The Next Big Thing

There are 2 questions actors are frequently asked: "What have you been up to?" and "What are you doing next?"

This latter question never ceases to amuse me, because we're often asked this while on the brink of getting one project on its feet. It can be opening night for a show you've spent your blood-sweat-and-tears on, and people still ask, "So.... what's next?"

I especially love when Academy Award Winners are asked this, immediately upon receiving the Oscar, because you can see the shock on their faces. They're so dizzy from the whirlwind of it all.

My favorite answer (often by my favorite actors) is "simply savoring the moment."

Ironically, I'm taking an acting class on this very thing: Committed Impulse with Josh Pais. It's all about being in the moment, embracing uncertainty and riding that wave. It's an AWESOME class!

Now, granted, I know why people want to know "what's next?" It's human nature, looking out there into the unknown, wondering about... everything! And as artists, we have so many projects and ideas bouncing around in our heads. Of course we're always in the midst of building, creating something new.I'm especially excited about this current "What's Next" phase of my life, because I'm working with people who are near and dear to me. Doing the Hell's Belles reading last week seems to have sparked this, because most of the cast and crew (with the addition of the lovely Clare Cooper) returned for the mini presentation at Ha! Comedy Club, and it was a thrill to work with them all again.

Now I'm focused on the Committed Impulse class, really digging it. And I'm working with this great group of actors/singers who have Broadway/National touring credits and we get together every Monday to help each other with auditions and new songs. The talent is just mind-blowing, and we've all talked about putting together some sort of showcase this summer. I think a summer sing-thing would ROCK! :)

I'm also developing a solo performance show called The 20 monologue Challenge, inspired by Karen Kohlhaas' challenge for her students at the Atlantic Acting School. And I have an idea for an original solo show that keeps tugging at my mind. I just need to write it out.

Lastly, I'm playing Marty's Mom in the independent feature film, Marty's Magnificent Day-Glo Dreamathon.

It's based on the concept album by Hippie Cream, and it's about a young man who tries to save his grandfather via his dreams. I'm really jazzed to be a part of this project, because I adore everyone involved, and I love the style of director Daniel Philip Maggio, who directed the Life is Long video and the underground cult film, Brosis.

So yeah, there's a lot of groovy stuff in the works, and I'm savoring it all! :)

A great day

We had a great show last night for the staged reading of the new script for Hell's Belles. The crowd was lovely and enthusiastic despite the heat. But hey, it's supposed to be a nightclub in hell, so we were sizzling!

Today's show should be cooler. It's a 2 PM reading at Ha! Comedy Club, and I have friends from PA coming to see it: the fabulous Twisted Sisters, Tina and Maryanne, from The Essential Herbal Magazine and Torchsong Studio jewelry.

I've known The Sisters since my days at the PA Renaissance Faire where my husband, Rob, and I met. He and I were cast in the professional acting troupe, doing Shakespeare and madrigals, and Rob actually introduced me to the girls. They ran a cozy little herb shoppe, and were fondly known as "The Twisted Sisters," because they had such a wickedly wonderful sense of humor. They still do as a matter of fact! ;)

As Bogart said, it was "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

We've kept in touch over the years, and have cheered each other on from afar. They're still going strong in PA with their own home businesses while Rob and I are making our dreams come true in the Big Apple.

Maryanne and Tina were both saying they haven't seen me perform since the Faire, so I'm especially jazzed to share this show with them since I get to rock out as Janis Joplin and then sing my heart out as Judy Garland.

My husband even took the afternoon off to catch the show again!

He was there last night with some of our NY friends, and it was such a blast to see so many smiling faces in the crowd. Hopefully we had some industry folks attend as well since that's what the reading is for. In any case, this has been a great chance to do my thing! :)

Right now, I'm off to an audition. I was called in to read for the lead in a new play, and then I have to jet from there to make the 1:30 call for Hell's Belles. After the show, I get to relax a bit with my husband and friends, then I'm off to an acting class tonight.

It's a full, artistic day, and I can't stop thinking, What a great way to spend the day! :)

Reprising a Role

It is such a rare treat to reprise a role. I've done it once before. When I first arrived in the city, I was cast as Rita LaPorta in the Off Off Broadway revival of the Ahrens and Flaherty musical, Lucky Stiff.

A few years later I was offered the same role in a stellar production at Mason Street Warehouse.

