By Meghan Wolf, actress playing Desdemona in Othello, Denver Center Theatre Company

This week I have been exploring Desdemona’s innocence and purity, which appears as fairly extreme to our modern, feminist sensibilities. At the turn of the century, even more than when the play was written, women were exceedingly obedient, so all of my modern impulses to stand up for myself are not appropriate here. Instead, we are focusing on the intention of being loving toward Othello, through and despite his mistreatment of Desdemona. The thinking is that the more Desdemona loves Othello, the more devastating the disintegration of their love will be.

It is very counter-intuitive to literally turn the other cheek; I want to fight back! But I am enjoying investigating these unfamiliar choices and foreign states of mind. One of the reasons I became an actor was to fathom the endless variety with which individuals experience and interface with reality. To do so in a way very different from my own is a valuable learning experience.

The questions I’m asking now concern Desdemona’s relationship with her innocence and purity: “Does she feel and suppress the impulse to fight back? Is she aware of the cultural attractiveness of purity in women and if so, does she consciously (or sub-consciously) utilize it to please her husband?” My actor’s instincts tell me that any awareness of innocence would undermine it…but it’s an interesting question.

Part of my training taught me to marry my actor’s inner experience with what the character is going through moment to moment. For example: if a moment in the play makes the actor feel self-conscious, then in that moment, the character feels self-conscious too. If the character’s behavior or words in that same moment happen to convey a contradictory state (say, self-assured), then the actor can play that the character is trying to appear self-assured through the presenting feelings of self-consciousness. It may sound like a fractured cerebral process but it is actually pretty intuitive and, when it works, can produce a satisfying seamlessness between actor and character states.

On a technical note, I am working against a contraindicated physical reaction right now as well, specifically in the final scene of the play. When playing the recipient of death by smothering, the impulse is to stop breathing. But holding my breath throughout the choking would result in gasping for air once I am finally ‘dead’…which would kind of kill that illusion. Remembering to keep breathing while playing suffocation like is like patting your head and rubbing your stomach! I will have to practice this a lot.

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By Meghan Wolf, actress playing Desdemona in Othello, Denver Center Theatre Company

Well, the fun and games are over…on to death.

OTHELLO playing Mar 26 - May 31 at The Denver Center

It’s one thing to read the scenes around the table and yet another to embody them. The former is a more theoretical process, closer to story-telling, and the latter is much more personal, like actually living it! This is part of why I love acting – it is a privilege to get to shoot back in time to another era and take on the spirit of another life, let her live (and die) through me…it is thrilling. But it is also sad. To fight for one’s life and love and, ultimately lose..? This is part of the journey and it is a journey I am excited for. However, it is necessarily heart-breaking. If I don’t break my heart every night in this show, I am not doing the story justice.

So, I bought myself flowers, chocolate and wine this week. I know no better remedies for a broken heart…

In my off-time, I’ve been exploring downtown with my little dog, Lilly. This week we have been reveling in this incredibly beautiful weather (and I’ve been reveling in the chance to rub it in to my poor snow-bound friends back in NYC).

I am still getting used to living closer to the sun – learning how not to burn rice at a mile high, taking it slow in yoga class.

I’ve started reading a massive tomb called Victorian Women, which is adding to my imaginative fodder for the life of the corseted lady. (Did I mention that our Othello is set at the turn of the century?) From the chapter entitled “Forming the lady: Comportment and dress for young women” comes this advice: “The gait of a woman should be neither too fast nor too slow….Her expression must be sweet and modest. It is not in good taste for a woman to speak with too much animation or too loudly….” I, of course will need to balance these restraints with the demands of a theatrical production. I must be heard, after all, and some animation will be required so as not to bore my audience to death! This is a delicious challenge. Part of the actor’s task is to absorb the given circumstances of the world of the play and then balance verisimilitude therein with the presentation of that world to an audience. Luckily, I have help – my director will keep a sharp eye on this balance with me.

