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Real Sundays: A Weekly Journal
Adventures in Oxford Adventures in Edinburgh September: 10th Real Sundays in 2002 Real Sundays in 2003 Real Sundays in 2004 Real Sundays in 2005 End of the Year 2005 September 10th, 2006
Yes, yes I know, most of you have probably stopped even looking at this darn thing thinking that I had completely given up on writing here. Well, I have to admit, my blogs on myspace have taken a bit more of my attention than writing here, which, truthfully, is no excuse. I will repost all the good blogs here so you don't have to go to myspace.com if you don't want to! I totally understand if you don't want to. That site eats time! Literally! So, what have I been up to? Well, lots and lots since March....and here goes.Now, normally, you know that I separate this journal into Acting, Writing, and Poetry, but what I've been doing since March is working on putting all three of those things together! It all started when it became clear that I might not have a job during the summer. So, I started looking into what I was going to do. Truth be told, I had really been considering quitting acting, just leaving it all behind, doing something that I could really depend on and make a life out of. But then, as I always do, I had second thoughts. I thought that maybe, even if I do get a really 'real' job, I could still do theatre in the evening. A lot of the professional theatre, that actually pays, is Shakespeare, and I've never been in a Shakespeare play, much less studied it with any real intensity. So, I thought that this summer I could do a Shakespeare program, revitalize my love for theatre, get some training, and maybe do it somewhere outside of the country, like the U.K.! I began to research programs.
The first program I looked at was RADA - Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts - in London. Yes, they've got quite a name and a reputation, but they also are on the most expensive summer intensives out there! Oh my goodness! And come to find out, you just send in your application (with full payment, mind you), write down the experience you've had, and then they decide to take you or not! The year programs are not the same, but that's how it was done for the programs I was looking at for the summer..... So I kept looking!
I bought the Backstage West paper when they featured summer programs all over the world. And in there I found another program in England, BADA - British American Drama Academy - in Oxford. Their program was longer, less money, more individualized, and you had to audition! Perfect, I thought! And to top it off, they offered talent based scholarships. So, I quickly called to make sure I could get an audition and was set. (I actually mentioned the audition in March's journal entry, just FYI.)
At the end of March, I found out that not only had I been accepted into BADA, but I had also been given a partial (but considerable) scholarship! Awesome! I received all the materials and started to read over them immediately. At the end of the booklet, BADA made mention of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland - the largest Fringe and theatre festival in the world! The booklet said that students often stay over in the U.K. to attend this one of a kind festival, that starts exactly one day after the Shakespeare program ends. I was intrigued to say the least....
I visited the Edinburgh Fringe's website to see just what this whole thing was about... The website pops up and the first words I see are "Perform at the Fringe." I didn't see anything else but that. So I click! And within minutes I decide that I'm not going to 'attend' the Fringe, I'm going to perform there! I reserve my hotel for 10 days (as many days as I could afford to reserve) and start to apply for a theatre venue. There are hundreds of venues in the city, and having never been there, I didn't know what to look for! On top of which, it turns out I was quite late to be applying for a venue. It was April, and the festival is in August, and I was LATE for finding a venue! I applied to all that looked small and inexpensive, but also, as close to a real theatre as possible. What show was I going to do? I didn't know! I hadn't written it yet!!!! But I did know, that if worse came to worst I could always do a forty five minute poetry show!
So, after all of the applications were filled out, I began writing. I decided I could do what people have been telling me to do for the last 5 years....put my poetry and acting together in an original piece that I wrote. The writing process was intense and exhausting. I had 3 friends reading the many different versions and giving me feedback about the things they love and hate! Afer the writing was complete, the real work began.
I accepted an offer at a venue called The Zoo. They had a small 50 seat theatre and included all kinds of help to first-timers at the Fringe. Little did I know, how much work I still had to do. When I began this venture, I was under the misconception that I could do it all alone! Boy was I wrong. Well, it just so happened that one of my wonderful girlfriends, who produces and directs film, was currently out of work. She offered to help in any way...and eventually became a full fledged producer on the project. Thanks Jacq! Then, another good friend, offered to direct and help produce as well...Thanks Anne! Then a third dear friend, who just wanted to help and was also unemployed at the time, came on as my fourth producer...Thanks Mimi! And all of a sudden, The Journey to Becoming a Super Woman had a production team. The one thing I believe these events showed me, was how....when you are on the right path, everything you need is presented to you.
In the matter of a few months myself and these three incredible women, along with over 50 financial and product supporters, put together a one-woman show incorporating spoken word, about the story of my life. We had postcards and posters, publicity photo shoots, magazine and newspaper advertising, t-shirts and buttons, costumes and sound and lights....all the elements necessary to do a play....all was in place.
Next thing I knew, I was off to the U.K. to go to school. This was the real trick...being in Shakespeare intensive study from July 6th until August 5th, travelling 6 hours to Edinburgh, Scotland on August 6th, then open my show, the World Premiere, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on August 7th! Oh my goodness. Talk about hard work!
