Tag Archives: acting

Hot Under the Collar

Posted on July 29, 2015 by mohawkvalleygirl

So yesterday, while I was typing in my Monday whatever-it-was (Middle-aged Musings or Mental Meanderings), I remembered Bad Attituesday. Just in time, because that is what I am having right now.

It really was not a bad day at work. Things got awfully warm, and I am almost always something of a heat injury (that’s a real thing, you know; even the army didn’t think I was being a big fat baby) (well, not about that, anyways, but we’re not talking about the army).

Where was I? Ah yes, not a bad day at work. I even started to write some stupid thing that may have made a decent blog post, before the heat injury portion of the day. Now I’m home and the Bad Attitude portion of the day has hit me in full force.

What, I must ask, the hell is wrong with me? I got home, took a refreshing cool shower, drank some iced coffee… these are things that ought to improve one’s mood. Could it be anxiety over tonight’s rehearsal for Roxy (you know, that play I’m in at Ilion Little Theatre)? One reason for tension is that I have nothing decent to wear. You see, I want to wear skirts to rehearse in, because I will be wearing a skirt for performances. It will help inform my character.

I have many skirts, some of which even still fit (I have been gaining and losing weight since the ’80s). I found a wraparound India skirt I purchased in, I believe 1983. As everyone knows, a wraparound skirt will almost always fit. I found a t-shirt in a compatible color.

Therein lies my problem. All my t-shirts lately have been binding on my neck. Am I getting a fat neck in my old age? Oh for heavens’ sake! I can live with the arthritis, hot flashes, presbyopia and general breaking down of my body. I can even accept the fact that it is much harder to lose weight. But a fat neck? What’s that all about?

Then again, the character I play in Roxy is the first and last woman hanged in Herkimer County. Perhaps a shirt that is a little tight around the neck can inform my character. A good actor utilizes all possible resources. I bet even my bad attitude will come in handy. Hope to see you all on Wednesday.

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Posted in Bad Attituesday, humor, personal and tagged acting, aging, blog post, heat injury, Ilion Little Theatre, mood, Roxy, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Back on Stage?

Posted on November 19, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Ilion Little Theatre is moving right along with their 2014-15 season. Noises Off still has another weekend to run (Nov. 21, 22, 23; catch it if you get a chance!), but they are already holding auditions for their next production, Busybody.

My public will be pleased to know that I auditioned last night. OK, I guess my public mostly consists of my husband, Steven, and maybe my Mom and Dad. Steven thought it was cool I tried out. So did I.

The theatre is located in The Stables behind Remington Arms in Ilion, NY. It is a short drive from Herkimer, where I live. It was pouring rain and I was nervous. What if I’d forgotten how to act? Worse yet, given the weather, what if I’d forgotten how to drive? I managed to arrive safely, so I trusted I would be OK on stage.

The director greeted me and introduced himself. Very polite of him, since I’ve known him for five years, ever since I joined the theatre group. I filled out my audition sheet, pausing only when I got to the “experience” section, because I couldn’t seem to remember my character’s name in And Then There Were None (good God, I think that was before I started writing a blog. Did I even have a life back then?) (Note to self: answer that question on Lame Post Friday).

Another auditioner was looking at the script.

“This smells awesome,” he said. “It smells like elementary school.” I just love a good description like that. Ilion Little Theatre gets the coolest actors.

When I checked out the script myself, I was more worried about sight than smell. I had neglected to bring my reading glasses. My regular glasses are progressives, but I like a wider reading area, just to give myself every advantage.

It turned out pretty OK. I think I did all right on the scenes I read. It seems like a really fun play. I’m looking forward to reading the whole script. Or, you know, seeing the show, if I don’t get cast. I hope I get cast. I’ll write numerous blog posts about it if I do.

For more information on Ilion Little Theatre visit their website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org, and Like their Facebook page.

Not a Better Blog Post

Posted on October 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Note to self: Never say, “I’m going home to write a blog post about this.” It’s a recipe for disaster.

OK, not really a disaster. You see, I was at a rehearsal. Some time ago (it seems), I auditioned to be one of the witches in a scene from Macbeth to be presented as part of Little Falls’ Third Thursday on Oct. 16 (perhaps you read my blog post about it). I’m the third witch (we’ve already done the jokes about method acting and spelling it with a B).

We had our first rehearsal tonight, meeting at Ole Sal’s at Stone Mill in Little Falls. Before rehearsal I had the natural trepidations. Was I really up to this? What if I had learned the wrong scene? What if the other witches didn’t like me? I JUST COULDN’T TAKE THE PRESSURE!!!

I was just only kidding about that last line; I can take the pressure. It wasn’t really that much pressure. True, I haven’t been in a play for over a year, but acting is like riding a bicycle (it’s been even longer since I’ve ridden a bicycle, but that’s a whole other blog post).

Anyways, I did fine at the rehearsal. In fact, I had a lot of fun and I was really glad I had gotten involved. At the end of rehearsal, I said I was going home to write a blog post about it. Only, as often happens with me, I want it to be a BETTER blog post than what I have just written.

As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I owe my readers a better blog post about the new fence as well. All kinds of better blog posts to write! Well, never mind. It is Non-Sequitur Thursday. I won’t promise a better blog post tomorrow, because tomorrow is Lame Post Friday. But it’s always possible. As the great Fats Waller said, one never knows, do one?

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Posted in blogging, humor, personal and tagged acting, blog post, Little Falls NY, MacBeth, rehearsal, theatre, witch, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

And, No, I Did Not Run Today

Posted on September 5, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am a very dramatic person. A drama queen, you ask, in an accusatory tone of voice. Perhaps, perhaps. On the other hand, there are worse things, my friend, than being a drama queen. For example, one could make unkind remarks in an accusatory tone of voice. Be that as it may, I offer the following tale for my Non-Sequitur Thursday post.

Once again I did not write a blog post at work, because I was working on my novel during breaks. My original plan had been to run after work and write a post about that. Then again, I’ve made a lot of running posts lately. One can get too much of a good thing (cue unkind remarks about how my running commentary posts are not necessarily a good thing).

I could not run immediately after work, however, because I had someplace else to be. When I apologized in advance for missing today’s meeting of the Wait Five Minute Club (I’ll write a blog post about the club another time), I said, “I have an audition.” I went on to explain I was auditioning to be one of the witches in a scene for MacBeth.

“It’s typecasting,” I said. Nobody disagreed. One guy referred me to a female co-worker (everybody calls her his work wife) as a source of information for the part. I assured him that I am an excellent actress. “But watch yourself,” I warned. “Or I’ll go all method on your ass.”

Now I sound quite obnoxious, calling myself an excellent actress. I was just being silly. In fact, I am probably an actress of normal abilities. But I love acting so much I hope I make the most of what talent I have. After all, one can go a long way with hard work and a good director (which I have often been fortunate enough to have).

Be that as it may, I went to Herkimer County Community College (HCCC) to meet with the man who was directing the scene. It is always kind of odd to me to drive up that hill, since I usually run it. I have not run it since the DARE 5K, although I plan to run it again soon. I had to find a building I had never been in before, to find the director’s office.

That was my main adventure, walking through two buildings at HCCC looking for an office. I found it without too much problem, though. I read the scene. Ooh, I love to read Shakespeare. I wanted to read it again, as well as a few more scenes from the play, but one mustn’t be greedy.

The scene is to be performed in Little Falls in October, as part of their Third Thursday event. I really must attend one of these Third Thursdays. Quite a lot goes on. It would probably make a good blog post.

After reading we talked about the scene to be presented, then branched out into Shakespeare, theatre, writing and all kinds of stuff. You may not know this about me, but I talk. I talk a lot. I like to talk. After I left the audition, I thought, “Wow, I talk too much.” I hope I didn’t sound dumb.

I don’t know yet whether I get to be one of the witches. That would be so cool if I did. If I don’t, though, I will try to go to the Third Thursday on Oct. 16 and see the scene. I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

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Posted in humor, Non Sequitur Thursday, personal, theater and tagged acting, audition, blog post, Herkimer County Community College, Little Falls NY, MacBeth, running, Shakespeare, theatre, Third Thursday, unkind remarks, Wait Five Minute Club, witch. Bookmark the permalink.

Vampires and a Big Reveal

Posted on December 11, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

BIG Spoiler Alert! Seriously, if you’re going to watch Mark of the Vampire (1935), PLEASE do it before reading my silly write-up.

I will, in fact, try to write about this movie without giving away the big reveal, but I don’t know how successful I will be. In fact, already I’ve said too much.

In pre-movie commentary, Robert Osborne says Mark of the Vampire is a murder mystery as well as a vampire movie. I think that gives away a lot right there, and he didn’t even give a spoiler alert. Anyways, I think it is mostly a vampire movie.

The movie begins, as these things often do, with travelers being warned to go nowhere after dark. This is all we see of the travelers, so I guess those actors did not have very good agents. The vampire(s) (I don’t think people know at this point how many there are), it seems, is (are) after folks that have lived in the area for some time.

I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s very good scripting. Of course we don’t want characters reiterating to each other stuff they darn well already know. That would be like me saying to Steven, “As you know, we’re married and have a cute little dog.” However, I think there are better ways to set up background than sticking in extraneous characters we are never going to see again, just so they can get warned.

Perhaps I am too demanding. Anyways, that was an easy way to fill up a paragraph without giving away any major plot points (except to let you know you aren’t going to see those travelers again).

Bela Lugosi is the main vampire, and I wished he would have gotten more screen time. He is very mysterious and scary when he shows up, though, so that’s good. There is another, younger, girl vampire. She is spooky, but the actress does not have Lugosi’s gifts. She doesn’t act so much as walk around slowly with a completely blank look on her face. I suppose that is what the part called for and what the director told her to do, but I didn’t think she had the presence to carry if off properly. Oh well, she was young. I daresay she improved if she went on (didn’t make a note of the actress’ name).

Lionel Barrymore is a vampire expert. I just adore Lionel Barrymore. I don’t care if he puts the beautiful girl in danger to catch the vampires. That’s what a movie vampire expert is supposed to do.

Osborne warns us that nothing is as it seems, and that is pretty much the case. It is one of those movies where, after you find out the big secret, you kind of want to watch it again, to see if they were really playing fair. I’m actually pretty sure they did not play fair (I know some of you are saying, “Whatever that means”), because in post-movie commentary, Osborne tells us the actors did not know the big reveal till they actually filmed those scenes.

Since this is a personal blog, I feel free to interject here that I would be majorly ticked off at a director that played that kind of a game with me. If it is something my character knows, I certainly want to know it. If it is something my character doesn’t know, I would still prefer to know it and ACT. But that’s just me; I’m not all method like some people.

I enjoyed Mark of the Vampire. I may watch it again (perhaps when TCM shows it next October) and write another blog post from the point of view of somebody who already knows the big reveal. If I remember it.

Mohawk Valley Girl