Spooky How Well They Know Me

Your Birthdate: October 29

You have the mind of an artist, even if you haven't developed the talent yet. Expressive and aware, you enjoy finding new ways to share your feelings. You often feel like you don't fit in - especially in traditional environments. You have big dreams. The problem is putting those dreams into action. Your strength: Your vivid imagination Your weakness: Fear of failure Your power color: Coral Your power symbol: Oval Your power month: November

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Jolly Ole Saint Nickel-less: Or How I Turned Off the Christmas Machine Out of Economic Necessity and Ended Up Being Glad

What a festive time of year! So festive that no one wants to be in the middle of making a movie during the holidays. Ergo: Mass unemployment for those hapless creative types who are masochistic enough to want to work in film. While some might think it's fun to have loads of time off during the Season, I think they are the Some that have normal jobs with things called "benefits" like paid vacation. But I have made my bed and now I must lie in it (until it gets repossesed). It is a bed I happily lie in when I can say things like, "I'm going to the premiere tomorrow night," and "Our film is getting lots of buzz at Sundance." O.K. I'm still waiting to say that second one. The point is there's Glamour in this biz and the "starving" part is just the baggage that goes along with being able to call oneself an artist. Right?

So the other day I went into Media Play to spend the remaining bits of a gift card to make sure Anthony had something to open on Christmas Day on Christmas Day. I tell you, there were some kids there who should not be getting a visit from the Jolly Elf. Also, it doesn't surprise me one bit that Media Play is going out of business. They call 20% off a total store clearance??? Excuse me, but you're just now getting down to the same price as the rest of the retail world. I think the Scrooge at Media Play corporate headquarters must be green, furry, and have a heart three sizes too small. Or am I mixing metaphors...

That day out at Media Play was really my first and only foray into the wide world of Christmas consumer lust this year. And I realized that it's ugly and annoying and and and maybe I just feel that way because I would really like to get some nice gifts for the special people in my life and I'd also like to have some left over to do the Angel Tree thing. But I can't and it's really not making me terribly sad. Not like I thought it would.

Anthony does have---Christmas miracle---work the day after Christmas, so we decided to save the non existent gas money and stay here in Provo for Christmas. That means our Christmas will be devoid of the family party. And I'm ok with that. It means that I'll sleep in my bed on Christmas Eve. I'm really ok with that. It means that we'll be just the four of us opening a few presents on Christmas Day on Christmas Day. It means that we'll go to Church for only an hour on Christmas Day in the morning. Then we'll spend the rest of the day eating, watching movies, and hopefully playing some games together. (Backgammon---I always win!) It's quiet, it's cozy, it's family. It's Christmas.

What To Get For That Someone Who Has Everything

Tired of noisy toys and stuff you don't know what to do with when Christmas is over? I think this is a great alternative to stuff stuff and stuff. And it promotes a sense of stewardship and global awareness.

http://www.adoption.co.uk
and
http://www.greatgifts.org

Merry Christmas!!!

Adventures in Character Development Parte the First

So, I'm in the play Much Ado About Nothing. I'm very excited to be in it. I'm playing a female version of Don John (the Keanu Reeves character). I looked forward to the auditions for many months and when the time came to audition, I prepared a fair amount, I'd say. I was very anxious to be a part of the show. First of all, it's Shakespeare and I'd only ever done scenes of Shakespeare in acting classes. To conclude, it's being done at Provo Theatre Company which is "Utah County's Only Professional Theatre." Sixth, and lastly, the director is really cool and knows his Shakespeare. I felt pretty good about my audition. And I certainly know that all you can do in an audition is your best because you can't control if you're too tall, or if someone thinks you have funny speech patterns, or if someone else is sleeping with some decision maker.
I was thrilled to get the call that I had been cast.

And then I panicked.

When I was accepted to film school, I more or less left acting for about 10 years to pursue behind the scenes stuff. After I had been working as a casting director for a year or so I decided it was time to throw my hat in the ring again. I was not very familiar with local theatres so I just called them all to find out about upcoming auditions. I was soon cast in a production of Servant of Two Masters playing Beatrice. It was a bad production. For example, one of the director's directions to some young cast members was "Show some feeling in this scene." His instruction to us the night before we opened was, "Make sure you have your lines and blocking memorized."
After that, I got an agent for film work and actually got a couple of commercials and a small part in a movie that was mercifully excluded from the final cut. All of that, though, is just snippets of character. A few lines. Thirty seconds of air time. Certainly nothing you have to sustain. Nothing to sink one's teeth into.

Thus the panic. It's really been a long time. What if I can't really do this? What if I actually suck and nobody's told me yet but they're all thinking it?

The third day of rehearsal we were blocking the scenes I'm in and I was a stone. A dull, feelingless stone devoid of any creative spark. I knew I could see behind Chris's eyes regret at having cast me. Was the young actor playing Conrad repulsed at having to play opposite and old hag like me? I thought so. At work the next day I told Alisa of my feelings of being woefully inadequate. She was supportive and assured me that she knew I could and would do great and make it funny. After all, she reminded me, we've only had three reahearsals.

Armed with reassurances from her and dear Anthony, I worked on my lines during the week and thought about character in preparation for the first act blocking run through on Saturday.
I found a picture of a dress that was used in a film in 1918(the year we're setting the play) that gave me an image. And, although I've got more time to work this out, here's where I'm headed: Equal parts spider, snake and Norma Desmond.


And Saturday's rehearsal went so much better.
I'm just going to ignore what's behind Chris's eyes.