Happy Spring! Winter has finally left us in Philly.
It's been an exciting few months - I am currently staring graduation in the face and trying not to blink!

Updates:
1. Romeo and Juliet! We opened Wednesday, and we run through May 18th. The 9-show-a-week schedule is rough, but I am loving the show. It was a good process, and I'm super proud of what we've created. In our production, we feature four contemporary sonnets written by students and adults. As part of the promotion for the show, we recorded the top ten sonnets (there was an open call for submissions) to release to the public. So here's a mildly embarrassing video of me doing one (to the right). Check out the show! (Fb event).

2. Breed X! I was in New York for a few days this March, filming a project called Breed X. To learn about the project, check out their kickstarter and their facebook. Or, yaknow, check out a really terrifying photo from the shoot (to the right). I played "The Guide." The project is written and directed by the fabulous Audrey Hamm. Makeup by Alisa Ortiz. Yay film!

3. By Tuesday -- I also have begun shooting a Penn student film, called "By Tuesday," produced by Bent Button Productions. It is written and directed by Ann Molin. Will post the finished product when we finish! It's about a couple college-age room mates. I play a lady named Chloe. So far, I've gotten to eat a lot of popcorn on camera. Which has been fabulous.

4. Directors Gathering - I also recently photographed the first monthly "Directors Gathering" salon meeting. The DG is a fabulous service organization for Philadelphia theatremakers. Check out their website and facebook, and the album from the event!

5. Henry IV: Your Prince and Mine -- I have been cast as a lieutenant in the army for the annual Shakespeare in Clark Park summer show. They're doing Henry IV! Haven't started yet....but thrilled to be a part of it. Apparently they're using a HUGE civilian army. Cool beans.

6. Dischord - Dischord A Capella, a fabulous group on Penn's campus, recently had their spring concert. I took a bunch of promotional photos. Check out a few of my favorites to the right. Will be uploading more soon, under "recent captures" on my photography page. Also: their website! Their facebook!

7. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - The theatre group iNtuitons (I'm on the board! I directed for them this past fall!) just had their spring show. Check out some rehearsal room shots I took during the process. Fabulous group. Oh, and their website!

Whew.
Other things brewing/upcoming -- 
Stuff Happens is still in the process of casting. Can't wait to get started. Circle Mirror Transformation is likely happening in May! We had to change dates, due to an issue getting rights...but now it's full steam ahead. And.....Yalla, the bellydance troupe at UPenn, also has an upcoming show. I will be shooting some promo shots on Monday. Photos to come!

Thaz all folks. Happy, happy spring!

Whew. It's been a freezing cold winter in Philadelphia. I'm currently enjoying second semester senior life - i.e. taking only three classes, writing a thesis, and auditioning like crazy in Philly/NYC when I can get there.

Lots of updates!

1. Really stoked to report that I will be acting in The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre's Spring production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by David O'Connor. I will be playing Balthazar as well as a few other ensemble roles, in addition to playing percussion for the show. Couldn't be more excited to embark on this project! Rehearsals begin March 4th, and we open in April/run through May.

2. I have also just begun the process of DIRECTING(!) a staged reading of David Hare's Stuff Happens for New City Stage's presidential reading series. The show will run for four performances in May, along with two other pieces directed by Will Steinberger and Mark Rudd. Specific dates and times on my homepage/more info on their website! We just started the first round of auditions. I'm already learning lots - it's a challenging play, but one about which I am extremely passionate. It uses *mostly* public statements made by politicians and journalists as a means of dramatizing the U.S. entry into the Middle East following the attacks on the twin towers. Definitely a far cry from Midsummer (my last directing project).

3. I was also just cast in Simpatico Theatre Project's Summer Production, The Best of Craigslist. The piece is, as the title would suggest, comprised of skits based on Philadelphia Craigslist ads. The segment I'll be in is called "How Craigslist Distances Us," and will be directed by Ambor Emory. We don't begin rehearsals until May, and we run July 12-15. Wooo devised theatre!

4. I've been hitting up NYC lately to go in for some film project (and occasionally theatrical) auditions. It's been fun! Pleased to report I will be shooting a piece with New School student Rebecca Tiernan this Saturday, based on Samuel Beckett's Come and Go. It's an art film she's developing as part of her thesis - check out her work. 

5. Had an incredible time on Cape Cod in January, doing a show with Excelano to benefit WE CAN and Independence House, two fabulous organizations that provide support for abused women/women in transition on Cape Cod. A playlist of the show will be uploaded to youtube in the coming weeks!

6. Also got a chance to perform in UPenn's Vagina Monologues this February. I acted in "Then We Were Jumping," which was this year's spotlight monologue. The show raised over $50,000 for W.O.A.R., the only full-service rape/crisis center in Philadelphia. Check out their campaign to stop the violence. Wonderful experience, INCREDIBLE group of women.

Those are the biggies!

Also....have had the chance to see some awesome theatre in Philly this winter. Shout-out to Bright Invention/White Pines Productions. LOVED their show "Click!" Was convinced in an evening that long-form improv is probably the coolest thing I'd never heard of in Philly. Check 'em!