Today is the day I will don my rehearsal corset. We are working a bit of violence this afternoon and I must get accustomed to falling to my knees within its bony grasp..!
 

It will be a perpetual Valentine’s Day for me until further notice. You may send flowers, chocolate, or wine to me at the theatre and thanks in advance.

Popularity: 8% [?]

By Meghan Wolf, actress playing Desdemona in Othello, Denver Center Theatre Company

This week we moved from table and script work to blocking, which means we got up on our feet for the first time!

Working with Robert Jason Jackson (our Othello) is like dancing with a very skilled leader. I am grateful to be in such excellent hands. He even literally swept me off my feet in one scene — keep your eyes peeled for that move in the performance.

Today we blocked a particularly thrilling staging moment, the “bar room brawl.” Our fight director, Geoff Kent, had the exacting challenge of choreographing chaos while keeping everyone safe. He managed to create something both graceful and deadly looking — it was pretty riveting!

Playing in the round is such a unique adventure; we must act with our whole body (as always, yet even more so). In the round, we must employ a lot of “back acting,” etc. It is a great work for honing our instrument from every angle.

To help find Desdemona’s stance and stride, I’m wearing long skirts and little lace-up booties with a small heel to rehearsal. Soon, the costume shop will make a rehearsal corset available to me to help me get used to being squeezed to death on a daily basis. (I’m hoping that happens later rather than sooner..wink, wink.)

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More posts from Meghan

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Bryce Baldwin, age 11, normally lives in Thornton, Colorado on a small farm, complete with sheep, goats, llamas, a dog and a hamster. But a few months ago he left his home to tour the country as “Michael Banks” in the national tour Mary Poppins, headed for The Buell Theatre March 4-April 4. Bryce is an immensely talented young actor who appeared on the Denver Center stage as one of the young princes in Richard III in 2009. We caught up with him while the tour was in Los Angeles.

Have you enjoyed traveling on tour? Where are you right now?

Yes, I love the tour. It is so much fun to see the new cities. I am in sunny Los Angeles, California…feeling a little guilty being warm when everyone at home is freezing this winter.

What is your favorite place you’ve visited so far?

I am not sure that I have a favorite. Every city has something special about it. The theatres are all different and have their own history of how old they are and who has performed in them. Some have murals backstage that the performers have made. Some of them are even haunted, which is especially interesting to me…we even found a coffin in the Fox Theatre in St. Louis. The cities are all different too and it is fun to see what is important to each area. I have gotten to meet a lot of famous people here in LA, so this place has definitely been fun!

Who from your family is on tour with you right now?

My Mom travels with me and I would do terribly without her help and support. Ashlee (my sister) and my Dad have been to every city except Houston. My grandparents came to Houston so my Mom could go home for awhile, so I had a lot of fun seeing them. It is always nice when my family comes because I really miss them. There isn’t an opportunity for me to go home because of the schedule – that’s hard because I miss all my friends and I have a lot of animals and I miss being able to see them too. I travel with my hamster, Bubbles, and I started a pet watching service for the cast called “Baldwin Buddies,” so that helps get me my animal fix.

Now that you have been on the show for awhile, do you have a favorite song or dance that you enjoy performing most right now?

I don’t think I have a favorite because the whole show is magical and fun to perform. My favorite is just being able to do it all. The story is so good and it is fun to bring it to the audience.

Tell us about your schedule.

We feel like we are in a time warp on tour. I am in school 4 – 5 hours a day Tuesday – Friday (sometimes on Saturday too). It kind of depends on the laws in the states we are in on how many hours we can do or what days we can have school. There are 8 shows a week and I do 4 of them but for the shows I don’t do, I still need to be at the theatre on stand-by. I have Mondays off from both school and work and that is our day to explore.

What will you tell your fellow castmates they must do when they are in Denver?

