started off the year with getting ready for my two-part MFA defense, both written and performance.actually, i started my research for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom last year around this time. i wore multiple hats in my last year of grad school...teaching assistant for my last Theatre for Cultural and Social Awareness (TCSA) class...rehearsals for what would be unbeknownst to me the role of a lifetime as Ma Rainey...director for two First Wave solo productions, and then off to St. Louis, Missouri to do Ma Rainey all over again, only this time for the St. Louis Black Rep! Antonio Fargus, Erik Kilpatrick, Ron Connor, Chad Morris, Tom Wethington, Maurice Demus, Evann DuBose as the main cast. how many people can say that they got their butts kicked in Tonk by Antonio Fargus and Erik Kilpatrick?
then there was my oral defense on May 7th...highly stressful, but i must say, i looked GOOD that day! after that, the whirlwind of a week that included marathon writing assignments that were due before commencement on May 18th. and although my degree wasn't confirmed until a month later, my MFA wasn't real for me until i held the degree in my hands...(deep breath)!
i taught my last summer school class with the PEOPLE Program this year. three days after the program closed i moved...not back to Baltimore like i had originally thought and planned, but to Phoenix, Arizona. it took my sister and i thirty-six hours to drive from Madison to Phoenix. never saw so much corn in my life!
it's been four months now. business cards made, website built (still some final touches, but will be ready to launch in a few days) and a new city to take on. if someone told me three years ago that i would be living less than an hour away by air from LA, i would have looked at you like you've lost your mind...but here i am. and i'm curious...am i ready for LA? shoot, is LA ready for me? in less than four days it will be 2013. trust and believe, i'm about to find out...
one luv!
Friday, December 28, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
marketing 101 - now that i've graduated, what's next?
to hire or not to hire - an agent. that is the question.
i'm from back East. Baltimore, MD. been in the performing arts since 1992...got my first acting gig three years after. community theater...Arena Players. there has to be a rule written somewhere that if you're a Black actor in Baltimore, you MUST touch the stage at 801 McCulloh Street at least once on your journey. i've been a member since 1994.
not long after that i did two TV episodes and a movie...i was an extra, but hey! i made my "Hollywood debut" without ever leaving Baltimore. how many people get to say that?
fast forward...i went back to school in 2004. finished undergrad in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in Urban Arts Production from Coppin State University, and almost immediately was in grad school by the fall of the same year. The University of Wisconsin - Madison. up until that point, i had been active in theater for close to two decades; nevertheless, tossing my hat into the ring for my MFA was the most grueling experience of my life as an actor.
from my intro into performance until my graduation this past May, i have performed at least two plays a season. i'm accustomed to being totally immersed in culture - either teaching, acting, directing or writing. even in Madison, a thousand miles from home, i was able to find people who shared my passion.
it's now December. i'm in a new city where i know no one. i'm starving for art, but where do i begin? where are the venues? how do i get my name out? how do i build my brand, especially being this close to LA? do i hire an agent or no? there has to be an arts community here in Phoenix...
i'm from back East. Baltimore, MD. been in the performing arts since 1992...got my first acting gig three years after. community theater...Arena Players. there has to be a rule written somewhere that if you're a Black actor in Baltimore, you MUST touch the stage at 801 McCulloh Street at least once on your journey. i've been a member since 1994.
not long after that i did two TV episodes and a movie...i was an extra, but hey! i made my "Hollywood debut" without ever leaving Baltimore. how many people get to say that?
fast forward...i went back to school in 2004. finished undergrad in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in Urban Arts Production from Coppin State University, and almost immediately was in grad school by the fall of the same year. The University of Wisconsin - Madison. up until that point, i had been active in theater for close to two decades; nevertheless, tossing my hat into the ring for my MFA was the most grueling experience of my life as an actor.
from my intro into performance until my graduation this past May, i have performed at least two plays a season. i'm accustomed to being totally immersed in culture - either teaching, acting, directing or writing. even in Madison, a thousand miles from home, i was able to find people who shared my passion.
it's now December. i'm in a new city where i know no one. i'm starving for art, but where do i begin? where are the venues? how do i get my name out? how do i build my brand, especially being this close to LA? do i hire an agent or no? there has to be an arts community here in Phoenix...
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