Working Out a Renewed Sense of Dedication

Since it is Labor Day weekend & I am on one last vacay before the summer officially draws to a close, it has been a little more of a challenge to keep myself on task. Nonetheless, I am determined not to let my mind or body atrophy, so today's assignment was clear: renewing my gym membership! That's right! I've gotta do what ever it takes to keep this 29 year-old body in good working condition so that I can stay at the top of my game.

It had occurred to me looking at the calendar that today was the last day of their special summer promotion - and since my membership just ran out last week - it was now or never! I like working out at the gym just as much as the next person...maybe - but I sure don't want to have to pay an arm & a leg for it. In truth, I'd much rather my gym pay me to work out on their equipment. Where I come from people get paid for their work. They don't call it a work out for nothing. So where's my check?

Anyway, after about a half-hour of phone calls placed to various operators & gym reps from the wooden deck of a friend's beach home - I secured the deal. (Done and done!) I go into my gym of choice to sign the contract on Thursday, at which time I'll be able to resume my regularly scheduled, (a relative term) workout activity! go team!

Until then - I'm enjoying the change in my workout regimen of body surfing & boogie boarding at the Jersey Shore. Surf's up dudes!

A.N.T. in T.O.N.Y.

I like to keep myself informed of what's out there in the entertainment world and so today I picked up my copy of Time Out New York to see what was up or going up. To my surprise - I've while perusing my trusty T.O.N.Y. (a.k.a. Time Out New York), I discovered a nice article about the A.N.T. Fest (a.k.a. Ars Nova Theater Festival) which The Spotlight (a.k.a. The Spotlight with Sean Taylor) is to be a part of on November 7th, 2008!

The A.N.T. Fest is a six-week festival dedicated to showcasing the work of new semi-unknown artists like us. We were one of 30 acts selected out of 200 applicants to this year's festival and this is a tremendously exciting opportunity. It's really our chance to have our concept fully realized and do the show the way we've always intended.

I was especially thrilled to find this article because it validates the work that we've been doing and it always feels great to be invited to get involved with something bold and new. It's always never a bad thing to have something in print to prove to your family that you're doing something beneficial and noteworthy with your time. ;-)

(In case they archive this article in the future, I've copied and pasted the article into my blog below)

TIME OUT NY - Fall preview ’08 - Comedy

Anything goes

Ars Nova’s first festival defies definition.

By Allison Williams

The A.N.T. Fest will be something you don’t see coming—literally. The event, hosted by the avant-garde Ars Nova theater, specifically showcases never-before-seen acts, culled from more than 200 comedy, theater and musical submissions. “The point of the festival is to be undefined,” says head of artistic development Emily Shooltz of the 30-night lineup. About a third is in some way comic, including nontraditional sketch performances and improv-rock-band shows. “There’s a sense of daring or irreverence,” Shooltz adds, explaining that each newcomer will command the stage for a single night. The format lends the festival a sense of urgency, a “blink and you’ll miss it, rapid-fire series of events,” she says.

Because Ars Nova specializes in undiscovered acts, some submissions consisted of little more than YouTube videos and MySpace pages. “It’s really hard for people to get that first foot in the door, especially for those who only have shows with their friends or perform in a bar,” Shooltz explains. “People need tools beyond what they have as artists if they’re going to make it on their own.” The festival is a prepackaged starter kit in the form of a 99-seat performance space, and comes with marketing and technical support for budding performers. And then there’s Ars Nova’s audience, who will scour the festival program descriptions, hungry for the next big singer-comedian or character-based stand-up. “Because these artists are really young, there’s a certain energy to it,” says Shooltz. “It doesn’t feel stale.”

A.N.T. Fest runs Oct 16–Nov 24 at Ars Nova, 511 W 54th St between Tenth and Eleventh Aves (212-868-4444, arsnovanyc.com).

And, We're On The Air!!!

