#OccupyVerona

Take the most iconic Shakespeare play in history, and now stage it flash-mob style on the streets of New York City.

This is the second year of Occupy Verona and I am proud to say that I'm playing Lady Capulet in this production!

We have had two performances so far and there are many more on the horizon, all over Manhattan and Brooklyn! Our schedule is up at occupyverona.com

There has already been some serious buzz! Our first performance was in Union Square, and it was absolutely packed with people, including a group of hare krishna playing VERY loud music all throughout Acts one through five, two hecklers clearly drinking whiskey out of Starbucks cups, a homeless guy in Oscar the Grouch pants who lectured our director on how the Montagues and the Capulet should wear different colors because "it's really about race relations," and... oh yeah... best-selling author Christopher Moore.

#OccupyVerona performing Romeo & Juliet at Union Square West 2nite. What a great surprise! pic.twitter.com/ExdqnOpYuM
— Christopher Moore (@TheAuthorGuy) September 19, 2013

Booyah.

Before the show started we got a pep talk from fearless director Joe Raik, which included What To Do if the Cops Stop Us. Thankfully, there was no police intervention. In fact, it seemed like the cops couldn't care less. Win. Although it would be pretty badass to have an arrest on record for performing Romeo and Juliet without a permit. I'm just saying.

Here are some of the other tweets from total strangers from out first performance:

A troupe performing act 5 of "Romeo and Juliet" in the middle of union square. Neato. #occupyverona pic.twitter.com/OkAqX5GA2M
— Eddie Dougrou (@Eddie_Doug) September 19, 2013

Just saw Romeo and Juliet live in #unionsquare! All we can say is: WOW!!! #occupyverona
— The Lovelies (@thelovelies) September 19, 2013

In conclusion, it's awesome. Come.

Space Captain Still Kicking!

Last week my fellow No Tea Productions company members and I all joined together to celebrate one of our own at the New York Innovative Theatre Awards nomination ceremony!

Jeremy Mather was nominated for Outstanding Innovative design for his video production of the multi-media show that NYTheatre.com called "non-stop entertainment from beginning to end."

Jeremy really showed off his incredible skills with a camera for that production, and his nomination is absolutely well-deserved. The IT Awards is one of the only award ceremonies that honors Off-Off-Broadway theatre. It was really amazing to be in a room packed to the brim with people who are incredibly passionate about creating and producing theatre, and yet definitely don't make much money doing it. 

We'd known Jeremy had been nominated for a while, but weren't allowed to talk about it until after the announcement ceremony, so I had no idea who else in the local theatre community would be nominated.

I'm proud to say I recognized three names in the nomination announcement. The biggest surprise was my good friend Harmony Stempel, nominated for Outstanding Solo Performance for her one-woman show, Human Fruit Bowl. 

When her name was announced, The Boyfriend and I jumped up and started screaming, fueled by both enthusiasm and surprise. Her show opens at the NY Fringe in August.

And not only is Harms still rocking hard, Space Captain is still gradually being turned into a movie. We had a shoot the other day at the Lullwater in Prospect Park, and it was awesome to jump back into it! Balancing the movie with other projects, birthdays, weddings, babies and family drama has been rough, but if we shoot one scene every six months, I'll be happy. 

I'm not going anywhere, and for a movie like this, I'd come back.  

Stay tuned for more news about the IT Awards, Human Fruit Bowl, No Tea Productions and Space Captain: Captain of Space!

Out With the Old...

And in with the new...well, everything.

But first new headshots! 

My amazing Sis-in-Law turned me on to R. J. Lewis, a local Brooklyn photographer who does Actor's headshots. It's been a while since I've worked with an actual headshot photographer. I am that asshole who goes to photography students because it'll be cheaper. But seriously, some of these headshot guys charge a ridiculous amount of money.

But not R. J.! THIS IS THE GLOWING REVIEW PART....

Not only was he incredibly affordable, but the price he charged bought me an entire day of shooting, wherever I wanted, however I wanted, with as many changes as I wanted. We weren't done until I was sure I had a new headshot.

And I did:

And it's goooooooooooooooood.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend him if you need headshots, engagement shots, weddings or whatever the Hell. He's amazing, and a really nice guy to boot. 

And with the excitement of new headshots comes the big news:

After four years of loyal service, I have decided to retire Actor With a Business Card.com

I've decided instead to launch michelemcnally.com with a much more simple layout. Less gimmicks, less media. The old site was starting to seem like a bit of a clusterfuck. But don't fret, this blog will still serve as the place where we can let our hair down and say things like, "clusterfuck."  