Every Sunday they should eat brunch at either the Armadillo or Cinzetti’s. The mountains are a must for a drive or skiing, but we have to be careful not to get broken. Estes Park is nice and also Casa Bonita is a big tourist site. The company housing choices are close to the 16^th Street Mall, which has everything. There are so many wonderful things to do in Denver and around there. And of course, they all need to make at least one visit to Baldwin Acres to see my animals.

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By Meghan Wolf, actress playing Desdemona in Othello, Denver Center Theatre Company

Today we worked on the DEATH SCENE! Talked about the heart of this tragedy — that, despite the strength it exhibited in smashing the convention of the times, Desdemona and Othello’s love never gets a chance to grow…but is the true tragedy that it was destined to fail from the start? We discussed where exactly in the script Desdemona starts to believe that her life is in peril and (spoiler alert!) the various ways we might stage the putting out of her light. Nice, light drama on a snowy afternoon!

From rehearsal, I went to the costume shop where I got to glide around in mock-ups of the most fabulous clothes. The lines are elegant yet girly and promise to be delicious to play in. The super tight corset and low-heeled, lace-up boots were already giving me a lot of information about movement (and lack thereof).

Tomorrow, Robert and I shoot some promo footage in the morning – looking forward to playing on our feet if only for a few hours! Keep your eyes peeled for our commercial when it airs .

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LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL is finally in Denver!  Bend and Snap!  And now, we present you with two videos from members of this stellar cast.  First, Rhiannon Hansen, who plays Margot, tells us about the fashion in the show, talking to dogs, and why Legally Blonde makes a great date.  

And now, Natalie Joy Johnson, who plays Paulette, tells us all about stepping into Jennifer Coolidge’s shoes.  
 

That’s all for now!  More about the show on www.denvercenter.org

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By Megan Byrne, actress in When Tang Met Laika, Denver Center Theatre Company

The “tang” in our play title WHEN TANG MET LAIKA refers to Kraft’s orange-flavored soft drink, not the Chinese dynasty as some have thought. In 1965, NASA began using Tang on the Gemini flights. Subsequently, the general public came to associate the beverage with astronauts. NASA stopped serving Tang in space after the Gemini program. However for Americans of a certain generation, including President Obama, Tang will forever be thought of as the astronaut drink. In March 2009, while on a video conference with the orbiting crew of space shuttle Discovery, the President jokingly asked “Do you guys still drink Tang up there?”

 
Growing up, I also thought of Tang as the astronaut drink. It wasn’t until I began working on this play that I was introduced to some of the non-beverage uses for the orange powder. I play Samantha, wife of astronaut Patrick Norman. Sam makes Tang pie in the play. The key ingredient is, you guessed it, Tang. The pie tastes a bit like a creamsicle to me, but you should try it for yourself. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Tang orange drink powder
8 oz. sour cream
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 graham cracker pie crusts

Preparation:
Mix all ingredients together. Pour into the two pie crusts. Chill in refrigerator for at least two hours before serving. Bon appétit!

Tang is not just for consumption. Apparently you can also use Tang to clean discoloration and scale from your dishwasher. Add one half container of Tang to your detergent and run a regular cycle. The citric acid present in the mixture helps to loosen up the hard water deposits and remove scale from your dishwasher. I admit I myself haven’t tried this out, but some people swear by it.

So the next time you are at the supermarket, you might want to consider heading down the powdered drinks aisle and throwing a container of Tang into your cart. Could come in handy. You never know when you might get the urge to whip up some Tang pie, clean your dishwasher or mix up a drink for an astronaut.

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It’s less than a month until LEGALLY BLONDE hits Denver on February 2!  Here’s a Q & A with Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone (Ensemble, u/s Elle Woods, Margot) pulled from the “Legally Blonde on Tour” website.

You’re new to the cast — tell us a little about what you were doing before you joined the show.

Before the Legally Blonde tour I was auditioning a lot! Pretty much believing that something would break through (like the Legally Blonde tour). I was part of a play festival at the Public theatre in NY this last summer.

