March 25, 2011

Spring brings energy and renewal in many ways.  We are inspired by the natural world exploding back into life from dormancy to move forward with the plans and goals we've set for ourselves in the cave in January and February.  As an auditioning actor, I look for ways to change things up for myself - find new monologues and work them out, start new training, meet with casting directors, directors, writers, producers, audition for roles that might be a bit different or risky...in other words, move the energy of my life from the internal nesting instinct of the winter to the exploding of energy into the world with action.

I find that I tend to get ungrounded if I don't have a plan set for myself.  I bet there are a lot of actors out there that feel similarly.  In our training, we are taught how to access our deepest emotions but are often not taught how to survive out in the "real" world while keeping our sanity.  I find it absolutely necessary to find ways for myself to stay in the now with my life and career, as hard as it might be on any given day.  For me, I have a shamanic spiritual practice that helps me stay focused and true to myself.  I know other actors who have practices like yoga, meditation, sports, art, volunteering, politics even. 

It's easy to get caught up in our own drama.  It's easy to say don't, but life is full of the unexpected and often knocks us for a loop.  Make sure your plan has backup to care for yourself.  We need to enjoy life and experience everything we can, good and bad, to be the best actors we can be.  Live the process and tuck all those experiences inside as fuel for the acting fire. 

March 2, 2011

Starting off with a new acting coach can leave you feeling like a rank beginner again!  I've been studying British acting training with Ruth Kulerman for a month now and it's hard at the moment because it's so different from most of the Method and Meisner-based training I've had.  Forget connecting to emotions.  Connect to the text, the sounds of the words.  To pitch and rhythm.  And what do you know?  The emotions are there.  Fascinating, Captain!  I do love working one-on-one.  In an hour, I can get more accomplished than in a month of classes.

I also started private singing lessons with Adam Roebuck - I have my second lesson tomorrow.  I'm actually enjoying it.  Me, Ms. Anti-Musical.  Both the acting and singing coaching are supporting each other in developing my voice and power through my voice.  It's not about volume.  Sure, I can be loud and project like a charm.  That's not necessarily the most powerful choice.

Speaking of powerful choices, I saw John Gabriel Borkman with Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw and Lindsay Duncan at BAM.  Power is when Alan Rickman, who maintained an amazing contained stillness suddenly bursts out with "I LOVED POWER" and the whole theatre was so dead silent you could hear the person next to you breathing.  A riveting performance.  Not Ibsen's best play, but certainly relevant, given the Bernie Madoff/Wall Street scumbags of our day and age.  And beautifully staged.  I love live theatre.  Love it.

My business plan is set, my goals are on the move and I have several casting director seminars coming up later this month, along with a large mailing going out and continuing to work on the staged reading/development of the new play 5 Days Into Madness.