Introduce Yourself, Zoe Anastassiou

Theatre or theater?

Θέατρο (theatro) avoids the "re" versus "er" battle -- and of course it's used to mean both in Greek so not sure where along the line this difference emerged....hmmm interesting...OPA!

Strangest Θέατρο related job?

I have had many odd experiences – I remember I worked for a summer rep company in MD and when my show was not up then I had to house manage the matinees where most of the audience were elderly patrons and so had to be in charge of helping them understand things, quiet them in the performances, and even consul them and their farting in the theatre!

I know people won’t forget me being cast as a gay man in a monkey suit with a green sock to resemble a zucchini that was supposed to resemble a penis!

I also remember being cast in a piece where I along the way became the producer, co-writer and assistant director, and then discovered why – the other actor in the piece turned out to also be the director and the writer and kept assigning me more and more things so that he could be around me all the time! One day he handed me a script where the character name I was playing had now been changed to my own full name which felt strange but I went with it. Then the following week he said he had written a love scene (in a very psychological/political play) and that he wanted to spend rehearsal “practicing” the kiss so it would appear authentic. He kept saying he wanted to “practice” the kiss not “rehearse” the kiss! So, I confronted him and he admitted that he had looked me up online and saw a photo of me playing a librarian in some play and it had really aroused him so that’s why he cast me, and hired no one else, for anything, because he apparently had a librarian fetish. And he wanted to date me. Here I was working my arse off to sort out the space, fundraising, learning my lines, and it was all a bunch of baloney! Needless to say, that play never happened! But he did call me on and off for nearly three years after trying to “re-connect”!!!

What experience made you want to become an actor?

I grew up on movies. Watching movies was, and still is, almost like a family outing/adventure/event. We would watch them all the time – which is why my DVD collection is HUGE!! I am obsessed with movies! I used to apparently watch them and then re-enact them all the time too – I have witnessed this on family videos! It’s quite funny! I also noticed that I was an attention grabber – the parents would be filming my cute little younger brother and I would literally steal the poor boy’s thunder in every shot!! I don’t remember the moment I made the connection that I want to be an actor – but it was never a question. I do wish I had some defining experience/moment though that I could pinpoint.

Apparently it was very obvious that is what I was going to be since I used to put on “plays” in the garden at home and make everyone at the house who was there for dinner come and see it – they actually had no choice! I would lay out chairs and glasses of water for everyone and put on all kinds of performances. Apparently also, if someone spoke or laughed or I perceived someone as not paying attention, then I would throw a fit and start from the beginning again as their punishment! I can picture my spoiled little self doing that too!!

It’s funny how movies were, and still are, my love, yet, there is nothing like performing live and having people watch you – I do remember figuring that out very young – that I had the ability to make people laugh or cry or feel something. And that was exciting!!

Very first role on stage?

I actually don’t remember officially – I would love to know what my first role was, but was way too young. For some reason I do recall playing maybe a bird or duck #3 (I could totally be making that up!!). I know I went to all girls’ schools in London all the way until 18 so the joke was I played all the male roles – I even got an award as “Best Honorary Male Actor”!!

Tragic flaw? 

You mean flawS – which leads directly into the fact that I apparently am very self-negative – the first thing that comes out of my mouth as an automatic response to a compliment is always NO! I like to think of myself as realistic or what I call “pessimistically optimistic” but I will admit that I do need to work on that. I am also very self-critical and too nice and….I could go on forever! See what I mean!! Tragic L

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

Well, since I grew up in Europe, the two television shows that I used to watch every day after school were the Australian sitcoms “Home and Away” and “Neighbours” – that still play to this day!! They were so dramatic and hilarious!! LOVE THEM! I sadly don’t have one particular female character I wanted to be (I just wanted to be on the shows with them!!), but I remember watching it for Kylie Minogue when she was still on it!!

Introduce Yourself, Jamie Klassel

Theatre or theater?

Yes.

Strangest theatre or theater-related job?

Well, once I was hired to play a large red M&M for an online M&M commercial that was shot on a pirate ship. It is very difficult to 'walk the plank' in a massive M&M costume. Oh, the things we do for a buck.

What experience made you want to become an actor?

I joined a community theater in Baltimore, MD when I was about 9.  I played Wendy in Peter Pan and my heart was a flutter.

Very first role on stage?

Summer Camp circa 1989. A flower in "Alice in Wonderland."  I cried backstage because I was so petrified. My sister pushed me onto the stage and I waved at my parents through the entire scene. 

Tragic flaw? 

My fear of the unknown.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

I wouldn't be a sidekick. I would be Punky Brewster and that's that.

i especially love the part about onstage peeing...

http://brooklynrail.org/2010/05/theater/in-dialogue-annie-baker-laughing-at-the-laugh

Introduce Yourself, Mary Quick

Theatre or theater?

Well, I don't spell color with a u sooo....

Strangest theater-related job?

