Tag Archives: black box theater

Triple Threat

22 Sep


Not the Triple Threat you’d normally think. I don’t mean the magical trio of performing talents: Dancer, Singer, Actor… I’m talking about the other side of the coin: Producer, Director, Writer. In other words, why my life this month has had be so busy I don’t know what day it is.

Pursuing a career in acting is not straight forward. I’m sure if you’re like me and following this path you know that there are a million forks in the road. And that’s a good thing. There is not one way to reach that pot of gold. There are a million. So much of this career is about taking every opportunity presented to you. It is about exploring the different facets of your selected profession. Yes, my initial intent is and always will be to become a Working Actor. Acting, above all, is my passion. And I used to be the kind of actor that immediately shook my head to any talk of writing, directing or producing of my own work. “No,” I’d say, naively at the time, “I’m an actor. I’m not a producer or director and I have no desire to write.”

Well, I was wrong. Fortunately, I figured that out pretty quickly. I am a better actor because I write/produce/direct. And I have a much greater respect for the team it takes to create the art that as an actor I am fortunate enough to just step into.

As a producer, I have learned how to be patient and how to hustle. As a writer, I’ve improved my skills to break down a script, a scene, a character. As a director, I’ve learned to be creative and open when need be and I’ve learned to be precise and decisive when the occasion arises. All of these skills have fostered my growth as an actor– both the actual acting and the career.

This month has been a crash course in these skills, as I have written an original script from the stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe, I am directing the fall high school production of my original show “Once Upon a Midnight Dreary, I am producing a full-length post-apocolyptic drama called “The Position” for PianoFight and I am acting in a world premiere play about a young girl in search of her mother called Skeleton Stories at Theatre of NOTE.

And guess what? All three shows are in October! Hence, September inSanity!

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Guest Post on Diversity at Note: Color Confusion

23 Feb

Another blog about a blog I blog…  This one was started by a fellow actor/producer/rock star NOTEr and it’s all about diversity in the LA theater world. It’s still young, but growing. I think it deals with important issues not only in the theater community, but in the acting community at large. I talk about some of these things in my first post on this brand spanking new blog.

Here’s a sample:

“I am a half Japanese, quarter Irish, quarter Hungarian Jewish female actor born and raised in Los Angeles, CA.

But to most people I look Mexican. (And to confuse things even further, my born and bred Japanese mother currently resides in Mexico… but that’s a whole other story.) After that, the ethnicities I usually get are Filipino and Native American. I can speak speak Spanish and Japanese conversationally, but I’m American and my native language is English. So, in the world of casting, where does that leave me?…”

You can read the full post on Diversity at Note.

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A Lovely NOTE

10 Feb

Though I grew up in LA and want to be an actor, I’ve spent a lot of time away from our beloved sunny city. First in New York and then in San Francisco. It’s that hilly city that kept me away for so long. When I first (kinda)  returned to LA in ’08 I researched theater companies because I wanted to find what I was so fortunate to have found in SF (PianoFight). I wanted a theater community, but one that would also help me in the world of Hollywood and the whole “business” side. I scoured the acting blogs, message boards, online forums and one theater company kept popping up, so I thought, I have to check them out. I went to see their show, email corresponded with their incredibly friendly and helpful new membership chair and ultimately landed myself an audition/interview, which landed me official membership to the company.

And then I went on leave.

I know, doesn’t seem to make much sense does it? This is what I wanted. I found it and I got it and then I leave it behind?? Well, I think I still wasn’t quite through with our rival North and, quite honestly, still a little scared of really doing it in LA. (Well I don’t think of them as rival, but I know they do of us!) For the next year, I was continually going back and forth between SF and LA, spending weeks and sometimes months at a time in the Bay Area. In a sense, I was weaning myself off of that life and slowly matriculating into the one here.

Now that I’m really here and I mean it this time (it feels different), I’m ready to commit to things I wasn’t before, as scary as it still is. (Call me a scardy cat, but, I’m like terrified every step of the way). So, when the monthly company meeting rolled around for my theater company I debated and debated whether or not to attend. I had no more excuses. I’m in LA. I have no other obligations. I’m here for good. What’s the problem? I felt like I’d been away for too long. And I started making all these excuses in my head as to why I should just forget about the whole theater company altogether- they never cast me in the shows I had auditioned for in the beginning, I still don’t know anyone, it’s intimidating there are SO many of them, no one’s going to care if I return, what good is being a company member really going to do me anyway, and the list goes on. But this was all FEAR talking. It’s not what I really thought. So I talked to my dad, my boyfriend, had a word or two with myself and got myself to get into the car and go.

And I’m so glad I did.

I took a deep breath and then stepped inside the theater. Immediately I saw a few friendly faces I could easily walk up and say hi to. It felt good. They were happy to see me. I was happy to see them. Then I spent the next two hours sitting in the risers listening to all of the amazing things the company had going on in the next few weeks and few months. All of the reasons I originally became a member came flooding back to me. I felt so proud sitting in that seat. I had picked them, but they had also picked me. I felt reinvigorated. I felt ready to take on this acting thing. Every few months, I need to be re-energized. Re-reminded of what it takes and why I’m doing what it takes to get what I want. It’s important to get a friendly little reminder because this business is tough. This month, that lovely reminder note came from Theatre of NOTE, my LA theater company.

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