A Little Pick-Me-Up

It's been a long week of GODSPELL tech. On days such as today, I like to remind myself of things that make me happy in order to counteract the exhaustion and any frustration I might feel (my voice is tired - I get frustrated when it doesn't do exactly what I want it ta do). Because when I like something, I want everyone to know about it, I shall link and share these things with you.

Alfie Boe singing just about anything. I find this video stunning and charming. Obviously, watch all of his Val Jean stuff as well. Unreal.

Hipster Animals - This tumblr is AMAZING. I have been following it since Day 1, and am addicted to it. Dyna Moe, who also did the art for MAD MEN YOURSELF, started it in March or so. Get into it.

Murder, She Wrote - It streams on Netflix. All of it. Obsessed. Angela Lansbury has been a personal hero of mine for many years. I want to play Mame and Mrs. Lovett so desperately! I wish that JB would occasionally be incorrect, but really, Jessica Fletcher can do no wrong.

WHAT THE BUCK SHOW - Michael Buckley is the greatest of all YouTubers. I'm not really into celebrity gossip, but I love Buck's videos. He is hilarious in every post, and a great Twitter follow as well. I watch him regularly, but if ever I am sad, I absolutely make sure to watch something of his.

My beautiful, darling friend Nikka is going on as Velma Kelly in the Broadway production of CHICAGO in less than a week. That thought pretty much makes me want to explode with happiness.

This pig.

Regina Spektor - She is more wonderful than words can express.

I have recently become a WORDS WITH FRIENDS addict. I'm okay with this. My castmate Michael (with whom I am playing three to five games at any given moment) has informed me that I have a problem. We were playing WORDS WITH FRIENDS with each other on our phones whilst simultaneously playing an actual game of Scrabble with some other castmates last night. Just sayin' here...I don't think I'm the only one with a problem...

Eddie Izzard - Was obsessed. Am obsessed. Don't see this trend stopping any time soon. Many of his shows also stream on Netflix.

My friend Al Silber's delightful blog.

Jeff Buckley's perfect album GRACE.

UCB - Getting to see my brother do improv most Tuesday nights (when I'm in the city, anyway) has been amazingly fun. His team is brilliant, he is ridiculously talented, and I'm glad more people are getting the chance to fall in love with his abilities and appetite. He is the best friend in the world. Also, his dog is adorbs.

ModCloth.com - Dudes, I spend way too much time and moolah on this website. I love it so.

The number of nerds in this current cast I'm working with is off the hook. We're pretty much all Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings/Musical Theatre/Coloring Book fanatics. I'm so very much at home.

Coaching - I love teaching. I'm definitely working with some of my castmates once this week is over. People want to learn Scottish and RP and such. Happiness.

The fact that Alan Rickman, Paul Gross, and Nina Arianda are all going to be on Broadway within the next few months makes me crazy happy. Let's just get Mark Rylance and Janet McTeer to stick around for awhile, and I'll be all set.

I'm blessed to count a great number of witty, compassionate, warm, soulful people among my friends. That's also a big stress reliever. I'll put out a tweet or a fb update, send a text to a choice pal or two, and I'll probably be laughing sooner rather than later. Lucky. Blessed. And now, tired. Another long day of rehearsal lies ahead.

Call Me When You Need Your Mirrors Smashed

I've been in Colorado for the last few weeks, belting my face at 10,000 feet as Mrs. Walker in TOMMY. We opened last night, and will dive into GODSPELL music rehearsals this afternoon before another evening with our friends The Who. I love working in rep (meaning playing in multiple shows at the same time), which I did a couple of summers ago with Festival 56, when we played the Shakespeare throughout the entire contract. I think it's going to be incredibly beneficial to me this summer especially, because Mrs. Walker spends most of the show guilt-ridden, grief-stricken, and deeply troubled. There is a good deal of power-belting, alternated with crying and silent acting. Joanne, who I'm playing in GODSPELL (she sings BLESS THE LORD), is all joy and silliness, which will be a wonderful contrast.

I'm gonna take an obligatory sentimental moment and say how much I love this company. In the last few years, I have lucked out enormously with the caliber of human beings I've had the good fortune to get to know. There is an incredibly large number of wonderful people in this crazy business, and having that fact constantly reinforced always makes my heart happy. Everyone working out here is a delight, and pretty hilarious. I must also say that the actors I have the pleasure of playing with are generous, kind, and ridiculously talented. I'm gonna link their websites at the end of this post so that you can stalk them and listen to their glorious voices.

