It may take a few days to get this unstudied somewhat-Irish accent out of my mouth. It comes about through a broad flattening of the back of the sides of the tongue, syllables melodic.
I had the joy and honor to read Wednesday night in a theatrical adaptation/abridgement of Joyce's Ulysses, at Kansas City's annual Bloomsday celebration, marking the date on which, in 1904, the novel takes place (and it is a huge novel to cover one single day: 700+ pages in any given edition). It was only loosely staged, as the language is the focus of the performance, and we needed to play to the microphones as much as possible. The room was packed, easily over a hundred people. Maybe 150... I've never been good at estimating a crowd.
There wasn't actually a rehearsal, though most of us met once for a read-through. The wording can be tricky, and the director did have some bare-bones blocking and character notes. But why rehearse when there's no memorization and little staging? And all those things I might have worried about not covering in a rehearsal, such as finding an action or relating to other characters... thank you, improv! I felt like an intern or a stowaway alongside actors I've seen give amazing performances, and some I had only known by name and reputation. Still, trust and fun came easily.
And I had four costume changes. Four! I rock the quick change! Okay, it wasn't full costuming, just pieces switched out. Still: prim old-money matron to bawdyhouse whooore in the space of twenty seconds (I timed it at home). And I had the queen of all hats, which I'd like to steal from the director. Sylvia, if you're ever missing the velvet top hat with exaggerated angles, feathers, and a mesh brim... I swear I have not seen it.
I have a goal for next Bloomsday: read the original, in its stream-of-consciousness entirety. I've read sections before, and I've read some of Joyce's shorter work - I like the music in his prose - but I've never walked the day with Bloom and Dedalus. 'Tis time I do.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
afterbirthday
"Right here, right now. There is no other place I'd rather be-eee."
Only it's not so much, for me, "watching the world wake up from history." It's more like feeling myself wake up from... I don't know, some dark place that I was in for so long I was used to it. Someplace of fear and powerlessness. I'm feeling something good now. Maybe it opened up with the visit to the chiropractor.
Right, the chiropractor. I've got some pretty nasty arthritis in my neck, it turns out. The cartilage has been quietly disintegrating for years, but since the bus ride to Chicago six-ish weeks ago, I had been in pain ranging from annoyingly present to damn near debilitating. Turning my head to back up the car made me want to cry. It's already feeling better after a couple of adjustments (I'm no longer popping Mom's Darvocet), but I'll need a few more sessions to reach a healthy alignment. Stretching will take on greater significance, and I have to learn to sleep on my back.
This blog may get long and random. Just warning you now. "Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep."
I have a gig coming up. A voice-acting gig, a staged reading. What a strange journey we take. This is the third phase of my life in which the pendulum has swung to theatre (an umbrella term under which I'll include opera, dance, and improv) - times between have been occupied primarily with books and visual art. It's only the second time that performance has been a large component of my theatrical activity. The first was a series of childhood events in which I didn't find much feeling of success.
I think my personal definition of success is changing. If I find joy in the doing of something, that is success. Success is not hampered by criticism or perceived favoritism, or even going up on my lines. Not to say that critique has no value to me, of course. There's even greater success in learning as I do something. And memorizing lines isn't a risk I've revisited yet, but if I try it, I'll do it, and if I go up, I'll find my way back.
I don't want to become a professional actor, in case you're wondering. Not my thing, and scarcely a practical move this far along in the Game Of Life - I'd have a lot of catching up to do. The acting I get to do, though, always teaches me something. Something about technique, something about human nature, something about myself... it varies.
Nor would I trade the time I've spent backstage. Coming back to opera this spring has shown me that it's where I feel the most alive, and the more complex the job, the better. The spotlight isn't where I need to be (except every few weeks when I request your attention for a few paragraphs). I'm often uncomfortable being watched. I've attempted through improv to break myself of that - but do I need to? Bad mojo comes when you try to force an effect. I'm content to perform for small audiences, and play in class with no audience at all. Success is in the doing.
