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!