Speak Spanish to Me - Blog 3 - Jenn Banda (Firstinliner)

I likened the art of building a character this week to baking a cake… I feel right now in the process that I have taken the cake out of the oven and put it on the cooling rake, can smell the lovely aroma, and am waiting for it to cool completely so that I can frost it and adorn it with all the beautiful flowers and garnishes.

This was a good week, it seemed to fly by. My character went through a major adjustment, Matthew and I decided that we need to go in a completely different direction and I am so glad that we did. I feel really good about it and I don’t feel as if I am teetering anymore on my high heels but rather standing tall.
Francine is very passionate about her teaching and what she teaches is the “word” she talks about how language comes from within the soul. Which is just wonderful, because as I work on the character I find that her voice is from deep down within me, my true voice.

As actors we are always looking for our “true voice” our “pure” voice to be on our voice. And with Francine it is very easy to do that because she is passionate and alive, there is nothing thin about her. I have no choice but to use that true voice within me. It would be doing her an injustice.

It is so exciting as an actor when you finally find that certain something that makes it click, whether it be the voice, the walk, the tick, the hands… or all of the above. It seems then that everything else just falls into place.

Of course it goes back to the metaphor of the cake, you have all of the other ingredients that have to be there, the homework which is you working on your script, researching, in my case looking up Pablo Neruda, I am now in LOVE with his poetry. Going through and finding out what your objectives are in each scene, learning the text, mixing it all together so that it becomes a confection. What a joy it is be able to be in this business. I LOVE MY JOB. This art of creating lives.

And Francine Firstinliner is a piece of work! A delightful wonderful, joyful piece of work. It is a privilege to put on her high heels everyday!

On to tech week and opening weekend!!! See you at the theatre!

Speak Spanish to Me - Blog 2 - Nathan Cole (played by Cathan Bordyn)

Hey everybody.

That's me on the left.

GO SUN DEVILS!

I have a myspace page.

Check it out.

Here: http://www.myspace.com/natespanish

Then add me as a friend.

Then come see the show.

Word.

Speak Spanish to Me - Blog 1 - Jenn Banda (Firstinliner)

End of the week…

Well, we got through another week and what a week it was. We are working very remarkably fast through this one. We were pretty much blocked, had the staging done, by the end of the first week and we were already working through the scenes in the beginning of week two. Now we are running the acts and working problem spots at the top pf the third week! WOW!!!

I have to admit I am very tired but I don’t think I am alone in that.

It really is amazing to be able to work on a new work that hasn’t even been work shopped and have the playwright come in and revise as we go along. If there are lines that don’t work, or even that you don’t feel quite work for your character you can ask to have them changed. How cool is that! It really is being able to become a part of the process as whole. I have never had that experience.

I seem to be in that part of the process where I am now, struggling with knowing my lines and trying to make them my own. Finding my place in this world that Bernado has written and Matthew is creating. Its kind of like walking to the edge of a cliff looking down into the most beautiful water you will ever see, knowing that if and when you jump you will be joining your soul friends in the warmest, most soothing liquid. It is amazing. And the jumping is like flying, soaring. But the anticipation is the scary part.

That’s where I am right now. And I just really need to get over every terrible bad habit I have and just trust myself, my wonderful leader and leap. But man oh man is it terrifying…

I feel blessed though to be around such an amazing group of people. Casts are not always equally talented and certainly don’t always get along. This group has both going for it! Which is going to make for a GREAT production. And April is just the icing on the proverbial cake.

Weehoo! Well off to study lines some more.

Jenn~ Firstinliner