Now, news flash - I have a car on this gig. I hadn't driven in probably four or five years, but now I drive half an hour to the theatre every day. In doing this, I have discovered the necessity and the beauty of a playlist, of which I now have several. Some are more mellow, some are really nerdy (I shall spare you my musical theatre-only lists), but mainly, they're designed to wake me up (singing at 9am, helloooooooooooo) and make me happy. Here's the one I play the most often:

F' You - Cee Lo Green
I Want Harry Potter Back - Lily & James (my friend Grace's AWESOME wrock band - they are FAB)
I Believe in a Thing Called Love - The Darkness
Material Girl - Nick Adams; PRISCILLA OBC Album (lovelovelove)
Helter Skelter - The Beatles
Rehab - Amy Winehouse
Bille Jean - Michael Jackson
Rumour Has It - Adele
I Was Made to Love Her - Stevie Wonder
The Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
Everybody's Talkin' - Nilsson (this always reminds me of MIDNIGHT COWBOY)
Cry Baby - Janis Joplin
Rocky Raccoon - The Beatles
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Oh, By Jingo! - Danny Kaye
Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel

Here are my castmates' websites:

Garret Bruce on YouTube
Jacque Clydesdale
Erin Edelle
Rhianna Pfannenstiel on YouTube
David Piazza
Michael Walker on Twitter
Brett Michael Wilson on YouTube

You'll have to see Melanie Beck and Josh T. Smith live, I suppose, for they are on fb, but not the wider webs.

Larry Moss, Larry Shannon

I spent last week in Los Angeles, taking Larry Moss' scene study workshop intensive. If it sounds a bit dramatic to fly across the country just to take a class...it was. Hey, that's how I roll. I missed his workshop in NYC in January because I was in Boston doing NINE, and I'm going to miss it in July, as I'll be in Colorado. My longtime scene partner Denis and I decided that it might be a fun challenge to get out of our city and comfort zone by going to shiny, scary LOS ANGELES (it has always seemed shiny and scary to me, anyway) to do this work.

It was fantastic.

This was my fifth time taking this class with Larry, and I always come away recharged, inspired, and focused on issues that need addressing. He assigned us Conor McPhereson's SHINING CITY, which I hadn't read before, but loved like mad. Dublin accents! Anyway, we dug in and got a lot of good work done. We were both excited by the notes we got, especially as they were pretty much the same for both of us, which makes selecting future scenes pretty straightforward. He ended our second work session with one of my favorite phrases: Flee forward.

Larry told me to reread THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, by Tennessee Williams, and to work on both of the female roles in order to stretch myself. I did so (newest obsession, thaaaaanks, Larry!), and have been looking at various interviews and articles online about the play (reviews, production history, what have you). I stumbled across this quote earlier this evening, from an interview Williams gave about the play. I think it's one of the more beautiful things I've ever read:

“The drama in my plays, I think, is nearly
always people trying to reach each other. In
Night of the Iguana each one has his separate
cubicle but they meet on the veranda outside
the cubicles, at least Hannah and Larry
Shannon meet on the veranda outside their
cubicles, which is of course an allegorical
touch of what people must try to do. It’s true
they’re confined inside their own skins, or their
own cubicles, but they must try to get out as
much as — they must try to find a common
ground on which they can meet because the
only truly satisfying moments in life are those
in which you are in contact, and I don’t mean
just physical contact, I mean in deep, a deeper
contact than physical, with some other human
being."

I mean...the man could WRITE!

I leave in a week and two days for my three month adventure in Colorado. I am ridiculously excited. The daily smashing of mirrors and belting of high notes is going to be so satisfying.

Mele Kalikimaka

I have been grossly negligent of late with regards to posting. This can be readily explained in three words: I'm in Hawaii.

Before I go on to anything else, I want to do a PIMP YOUR FRIENDS segment. The pimping, in this case, is of Croft and Pearce, a British comedy duo. They are gorgeous, hilarious, and also happen to be dear friends of mine. They've been gigging around London, and have just released their first YouTube video, which I think you should watch. It's the first in a series regarding Prince William's engagement. I think it gets even funnier with every repeated viewing.

