I need to write again

As you can tell by the date of the last post, it has been a long time since I last wrote on my blog. Lots of things have happened since then. Life has continued and I feel like I've groggily passed through it. But today I feel like I should write. So I will do just that. Perhaps it's this glorious sunny weather outside? Who knows? But I will write.

I begin rehearsals soon for a new production of Strega Nona at Adventure Theatre in Glen Echo park. I'm looking forward to working on a musical with some really cool people. School is going...but I feel like I'm sluggishly lagging in it. It's as if something in blocking my ch'i. Hopefully I can do some spring cleaning and sort that out. I just feel like I have so much going on and I am getting lazier all the time. So much work to be done and so little time to do it. I cannot wait until I am out of school so I won't have to do so much unnecessary stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love college. But I just feel like it constantly drains me while I wish to do other things. I don't know, I'm so conflicted about it right now.

I think it may just be the after effect of spring break. Who knows? Off to lighting design now...

Beware the Ides of March!

Yes, I know we're in April now, and my negelction of this blog is way too evident. BUT many, many exciting things have been happening in my life, along with some recent sad things. But for now we'll focus on the positives.

As I have been gloating about all over the place: I've been hired on by the Shakespeare Theatre Co. in Washington, D.C. as an understudy for Julius Caesar!!!! This is possibly the most exciting job I've recieved in my career so far! While seeing Tamburlaine in their Marlowe Rep in October, I decided that this was a company I wanted to work for - to see if I have the stamina to even do one of their epic productions. And now I am! Only five months later too! And my friends who have worked with them say that understudying with Shakes is a great way to connect for future jobs! So I'm very pleased and thankful for their offering and cannot wait to start working with them. I've already recieved my script and have been working on my understudy role. I begin working with them on the 27th now, which is their first preview. The show runs into July, so be sure to come and see it! Lots of fun betrayal and performed by one of the nations best theatre companies!

The Helen Hayes Awards, D.C.'s annual theatre awards and incarnation of the Tony's, are quickly approaching. And guess who's attending this year? ME! Not only am I attending, but I'm IN it! I'm on the trophy crew and will be assisting with awards, winners, and anything else. So I've ordered my tuxedo and am crazy excited about going! I will be nextworking my butt off at the Ovation Gala that takes place after the ceremony. Dan Wagner, the department chair for Theatre at UMD, is producing the awards this year. Mr. Wagner is a great guy, I worked for him as a spot operator on Roundhouse Theatre's Summer of '42 last summer. And on top of the Jerry Whiddon is directing (who I worked with on Filthy Rich) and Shari Moxley is the stage manager (who I also worked with on Summer of '42). So it's a whole gang of great people that I really respect and look forward to working with! There really are only eight people in this industry...

So, MORE really exciting news. Lebensraum, the play that I was in last semester at UMD, will be transferring to the 2008 Capital Fringe Festival this summer!!!!!!!! So immediately after my commitment with Julius Caesar ends, I will begin this project again! It was such a great experience last semester working with the cast and director, Cory Ryan Frank. I'm elated to be able to take more time and go deeper with this piece in an even freer setting. The cast will retain two of the same actors, David Olson and myself, but replacing the female due to scheduling conflicts. Betsy Rosen will now be playing Actor #3. No venue or dates have been set - yet. I believe Fringe announces those in a few weeks. But you'll get that info as soon as it is legal for me to post right here on my blog! Be sure to come and see it!

Finally, in the last bit of news to catch you up on where I am, I was just cast in Scot Reese's prodction of To Be Young, Gifted and Black which will be at the University of Maryland next semester (in October I believe). It will be a great production with an amazing cast and terriffic director. Besides having him as a teacher, I worked with Scot on Urinetown last semester which he directed. I like his style and the way he treats his actors and cannot wait to start a new project with him. So be sure to come and see that too! Again, I'll post details as they become available!

So that rounds out the major performance commitments in my life right now. I'm fully booked through November now with shows. I'm working! And it feels good to have constant work! I hope it lasts. Constancy is something so fleeting for an actor. Oh! By-the-way, I'm performing in a couple of cabarets soon too: one at UMD and one at the Kennedy Center. I'll post more info on that soon as well. But for now, I need to sleep so I can stay awake in class tomorrow. Til next time!

Major Barbara

This past Sunday, I saw the final preview performance of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara at the new Sidney Harman Hall by the Shakespeare Theatre Company. What a treat! This company does classical works so well, Shakespeare or other authors. I always love going to shows by the Shakespeare Theatre, they're consistently well executed. World class performers performing intense works in world class facilities. And the scenic elements of Major Barbara! I'm sure that they spared no expense on the scenic design, no doubt in order to illustrate the beauty of their new center. This show was performed in the traditional proscenium setting, very different from their recent Marlowe repertory usage of the space, which was very open and utilised the spaces' inherent design. The acting, for the most part, was wonderful. The lovely actress who played Barbara and the amazing actor who played her father, Undershaft, both did incredible jobs. So go see it while it runs!

Passivity and What It Means To Me

I struggled with the idea of posting this blog because of some people who will probably read it and impose their own biases on it. But this is something I need to write about. Something that's been bugging me for a while now. Possibly the root of a lot of my frustration for this semester.