Now, I'm getting ready to reprise the roles of Judy Garland and Janis Joplin in a staged reading of the musical, Hell's Belles.

The show is about a nightclub in Hell, and the entertainers are some of history's most infamous women, including Salome, Ma Barker, Eva Peron, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, and more!

(Deb Radloff as Bette Davis and me as Joan Crawford)

Most of the cast is back from the last production, including myself, Deborah Radloff, and Alicia Sable.

Omri Schein (above with Alicia Sable) plays the devilish master of ceremonies, and Clare Cooper absolutely rocks out on the keyboard.

It has been such a pleasure to dive back into these larger than life characters, and I'm certainly glad I kept all my research notes, because it's definitely helped me slip back into their shoes!

I've enjoyed re-watching old interviews on Janis Joplin, Judy Garland and Joan Crawford, making new discoveries about these women I thought I knew. There's always more to discover!

By far, Janis and Judy are my favorites, and ironically, Janis was called "The Judy Garland of Rock." There are so many interesting parallels!

If you're in NY, the show is being done as a free 45 minute presentation at Ha! Comedy Club this Wednesday May 26 at 6 PM and Thursday May 27th at 2 PM.

Contact HellsBellesNY@gmail.com for more info.

Ready... aim....

I'm not a gunslinger, though I've played one onstage. :)

I'm sure my family had some cowboys somewhere in the ancestry. We were definitely pioneers! And both sides of the family married Cherokee women. I'm very proud to be connected to that tribe.

For some reason, my Mom, who is a tiny woman like me, wanted to make sure I was trained in firearms, because she thought I should know how to handle a gun "just in case." In case of what? "I don't know," Mom said, "it's just good to be prepared."

I have to tip my hat to her. Being prepared is definitely one of my jobs as an actor. And ironically, my brief training in firearms has come in handy when I've played gun-toting characters like Rita in Lucky Stiff.

I remember trying out a rifle in firearms training, and it knocked me flat on my butt. I had to laugh.

With auditions and (heck!) with life in general, you can feel a little knocked around, ya know? But lately I feel like I'm "back in the saddle again."

I've entered this neat phase where all I'm focused on is going into an audition room to do good work. That's all I want to do.

Yes, a callback would be great. Yes, a job offer would be awesome! But if I go into an audition with that attitude, it's like going to a banquet hungry. You're starving, you're not thinking straight. And I'd rather be like Annie Oakley right now: Little Sure Shot.

I want to be clear about what I need to do for each audition, doing as much research beforehand, and going in with material that shows what I can do in the best way possible.

I feel like I'm there. I'm discovering that when I go in and just do my job, I am free from all the head-trips and can just enjoy the process.

I had an audition yesterday, reading "cold" from the script, and I was so thankful for the classes I've taken on cold-reading. It really is a skill. And each skill requires practice. The more we practice something, the more we can get out of our own way and let our artistry flow.

Ready... aim... fire!

And ironically, I got some amazing feedback from the casting director about my reading, which was unexpected, but wonderfully welcome.

I'd like to tip my hat and say, "Just doing my job, ma'am. Just doing my job." ;)

A Work in Progress

My brother, the drummer, recently told me about the "unfinished artists" he was studying in Art History class. Apparently some painters would purposely leave pieces of their canvas exposed.

Georges Braque kept "parts of his canvases purposely unpainted... as a textural effect adding to the artistic composition as a whole."

This makes me think of acting, how my work as an actor is a work in progress. I strive to do the best I can always, and as I look back on my career, I see good growth. But I often would like to do something... "more."

I've heard some playwrights mention that each play feels unfinished, that there is always more to tell, and perhaps that's what propels them onto the next play.

We are constantly learning and growing, choosing which "paints" we want to use on the "canvas" of our art.

Mother's Day

I love you, Mama, and celebrate you every day!

Magic Shoes

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to dive into my mother's closet. She had all these great clothes from the 70s, and it was like walking into an enchanted land whenever I ventured into her closet.

Most of her clothes were long flowery dresses, and she had these amazing shoes! My favorite pair were flashy silver sandals with a high heel. When I put my little feet into them, I felt like a combination of Cinderella and a Greek goddess. They were simply Magic Shoes!

When I hit high school, surfer shorts and high-top sneakers were more my style until senior year when I was cast as Dorothy in The Wiz. Then I became known as the "white girl with soul."

