"Anything to Declare"

Rest assured, faithful readers, although there have been few recent posts I am still writing daily! But my focus has narrowed to a project near and dear to my heart! Let me start at the beginning...

A few months ago I went to lunch with a couple friends after acting class. We were chatting about what we had planned once we finished our program at the William Esper Studio (we're currently in the second, and final year of the acting program). An idea came across the table to put on something ourselves as our own project, cause no one is going to give us a career in this City. If you want to work, what better way than to create it yourself?!

Fast-forward a bit... We decided to construct a piece about the immigrants experience in coming to America. What was their dream of America? How has it changed? Do they miss home? Is America home now? Do they feel accepted? Starting with several core questions, a small group of classmates began shaping this project. From our interviews, we shaped monologues using the text verbatim and have found fascinating stories filled with humor, mourning, strength, wisdom and determination. We are putting the finishing touches on the script and will have it ready for the first staged reading on January 25th, 8 p.m. at La Mama Theatre on the Lower East Side of Manhattan! If you are in the City, please come by.


I should also mention, one of the inspirations for this project was the desire to help the tsunami relief effort for Samoa. In early October a devastating tsunami struck Samoa, so all the proceeds from the show and auction will be donated directly to Samoa, thanks to the Rock Foundation whom we are partnering with in this effort. Tickets are only $15! If you cannot make the show but would still like to donate, you can visit our website and click the link at the bottom! Come support us and Samoa!

www.3rdaverep.org

I love to laugh!

New experience in NYC: a good comedy club! Prior to this evening, my only NY stand-up comedy experience was last summer when my dad and brother were in town. We foolishly followed one of those street-ticket-selling-comedy club promoters. Being in NYC only a month, I lacked the ability to detect a scam quick enough (i've been training... i'm much better now). Anyway, worst stand-up I've ever experienced in my life! Truly wretched!
BUT TONIGHT... hilarious! A friend from work was invited to perform at a great spot in NYC called Comix Comedy Club. It was "new talent" night, but there were quite a few veteran performers in the line-up as well! One or two comedians kinda bombed, but I must proclaim that my friend, Megan, was the best! So stinkin' funny and so confident. She took care of the audience by owning the room. Soooo hard to do. Especially since there were about 12 of us from work coming to support her AND we were seated in the front! I love that about working the service industry though. I would say just about everyone has something else that they love. And when someone is displaying their talents, we support them b/c we're in the exact same boat! Its a family, of sorts!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I FINALLY visited the tree at Rockefeller Plaza! I know this is post-Christmas and post-New Years AND I chose the coldest night of the year, but I wasn't sure how much longer it would be up.

Nothing makes me smile like watching people ice skate! Free entertainment in a beautiful setting, the only thing missing was a hot chocolate to sip on and a hot man to snuggle with, but who knows what the new year will bring, right?!

Anyway, back to the ice skaters...
- We've got the kid who trousers are covered in ice because he's fallen so much.
- Couples skating hand-in-hand, stopping in various locations around the rink to snap a photo.
- Young mother holding both her daughter's hands as they glide across the ice.
- Grown mother and daughter skating gingerly arm-in-arm (makes me miss my mom).
- Teenagers playing hard to get, nearly knocking over everyone in their vain attempts at flirting
- Over-eager skating rink employees who spot a stumbling skater and see how fast they can skate across to "make sure everything is ok".
- And my favorite... the Olympic figure skating team rejects. You know, those people who are doing spins in the middle, maybe an occasional jump, and just generally skate around like they are there to "practice" and we are fortunate to be on the ice with them. I especially like it when they slip or even fall! Is that wrong? I don't discriminate. I like watching everyone fall!

Anyway, I love being in the City when its decorated for Christmas. Makes me smile, even when my face is numb.

HAPPY 2010!!!

Goodbye 2009! We close on a joyful note. This is the part where I get sentimental and reflective... brace yourselves! My dear sister and I lived a mere 90 minutes from each other last winter (the closest since we lived at home); I experienced St. Patty's Day in true Irish fashion; I took in amazing amounts of theatre; attended (and missed) close friends' weddings; I drove from TX to CA and back with 3 of my favorite men in the world (brothers!); I attended a fancy ball in NYC; I moved my very own bed in NYC; I discovered that NYC is the most amazing and heart-wrenching place b/c you meet the best people in the world but sometimes they're only in your life for a season; I lost a dearly loved Gram; I witnessed an amazing amount of love unabashedly given through suffering and trials and the healing and comfort found through it; I roadtripped to Canada; I visited the amazing people of Copan Ruinas, Honduras; I reconnected with sooooo many people I absolutely treasure and all 8 Nelsons were able to congregate for a miraculous white Christmas in Texas!

I meet this year with great anticipation, b/c I've been waiting for this year since '06! Why? You might ask. Well, some of you may know that I spent a season of life in British Columbia, specifically Whistler. Some of you might also be aware that Vancouver (and Whistler) is the site for the upcoming Winter Olympics. So 2010 has been on my radar for some time now. Looking ahead to 2010 brings excitement of the unknown paired with a tinge of apprehension/anxiety. I will finish my training at the Esper Studio in June, my bank account is at an all time low, and I'm still living out of boxes! But this is precisely what makes my life in New York so hard, satisfying, unique, rewarding, unbelievable at times, unpredictable always, and entirely not my own.