You may recall my entry about "The Spotlight" going on the air to MNN. Well, low and behold I just learned that our pilot episode aired a couple of nights ago, (albeit unbeknownst to us.)
A friend of mine approached me tonight at the Magnet Theater, "Hey! I say you on TV the other night!" Completely clueless, "What?" I inquired, "Where? When?"
"On MNN - I saw you guys on "The Spotlight!"

So it worked! People actually DO watch MNN! That network producer is gonna catch us any day now - I watch it and you should watch it too - person/friend/family member/network exec who is reading this.

Once I heard that our pilot had hit the airwaves, I eagerly returned home & went to the MNN website to see if I could find any more info about additional air dates. The website is thankfully quite user-friendly and I found us right away by selecting the "Arts" category in their drop-down menu.

Upon visiting our listing I discovered that there is a way to give MNN more info about us so that visitors to the website will be enticed to tune in. So, the next order of business will be finding out how to go about adding this additional info to our online "Spotlight" profile and beef it up a bit to let the public access viewers know a bit more about us. Until then, check out our listing here!

And just a friendly reminder that starting in October our list of air dates is as follows:
CHANNEL AIR DATE AIRTIME EPISODE

67 Thursday, 10/02/08 11:30pm 1
67 Thursday, 10/16/08 11:30pm 2
67 Thursday, 10/30/08 11:30pm 3
67 Thursday, 11/13/08 11:30pm 4
67 Thursday, 11/27/08 11:30pm 5
67 Thursday, 12/11/08 11:30pm 6

The next public airing of our pilot episode of "The Spotlight with Sean Taylor" will be on Labor Day at 11pm on Channel 67! Wheeee!!! What a perfect way to end the summer!

Apple-icious!

One of the things on my list of "To-Dos" is to compose a musical...preferably a comedy. Me likey the funny!

In order to do this - I've been collecting bits & pieces of ideas here & there from various people I meet & shows that I see. Like I said before, I like to stay abreast (ha! I said "a breast") of what's out and about in the world of entertainment. You never know who or what might inspire you to put together your own swell party.

Speaking of swell, tonight I went to see a heck of a sketch/musical comedy group called "The Apple Sisters" at The People's Improv Theater in Chelsea. These sisters have been together for a little over a year now & have been selling out to audiences all over New York & winning rave reviews at comedy festivals & theaters all over the country.

Well I like comedy! I like music! I decided it was high time for me to get out there & see what all of the hubbub was about.

The year is 1943. It's a time of triumphs & tribulations as a war rages on over seas & the women at home are left behind to hold things together. "The Apple Sisters," a classic 1940s radio show trio are comprised of three incredibly gifted comics Kimmy Gatewood, Rebekka Johnson & Sarah Lowe who play sweet & tart sisters: Seedy, Candy, & Cora Apple.
These gals have put together a polished show that's red hot delicious & ripe for the pickin'!
My boyfriend & I got on the standby line just in the nick of time too. Their shows never fail to sell out.

Watching their show reminded me of my own aspirations to reconstruct a show that I had produced a few years ago - but sadly, browned & bruised over time. I had a group called "The Royal Flushes" - a completely improvised Las Vegas lounge act. We had all the moves! We were great, I tell ya! Sadly, interest in our foursome didn't take off like I had hoped, and in time, members dropped off one by one.

Had we stuck together, I had intended for us to script the show - doing the improv to sketch thing. We had some really good shows delighting many an audience member with our shtick, but for some reason we never shtuck. :-(

Anyway, I think that the concept was a great one & the Apple Sisters have inspired me to revisit my show - which was my baby. I sunk a good amount of time & effort & smackers into my baby, and I think that it may be time to take it off the back burner & put it in the oven to bake into the sweet apple pie I always intended it to be.

Yum...

Finding a Voice (Instructor)

In preparation for upcoming auditions & workshops, I've set out on the search for a new voice instructor. I've been away from formal training longer than I'd like to admit - and although I don't feel completely out of shape vocally, thanks to assorted rehearsals & performances, there are definitely several things that I feel could use a little fine tuning. I've been singing the same way for a while now, and I'm open to a new approach that might help me stretch my range & strengthen the "parts" of my voice that haven't been getting as much attention. So today I emailed out a couple of vocal instructors who came highly recommended to me through a friend who is also a singer.

