RHYME MACHINE
Created by the talented Ron Moore whom I've know for several years and finally had the oportunity to work with when invited. I also worked with Tony Braga whom I'd only heard by name but finally had the chance to work with. Wonderful guys! The adult show was..er..interesting, but I don't regret that night or the whole performances we did. Performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival 2007.
2007 International Women's Week Cabaret
Every year, it's always a privilege to be a part of this group. Every year there's a slight change in the cast of performers. Every year I'm wrecked with nerves. Every year I anticipate the next I also had a photo-op with Lisa Borchert and got an autograph on my copy of the script, as I like to do with past playwrights.
2006 International Women's Week Cabaret
This was the first one without Nancy Barbour, since her passing and also the first where we acted together in a group ensemble. In the past shows, we performed for 2 nights but budget restrictions allowed only the one. It was a poignant one.
Stories from Brown Girl Jouvay
This was the most surreal piece I've done since I did Come & Go in Edmonton Alberta. Our costumes were red, the piece was poetry-based with movement dominating it and Judy McKinley autographed my script! It was great to work with Janet Shum again, to work with Hope McIntyre and then to meet the other gals and enjoy their unique approaches to the craft of stage acting was also a delight. I also had the priviledge to work with choreographer Jennifer Essex; I hadn't worked with one since The Crucible's Deb Brown of Cirque de Soleil
Secrets of My Wanton's Love
Twelve characters with four actors? Recast the lead actor? Losing our original rehearsal space? Well, several challenges like these crossed our path towards this fringe show, but we persevered. Arinze Eze was the director/writer/actor the rest of the cast put their trust and faith in. He is one of the most kind-hearted people I've ever worked with. Although I won't have time to work again on this more expanded project in the fall, I had an adventure working with him, Keri-Lee Smith and Sambath San.
Just for Laffs Cabaret
Those of us who'd worked with Fantasy Theatre for Children before, us adults got the chance to break away from the telling of fairytales, jumping into something more "adult". After just coming off the Cabaret of Monologues, this was something much lighter. I performed a monologue named "Hortense" that was very Vaudevillian, Burlesque if you will [John Chase, correct me if you can?], and confronted "Superman" after he rescues me in a different scene. Performed at Club Sixty [279 Garry St.] and shown to a modest crowd, we provoked much laughter on a Sunday at only 2pm.
The 2005 International Women's Week Cabaret of Monologues
This time, we all chose our monologues; Cheryl Soluk and I picked out favourite and most crowd-provoking pieces [ Her "BUSH-WhaCKed" and my "Unleashed"]. The more I digest large amounts of text, the better at it I get. My memory seems to be flexing, a bit. There were only 2 performances, but the organization we performed for [S.I.S.T.A.R.S.] was very entertained and pleased with us. There was only one audio cue that was missed, but I improvised through it. Moments like that keep me alert.
The Snow Queen
Less children, more adults = 20% less stress for the director. Whenever I think of Hans Christian Andersen, I think of Danny Kaye, but working on this production as a guard named Crystal was fun. "There are no small roles, only small actors" is so true. I could've seen this as an unimportant role, but I ran with it and had so much fun with my partner-in-crime Carrie Osborne that "Size Didn't Matter". Sometimes I still wished I played the Queen but Evelyn Darrach plays all the royal characters so well, why mess with a good thing? Plus, I love being the comic relief.
The Velveteen Rabbit
This was my second show with Fantasy Theatre for Children. I wanted to do more paid shows and more film work, but I couldn't resist working with Tony Frost again. I was working until 8pm at Wendy's on St.James and by the time I'd arrived at the studio, I had only half an hour of rehearsals while everyone else had the full 3 hours. I worked things out with my managers and I attended every minute of rehearsals during the last week before the show went up. I had come from "Gender Play" and had only a couple of weeks to memorize the narrator's lines, but Tony said he wasn't worried about me. I'd never worked with so many kids before. There were only 4 adults in the entire show, so the director focussed on the kids and their (lack of) discipline. I felt like I was back in high school cramming for an exam whenever I'd go into my basement to go over my lines, but I got them all. Nevermind that, I had a song and dance routine to do. I'm no Martha Graham but doing "The Funny Bunny Rag" took a couple of rehearsals to get down.
