I just wrapped playing "Martha" in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf for Susan Aston's acting class. What a RIDE! Greg Connelly, who plays the Osborn butler in The Amazing Spider Man 2 was my George, and it was a delight peeling back the layers of this combustible couple.
In the midst of this, I've been writing and developing a show with my friend, Wayne Henry. We met a few years ago when we were cast in the Off Broadway revival of the 1940's comedy, Johnny on a Spot. While our characters never had a scene together, we just clicked and said, "Let's make something happen!"
He then brought me onto JAWS the Musical, a mini musical he wrote and composed. It was fabulous fun, running 35 minutes.
While he's been fleshing JAWS out, he wanted to write a show around an improv character he created a few years ago named Petunia Lee Swanson.
And so Petunia's Coffee House was born! It's a lesbian love story about a couple trying to open a Bohemian coffee spot in NY. I play Petunia's ex-girlfriend, Darlene, aka DAR, and it's been a blast to develop this wild, dark woman who doesn't care about anything but getting what SHE wants. WHAT FUN!
Most of our initial rehearsals were improvised, but we've been writing as well, and it's been fascinating to feel the piece taking shape. I wonder if Christopher Guest works this way, taking a bunch of improvised larger-than-life characters, marrying them together through story, song, and edits, and then unfolding... something fun. :)
It's been an interesting way to work, and I'm enjoying every step of the way! We "open" Petunia's Coffee House in July as a workshop-in-progress. It'll be interesting to see if people want to go along for the ride! I hope so! :)