Hmmm...I guess it would have to be when I played an insane asylum inmate in my high school's production of Marat/Sade.  I spent the first 25 minutes of every performance curled in fetal position, hidden inside of a small, dark compartment of the platform, so that I could burst out (literally, as well as in song) in full clown makeup and dance around the stage singing about the French revolution...that's pretty strange, no?

What experience made you want to become an actor?

I'm not sure exactly when the inkling started...I was painfully shy in lower school, but we did a play almost every year and I remember wanting really badly to be the lead in The Secret Garden and our annual Nativity play (neither of which happened, much to the disbelief of my nine yr old self...ummm hello?  Both the characters were named Mary!) But finally in fifth grade I got the big part and then that was it - kind of crazy, but I haven't even considered doing anything else since I was ten.

Very first role on stage?

A Bumblebee.....in my first grade Rainforest play.....yeah, they ran out of animals before they got to me.

Tragic flaw? 

Hahahaha.  It's funny that you think I would reveal that.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

Who would I actually be or who do I want to be?  I choose to answer the latter...and that would have to be B.A. from the A-Team (for those of you not obsessed with this show as a child, it's the Mr. T character and his name stands for Bad Attitude).  Name me someone else who can kick ass while sporting a mohawk and his body weight in gold chains.  Really.  I dare you.

i concur.

a little bit of truth on a saturday afternoon...

i feel better the closer to five o'clock it gets...

this struck me as beautiful.

Introduce Yourself, Lauren Hines

Theatre or theater?

Theater.  I'm from Kentucky.

Strangest theater-related job?

Working at Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA.  It's a 2100 seat theater with camels, donkeys, and horses on this gigantic stage.  And the animals will use the bathroom.... mid show....on stage.... while you are singing, dancing or whatever and then a fully costumed stage hand will come on stage and clean up their mess and casually exit.  But. The. Smell. Will. Remain.

What experience made you want to become an actor?

I've wanted to be an actor as long as I can remember.  But it was solidified when I was an extra in a Jim Henson movie when I was in Kindergarten.  We were at Disney World and my grandmother was with us and this producer came up and asked my grandmother to be in the movie "The Muppets Go to Walt Disney World".  Apparently, their elderly grandmother actress had gotten ill and now they were trying to scrounge up one in the park.  She had to sit between the two old guy Muppet puppets, Statler and Waldorf, and Henson and another puppeteer had them sing her a song.  And I was an extra sort of dancing and swaying in the background by default as her granddaughter.  And I was totally nervous.  But I also remember thinking, "But if this is what you want to do when you grow up, you can't be nervous, you've got to just do it."  And. So. I. Did.

Very first role on stage?

Mary (Mother of Jesus) in the Christmas pageant at our school.  I sang the song "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine" but because I couldn't read well, during the rehearsal I sang "Joseph Desert, Joseph Mine".  And was corrected although I think my rendition would have had a much deeper meaning and therefore made the show more poignant.  No?

Tragic flaw? 

Pride.... and desserts. 

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?


Larry Appleton on Perfect Strangers.

Introduce Yourself, Rachel Helson

Theatre or theater?

Theatre. I like British things.  My facebook is set to the British version.  I’m a nerd.

Strangest theatre-related job?

I was once in a production of “Alice in Wonderland” where I played Humpty Dumpty, and the director decided that he wanted me to be demonic and speak in a voice like the girl from the Exorcist when she is possessed.  And no, for all those who were wondering, I had no mic, and the theatre was big. Try projecting the Exorcist voice on a two show day. That’s dedication, dude.

What experience made you want to become a writer/producer/actor?

I wear a lot of different hats. I act, produce and write, and I started doing each at different points in my life. I can’t really point to a specific experience that made me want to go into theatre. I read a lot as a kid, and I used to get sad whenever a book ended because I didn’t want to live in the real world all the time. Theatre was the next logical step.

Very first role on stage?

 A bird in “Cinderella” when I was six.

Tragic flaw? 

Too much awesomeness.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?


Definitely, Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I love the heroes in a half shell.

Introduce Yourself, Will Rogers

Theatre or theater?  

I say theater.  But I write theatre.

Strangest theatre-related job?  

My college was commissioned to perform a piece honoring the Wright brothers at the Centennial celebration in North Carolina a few years ago.  Two of my buddies were the two brothers and I was some ridiculous fictional character serving as narrator for the whole thing.  The cool part was we spoke the text from music stands in front of a full orchestra.  The music was incredibly beautiful, amazing to sink up with, and somehow fit perfectly with our ludicrous caricatures. And Andy Griffith was watching in the front row.

What experience made you want to become an actor/writer?  

Reading.  And watching movies.

Very first role on stage?  

Gumshoe Shake Speare, from the Omelet Murder Case.  7th Grade, a bumbling detective, prone to prat falls, in a spoof of Hamlet set in a Clue-esque mansion.

Tragic flaw?  

In the interest of keeping this blog positive for AtPlay, I will refrain from answering.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

Boner from Growing Pains... (see previous question)

Introduce Yourself, Melissa Joyner

Theatre or theater?

Theater, always E-R! Doesn't it make it seem elegant and important?! And honestly, how often does one get to feel that way?

