Recording at the Film Center

It felt like Spring last night. An early Spring in New York. In February.

As I dashed down the street to the Film Center where I was going to be recording a song for the new musical, "Pieces," I thanked my lucky stars for all the creatively lush times I'd had there. I was part of the international recording for Jerome Kern's Roberta which was done at the Film Center and in Dublin. And I booked the short film Tick Tock at the Film Center. There's a lot of good energy there for me, and I smile every time I walk by the place.

Last night I was there to record a song for these amazing musical-makers, Kristen Penner and Lorelei MacKenzie.

They've written several musicals, and I met them a few years ago when I crashed an audition for their musical, Pageant Princess and I booked the role of Miss Clarabelle, a cat lover who finds herself the judge of a toddlers and tiaras type pageant. VERY fun and I got to belt to a high E which is always a thrill.

Last night, we recorded a song for "Pieces," which is a show about secrets and coming to terms with different parts of ourselves. The score is wonderfully contemporary,  and every time I work on it, my spirit soars.

Kristen sang first, and then I added my voice. Then Sarah Ann Vail who was in from LA sang. And I'm hoping they finished with Lorelei last night. The song includes all of the characters of the show so they'll be adding the other voices at another time. I can't wait to hear how it all comes together!

Kristen, me, Lorelei and Sarah Ann (far left)

I Hear A Theme

When I started my web series, Laura Loves NY, I wondered how and where music would fit in.

Jody Diamond, one of my guests on the Bali episode (below with director Livi Zheng), noted that I sing a little bit in every episode. That's just me. I'll sing phrases as I talk, because I'm always hearing music and some words just come out of me in a musical way. :)

I love that other people hear music all the time too.

When I interviewed award-winning composer singer-songwriter Andy Monroe he told me he'd been creating songs since he was 3. He just sat down at the piano and started singing.

I met Andy a few years ago at the NY Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) when I played The Singing Nun for a musical he composed. I won the NYMF award and fell in love with Andy's style.

While I was working on my web series, I kept thinking it'd be cool to have a theme song as a way to introduce the show, and since I love Andy's music and knew he'd get my vibe, I asked if he'd be interested in creating a theme song Laura Loves NY. He did, and we recorded it earlier this month!

I also interviewed Andy for my show, which is all about shining the light on artists who love NY as much as I do! :) Stay tuned for the upcoming episode. It's gonna be fun!

Laura Loves NY kicks off Season 2 with Tanya Perez in Wonderland

I can't believe we're in the middle of January 2019 already! Zoom!

At the end of last year, I interviewed actress-writer-director Tanya Perez, whom I met via Bonnie Gillespie's Self Management for Actors (The NY Ninjas). Tanya's a trailblazer, and when I met her, she'd already been on hit shows like Orange Is the New Black, Marvel's Jessica Jones, Law and Order and Blue Bloods. And last year she started making her own movies.



She shared the screenplay for Veronica with me earlier in the year, so I had an idea of what the film was about, and it was exciting to see how the film transformed on film! Such an incredible story about a woman trying to find a sense of identity.

All year we were trying to get together to film our interview for my web series, Laura Loves NY, but we've both been so busy! It took all year to make it happen, but it was well worth the wait. We sang and danced our way through Central Park on our way to the Alice In Wonderland statue which had special meaning for us both. Such a playful, wonderful day!

It was a joy to edit this piece to kick off Season 2 of my show. What a great way to start the New Year!

The 1st Anniversary of Laura Loves NY

This has been a year of good growth! 3 readings of new musicals bound for Broadway, 3 rich and wonderful characters! 2 sketch comedies with hilarious casts, and then... the creation of my own web series, Laura Loves NY.

I can't believe I started my web series a year ago! I've been so deep into editing my last 3 episodes that I didn't quite realize a year had passed until people on LinkedIn started sending me congratulations. Astounding!

How did it all happen? My coach, Bonnie Gillespie, is a big proponent of creating your own content, and while I've been tinkering with some scripted ideas, Laura Loves NY was born out of my love for sharing New York with others. I met actress-producer Laura Dowling Shea through Bonnie's 100 Day Get In Gear for the Next Tier program, and Laura knew I was trying to figure out film, so she told me about Ela Thier's 6 day film challenge, and we teamed up for a piece. Working with imovie's editing tool and encouraged by Ela's prompts, my eyes opened even more to the sights and sounds of the city. Then I got curious about other people and what they love about the city, so I started booking interviews.

