Back to the Grind

The 2007 Spring Semester is now full underway, and my work load will be ridiculous. It's not just the classwork, but mainly the time required outside of class that will get me. But anyway, it's good to be back and working on theatre again. It's nice coming back to all these familiar faces that you worked so closely with a month ago and getting ready to do so again. New projects, new ideas and lots of theatre to be made. An exciting premise.

The first class I had, on Wednesday, was Acting Foundations. In this class we will be working from Uta Hagen's An Actor Prepares, which I'm very glad about since I had read this last semester. I will be re-reading it though, so as to better understand it as we implement the practices in class. But the first class was nice. It's a small studio, I have quite a few friends in there, and I hope the work I do will be condusive to my growth - I anticipate that it will.

Second, I went to Theatre Design which is taught by two UMD design grad students. This class will help me in closing out my "Fundamentals Series," so that's nice. I hope I can have fun with this one. I've heard lots of bad things, but the workload doesn't seem too daunting when compared to my other commitments and I do enjoy learning how to design since I don't normally get that opportunity. So it will hopefully be much fun and very rewarding come May.

I picked up classes yesterday, only having two on Wednesday. My first class on Thursday was the dreaded English 101. Thanks to my credit from ETSU not transferring, I must take this class here at UMD. The teacher seems very interesting. He's a grad student, but not what I would expect from an English teacher. He'll either be lots of fun or very egotistical and annoying. I have yet to decide as I've only had one of his classes. But judging from the first meeting, I think he likes to hear himself talk.

My next class is Theatre History, taught by the oh-so-witty Casey Kaleba. Yet another grad student, Casey completed his undergrad at JMU and came here for his graduates degree. Theatre History will be a lot of work and I feel that he'll grade too harsly because he told us exactly that. But I hope I can find some fun within it and will be glad when I'm finished, clearing this requirment from my transcript.

My final Tuesday/Thursday class is Puppetry Studio. This class will be a lot of fun - and something I will write more on in a future blog. We are designing a theatre peice from the ground up with puppetry based on the existence of John Newton (composer of "Amazing Grace"). I've never done this sort of free-form project before - no syllabus, just exploration and creation. So I'm extremely happy about this class. It's being led by Blair Thomas who is this year's Jim Henson Artist in Residence. He's a puppeteer at his own puppet theatre in Chicago, but he's here for the remainder of this year now. More to come on this project.

Today I will go to my final class, rounding out my schedule - The Capstone Project. Here, all of the students, haveing completed the "Fundamentals Series," will design and produce a shor production, showcasing what they've learned. I am looking forward to this project as well, and shall write more on it later too. Though not as free formed as the puppetry studio (we'll have a syllabus I'm sure), it is what I like to do. And it will be fun. Go team!

But now I must run. Work starts too soon and I must get ready, but am instead blogging. I miss NYC. Maybe I'll return there this summer for an extended amount of time? I'm working on it...

D.C. Snow

It snowed today! For the first time in two years I got to see snow, which I so dearly love to see and be in. I was visiting a friend who'd come into town for the day, Elizabeth Oliver, when it started coming down. Just as I was showing her the White House, too. It was such a beautiful sight: The White House with the Washington Monument in the background, snow lightly falling from the slate grey sky. I love the energy in the air, the briskness about it when it snows.

I've been a bit ill recently, my sinuses of course. So I had to call in to work today. There was no way I could have dealt with the public for nine hours with the way I was feeling. I hate to take off though, I feel like I'm deserting them. But I'll work on Tuesday, which I previously had off, and hopefully make up for it. And hopefully by then I'll feel much better. I do feel somewhat better tonight, so maybe it's run its course, or getting near there. We'll see.

School begins again on Wedesday, so this week will be filled with book and supply buying, getting ready for the ensuing semester. I'm anticipating getting back to it all, I do admit, however I dread the regularity of it all. I don't like things to be set and repeat, I like to mix things up and experience new things. So the "setness" of a school schedule and job goes against what I like. But being a theatre major does releive this to some extent, always working on some new project or other, auditions to attend, performances to see, etc. So that will be nice. And in my resolution to assert myself more in theatre I look forward to auditions and acting classes this semester. Hopefully I'll be cast in a mainstage for next semester. There are rumors flying about a Brecht musical being staged. If so, I want to be a part of it. But who knows? This uncertainty is frustratin yet exciting at the same time.

