Balancing Act

Two messages this week:

and

Being an actor, I have to do both, and it's fascinating to navigate the difference.

No matter how big or how small, being truthful is the key.

I had to self-tape an audition for a film this week, and it was fun to play this big character from Brooklyn, discovering what made her feel small. The scene was very well written and allowed me to play with these variances.

As my friends say...

 

Laundry and the Art of Improv

I've always loved Christopher Guest's films - A Mighty Wind is my favorite! He and his writing partner, the great Eugene Levy, supposedly write backgrounds for each of the characters and notecards for each specific scene, outlining the plot, and then leave it up to the actors to improvise the dialogue.

"When I meet actors, I talk with them and get a sense... of someone who can listen and has some kind of a spark." Christopher Guest to Charlie Rose 

The improv in his films, "as opposed to what you see in a club," is based on "more real-time behavior," and that's what I love: the heart beneath the humor. 

A few years ago, I got to improvise a short film called, "Laundry," and it was a blast. We filmed late at night in an East Village laundromat. My character, Annie, was the proprietor, and the film was completely improvised.  The director , Jules Suo, was clear on the characters and types of scenes she wanted. We the actors took it from there!

Below is a small taste of this short film, which is also on IMDB.

Playing a Despicable Character

I recently received a lovely review for playing the spoiled little rich girl, Sophie Teale, in the international recording of Jerome Kern's Roberta:

"Laura Daniel rates a bouquet for her purring, creamy-toned, absolutely despicable Sophie."

On Amazon, one reviewer wrote, "Laura Daniel deserves a special award for bitchiest bitch this side of the Bitchississippi." 

As I grow as an actor, I seem to keep playing "naughty girls." In fact, Larry Moore had seen me Off Broadway as the tempestuous Barbara Webster, in the revival of Charles MacArthur's "Johnny On a Spot," and knew he wanted me to play Sophie even then.

In Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's musical, Lucky Stiff, I've played Rita twice, and it's always interesting to wrap my head around the woman who shot her lover for cheating on her:

In the new series, Trending, I play Madeline Lich, a naughty CEO who tries to clean up her image:

Rosalie Tenseth, the director and star of Trending, recently shared an article about the marvelous  Margot Martindale, and it really resonated with me. In the interview with The Vulture, she says, "If I were a man, would you call me evil? No. These are smart characters." They are good at what they do.

And for my cadre of "bad girls," I know these women feel justified in their actions and do not consider themselves evil. They are simply driven by what they want.

To quote Jessica Rabbit, "I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way." 

And as most actors will tell you, it's more fun to play the villain anyway! ;) 

Tweets and Treats

It's been a wild week!

On Sunday, I was asked to do an interview for IndieActivity. My friends, Lisa Budwig and Marzy Hart, have already been interviewed, and it's a deep-dive into acting as well as each artist's process.

 On Tuesday, PPI Recording Studios tweeted that I was their Facebook Celebrity of the day:

I love recording there. My last set was for Hell's Belles the Musical. I received the tracks, and they're luscious! I'll post them soon!

Yesterday (Wednesday), I was quoted for an article in NYCastings.com

 And I got paid for the work I did on the indie feature, 39 and 1/2.  This was an incredibly fun day of filming where I played a motivational speaker. The director, Kara Herold, gave me great license to play, and I ended up improvising the last half of my scene, so she had enough material to work. It was a BLAST!

 

"Do Re Mi" at Musicals Tonight

The old adage, "Let's put on a show!" could easily be applied to Musicals Tonight, a not-for-profit theatre company Off Broadway.

Mel Miller (below with Izzy and Mo) is our effervescent producer, and he makes it all happen! Check out this article about him called, "It's Miller Time."

Inspired by Encores, which hosts staged concerts on Broadway, Musicals Tonight has been reviving old musicals Off Broadway for the past 19 years.

Since it's a staged concert (actors have scripts in hand), we do a lot in short time! For this production, we had 52 hours of rehearsal, including one dress rehearsal, and were guided along by our fearless director, Donald Brenner!