Liz Days was my first guest, and I'm actually re-editing our interview, because I've learned so much since last December! So be on the lookout for a Liz and Laura upgrade! Coming soon! :)

Then Erin Zapcic joined me this Spring before heading to Hollywood. She'd just done a photoshoot with Vogue as the Queen of Medieval Times!

 
 
Then Deb Unger from Gotham showed me around Fort Tryon Park!



I ended up in Hogsmeade with my former Queen from the PA Ren Faire, Kacey Camp. 


 
And that caught the eye of my producer, Fern Lim, for the upcoming web series, Human Telegraphs, who won tickets to Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, so she took me along with her, and I interviewed her too!



I had no idea my passion for filming, editing and talking to other artists would open my world so much! And yet somehow I was asked to interview filmmaker Livi Zheng at the New York premiere of her documentary, Bali Beats of Paradise! 




And I have to give a nod to my former Off Broadway co-star, John Di Domenico, who let me in on his process of becoming a top Trump impersonator and then let me interview him in character!

 

It's been an incredible year, and I'm editing 3 more episodes to release before the year is out, so I better get back to work!

Pop on by YouTube and let me know which episodes you like!

Big thanks to Laura Dowling Shea for being a guiding light!

 

Bonnie Gillespie

When I moved to New York, like any actor, I took a bunch of temp jobs, which ranged from highly stressful to total boredom. Someone who got me through the tedium of those desk jobs was a casting director from LA named Bonnie Gillespie. She wrote for Backstage and Actors Access, and her down-home vibe combined with a crystal clear knowledge of show biz plus her generous spirit in helping actors fine-tune their tools totally won me over.

Fast forward to a few years ago when I met actress Suzanne Smart who's been on Daredevil, Madoff, and Iron Fist. We were chatting at a casting director workshop, and she told me that Bonnie makes biannual trips to New York to teach the basics of her book, "Self-Management for Actors." So when Bonnie visited next, I was in her class, and it was FANTASTIC!

(Masterclass with Bonnie Gillespie and some NY Ninjas)

I don't want to give away her process. Like they say for the Harry Potter movies/play #keepthesecrets. All I can say is I went in with my headshot and resume, and walked out with a better understanding of how I'm seen as an actor - one paper and in person - and much more! One of the gals in class, Lisa Budwig, created a Facebook forum where we NY ninjas could meet, and from there, I met this entire community of creative artists.

I began coaching with Bonnie, because I wanted to dive deeper. Then I met actress-producer Laura Dowling Shea through Bonnie's Get in Gear for the Next Tier, and Laura gave me a big nudge to start filming my own work, and she connected me to Ela Thier who helped me with some of the "how's" of filmmaking.

Bonnie always says, "Flip out your phone and just DO IT" with regards to self-taping auditions, so I figured, "Let's put on a show!"

I thought about my love for New York, and how I have friends and family who can't get here easily, so I created my web series, Laura Loves NY, as a way of sharing my love of the city with others. An incredibly cool bonus is that I've been able to interview other artists who love this city as much as I do. I always ask them their favorite place in the city, and we usually film there.

Last month, Bonnie was in the city, and I had the immense honor of having her on my show. Dive into the deliciousness!

Laura Loves Bali: Beats of Paradise

One of the things I love about New York is that it's a melting pot of cultures and film festivals. :) So when I was asked to interview director Livi Zheng at the New York premiere for her beautiful documentary, Bali: Beats of Paradise, I was SO psyched!

The film is GORGEOUS! It's about a Balinese performer-dancer-musician, Nyoman Wenten, who teaches gamelan in Southern CA where I grew up! Talk about a wild connection.

The film also shows how Wenten collaborated with Grammy Award winner, Judith Hill, to bring Balinese music and dance into the modern world.

Judith Hill is a fabulous singer-songwriter in her own right, and their collaboration is delicious!

I was fortunate to interview Judith at the New York Premiere as well, and she shared some behind-the-scenes stories on learning the Balinese dance for her music video, Queen of the Hill.

