How does Regan spend her time, and with whom?

The players: First I’ll introduce to you are my fellow actors, with whom I tend to spend at least six to eight hours per weekday, sometimes more.  There are eight of us, originally from all over (including New York City, northern California, Chicago, Atlanta, Hawaii, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and of course, Denver).  Here’s a VERY basic breakdown of each one using words I’d associate with them, and an actor of whom each one reminds me (although this really doesn’t do them justice):

1. Maurice: Hilarious, introspective, African-American, quick-witted, fashionable (Will Smith)
2. Sarah: Quirky, abstract, blonde, energetic, wholesome (Kristin Chenoweth)
3. Jack: Parkour, free-soul, dancer, earth tones, daring (Heath Ledger/Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
4. Katie: Sensual, experimental, pointed, curly, classic (Cate Blanchett/Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio)
5. Scott: Hercules, more-than-meets-the-eye, intense, thoughtful, American boy (Paul Rudd)
6. Ngozi: Power, physique, Nigerian, soulful, nurturer (Viola Davis)
7. Matt: Musician, funny-man, intelligent, tall, brother (Vince Vaughn/Jim Carrey)

They are all, of course, adorable, and we’ve formed a pretty solid kinship (we are the class of 2013, and hence have dubbed ourselves Apollo 13).

The classes: Five days a week, beginning in the morning around 9am, and ending around 4 or 5.  Rehearsals for shows are in the evenings and on Saturdays.  So, essentially, the schedule is pretty full, some days going from about 8:45am almost straight through until 10pm. (As the masterful Steve Wilson says, “Theatre is hard.”)  Two of the 1st-year actors are already in full swing rehearsals for "Joe Turner's Come and Gone."  The rest of us have started rehearsal for an original 1st-year semi-autobiographical presentation that we're doing with director Darko Tresnjak.

For our physical, mental, and emotional conditioning, we have created individual fitness plans.  Mine includes:

             --Swimming: I’m proud to say that the pool lifeguards said I was the first person to ever use their accessible pool lift…glad I could fill that hole

--Pushing to class up a VERY steep hill, on which my fellow classmates have been fortunate enough to enhance their own conditioning by pushing me (while I sing “Going the Distance” from Rocky)

--No pop (a.k.a. soda, a.k.a. Diet Dr. Pepper, a.k.a. one of my life mainstays for more than 15 years…it’s been hard, but I’m doing it!)

--Yoga, three days a week (for the yogis out there, it’s vinyasa flow-y…sometimes a little quick for me, with too many downward dogs, but I do my own thing when necessary.  My yoga meets me where I am!)

New play readings – We have the good fortune on a weekly basis to be exposed to the new works that have been created by the playwrights in our program.  They’re incredibly talented.

Movement, voice, and acting technique work: This includes a bunch of things.  Here are some highlights:

-Acting out a nonverbal scene in which I was attempting to illustrate remedying the problem of constipation.  I therefore drank a nasty concoction of vanilla hemp powder and water, pouring it down my shirt in the process of consuming it (at least I accomplished the objective...I mean, of drinking the concoction...I wasn't actually constipated...I was acting).

-Doing a handstand in our movement class (with the assistance of my classmates).

-Exploring Alexander technique, which is blowing my mind thus far.  Essentially, it’s about removing physical or mental impediments that would prevent you from moving, acting, or existing freely.  Interestingly, I think the principles of the technique could be significantly beneficial for people with disabilities who feel impeded by some part of their body.  I’ll try to remember to touch more on this in a later blog.

-Learning countless physical, vocal, and mental conditioning/warm-up techniques that encourage the actors to aptly operate their acting instruments (body, voice, emotion, etc.) without inflicting damage.  One thing I’ve realized is how much more I should really tend to my wheelchair for regular pumping, tightening, cleaning, etc.  It’s essentially an extension of my body, but I don’t always give it the kind attention it deserves!  I might have to build chair lubricating into my fitness plan.  :-)

This hopefully gives you a slight taste of some of what I’m encountering out here.  I’ll be trying to share something each week.  Feel free to comment with requests for things you’re curious about, and I’ll try to address them.

Cheers!

P.S. Thank you to ALL for the love-filled birthday wishes!  My 10-10-10 day was fabulous, even though I would have loved to share it with many of you in person!