I have my niches, of course. Voicework may well be one of them. I love reading for Audio-Reader, and it doesn't bother me a bit to know that people will hear my voice and be entertained and/or informed by it. The Bloomsday reading will be a wonderfully fun time, with a big and possibly raucous audience, and I hope that some of my friends can attend. I enjoyed performing in modern dance, though I found it difficult to memorize choreography, and one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done was posing for artists - granted, not for a direct public audience, but still a type of performance.
There's a fresh challenge headed my way: combining tech with improvised voicework in the Roving Imp's new show, Deep Space Emily. Biweekly installations will follow the crew of a starship on their improvised voyage. I'm in the booth, and also the voice of the ship's computer! Both... brains... working... at once...! Launch date approaches: Saturday, 12 June, 2100 hours. Rehearsals have been fun - we have one left - and the cast is hilarious!
Speaking of vehicles and voyages...
Before.
After (artist's rendering).
Conversion will be documented in photo and video. Currently taking applications for crew members, on a per-voyage basis, as well as suggestions for voyage destinations. In other words, ROAD TRIP!
Only it's not so much, for me, "watching the world wake up from history." It's more like feeling myself wake up from... I don't know, some dark place that I was in for so long I was used to it. Someplace of fear and powerlessness. I'm feeling something good now. Maybe it opened up with the visit to the chiropractor.
Right, the chiropractor. I've got some pretty nasty arthritis in my neck, it turns out. The cartilage has been quietly disintegrating for years, but since the bus ride to Chicago six-ish weeks ago, I had been in pain ranging from annoyingly present to damn near debilitating. Turning my head to back up the car made me want to cry. It's already feeling better after a couple of adjustments (I'm no longer popping Mom's Darvocet), but I'll need a few more sessions to reach a healthy alignment. Stretching will take on greater significance, and I have to learn to sleep on my back.
This blog may get long and random. Just warning you now. "Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep."
I have a gig coming up. A voice-acting gig, a staged reading. What a strange journey we take. This is the third phase of my life in which the pendulum has swung to theatre (an umbrella term under which I'll include opera, dance, and improv) - times between have been occupied primarily with books and visual art. It's only the second time that performance has been a large component of my theatrical activity. The first was a series of childhood events in which I didn't find much feeling of success.
I think my personal definition of success is changing. If I find joy in the doing of something, that is success. Success is not hampered by criticism or perceived favoritism, or even going up on my lines. Not to say that critique has no value to me, of course. There's even greater success in learning as I do something. And memorizing lines isn't a risk I've revisited yet, but if I try it, I'll do it, and if I go up, I'll find my way back.
I don't want to become a professional actor, in case you're wondering. Not my thing, and scarcely a practical move this far along in the Game Of Life - I'd have a lot of catching up to do. The acting I get to do, though, always teaches me something. Something about technique, something about human nature, something about myself... it varies.
Nor would I trade the time I've spent backstage. Coming back to opera this spring has shown me that it's where I feel the most alive, and the more complex the job, the better. The spotlight isn't where I need to be (except every few weeks when I request your attention for a few paragraphs). I'm often uncomfortable being watched. I've attempted through improv to break myself of that - but do I need to? Bad mojo comes when you try to force an effect. I'm content to perform for small audiences, and play in class with no audience at all. Success is in the doing.
I have my niches, of course. Voicework may well be one of them. I love reading for Audio-Reader, and it doesn't bother me a bit to know that people will hear my voice and be entertained and/or informed by it. The Bloomsday reading will be a wonderfully fun time, with a big and possibly raucous audience, and I hope that some of my friends can attend. I enjoyed performing in modern dance, though I found it difficult to memorize choreography, and one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done was posing for artists - granted, not for a direct public audience, but still a type of performance.
There's a fresh challenge headed my way: combining tech with improvised voicework in the Roving Imp's new show, Deep Space Emily. Biweekly installations will follow the crew of a starship on their improvised voyage. I'm in the booth, and also the voice of the ship's computer! Both... brains... working... at once...! Launch date approaches: Saturday, 12 June, 2100 hours. Rehearsals have been fun - we have one left - and the cast is hilarious!
Speaking of vehicles and voyages...
Before.
After (artist's rendering).
Conversion will be documented in photo and video. Currently taking applications for crew members, on a per-voyage basis, as well as suggestions for voyage destinations. In other words, ROAD TRIP!
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