From Clay Sander

Don and I have a history that is filled with incredibly great moments and shitty shit moments. A biography of my life (a surefire best-seller....) cannot be told without Don Hall taking up several chapters.

To him, I pay my highest compliment - He's always interesting. Piss me off? Sure. Confuse me? Most definitely. But, bore me? Fuck NO. And, he can make me laugh...hard.

I look back on my days at with Don at WNEP with a great fondness.

My favorite memory was performing Armageddon Radio Hour around Christmas-time at the Halsted space. The smell of Lysol-mixed-with-paint-and-cigarette-soot wafted in from the behind the smoke-obscured lights as my wife sang "Let it Snow" to an appreciative audience.

I remember, vividly, standing on stage and glancing at Don in his Charles-chair, smoking a cigar, listening to the song with a big grin. I realized Don was absolutely NOT in character. He looked almost serene. I realized the moment was special and, as I try to do often, started to take a mental picture just so I would always remember.....
It was at that very point that Don sensed my gaze, nodded towards me, smiled and winked - relaying without words, that everything, right then, was just so. fucking. beautiful..... I'll always appreciate that about Don - the absolute fantastic quality that allows him to make me feel completely warm and joyful.

That was before the drama of the space closing, the incredibly cold winter, the subsequent shitty-shit that we both went through that damaged our close relationship for some time. The sad confrontations that emerged were a result of me being less of a friend and more of trying to be right. I'll take this opportunity to offer a long-overdue apology for my actions then, Don. As our birthday's grow further away from thirty, it's time to say that I really feel like you're the older brother I never had. I truly love you for it.

It's just too bad you're such a bleeding-heart liberal jackass.

Happy Birthday and thanks for everything.

From Scott Walters @ Theatre Ideas

I am so happy that Don has a blog, because that way I'm not the only abrasive, opinionated jerk in the theatrosphere. Happy birthday!

From The Devilvet

Don Hall and I were both spawned from the same big black vagina last fall at Didier Farms. Like Romulus and Remus, we then crawled our way over like pink marsupial embryos to our mother's sack of pumpkin apple slushee cider. I will always think of that day as his true birthday. Still, I wish him all the best on this his more "conventional" birthday

From Dave Goss, Managing Director of WNEP

I can sum up Don Hall in two words:

"THE CLAPPER"

If you've never experienced "the Clapper," consider yourself lucky. If you have. . . well. . . I'm sure you'll agree that it defies description. Much like the man himself.

And you'll also agree that your life has not been the same since.

Happy birthday, brother.

From Paul Imboden

NYC FRINGE FEST BRUSH w/ FAME (Blackout)

DON HALL, overzealous promoter
SAM ROCKWELL, star of stage and screen

In line at a coffee kiosk on a NYC street corner. A few seconds of
awkward silence, and suddenly... realization.

DON
Hey! You're Sam Rockwell!

SAM
Uhmm... yes. I am.

DON
Cool!

(Beat.)

DON
Hey, we're putting up a dada show!

(DON hands SAM a flyer. SAM looks around for the "Punk'd!" camera crew as
DON continues sales pitch. Quick fade to black.)


-Fin-

From Joe Janes

ALL OF DON HALL'S RANTS SOUND THE SAME!!!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Hall.

From Jessica Schlobohm

Don Hall is not a person who feels the need to hold his tongue. What he thinks, he tells you, and if he says something, you know he means it as much as a person can mean something they say. In that same regard, he will not mince words, nor will he unneccessarily compliment someone if he doesn't believe it fully. Bearing all that in mind, I remember quite well the day that I received one of the greatest compliments of my performance career.

We had just finished a set in rehearsal and were going to take a 10 minute break. Don and I were both heading down the hallway of Gill Park, he to smoke and me to the bathroom. And before our paths split, he said to me, "Hey Schlobohm." I turned. "You're fun to watch." And with that, he headed out for a cigarette.

A seemingly innocuous comment, maybe. But from the man that doesn't use words unnecessarily, I was given the greatest compliment, because rarely have I ever sensed that someone meant what they said as much as Don did, and does in most everything.

Thank you, Don, for your honesty in all things. The same thing that may piss people off is the thing that also shows them how much you care when you care, and how much you believe what you believe. People can say whatever the hell they want in life, but when you say it, it is worth its weight in gold (or shit, depending on who you ask). *Grin*

Thanks for being you. Honest, blunt, beautiful you.
Happy Birthday, big guy.

From Dan Izzo

Don Hall? Don Hall! Don Hall is the kind of guy who says "Hey we should get a hooker, f*** her then chop her up and bury her in the forest preserve." But at the end of the night, you're the one with a freaking shovel in your hand, while he's off on a g-d smoke break. Son of a bitch!!

From David Fink @ The Acorn Theatre

Many of you think Don creates art out of respect to the audience. OK, well maybe none of you think that. Anyway, the last time Don appeared at the Acorn Theater, he told me that his goal on stage was to make me laugh. Some wish to enlighten or impress an appreciative audience...not Don. He just wants to make me laugh. Not an easy task as I often say something is funny but rarely actually laugh at it. Well, watching Don portray a very virginal girl on stage was one of the funniest things I can remember. I think everyone reading this should ask Don to create a young virgin for their amusement. It is better if there is a horny guy hitting on him. Trust me on this one.

The Man