The Open...

Those moments in life when the world pauses for that moment. I find the really poignant and big points of reflection. I think of them as mini catharsis, points of clarity in a cloudy world that we called life.

I always break my show warm-up into 4 parts: the body, the voice, the show, and the spirit.

The Body.
I work on stretching out and relaxing my physical body. Just getting ready for whatever the show requires. I usually do this without sound or music, to focus on the task at hand. Even though meditation is more along the spirit lines, I usually try to stick 5-10 mins. on the stage itself.

The Voice.
In a musical, I'll use the piano on my phone to dial into some notes, then glance at my music and last run's notes. For a play, I do 5-10 mins. of articulation tricks. The big part of this section is not to overwork yourself.

The Show.
This is the time when I connect myself back to my character. A lot of the times of the characters that has traits that are not like mine, and just embracing those quirks. This is also when I hand with others.

The Spirit.
I spent the last 25 minutes, before 5, listening to a very specific playlist they just relaxes me. I would like to say my pre-show jitters usually hits (if they do hit) right when the house opens so the music helps. During this time I just focus on delivering the greatest show, no matter how big, small, or non-existence the audience is.

There's a reason why I'm always the first one in the theatre. I need the time.

Acting is very much this element of escape. This need to break away.
Jack Ellis

Tech Week (Throwback Unpublished post)

Note: I forget to published this so long ago (June 2015), so here it is as a throwback post.

Most of the time, tech week is referred to as hell week; a time where all the parts of the production are put together and blended in a blender for beautiful production by opening night. This time its been promising, no we're not done with the run so I don't know how well its going to be but this is the smoothest I ever had it. The first weekend finished on a high point with a cast "party". The second weekend ended with a two-hour strike, (or clearing the theatre of our production) and the stage being completely clean and empty.

Another wonderful production closed. Another opportunity in the works.

Another Op'nin', Another Show.

Kiss me Kate

Let's Be Honest

I forgot about this blog.

I'm trying not to self censor myself to much now. 

Thanks to my BFF for reminding me about it. 

Part and parcel of being an actor is to be nomadic, to miss the odd wedding, birthday, to say to your partner, I do miss you. I love you, but I have to be a thousand miles away, cause this is what I love, this is what I do. 

Chukwudi Iwuji

Musings On Not Acting Currently

Sometimes I enjoy working backstage (not as an actor), expecially when I get to see the process from first read to final performance (and everything else in between) more like an outsider. Watching the changes the actors go through, the process. The puzzle pieces getting found and put together to form a completed pictures.

Maybe it keeps me humble. I know I'm not the greatest actor in the world (yet!); I also know that, for me, part of learning is seeing an example and/or a fantastic, in-depth description. Watching other actor act (and other performers doing other things) is (according to my professors) essential to be a better actor (or performer). Thats why so many "theatre experts" tell you to see more theatre; I think they're right.

Sometimes a break (at least from acting is good). However I have a hard time taking a break from theatre in general.

Any day in a theatre is a good day for me.

I am amazed all over again by how magnified this project's importance has become, far beyond its being a play.

Arthur Miller

Happiness

You know that moment, all the sudden it just hits you, you're generally happy because you're doing something that you love. It makes you happy and  being happy makes you happy.

That's what happens when I do Theater.

Damnit! I shouldn't be this happy for sitting in a chair for 3 hours and writing but I am.

I'm driving home and I keep smiling because I'm fucking ecstatic at this point. There's no rhyme or reason to it, I'm just simply happy.  If this is all that takes for me to be happy, how much does that make me a simple soul.

It's not very often that I actually get to be happy for no apparent reason. This is nice.

The most important thing is to enjoy your life-to be happy-it's all that matters.

Audrey Hepburn

Workin'

Being a working actor is one of my favorite feelings in the world.

Nothing makes me more excited than getting a phone call from someone that wants you to work on a project or that you got the role.

It doesn't mention the work ahead, there's plenty, but it's just your joy, the ecstasy of having something to do that makes you happy. Yes, rehearsals can be hard, memorization (at least for me) is hard.

But you know what, nothing in this world worth having is easy. It makes me so euphoric, like I'm in a musical and I'm going to sing about love.

There are some advantages to this crazy world we call show business.

In the language of an actor, to know is synonymous with to feel.

Konstantin Stanislavski

Musings On Not Liking Certain People

Realizing the fact that just because you don't like someone, does not make you a horrible person. It simply means you have an opinion, which isn't always necessarily a bad thing.

Sometimes there are just "wrong" people for your life. Don't let anyone manipulate you into thinking that you have to like someone; yes you should in fact know how to work with people you don't like, but that's a different skill set.

At the end of the day all you can do is keep doing you! (And keep the body count low [JK])

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but, creatures of emotion.

Dale Carnegie

What On Earth Is This Blog About?

Well this blog is the place where I can collect my thoughts, idea, and concepts on Theatre in general.

I'm writing this so I can talk about people and things. (That some people know exactly who/what I'm talking about.) I'm not going to names names, but I am going to talk about my frustrations in a logical-ish manner and maybe, possibly, even address some solutions or other ways to go about them.

If you're smart enough to figure out who I am, (I'm not trying too particularly hard to not say who I am), if you could not tell everyone who I am, that would be great.

I want to make a name for myself. I’ll make it out of a pseudonym.

Jarod Kintz