But now that I've committed to doing this overhaul on myself & revamping my approach to the biz, I'm prepared to invest some more time & yes, money in myself. I've been a bit resistant to fork over large sums of money for training in the past, but I'm going all in this time no holds barred. I'm pulling out all the stops, laying all my cards out on the table, doubling down, splitting my aces & whatever other gambling term you can think of. All of life, especially in this field, is a gamble & I'm willing to take that bet. This horsey is in it to win it!

Setting Out to Seminars!

As a way to prepare myself for the upcoming audition season, (which will be here in but a matter of days,) I am remaining open to EVERYTHING I can possibly think of to be more proactive than ever, utilizing each and every resource I have at my disposal to reach my end goal! Whew! There, I said it!

In the coming weeks I plan to have a new voice instructor, take dance classes and meet more Casting Directors and get more (hopefully positive) feedback on what my strengths and weaknesses are. The more and more research I do into things, the more and more certain I become that reaching my goal is totally do-able. Making it is possible, it's only a matter of deciphering the code! I will crack that code!

For today's assignment, I registered for a free, that's right, FREE audition seminar with a Broadway/Off-Broadway Producer at the Actor's Connection. I haven't been to a seminar with them in EONS, and well, it's time to make my return and see what's what. It seems that there are Casting Directors out there on the prowl for new talent, and far be it from me to deny them. Why not me, right? It's go time! ...Well, actually the seminar isn't for another week, so GO TIME in a week! Yeah!

That's the Ticket!

Tonight I decided to take in a movie by myself since over the past year I have sometimes felt that I don't get to the movies quite as often as I would like. I think that most people in the entertainment industry would agree that if you want to be a part of what's out there in the world of showbiz, it's best to familiarize yourself with it. So that's how I justify going to see a movie as part of my Broadway By 30 Blog. Yes, I wish it were more exciting, but unfortunately due to other circumstances, (i.e. my day job) this was all that I really had time to arrange for myself.

Even though my focus right now is more on performing on stage than on screen, as I am a woman, I always try to jump on the chance at seeing movies or plays, etc. which contain strong and interesting female characters who are played by strong and interesting actresses. Woody Allen's flick Vicky Christina Barcelona seemed up to the task. I am a big fan of his movies and always enjoy watching his latest muse, the lovely and abundantly talented Scarlett Johansson, light up the screen. Watching skilled actresses such as Scarlett Johannsen, Rebecca Hall, Penelope Cruz and Patricia Clarkson inspire me to continue doing what I'm doing. Besides, as neurotic and flawed as Allen's world usually is, who doesn't like a bit of an escape into another world every now and again?

I enjoyed the film very much - actually it was a perfect film to go to alone. I like going to the movies by myself every now and again. There just seems to be something so New York about it....as New York as Woody Allen.

It's Hip(pie) to See Hair!

Flow it and show it! We did it! After a second attempt at the virtual line, I scored a pair of tickets to tonight's performance of HAIR in Central Park. How groovy is that, man?

It was a beautiful night to be out at the Delacorte amongst other theater-goers and quite a few children of the 60s - one in particular who had to be asked to sit back down and refrain from dancing by security. Once reseated, he donned a purple and yellow jester-like hat in what I could only guess was an act of protest? In any case, it remained a peaceful one-man demonstration and the show went on undisrupted.

The production itself was a joyous explosion of music and color, lights and sound, and of course...hair. The classic songs we've all come to know and love were expertly performed by an exuberant young cast who looked like they were having a totally far out time up there on the grass-laden stage - (and yes, I was wishing that I had been invited to join their party.)

This was my first time ever seeing the show, and from what I could tell, the 40th Anniversary version was HAIRtastic and exactly as it should be, and although I enjoyed it, at times I found it a bit hard to relate to some of the drug-toking, free-loving members of "The Tribe." Yeah, I'm a square, so shoot me. Nonetheless, I really dug the long, flowing hair and bell bottoms...their message of peace, love and equality for all humankind was pretty groovy too.

