Booked and recorded a really great VO job last week doing a five second bit for a national TV spot! When it's up, I'll share here. Stay tuned!
Five Seconds
in commercial
Let me talk!
in commercial, Voiceover
I just got back my new narrative Voiceover demo! I'm so excited!
If you'd like, you can listen to it here on Soundcloud
It was not quite a year ago that I got my commercial demo produced, and a narrative demo was next on the list. Mike Stalcar produced both of them...I just love working with him!
Also, a friend of mine and I are discussing a podcast we might want to produce in the near future. Keep an eye out for that as well!
In the meantime, if you need a female voice for a narrative or commercial project, you know where to find me!
Inspiration
And in that space, as I walked the city, I found that something was pursuing me.
In the vacuum left by leaving my daily life behind, ideas came flooding into the void, filling the space usually occupied by my day job, auditions, and working on other people's projects.
Read MoreBamboo Toilet Paper and a Trip Up North
Last week was a whirlwind of auditions (four on-camera, four VO, two theater), and rehearsals for Unsung, and the fundraiser for Candid Theater (I am on the board, plus I MC'd the event and performed at it as well), so I'm finally getting around to posting about my shoots. I started my week (last week) coming back from two shoots... One in Minneapolis, and one in Ely, Minnesota.
On Saturday, I got to channel Joan from Mad Men on a shoot for a Kickstarter for Bim Bam Boo bamboo toilet paper, in a costume complete with Moschino vintage heels. It was a really fun shoot, very Poo-pourri in style.
Keeping the lipstick intact while staying hydrated. V. important!
Vintage heels that fit me perfectly? It must be a dream!
The whole team on the Bim Bam Boo shoot! How cool is this 360 photo courtesy of Kari Jo Skogquist?!??
After that, I drove up north to Ely, Minnesota to play a nurse on the short film "Nobody's son." I can't post any photos from set, so here are a few pics from the trip up there...I spent about twice as much time driving as I did on set, so it's probably just as well that I show you glorious Northern Minnesota.
Lake Superior
Me. Lift Bridge. Cold. Wind.
Not many options.
Mark and Jim, on the ice.
Nice Fish!
in theater
Being an American, I don't usually pay much attention to the Olivier Awards (Britain's version of the Tony's), but this year I have reason to stay tuned: Nice Fish, the Guthrie-transplant show spearheaded by the incomparable Mark Rylance, is nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy!
I went to London in December to see my acting teacher Raye Birk, and Guthrie regulars Jim Lichtscheidl and Bob Davis (with whom I've also briefly had the pleasure of working in various capacities), in the show, which up until February was playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre on London's West End. The show was just as delightful in its reworked form as it had been when I originally saw it at the Guthrie, and the nomination is well-deserved. Leave it to Mark Rylance to somehow get Brits to connect to a show about ice fishing in Minnesota.
Congratulations to the entire cast and production staff of Nice Fish! I'll be hoping you catch the big one on April 9th!
"The Pardon List"
in film
Last week I shot a short film...just a small role, playing Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress (and wife for 40 hours). Reunited in the afterlife, after Eva has spent 30 years waiting for him in purgatory, Hitler has a moment in front of the parole board...but will he ruin his chance to escape hell?
Originally, the script had called for me to punch Hitler...then it was a slap...and then they finally settled on having me hit him with a riding crop. It's really hard to say what the tone of the finished project will be, honestly, but I'm curious!
Unsung: New Musical Coming in April!
in theater
I'm going back to my musical roots! I have just been cast in Unsung, a new musical about three female backup singers, which is being written and directed by Brian Pekol. Produced by Sidekick Theater, Unsung features a ton of great music from the 60s and 70s, and premieres at the Minneapolis Womens' Club in April!
Click here for tickets and info!
Back to Class!
The Actors Workout is still on hiatus while Raye is off galavanting in London doing Nice Fish (which only runs through Feb 11, so if you are in London, get tickets now!!), so meanwhile, I've decided it's time to face my fears of watching myself on camera and take another class.
I started Michele Hutchison's on-camera class last Sunday, and I'm super excited that it's going to inspire me to create more of my own work and start writing for myself more. Can't wait to see what the next few weeks bring!
Now, excuse me while I go work on my lines for the scene I've got to prepare for next week...and the scene I'm prepping for Raye's first day back...
Looking Good in Blue!
in On-Camera
I shot a Best Buy training video this week. If you're a Best Buy employee, you might be lucky enough to see it. Otherwise, you'll just have to imagine me in the blue polo shirt. I look good in blue!
Invisibly Busy
in articles, Voiceover, commercial, theater, film
As actors, so often, much of the work we do goes unseen. The training, the preparation for roles, keeping in shape, auditioning, taking classes, etc. Even the actual work we do may never see the light of day.
