A Brief Encounter with New York

Happy Holidays, everyone!
I'm home in sunny Southern Oregon for a couple of weeks, but I did spend one brilliant week of my winter vacation in New York City. I know. I should have been home memorizing The Misanthrope, reading a bunch of plays, and prepping for all the auditions I have scheduled, but who wants to do that when you can see Manhattan all decked out for the holidays? Little Italy, by the way is the most gorgeous Christmas scene I've ever seen.
The first show I saw was a new play called Michael & Edie by Rachel Bonds at The Access Theater. I went specifically to see my dear friend from undergrad, Jake Wilhelmi. It was a delightful way to start off my visit to the city, wrapped in Access' intimate space with the set made up of encroaching piles of books. The play was touching, and clever, and it hit a little close to home for me, being an audience member who has lost a sibling to suicide (an important exploration within the plot). I found it's dealing with this sensitive subject tactful but heartbreaking, and I was really happy to see a show that was not afraid to express the pain of depression in siblings far away.
Next it was off to Broadway!
One night on a whim I hopped on a train up to Times Square and got into Noël Coward's Brief Encounter! Having just played Elvira in Blithe Spirit the summer before, this show was really a joy. Having done that show, I was familiar with Noël Coward's whimsical style, though I admittedly have never seen the film Brief Encounter. The first number was "Any Little Fish" which is a favorite Noël Coward of mine, and it was such a joy to hear Gabriel Ebert and Dorothy Atkinson sing it. The best part of the show was their charming use of theatricality. Watching the actors create a boat on a lake, or the cherry tree blossoming above it, or the trains coming in and out of the station was such a delight.
The final show I had time (and dinero) to see was Time Stands Still. I have to say, I have dreamed of seeing this play many, many times after browsing Broadway.com. Starring Laura Linney, Brian d'Arcy, Eric Bogosian, and Christina Ricci, the play told a war photojournalist's (Laura Linney) story of readjusting (or at least attempting) to a stable world not torn apart by terror after surviving a car bomb overseas. I felt so engaged by this show. It was heartbreaking, and beautifully executed. I'll always have a very warm place in my heart for realism, and Time Stands Still left no detail unnoticed while still managing to be a little meta-theatrical and make fun of itself at times, but listen to me, I'm writing like a graduate student. The point is, I loved the show. It felt like a very real look into the destructive nature of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and it's affect of civilians involved in war, a change in perspective from the more popular affects on soldiers.
So I guess I didn't get to see A Christmas Carol, or The Nutcracker Suite this year, but I am pretty pleased with my large dose of play viewing this holiday. After so much time in Southern Ohio, this trip to the city is just what I needed. I <3 NY.
Happy New Year!

A Little Press on Holiday

Oops! Forgot to remember I have a blog!
I was interviewed for this article in The Post here in Athens!

Holiday

My goodness. I haven't written a blog in two and a half months. That's probably because after my lovely summer on the cape I went right back to Ohio to continue on to my second year of graduate in acting training, and I've been busy ever since. One of the things that has kept me so delightfully busy is playing Linda in Holiday here at OU. If you've never seen the old Carey Grant, Katharine Hepburn version, watch it! It's lovely! We're going into tech weekend tonight and will begin previews on Wednesday, opening night is Friday, November 3rd! Wish me luck!!

Cape Cod Journal 12: Much Ado About Nothing

So today is the day, or rather, tonight is the night. We are opening Much Ado About Nothing here at the Monomoy Theatre, and I am playing my first actual dream role. That's not to say that I haven't been exceedingly proud of a lot of other parts I've done, but that I have literally been dreaming of playing Beatrice since I was a very young teenager. I mean, she's Beatrice. What more can I say?
The show looks truly gorgeous. Set in 1945 in a post WWII Italy, our costumes are beautiful and we step out onto the stage to find a war ridden Italian town square. Green shutters on the implied buildings and the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea in the background.
I must confess that I am a little nervous to be playing such an iconic role, but I'm sure as soon as Benedick (Jonathan Silver) marches up in his army uniform, I will forget all about that and fall in love with him.

