anonymousactornyc

[anonymousactornyc]

#happynewyear

[anonymousactornyc]

A Ghost of Tumblr Past

I first started Tumblr when I moved back to the city. It was a challenging time, and I needed an outlet to vent, process, and have a voice in a city that seemed determined to keep me from having one. I was a little lost, as well; Discontented, disconnected, drinking too much, being self destructive in multiple ways, and without direction. It’s strange to say that Tumblr helped me find a direction. But, it did. It gave me a focus. I was not only accountable to myself but I was also accountable to the faceless and unknown world of Tumblr. Even anonymous, possible non existent, people reading my thoughts and my journey helped me to stick with it and hold myself accountable.

Of course, not everyone was faceless or anonymous. I actually met friends and made connections which keep circling in and out of my life years later. Last night, I ran into a long ago friend from Tumblr. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and it was nice to reconnect. It was also coincidental that I had recently thought about coming back to the blog for reasons similar to why I started it in the first place.

I find myself a bit lost, once again. Not. That I'm without a course or direction, like last time, but that touchstones that I once thought of as solid are fleeting. I stay open to all new opportunities. When you are open to all new opportunities, sometimes it's hard to know the good from the distracting. I don’t recognize this dumpster fire of the world around us, and I’m also struggling, once again with balance in my life. I had recently signed on to tumblr again and found what an incredible tool it was for me in the past. So here I am, we'll see for how long and how much. But it's nice to be back Tumblr, for many reasons- and it's nice to see that many of my favorite people are still active and posting. My last foray into blogging led to some very good things- let's see where we go this time....

[anonymousactornyc]

"The fame of an actor is won in minutes and seconds, not in years."

BRAM STOKER, Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving

[anonymousactornyc]

busy- singin', dancin', actin', and havin' fun

It's amazing how busy I have become.  I've gone from unemployment and slowly going crazy to A LOT of employment and quickly being driven mad.

I was talking with a friend today about how everyone in the world can find something to complain about.  However, at the end of the day I have, health, shelter, food, friends, family.... I'm living the dream.  Perspective is important.

A week from today we have our first preview.  Today was our sitzprobe, the first time the cast sings with the orchestra.  It's always a beautiful moment when it all comes together.  It's very exciting.

I'm also excited about being in a musical again.  My usual bag is classical plays or classic American plays.... what a treat to be doing something very different- and my first NYC musical at that.  My undergraduate musical theater nerd would have never imagined that I would be doing the first revival of a musical in NYC. It's a strangely proud moment I'm having....

.... it's also a really cheesy musical.  But I'm embracing it and having fun.  That's what it's about I think.... otherwise there really is NO POINT. Ha!

[anonymousactornyc]

Dear older theater patron....

Hello.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a chat. How have you been? How are your pets? Grandchildren? I know, they don’t call enough do they? How is your new cable TV? Have you tried that crazy Netflix that the kids are using these days? “Brave new world..” as Shakespeare would say, huh?

I’m asking about the TV because I know you’re enjoying home entertainment. I know this because I think you sometimes forget, when you’re… I don’t know, out in public and maybe, let’s say, at the theater, that you are not in the privacy of your own home and that everyone around you can hear what you are saying.

I know. Crazy, huh?

We can hear you explaining the plot to your husband who is falling asleep anyway and we can hear you commenting to your buddy how “Interesting” something is in order to undercut the emotional effect it’s having on you. The actors can hear you too. Trust me. We can. WE can hear you YAWN and COUGH and SIGH in the middle of a silence we have worked very hard to earn and fill, only to be undercut by your newly formed ADD that has been brought on by new media. You like to talk about how “young people” are being affected by technology… have any of you stopped to ask yourself how much YOU have been affected? Because if you have always acted like this then there is NOTHING that young people are doing that is different. I truly feel at one time you knew how to go to the theater. You understood that just because you are uncomfortable with a moment or the fact that an actor has pulled out a cigarette onstage, let alone started to light it, that you shouldn’t go in to a consumption coughing fit that makes me as an actor or an audience member want to hunt you down and suffocate you with my jacket. IF YOU’RE THAT ILL, THEN STAY THE FUCK HOME.

Wait, I’m sorry, that was a bit caustic.

I guess what I’m saying is that LISTENING is a skill. It’s a skill that can be lost after it has been acquired in the first place. This is not an issue of technology or age. It’s an issue of laziness and it’s a lack of awareness to your surroundings. I don’t care how often you go to the theater or if you’re a subscriber, rude is rude and lack of consideration is inexcusable.

So, if you could keep your epiphanies,about the plot or characters, that seem to happen three hours after the rest of us have had them and at a quiet moment in the scene, to yourself… that would be appreciated. Thanks.

Maybe you could practice this while watching that same episode of EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND for the third or fourth time?

