Portraits of Artists

"To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to recreate life out of life!"

~ James Joyce

I love in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway how John Cusack's struggling writer keeps going back to the question, "Do you love the art in the man or the man in the artist?"

That sense of integrity was never clearer than in Paul Newman's works as an actor and humanitarian. He and his wife Joanne Woodward always made me think of me and my longtime sweetheart, especially with the sentiment, "I have steak at home. Why go out for hamburger?"

Paul Newman will certainly be missed. His work lives on.

It makes me appreciate the people around me. I have been so fortunate to be surrounded by such wonderful people who happen to be artists. :) And the internet makes it that much easier to connect with folks from all over the world. That never ceases to amaze me!

My childhood friend, Kara Herold, who is taking the documentary film to a whole new level, will be showing her piece, Bachelorette 34 at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I can't wait til she brings this film from San Fran to the Big Apple. Rock on, Kara!The Herb Sisters, Tina and Maryanne, are in the midst of a wholesale fair in PA - kind of like the major wholesale events that are held at the Javitz Center, but this is in Lebanon, PA. The Sisters are showcasing their incredible soapworks. I am so proud of them!

And this week is the closing week for Johnny On A Spot. Gosh, I'm gonna miss that crew! It has been so magical to do this show, to be growing as an actor, listening to my fellow actors and going with the ebb and flow of the audience's responses. Whether it's laughter or a gasp - one audience member even said, "Uh oh" when my feisty character is told "no" - everyone has responded to it very strongly.

(Pictured with Carter Roy)

One of the things I've loved about this show is the length of the run - 5 weeks! Some Broadway shows don't even last that long! But The Peccadillo Theatre Company has really given us the chance to spread our wings. It's been lovely!

The Pleasures of PA

I woke up this morning to my favorite classical radio station, WQXR and heard an ad for visitPA.com. That made me smile because Pennsylvania is truly one of my favorite places to be!

I grew up in the desert between Los Angeles and San Diego, so when I was hired for the Shakespeare troupe for the PA Renaissance Faire, I had no idea I'd be going into a world so lush and green! It was so very different from my little tumbleweed town of Hemet, CA, but I immediately fell in love, not only with the place but with the people.

I met my fiance, Rob, at the PA Ren Faire. He was cast the comic villain, Cardinal Synne (the handsome fellow center in the pic above), and we performed in many of the stage shows, not to mention the interactive "street work" (think improvisational Shakespeare). I also met my soul sister, Tina (tada girl on the left), who was working with her sister, Maryanne (far right) at the Faire's herb shoppe. These two wild women were quickly dubbed The Twisted Sisters because of their hysterical sense of humors.

We all left the Faire after a few seasons. Rob and I moved to NY, and the Sisters started their own businesses, evolving into The Sibling Group.

I recently got to visit Tina in her woodsy paradise, and it was such a thrill to see her at work. I'm a big fan of her magazine, The Essential Herbal, and it was so cool to be right where it all happens!

Tina was showing me around, taking time to literally stop and smell the roses and caress the leaves. She even did some quick harvesting of some St. Basil on the fly.Maryanne lives right down the road from Tina, and I got to see where she makes her incredible handmade jewelry for her Torchsong Studio.The jewelry is really exceptional and each piece is unique. I HAD to get a bracelet and came home with a piece that looks like her "Blue Nebula."
It was such an immense pleasure to be around the Sisters, laughing and talking about all sorts of stuff, from old times to world events. These gals are such incredibly BIG small business owners and their works are treasures indeed!

A Period Piece

I'm in week 3 of performances for Johnny on a Spot Off Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clement's and this is such a neat time because everyone has started to let loose and play. When a show is "going up," starting previews and those first few performances, there is so much everyone onstage is thinking about: lines, movement, costume changes, getting a feel for the audience. And in a physical comedy like this one, all manner of things can happen! The stage gets wet in Act 2 and that leads to some interesting foot work! I try to jump over a desk to start a catfight with the hero's secretary, and the other night I almost fell! Thank the gods for Mark Manley (the mustached fellow in the picture), who plays my uncle. He has a ton of dance training and I immediately felt his hands grab my waist, supporting me in a dancer's lift. What a man!

