we must bring our own sense of what is meaningful to the work: we must find the space where the character’s “why” overlaps the most strongly with our own. This is why acting should be physically exhausting. Because the actor’s body, her struggles, his hopes, their attention and love are the fuel that keep the fires of tension burning.
Read MoreSuddenly the scene took us somewhere and the characters had been changed by the end of it. By investing more fully in an immediate goal that I felt capable of achieving, every move my partner made was important to me: it told me how close I was to getting what I wanted.
Read MoreOne cool thing about Robert Falls is that his name is a complete sentence.
Read More
January 2018: Jeremy Weschler (Artistic Director) and Clare Cooney (Casting Director) at Theater Wit asked me to understudy two roles in The Antelope Party by Eric John Meyer.
I hadn't understudied before, so it was a baptism by fire as I memorized the lines and blocking for two significant roles. I had the chance to go on twice for Evan Linder while he was in New York being a famous playwright, and it was exhilarating to jump right in the deep end like that. It happened to be a weekend when a considerable cadre of friends and family were in town (see my post about Lefty and Crabbe at the Chicago Musical Theatre Festival), so the house was full of my people on the nights I went on.
The cast was incredibly talented (go stalk them online—you'll see.) They also looked great in My Little Pony costumes, as you can tell.
Mary Winn Heider, Annie Munch, Evan Linder, Eddie Mawere, Will Allan and Anu Bhatt (she's the one they're texting)
I learned so much just by watching more seasoned Chicago actors work through their process. Understudies attended one performance per week, and I was able to see how the performances evolved through the run.
Marguerite Genard, Brian Huther, Shaina Schrooten, Michael Turrentine
I now know so much more than I ever anticipated knowing about My Little Pony. The play is also about fascism and how people gradually lose their ability to tell what's ethical when the world around them spirals into groupthink and chaos, so it's not all ponies and rainbows.
The other understudies and I soon became fast friends. They were all such doggamn delightful people, and we still have our group text going months later.
All my love to the #Underponies slash #Wonderstudies slash #TransplAntelopes.