Gender Play
Shel Shocked!
This was my fourth fringe play I'd ever done but it was my first since moving back to Winnipeg from Vancouver. I'd done a puppet show with Gloria Orangina Edith Hole in Sept.'01 for the Vancouver Fringe Festival. I'm always interested in the playwrights material, so when I heard the name Shel Silverstein, I had to be educated on who this multi-talented man was. I don't normally swear so much in my daily life, but on stage it was frequent. It didn't bother me, but I worried what my mom would think; she's supportive of whatever show I do, no matter what I'm doing in it. Although I'd planned on seeing fringe shows anyway, I loved being a part of it and couldn't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to participate in such an event. Doing the "Shit" monologue in the scene, "Gone To Take A...." was very hard in that I couldn't follow the thread of it, but Chris Sobczak was very patient and I managed to do my best once we were on stage, but that turned out to be my favourite scene to do. Tossing out foul language can be fun!
The 2004 International Women's Week Cabaret of Monologues.
Hope McIntyre phoned me in the beginning of '04 and asked if I would like to be in this cabaret, based on my audition months earllier for "FemFest '03". After she mailed me the two monologues, I knew I was going to enjoy this. It felt like I was doing stand-up for the second monologue and a one-woman show for the first one. I always want to be flexible by doing both dramatic and comedic pieces and one of my dreams is to do a one-woman show. It sounds scary, but doing this cabaret was the closest thing to it. Rehearsals were just me and Hope, one-on-one: it was all about me! Of course she met with the other female actors individually, but I didn't see them from the time we met up to do a read-through until performance 2 months later. I was unemployed at the time, so I had gobs of time to spare for rehearsals. The first night of the show was at the East End Women's Resource Center [March 12, '04] then the second one was at the Colin Jackson Theatre in PTE [March 13 '04], my first time setting foot on that stage. I was hoping to work with Sarasvati Productions again and I did with "Gender Play" the following Sumer/Autumn.
Tales From Far Away
After I'd found a notice on a tree on the Fringe Festival grounds, I called Tony Frost, the Artistic Director at Fantasy Theatre for Children and auditioned with a monologue from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as one of the fairies ("Over Hill, Over Dale, Thorough Brook, Thorough Brier...."): He invited me to the read-through the following day. I was cast as Corizelda, one of the sisters who happens to get banished from her father's kingdom for comparing her love for him, "...like meat loves salt!" (It's loosely based on "King Lear").Being a part of the Fantasy Theatre group is like being part of a chosen family.
Overtones
It was one of my most dramatic roles for a short one-act. Sheila James was a student at the UBC and cast me and it was the first time performing at the BC Chan Center.
The Art of Self-Defense
Day Four
I've never been so nude as when I did this role. Being part of the Brave New PlayRites was fun and the cast and crew were great to work with. The secret to doing a nude scene is like being in a water with sharks: don't show your fear and keep on going. The script was written by a talented Abigail Kinch, who was wonderful to work with as well as the other two actors. I'd seen original works from the Writing students at UBC before: it's always great to being doing an original piece, eh?
The Crucible
This was the closest to performing on a truely professional stage as I've ever come in contact with to date. After the audition (Sept.'95 on a thursday), I could've only dreamed of being cast in it until I got the call (the following tuesday). I had until december for rehearsals which seemed like an eternity. To rehearse like it were a 9-5 job monday to saturday and being surrounded by professional, to have my costumes made without me bringing something from home and having so much publicity collected for us by the publicist afterwards felt unreal yet natural. As insecure as I felt at times, I had to remind myself that I had to hold my own onstage and not get intimidated by the veterans and pros surrounding me. Playing Tituba, I had to brush away my hang-ups at playing a stereotype as a black slave. That was one of the roles I'd have dreaded playing if it were a smaller company. Even the question and answer peroid was stressful everytime a student asked me what it was like to play such a humiliating role, but just performing for the Vancouver Playhouse was so immense that I felt I had no right to back out; luckily, it was the last slave/maid role I've ever played. I'm hoping to perform bigger theatres in the future.
