September 9, 2008 See the post titled Headshot and Resume Information regarding how to submit for acting roles. *** Only submit by mail only. No phone calls or personal drop-offs! *** Principal...

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(The Cat & The Moon closes tonight).

Jim True Frost on the value of theater work:

The deep process and craft that you employ in the rehearsals and in the nightly repetition of a theatre job provide a way into acting that camera work never can have (Jim True Frost, Interview, ActorsLife.com).

. . . the deep process and craft, the value of a nightly theater job -- there's nothing like it for growing and learning.

I've been blessed with a fairly long run of the Cat and Moon -- about 6 weeks, and I can't remember working harder on a play after it's opened.

Breathing

Deborah Carlson's Word Of Mouth Studios hammers home, almost each week, the directive to speak no faster than you can breathe. Patsy Rodenburg calls this letting the breath drop.

I find this difficult to do partly because I'm not used to doing it, partly because I'm worried I'll drag a scene down pace wise, and partly because characters are often in an excited or heightened state, i.e., they're thinking and speaking rapidly.

However, if I go faster than I can breathe & think, I speak before my body and mind are naturally ready to speak -- what Ms. Rodenburg calls this getting ahead of the text.

Things have been going very well on the TV front. My 3rd episode of "One Life To Live" just aired on ABC- I played a maid from the fictitious country of Mendorra (and "under 5" role.)

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have spent quite of time at “Guiding Light.“ I play one of their trusty bartenders in their ”Towers“ bar and restaurant. Background work, traditionally, is not a very glamourous job but this is a really fun gig. I show up for either the morning or the afternoon segment, and sit in a dressing room by myself or with another actor. Since I play a bartender, I don’t even have to provide my own costume (which is usual for background actors.) When on set, I interact with the principal cast & crew so often that they all know my name. That makes working on set really awesome- it is such a fun and easy way to make a living!

I am also rather active in the theater right now. I am working on a staged reading of the beautiful play, "Avow." I believe it is the first production of the show in NYC since its run Off-Broadway in 2000. I play the role of Irene, which is an incredible role for me. I am also doing another reading of the full length play, "Pills" which explores the nature of anxiety and how it can affect even the most stable of relationships. I play the lead role of Sally.

Let’s see, what else... There haven’t been that many auditions I’ve been interested in, lately. July and August seem to have been pretty slow, though the audition calendar seems to be picking up after Labor Day. Hopefully I’ll have some good audition stories to tell you about very soon!

Now I have to get to bed- tomorrow I have a voice lesson and then I am going to start working on my monthly postcards to agents and casting folks!

We have time to grow old.
~ Vladimir, Waiting For Godot

Today is my birthday.

I was worried about how I would feel -- often I don't acknowledge my birthday (because I don't want to be reminded that time is a thing and the growing older as we go through it), but this is a significant birthday.

Long long ago, I wanted to be an actor. It was all I ever wanted to be, and I'm more convinced of that now than ever before.

So, why did I wait so long?

Written for stage designers, this beautiful little book, The Dramatic Imagination: Reflections and Speculations on the Art of the Theatre, is one of the first theater books I read. It is one of the great speculations and reflections on the Theater.

While “The Dramatic Imagination” won’t teach you how to design for the Theatre, it will teach you (or remind you) WHY you design for the Theatre -- you design to keep it alive. And while the copyright is c. 1940, the goal of the book for the Theatre Design and Performance Arts today is as it originally was – to create a theater for OUR time. The goal of this book will always be relevant – it will always be a guide.