We do 16 shows in 12 days, whereas Encores does 5 shows performances.

"Do Re Mi" is Musical Tonight's 89th show, and it's an absolute pleasure to be a part of it.

I play Kay, the wise-cracking wife of a small-time con man, Hubie Cram (Patrick John Moran), who has dreams of making it rich quick. They get into trouble with some gangsters who are muscling in on the jukebox racket, which actually happened at the time!

 Patrick John Moran, Michael Scott, Roger Rifkin, and Daniel Marcus try to go "Legitimate" (above).

A side story is that of a music producer who falls in love with a talented waitress Hubie discovers (Tyler Milliron and Beth DeMichele below with Patrick John Moran and me). We all discover how important it is to "Make Someone Happy," which became the big hit song from the show in 1960.

NY Theatre Guide gave us a lovely review, and playwright Michael Small (The It Girl) gave us a warm welcome: "If you are in NYC, there's a little treat you shouldn't miss -- a staged-reading of the 1960 musical Do Re Mi at the Lion Theater on 42nd Street (which runs only through next Sunday, April 3). To be in a tiny theater with super-talented people about five feet away, singing as if they were a few doors down on Broadway...  this is a priceless diversion -- and all for 25 bucks!"

This is last week for "Do Re Mi," so we hope to see you there!

Matinees are at 2 PM: Wed, Fri, Saturday and Sunday
Evenings at 7:30 PM: Wed, Thurs, Sat.
Tickets through Telecharge

Juggling Genres

While I've been in rehearsals for the Off Broadway "staged concert" for "Do Re Mi" (and let me tell you, this is no mere concert! It's ACTIVE theatre! We just have music and scripts in hand), I managed to squeeze in a film-shoot for Kara Herold's indie feature, 39 and 1/2. I played a motivational speaker, which Kara said was type-casting. ;)

We filmed at 80 St. Marks, an old theatre where I did a reading of  a new play by Michael Small a few years ago. Stephen Nachamie was the director, and he just made him Broadway debut with She Loves Me! Go, Stephen!

It was a blast to revisit the theatre, and especially, to film there! Kara's crew was marvelous! She even had me improvise a good chunk of the scene, which was SO fun!

 

Can't wait to see how it all turns out. :)

Do Re Mi

I've been diving into Jule Styne's marvelous musical, Do Re Mi, prepping for my role of Kay, the wise-cracking wife with a heart of gold to small-time con man, Hubie Kram.

These roles were originally brought to life on Broadway by Phil Silvers and Nancy Walker, two top-rate comedians in the 60s.

Nathan Lane played Hubie in the 1999 staged concert by Encores! and the recording is delicious!

Patrick John Moran plays Hubie in this production by Musicals Tonight, and I can't wait to work with him again! We played sweethearts in the NYMF production of  Sasquatched the Musical, and it'll be fun to play an "old married couple" from 1960 in "Do Re Mi."



Musicals Tonight presents Do Re Mi as a stage concert March 22- April 3. Tickets are only $26.25 and they're already available! https://www.telecharge.com/Off-Broadway/Do-Re-Mi/Overview

Hope to see you there! ;)

Booking and "Trending" Screening Tonight!

This week has been jam-packed with goodies! I got a callback on Monday for the lead in "Do Re Mi" for Musicals Tonight, got the offer Monday night, and have been flying ever since!

I've also been swept up in promos for Trending: A Series:

The proof of concept is screening tonight at Pop Up Anthology:

My character, Madeline Lich, is a client of this whacky PR Firm that makes me think of Ab Fab meets The Office.

This looks says it all: "I'm trending where?!!"

"Poor CEO Madeleine Lich...(played by Laura Daniel) finds herself Trending for activities she can't even remember. Let the staff of #Trending (below) get you out of a pickle. CEOs to reality series stars are our specialty! There is no WRONG we cannot REWRITE!"

Making Tracks

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of going into PPI Recording Studio to lay down some tracks for Hell's Belles.

