the following was stolen (ok, I asked permission) from the blog of MRC member Andrew Redlawsk. Read all about his first few NYC theatre adventures...
(you can follow Andrew's full blog at www.andrewredlawsk.wordpress.com)
April 29, 2010
BIG IMPORTANT UPDATE
and loooooooong overdue.
Why all the hoopla in the title? Well because yours truly is now a resident of NEW YORK CITY! How bout that!? Yes, it’s true – April 18th I boarded a plane with my one way ticket and moved to the Big Apple. Why is it called that? Anyway… I’ve been couch surfing the last week and a half, but finally will be moving in to my 3-month sublet this weekend. Can’t wait.
So why did I do it? A few reasons. First, I’m working on a production of ASSASSINS with Momentum Repertory Company – the same folks I did GODSPELL with a couple summers ago. I’m playing the Balladeer and Lee Harvey Oswald, and it’s going to be a blaaast. To complicate things, I just finished training for my new job as a barista at Argo Tea, another Chicago transplant. Oh and it doesn’t stop there. I also got cast as the title role in BJ: A Musical Romp… which… is… exactly what you think it is. But a friend of mine, Kate Bodenheimer, has also been cast in it as my love interest, so it’ll be a heckuva ride for sure. I can’t wait to get started on it. Both these shows will be performing in June – I’ll keep y’all posted… for serious.
Yeah I’m not busy at all! … Lies.
What’s the other reason I moved out here? Well, it has to do with what I just described. In Chicago I wasn’t busy. I was sitting around on my ass waiting. And I hate waiting. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE Chicago. I love the city and I love the people in the industry there. It’s great. But the lack of opportunity was driving me insane. For every audition in Chicago there are at least 10 more in New York. Every audition in Chicago has such added significance because there are so few in the first place. If you don’t book it, there are only a couple other big equity houses in the area, and they all like to use the people that are known commodities, who they’ve worked with before. And that is GREAT if you’re in that circle. But breaking in is just tough – thems the breaks. In NYC though, there are SO MANY theaters and SO MANY companies. And not just ones in New York, but regional theaters from across the country audition here, and not in Chicago. It just makes waaaay too much sense for me. I should be in a place where I can audition for the shows I’m right for. And you know what? At the end of the day, you’re not going to get on Broadway living in Chicago. That’s just the truth of it. (Unless you’re Morgan Karr )
So there you go. I’m in NYC. I’m here to stay. Bring it on.
June 8, 2010
Going Down a Different Road
First. Day. Off. In a month. Assassins closed yesterday and I didn’t have rehearsal for BJ, so I took advantage of it. Returned my uniform to the barista job I quit, signed up with a gym, got prints of my headshots, and am currently putting together a mega-mailing to send out to agents. Now that I have half my life back I can finally hit the bricks and try and get things moving on that front. I love productive days.
Assassins went great. Really great actually. So many wonderful, talented people, and I’m going to miss working with all them. For two days. Because actually a lot of us are all going to be working on a workshop reading of a new musical called Oil Change for MRC with a performance on Saturday. So really I only have half my life back for today and tomorrow. But I’m ok with it. Otherwise it’s time to shift my focus to getting BJ ready to go. We open a week from tomorrow and lemme tell you, the show is going to be a riot. Everybody is just so brilliant. Go down a different road and check out http://www.bjamusicalromp.com/ and get your tickets NOW because… you do NOT wanna miss this. And if you’re up for Beer Pong, we’re having a BJ Beer Pong Tourney/Fundraiser on Wednesday night at Pat O’Brien’s pub. Come on out and show your support!!
I love this city. Seriously things are just amazing out here. I’ve come across an incredible writing duo – Carner & Gregor. Their work is gorgeous and poignant and witty and ridiculous, and they’ve been awesome enough to share some of it with me. And just like working on new plays is one of my favorite things, so is listening to, learning and performing fresh, new music. Please surf on over to http://www.carnerandgregor.com/.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Connect...Connect... Connect... Connect
Momentum Rep is in rehearsals for "Assassins." I am playing Squeaky Fromme. At the first rehearsal, Jackie (MRC co-founder, Producer, and director of this production...) talked with each of us about our characters' motives for killing or attempting to kill a President. So, a room full of sane (well, mostly. Not homicidal anyway.) actors sat around and tried to figure out why someone would do such a thing. All of our characters had different reasons- love, vengence, or because they were actually insane. The problem with that last reason is that it's a really weak cop-out for an actor. "He did it because he was crazy." Well, yeah, sure, but that's not why HE thought he was doing it. It's a tough, sometimes scary assignment to do this kind of character work, but it is exactly this work which will make the piece so effective.
Sondheim offers us lots of potential reasons to want to kill a President, but there is one that is particularly striking to me today. A line in the finale. "Free country, means you get to connect."
We just started rehearsing last Tuesday. Here is a small sample of the conversations I have had in the past week or so:
- Whether the dotted-eighth, sixteenth rhythm written in my score or the two eighths rhythm written in the libretto is the correct rhythm. Discussed: how each of these rhythms sound with the other vocal line, how they sound with the accompaniment, what the rhythm was on the previous page, (which was determined irrelevant information because it's Sondheim and he may have wanted it the same way nine times but different the tenth...) and finally, how one would speak the lyrics in a natural speech pattern. This was for one measure.
- How that chord sounds just like that chord in "Into the Woods."
