Leigha Horton :: Green room
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Startin’ off the year in fine vocal form – ten more voice-over spots for radio, six more for TV.  All in all, that makes for a grand total of 34 voiceover spots recorded in December and January alone.  Whee!

Wait – just wait – before you start making plans to roll me on my way to the gym tomorrow – know that this is merely preventing a personal economageddon (to make up for the slim 15 hours per week I’ll be performing at the museum until the start of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition mid-March).  Therefore, there will not be any extra cash on my person.  And we’ll have to cancel the order for Cristal.

We cool now?  Good.  Until it’s lottery-induced party time, sooth thyself with these here dulcet tones:

ParentAwareRatings.org :30
ParentAwareRatings.org
Recorded at Babble-On

ParentAwareRatings.org :60
ParentAwareRatings.org
Recorded at Babble-On

St. Catherine University: Interview :60 (Jane)
St. Catherine University
Recorded at Babble-On

(audio coming soon)
Home Shows: Washington, D.C.; Buffalo, NY; Orlando, FL; Jacksonville, FL; Denver, CO; Indianapolis, IN
Marketplace Events
Recorded at Audio Ruckus

And, as always, remember you can listen to the whole shebang (most stuff I’ve done over the past couple of years) via VoiceZam.

There is a swirling fog of sadness and loss that sometimes accompanies the delicate act of disentangling from a character.

Miss Evelyn Marsden, the nurse aboard the Titanic, provided leagues of inspiration and provoked endless curiosity about the ship, her business aboard it, and her all-too-short life thereafter. While it was my duty to portray her in interactions with museum visitors as part of Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota, I did so only in name, dialect, and in recounting of daily shipboard life. I learned from more than two hundred hours of research and beautiful letters written by her cabin-mate Miss May Sloan, and Evelyn’s husband, Dr. William Abel James, that she was kind, sensitive, grateful, and beloved. After six months and hundreds of thousands of visitors, I only wish I have given her the portrayal she deserved.

The ship officially sunk Sunday night and will stay that way. Bon voyage, dear Titanic. Goodnight, dear crew. Rest in sweet peace Evelyn Marsden.  Thank you for lending me your story.

The previous post here at the greenroom involved me doing a whole lotta tootin’ my own horn, but not so much tootin’ of the finished products.  So I’m here to remedy that. Missouri would be proud.

In relative order of recording, here are some of my spots from 2009:

Denver Home Show with Ty Pennington
Marketplace Events*
Recorded at Audio Ruckus

Philadelphia Home Show with Ty Pennington
Marketplace Events*
Recorded at Audio Ruckus

*There are a kajillion of these spots in both TV and radio format for locations all over the U.S. I was hoping to post some of my better reads in cooler markets (hello, DC! hello, New York!), but a certain production house wasn’t very interested in e-mailing me the spots, regardless of kind, timely requests. *ahem*

ACME: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

Okay – now that you’ve heard the ACME spot, I should warn you that the rest of these “Grocery Store: Spring Savings” spots are nearly identical. Feel free to skip right on down to the Caribou Coffee spots and resume listening there.

Albertsons: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

Biggs: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

CUB: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

Horbachers: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

Jewel-Osco: Spring Savings
Supervalu
Recorded at Babble-On

Caribou Coffee: Ripping + Happy Monday
Caribou Coffee
Recorded at Babble-On

Old El Paso: Mariachi
General Mills
Recorded at Babble-On

And as luck would have it, I’ve already recorded a few spots for other clients this month, but those in the new year merit a new post. You’ll just have to come back later. Aren’t I a tease?

Or hell, you could just visit VoiceZam to hear a more comprehensive selection of my voice-overs to date.  Plenty of stuff is left out for various nefarious reasons (audio is tied to the video and I don’t feel like futzing with that whole process, never got a copy from the engineer, sound quality is “meh,” my read = “no likey,” etc.), but there’s a fine sampling of my wares.  Be warned that the damn thing auto-plays as soon as you open the link – probably not the stealthiest way to slack off at work.

