What's up lately?
Mood:  happy
Topic: Training
Studying Nihon-Buyo (1st year - classical Japanese dance) at the Maryknoll Catholic Center down in Little Tokyo - Meet Wakana Hanayagi Sensei or just Google her for her famous and celebrated accomplishments around the World...

RoomToImprov performed a Christmas Show for the children of the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture clinic - a low-income family medical center in Los Feliz; I supported the Pacific Theatre Group in a Japanese classical dance and Taiko show for the Keiro Retirement Center community;

We're getting closer...
Mood:  sharp
Now Playing: Gardner Stages #3 - The New School of Acting
Topic: Training
4 weeks into A Doll's House by Ibsen - now nailing conversational reality - sweet! One really has to witness what a 20th century translation of a 19th century classic looks like when done well.

Suzie's down to a short sniffle after class - we're slowly improving.

Generic Update - How things are going!
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: All 3 locations at once!
Topic: Training
StandUp - pretty damned good considering I just weathered the crash and bomb of a lifetime (one fellow comic is on the show Faking It going from firefighter to stand-up comic with Judy as Pro Mentor, but perhaps fighting forest fires is actually a little less scary than doing an act at The Improv) - our showcase is on Sunday, November 14th, 2004 at 7:30 p.m. Improv II - doing quite nicely. Got an A+ for an excellent rendition of the Duchess of Alba - still gotta work on not concentrating so much on correcting details of characterization for technical characters though. Meisner - now steam-rolling right ahead, with special thanks to Susie Heckendorn for great inspiration to work through a few psych blocks I was hitting on repetition exercises.

Meisner training [2004-09-26]
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: the New School of Acting
Topic: Training
Joining a new group of intimate and caring students learning and honing their craft via an applied Meisner technique. Courtesy of the New School of Acting as taught by Dan Cotreau and Hugh Fitzgerald in the dark and cool recesses of a Hollywood basement studio, these guys care a *LOT* about what they do, and why they do it. Well-read and quite thorough, Dan and Hugh aren't afraid of trying things differently to get to the core of Meisner - acting truthfully. This is a "year-long" program with a lot of expections and growth, so stay tuned on this channel.

New class - Improv II at Impro Theatre
Mood:  spacey
Now Playing: Impro Theater
Topic: Training
Got accepted to the Impro Foundation II class being held at Impro Theater in October - very cool! Taught by the indefatigable Michele Spears, this particular section concentrates on body and physical awareness and movement, as it translates to communication. Also, just picked up an insight-filled book titled The Sanford Meisner Approach by Larry Silverberg, which turns out to be a great workbook series for the exercises and descriptions of the development process - something I sort of stumbled through while reading the grand text Sanford Meisner on Acting.

Actor's Boot Camp I Completed [2004-07-30]
Mood:  hug me
Now Playing: Me.
Topic: Training
Fare thee well to my comrades of four weeks from areas far (New York/Philadelphia) and near (like right down the street). The Acting Corps and all the great staff, instructors, and Eugene Buica make this program a great and fun introduction to the art form. Chris Thatcher (Cold Reading/Scene Study) Jose (Joe) Element (Meisner Technique) Diana Jellinek (Voice and Speech) Lisa Frederickson (Improvisation) Tracy Burns (Improvisation)