Talent Works, Genius Creates.

So it’s been a while since i have last written. Well there are a few things that have caught my interest latelly. In my History of Jazz class the other day my professor brought up the question of why there has been a decline in Jazz music interest. And he started to then take that further to classical music as well and why less and less people find a great interest in the music. This immediately made me think of our class discussions and how we have seen a decline in theatre interest since the rise of film/television, and the joshua bell article the we read from the post. Which makes me want to post a question to anyone who reads this, If you were to place in order which artform you would most likely use first what would that be? For me i know that music of all kinds would come first, then film, television, theatre, and finally studio art. I know that this to some people would make me seem like a bad theatre student because i don’t place it at the top of my list. However i must admit that the immediacy of the first three things on my list makes them easily rise to the top. Theatre requires me leaving the comfort of my home and then sitting in a room with a bunch of strangers and truely investing my thoughts and ene

Sunday began with me frantically trying to pack everything before we had to check out at noon. Luckily I think that I accomplished my goal and successfully did not leave anything behind. After that as a class we all went to get pizza before the show. Again I will state that I think as of yet NY pizza is the best! Then we headed off to see our final show “Is He Dead”. I loved the show, that’s really all I have to say. I think that I’m a sucker for ridiculous humor and somewhat slapstick behavior. I grew up watching I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show and for me that sometimes is the funniest humor. The minute that the main character donned a dress and took on the persona of his nonexistent female twin I was in stitches. I could tell that Norbert Leo Butz was working hard as he portrayed Daisy, and normally I would not have like to see the effort in the work. But somehow in this performance it worked for me. After the show we stayed and got everyone’s autographs. It so sad because we saw the very last performance of the show and when everyone was coming out to sign autographs they were also bringing all of their stuff making this happy and somber at the same time. The rest of the day is kinda a blur to be honest. The biggest highlight would have to be when we ended up stranded on I-95 as our bus driver attempted to change a flat tire. We sat there for 2 additional hours then was calculated. Although it was very annoying and all we wanted to do was get home, looking back on it now I can see how this will forever be remembered with fond thoughts as a crazy part of my trip to New York.

So Saturday was a pretty busy day! I started off the day by taking another vocal master class with David, Talya, and Jon. Only this time our teacher was Mr. D. Michael Heath who is also Natalie’s vocal coach. I’m still trying to wrap my head around some of the concepts that he was trying to have me understand. I think that It would be beneficial to work with him more, but I think that it may be awhile before I completely grasp his teachings. I was really impressed though with a lot of the things that he did with everyone else, like getting a deeper performance out of everyone coupled with better technique. When the class finally let out we went to see a matinee of “Sunday in the Park with George.” Again as far as shows that I liked, this entire day was a bust for me starting with the first show. Visually I think that the show was stunning and that the director’s choice to use the projections melded beautifully with the story. But the problem was that I spent more time admiring the set and projections then I did invested in the characters and their stories. The music of the show as a whole if very beautiful but it’s almost too much so. To be completely honest I found myself drifting in and out, lulled to sleep by the music. I really think that it is a combination of the performance and the story itself that just were not connecting with me. Once the show let out a couple of us decided to try this place that Lindsay had been telling me about since before we left for NY called Serendipity. OMG… or as they say in Legally Blonde! Oh My God, Oh My God You Guys! Uhhhh I am so in love with this place. The only annoying thing about it was that we had a wait time of an hour just to get in. But once we got in the food was fabulous! (I think that Fabulous I quickly becoming my new favorite word haha) Karen and I split a Potpie and then for dessert we split a Forbidden Broadway Sunday, and Lindsay and Lucia split a banana split. I wish I could have forbidden broadway everyday cause it is just the right mix of everything right, to make mama happyyyyyyy tonight!!!! Well after such wonderfulness we then ran and I mean ran to make it to our night show “Paradise Park”. I still even now cannot truly tell you what that show was about. I really did not enjoy my experience watching that show. I got hit by cake and then for the majority of the show could not focus cause there was an overwhelming scent of chocolate in the air. I really did not feel for any of the characters, but a lot of that was due to the fact that I spent so much time absorbing what was happening and nervously anticipating what was going to happen next. Again even with this show there were moments that I really love d. One in particular is when the one of the actors as her character reacted to a projection of a rollercoaster ride by standing in front of the image and screaming /falling when the moment was appropriate. I don’t know really about this show and I think that maybe I need to read more up on the author and story before I completely decide.