And, for your viewing pleasure: http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/VIDEO-Idina-Menzel-Cast-of-IFTHEN-Lead-FROZEN-Singalong-on-GMA-20140226#.Uw4O6PRdWUB

As of last night - I have returned from my UK adventure! I'm jet-lagged as all hell, but full and happy and grateful for the best training experience of my life. So. There's that.

I'll start at the beginning. I spent my summer living here: (see to the right.) Essentially, I lived in a castle. More specifically, I lived at Magdalen College (pronounced "Maudlin"). I had classes 9 hours a day with the freaking greatest professors I've ever met.

The run-down:
I studied Shakespeare with Zoe Waites. She is a magical nymph-goddess, who has acted many seasons with the RSC in Stratford. She played Juliet at age 22. Casual. We worked on all sorts of technical/texty stuff. Lots of work with regard to how to get inside the verse, how to respect it/not be constrained by it, how to be focused, open and professional in a rehearsal room, how to craft a character. We worked specifically on The Tempest and The Winter's Tale. I was cast as Hermione, and worked on scene 2.1. Got to march around with a 9-month pregnancy bump (i.e. a sack of salt in my gym shorts.) Loved. It. 

I studied Modern with the inimitable Paola Dionisotti - another RSC veteran, and all around phenomenal woman and actress. Learned so much from her. Favorite quotables: "So much of acting is coated with a custard of emotion..." "Distill reality by playing an objective." "Shall we have the Spice Girls?" We did lots of vocal work, and she pressed us to be simple and unselfish in our approach to scene studies. We focused on scenes from David Grieg's Miniskirts in Kabul and Michael Gordon's Grace. I was cast as Ruth in Grace - the perpetually unhappy (but admirably fierce) lawyer and semi-fiance to Tom, the priest-to-be son of Grace, the ascerbic college professor/professional atheist. There were lots of tears, and there was lots of fun. Fun fact - I played a pregnant wife/girlfriend in both classes. Opposite the same boy. #coincidence?

I studied movement with Jackie Snow. Fun fact - she was head of "movement" direction for Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. As a bit of a klutz, I found this class EXTREMELY useful. Lots of work in getting centered and present in your body, in building an ensemble, in understanding and enlarging your own range of movement, and all that jazz. Not to mention - she got me into way better shape.

I studied voice with the lovely Adrew Wade and Robert Price. (Not pictures, alas.) Both were superb in their own right. I had little to no voice training up until this program....Feeling WAY better about all that now. Worked on resonance, enunciation, the relationship between body and voice, between emotion and voice, accents, Shakespearean text-work, and all that good stuff. Oh, and there was some tai chi thrown in there too.

Last (but not least), I had the opportunity to study audition technique with John Gorie. (also not pictured.) Worked through a contemporary monologue from Everything Will Be Different, a Lady Macbeth piece, and learned a new piece from William Congreve's Way of the World. Really grateful to have had the chance to hone in on a few specific monologues/the technical choices that lead to a good audition.

There were 88 students in the program on the whole - we were sorted into six different companies. My group (the O'Neill group) was comprised of 14 different students. I lucked out big-time. I couldn't have asked for a kinder, more well-rounded group of individuals with whom to study theatre. I learned something different from everyone. Hoping to cross paths with all of 'em again in the future!

In addition to the 9 hours of class a day, we had the benefit of a number of masterclasses/workshops. I was picked (randomly) to work with John Barton (!!!) in three masterclass sessions observed by the rest of the program. What a lucky break. Also got to participate (along with erryone else) in sessions led by Julian Glover, Brian Cox, Fiona Shaw, Henry Goodman, Deborah Warner and David Harewood. Just to name a few. Woah.

In my spare time, I wandered around Oxford, ate a lot of brunch, and saw some shows! I visited Stratford and paid homage at Shakespeare's  grave. Also saw the RSC's Titus Andronicus and All's Well That Ends Well. Wowzers. Loved both. The Titus makes the cut of top ten things I've ever seen ever. Also adventured to London to see The Drowned Man - a new piece by the same folks who do Sleep No More in NYC. This one was based on Woyzeck. Way cool. We wandered around a mansion in relative silence for three hours, wearing masks, choosing who to follow/what strains of the story in which to invest.

Other than that...I wrote some pomes (check out How to Write About Oxford and Pinocchio) and learned a whole lot of Shakespeare. Also geared up for directing Midsummer and In Many Ways in the coming months. And read some of J.D. Salinger short stories. Also did some prep work for the thesis I'll be writing this fall. And took some pics. Check under Photography/recent captures. Meep!

Can't overstate how grateful I am for the truly wonderful experience in Oxford. Left the program a more informed, confident, driven, passionate and (hopefully!) skilled actor. Looking forward to auditioning soon as I'm back in the illadelph. 

I return to Philly tomorrow! Wow. Wow.

In slightly other news -- my extremely talented older sister just released an EP! Check it out. Preview videos and Pre-order Page. I totally wrote the lyrics for one of the songs. She's fabulous, and the cd is ridiculous. Lyrical, lovely, pop-rock fusiony goodness. 

That's all for now!