Doubt, a Parable - Blog 4 - Angelica Howland (playing Sister James)

Opening weekend is done! What a long week! I was really feeling the lack of sleep and the overabundance of stress & jitters crashing down on me today. Note to self: Do NOT day dream about Spaghetti Carbonara when you are about to take an entrance -- Sister James ran into Sister Veronica in the garden!! Sister James did NOT run into Sister James in the garden as that would be a physical impossibility. Jeesh!! Thank the Big Sky Guy for April keeping us on track -- that little slip up won't happen again! Who needs 3 days off? I do!

Doubt, a Parable - Blog 3 - Patti Davis Suarez (playing Sister Aloysius)

Wow, the words!!!
Feeling them gurgle, spew, spit, hurl, like tiny torpedos, from the inards (scene 8); or ooze from the sinuses in slick coils (scene 5); or just stick there, south of the tonsils, refusing to come out (scene 9).
The devil and God are both in the words!
Or, as we hillbillies would say, “I'm lovin' them words.”
And to play word ping-pong with the likes of Angelica, Rusty, and Lillie????
Well.
Also, I gotta' say, the physical plainness of Sister A is grabbing me.
No eyelashes, no lip gloss, no blush.
Mmmmm, have aliens taken patti?
Where is she?
Help!!!!

Doubt, a Parable - Blog 2 - Rusty Ferracane (playing Father Flynn)

Well, I’m stepping into the 21st Century and writing my first blog. (I guess I’m not the only one behind the times since Word just underlined "blog" as a misspelled word!) We’re finishing up our first three weeks of rehearsals this weekend and then we head over to Stage West to begin tech week. Way too much has happened during rehearsal to attempt to document the process here, and Kerry Lengel is taking care of that in the Arizona Republic anyway. Let me just say that the four of us and Matthew and April have gone on a rich and fascinating journey putting our little skit up on it’s feet. While Patti and Angelica have to deal with "nunny head gear" a couple of interesting things I have to deal with are a full length cassock and long fingernails. This is the closest I’ve been to dressing in drag on stage! The fingernails are particularly wild because I used to chew them down to the nub but Father Flynn likes to wear his nails long so I’ve kicked the habit and now sport nails that would make Streisand envious. I may even go get a manicure. Of course, I’ll go to a man’s salon like Boxers in order to maintain my "masculinity"!

Doubt, a Parable - Blog 1 - Angelica Howland (playing Sister James)

Friday 9/29/08

It is very warm under my nunny rehearsal head gear -- and to be honest -- its starting to get a little funky too. I wonder if it will grow its own legs and walk away in the next couple of days? I'm looking forward to a day off, to a day with no nunny hat head -- and a chance to do a little nunny hat laundry. Next week's goal: STOP SWEATING! (I'm pretty sure nuns are supposed to glisten) -- and ask Mr. Castellano about the possibility of installing an AC unit inside my cornette.

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