To read about my BADA experience, click here.
To read about my Edinburgh experience...only partially completed, fyi, click here.
Since I've been back, only a few weeks now, I have gone back to work. I am still trying to get my sleeping patterns back to normal. Everything is pretty much the way I left it, except now, I'm looking for more ways to perform, get paid for it, and hopefully leave my full time job in less than a year. And as usual, I will keep you posted!
Thank you so much for all of you who continue to support me in all the ways you can. I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of you. I would not be where I am, or who I am, without you! Please continue to give love, to others, and most importantly, to yourselves! I love you all! Until next time....
Adventures in Oxford, England, July 2006 (same as MySpace Blog...)
June 30th, 2006
Okay, so I leave for the U.K. in 5 and a half days and I'm TOTALLY overwhelmed with everything that has to be done! I have so much to do for my play and school that I'll be doing before the play! My designer and I finally completed the design for the postcards and posters, so those are being made. The t-shirts are also in production. Now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get all that stuff over there. I mean, I could take one whole suitcase of shoes! I mean, I need all kinds, cause you never know!!! You know!I am sitting home now waiting for my train tickets and U.K. phone to arrive by fedex, meanwhile I'm supposed to be meeting with the costume designer to try on my costume! Yikes!
I know, such cool things to be whining about. I am grateful for them, that's for sure. I just want to be sure everything is right before I leave. I also want to be sure that I do a good job with the show overseas. Anyways, I just felt like blabbing. And I know no one really reads these, so there, now I'm done. (Insert evil laugh). I just hope I don't go bald from being so overwhelmed and pulling out my hair! I know I'll be much better once I get on the plane. But then, being on a plane for 10 hours is a whole other story............
July 4th, 2005
So, I leave tomorrow and have to be at the airport at 5pm for an 8pm departure to the U.K. I have so much to do its not even funny. But the most challenging of all the things is figuring out how to pack all my product AND my clothes and not have any one bag weigh over 50 pounds!!! OMG!!! So, I'm off to Rite Aid to buy a regular scale so I can get a sense of how heavy my bags are. Hmmmm, product or clothes.....what to do.I am still working on the programs for the shows, trying to complete those so I can print them here for free as opposed to paying once I get there. The last thing I want to do is go broke once I get there.
And then, of course, there's all of the emotions I'm feeling of leaving the states for 2 months. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited, but also really scared. I mean, I've never been there, I don't know anyone, I'm going to be weighed down with tons of bags...and so on. But then again, it IS an English speaking country, so that's a great thing.
I picked up the t-shirts yesterday and they look great. I have 5000 postcards to hand out once I get to Scotland, and about 100 posters to post all over Edinburgh. But before Scotland, is a month of Shakespeare training in Oxford, from 8am to 6pm every day! And before I get there (in a day and a half) I have to memorize a monologue and a sonnet.....hmmmm
So, I am nearly bald (from pulling all my hair out), but am hoping that my hair will grow back once I get there. Who knows, maybe I'll just do the bald thing for a while. I mean, Jaha looks fabulous with her short hair! : )
Okay, I'm off to do laundry, pack, print programs, memorize lines, pick up the sound design CD for the show, weigh my bags, pull my hair out....oh yeah, and eat somewhere in there........
If you want to wish me luck, please send me a "break a leg" message. That's what the theatre folk do. It came from understudies who wanted the people playing their parts really wanting them to 'break a leg' - so the understudy could go on! Over the years, it turned into the way to say good luck for theatre folk. Or you could just say "merde" - which means "shit" in French, but is the way they say good luck!
I'm off...........
July 6th, 2006
So, I did it! I stayed up all night last night attempting to complete EVERYTHING I had to do before leaving, managed to pack my bags (within their weight limits no less), go to the bank, return my videos, park my car and put a car cover on it, AND, leave the house in time (with my dear friend Mimi driving) to get to the airport! Thank you so much to Glen who put up with me until the wee hours of the night, building the sound for the show and then offering to send me anything I might forget, and to Mimi who put up with my crankiness and franticness trying to do everything in time. Thank you to Mimi also for helping me carry all my bags into the airport and helping me rearrange some stuff - again - to meet the VERY specific weight requirements of luggage and carry on bags for Virgin Atlantic.So, the flight.....was LONG! But cool. Because I hadn't slept I was able to sleep for most of the flight. Virgin was very nice - great flight attendants, really decent food - considering - wine at dinner (although I didn't have any - it was cool that they offer), lights out so you can really sleep, and unbelievable entertainment on the seat back screens. We had like 15 movies to choose from and the freedom to rewind, fast forward and pause at will. Lots of TV shows, and a way to email and send text messages! How cool is that! I tried to watch V for Vendetta since I still haven't seen it, but I fell asleep before the end of it. I tried to watch the end right before we landed, but they turned of the screens like 5 minutes before the end!!! Oh no! So, don't tell me how it ends, I'm just gonna have to rent it now.