That's the cool thing with this cast: There are 16 of us and we utterly support each other! Every night I give Kevin Kolack a giant hug after he carries me offstage in Act 2, slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes! Kevin was a firefighter in Indiana for about 10 years and here he is in NY, making films and working onstage, making his dreams come true just like we all are! It is so wonderful to be part of this community!(left to right: Robert O'Gorman, Carter Roy, Christian Rummel, Michael Lopez, Mark Manley, and me)

There are moments backstage when I wish I had a camera. It is so incredible to be performing this period piece from 1942 in an establishment that was probably around during that time! Brick walls surround us, emphasized for Joe Spirito's gorgeous set design, and as I look at us all in our costumes, the guys in hats and 3 piece suits, the girls in the stylish frocks, I can't help but marvel at the magic of theatre and the opportunity we all have to be transported!

I've noticed so many smiling faces in the audience when we take our bows and I want to say thanks to each and everyone who has taken this ride with us and have expressed their joy. Boogie woogie on! :)

A giant leap!

There's a story my Dad passed onto me, and where he heard it from, I can't recall, but it's a good one and I have to share it with you:

There's a frog who's hopping along and falls down a hole. He ribbets and calls out to other frogs who come to look down at him. They shout at him, but he can't hear what they're saying, so he takes it as encouragement and starts hopping, aiming to jump out of the hole. The other frogs get more and more emphatic with each jump he attempts, and it spurs the little frog to keep leaping towards his goal until he finally bounds out into the open.

When he gets to the top, the other frogs say to him, "We can't believe you did it. We kept telling you to stop!"

"Stop?" the little frog says. "I thought you were telling me to HOP... to keep trying... so I did!"

And I love this story, because it teaches that we are the power in our world. We can leap beyond all limitations! We just have to keep trying and look beyond 'em. :)

In my life, I'm actually blessed with an abundance of cheerleaders, and I am so thankful for the ease of communication that makes this possible. Whether it's daily phone calls from my sweetheart, Rob, as either of us bounce about Manhattan, or weekly talks with my little bro, Sean (imaging him in the bright sunshine of CA), or daily IM's with Tina, thinking of her in the wild woods of PA, or IMing with my Big Apple soul-sibling, Carl, I am so grateful for this loving community. Rock on, y'all! :) Much love and many blessings! :)

We're all taking steps every day that will lead to leaps and bounds.

Art and life - 100 years in the making

It was 1920 when women were given the right to vote, though it was 1848 when votes for women were first seriously proposed in the U.S. Can you believe it took over 70 years before this was finally legalized?

As a young woman, I wish I'd been more conscious of this fight. I can't believe it's not taught in schools! It took the HBO film Iron Jawed Angels to make me realize what the women of this country went through to get the right to vote and that their protests of picketing the White House and staging marches and demonstrations were considered "radical." I pay tribute to these fighting spirits and to all people who work for a better present and future.

Funny Food for Thought

A few years ago my coach, VP Boyle, told me to dive into comedy and watch everything I could on this art form since I seemed to have a knack for it. This came as somewhat a surprise because I'd come from a strong dramatic background, having played everything from Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker to Agnes of God. But I also played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors and Gooch in MAME, so the fire was always there.

Now I feel like a comedy archeologist! Delighting in that great freedom of spirit, that fearless sense of "going for it," the bouyancy, the timing and quick-thinking, enjoying the work that has been coming my way.

The last show I did, Kaboom, was a fast-paced physical farce, and it was so cool to talk with my director, BT McNicholl, about some of the founding fathers of physical comedy like Buster Keaton and The Marx Brothers. Can you just imagine them signing the Declaration of Indepence?

Now I'm in the midst of Johnny On a Spot Off Broadway, which crackles with that 1940's fire. And I'm keeping my eyes open, devouring everything I can, enjoying the music of comedy.

I saw the 1939 film, The Women last night on the Turner Classic Movie channel and was amazed at the diversity of the piece. From Rosalind Russell's His Girl Friday firecracker delivery to Paulette Goddard's winking bad girl who aids Norma Shearer's heart-breaking phoenix.... what great stuff!

