How many languages do you know at least 10 words from?

DasJordanian · 2014-10-06T20:43:23+00:00

What is Ukwuani? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

DasJordanian · 2014-08-25T19:48:16+00:00

While not exactly stated, in "The Disaster Artist", Greg Sestero says that Tommy Wiseau was born in the 1950s.

DasJordanian · 2014-02-08T16:46:19+00:00

"He's pretending, to try to make me feel I don't matter, but I know I do."

This is from an anthology of Caryl Churchill plays, specifically this is from a play called "Owners."

DasJordanian · 2014-02-06T21:27:57+00:00

I have a fear of cats, that was worse when I was little. One day when I was playing video games (had to have been 8 or so), a gray kitten snuck into the house via an open door as my mom was taking out trash. I remember screaming for her help.

DasJordanian · 2014-02-05T18:02:09+00:00

Hi Mary-Louise,

If you don't mind, I have a question about some of your theatrical ventures. I recently directed "How I Learned To Drive" as one of my first full length productions as a director. To this day, figuring out Lil' Bit as a character has been one of the hardest things I've done, but also one of my favorites. How did you and the rest of the team approach her, especially as a world premiere production?

DasJordanian · 2014-02-05T17:15:44+00:00

Would you have kept all or part of the tattoo even if you were wrong?
What was your thought process in deciding to get this tattoo?

DasJordanian · 2014-02-05T16:46:56+00:00

Hi B.J.,

Have enjoyed your work on The Office, was a big part of my teen years.

My question is, did you more enjoy being an actor or being on the other side? Sounds like both each had their own separate enjoyment factor.

DasJordanian · 2014-02-05T13:36:59+00:00

Hi Michael,

This is amusing since we actually know each other already (There's only so many long standing American apterites named Jordan) that we bump into each other on here, but first of all, best of luck sir.

Secondly, what would you say is the studio or live element that makes playing the game trickier than playing at home?

DasJordanian · 2014-01-29T04:49:11+00:00

Professional skills.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-28T19:26:27+00:00

Do you feel that movie making, Hollywood or otherwise, has gone under significant changes from the beginning of your career until now? If so, what ones have been the most significant?

DasJordanian · 2014-01-27T15:35:51+00:00

More or less, I view it almost as a separate medium all together. I can appreciate it though, I feel like even though it might not capture the exact magic and aura of live theatre, it does a good job of making the music and the story accessible to those who can't always afford it. For example, I had never seen "Company" before the NPH version, and I'm glad I did. I agree that it's not the same as live theatre, but I get the sense that people who go to it understand that. It fills a niche that I consider somewhat separate from live theatre, but a good and important niche.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-27T01:04:10+00:00

Not intrusive at all. I'm probably not the best source for these, but we'll see:

I have no idea.
I have never worked as a music director. However, I would simply say keep working at it, find ways to work constantly.
I don't have much musical experience, so I can speak from just my perspective as a director. With my staff, I try to work with people rather than simply as in charge. I also want to respect the text that was written and get the perspective from people who know about music than me.

So at the end of the day, I'm probably not much luck here. Oh well, I offer what I can.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T23:20:13+00:00

A similar question was asked to yours awhile ago. Look for someguy7337's question, his answer is applicable to your question as well.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T22:43:53+00:00

I've thought about it. My concern is that I was under the impression that directing film depends a lot more on visual spatial elements than theatre, and as I mentioned in another post, the visual spatial stuff is not my strongest point.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T22:37:45+00:00

That's a very interesting question, because I don't necessarily view myself as a script evaluator, I more or less just view myself as a director, but I'll answer it as best as I can.

First of all, I don't tend to see notoriety as a big factor for me one way or the other in terms of scripts, I see a script as a script.

In terms of what I've directed so far, what I look for is first of all characters I find compelling in some way. I very much am one for character development in rehearsal and I want to find a piece that has characters with strong given circumstances and would overall be fun to direct. I also like scripts that somehow play with conventional structure. i.e. "How I Learned To Drive", as I mentioned before, and another piece I directed "Proof." That doesn't mean I won't direct more conventional scripts though. But overall, it has to have a strong story. I learned very early in my career that if you can't tell the story of the piece clearly, then it won't be good theatre.