Oh dearest 2009, how I neglected to give you a proper adieu. But because I always need to have the last word, your shenanigans shall not go untouted nor unscathed. This here is my farewell parting shot:

The past year brought a load of work, a load of appreciation for the work I was getting, and one giant, lazy attitude toward writing about it.  Of particular note, midway through 2009 I was able to make a return to performing for a living.  “What?  What do you mean?    Actresses in the Twin Cities aren’t filthy stinking rich and famous?!”  Surprisingly, no, not so much.  See, periodically a girl like me is obliged to suck it up and take a part-time “day job” to keep some steady cash rolling in while filling in the rest with voice-overs and stage work.  What is this world coming to?

What happened was this: in June I was cast as Nurse and First-Class Stewardess Evelyn Marsden in Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Science Museum of Minnesota, as well as joined the museum’s Science Live Theater cast. When at the museum, but not in 1912 costume, I bust out my mad knowledge of nanoscience to thwart an Evil Scientist From The Future, as well as demonstrate the important properties of surface area by blowing giant fireballs and discussing chemical reactivity.  It has been a joy to perform regularly for the (what by now must be) thousands of audience members taking an interest in science.  Additionally, I am responsible for coordinating and moderating public forums for adults about nanoscale science on behalf of NISE Net (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network).  Moreover, it’s less than part-time, and voice-overs and stage work really ARE filling in the rest.  Even in this wretchedly hobbled economy.  My stars are indeed lucky.  And I thank them regularly.

So here, for posterity, are my performance highlights of 2009:

January
Marketplace Events spots – Ty Pennington (that dude from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition) and me on TV and radio urging you to attend particular home shows here and there in the U.S.  TV commercials aired on HGTV and ABC and their affiliates.  Read more about my sister’s hilarious request.

February
Nothing of note – sometimes that’s a good thing.  Looks like I was in rehearsal.  Not always a good thing.

March

• Performances of Adam Szymcowicz’s The Captivity Plays at the Bryant Lake Bowl
• After 18 months of pain in the form of oral torture, treatment was completed and my braces were removed.  I was rewarded with awesomely perfect teeth and new-found confidence.  Join me in reliving my happy dance.
• Supervalu spots – radio spots for grocery stores around the U.S. – Albertson’s, Lucky, Supervalu, Shaw’s/Star Market, Cub Foods, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, Hornbacher’s, etc.

April
Nexxus spots – I don’t believe these were ever aired – just voice-overs for a concept by the ad agency for the client.  If it was approved by the client, the agency would then film the spots.  Since I almost never watch commercial TV, I have no idea if these ever made it though the pipeline…my guess is no.

May

• Played Nerve 123080 in full-length feature film, The System, with Voices Media, Inc. – the same folks who brought you the award-winning web-series Chasing Windmills.  Devilish early morning feats trumpeted here.
• Joined Twin Cities AFTRA Board.

June

• Caroline or Change, The Homosexuals’ Guide to the Universe, Tiny Kushner – now these didn’t involve me at all, save for my presence in the audience.  But I found the first two to be incredibly moving, incredibly powerful pieces of work.  And I was thrilled that Minneapolis was able to honor such a fantastic playwright in this way, and that such a fantastic playwright got to workshop a brand-new play in our fine city.
• Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition opens at the Science Museum of Minnesota.  This is my new “day job” wherein I get to spend part of my weekdays engaging with the general public and informing them about Miss Evelyn Marsden’s life and the hospitals aboard the ship in a darling English accent. Personal ship preparation stories here.
• United Health Care spots – my first political spots, something about calling your congresspeople somewhere in New England. Connecticut maybe? Urging you to take a particular stand on some kind of health care legislation.  Don’t remember the particulars, but got to work with the guys at Shout.  And I absolutely adore Mark Benninghofen, so it was a joy.

July
Joined the Science Museum of Minnesota to work on NISE Net (Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network) projects – both performing live stage plays and demonstrations that deal directly with nanoscale science, as well as coordinating and facilitating adult public forums about nanoscale science.  This is only 10 hours per week, and I love it.  And it makes me feel a little closer to my scientific heroes of audio over at RadioLab.  And to paraphrase the words of my delightfully brilliant colleague Michael Ritchie: I realize that my day job can never be bad, because I work in a place with musical stairs.

