Written Imagery 25.10.
Last night was the opening for Crash Boom Bang’s “So You Wanna Be A Slasher” Haunted House. We had a pretty good crowd and definitely learned a lot to make the next shows even better. Even if we had all of the time in the world, I’m pretty sure Matt would never “be finished” with the set up. A ton of thanks for all of those that have come to help out! Tonight is the second night, but I already can’t wait for the Halloween night run!
Andy and I have made Vertical House Eargasms #4 that I will soon make available to download online. Right now we are handing them out at the store. I gave a copy to JD of The Dead Workers Party and he called me 15 minutes after leaving our store to ask if Andy and I would be interested in a video cast. A month or so ago I mentioned to JD that Andy and I want to get into podcasting, and he jumped at the idea that they could help produce it. After listening to our cd, he called to tell me he was inspired to really get into video casts, and he’d love to start with us. I am SO excited for this idea. We are going to meet one Sunday to discuss details. Andy and I will interview bands and invite them to come perform a few songs live. I think this will be great for any and all involved…exposure is key!
Anytime JD (or any other Dead Worker) asks me to help them with a project, I get so excited! The quality of their productions is superior to most film makers in this area…not to mention they are all so fun to work with. Aside from the video casts, I am involved in their music video shoot of Counterclock Wise’s song Screaming Jenny. First off, The Counterclock Wise is, hands down, one of my favorite bands. The fact that I get to be a part of this video means SO much to me. I thank Matt and JD for entrusting me to play Screaming Jenny, the actual character. Matt even dubbed my character in the Haunted House production Jenny, and after I scream violently at him, begins calling me Screaming Jenny. My first day of shooting will be Thanksgiving weekend and I absolutely cannot wait!
It’s funny when I think back to when I was younger and people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was “Dorothy!” (from Wizard of Oz). This was before I really understood that actors played characters in movies and plays. So of course, once I learned this, my answer became “an actress.” Unfortunately, I never went to an elementary or middle school that did performances. My first exposure to the actual art of theatre was a class at Fantasy Playhouse. In high school I began to really get involved, and I knew this is exactly what I wanted to do.
My dreams of The Big Apple and Broadway became more realistic when I saw the price tag attached. Plus, I had known a few people who went “to make it” only to tell me their horror stories with the business. I was granted the SCAD Scholarship to Savannah College of Art and Design based on my photography portfolio that my dad and kind hearted art teacher, Mrs. Hughey, helped me put together. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t affordable for me to attend. My parents made just enough for me not to qualify for certain grants, and I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life paying off student loans. Plus, I had just gone into remission from Hodgkin’s Disease, and my family was the most important thing to me. There was no way I was ready to leave them after they helped me through such a rough time. So, I stayed in Huntsville and continued my dream of theatre at a community college.
At first, I loved it! The slumber parties in the Black Box to finish up making masks, the genuine friendships I created (in which some still last today…(Sara, Deanna, Sasha, Jon, Kim), the anxiety and excitement as you see this world being created before your eyes, the pressure to memorize lines, the blocking, the costumes, and of course, the performances themselves. However, it suddenly felt as if the group had gotten a disease. Nothing seemed to fit like it used to. I had multiple fallouts with one of the theater professors over my delivery of lines…he wanted me to say them EXACTLY like the girl who played my part 5 years before, but I felt a different way. I believe(d) that the actor should be able to interpret the character for themselves, and not base their performance on the person before them. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that thinking.
After realizing I was beginning to hate theatre…the thing that I was so passionate about, I dropped my major. I went to talk to an adviser about majoring in photography, but learned I’d have to re-take several classes and it would take me 3 more years at a (generally) 2 year college. So, I did “general education” studies so I could just move on. However, I began to lose connection with school altogether. I’m not really sure why, but a lot of it felt like wasted time to me. I began to get sick just thinking about going to class. This is completely opposite from how I grew up. When I was younger, and even at the start of college, I LOVED school. Everything about it. I loved the papers, the reading, the tests, everything! But I was beginning to feel (literally) an internal struggle. Part of me thought I HAD to be there. I had to graduate if I wanted to do anything with my life. Then the other part of me was slapping myself silly for thinking such thoughts and telling me I can do whatever I wanted if I put my heart and soul into it.