I am a very calm and collective person. Those who are confused or frightened by my ability to be so refer to it as passive. Today, someone I respect said that passivity will be death in this industry. This person was of course being indirect about to whom he was referring, but I'm pretty sure it was me. This frustrates me to no end. For someone to have the audacity to say that I, or anyone, can not make it in theatre while being passive is completely incredulous! I have, in the last three years of my life, accomplished more than the vast majority of my peers can even begin to imagine. I came from podunkville Virginia, the middle of nowhere, from a family who has had roots there for years. I am now a Creative and Performing Arts Scholar at the University of Maryland, living and working in the Washington, D.C. theatre community, one of the most competitive markets in the nation. It may not seem like much, but I have accomplished an immeasurable amount in a very short amount of time. ONE SEMESTER out of high school and I took off for Orlando, Florida where I took part in a prestigious internship with the Disney Corporation (and maybe continuing with this summer). I have moved to two HUGE citites twice now, where I knew no one and nothing and have gotten along swimmingly. On the acting career front I have constantly accomplished goals that I am setting for myself: I've acted in D.C. theatre, worked for professional D.C. companies, been in numerous productions at UMD, and will be performing at the Kennedy Center this summer. Not to mention the extra work that I am constantly accruing. I've worked on MAJOR MOTION PICTURES people. Sure, it's been background work, but this was stuff I could only dream about doing three years ago. And now here I am! And I'm not close to stopping.

I say all this not to be bragging, but to prove that I have accomplished plenty with my "passive" self. More than most people can even begin to say. I choose what to exert of myself and what to retain. I'm am always collected and together. I promote myself better than anyone I know, and that is what gets me work. And I work damn hard at whatever I set in front of myself. It is only when I get "stuck" that I become stagnant. So for anyone to say that passivity will keep me from success in this business, they are simply kidding themselves. I have succeded and I will succeed. If this makes people uncomfortable, I don't really care.

And the Run Continues

Now in its second week of shows, Filthy Rich is chugging along just fine! Aside from mostly positive response from audience members, the show has also garnered a very warm reviews from The Diamondback, our campus newspaper. Unfortunately, I doubt that we'll garner any more media attention, so it seems a legit review will not happen. Not that we need it anyway. The cast of this show, lead by the great Mitchell Hebert, has done such a good job that a review or confirmation of thus would be rather superfluous. I cannot begin to express how greatful I am to have been a part of this process. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with. Everyone gets along well, drama does not happen. People are there to do their job and explore this show continuously, ensuring it is never dull or dead. And the opportunity to work with masters like Jerry Whiddon and Mitchell Hebert is an opportunity rarely afforded to young professionals such as myself. So I am very pleased with this process and regret seeing it end on Saturday.

On the future front, things seem so up in the air - as they always do in this field. I went to an open call for Spring Awakening again this past Saturday. They came to UMD for a D.C. open call. And of course I couldn't pass up this opportunity, especially when it's being spoon fed to me in my own backyard! So I went, auditioned for Carrie Gardner of Roundabout Theatre Casting and had a good audition. I didn't get an immediate callback or anything - not sure I'm at all what they're looking for even - but I feel that it was one of the better auditions I've had in a long time. This call was definitely much more chill than the NYC open call! No typing out here and we all went in to the same person one after the other. In NYC you could be typed out AND you were going in 6 at a time to 6 different agents. Very fast and very stressed. Here it was so calm and the Ms. Gardner was especially sweet and kind to those auditioning. A great experience all around and I'm glad I went.

I've got a couple of extra work calls this weekend. One is for a movie called State of Play which will be filmed here in the district starring Ben Affleck and Russell Crowe. The call is through Rich King Casting, some agency from L.A. that I haven't worked for. So I hope I get it! The money would be nice, and I really rather enjoy extra work. But I would really like a featured role... ah well. Maybe I'll get lucky? Who knows?

Memory Scents

It's so funny how strong the memory of certain scents can be. Walking around day to day different scents bring up different feelings and sensations to me. It's incredible. A couple of days ago, it was really, really nice here. The weather was sort of tropical - even the sun seemed to hang in the air longer into the evening. It all reminded me of Orlando - the smell of the breeze, the warmth. I'm constantly reminded of how much I miss the place. Then, yesterday, I went downtown to meet a friend, Claudia Kiss, who had come into town for the day. The smells and sounds totally brought me back to the first few weeks I moved here - the sense of exploration and freedom I felt, that sensation that comes with immersing yourself into a totally new and unknown place. I enjoy that sense of discovery - the challenge it brings and the reward it eventually gives. I graduate in a year, so that sense will soon come again. And I applied for NYU summer housing, so hopefully I'll get that experience again soon. I love it!

Currently I'm in tech rehearsals for Filthy Rich at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. A great group of people are working on it and are in the cast, so it's been a fun experience so far. I look forward to opening on the 14th. Come see it if you can!

Back In Session

Now into the fourth day of the first week of school, I have to say I'm more pleased at being back than I though I would be. Right now I'm sitting in CSPAC, having just eaten at Applause - something I promised myself I would not do this semester and thought I would be able to avoid. However, my Thursday schedule allows generous time and opportunity for this to occur, so I'm sure it will happen very often. I just have to bring stuff to work on. I hate doing this because of the negativity and stagnant energy that arises out of it. The more I sit here in CSPAC the more I hate working with some of these people with their cliquey attitudes and ridiculous ideas. It just gets to me and makes me hate this business a little. So, for my sake, I MUST stay out of here any chance I get. And I have so far. I've also been making friends elsewhere on campus. Anything to keep me grounded in the real world and out of this superficial theatre enclave that can consume so many people so quickly. I will do my own thing and I will be successful on my own. I always have an will continue to do so. It's when I fall in the crevass of the latter - relying on others for growth in the career, etc - do I become stale. And to me staleness is death. And in an industry where so much is inherently dependant on what others think, it's immensley difficult not to fall into that trap. But I think I'm so far succeeding and am a much happier person because of it. Let's see how long I can stay that way...