- How Jason Robert Brown and Adam Guettel tend to write roles for men who sound just like them, and Sondheim just writes what he needs and the singer is expected to work it out.
- How the female assassins are portrayed as weaker than they were in real life.
We are a cast of fourteen. Of those, I knew seven in a professional setting before last week. And among just the seven of us (because those are the backgrounds I know...) we have a combined 40 years of higher education in this field. These are my people. And as tough as it can be- emotionally, physically, artistically, even legistically- this is where we go to connect.
And that's a heck of a lot healthier than shooting a President.
Sondheim offers us lots of potential reasons to want to kill a President, but there is one that is particularly striking to me today. A line in the finale. "Free country, means you get to connect."
We just started rehearsing last Tuesday. Here is a small sample of the conversations I have had in the past week or so:
- Whether the dotted-eighth, sixteenth rhythm written in my score or the two eighths rhythm written in the libretto is the correct rhythm. Discussed: how each of these rhythms sound with the other vocal line, how they sound with the accompaniment, what the rhythm was on the previous page, (which was determined irrelevant information because it's Sondheim and he may have wanted it the same way nine times but different the tenth...) and finally, how one would speak the lyrics in a natural speech pattern. This was for one measure.
- How that chord sounds just like that chord in "Into the Woods."
- How Jason Robert Brown and Adam Guettel tend to write roles for men who sound just like them, and Sondheim just writes what he needs and the singer is expected to work it out.
- How the female assassins are portrayed as weaker than they were in real life.
We are a cast of fourteen. Of those, I knew seven in a professional setting before last week. And among just the seven of us (because those are the backgrounds I know...) we have a combined 40 years of higher education in this field. These are my people. And as tough as it can be- emotionally, physically, artistically, even legistically- this is where we go to connect.
And that's a heck of a lot healthier than shooting a President.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tis the Season
Performing arts groups often organize their annual schedules in seasons. Sometimes the season goes according to the academic year, beginning in September. Sometimes it lines up with the calendar, beginning in January. In our less-than-two-years of existence, Momentum Rep has been flying by the seat of our pants, doing shows when inspiration meets resources. But we're headed toward being organized by seasons, and today feels like the beginning of a new one. We have a coffeehouse fundraiser tonight, we start rehearsals for our next show tomorrow, we have a reading of a new musical the weekend after the show, and we have loose plans to do a musical in August. (with, potentially, a concert musical in July. There's a fine fine line between ambitious passion and insanity...)
Yesterday, my husband picked up one of our company members at the airport. A resident of Chicago for several years, he is now, as of yesterday, a New Yorker. I'll let him tell his own story of how he got involved in MRC, and why he has chosen this time to move to New York. The important thing here is that our house was his first stop. And as soon as he arrived he was greeted by another MRC member, my daughter who's grown so much since he saw her a month ago, our favorite pizza from down the street, and some Sam Adams. We were all so busy catching up and telling stories I had to continually remind us that we had rehearsal in the city at 7:00, and by the time we left my stomach and throat hurt from talking and laughing. Surprisingly, my husband offered to drive us to Space on White in downtown Manhattan.
Once there, we met with a few singers who have never worked with us before but will be performing at our fundraiser tonight.. I let them rehearse first. We worked on their songs. And then, one of the girls said to me, "hey, can we hang out?"
"Sure, you can hang out," responded Jackie, my best friend/ co-founder/ producer.
Of all our accomplishments, all the insane growth we've seen and praise we've received, this was one of my proudest moments with MRC.
We do good work. That's important. Without that aspect, the rest of it is just silliness. But the reason we are who we are- the reason my husband was willing to pack up our 11-month-old daughter and drive us into Manhattan, the reason someone would move here from Chicago, the reason someone would request to stay at rehearsal even though she was finished, is because of the people. We're fun. And we're friends. And we care about each other. Genuinely. And that is what gives us our momentum.
Mindy Kay Smith
Artistic Director
Yesterday, my husband picked up one of our company members at the airport. A resident of Chicago for several years, he is now, as of yesterday, a New Yorker. I'll let him tell his own story of how he got involved in MRC, and why he has chosen this time to move to New York. The important thing here is that our house was his first stop. And as soon as he arrived he was greeted by another MRC member, my daughter who's grown so much since he saw her a month ago, our favorite pizza from down the street, and some Sam Adams. We were all so busy catching up and telling stories I had to continually remind us that we had rehearsal in the city at 7:00, and by the time we left my stomach and throat hurt from talking and laughing. Surprisingly, my husband offered to drive us to Space on White in downtown Manhattan.
Once there, we met with a few singers who have never worked with us before but will be performing at our fundraiser tonight.. I let them rehearse first. We worked on their songs. And then, one of the girls said to me, "hey, can we hang out?"
"Sure, you can hang out," responded Jackie, my best friend/ co-founder/ producer.
Of all our accomplishments, all the insane growth we've seen and praise we've received, this was one of my proudest moments with MRC.
We do good work. That's important. Without that aspect, the rest of it is just silliness. But the reason we are who we are- the reason my husband was willing to pack up our 11-month-old daughter and drive us into Manhattan, the reason someone would move here from Chicago, the reason someone would request to stay at rehearsal even though she was finished, is because of the people. We're fun. And we're friends. And we care about each other. Genuinely. And that is what gives us our momentum.
Mindy Kay Smith
Artistic Director
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