I also met American composer Jody Diamond who's been teaching gamelan and arranging for this ensemble of instruments and artists for almost 50 years! She had awesome stories about Lou Harrison whom she worked with in Joshua Tree, and she told me how the instruments "found" her when she was a college student, and that a chance encounter where the instrument "played her" became a lifelong profession.

Catch all this gorgeousness in my web series, Laura Loves NY:


Bali: Beats of Paradise is currently playing in theatres in New York and LA, and I hope you'll treat yourself to this beautiful film! It'll leave you breathlessly inspired!

Haunted by a Song

Have you ever been haunted by a song?

When I met Russell Kohlmann in the West Village to film the Pride episode of my web series, Laura Loves NY, we walked into an area of Christopher Park where 2 musicians were playing. And Russell said, "This is why Laura Loves NY because you can just stumble upon a random performance in the middle of the day."




Turns out the song was Riptide by Vance Joy, and it is delicious!

 

A Walk Through Fort Tryon Park with Deborah Unger

Earlier this year, actress Deborah Unger joined me on my web series, Laura Loves NY, and she showed me one of her favorite spots in the city: Fort Tryon Park.



It is an absolutely LUSH experience, and I can't wait to go back! It's at the tip-top of Manhattan, but it doesn't take long to get there. The subway got me there  - from the West 30s to 190th Street - in a half hour!

Interestingly enough, after my walk in the park with Deb, I've seen signs everywhere about how it was 242 years ago that the British occupied Manhattan. They took over in September 1776, and as Deb remarks in the video, General George Washington and his troops initially LOST to the British! Wow!

I'm thankful to all those who fought -and continue to fight - for freedom.

As Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote, "History is happening in Manhattan, and we just happen to be in the greatest city in the world! In the greatest city in the world!"

The people who helped me get through 9-11

Getting ready for work this morning, I flashed back to 17 years ago, wondering if I was doing the same thing... getting ready for work, heading out into the big city to take on the day.

We can get stuck in routines, you know? So today, I look back and thank the people who helped me get through that day:

Rodney Newby, my boss at Sony, had the wherewithal and presence of mind to send us all home when it had been confirmed this was a terrorist attack. Rodney continues to be a pillar of strength and compassion and innovation. I am so thankful for his friendship.

My husband, Rob. Getting home to him meant everything to me. It still does.

Maryanne Schwartz, our friend from the PA Renaissance Faire, with her sister, Tina Sams, was the first one to call us on our landline. Thank goodness we had one because all cellphone service was dead. Hearing her friendly voice was a soothing balm, and our friendship continues to be a beacon of hope and tenacity.

Then there were more calls from family and friends. My mom. My brother. Rob's family.

My Dad was stuck in Hawaii but we connected days later.

Just knowing we were able to check in with each other and make sure everyone was ok was a blessing that not everyone had that day.

Thinking of everyone who was affected by this tragedy.

We are all in this together and have to look out for each other.

The 20th Anniversary of Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since Harry Potter was first published in America.

I remember seeing the book on a friend's desk and asking her about it, because who wouldn't be fascinated by the picture of a boy on a broom?

 She told me it was Harry Potter, and so I picked up a copy myself. This is before Pottermania took over the world, and JK Rowling's book felt like a secret treasure I'd just discovered.

I've got a first edition hard cover, but not a first printing, so it's value is whatever I assign to it: priceless! :)

This year, I had 2 friends whisk me off on Harry Potter-styled adventures: Kacey Camp, who plays a Wand Keeper at Ollivanders in Hogsmeade invited my husband and I to join her for a day, and my friend, Fern Lim, whom I worked with on the web series, Human Telegraphs, saw my post about going to Hogsmeade and invited me to catch Harry Potter and The Cursed Child with her.

So you could say I've been celebrating Harry's 20th Anniversary all year!

Back to School Advice

Even though it's still 90 degrees in NY, most kids have gone back to school. And like a lot of actors, I'm heading back to class as well. So here's some sage advice for anyone who's studying this wild ride called Life :)

Neil Simon's Speech from the Actors' Equity Association

When I was in high school, I remember the drama department doing, "Barefoot in the Park," and it was utterly charming. But I was introduced to Neil Simon long before that with "The Odd Couple," which my folks watched on TV when I was a kid. Then there were all his hits at the movies: "Murder By Death, "The Good-bye Girl," "Seems Like Old Times," most of which I was way too young for, but when "Biloxi Blues" hit the theatres, I totally got it! And a few years after the film, I got to play Daisy onstage.

