On the rocky road to Dublin 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

Tonight I wanted to stand up and dance, stomp my feet and sing at the top of my lungs. Yet, I was confined to my seat and had to be content with clapping along with the music. When the Young Dubliners come back to town, the party is usually filled with feet stomping and drunken sing-a-longs, but the La Mirada theatre goers were a bit too polite to enjoy themselves. I wish I had seen tickets for the House of Blues in Los Angeles before I bought tickets for the La Mirada Performing Arts Center. The Young Dubs were better than ever! It was a special night because they had Eric Rigler with them (the piper and whistle player heard on the Braveheart and Titanic soundtracks). I love their smoky voices and rip-roaring instrumentals. They always put on a high energy show. I am really looking forward to attending the Irish Music Festival in Irvine this year. Both of my favorite Irish bands, the Young Dubs and The Fenians, will be performing! I need to find my green top hat and get my Guinness hand ready for action.

"Buy You a Life"
Young Dubliners

Can’t fake a free fall
You get what you see
The next move is your call
There’s no guarantee
Careful what I might come to
Open the door. Beware.

Don’t live your life like you’re the only one in it
Don’t waste another minute
Thinking about yourself
Open up and throw back all your covers
Your sisters and your brothers will buy you a life

Lower your defenses
Come follow me
We go in a perfect circle
End where we both can see

Don’t live your life like you’re the only one in it
Don’t waste another minute
Thinking about yourself
Open up and throw back all your covers
Your sisters and your brothers will buy you a life

Don’t fake a freefall
No movie scene
The next move is your call
Or get the better of me

This is where I have come to
This is where I begin, again

Don’t live your life like you’re the only one in it
Don’t waste another minute
Thinking about yourself
Open up and throw back all your covers
Your sisters and your brothers will buy you a life

Edward II Casting!

On Saturday I attended an audition for Edward II at The Empire Theatre in Santa Ana. Sunday I was blessed with a callback, and to start my Monday morning off right, I received notice that I have been cast as Margaret. The joyfully pleasant Darcy Hogan called me Monday morning to announce my inclusion in Theatre Out’s adapted production of one of Marlowe’s greatest. In addition to playing the emotionally tragic role of Margaret, I will also be playing the messenger! I think the juxtaposition of these roles provide a worthy challenge for any actor. I am excited to begin this journey with this liberating theatre company. This play marks one year of back-to-back productions on my resume! We have our first read-thru this weekend. I am excited to meet the cast, make new friends and work on this fabulous piece of theatre!

Northern lights

Tonight marks the second weekend of Almost, Maine. We have managed to pull in two fabulous reviews and the audience feedback has been wonderful. On opening night I heard both laughter and cries of despair as our audience invested themselves in our characters. After weeks of rehearsing with only our director in the room, the validation our audiences have been graciously bestowing on us has been refreshing. I can only imagine what this weekend will hold, with a packed house. We had a pick-up rehearsal last night, and despite all the goofball antics and Cruz feeling under the weather, we fell right back into place. Consistency has always been something I strive to achieve in this art form that is constantly changing and evolving every time the lights come up, as the northern lights dance behind us in the sky.

