I recently interviewed Jon Ferguson of Theatre Forever, Isabel Nelson of Transatlantic Love Affair, and actor/director Sean Dillon about the responsibilities of an actor working in ensemble-created theater. Check out the article in this quarter's issue of Paid Actor Magazine!
Paid Actor
Reflection
So, it's that time of year for reflection. And I'm going to SO do some of that. Soon. I want to put together some statistics and compare with previous years. I'm kind of a dork and keep spreadsheets of many things, but I do like to keep track of how I'm doing theater-wise in particular.
The beginning of this past year was a bit fraught, with some very large life changes for me: breakup, move, giving away one of my cats. (No worries...Luna found a good home with my friend Rachel). Because of all this, acting got put on the backburner somewhat. I was still auditioning, but my priorities were figuring out where I and my cats were going to live, if I would be able to afford it, and where I might work if I needed to find a new job. Luckily, my friend Neal needed a roommate, and I moved into his lovely home in Minneapolis. Neal, our other roommate Ryan, and Ryan's cat Milo have been wonderful roommates, and they and my friends have all been very supportive in my year of big changes.
During this transition, I did find time to perform in World Commedia Day with my friends at Shadow Horse Theater, and then I spent eight weeks rehearsing and four weeks performing in Crazyface by Clive Barker. That show was so physically demanding that I lost ten pounds(!) I took a breather after that and just enjoyed going to see many Fringe shows, attending the Ivey Awards, and then worked on Hauptmann by John Logan with Candid Theatre. I acted in one music video this year. And I wrote two articles that got published, one for Minnesota Playlist and the other for Paid Actor.
It's been a light theater year, but a good one. I'm going to work on that spreadsheet, and I'll be back with some concrete numbers. I like to know how much progress I'm making.
Also, I just wrote another article that I'm trying to get published. If it doesn't get picked up, then I plan to publish it here at my blog and do the follow ups here as well. I have a plan. Stay tuned!
Back in the Game!
Well, quiet time is definitely over.
Theatre Prom came and went last week. Lots of deserving people won Ivey Awards (including Tyler Michaels, with whom I performed in Flanagan's Wake a few years back, and Bonnie and Michael, my old bosses at the Illusion Theater). My roommate Neal Beckman got to perform the closing number "Sit Down (You're Rocking the Boat)" with his Guys and Dolls cast from Bloomington Civic Theatre. VitaMN has a really great slideshow of some of the highlights here. And everyone looked especially gorgeous this year, too, if I may say so myself.
Me and my friend Ethan. He is wearing an awesome suit from the Norwegian retailer Moods of Norway, and has a martini glass to match. (Note the tractor pin just under the pocket square.)
Click here to see our awesome red carpet photo!
I've had one rehearsal for Commedia. I recently got cast and have now started rehearsals for Hauptmann with Candid Theater, which opens on Halloween. The show is about the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case, and I am playing the wife of the man who went on trial for the crime which he (most likely) did not commit. Working with Candid for the first time, and aside from Matt Saxe, who I worked with on Crazyface this summer, all of the actors are new to me as well! (Note: Playwright Seraphina Nova just won an Ivey Award for her script for her original play "Dogwood," which was produced by Candid Theater earlier this year, so it's exciting to start working with them a week after that win...good energy to take going into rehearsals for a very serious show.)
Tickets are already available! Click on the picture to go to the ticketing site. :)
Aaaaaand....the article I wrote for Paid Actor came out. Get your copy here and you can find out why I think that the only real competition an actor faces is him or herself.
If you look just down and to the right of the beautiful man, you will see my article, titled "Know Your Competition? No Such Thing." Then you can go back to staring at Sasha. I won't judge.
Well, I'm off to Wisconsin in the morning to visit the family. Until next time!
Interview with Paid Actor
Trena Bolden Fields, actress, career coach, and the host of the Paid Actor radio show, invited me on her show, and I had a lovely chat with her about many of the topics covered in my recent article on MN Playlist. Namely, acting and getting paid for it.