A Summer of Song: OperaNJ

As the summer comes to an end I look back at the past few months and am so excited about all that's happened. My experience at Opera New Jersey (ONJ) as Assistant to the Artistic Director was nothing less than exceptional. With my past experiences mainly in musical theatre, working in Opera was a different ball game. Nonetheless storytelling through music and the grand ole theater still proved to be a home away from home. My position allowed me to work in all the administrative fields at ONJ from administration and company management, to production, working alongside industry professionals from all over the country, including of course the neighboring Greater city of New York. Most of my time was spent in "the office" but I have a few sit-ins on Opera acting and vocal coachings with artists such as Ron Land and Stephanie Sundine. Our shows and rehearsals took place at the great award winning Regional Theatre known as the McCarter Theatre:

Our summer season consisted of several summer concert series in addition to two main stage opera's, The Barber of Seville and The Consul--which was directed by Michael Unger, director of Broadway's Original 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee--sidenote--one of my personal favorite musicals:

 

Simple tasks like sorting and filing headshots/resumes and preparing materials for directors/agents and showcases to more extended projects, like creating an Operations Manual for the company and an internal company website, I was happily busy.

Luckily, Artistic Director DJ Haugen became a good friend by the end of the summer and shared several little tips and tricks on running a business.

We even talked to each other on the phone when we're in the same room. (JK!) He's great! (I took a lot of the things I learned this summer and put them into Moonlit Wings Productions--which has successfully continued to grow, and with more opportunities than usual, in just a few months!).

As ONJ is located in Princeton, I had the chance to enjoy the beautiful university and its historic campus, much different than what I experienced in a busy city while at VCU in Richmond, VA. The location also allowed me to travel to NYC (via train!!) a quite a few times a month to audition for shows (Godspell on Broadway!), network, and catch up with friends from SpringBoardNYC and old friends from home who are now in the Big Apple.

While I got homesick every now and then, I was happy to share this experience with my awesome high-school friend, Samantha Figueira, and to make new friends. This summer embraced the old and new, the far and near, and the musical theatre and opera.

 Photo of the amazing Lina Tetriani in "The Consul"

What a summer--blessed!

Tune in tonight to "FBI Criminal Pursuit", featuring Walid!

 

CHANNEL

Presents

Featuring Walid Chaya as a Forensic Tech Investigator

7pm EST - Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Verizon Fios Channel 123, Comcast Cable Channel 111

Look at the show site for re-runs of this episode 

Thank you to Hutson Talent Agency for this fun treat!

Casting A Spell...A play-by-play on Audition Day

This last Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to audition for the Broadway Revival of Stephen Schwartz hit musical, Godspell. I luckily made the Promo Video at www.Godspell.com part of the Broadway show's official "Day by Day" blog. I'm 28 seconds into the clip!!

Having directed it last Fall at Shafer Street Playhouse, I was super excited to audition, especially because the Revival of this show is pretty much a very important moment in musical theatre history. Randy Lutterman, director from SpringBoardNYC, suggested for the programs' alumni to try out, and I was happy to wait in line starting at 6am with fellow SpringBoarder Benjamin Williams. Also joining me were TheatreVCU graduates, Kim Exum, Jasmine Coles, and Joshua Grace. Having such a caring support group auditioning beside me was a comfort and joy, especially because this was my first big Broadway audition. Their sense of easy and professionalism was contagious and made me feel at home.

Being use to casting calls with barley a hundred actors, or set appointment times for auditions in the Greater Metropolitan DC arts industry, I had a moment when I realized that nearly 1,000 people were auditioning. During this eight hour wait, I found it hard to keep energized and focused, and with the sun soaking everyone up, it was hot, and we were exhausted and hungry. Also being in the middle of a huge city, there was no place to practice or warm-up. My explorations down side streets to find an alley way to sing in didn't show much promise, but I let myself look like a little bit of a loony as I belted my song and walked down a crowded sidewalk.

Right before I went in, I got up off the sewer vent I was sitting on against the wall and my phone somehow managed to fit and fall through a crack, into the sewer, and down nearly a dozen feet. I let this go for the time being and moved on. I had to let this [important] distraction go--I basically waited half a day and my time has come!! Nerves didn't really get me til I was three people away from my chance to sing. I awkwardly dropped to the floor and did some push-ups, getting into my breath. When my time approached I got in and got out. My 45ish second audition was the quickest ever and included my rendition of "Open the Eyes of My Heart" a contemporary Christian pop-rock song. Being use to singing with a piano, its simple to honor the beats and pauses in a song and listen to your imaginary other, while for this audition it was a bit of a challenge as singing a'capella was requested---oh and they switched the audition request from 16 bars to 8 bars.