Murder on the High C’s - A Murder Mystery

Rose Center Theatre’s Murder on the High C’s pays tribute to the golden age of musical theatre, set in the 1930’s and mimicking the musical stylings of Cole Porter. At the heart of the production is a farcical plot based in the genre of a mystery novella. Faced with a mysterious set of deaths, the passengers and crew aboard the S.S. Van Dine frantically struggle to solve the murders and avoid their own deaths. Professor Alastair Kenworthy (Scott Ratner), probably the world’s worst detective, leads the remaining passengers on a misguided journey to find the killer. Ratner cleverly wrote the book and lyrics alongside lyricist, director and musical composer Tim Nelson. As a seasoned actor, Ratner’s comedic timing as the riotous Alastair heightened the comedy of the production. Dolores Kimble is delightful as his love interest/side-kick and mastermind behind solving the puzzles posed in the play. The set proved much like one would expect to see in a production of Anything Goes. On a sour note, some of the costumes were poorly fitted and appeared cheaply made. The vocal quality of Ratner and Kimble could not be matched by the supporting cast, who seemed to underperform their roles. Ratner seemed to poke fun at the ridiculousness of his character, which created hysterics among the audience. However the supporting cast members took themselves much too seriously. The young lovers fall flat, the movie actress seems contrived and the singing trio of flappers is devoid of star quality. This created a tension in the audience: Do we laugh? Is this funny, or is it just extraordinarily bad acting? It took about 20 minutes into the production (a horrific amount of time for both cast and audience) to accept the farcical nature of the play and have fun. It was fortunate that this transition was made before intermission, as the audience may have been much reduced at the start of the second act. Nothing about this production is exceptional or unusual, but one can expect to leave with a smile on their face. As this play continues to evolve and revisions are made, one can expect great things to come of this refreshing musical extravaganza.

Performances are 7:30 pm, Fri. & Sat, 2 pm, Sun. February 5-February 21, 2010. Tickets are $17-20. The Rose Center Theatre is located 14140 All American Way, Westminster CA. For more info call 714-793-1150 or visit www.rosecentertheater.com.

Almost there - Almost!

Rehearsals for Almost, Maine are becoming more and more exciting. There is something very enchanting and compelling about this show. It is like the tiny piece of polished sea glass that I have been missing in my theatrical mosaic. I feel so privileged to be involved in this exploration through the depths of love. I am constantly being challenged by my director and my talented cast members. Every rehearsal is an adventure and I know the final product is going to be a special jewel for all to enjoy.

LBPH Opens "Our Town"

Our Town – the classic American drama by playwright Thornton Wilder opens this week at the Long Beach Playhouse. The play depicts the fictional, average town of Grovers Corners through the everyday lives of its residents. Keeping true to the premise of the play, LBPH’ s production utilized minimal sets (designed by Andrew Vonderschmitt) and almost no props. The actors mimed much of their physical actions, the only spectacle being the glorious costumes designed by Donna Fritsche. Director Sharyn Case leads the actors through solid performances. Brain J. Page is average, but dependable, as the stage manager, the only character permitted to break the fourth wall as the omnipotent narrator. He carries a strong vocal quality and visual presence, but seemed uncertain at times and lacked the proper enthusiasm to propel the story. Erica Farnsworth delivers a superb Emily Webb, just as Wilder would have intended her growth from innocence to adulthood and beyond. She asks, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?” Farnsworth deliveries subtleties only present in a veteran actress and a well-developed character arch. The play is a long three acts, for which the playwright intentionally paced the show to describe the transience of everyday life. While there are some pacing issues and a couple lack-luster performers, the LBPH delivers an authentic example of this masterpiece of the human condition, which every student of the theatre should attend.

Performances are 8 pm, Fri. & Sat, 2 pm, Sun. The play runs until March 6. Tickets are $12-22. The Playhouse is located at 5021 E. Anaheim St. For more info call 494-1014 or visit http://www.lbplayhouse.com/.

Paging Mr. Jones

Harrison Ford: "I think one of the hardest things I had to learn in becoming an actor was how to talk to people about it. Because I'd say to a director, "I have an idea," and he'd say, "Yeah, give me a break kid; I'm busy." It's the most difficult at the beginning of your career, when nobody really gives a shit about what you think. You're there to say the words and go home. But probably the most important juncture in my career: the first job I did when I was under contract with Columbia, to play a bellboy. My entire dialogue was "Mr. Jones, paging Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones, room 503," then hand this person a note and accept his tip. I got called in to the head of the new-talent program the next day, and he said, "You're never going to make it in this business. Let me tell you a story. The first time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie, he delivered a bag of groceries. I took one look at that guy and said, 'That's a movie star.' " I leaned across his desk and said, "I thought you were supposed to think, 'That's a grocery delivery boy.' " He said, "Get the fuck out of here." And I did. But I persisted in thinking I was right and he was wrong. And I did make a living in the business, and I still think that's what you're supposed to think."