My eventful Tuesday

Talking to my class.

Tuesday morning was the Coffee and Conversations Critic's talk back. I served as moderator at this event that took place at the Barksdale Theatre at Willow Lawn. The critics on the panel were Dave Timberline, Mary Burres (both from Style Weekly) and Susan Haubenstock (RTD).

I had never met Susan before and she was a delight. Her answers were straight forward with no pretence. This lady keeps it real. I don't always agree with what she writes (especially her review for The Lark - which confuses me to this day - seriously, Susan, if you ever run across this blog and want to discuss that review I would love it) but after talking with her I certainly have a greater respect for who she is and what she does. Of course, Dave Timberline is my favorite critic. I also agree and disagree with him but I have been reading everything he writes for such a long time now I must say I agree much more than I disagree. I am definitely a fan. And he is smart and fun and interesting to talk with. The newest edition to the mix is Mary Burres. She added a lot to the talk back. She was refreshingly honest, once even mentioning that she is definitely not a journalist - or something to that effect. She is a lover of theatre and willing to express her opinion about what she sees.

I had so much fun moderating. I have done a few talk backs as an actress and it was so nice not to be in the "hot seat" this time. I thought they handled my questions beautifully and bravely. The audience had some great questions and I wish it could have gone on even longer. Once those talk backs get started they seem to fly by. I appreciate Chase at Barksdale asking me to moderate. I had a blast.

That evening I taught a class for Richmond Shakespeare (You might have seen one of the gazillion plugs for it on my blog). I was worried about my energy level at the end of a day that was already full. The class was on playing multiple characters. It was so much fun. I hope the students got as much out of it as I did. It has been a while since I taught a class for adults and these students were great. From the looks of their mini performances at the end of the class I would definitely call it a success. I am only sorry that my friend, Andrew (Director of Training at Richmond Shakespeare) had to rest his voice and could not participate. I will get you next time Andrew! Thanks for taking the great pics, though.

By the way, Andrew is getting lots of praise and love for his performance (multi-character) in Measure for Measure playing in the chapel theatre at 2nd Presbyterian. Go to http://www.richmondshakespeare.com/ for more info.

So last Tuesday was a long but very fun day. Between the talk back, working at LVA and teaching the class - I was feeling pretty lucky.