Thank you for reading my randomness and I have made a resolution to write more.... so hold me to it!

"A Streetcar Named Desire"

"So much of the play is about the death of poetry and idealism and hope—the fine, delicate things in our lives, the intangible, ephemeral things in our lives—which theater actually represents, doesn't it? It's ephemeral by its very nature. If you're not there, you miss it. It's gone." -Cate Blanchett


Thank heaven I was there! Sitting in my distant seat purchased months ago, second to last row, experiencing a slight case of vertigo... I could still feel the performance. Each member of the cast reached the back wall of the theatre, and BAM Harvey Theater is no small venue! They certainly earned their 6 standing ovations at the conclusion of the performance and took their curtain calls together. Such a beautiful show!

I pride myself on my opinion of performers being something unique and insightful and varying from the popular consensus, but Cate Blanchett may be the best performer I will ever experience in my life. My one regret is that I was so far from the stage I could not see the little intricacies I know were a part of her performance only viewable by those in the orchestra, but what I could not see I heard through her use of vocal fluctuation and intonation. Her accent rang true and the varying octaves she traveled through during the desperate moments of Blanch DuBois communicated every moment clearly to the packed house.

Marlon Brando will always be my Stanley Kowalski, but Joel Edgerton played the part well. His nasal accent was reminiscent of Brando, but I missed the chemistry between he and Blanche (but I was on the second to last row). Robin McLeavy played a sweet Stella.

My one complaint happened in the final moments. Blanche takes the arm of the doctor and interlaces her fingers to his, the theatre is silent as she delivered that brilliant line, "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," and the idiot playing Mitch decided to take a heaving sob and totally stole an incredibly beautiful moment! Otherwise... no complaints!

"What are you thankful for?"

"I am thankful for the randomness of New York City that has allowed me to be sitting at this table with you tonight. Truly thankful."

For reasons beyond my control, I've been unable to return home to Texas for the past 9 years to be with my family for Thanksgiving. Each year, I've found myself sitting at a table sharing a meal with whoever I'm lucky enough to know at the time. Many memories, some lonelier than others, but each marks the path my life has taken thus far and I look back on them with nothing but smiles.

This year I found myself in a little neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY... Bushwick! Certainly a unique Thanksgiving, but memorable in so many ways! My dear friend, Brooke, and I had to work that morning (where we served maybe 15 people). So she invited me to be a part of her Thanksgiving, saving me from potentially dining solo... well maybe not. Anyway, we ran all over Tribeca to pick up our holiday meal, which included chicken not turkey, then barely got to the wine shop before they closed their doors, and finally found just the right sweet potato casserole from Boston Market, before we headed out to Brooklyn.

So great to be in a home for this holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love my empty, closet-size apartment but in a space where two people have lived for years, you can find their personalities imprinted in subtle ways around the house. These two women have not only placed their mark in their home, but in the homes around them by reaching out and investing in the lives of their neighbors. New York can easily be a place where you come and go without saying two words to the neighbor you share a wall with, but I was touched and honestly inspired by the community they've created in "the hood", as they call it.

Now, as the food cooked we munched on the normal Thanksgiving appetizers: cheese plate accompanied by cheddar and bacon stuffed jalapenos! Did I mention I was having Thanksgiving with a couple Southern women?! Who eats that on Thanksgiving?! The hottest things ever!!! Went so well with the wine we were drinking!

Anyways, After the Cowboys secured a victory, we sat for our meal. And we didn't get up from that table for hours! We ate, we laughed, we drank wine, we shared stories, and had the most delicious sweet potato pie ever! I will never forget those faces around that table and my night in Bushwick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My Thanksgiving Family!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi..."

You know the rest. The final phrase uttered by a gifted writer, performer, and self-deprecating narcissist: Carrie Fisher. I was a volunteer usher for the Roundabout Theatre Production of Wishful Drinking, which means that I got to see the show for free!

I found the evening educational, as well as entertaining. I grew up knowing Carrie Fisher only as Princess Leia. I had no idea she was the daughter of Debbie Reynolds, much less all the tabloid scandal. I'm revealing my ignorance, but personally I think it enhanced the evening. Especially when she pulled down a giant blackboard with all the Hollywood marriages that are linked together in her world.

A very comfortable set looking much like a living room, Carrie Fisher chatted with the audience about the craziness of her life. But she did it in a way that refused pity and made you feel like maybe this is part of her therapy and she has somehow lived through all this. A tiny moment near the very end of the piece I feel she briefly dropped her guard when she said, "if I am very still and very quiet, I think I can hear the angels sing."

Laughter is the best medicine, especially when it comes to your own pain. Carrie Fisher has managed to take a life of extraordinary circumstances and experiences, cram it into a 2 hour show and allow everyone to leave feeling like they know the real Princess Leia. And I think everyone, including myself, really loved the final shout-out to...well... herself.

"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."