I knew right then and there that my heart and soul were still in theatre but not in school. I put my education on hold while I explored other opportunities. Eventually, I was introduced to the idea of real estate, and fell in love. I was excited to go to classes, I read the entire book the first week, I participated during classes, and I was so happy to finally be ecstatic with learning something so new to me.
A few times I ran into friends I had done theatre with in college, and they told me of a group they were involved in called Crash Boom Bang. I thought, “Hey! That sounds perfect!” I went to a couple of shows and that overwhelming wave of emotion washed over me. I’ve mentioned before that when that wave washes over me (albeit happy, sad, mad, glad) my eyes began to water. So here I was, sitting in an audience watching this completely original play and my eyes were watering and I couldn’t stop laughing. Oh how I yearned for the stage again! I kept telling myself I was going to get involved. I would attend next Tuesday’s meeting. But I never did. Andy and I had just met and we were inseparable. I passed my real estate license test, so I was focusing on my business. I moved from Madison to Huntsville…who would have thought a 30 minute move could make such a difference? Basically, I was making excuses for myself.
One night, Andy and I ran into Sasha and Matt downtown. Sasha and I had done theatre together both in high school and college, but I didn’t know Matt. Andy knew Matt because of the numerous bands he was in (namely The Peeps) and the fact he was attending Matt’s shows when he was 14. So after talking with the two, I promised I would be at Tuesday’s meeting. Tuesday evening, 7pm, rolls around and Andy and I sit down at the table with Matt at the Flying Monkey. He thanks me for showing up (on time, nonetheless) and apologizes that sometimes it takes people a while to gather. Once the meeting begins, Matt gives the synopsis for the play (The Perilous Pirouette of Irina Ivanovna) he wrote and begins to roughly cast parts. I’m cast as Mitchka, a ballet dancer that eventually gets hacked in half. The play would be performed around Halloween. That was my first show with Crash Boom Bang. I knew even before performing with this group that I was in love. And of course, after opening night, I was hooked. Crash Boom Bang became such a drug…and it still is. The high I get when the intro theme song plays carries me straight until the curtain call of the last show. And each month it starts all over again.
This Halloween will begin my third year with Crash Boom Bang and my only regret is that I didn’t start sooner. Even throughout my time with the group people have come and go. Some I’m glad are gone, others I can’t wait to return. Matt told me they (he and 3? others) began Crash Boom Bang years (I’m talking, like 8 years or so) ago. Their first performance was on the front porch of a friend’s house and only 2 people came to the show…and one left half way through. Since then, Crash Boom Bang has gotten their own space at the Flying Monkey, their own theater and stage to act on, their own lights and sound equipment, a name within the community, a cult following of fans, and a core group that comes together each month to create a completely original performance…whether it be a silent movie, a play, a sketch comedy show, or a musical. I’ve never felt so connected with a group and an art form such as this and I hope it lives on forever.
Cheers to you Crash Boom Bang and everything you’ve brought me thus far!
Mitchka in The Perilous Pirouette of Irina Ivanovna
Jenny in The Seventh Deadly Sin
Sargent in The Year of the Gun (this show is still one of my all time favorites and I’m so glad we got to take it on tour!)
Jen in A Few Good Minutes
Ella Nuedler in The Bhagavad Meat Loaf
Various Characters in Skitzoid
Femme in An Evening With the Eternally Nocturne (this was also another favorite! a silent movie with all of my favorite people in CBB…we are actually hoping to submit this to some film festivals. more shots here and here)
Alexus in Knucklehead (more shots here)
Teenager in Take Me With You
Various Characters in Skits and Giggles
Various Characters in (Even more) Skits and Giggles
Screaming Jenny in So You Wanna Be a Slasher?