Read MoreAudiobook Non-Hollywood Now Available
in Voiceover
I voiced Chapter 3 of the audiobook Non-Hollywood by Neal A. Yeager, and it is now posted online. Listen here!
German Night
in Live events
Growing up in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and being from two predominantly German families, Oktoberfest was always a huge part of my life. At my school, we learned songs in German and had our own Maple Leaf parade.
The artist as young German girl
My friend Brian Kelly must have intuited this Teutonic nature of mine when he asked me to be a roaming performer at the Saint Paul Saints German Night a few years ago.
The original Ricola family: Andy Kraft, Carin Bratlie-Wethern, Ryan Robert Nelson, Billie Jo Konze and Clarence Bratlie-Wethern
The second year, while thrift shopping, I found my own dirndl (something I was obviously sorely missing in my life).
The Ricola cousins: Jane Caplow, Kevin McLaughlin, Paul Sommers and myself
I wasn't able to do German night last year, so I am happy to be rejoining the Ricola family this year to cause havoc at the game tonight. More pictures to follow, I'm sure.
Can't join us? Okay, I leave you with a joke: How many players on a baseball team?
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NEIN!
Home Improvement
in Voiceover
I've been listening to a lot of podcasts about the VO business lately and reading up about it, and have gotten inspired to make some improvements to the recording cave. I added some more lights, moved things around a bit, and added even more sound proofing tiles. We live under a flight path in South Minneapolis, but mostly when I'm in "the cave," I can't hear outside noise at all! Pretty impressive, actually.
Where Did Last Week Go?
in theater, commercial
Hello friends! I just shot a 💣TOP SECRET 💣political ad last week...cuz, campaign season. I got to be on set with a bunch of people I know, including my roommate! It was just an extra gig, so I probably won't be visible anyway, but it was great to be on set!
Also, last week, I performed for the first time at Off-Book, which is this really great improv show at Huge Theater where one actor is off book for a scripted scene, and the other actor doesn't even know what scene they're in and has to improvise the lines between. I was given a scene from John Patrick Shanley's play "Where's My Money?" Talking to the other actors who were doing the scripted part, I found that almost all of them were similarly terrified, whether they had done Off-Book before or not. Most of them were respected actors around town who I'd worked with before, so I really felt like I was in good company. Maybe I'll go do it again sometime, but I'll let the adrenaline wear off first!
Off-Book
in theater
Next weekend I will be performing for the very first time at a unique improv performance called Off-Book, where the scenes are performed by one actor who is off-book, and one who has no clue what the hell is going on. I will be the off-book person, so I have some memorizing to do this week!
From the website:
Come see Off-Book,,Saturday, August 20th at 8:00pm |$12 in advance, $14 at the door
Half-scripted, full speed ahead. It is every actor’s nightmare: getting thrown on stage to perform a play you’ve never read. That’s also the premise of Off Book. We have an actor memorize a script, then send them on stage with an improviser who has no idea what’s going on. Then we sit back and watch the magic happen.
A long-time HUGE Theater favorite, adapted with permission from Upright Citizen Brigade’s Gravid Water.
Evil Twin at the Minnesota Fringe
in theater
It has been a wonderful week and a half at the Minnesota Fringe Festival! We sold out our Friday night show this weekend, and today we almost sold out our final show as well!
Last Sunday, we were featured on the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.
Look Ma! We're on the cover!
Although I don't usually read reviews while I am performing in a show, being the producer, marketing person, actor, etc. makes things a little bit different, and I bent my rules and read the two major reviews that we got, One in City Pages and one in the Star Tribune. We were so happy to be featured in two of the top news outlets in the Twin Cities!
Our hope is that this show (and the Twins and Fluffy) will have a future beyond the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Perhaps in another festival somewhere exotic and exciting! Or perhaps a whole other adventure for them to go on! In any case, if you'd like to keep up on those things, please like Evil Twin on Facebook, and we will let you know when those things happen!
UnityPoint Health
in commercial, Voiceover
I just recorded a voiceover for a radio spot for UnityPoint Health, a division of HealthPartners! Can't wait to hear the finished spot!
Fringe Previews #1
in theater
The first of three official MN Fringe Festival previews took place last Monday, and we got added to the lineup just a few days before the show. It was a great evening, with about 30 different shows presenting previews, and we were honored to be chosen by MinnPost's reviewer Pamela Espeland as one of six favorites! Check it out!
The twins, ready to take Fringe by storm!
Voiceover Spree
in commercial
Less than three weeks after recording my demo, I booked a VO for a Health Partners TV spot! And I've got more recording coming up, including a post-apocalyptic audio web series, children's books for educational modules, and a couple of more spots. It's going to be a busy summer!
"What? I can't hear you!"
Devised Theater Article
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!
