Fame or Famine

Or: Blondie Loves Biglips
Life for the rich and famous performer is tough. First they have to be an actor and appear on the red carpet and endless publicity junkets. Then they have to make millions of dollars and play keeping up with the Hiltons. Then they have to fall in love with someone who doesn’t deserve them. Then they have to make a new movie and fall in love with someone else. Then they have to break up with the first person and destroy America’s dream of the perfect famous couple. Christ, being …read more

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Tonight one of my very good friends, from the swing dancing days, came over to have dinner and hang out. She put in Louis Prima and Keely Smith. The moment the horns started Charlie got a look on his little face, a little far away, a little intense, that I can only describe as “familiar”.
He’s his father’s son.
I wonder what instrument he’s going to obsessively play like a musical crackmonkey?
Hopefully it will be trombone. We already have seven of them.
Lord help me.

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Long ago, when our people were a verbal society without written word, cataclysmic events would be passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. Often the story would change and shift with the telling, but each generation could slowly internalize and chew over the events, and what was learned from them. Raconteuring is a delicate, lost art form that appears still vital to the human psyche. We all want to know what “we” went through. We want to know where we come from. In this vein, the performing arts have been invaluable tools to aid …read more

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To see the previous relevant installment of AAE, click here

Q: So you mentioned last time that you didn’t start acting until a little later. Were you in Jr. High or High school when you started?
A: Well, as far as actually considering it acting versus just an activity, I would say it started later. More about 5th or 6th grade; that’s 11 or 12 right?
Now that I think about it, I guess that isn’t terribly older, but when you look at the people in the business now there are a lot of people that started at three or four. …read more

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Or: A Review of Pathos
My husband and I are not fans of the whole “Reality Television” genre. The attempted illusion is one of normal people being caught on tape, when in reality, anyone who agrees or even auditions to appear on a “reality” television program will not be your average joe (Wouldn’t that make great show title? Must keep it in mind.)
Essentially, tuning into a ‘reality’ program just ensures that you see something with almost zero ‘reality’ actually involved.
The refreshing show, Beauty and the Geek, bypasses the reality conundrum by completely abandoning the pretension. It’s not …read more

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Featured guest blogger, Ginny A, writes about the difficulties of parenting the artistic child.
Living With a Drama Kid
or: Just how special is special?
I’m not sure she ever really had a choice about being a drama kid. It may not have been prenatal fantasies I had but I certainly knew my baby was going to be a remarkable person. She was born into a family who had more than their share of scary brilliance. With the brain power and innate talent on both sides of Krissy’s family, my baby was going to be very special. And …read more

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On June 30, 2005 St. Xavier University held their Summer Concert at the Chicago campus to celebrate the end of their fiscal year and to also celebrate the Fourth of July holiday. The Bradley Young Orchestra(1) entertained the approximately 2,000 individuals from 7:00pm until the fireworks at 10:00pm.
Their sense of timing was fantastic. While partygoers were still arriving and having some food and generally picnicking, they started out with some classic swing tunes. Once bellies were full and folks began to feel the music, they moved on to some incredible Motown and hip-hop songs. At one …read more

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Ella hung out with her family over the July 4th holiday and brought up some of the questions I asked with her parents. Here are her thoughts:
I was actually talking about you and the blog on Sunday night- we were having dinner with family up in the burbs and people started talking about where I get my theatrical side from…I brought up what I had said about my parents to you for the AAE series, and my dad confessed that if he wasn’t as petrified of being onstage he probably would have done theater too. I was shocked- …read more

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