Right now michelemcnally.com is still a work in progress, but it's coming along quite well. Hopefully as my headshots and website become more professional, my career will follow suit!

Onward!

 

Huzzah! Another blog about the crippling uncertainty of life...

Please forgive the title, as it was written by my 7th grade self. The same one who wore a spiked dog collar and fishnet stockings to Take Your Daughter to Work Day.

Mom, you deserve a medal.

If you've been wondering, "How are things with Michele?" THEY BLOW.

The Job is reaching the end of a post-Hoiliday Season hiatus, which at one point was looked upon as a well-earned break. We were so nuts during the Holidays that at one point I did 18 shows in 4 days.

It was also a nice opportunity for my Second Job to start, at one of those theme restaurants that hire actors to walk around in character and interact with the customers. I'd been so busy with the Holiday show that I hadn't been able to start training in the last few weeks of December when everyone else did.

LONG STORY SHORT: When I finally heard from the Second Job, it was the news that due to unforseen circumstances, two female characters had been eliminated from the show, so though I and a few other ladies are still TECHNICALLY employed, there was no word on when we'd be able to train, or work.

Cue Depression

The money I'm making on unemployment is barely enough to pay the bills, and did I mention that The Boyfriend is unemployed as well (Hey, did you guys know there's some kind of economic crisis going on out there?)?

Thus began several days of lying on the couch, eating DiGiorno's pizza and watching Battlestar Gallactica. 

I was upset about one thing and one thing only: Though the New Job was resuming this month, it is by no means full-time. I needed the Second Job to be able to pay my bills, work down my debt and (oh, yeah) eat. I saw no alternative than to go back to the Restaurant Industry. And if THAT happened, I could no longer call myself a full time actor. THE HORROR.

Here's Where it Gets Better:

The other day, I was doing the dishes, feeling depressed, and being bummed out about how depressed I was. And then a thought occured to me; clear as day, as if I'd known it the whole time (which I probably did) and I just needed to remember it:

This was not an unfortunate setback in an otherwise on-track life. This was not a shocking surprise, like it had been when The Boyfriend got laid off. This was my life. And I could waste time being depressed about possibly having to wait tables again, or I could treat it like another audition: "Hmm, I thought that was going to go a different way, but oh well, on to the next thing."

It was nice, being able to say that all my income came from acting, and I didn't have to work in a restaurant or as a temp or any of the other jobs actors do to pay the rent. But let's face it; it wasn't THAT much income. It was JUST enough, and without The Boyfriend's support (both emotionally and financially) would NEVER have worked.

So... here's the plan:

1. Visit parents in Florida, curl up on Mom's lap for four days (sans dog collar)

2. Enjoy what shifts at The New Job you have, and relish the feeling of doing what you want to do, a few days a week at least.

3. If the Second Job calls, they call.

4. Suck it up

5. Find another job that doesn't make you hate your life, that is flexible, and makes you enough money to be able to afford your monthly MetroCard. 

I remember the feeling I had when I heard I'd been cast at the New Job, and I knew I could leave the Restaurant I'd worked at for the past five years. I'd walked out into Times Square and blasted this song on repeat: 

I still feel a whisper of it every time I walk into the dressing room, so I'm going to hang onto that one instead of the one that makes me too depressed to shower.

       

  

There is no point in having an external hard drive if you don't back up your files...

Also, don't drop your laptop....

Greetings from The Boyfriend's Computer, which will be my new home until I can scrounge up the money to buy a new one.

Farewell $400 Acer mini-laptop, you shall now join the ranks of the iPod I dropped in a glass of water, and the Nikon camera I fell on top of while wearing heels on a cobblestone street.

But the good news is, I didn't back up any of the files for actorwithabusinesscard.com, hooray for me. So now I begin the task of re-building all the code I spent the last two years adding on to the original template.

Right click-->View Source, you are now my best friend.

That being said, the website will most likely not be updated for a while. I hope you all enjoy watching that Deerhoof music video. Who wouldn't, right?

On the upside, The Job is on a post-holiday hiatus, following an extremely successful and critically acclaimed Holiday Show. I have a well-deserved month off after working a Helluva Lot. My personal best was 18 performances in 4 days, booyah.

After that I slept for four days and went on unemployment, so really what was I going to do but reformat my entire website?

See?

Silver lining.