As meticulously as I listened to Stephanie Mills' riffs, I also took charge of Dorothy's magic slippers, which were interestingly enough, silver, as per L. Frank Baum's book. I spent many hours reapplying glitter after a show, so those shoes could sparkle for the next time I eased on down the road. :)

Fast forward to my birthday last month. My mom always sends me something fun from CA, and this year she sent me some shiny silvery sandals. I immediately cried, "My magic shoes!"

I wore them to an audition last week and couldn't help but feel sparkly and effervescent. :)

(Me and Mom above - here I'm wearing some fun platform shoes).

The whole thing has made me think about what makes us feel magical.

In Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, Harry tricks Ron into thinking he's taken some luck potion, and so Ron thinks he's lucky and can't lose the big Quidditch match, which he wins successfully.

Or even back to The Wizard of Oz... Glinda tells Dorothy she had the power all along to get where she wanted to go!

I feel like these magical components - magic shoes or luck potion - are simply the magical, lucky parts of ourselves. We need to embrace that every day, nurture that every day! And enjoy the ride! :)

Looking for Inspiration

I don't have to look far. Inspiration seems to be everywhere.

An actress I worked with years ago, Jennifer Christa Palmer, inspires me with her consistent sense of forging ahead.

The band, Hippie Cream, whom my brother, Sean, drums for, inspires me with their wild and whacky songs. I particularly love their sense of fun-loving reverence for their elders.

Hippie Cream is actually prepping to do a feature length musical film called Marty's Magnificent Day-Glo Dream-a-Thon about a young man trying to save his grandpa via a dream-a thon. If schedules work out, I may play Marty's mom when he dreams about his childhood. Wouldn't that be cool?

I also saw A Behanding in Spokane with my friend Wayne Henry, from Johnny on a Spot, and that show was such a trip! The writing, the symbolism, the easy unique acting of Christopher Walken, and the dynamic presence of Sam Rockwell. Zoe Kazan and Anthony Mackie were also great, and my jaw was on the floor for most of the show. Such a wild piece of theatre!

Yet still I feel like I'm searching...

I guess that's what art is all about, finding our voice, ourselves in it.

Luckily, inspiration keeps coming! :)

I'm on Josh Pais' email list because I'm going to take his Committed Impulse class, and he sent this inspirational blast today about Patsy Rodenberg's speech about "Why I do Theater."

And that of course took me to Anna Deavere Smith's American Character(s).


She's one of my favorite characters/actresses on Nurse Jackie. And this! WOW!

These ladies take me back to something my husband often asks me with my art: "What do you want to say? What story do you want to tell?"

Man, that's powerful stuff!

And I get to choose that with the material I choose for auditions: the songs, the monologues, even scenes/scripts that are sent to me. I get to choose what story I'm going to tell.

I think we just have to be open to it.

It makes me want to write again. Guess I'm getting a nudge in that direction, eh? ;)

Now I'm off to an audition, and I feel so fortunate to be in NY, auditioning in the heart of Broadway, getting the chance to make some magic. :)

Darkest before the Dawn

I am known for my positive attitude. It's where I prefer to keep my head, ya know? But every once in a while, I'll get a challenging day or week, and it feels like moving through a muddy river. Yuck!

Luckily, I had an epiphany this morning about how "negative" experiences can shine the light on what we want to change in our lives. When we know what we don't want, we can then identify what we do want, and that's an important head-spin. You need that guiding light, that focus of what to move towards, of embracing what makes you happy.

It makes me think of that old phrase, "It's always darkest before the dawn."

I've been in those dark places, but now all I can see are the gorgeous colors of the pink and golden dawn.

When we let go, when we try new things and take a chance, we are able to get out of our own way and enjoy the ride. I see this in acting class all the time, and it's magic! When we are open to it, wonderful things happen.

People who've paved the way

When I was working on my audition for "Another Part of the Forest," my research of Lillian Hellman's play took me of course to her major hit, The Little Foxes. After reading the play, I started watching the film, and all I can say is.... Bette Davis.

I loved her in All About Eve and she's awesome in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Her own quotes are priceless. Like, "Old age is no place for sissies!" What a tough cookie!

When I was studying with Karen Kohlhaas, we talked about artists who inspire us, researching them and learning from their progress as they went from young actor to major artist.

I've been delighted to find all sorts of folks who fan the flame of developing my craft.