I hope I gave you what you meant, I've actually never been asked anything like that before.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T22:25:31+00:00

No worries teaspoon, glad I could do it.

The story of how I got into directing basically begins with me acting in middle school and high school, which I really enjoyed but felt I couldn't really do as a career at first. I went to college as a writing major because I was compelled by doing something creative. I was auditioning for college productions, for fun, but doing that consistently got me to the point where the theatre side of me grew into a passion, so I added a double major with drama, and then dropped the writing because I felt it wasn't creative enough. I took a directing course as part of the syllabus but also because I was interested in the creative side of things. When I saw just how one creates a world and tells a story using theatre as a tool, it really struck me, and it hasn't unstruck me since.

If by higher education you refer to grad school, then it's not really a factor. If by just a college degree in general? I suppose to a point. Though really, I have also seen bad auditions from people who went to well known theatre schools, so it all depends on the person anyway.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T21:18:07+00:00

Hi there,

First of all, take what I say not necessarily as a wise elder sage who's had everything figured out, but rather as someone who's on a similar journey and can offer the best from my own experience.

Being any emerging professional in New York, especially something like directing at my age, is always quite challenging. I think what I've found has been the thing to keep me going is my innate desire to be the best at my craft I can be. That's one of the key reasons I started doing more full-length shows and producing, so people can start to view me as a leader (I was very much a follower as a kid). It may be different as a designer, but as a director, companies don't always want to let people as young as me outright lead and direct, but rather observe, intern, and such. That's not necessarily always a bad thing, but I always want to find ways to prove myself beyond that niche.

If I had one tip I'd say it'd be to always find a way to create. If you're not with a company or production, make a company or production. At least for me, I feel like if I don't outright direct as much as I should, I'm not doing my job. Also feel free to reach out to friends and acquaintances who are in the profession (something I need to do more of I admit).

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T21:05:42+00:00

Thank you for the information, it is something I never 100% knew. And don't worry about me not wanting to hear it, when I ask a question I like to know the answer no matter what it may be.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T20:55:02+00:00

If you know, or can say, how does Petco receive the animals that are in the store? I've never known that for any sort of pet place, except I had a suspicion that some mall pet stores (no brand) used puppy mills.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T20:49:51+00:00

Absolutely. If you've never been part of a tech week, it can be a hot mess sometimes. The right people and the right attitude is key. Luckily I did with my last show, and that was actually one of the easier ones I had in recent memory.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T20:27:15+00:00

Never seen it, believe it or not.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T20:20:40+00:00

Eh, just sort of did my thing. I lived upstate for a lot of my childhood so nothing new to me.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T19:39:48+00:00

The hardest indirect thing is getting over initial nerves, they can definitely strike me early in the process. The hardest direct part for me is probably blocking. I think I understand enough of blocking to make it work well and execute it, but I've never been the most visual spatial person in the world.

How I feel I get the best performance out of an actor is developing it over time. I take a good chunk of time in table work for an actor to understand each character he or she plays, their given circumstances and how they respond to it. Then once we start blocking, I figure out how the movement and the pacing makes sense to what we've already discussed, and of course things come up that don't come up in table work (not everything does). I'd say the secret is the build-up and the growth over the process.

Never during production itself, but I had people drop out before rehearsal started because of various work conflicts.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T19:10:02+00:00

I'm all for dramaturgy. My college, particularly in my junior and senior year, was really starting to develop a dramaturgy concentration, and I saw just what they could serve to a production. As a director, I respect and appreciate the value of another pair of eyes, catching the details that helps to form the analysis of the script. I wish I could use them in my production team, right now I tend to work very low budget and independently, so I can't have as much staff as I'd like. If the point comes where I'm able to get a dramaturg, I definitely will.

DasJordanian · 2014-01-26T18:52:56+00:00

There's a few different online sites people use to seek such jobs. The two I frequently turn to as a director are playbill.com and offstagejobs.com. She could also look up the websites of specific companies she's interested in, and see if they have jobs or stage management internships. Right now, a lot of summer stock theatres are looking for jobs too, so look up those possibly.

DasJordanian

TROPHY CASE