As we sloooowly return to live performance, I have been having THE BEST time working with the folks from, Prospect Theatre on this interactive, outdoor theatrical experience called Tree Tales. 15 writers were asked to write "choose-your-own-adventure" style stories and then actor/creators were asked to come in and create characters to guide the audience along. It has been long-delayed joy to work with people, live, and in-person, (though still masked and distanced), making music and characters and, heck, just playing again as artists. We had our first performance at the Crabapple Grove in Riverside Park this past Sunday and have one more performance this coming Saturday. For more information and to register, go HERE. ALSO...I may now be fully vaccinated (HUZZAH!), but both Theatre and TV and film sets are still making sure we are safe and requiring testing. I have booked some BG work on Season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (a show I would work on just for the clothes), and with getting tested for both Maisel and Prospect, between yesterday and today, I will have been tested 3 times. But I will also get fitted for a costume for Maisel AND then be on set, and then perform in a live show SAFELY. As my husband says, LIFE IS GOOD. Peace ✌🏽
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Yesterday, my husband and I had a date day, rather we did an ad shoot for T-Mobile. It may have been cold and rainy - a downpour nearly cut off our part of the shoot! - but we had a fab day and everyone we dealt with on set was lovely, professional, and fun. It was a great experience, particularly as it was my husband's first time doing anything like this! (Props to my MIL who watched our boy all day while we were out and allowed Jeff and I to actually have a date night post-shoot.)
COMING UP! *Sunday - The Playground Experiment knows how to throw down with a FUNdraiser with the event "Drop and Give Me 10". Playwright/screenwriters are given prompts and then asked to write the first 10 minutes/pages of a piece that will be brought to fruition later. I will be performing with Jasmine Spiess in Darpan Joshi's piece "Birthday Bash". Subscribe to The Playground Experience on YouTube and check it out! *Back in college, I met a brilliant guy named Marty Barrett. He is an actor, writer, poet, comic, IT guy; whatever the job, if he hasn't already done it, he could do it. This includes being the host of a comedy variety show called Verdugo HUUT, based in LA. Like many shows, this one has gone virtual, and thus is allowing for The New York Show. Marty invited his NYC friends to contribute, so check out the show starting this Saturday 7pm at the website. In the meantime, I'm taking a commercial class with Erica Palgon, Fearless Cold Reading with Karen Kolhaas, still singing with the ever fabulous MABC choir virtually, and now I am also supporting my son at baseball games and swimming. But if ya need this merry mezzo mama for your production, demo, reading, etc, feel free to head to that contact page! Peace ✌🏽 At the beginning of the month, I was part of Seth Bisen-Hersh's Talent Showcase. In the middle, I was a vocalist and percussionist for The Rigano Songbook's 8th Annual Ides of March Extravaganza. Last year, the concert had to go virtual after being cancelled the DAY BEFORE due to the pandemic, and this year, as David and Paul have been learning all sorts of new virtual theatre skills, we made it fully virtual. Next year, we hope everyone can join us for the show LIVE once more.
Later this month, you all should check out Madison Avenue Baptist Church's Country Western Good Friday service. Whether or not you are a church goer, it's a killer line up of music and I sing with some of the best in the biz. In the meantime, I finally recorded one of my favorites tunes from Hello, Again, "Tom". Check it out, HERE. Happy Spring, all! ✌🏽 There be things coming up! I love closing out February with a bang. TONIGHT 2/22, I'll be part of a reading of a segment of Bonita Ellery's "Mother's Milk". She is a powerful writer who can give Shonda a run for her money, so come check out this piece as well as other wonderful work from the folks at The Playground Experiment tonight at 7pm on YouTube.
Friday night, No Name...and a Bag O' Chips is celebrating it's 27th anniversary (WHAT?!) Yes, it is the longest running comedy variety night in New York City and we will be celebrating VIRTUALLY Friday night 7pm, on Facebook Live. Seth Bisen-Hersch, who's musical Love Quirks was a critics pick in "the before times", has a showcase and I will be part of it singing a couple of my favorite show tunes 3/2 7pm, also on Facebook Live. One of my favorite events will be coming up in March as well: The Rigano Songbook's Ides of March Extravaganza! This virtual event is being put together as we speak. When there's an exact date, you bet I will be sharing! It definitely is excellent event you don't want to miss! And hey, there's a new bit at Reince Priebus Tried...and other tales of the White House on Facebook! If you like what you see, and could use me for your next project, hit me up on my Contact page! In the meantime You realize that you've been wearing jeans and hoodies every day for like, a year, so you decide to put some lipstick on and sing about a time when you could get close and actually touch people... Hey there, all!
