City Sights

Last week, I had the honor of recording some songs for the upcoming CD collection, Unrecorded Victor Herbert Gems, orchestrated by Larry Moore. The recording was done in a sumptuous concert hall at the Academy of Arts and Letters, and the journey there was such a delight!

I loved the cobblestone road on the way to the Academy.

Last month, when I recorded another song there for this project, it poured rain, so I was thrilled with the sunshine and blue skies of this day.

 I could see Jersey across the way. And directly across from the Academy is this fantastic old graveyard.

I wanted to climb up there and explore, but I had to go into the building to start work on the recording.

The Academy is so incredibly gorgeous, and this sculpted doorway made me think of my friend, Tina, who's a writer, growing leaps and bounds with her Essential Herbal magazine and her new book, By The Hearth.

This is dedicated to the Women Writers of America.

The trip down to the theatre held such neat images of shadow and light.

There were all sorts of twists and turns on the way to the stage, and once we were inside the concert hall, the stage was set with a Steinway grand piano, music stands and mics. And when we sang, the music bounced off the walls.

It was me, Sara Jean Ford, Elizabeth Inghram, and Maeve Hoglund with Zachary Stains singing lead, all of us breathing in concert, voices lifted in glorious song, and then the incredible vibration of stillness when we finished. My heart was racing, blood pounding in my ears, and the energy was absolutely electric. It was such a thrill!

Today's Soundtrack

Listening to the Broadway recording of Little Women. An absolute delight for the ears and imagination! Great songs!

My favorite direction for the day

I'm doing a 15 minute peformance of a new opera tomorrow called La Ribalta, and the scene is quite passionate, so the writer/director said to me, "Think Tony Soprano..."

"... and Gina Lollobrigida."

That made me laugh, because I'm often cast in characters like this: sexy powerhouses who have a sense of drive and tenacity like that of a freight train! Unstoppable!

It reminds me of Rita, the mafia mistress whom I played in the musical Lucky Stiff.

Granted, Elena in La Ribalta is the long-suffering wife of an actor, akin to the wife in NINE, but she's also got the fire of the mistress in that same musical film, so it's an incredible combination to play with. So much fun!

Unrecorded Victor Herbert Gems

I'm recording more songs today for the upcoming "Unrecorded Victor Herbert Gems" project. Larry Moore, whom I worked with on The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun, orchestrated the works, and I'm singing with incredible Broadway folks like Zacahry Stains, Sara Jean Ford, and a recent classmate from Alaine Alldaffer's scene study class, Elizabeth Inghram. Aaron Lazar and the gifted Rebecca Luker also star on the album.

 Such a pleasure to work with these talented people! Looking forward to today's recording at the Academy of Arts and Letters.

Movember

So proud of my friends, Stephen and Mike, who are "rocking the 'stache" for Movember, Men's Health Awareness month, raising funds and awareness regarding prostate cancer.

These guys make me think of one my favorite movies, Anchorman: "You stay classy," gentlemen! :)

Busy Week

Meeting a writer/director this week to discuss a potential play for next year.

Recording more music for The Victor Herbert Project orchestrated by Larry Moore for The Academy of Arts and Letters.

I had a blast singing with the Broadway folks from last session. The music was bouncing off the walls in the concert hall! Looking forward to singing more tracks for this very fun project!

And I'm performing a comic "torrid scene" with Richard Binder from the new musical "La Ribalta," at Studio 353 on Sunday November 14th at 8 PM.

Presented by Golden Fleece Productions, there will be scenes from 5 other musical theatre works-in-progress, as part of Sunday Nights at Square One. Reservations / tickets / general information: 212-691-6105

Should be a fun week!

You Are Here

"You are here to get kites stuck in trees.

You are not here to catch trains and wear dress socks.

You are here to build things and teach things and jump into lakes.

You are here to make things better for others, better for yourself.

You are here to laugh, take naps, and run around the basepath.

You are here to live well."

- Lynn Grabhorn via GNC

Make Your Vote Count

This morning, my husband and I voted before the sun was even up. Polls open in Manhattan at 6 AM, and it's become a tradition for us to get our vote in early.

I'm so thankful my honey's an early riser, so we could get to the polls before they're crowded.

And I'm thankful to the folks who were there to assist us in the voting process.

It hasn't been a full 100 years yet since the 19th Amendment was passed and women were granted the right to vote. I am very thankful to the women who fought to make this happen.

Make Your Vote Count!

Great Gratitude

I recently took a scene study class with the lovely casting director, Alaine Alldaffer, and I loved her class immediately because it included a Gratitude Circle, where we introduced ourselves and expressed our gratitude for something.