I want to do a fairly epic blog post a'la Krakow (see Feb or March if you don't know what I'm talking about and care to read about my all-too brief travels to Poland), so I'll save that for a few days from now, when I'm in Boston, freezing and unwilling to do much aside from rehearse and hibernate. Oh, that's right, kids. Starting December 27th, I will be in snowy, slushy Boston, in rehearsals for NINE. I've been reading the script, and I'm SO excited!!! Not for the brutal weather, obviously, but singing this incredible music will more than make up for it.

The Marginally Christmas Cabaret went smashingly well! Thanks to all who came out to see us! Videos are currently being edited, and will hopefully be posted to my YouTube channel within the next few weeks.

So, tomorrow, I'll wake up in Honolulu for the last time. We'll see Pearl Harbor, my parents will go to the Baylor basketball game, and then we'll fly to Breckenridge, Colorado, for a family Christmas. December 26th, I catch a flight that puts me into Newark at midnight. I'll get home, unpack, REPACK, and catch a bus to Boston first thing in the morning for a 5pm rehearsal. Mercifully, I can sleep the entire next day. Then I'm in Boston through February 27th! Trident Booksellers & Cafe, here I come!

Some pics of The Big Island posted below!

Back in the 'Do

I'm in Breckenridge with my mom for the week (the 'Do in the title of this post referring to the abbreviation for Colorado that my brother and I used with our group of friends in high school), just relaxing and enjoying the gorgeous weather. Here are some photos from the back porch/deck that I took this morning!







I also must share that I bought a sensational new hat today.

I have an audition tomorrow out here (I know, no rest for the weary, eh?), so I should get to sleep. I wanted to post those glorious photos, and to say that I've been getting my ROCKY contract and rehearsal info (we start in the city on Oct 4th, and relocate to Jersey the 11th), and I CANNOT WAIT TO START!!! I bought the album on iTunes to prep for the callback (I used to have it, but due to the deaths of several iPods and computers, was sadly lacking it), and have not been able to stop listening to it since. It's going to be so much fun to saaaaaaaaang!

Also, I just checked out the cast album of THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM from Lincoln Center Library and loaded it into my iTunes, as I often like to do with shows I don't really know (plus, I knew Larry Moss was in the original cast, and wanted to hear him)...It is AMAZING! All folk and bluegrass, fiddles and banjos. The show isn't done too frequently, which seems a shame, considering how lush the music is. I shall be doing more research upon my return to the city. I already found a couple of songs that I'm interested in recording or putting in my book. I was talking about it with my mom today, and realized that it makes sense I like that style of music, as generations of my family come from Kentucky and Tennessee, and many were fiddlers. Apparently, my great uncle Tom is a incredible fiddler, and someone else a little further back played the banjo. I love it! Time to perfect my folksy twang...

Oh, quickly, let's pimp a friend, shall we? I worked with an electrician at Twin Tiers this summer named David Kerr, who takes fantastic photos. He has a beautiful photoblog that I recommend everyone take a look at. He and a few friends have been chronicling their year with, essentially, a photo a day. Some really stunning work.

Treasure Trunk

When I was a little girl, my grandma gave me a big cedar chest, hand-painted with images of Shirley Temple in some of her more famous costumes (hey - she sang, she tapped, she conquered - I loved her). Right now, it's living in the closet under the stairs in the basement, and I opened it up earlier this evening to go through some of the goodies stored in there. Here are some of my favorites:

* My 9th Grade geography composition notebook, complete with my folded-up MAP OF AFRICA assignment. Apparently, I got a 96 on it for "slightly sloppy coloring," which I suppose was fair. But geez, cut me some slack, Mr. Houston - it's a pretty accurate map of AFRICA that I hand-drew!

* The Life & Style section of Sunday, March 21st, 1999's issue of The Fort Worth Star Telegram. They have an entire spread of Shakespearean fashions. "O worthy readers, look what a wardrobe is here for thee! Sumptuous Elizabethan-inspired ball gowns move from Oscar films to the runway to our own mortal closets." I. Am. Such. A. Nerd. For. Saving. This.