Kathleen Elizabeth Moteleone

What’s your favorite thing so far about being in the show?

I love the people! They are super-talented, have great attitudes and are just so fun to be with. I’ve been performing in the show just a few weeks now and every night I discover some new, funny thing that happens on stage. Whether it’s CJay’s comments under her breath as the judge, Sarah Shepard’s amazing facial expressions as Chutney or Kyle and Connie’s performance as Nikos and Carlos, each night I’m finding myself onstage saying “Kathleen, hold it together, find some professionalism”.

What do you like doing when you are not on stage?

I love traveling. My husband and I run a production company and it allows us to see new places depending on what we’re producing. We were in Australia last year. We also have a cabin in New York and I LOVE being there and working on new things around the house. I went to Target yesterday and went nuts over all their decor! I love anything Betty Crocker-ish/Martha Stewart-ish. It’s so opposite than “showbiz” and I like the balance.

What’s on your iPod right now?

Legally Blonde the Musical (of course), Ingrid Michaelson (obsessed), Jason Mraz, a little Glee, some country (Dolly Parton, Lady Antabellum) and all of my vocal sessions with Kyle our musical director (not as entertaining as the other stuff. I hit a lot of wrong notes during the learning process).

What would you say is your signature color?

Oooh, I would say black. Ha! I actually don’t know, but now that I’ve learned the role of Elle Woods I’ve been inspired to stay on top of the beauty standards every girl should know – for example: signature color.  I did get a dark pink pedicure today. I’m at least improving.

What’s the most fun thing about working with animals on stage?

They remind you to stay calm and normal. I love that when I pick up Bruiser or hold him, it brings me back to Earth. It keeps me from “performing” Elle Woods and requires me to just be in the moment.

What are you looking forward to the most this year on tour?

Getting to be onstage! I’m still pinching myself that I got this job. And getting to see the country.

Finally, what’s your best Blonde Moment?

Do I have to pick one? How ’bout the first week I joined the tour in Costa Mesa, my brain was so fried from retaining so much information I couldn’t find our rental car in the parking lot of the theatre. So I tried to open every white car in the lot. Of course they were all locked and I swore someone had stolen it. I called Lucia (Enid) frantically and she reminded me where it was. It was pretty much five steps to my left (the one place I didn’t look) behind a dying parking lot tree. From that moment on Lucia has definitely considered me a “blonde”. (We blondes do have more fun though!)

Becky Gulsvig as Elle Woods and the cast of the National Tour of Legally Blonde the Musical. Photo: Joan Marcus

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By Richard Thieriot, actor in When Tang Met Laika, Denver Center Theatre Company

Richard Thieriot

My name is Richard Thieriot and I’m playing The Young Communist (retired) in the world premiere production of WHEN TANG MET LAIKA I was part of the first reading of the play at Perry Mansfield right after I finished my degree at the National Theatre Conservatory (2008). The play has changed and grown a great deal since that first reading. I’ve never worked with a writer who is as active in changing and editing a script as Rogelio Martinez; he has given us a stack of new pages every day since began this rehearsal period on Monday the 14th. An actor gets to watch performances and themes develop in all rehearsal processes but it is a rare treat to watch the actual script change shape and evolve every day. Terry Nolen, our director, has put together an awesome group of actors for this play as well. I sit back during most of the read-throughs and just watch my cast-mates tell this story. They make me forget where I am. Just awesome.

A great deal of the play takes place in space and we’ve been researching the space race a great deal and talking about it. Last week, we had a real life astronaut come into the rehearsal and tell us about his experience in space. Bruce McCandless went on two expeditions in a Nasa orbiter totaling fourteen days in space. He looks pretty unassuming, just a quiet older guy with a bit of a Texas accent, but the stories he had about his life were unbelievable. He was the first man to do an untethered space walk (which means he was just floating around in space with nothing attaching him to the spacecraft). I’ve been on boats far from land and it was enough to make me nervous. FLOATING FREE IN SPACE! It’s a real stretch for me to conceive of being calm doing what Bruce did. He was absolutely calm in talking about it though and said he wasn’t that scared when he did it. I feel brave jay-walking in Denver.