Chip Fabrizi is the man who makes it happen! He's the recording engineer. Below, he's with Mary Feinsinger who was our fabulous music director:

Mary is such a trooper! She had hurt her foot at auditions the night before, but she came to the recording anyway because that's how she rolls!

I've recorded demos for Hell's Belles before. Janis, Judy and Godiva are on my website under the Media section:

But I also got to sing Salome's new song, a song for Eve, which was cut from the show, but still super yummy as a stand-alone, and Guenevere's song, if you can picture the queen of Camelot as The Queen of Country:

Y'all come back now, ya hear? ;)

I'll post the recordings once they're mixed and edited. Rock on!

Don't Tell Mama ;)

This week, I got to sing at the Don't Tell Mama cabaret, a legendary space established in the eighties. "Mama's," as everyone calls it, has hosted over 30 years of cabaret, piano bar, and the NY night life experience.

The marvelous Clare Cooper plays and sings there every week, and she invited me to do a mini medley of my characters from the Off Broadway musical, Hell's Belles.

Hell's Belles is about a cabaret in hell which dares to ask, "What is Hell, and how can you get yourself out of it?"

3 actresses play 20 wild women from history and pop culture. I play Salome, Lady Godiva, Janis Joplin, Gunenvere, Alice B. Toklas, Joan Crawford, and Judy Garland.

Here's a small taste:

This is our closing weekend, so if you'd like to join us Belles in Hell, our final shows are this Sunday Dec. 13th at 3 PM and Monday Dec. 14th at 8 PM.

Tickets are through http://www.hellsbellesthemusical.com

Come on down! :)

Slate

I was recently asked to send in a clip for a new web series, and for any video audition, you have to slate: state your name and any other relevant info. Here's mine, as coached by the marvelous Dena Tyler:

Broadway Sessions

I am so behind on blogging! It's been a whirlwind, opening Hell's Belles Off Broadway, zooming to CA to be in my brother's wedding, and then coming back to NY to go right back into Hell's Belles. In the midst of this, I got to perform in Ben Cameron's Broadway Sessions at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Such a cute space! And the talent is OFF THE CHARTS!!! The night I sang, Thayne Jasperson from Hamilton performed, and Kevin Smith Kirkwood from Kinky Boots rocked the house as Whitney Houston!

I loved singing "Thank you for being a friend" with Kevin and the whole cast that night!

I also performed "The Grand Gesture" by Andy Monroe. Such a fun song!

Hell's Belles Opening Night

Hell's Belles had a lovely opening Off Broadway last Saturday Oct. 24. The show is about infamous women in a nightclub "in hell." 3 actresses, myself included, play 20 characters, so it's a lot of quick changes!

The audience was filled with fabulous people, many of whom stayed afterwards to regale us with praise.

I play Judy Garland and Janis Joplin, and it's always such a thrill to hear audience members call out afterwards, "Hey JANIS!" or "It's JUDY!!!!!"

I heard from many folks who'd actually seen Judy Garland LIVE in concert, and it was such an honor to hear that my embodiment of her in "Hell's Belles" was spot on for all of these folks.

I'm out of town this Halloween weekend, but I'll be back with the Belles on Saturday Nov. 7th.

The show runs Saturdays at 2 and 5:30 PM and Sundays at 3 PM. Hope to see you there!

Growing up with Star Wars

When I was a kid, my dad was a big Sci Fi guy. His library was peppered with The Lord of the Rings and 2001 a Space Odyssey. In the summer of '77, he and his friend from work heard about this movie called, Star Wars, so we piled into our respective cars and went to the drive-in. It was $2 per car, so it was a deal!



From the minute John William's music blasted through our speakers, I was hooked! I promptly went home, cut up a white sheet, stole my mom's silver disco belt, and ran around the house as Princess Leia.

Now with Episode 7 coming out for Christmas, the kid in me is so excited to go back to that "galaxy far, far away."


"The Force... it's calling to you...."