It's evening now and the snow has somewhat calmed from earlier. I'm going to the Galleries downtown with my friend Lauren tomorrow. Hopefully I'll feel better. So tonight I'll drink my Robitussin and orange juice and get lots of rest. I'm currently reading The Poor of New York and I'll hopefully finish it tonight. Interesting bit about the burgoise of 1800's NYC.

NYC '07

As usual, NYC was a blast. I really couldn't love that city more. So alive, real, and exciting. DC pales in comparison, but that's expected I guess. I wonder if I would love it as much if I lived there. I really think that I would, but I don't know. I think I would. And someday I guess I will see...

So I went up mainly for a meeting with a casting director, but spent my time on leisure activities. On Tuesday I arrived on 42nd street at 10 a.m. and had an odd breakfast at Applebees. Don't ever do that. It was just weird.
Around eleven or so I met my friend Erin Fisher, who I stayed with, at Jamba Juice. Erin is such a great person, a very talented actress starting out in NYC who I have high hopes for. I love her. But she was gracious enough to let me stay with her in her swanky NYC apartment, which I loved! A cute two bedroom - what I want to live in one day soon....
That day I spent my time in Rockefeller Center. I did the NBC tour, which I hadn't done before and sat through a taping of the Dr. Keith Abelowe Show, who is a forensic psychologist. I went through the amazing fifth ave shops and picked out an outfit at H&M for the theatre that night. I don't know why, but the NYC H&M is so much better than the DC H&M.
On this evening I saw Disney's new Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre. It was an enjoyable show, but it was very much a Disney musical. The sets and effects were spectacular, from Burt dancing up the proscenium to Mary Poppins flying over the audience, but it consisted of flagrant over-acting and Broadway belters. I don't care much for that aspect. But this Disney musical had a deeper plot than most - sticking moreso to the Mary Poppins book rather than the old movie - and allowed Mary Poppins to be a darker character than previously imagined. The new songs were OK, but the original ones were the best. I expect this show to run for a good, long time as it is a Disney musical - and much better than Tarzan. I'm glad I saw it and did enjoy it.

Wednesday was spen mainly in the village. Erin showed me around to some great NYC institutions such as The Strand bookstore and Gray's Papaya with the great, cheap hot dogs. I met with my amazing friend and mentor Evalyn Baron as well today as she had a break from her teaching at Steinhardt. Such a great and sweet lady. I'm very fortunate to know her. Speaking with her always seems to resolve any fears hesitations that I have towards going into this industry. She instills much more confidence and certainty into me, which is so inspiring coming from such a great artist as she.
After this Erin and I walked around the village a bit more before I had to go meet with another friend - Meghan Kennedy - at Soy for coffee. Meghan's doing great and seems to love NYU. Who wouldn't? We had a great conversation and I learned that I'm allergic to soy. So that part wasn't great. But otherwise I was glad I got to see her on this visit. I wish her the best and I'm sure of her imminent success.
I spent the rest of the afternoon in Times Square where I bought books for my theatre history class at the drama book shop and had dinner at the Polish Tea Room. I saw the new smash Spring Awakening this evening. It was AWESOME with an energetic, young and talented cast. Such a fun, new show! Why wouldn't it be a smash? The premise is genius to begin with - 1800's and rock music make great compliments to one another. But it was such a sexually charged show with groundbreaking direction that truly pushes the boudary. But I expect it to win big at the Tony's, and David Gallagher Jr. will definitely win the Tony for best supporting actor. I'm very lucky to have seen this show with the OBC in its new and fresh stage!

But now I'm back in D.C. As I left NYC early this morning, I felt kind of sad. I need to be there and I need to start working in this industry. If I did accomplish one thing on this trip, it was to realize that I need to go now and start working. I'm at the right age for prime roles and opportunities. I'll start submitting and shamelessly self promoting. But first I must get new headshots and work on some fresh monologues. School starts on Wednesday and I anticipate working in the theatre department again. A month is too much time off for me. I love this job and I love New York. I really, really do.

