CAMINO Rehearsals Begin

As I stated in my last post, I will be acting in an upcoming show which will premiere in mid-September.  The play is called CAMINO and its been written and developed over a few years by writer/director Anya Martin.  She and co-founder and designer Michelle Carello have formed the company The Hiawatha Project to develop shows that explore specific social questions through myth and movement.

Here's the brief show description:

Set within the context of an imagined near future, we follow the journeys of two seemingly unrelated couples:one immigrant couple fighting to reunite despite jails, red tape, and oppression, and one American couple struggling to break through personal and digital boundaries, both seen and unseen.

CAMINO is inspired by true stories of the immigrant detention centers in Arizona.  If you have never heard of the private and government partnerships where law is dictated by the flow of money, then check out this NPR article.  The play also deals with civil rights, where all U.S. citizens can be tracked by GPS and people can be ground up and spit out by a bureaucratic machine.  Some scenes of the play are positively Orwellian, in fact.

I'll be playing a character who works for this large corporation and "watches" the action via satellite images and security cameras.  I also play a guard in the prison and a translator.  For the latter, I'm learning some French. 

It is an honor to be part of this show with such a talented cast and crew and I'm looking forward to the rehearsal process.  I'll post as often as I can about my discoveries in the next few weeks.

For more information about the Hiawatha Project, click here, and for more information about the issues that CAMINO is dealing with, click here.

Black Kerchief Coming Soon!

Hey kids,

Check out the trailer to the short film "Black Kerchief", coming out soon!  This is my one-eyed cowboy movie!

Shine on, you crazy...ghost

It's hard to believe that it was only two weeks ago I was sitting at a table for the first read-thru of Conor Mcpherson's play SHINING CITY with director John Shepard and the phenomenal actors Karen Baum, FJ Hartland and James Masciovecchio. 

And even harder to believe that in just over a week, on May 6th, our show will open at Off the Wall Theater in Washington, PA. (Hint, hint...get your tickets now, hint hint).

We had a run-through last night and are just about to head into tech.  Usually that period fills me with a little bit of panic, but not this time.  We're in good shape and even though this play is complex and nuanced, we're mining deep into the emotional crevices and digging out some dramatic gold.

That's the poetic way of saying...we're working our asses off.

It's amazing to me how much I learn about playwriting from acting in a show.  This is true of all my roles--whether I'm directing, acting, teaching, writing--everything seems to feed and illuminate aspects of the other.  There's no better way to analyze a script, to examine the characters and story then being in rehearsals, learning lines, getting it up on its feet, and seeing how the play works on a stage. 

To be honest, when I first read the play for auditions months ago, I was unimpressed. The play didn't read that well to me.  A lot of great plays don't, though.  Shakespeare and Chekhov certainly don't "read" well.  They're meant to be worked on and heard and acted out. 

Now that I've lived with this play for these past weeks, I admire McPherson for his use of language, among other things.  The text in this play has so many levels, emotionally and intellectually, and the rhythms of the dialogue and the specificity of character and story is brilliant.  As an actor, a lot of my job is done for me by the playwright just from the given circumstances and the lines--just play your character's needs and hang on.  Not that this is easy--his given circumstances and what happens in the play are not a walk in the park (well, one of them is a walk in the park at night, if you know what that means, and if you don't, then come see the show to find out.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is...this play is illusive in that there's so much more going on than you think at first glance (like Chekhov or Pinter or Beckett). 

It's the kind of spare writing we all aspire to, or should anyway.

Oh, and McPherson knows to give you a good ending that will leave you talking about it on the way home.

Being choosy with your projects

The past few weeks I got off track on keeping the blog posts up to date.  This is due to a convergence of jobs and projects suddenly arising (like a Perfect Storm!). 

I just started a new job in external relations in the School of Drama at a prestigious private university, an opportunity that was just too exciting to pass up.  At the same time, I was invited to a wonderfully supportive and fun playwriting group that meets every few weeks.  I’m still also working as a teaching artist for an after-school program.  This weekend, I’ll be acting as a deranged cowboy for a short film that’s shooting on Sunday and a few days in April.  Right after that, I’ll be acting as Ian in Off the Wall Theater’s production of Conor McPherson’s Shining City.

Phew.

There are, of course, other auditions on top of that, as well as my own personal writing projects (which, sadly, I have been neglecting). One of those projects may be a public reading in June (more on that later).  Even maintaining this blog is a project that takes time and energy.

All of this is exciting and I’ve met a lot of talented folks, but now I’m at the point of overload.  There’s only so much time in the day and now I need to be more careful of what projects I devote my energy to.