And of course I'm watching Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, these ground-breakingly gifted comediennes. Their recent Palin/Clinton parody on Saturday Night Live was brilliant!

Endless food for thought!

Shining City

A few years before 9/11, I remember driving into Manhattan with my sweetheart, Rob, and there was this perfect moment where the afternoon sun simply glinted off the city, making it look golden. The view from NJ was particularly spectacular, and I felt like that moment summed up what Manhattan was to me: the golden city where dreams come true.

I thought I had captured that moment on film, but I can't seem to find the photo, so here's one at sunrise by Joel Altschuler:
9/11 was a horrible day. I could see the smoke from midtown while firetrucks zoomed downtown, none of us ever dreaming the towers would fall. I remember that day with such horror and despair, but there was also an intense "coming together" of the people. We all did what we could to help each other through, and I must pay tribute to the brave men and women who lost so much in that disaster. May we never forget. And may healing and harmony emanate throughout.

Opening Night!!!

Mel Brooks has forever taken over that sentiment for me, because I can't help but think of the song in The Producers whenever I think of the term "Opening Night!" It's a great song and totally captures the excitement and anticipation of opening a show.

We opened Johnny On A Spot last night Off Broadway at the Theatre at St. Clements, and we were blessed with such a lovely audience! Lots of laughs and wonderful warmth! I even got some "exit applause" on 2 of my big exits. Gosh, that was cool! I had had the same experience in Kaboom - where the audience gave me kudos after my first scene - and it's just such a gift! Talk about generous spirits!

After the show, we went to Cascina for the cast party. It's a beautiful Italian restaurant on 9th Avenue. What a blast! I'm still on Cloud 9! And of course the cameras came out! Here's a pic of me, our director Dan Wackerman, and my co-star Ellen Zolezzi:

And my best guy friends, Michael Kane and Carl Einbeck, came to share in the jubilation: It was such a joyous night and it was lovely to share it with the cast and crew and Peccadillo supporters.

As I marvel at my journey, I look to other artists in the field who are making also their dreams come true and I salute you all! 2 artists in particular have caught me eye because of their tenacious spirits: Jill Santoriello (composer, lyricist and book writer of the new Broadway musical, A Tale of Two Cities) and Susan Blackwell of [title of show]. Reading their stories on Broadway.com helps to fuel the fire of making my own dreams come true!

YES, WE CAN!!! :)

The cast and crew of "Johnny on a Spot"

We had our last preview for Johnny On A Spot yesterday, which has given us time for some good growth. Thank the gods for previews because hopefully that lets the audience know it's still a work in progress. With remnants of the hurricane blowing into Manhattan, our Saturday night show was surrounded by buckets of rain, but we still had an audience. God bless 'em! And I'm always reminded of that Bill Murray line from the film Tootsie where he says he wants an audience "who just came out of the worst rainstorm in this city's history. These are people who are alive on the planet until they dry off. " And that was our lovely group. :)

It is so cool when you can feel a show coming together! Everything from the set to the costumes to the pacing and acting... it is definitely a group effort! And this cast and crew have certainly been working hard to make it happen!

It's a large cast - there are 16 of us! - and everyone is a pro!

There's Margery Beddow, who plays the town's madame, Pearl, and she is a hoot! She also has a ton of incredible stories to boot! She came to the city as a ballerina and ended up working with Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon whom she understudied in RedHead and who taught her all of Lola's pieces from Damn Yankees.

Margery also worked with Mark Manley, who plays my Uncle Willie, and she also worked with our lovely costume designer, Gail Copper-Hecht, who was a performer prior to turning her creativity to costuming. Gail played Gloria Upson on tour in the non-muiscal version of Auntie Mame and then Sally Kato in the musical, MAME. She can still do Gloria's "I can't tell you how pleased I am to make your acquaintance" speech which is hilarious!