There are classics like Ms. Davis, and then there are actors of this generation like Peter Facinelli, who has been delighting me as "Coop" on Nurse Jackie.

Something I dig about Peter Facinelli (and all of the actors on "Nurse Jackie" are just sublime!) is that he pursues work that interests him and that he continues to study his craft. That's something I've really been discovering - how important it is to keep taking classes. It creates a sense of discipline and inspires growth.

So grow, baby, grow! And as we look to folks who inspire us, we pave our own way.

The Community of Theatre

I wrote about this a few weeks ago, inspired by seeing a production of Rocky Horror in Hemet, CA, and also inspired by the artists who strive to make art happen wherever they are.

Living in the Big Apple, I am so wonderfully surrounded by art. It's literally everywhere! And every time I walk through Times Square to get to an audition, I breathe Broadway in.

As my friend Tina always tells me, I am there! I am making my dreams come true, working as an actor. I've done Off-Off Broadway all over town, and I got to work at two of the most notable Off Broadway theatres in history: Cherry Lane and the Theatre at St. Clement's. I just have to keep on doing my work, making it happen.

Part of this New York experience includes seeing the theatre that's happening here. As I was doing my taxes for last year, I realized I started a great trend in seeing a theatrical piece about once a month. It's something I'm trying to do this year as well, and I feel fortunate to be able be supportive of my fellow artists. We need to support each other, you know?

This was really hammered home to me when a 2-time-Tony Award winning actress came to see a reading I did last Fall and was kind enough to seek me out afterwards to tell me how much she liked my work. That was mind-blowing and inspiring and absolutely thrilling!

Now I have this desire to support art everywhere - from Hemet, CA to the Great White Way.

My friend and fellow actress, Kami Martin (below as the blonde bombshell, Lily St. Regis), recently wrote a post about supporting Community Theatre, and I asked her if I could re-post it here. She gave her thumb's up, so here is part of it. Enjoy!

"As artists we should encourage each other. Because acting is a calling. Some may think that is an odd statement, but its true. Look it up, it was considered sacred. Not any different than a judge on a bench, or a priest at an altar...

Every community theatre in my area is doing relevant work. It is as diverse as it can be. But it is all deserving of recognition... My thought is, let's respect the art in this valley. Let's celebrate and support local theatre. We may be diverse, but we have the same goal. To bring the arts to the valley." - Kami Martin

Rock on, Kami! Shine that light, sister!

And to all you artists out there, wherever you are: Shine your light!

Springtime!!!

I LOVE this time of year! Manhattan comes alive with nature's colors.

I don't know if it's because I'm an April baby, but man, there is something so rejuvenating about the Spring. Particularly after these cold gray rainy days we've been having!

I love seeing the daffodils planted throughout the city, lifting their heads to the sun.

They were struggling yesterday, but today, they were starting to stand proud.

This morning, I saw a truck full of tulips being unloaded, and I thrilled at the thought of where they'd be planted in the city.


Yup, it's spring! LOVE IT!!!

The Joy of Auditioning

Today I had an audition that just felt fabulous. Everything seemed to align - the research I'd done on the show, the monologue I'd chosen for it, everything fit. The casting person was so wonderfully open to the ride and we had such a lovely rapport. It was like someone had turned on a light in a dark room. Everything just felt electric! And the piece, the playwright's words, the environment of the play, the character's sass and vulnerability all seemed to come to life through me! Everything just seemed magical.

I love moments like that!

It's so cool.

And it seems to be happening more and more this year.

I had a musical audition like that not too long ago where there was just this sense of soaring! I felt like I was on Cloud 9 all day!

This is the gift of working to your satisfaction, of doing work you feel good about, of continually learning every time you walk into that audition room, feeling the thrill of growing as an artist, and savoring it all.

Trust your Footing

I ran into this message twice today, so I have to share it:

"Trust that you're moving in the right direction." - Josh Pais

And The Mountain Goat Theory by my dear friend Tina Sams:

"Often you need to trust footing that you normally wouldn't count on - just to shove off from. And you look back sometimes and say, Whoo! That was iffy, but you know... you're UP!"

A community of Artists

I feel like a flower in a garden. Maybe it's because Spring is hearkening, and the sun is finally shining. Maybe it's because I feel so rich and earthy and surrounded by such wonderful artists. Everything feels like it's in bloom!

My friend, Deb Radloff, whom I worked with on Hell's Belles, was accepted into San Diego's Old Globe theatre program.

