You can learn a lot in a two hour commute...

I am writing this update from the final dress rehearsal of OC Centric (Orange County's New Play Festival). I directed a piece for the festival titled Sex, Love and Premature Evacuation and we open tomorrow night. I couldn't be more proud of my cast, and it's been a truly wonderful experience. The not so wonderful part? The two hour commute from LA every day this week. However, I've caught up on my RISK! and Oprah podcasts, and I've "read" two books in the process. If you live or work in the Orange County area, I'd love for you to come see it.

I'm also really excited to announce that I have finally updated the media page of my website. It now includes separate Commercial and Theatrical reels, as well as clips from interviews and some theater excerpts. I've also updated my Directing page.

In an attempt to find balance, loose the tummy flab I seem to have acquired since moving here, and have arms like Jennifer Aniston, I decided to tackle #20 on the 101 list and start a 30 Day Yoga Challenge. I'm also blogging everyday about the process. I'm on Day 17 now, and going strong. Please take a minute to check out my blog and leave a comment. I would love your feedback and advice!

You Can Quote Me!

Every week when I sit down to write my blog I wonder if anyone is actually reading it, and if what I'm writing about is of any interest to anyone other than me. Well, my very talented and funny WTFU co-star Erin Cronican apparently finds it interesting because she quoted my blog in her latest article for Playbills vs. Paying Bills. I'm so flattered! Having said that, if there is a topic or activity you'd like me to blog about, let me know. I'm always up for suggestions!

Speaking of WTFU, we won again! This time we took home Best TV Pilot at the Hoboken International Film Festival! We are so excited! And speaking of Festivals, I recently attending the High Desert Shorts International Film Festival in Pahrump with WTFU creators Allison Lane and Chris Ritter. We had such a great time and met some really fantastic film makers!

Last month I shot a print ad for a super top secret communications company. The campaign was shot by my good friend Matt, and we had a blast running around LA. Matt and I met when we were cast in a production of The Matchmaker at Sierra Madre Playhouse. I was a young, impressionable girl of 13 and Matt was the much older and wiser cradle robber of 17. We used to make out in the parking lot during intermission. Scandalous! The shoot also involved a fellow actor accidentally pants-ing a group of missionaries. Most fun I've had on set in a long time!

I am happy to announce that I will be directing a short play that is part of the OC Centric New Play Festival in Orange County. The festival plays in August and as soon as I have more details I'll post them! Meanwhile, we are holding auditions on June 22 in Los Angeles, so non-union actors email me for info!

Old news is good news

Well it's old news now, but in mid January I packed my boxes, 17 of them to be exact, gave way too much money to UPS to ship them across the country, and moved to Los Angeles. I have had a torrid love affair with NYC for the past 11 years, but after five snow storms in two months, 16 feet of snow, and the third worst winter on record, I was done. Time to move on to bigger and warmer pastures. And bigger and warmer they are. Sweating and getting sun burnt in the middle of February is a welcome change. You might be void of culture, vapid, and aloof, but LA, I could get used to you.

I wouldn't be an actor in LA if I didn't have a blog. Jeffrey Above Sea Level (yes, that's the name of it), was launched back in February. I currently have a 101 in 1001 LA activity challenge, but I only have 56 activities and welcome any suggestions. Subscribe! Make suggestions! (If you subscribed back in February I've switched it to a TypePad account, so you'll have to resubscribe)

In WTFU news, we are playing the country! WTFU is an official selection in the Laugh Out Loud Short Film Festival. This is a traveling festival that screens in theaters across the country. Dates and locations will be announced soon. Also, on Memorial Day weekend, WTFU will be appearing in the High Desert Shorts International Film Festival in Pahrump, Nevada. I'm excited about this festival because it's in a town named Pahrump, and that's just fun to say. If you happen to be in the Vegas/High Desert area, come see us!

You know spring is in the air when I start getting phone calls from friends asking how my tomatoes grew so large. It means the Topsy Turvy Tomato Plant commercial is airing again. Which means I now have three commercials airing nationally. The Cami Secret is still going strong, thanks mostly to the parody from comedic genius Nick Stevens. So strong in fact, that I have been receiving fan mail. Yes, fan mail, mostly from men...asking for dates, but hell, that's more than most can say, and I am honestly grateful for all the exposure this silly commercial has brought me. Back in January my friend Todd Montgomery and I got together and created a video response to my legions of fans (all 9 of them.) You can view this masterpiece here:

We WON!! We WON!!

