Bye Bye Walnut Street Theatre,
Hello Summer in South Philly!
WoW!
(This is so something I would do.)
I think there is no better way to kick off the juicy first chapter of the June summer winds than with this. <3.
And also, I just cannot believe that the spring is slipping away, or more importantly, my first year as a college graduate is all a crazy haze now of memories from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to my professional acting apprenticeship at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. It has indeed been a year as I settle into my new house in South Philly.
Let's play catch up!
.up next.
FLY ME TO THE MOON...
WST Studio on 3 Debut on June 28th and June 29th!!!!!
As a sweet bonus to the end of my apprenticeship, I was contracted on to cover "Woman 2" in the Walnut's closing studio production of MY WAY: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra running May 3rd to July 3rd. Frank Sinatra's voice has taken me to many day dreams of romance through out my childhood till today, getting his "Come Fly with Me" album one Christmas way back when. The album cover alone was enticing enough with Frank looking cool as a cucumber in his dapper suit, gesturing to a blue sky and a runway of planes behind him. A school girl crush immediately developed and I pretended I was the mysterious girl taking his hand on the album cover, embarking on musical adventures around the world at his side. When I was around 9, I staged a dance recital in my Nana's kitchen to all my favorites on that album with a guest appearance by my Dad in a tap duet to "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)." I'll never forget charging my poor Dad for those tap lessons he probably only did to amuse me, but remembering how hard he focused in his debut performance will always make me grin. :-)
And for whatever reason, I think this type of intimate memory is associated with Frank Sinatra's voice and music by a whole lot of people. He's just timeless and you can almost feel his presence in your living room when you play his music-like he's there. There is just something so special about this man, so you could imagine my jubilation to be involved with a production paying him tribute, bringing to life medleys of his music- my heart did leaps!
Then to find out I was going on via my daily email checking one day- I FREAKED OUT! Not only do I respect and admire this talented cast of accomplished actors and musicians to pieces and am beyond pumped to work with them, this score is just my cup of tea, the kind of music I can just get lost in and feel like I'm traveling back to simpler, more elegant times. I have been avidly watching my favorite performers of Frank's reigning era like Dinah Shore (can variety shows like her's please come back!?), Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr, my favorite Carol Burnett, Judy Garland, Pearl Bailey (watch her sing "Mack the Knife" with Dinah on YouTube-obsessed!), Dean Martin- all of them snapping their fingers to the jazzy swing, living in their lyrics, cracking jokes in between phrases, and letting their voices soar. I just love how this music and these brilliant performers make me feel-my world sits still for moment in a paradise!
My Pop-Pop, a huge Blue Eyes fan, is also coming out to see me in this with my family, which means the world to me since I know how much this music means to him and has shaped his life- plus he hasn't seen me perform in years! I love my family so much and am so happy to share this with them.
*So if you are free that Tuesday or Wednesday night of June 28th and 29th, come on down to the Walnut! The shows may be sold out (these performances are the start of the extension week), but standby tickets are available and usually most standbys are blessed with good luck. If not, you can go downstairs and see MISS SAIGON- so look at that!
.and.
I will be performing in Mazeppa Productions Inaugural Season's PIPPIN at the St. Stephen's Theatre in Centre City, Philly (Home of the Lantern Theatre Company). I will be one of the four players strutting around Pippin (played by Evan Faram, former co-acting apprentice at the Walnut I just can't seem to get rid of :-) ) and am starting to get a knack for dance captaining.
I feel like Liza Minelli when I gyrate wildly in the Fosse-inspired moves and am simply falling in love with this wonderful cast of Philly gems. Also, a huge thanks to Matthew Cloran, our director and choreographer, who is allowing me to do both this and MY WAY and for also, cracking me up non stop in rehearsal. <3.
.farewell walnut street theatre.
On May 17th, I wined and dined with the fabulous people of the Education Office and my fellow acting apprentices, celebrating and toasting an 8-month apprenticeship coming to a close. Eight months of consistent performing in schools, libraries, churches, synagogues, malls (oh yes :-) ), and event halls through out the Delaware Valley region and of course on the magnificent main stage of the Walnut Street Theatre. We have reached over 54, 400 students within our Outreach season, performing 240 shows on the road, plus conducting 5 workshops! We also were covered by local media television stations and papers when we reached the 1 millionth student in our last week of tour.
Man oh man has it been a whirl.
The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley became one of the highest grossing kid series musicals to hit the Walnut Stage, adding additional performances to control the school field trip masses. I could have ran FLAT STANLEY until the end of our contract- it had that JOSEPH...DREAMCOAT energetic pace and varied eclectic musical stylings about it and was a giant party to perform. Jennie Eisenhower, our director, was a genius and created a playlist of tween hits for a pre-show pump up that really got these kids jazzed. It was truly amazing to hear 1000 kids belt out Katie Perry's "Fireworks" as we all giggled and readied ourselves at places for the top of show- instant adrenaline rush! And Jenn Rose's choreography, especially our number involving giant beach balls resembling globes, was terrific. I was also absolutely in love with my Donna Reed inspired house dress as Mrs. Lambchops (pictured below) and treasured all my other wacky characters I got to play from Sneak Thief to Bikini Wahini. I also met my current roommate, Miss Sarah Gafgen, in this show, so it was just an all around treat from rehearsals to performances.