A Gorgeous Spring Day...

...in the dead of winter! Today's weather was so strange! It was the most beautiful, sunny, breezy day out. Terrific day for a picnic or to puruse the city. But it's the middle of January! We should have 3 inches of snow on the ground and temperatures in the twenties. Instead, people walk around in shorts sans coats! It's so bizzarre, yet kind of nice. Next year we must be prepared for an insane winter. Damn you El Nino!

But anyway, life has been going on. Yesterday was a rushed day as I spent most of it downtown running miscellaneous errands and so on. The Business District is a very hip place. I've been there several times before, but yesterday it seemed uber-alive. And I notices quite a few shops that I'd overlooked there before. People walking around in their business couture from one high-rise to another. Cars, busses, and cabs all trying to squeeze down the streets at once. I love the city. Later on in the evening I ventured down to the Arena Stage to see Noises Off. I hadn't been to Southwest D.C. so far, and needless to say I was surprised by it. It's not that nice of an area, and I was depressed to see the outside of the Arena Stage blend in to the bland urban landscape so non-challantly. I mean, Arena is a world famous, Broadway-show-making theatre. Actors such as James Earl Jones started off shows there. And today it continues the legacy. Just a month ago Three Parts of Desire landed there after it's hit off b'way run. So a landmark such as this deserves more pomp and circumstance than the crummy neighborhood and boring, ugly building in which it currently resides. With that being said, I do beleive that Arena is currently working on building a new theatre (as is every other theatre company in D.C.). This makes me more glad. The show, Noises Off, was extremely funny. A talented ensmble of actors with many, many Broadway, tv, and movie credits to their names, made this show enjoyable to watch. They must be very trained and focused to pull of this show night after night, and the coreography that went into some of those scenes! I could only imagine how tedious rehearsals must have been. One thing did irk me about the play though. It was a script issue, in a good way though. Throughout the pre-show bits and rehearsals during the play I couldn't help but to feel very stressed as if I were a part of the show myself. Perhaps because of my career in the theatre. But anyway it worked and the show was good.

Now I'm off to return a movie to Blockbuster, get something for dinner and enjoy a long night of TV and my two consectuive days off! I love D.C.

Happy 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

So we've made it one more year. It's now 2007. And what was so great about 2006 for me? Working for the Disney company in Orlando, Floridia, saying good riddance to ETSU, starting at Maryland, and seeing Cirque du Soleil's Corteo all top my list. It was a fun year, very eventful but ver lackidasical all at once. I didn't see 2006 as much of a big deal, but looking back I was able to accomplish a lot. So here's to new friends and a new place and hopes for another prosperous year!

So I'm back in D.C. now. I got here on Saturday evening. It wasn't until I was driving through downtown to drop Rachel Lewis off that I realized how much I missed the place. It was nice to be home for a while, but I was more than ready to get back up here! My friend Kathryn Shebleski and I spent that evening watching Little Miss Sunshine and chatting. So it was nice. I spent New Years Eve at my friend Zach Fernebok's house. He had a party and it was a lot of fun. Great people and great times. It was in the Gunther theme, which entailed great music and lots of sex, wine, and respect. Well, not so much sex and wine, but those were represented in spirit I suppose. So the ball dropped, we had apple cider, and toasted to a new year! Everyone spent the night there and I didn't get home until 4 in the afternoon the following day. Fun, fun, fun. Zach and his friends are a cool group of kids. Today I went downtown and saw Dreamgirls at the Regal Theatres in Chinatown. I would have seen it when it came out, but not a single theatre in the entire Tri-Cities region was showing it! Pathetic excuses for movie theatres.... Anyway, it was an awesome movie! After the recent slump in movie musicals: Rent, Phantom of the Opera, it was nice to see it get back to the goodness that they can be. It was just as good as Chicago, which I loved. The performers were all surprisingly strong, as was the cast for Chicago. So my advice to anyone is to go and see it, that is unless you live in Abingdon, VA or Bristol, Johnson City, ot Kingsport, TN because it isn't showing anywhere there! But if you're lucky and it's showing at a theatre newar you: Go Now! The story is great, it's well performed, and the music is terriffic.