Blogging at Work (and Other Extracurricular Activities)

I often make loud proclaimations at Morimoto about how much I love working reservations (as opposed to hosting on the floor.) This has led my manager Maria to schedule me exclusively for reservations shifts. The truth is, I love reservations because I'm a lazy bitch: hell yeah I'd rather sit in an office all day/night where I can read or play online when the managers are all upstairs than be on my feet on the floor all day/night dealing with pushy people face to face!

Tonight happens to be a particularly slow Thursday night. I'm averaging about four calls per hour and have nothing to do otherwise. I'm also a little anxious because I have to get up at 5:00 am to take a bus to Philadelphia tomorrow for an audition I'm only kind of prepared for. I was called in this week for the Arden Theatre Company's holiday production of James and the Giant Peach. I'm usually a little self-righteous about going to Philly for auditions, but since I happened to have the day off tomorrow until 6:00 pm, I decided it was worth it for a number of reasons:

1. I've worked at the Arden before and I adore every single aspect of working there.

2. The show is being directed by Whit MacLaughlin, who I've worked with and both adore and admire.

3. The timing of the show is perfect: starting rehearsals a week and a half before my sublet ends, and ending a week before The Irish... at the Kimmel Center is slated to begin.

4. They are looking at me for the role of the Grasshopper, who in the script plays the violin.

Of course, as always I have my misgivings about working out of town... I just started two new jobs in the past month and I'm desperately trying to put down roots in New York. But I figure that either circumstance (me getting the show, me not getting the show) works out in my favor. Either way I end up with health insurance--either through working for Danny Meyer at Tabla, or through Actor's Equity if I work for 10 more weeks under a union contract.

Also, I'm very excited about taking the Bolt Bus for the first time tomorrow.

So this evening, while looking for ways to kill time, I've been going over my sides for the audition. My first thought when I got the call was "Halleliuah for sides!" Then I became paralyzed with fear when I printed out the sides I'd been emailed and learned that they want me to prepare 5 different characters.

Crap.

Not to worry, I assured myself. I earned the hell out of that BFA hanging on the wall. I can make 5 distinct, bold choices in just 3 days. I have all kinds of tools. Plus, this is fantasy children's theatre, so the sky's pretty much the limit.

I started with Google Image Search, employing a technique favored by my Musical Theatre Rep teacher, Rick Stoppleworth, as well as my Junior acting teacher, Rosey Hay. Both encourage the use of image work, especially for characters who live in worlds far beyond our own personal experiences. I look up pictures of spiders, ladybugs and grasshoppers, both real and caricatured. I print out my favorites on the office printer at Morimoto. Then, I make a list of the characters and try to come up with specific qualities for each of them. Which leads me to a brilliant idea.

During Grand Hotel tech rehearsals my junior year at UArts, our choreographer Rex taught us all a game to pass the time. My friends and I became obsessed with it and still play sometimes while sitting around in each other's kitchens.

I know, I know. We are so cool.

One person thinks of a subject. We usually play that the subject is a person from the School of Theatre Arts. Then the other people take turns coming up with questions for the person in the middle. The questions are categories, like "If this person were a color, what color would they be?" or "if this person were a kitchen appliance what would they be?" and the person in the middle has to answer. The object is to guess which person the person in the middle is thinking of. Whoever guesses it thinks of the next person.

Trust me, it's a blast.

So, here I am in the reservations office making a chart of the 5 characters I'm working on. It ges something like this:

Color:

Grasshopper--forest green
Ladybird--ruby red
Miss Spider--charcoal
Aunt Sponge--chartreuse
Aunt Spiker--fuschia

Flavor:

Grasshopper--toffee
Ladybird--tomato
Miss Spider--licorice
Aunt Sponge--pickled eggs
Aunt Spiker--prune

Symbol:

Grasshopper--check mark
Ladybird--pear shape
Miss Spider--asterisk
Aunt Sponge--circle
Aunt Spider--vertical line

Shoe:

Grasshopper--oxfords
Ladybird--mary janes
Miss Spider--ballet flats
Aunt Sponge--birkenstocks with socks
Aunt Spiker--too-small grandma pumps

Beverage:

Grasshopper--hot toddy or mint julep
Ladybird--shirley temple
Miss Spider--glass of merlot
Aunt Sponge--moonshine and olive juice
Aunt Spiker--vinegar

Literary Genre/Author:

Grasshopper--literary classics (Faulkner)
Ladybird--romance novels (Danielle Steele)
Miss Spider--fashion magazines (Vogue)
Aunt Sponge--TV (Jerry Springer)
Aunt Spiker--tabloids (National Enquirer)

Who would play them in a movie:

Grasshopper--Katharine Hepburn
Ladybird--Imelda Staunton
Miss Spider--Audrey Hepburn
Aunt Sponge--Kathy Bates
Aunt Spiker--Carol Channing

I can't believe I'm getting paid right now.

Silly as it may seem, I'm finding this exercise totally useful. It's kind of a spin on this worksheet my Viewpoints teacher Bill used to hand out where you filled in all these details about your character like their birthday, zodiac sign, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. only more whimsical...which is appropriate, I feel, given the subject matter. As I play, I start to feel a sense of clarity evolve in my mind of how each of these characters might behave.

I'm still nervous...but now I have tools. Halleliuah for tools!

Tomorrow at 6:00 am I'll hoist that trusty old violin on my back, don my favorite trenchcoat, and head for the bus.

Several hours later, I'll be back in this very office, undoubtedly amusing myself with some new task.

Who knows? Maybe even a new blog.