Archive | theater

Reading Redux

20 May
Tactical Reads with The Vagrancy

The Vagrancy’s Tactical Reads of Megan Breen’s “My First, My Fist” at Studio/Stage in Los Angeles

It seems that Spring is the time for Readings! And I’m thrilled. It’s been a while since I’ve done a reading, let alone so many, but they are back– in droves. Perhaps there is just a creative resurgence? Screenwriters, playwrights, poets, aspiring and otherwise. Or, maybe it’s just coincidence. Who knows.

But in the last couple of months I’ve done a staged reading with my new artistic home, The Vagrancy, as part of their Tactical Reads series (which pairs female writers with female directors), a living room table read of a friend’s screenplay, a staged reading of a beautiful play, Tree of Fire, at Occidental College as part of Incarceration Awareness Week, another living room reading of a friend’s original webseries, and then this Wednesday I will be hosting a reading of my very own first ever full length play! That’s a lot of readings.

Readings are great because with little commitment you can keep your acting muscles moving, you have the opportunity to play parts you might not normally be cast in, you learn about writing and workshopping, you can be a part of a project from its inception, you can meet other cool actors but also directors and writers, and the list goes on.  And, as I always like to say, you never know where or when these seeds you plant will begin to sprout =)

 

Tracing the Steps to Dublin, Ireland

13 May

249152_10152848957415078_1092115165_nSometimes you don’t know where life will take you, the adventures and opportunities that arise. That’s what’s fun about tracing the steps, especially in this biz. You spend so much time planting those seeds, that by the time one sprouts you forget where it came from. I had an amazing life adventure meets acting opportunity (best of both worlds!) moment recently and when I sat down to think about it, I realized the steps that took me there.

About two and a half years ago I saw a show, a short play festival at this little black box theater in Boyle Heights I’d never heard of if it weren’t for the fact that my boyfriend was in the production. The festival was wonderful, the people I met were even more so and when this company was having auditions for their next festival I jumped at the chance. I got in and got to work with some of these awesome people I’d met at the show and then some. I continued hanging around… One night, at some theater event or afterparty I was talking to the producer of the fest and expressed my interest in directing as well as acting. I don’t know how it happened but by the end of the evening I was slated to direct year two of that original festival I saw two and a half years ago.

And then, bam, last October was my directing debut with this wonderful company. The festival did very well and it was a lot of hard work and fun. A few months later, I get a call that six of our short plays were accepted into an International Theater Festival in none other than Dublin, Ireland. Holy crap. And not only that, but since not all actors could commit to going, would I be interested in attending as an actor. Um, YES PLEASE!

A few months after that call, I was on a plane on my way to performing for the first time on an International stage. I  got to perform in pieces I’d directed just months prior, working across talented actors I’ve grown to love. Not only that, but I got to do it in IRELAND! 

The week was magical. Getting to do what I love with people I love and exploring a great new city across the seas was more than a dream come true. And it all happened because I saw a little festival a couple of years ago.

Good Things Come in Threes (or More)

13 Feb

I was going to write this post about three projects I have in a row, when another amazing opportunity landed in my lap– hence, “good things come in three or more”. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, opportunity breeds opportunity! This is the time that it’s really, really important I stay on my submissions, auditions, marketing, networking, etc. I can’t get lazy now no matter how exhausted I may feel (and I am! I want a vacation so badly…) because now is the time I should be doing even more!

I feel a lot of good energy in the air right now, and for good reason =): completion of the second rendition of my original screenplay with my writing partner (just over a year now we’ve been working on this) and getting ready to have a reading; release of the short I shot last year; the three projects in a row that initially inspired this post (Occupy the Heart, which is happening now; Vagina Monologues, which opens in March; and Central Air, which opens in April); and the latest opportunity that just came my way, a really awesome networking gig happening this Wednesday!

It is no coincidence that all of these things are happening at the same time. When it rains it pours. And when I find myself complaining that I have too many lines to memorize at once or having scheduling conflicts between shows and auditions, I have to stop and think to myself- that is a good problem to have! I can’t let the weeks or months pass, satisfied that I’m busy, and not continue to go after the dream. I admit, I have done that in the past… a lot. I’ll get cast in a show or a short or something, and then stop doing submissions and therefore stop auditioning for a solid month! Not good. You have to keep chugging along. And I’m chugging! I’ve been working hard on my target agency lists, finally signed up for a CD workshop and actually making and meeting my bi-monthly goals from this awesome artist-check-in group I am a part of. And it’s only February! Yessss. This is the year I’m going to squash that fear. This is the year…

Starting off on the Right Foot

17 Jan

Like a lot of people during the month of January, I’ve been doing some reflecting, re-evaluating and looking forward.  I started a running list of what I want my 2012 to be about, some directly related to acting, some not, but all under the same goal of honoring Me. Seems a little selfish, but sometimes you have to be. What I mean is, doing things that I want to do not have to do, doing things that make me happy and feed my soul, fulfilling my passions and dreams, enjoying this journey every step of the way– basically, having an overall positive outlook.

A lot of it has to do with language I use: getting rid of  should’s and shouldnt’s and have to’s and replacing them with like to’s, want to’s and choose to’s. More active, less passive. I also think that a more active, there-are-things-in-my-control, perspective will result in a more proactive year. The less you make projects and activities chores, and the more you make them fun then the more likely you will do them! For instance, I kinda hate submitting. I’d think of it as something I have to do if I want to be an actor. But, throw on a little music, imagine the different roles I now have the chance at playing, and it’s kind of fun!

So, going along with the doing things that make me happy and feed my soul, one of the items on my list is to do more theater I love. In other words, not worrying about pay vs no pay, industry audience vs. family and friends, potential connections vs. none at all, or even theater vs. film. Theater was what got me here to begin with. Anyway, I got what I wanted! I am starting off the year with two wonderful shows. The first, in February at Casa 0101, is called Occupy the Heart, a short play festival exploring the Occupy Wall Street movement. The second, in March at the Lyric Hyperion, is a new rendition of the Vagina Monologues, including an original ensemble-created piece. Not to mention both shows are with very cool people I like. I think I’m off to a good start!

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