Ellen Zolezzi plays the "gal Friday" role and definitely brings a lot of spirit to the show! She's pictured above with Robert O'Gorman, Dale Carman, Mark Manley, Jerry Coyle, Carter Roy, driector Dan Wackerman, Marc Ginsberg and Kevin Kolack. Kevin was a fireman for 10 years in his home state of Indiana and he hoists me over his shoulder in Act 3 with ease and grace. He is a super trooper. :)
Backstage with the boys: Marc Ginsberg, Michael Lopez, Dale Carman, Kevin Kolack, and Louis Sacco (who also plays the voice of Johnny).

Michael Lopez (pictured above with Mark Manley) plays our cautious Chief of Police and a very funny salesman from VT. He and I were both doing the Fringe Fest while in the midst of rehearsals for Johnny.

Our cast is rounded out beautifully by Bergin Michaels, Christian Rummel (above center), Wayne Henry (above left), hilarious as an Italian bodyguard who is more buffoon than bodyguard, and the marvelous Raymond Thorne.

Kudos to our incredible sceneic designer, Joseph Spirito, who worked night and day on the set with his lovely wife. Also hats off to lighting designer, Jeffrey E. Salzberg, and our awesome stage managers, Scott Earley (also in charge of sound design) and Liza Baron (pictured below).We have a special performance tonight for subscribers then we run Sept. 11-Oct. 4th. Thurs. - Saturday nights at 8 PM, Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets are $20, which is pretty affordable considering how movie tickets are over $10: https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/2772

Come get a taste of old-fashioned 1940's style and comedy! :)

Johnny On A Spot - In Previews

I can't help beaming: Johnny On A Spot has started previews off Broadway while Equus with Daniel Radcliffe (brilliant in the Harry Potter films) has started previews on Broadway. I actually walked by the Broadhurst Theatre this week on the way to the Theatre at St. Clement's, and it all just made me feel... energized. Times Square can often be a challenge to get through, but lately I feel like I have magic slippers on that allow me to move along The Great White Way with ease. It is an absolute delight!

Inspiring Presences

As I've been zooming around lately, making my dreams come true by donig a great deal of work in the theatre, I must tip my hat to some of the wonderful people who help me make this all possible:

My fiance, Rob, has been on this life ride with me for many moons. We met at the PA Renaissance Faire when we were both cast in the Shakespearean acting troupe, and he immediately caught my attention with his wicked sense of humor. To quote Jessica Rabbit, "He makes me laugh," and that humor has been a huge asset in life as well as art. Though he left the biz years ago to go into graphic design, his understanding of the "music of comedy" has been a great help to me since that's where I've been getting most of my acting work lately, so I must give kudos to my great love who is also my comedy coach. :)

My friend, Tina (pictured with her daughter Molly), whom I also met during my time at the Ren Faire, lives in PA, and we chat everyday on IM, providing much needed "visits." My day just isn't the same if I don't see her online. She's the one who got me blogging in the first place! And she's always an inspiration to me, having created her own business, The Essential Herbal, working to make this world a better place not only by doing work she loves to do, but by going "green" before it was trendy to do so, respecting nature's bounty. Congrats, Tina, on your 7th year of success!

There are also a ton of people who have shaped me through my life: my 8th grade English teacher, Marcia Cloyd, who always believed in me and still keeps in touch with me via email. Gotta love the internet! My friend, Lisa Terrell, from high school, who is an ICU nurse and forever inspires me with her bravery in life and in the ER. My NY friends, Carl and Michael and Ataman, who are just too dear for words! My own brother, Sean, who is an incredible musican (drummer/guitarist/songwriter for SMUG and drummer for Hippie Cream). He always reminds me that art is persepective: all we can do is our best as we put our art out there. My sister-in-law, Lani, who is an incredible working mom and endless fount of love and passion. And my own parents who always made sure to cultivate my artistic energy with dance/gymnastics/voice lessons and came to just about every show I did in CA. They've also made a few guest appearances here in the Big Apple. Hoping they'll be able to catch Johnny On A Spot.

Speaking of which, almost every cast and crew I've worked with have become a 2nd family in the midst of production and rehearsals. That's the amazing thing about theatre and the arts - there's a great sense of bringing people together. It truly is a community!

