Rosalyn Coleman Williams
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Rosalyn Coleman Williams
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Beware the cult of busy.

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Are you running around, crossing items off your ever-growing to-do list, feeling like a chicken with her head cut off, and wondering what the heck it’s all for? It’s a very common experience, most especially for freelancers (which all artists are).

The problem is we often confuse being busy with being effective. We think if we can just keep up the frantic pace, then everything will pay off in a big way. But it turns out that most of what we focus on is not the game changing work we hope it to be.

Being busy is about being reactive, tending to every day minutia rather than honing in on big vision stuff. Being busy is about chasing every opportunity – or perceived opportunity – without evaluating how it fits into your master plan.

For actors, this can look like:

- Mass mailing every single agent in town with your generic headshot and resume; rather than focusing on the top 5 agents who are right for your career right now, and building a relationship with consistent marketing directed to them personally

- Submitting to every Actors Access notice; rather than making 1 bold phone call to a big casting office for a job you’re perfect for

For writers, this can be:

- Handing out your business card to everyone at every networking event, hoping someone will call you; rather than getting the business cards of people you want to work with and starting an email campaign to stay in touch every few months

- Repeatedly deleting and rewriting the first act of your script; rather than finishing it and holding a table read to get some perspective on where it works and where it doesn’t

One of the reasons being busy is so attractive is because there is an immediate sense of gratification. Checking off your to-do list every day feels productive. Also, busy tasks don’t make us vulnerable. Getting a “no” from a casting director is harder than the non-answer of Actors Access. Having your script read aloud and hearing where it falls flat can be painful. But without taking these risks, how will you truly grow?

I invite you to step off the hamster wheel for a weekend getaway with me in the Hudson Valley this June. I’ve organized a vision-clarifying, gremlin-crushing, goal-setting retreat in nature, where we will stop the busy-making and reevaluate what you are doing and why. Check out the full details here: tinyurl.com/cm4aRetreat

Bonus for Red Wall Productions family: Get $100 off the registration fee if you can tell me what TV show Roz guest-starred on with Edie Falco.

Sam Garland is a Creative Career Coach who helps actors, writers, and filmmakers take charge of their journeys and uplevel their careers in powerful ways.  You can get more tools, tips, and inspiration at www.cm4a.com.

FREE Workshops


 
Hi Everyone,
Karen and Roz are excited to present these workshops next Tuesday evening May 20th
They are free!
See below for all info
Karen
— TUESDAY MAY 20th, 7-9:15PM—
 
These are FREE workshops! Please reserve early, and let us know if you need to cancel so that someone else may have your place.
 
7:00-8:00pm
Karen Kohlhaas will see monologues from a several participants, focusing on making clean starts and finishes to your monologue auditions, using both staging and editing decisions about the text.
 
8:15-9:15pm
Rosalyn Coleman Williams will speak on all things digital: what makes a good reel, how actors should/should not use social media, creating effective websites, and how to make your internet presence positive, professional, and productive.  
 
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED: To reserve please email classes@monologueaudition.com
(**please note if you are reserving for a friend, we need their email as well. You will be emailed info about entering the building.)
 
BIOS
KAREN KOHLHAAS is an Off-Broadway director, teacher, author and filmmaker. Most recently at Atlantic she directed the Lortel Award nominated The Collection and A Kind of Alaska by Harold Pinter, named in the top 10 play lists for the New York Times, New York Magazine, and the New York Daily News. She is a founding member of the Atlantic Theater Company and senior teacher at the Atlantic Acting School. She is the author of The Monologue Audition: A Practical Guide for Actors (foreword by David Mamet); How to Choose a Monologue for Any Audition, the creator of The Monologue Audition Video (DVD) all available on her website www.monologueaudition.com. She teaches monologue, cold reading, directing, and advanced scene study classes in NYC. She is currently at work on a feature length documentary, Tennessee Williams in the Mississippi Delta (www.TennWmsDelta.com).
 
ROSALYN COLEMAN WILLIAMS is an award winning director, actor and educator. As a director, her film projects have appeared on several stations nationally and in film festivals all around the world. She is an actor with Broadway, Film and Television credits. As an educator, Rosalyn is one of the most sought after acting coaches in NY, chosen by readers of Back Stage as their favorite on-camera teacher in both 2011 and 2012. Currently teaching “Acting In The Digital Age” at NYU, Rosalyn served as on-set acting coach during the second season of HBO’s “In Treatment.” She is an adjunct professor at SUNY Purchase, teaching on camera audition to the senior class.
Rosalyn is co-creator of Everything Acting Podcast App and iRoz App. Both Apps are currently available on all mobile platforms, and have a mission of demystifying the actor’s journey.  
Roz can soon be seen playing Rose on a TV Documentary about August Wilson, in the film Hands To The Sky, and FRANKIE AND ALICE feature film in theaters now. A Howard University and Yale School of Drama graduate, Rosalyn is Chief Creative Officer at Red Wall Productions, a company that she runs with her husband, Craig T. Williams. www.redwallproductions.com @irozapp

 

Basic Acting Answers & HOMEWORK

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What you can probably guess about me is that I am your average MJJ fan. I had my 8th grade fantasy of MIchael driving up in a (dark red Tbird convertible) to my English class. I got in his car we we drove off to get married as everyone watched in jealous awe. 