Friday was a good day. I started off by finding, although barely making it, the studio where Natalie was giving an interview to all of the actors from the class. (Side Note: Philip Seymour Hoffman was there at the same time rehearsing for a play his is doing and during Natalie’s interview he was on the balcony smoking. I must say that I almost freaked and really at that point wanted to run out there and get his autograph, but I resisted my urges. Haha) The interview with Natalie was great. She is so animated when she speaks and full of life that you just want to listen to her speak. One of the things that I didn’t know about her career was how quickly after graduation she was on the road traveling, doing what she loves. It was really nice how honest she was about her fears and anxieties getting into the business. And I could really see that she saw where we were at the moment and completely understood what we were going though. After the Interview a few of us went and grabbed soup from this little shop across from the studios. WHY ARENT THERE SOUP ONLY RESTURANTES IN VA? WHY? If there is one thing about NY that I loved more than anything, was the wide array of restaurants you could find; I will most definitely miss that. At four I had another interview with and actress names CJ. It was really nice being able to speak with a black actress in the industry and discuss how that affects your being hired. She is known for acting in Dream Girls and Hairspray on Broadway and that is just a fraction of all the things she has done. I really took a lot from this meeting because CJ is such a Jack of all trades, because she is a Director, Choreographer, Writer, and Actor. She helped me to see that you really can be in it all and successful too. Well that was end of the day being really nice, for a while at least. As I left the little coffee house after my meeting, I quickly discovered that I did not remember to bring my umbrella with me and it was pouring buckets. The show did not start for another hour and a half, so I pondered the many options I had to do with my time as I walked through the rain soaked. Eventually I settled on going to the drama bookstore and browsing the countless plays that they have. I didn’t buy anything, but at this point of the trip I was just trying to conserve enough money to eat on haha. Finally after wandering around the store for a while I ventured back out into the rain and cold to the theatre. Tonight we saw November, which I liked but I didn’t love. Nathan Lane has great timing and his supporting cast definitely helped to keep the show moving forward, but I just didn’t love the play. Unlike a lot of my classmates, the constant barrage of the “F” bomb just grew to be tired and ineffective for me. But aside from that there were some very memorable moments in the show, many especially when Nathan was supposed to be on the phone speaking with someone and his ability to cut himself off and come in at the right moments. After the show a bunch of us stayed after and got the autographs of some of the cast. Laurie Metcalf and Dylan Baker were absolutely the sweetest people. Despite the fact that it was raining and cold they stayed and signed our playbills. Nathan on the other hand was too busy and kinda ran out the stage door. I don’t fault him cause I’m sure he had a lot to do, but it would have been nice if he could have stopped for at least a moment.

Today was a fun day. I started off by going with Lucia and Jon to Grand Central and seeing the whispering gallery. That was so cool! I really want to figure out how things like that are created, because after we were there we started talking about how those natural echo things on campus are created. Well after that I broke away from those two and wandered by myself to central park to see the Bethesda fountain. Lindsay then call me and we attempted to try and meet up, which started off fine because I did get on the right subway but then trying to figure out whether I was going west or east really screwed me up. Eventually after walking far and getting a little lost I found my way and was very proud of myself. We wandered around the city some and I got to visit (St. Peters), I think that’s which church it was, and lit a candle. It’s so huge and beautiful. There is calmness about it when you enter which I really took in. After that we went to the Disney store where I bought a Tinkerbelle sweatshirt and then we went to the ABC store. Not the liquor store but the TV station store. Then Lindsay and I, because she had a hankering for sushi, found a very nice Japanese restaurant. Later that day I had a meeting with a man who had been in Phantom of the Opera for 12 years. It was very nice speaking with him. His wife just has been in the show as well and that’s where they met. She is a classically trained ballerina and he is trained as an opera singer. One of the things that I found most interesting from the meeting was when I asked him about how to keep a character so fresh after playing if for so long. And he remarked to me that it really is something that you just have to love. He spoke of one of his fellow cast mates who has been in the show for 20 years and somehow finds a way to bring freshness to his character everyday for the past 20 years. Finally I ended out the day with seeing South Pacific. All I can say is that I love Rodgers and Hammerstein. The show to me felt like I was watching the actual movie live. Oh and the guy who played the lieutenant was Hott. I loved the scenes where all of the guys were on stage such as “there is nothing like a dame.” There was something about all of them being on stage and feeding off of each other’s energy that just made the scene a lot of fun. I grew up watching the movie versions of all the classic musical and it’s just really neat to see them performed live.

