It's been too long....

Well there goes my New Years Resolution of staying on top of this blog thing.

In any case, I'll update from here on out.

Monday (May 7th 2012) was a really exciting evening for me.  I was able to be a part of Dustin Lance Black's new play "8", which is about the Proposition 8 hearings from 2010.  Once the Wilma announced that they were doing a reading with Gavin Creel, I needed to find a way to be a part of it.

WORK.

I scoured the internet looking for a cast list and all I could find at the time was a list of actors from the NY reading.  I became disheartened because all of the female roles were for older women.  But finally I saw a picture of a woman who looked about 32 years old.  She played the role of the Clerk.  I quickly emailed the director of the Wilma reading and said Hey, you know, I'd love to be a part of this, even just reading the stage directions or maybe even possibly the clerk.

Walter emailed me several days later offering me the part.  And as Ed said, I was popping my "Wilma cherry".  He so graciously bought me a daisy for the occasion.

We rehearsed for 5 hours that same day of the reading and while I only had 5 lines I didn't lose faith in the fact that my character was written and kept in the play for a reason.  Without the Clerk you wouldn't have people swearing an oath to tell the truth.  Without the Clerk, nobody could officially call the case.  So I felt really confident about being there and wanted to make the most of the role.

A lot of my friends were there.  Like I've said before, Philadelphia is a hell of a theater town.  But I was so thrilled to see their work in front of me, as well as the actors from out of town.  I sat in the rehearsal and watched.  I said my lines of course, but I simply watched.  I wanted to take as much away from the experience as I could.

There was a distinct difference in the NY actors and the Philly actors.  I won't go into detail but it was interesting to see the weaknesses and triumphs of each of the groups of actors in how they worked and how they got into the parts.

That's me, second in from the right side, with Gavin Creel in the green doin his thang.

The house was sold out so being on stage with the tense energy of the play and the truth behind it along with the energy from the crowd was overwhelming.  I could see everyone, into the back row.  We felt very connected to them.  The emotional responses from the text was palpable.  It was a beautiful evening.

Moving on from that, a brief update in general, I've had some ups and some downs.  Auditions in Philly are few and far between.  I nearly had to beg for one audition and apparently I'm not alone.  It's difficult also when you don't know if you're going to hear anything at all.  I think that's the worst part about it.  But big time reality check, usually people don't get the part.  It's one out of hundreds and I need to keep that in perspective.  My good friend Ross was telling me I should be seriously "backstaging and actor's accessing" and I think that's a brilliant suggestion.  I went through a brief period of feeling really horrible about myself.  But what it comes down to is, how can I really HELP myself?.  That's the big question.

Grad school.  I'm applying next fall.  To everywhere.  I'm saving my pennies so I can afford to pay the application fees.  But I'm doing it.  Who knows where it will take me!  I have a lot more research to do but I'm happy that I've made the decision to make this jump.  I really feel that it is time.  I WANT MORE.

In other news, Ed and I are getting ready to go up to Massachusetts for the weekend to do a production of MEEP with the kids and some professional actors.  When Ed suggested the idea to me back in January, I immediately backed him on it, saying that it was a brilliant idea and it would be a great experience not just for the kids but also the professionals.  He's been working hard but the weekend is finally here and it's looking like it's going to be a huge success.  We'll take pictures that I can post on here.

Oh yeah and that other little resolution that I made?  The whole losing weight thing?  I've lost 11 pounds since the summer.  My clothing fits so well.  I'm eating better and eating less.  I'm more active and I feel really confident when I walk into an audition room.  I'm so proud.

I must go off, I have errands I must do, but I promise to update more.

Until then.

-Cindy