Monday, March 04, 2013

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Happy 176th Birthday Chicago

Today is Chicago's 176th birthday.

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Monday, January 02, 2012

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Juror Jailed for Ditching Court to See a Show

A teenage juror, who interrupted a trial when he pretended to be ill so that he could go and see a London stage show, has been detained for 14 days...Banks [the juror] went to see the show Chicago in the West End.

(from The Guardian). He had it coming ;-).

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Monday, December 12, 2011

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Chicago Pride

It's not the Willis Tower, it's the Sears Tower, I don't wear sneakers, I wear gym shoes. I don't drink soda, I drink pop. I don't go to the movies, I go to the show. Where I'm from is determimed by north, south, east, or west. I'm from the city with the best pizza, hot dogs and GUYros. I have taken the train, L, and subway at the same time without even leaving my seat. 40 degrees isn't cold. My basketball team has 6 rings. My football team did the super bowl shuffle. Your tall buildings don't impress me. Your country living don't move me. I don't need to put my city on a hat to tell where I'm from, the way I move explains enough! Repost if you are from THE CHI AND YOU LOVE IT! (from Erick Esteban).

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

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Nobody Knows Anything

While originally written for the LA market, it applies to all of entertainment. My first guest post:

In Hollywood nobody knows anything. Clearly this is true. Otherwise every movie would be a hit. Every play would run forever. Every actor would be a millionaire, and every agent/manager/casting director would be too busy booking talent on brilliant and commercially wildly successful projects to get paid to attend workshops. We know nobody knows anything.

Read the rest of this on ActorRated.com.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

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Quality of Life

Life's like a play; it's not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.

-Seneca

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Monday, February 01, 2010

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Adrianne Cury on Early Mistakes

Q: What is the biggest mistake that you have made in your early career?
A: Saying no a bit too much, for fear of making a poor choice. Seek advice, sure, and have a compass, but leap more often without fear

(from actingstudiochicago.com). However, as Bob Fraser points out, an actor's true power is the ability to say 'no'::

In business, it is critical to use your power. And in our business, as Leonard Hanzer so aptly put it, the only power you have is in denial of services. The ability to just say, "no."
However, we are steeped in "yes" attitude and because of that - we often get in trouble when it comes to the business end of our careers.
That is why I advise all actors to start practicing to say "no" immediately. This is not a power that comes later - along with the limo and the red carpet, after you've started making good money - it's something that you must start building now, from the ground up.
...you must have standards.
I think that a professional actor's minimal standards should include, "I'm doing this for money." Because, after all, remuneration lies at the very heart of the definition of 'professional.'
As Jeff Goldblum said succinctly, No pay, no Goldblum. That's it.

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Monday, October 27, 2008

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Free Museum Days

Chicago Tribune has a list of free days at Chicago museums.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

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How to Play a Dead Man

Marc Grapey's notes on how to play a dead man include:
  1. Acting is re-acting. It’s true. Don’t react to anything on stage. You are dead.
  2. All great actors listen to their scene partners. You can listen, but you can’t hear. Once again, you are dead.
  3. Pee before you take the stage.
  4. Use the 3 seconds of blackout left after you get on stage to find the most comfortable position possible
(from Steppenwolf's Blog).

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Saturday, March 15, 2008

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Persistence

Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying.

Persistence is having the same goal over and over
(from Seth Godin).

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Monday, January 07, 2008

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Entrances and Exits

We do on stage things that are supposed to happen off. Which is a kind of integrity, if you look on every exit as being an entrance somewhere else.
-Tom Stoppard

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Monday, September 03, 2007

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Working Style

I once realized there was a limit to how many hours a day I could work. Then the question of how do I get more accomplished? This post has an answer of sorts.

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Saturday, August 11, 2007

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Copying the Master

This was told to me by one of my music professors. A young composotion student in one of the more prestigious conservatories in Russia is running out of time for an important project. In the coming weekend, the school orchestra will be gathered on stage to read through all the composition students' symphonies for the first time in front of the professor.
In a fit of last-minute genious, he goes to the library and checks out one of his professor's symphonies, and writes out the whole work backwards. That weekend, after his hand-copied parts have been distributed, he waits nervously as the orchestra looks over the music.
The conductor gets into place and readies the orchestra, and on his downbeat, out comes the opening fanfare to Tchaikovsky's 4th.
(from Andrew Thompson).

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Friday, April 20, 2007

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Let's Flip It Quote

About celebrating your good shows when you need it most: after a bad show.

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Saturday, April 01, 2006

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Stress and the Actor

It was actually my grandmother who pointed out to me that being an actor is stressful; I had not consciously realized it before she pointed it out. The human body experiences performing in an off-broadway play almost exactly as it experiences a minor car accident (Michael Gellman, who among other things teaches at the Second City Training Center in Chicago). Here is a list of "How to Cut Back on Stress."

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