Film Wrap

Just wrapped a film called The Shopkeeper, written and directed by Rachel Lambert.

I played a woman named Vicki (the shopkeeper), who had an intense, rich, and untamed inner life, which included dealing with uncomfortable angst and OCD. Her love of loud music resided in her backstory. Listening to it liberated her--so I created a few playlists for Vicki and listened to them in prep and during filming. 

I loved this character and her music. I felt protective of her. Her exterior was solid and tough; while her interior was child-like, sensitive, and vulnerable. 

Each character I play teaches me something; and while I say goodbye to Vicki, I'm thankful for all the incredible experiences and feelings I've gained from playing her. 

Here we are after filming the final scene in Times Square. From left to right, it's me as Vicki, Mikayla as Quinn, and Peter as James, my nephew.

...and here we are with writer and director, Rachel.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff at PS 166

I'm grateful to have worked as a teaching artist at PS 166 (The Richard Rodgers School of the Arts and Technology) yesterday on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I spent 45 minutes to an hour in each of the five kindergarten classrooms introducing acting and theatre. Since all classes were in the process of reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff, I created a lesson plan with the focus on that story. After a warm up and discussion, the kids rehearsed, then performed in small groups as five characters from the book: the little billy goat; the medium-sized billy goat; the big billy goat; flowers, grass, trees, and vegetables in the meadow; and the troll. It was a delight to work with such enthusiastic kids and supportive teachers. Thank you to Colin O’Leary at Circle in the Square for offering me this fun job; and thanks to PS 166 for having me! 

Photo credit: Jim Henderson