The feeling of warmth no longer comes from the sun, so during these months its important to find other ways of feeling all warm and cozy. Therefore a day spent practicing one's craft, then reading literature for further understanding, then collaborating with talented peers on new work, then sharing a meal with an adopted family, then entering a world created on stage as the conclusion of one's night... a winter in NYC isn't all that bad, right?
My day began playing in a cold-reading class with one of New York's finest audition teachers, Karen Kohlhaas, who has actually written books on auditions. Actors tend to get a little heady and overly dramatic, so its really refreshing to walk into a class not having to prepare anything. I walk in and just work on instinct, which is very freeing! Makes me want to take improv classes again! Also, highlight of a very bright day, I exchanged pleasantries with Keifer Sutherland on our break during class because he and Chris Noth (whom I chatted with by the elevators last week) are rehearsing a play, "That Championship Season", at the Atlantic Theatre Company.
The ATC is located in Chelsea, which happens to be blocks away from one of my favorite coffee shops in Manhattan, so I popped over there and read a wonderful book about Lee Strasberg and The Actors Studio, until I needed to catch a train to Brooklyn. Myself and two friends had a arranged to start working together on a project... any project! Two incredibly funny women, who I laugh hysterically with, and we want to create work together. This is what makes New York the best place for ambitious, collaborative people. We laughed, we threw around ideas, we did impersonations of each other doing impersonations of each other doing impersonations of other people. Good times! After a quick dinner at a delicious spot, Grey Dog's, back in Chelsea I took myself to the theatre!
A week ago I read a review by Ben Brantley (NY Times theatre critic) on the Fiasco Company's performance of Shakespeare's "Cymbeline". Just read the review and you'll want to fly up here and see it before it closes Sunday! The play was so well done and so simply done. Only 6 actors to fill 15 roles! The first three acts appear to set up a tragedy, but never did I feel an ounce of heaviness from the show. Instead, it had an incredibly light-hearted tone that made even the most desperate moments just that... moments, and then shortly after return to a fun, albeit complicated, story! I've never laughed so much in a Shakespeare play as I did in Act V, where all loose ends are tied up, everything is resolved, everyone leaves friends, family or lovers. But all 6 actors are on stage jumping in and out of different characters that they've portrayed throughout the play, as they all come to a head at the end! So well timed and joyously played out that the audience just loved them for it! Six young actors putting on a brilliant show is incredibly inspiring for this young actor to witness!
One of my favorite days, certainly of this winter! If we get one more blizzard...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment