So, we had rehearsal on Saturday for Living Out. A number of us were in the dressing room and somehow, Vinnie’s elbow or arm bone collided with my nose or maybe my nose collided with Vinnie’s arm bone. Needles to say, I saw stars and they weren’t on the door to my dressing room!
Phoebe whisked me away to the hospital for medical attention. Of course I was asked how this occurred and after explaining that it happened during a rehearsal for a play, the staff was more concerned about what play , where and if I was a visiting actress. I just happened to have some of the post cards for Living Out in my bag and handed them out to the doctor ( who by the way said he would come and bring flowers) and the nurse and asked that they share the information about the show with others on the Hospital’s staff.
So I left the hospital, having done some marketing of the play with my ice bag, a black eye, and pain killers.. We returned to PAC in time to do our last scene.
-Linda Merican
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
From Cats to Lazy Boys
Okay, so the groomer from my Vet’s office (I’ve gotten to know her over the years) came to the show Saturday night and brought six friends with her. She called me this morning and told me that they are still talking about the show and the theater (they thought it was “a very” cool space”) were just terrific! In addition, she told me that they thought that the acting was” fabulous” It is a wonderful thing when your cats lead you to folks who enjoy the theater!!
In addition, last summer I bought some furniture at Lazy Boy and told the sales staff about the theater. Well three of them came to the show (they were the ones who brought the flowers the night of preview). At any rate, they loved the show and said that they will or have bought tickets for the future performances. You never know who you’ll meet when you go furniture shopping!!
One more thing, I think I’m having a bit of post partum depression letting “Kate” go. Yesterday was the first day that I didn’t re-read my lines. I may end up being a Spanish nanny from Brooklyn!
-Linda Merican
In addition, last summer I bought some furniture at Lazy Boy and told the sales staff about the theater. Well three of them came to the show (they were the ones who brought the flowers the night of preview). At any rate, they loved the show and said that they will or have bought tickets for the future performances. You never know who you’ll meet when you go furniture shopping!!
One more thing, I think I’m having a bit of post partum depression letting “Kate” go. Yesterday was the first day that I didn’t re-read my lines. I may end up being a Spanish nanny from Brooklyn!
-Linda Merican
What I Learned in Brighton Beach
Life over the last two months became nothing but The Play, going to Beau Monde Beauty College for my daily hair-do with Sarah & Sandy for the show, and cleaning my house for the weekly guests who flocked in from Washington and California to see it. With the sheets, bobby pins, and mp3 player (laden with my recorded lines) flying in all directions at any given moment of a day, it was easy to lose track of time and hard to get everything done in life (dishes, groceries, friendships, letters home, etc.). Sometimes it was even hard to remember that this was a learning process and not just a difficult job.
The big surprise gift I found within myself throughout the run of the show? I somehow managed to find time every day to stop and reflect on the question: What have I learned today?
More surprising was when the inner critic groused "Probably learned nuttin'!" another, fuller voice rose up with an impressive list.
I learned:
...I could learn all my lines perfectly, and still do them wrong in performance without meaning to.
...I could do the play four days in a row, and how tiring and also satisfying that was.
...that finger waves are pretty, that I look a lot like my grandmothers, and I actually enjoy those big old dome hair dryers. They are so WARM! Yum!
...that I could do it when I was exhausted and I didn't wanna.
...how hard it can become to listen to one's fellow actor when you've heard it all before.
...how to listen anyway and find, to my great joy, that there was something I'd never heard before. The gift of it was being able to respond just a bit more deeply from the heart of the character, and so give back to my partner.
...it's fun to dish at the beauty parlor!
...my skin does not respond well to makeup. My face was inflamed after two shows in a row, my eyes sore and red. My face actually swelled and ached on Mondays. The hair and face products left a metal taste in my mouth that is still there. This made me finally go talk to a skin care person and ask about the simplest lotion and make up remover (since even my regular stuff suddenly caused reactions) and I learned that jojoba oil is the the thing! It's the simplest product and is most like one's natural skin oil, and it's healing my face! It cleans off makeup perfectly and moisturizes! It's just as great as Claire in "Proof" said it was! (I learned that in my audition).
...I like cabbage.
...if I have too much hairspray on I can't sleep from the smell of it.
...I had to recite my lines daily to keep them solid.
...I couldn't sleep on Saturday nights between the evening show and the matinee because I was too wound up and anxious about getting enough sleep for the matinee. Sigh.
...the presence of my husband in the audience made me more nervous than anyone else.
...guest artists will teach you more than you can ever imagine.
...that a 30 minute savasana would shut down my nervous system when I was super nervous and I'd get up refreshed and ready to go.
...I will eat a plateful of pickles if left backstage alone with them.
...that the days I had the lowest energy were the days I could focus best on stage.
...warm ups work like a charm!
...a play is like a piece of complex music with many layers, themes, connections, motifs, and ideas waiting to be discovered, and that there can always be growth and improvement in the performance of it.
...when Connor was present I found myself suddenly going over the top and doing a lot of extraneous and stupid face acting because I was so nervous about "doing it just right" when he was there. Wish I could take *that* night back!
...how many lovely people there are in my life to work with and who came to see me. I am endlessly grateful.
...how to ground myself back into the play when I was tweaking about knowing people in the audience. I had to forget about the audience and go back to the world of the play or I would have derailed. It took a while to do this sometimes, but I figured it out! Phew!
...that the ensemble extends well beyond the actors. Everyone worked so hard to make a great show, and I was proud to work with such dedicated crew, designers and director.
...how friggin awesome it is to rip down the world you played in for 4 weeks! Striking kicked my butt so hard after the weekend of shows that I could barely move on Monday, but I wouldn't take back the satisfaction of working with the cast and crew, and my incredibly strong monster husband and dear friend John to rip down that world and see that simple blank slate again. That beautiful empty stage sitting there, an open mind, ready for the next ideas, the next players, the next show!
...best of all, I learned that I am still learning!
The big surprise gift I found within myself throughout the run of the show? I somehow managed to find time every day to stop and reflect on the question: What have I learned today?
More surprising was when the inner critic groused "Probably learned nuttin'!" another, fuller voice rose up with an impressive list.
I learned:
...I could learn all my lines perfectly, and still do them wrong in performance without meaning to.
...I could do the play four days in a row, and how tiring and also satisfying that was.
...that finger waves are pretty, that I look a lot like my grandmothers, and I actually enjoy those big old dome hair dryers. They are so WARM! Yum!
...that I could do it when I was exhausted and I didn't wanna.
...how hard it can become to listen to one's fellow actor when you've heard it all before.
...how to listen anyway and find, to my great joy, that there was something I'd never heard before. The gift of it was being able to respond just a bit more deeply from the heart of the character, and so give back to my partner.
...it's fun to dish at the beauty parlor!
...my skin does not respond well to makeup. My face was inflamed after two shows in a row, my eyes sore and red. My face actually swelled and ached on Mondays. The hair and face products left a metal taste in my mouth that is still there. This made me finally go talk to a skin care person and ask about the simplest lotion and make up remover (since even my regular stuff suddenly caused reactions) and I learned that jojoba oil is the the thing! It's the simplest product and is most like one's natural skin oil, and it's healing my face! It cleans off makeup perfectly and moisturizes! It's just as great as Claire in "Proof" said it was! (I learned that in my audition).
...I like cabbage.
...if I have too much hairspray on I can't sleep from the smell of it.
...I had to recite my lines daily to keep them solid.
...I couldn't sleep on Saturday nights between the evening show and the matinee because I was too wound up and anxious about getting enough sleep for the matinee. Sigh.
...the presence of my husband in the audience made me more nervous than anyone else.
...guest artists will teach you more than you can ever imagine.
...that a 30 minute savasana would shut down my nervous system when I was super nervous and I'd get up refreshed and ready to go.
...I will eat a plateful of pickles if left backstage alone with them.
...that the days I had the lowest energy were the days I could focus best on stage.
...warm ups work like a charm!
...a play is like a piece of complex music with many layers, themes, connections, motifs, and ideas waiting to be discovered, and that there can always be growth and improvement in the performance of it.
...when Connor was present I found myself suddenly going over the top and doing a lot of extraneous and stupid face acting because I was so nervous about "doing it just right" when he was there. Wish I could take *that* night back!
...how many lovely people there are in my life to work with and who came to see me. I am endlessly grateful.
...how to ground myself back into the play when I was tweaking about knowing people in the audience. I had to forget about the audience and go back to the world of the play or I would have derailed. It took a while to do this sometimes, but I figured it out! Phew!
...that the ensemble extends well beyond the actors. Everyone worked so hard to make a great show, and I was proud to work with such dedicated crew, designers and director.
...how friggin awesome it is to rip down the world you played in for 4 weeks! Striking kicked my butt so hard after the weekend of shows that I could barely move on Monday, but I wouldn't take back the satisfaction of working with the cast and crew, and my incredibly strong monster husband and dear friend John to rip down that world and see that simple blank slate again. That beautiful empty stage sitting there, an open mind, ready for the next ideas, the next players, the next show!
...best of all, I learned that I am still learning!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Friday, January 30, 2009
Jacob's Memoirs: CHAPTER TWO: EUGENE
Like I said before, I find myself totally in relation with the character of Eugene.
Granted, I'm not too terribly far from the age of this character (me being 20, Eugene being 15), which by the way, helps emmensely in the character analysis side of things.
I don't only see a lot of myself in Eugene: the dreamer, the writer, the young one, etc. But I admire a lot of him as well. And I really kind of miss being that age where all you had to worry about was so comically minute but in your head, heart and gut it was your WORLD CRISIS.
Eugene is a boy. Right on the cusp of manhood (at least for 1937.) He's really in search of his status in the world. At hom he's just the kid who plays too loudly and obnoxiously and writes a lot. But for Eugen he has plays and goals, a future worked out and to him so attainable.
One of my very favorate tings about this play is the brothers: Eugene and Stanley. As a pair. I never really had that big brother/little brother realationship with my actual brother. But fo some reason it's easy to find it in playing opposate Mark, who plays Stan. Those are my favorate scenes to play.
I truly have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy the portrayal of this character. I have fun with it every time and taht's really what I want to bring to the table, so when I first address the audience they won't necessarily think Eugene Morris Jerome but they'll think: "Eugene the fun and goofy 15-year-old narrator."
That's me!
~jacob bean-watson
Granted, I'm not too terribly far from the age of this character (me being 20, Eugene being 15), which by the way, helps emmensely in the character analysis side of things.
I don't only see a lot of myself in Eugene: the dreamer, the writer, the young one, etc. But I admire a lot of him as well. And I really kind of miss being that age where all you had to worry about was so comically minute but in your head, heart and gut it was your WORLD CRISIS.
Eugene is a boy. Right on the cusp of manhood (at least for 1937.) He's really in search of his status in the world. At hom he's just the kid who plays too loudly and obnoxiously and writes a lot. But for Eugen he has plays and goals, a future worked out and to him so attainable.
One of my very favorate tings about this play is the brothers: Eugene and Stanley. As a pair. I never really had that big brother/little brother realationship with my actual brother. But fo some reason it's easy to find it in playing opposate Mark, who plays Stan. Those are my favorate scenes to play.
I truly have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy the portrayal of this character. I have fun with it every time and taht's really what I want to bring to the table, so when I first address the audience they won't necessarily think Eugene Morris Jerome but they'll think: "Eugene the fun and goofy 15-year-old narrator."
That's me!
~jacob bean-watson
Jacob's Memoirs. CHAPTER ONE: BRIGHTON BEACH
When I first heard that "Brighton Beach Memoirs" was being considered for the 2009 season at Portland Actors Conservatory I was overcome with excitement, intrigue and desire.
The play comes with a bit of history with me.
I was introduced to the play back in my Freshman year at Oregon City High School. My Drama One class. It was actually the first play script I had ever read. I instandly loved the balance of hilarious comedy, colorful characters and I found Eugene very interesting, but also it's use of drama and discussion of serious and valid family troubles and woes.
In all truth I loved the character of Stanley. I actually played him in a scene assgnment for the class.
Of course when I read the play again, this time in preperation fo the auditions at PAC, I found my mouth would drop and internally I would think: "Holy crap! I was such a Eugene!"
And to some extent I still am.
After being awarded the part of Eugene there was this strange nostalgic feeling of returning to the play that ultimately was there at the begining of my acting education and practice.
I read the play maybe 50 times before the read-through wtih the cast and each time I could find something new to maybe laugh at or think on; it's just such a full play you can enjoy it every time. It's so easy to have fun with it.
And luckily the cast, I feel anyway, still have so much fun with it.
And thank God for that.
~jacob bean-watson.
The play comes with a bit of history with me.
I was introduced to the play back in my Freshman year at Oregon City High School. My Drama One class. It was actually the first play script I had ever read. I instandly loved the balance of hilarious comedy, colorful characters and I found Eugene very interesting, but also it's use of drama and discussion of serious and valid family troubles and woes.
In all truth I loved the character of Stanley. I actually played him in a scene assgnment for the class.
Of course when I read the play again, this time in preperation fo the auditions at PAC, I found my mouth would drop and internally I would think: "Holy crap! I was such a Eugene!"
And to some extent I still am.
After being awarded the part of Eugene there was this strange nostalgic feeling of returning to the play that ultimately was there at the begining of my acting education and practice.
I read the play maybe 50 times before the read-through wtih the cast and each time I could find something new to maybe laugh at or think on; it's just such a full play you can enjoy it every time. It's so easy to have fun with it.
And luckily the cast, I feel anyway, still have so much fun with it.
And thank God for that.
~jacob bean-watson.
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