* Monologues I hand-wrote from the production of THE KENTUCKY CYCLE I did in 10th grade, all mapped out, scored, underlined, and notated. It's fascinating to see how I worked at age 15 on a role that size. I cared about it SO much. I was playing the female lead in this beautiful play, and I was a sophomore, so it was a big deal for me. We built out the stage and put the audience up there with us, brought 50 truckloads of dirt into the theatre and crafted them into a stark, dusty landscape...I used to ask my director for notes every day after he'd already done notes. He must've gotten into the habit of holding some back, knowing I'd be yapping at his heels sooner or later. It's really funny to see how I used to work. I was essentially making it up as I went along, establishing my own working methods. I had a marvelous high school drama teacher, but when you're in a class of twenty or so other fifteen year olds, there is really only so much info they can impart.

* The headshot and resume of an actress who sat next to us on the plane on my first trip to New York. She wrote her number on the back of it in case we needed to know where to go to buy Aaron cheap shoes. I had it hung up in my closet all through my adolescence - here was a real, live, New York actress!

* An 8th grade report card. Straight As all year, except for stupid Honors Algebra.

* Programs and ticket stubs from shows I saw in high school. No playbills. Those went in a special box. :)

* A tiny notebook I passed back and forth with a good friend during History class in 10th grade.

* A list of Spanish verbs. I'm taking that with me, as I've forgotten everything I learned in Spanish class.

So delightful.

Also, here is a fun photo of Aaron and I while snowshoeing earlier today!

Colorado, My Hoooooome!

The title of this blog post is taken from THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN. Just f your i.

I'm sitting in a large, comfy chair in my dad's study in Breckenridge, watching the snow come down outside. This morning, I made an omelet, read MURDER IN MESOPOTAMIA (good ol' Hercule Poirot was in top form!), ate some peanut butter cookies, and watched some ski jumping on TV, as the Olympics truly began today. That stuff is NUTS! They are FLYING through the AIR! Ack!

I do love watching the Olympics. I become so unnecessarily invested in sports that I hitherto have had little to no knowledge of. The races are always more difficult for me to watch - oh, man, the swimming during the summer games nearly gives me heart attacks. It'll be just my luck that I'll end up with a bunch of kids who play incredibly competitive sports. What that'll do to my nerves, I dare not think about.

I loved watching the opening ceremonies. All that projector stuff...insaaaane. The whales crossing the stage, and the young guy who did all the flying stunts to Joni Mitchell...so beautiful. And I found the marching in of the athletes from all the different countries very moving. It made me miss many of my friends that are scattered all about the world. Russia. Poland. The Netherlands. Great Britain. Italy. Portugal. Denmark. France. Sweden. Germany. Ireland. New Zealand. I'm blessed to know so many different and wonderful people.

I'm here with my parents, my little bro Aaron, my uncle, and my cousins Josh and Jake. It is a GRAND time we are having! Basically, I'm sitting around being a slob, which is in direct contrast to the way I generally live my life. I love being around my family, and we're all having a good time being lazy bums. While I write this, the boys are all downstairs playing Wii. Jake introduced Aaron and I to ASSASSIN'S CREED II last night, and I hafta tell ya, I can see how people get sucked into this. I wasn't even playing, I was just watching it like a movie. Florence in 14somethingorother - yes, climb that building! Ooh, punch the guy!

Perhaps I'd better go do something slightly improving. Or at least pull out one of the New Yorker Magazines I brought with me to counteract the Agatha Christie I read this morning. Is it sad that I read the book already knowing who the killer was, as I own many installments of David Suchet's POIROT on DVD? Gonna go with noooooo...

I must fly. My parents have just returned from a trip to Wal-Mart (glamorous days here in Breck), where they acquired GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!! Farewell!

Snowpocalypse!!!

It snowed like mad today, just madly it snowed!!! I watched it all from my host stand at work. One of the servers and I felt really sorry for the poor guys who were shoveling the snow in front of the building our restaurant is in (they were at it for ages, trying to keep it from piling up, and the building has a huge plaza in front of it, not just the sidewalk), so we took some coffee out to them. It was really gratifying to see them all smile and then shout, "Coffee break! Coffee break!"

