My roommates (and best friends) & I

I am a very bad blogger - neglecting to blog as long as I have - and also, apparently, very bad at quitting biting my nails. Ugh. I hate to admit it but I relapsed this week for no good goshdarn reason and now I find myself turning 23 this week and totally still stuck with this pre-adolescent behavior. I think I will blame it on the stress.

Yes, that's it. I'm so stressed with rehearsals and work and auditions I must pick at the hardened cells attatched to my fingertips, it's only logical and totally forgiveable. I have spent nearly every night for the past two weeks in Northridge, CA, devising a theatre piece that is opening in NoHo tomorrow. The long drive and often tedious structuring of rehearsals inherent in this kind of work is enough to lead a girl to want to gnaw her fingertips off; not to mention the piece is a PoMo perspective on Pandora's box, mythological misogeny included. The Viewpoints refresher course has been inspiring and indulgent, reminding me how I can work outside-in in my acting and exercising my body almost therapeutically, but I am ready for the project to be over. Eager for the next one. Chomping at the bits in anticipation.

I've decided the next project I work on will be something I produce or direct. While I've been fortunate enough to continually be working on a theatre piece since I got here, I have become frustrated with standards with which entry-level theatre practitioners in LA are working. Just because we are under-funded, just because the theatre and entertainment market here is over-saturated, just because we young and don't have the connections and resources and respect other artists may have - none of these things are excuses for not following Equity rehearsal schedules, not respecting and valuing people's time properly, and not aspiring and demanding world-class, well-developed, thoughtful, vital ART. I have never been one to sit back and wait for brilliance to find me, nor will I now sit around and wait for the opportunity to work how I want to.

That being said, I have had some really interesting auditions as of late. One was a for a webseries a young comedic duo was developing. Another was my first Equity audition for a Prop 8-themed production of Measure for Measure. While I enjoyed the jogging and Doevstoyevsky (sp) quoting and the go-go dancing and iambic pentameter-spouting I had to do for those auditions, the most fun I've had lately was at a casual audition for a director working on developing a new musical. I performed "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar (his choice) and then we plunked away at the piano, working on an original song from the show. I was super-nervous,  having abandoned my musical theatre background in favor of straight theatre in college, but I had so much fun singing and working out the new number, my nerves completely flew out the window. I really really really enjoy singing, I've discovered. Duh.

 My friend Katie from OU was in town the other week, and in addition to joining me on some great hikes and fun rounds of beer bingo, she came with to audit the advanced classes at Beverly Hills Playhouse. We were blown away by the energy in the room - everyone so alive, so generous, so unapologetically human. Katie's visit reminded me of what it was like to be in school and have confidence in myself and my craft, as well as inspired me to try to find a way to get a scholarship to the BHP. I feel I need to be around working actors and people who can relate and help keep me on track. I'm by no means jaded, but this industry is taxing even for the most self-assured of people.

Other news: It's Chrissy's birthday tomorrow! It's my birthday later on in the week! As soon as I can get time off of work, we are heading out to the desert to celebrate. I hear back about NY Fringe later this month. I'm developing a variety act to perform at Assisted Living homes. People continue to surprise and delight me with their generosity and willingness to help me out when they can. When my upstairs neighbor, Bailey, and I got coffee the other day, I actually cried because I was so overwhelmingly happy. I can't really complain about the rollercoaster ride I am on right now, and I don't really have much time to pause and reflect on these past 23 years, so I guess I will just sit back and continue to enjoy the ride,  my best friends at my side!

DISCLAIMER: I have been awake for a day and a half and therefore may not make sense/know how to spell (but I feel like writing, goshdarnit, so bear with me).

Yesterday marked an important day in the Life of Kathryn Primeau. Not only did I have my first broken nail that I did not bite off, but I also submitted my first full-length play to a major fringe festival. After days spent burning the midnight oil pulling all of my submission materials together and working on the script in anticipation of the February 15th deadline, I sent my one-woman show, Stuck in the Between Place, to adjudication for 2009 NY Fringe. I won't find out if the piece is accepted til late April/early May, so keep your fingers crossed - and in the meantime you can check out my artsy-fartsy demo DVD on my video page (scroll to the bottom of the page). If all goes as planned, I will be producing the piece under the Limehouse brand with Matthew Cleaver and Ashley Henderson at the helm of the production team this August in NYC!