If you are flying Virgin and like to sit on the aisle, I definitely recommend sitting in the center section as opposed the sides - the leg room seemed to be larger in the center section, that was the only bummer. But I thought I was going to totally freak out because the last time I flew for so long I got REALLY anxious about half way through. This time I was cool, but probably because I really conked out for the majority of the flight.
Upon arrival I thought my bags had gotten lost, but then, I found them off the baggage claim thing - just on another side of the ramp. Thank goodness since I had all my CD's and t-shirts in there (I know, I'm not even worried about my clothes!) Customs was a breeze and getting the bus to the hotel was relatively simple. So far so good.
I'm spending the night in the Holiday Inn near the airport and will travel to Oxford tomorrow for school at BADA (British American Drama Academy). Hopefully I'll find a place to go online nearby as they said we won't have any access from school! Argh!
The hotel is nice and has room service for not too expensive. There are a lot of American television shows on here, so I feel a bit at home. Some of their TV is interesting too. I didn't realize that tomorrow (or today for me) is the one year anniversary of the Tube bombings in London. I watched a special about it and its so fascinating how we all respond (and how different the responses are) to terrorist attacks. It seems there is always an effort to find out how to prevent the next one - with surveillance, spying and so on....but who knows? It seems maybe part of the answer lies in people connecting with one another, on a human level at least, where we can realize that we are all one, that our stories aren't that different, that maiming and murdering others actually is an act against ourselves as well as an act against others. I know this is only a part of the answer, IF there really is an answer per se.
So, it's 3 am and I'm still up! I just wanted to blog a little and let you know I'm alive! I hope you are all well and healthy and happy! I'm gonna try and go to bed now!
Woohoo! Oxford here I come!
July 9th, 2006
I am now officially in Oxford. It was a journey getting here, taking my three big bags on the bus into the city, getting them off the bus, attempting to roll them over the cobble stoned square from the bus to the taxi. There were several stops from flipping luggage and dropped bags, lots of fun. Remind me why I brought so much stuff again!? Oh yeah, one of the bags is carrying all of my product, t-shirts and CD's to sell once I get to Edinburgh.So my room is huge, but a little, um, beat up and dingy, and a bit smelly. So, first order of business, get things to cover the furniture and find some Febreeze for the carpet. So I venture into town for the first time. Now, when I decided to come to Oxford, I thought I was coming to a small, quaint, historic, QUIET town for the summer. Yeah right! It's packed during the summer because ALL the colleges of Oxford University - 49 I believe is the number - run summer programs for high school and college students from all over the world. The city is PACKED and loud, and you hardly hear any English walking down the streets. Welcome to Oxford during the summer.
So I find a store to buy toiletries and snacks, but no Febreeze. I finally happen upon a Marks and Spencer who has their own natural version of Febreeze, along with lots of other organic goodies. I make note of them for future food shopping (as we have to feed ourselves during the weekends).
The carpet freshener works great, the cloth I bought to cover the furniture warms up the room in an instant. I clean the drawers and shelves and unpack and relax - finally.
Friday night we have our first meal in our dining hall....which seems like a normal thing, until you SEE it! It's like Harry Potter's dining hall. Even the ceiling is enchanted with the night sky.....okay, not really, but one can always use one's imagination! The few people with whom I had already connected, Nick, Megan, Lenore, Jake and I walk to the end of one of the tables, which we nickname - the Gryfinndor table! Yes!
Saturday, the 8th we have to re-audition our Shakespeare monologue in order to be placed in a group with other people at a similar level....or so we're told.
Sunday afternoon we are sorted into houses.....oh I mean, assigned to groups, and these were to be our groups for the remainder of the program, the people with whom we would be in class 8 hours a day! In the beginning, everyone tries to figure out who is in the "most talented" group, or the "loser" group. Come to find out, there was neither, but rather an attempt to create balanced groups of experienced and non-experienced folk. One of my new friends is assigned to my group, Jake! Yeah! We pick up our books for our respective classes, find out who are teachers are and chat and try to determine how our experience will go.
All in all, a full weekend trying to get used to the food, our old rooms, the showers that drip water (which sucks for me - takes me an hour or so to get all the shampoo out of my hair), the unusually warm weather, the lack of air conditioning, and each other.
July 16th, 2006
So the first full week of school was...well the first week of school! We have several classes - Shakespeare, Modern, Voice, Physical Theatre, and Audition Technique. Classes start every morning at 9am and finish every day at 6pm. Yes, lots of class! We have Wednesday's off, but not really, they're used for private sessions with your teachers, so there's always somewhere to be and something to be prepared for.Our first day started with Voice class where we quickly learned it would be more of speech class than voice class, but that was okay for me as I've never really studied either in detail. And, unfortunately, due to a small lisp I used to have as a child, I have found a real need for the lessons in certain sounds.....