I've seen a number of productions at The Delacorte over the years and it's always a special treat when I am able to return - especially since tickets are usually a bit tricky to obtain. The theater holds even more personal significance for me, though. It was at the 1995 production of "The Tempest" starring the incomparable Patrick Stewart as Prospero that the 15-year old me made the executive decision that I would dedicate myself to the pursuit of theater. (Although, perhaps it would have been wiser to stipulate that I would dedicate myself to the act of acting. I've got the "pursuit" part down though, that's for sure. )

It was a cool summer night, much like this one - 14 years...ouch, it's been 14 frigging years already? Crimeny!

The stage was covered in pearl white sand that night & I was tripped out on iambic pentameter. I sat 15th row center in complete awe Sir Patrick Stewart's command of the audience and grasp of the Shakespearean language. My epiphany came to me during the epilogue. Patrick Stewart standing center stage began...

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own...

He continued...

But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands:

And then suddenly he paused, and gestured to the booth to cut out his mic. He continued un-artificially amplified, his opulent voice filling the open-air arena. There was no movement, no sound from anyone or anything, but Prospero. It was the closest thing to real magic that I had ever seen.

Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

Bad Hair Day

SEE A SHOW

Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair

Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen

Give me down to there, hair!

Shoulder length, longer (hair!)

Here baby, there mama, Everywhere daddy daddy -

well, you get the idea. I've had that tune in my head all day, and I was hoping to get tickets via the virtual line on publictheater.org - but unfortunately, I was cut. (sad face)

To their credit though, the idea of the virtual line is pretty cool. It's like a lottery in that you register on their site, and then submit your email address for a random drawing anywhere between midnight and 1pm on the day of the show that you wish to see. Pretty cool! Since I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get to the park at 8am this morning to line up, as is the more conventional way of obtaining tickets, I thought I'd give this method a shot. I'm gonna give it another whirl tonight and see if I don't have better luck with it tomorrow.

Since I was unable to procure set of tickets for myself and my boyfriend of one year (Happy one-year Anniversary to us!) We thought that we would go to the theater district for dinner and at the very least, soak up some of the ambiance that it has to offer. I suggested that we go to Danny's Grand Sea Palace on restaurant row, which is a long-time favorite of mine, and a place where I have performed on a few occasions. Low and behold, I learned that Danny's has gone out of business! How hair-raising! So, today had a couple of disappointments, but my man and I made due and got Thai food at Yum Yum Bangkok and then went to see the big Broadway musical, The Clone Wars. Damn, those Jedi Knights got the moves! Enjoyed it very much did I. Recommend it I would.

All the same, nothing beats the art of live performance, but until I get to see Hair - I have this video to tide me over. Please enjoy...

Making Up Is Fun To Do!

PERFORMANCE

After having taken a few weeks off for travel and assorted activities - I returned to the Magnet Theater to perform in the show that makes Friday one of the happiest days of my week: The Made-Up Musical.  TMUM - as we affectionately refer to it, is just what the name itself suggests: a made-up musical! Wheeee!

For our suggestion we interview a willing audience member about where they are originally from - "any place weird or unusual with a bit of history" is usually what we're after. We then take this information & deconstruct it, mash it around & reassemble all of the parts into a zany 50-minute musical!  The whole thing is entirely improvised from start to finish, never to be seen or heard from again. Very exciting!

Tonight's suggestion came from a Romanian woman named Tatiana who had come to the US in search of true love. (Already a very romantic notion - especially to us girls) Her story paralleled most fractured fairy tales in that she met her man, but when it was time for her to return to her homeland - her flight was delayed five hours (yikes) giving her american boyfriend the time to make up his mind about proposing marriage - only to be refused.  She left him empty-handed and returned to her motherland.  (awwwwww...)

The story doesn't end there... A few months later, he sent for her and back to the states she came - only this time he had made up his mind that a marriage between them would never work because she simply was not submissive enough (heh, typical.)  And so once again, she found herself sitting at the gate of JFK waiting another five hours for her return flight to Romania - when, what was this?  He presented her with yet another proposal, and this time she graciously submitted - er, accepted and they lived happily ever after!  

