WEverb11: Day Four!

Today's challenge was to sum up 2011 with a haiku. Now, as an amateur haiku enthusiast, I could write haikus about 2011 all day. But the one I chose to best sum up the year is:

Central Casting and

Betty's Summer Vacation.

What an epic year.

How would you sum up 2011 in a haiku?

P.S. Yes, I've decided to pick and choose which prompts to write along with. Because...I'm lazy. And I just took a five-hour workshop on Saturday all about reflecting on 2011 and gearing up for 2012, so I'm only going to get invested in the prompts that really intrigue me. Sooooo sue me.

Catching You All Up

So it's been an awkwardly long time since I posted here on my little ol' personal blog. I continue to attribute that to the joy I'm finding in being both Editor-In-Chief and a Blogger over at The Green Room Blog. If you ever want to read some really inspiring posts by artists trying to make their way in the showbiz industry, you have to check it out.

But enough about that, over here it's all about me. Hah! Things have been going really well lately. I'm just coming off of working on a fabulous show this summer, where I got my Equity card (a big deal for you non-actor civilians); Dan just got hired as an assistant at a busy NYC casting office (can I get a "woo hoo" for health insurance?!?), and we celebrated our second wedding anniversary just last night. So yeah, other than the super long hours that Dan is working, I have no complaints. I mean, I'd love to book another acting job ASAP, but that will come. I'm not worried.

And although I'm always sad about summer ending (god, I hate winter), I am excited about heading into the holiday season, which really begins for us with our October anniversary, I suppose. Next up: pumpkin picking and choosing a Halloween costume :)

So now you're caught up on all the big changes in our lives of late. I hope you forgive my absence. I do want to leave you with a gem of a picture from my show this summer, just because the costume is so out of character for me:

Yes, those were actual S.W.A.T. team uniforms. The costume shop had to take mine in from every possible direction. I guess they're not used to small people being on S.W.A.T teams, huh? :)

Following the Yellow Brick Road...

...has brought me from being this girl at 12 years old:

To being this woman at 24:

This weekend, I get to perform at the Gershwin theatre for 1600 girl scouts and get another teeny tiny taste of what it's like to work on Broadway. I've found that every time I do the Wicked workshop that I'm a part of, it gets harder and harder to walk away from that world and go back to being on the other side of a Broadway stage. It's wonderful, though, to get a little kick in the ass and remind me what I'm working so hard for.

This is my dream and I will get there.

How Apt, My Dear...

I came across this sign while on my way to a rehearsal in the Equity building the other day:

What does it say that on one floor there are two talent agencies, two psychologists, and the National Eating Disorder Association?

Just a little dose of a sad showbiz reality with a touch of irony added in.

Two Gentlemen of Verona

I apologize for once again going a little MIA for the past couple of weeks. I opened and closed my first Shakespeare production, "Two Gentlemen of Verona," in New York this past week at the American Theatre of Actors, the same theater where I performed in "Jekyll & Hyde."

I had a really great time getting to play Silvia, and an even better time getting to know my fellow castmates. I love that each time I perform, I add to my group of friends in The Biz. It's really comforting to have a little family out there, pushing as hard as I am, that is always as happy to run into me as I am to run into them.

Funny enough, Jamie (Julia in the show) and I worked on a shoot for MTV together today, the day after the show closed. And Danny (who played the Duke, my father) had an audition in the same building. It's such a small world.

Oh, and that bar I posted about a few months back, Uncle Vanya's? They still have Georgian wine and good old Russian hospitality.

Reflections on a looming strike

In response to this article on the Hollywood Reporter website about the looming SAG strike, one particularly Clueless-About-The-Acting-Profession commenter wrote:

5. foobar comments:

November 24, 2008

Who really cares? Go ahead. Strike. I'm broke and the economy is upside down. Who can afford the theater anyway?

See? This is why I love America. People who know absolutely nothing about a given subject are completely free to express their opinions anyway. Who can afford the theatre, indeed?

Another Op'nin', Another Show!

You'll have to excuse my lack of entries this month. I got hit by illness twice in a row. Just as I was getting over a week-long cold, I got the first migraine of my life that somehow turned into a week-long flu. The long and short of it is that it was nasty.

Somewhere in there, though, I opened and closed a show at the Gene Frankel Theatre. It was called "Documentary: A Suicide Narrative" and it played November 7-9. It was a blast to work on and the cast and crew were really great. Not to mention, we had some Law and Order casting directors in the audience one night, so here's hoping that a part I'm perfect for comes up soon! Fingers crossed, everyone.

Anyways, I just wanted to let you know what I had been up to. My next project is an independent film that shoots for several days this month and next. I'm also working on getting more involved with NJ Rep. Other than that, it's back to auditioning every day!

NJ Repertory Company

Just a little note to let you all know that my long trek out to Long Branch was worthwhile.

You're reading the blog of the New Jersey Repertory Company's newest member!

Check out www.njrep.com if you get the chance. My headshot and resume should be up soon!

A real New York City actress, am I...

Hold on for a second, while I do a little blatant self-promotion:

This weekend (Wednesday through Sunday), I will be starring in a production of "Jekyll & Hyde" at the American Theatre of Actors on 54th street.

This marks my first theatre production since graduating from Hofstra and I am immensely proud.

Here's to a great (if short) run!

Success, at last!

I just wanted to give you all a quick heads-up that I've been cast in and started rehearsing two small theatre productions. One is called, "Documentary: A Suicide Narrative" and the other is "Jekyll & Hyde." 

I'm so pleased to be involved with both of them and will definitely let you all know more details about them as the performances approach. 

I'm just out there trying to live the dream.

Callbacks at an ex-Underground Railroad stop

Had a callback tonight for a play being presented at the 13th Street Rep Theatre, which is a cute little blackbox theatre that has been run for thirty-six years by a passionate and charming lady named Edith.

I'm thinking of trying to join the company even if I don't get cast in the play. The company was apparently voted "best off-off-broadway company to act with" in a 2006 publication (either Village Voice or Backstage, I can't remember). Edith was telling another girl there about how the theatre was built in the late 1700's (making it one of the oldest buildings in the Village) and at one point was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad, which I thought was so neat.

Just thought I'd give you all a little update on the acting part of my life, since this is, ostensibly, also a blog about being an actress in New York.

Fringe Fest 2008

As an actress, it is with great shame that I admit to only having seen one Fringe Fest show this year. And further, I admit that it was only because my friend Tal was in it.

It was called WE ARE THE LAWMAKERS and it was a real trip. I definitely enjoyed watching it because the whole thing was so creative and unique. It was also fun to see Tal in her natural habitat, AKA onstage. The show reminded me of the Richard Foreman type stuff we were doing in Royston's class during our last few weeks as Hofstra students (think: oranges stuffed down my shirt actually being philopsophical). I was talking with Dan after the show about how much I enjoy doing that type of theatre. Even if it isn't my favorite thing to do (I mean, who doesn't love a good song and dance?!?), it was such a freeing experience as an actor to participate in that kind of work.

Congrats to Tal and a great cast and crew. Oh, and thanks for forcing me to see a Fringe Fest show. Hopefully, next year, I'll be in one!

JRB!

On a happier note, I met Jason Robert Brown at Broadway in Bryant Park today. Completely on accident.

He was just sitting next to me on the lawn and someone asked him for an autograph. I looked over and it said "Jason" and since the cast of 13 was performing at the time, I figured that was too much of a coincidence to be ignored. Sure enough, it was him. 

How cool!