Cape Cod Journal 11

It's coming up quick!

Cape Cod Journal 10

We're working on Much Ado About Nothing right now! It's set in 1945 Italy and the town of Messina is welcoming the American troops back for a post war visit filled with love, betrayal, good wit, and good wine! Here are some photos we took today all in costume before the publicity shots were taken. They're of Marissa Wolf as Hero, Chris Young as Claudio, Jonathan Silver as Benedick and me as Beatrice!

Cape Cod Journal 09

So, sorry I haven't written for a little while, but things have been a little crazed around here. Primarily because we successfully launched Blithe Spirit which the producer here at the Monomoy Theatre aptly titled, Noël Coward's Hamlet.
We've been having such a fantastic time doing the show, despite how hectic it was getting it to fly (technical rehearsals until 2:00 a.m. and whatnot). The audiences seem to love us, and I am getting recognized around town as Elvira, the mischievous ghost.
As usual a couple of the local papers have written quick reviews on the show. It's always fun to see what they have to say.
The Barnstable Patriot
The Cape Cod Times
The days have also been a little nuts because for the last several days my family was here to see the show! My father came all the way out from Oregon, and my sister, Jennifer, who lives in Maine and her family (including their four small children) came. She brought the girls, Anne (8) and Sarah (6) to see the play, and they were just enthralled. She also had me give them a tour of the whole theater, and with how excited they were about the whole business, I think Jennifer had better watch out lest her little girls get swept up by show business like us poor souls.
During the day we're all working very hard putting together the second big musical of the summer, Once Upon a Mattress, which is most definitely the silliest comedy I've ever been involved with. It's absolutely ridiculous. We've all been here for several weeks now, and the demands of the theatre don't let up for an instant, so things from time to time get admittedly a little tense, but this particular play must simply be cheery no matter what, so it's kicking us up into high spirits every day.
Ah! Time for rehearsal! Bye!

Cape Cod Journal 08

A really nice review of The Dining Room, which sadly closed last night. Please check it out at The Barnstable Patriot.
Also some stills from Fiddler on the Roof.

Cape Cod Journal 07: The Dining Room

We've had two performances of The Dining Room so far, and will continue to play through the rest of the week. It's been lovely to see that the Monomoy crowd turns out for smaller shows just as much as they do for musicals. Being onstage with this piece has been a lovely experience so far. It is captivating in it's episodic nature, and the audience always seems to be right with us. I have to admit, I'll be very sad to see it close. I'm so proud of the all our accomplishments, and our director, Rich Cole, was an absolute joy to work with. We'll have to say goodbye to him soon as he's heading back to New York.
The reviews are around today, and I thought The Cape Cod Times captured the nature of the show quite nicely in theirs.
As true Monomoy Theatre fashion would have it, we had hardly begun dress rehearsals for The Dining Room before several of us were thrown into rehearsals of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit, in which I am playing Elvira, the blithe spirit of Blithe Spirit. I'm really having a grand time rehearsing this part. She's such a vibrant, deviant, wildly funny, and wildly dangerous little ghost.
Well, I'd best be off. We began the morning with a rather strenuous, but productive and fun Blithe Spirit rehearsal, and now it's on to both a matinee and an evening performance of The Dining Room!

Cape Cod Journal 06

Some fellow company members and me all geared up for the Chatham, MA 4th of July parade! Photo by Lily Ferguson!

