Just wanted to clue you all in on something exciting I read today. (Well, exciting for me at least. :) )
In case you weren't aware, getting a Broadway or Off-Broadway musical recorded is not an easy thing. Most of the major recording labels don't like to take the chance, as approximately 85% of the population doesn't rush out to buy new cast albums. A while back, two Broadway singers, Sherie Renee Scott and her husband Kurt Deutsch, started Sh-K-Boom Records; a recording label that would make original cast records of shows.
As their label expanded to include actor solo cds, recordings of live entertainment (like 1 person shows) and the various pop record, they then created the Ghostlight Records division, which is solely dedicated to the preservation of traditional musical theatre.
If you've stuck with me this long, I appreciate it because I am now going to tell you why this is relevant to our project.
In my Month In Review post, I wrote about the song "Calm" and how it just wasn't clicking for me. Part of the reason for this is because I've never been able to see a performance (other than snippets on YouTube). Well, thanks to Ghostlight Records, a cast recording of the Off-Broadway production of Ordinary Day is coming out!
*gigantic sigh of relief*
I really did not want to abandon this monologue because I think it is just too good. And this cast recording will allow me to hear other songs from the show and get a better idea of what goes on. There will probably also be some liner notes that give a basic plot, so I have more to go off of.
Also exciting, R&H Theatricals will be accepting applications for professional productions. So everyone cross your fingers that a production comes to the Chicagoland area.
See, you all thought this monologue project was going to be no big deal, didn't you? It's complicated, ya'll!
Here's a link to the article from Playbill.com, in case you're interested.
-Kristi
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Kristi's 1st Month In Review
Greetings!
It's taken me almost a month to write my Month In Review. Sad. I need to get better!
For me, this month has been all about reading. I've been reading books, newspapers, magazines, online articles, pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. I didn't set out to start looking for monologues in unusual places, but that's how it worked out. I've also been getting stuff from friends, (shoutout to Heidi who has thrown all kinds of stuff at me! I love it!) which is amazing and I really hope to use some of it to create some new pieces.
I've had lots of auditions in the past month and I've basically used 3 monologues. I've talked about all three on the blog, but I'll give a little run down of how I'm feeling about them. I'm not sure if any of them will make the final 50, but they are staying in my binder o' monologues to be worked on.
Here we go...
Calm - Adam Gwon
This is the very first piece I talked about on the blog. If you recall, this is the song I was turning into a monologue. It's a hard process, turning a song into a monologue. I set it down a couple weeks ago and haven't picked it up since. I don't want to abandon it all together, but it's been difficult to make it sound natural.
I think that this piece also requires more character work than I've had time to put into it. As I mentioned in one my previous blogs, I started out basically playing "crazy" which is a terrible character choice and gets you nowhere. When I worked on it a little bit more, I discovered more things about her personality and who she is, but nothing really clicked and felt right. It would definitely help if I could see the show and get some idea of the given circumstances, but all I've got to go on right now is what's in the song.
Current verdict: Staying in the binder but...might not make the 50.
Love After Love - Derek Walcott
This is the poem I found, *ahem*, in the front of the book The Time Traveler's Wife. I love this poem. It speaks directly to my heart. It is so relevant for everything I am feeling at this point in my life and I am just completely enamored with it.
What I've discovered I like about doing a poem as your audition piece is that you can totally create the world surrounding the words. There are no given circumstances (usually), there is no character background to consider, there are essentially no rules. If you want to repeat a section, you can repeat section. If you want to play it one way at today's audition and then do a 180 for tomorrow's audition, you can. In a typical monologue, you can make changes to the performance, but you are limited by the things I've mentioned previously (given circumstances, character background, etc).
Too bad I can't do poems for every audition. I could definitely rock that.
Current Verdict: Love it. Definitely going to keep playing and using it for auditions. Will probably make the top 50.
A Passion Play by Pippin Parker
When I first read this 10 minute play, I really really really liked it. I read it again about a week or so later and I still really really really liked it. That being said, I'm struggling to really really really like the monologue I've been using.
I think I need to check out the book that this play came in from the library again and make a copy of it. I have some questions and some things that aren't clicking that I think would be solved by rereading the play and having it handy for reference. I think once I do that, I'll have more a grasp on the piece and things will start to fall into place.
Current Verdict: Definite potential for making the top 50.
There's the first month of Monologue Mania in review. Next month's review will not be nearly as long because....well I haven't been working on much new material. I guess I've still got two weeks left though....better get cracking!
Thanks to all of you for your continued support and encouragement! Please leave us comments! We love comments! You don't have to be a follower of the blog or have a Google account. (Although we encourage you become a follower and get our updates!)
Until next time!
-Kristi
It's taken me almost a month to write my Month In Review. Sad. I need to get better!
For me, this month has been all about reading. I've been reading books, newspapers, magazines, online articles, pretty much whatever I can get my hands on. I didn't set out to start looking for monologues in unusual places, but that's how it worked out. I've also been getting stuff from friends, (shoutout to Heidi who has thrown all kinds of stuff at me! I love it!) which is amazing and I really hope to use some of it to create some new pieces.