Much love to all of you "inspiring presences." :)

Everyone has a story

As I watched the Democratic Convention last week, I was happy to get a glimpse of Barack Obama's life story. Like many people, I didn't know much about him, though that didn't deter me from being absolutely blown away by some of his speeches early on in his campaign. In fact, I had originally been a Hillary supporter, but after I saw Obama speak, I knew this was the person who could truly be an amazing Commander and Chief. Every time someone threw some garbage his way, he handled it with great poise and calm, and I believe that's what this country needs in a leader.

Watching his story and watching history take place, made me think about my own stories and the people who brought me into this world (like my Dad and grandparents pictured left). My Mom had done some genealogy research when I was a teen, and she made a huge family tree, tracing our roots back to the Goddard and Daniel families of the 1600s! The Goddards were mostly from England and the Daniel family was actually the Scottish Daniell. Both families came to America and men from both sides ended up marrying Cherokee women. The families settled in the middle of the country, but moved west in the 40s.

The current play I'm working on makes me think so much of my family, because it takes place in the 40s, which my grandparents and great-aunts and uncles always had such great stories about. I have a feeling they'd enjoy Johnny On A Spot, which has some delicious history itself in that it opened on Broadway right before America became involved in World War Two, so it didn't get a chance to play long. In fact, this production is the first Off Broadway production to happen since then!

It was written by Charles MacArthur who wrote a ton of plays including Twentieth Century and The Front Page which became a film of its own title and was later remade as His Girl Friday with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant. Johnny On A Spot crackles with that same fast-paced wit and has a huge cast of characters! There are 3 women and 13 men! Isn't that wild? Usually it's the other way around, and I appreciate that Mr. MacArthur lets the ladies take the limelight.

I play Barbara Webster, a feisty little southern belle who I'm sure modeled herself after Scarlett O'Hara! She is an absolute whirlwind of a character who comes onstage and simply stirs up trouble. And I have to laugh, because as a kid, I used to watch Gone With the Wind whenever it came on TV, and I just loved it! I think my parents had even taken me to an actual theatrical showing of the film where it played with an intermission. And what little girl didn't want to be either Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz or Vivien Leigh in Gone With the Wind? Well, I have to simply marvel because I've gotten to play both these character types this year when I sang as Judy Garland in Hell's Belles and now as Miss Barbara Webster in Johnny On a Spot.

So Johnny opens this week for previews! Wowza! And it's my first lengthy run Off Broadway (5 weeks), so it's really a time for celebration! Yahoo!

Last Dance

Yesterday was the final Fringe show for Kaboom, and it was a blast! So many friends and family filled the audience, and there's always something especially cool about the audience for a final show. It's almost like everyone's there to see what "parting gift" they might get in the way of an inside joke or a magical mistake or some last minute zaniness from the actors on stage.

Well, we had such a moment in Act One when a sound cue was missed. Our tech folks were in a tiny brick "booth" off stage right with no visibility except for a teeny little monitor, so its no wonder! But it happened on my cue of knocking on an invisible door, so I just said, "Knock, knock, knock," and the audience erupted in laughter! So we went right along with it and had a laugh ourselves, enjoying that connection with the crowd and the magic of live theatre.

It all went too fast really. With only a few weeks of rehearsal and 5 performances spread out over 2 weeks, by the final show, we all felt like we were just getting in the groove!

My stage partner, John DiDomenico (pictured with his wife at the cast party), reminded me that if we were on Broadway, it would've been only our 5th performance of the week! And Ray Wills followed this up with the fact that we still would've been in tech rehearsals if we were on Broadway. But it's all good! That's what's so interesting about Fringe festivals. You have a super short amount of time to rehearse and perform, so you just throw yourself into it and do your best.

I had read somewhere that Christopher Plummer comes to his first rehearsal with the script already memorized, and while that's not quite possible with a show that's a work-in-progress, I can see why he does it. That way he can savor absolutely every moment of the ride, of discovering the evolution of the characters and their journey.

Kaboom was a blast! I would do it again in a heartbeat!

