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!