THE END

Our musical followed pretty closely to the story and as I was the only girl in tonight's cast - I was the obvious choice to play Tatiana.  Every now and again I would catch a glimpse of the real Tatiana in the audience and see her enthusiastically nodding and applauding in approval. That kind of reaction is what makes this all worthwhile.  

Mulţumesc Tatiana!

Applying Myself

More Spotlight news...

Following our victorious performance in TO's Improv Fest - it seemed an obvious choice to submit our act to the Philadelphia Improv Festival. We're shopping this puppy around town like there's no tomorrow!

Today "Spotlight" host, Sean Taylor and I put in a bit of overtime on meeting the application deadline, which was rapidly closing in on us once we returned home.  Despite a bit of rushing around, we managed to send our stellar submission on its way to the powers that be! (Thank goodness for on-line submission forms)  

The Philly Improv Festival would be especially phun phor me because it's my hometown - my original stomping ground. I was born & raised there & even stuck around long enough to receive a BFA in acting at The Unviersity of the Arts.  My hopes are especially high that we gain acceptance into this festival because I'm really proud of this show and I would love to bring it back home for my phamily and local Philly phriends to see...phinally.  (Okay, enough with the "Ph"-es.)   But seriously, every once in a while it's nice to show some product as evidence of what the hell it is that you've been doing with your life.  (Doesn't anyone else out there get asked these questions?)

In the meantime, we'll keep on plugging away with our little show that could in the hopes that its popularity will continue to grow and Philly will see phit to show us some brotherly love. (ok, seriously I'm done now.)

Eating Up Improv

SEE A SHOW

Over the past few years a lot of my life has revolved around not only acting, but performing long-form improv comedy. When I first moved to the city five years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to The Upright Citizens Brigade, which was a world unlike any I had known before. Sure, I had done a bit of short-form improv a la "Who's Line is it Anyway?" with Comedy Sportz when I was but a wee high schooler, and had even continued dabbling in it throughout college - but I had never seen improv like this before, and it swept me up into its warm, laughter-inducing embrace in an instant. And so began my love affair with improv.

I wanted to do what these people were doing, so I started taking classes at UCB and eventually found myself at the Magnet Theater which has become something of a stomping ground for me. I love improv. I love watching it and I love doing it - particularly musical improv. So now even as I venture toward the realm of performing in scripted musicals, I can't ever see myself straying too far from the widely-accepting bosom of the improv comedy community.

As such, tonight I decided to take in a musical improv show with one of the best groups out there, called I Eat Pandas. IEP is comprised of two stellar improvisers, Eliza Skinner and Glennis McMurray, as well as accompanist Frank Spitznagel, who is undoubtedly one of the most gifted pianists with whom you could ever have the pleasure of working.

The way the I Eat Pandas show works is they start out every show asking for a one-word suggestion from the audience - (last night it was "Werewolf") - and then they deftly set to work weaving together a 30-minute, 15-minute and 5-minute musical based on that one suggestion.

What's especially great about their show is that they make everything look so easy and scenes flow seamlessly into songs and like water turning into wine.  I think the thing I love most about watching the two of them together is that they really know how to take care of their audience.  As they are both incredibly adept improvisers, they've got real moxie and that's one of the greatest assets any improviser can possess.  It gives the ability to make everything look so easy allowing you to just sit back and enjoy the show, oftentimes forgetting that what you are watching is completely being made up on the spot before your very eyes.  

I will say that as I sat in the audience waiting for the show to start, I observed what seemed to be a lot of improv newcomers, which is awesome and very enviable since improv is sometimes a harder sell to the average theatergoer.  That's another thing that's so great about IEP and musical improv in general.  It's just so much fun for everyone - whether you're a frequent patron of the improv scene or a complete newbie.  