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By Augie Filholm, child actor in A Christmas Carol                  

Augie Filholm

In this past six weeks I have been performing as an actor at the DCTC (Denver Center Theatre Company). I was cast in the play A CHRISTMAS CAROL directed by Bruce Sevy. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see how things worked back stage. Let me explain what it was like and what I had to do to be in this play.

First of all I had to audition. The auditions were at the DCTC, in a building called the Newman Center. The first audition was in a small room. First we met the director and the other kids at the audition. Then we had to sing. This was my fear of trying to get into the play. I am not a good singer. They made us sing a very short song in what we call the Schoolboy scene, when the main character Ebenezer Scrooge goes into the past and sees himself as a child. After the singing, we (meaning the other kids at the audition and me) were all assigned parts to audition for. We all got a sheet of paper that had the lines we were to audition for. They had me audition for a character named Peter Cratchit. Peter Cratchit is a boy who is the son of a poor man named Bob Cratchit. Peter has a younger brother and sister and an older sister, and his mother, of course. For my part, I had to read a small part from the Bible. This scene was a sad or gloomy sort of scene. It was not hard, but it was very exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Every kid who auditioned for this part read the same thing. We all did it in front of each other, which made me even more nervous. After the audition, I waited at home for a call back. A call back is when the people who watched you audition call you back to audition again. This can mean that the director had a hard choice between two people or anything like that. We read and sang the same things as the previous audition, except there were not as many people this time. Feeling that I knew the part a little better than the audition before, I felt more confident and relaxed than the first time.

A couple days later, I got the call that I had gotten the part. Our first rehearsal was to be on November 2.

On November 2, the whole cast and crew showed up in the same room where we had the auditions. It was amazing to see how many people were really involved in it, and to meet them. It was especially fun to meet the kids who had gotten cast, to see who I was going to spend the next month and a half with. At this rehearsal we did not act physically, but we read the script. The director showed us a model of the stage and its props and features. We were going to first rehearse in the room that we were in right now.

The rehearsals were really fun, but they also made us very tired. We would sometimes stay at the rehearsal room from 6pm to 10pm just figuring out a small scene. Sometimes, it would just be a certain call for certain people, and sometimes we would have the whole cast there. Like I said before, this made us all tired. I thought I had it hard, but then we started tech rehearsal, and believe me, just a regular rehearsal was nothing compared to tech.

Tech rehearsal is when you move to the real stage that you will be performing on. Lights and most props are there, and sometimes, but not usually on the first tech, costumes. One would think that tech is really fun because you get to see all the props, and you get to see your costume, and you get out of school early, and things like that. When you get to tech, though, spending 12 hours downtown, with only a two hour break can sometimes make you feel tired, but mostly… very, very bored unless you’re on stage a lot. Finally we started previews, which is when an audience watches, but they can expect errors in lines or technical difficulties. This is also good for the directors, because they can get an understanding of the reaction to the crowd.

The Children of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Photo by Terry Shapiro.

After the previews, opening night came. Opening night is the most fun that there is during the whole run. The reason for this is that it’s opening night for one, and it is fun to celebrate that we are able to make this far, and put on a perfect show. There is also a fun party after the show with the cast and crew. After the opening night, the real show is on. Being in A Christmas Carol, a tradition for most families and schools is to come and see the show. This means that we are almost there every day doing two shows a day. This was a really fun run. The bad part is that we only get Mondays off and Christmas day off. Then when all the other kids are finally off, I only get a day’s rest, because I am in another play, called EVENTIDE, as DJ Kephart. It’s a lot of work, but I love it!

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