August

• Fringe Festival fail – this was hard.  This was very, very hard.  The Ministry of Cultural Warfare, the company I have both figuratively and literally sweat and bled for since 2000, planned to do a show.  Due to a Perfect Storm of really crappy circumstances, I had to remove myself from the process, and we ultimately had to back out of the festival at a late date.  It was heartbreaking, and the fallout was equally heartbreaking.
• Marketplace Events radio and TV spots – the plus side of August was that Ty Pennington had some more home shows to promote, so it was back into the studio to add my special female aural sparkle.
• The Minnesota State Fair – I spent an afternoon as host of the Labor Pavilion at “The Great Minnesota Get-Together.”  They gave me a wireless mic, put me in a Green building and the adjacent pavilion, and let me loose amongst the various Labor kiosks and the throngs of fair-goers.  There was trivia, there were hand-crafted on-the-spot copper roses, there were nurses and flight attendants and machinists and steel workers and everything in between.  At the end of my shift, they snapped a photo which made its way into the national AFTRA magazine.

September
I spent nearly half the month on the road, traveling to Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco – this was for my work with the Science Museum of Minnesota on behalf of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), and it was incredibly inspiring.  It did indeed involve some performing, but it also involved meeting with social scientists to consider the social, political, and ethical implications of nanoscale science, and how to get audiences considering these aspects, as well.  We also met for the purpose of setting goals for years 6-10 of NISE Net’s grant funded by the National Science Foundation, and it involved learning how other organizations engage audiences in learning about nanoscale science.  Inspiring, and the locations were fantastic.  I love the Pacific Northwest.

October
Lead role of Hannah in Table Salt Productions’ inaugural show, Burned at the Gremlin Theatre.  Nothing like spending an hour before each performance putting glue on my face, letting it dry and manipulating it and coloring it to make it look like nasty scar tissue.  While it was a serio-comic post-apocalyptic tale, it was a joy to make a foray back into dramatic work.  Read a little more about it.

November

• Workshop and public reading of Dog and Wolf – an incredibly well-crafted, powerful,  and riveting play about a Bosnian refugee by Catherine Filloux, in which I played the lead, Jasmina.  This play is being produced Off-Broadway this February.
• My first public nanoscience forum about privacy, civil liberties, and nanotechnology.  It was a small group of about 15 people, but helped me get my feet wet.  Now that I’ve done something in the accepted mold, I can hack it and make it more interesting, accessible, and engaging.  Watchout Twin Cities – you’re about to get schooled in nano.

December

• more Marketplace Events spots – this time for home shows around the U.S. in 2010.
• Caribou Coffee spots – The tone and delivery in these spots makes me feel like we’re sitting on a front porch swing, lazing the day away.  And they’re all about handcrafted oatmeal.  And I got to spend some good time with my friends over at Babble-On Recording studios.  I love those engineers.
• General Mills spots for Tuesday Taco Night - you know you’ve made it when your VOs keep getting interrupted by a mariachi band.  Plus more time at Babble-On!  Whee!

Plenty to share for January already – but it’s a new year, so it gets a new post.  Here’s looking forward to a peaceful, prosperous 2010.  And I’ll actually work on getting all of these 2009 (and future) voice-over spots posted for your listening pleasure.  It’s not as hard as I make it sound, and yet here we are.  Soon, I promise.

I ought to go back to my resume and actually verify this, but I’m pretty sure it’s been a decade since I’ve played a dramatic role in a dramatic play – Queen Gertrude in a gender-bent version of Hamlet in college, directed by my favorite old salt, the recently departed George Poletes.  I loved that man.  Alright, hang on, a decade?! – that really can’t be true (searching resume) No!  Wait!  I played the lead in Behind a Mask for Hardcover Theater in (searching internet) 2004.  Thank you, internets!  So it’s only been half a decade.  Phew.  And by the way, I loved those plays – period costumes, wooing men in order of societal importance, deception, intrigue – delightful nefariousness!

But to my point: half a decade?!  Good lord.  That Comedy, she is a jealous mistress.  So either I could frame my present production as dusting off an old photograph – a little brittle, a little yellowed; or I could frame this as the whatever-it-is-that-makes-some-wines-awesome-with-age awesomening.  The goal is the latter.  Regardless of frame, me doing drama = rare bird.  So come see.