Cape Cod Journal 05

Just a quick update on life on the Cape.
Fiddler on the Roof continues splendidly. We are down to only four more performances and are sold out for every one. As I've mentioned in the past, the Cape community is highly supportive and excited about our theatre. It's wonderful to go out on stage and be greeted with such enthusiasm.
So, Fiddler on the Roof closes on Saturday, we begin rehearsals for Blithe Spirit on Monday, and A.R. Gurney's The Dining Room directed by Rich Cole is opening on Tuesday (oh my gosh, that's coming up quick). There's truly no time to stop and breathe at this place. It's just go, go, go, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The Dining Room is looking to be a really smart show. First produced in the early 1980s, The Dining Room is a series of intertwining scenes brought to life by a cast of usually six actors, but in our case eight actors. The scenes serve to display the "dying culture" of the North Eastern American WASP as they chronicle moments in the lives of the well-to-do throughout time. Each of these snippets of life takes place in the dining room, of course, and create a sometimes hilarious, sometimes satirical, and sometimes heartbreaking portrait. It's really a fun project for an actor as we pop in and out of the play as so many different characters. Each of us, at some point, plays a child, and all the women, at some point, play maids. My fellow cast members and I are having a good time covering this expansive range of characters. I, for example, jump into one scene as a neglected 1950s housewife throwing a birthday party for her little girl, Winkie, while contemplating an affair with, little party guest, Billy's father, and leap into my next scene as an elderly extremely senile grandmother at Thanksgiving dinner. Fun.
So things are good.

Cape Cod Journal 04: Fiddler on the Roof

Oh my goodness!
I have died and gone to heaven! Let me tell you, Chatham, Massachusetts may just be the closest thing to heaven on earth. It is just the most lovely beach town ever, and all I do here is theatre, theatre, theatre all the time.
On Tuesday night we opened Fiddler on the Roof here at the Monomoy Theatre. I'm just playing a small role, but I am so excited. The Cape Cod community really enjoys coming out to see the plays and we've been greeted with full houses and big smiles every night so far. We've even gotten our first reviews of the summer from The Cape Cod Times and The Cape Cod Chronicle. They certainly seemed to enjoy the show, The Cape Cod Times said, "the folks at Monomoy Theatre have staged a powerhouse musical that will be hard to match in the months ahead."
As for me, the theatre opening for the summer feels magical. The place has suddenly become so lively. We're doing two shows today, and there will be plays almost every night all summer. Just magical. Sitting in the courtyard yesterday evening waiting for my next entrance listening to the music leaking out from the theatre, and the sounds of a delighted audience I was brought back to my evenings spent working as a stage hand for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's greenshow. I was only a teenager, but I was so in love with the way you could hear the trumpets blow, and the actors begin, and especially the audience laugh echoing out from the Elizabethan stage. I think, theatre, when at its best, is the force that brings a community together, and it does that here at Monomoy. Magic.
We've already begun rehearsals for The Dining Room which is being directed by New Yorker, Rich Cole, and opens on July 6th. More details to follow!

Cape Cod Journal 03

We made it! Chatham is beautiful! I love it! It's so small and so New England. Had lunch at The Squire Tavern then went to the beach where they don't allow dogs all summer. How upsetting. It's really gorgeous here though. The theatre is on Main St. Chatham and we are all boarding in the two very old little houses next to it. Bunk beds, and broken dressers. Total actor housing, but I'm happy with my light house printed curtains! We'll be working so hard I imagine it will be rare that we notice how crammed in we are. Rehearsal starts tonight after dinner! Fiddler on the Roof is first!

Cape Cod Journal 02

We've done it! Finished one whole year of our Masters in Fine Arts in acting program at Ohio University, and it was rough, to say the least, but certainly fun as well. So now it's time for a true test of heroism; The Monomoy Theatre in Chatham. My classmate Nicole Tuthill and I drove all day long, from Athens, Ohio all the way past Baltimore, past Philadelphia, past New York City, to Stamford, Connecticut where we are staying the night in a cheap hotel before leaving early tomorrow morning for the theatre we are spending the next three months living in, eating in, celebrating in, and acting in. Boy, do we have our work cut out for us. I think I mentioned before that my major roles are, of course, being an ensemble member in The Dining Room, but also being Elvira in Blithe Spirit and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. In fact, I'm in everything but The Lion in Winter and The Cherry Orchard. It's going to be an extremely full summer!
The rest of our classmates should be arriving at various times tomorrow. The eight graduate students with the addition of one senior from OU are making up the main acting company at Monomoy, but of course there will be several more artists coming in as professionals and students from other schools to work with us as well!
Nicole and I had a fantastic day, though, despite all the driving. We met this great waitress at a diner in the middle of nowhere Maryland who was so excited about us going to Monomoy. She even told me that she had played Elvira twenty years ago. Which may or may not be true, although as Nicole pointed out, she did seem pretty sincere about it.
More driving tomorrow! Night!