Another friend from Hell's Belles, Omri Schein, just submitted his new musical to the New York Musical Theatre Festival.

And my friend, Andy Monroe, whom I worked with on The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, is seeing the birth of his new musical The Kid Off Broadway with The New Group.

My brother, Sean, is developing a feature length film with the band, Hippie Cream, and they're the "house band" for a sketch comedy troupe at The Performance Loft in Redlands, CA on March 23-24.

I got to see Sean rock out as the drummer for The Rocky Horror Picture Show in Hemet, CA of all places! I was really impressed that such a racy show made it to this little town that I grew up in.

And I love that Hemet is being called "the next Seattle" as far as music goes - just because of Hippie Cream. They're innovative and always growing, and I love that their albums tell stories.

Their next album is going to be a feature length film, directed by the young filmmaker, Daniel Philip Maggio, who directed their video Life is Long as well as the underground cult film, BroSis.

And that's just the west coast!

Here are the East Coast, I've been doing a musical theatre workshop every Monday with a group of performers who've all been on Broadway. They're all amazingly talented and I feel so privileged to have been invited into this class. We help each other every week, prepping audition material, and it's such a blast! I've learned so much, working with them, and it's been cool to pass on what I've learned from other teachers to them. It's a great artistic community, and I can't help but feel like I'm flourishing in such good company.

Plus, I got a callback for Lillian Hellman's Another Part of the Forest, prequel to The Little Foxes. Good stuff!

Rock on, y'all! :)

The Miracle Worker

I rarely post reviews about a show. Art is so subjective, and what pleases one person can displease another. But I have to write about the show I saw last night simply because it was some of the best acting work I've seen onstage in a long time.

I saw The Miracle Worker on Broadway, and I was blown away by Alison Pill, who played Annie Sullivan.

(photo by Joan Marcus)

Alison had big shoes to fill, because Anne Bancroft had won the Tony and the Academy Award for her performance in the role when it first opened on Broadway and was later filmed in the '60s.

Also, I did the show when I was a kid, playing Helen Keller, and so I have very fond memories of Gina DeMarco, who played "my" Annie.

But Alison made it her own, and she was a revelation!

I have never seen an actor so fully in the moment, so present, so spontaneously alive! She entered each moment, each scene as if she had no idea what was going to happen next, and that is something we all strive to do as actors in the theatre. But often you can see the striving. Something can seem too practiced, too memorized, but not Miss Pill's performance. She was fresh and full of vigor! With each breath, she filled the theatre and drew us into Annie's first experiences with the Keller family as she was having them!

I've seen Alison's work in HBO's "In Treatment" and in films like "Pieces of April," and "Dan in Real Life," and she always does great character work, but her portrayal as Annie Sullivan is a tour de force. It is not to be missed!

I must also give kudos to the rest of the cast: Abigal Breslin as Helen, Lance Chantiles-Wertz as Jimmie, Michael Cummings as Percy, Elizabeth Franz as Aunt Ev, Yvette Ganier as Viney, Simone Joy Jones as Martha, Matthew Modine, who could've fallen prey to the blow-hard character of Captain Keller, Helen's father, but he gave a wonderfully diverse and passionate performance, Jennifer Morrison as Helen's mother Kate, Daniel Oreskes as Doctor/Anagnos, and Tobias Segal as James. Every single performer was excellent!

I heartily recommend this show, though I must warn it is in "the round," 360 degrees of theatre, which again, Alison Pill used brilliantly. It was incredibly rare to see her back, and I could tell she kept herself fully open to the audience, which is probably what also heightened the experience for me. A great lesson.

So be forewarned that there may be some scenes not fully accessible because of the staging. For example, Helen's back was to our side of the theatre (row H 122) during the famous "Wa Wa" scene, so we couldn't see her face when the revelation hit. Likewise, the famous breakfast fight was staged towards my side of the theatre, so about half the house couldn't see their faces for much of it. Tricky. But then some folks were 3 feet away from the actors, because the stage was right at arm's length from the front row, which was really fascinating too.

It was a great show, and I would definitely see it again.

The Birth of a Show

When I first moved to New York, I had never heard of the wonderful realm of "readings." All of the work I'd done prior had been in regional theatre with well-known works like Educating Rita, or Little Shop of Horrors, or it was improv-based.


Then I came to NY, did a few showcases, and even won the NYMF award for my work in The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun.