When I moved to NY, I remember passing the theatre which had been endowed with his name, "The Neil Simon Theatre." I even took my husband and sister-in-law there to see "Hairspray."

 In 1983, Neil Simon received a special award from Actors' Equity Association at the National Membership Meeting. The following speech, which he made while accepting the reward, were first printed in Equity News in November, 1983.

“The actor is the bravest soul I know. My god, it’s hard to be an actor. I know of no greater act of courage than to walk out on an empty stage, seeing the silhouettes of four ominous figures sitting in the darkened theater, with your mouth drying and your fingers trembling, trying to keep the pages in hand from rattling and trying to focus your eyes on the lines so you don’t automatically skip the two most important speeches in the scene, and all the while trying to give a performance worthy of an opening night with only four pages of a play, the rest of which you know nothing about and can only guess at … and then to finally get through it, only to hear from the voice in the darkened theater, 'Thank you.' You nod politely, and start the interminable six mile walk off the stage into the wings, only to have to walk back on because you left your purse or you galoshes or your envelope with your resumes on the chair at stage right, now having to make a 12 mile walk off into the wings. It has got to be the most painful, frustrating and fearful experience in the world. Because with it comes a 90% chance of rejection. And to do it time after time, year after year, even after you’ve proven yourself in show after show, requires more than courage and fearlessness. It requires such dedication to your craft and to the work you’ve chosen for your life, that I’m sure if Equity posted a sign backstage that said, ‘Any actor auditioning for this show who gets turned down will automatically be shot,’ you’d still only get about a 12% turn away.

Since for the past 22 years I have been one of those silhouetted figures in the darkened theater, I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for your courage, your dedication, your talents. I think I became a writer partly because I had an acute case of shyness all through my youth and I was well into my teens before I said full sentences. Since then I have found spokesmen to utter my words and thoughts. And what spokesmen they were: Maureen Stapleton and George Scott and Walter Matthau and Jimmy Coco and Elizabeth Franz and Matthew Broderick and Peter Falk and Lee Grant and Alec Guiness and Marsh Mason and Jason Robards and Richard Dreyfus and Zeljko Ivanek and Jack Weston and Joan Hackett. And the featured actors and the bit players and the understudies and the thousand who have performed my plays in theaters, barns and probably supermarkets all over this country. I don’t know how many plays I have left in me, but I sure hope there’s enough to cover every actor who carries and Equity card.

The collaboration that has existed between us all these years had certainly not gone unappreciated by me. Recently I received the most thrilling tribute I’ve ever been given in my entire life: The naming of a theater after me. While it takes my breath away every time I see it, I’m not foolish enough or egotistical enough to think it got up there without the talent of those who have said my works all these year – my spokesmen!!! So the next time you pass 52nd Street near Eight Avenue, just think as I do, that the name of that theatre is the Neil Simon and company.“ - Neil Simon

Fern Lim, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

It's been a cool couple of weeks. August started with an invitation to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. Fern Lim, one of my producers and co-stars of Human Telegraphs won tickets to the show, and scoured the web to see who among her friends Potter fans!

Well, I've always loved Harry Potter, and had just filmed a segment with Kacey Camp, a wand keeper at Hogsmeade in Universal Studios:



So of course I was over the moon when Fern asked me if I'd like to go to the show! I thought she was joking at first, but she assured me the invitation was real, so I asked her if she'd like to be interviewed for my web series, "Laura Loves NY."

One of my favorite things about New York is finding out what other people love about the city. Everyone has a favorite place, and for Fern and me that week, I'm pretty sure that place became The Lyric Theatre on Broadway.

Fern is an actor-producer-art director and so much more! Before heading out to see Harry and the gang, we sat down to chat about her new web series, Human Telegraphs, which I guest-starred on, and discovered we're both California girls!

Laura Loves NY: Musicals with VP Boyle

I recently met up with one of my first musical theatre coaches, VP Boyle. VP is a tall drink of water and Broadway vet whom I've always referred to as "The Willy Wonka of Musical Theatre."