When the show was over, we went to Daddy-O's in the Village to celebrate. Got lots of cool pics. Hope you dig em!

The cast and crew give kudos to our writer, Michael Small.

Michael Small and his lovely wife, Cindy (right).

Our director BT McNicholl with John DiDomenico outside Cherry Lane Theatre (on left). And Our associate director and choreographer PennyAyn Maas (on right).

Our awesome crew: JonMarkPonder (asst. dir), David Premack (sound), Amanda Gwin (asst. stage manager), and Devan Hibbard (our sensational stage manager).

The Kaboom guys backstage: Tyler Hollinger, Ray Wills, John DiDomenico (back) Jim Barry and Fred Rose
Kristen Cerelli and I share a hug backstage (above).

Some friends and fellow artists from PA and NJ came to join in the fun!
Thanks, Carolyn, Chris, Jayne and Dwayne! You guys rock!
And many thanks to my super troopers who've come to see just about every show I've ever done in the Big Apple: Robbie (my sweetpea), Carl, Michael and Ataman.

A big thanks to all my friends and family who've been a part of this ride. I love you all!

Hope you all had a blast!

Seeing Stars

This has been a wild couple of months! Not only am I now engaged and sporting a big rock on my little finger which feels like a mini galaxy of stars on my left hand, but the past 2 shows I've done have brought some amazing Broadway stars across my path.

In May, I performed in the staged reading of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn with Emily Skinner, and my friend Kristine Zbornik brought Faith Prince with her to see the show! They sat right in the front row and the cast was agog! Faith Prince.... watching us??? She'd recently been nominated for the Tony Award for A Catered Affair, and there she was... in our audience! It was surreal.

Then last night, Donna Murphy came to see Kaboom! Our leading man, Ray Wills, worked with Ms. Murphy on Broadway in Wonderful Town, and I've been a fan of her work on stage and screen for years!

I'm astounded that these incredible Broadway stars, all of whom I've admired for years, have come to see shows I'm performing in this year! It makes me realize how truly communal and supportive the theatre world really is. I've seen their work and now they're seeing mine. It is beyond cool!

A Tale of Two Theatres

It has been a wild couple of weeks! I've been rehearsing Johnny On A Spot at The Theatre at St. Clements during the day and performing Kaboom at the Cherry Lane Theatre at night. It has been so cool to shuttle between these two historic Off Broadway theatres, to be working with exceptional casts and crews on 2 zany comedies!

We had a photoshoot at St. Clements last weekend, which was also the opening weekend for Kaboom! So I went from being a 1940s glamor gal for Johnny to a modern psychadelic bicycle messenger for Kaboom at night.

We were blessed with a full house for Kaboom on opening night, and received great response. Truly, we were just happy to get through a full run with lights and sound, because our opening night was our 2nd run with these elements! You see, that's the thing with the Fringe and with other festivals like NYMF. You don't get to rehearse in the theatre you're actually performing in. You get ONE rehearsal with tech (lights and sound) and that's it!

For The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, we didn't even get a full tech rehearsal because our tech was scheduled opening night! Those folks who've worked in musical theatre know how insane incorporating lights, scene changes, and sound can be, and to do it in a few hours is truly impossible. So I was seriously impressed that we were able to get through Kaboom with relatively few tech issues.

Also, something I've come to realize with festivals is that it allows authors the chance to see how an audience responds to their work. And that means that more often than not, the writer will make script changes, which means new or cut lines for the actors and cue changes for the tech crew, and the director will often find and give new directions. So a festival show will change from one performance to the next. And you know what? I LOVE IT! It is a wild and wooly ride, but if we let go and really go with this ride, it can be a blast! I've learned so much from it! And you know, I suspect that there are many shows in many venues, film and TV included, that make changes the spur of the moment in order to create a better production. It's all a work in progress. And there are beautiful discoveries to be made along the way.

Gearing up for Opening Night: Kaboom!