I've had lots of auditions in the past month and I've basically used 3 monologues. I've talked about all three on the blog, but I'll give a little run down of how I'm feeling about them. I'm not sure if any of them will make the final 50, but they are staying in my binder o' monologues to be worked on.
Here we go...
Calm - Adam Gwon
This is the very first piece I talked about on the blog. If you recall, this is the song I was turning into a monologue. It's a hard process, turning a song into a monologue. I set it down a couple weeks ago and haven't picked it up since. I don't want to abandon it all together, but it's been difficult to make it sound natural.
I think that this piece also requires more character work than I've had time to put into it. As I mentioned in one my previous blogs, I started out basically playing "crazy" which is a terrible character choice and gets you nowhere. When I worked on it a little bit more, I discovered more things about her personality and who she is, but nothing really clicked and felt right. It would definitely help if I could see the show and get some idea of the given circumstances, but all I've got to go on right now is what's in the song.
Current verdict: Staying in the binder but...might not make the 50.
Love After Love - Derek Walcott
This is the poem I found, *ahem*, in the front of the book The Time Traveler's Wife. I love this poem. It speaks directly to my heart. It is so relevant for everything I am feeling at this point in my life and I am just completely enamored with it.
What I've discovered I like about doing a poem as your audition piece is that you can totally create the world surrounding the words. There are no given circumstances (usually), there is no character background to consider, there are essentially no rules. If you want to repeat a section, you can repeat section. If you want to play it one way at today's audition and then do a 180 for tomorrow's audition, you can. In a typical monologue, you can make changes to the performance, but you are limited by the things I've mentioned previously (given circumstances, character background, etc).
Too bad I can't do poems for every audition. I could definitely rock that.
Current Verdict: Love it. Definitely going to keep playing and using it for auditions. Will probably make the top 50.
A Passion Play by Pippin Parker
When I first read this 10 minute play, I really really really liked it. I read it again about a week or so later and I still really really really liked it. That being said, I'm struggling to really really really like the monologue I've been using.
I think I need to check out the book that this play came in from the library again and make a copy of it. I have some questions and some things that aren't clicking that I think would be solved by rereading the play and having it handy for reference. I think once I do that, I'll have more a grasp on the piece and things will start to fall into place.
Current Verdict: Definite potential for making the top 50.
There's the first month of Monologue Mania in review. Next month's review will not be nearly as long because....well I haven't been working on much new material. I guess I've still got two weeks left though....better get cracking!
Thanks to all of you for your continued support and encouragement! Please leave us comments! We love comments! You don't have to be a follower of the blog or have a Google account. (Although we encourage you become a follower and get our updates!)
Until next time!
-Kristi
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Laugh It Off...
So here's an audition story for you.....
Yesterday was rather rainy in the morning. When I arrived at the theatre for my audition, I went straight to the nearest mirror to fix my hair and check on my make up.
Earlier this week, I cut my hand on the front gate of my apartment building and I had put on a fresh bandaid yesterday before I left. As they called my name and I stepped into the theatre, I noticed the bandaid on my hand was missing. I quickly checked my shirt and pants to make sure it wasn't sticking on them. The bandaid was MIA. "Oh well," I thought, "it's wet and rainy outside and it was a Dollar Tree bandaid. What did you expect?" The audition went okay; not perfect, but not horrible.
Afterward, I went across the street to grab some coffee for my bus ride home. As I ordered, the barista says to me, "Umm....you have something in your hair." I reach up and sure enough, there was my Dollar Tree Disney Princesses bandaid, stuck in my hair.
Whoops...
I went through my entire audition with a hot pink Little Mermaid bandaid stuck in my hair. Classy. I can only hope that the women I was auditioning for thought it was a barrette!
-Kristi
PS: I'm in the process of writing a "Month In Review". Look for it soon!
Yesterday was rather rainy in the morning. When I arrived at the theatre for my audition, I went straight to the nearest mirror to fix my hair and check on my make up.
Earlier this week, I cut my hand on the front gate of my apartment building and I had put on a fresh bandaid yesterday before I left. As they called my name and I stepped into the theatre, I noticed the bandaid on my hand was missing. I quickly checked my shirt and pants to make sure it wasn't sticking on them. The bandaid was MIA. "Oh well," I thought, "it's wet and rainy outside and it was a Dollar Tree bandaid. What did you expect?" The audition went okay; not perfect, but not horrible.
Afterward, I went across the street to grab some coffee for my bus ride home. As I ordered, the barista says to me, "Umm....you have something in your hair." I reach up and sure enough, there was my Dollar Tree Disney Princesses bandaid, stuck in my hair.
Whoops...
I went through my entire audition with a hot pink Little Mermaid bandaid stuck in my hair. Classy. I can only hope that the women I was auditioning for thought it was a barrette!
-Kristi
PS: I'm in the process of writing a "Month In Review". Look for it soon!
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