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Motion Before Emotion-Engaging the Body in the Work
Recently, I have had more requests to teach workshops on movement and directors have shared their concerns about their actors struggling to connect with their role and others on stage physically. I am...
View ArticleAwake in my Dreams
A Japanese legend says that if you cannot sleep at night, it’s because you are awake in someone else’s dream. As I get older, I must be awake in someone else’s dream a big part of the time. I don’t...
View Article I NO LONGER FIND GEORGE LOPEZ FUNNY Or THE ARTIST OF COLOR IN A WHITE...
I no longer find George Lopez funny. He broke into the industry and established himself as a recognized and successful talent by writing and performing cliché’ Mexican situations and promoting the...
View ArticleSchool Yourself Through the Work of Others
“The only art I’ll ever study is stuff that I can steal from.”-David Bowie It must have been ten or more years ago that I attended a workshop that TAMU-CC’s Kelly Russell was leading. Kelly is the kind...
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Creating a Company that is a R.E.A.L. TEAM
I just got back from the Superbowl. Well, not THE Superbowl but, a Superbowl none the less. For 5 middle school one act play companies, it was their Superbowl. The energy was palpable and each company...
View ArticleThe Lessons Taught After the Bell
What a blessing today has been. I have spent today at my first OAP clinic of the year. I had forgetten the energy I feel when working with students and directors. Texas is lucky to have such dedicated...
View ArticleChapapote and Remolino
I was always fascinated with the Old Testament stories where God performs sci-fi like miracles. In Exodus 17, Moses hits a rock with a stick and BAM, water flows in the desert to give his people a...
View ArticleWhere the Good Stuff Comes From: Part II of Steal Like an Artist (Chapters 3-6)
“We want you to take from us. We want you, at first, to steal from us because you can’t steal. You will take what we give you. and you will put it in your own voice, and that’s how you will find your...
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Ignition-Lessons Learned from Dan Hughes
Last week I had the privilege to meet Dan Hughes, the head coach and general manager of the STARS, San Antonio’s WNBA team. As we head into the Texas competitive theatre season, it seems fitting to...
View ArticleOAP Madness
It’s March in Texas and the OAP Madness is in full spring. Over the last six weeks, I have been blessed to either clinic or judge many different productions. I do not know why it surprises me to see...
View ArticleThank You
Maureen McIntyre said, “I don’t like Sam Shepard; and I still don’t like Sam Shepard. I couldn’t hear a thing any of you were saying and if I can’t hear you; there is no play. Lynn Murray said, “Sam...
View ArticleThings You Need and Things You Don’t Need: Part III of Steal Like an Artist...
“Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things.” Ray Bradbury Austin Kleon’s book...
View ArticleNow What?
You have spent months preparing your production and now you sit numb in an auditorium, as your school’s name is not announced as advancing to the next level of competition. Now What? It is important to...
View ArticleCriticism – The Catalyst for Growth
Hearing criticism or how to improve is difficult in most situations. This is amplified when we are given criticism about our art or something we hold close to our hearts, like our role as a parent or a...
View ArticleDirecting an Audience Friendly Show
I should not have to read the script before the performance of the play in order to understand the play. Of course, as a theatre expert, I often read a script prior to a performance because of my...
View ArticleMaybe Better
Friday evening, I completed my fifth year as a UIL one act play adjudicator. It’s hard to believe that five years have gone by so quickly. That is, until I remember just how fast the seventeen years...
View ArticleEncouraging Creativity and Originality in Your Final Assessments
As the school year heads into testing season and final productions are in the works, it is time to consider final exams and assessments of student learning. Over the course of my teaching career I...
View ArticleSoaring with the Eagles
This time of year, I find myself reflecting on my life’s goals more than any other time of year. Most people do this in January when they are making New Year’s Resolutions. I tend to do this at the...
View ArticlePicking The Best Title
This past week, our department announced next year’s musical title, we will produce Legally Blonde. Every year’s announcement brings mixed reactions. This year the males were critical, because, they...
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The Rings in the Trees, Our Children
The end of the school year is upon us. The light at the end of the tunnel is brightly shining, and theatre teachers everywhere are beginning to celebrate another great year of productions, contests,...
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