It has been a whirlwind of a week! On Wednesday, I had tech rehearsals at the Cherry Lane Theatre for Kaboom and I have to say it was one of the smoothest techs I've been through! Considering we had to do a load-in of set, costumes and props in 15 minutes and be ready for performance in 10 minutes, that is amazing! And then running the show with lights and sound in only 3 hours (it's a 2 hour show and most tech rehearsals for a show of this calibre are usually 8 hours at least), it was quite a feat!

Major kudos to our Kaboom crew including our stage manager, Devan Hibbard, Amanda Gwin (Asst. SM), Jon Mark Ponder (asst. director), Travis McHale (scenic designer), Jen Schriever (lighting designer), David Premack (sound designer), Ren LaDassor (costume designer), Oliver Horsey (production asst.), and of course our associate director/choreographer Penny Ayn Maas, casting director Jamibeth Margolis, director BT McNicholl, and our lovely writer/producer Michael Small.

And of course the cast has been a dream to work with! Ray Wills, who helms Kaboom as the con man behind all the explosive action, was one of Nathan Lane's alternates in The Producers on Broadway and was touted for his strong voice and absolute funniness. He also went on for Jason Alexander in the LA production of the show. Fred Rose, our "straight man," played the cello as the character David in the Broadway production of Company. Kristen Cerelli and I had taken a workshop with Jersey Boys musical director Ron Melrose, and besides being an awesome singer-songwriter, she is a lovely funny lady. John DiDomenico is hysterical as Kaljo Bouree, "Mick Jagger of the Kazoo." He is also an incredible mimic and had me in stitches last night with his Austin Powers/Dr. Evil impressions. Tyler Hollinger and Jim Barry round out the cast and they are both brilliantly funny.

We open this Saturday at 6:45 PM on Cherry Lane's Mainstage. There may still be a few tickets left, so if you're in the mood for a zany comedy, come on by!

Living the Dream

I've been hearing this phrase a lot lately. All of my friends have been saying it, "Laura, you're living the dream." And it's so cool to realize that... Yes! I am!

I started rehearsals yesterday for Johnny On A Spot at the Theatre at St. Clement's. Director Dan Wackerman introduced the cast and crew before the table-read and gave us a bit of background on this lovely Off Broadway theatre. Turns out its the 2nd oldest off Broadway theatre! Cherry Lane, where I'll be performing this Saturday in Kaboom is the first, dating back to the 1920s.

St. Clements was the home for The American Place Theatre in the 60s (Tennessee Williams and Myrna Loy were two of the original Board members) and now its home for the Peccadillo Theatre Company.

Our table-read went really well. It's a big cast! But I guess a lot of the productions in the 40s had large casts, so its cool to be in the thick of it all. Plus I'm surrounded by men! It's me and 2 other actresses surrounded by a lot of fellas. :)

Then after the Johnny rehearsal, I boogied home for some dinner and then dashed off for Kaboom rehearsal. We got to play on our set, which was in a warehouse in Jersey.

Since Kaboom is part of the Fringe Festival we're only in the Cherry Lane for 5 actual performances. But we have GREAT time-slots, so that's incredibly cool.

In the meantime, our set is in holding until tech rehearsals, which are tomorrow actually! Woo!

Stay tuned!

Small World, Isn't It?

The more I work in this biz the more I'm amazed how everyone knows each other. I did a recording for the new musical Vienna on Wednesday with Chip Fabrizi of PPI Recording. I mentioned the new show I'm doing, Kaboom! and Chip said he had worked with my director BT McNicholl on the recording of the Off Broadway show The It Girl, which BT directed and co-authored with Kaboom's writer Michael Small.

My Vienna and Hell's Belles composer, Steve Liebman, worked with my Kaboom leading man, Ray Wills.

And I discovered that the Cherry Lane Theatre, where we'll be performing Kaboom next Saturday has been the venue for so many artists! From writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Comden & Green, Gertrude Stein, David Mamet, and Sam Shepherd to illustrious actors and directors like Barbra Streisand, Gene Hackman, John Malkovich, Gary Sinise.... and now me! :)

This almost feels like the 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon game! :)

OMG! Kevin Bacon worked at the Cherry Lane Theatre!

That is too funny!

I feel like I've got a rocket on my back. I'm on my way!