Strangest theater-related job?

Strangest theater related job was an internship for an independent film company in London U.K. The horror film, CREEP was being filmed in the abandoned tube system in the dead of winter. My job, adorned in a man's navy jumper with flashlight and walkie talkie in hand: keep the curious public from wandering, stumbling, snooping onto the set. All the while keeping the director supplied with English Breakfast tea, steaming hot. He only liked it when I made his tea.  Apparently I steep a mean cup.

What experience made you want to become an actor?

Looking back I believe I've always been an actor and a singer.  What I discovered was that there was a title for what I loved doing. I've been doing this since I was 11 years old when my parents stuck me into the Venette Carol Children's Theatre, to give themselves a break from my "energy," and they haven't been able to drag me off of the stage since.

Very first role on stage?

"The Candy Man" at Banyan Elementary School. Imagine 17 elementary school kids shrieking, I mean singing, "The candy man, the candy man can, the candy man can because he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good" and me with a white apron handing out lollipops and gum made out of construction paper, glitter, and paste.

Tragic flaw? 

Spreading myself too thin. My father is always telling me, "Melissa you can do 20 things well or 2 things and be the best."

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

My nickname in junior high into high school, "Laura Winslow" (Kellie S. Williams) on Family Matters, smart goody two shoes girl, (OK yes that sounds like me) and I did have my own "Steve Urkle" type.  He was a rapper not a scientist but did have a tendency to act out his professions of love in front of the entire school. I guess it wasn’t too much of a stretch.

Introduce Yourself, Nick Spangler

Theatre or theater?

Dude, whatever works. Just please don't pronounce it Thee-ey-ter. Please...

Strangest theatre or theater-related job?

The Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose, CA. I did children's interactive shows for them. In the first I played "Arthur" - as in, the aardvark. And that was topped only by the version of Alice in Wonderland we did, in which I played the narrator, the caterpillar, the white rabbit, the mad hatter, the march hair, AND the red queen - all in the same performance. 

What experience made you want to become an actor?

Well, I've been acting since before it was even up to me... but when I knew I was in love with it for life was when I was performing in Sondheim's Assassin's at age 9 and I discovered what HARMONY was in a song! I listened to the cassette tape of the show and was able to pick out my own harmony line I had just learned in rehearsal. Awesome... 

Very first role on stage?

A munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. I was part of The Lollipop Guild and I was awesome! Except during the curtain call of the first performance I bowed so deeply that I fell over and bumped my head on the stage. (I was 5 years old so it wasn't a long fall... but my pride still hurts 20 years later)

Tragic flaw? 

Tragic? That's a bit melodramatic... I wouldn't say it's tragic, but I'm terrible with remembering names and remembering people. Everywhere and everyone. I even re-introduced myself to a buddies girlfriend once and she said, "I know... we've met. I've been to your house..." Yikes. I guess that is pretty tragic actually.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

I'm gonna go with Kit Cloudkicker from TalesSpin. The one caveat to the choice is that choice is the fact that the show premiered in 1990... So sue me people, it's close enough. But really, who wouldn't want to be an orphan who lived with the Air Pirates and could CLOUD SURF ON AN AIRFOIL. Awesome. Besides, he was industrious and liked to take risks - like Spangler...

Introduce Yourself, Kelcie Beene

Theatre or theater?

Theater... theatre... theater....theatre... THEATER is much easier to type for me so let's go with that.

Strangest theater-related job?

Um, well... growing up, every summer at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia, AL - yes, the birthplace of Helen Keller - they would put on The Miracle Worker in an outdoor theater.  Tourists from all over the world would come to check it out.  Over a period of 10 years of involvement, my father played the Doctor and Captain Keller, my brother played James Keller, my sister worked back stage, and I played a blind child and finally Helen when I was old enough.  So basically I spent my summers with my family pretending to be deaf and blind. Looking back, I find that strange.

What experience made you want to become a producer?

I think it was a combination of 1) someone told me to apply to a program as a producer, even though I didn't really consider myself a producer, causing great reflection upon my career goals 2) being surrounded by amazingly talented and creative people who's biggest flaws were logistics and organization 3) sometimes when you work on a project you learn a lot of what NOT to do by the people above you. I'm speaking of only one dark incident many years ago, but it was still very much a lasting learning experience.

I sort of took up an attitude of "can-do" and once people I cared about started saying to me "I want to do THIS project" my reply became "Ok, let's do it!" and we would. It's like the first time you jump off the high dive it's terrifying, but once you do it, it's exhilarating and you don't even think twice the next time.

Very first role on stage?

They all sort of blur together since I did community theater from the time I could walk till high school... but I would say either a squirrel in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or the Littlest Indian in Peter Pan... I don't even think that was a character I think they just gave me that title because at age 6 I thought I should be signing autographs...

Tragic flaw?

Over-booking myself.  Hands down. And procrastinating.... it's a lethal combination.

If you were a 1980s television show sidekick, who would you be?

Maybe Penny or Brain from Inspector Gadget....

But I always wanted to be in Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem!