Adriane Shown

A few auditions, couple o’callbacks, a couple of things set for end of year. More on all that later. This last month has been a beehive bevy! 🐝 Speaking of which, 10 days ago, I got stung twice by a bastard yellow jacket (Yellowjackets is an excellent series, can’t wait for Ssn4) on my ribs! Couldn’t be in a fleshy area? Can’t remember the last time stung, as an adult. Guh💉 Also got double vax for upcoming travel. Otherwise, setting up an artwork station; dog sitting; and the usual culling of ephemera, nic-nacs & whatnot. For myself & others. No jabby-jab wasp stinger gonna keep me down. But 105 degree heat on the other hand… 💜🗝

Speak No More : Lovecraft (latest from La Fenice Tavern) I love immersive work, improvisational theatre, supernatural spooky-kooky 👻 so this show was great fun for me & added benefit of cast including a couple of my friends & fave spooky-kooky actors 🌱 Maaany years ago I had the great fortune & opportunity to experience the immersive work of ’Tropicana’ in London (2004) which was underground, yeah, literally, in the catacombs of the Underground subway system! (the Shunt vaults) By far the most exciting work I’d seen yet. Created by Shunt. Audience was brought in only a few folks at a time, shuffling from one space to the next, joining others in each space; the combined group was split & then rejoined as performance progressed 👯‍♂️ Some folks from the Shunt were then part of PunchDrunk who created the exceptional “Sleep No More” in NYC, which I also got to enjoy the next year. In SNM, all audience wore white masks, were absolutely silent the entire time, until you returned to the lobby to leave. The actors were the only unmasked folks, but also ~silent~ The space spanned several floors of the building & it was a choose-your-own-adventure; follow any one of a dozen actors, switch mid-stream, or wander the floors when you so desired a change of scene 🎭 until all audience were ushered into a great hall for an ensemble ballroom scene & feast, where there is more murder. SNM is Shakespeare’s Macbeth (but it didn’t matter if you knew the play or not, since this was its own thing) 🧳 Several years later I got to help create the world of “The Suitcase”, an improvised play (loosely following the structure of SNM) 🦊 after I moved to L.A., I got to perform in a scripted immersive play, “Kaidan”, a series of Japanese ghost stories, including storytelling, puppetry, dance/movement, all on the grounds of Tillman Water Reclamation Plant, (aka the Starfleet Academy filming location!) Art is the final frontier, baby, as we can go anywhere our creative selves can discover. And bring along others for the ride 🛸 💜🗝

Sometimes you get to see a q***r gender stereotype busting musical inside of an historically binary ruled hall. Which gives the musical even more layers to leaf through. Several kids there, enthralled 📕 the musical had similar storyline & vibe to a book I often read to kids. Each classroom of lil kiddos I got to read to, I’d bring in, Princess Knight, to break another painted over window, so we could discuss gender role stereotypes, athleticism of body & mind, societal class stratum 📚 as much as 2nd graders can absorb. Lil kids quickly recognize even the smallest heroic gestures in the story...wanting to have autonomy, voice, strength of their own. Books, films, shows, games, art, adverts. We humans, primates, seek ourselves, in all things 🐒 Recognize ourselves or the glimmer of our future selves. Subliminal, Subconscious, or Purposeful. Compassionate, Empathetic. Even solo ventures in public spaces, are Communion 💜🗝

Sometimes you find yourself in an odd lil alcove, but do not mind it. And actually prefer it to the main room. We all know how it can be…alone in a crowd. Embrace the stance as a solo observer, jump into the bevy 👟 👟 Get out of the pjs, get into a fab bit of gear & go have a wander. If you keep your eyes up, there’s bound to be something interesting, beautiful, odd, inspiring, exciting, intriguing, some combo, all within your view 👁️Most times when I do not want to leave the apartment (when working from home, maybe it’s been a couple of days?) is when I know that I need to get out, even just to go to the grocery or 99c store. Buy a single item. Or just enjoy their a/c. I’m sure I’ve mentioned before that over 20yrs ago, back when I was still a smoker & when smoking indoors was still a thing, I’d put on a frock, or a suit, walk to the cafe, have my espresso & do my crossword & smoke smoke smoke (embarrassed that I was a long time smoker, gahrooos) Putting on that item which hung waiting for the right event…well, today is the day, is the event. Maybe chat to a stranger, run into a friend, or find a lil alcove. Stay curious. 💜🗝

What do you think that you impart within the first few seconds of meeting someone? Of course it’s different if that person is a friend, a stranger, an acquaintance. Is the setting casual, professional, meant to be a meet-n-greet scenario? 👋🏼 Often for self-tapes, a slate is required, usually just stating your name, sometimes other info or a personality question. Which can be as simple as, “What’s your favorite soup” (yes, really) the point is to see how you are naturally, talking about something that excites you, as opposed to when you are ‘acting’… & hopefully the two flow in a similar vein 🎥 I love to people watch, witness someone in their head, & how they react if they notice they’re in someone’s gaze. In a grocery store or at a museum, just a few seconds in passing. Gleaning. 💜🗝

“Don’t dream it, be it…” When I was 14-15yo, the role of Frankie in the DC shadow cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, was passed down to me, along with most of the wardrobe (the previous two folks had each quit being ‘Frankie’ when their punk bands said it was no longer cool) Definitely the youngest of cast members, by a few years. Aside from the show, which was only Fri & Sat at midnight, there was a pre-show of really just us & our friends having a dance party to whatever punk, new wave, UK alt music the DJ (Aaron) had put together…along with a bunch of spliced film up on the screen, edited from art films, trailers & old p**n 😳 we’d dance our bums off for nearly an hour while theater patrons filled the seats. It was a great time. Not a typical teen-hood, thankfully, but also being in adult situations so young was…precarious, at best 🔥 💀🩸 I’m now listening to the bio audiobook of the OG Frankie, Tim Curry, & of course this role was only one of maaany that he’d perform in his career. How exciting though, to originate a role on stage, have build up performances & then making a film… may we all be so blessed in our creative endeavors, to build upon the last step, to the next, to lift as we climb 💜🗝

Sometimes you leave a lil piece of yourself behind. I began a tattoo removal process a few years ago. Not of all, just a few, okay, 7. Those that were occasionally problematic on set, beginning with my hand; on my clavicles were Edward Gorey inspired wicked cherubs, from his Dracula stage set design, from a book given me by my dad; & black silhouettes that covered up older hand done bits on the ankles 🖊️ Part of the deal is that you cannot expose the lasered areas to the sun, or they’ll react, irreversibly turning brown like a henna tattoo 😳 I’ve hidden under umbrellas & parasols, which was already my thing; now with my several forms of sunscreen. Sadly trading in my olive tone for a goth pallor ☂️ Though summer vibes is not my thing & I prefer the beach at dusk, each road trip I bring a bathing suit (vintage swim-dress, of course) yet rarely end up using it. But it’s packed up just in case. This time, I jumped in 🐸 On this drive, I scattered more of my uncles ashes, some offerings & left a piece of my heart in the desert. Sometimes, you just have to leave a piece of yourself behind🫀🗝

There is so much fab talent in the 512! I got to go to the Austin Theatre Critics Awards event to cheer on & celebrate my friends that were nominated & some Unsung Heros that were recognized. Several of the nominees that I don’t already know, are actors whose work that I also greatly admire. And of course it’s great to put names with faces. Kudos to all! 🎉This event was held at The State Theatre, which once held The Actor’s School, where I first began working with Paula Russell 🎭 📚 📖 Before I moved to L.A. to go to Conservatory, I followed her to South Lamar Studio. Aside from being an excellent teacher & coach, she also became an ever supportive friend, a cheerleader of my work. 💜🗝 Go see some live theatre, folks! ( 📸 by Peggy Keelan)

Destination (at Trinity Street Playhouse, 📕by George Ayres,
🎭 David Jarrott) up til end of May. It’s been so lovely to work with these talented folks 🌈 some sold out shows 🎉 nice things said 💐 Only 6 more performances 😿💜🗝 (with Bob Beare, 📸 Steve Rogers)

Stereotype-Busting since I was a tyke, being as independent as any 6yo NYC latchkey kid could be 🔑 The Creative, I wanted to make the things, the art, the books, the theatre & since my folks & their friends were doing just that, through example, it was obvious that I could as well 🎨 then being raised by the GPs, they told me I could do ALL of the sports, climb trees, build, bike, skate, fish 🐟 Tho GMa wanted me to learn to type so one day I could “be a secretary & maybe marry the boss” (I was still a tween!) she laughed when I asked, ‘What if I want to be the boss?’ 📚 7-14yo, playing classical piano & flute, which only began as physical therapy after my hand was run over by a VW bug; the Ps music was 60s 70s rock, folk, B’way shows. My twin uncles played Sabbath, Hendrix, Zeppelin. GPa lived & loved the big bands. My brother’s dad turned me onto The Clash, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits 🦖 While doing my lil jr high, born-too-late-to-be-a-beatnik thing, beatin’ the boys at pinball, my flute was stolen, so I quit classical & the DC performing arts school 📚 17yo, back in TX, while my peers were donning poodle hair & bubblegum pink lipgloss, I gave myself a crew cut, bleached it near white & tattooed my hand w the biology science symbol for ‘dead female’. I already knew I was not then, nor would ever be the typical gal 👽 at 40, I had an 80yo yoga instructor, long white hair, down to her bum. Something I hadn’t yet seen. At my gym now, maybe I’m becoming that gal. Looks like there will always be norms to challenge, stereotypes to break 💜🗝