I planned my move to be here in time for PTP/NYC’s 25th anniversary celebration, a full day of play readings written, directed and performed by Middlebury alumnae. I was overwhelmed and inspired to witness the talent of generations of artists all sharing and demonstrating a similar passion, education and professionalism.

I played Lucy Webb Hayes in House Improvements by Emily Feldman, a play starring the 19th President of the United States. It was such fun to share the stage with my good friends Lucas Kavner and Andrew Zox and deliver Emily’s clever comedy to such a friendly audience. It’s been a few months since I’ve acted due to The Big Transition and I was nervous to get back on stage and underestimated my natural instincts. As soon as we started and I was on stage with talented actors whom I trust and who challenge me, it was pure play and fun.

Uncertainties melted away and I was home.  Of course today is a new day in this massive city and it will take a lot of energy and good friends to build a home in it, but I found the right place to start. Onwards!

I started researching programs. On the internet, visiting campuses, talking to alumnae and professionals in the field. I narrowed the search down to three schools: Yale School of Drama, New York University and Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium. Each an excellent program, but also each very unique. Total, the three schools admit approximately forty actors each year. Over one thousand apply.

I knew my chances were slim, but felt strongly about my desire and reasons to apply and felt that I was a good candidate. The most important part of the application process is the audition. Four minutes to perform two contrasting monologues, one contemporary, one Shakespearean verse, with at least two additional monologues to share in callbacks. I hired an acting coach, the fabulous Gary Logan, Director of the Academy for Classical Acting in Washington, D.C. to help me select and prepare my pieces. Gary helped me turn the daunting application process into a challenging and rewarding time of growth. It was a pleasure to dig deeply into complicated and beautiful text with a master teacher. My sessions with Gary further confirmed my need for training while also gave me the confidence to present work I strongly felt demonstrated by range and skill.

The auditions occurred in January and I packed them all into one long weekend. NYU on a Friday, Yale in New Haven on Sunday and Brown in Manhattan on Tuesday. It was a tumultuous, emotional, fun and exhausting experience. Overall, the auditions were as painless as possible, though there was a good amount of sitting in rooms with anxious people. I felt prepared, present and focused. I got a callback at both NYU and Yale, and had a great experience at the Brown audition, the only of the three schools that decide on one audition- no callbacks.

Then more waiting. Time passed. I did not get accepted into Yale. In mid-February I got a call from NYU asking me to join 59 other actors to return to campus for a full weekend of callback events. I was thrilled. I did not get accepted by Brown.

I returned to the fifth floor of the Tisch building in the Lower East Side in mid-March for two days of class work: voice, dance and movement, one more audition, an interview, and lots of panels and Q&As. I had a wonderful experience. I grew to admire and respect the twenty other actors I was in a group with and we had a great time playing together and learning about the program. I was impressed by the talent, passion and focus of my “competition”. And we were just one of the three groups that weekend. I was energized and motivated returning home.

More waiting. Weeks went by (a good sign, I was told by insiders) but I began to prepare for my year ahead without school. Finally an email from NYU arrived, thanking me for my time and work but letting me know that I was not one of the chosen actors this year. I was sad, but quickly felt resolved that I had done my best, had a great experience and was energized to move forward with my career. To grow and challenge myself in the year ahead.

A move is imminent, as Phil and I prepare for the next phase in this great adventure. More to come!

In this InkReading should I give feedback from the perspective of the role I am playing- as Regina, I do not understand the emotional leap between scenes; an audience member- I thought the second ending with the oranges rather than the first with the money packed a stronger punch; as a critic- it was unclear what the oranges represented; as a dramaturg, designer, director, stage manager, etc.? Since I was unclear, I did a little of all of the above. And maybe that’s fine, but we ran into a few problems. On the fourth day, our dramaturg suggested that we only ask questions of Krista rather than give opinions. That was a helpful observation, but then it sometimes helped Krista to ask us direct questions and receive our suggestions. I know each playwright will receive feedback differently- and I was very impressed with how open and positive Krista was to our feedback- but I think we should have laid stronger ground rules at the beginning of rehearsals to help facilitate the process.

