The Epic Battles of Showdown

We are less than two weeks from opening and I've never had the challenges this show has presented.  Not EVER!  We have fifteen people say yes and drop out in a cast of 22.  That means that almost every role has had to be reconceived at least once.  We've gone from a company of 26 when we started to a company of 19.  I have not had one rehearsal where all the cast members are there.  NOT ONE!  And I honestly don't know if I will before opening.  I keep wondering - why this show?  Why is it so hard?  Ah, lesson number 992 my dear friends, sometimes the fates align and sometimes they don't.  I hate that lesson, never mind.  If I believe it is a benevolent Universe - and I do - then all of this is happening for a divine reason.  Guidance of some kind - I just wish whatever that is would make itself really clear.  Like do you think it could shout it at me?

Anyway, check out the video our choreographer did.  He's chronicaling this.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbdwT_qtjSk&feature=related

Book Review!

I got my first book review.  Wow.  Awesome, huh?  But as in everything that happens in my life, I relate it back to my art.  Let me start with the review was wonderful.  Well, really nice.  And I wanted more.  I wanted fame and fortune from my little review.  Darn.  There's that voice saying, "YOU MUST BE POPULAR CINDY IF YOU ARE TO BE VALUABLE!"

Popularity.  Like in the musical WICKED - I too must be popular.   This issue has haunted me since I was a fat eighth grader - alone - and lost.  Here I am years later with a happy marriage, success of some kind under my belt and still that 13 year old girl runs my life.  Her unfulfilled needs determine my happiness.  What is that?  When do I move into today and live in this moment and this time?  How many joys have I trounced over cause I didn't live now?  Cause she screamed - YOU'RE NOT ENOUGH!

Acting is so much about living in the now.  Being completely present.  Reacting as if all of this has never happened before.  It's a life lesson isn't it?

So.  Let me begin again.  My book got reviewed.  Te he.  And this person liked it.  And wow.  My book got reviewed.  Whoa dude. I wrote a book and it got published and now people are reading it and recommending it.  Neat.  It feels good.

And to my fat eighth grader I say, "thank you" for surviving those really rough years.  And I love you.  But you can let go now.

Oh and here's the review

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/ibw/dec_11.htm#Theatre/Cinema/TV

Valentine's Day

17th Century France


The three of us are in CYRANO.  The classic story written by Edmond Rostand about the man with the large nose who falls for the beautiful Roxane, yet can't tell her of his love.

This is the first time that all three Koblers will on stage together.  It's a dream come true. But it's been an arduous journey and I think it's taught me that the reason for what you do is more important than the doing. Cause if the reason isn't strong enough,  you won't stay with it.  Ah, love can rein supreme!

THE SHOW IS PLAYING AT THE KNIGHTSBRIDGE THEATER.

For Awhile

I'm walkin'. Yes indeed I'm listen' to my mp.  And Trisha Yearwood comes on.  She sings For Awhile which is about heart break and moving on. And I realize that heartbreak happens to all of us.  So why do I think that at one point or another I won't ever be disappointed or hurt by something somebody does or says?  Heartbreak is part of the human condition.

Then the proverbial light bulp pops up over my head igniting my brain in momentary wisdom.  Heartbreak isn't the human condish, it's healing.  And the only way to heal our fuzzy beating hearts is to go through hurt.  That's how we get stronger.

So don't run from the pain Cindy, walk through it.  Everybody does. Even Trisha Yearwood.

Triggers

What is a trigger?  Good question.  Glad you asked.  A trigger is a inciting moment.  An intense beat in a character's life that forces them to begin a journey.  It's a catalyst.  Often times, it's a seriously icky moment cause it breaks an old wounds and makes you have to reset it so it can heal properly.

I am not a fan of triggers.  They seem to come at the most inopertune moments.  And they hurt like hell.  But they are necessary.  Like Epicac for the soul.

Every character has a trigger.  My challenge to you is to uncover what yours' is.  When in the story did your character decide they had to take action.  Pushed against the wall, they had to do something or die.  Life or death stakes - literally or figuratively.  And is he going quietly into that good night or is he fighting it all the way?

Me?  I fight those damn triggers.  I bury my head; I shake my fist at the unfairness of it all; I run away.  Eventually, though I accept.  If only I could receive the trigger as a gift sooner, wouldn't my life be so much less painful?

Does Dialogue Matter

Aside from how wonderful this video is, it's also a great lesson in the often overuse of dialogue.  Not a word is spoken between these two and yet we get everything that's being said.

What would happen if you took all that dialogue in your book or scene or script and replaced it with gibberish, would you need so much character chatter?  Step back - reread.  Can you show what your character's going through by their reaction or their body language?

And once again all this makes me aware of how often I speak when I should have listened - when silence would have said so much more than words - when action was what was needed. 

Eat, Drink and Be Character

Want a bit of insight into your character's world, try eating food they would eat.  Really.  This is such a simple, yet fun way to uncover your character's tastes (literally). 

When we were doing Frankenstein, Flip - my husband - and I, dined on sauerkraut and sausages, we drank everything - including milk - out of beer steins.  It was an awesome way to get into character - before we started writing.  Oh and we had a blast sampling French pastries and Yule logs when we wrote BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.  

What if your character is from another planet?  No worries mate.  With a little imagination and a lot of food coloring, you can be dining offworld in no time.

With all the fears of obesity and heart disease and such, food has become the enemy.  It makes us fat.  It makes us sick.  But eating can be a gift if we treat it such.  It can be a simple ticket to new worlds right in our little corner.  Think about it.  When was the last time you went to an Indian restaurant or Thai or American and ordered something different? 

Come to think of it, I've never tasted green tea ice cream.  Just always seemed to me that green tea and sweet cream didn't go together.  But the next time I'm having a sushi fix, I'm gonna try it.  From there, who knows?  The world could be my oyster (no pun intended)