Before I knew it I was out and it was all over. Being my first experience of the sort, I was super content with the process and am psyched to come to the city and audition for more productions. It was also super fun to meet so many musical theatre fans in line, network, and make new friends. Making the Godspell.com "Day by Day" Blog was also quite the treat (check out the video above!). The video is also on Godspell on Broadways YouTube channel and is pretty popular!! It's so exciting that I'm part of the promo footage for the premier of the Broadway Revival! Having given up the opportunity to audition for this show back when I was a freshman in high school, I am happy to have made up for it and attend the biggest Godspell audition yet, the Broadway casting call.

Oh, and thanks to a very kind gentlemen who works at the church where the casting call was in NYC, I was able to get my cell phone back after my audition, safe with no damages. Things ended pretty well!

Here's a montage of "Godspell" directed by yours truly at Shafer Street Playhouse last Fall:

Summer at the Shore...

N.Y.C. or L.A.?
The answer is actually JERSEY [for the summer]!

While Jersey is known for it's MTV Jersey Shore fist pumpin' groove and Garden State greenery, Princeton has Jersey's leading Opera Company! Thanks to interviews at SETC, I have joined the Opera New Jersey arts administration team. Working closely with the Artistic Director, I have opportunities in fields including company operations, management, and production. We're producing 2 main stage opera's the summer along with 5 special concerts. Also, Scott Schwartz (son of Steven Schwartz, composer of Wicked, Godspell, Pippin...) is directing a new opera called The Family Room. So little time, so much to do!

Being under an hours train ride away from NYC, I've have been able to continue to explore the NYC theatre scene, from practical things (i.e. the NYC Public Library for the Performing Arts) to business items (i.e. auditions & shoots). This has been perfect, I've been feeling comfortable with the city and growing to love it more with each visit. Thanks to my best friend Jasmine Coles for opening her doors to me!! (Look out for her, New York!!!)

Contact me for tickets to one of our shows or to check out a summer concert!
I leave Princeton at the end of July and am looking forward to directing adventures in DC (or LA??) and a visit to Lebanon to see family and explore the theatre and media entertainment scene in August (and eat lots of Lebanese food, lay at the beach, dance all night...).

Happy SUMMER ADVENTURES to you!

The Journey Begins...

The Top 10 Things I Learned in College as a Theatre Artist

10. Stay true to you
  9. Invest in all you do
  8. Take a risk or two
  7. The safe choice is poo
  6. Work on your material both old and new
  5. The hard times will pass through
  4. Prep for your interview  

  3. Memorize your sides and cue

  2. Say "thank you" to the cast and crew

  1. Always expand your world view

I am psyched that I now have a BFA in Theatre Performance! I really got to enhance and strengthen my craft at TheatreVCU--an incredible program to really be proud of. Highlights along my journey include (but defiantly aren't limited to) Josh Chenard's Chekhov teachings and life lessons, Janet Rogers inspiring Archetypes class, Dr. T's transformative Actors Studio, Paul Valleys joy for language and human behavior studies, Patti D'Becks musical theatre magic, Lorri/Barry's mentorship, the list can go on! Our grad students were also wonderful. I give TheatreVCU:

The journey is the most exciting part of life as an artist, and my journey is just beginning. Hats off to my talented friends and graduates! Thank you to my beautiful parents for getting me here. Cheers to my friends and amazing support group. I am living the American Dream!

Congratulations to the VCU Class of 2011! We did it!

"SPIN" - On The Set

This last weekend I wrapped a short filmed for Silent Code Features called "SPIN", written and directed by Michul Aboudib. I got to play a 15 year old enthusiastic, young eager boy named Miguelito. "SPIN" is about a young journalist in Italy that faces unexpected obstacles once he’s offered his huge break. The cool thing about the scenes shot with my character (the first bit of the film) is that it's all done in one, consecutive shot without cutting. This style is similar to older movie making before cuts, continuations, and edits were really in. This proved to be a fun challenge as I got to deal with lots of movement/choreography and had to really nail the timing in this piece. It will be submitted to various film festivals in Washington, DC, so stay tuned for more coming soon (including some pics/stills to be blogged by yours truly even sooner!!!)!!

Guest Artist for Fairfax County...

"Be yourself, everyone else is taken." -Oscar Wilde

What a busy time it's been racing to the finish line known as gRadUatIon!!
I've been spending most of my time in the DC area as Guest Artist at various high school theaters for Fairfax County Public Schools. This gives me the great opportunity to jump-in for FCPS teachers and work with students across the county. I've really enjoyed doing scene work, improv, and really communicating the importance and simplicity of honesty in acting. When young actors through tools and exercises that I share lose their "stage voice" and actually genuinely speak, they are in shock--they've discovered acting and really living in an imaginary moment. They're connected and understand how specifics, simplicity, and subtly drive a scene and most importantly, tell a story. These revelations are rewarding and whether these young artists are going to be old artists one day, they're getting to know themselves.

"The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose." 

~Richard Grant