Since The Inkwell is the only company in town that focuses solely on the development of new plays, I think it would be a great addition to their mission to also help train theatre artists on the most effective methods of developing a new play so that the playwrights involved get the most out of the workshops. I appreciate that I was included in this InkReading and think of myself as a useful member of a creative process, but I learned this past week that I have a lot to learn in how best to develop a play. We all had fun working on this play with Krista, but I think it would have been even more constructive if, along with the flexibility that should come in a rehearsal room, we also knew more clearly what was expected of each of us.

If The Inkwell can help create a cohesive training curriculum established through experience, trial and error, feedback and established formal methods not only would the products of the InkReadings greatly improve, but so would the larger theatre community. We would then have a stronger community of critical and discerning artists capable of collaborating to best serve a new work of art.

James McManus, the lovely author of Cherry Smoke, invited me up to New York to perform the opening scene of his play at the welcoming event.

Jade King Carroll directed the scene, as well as the NYC premiere, and Mike Mihm played Fish. Each playwright presented a scene from his or her work and I was honored to be part of the company to celebrate this wonderful group of artists. It was a joyous event with a room full of sincere, talented, energetic and inspiring artists.

The whole day was quite special since ND really is a haven in midtown. The building is a converted old church with offices, apartments for visiting playwrights, performance spaces and a public library full of the ND’s plays. Anyone is welcome during business hours to come to the library, enjoy a hot drink, sit on the coach and indulge in play reading. The staff is incredibly welcoming and friendly and made me feel at home, even for my one-day visit. If you’re in the area I hope you can stop by to enjoy the space, people and work. And continue to support this new batch of incredible ND playwrights.

One of the vital advantages of table work is to create a common understanding of the world in which the play exists and then create a shared vocabulary to describe it amongst the company. How many plays have you seen where you thought: “those actors don’t seem to be in the same world?” This can be a deliberate choice or it can be a common mistake that can be resolved with more discussion of the play and voicing of the opinions that individual actors bring to the room. I find that the time spent talking about the play allows me to feel more prepared to make bold choices in action and explore beyond the options discussed with the company. Of course, you also need a director who is willing to take the time to experiment on her feet and not just stick to choices discussed around the table.

I knew that my current director, Jessi Burgess, would allow time for both. As the founder of The Inkwell, a company dedicated to fostering playwrights and developing their new work, Jessi thrives in the stimulating environment of the rehearsal room. She is intelligent, intuitive, nurturing, demanding and eager to have fun. We are currently working together on James McManus’ play, Cherry Smoke, with the excellent Tim Getman, Cliff Williams and Jjana Valentiner as part of the Round House Kitchen.

Jessi fell in love with Jim’s work a few years ago when she produced his Underground as part of the Inkwell Festival.  Although the play has been produced in several cities, our company is very fortunate that Jessi and Jim have a productive working relationship to discuss and edit the play. They are in constant communication and Jim will be down from NY in a few weeks to watch a run and give feedback. Having that connection between the playwright and director and having a director that will use that relationship to not only help edit an already great play but also try to stage the best that play can be, is a stimulating and exciting process to be a part of.

I hope you can come see the play, and of course, give us some feedback

Cherry Smoke runs in the Round House Theatre at Silver Spring, MD August 27^th- September 5^th.

I first played Emily at Brown Ledge Camp as a fifteen year old camper. Last spring, I was thrilled to be cast in the role for this season and eager to tackle the character again, this time with a little more understanding of the craft. I must say, it has been more of a challenge than I expected, especially playing the young Emily in Act One.

For those of you unfamiliar with the play, Our Town chronicles the life of a small town in New Hampshire at the beginning of the twentieth century and follows the neighboring Gibbs and Webb families, and more specifically within those families, George and Emily. I do not remember the process of rehearsing the first two acts when I performed the play the first time, but remember well working on Emily’s famous “goodbye” speech in Act Three. Though my current director, Donald Hicken, and I have put much care and crafting into Act Three, it has been Act One this time around that has caught my attention and frustration.

The act is saturated with the “daily life” of the families and the challenge for the cast has been to bring detail, sincerity and humor to Wilder’s calculated scenes. I’m still playing with the moments each night on stage in performance with my scene partners, but the trick for me in the past few days has been to release my attention to the work and allow Emily to be more carefree about her young life.