I hadn't seen the "Pandas" in several months and thought it would be a good thing to do since I myself will be performing musical improv this Friday in a show called The Made-Up Musical back at the ranch, er stomping ground - the Magnet Theater at 10pm. (post shameless plug...check!)  I've been away from TMUM for a few weeks now due to out-of-town engagments (sound impressive?) and I thought that watching a show with Eliza and Glennis would be a good refresher before I get back in the proverbial saddle.  Hopefully some of the "Panda" magic rubbed off on me and I won't fall flat on my face on Friday. 

Our Access to Success

PRODUCER

I wear many different hats in my daily day-to-day operation. Today, my role is that of Producer.

After our successful set of The Spotlight in T.O., we have returned victorious to the states. Yes, we are happy little Americans back on US soil! Now onto bigger, better fish-frying! What's up next?
We're going local on stations across the bustling borough of Manhattan. That's right, baby! MNN aka Manhattan Neighborhood Network! The Spotlight just scored a bi-monthly set of slots on the highly-coveted/partially-disregarded cable access stations in the greater Manhattan! In the next couple of months we will be joining the ranks of shows such as Tigueritos.com, Culture, Heritage and Self-Determination, Videopoem and Mel Berkowitz Presents!

This really is something of a coups for us and we're hoping that it's only a matter of time before the real offers start pouring in from major networks in New York and LA. Here's how it's supposed to go down: One night while in bed, a restless network bigwig will be flipping through his local channels and just happen upon MNN, Channel 67 at 11:30 on a Thursday night and he'll be so riveted by our brilliance that he won't be able to resist the urge to call us in to strike up a deal! And just like that - BAM! We're on NBC Late night!
Yes, that's how things work in my mind.

Anyway, what does all of this have to do with my quest for Broadway? Well, exposure is exposure, (as long as it's not indecent) and I think it's never a bad idea to strike at every angle, leaving no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored.

I'm incredibly excited about our televised debut of The Spotlight. After all, TV is TV and everyone has to start somewhere. Our goal is to bring the show to a wider audience and create some more buzz about future live shows. If you'd like access to our access, here's our list of future air dates!

CHANNEL AIR DATE AIRTIME EPISODE

67 Thursday, 10/02/08 11:30pm 1
67 Thursday, 10/16/08 11:30pm 2
67 Thursday, 10/30/08 11:30pm 3
67 Thursday, 11/13/08 11:30pm 4
67 Thursday, 11/27/08 11:30pm 5
67 Thursday, 12/11/08 11:30pm 6

The next live performance of The Spotlight with Sean Taylor will be on Friday, September 26th at 7pm at the Magnet Theater. Come check us out before we break into Prime Time!

Touring To Toronto

PERFORMANCE

This weekend I traveled to our neighbor to the north - (Canada, that is) for the 2008 Toronto Improv Festival with an improv comedy show called "The Spotlight with Sean Taylor" which is one part late night talk show and one part long-form improv with a dash of musical improv, (that's where I come in) thrown in for good measure.

We were all really psyched to make The Spotlight an international sensation this weekend, and I think we did the job. We performed in a theater called The Comedy Bar on Bloor Street which, while still under construction, proved to be a really cool space and the audience was chock-full of Canadians and Americans alike who laughed quite heartily at our 30-minute set.

In tech with Host Sean Taylor and Sidekick Matt Shafeek

Our lovely audience (sat in these seats)

So, you may be wondering to yourself, what this show is all aboot, eh?

Well, it breaks down like this:

After host Sean Taylor interviewed a guest who was selected at random from the audience about their experience on TV, the improvisers took to the stage using parts of the interview as inspiration for their long-form improv set. I interjected with an improvised commercial break for Maple Syrup (what else?) and at the end of the show we asked the audience to give us a suggestion of a made-up song title which turned out to be "Distrustful Harmony" (love it!)
That's when us "Musical Guests" took the stage, (guitarist Babsy Singer and I) to improvise a 4-minute tune that went something like this:

I gave you my baby to care for, and you dropped it down a wishing well
I asked you to feed my kitten, but you forgot and then you old me to go to hell...
This is my Distrustful Melody, This is my Distrustful Melody
I'd ask you to sing with me
To make a Distrustful Harmony...

