CAST, Bitches!!

That is CORRECT!

I have been cast in Phaedre with Nearly Naked Theatre! MotherFUCK YEAH! I worked long and hard on this mo and I have fuckin' jazzed to be in it!


Nike, Greek Goddess of Victory, and my namesake.

The initial audition went well and the director called me the night before callbacks to direct me over the phone on how to read the monologue I had done at auditions. Callbacks lasted three hours and I read at least five times. I knew it was down to me for either the part of Ismene/Aphrodite, the princess's best friend, and the goddess of love (who appears nude), and the part of Panope, the narrator. I was bestowed the gift of Panope and I am thrilled.

I love being a story teller and I really feel like I convey the imagery of Greece and how magnificent the characters are. I also feel like I'm in comand of the show as I get to open it, show up here and there throughout it, and probably close it, as narrators are want to do. I'll see the script on Sunday when rehearsals start.


And, in a first for me, I already have an audition date set up for 12th Night of The Living Dead with Stray Cat. It's going to be a lot of work to be actively working on a current production while working on a Shakespearean monologue for another. I'm glad I am unemployed at the moment so I can have the time to devote to this: the things that are actually important to me. There are only three chicks in that play and I hope I kick enough ass to get one of the parts.

Always working. That's where I would like to be.

The Play About The Naked Guy

Got a callback for this badboy TONIGHT. Dig it. It's a really fun play with a bunch of fags and a gay porn star. My character is pregnant which is fun in and of itself. It's a Stray Cat production with the director from Nearly Naked at the helm. I'm going over my sides now.


I read my post there about being bummed after that last show I didn't get cast in. Man, I need to lighten up. It's not like I'm ever going to STOP auditioning. Plays and movies end and then it's on to the next one. It's not like interviewing for a job you hope to have for five years, unless it's a sitcom and even then shows get canceled. Yeah, it gets frustrating to get so close and then not get the part but man, that's how it goes. You're not going to get every part you go out for. I have done a far better job regulating my emotional investment in auditions and I have realized I need to scale it back even more. Good. I like this. This is where I need to be. I have friends in LA who go on a couple of auditions a DAY, you think they have time to get all up in arms about ONE gig? No! Suck it up, man!

Tough love on myself. That sound perverted. Nice.

In Stray Cat Theater’s Blackbird, David Vining Inspires Sympathy

Phoenix New Times review.

"David Vining is many things: theater director, dialect coach, university professor. In Stray Cat Theater's new production of Blackbird, Vining reminds us that he's also a fine actor. His rather estimable job in this one-act...is to create sympathy for a 60-ish man who, some years earlier, had an affair with a minor. Harrower has fashioned a long, curvy conversation that begins as an indictment and wends its way through every human emotion, winding up finally as a peculiar (and rather stunning) reminiscence between two injured people. In his presentation of a sad sack Everyman, Vining does the unthinkable: He allows us to sympathize with — but never feel sorry for — a fellow who made a single terrible mistake. It's a difficult distinction to bring to the stage, yet Vining...does so with subtle turns of phrase and body language as he swings between cowering passivity and towering rage."
- Robrt L Pela, Phoenix New Times

Review: 'Blackbird' doesn't flinch

Review: 'Blackbird' doesn't flinch

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Thanks to all who came out last weekend and helped make BLACKBIRD our highest attended opening weekend EVER. The first reviews are in and critics are purring...

Only two weekends left so make sure you catch the "bird" before it flies away for good. Don't let this be the one that got away!

Remember, Thursday is $10 student night.

The First Review Is In!

5 stars out of 5 from Chris Curcio, KBAQ radio!


SUPERLATIVE “BLACKBIRD” PRODUCTION OPENS STRAY CAT SEASON

”BLACKBIRD”

Stray Cat Theatre, Tempe Performing Arts Center

Tempe, AZ

Leave it to our smaller theaters to bring interesting plays to town when the major companies ignore these works. Stray Cat Theatre opens its season with the local premiere of an acclaimed English play, “Blackbird,” by David Harrower. The production is a winner although it won’t appeal to all theatergoers due to the play’s controversial theme.

“Blackbird” is based on a real situation. Ray seduced Una, a 12-year-old girl, and was imprisoned. After his jail time, Ray begins to right his life. Many years later, Una, now a troubled adult, shows up unannounced at Ray’s work to confront him about their past.

At first, your hate is directed at Ray but as the 80-minute, one-act play evolves, the fast moving and revelatory script shifts and changes as your disgust moves back and forth between the pair. At the end, the playwright never answers for you who are at fault; that’s your decision. Was it Ray, the then middle-aged guy enraptured with Una, or was it the flirty and sexually mature girl who longed for a trusting relationship? Una hoped the intimacy would provide the love and trust she never got from her parents.

