This Actor's Journey

I attended the 10:15 Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday, September 17th.  I looked at the schedule beforehand.  Although several Mass times had music, the 10:15 was the only one with the actual choir. (Zoom in on the photos to read the words on the program.  And, please feel free to ask questions in the comments section) Upon entering, I was handed a program.  The place was packed with tourists and people who attended the previous Mass.  So forget about getting a seat! I'm so glad I went!  The acoustics of the building must be perfect.  The singing resonated and filled my body.  I felt very peaceful.  I tingled all over.  I had goosebumps and the sound reverberated from my thighs straight through my heart.  I felt very light-headed. The readings were standard, and man with a shepherd's crook gave the homily.  I couldn't remember if he was a bishop or cardinal, so I bothered to look at my program. And I was a...

I have often walked down the street before But the pavement always Stayed beneath my feet before (For safety reasons, I declined to post anything in the vicinity of where I am staying.  But now that I am leaving Brooklyn for another dwelling, here is a look at my first impression of New York). On Thursday, 9/14, I heard my very first songs ever in NYC.  One, was on my way to the bookstore with some friends, Hotel California :  You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave . Later that day, I dropped off a Thank You note at Ruth's Chris and I heard, When the lights, go down in the city, and the sun shines on the Bay.  Oh! I want to be there in my city.... And then I thought, "Aww.  That's cute.  San Francisco thinks it's a city."  ;-)  It's so little! Oddly enough, I always thought I'd end up in San Francisco.  I sure tried hard! So I appreciate that the first two songs I heard in New York were all about California...

This morning, 9/14, I had my first Theatre History class.  I dreaded it because I have had both theatre history and art history in years past.  But from the start, it was clear this course is very different.  The professor immediately engaged the class in a discussion when he had us introduce ourselves.  We have very different backgrounds and life experience will give us an advantage in an acting career.  There are people who came from biomedicine, engineering, economics, wrestling, right out of college, businessmen, etc. Although the course requires A Lot of reading and writing, there is a strong performance element.  Just like we all know, or have at least heard of, Friends, Seinfeld, I Love Lucy and MASH , there are certain stories we need to know in the world of theatre.  We're starting with Ancient Greek tragedy.  One 10-20 minute production per week is required.  We must be in at least two of them.  The professor...

NYC Yellow Taxis are everywhere!  And they can be ruthless!  There are a lot of one way streets.  If the street is clear, you can cross on a green light, even without the "Walk" sign.  However, if the Taxi is the only car headed your direction and he has the green light and you've decided to cross, you'd better make a different decision in a hurry because that cab ain't stoppin'!  This is purely from observation and not personal experience, I assure you.... I stopped on 8th Ave to have lunch with a friend after class. Do you notice anything unusual in this next photo? How about now? Clearly, New York still has the Pony Express ;-) My first two classes went well.  There are 30 people in my class.  We spent the first class introducing ourselves, going over the syllabus and talking about the content of the Voice class.  Patrick, my teacher, explained that this class will include some Speech as well, because to concentrate on Vo...