Episode XVIII: The Best of Times

Hello, all you wild and zany friends of mine!

I'm sure you are all wondering why I am writing so soon after my last missive. After all, Maren (I hear you pointing out to me), wasn't this supposed to be a QUARTERLY newsletter, not a bimonthly newsletter? Yes, this is true; the last thing I want to do is fill your already full mailboxes with unnecessary musings on the meaning of life, the existence of non-existence, and things that go "bump" in the night (not to mention the things that go "aachhmph!" in the mid-afternoon). No, no, although I will attempt to regale you once again with my Adventures, I have a much more practical reason to write to you all, and that is the purely selfish reason called The Shameless Plug. (Don't worry, though, you'll get plenty of stories before The Shameless Plug interferes.)

When I last wrote, I was embarking on several different avenues of my craft: Josh Feltman and I were starting to write our opera, I was going to attend a voice-over class, and Dave Bickle and I were thinking about doing a cabaret together. Well, as the performer's life is rather a fluid one, the plans I originally had made for myself ended up being put on the wayside as other opportunities came my way.

I did, indeed, take a voice-over class through Wiest-Barron School for Acting, and I learned quite a bit from the teacher, Glen Holzer, who has been doing voice-overs for the past 20 years. For those of you who think it would be a fun thing for you to do: it's not easy. Especially for women. I found out that only about 20-30% of commercial voice-overs are women, and breaking into the business is REALLY hard, especially in New York, because most people who are in the business are fighting to keep the spots they have. Nice work, if you can get it...you know the rest. I shall certainly try, though.

A few days after I sent out my last episode to you all, I received a phone call from a woman with whom I had worked during one of the Jewish Nightmare Services (not the main ones in Deal, NJ, but an earlier Slichot service in Ft. Lee, which wasn't nearly that bad, although we did have the misfortune of performing in a freshly-painted, badly-ventilated basement of a Catholic parish). This woman, Karen Geer, had noticed my voice (and my sight-reading ability, since I was thrown in at the last minute), and wanted me to join her and another woman from the choir in a trio singing Jewish folk music. After talking with her and getting her assurances that there would be very little (if any at all) performances at actual services, that she merely wanted to form a singing group for concerts and CD's, I agreed to join. The three of us (Karen, Mary Hurlbut, and I) have named this group "Miriam's Well," and we now meet every Thursday night at a Unitarian church in Brooklyn; all three of us are big music nerds, so we are happily arranging Jewish songs (some Yiddish, some Sephardic, etc.) to fit our voices. Surprisingly enough, we three work and sing very well together, and I can tell that this group has some real potential. The plan is to get a demo CD cut this summer and have our first concert in the fall, but don't worry; I'll keep you posted on all our updates.

Silly side note: Glen Holzer, my voice-over teacher, is also a comedian, and was always cracking jokes during class. Strangely enough, I was the only one who laughed at the Jewish jokes (must be all those Jewish boys I've dated), so he started calling me "Maren Montalbano: Gentile Extraordinaire" whenever I got up to do a spot. I think that what with last year's stint with the High Holy Days and now Miriam's Well, I might as well be Montebini: Gentile Extraordinaire. All in all, I still like just being SuperMaren. :)

Some of you might remember the on-going story of my involvement with the musical version of A Tale of Two Cities. For those of you who haven't, here is the condensed version: In February of 1999, I answered an ad in Backstage calling for "Legit Sopranos for Demo CD." When I auditioned, the composer, Rob Hoover, said, "that's the voice I imagined when I wrote this music!" He subsequently asked me to sing the role of Lucie Manette on the demo CD for the musical that he was writing with Joe McDonald, based on Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities. I was extremely excited, but due to miscommunication with telephone messages, I ended up in one place for the rehearsal, while everyone else was in another building across town. I arrived at the right place 5 minutes before they left, and they had found someone else to sing the part. Devastated, I thought I would never hear from them again. Then, one spring day in March of 2000, I was sitting in a diner when my cell phone rang, and lo and behold, it was Rob Hoover! He asked me to sing the part of Lucie in their backers' auditions (basically scenes and songs from the play performed as a reading for possible financial backers), which I performed four or five times in the spring and summer. As a result of those backers' auditions, the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, NY offered to produce the show; the folks at Two Cities Productions promised that all the people who had been involved in previous incarnations of the show would be given an audition appointment for this next production.