Just a Note: Othello at PICT

The drive from Athens, Ohio to Pittsburgh takes about three and a half hours, but considering that I was getting to see Othello staged for the first time, it was worth it. Not to mention, my acting coach, Shelley Delaney who is playing Emilia, and graduates of the OU MFA in Acting program, Georgia Mallory Guy and Allison McLemore who are doing Bianca and Desdemona.
So a few of my classmates and I braved the three hours happily, embarasingly belting show tunes and folk songs much of the way. Pittsburgh is a beautiful city, or at least it is on a bright May afternoon! To be honest, just getting out of Athens made for a delightful day trip.
It was so exciting to see this masterful work of The Bard. It's truly one of my favorites, and the jealousy, deceit, sex and murder was so fun to see on stage. Also, it made me really proud to see the great work coming out of my program. Georgia Mallory Guy who played Claire in the recent production of Proof I was in, was a lovely Bianca. She was so strong and responsive every moment she was onstage. Allison McLemore, who I don't know personally, also did a fantastic job. Her Desdemona was wonderfully traditional in wilting flower Desdemona fashion.
I had never seen a Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre (PICT) production before either, and I really loved their space. They're location is perfect, its right by University of Pittsburgh which gives the whole neighborhood a very college town feel. Lots of little restaurants, gardens, and statues of dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs.
We had dinner at a little Mediterranean place with Shelley and Georgia, and then grabbed some Caribou Coffee and headed back home to Athens. Successful day.

Cape Cod Journal 01

For those of you who haven't heard my summer vacation is not going to be a vacation at all. I'll be working hard with my fellow graduate students as part of the main acting company at The Monomoy Theatre on...drum roll...Cape Cod. And while we're still about five or six weeks away from heading out there to begin our long, hot summer, we received our roles and scripts yesterday, and I thought I would just let you know what all I will be playing: The summer will begin with Fiddler on the Roof (June 22-July3), I'm just a villager in that and very happy about it; next is The Dining Room (July 6-10), this play is made up of an ensemble of several actors of which I am one; while some of the company will be working on The Lion in Winter (July 13-17), I'll move right into playing Elvira in Blithe Spirit (July 20-24); follow that with Lady Rowena in Once Upon a Mattress (July 29-August 7); and then immediately onto the role I'm most excited about, my very first Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (August 10-14); and finally after other members in the company finish The Cherry Orchard (August 17-21), I will conclude my summer playing Gloria in Three Men on a Horse (August 24-28).
There is much work to be done before I hit the Cape, but you can rest assured that I will blog about my adventures out there every step of the way so I hope you tune in! Oh my gosh, I get to play Beatrice! I'm absolutely thrilled!

Heather Does not Go to the Theatre

I feel already that the title of this post is misleading as every day I do go to the theatre. In fact, I tend to spend all day long at the theatre. The lengthy list of things to do never seems to end; acting class, voice class, movement class, seminar, teach acting, rehearsal for Olympic Village, see a show, read a show, discuss a show, it never ends. So this morning, as I have nothing theatre oriented to do until 4:30, I just took off. It's a beautiful sunny day, and I just drove off in my old pickup truck into rural Ohio. Out past where my cellphone worked, past Stroud's Run, to a tiny, tiny town called Amesville, Ohio that is quite literally nothing but a church, a bank, and a pizzeria. I stopped there, on the fringe of Amesville and hiked my way up a country road. There were butterflies aplenty, the sounds of woodpeckers in the trees, Redwing Blackbirds flitting in and out of the grass stopping only when hawks would pass, and a pair of haggard looking nags lazily grazing by a pond. Rest assured that while I miss Oregon, and I can't wait to get to New York City, the beauty of this middle-American state is not lost on me.