This gracious gesture is something that I've noticed seems to increase abundance in our lives. It's like opening a funnel for more goodness to flow.

Another friend of mine, Monica McCarthy, whom I met in VP Boyle's Musical Theatre Forum, recently started a Happiness Project where she takes pictures of something every day that makes her happy. By doing this, she increases her scope or vision by focusing on good stuff.

 I love that!

My friend, Tina Sams, also wrote about this in the latest issue of The Essential Herbal magazine. She works with her sister, Maryanne Schwartz, and my husband and I first met these two ladies at the PA Renaissance Faire when we were hired for the Shakespearean improv acting troupe.

I remember it clear as day, Rob asking me if I'd met The Herb Sisters, because they were so incredibly fun. I went over to their lovely herb shoppe, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Since leaving the Faire, The Sisters have both stayed wonderfully involved in herbs, soaps, and Maryanne makes gorgeous glass jewelry via her Torchsong Studios. Very artsy ladies indeed!

Tina is celebrating the 10th year of publication for The Essential Herbal magazine, and she gives kudos to her sister, who handles the layout for the magazine.

These two women share laughter with them wherever they go, and Tina says, "For us, it's pretty much all about having fun," and she always encourages me to "keep it fun" in my acting career.

"Do it in such a way that it brings joy and wonder to your life... focus on what you really enjoy."

This makes me think of Monica's Happiness Project and Alaine's Gratitude Circle. By focusing on something every day that gives you happiness, and expressing gratitude for it, you cannot help but expand the happy factor!

Thanks to these ladies for shining their lights on the world. Thanks to my husband, my friends and family for sharing the ride with me and shining their lights as well.

Love you all!

Halloween

This is my favorite time of year. Truly, Halloween has always been right up there with Christmas. I think it's because I'm a big kid at heart!

No wonder I'm an actress! :)

My folks have always encouraged my creativity, and Halloween was just part it. They would safely escort my brother and I and several of our friends on trick-or-treating expeditions.

My mom was great with costumes. I'd raid her closet or hit the thrift store, and we'd come up with all sorts of wonderful ideas. I've been several cats, witches, gypsies, princesses, including Princess Leia, Cleopatra, Wonder Woman, a punk rocker, and I've continued the tradition as I've "grown up."

Luckily, my husband loves this holiday too.

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch in PA and carved pumpkins with our niece and nephews.

Seeing the delight these kids have for this time of year reminds me of when I was a kid, and I'm so thrilled to be sharing this life-ride with them.

Hope your Halloween is very happy indeed!

Two for two

Last night, as I was cabbing it past Radio City, I was thinking, What a cool week it's been already!

On Sunday, I performed in a reading of a new musical based on the book, How to Marry a Divorced Man, and it was an absolute blast! The reading was for TRU, or Theatre Resources Unlimited, and it was held at The Players Theatre in The Village.

I've auditioned for productions there before, and so it was a real treat to perform there. There's just something so artst about The Village. It just oozes art! ;)

For this show, I played Glenda, an ex-punk-rocker known as Betty Black, and her "ex" is the Divorced Man of the show's title. Glenda is a wonderful second banana type character, and I had a blast playing her. The "punk rock ballad dedicated to my ex" in the 2nd Act was particularly thrilling because it was like a mini rock concert. FUN!

 The cast was also phenomenal with (L-R) Babs Winn, me, Christine Marie Heath, Jacob Liberman, Richard Rice Alan, and Michael Kirk Lane.

Clare Cooper (far left) composed the delicious pop-rock tunes that I still can't get out of my head! Bryan D. Leys adapted the novel, and Leslie Fram, the author of the novel, made a surprise appearance at the reading. It was a great pleasure to meet her, and a true delight to work with Bryan, Clare, and the sisters of Tweiss Productions once again.

And then last night, I got to perform a scene from the one-woman show Bad Dates for the playwright, Theresa Rebeck. I've been taking a scene study class with Alaine Alldaffer at One on One Productions, and that was the cherry on the cake. I love Ms. Rebeck's plays, and it was a thrill to perform her work! I also loved supporting my fellow actors and classmates who did scenes from Ms. Rebeck's other plays. It was a really great night of theatre all around!  

Make that TWO great nights of theatre in 2 days! :)

Musical Merry Go Round

I'm doing a reading of a new musical tomorrow. It's called "How to Marry a Divorced Man," and it's by the same writer and producers of the musical Hell's Belles, in which I played Judy Garland and Janis Joplin at HA! Comedy Club this past May.

