Write down your blocking / choreography. Please. You would think this is just common sense. But some people just think they’ll remember or “get it”, and in my experience, that just isn’t the case. Writing it down let’s you review it on your own time. Writing it down makes sure that you review it as…
That is, indeed, the question. Right now, I am up to my tits in rehearsals for A New Brain. (This show is so wonderful and the music is so fucking difficult – for the singers – not for the audience – y’all get to just sit back and enjoy!) This weekend there is an audition…
From time to time, almost all singers have to deal with, what I call, the creeping crud. That’s an overload of yuck in the throat. There are a number of things that can cause the creeping crud – Eating chocolate; eating ice cream, drinking milk, going swimming! Yup, all these things are the things you…
Looking natural onstage is one of the hardest things to learn. I studied how I stood and what I did with my hands in everyday life, so I could stand onstage, just being, and feel natural. It’s not as easy as it sounds. But it makes a huge difference to not have to worry about…
I think I was born to do theater. I am a person who wants to stay up late and then sleep-in. Now that I work part time (from home) and only have to be on the clock from 1 pm to 5 pm, I can indulge my natural penchant for being a night person. I…
I was so fortunate to grow up in an area of Michigan that was crammed with theater – especially musical theater. Each Fall the Bay City Music Foundation (I think that was what it was called) put on an all-high school musical. My high school put on its musical in the Spring. And in the…
When I was doing the Fischer Troupe in Frankenmuth, Michigan, I was paired with Jeff Dove. As I have blogged before, Jeff and I did not get along. We were the comedians of the show – for the most part. And for some reason, we had great onstage chemistry. Jeff taught me a valuable lesson.…
One of the things that I love about doing theater is the experience of the empty theater. Being there when there is no audience. There is a feeling of trespassing and of having an experience others don’t have and wouldn’t understand. This may be part of why I love rehearsing so much. The empty theater…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my “life” in the theater. When I was doing the Fischer Troupe back in Frankenmuth, Michigan, our director, Ron Kieft, once told me: “You have more talent than anyone I’ve ever met but you’ll never do anything because you have no ambition.” What could I say? He was…
When you don’t’ get a part – or I should say, when I don’t get a part – I tell myself that it’s okay because that means there’s something better coming. And it usually works out that way. As those who know me personally, I am not Little Merry Sunshine. I am not, at heart,…
Thoughts from a Fat Old Lady 