You’ve two weekends filled with eight performances left.  Even a show on Halloween if you’re like me and dress up for a living, so don’t really think much of Halloween and only get in costume if people pay you.  Ooooooo…..apocaaaaaalypse……spooooooooky!

For tickets and show information, visit Table Salt Productions.  For a barrel of monkeys post-show, visit me.

Several months ago Jason Kottke made mention of a book titled Art and Fear.  One particular allegory in this book struck me deeply, and the sting of shock and self-recognition remains – the story goes thusly:

At the beginning of the semester, a pottery instructor divided his class into two halves.  Each student in the first half was going to be graded solely on volume – the instructor didn’t care about the quality of the pieces, he just wanted as many complete pieces as possible.  The other half of the class was going to be graded solely on quality – each student had the entire semester to complete one perfect piece.

At the end of the semester the students who were graded on quantity had multiple perfect and near-perfect pieces in their vast collections, while those who were graded on quality ended up with only mediocre and good results.  Those who were in the quantity group made mistakes, learned from them, refined their work, and kept producing.  Those who were in the quality group analyzed and planned and got stuck in their heads, and were ultimately paralyzed by their self-imposed restrictions (they didn’t want to waste time making a load of work and choosing the best from that – they needed to focus their energy solely on THE ONE).

Huh.  The quality group mentality sounds embarrassingly familiar.  Who doesn’t follow through on most of her artistic ideas for fear of failure?  Who doesn’t take risks and try new ventures for fear of failure?  Who stops the execution of ideas before she even starts them for fear of failure?  Me.  Me, me, me.  I am outright terrified of failing myself, terrified of learning that I’m not good at something I love; terrified of letting people bear witness to my weaknesses.  I understand full well that performing on stage is ephemeral and a living, breathing organism that changes based upon any number of factors – but in all endeavors, not just the stage, I want to take comfort that I worked hard and know my shit.  I want to be confident that I’ll succeed.

So if I can’t be assured that I’ll succeed, I should just stay home, right?  Artistic Paralysis – 1; Leigha – 0.  With that mentality, the art dies.  The ideas die.  It’s like shooting a foal because it can’t run immediately after it’s born.  Yes, my art is a little baby horse, and I kill multiple little baby horses daily.  Ideas that could fail?  chik-chik, ka-BLAM.  Wrong. So terribly wrong.

Thankfully, there are some artists who have made it beyond the killing fields and lived to tell about it.  There is hope beyond little baby idea carcasses.  Imagine that.

Elizabeth Gilbert, for one – the author of Eat, Pray, Love – gave a fascinating speech at this year’s TED Talks about changing our vocabulary from “being a genius” to “having a genius.”  It’s taking the pressure off of people and placing it on the work – no need for constant perfection, just a need to go forth and artistically multiply.  To be fruitful in one’s work, to try new approaches, to learn, to experiment, to revise, to explore, to revise again, to feel fulfilled in the process, and to let the work be what it is intended to be.  Nothing more, nothing less.

The director of my present production, Burned, is another.  His approach has lent itself beautifully to my tippy-toeing back to dramatic works – it’s been nearly a decade since I’ve done stagework with an overarching serious tone and this water is a wee bit chilly.  Sean’s advice to begin a renewal of trust – trust in myself and trust in the process, allowing the product find its own way, has been a gift.  It’s okay to be ugly, it’s okay to make grand mistakes, it’s okay to grope until I find my way.  The director is there to walk with me and encourage me in the right direction, to shape my work in a way that fits the vision.  My internal director can go suck it.

Yes, yes, I am indeed alive.  Barely.  Just got back from a 12-day whirlwind tour of the Pacific Northwest chock full of performances and meetings and nanotechnology conferences and sea water and dear friends from my past.  More on all of that to come.  Soon.  I promise.

In the interim, I give you my general Titanic schedule until Thanksgiving:

Sundays through Thursdays, 9 am to 12 noon.

But if you’re hellbent on seeing me, rather than one of our other incredible performers (Melanie and I are up to about 150 hours of research these days), be sure to contact me first – we Titanactors are highly adept at schedule-juggling, and tend to swap hours with astounding regularity.  Regardless of who is present for your experience, it will be, as our dear Junior Marconi Operator Harold McBride says, “another day, another doomed ship.”