The reading tomorrow is for potential producers, and it's at The Players Theatre in the West Village. I'm excited to be a part of it. I play an ex-punk-rocker named Glenda, who's now a mother, trying to revive her punk-rock career. Hilarity ensues, of course, and I'm ready to unleash that wild side! ;)

Sweet Sounds

Last week started so beautifully. Yes, it rained. And rained. But in the midst of the rain, I was recording some beautiful music for The Victor Herbert Project at the Academy of Arts and Letters.

I'd never been to the Academy before, and it's in an older part of northern Manhattan. So there I was, dressed in a pencil skirt, blouse and heels, trekking through the pouring rain to sing a beautiful song with some lovely ladies in a gorgeous concert hall.

I had to laugh at my choice of attire as I turned onto the semi-cobblestone walkway that led to the side door of the theatre. But somehow I managed to make it through the rain without getting my stillettos stuck in the old stone walkway.

Once inside the Academy, it was dry and warm, and I was delighted to see my friend, Larry Moore, whom I worked with on The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun. Larry was the orchestrator for "Nun," and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

 I've done quite a few demo recordings since Nun, playing everything from a mouse who wants to be a flower-girl (Lilly's Big Day) to a hard-core Janis Joplin rocker and Judy Garland herself (in Hell's Belles).

Most recently, I worked with Andy Monroe on a song from The Singing Nun as well as a delightful duet from his new musical, Sally Peaches. It's about a girl who tries online dating to meet a guy, but she uses her best friend's picture instead of her own. It's a very cute piece, and I had a blast recording it with Zach Berger. The song and scene are on my website. It's called My Best Friend. Hope you dig it!

All of these recordings have been in studios, so it was a neat surprise to record the Victor Herbert song in the Academy's gorgeous concert hall. The sound was stupendous! There were 4 women, including me, and the lead soprano who's currently playing Christine in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

That was one of the first shows I saw when I came to New York, so I found it wonderfully ironic that there I was, singing with the actress who plays Christine, working with all these incredibly talented people, our voices bouncing off the walls, and getting paid to do it!

It was an absolute delight!

Really exciting stuff

Recording a song tomorrow for what I have dubbed, "The Victor Herbert Project," and I'm working with some out of this world amazingly talented people. I'm talking people whom I've admired for years! Just blown away by this opportunity to join them in song!

Then I dive into Theresa Rebeck's play, "Bad Dates." It's a fave of mine, and I'm so thrilled to get to immerse myself in it again, to "hear" this character and bring her to life.

I'm doing a scene from this one woman show for a showcase of Ms. Rebeck's work, and it's a tad challenging to choose just one section, because the whole play is such a delicious treat! But I realize that choosing any section of it is like cutting a piece of pie. It's ALL good!

Can't wait to dive in! :)

A Full Plate

What's your favorite meal? Many of my friends say Thanksgiving dinner, because it's such a fun, full time of feasting on their favorite dishes. And while we have a month or two to go before we get to Thanksgiving, I feel like my acting career is mirroring this time of Plenty. My plate is filling up nicely with so many delicious projects, and of course, there's always room for more! ;)

I'm recording a song for a major project on Monday. Don't know how much I can say about it, so I'll leave it at that.

I'm also working on material for classes and auditions. I have a "table reading" of a new musical coming up in October, another major recording in November, and I'm researching a project for 2011, which is not far off!

While juggling all this, I've been so fortunate to be supported by friends, family, and by my wonderful husband, who's been so amazing through this time of growth and transition.

Messages of love and support abound! The best advice I've received is "You are you, and that is enough."

I think any artist worries about being/doing "enough," and it's important to realize that whatever we bring to the table is truly good enough.

Still, like any chef, athlete or artisan, I continue to work on my craft each day, nurturing myself and striving to do my best every day. It's wonderful to stretch and grow along the way! I'm never one to rest on my laurels, and I embrace this time! I am enough!

Working Weekend

I have a lot of delicious stuff on my plate this weekend.

I have a scene from the play, Psych by Evan Smith, to memorize for Monday night's acting class.

Musical and monologue prep-work for auditions this week.

And I'm singing for a major recording on Oct. 4th, so I'm working on music for that.

Exciting stuff!

Back to School

When I first moved to New York, I had been accepted into the American Musical & Dramatic Academy. It was my dream to study musical theatre in New York City, and so there I was, making my dream come true!

Shortly out of school, I booked some lovely gigs in CA and PA, and worked steadily as an actor for quite a few years. At that time it never occurred to me to continue my education, because I was learning and developing and applying my skills "on the job."

So when I moved back to New York,  and decided to focus on doing work here, in the city, I found myself doing a lot of Off Off Broadway that didn't pay enough for me to make a living. So I had to supplement my income, and let me tell ya, I've done it all: waiting tables, temp jobs, you name it.