Next we had Shakespeare where we played some fun theatre games and then were asked what we felt our own weaknesses were in Shakespeare. The next day we were assigned speeches (we're not supposed to call them monologues anymore) to help us work on those weaknesses. I chose Shakespeare comedy as my weakness, so I was assinged a comic mono - I mean speech. But of course, it was from one of the plays that there are no helpers for, no summaries, no cliff notes, NOTHING! So I had to muddle through the play all on my own - with a Shakespeare dictionary (otherwise known as Lexicons) close by my side.
In Modern class we first read through The Importance of Being Ernest - the play that we would spend most of our time on, and then Miss Julie, which we would do a little work on as well. I have to admit that I've never particularly liked Ernest, just never was my cup of tea....no pun intended. But upon studying it, we learned how specific a lot of the comedy and words and punctuation were. So I definitely gained some new insight into the piece....even though it still isn't one of my favorites. I'm looking forward to working on Miss Julie though - especially because Miss Julie is technically white and probably not a role I would ever get to play in most theatres...
Physical Theatre is by far my favorite class. We had the best teacher in the world (or so we believe) named Ben Bennison. He was a seventy something old man that was teaching us to fall, roll, punch, dance....it was incredible. From the very first day of class, his class became the one that we always looked forward to.
All in all a fantastic week! Tons of memorizing to do, tons of plays to read, and not to mention all the things I'm supposed to be sure are in place for my play in Edinburgh...oh yeah, gotta run lines for that show too!!!!
Only thing that sucks is the lack of internet access! Argh!!
July 23rd, 2006
So, it's the end of the third week of the BADA (British American Drama Academy). This was by far the hardest week of the whole program. One of the reasons I think it turned out to be the hardest week is because during our first week of the program, the teachers kept saying "the third week is the hardest...." - and thus, it was.For me, there was an additional reason.....my computer crashed. I mean, TOTALLY crashed....all the files that I needed for my show in Scotland in just under two weeks, were completely lost to the ether. I couldn't get online, I couldn't even turn the computer on! I lost all my itunes stuff.....EVERYTHING. So, I call Dell (the computer brand) and they tell me how to reboot everything, blah, blah, blah, but it doesn't work. So I take it to a local place (Lynks in Oxford - who was awesome by the way!) and they do all they can, but it turns out I have a faulty hard drive. So, I call Dell and they finally agree to send someone out to replace my hard drive - yes, in England! Unbelievable. So I was ecstatic that my computer was getting fixed....but it wasn't. They did replace the hard drive, but didn't put all the necessary software on for my internet to work! ARGGHHH!!! I was absolutely livid. I mean I really lost it. When I finally calmed down, I took the computer back to Lynx, and even though they were closed, they let me come in and helped me download everything I needed so I could back online. Thank God for them, literally! So, finally everyone emailed and sent me all the necessary files that I lost (except for my itunes that were permanently lost to the ether...) and all was right in the universe.
In the meantime, I'm having to memorize my second 60 line Shakespeare mono- I mean speech, read the play it appears in, memorize and rehearse my scenes for Modern class, staple programs for my show, make buttons for my show, design publicity designs by the scheduled deadlines, and attempt to find time to just relax........
Needless to say, it was a rough week and I was not the most pleasant person to be around. But, as it turns out, I am human and have my moments....or weeks....yikes!
When the week ended though, the majority of all this crazy tension ended with it. We had decided what we were going to perform for open day in our program, I had scheduled an open dress rehearsal of my play, and I had made as many buttons and programs as I was going to manage! I could breathe again. Thank goodness!
August 5th, 2006
So, while at BADA this summer, we had at least one, if not two, master classes a week in which a 'master' - professional actor or director or master teacher - would come and answer questions, talk, or actually work with some of us, depending on the person.Our first Master Class was with theatre director Deborah Warner (I think that's her name, I don't have my notes here...). She was interesting. We asked her questions, she gave some honest answers. She was direct and specific about her belief in the need for live theatre and it's affect on the world around us. All in all, very inspiring.
The next class I remember was Julian Glover, who came and gave us direction in acting as 'mob.' We - yes, all 130 of us - did a scene from Julius Caeser with various assigned roles and lots of 'mob movement.' It was fun working with everyone, and just plain getting to be directed by Julian Glover himself! I was lucky enough to be chosen to say 1 line (literally), and I worked hard to make sure it was said LOUD! But I still think no one could hear me over the mob. Oh well, mob mentality I guess. Julian was great and full of passion for Shakespeare, just what we needed at the right time.