Last night, I saw VENUS IN FUR at Classic Stage Company. It's David Ives' new play, and stars Wes Bentley (of American Beauty) and Nina Arianda. I saw her in a few shows last year when she was in her final year at NYU, and thought she was fantastic, so I bought a ticket. Then she got ridiculously good reviews, so I was even more excited. She. Was. So. Excellent. Wes Bentley was good, too - he got better as it went along. To be fair, the play is all on the female to rock it out or not. It could so easily have been done horribly, but she was perfect. So excited for her, especially as this was her first thing out of grad school, and she was non-union. People should go see it - only 90 minutes, and really fun. Really, really funny at times. Even the ol' blue-hairs that surrounded me in the audience were laughing. Really, I thought if I stopped going to Wednesday matinees, I'd wind up surrounded a a crowd that wasn't triple my age. :) At least no cell phones went off. Oy.

Stayed up till three last night packing. I did begin packing at 1:30am, and then was half-packing, half-watching SOBBIN' WOMEN: THE MAKING OF SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS. Don't be hatin' - that movie is so good. Yes, yes, I'm a total snob and will tear YOU'VE GOT MAIL or LOVE ACTUALLY or (God forbid) a Sandra Bullock feature to pieces, but I LOVE 7Brides. The men are all such good dancers, and many of them were legitimately straight! Burly baritones? Come ON! I'm a sucker. Plus, they all wore such colorful shirts and swung axes about the place. Yes, I do have better reasons that this is a good film, but are those reasons so WRONG? Howard Keel, people!!! It's just like Omar Sharif - put Omar Sharif on camera reading a Chemistry textbook, and I'm bound to like it. Or William Powell. Or - be still my heart - Cary Grant. Howard Keel can steal me from my small Western town and hide me away on his mountain farm any day of the week. Russ Tamblyn is a bit short for me (imdb tells me he is 5'9" to Howard's more satisfactory 6'3"), but as he grows up to be Riff, the leader of the Jets, I'll overlook this fact and invest in some hearty, mountaineering flats. Anyway, the point is that I was watching a lot of lovely dancing, and not folding at the speediest of paces. So I have MORE packing to do. Not much, but some. Woohoo, two week vacation! Check ya latah, New York. Colorado --> London --> Krakow --> London --> NYC! Krakow will only be for a couple of days, but it'll be my first foray into Poland, and I'm jazzed to visit my friend Stan in his hometown!

I used many exclamation points in this post, and employed my CAPS LOCK a number of times. You're welcome.

Technical Wizardry

My website is LIVE!
www.amyjojackson.com

Go visit it! And then click on the YouTube links and watch my new videos of performing at Don't Tell Mama(SWEET LIBERTY and IT'S OH SO QUIET)!

Yes, today was all about shameless self-promotion. I'm attempting to get off the computer so that I can go pack for Colorado!!! Wahoooooo!

Fantabulous February

I promised myself that I'd be in bed by 11:30 tonight, and seeing as how it's 11:12, that means I have to make this SHORT and sa-weeeeet.

DASH DEXTER had its first music rehearsal earlier this evening, which was fun and delicious. My stuff is pretty easy musically, as most of the role is text-based. Can't wait! Rehearsal all day Wed/Thurs, with the reading Thursday night!

I got the first draft of my website in from my designer yesterday, and a mini-draft today. I'm so excited! It's getting so close! I also realized how fascinating it is that little tiny things can really affect how I feel about the site, and about how it conveys who I am. I've had some great back and forth with the designer, and I'm really excited to see how it all turns out. Shouldn't be much longer. I shall then be a highly snazzy individual, let me tell you.

Tomorrow night I'm singing at DON'T TELL MAMA'S, which, now that my cold seems to be letting go of my voice, should actually be fun! We'll see if I can belt all the way through both of these songs tomorrow afternoon. Regardless, it's abated enough that I won't be croaking, which, of course, is all to the good. For the curious, I'll be singing "Sweet Liberty" from JANE EYRE, and an old chestnut I haven't pulled out in public in nearly five years - "It's Oh So Quiet," as sung by Bjork. Very excited about it. I've missed it so!

Also, I'm going to Colorado on the 11th. I. Am. So. Excited. Gonna hang out with the fam, maybe SKI, definitely watch a lot of movies and do some serious frivolous reading (meaning, not plays...though, let's face it, I'll probably bring some plays with me anyway), all while holed up in a beautiful cabin in Breckenridge. Sometimes life is just gorgeous.