I got lucky with an office gig that's artist-friendly, and they've been great about working around my acting schedule, giving me time off for out-of-town gigs, and rehearsals and performances Off Broadway. They've been with me every step of the way - from Off Off Broadway to Off Broadway - and they said they hope I'll keep working with them til I get my Tony. :)

This reminds me of Susan Blackwell's great interview, "Why I Keep My Day Job." She's a marvelous actress, whom I recently saw in my friend, Andy Monroe's Off Broadway show, The Kid.

In between acting gigs and juggling my thrival job, as Bonnie Gillespie calls it, I've discovered the importance of going back to acting classes. I don't know why I resisted it before. Maybe there was a pompous, "Oh I don't need to do that," kind of naivete, but I tell you, going back to school has been the best thing for me! And I've discovered that major movie stars and top quality actors whom I admire never stop studying with a good coach. It's essential.

So I'm very grateful for my teachers who've nurtured me along the way.

There have been life-changers like Karen Kohlhaas and her Monologue Audition class, in which Karen covers the importance of how to walk into an audition room. You'd never think of how important that is, but it's HUGE! Your body language and attitude signal so much about you before you even open your mouth. And how you walk out of the room, and how you mentally talk to yourself as you walk out of the room, are just as important.

Her steps on "Audition After Care" are PRICELESS.  Seriously, get her book or study with her if you can.

Currently, I'm in an awesome scene study class with Alaine Alldaffer at One on One, and it's another class where I feel any and every actor would benefit from it. Simply amazing!

Also, this week I bounce back into Josh Pais' Committed Impulse Master Class, and I can't wait! This class is such an incredible workout. It's in-the-moment acting!

And that's what hit me the other day when someone asked me why I still go to acting class. Yes, I learn from every audition and performance I do, but acting classes are a workout. They keep my acting skills in shape.

Look at an athlete or a concert musician. You think they just do their jobs "on the fly"? No way! They practice for hours and hours every day!

"People who write about spring training not being necessary have never tried to throw a baseball." - Sandy Koufax

You have to do what you love every day. So I go into my lessons with great joy and a sense of expansion. I love putting what I've learned into practice at auditions and in performances. What we learn nurtures us and gives us fuel to move forward in all areas of our life.

Enjoy your lessons!

Signs

I have seen so many cool signs this week. It's like getting a bunch of green lights while driving down the street.

On Monday I started an awesome scene study class at One on One studios. It’s such a lovely place – lots of wood and warm colors. And they have inspiring quotes here and there.

My favorites are, “Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill

And “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliot

There’s also this great black and white photo of Marilyn Monroe at The Actors Studio. It just inspires me!

It’s been such a lovely week, starting this new scene study class, and then the callback on Tuesday for a new musical. Just wonderful!

Now I’m working on music for an upcoming recording session in October, as well as researching a book for a new play. And I’m savoring my audition material: songs, monologues, scenes, you name it! I love the work!

A friend recently asked how I stay so positive. To quote Winston Churchill again, “I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.”

My Favorite Place to Be Today

Singing and acting here:

I had a callback for a new musical, and it was just rapturous to be here.
I love this place.

The Fruitfulness of Fall

I love this time of year. The cool breezes, the sights, the sounds and delicious smells!

There are all these Farmer Markets in the city, and I get so excited when I see the apples come out at this time of year. The apple cider smelled particularly yummy this morning.

This month is especially delicious because I got a callback for a new Off Broadway musical. YAY! I'm doing all these recordings (voice overs, songs, scenes) with friends I worked with in the past. And I'm working with a writer-director on a play for the 2011-2012 season. Really exciting stuff!

I just feel so blessed and bouyant and full of possibility! Wheeee!

Last Days of Summer

New York stores have been promoting the "Last Days of Summer" for a few weeks now, and it makes me laugh, because I know a few states will continue to enjoy summer weather for a few weeks more!

When I was a kid, I used to cling to the last days of summer. I'd spend as much time as I could in the pool.

I guess not much has changed. This summer, I've still enjoyed being in a pool! :)

But as an adult, I understand that the Fall yields a very fruitful harvest. I almost always seem to be doing some fun gig in the Autumn, and this year I have quite a few things I'm working on.

I'm doing a Voice Over tomorrow, and I'm recording some songs for my Singing Nun composer, Andy Monroe on Wednesday. Really fun tunes!

In October and November, I'm working on a new project with orchestrator, Larry Moore, who also worked on The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun. He most recently worked on the Broadway production of Finian's Rainbow, and I'm delighted to be working with him once again!

So I have a lot of lovely work to do, learning lines and new songs, and I'm enjoying every minute of it! :)