Then there was Snape, I mean Alan Rickman! Oh! I love this man. He sat kindly and answered all kinds of prodding questions about his career and drive in the arts. He talked about the controversy of "My Name is Rachel Corey" and the difficulty he had taking it to Broadway (it doesn't come until October 2006...fyi). Then, of course, having been dared to mention Galaxy Quest, one of my favorite movies, I got to ask a question. I asked him about choosing roles and the diversity he's been able to maintain on the screen, Love Actually and Harry Potter and Galaxy Quest!? My goodness! He gave a great answer to the "how did you manage to avoid being pigeon holed in Hollywood?" "Be a moving target," he said. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
Next there was Brian and Alan Cox, father and son team. They had a lot to say and lots of passion behind theatre, but basically told us that you should train to be ready...just in case you manage to get lucky like us! And although it was true, it was a little disheartening. But I still love Brian Cox and will forever. I was able to shake his hand and tell him how much I loved The Long Kiss Goodnight - see that Shane Black, I was big-upping you!
Okay, more to come, tired now.
August 6th, 2006
So I approached the last week of school with excitement and extreme worry and concern. Excitement because I was going to Scotland to do my play in just under 8 days, worry and concern....because I was going to Scotland to do my play in just under 8 days! Aaaaahhh! This last week proved incredibly challenging for me emotionally, just in terms of keeping it together. Thankfully I had done all the necessary memorizing for all of my scenes in my classes, so that was taken care of. Now, I just had to be sure I remembered all my lines and blocking for my one woman show, that I could bring the 14 characters in the show back to life again, that I could make them different enough to count in their own right, but not make them over the top, and that I didn't speak with a British accent during any of the play....!To add to that, I had to order special things for my lights, to be delivered to my theatre in Scotland and I had to order a set! Yes, it's just a chair and a stool, but you never know how difficult finding a chair and a stool in a place you've never been and where you don't know anyone, can be! So, yes, before I left, my producers and I were reassured by the fact that there was an Ikea in Edinburgh! Of course! The perfect place to get a chair and a stool. However, come to find out... this week, that they do not take orders online OR over the phone for the average lay person. You must GO there IN PERSON and pick out what you want, and then they will deliver it to you! GO THERE!!!! As of this moment, I went bonkers. How on earth was I going to get to Ikea in Scotland when school ended the evening of August 5th, I was to travel 6 hours on the first direct train out on August 6th - putting me into Edinburgh around 7pm that night, was to meet with the theatre at 8pm, was to do a dress technical rehearsal from 11:30pm-1:45am and then was to preview my show to a live audience August 7th at 11:55am!!!! I can't get to Ikea before all that. So, I tried a few other ways to find a chair and a stool, until finally I realized.... I could go through Ikea's business department. I own a business here in Los Angeles, essentially my 'production company,' but it is an official business. So, I called that department, and lo and behold, I could order my precious chair and stool over the phone and for the mere 50 pounds (um, 100 buckaroos American style), they would deliver it. Fine I said, I just need a set.
So, one would think that would be enough stress for the week. I certainly thought it was....but it wasn't quite over, although the next situation was something I was looking forward to....
Some friends in the BADA program and I bought tickets to see Patrick Stewart (yes, none other than Jean Luc Picard) star in The Tempest at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-Upon-Avon, for Wednesday night. The only bummer was that we HAD to be back for class the next morning by 9am. The last train out of Stratford left at 11p (cutting it awfully close to the time the show ended) and the first train out the next morning wouldn't have gotten us back until noon. So, what to do...well, me, being the brave one, said, we'll rent a car....and I'll drive! What!? What was I thinking!? I'll drive!? One the wrong side of the road? Where they shift with the LEFT hand? Where the wheel is on the RIGHT side? Where the round-abouts travel to the LEFT? What was I thinking? Well, some other students had done it, and I figured if they could, so could I.
So, we rented a car, an automatic though, wasn't going to push it with shifting with my left hand, and well, we're all still here. I ran over a few curbs, but didn't hit any people, cars, or shrubbery (well...mostly). And the best part was, we waited at the stage door for Patrick Stewart like true fans, got his autograph, and then went to the actor's pub in town and had drinks with some of the actors and directors from the other Royal Shakespeare Company shows! How cool is that!?
Then, open day, the day we have classes that friends and family are invited to observe, comes and goes with little fuss. We all had fun, my class ruled and rocked each of their scenes. And then it was over. It felt weird. It was over. We ate a beautiful dinner (actually edible food this time) with the board of directors and special guests of BADA. It turns out one of the Board members was actually the founder of the theater where I grew up in Palo Alto....talk about six degrees of seperation.... Then we were off to party with free beer and wine and, well, water for me- they didn't have Pimms (I'm a Pimms girl now, the English summer drink)... the music was great, everyone was drunk, and they were all sweating and dancing on each other in ways that well, I can't quite describe here....but, um, well, use your imagination. And then it was really over.
I went back to my room to complete my packing, slept for a few hours, then woke up the next day to get my bags downstairs and get a cab to the train station. Off to Edinburgh.
Adventures in Edinburgh, August, 2006 (same as Myspace blog...)