I am so thrilled to announce that WTFU is now a MULTI-AWARD WINNING film! We recently won Best Comedic Short at the Illinois International Film Festival in Chicago, and Best Ensemble Cast at the Houston Comedy Film Festival! Congrats to the cast and crew and especially to film makers Allison Lane and Chris Ritter!

It's a Festivus for the rest of us

Ok, so clearly I am stretching for titles with the word festival in it. But I am super happy and exited to announce that WTFU, the pilot I shot with the lovely peeps at Reel Spiel Productions played to a SOLD OUT crowd at the Downtown Short Film Festival in New York on September 25, and received a great response at the LA Comedy Festival on November 4. It will also be playing at the Illinois International Film Festival in Chicago on November 7 at 1pm. More festival dates for 2011 will be announced shortly! In the meantime, you can catch the trailer here. (Of which I'm only in for a nanosecond, but it's a very memorable nanosecond) ;)

This past week I reunited with the guys over at Grey Sky Films to shoot a commercial for Picatinny Federal Credit Union. We had a great time and came up with many mispronunciations for the word "Picatinny". The commercial is scheduled to start airing sometime in early December.

Speaking of commercials, the Cami Secret is still inundating the air waves. A Facebook Fan Page has been created, and people I don't even know are fans!!! I'm also in the process of collaborating with Nick Stevens, the comedian who wrote the You Tube "Boob Apron" parody that has over two million hits!!



The Fantasticks completed it's run on September 25. According to one local reviewer, I played the Mute "brilliantly." It's the first show I've ever choreographed, rehearsed and put up in one week (ah, regional theater), and a huge kudos to the cast and crew for all their hard work.

Happy Holidays. I'm off to shop for my Festivus Pole.

"My gentle Puck, come hither-"

Being the big theater dork that I am, I just returned from London, where I spent three weeks studying Shakespeare at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It was an amazing experience that I had the privilege of sharing with some truly wonderful classmates. I am so grateful for the time I had there and I can't wait to do more!


Prior to leaving for London, I shot a pilot for a new TV series with the lovely people over at Reel Spiel Productions. And that's all I'm allowed to say about it. I will say that the shoot involved us taking the LIRR at 3am and my character coaxing an assistant into their underwear. Needless to say, it was VERY fun shoot and I can't wait to see the finished product!





I am very excited to announce that I will be playing The Mute in The Fantasticks at Live Arts Maryland. I'm also going to be doing the Musical Staging! Performances are in late September. I'll post more info as soon as it becomes available.



Finally, this coming Sunday I will be performing in a reading of the play, Covered Girl. Written by my friend Aaron Davis, Covered Girl explores the relationship of a troubled teenager and an American songwriter following the events on 9/11. The play was one of the finalists in the New Works of Merit Playwright Contest and is being presented at the 13th Street Repertory on Sunday, August 22 at 4pm . Free admission!

"You wish to go to the festival?"

So maybe it's not "the Kiiiing's festival" (apologies to all my non Musical Theater friends who are scratching their heads at that reference) but I am going to be in the Santa Fe Three Minute Film Festival on May 22! My friend Allison Lane submitted The Dentist, a short film we shot a couple years ago, to the Festival and we were accepted! AND I also now have an official IMDB page! Woo Hoo! If you don't live in the Santa Fe area, you can check out The Dentist here!

Also on May 22, I'll be performing in the New Bedford Festival Theater's 20th Anniversary Gala. As most of you know, I met my husband, David, while performing in Jekyll and Hyde at NBFT, so it holds a special place in my heart. Happen to be in the New Bedford area on May 22? For tickets and info, click here.

Earlier this month David and I had the privilege of performing in a reading of National Pastime at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. To be able to combine our love of Musical Theater and Baseball into one trip was pretty awesome. (Yes, I realize that makes us complete and total dorks.) We had so much fun and got to spend time with such an amazing cast and crew.

I also did a shoot in April with the fabulous photographers at PM Images. Photos from the shoot should be up on the website within the next week.