Sunday, February 21, 2010

Induction

So, today was my first meeting as a member of Paper Lantern Theatre Company. Not only did we discuss the fundraiser (Mark your calendars - it's Monday, March 29!), auditions and assignments for our next production (Kimberly Akimbo!), Amy also took my picture for the website.

I love that Star finds holding the lantern on my head hilarious!



Which one do you like?

Friday, February 12, 2010

A Book Report

Party Girl, a novel by former celebrity journalist Anna David, is one of the numerous books Myla gave me for Christmas. I'm not sure where Myla picked it up, but I am glad she did.

I've never been a "party girl" nor have I ever been addicted to drugs. Anna paints a very clear portrait of Amelia Stone's life and pretty soon you're on the same roller coaster ride. Like Amelia, I bought into the philosophies of Pledges, the rehab center Amelia checks herself in to. Among other things Amelia learns "Resenting someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die." That and, expectations are resentments under construction.

I've been aware for quite some time that I'm easily pissed and/or disappointed because my expectations tend to be so much. Making the journey with Amelia helped me even more with my personal focus.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Auditions, V-Day 2010

I've been in 3 productions of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. I was first introduced to the show when I was part of the Cunt Chorus in the Community Theatre of Greensboro's production back in 2004. Family Services sponsored V-Day Winston-Salem, and I participated in two of their productions. I've reclaimed cunt, spoken about my short skirt and talked about his crooked braid. Last year Family Services sponsored A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer and I was honored to perform two pieces for that production.

Because V-Day is a cause I support I was initially saddened to learn that Family Services would not be producing V-Day Winston-Salem this year. When I received a Facebook notice that Sheri Masters and Jay Smith were going to direct The Vagina Monologues and A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer, respectively, for V-Day Greensboro, I jumped at the chance to be involved.

After requesting more details, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to audition since they were scheduled on our first night of tech for The Nerd. Luckily both were canceled due to the snow/ice. Auditions were rescheduled for yesterday.

Since we were both auditioning Charis and I rode together. Peg, one of my V-Day W-S castmates also came to audition, as did Liz (who I know from Honk!). The remaining auditionees, a handful of women and one man, were people I'd never met.

Auditions consisted of cold readings from TVM and MMRP. I knew most folks would read "Because He Liked To Look At It" so I went with "I Was There In The Room", a piece about the wonder of child birth. Charis did an outstanding job with her audition, "Blueberry Hill" from MMRP. Peg rocked her audition, as did another lady who finally performed "The Flood" the way it should be.

While I was surprised at the lack of turnout (less than a dozen), Sheri and Jay have a great pool of talent if they use everyone that showed up yesterday. I'm hoping all my conflicts (remaining The Nerd performances, Trials and Tribulations rehearsals and SETC Convention) won't prevent me from being in the cast. I should know something by the end of the week.

Friday, February 05, 2010

A Playwright Is Back In Her Element

By Joe Scott

As a theater major, Kati Frazier could not have picked a worse time to graduate from UNCG.

The year was 2008, the nation's economy was tanking and unemployment was at an all time high.

"I was just looking for a full time job with office work or something I wouldn't hate," says Frazier who is a native of Hope Mills, N.C.

But when Frazier depleted the money from her savings account, she ran out of options and began working the late shift at a local Waffle House.

"I met lots of fun people working there, but every day I'd walk into work thinking, 'What am I doing with my life?'" Frazier says. "'I just got my degree, I know I'm talented, I know I'm intelligent, what am I doing with my life?'"

Working nights at a Waffle House was hardly the vision she had for herself when she started college.

However, the job gave Frazier the chance to write "The Last Year," a new play about the end of a long-term relationship. On slow nights, Frazier would often grab a notebook, sit in a booth and work on her play. It took her six months to complete it.

"It gave me a lot of time to do writing because when you're working nights on the weekdays at the Waffle House, you're just waiting on the next customer," says Frazier, who now works at Edward McKay's Used Books and More in Greensboro.

Frazier is currently producing "The Last Year" as part of the eighth annual Greensboro Fringe Festival and will debut the production on Feb. 6. This is her third piece performed at the festival and her first to be hosted on the main stage at City Arts Studio Theatre.

"The Last Year" focuses on Parker and Lori (played by actors Noah Daulton and Angela Chandler), a young metropolitan couple who've been sharing an apartment for eight months. On the surface, their relationship appears to be going well until a secret relationship Parker has with a male co-worker begins to tear it apart.

"I do think there are parts of their experience that do relate to my life, Parker's confusion and Lori's just weak and in love," Frazier says. "I think anyone can relate to those things, and I know there are things that I can personally relate to in the story."

Beyond a plot that challenges the boundaries of non-platonic relationships, the one element that distinguishes Frazier's script is its biting wit and rapid-fire dialogue.

"It's one of the things that we're working on a lot in rehearsals," Frazier says. "The script's in their hands, and some of the young college actors are used to talking and listening and thinking really hard, and I'm like, 'No we've got to keep this going, it's a fast play, a quick play. &ellipses;You can't really stop for anything."

When Frazier's play was accepted to the Greensboro Fringe Festival, she was relieved because it had been one year since she had worked on a theatrical production.

"I had been feeling really out of my element this past year, and I hadn't really done a lot of theater and I was losing my mind," Frazier says. "And so when (Greensboro Fringe Festival Producer) Todd Fisher said to me, 'Hey, you're in this year,' I was just so excited and relieved because I had been bouncing off the walls without doing any theater."

Frazier hopes "The Last Year" will do well enough that she'll earn the money needed to send the play off to other fringe festivals around the country. She would like to develop the play further and watch it take shape under the vision of a new director.

"I just want to take the script and work on it based on what I learned here and let someone else do it so I can get separated from my work," Frazier says. "I write things and I direct things, but I need to let the stuff I write go, and I need to let someone else direct it."
Last year I worked with Kati on another of her original scripts. I was Shannon in Virtue of Fools, which was also in the Greensboro Fringe Festival. She is a wonderfully talented playwright and a great director. I can't wait to see The Last Year.