Day 1, August 6th Day 2, August 7th Rest of the Days still in progress..... Day 1
Okay, so when I thought about taking two big suitcases, a duffle bag, a purse, AND a computer bag to the U.K., I don't know what in the hell I was thinking! How was I going to manage with all of this luggage!? Not to mention that all the bags were heavy as all bloody goodness!So, I take a cab from Baliol College in Oxford to the train station and in the lobby of the station, run into two other students (thankfully friends of mine) from the BADA program, who are, get this, on the same train to Edinburgh. Being two strong guys with only one bag each....I was able to share my load. Thank you to Kevin and Kevin (yes, they are both Kevin) without whom I would not have even made it onto the train to get to Edinburgh.
One of the Kevin's and I had a reserved seat, the other Kevin had to fend for himself as far as the seat department was concerned. However, when the train arrived, it was so packed with standing people, oversized luggage (clear throat) and well, more people, you couldn't even maneuver around to get to your assigned seat, much less leave your suitcases anywhere within site of the seat. It was unreal. Just for your information, the trains in England don't stop selling tickets just 'cause there are no seats left...they sell standing room, even for six hours to Edinburgh.
Thankfully, it was only about an hour before enough people got off that we found a place for our bags and our butts! I did my best to relax on the ride, but my anxiety was still kicking!
We finally got to Edinburgh, Kevin and Kevin helped me to the Taxi stand with all of my bags and then we went our separate ways to our hotels. Well, they went to a hotel, I went to a "Guest House" - kind of like a cross between a bed and breakfast and a hotel....but closer to a bed and breakfast. So, I knew I had the cheapest room in the place, so I wasn't expecting much, and it really wasn't.... much. But it was a bed, a nice shower, and a TV that I could plug my iPod into. The only really disappointing thing was the internet connecion wasn't working.
But no time to be concerned with that now, I dropped my bags, grabbed my cell phone, my map, and my camera, and headed out to the meeting at the theatre. I called the press director Matt, who I was meeting, and said I'd be there in about a half an hour....not knowing that my walk to the theatre was primarily up hill!
Edinburgh was beautiful, I stopped like every five feet to take a picture (and to rest from the hill). I finally found my way to the theatre (an hour later) and met with Matt at the Zoo. What an awesome venue, I have to say. They really took care of me and made sure that I was in the best position to do the best show I could. I absolutely love them!
So, I got the tour, got the briefing, and then headed out to get dinner before coming back to tech my show in just a few hours. I can't remember what I ate, but it was something cheap. Unfortunately, pounds do not grow on trees! Who knew?
I arrived at the theatre at 11:30pm to do my tech and quickly realized I would need two people running the show (which I had suspected would be the case anyway). We walk through each cue, lights and sound, and everything looks wonderful. I started to really get excited to have a real theatre, real lights, real sound....all of a sudden I realized....I AM DOING A PLAY! I AM THE PLAY! And although I was tired, it was an incredible feeling. I had no idea if there were people coming to see the show the next day, but I didn't care, I was doing a play.
Day 2
My opening day! I went to bed earlier this morning somewhere around 3 am. I woke up somewhere around 8 am so I had time to warm up, eat breakfast, and catch the bus to a place that would leave me less to walk to the theatre. I was tired, but up, if you know what I mean. I showered and warmed up my voice in the shower. Then I suddenly wondered if any of the other rooms could hear me....but oh well if they could, I had to warm up! There was no way I could do a 45 minute solo show without preparing my voice for the long haul. I decided that I would get dressed in my costume before arriving to the theatre (because technically I only had 15 minutes after the play before me and my show to set up, and I didn't want to spend those getting into my costume). So, I did my hair, my make-up and got dressed. I brought a change of clothes for after the show because I was planning on handing out flyers to the world right after.I got everything I needed for my show, props, scripts, programs....double and triple checked everything, then went upstairs to get breakfast. The breakfast was included in the price of the guest house, which was wonderful. They made hot breakfasts, but I have this thing where I can't really eat before I perform. My stomach just never wants to digest too much before a show. I used to not eat at all when I was younger, but then I would almost faint in the middle of a play.....so, I started eating soup before a show. So today, I had a bowl of cereal, some tea and orange juice. I finished quickly and ran out to catch the bus. Thank goodness there was a bus stop just around the corner from the guest house. This made things wonderful!
The bus came quickly. I hopped on, walked upstairs (yes, on the bus, they're almost all double deckers in the U.K.!) and sat down. I was on my way to my 'preview.' I didn't know if anyone had bought tickets, but I didn't care. I just wanted to get the first show out of the way.
After a short ride up the hill (Edinburgh is separated by this huge hill which makes it not too fun to walk in between the two parts...) and I got off the bus and walked the rest of the way to the theatre.
I arrived at the theatre by 11am. My show is scheduled to begin at 11:55am. So, I've got about fourty minutes until I can get into the space and set up my set and props, and basically take ownership of the theatre for my hour. I set down my stuff and stretched in the green room until I it was my time.