The entirety of last night was spent filming on John Campea's "The Anniversary" out in Artesia, CA.  I play a featured role in the flick, which follows a thirty-something guy as he ventures into the world of online dating after getting out of a long, long-term relationship. The cast and crew are an affable, talented bunch - lots of Canadians, lots of new media entrepanuers - so the night flew by and before I knew it, it was 5 am and the Red camera we were shooting on was kaput and we were calling it a night. I have some pick-up shots to film tonight and then it's a wrap - I don't think I've looked forward to a wrap party more in my life.

Last weekend I booked a spontaneous flight to Athens, Ohio, to visit my alma mater, Ohio University. After a pleasant ride in from Columbus with the charming Wes Cronk, I went to my friend Elenna's production of Eugene Ionesco's "The Chairs." It was an ambitious and beautifully designed piece of absurdist theatre - just what I needed to reacquaint myself with the world of academic theatre. Saturday AM was spent brainstorming with Michael Kortlander and a group of actors - Drew Crabtree, Casey Lenko, Leah Strausser, John Hendel, and Tyler Rollinson - for the annual 48 hour shoot out short film competition. The prompts we received were Genre: Comedy Prop: A Notebook Line of Dialogue: It's not my problem. We improv'd and filmed for about five hours, all the while drinking wine and having a blast, and trying to pull inspiration from a short mock-intervention film Mike had found and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The resulting short, Game Night, won 2nd Place out of 27 teams in the competition - check it out on my video page or on youtube.
Other highlights from Athens include going to a reading of Dana Lynn (my fave female playwright) Formby's latest draft of The Small of Her Back, drinking Razz Wheat at Jackie O's, dinner at Casa, early morning breakfast with the ladies, Bagel Street, hanging with my beautiful hostess, Katie, and spending short but sweet time with Shelley, Dennis, Ryan, Paul, Stephen, Kristin, Shiloh, Cole, Adam, Kent, Lauren, Elenna and V.

My showcase ended last week with an audience full of friends and a hilarious karaoke party at Pig N Whistle on Hollywood. While I have yet to find an agent, I can honestly say the experience was 100% positive/fun/valuable. To everyone who made it out to The Next Stage in support, thank you so very much! It means a TON to me that you support my artistic endeavors and I hope I can show the same support to you in the near future.

NEWS FROM THE HOMEFRONT - We welcomed another doggie into our house this week, an adorable, well-mannered, malnourished chahahua originally named Baby Phatz, but we are calling her Bambina. Teresa is officially a foster mom for dogs (we are all trying to get her to trade Nina in for Bambina). Working at the record label got a lot more fun this week, as Chrissy was hired on as a paid intern working in the online marketing department. And I am no longer an intern, but an official part time employee, pay raise and all!

Driving to set last night I experienced a big bubble of laughter - it just burst forth like giddy vomit - thinking, AH! I live in Los Angeles with my two best friends! Could this get any better?!!

It's the new year - might as well start a new blog! Hopefully I will be using this section to keep friends & fam updated on what creative tasks I am working on.

Right now I'm in rehearsals for PILOT PREVIEWS - an Industry Showcase with the Berubian Theatre Company. I love my scenes (from Planes, Trains and Automobiles and This is Our Youth) and am really impressed by the talent in the show. We are performing at The Next Stage in Hollywood at 1523 N. La Brea (above The Woods, near Sunset/La Brea intersection) on Wednesdays Jan 14 to Feb 4 at 8pm.

I'm also working on developing a one-woman show about my experience working at an Assisted Living Home in West Hollywood. I have the (very lofty) goal of getting in to some Fringe Festivals this summer, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

BTW, I've quit biting my nails (New Years Resolution). If you see me biting them, yell at me, please. "You are stupid!" usually works...