No Risk, No Art

“If you’re not feeling those butterflies, you’re not taking a big enough risk.” -Ray Manzarek A perfect mantra or tattoo or billboard or t-shirt would be: “No risk. No art.” And it actually is a t-shirt…The actor and director Fisher Stevens once made his own with the above quote and wore it constantly. To remindContinue reading “No Risk, No Art”

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The Best Dramaturgs

Unless you work in the theatre, you might be wondering what the heck is a dramaturg? This article and this one explain in detail. Basically it’s someone who provides valuable research and context to theatre (and opera-makers). They also help playwrights shape material similarly to how an editor helps writers. The best dramaturgs, editors, coaches,Continue reading “The Best Dramaturgs”

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Scary Stories

“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” -Joseph Campbell There are lots of reasons people love scary movies. As this article points out, some include wanting novel experiences, sensory stimulation, and curiosity about our darker or shadow sides. I think another reason is presence. Feeling alive. Being focused on one thingContinue reading “Scary Stories”

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Gratitude As Fuel

“Gratitude is the closest thing to beauty manifested in an emotion” -Mindy Kaling “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive-to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations If you are your own power plant, then you need a source of fuel toContinue reading “Gratitude As Fuel”

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Landing 747’s

My friend and go-to director/collaborator Ron once gave me this fantastic advice after a rehearsal in which I was pushing, “acting”, trying to do too much… “You don’t have to land a 747 on every line. Sometimes a line is just a line.” He’s right. If it’s good writing, we in the audience will feelContinue reading “Landing 747’s”

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Decide, Do, Feel

“Hamlet likely marks the first time that Stanislavski put together several key concepts of the “system.” Having already realized that a script could be divided into bits and that characters had a supertask, a sverkhzadacha, he next realized that each character’s bit had its own zadacha: a little step taken, often unsuccessfully, toward the character’sContinue reading “Decide, Do, Feel”

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Somewhere In The Middle

“There is one river of truth, which receives tributaries from every side.“ -Clement Of Alexandria “There’s no disappointment in memory, and one’s exaggerations are always on the good side.“ -George Eliot, novel Daniel Deronda I know the truth lies in betweenThe first and the fortieth drink -Tori Amos, song “Concertina” “Be tolerant with others andContinue reading “Somewhere In The Middle”

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