So how do you choose what projects to work on?  There are some key factors to consider.

Is the project awesome?  

I don’t mean “awesome” in the blasé sense, but the accurate definition of the word.  Is it a project you would kill for, something you’ve waited to do all your life, something you would work on for years and years and never get tired of it.  For instance, I’ve been working on this robot project for months and I’m still reading books and interested in the ideas and fascinated by what’s out there.  Every time I think about the project, I’m energized.  That’s the kind of work you should look for.

Are you the best person for this project? 

Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is this really the best fit for me?  Do you have the right skills, background and personality for the project? Some projects are a no-brainer. If you’re in doubt, it probably isn’t a project that’s right for you.  Recognizing that early on will save you headaches down the line. 

Who do you get to work with?  

Are they amazing and talented people?  Are they collaborators that you’ve worked with before and or new artists that you would kill to get to know?  You have to love the people you work with—life is too short and the pay is not enough to tolerate jerks or fools.

Does the project pay? 

In general, theater is not a money-making endeavor, but there are paying gigs out there of various levels.  Sometimes it’s a factor and sometimes not, but it can make a difference.  I probably wouldn’t pursue writing the book for a Broadway musical but if Julie Taymor asked me to and Disney fronted the money, I don’t know that I could turn down the production of “Iron Man: The Musical”*.  Well, on second thought…

(*As far as I know, there are no plans for this project, but I could be wrong.  Let’s hope I’m not.)

How much time and energy will this project take up? 

If you have too much on your plate, then logistically, you may not be able to do it.  Sometimes you have to turn projects down because you are “too busy”.  Or you have to let go of another project to make room for it.  This is where time management and knowing your limits comes into play.

Is it something you’ve never done before? 

Will it stretch you creatively? Bring you out of your comfort zone? I stay passionate and interested in projects that force me to learn or be on my toes—that’s the kind of work I want to be involved with.  If it’s a project that is really everyday, then why am I doing it (unless it pays really well, see above).

There are of course, other smaller factors to consider, as well, and your priorities for taking a project will depend on your own unique goals and where you are in your life.  Either way, you should always think about how your project should add value to your life (ie whether its worth it or not).

Looking for help with auditions?

Recently I have thrust myself out into the world as an actor, after focusing on writing/directing and teaching.

(And yes, that is my old headshot, new ones to be shot soon...)

I love acting, but I’ll be honest, I hate looking for a job.

This creates a problem since most of your time as an actor is spent looking for a job, which involves a lot of auditioning.

 I've never enjoyed auditioning and I'm not alone.

I love being in a rehearsal room, love analyzing and working on text, love working on stage with other actors, or being inspired by an amazing play or a ingenious director.  Auditioning, though, is its own unique beast.  Some actors audition well yet don't work well in rehearsals.  Some actors don't audition well but can be amazing actors.  Of course, the ideal is to be great at both.

What's interesting about my return to acting is that I am now in an entirely different age bracket for casting then when I first moved to NYC.  I’m finally old enough to play some of the parts I tried to work on in college and struggled with for lack of age and experience.

Trouble is, all my old monologues for auditioning won’t work anymore. So, I am off hunting through my library (and the public library), scouring for the perfect monologue to sell my acting talent.

Acting is a lot of waiting to be cast. Much is out of your control, which can be infuriating. There is one thing that you can control and control well; the power of your audition. You can work on your monologues, your songs, and craft two minutes of greatness on your own. Indeed, you should.

The great thing is, you can get help. All I can say is, thank goodness for people like Bradetta Vines and her blog.

Who is Bradetta Vines? She is an amazingly talented actress and teacher who has just launched a blog for all you aspiring actors and actresses who may be daunted by the task of auditioning. If you are looking for some help on putting your book together or how to find a monologue, I suggest you check out her blog and get some tips from a seasoned actress, a wonderful teacher and all-around great lady.

And I’m not just saying that because I saw her hilarious rendition of the “Miss Piggy” monologue from my play GREEN-EYED MONSTER.

(Which is published in Audition Arsenal for Women in Their 30s...hint, hint...go buy it now...hint, hint)

Some people think that acting and directing is solely an interpretive art (unlike playwriting). I disagree. Actors need to fill a void, too.  That void exists in the blank space between and underneath the words/text.  Mostly this is interpretive, but it doesn’t have to be. Putting together an audition piece is your chance to make two minutes of theater and though there are some guidelines, the choice of material and the choice of performance is solely up to you.

So go forth and make art, you bold actors and actresses!