I got to sleep in some today which was nice. I didn’t really have any major appointments today. At noon I had a master class with David, Talya, and Jon. The class was fabulous, the guy who taught (and please don’t hate me that your name is eluding me at the moment) really in a very short amount of time made a big difference in each of our four voices. For me personally, I think that I hold back a lot of what I know is in me. I get very technical with my songs. To be completely honest I would rather have my voice singing all of the correct notes rather than completely letting go and running the risk of it sounding bad to me. He also helped me to find the correct placement for my belt, which really almost astounded me that such a sound was coming out of my voice. I would completely go back to him in a heartbeat. After we finished the meeting we zoomed to go catch our matinees. Lindsay and I went to see Mary Poppins, which although I don’t see it in the near future being a tony award winning show, was very entertaining. The sets and scenery and special effects alone made paying to see the show worth it. Although my only dismay was that we were surrounded by children. I think that it’s great for the show to introduce the youth into the theatre, because there were so may around it made it almost impossible to follow the show at times. But Still I really enjoyed it, especially the giant tap number step in time, and when the chimney sweep tapped all the way up the side of the proscenium and down the other. After that Lindsay and I went to Toy’s R’Us which is huge. OMG I have never seen a toy store so big and I was so like a little kid in a candy store when I discovered Barbie’s house! For the night show we went to see “August: Osage County” which was fabulous. I really liked everything about the show especially the acting and the set. The house was so cool on stage; it was a three story house which was completely utilized by the actors. The second act of the show was probably my favorite, the humor was right on, and the family dynamic felt by everyone was so palpable. I felt like was watching a southern soap opera that I just couldn’t take my eyes off of. Truly from start to finish the show held my attention and kept me wanting to see more.

For the first few days that I was here I blogged via my voice recorder but after that, I think that I am going to try and type everything down. So Tuesday was an interesting day, I actually did quite a bit. I had two interviews with people. First was with Cyrilla Baer at noon. All I can say is that I absolutely love her. She was so kind enough to find a place very close to my hotel so that I didn’t have to roam the city. Come to find out that she isn’t a native New Yorker, her home is originally Atlanta and now Chicago. Currently she is staring in the off-Broadway show “The Adding Machine” which I will now shamelessly plug for her and tell everyone to go and see it {address}. Well to put it shortly because the interview was very long she is an absolute delight who just loves theatre and completely let me see what happens when you do something because you simply love it. You hear more about that interview because I’m going to put some sound bites from the actual interview online. After meeting with Cy, I met up with Helena, Steve, and Emma where we met with another actor and her friend who are young professionals in the city. Shannon and Emily were yet again just so sweet to talk to. Oh and a big compliment to them both who do not at all look their age and I would so guess were in their early twenties. But one of the nice things about this interview was hearing their perspective of working in theatre, film, and commercials. I really got a glimpse into what it would be like moving into the city and trying to be a young professional actor. Both of the girls I might add audition by day and waitress by night. After the interview we came back to the hotel and headed to go see Macbeth in Brooklyn. All I can say is that I’ve never seen Shakespeare done that way before. To begin I was already star struck because Patrick Stewart played Macbeth. Anyone who knows me will know that I am a total trekkie and x-men enthusiast, so this was so cool for me. The show was so interesting because it used elements of projections and sounds to almost scare and startle the audience. (Which it completely did!) Also this is the first time that I have seen Shakespeare done updated as far as setting and not hated it. There were a few very memorable scenes in the show, but the most memorable for me was the witch’s song. Everyone knows the whole double double toil and trouble line in the show. Well they took that speech by the witches and turned it into this odd rap like quality song. Then they had three body bags wheeled out and one by one they made the dead bodies in the bags come to life. All I can say about the performance is well done Patrick and the entire ensemble.

