Staten Island Accent

Hello Everyone!
So, in my Scene Study class the newest character that I have been assigned to play is a hilarious manipulative woman who has several nervous breakdowns onstage. It is from a play by Neil Simon called "The Good Doctor." It's your old-fashioned classic comedy! My professor informed me that the character called for a "voice"- meaning that the character needed an accent or an obnoxious exaggerated voice of some-sort to really emphasize her character type. So, I chose a Staten Island accent and I have been having a blast with it! My character has really grown over the last week and a half and she is annoying as hell!! I wear a knitted pancho and two really ugly shawls over it, and a tattered skirt, and the best part is the cat-eye glasses that I get to wear!
Don't get me wrong- I love tragedy and drama just as much as I love comedy, but there is just such a natural connection that I have to playing "character roles" (or funny, stereotype roles).

So if any of you get a chance to come and see the Scene Study final, you can come and see me play this hysterical role! The date of the final is Wednseday, May 13 in the evening.

Thanks again, everybody, for all of your constant and on-going support!

Time for a Break

Spring Break is finally here! I am ready for it to get warm and for the flowers to bloom! It's still cold here, though... For spring break this year, my mom and my sister are coming to visit and we are going to spend some time in the city! I am going to take them to some of my favorite places in "The Big Apple!" Then we are going to travel home and I am going to spend the remainder of my break relaxing and soaking up some family time!

I have been searching for casting calls and have found quite a few, so I will also be working on updating my resume and printing out my headshots to send in to some of these casting calls! We shall see what happens!

Sometimes It's Just Nice To Hear

As an actor one has to be open to criticism and critique, but sometimes it's just nice to hear from someone that you are doing a good job, or that you are on the right track. It's not something that we expect from our audiences, or something that we have to hear because that's not what acting is about- but, just like in any job, it is nice to hear when you are doing your job right.

Today, in my Scene Study class my professor congratulated me after class, after I had just "opened my emotional door" while performing an emotional scene for the class. I have been working on it for the past two weeks and I had not been able to actually cry during the scene yet, or reach that emotional peak that I was aiming for and that the scene is asking for. But, I did it today! And, like I said, sometimes it's just nice to hear that you are doing a good job from someone else.

They say as actors we are our own harshest critic...sometimes it's true. Sometimes I feel like am beating myself because I can't get a certain part right, or a certain line, or I don't feel that I am actually in the world of the character... But, then sometimes, when you are doing it right, you can feel it! You can feel the world of the character around you and everything looks new and different! You can relate to the emotions of your character and allow them to channel through you! When you are truly playing the character and immersed in their world I cannot explain to you how wonderful that feels!! It is exactly what we as actors strive for- not fame, not loads of money, not for our picture to be on the cover of People Magazine... but for actually, fully achieving our goal as actors!

Now I am going to go "study" some acting while watching a movie! (It's true though- whenever I watch a movie or a television show I am watching the actors and how they work at their craft.)

Let's Start At The Very Beginning...

"Let's start at the very beginning. A very good place to start." As sung by Maria in The Sound of Music, which just so happened to be the very first musical that I fell in love with. It's funny because when I was a lot younger I hated musical theatre- I did not understand the reason for people to randomly break out into song. And look at where I am at now...making this my career. Go figure, right?!?!

What to say...what to say... Well I am a student at a universtiy studying Theatre Arts and I love it! I am engrossed in constant theatre work. If I am not memorizing lines for a scene or a play then I am directing a play, or designing costumes for a show, or organizing props, or helping a fellow actor memorize their lines. I love being in the Theatre department because it is like we are all a family. We all care about each other and we all support each other. I have been acting since I was very young- I still remember the first time I was onstage and I insisted that I wear a slip as a skirt, while I sang a song for the audience, that my aunt had always sung to me. I have been singing my whole life. My dad is in a band and so I guess I take after him as far as our love of music goes.

I appreicate all art, although I have to say I never did understand how someone could hang a blank canvas in a high-end art gallery and get paid tons of money...but that is besides the point. I appreciate all that art involves: hard work, dedication, blood, sweat and tears :) To me, working on one's craft as an artist is one of the most important and exhilerating things! I don't act for fame and I do not want to be a millionare... I just love acting.

I hope that this blog will be interesting for you readers as you follow me through my journey of being an actor and trying to make my way through the tough times, as I strive to become the best actor that I can be! Who knows, maybe someday soon you will see me on the big screen!