After that I met with "Acting As a Business" guru, Brian O'Neill, who suggested I get involved with more shows at the "ground level," and do readings.

Now, for those of you who've never been to a reading, it's a performance where the actors have the script in hand, and are often sitting, simply reading from it. Sometimes people are invited to these things, sometimes it's just for the writers and producers to hear how it's taking shape. And sometimes the readings are staged - hence "staged readings." Audiences are definitely in demand for this latter kind of performance.

Ironically, since Mr. O'Neill gave me that advice a few years ago, readings have miraculously come my way. People I worked with before began working on new projects and asked if I could help. Well, sure!

It's incredibly cool to be part of a show in its early stages. I've done demo recordings for plenty of new musicals, including Lilly's Big Day, Hell's Belles, Vienna, Argentina Rumpus. I even recorded the first demo and performed a song at BMI for the new musical The Kid.

And in the dramatic realm, I performed with Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham in the staged reading of the tragic-comedy, Sin, and last Fall I worked with Tony nominee Heather Laws on the staged reading of the dark comedy, Got You.

Not only were these incredible opportunities to work with super talented people, these projects were so diverse and new... We all were making discoveries as we went along!

So last night I was asked to perform in a reading hosted by the Hell's Belles creative team. They're working on a new musical called How to Marry a Divorce Man, loosely based on the novel, and it's really cute. It reminded me of my one woman show, Love in 35 Minutes, which I may have to revisit some day.

For How to Marry a Divorced Man, I played a vintage boutique owner named Glenda, and let me tell you, this character was a HOOT! Breezy and fun with a dash of punk rock. It was a blast!

And the cherry on the cake was being reunited with a bunch of folks I'd already worked with! From another staged reading, there was my Vienna castmate, Richard Binder, to whom I played Mrs. Sigmund Freud. There was Babs Winn, whom I supported on a crazy country sketch for The Onion. And I got to meet their friends and spouses, very talented folks who played other roles in our Divorced Man reading.

It was such fun and made me think of other shows that have "made it" like I love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. You just never know what show will strike a chord with today's audiences and really take off, and I admire the heck out of all artists who take the chance to put their work "out there" for all to see and hear. You have to take that chance, because you never know what might create your "Big Break," and it's a great chance to keep to grow!

Auditioning is different from Acting

It's audition season here in NY, and there is a lot going on. I hit at least one audition a day - sometimes 2 or 3 if I can swing it. One day, I even hit 4! It was awesome!

And when you get an encouraging nod or a compliment from the person on the other side of the audition table, it's like a green light. One director this week said he'd been thinking about me for a particular role, had wanted to call in me, and would most definitely be calling me back. That was cool. :)

Now, most actors will say how much they don't like to audition, and yet, there was a gal I took a class with last year, Bonnie Swencionis, who simply said, "I'm into auditioning. It's what I do."

I loved her attitude! And don't you know, all her work, taking acting classes and investing in audition technique, paid off! She got the lead on a web-series called Haute and Bothered. And I've never forgotten her go-getter attitude.

This year, I feel like I'm truly enjoying the audition procress. Every audition is an opportunity, not only to do my work, but to learn and grow and to meet all the other folks involved in this industry.

I feel like I get stronger with each audition. For one, there's all the prep work that I do for each audition. Practice and play, I call it. But the audition itself is very different from just acting or singing the piece you've prepared.

And that is the message of this week's blog: "Auditioning is different from acting."

Mark Sikes talks about it in his Casting Corner, and Alison Pill mentioned it in her interview with Backstage.

She said, "I've learned that auditioning is a different set of skills than acting. It's about personality and charisma and the ability to walk into a room and feel confident. You get that after years of doing it. Or you learn to fake it real well."


Alison is playing Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, which I can't wait to see. I played Helen Keller as a kid, so it's a show that's very close to my heart.

And I love what she said about walking into the audition room with confidence. I'll take that a step further and include joy in that walk.

It's something I've been discovering lately, and it's a point Karen Kohlhaas makes in her classes at the Atlantic Acting School, which is ironically where I met Bonnie (in the Fearless Cold Reading class). The minute you walk into the audition room, you are assessed. Before you even speak. Sounds a little scary, doesn't it? But it can be exhilarating!

Like Karen says, "You are literally taking the next steps towards making your dreams come true... the minute you walk through that door."

So why not enjoy it? :)