'dentity Crisis
Actor's Nightmare
This was performed back-to-back with the above mentioned play, but I had a bigger role as the Stage Manager. Yet another Christopher Durang play with every actor relating and nodding their heads about the anxiety and stress involved in performance.
Savage In Limbo
I have to say this is one of my favourite plays I've ever performed and I love reading anything by John Patrick Shanley. The very first time I did this play was the first scene between Denise Savage and Linda Rotunda (I played Linda in the scene then Denise in the play), so I've done this twice. Peter Hanlon, our instructor and director of the play, said that portraying 30-something character while being only 20-something would be a challenge for us and that we had to understand what it's like to be 30-something. Now that I'm in my 30's, I'd love to tackle the play again.
Vancouver TheatreSports League
After venturing to Vancouver to become a professional actor (HA!), theatresports was my debut in the city. I'd weaseled my way into the theatre when I started off as an usher, progressing to the intensive workshops then getting the chance to perform one Monday night on the rookie league when fellow improvisor Chris Cassillon had a work scheduling conflict. He was one of the best performers there, so I felt psyched to take his place my first night, along side Mark Schoolley, Doug Funk and Ita Margalit! Several years passed, a few Rookie Tournaments came and went, and after 3 years, the Rookie League was cut out, 'twas no more! Most of us felt like abandoned children, but the memories are still there and I had tons of fun stretching my various performance skills. Why restrict yourself to only one style of performing?
Sleeping Beauty Cabaret
My first attempt at writing and acting! It was one of the most terrifying and exhilirating experiences I'd ever put myself through. The first year I was there, the theme was "La Mer De Mor", where I did a monologue about fishing for love on the corner of Donald & Graham. Next year's theme was "Fairy Tales" where I wrote about a black fairy who felt like a minority amoungst her craft. I only had one night where I completely forgot my lines, but I recovered and later on had a long walk around the building to moan and groan about the experience. I don't regret ever doing that show, ever, and it was also my first encounter with Shawna Dempsey and Lorrie Millan.
Some of My Best Friends Are....
I've never considered myself to be political or very socially conscious, but performing a play about racism, especially an original piece is always good for you. Most of the people there weren't actors but they'd all wanted to get involved with a piece that dealt with something we all wanted to put an end to and find a solution to. Yvette Nolan was the writer and was the one who handed me the phone number to participate with the Sleeping Beauty Cabaret.
Beyond The Punchline
Popular Theatre Alliance of Manitoba once again does socially conscious theatre by focussing on violence agains women. At one point, we were flown to Thompson Manitoba to perform out there for a day: that was the furthest I'd ever travelled in Manitoba!
What The Butler Saw
I worked with Bob Hope (a completely different person of the same name, of course!) and several other wonderful cast members who did an excellent job of their roles. It was also my first time hearing about the playwright Joe Orton. It was also my first and last show with Townhouse 9 Productions. I'd love to work with them again though.
Fair Plays
My first play since our family moved back to Winnipeg from Edmonton Alberta. After sifting through papers and phone books, I'd found Popular Theatre Alliance of Manitoba and contacted Margo Charlton, the Artistic Director at the time, who'd cast me in some short scenes about racism and sexism to be performed at the U of W. It was also the first time a tv crew came to shoot a segment about it for International Human Rights Day, so I cringed at my hairstyle while I was taping it.
Come & Go
The very first play I performed outside of high school turns out to be a Samuel Beckett play. It was only 3 minutes long, had only 3 characters and we were billed along with a night of one acts. If you've never been to the Walterdale Playhouse, picture an old firehouse on the outside but a modest-sized theatre inside. It was my most surreal piece to work on.