Monday we were going to try and take an acting class at HB studio, however because we left to late and then when we arrived in Greenwich got extremely turned around missed the time the class started. Not wanting to make the morning a bust, I noticed the New School for drama was close by so we stopped in and talked to the head of admission about their graduate program. Along the way we without even realizing, WE FOUND HB! Oh the joy we felt when we finally found that little building hidden from us for so long. So we went inside and got pamphlet about classes and times in hope to come back another day and take a class. Then as we were just strolling around the city we found a little pier overlooking the city and proceeded to take a bunch of pictures by the water. Funniest thing… rather then having grass grow they planted this weird Astroturf stuff. Anyway we then proceeded to take the subway to battery park that we wandered around for a while and got to see some street performers. One of the tricks that they did was jump over a group of five people hunched over which I know doesn’t sound that crazy but when you see it you’ll understand how cool it was. Also in the park there is a Navy monument, which coming from a huge military family anything military catches my eye. Then Karen, Helena and I took the Staten Island Ferry  and got to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty and then walk around Staten Island. One we got back to NY I broke off and met Jon, David, and Lindsay to go to a taping of the daily show. Uhh I love Jon Stewart, he is so nice and funny. Random thing, during the taping Jon made a reference to Edward Albee and of course the four of us had to represent theatre! And of course Jon then had to go and make a joke about us. Saying “Obviously we have theatre students in the building, you do know that eventually you do have to get a job.” HaHa. Because we had little time to get to our next show we caught a cab, which I had never done before, to see Patti Lapone in “Gypsy.” The show was great and I really enjoyed seeing an older well known piece which transported me back to the days of the depression. The three strippers had to be probably my favorite characters. I know it’s set up for the audience to like them but to me they were some of the most memorable characters. I really have little negative to say about the show. I mean there were some obvious technical things which can be tightened up, but we did see the show at the very first preview. After the show we stayed and literally got I think every single person from the casts autograph even PATTI!!!! The cast was so gracious and willing to sign our playbills which made me love the show even more. Finally I ended out the night by going to Jenna’s apartment which was fun, but also really enlightening into what the life of a struggling young actor is like and how TINY the apartments in NY be. Yet still ridiculously expensive.

Sunday was an interesting day. We stared off the day by going to the MOMA. I loved everything about the museum and the art in it. In 10th grade in highschool, I took this art history class which really introduced me to the world of studio art and since I have loved it. One of my favorite eras that we studied was the impressionist and modern. The museum displayed a wide array of paintings from Monet to Pollack and I felt like my textbook form 7 years ago was actually coming to life. There was one painting in particular, a Monet, that took up the entire wall  of one room which deeply moved me as I viewed it. I really wish sometimes that I was more gifted in that realm of the arts because to create something with such an impct as those paintings and sculptures, which can live on and be viewed by generations past and to come is an awesome legacy to leave behind. After that we saw a production of “Grace” which I really like. It was funny because this show really kinda polarized the class. Some people were really not interested in it, while others found it very good. For me the show really hit home because it dealt with the concept of religion and finding that middle ground. I being the daughter of a minister, have for years had to defend my religion and faith to others. This show very eloquently captured in the dialogue a lot of my feelings and thoughts on why I believe and if I were to publicly speak on it how I would phrase it. Later on that night we saw “Legally Blonde.” I can actually say this is one of the first times I was hindered from being able to enjoy the show completely because I kept comparing everything I saw to what I had seen in the TV’s broadcast of the musical. It took me a while to eventually stop comparing the two productions and just give into the moment. But once I gave in, the show became much better.  The main character of Elle was played by her understudy the night we came, which I might add was the first time she had ever played her for a live audience. After factoring this in I really appreciated all of the work that swing actors put into keeping all the characters they might play fresh in their heads. It was really nice to see a show that wasn’t so serious and there wasn’t any death. When the show was over we got to take a back stage tour of the Palace. Ahh it was Fabulous! Natalie gave us the tour and took us all around the theatre and showed us her dressing room/station. It was nice to see how tangible this dream profession can be. Sometimes I believe you just need a show that nothing but fluff. To end out the night we met up with a bunch of our alumni and got to party with them in the big apple. ☺