Meet Mrs. Lambchop!
The tour kept on trucking alongside FLAT STANLEY performances, our understudy obligations for the short run of the Studio 3 production Speaking in Tongues, and my completion of my Walnut Street Theatre Classes all the way up to May 16th. Here are some favorite winners of life one the road:
Favorite Broadway-torium (def.: fierce school auditorium): Pottsgrove Middle School
I can't find a good picture of the inside, but it was simply exquisite and held over 1000 students. We called that day of 3 NO EASY ROAD TO FREEDOMS in the bitter cold our National Tour Day, complete with a wonderful mic and light system provided by the school, a lunch in their cafeteria (starting my chicken patty addiction) that had a view you would think to get from the top of ski mountain lodge, and a loading dock into the giant wing space. BROADWAY.Favorite Spot on Between Shows/School Break: Chestnut Hill
We were so fortunate to have a 3 hour break here, a quaint, quiet little village of a town right outside of Philadelphia, and I was even more fortunate to have my boyfriend visiting me on his own tour layover to spend it with. We ate amazing crab nachos, got ice cream, and just explored all the little wonders of this delightful place.Favorite Food Pit Stop on Tour: Tuckahoe Cheesecake Factory
This day was just magical with their 5 dollar deal of a coffee/beverage with a slice of their homemade award winning cheesecake to eat as we watched the waves crash on the Jersey Shore in Ocean City. I was also so happy to share the Jersey Shore with my tour mates since I grew up vacationing along it.Favorite Performance: NO EASY ROAD TO FREEDOM on a Model Cat Walk
We arrived at this high school in Delaware to find out we could not use the stage due to a LES MIZ barricade taking the whole thing up and had to perform on wooden cat walks wrapping around their orchestra pit. Also, this school introduced with a drum line concert and that set the whole "America's Next Top Model" mood.WoW again.
Every school looks like the other as I look back on it all. Times got hard, but still, nothing beat hearing those kids bust out in uncontrollable laughter and answering their well thought out questions in the talkbacks. I was always on my toes, ready to adapt to any change or challenge thrown our way, even when I was under the weather and/or tired. Learning to perform in all types of circumstance was definitely a huge skill to come from all of this. I thank the Walnut for my actor bootcamp this year and will indeed miss it all. I forged amazing relationships at this theatre, especially with the talented apprentices in all the departments, fellows cast mates of A CHRISTMAS CAROL and FLAT STANLEY, and my fellow classmates in my WST classes. I hope to work at the Walnut in the years to come!
Road Kill. Puppet Down.
.miscellaneous news/updates.
I really have fallen in love with Philly, especially the theatre community and the mixed variety of productions to get produced about town. I am so excited to be here for Mazeppa's first year as a new professional company, offering lesser produced musical theatre for all ages. Wanting to start my own theatre company someday, this will be an invaluable experience in seeing all the dots connect. After meeting with my college showcase coach Gary John La Rosa earlier this spring on marketing my corky actress image, I am also planning to start a new website design plus expand my repertoire this summer in music and monologues- GET IT. I have been coaching music in Philly with FLAT STANLEY director Miss Jennie Eisenhower, and Stephen Purdy and David Wolfson in NYC. My current plan is to hang out in Philly into the fall as well as manage auditions/classes in New York. This really feels right and I know I have the gusto to make them both work. The Mega and Bolt buses will be my best friends through it with good books, magazines, and music to keep me company on the travel. :-)
.music/literature inspirations.
Speaking of good music, I have indeed been on an oldies kick listening to a lot of Margaret Whiting, Virginia O'Brien (dead pan comedic genius), Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Connie Francis, Laura Nyro, Frank Sinatra, the Andrew Sisters, Teresa Brewer, Helen Forrest, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, Louis Jordan and his Tympany 5, and the Moonglows- all of different eras and styles, but all quickening the beat of my heart. I also can't help sneaking in Adele and Florence + the Machine amongst my vintage songbirds- those ladies are out of this world. Laura Nyro's "Stone Soul Picnic" is my summer anthem and I play the film Blue Valentine's "You and Me" by Penny and the Quarters when I miss my boyfriend. <3. Who would I be with out music.
I am also nearing the completion of the Anne of Green Gables series, my personal Harry Potter, but have taken breaks to read The Red Leather Diary by Lilly Koppel, which I recommend to any old soul like me who wishes they were a Manhattan socialite in the 1930s, and Frank Sinatra: The Voice by James Kaplan, which is just an inspiration to any performer when feeling stuck in the mud, making the iconic singer so human and relatable in his struggle and triumphs.
But seriously all, Anne of Green Gables is my girl. These books have me tearing up time and time again and daydreaming of Prince Edward Island. I feel like I'm also growing up with her and paralleling a lot of her hopes and desires. Bella in TWILIGHT did not do that to me.
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As I am auditioning and job searching, taking in the summer air and the tons of Italian pastry shops in my new neighborhood, living for laughs with my friends and family, and excitedly awaiting the next big thing to take hold of me, I am always so amazed by the wave of emotions that flow through me on a daily basis. I need things like music to ground me, and so I leave you with that summer anthem of mine: Laura Nyro's "Stone Soul Picnic."
Have amazing summers everyone. Its been a cold winter, you deserve it!
Love, Tara Tag
