"What a sweep of vanity comes this way"

"[Painted Maypole]'s performance as the older, married woman with whom Guy once had an affair is the highlight of the production."

That's a quote from our review in today's Times-Picayune. It makes me smile. The rest of the review is so-so, it basically says the cast is good, but the play is standard fare for this playwright and the theme is starting to be "monotonous." (Which won't be true for people who aren't familiar with the playwright's body of work) The review is, I think, kinder than it needs to be in many regards, even though it's not a glowing review. But I'll take my kudos, thank you very much.

Last Saturday I was awarded a "Best Actress" Award for my role this past May. The theatre has its own awards, so it's not some big city-wide thing or anything, but again, I'll take my kudos, thank you very much. I wasn't there to accept the award because the banquet was on a Saturday night and I was busy. ACTING. My co-star from that show is coming to see me on stage Saturday night and will be bringing the (apparently quite heavy) trophy to me then.

I don't need the kudos, of course. But it is nice to have people recognize my hard work every now and then.

Asking for Direction: Theatre Thursday

When I lived in Los Angeles I interviewed/auditioned for a film. I don't remember anything about what the film was about, but I remember talking with the interviewer about the process. The idea behind the creation of the film was that there would be no director... that it would basically be the cast and crew working together to create the film, without a director overseeing the process. I remember the guy asking me if I hadn't always dreamed of working that way.

No, I hadn't.

I decided this project was not for me, and I left.

I value a good director. A good director has a vision for the production and a love for the writing. A good director works with the other artists - actors, designers, etc - listening to their ideas, encouraging new directions, shaping the work. A good director asks tough question. A good director is willing to try something new and different. A good director is not afraid to tell you that something isn't working, and look for something else. A good director is willing to let go of her idea in favor of a better one. A good director provides encouragement and focus.

In my many years on stage I've worked with a wide range of directors. Unfortunately I would say that a large majority of the directors I've worked with are largely benign. They have little insight to give beyond telling the actors when and where to move, and the movement is often uninspired. The success of their production depends largely on casting talented actors who work well together in a piece that is well written. A decent show can come from this, but never a great one.

When I work on a show I want to have input. I want to have room to create and play and explore. I want to be part of a team.

But I don't want to be part of something that is directed "by committee." I want a director with a vision to help shape the piece. I want someone looking on who can make sure that we are telling the story, and who cares enough to make sure that we work hard to tell it the best way that we can.

Judging a book by its cover

I know you're not supposed to judge other people. I try hard not to. But sometimes, I can't resist. Here are some people I confess to judging before I know them:

Drivers of Hummers

Parents who take their toddlers to a bowling alley at 11pm

People who wear clothing with obscenities written on it in public places. Around children.

Obese people at fast food joints. Particularly if they have their obese children with them.

Parents who take their young children to R rated movies filled with sex and violence

Anyone with a SARAH! bumper sticker

Audience members who answer their phone in the theatre and then proceed to HAVE A CONVERSATION

I know I'm not alone. Who do you judge upon first sight?

In the beginning... TheatreThursday

It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation.
- Joseph Campbell

While in Los Angeles I had a wonderful theatre experience where the ensemble created a show. It began with a concept from the director: a show including various creation myths from around the world.
(our gorgeous postcard... made from a piece of artwork created by a the director's beau. I have an original piece he made just for me, with a quote from the show, hanging in my bathroom. It's such a treasure, to have a piece of art created for me.)

The rehearsal process was incredible. We began every day with warm ups and games, and then we would explore the myths. We played with language and we played with dance and we played with puppets. There would be huge "ah-ha" moments, and we would build on those. The director took the good stuff and molded it.

Games ended up shaping myths. Different actors took the role of a shaman for each myth (we were leading a great mythological hero through the myths to learn a lesson...) and the Puerto Rican myth that I became the shaman for took its form from a game I had brought into rehearsal (Big Booty, possibly the funnest theatre game EVER. But I'm not biased...). The game has a specific rhythm and a call and response to it, that was used in the text.

In the beginning
- the beginning
- the beginning

The beginning of time
- of time
- of time...

Sibu Created the World.

He made deserts
He made jungles

He made jungles
He made mountains

He made mountains
He made valleys....

I wore a huge, brightly colored hoop skirt and a crazy feathered headdress. I used a Caribbean accent. I thought the director was nuts for asking me to do it, it was a HUGE character way out of my comfort zone. She boosted me up and guided me through. I loved it.

Whether dream or myth, in these adventures there is an atmosphere of irresistible fascination about the figure that appears suddenly as a guide
- Joseph Campbell

In all of the myths the ensemble supported the story. I was melting ice in the Norse myth.
(I'm sort of left of middle there, standing but bent... see the ice melting off my arms?)

I got to toss out vomit in the African myth (from behind a large glow in the dark puppet face. This is me, preparing the vomit before a show) There was a bunch of dancing, but verbally the only thing we said was "In the beginning, Bumba, the creator, vomited up the world."

I held aloft P'An-Ku in the Chinese story.

And created a shadow image of a many-limbed god in the Indian myth.

It was an amazing creative process... to work with a group of people that played and worked very hard toward the same goal. We willingly stayed late into the night helping to create the puppets, decorate the set, etc. No one minded staying, and if they couldn't stay, they left with no ill will. We were a team. We also became good friends, instituting "The Friday Night Dance Club" - we'd go out every Friday night to a new club... disco, samba, salsa, swing, rock... we tried it all.We had fun with our makeup!

The show and its creation were storytelling at its best, I think. We took age old stories, age old rites, and played with them... honoring them while looking forward and using them to tell a new tale... a new version of the same story we keep telling for millenia...

It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant fantasies that tie it back.
- Joseph Campbell

Beach Bum: Theatre Thursday

Hey. I'm lying on the beach in Cabo. I didn't manage to write an actual Theatre Thursday post before I left and schedule it to post (which I did for the TWO Thursdays I was gone in June/July. Was I crazy? Maybe just sleep deprived...)

But rest assured that even on the beach I have theatre on the brain. Because one week from today? I have an opening night. I return and go right into tech week. Insane. So you better believe I'm going over my script every day.

I'm just doing it with a margarita in my hand.

Hickory Dickory CAST

So maybe those crazy street names did bring me some luck last week. I've been CAST! Yippee!

The show is a musical of one of The May Queen's most favorite picture books. I will play the mother of the lead character.

The May Queen will think I'm a rock star.

Fun, fun.

Rehearsals, of course, start right after the show I'm rehearsing opens.

Looks like I'm off the block for another crazy year.

White Smoke... at long last

Finally, FINALLY, I have figured out what I am giving as a 2nd blogiversary prize (since my previous plan was ruined) and so finally, FINALLY I can announce the winner.

Two winners, actually (it seems appropriate to give out 2 prizes 2 months after celebrating 2 years of blogging. I love nothing if not a theme!)

Mad and Alejna will be the proud owners of Cootie Shots: Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry.

Yes, I'm giving away a book with ME on the cover of it. Who ever said I was humble?

Send me your addresses to pntdmaypole AT yahoo DOT com and I'll send you the books. I MAY even sign them for you. Unless that's going a bit too far.

(unfortunately it's the unpublished show that has a really funny piece about PANTS in it... maybe I'll find it and send you a copy, Alejna)