...something like that. Hopefully I'll get a clip of it up here tout de suite (as the French say) so I can give you some cold hard proof that I'm not lying about it. We had a lot of fun in T.O. and our hosts were nothing but friendly and not-surprisingly incredibly helpful. I'll tell ya, nothing melts the hearts of us hardened New Yorkers like the soft embrace of a caring Canadian.

All in all I'd say it was a pretty successful show and Canadian/U.S. relations in the improv community remain strong.

Here's a picture of the cast and crew, post show...

Curtains Up!

Okay folks! Happy Birthday to me! Yes, I am officially 29 and my "blogect" has officially begun! Welcome to "Broadway By 30" where every day over the next year I will do something proactive and positive in order to benefit my blossoming Broadway-bound career - (how's that for alliteration?) - the end goal being that by the time I turn 30, I will be on Broadway! (sound crazy? maybe a little)

Before I kick this thing into high gear, I have to give a shout-out to my friend Jen Macneil of "In the New" fame, who inspired me to do my own 365-day blogect with her year-long blog of doing one new thing a day before she turned 30, (which I have been told is actually the new 20.) Like Jen, I am going to try to do one thing a day for my career in "the biz" and blog about it daily, however I may repeat certain things, (for instance go to a dance or voice class once a week or eat broccoli.) I'm going to do my best to blog about these things every day in order to keep myself on track in pursuing my goal. What was it again? Oh yeah, to be on Broadway.

Anyway, this blog is sort of my life coach, journal and calendar all rolled into one. Since I have been in New York for a little more than five years and I'm still not exactly where I want to be in my profession, I have made an executive decision to pull myself up by the bootstraps and give myself a bit of a life makeover. It seems to me that a makeover via blog is just what I need to get myself motivated to take things up a notch in my career. And after all 30 (or the new 20) seems to be a good even number by which to set a deadline. Also, it may be worth mentioning that people (meaning my family) seem to have all of these grand expectations of people (meaning me) in their 30s: (meaning,) they expect you to have a real job and maybe even some babies, to which I say, "Hey man - I'm not even really 30, I'm 'the new 20' so get off my back! I'm under enough pressure already as it is trying to balance working a day job with finding time to audition for shows and keep up with others in my craft!" Please pardon the virtual outburst.

But seriously, I'm very lucky for the most part when it comes to my family. Do they expect a lot from me? Yes. It's times like these that I wish my parents had given more thought to having more than one child - but for the most part they're very supportive and they want me to succeed in this business of show just as much as I.

The bottom line is that I'm not doing this for anyone but myself and there's nothing wrong with having hopes and dreams and setting goals for yourself and ways in which to achieve them just as long as you're doing it for the right reasons and not because you're trying to impress people or live up to the expectations someone else has placed upon you. I have my own expectations of myself, the most ubiquitous being to make a life for myself in the theater. That and using fancy words whenever possible.

For as long as I can remember I have always wished and hoped and dreamed of a career on Broadway. I think it all started with a trip to the George Gershwin Theater in 1987 (that's right, you do the math) with my parents and my Cabbage Patch Kid, Kit Kira to see a production of "Starlight Express." Well needless to say, that was it for me. After seeing that show I begged my parents for acting classes and roller skating lessons.

Since that day 22 odd years ago, I have been chasing the dream of taking my place on a brightly lit Broadway stage. I may have strayed a bit beyond the path of pursuit from time to time, but it's never to late to get it all back.


...and for those of you wondering what my Plan B is should I reach 30 without making it to Broadway...well, I guess there's always 31...(which is of course the new 21.)

Testing 1...2...30

This is a test... this is only a test of the blogger webcast system.

In preparation for my 29th year and my quest to reach Broadway by the time I reach my 30th, I have taken the very first step to document all of my trials and triumphs by setting up this blogger account. I have quietly begun the countdown to my 29th birthday in my mind these past few days...but still trying to soak up what fun 28 still has in store for me.

I'll be back blogger!