This pays off when we arrive at Act Two, when the audience witnesses the moment that “Emily and George first knew that they were meant for one another”. Emily has taken herself a bit too seriously and her education is what endears you to her. I wont give away too much of Act Three, though my main lesson learned for this process has been to pull back the expression of emotion- to feel it just as much and just as powerfully- but to allow the emotion to simmer beneath. I have to thank Donald for his patience in teaching me this lesson. One I know I will continue to study.

I hope you’ll have the chance to see my work and give me feedback.

Our Town at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore runs until April 18th with eight shows a week, click here for tickets and more information. *Now extended due to popular demand until April 25th*

Since we closed in October I’ve been busy working as a standardized patient at George Washington University Medical School, where I get to utilize my acting and teaching skills helping medical students develop their communication and technical proficiency for when they work with real patients.

I’ve also had the opportunity to participate in several readings this fall, which have been a great way to work with new artists and further develop relationships with theatres in town. I performed in an evening of adapted Philip Roth by Derek Goldman at Theatre J, as an opening event for the 2009 DC Jewish Literary Festival. Also at Theatre J, I read as Rachel in End Days by Deborah Zoe Laufer, directed by Shirely Serotsky.

I was thankful for the chance to return to Arena Stage, my first employer in DC, to work with the wonderful Ellen McLaughlin for a day on her new musical in development, Inconnu, with music by Peter Foley. Up in Bethesda at Round House Theatre I participated in two readings, a new adapation of Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier by the acclaimed writer Jeffrey Hatcher, directed by Rick Corley, as well as Blake Robison’s new adaptation of Alice McDermott’s novel, Charming Billy, directed by Mark Ramont.

Hopefully some of these plays will be chosen to move into production in the 2010-2011 season. My most recent staged reading was part of Washington Shakespeare Company’s Tuesday Reading Series: a new work by local playwright, Stephen Spotswood, called Fire Burn, which was directed by Jessi Burgess. I really enjoy the reading format and opportunity to work with lots of wonderful artists in a condensed amount of time, hopefully I get to work with all of them on a longer project in the near future.

The edgy, funny and insightful writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has exposed the subtext of Oscar Wilde’s novel by thrusting the characters into the sensational art scene of London in 1988- and thus enters the sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. This show has presented quite a few challenges for me, all of which have been exciting and fun to surmount. I play five different women, learned a few new accents and worked to make the others better, appear naked on stage for the first time (that’s the big one!), had input on a new play and gained the confidence to play “the most fabulous person in the room”, among other things. I need to thank my amazing company for creating a safe and supportive environment for me to feel vulnerable in- a necessity for this show- and in turn giving me the confidence to pull it all off.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, adapted by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Big Love on HBO, Marvel Comics) directed by Blake Robison running at Round House Theatre Bethesda until October 4th. Hope you can make it!

Three months of commuting to Baltimore had put a strain on my social life and I felt disconnected from my good friends in DC. I was invited to two summer weddings, which I had planned not to attend due to Bruise Easy, but when the chance to attend them arose I was eager to do so. So I started turning down offers: offers to audition and an offer to perform. It felt somewhat liberating, and a little scary, to allow myself the time to control my own daily and summer schedule.

I am still a little dumbfounded at what people do with all these extra hours in the day, but it is relaxing and energizing to do so. I am going to attend both Vermont weddings (yeah!), visit and work with my parents at home in Maine for a week, train with Synetic and get in shape (there go quite a few nights!), and travel with my boyfriend in the Middle East for two weeks in July. Not a bad summer at all. Of course while still working my day jobs. And then Dorian Gray at Round House starts in August and the rest of my 2009-2010 season planning is in full swing. Life is good.

Our company, including several long-time Everyman company members, has grown to be a cohesive and responsive ensemble. I have great faith and trust in my fellow actors and am eager to see how the show will grow now that we are confident in the production and have the chace to play within the moments.

It is a haul driving to and from Baltimore every day, but luckily I’ve been carpooling with other DC actors in the show and we make it fun. Please do see the show if you have the chance. I think we have a funny, tragic and insightful production of a beautiful play to share and I hope to share it with you. Not only is the show poignant as our own gorgeous cherry trees bloom around the tidal basin, but also as friends and strangers deal with the loss of property and change in lifestyle.