It’s a fascinating dialogue and Harrower is adept at shifting the audience hatred as mistrust between Ray and Una provides insightful details about the relationship. Harrower doesn’t answer who suffered most although there is no excuse for a man sexually seducing a girl. Una’s attack on Ray is traumatic, though, and opens the question of her stability both before and after the liaison.

Ron May’s superlative production provides a better interpretation than a previous production I saw. With his designer, he’s crafted a cramped, confining, and inhospitable break room that is ideal for the confrontation. His cast is wonderful in the two roles.

His cast both approaches their roles with a natural hesitancy since the pair would be tentative in such an awkward confrontation. There’s much realistic chatter but also genuine emotional outbursts at key moments during the strained meeting. David Vining’s Ray is just right. Initially he’s ashamed and remorseful but as Una attacks, he grows more confrontational and physical in his reaction to her. Nina Miller’s Una is no less flawless. At first, she’s hesitant, slow to place the burden on Ray, but ultimately she releases a stream of hatred and fears caused by Ray’s action. As the issues haunt her, her life is influenced. Miller evolves from a shy flower to a dominant champion of placing the blame as she sees it.

“Blackbird” is an uncomfortable experience but the story is fascinating and timely. “Blackbird” continues through October 10. For tickets, call the Stray Cat Theatre box office at 480-820-8022 or order online at www.straycattheatre.org.

Grade: A

Stray Cat Theatre presents: Blackbird

I have a wee part in a fantastic play opening on 9/25!



BLACKBIRD by David Harrower
Directed by Ron May
Presented by Stray Cat Theatre

He went to jail. She went home.

One of the more talked-about and controversial plays of the past decade, David Harrower's Blackbird has been featured on many American and London critics' top 10 lists and received the 2007 Olivier Award for Best New Play. Based on a true story, this powerful, volatile piece begins when Una shows up unexpectedly at the office of Ray, forcing Ray to come to terms with the effects of their past relationship. Una pulls him into a brutal encounter that is gripping, surprising and utterly unforgettable. How better to kick off a season Stray Cat style than with a pull-no-punches evening of theatre you aren't soon to forget? **Please Note -- This production contains strong adult content.
Performances:
September 25 - October 10
Thu-Fri-Sat @ 8PM Sun @ 2PM

Regular Price:
$20/Adults
$15/Students
$15/Seniors
$15/Military

Thursdays:
Always $10 Student Night
(valid ID Required)

Sundays:
$12 for Everyone

132 E. 6th Avenue
Tempe, AZ 85281

BONUS!
Catch Blackbird at a discount: 2-4-1 tickets to any performance Opening Weekend ONLY.
Use online Coupon Code BBOP241.


Come for a night of intense theatre, stay for my melodious voice and traffic-stopping silhouette. :D

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

an offer you can totally refuse
hey lovely.
so here's the thing...
i know you've read 'blackbird'.
so i know you know there are a few bit parts in there (office people who walk past the clouded window and at the end, the woman's voice - ray's new squeeze).
i have a guy.
i need a lovely lady.
the commitment would only be a few rehearsals, tech week and obviously the run of the show.
i know it's far from the most glamorous option ever, but for something like this - since it's so vital to the show - i need someone i know i can trust.
lemme know whatcha think.
i'll keep my fingers crossed :)
hope all is well.
- r

And so, I will be joining the cast of Blackbird with the one and only Stray Cat Theatre. Being on stage is always better than not being on stage. I will once again get to spend time under the direction of one of my favorite directors, meet some new people, and bust back into the scene here in the desert. Perhaps I will learn a thing or two about dramatic acting. Show runs end of September through begining of October. More details to come!

Blackbird

Went on an audition this morning for one of my favorite theatre groups, Stray Cat Theatre.

A great dramatic play called Blackbird. I bought the play a few weeks ago so I'd have time to get to the bottom of it. It's a heavy number with only two characters and it's written in a very specific and dynamic meter.

Drama isn't my strong suit. I'm a comedienne. Doesn't mean I can't do drama it's just not my preference and not what I do best. Not yet, anyway. I would actually really like to get this part as it would force me to branch out into unknown territory and grow. It also scares the crap out of me and makes me uncomfortable. Acting is one of the only mediums where you can be wholly uncomfortable in a safe and comfortable setting.

It never ceases to amaze me how we put in all this time and effort studying a play, a part, a character, all for three minutes in front of the director. Sometimes that's all there is. You know this play, this story, these relationships inside and out and you don't get the part. It's such a mad crazy thing. Only for love do we do these things.

Callback? We'll see. Another audition down, another one on the horizon.