At 11:40am I go into the theatre and set up. The tech guys arrange the necessary lights and prepare themselves for our first time through the whole show. I go backstage and wait for them to 'fade to black.'
The doors to the theatre open and I hear people come in! A few... The lights fade to black and we begin.
The show went okay for being the first show. There were a couple technical things that didn't work perfectly, but that was to be expected. All in all I was pleased with the first performance of the world premiere of The Journey to Becoming a Super Woman! So, after the show, I said hello to the few audience members that came, changed and then headed out to put up posters and hand out flyers.
The Royal Mile is a strip of road that the city blocks off during the festival. It is the place where hundreds of thousands of people walk everyday to watch the incredible street performers and be greeted by people in costume handing out flyers, trying to entice them to come see their show. There are also several "poster poles" that are set up particularly for posters to be pasted, taped, hung, stuck, or attached in some other inventive way. Sounds great, right!
My first trip to the Royal Mile took place today. I was lucky enough to have Oli (one of the flyer helper guys that works with the theatre) with me that showed me the ropes. Oli was great and was willing to wear a Super Woman T-Shirt when flyering with me! What a great young man! As we walked to The Mile we hung posters everywhere we could. Once on the Mile we walked in one direction hangin posters and then came back down the Mile handing out flyers to absolutely everyone that would take them. The funny thing I noticed, is the city, in order to keep control on litter, places HUGE trash cans every ten feet or so. So what several flyer takers do is take all the flyers that people are shoving in their faces and then, without glancing at them, toss them in the rubbish bin in ten feet! Oh well. I refused to look into the trash can, 'cause I didn't want to see my flyers in there.
So, after an hour and a half of Oli's help, he heads back to the theatre and I head home to drop off my heavy bag of props and scripts and sweaty costume! As I walk back down the Mile on my way home, I continue to hand out flyers. And, as I passed several of the "poster poles" I realized that the posters Oli and I had posted not less than 2 hours ago were already covered by other posters! It didn't take long for me to figure out that was the name of the game....Who can keep their posters uncovered the longest! I decided that I wasn't going to hang posters in the middle of the day, ever again! Oh well, lesson learned.
So, I drop my stuff off at home and take a nap.
That evening I meet my friends from school that had come to the festival for dinner. We eat somewhere cheap, but good. They all drink to get drunk and I continue to look at my watch. I'm scheduled to flyer in the morning before my show and then have to go perform my show! So, when the clock strikes 11pm, I say goodnight and head back home to go to bed for the night.
Tomorrow I will get up and do it all over again. Only better this time!
March 5th, 2006
Okay, okay, I know, where in the world have I been? Well, I don't know if I even know is the truth! I know I wasn't abducted by aliens, but beyond that.... ha ha ha, just kidding. This year has simply proven to be incredibly busy and time to myself has been minimal, something I am working on adusting as I speak. So, I think the best way for me to share what in the world has been going on is to categorize like I usually do. I'm putting links here too so you don't have to scroll down if you don't want to, you can just click to exactly what you'd like to read!!! So, here goes:Acting Poetry and Writing Personal Thoughts and ... Acting
So far, this has not been the best or most productive year for my acting career. So much so that I've really considered that maybe I'm supposed to do something else. The worst thing that happened (which may turn out to be the best...but only time will tell) is that my theatrical agent retired. She is more than deserving of retirement after over 30 years of being an agent, but it was just bad timing for her entire client list, who was retired with her. February through April is the most important time to have an agent in Los Angeles because it is pilot season, the time when all the television stations are filming possibilities for new shows in the fall. On top of which all the agents are so busy that they will not even look at new faces. So, I am left agentless for pilot season. Major bummer.One good thing that have happened in acting is that my good friend Lia Johnson produced and starred in her very first independent feature film and I had one day playing a small role in the film. It was great fun and I am so proud of her. What an incredible feat. Thank you to everyone who gave their time, energy, and money to make the film a reality. I will keep you updated as to its progress!
The other two good things were the two auditions that I've had so far. It's painful for me to say I've had only two auditions this year, one would hope to have at least two auditions a week, or more, but I am thankful for the opportunities, whenever they appear. The first audition was tough, for a series of commercials for Toyota, and unfortunately, I know I didn't get it. And the next audition was for a summer program in England studying Shakespeare. I just came from that audition and I feel like it went well. We won't hear until the end of the month for that one, so again, I'll keep you posted.
The last great thing that happened in relation to my acting was that I finally was able to connect with some of the succesful alum from my university. Thanks to Cathy Thomas, who made sure I knew about this year's gathering, I was able to have some cool conversations with Wes alum that are really making it. Things like that don't usually translate to direct work, but they do translate into potential relationships which, in the future, could be great work. So, we'll see.......