He's been directing and teaching in LA, and decided to come back to NY to kick off his Musical Theatre Forum for MaxTheatrix.

I asked him where he'd like to meet in the city, since my web series, Laura Loves NY, showcases artists in one of their favorite spots in New York City, and he said, "Let's do Times Square!"

So we did this interview in the heart of Manhattan, right on Broadway!

Human Telegraphs Trailer!

At the end of 2017, I filmed the role of Joey, a delicious New Yawker in Season 1 of the web series, Human Telegraphs.

It was an incredible experience, and I've been watching these Three Bright Lights as they've been working on post-production.

They just released the trailer for Season 1, and I got a nice spot in the middle.




They have 2 more days, crowdfunding to finish post-production, and then we're off!

Pants On Fire

In the winter I booked an incredibly fun gig called Pants on Fire. It's a really fun podcast that helps kids gauge what's true and false.  Two experts come on the show to talk about a subject, and the kids use their lie-detecting skills to see who's the expert and who's the fake.

The hosts, Deborah Goldstein and Ethan Berlin, are hilarious, and all of the episodes are a delight, mixing humor with history. My episode on Glass just came out.

Hope you enjoy it!

A Day with The Queen in Hogsmeade

This summer began joyously with a visit to LA to see our old friend, Kacey Camp, who played The Queen at The Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, which was my first full-time acting gig. Kacey welcomed me to The Faire in the same way she helped my husband and I move to New York: with an open heart.

She was so good at playing The Queen that my hubby and I continued to call her, Your Majesty, especially if we wanted to curry favor.

As I began to work onstage in New York, Kacey moved out to LA and landed some sweet gigs on TV. She was even showcased on Entertainment Weekly when Universal Studios opened up Harry Potter World. So my hubby and I headed to LA to see my family and catch up with Kacey at her new stomping grounds in Hogsmeade!

When I took my husband to Jurassic Park

My husband loves dinosaurs. Always has, always will. When our nephews were old enough, he couldn't wait to share the Jurassic Park movies with them. That's how much he loves dinosaurs.

He recently posted this on Facebook, and it made me smile :)

We went to CA a few weeks ago to see an old friend from the PA Renaissance Faire: Kacey Camp. She was our Queen when we were both hired for the Shakespeare troupe at the faire, and we've been friends ever since.

Kacey showed us around Universal Studios, and we had to go on the Jurassic Park ride. My husband suggested I film some segments for my webseries, Laura Loves NY, so we did a special California Edition:



My husband is the one making faces behind Kacey and me in the early part of this vid. He's a big kid and so am I! We keep each other laughing. :)

More vids to come from our CA visit. But for now... onto the next adventure!

Happy Trails!

Laura Loves NY: Pride

I was so honored to have the very talented Russell Kohlmann on my web series, Laura Loves NY.  We had a blast, running around the West Village, singing songs, talking about upcoming films, Kate Bush, sharing advice, and celebrating Pride.

Cabaret, Footage, and a very Full Calendar

June is filling up quick, and I decided to add it all to my Get In Gear calendar, an incredible 100 day program built by Show Biz coach, Bonnie Gillespie:

This is helpful in keeping track of all the footage I've filmed for my web series, Laura Loves NY, as well as setting up days for post-production. I also added the cabaret class I'm teaching with Mary Feinsinger, my Music Director from Hell's Belles the Musical at the 92Y. 

I'm amazed to find myself teaching! I've done round-table musical theatre sessions with other performers where we share recommendations to improve performance, and this class has a similar feel. It's really exciting to see each performer work on music they love, and I enjoy being able to help them make adjustments. It also reinforces what my teachers have taught me. Funny how that works, passing on knowledge. :)

I've been fortunate to craft two of my own cabarets. I performed "Love in 35 Minutes" at The Actors Fund, and I created a mini cabaret to promote Hell's Belles when it was running Off Broadway. I performed it at the legendary Don't Tell Mama, or "Mama's" as most cabaret kids call it.

 

 I've also got the usual stuff of auditions and working with my acting and voice coaches, and it helps to see how I'm filling my days with so much good stuff!

Hope you are too!