Livin' the Dream

When I was a kid, I LOVED "The Wizard of Oz." I could quote it on the playground, and I always pretended I was Dorothy. What kid didn't? ;)

When I was old enough to audition for the community theatre production, I of course was cast as a munchkin. But when I hit high school, our incredibly hip drama teacher teamed up with the music teacher, who LOVED funk, and they picked, "The Wiz." I passionately listened to Stephanie Mills, rocked on with her riffs, and somehow got the role of Dorothy! But in "The Wiz," Dorothy's slippers are silver, just as they are in Frank. L Baum's books. But I didn't care as I eased on down the road! ;) It was a blast!

Now I'm playing Judy Garland in the Off Broadway musical, "Hell's Belles," and the costume designer, Dustin Cross, made me my own pair of ruby slippers. I am livin the dream! :)

"Hell's Belles" Off Broadway at the Elektra Theatre

For the past few years, I've been involved in readings and showcases for a musical called, "Hell's Belles." It's about infamous women in "hell," and was originally done as a cabaret. The musical has grown and now we're opening Off Broadway this Saturday Oct. 3rd at the Elektra Theatre!

Performances are Saturdays at 2 PM and 5:30 PM.
Sundays at 3 PM.
Tickets are here: https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/32835

We even have a commercial running with NY1's "Onstage" program! :)



I'm so excited to be playing in the The Elektra! It's one of my favorite Off Broadway theatres. I saw Silence (of the Lambs) The Musical there, and had a blast! It has such a fun, Gothic feel, which is perfect for our show!

We're also on the marquee! Whee! :)

Trending: A Series

Last weekend  I got to film a scene for the new web series, "Trending: A PR firm with all of the damage and no control."  As our wonderful writer/director/actress/producer, Rosalie Tenseth, said, "Think Ab Fab meets The Office."

The whole team - cast and crew - are amazing! SUCH go-getters! Most of us came together through Bonnie Gillespie's Self-Management for Actors workshop in NYC last year, and we formed the NYC Ninjas. :) Bonnie encourages self-producing, so the Ninjas began working on this script earlier in the year, and I was lucky enough to be part of it. I play a naughty businesswoman named Madeleine Lich:

The full cast and crew are made up of the following fabulous folks: Rosalie Tenseth, Lisa Budwig, Victoria Prather, Erin Zapcic, Jenny Moss, Brandi Alyssa Young, Andrew Nielson, Denise Ivanoff, Ingeborg Riedmaier, Michaela Grant, Courtney Williams, Lya Yanne, Carly Turro, Eliana Gonzalesz Scannell, Isabella Way, Kristin Carbone, Mary Ann Hay, Karen Frances, Sierra Rein, Michelle Lullic, Elinor Dekhert, Jon Breley (DP), Mike Hurst (Sound) Rom Festo (Gaffer) and Partick Hopkins (Gaffer).

They're an AWESOME bunch, and are on Twitter @trendingaseries

Evita at TheaterMania's Block Party

Yesterday, I had the immense pleasure of playing Evita from Hell's Belles for TheaterMania's Block Party. It was such a blast! My husband encouraged me to take a cab, so I wouldn't ruin my 'do, so I felt very "official." :)

When I arrived, the Block Party was already in full swing. I got there just in time to see a performance from the upcoming Broadway revival of the Deaf West production of Spring Awakening. It was seriously amazing. The incorporation of deaf artists with Duncan Sheik's beautiful music make this show a MUST SEE.

Then Fuerza Bruta hit the stage, and I have never seen ANYTHING like it! They exloded onto the stage with one drummer, a ton of music, confetti and dancing! EVERYONE was dancing with them. It was such fun!

The Amazing Max was our phenomenal host, and he kept the audience delighted with magic tricks between performances. Even when we took a break, kids were coming up to him, asking for more magic, and he didn't disappoint. He was brilliant!

Then I went on, and it was SUCH a blast! There were some musical theatre fans in the audience who got all the Evita jokes, and it was so fun to sing out to them. One of my friends captured it video, so it's here on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/139267631

Our pianist, the rockin' Rachel Kaufman, had been to Eva's shrine and museum in Argentina, and said she had to take a pic with me to show her Argentine friends:

Thanks to Tweiss Productions for making it happen! :)