Writing
Well, I haven't spent that much time writing so far, mostly because I haven't had the time, or rather, haven't made the time. With my poetry, KCET did ask me to return to their "Unsung Hero of the Year Awards" that takes place in February. I wrote a custom poem for the honorees and performed it at the ceremony. Thanks to Lynn and Alex who are always so supportive, I am grateful for their presence.I have also written a few "New Thought" inspired pieces, one of which is up for March on the site. Let me know what you think because it is a new way of writing for me, but challenging and interesting all at the same time. I hope to create more time to write and have more to report on this soon!
Personally
Well, needless to say with my creative ventures at an extreme minimum along with my time to myself, I have been feeling really down in the dumps. So far, March has been different and I'm looking forward to making serious changes in how I structure my time. I've had some great guiding lights in the darkness, including my mother, my friends at Humanity's Team and my friends who've known me for years. The most major thing that I think has affected me personally is really questioning my path. I mean, so many people say "if it's meant to be it'll happen." And, when I look at the amount of time that I've been in Los Angeles measured against the amount of success I've had, I have really questioned if it's meant to be. So, I went on a search, or at least tried to search, to find what else I would be happy doing. And the truth is, one can be happy "doing" anything, it's a choice really, but I truly want to be sure that I am using my life for its highest purpose, and that I'm headed down that road, not the road of a lifetime struggle for an achievement that is not worth it's perceived gain. But when I step back and look at everything that I've ever done, any job I've ever had, the real truth is that I am most at home on stage or on a set. There is a feeling that overcomes me when I'm working as an actor that does not occur anywhere else, not with poetry, not with speaking, not with tutoring, no where else. And in a recent conversation with some guides (people here on earth, not my ethereal guides) I was really led to see that we are meant to do what we decide we should do! That my home is where I should be and if that's on stage and on set, then that's where it is. So, at least for the time being, I have decided to continue on this acting adventure and really give it everything I have, my full guns and gusto. And as always I will keep you up to date on the goings on and failures and successes of this incredible path that I have chosen and that you have so kindly and willingly decided to support me on.Thank you all for your continued support, love and emails. Even if I don't write back for a year, know that you are all in my heart and I am thankful for your existence! Until next time....
End of the Year 2005
So, 2005 is over. It felt like it passed both quickly and slowly at the same time. Is that possible? Well, depending on what you believe, the answer is yes or no. : )So, what have I been doing this year, well, a little of this and a little of that. Let's see....I had one or two acting gigs, I performed twice with and a bunch of times for Neale Donald Walsch, I connected with a number of great friends in Ashland, OR, I became a member of the newly formed "SuperSHEroes," I started working for my friend as her personal assistant, I earned my first degree black belt in Kung Fu and I had my first little Christmas tree in three years!
Okay, so now that I've listed all the things I did, I look back and try to look at all the things I learned. I am just back from Neale Donald Walsch's Holiday Retreat called "Re-creating yourself" for the new year. I was there through the end of 2005 and brought in 2006 with all the people in the group. Now, many of you may never have been to a personal growth retreat, and to tell you the truth, this is only my second time attending one. It was my first retreat with Neale and it was an experience to say the least. When I'm up to it, I will probably make a special journal entry on the retreat experience itself, but right now, the main thing I wanted to mention was how retreats like this truly make you look at who you are and who you want or intend to be. And it is all voluntary, so you can choose to use the information to grow, or not, it's all up to you. But then, isn't life, all up to you? So, all week I was faced with the quesiton of "who am I?" And I often came to the scary conclusion that I didn't know! Aaaaahhh! I know this may sound weird, since so many of you know so much about me it seems almost laughable that I wouldn't know who I am, but sometimes, I really don't. Neale's books (the Conversations With God series and others) all point to the BE, DO, HAVE paradigm, when creating yourself, as opposed to the American paradigm of HAVE, DO, BE. So, if you have to define yourself by something other than what you DO? How would you define yourself? Who are you? What do you want to be? Or what are you being? Do you see why these are difficult, or rather challenging questions to answer?
So, long story short, I still don't quite have the answer, but at least I am actively seeking one! And as I look back at 2005, I see that I want to be performing more for a living and working any kind of regular job less. I see that I want to earn lots of money and have the freedom to do with it what I will, give it away at will, and pay the bills that I feel like paying! I see that I have lost touch with too many of my close friends and I have suffered because of it. I see the same is true of my connections with my family. I see that my life MUST be art based or, for me, it has no meaning, no purpose. I see that I am so incredible blessed to have so many supportive, loving people surrounding me and that I should use them more in my times of need, and I should be more available in their times of need. I see that I am growing and changing and have to acknowledge and embrace that instead of fighting it tooth and nail. I see that love truly does make the world go 'round and can in fact, heal the world of all of it's problems. I truly, truly believe that.
So, with end of 2005 comes the beginning of 2006 and with it, I wish you all more of the blessings and less of the pain. I send you all love from the deepest part of my soul and thank you for all of your love and support. I could not have made it through the year without each and every one of you. I love you all.
