General Musings!
It was the first week of March in 2020 and we are rehearsing “Merrily We Roll Along,” my first musical at Villanova University, the last show in Villanova Theatre’s previous home, Vasey Hall. Little did we know that 2 weeks later the world would change forever. We never got to do this show, and Vasey Hall would close with little fanfare. 4 years later and I just closed my second musical as an alumni last week! I’m so glad I have been able to come back and perform on the Villanova stage. …
That’s right, the title says it all, I am a member of Mensa International.
I had mentioned in another post that I had switched to community college in the middle of my undergrad. While at community college, I had made a few new friends taking my computer science courses. An undergrad in computer science usually requires two semesters of calculus and I ended making one my first friends in my calculus class. As is the case with college friendships, we took to each other fast and spent most of our study time together, doing homework or working on group projects.
At some point my friend expressed his frustration with being at community college, which happens to be where his mother works, so he got to go there for free. In any case, he was bemoaning how everyone at community college was so stupid. I turned to him and said, “Well, you met me here, I’m pretty smart!” To which he replied, “Well, you’re no genius!” For whatever reason, that stuck with me.
A while after I even stopped attending community college, the Mensa convention came to town and was at a hotel about two blocks from where I live. If you came with a check for the test fee, you could be tested that day and see if you qualified for entry. That’s what I did and when the results came back, I had scored in the 99th percentile, more than enough to qualify. In the end, this was something I had to prove to myself. I never even told my friend. We began to lose touch once we were no longer in school together.
I started taking voice lessons when I was 17. I had heard anecdotally from my high school choir teacher that singers could get paid working for churches. Since I had been in virtually every choir that was available to me since I was in 3rd grade, including being in the chorus in musicals, advanced, chamber, and district choirs, I thought this might be something I could do. I opened up the literal yellow pages to “churches” and cold called every church listed there. To my surprise, I received one call back from the very church that housed the nursery school I attended that was, at one time, my family church, St John’s in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
I worked there for an entire season, from September until June, singing every Sunday and special church service including Christmas and Easter. I made somewhere around $35 per hour, which at the time, blew my mind despite the fact it was only 4 hours a week. Still I thought I was doing great for a 17 year old!
I also had heard that one of my favorite singers in my choir took voice lessons, so, once I had a job, singing in the church, I booked my first voice lessons. Again, I opened the yellow pages and looked up music schools. I found Bryn Mawr Conservatory of Music and I gave them a call. I started my voice lessons just a week or two later with Mrs. Kathryn Blum Barone. I stayed there until I started my Freshman year at West Chester University where I ultimately became a music major with voice as my instrument. There I was able to take 3 semesters of voice lessons.
Unfortunately, I changed my major and ended up getting a degree in IT and didn’t take voice lessons again until I attended Temple University in 2016. There I studied theatre and eventually joined the choir and got access to voice lessons. There I got one semester of voice lessons with grad student, Tyler Tejada.
Soon, I hope to return to voice lessons and I find them invaluable for building a proper singing technique which has helped me tremendously as a performer, both singing and acting, even understanding how to reproduce different sounds in accents and dialects.
I’ve been featured in various newspapers and publications over the years. Here’s a few of the articles I’ve managed to save.
The following clips are press from various Philly newspapers from when I was doing drag. This includes playing a socialite in the Dumpsta Players’ production of “Pari$$$ is Burning,” an early performance of Amanda Playwythe in “PromTrash Plastik” and a lady Devil in “Octoberfist V.”
The following pics are from the Qfest Closing Night Parties when I was a projectionist. The first one is with my former partner dressed in drag, which is a tradition I carried on for many years, that I would dress in drag and work as a projectionist for the final night of Qfest. The second clipping below is from a particular year where the featured film was “Bear City 2” and the closing party was held at Philadelphia’s leather bar, The Bike Stop. For this event, I dressed the part and a Philadelphia Gay News photographer took my picture and later used it in an article about Bears in anticipation of Leather Pride 2012.
During the summer of 2020, when everything was seeming very uncertain, I planted the tops of two pineapples. Well, 4 years later, there’s a baby pineapple emerging! It can take about 5 months, but I look forward to the literal “fruits” of my effort!
While training, I have been exposed to a variety of acting styles and techniques. There are two, however, that resonated with me as performer and continue to inform my performances. That would be Uta Hagen’s, “Respect for Acting” and Michael Chekhov’s, “To the Actor.“
Uta Hagen’s approach emphasizes realism, psychological depth, and the actor’s connection to the character and circumstances. Hagen’s principles, as outlined in “Respect for Acting” include:
Michael Chekhov, a Russian actor and theater practitioner, outlined his approach to acting in his book “To the Actor.” Chekhov’s principles focus on the psychological and spiritual aspects of the actor’s craft.
I highly recommend both of these books. Click here to get “Respect for Acting” and click here to get “To the Actor”
Welcome to my new website and my very first post! Wishing everyone a wonderful 2024! I’ll be posting my latest projects and events on this site to share with you all.