Broadway Masters and Boston Arts Academy

After years of blogging with the hope of inspiring and educating all of you interested in Broadway and life in the entertainment business, I'm proud to announce the official launching of BROADWAY MASTERS !

We specialize in bringing premiere Broadway artists--actors, casting directors, directors, and choreographers to students and young artists in a master class setting. So now we can and inspire and educate face to face.

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We've recently hosted a series of successful events for the Bloomberg Corporation, the Young Patrons of Lincoln Center, and Summit High School in New Jersey.

And today I had the priviledge of meeting a group of high school students and their advisors from The Boston Arts Academy, in town (many of them for the first time!) to see In the Heights. I met them at Carmine's pre-show and we had a lovely dinner while discussing all kinds of things.

The students were prepared with some wonderful quesitons, "What's is life like as an actor? How do you deal with an unstructured and unpredictable schedule? What are your top three experiences so far in your career?..."

I want to thank their advisors, Nicole, and all the students for inviting me to break bread with them and give them a little taste of what life is like on Broadway. I look forward to the pics guys and please keep in touch!

re: Chinaski

Bukowski was asked "How do you create?"

He said, "You don't. You don't try. You don't try for Cadillacs, creation, or immortality. You wait. And if nothing happens you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks you make a pet out of it."

I've heard stories of Hoffman as Willy Loman on Bway not acting until the first preview. It's said he couldn't bear the thought of acting the role/the lines until he felt like he was Willy Loman, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. So until he felt truthful, he refused to lie.

But isn't that acting--slipping in and out of connection to the material? Just like we do in real life (we're never 100% engaged all the time)?

It's been interesting being in Impressionism comparing the creative process of a play to that of a musical. In a musical there's a lot of trying. Often a lot of trying too hard, too fast, too soon. There are time constraints, very little privacy.

With this play, there was more waiting. More patience. Still not enough time, but I learned how to leave the audition prep behind and start from scratch. To wait. It's incredibly difficult work to do. Because there's less doing at first. It's dangerous, vulnerable, and more truthful.

I remember with Piazza, I had 12 days to rehearse before being put in. And I tried soooo hard. I had no choice. Circumstances were such it was be thrown to the wolves and survive--make art later. So three months in I finally started to feel like I was working from the right place. I was waiting. Not pushing so hard.

Now with the business as such, so much money on the line, productions costing so much...there's a desperation for results. Where's the line? The line between 'acting' and 'performing'? The line between 'acting' and 'being'? The line between 'waiting' and moving ahead?

The idea of not trying to create is fascinating. To ponder just waiting for it.

Act the Fool: Brian Dawkins

I've always been curious about the connection between athletics and acting. Brian Dawkins helped clarify that connection this past Sunday in the Philadelphia Eagles whooping of the Dallas Cowboys.

For those who don't know: Dawkins the most dominant defensive player in the NFL. And an inspiration to every actor out there. And here's why...

Brian Dawkins has 2 lockers in the locker room side by side. One is for himself 'Brian Dawkins #20'. The other is for his game time alter ego 'Weapon X', a character he puts on every Sunday in an elaborate ritual inspired by the XMen Superhero Wolverine. While Brian Dawkins the man is a soft spoken, calm, deeply spiritual guy, his game time alter ego 'Weapon X' is a ferocious, possessed animal. When he exits the tunnel onto the field, you can see Brian is nowhere to be found. There's only Weapon X, and it's go time.

Go time for Brian is like showtime for us. Like Brian we gear up for every performance. And we should all be inspired by him: his commitment to every game, his passion, his focus, his intensity, his emotion...

As team captain in the huddle before the kickoff, he inspires his men in a possessed scream, "ACT THE FOOL!!!" It means play loose, don't think, let yourself go, have fun! Where have we heard that in the acting world before? Professional football is about competition, it's about winning. Professional acting is too, just in a different way!

This year, 2009, let yourself be inspired by Brian Dawkins. Act the Fool, when you're in a scene--WIN it!, gear up for every performance, focus, inspire your cast mates, commit to your "alter ego"/your character on stage, and have fun! Depending on your the character you're playing, you probably won't need to do all that with as much intensity and adrenalin as Brian does to knock down a 250lb running back running at him at full speed, but you get the idea :)

iGrateful

I'm honored to be working on a new piece called iSondheim. I can't divulge any of the details except I'm one of 8 proud cast members and our MD and Director are two of the best in the biz. I even got to meet Steve!

When I was 19 doing regional theater in Maine I read Secrest's (Meryle not Ryan:) biography of Sondheim and sent Steve some fan mail (Sweeny Todd is why I'm in this business). He wrote me back every time! And I've always wanted to work with him/in one of his shows, and it hasn't happened...until now!

So I'm finally working on Steve's music with some of the best artists in town. It's truly an honor.

In other news--we're hanging in there at Tale! Thanks to all the fans! With the economy tanking and shows closing left and right, we're all so proud to bring you Tale 8x week at the Hirschfeld! Please keep up your support!

Sick Part II

So, despite plenty of rest, I woke up this morning even worse than yesterday. Went to the doctor and the glue on my chords is worse than it was on Monday. And having sung 2 shows through the glue, my chords are really swollen. So it was steroids or call out of the show. So I took the roids. Unfortunately, they just started to kick in by end of Act I and by that point I was feeling totally spent.

My throat feels raw, my legs ache, and my voice is at 60%.

Opening night is tomorrow and I'd hate to miss it. I'm considering a B12 shot to get through the show tonight but with the steroids masking my voice and the B12 masking my energy I'm concerned I'd really knock myself out for the rest of the week.

Decision time.

UGH...

Big Performance and You're Sick

It happens to all of us...big performance, critics in the house, and you're sick. How do you get through? Well, since I'm fighting through it as we speak, here's a few things that have helped me.

1) If it's in your head/chest--Go to the doctor (If you're a singer a GREAT otolaryngologist is key), determine the exact problem (ask to have your chords scoped so you can see for yourself), get prescriptions and get on the meds immediately. Sometimes steroids will be your last resort to reduce swelling of the vocal chords. They work but they're dangerous and only a temporary save. I try to avoid them.

2) No soda, smoking, talking, coffee-ing.

3) SLEEEEEEEP. Get as much rest as you can.

4) For energy B12 is the best. Vitamin Water seems to have a lot of it.

5) Mucinex--helps thin the gunk plaguing your chords (i've been living on this stuff this week).

6) Over the counter Afrin can help before the show so you can breathe, but only use it for a few days at most.

6) Take the pressure off yourself. You can only do what you can do. You may be sick, it may be allergies, a virus, who knows? But be honest, be careful with your body and your voice, know your limits, and when you get out there on that stage, just try to have fun no matter what. It won't be easy (these last two nights certainly were not for me) but we live we learn we grow.

Stay Healthy/Feel Better!

Thank You Teachers and Students

To all the teachers and students who have been coming to our show--Thank You! It's been such a pleasure meeting you. It's a blessing to have your energy and smiles in the theater--hopefully you take some of that (along with our show :) back with you to your schools and homes.

Please feel free to surf the archives of my blog. And ask me any questions you don't find the answers to!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best,
A