What you don't know is that I had the privilege of working with Michael Bearden, his music director, on my second film Allergic to nuts. Michael B generously composed original  A list level music for my film (why? because sometimes God shows an artist like me favor).  

Anyway Michael B is in the film This Is It.  You see him working the music out with MJJ for the tour. You see them in process.  Kind of almost conflict as they go thru what it takes to make a genius happy.  To make his music stanky or funky or whatever it is they say.  It's a vulnerable and beautiful thing they let us see. And I thank them both with a heavy soul.  I miss MJJ and I know my Michael B is sill dealing with a loss that will never be filled. 

I got a few chances to talk about MJJ with Michael B.  It was brief but so insightful, what I got was that yes....MJJ was as divine an artist as we all suspected. MJJ was the TRUTH.

I have watched the film 100 times.  Because it is MJJ's legacy to all of us artists. It's his 'letters to a young artist." It is such a gift to allow us behind the curtain to see the imperfect to see him say... "let it sizzle"  code for take a moment....or "this is why we rehearse" code for 'that's okay, do again til we get it right. "I cue that."  OMG.  Thank you MJJ for your genius and your sacrifice. Thank you for allowing us to see tiny bit of process.  

To my basic acting students.  REHEARSE. Be like Michael.  That is the way to artistic freedom.  Rehearsal allows you to let go and not think about the mechanics.  It allows you to trust yourself and the other people on stage with you. It gives you the confidence to know how to handle another performer who is not as free as you are and may forget.  You can think on your feet because you are free of the burden of having to remember what you have to say or do.  You body knows from instinct and rehearsal and can do it spontaneously, to the delight and joy of yourself and the audience.  This can be achieved in acting just like in music.  

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Off-Broadway Casting

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Announcing Non-Union Auditions for the Off-Broadway Production of “The Kentucky Tragedy.”

Dennis Kelly Higgins, Producer, is currently scheduling appointments for a new Courtroom Drama, based on the astonishing events surrounding the First Financial Panic of 1819, and the spectacular Murder of Attorney General Solomon Sharp, followed by the explosive Trial of his assailant Jerry Beauchamp, in 1825, marking the first time a man was executed in the State of Kentucky. 

Auditions: Monday, April 7--Sunday, April 13. Rehearsals: Monday, April 14—Tuesday, May 13. Performances: Wed., May 14—Sunday, May 25. 

Performances will take place at: The Sargent Theater: ATA—American Theater of Actors 314 West 54 Street, NYC

Seeking Actors with excellent classical training. A stipend of $200 given for the six week run. 

If you are interested in this project, please contact our assistant Alex with your headshot and resume at alexzenncasting@gmail.com.

CAST BREAKDOWN
Anne Cooke: 25-35 Leading lady. Stately and beautiful. Betrayed by her suitor, she seeks solitude and redemption. 

Ellen Reardon: (Actress of Color.) 25-35 Leading Lady. Closest friend to Anne. Her confidante and critic.

Jerry Beauchamp: 22-32 Leading Man. Stable, devoted to honor. Of the earth.

John Pope: 30-45 Leading man. Defense Attorney. Firm but calm temperament , self-assured.

Charles Bibb: 25-35 Prosecutor. Fierce manner. At the center of an exploding crisis.

Nathaniel: (Actor of Color.) 25-35 Estate Manager. Possessing a steady and generous nature. Above the conflict. 

Petita: (Actress of Color.) 18-25 Wiser than she lets on. Speaks her own truth to the powerless.

Casting VO

Citibank

Seeking 1 Male, 1 Female - strong, energetic voice with an international accent. Preferably British. Not looking for a full on British accent, just a hint of international flare.

Pay

Recording date not set, will record in New York City between April 2 to April 8, 2014.

Below are some examples of the kind of voice we're looking for.

Submit VO reels.

Scripts can be provided to record sample for submission.

Send all inquiries to - redwallcasting@gmail.com

Casting

This is NOT a Red Wall Production

 

SEEKING AFRICAN AMERICAN ACTORS & ACTRESS 30-50 for our REBIRTH Series FEBRUARY: Comedic scene from RAISING ARIZONA by Joel & Ethan Cohen, directed by Damian Bailey

REBIRTH will be a yearly series of scenes reenacted and recreated for artist development to utilize their talents for their reels, with a tiny budget. One day shoot. Pay. Union/Non Union.

Seeking the role of HYDE / H.I- compassionate and weak minded ex con, he's been busted from his wife for robbing a liquor store and is offered a life changing opportunity from his best friends that will change his life for the better or the worst. Role originally played by Nicholas Cage.

ED-small but tough, no nonsense wife and new mom, is fed up with Hyde's short comings and the friends that lead him to a dangerous path. Role originally played by Holly Hunter

GALE SNOATS-Thug, escaped convict who tries to be intellectual at all times. He has a plan to rob a bank along with his brother Evelle and Hyde. Role played by John Goodman

EVELLE SNOATS-Younger Brother of Gale, dopey, uneducated but great in assisting his brother in a life of crime. Role played by William Forestye

Please send REELS to glory2godpd@gmail.com if selected you will be asked to do a skype live audition.

CHECK OUT our first REBIRTH: BLUE COLLAR right here.