Well, in the middle of February 2001, the auditions for the production were printed in Backstage and posted in the Equity building, but I got no calls from anyone at Two Cities Productions or the casting director's office. Determined to get myself seen, I called the producer and asked her why I hadn't gotten any appointments. She was very sorry that I had been overlooked, and offered to do something for me if I came to the open call. I showed up at the open call, and she got me in to audition (not an easy feat, seeing as how over 200 women came to the Non-Equity call alone), and made sure I got called back. The rest, of course, was up to me. Imagine my surprise when I actually got the call from the Artistic Director, offering me a part in the show!

That week I was bombarded with all sorts of mixed feelings. I wasn't cast as the lead, which I had expected, but they didn't even cast me as an understudy to the lead (definite blow to the ego); no roles at all, just a chorus part...I haven't done that for a very long time. The non-equity scale was a pittance compared to what I am getting paid at HSBC, although I found out later that there is a chance for me to get my Equity card. The biggest down side was that rehearsals are during the day, and I would have to take a significant amount of time off work. The last guy who worked at my job was an actor, so I thought there would be no conflict if I told them I needed to take some time off for rehearsals. Unfortunately, what I found out later was that the actor ended up leaving because Leslie (the Big Cheese) was fed up with all the time he was taking off for rehearsals. Now what was I going to tell them? I told Christine (the executive secretary with whom I work) everything, and she said that it might be possible, but I'd have to wait for an answer from my manager (not Leslie). The theater then emailed me and told me I would have to give them an answer by noon the next day.

After giving myself several ulcers over the issue, I decided to let my heart choose what to do. Without another thought, I called the theater and told them I would take the job, and I instantly felt better. I heard from my boss several days later telling me that it was okay for me to take the time off just this once, but I couldn't tell anyone at work what I was doing, otherwise Leslie would have a hissy fit. Fine with me, especially since I had made the decision to do the show no matter what, and I wasn't really relishing the idea of quitting my well-paying job.

So now rehearsals have started, I have opted to get my Equity card out of all of this, and I haven't been this happy in a very long time. The people in the cast are absolutely amazing...some of them have been on Broadway in different shows, and it's such an honor to be working with them, making jokes with them, and learning from them. All of a sudden, I feel like such a dolt for thinking that I was too good for a chorus role. Now, I'm just so thankful that I have this wonderful opportunity, and I hope that I can use it to my advantage in the future. The score and the script are being fleshed out in ways that I never thought about, and I have a good feeling about where this show is going.

So what happened to all the other stuff I was going to do? Well, it kind of fell by the wayside, although I am picking it up, slowly...Josh Feltman and I ARE still writing the opera. He's been waiting for a month for me to come up with an opening sequence for Act I, but I've been a slacker. I think that when everyone else was coming down with the flu, I caught a similar bug called Procrastinitis. The only cure, I have heard, is to kick your own ass and start doing what you're supposed to be doing. I'm having some trouble making my leg bend so that I can kick my own ass, but I've been doing some stretching exercises, so it shouldn't be too much longer before I start working (sorry, Josh).

Dave Bickle, within his first month of being in the Big Apple, got into not one but TWO shows, so he is rather busy. That's just fine with me, because I have had my own things to do (Q.E.D.). We still plan on doing a cabaret together, but it's kind of on the back burner for now.

For those of you who keep asking me about my better half, he is doing just fine, living in his 4-bachelor house in South Jersey which is more than 8 times larger than my dinky Astoria apartment. If the commute weren't 2 hours one way, and if there were any closet space in his room, I'd move in with him in a heartbeat; as it is, I'll have to wait until my lease ends in Nov. 2002. I'm sure I will be embroiled in more Adventures between now and then, so don't fret; you'll be hearing more about him in the future.

And now, just when you thought it was safe, I give to you The Shameless Plug. Come see me in my awesome schmawesome production of A Tale of Two Cities: Dickens' immortal tale of love, betrayal, sacrifice, and decapitation is now gracing the stage as a musical! Details below:

A Tale of Two Cities
Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center
117 Main St.
Nyack, NY 10960
Performances: Mar. 17 - Apr. 1 (Mondays dark; there are various
matinees as well, but you'll have to contact the box office)
Tickets: $32.50 - $42.50
Box Office: (845) 358-6333
www.ataleoftwocities.org
www.helenhayespac.org

I know a lot of you are in New York City and don't have cars, so you might have a hard time getting to the theater. If you need a ride, you can hitch one with me on the actor's shuttle; just let me know when you'll be coming, 'cuz there's not a lot of room and I have to ask everyone else.

Well, now that the plugs are out there, I suppose I should get back to having my adventures. I love hearing from you, so please don't be shy if you want to tell me all about YOUR adventures!