In Memory of My Life Pre-Graduate School

I bought a VOGUE Magazine today. It's an old habit of mine that I haven't indulged in for a while. I simply haven't had time between acting classes, student films, plays, auditions and readings to concern myself with the frivolities Coco and Oscar can offer, but today, today I bought a March VOGUE. While I'm sure I'll very much enjoy the photography, the clothes, the interior design, and whatnot, a stipulation for my purchasing it was that it contained a theater section this month. I can't even look at a fluff magazine without concerning myself with the stage these days.
After an alarmingly difficult second quarter of graduate school, I am taking a few days to myself, spending my time reflecting on my studies, imagining my life and career as an actor, and preparing myself for the challenges ahead. Upon returning to school I will be auditioning for roles at the summer stock on Cape Cod where several of my classmates and I will be acting (I'm very excited to be living and working on the cape this summer). I am also readying myself to play a key role in Olympic Village a new play by David Mitchell Robinson, a third year playwright at Ohio University who's play Carapace won the 2010 Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. Olympic Village will be part of Ohio University's annual spring playwright's festival.
So it's been nearly seven months of constantly eating and breathing acting, taking small breaks to consume organic produce from Athen's ample year round farmer's market, and I cannot say I'm unhappy. Even the days I feel totally overwhelmed, I still am happy to be where I am, learning as much as I am. Of course, someday I look forward to buying a fashion magazine without checking for a theater section.

Show Stills from Proof

This is the Week

Hey y'all,
(I felt the need to begin this post the way my Texan of a director begins her notes at the end of a run).
Just a quick note to let you know that this is the week! This Friday my first full production as an acting graduate student is opening. I am playing Catherine in Proof. We have a very strong cast and production team, and I am so excited to share our hard work with all of you!
I am constantly amazed by the fantastic work that is produced here at Ohio University. This past weekend I saw the first full production of the award winning Carapace written by our very own David Mitchell Robinson. It was an extremely captivating and moving piece. A big congratulations from me to the cast and crew!

Slogging

Slog, Slogged, Slog-ging, Slogs -verb- 1. To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod, 2. To work diligently for long hours
This is one of my favorite words in David Auburn's Proof, which I am currently working on at Ohio University in an all graduate student cast. I play Catherine.
I think it's my favorite word because I have the opportunity to use it so often in my real life these days. It's the second term of my three year Masters in Fine Arts acting program, and I am slogging. It's not that graduate school is terrible, it's simply that it is forcing me to work on some of my most difficult and reoccurring acting problems. Which is easier said than done. In case any of you are under the impression and unfortunately common misconception that acting is easy, you're wrong. Acting is, in fact, incredibly hard.
I am, however, trying not to be discouraged, and I repeat my personal mottos to myself all day.
1. Failing is good. If we do not fail, we do not grow. We must fail, and fail harder.
2. I went to graduate school to become a better actor, and although attempting to let go of my bad habits is frustrating, it is worth it.
3. I must remember to give my all in my work here, and if I continue to do that I will ultimately succeed.
In other words, I'll be fine.
Proof is going quite well. Catherine is an extremely challenging character and I am doing my best to manage her. As a cast we are doing very well. Only half way through our rehearsal process, we have worked all the way through doing a second round of scene work through Act I, and we find ourselves in a place of great exploration, curiosity, and promise. I am pleased.
Add that to all the class work, and of course the fun things like Friday night madnesses and you have quite a party!
Speaking of Friday night madnesses, this photograph was taken by Andy Black last Friday before the show. The man in it is Scot West, a talented third year MFA student who co-stared in Andy's short piece with me.

Back

After such a long stretch in Oregon over the holidays, getting back to being a graduate student in Athens, Ohio, is a little shocking. Suddenly my world has gotten a lot smaller (this town is tiny), and my life has gotten a lot busier. Yesterday, for example, was not only my first day of classes (acting class included), but I also did a play reading and went to my first rehearsal for Proof. I'll be playing Catherine in February in an all graduate student cast. A very talented all graduate student cast I might add. We're also working with a very enthusiastic graduate student director. I'll certainly be working to keep up with my colleagues on this one. Everyone is really passionate about the project, though. We just began last night with a read-through and some table work, but the conversations that are happening about the play are already really interesting and exciting.