The courtyard and entrance to The Bitter Truth Theater in the NoHo Arts District. This is right across the street from the Academy of Arts and Sciences: The Emmys!

 

Viewing excerpts of films: Hunchback of Notre Dame, Grapes of Wrath, Bridges of Madison County to see the need for behavior in every shot.

Midnight. A time when even Los Angeles rests, prepares, regroups, for another day of hustle, another day of making dreams come true. I wind my way up the sinuous curves of Benedict Canyon, mansions standing tall like regal statues at the edge of the Hollywood Hills. I have just spent the last hour backstage with Tony Award winner/Master Teacher/Director Charles Nelson Reilly after his one man show ...LIFE OF REILLY at the Canon Theater in Beverly Hills. I directed there as well, so it was old home week. Charles' show made me cry with deep recognition of life's poetic challenges and bellow in celebration of those challenges. A marvelous show, a wonderful life, a great artist, and my friend of 20 years. Benedict Canyon snakes through the cathedral arching limbs of towering pines and up to the scraggly edges of desert brush as it crests Mulholland Drive. Here, you tightrope walk along the ridge that separates the Valley from Hollywood. And as you drive, you wag your way 'tween the vistas of lights, red/yellow/white that stretch out on either side, like flashing moth wings glowing in the night drawn to a flame of promise.... The power, the energy, the opportunity, the possibility in those lights....of that promise... I have been meeting with LA management companies regarding their Miami clients and talks have begun on working in LA with their clients here. This is that power, energy, opportunity of...those lights...of that promise... As I drove, a sensation, a vibration coursed its way through me, a knowing, that I will work here again, that I will change and enhance other's work here again , that I belong here...again... That's what I know...that's what I will do. What I have given to my students: tools of creativity, skills of application, confidence in the future, belief in self value, all this has been given back to me by my students, each class, each coaching, each question asked. And what I receive, I will give back, in LA, in Denver, in Chicago, in Zurich, in Miami. Dreams are for everyone, even acting teachers. My thanks to you all.

Pat Battistini and Kumi Shirasaki acting!!!! Cue the applause!

 

Gettying ready for a Hagen Exercise presentation.

 

I thought actresses never ate! Magda Hernandez, Janine Castle and Eva Leong on a lunch break.

 

Either practicing his Antony monologue from JULIUS CEASAR or, waiting for his residual check! Actor Jeff Witzke from LA.

 

I was honored to have not only successful commercial actors from the Meisner Center attend my workshop but Miami students Magda Hernandez and Eve Leong, who flew in for the workshop.

Sunset. The camel back ridges of Burbank's Verdugo Hills rise and fall as I drive back from The Bitter Truth Theater. The Valley was still cool at night, with a dry, refreshing little chill to the air. A beautiful night, an exciting weekend, a challenging and expanding business experience. http://home.earthlink.net/~dir1ssdc/laworkshoppicpage.html Here's the link to pics from the workshop. Actors from LA, actors who are former students, actors who are present students, all working on the connection 'tween Thought and Behavior. Three days of Linklater breath exercises, sound/word exercises, film scene analysis, Camera/Imagery Exercises and most importantly, the Hagen Exercises. We even did my favorite: Duos and Trios, where actors present their rehearsed behavior investigations and must incorporate an improvised circumstance and develop the relationship with the new element in their investigation: the other actor! Here's where we really learn where speech comes from: WANT! With the success of the May workshop in LA, I've been invited back for an August workshop in preparation for the Fall Season. I've already started putting it together. It's right around the corner. I attended my mentor, Charles Nelson Reilly's one man show LIFE OF REILLY at the Canon Theater in Beverly Hills where I directed as well. He made us laugh and cry and laugh again. A lovely performance and journey through a such an interesting life. I went back stage and as always Charles' dressing room is filled with friends spanning generations and the arts: actors, directors, writers, rock and rollers. We laughed even more. I am so proud to have learned my art from so generous and creative an artist. I also met with the president of Pro Tect, Mgt., which handles professional athletes, at their Malibu offices. I coached an actress for the lead in a new TV show for Mathews Mgt., a division of McGhee Ent., which handles KISS, BON JOVI and HOOTIE and the BLOWFISH. Their offices are in the Sunset Towers, just a couple of blocks down from my former office at the SCTA, the ballet/theater presenting company where I worked for four years. I remember the days of having lunch on Sunset every day. Oh, the memories... And now, I am creating new memories... Dinner meetings up in the Hollywood Hills with members of the Meisner Center. Writers, directors, actors sharing information on their connections to the business. I was so happy to realize that my directing work for the MC that dedicated their theater in NoHo in 1995 was remembered glowingly. It was quite a door opener in my introductions to all these creative people to be the "...Hagen Director who directed GREAT NEBULA...". That says a lot coming from the center of the Meisner Process in LA. Through this meeting I have been invited to direct a showcase. Now, that's how reputation for good work, works! And sometimes, being yourself, enjoying each moment, being open to each person and their dreams, their plans, also creates opportunities... Dinner was held at a lovely home high in the Hollywood Hills which had a long living room with vaulted ceilings and hard wood floors just made for dancing. The music had a percussive beat and I started to east coast swing and Zydeco and country two step and teach the steps as well. I then danced with a lady who simply flew across the floor, and I did my best to keep up. Well, I discovered that she was an actress/dancer from the original London production of A CHORUS LINE!!! The West End, folks! London's Broadway!!! Just a marvelous, joyous dancer. The spins, the turns swept through the room. The sharing, the exchange of trust that is dancing creates immediate communication. After learning we had so many artists and teachers in common in our careers, we started to discuss a project she is developing. We brainstormed 'tween the dance steps, changing the whole theme of the show in twenty minutes of discussion and she asked me to work on her one woman show. A wonderful artist performer, a wonderful creative opportunity. So, do good work all the time, but remember to enjoy that fact. Enjoy the other person that you meet in every life/business situation. Your interest in them engenders their desire to share, which more often than not reveals how much you really have in common, and from that develops a foundation for future creative opportunities. Joy into sharing into opportunities into projects into creating into joy....And that is win/win. I'm back in Miami now. Ready to work with you on YOUR WORK. Class on Tuesday! Class on Wednesday! Ready? I am.

This is the view from the offices of Pro Tect Mgt., right on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway. If you've ever been to Gladstone's on the beach and fed the seagulls, this is right across the street. Yes, that's the Pacific!

 

Speaking of views, here's the view from the B&B where I stayed while in LA.