Americana Casting!

Well, it has been a while since I have been in a play written in the 21st century: 2 years to be exact. And after playing in Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet, it feels like an eternity since I have been in a comedy.

Today both these cycles have been broken. I have been cast in Americana, a series of 3 one-act plays written by David Macaray. I will be playing Sandra Larson, a hoarding consumerist, in “No Salesman Will Call”. This will be my first time working at the fabulous Stages Theatre in downtown Fullerton, CA and my third time working with director Phil Brickey. As Phil said earlier today, “It has been too long.”

The last time I worked with Phil was on a play reading of Transfigured Night, where I played the wife of the great composer Anton Webern. I think we have both grown as artists since then and I can't wait to get reacquainted with his work. Also joining the cast is Tracy C. Marquis, who played Webern in that production, and KC Marie Pandell, whom I trained with at FUHS and Chapman University. I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the cast for the first time on Tuesday.

Here's to a new adventure!

Anton Webern

I have been trying to start my research for the new play Transfigured Night by Todd Rew and I thought, “Why not start with the music?”.

The play is based on the composer Anton Webern who is best known for his use of twelve-tone technique, a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. I have to say that for me the music isn’t as pleasing or as satisfying as listening to Bach or Schubert (my personal favorite), but I am starting to find the beauty in it.

I have only just begun, but here is my favorite Webern piece so far:



Also, here is a brief history fo Schonenberg's Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night), followed by part one of the Opus.

Verklärte Nacht (or Transfigured Night), Op. 4, is a string sextet in one movement composed by Arnold Schoenberg in 1899. Transfigured Night is considered his earliest important work. Composed in just three weeks, the work was inspired by Richard Dehmel's poem of the same name, along with Schoenberg's strong feelings upon meeting Mathilde von Zemlinsky (the sister of his teacher Alexander von Zemlinsky) whom he would later marry.

Dehmel's poem describes a man and a woman walking through a dark forest on a moonlit night, wherein the woman shares a dark secret with her new lover: she bears the child of another man.

Verklärte Nacht was controversial when it premiered in 1902. No only was the structure of the music before its time, but Dehmel's explicit references to sexual themes in the origional poem were a topic of great controversy. Unusual for its time, the music strays far from the home key, though the work is clearly rooted in D minor. A particular point of controversy was the use of a single inverted ninth chord, which resulted in its rejection by the Vienna Music Society because they claimed such a chord is 'nonexistent'. Schoenberg once remarked "and thus (the work) cannot be performed since one cannot perform that which does not exist".

Transfigured Night Casting!

I will officially be playing Wilhelmine (Minna) Webern in a staged reading of the new play Transfigured Night by Todd Rew. Blue Moon Theatre Company will host this event on June 4th at 2:00 PM. I am privileged to be included in the very first stage reading and to reunite with director Phil Brickey. Until our first meeting as a cast, it is time to listen to some surrealist music and invest in an Austrian/German pronunciation dictionary.

What's in a play?

I am finally among the privileged few honored with the care of reading the unpublished new play Transfigured Night by Todd Rew. I have been advocating for Transfigured Night ever since its existence became known to me. Considering it is atypical of me to become so involved with a blind project, it is a relief to finally have a script in my hands.

Before turning the first page I had a premonition that this script may be a piece of greatness. This revelation surprised me. After all, in a world filled with half-fledged ideas, the phrase “original play” often produces sighs and shudders. In the theatrical world there exists a plethora of poorly written one-acts and feeble attempts of ingenuity. Yet, somewhere in my gut, I have known for months that this play would be different.

First, Todd has magically written a full length play (and an epic one I might add) about composer Anton Webern – If that isn’t an inspired idea I don’t know what is! “Who is Anton Webern?” Well, since you asked let me tell you the very little (practically miniscule) amount of information I know about this Austrian composer:

Webern, with Alban Berg, was a pupil of Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna, moving in style to atonalism (music without tonality or key centre) and then 12-note music or surrealism (music based on a series of the 12 semitones or half-steps of the modern scale). He wrote music of brief concision and often of extreme delicacy. His influence on later composers has been considerable.

Confused? Don’t worry, so am I – but at the core, the idea to write a play investigating the family, music and tragic death of Anton Webern is genius. Not only has it not been done before, but it is a subject matter that I think people will generally connect with and care about. Maybe Todd will make Webern a household name – Okay, I may be getting ahead of myself, but I cannot retain my composure.

After reading the script I found myself experiencing a myriad of emotions. I knew Todd to be a true and honest artist, but little did I know what an impact this play would have on me. Not only am I fascinated by the historical context, but I am intrigued by the deep routed characters. I feel very emotionally connected to Anton and his wife Minna. I think this is only the beginning of the greatness to come.

Let's Get It Produced!

Ever since my beloved friend, Todd Rew, told me about his ambitions to write a play about Anton Webern I have been filled with excitement. I must confess that I have never heard of Anton Webern or his music, but just the passion Todd expressed for his ambitions to write about him made me believe in his ability to write the next great work of art.

The play, Transfigured Night, has been finished for a while now and Todd has been actively submitting it to theatres in Southern California. Every time I see an advertisement for new plays I rush to relay the message to Todd. I am not sure if I am annoying him yet or not, but I have great confidence in Todd’s talent and want him to succeed. I also believe that he has a very original idea and I am a sucker for historical fiction.

I am praying for good things to happen for him. If you have any suggestions of theatres off the beaten path (because really I believe he has submitted just about everywhere) please post them below.

All My Sons gives all its heart

Last night I attended an exceptional production of All My Sons at the Newport Beach Theatre Arts Center at the advice of my good friend Todd was also in the cast. After the show we had a late dinner at Garlic Jo's (my new favorite restaurant) to discuss my impression of the play and to catch up on our current events.

This was the first time I have seen All My Sons performed and I have to say that I was quite intrigued by the characters. Arthur Miller is a playwright who is more commonly associated with his play Death of a Salesman, which contains very similar themes. However, I must say that I quite enjoyed All My Sons, as much as anyone can ‘enjoy’ a tragedy centering around a misguided father figure who falls by his own hubris.

Here is great example of how Aristotle’s Tragedy can work in a modern landscape. Within a 24 hour time period, the protagonist must learn his fault and suffer as a result. We also have a father son relationship at the center of the story, also common in Greek tragedies. Now in this case Miller does not present a person of power or prestige in the title role, as defined by Aristotle. However he gives the audience Joe Keller, a common business owner who has a great ways to fall in the eyes of his family. Much like Death of a Salesman, Joe represents not just himself by an entire class of working class individuals.

The cast is made up of veteran actors, all of which are remarkable. Standout performances were delivered by Vince Campbell as Joe and Jonathan Deroko as Chris who are the driving forces of this production.

All My Sons. Through Feb. 20th 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, 2 p.m. Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach. Tickets $15. Call 949-631-0288 for reservations or go online at www.ntaconline.com for more information.

In other news: My dear friend Todd has written a play called Transfigured Night about Austrian composer Anton Webern. He is currently looking for new works theatre companies that may be interested in producing his play, so if you have any suggestions please post below.

I have not had the pleasure of reading Todd’s play, but I have great faith in his talent. He has been working on this piece for a long time and I believe it to be a innovative look into an composer who is often looked over.