There's a new president! (Seriously, Joe Biden is president and Kamala Harris is Vice President and no matter what Trump and his...people are saying, Joe and Kamala are IN!) We actually got, like, REAL SNOW, as in, more than a dusting here in NYC! And I've got new things to talk about! SO, one of the reasons I have loved doing No Name for as long as I have is because of the fab people I get to see perform and meet. David Lawson has been a No Name regular storyteller and is a favorite of mine, so when he asked me to contribute to the Queens Theatre At Home Storyteller series last year, of course I jumped at the chance. Check it out tomorrow night at 7pm on Zoom and stick around for the live talkback after! Valentine's Day, it looks like we'll be home AGAIN so why not spend it supporting some art with The Playground Experiment's FUNdraiser, which has the theme of "Unlucky in Love"? Playwright's test out the first 10 pages/minutes of a new play they are working on, and I'll be one of the actors. I did this last year and it was so fun and such a good night. Check it out 2/14 with the ones you love (pets included). In March, I'll be part of the Seth Bisen-Hersch showcase, and then I will be returning to the Rigano Songbook's Ides Of March Virtual Extravaganza. More details on those shows to come! In the meantime, stay safe, wear a mask, and feel free to spread love...just not the virus Peace ✌🏽 Oh my goodness, happy new year everybody! While 2020 was indeed a nightmare lit by a dumpster fire, I have to say, I am one of those people who had some pretty great things happen. I started the year getting representation! Huzzah for Evelyn Francisco and the team at The Talent Express for taking me on and setting me up with many a self-tape and virtual audition! I got to be a voice in the fascinating virtual - pre-COVID-19 even - experience ASSEMBLE written and produced by Jess Kaufman and Talya Chalef which was played out in January at IKEA's all over the world. I got new headshots after...far too long. Thank you L. Morgan Lee at bluephotonyc for the fab shots which grace this website. Oh yeah, I finally got a website! I was part of a first reading of the Zoom adaptation of Rebecca Salomonsson's Outrageous Fortune, playing Prospero. I started working with The Playground Experiment doing readings of new work. This family of artists has put out so much incredible work, it's a joy to test out material with them as an actor, and I look forward to testing out some writing with them as well. I got to close out the year reading the role of Prue in Bonita Elery's short play Hot Potato, which you can see right HERE. (SO MANY GOOD LINES. Thank you, Bonita!) I booked two short films, Geminus and What Do I owe You? and worked their covid-safe sets. Footage to come! After my church gig went fully virtual mid-March, they thankfully found a way to keep our sextet singing! It's been great to learn the ins and outs of recording videos for our virtual services. We hope, of course, that we'll be able to do it live again, but for now, you can check us out on YouTube or head over to the Madison Avenue Baptist Church website. The Trump Administration kept me busy with my satire series on Facebook. But man, sometimes there is not enough time to catch up with all the headlines. But if you check it out HERE you can see that I'm trying... It has been I make a book out of the series...I'll keep you all posted. For the new year, I'm already getting the submissions out, working on a new draft of my solo show Single What? Female, will be singing through The Drowsy Chaperone as Trix and, of course, recording for church. And let's cross our fingers for Georgia people. (They vote tomorrow!) Laughter, Peace and Prosperity for 2021 to you all! Peace ✌️ Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk wrote a beautiful musical called The Mad Ones, about a teenage girl dealing with the grief of the loss of her best friend. After seeing a heap of fan art over the work, and dealing with a pandemic where live theatre is not possible, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk decided to explore how far we can take virtual theatre and created The Mad Ones Lab. Chosen participants from all over the world (seriously, one of my castmates is Brazilian and living in Ireland), were given the opportunity to take sections of the show (for free!) and create something beautiful with it. I was chosen to play Beverly, Sam's mother, in two of these projects and am sharing the link to one of them. Director Randi Hickey (Philadelphia) and her team created a poignant yet humorous piece using water color animation. Take a look and listen to it HERE. AND you can check out this clip with commentary from Jenni Barber, who was the show's original Sam. The Mad Ones lab was a truly special experience and I am thrilled I got to play even a small part.
Here's to more of it! Peace ✌🏽 n than to be Ina at the dinah in the mooooooornin'.
It was grey, cold, the roof was leaking in holding, but oh man, it was nice to be on set Monday and Tuesday for LiveSource Films's short "What Do I Owe You?". SAG/AFTRA Covid-19 protocols in place, excellent cast and crew, and we got to work in the same diner as was used in Goodfellas, You Don't Know Jack, and The Irishman, among others. Thank you to director Tyler Mercer, actors Qurrat Kadwani, Phoebe Dunn, Mahmoud Mahmoud, Fred Rice, and Steven Etienne, and the fab crew: Ari, Jeff, Mike, Chris, Katya (producer/co-dir), Caroline (camera), Caroline's asst (so sorry I forgot your name!) Angela (wardrobe), Elon (props), Jorge (sound) and special shoutout to makeup and hair artist Katie Lamark who took the time make sure that the actors of color had a perfect palette. I will be sure to post some stills and clips once the finished product is out! Next week, I hope to post some footage from the really wonderful The Mad Ones Lab. Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk created a beautiful musical - The Mad Ones - about a teenager dealing with the loss of her best friend. It's story moved many to create fan art, and thus, in the time of Covid, it inspired Kerrigan and Lowdermilk to create a space to promote the exploration of digital theatre. People could learn about everything from character development and choreography adjustment, to how to better light film and various other digital design. I got to be part of two of the projects as lead character Sam's mom, Beverly. One piece is using watercolor animation, while the other involves green screen animation. I can't wait to see the finished products and share them with you! In the meantime, there's new material on my satire series "Reince Priebus Tried...And Other Tales From The White House" , I just booked a role with On Brand Productions in their new musical "Juvanescent", and I got to submit a self tape last night that involves drumming. It was great to be behind the kit, but also sad as I miss The Summer Replacements SO MUCH. We will play together again, gosh darnit...in 2021. And now, it is time to help my son create arms for his Iron Spider costume, put something together for myself, cheer on my friends who are VOTING EARLY, make my plan for voting on Election Day, and, maybe eat something. Happy Halloween All! and VOTE! Hey there, all! A week and a half ago, I was on set for short film "Geminus" as a psychologist helping a young man remember a traumatic moment. At the end of October, I'll be on (safe) set yet again for Live Source's "What Do I Owe You?" playing someone..not helping. Woo hoo!
I also will be returning as a soloist for the North Palm Beach Church of Christ Scientist next Wednesday. Honored to be asked back! But don't you worry, I am still very happily with MABC and, after taking the month of August off, our regular virtual services have returned! Heck I have to record my solo for this coming Sunday, like, after I finish typing here! Yesterday, I had a fab coaching with James Beaman and closed out the day with The Playground Experiment's Volume 125 as part of the cast of Maura Kelly's short play, The Census, about her experiences as a Census taker. It was thoughtful and hilarious, and, as usual, it was fantastic night of new and emerging work. This morning, as it was for many NYC parents, was all about making sure my son could log on for virtual school orientation. He'll be going full remote for the time being, but I'll tell you, I gotta give props to his school for doing EVERYTHING they can to make it safe for the teachers and kids. This is a crazy time for school, so please, give your parent, teacher and school admin/staff friends some extra love, as well as all the kids. (Though my boy loved introducing his class to his "little kitten brothers" over Zoom. Something he would not have been able to do in real life :p) All right, back to submissions, recording, and maybe even some more BOOKING! If you would like to retain the services of this Mixed Mezzo, just slide on over to the contact page. Have a pumpkin spiced day, all! Peace --Alex |
When not pandemibaking...
I have finally started a website! I just got these beautiful new headshots done by L Morgan Lee of BLUEphotography, and at last have a place to display them. I've also been getting this self-tape thing DOWN. Madison Avenue Baptist Church, with whom I've been the alto for going on twelve years, like most churches, has gone virtual, so we are making videos of solos and hymns for the time being. (Someday, I'll release an outtake reel.) There've been other opportunities, as well, for practicing this process: virtual choir and concert videos. I've been lucky enough to work with Prospect Theatre Company and, thus, was asked to be part of their lovely video featuring Peter Mills' tune "Two Buoys". (I come in with the alto part and drums>) Two Buoys Next, a dear friend - a jazz musician and choir director, presently living in Italy - started up Singers Without Borders and asked me to be part of this uplifting number: How Can I Keep From Singing? Lastly, The Rigano Songbook asked 42(!) of their closest friends to help out with this wonderful song about an all too relevant and growing segment of our lives as we try to communicate with proper social distancing: Screen To Screen The Rigano has a concert planned for 3/13...and then the world shut down. But far be it for them to not have a show. Yes, the Ides of March Extravaganza is now the Ides of APRIL and will be in virtual form. When those videos go up, I'll be sure to share here. In the meantime, contact me here if you would like me to be part of YOUR virtual - and/or, eventually, LIVE - project. Peace ✌️ AuthorAlexandra de Suze is a singer, actor, drummer who also writes a bit and occasionally makes silly videos Archives
April 2024
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