Two good scenes...

...from very different shows.

In The Fades, two best friends combat ghost zombie apocalyptic warriors.  No, not all at once, in succession-it makes sense on TV planet.  In any case, there's a great scene that I'm not sure came from the writers, the directors, or the actors.  Two best friends are sitting on a bench eating ice cream, delivering some fairly mundane exposition.  However, what makes the scene cool is that they eat a bite, trade ice cream, and then eat a bite. Then they trade again.  It's a wonderful character moment to show that these guys have been friends since they were probably about two years old.  It's also a good  Pope-in-the-pool moment from "Save the Cat." Pope-in-the-pool means that if you have to deliver exposition, there better be something fascinating like the Pope swimming in a backyard pool to hold the viewers' interest.  These guys trading ice cream sure did the trick.

Another one is more of a line reading.  In Empire, Terrence Howard as Lucius Lyon is the patriarch of a family of three sons and a hip-hop impresario.  When one of his sons begins to date one of the hot young artists, Lucius says to his girlfriend/Girl Friday "Let's keep them together." It's a tossed off line, but the result is chilling because it shows not only the extent of his power but how far he's willing to meddle in the lives of those he's purported to love.  Terrence Howard gives it no weight at all in his delivery, which is what makes it land so hard.

Mythfest!

It’s all just a myth, unless it’s your own story! A bloodthirsty warrior leads her people to near extinction. A woman who has lost everything prepares to execute her final act of
vengeance. The most beautiful woman in the world finally speaks her mind. This mini myth feast packs a Trojan wallop, exploring the bonds of friendship, the complexity of vengeance, and the universal nature of the things we do when pushed to our limits. Three new plays based on Greek myth by local playwrights, woven together in a ritual offering to gods long forgotten. Be careful what you wish for… 

March 7, 14, and 21 at Seattle Creative Arts Center  http://thepocket.org/upcoming-shows/

Don't Call it A Comeback

Quoth the lyricist LL Cool J.

I still haven't quite figured out what the best format is for this blog, so I'll just keep on with the little bit of everything motif.

Just finished a reading for Arts Crush, "Shark" by Tracy Vicory-Rosenquest.  Tough role that I enjoyed (nervously) performing.

Starting Naplwrimo in two days.  Kiddo inadvertently played the dramaturg last night in quizzing me about the play I plan to write.  "Where is it?"  "Who's in it?"  "What is the genre?"  "Why did you decide to write about this?"  It's good prep work to have to work these things out and explain them.

As part of the Wrimo month, two friends and I will be doing a writer's retreat Nov. 10-11th at this place.  They'll be working on novels, while I work on plays/screenplays.  Should be a lot of words.

In related news, just joined this playwriting group.  I like seeing people's new ideas, plus I need some good beta readers for my new work.  Win win.

Just joined this site, because I had been doing the Max 10 program at my gym, working out for an hour every weekday.  Lost 6 pounds and felt totally ripped.  But as soon as the program ended, well, back to the beginning.  Now I try to go to two classes a week.  Tonight is Muay Thai class.  oof.

I'm also getting back into playing this:

I was taking lessons in the summer until I got the hang of it, but then quit playing for a while.  I'm trying to play a little bit every other day or so.  I really enjoy playing, I don't know why it's so hard to pull it out of the case.

My First Role

I have a piece up on the Schn00dles blog.

The reason I remember this so vividly is because there was a controversy–an argument over the creative direction of the show between me and my director. Once I became Queen, and Rumplestiltskin returned to take my first born child (in exchange for the ability to spin straw into gold) I was supposed to cry. And I would not cry. I told the director I would not cry.

Did You Know

I do voiceovers?  Click here and listen to the audio file. Whee! It cracks me up every time I listen.