All the best,

ME

PS- your Cell Phone DOES turn off. Ask a helpful younger person to show you how to do it. SILENCE or AIRPLANE MODE is not OFF.

PPS- Yes, it is hard to remember all those lines. It’s even harder to remember them when you are mumbling, coughing, rustling, texting and commenting through the entire performance.

[anonymousactornyc]

Twelfth Night Eve

It was a very busy few weeks surrounding Christmas.  I visited friends and family in two different cities.  Coming back to NYC was unlike any other time before.  Every time I leave and come back again, if feels more and more like home.  I do HEART NYC.

Going home is never easy, even with a beautiful white Christmas greeting me there.  The push and pull of family seems to get more intense as I grow older, not less.  Maybe it's circumstantial, maybe it's just life, but being home and not spreading myself thin seems impossible.

Before I left I had the great news about booking my next off-Broadway show.  The pressure and weight that I had been carrying was suddenly lifted with a simple call.  This news was a wonderful Christmas present not just for me, but also for my family.  They have been amazingly supportive and loving.  However, quietly they were worrying and nervous.  It's a blessing to have such a support system, but it can also be an added pressure.

This trip was busy and scheduled within an inch of it's life.  Partially because for the first time in a while I had something to really celebrate with my family.  It has been a difficult span of time and my family and I needed this celebration time together.  I didn't really realize that until tonight. 

I had TWO beautiful Christmas celebrations and time with many friends, old and new. 

On this eve of Twelfth Night I wanted to reflect, one last time, on what a truly wonderful holiday this was, and how 2013 has all the signs of momentum in a positive direction.   I am a lucky person who is grateful every day.

... and one last time, Merry Christmas 2012-2013 everyone. 

[anonymousactornyc]

"I have to act to live.

Sir Laurence Olivier

[anonymousactornyc]

"Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light; The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more, Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out a slowly dying cause, And ancient forms of party strife; Ring in the nobler modes of life, With sweeter manners, purer laws. Ring out the want, the care, the sin, The faithless coldness of the times; Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes, But ring the fuller minstrel in. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. "

Lord Alfred Tennyson

[anonymousactornyc]

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”

Neil Gaiman

[anonymousactornyc]

"I love acting. It is so much more real than life."

Oscar Wilde

[anonymousactornyc]

"I don't believe that the public knows what it wants; this is the conclusion that I have drawn from my career."

Charlie Chaplin

[anonymousactornyc]

web series... in the works

This past fall I was able to focus a lot of my efforts on writing.  Specifically, I wrote a web series, which feels like something that EVERYONE in NYC is doing.  In some ways, because of it's trendiness at the moment, it makes me feel as if my accomplishment is something less.  However, with this project my focus was to do something different with the format.  I'm not talking about reinventing it necessarily, but expanding it to be about something more than neurotic, twitchy, cynical, bitchy actors playing slightly altered versions of themselves and playing up stereotypes we have all encountered before.

Yes,  from the last sentence above you may have detected that I might be slightly guilty of creating reactionary art.....  Possibly true.

Ultimately the point is that I am proud of the work I have created, reactionary or not, and after having an informal reading of it I'm even more excited about what's next.

The next step is a very big and very scary one.  I must begin fundraising for the web series in order to shoot a few scenes in which to create a trailer of sorts to give people an idea of what we're looking at specifically.  This is exciting and terrifying- all at the same time.

My series takes place in the fall time in NYC, my favorite time of year, and I'm excited about where it might lead... for those of you interested you can follow the series on TWITTER: @BlackwellSeries

[anonymousactornyc]

Last Night I Went To the Map of the World and I Have Messages for You Brendan Constantine America says it has misplaced your number. I wasn’t comfortable giving it out. I said I’d let you know. Africa’s birthday is this weekend. There’s a party. No gifts. Just come. If you’re planning to go, Greece wants to know if it can get a lift. Awkwardly so does Turkey. Russia wanted me to say The worm knows the cabbage but the worm dies first. I have no idea what that means. Do you? Japan looked really uncomfortable all night but never spoke. Is something going on? Ireland asked to be remembered. I sang to it for you. I didn’t get to connect with Europe but, as the French say, Isn’t that just too bad. Is that everyone? Oh yes, the oceans. They asked what they always ask and I promised I’d repeat it, Why do you never call? When are you coming home?

Brendan Constantine, one of my favorite poets. 

http://www.brendanconstantine.com/html/home.html

[anonymousactornyc]

"The enemy of art is the absence of limitations."

Orson Welles

[anonymousactornyc]

“A lot of parents tell their children that if they want to be an actor, that's fine, but they should do something else first, so they've got something to fall back on. It doesn't work like that, as far as I'm concerned.”

― Ewan McGregor

[anonymousactornyc]

Best Disney short ever made.... also essential viewing.

[anonymousactornyc]

essential viewing this time of year....