness regimen, and occasionally what I had for breakfast. I’m afraid that most of the updates may be monotonous and won’t offer much new information; success for a stage actor is incremental. Regardless, I do have several exciting ideas and plans for what I want to create and put out. This is the first place to check for what’s brewing in the hopper.

The Weekly Update will be posted every Monday at 8 AM EST.

Blog: What is “The Limelight”?

I’ve met and worked with all sorts of wonderful actors over the years, but I’ve always been puzzled by the ones that live and breathe theatre. All they want to talk about is Broadway news and gossip, musicals they think are underrated, actors they think are overrated. You’ve undoubtedly seen or engaged with this person: they think themselves nothing more than a vessel for playwrights and composers to channel their stories. I firmly believe that, to be an exceptional actor, you have to have lived life as fully as you can. You must dedicate yourself to being a lifelong student of philosophy, politics, economics, social sciences, the list goes on.

For me, "The Limelight" will be a break-from-form series that highlights a hobby or interest of mine that has nothing to do with theatre or my acting career. Here will be a relaxed forum to share with you guys something that I think is cool, and hopefully a chance to learn about what you find interesting! Here I can talk about the novels I'm reading, my favorite movies, video games I’m playing, etc.

Here’s a sneak peek at what I have planned to highlight over the next few months:

The Limelight 001 - Magic the Gathering

The Limelight 002 - Batman: Arkham Trilogy

The Limelight 003 - The West Wing 1999-2006

The Limelight 004 - ????

The Limelight will be posted at 12 PM EST on the first Saturday of every month, starting February 2nd, 2024!

Blog: What is "Between the Lines"?

Every actor needs to read plays and see as much live theatre as they can, but I went a little insane this year. Of the 229 books I read in 2023, 129 of them were plays. That's not including over a dozen acting and playwriting books. I just couldn't stop. I discovered the stellar productions of LA Theatre Works, which reproduces their plays as audio dramas. I would listen to one, two, sometimes three plays a day via Spotify and Audible. I also made excellent use of my NY Public Library card and it's companion app SimplyE, which has a significant digital catalog of plays as eBooks that I would read on the go.

Why come? This obsessive reading started out as an exercise to find my lovely wife Heidi unique audition material. She was reasonably satisfied with the handful of monologues I found her, but I couldn't stop reading and analyzing plays. I could pick up a hundred page script and with a little imagination, act in, direct, design and review an entire production of my own making.

But like Wilde wrote, "everything in moderation, including moderation." I became so obsessed with pushing past my Goodreads goal that the plays started to bleed together. I don't think Antonio Salieri was put on trial for stealing Mozart's toaster, but I do know that I read Amadeus, Twelve Angry Men and True West in November.

I will absolutely continue to read more plays and study the greats, but this year I would like to shift my focus to reading a few at a time and savoring the stories, being ever more studious. "Between the Lines" will reach an inch farther than your standard review blog, serving as a creative outlet for me to better understand the difference between a mediocre play and a great one.

In order to better inform my acting and my own writing, I've already planned to start analyzing a few classics, taking a microscopic look at the structure, the prose, the poetry and the characters. They are A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin, Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, Long Day's Journey Into Night by Eugene O'Neill, Glengary Glen Ross by David Mamet, and Fences by August Wilson.

These posts may not be your thing, but I've got to let out the dramaturg in me from time to time, otherwise he turns violent.

Between the Lines will be posted on a semiweekly basis.

Blog: What is “Modern Major General Topics”?

Well, obviously we needed a miscellaneous category! If you don't know what musical the title is referencing, you aren't invited to the cook out. This series will cover anything else that I can think of!

In Closing

And there you have it! These four categories are of course nothing more than a jumping off point. Coming up, I do have a super-secret-holy-cow-exciting project that will keep me busy for the next several months that, truthfully, makes this website and blog essential. I unfortunately can't make any official announcement just yet, but do keep an eye out for that announcement in the coming weeks.

For now, I’ll wrap up the info dump here and say thank you so much for taking the time to visit the site. I’m looking forward to whatever comes next.

And scene.