Shameless plug time

In which our Diva is, well, shameless

Keep meaning to write nice meaty posts on a couple of topics, keep not quite getting to it. Until I manage it, here are a few things that have come down the pike since my last post:

Photographer Daryl Darko's new book Cemetery People is now available for ordering, and looks amazing! You can preview it on the linked site. I'm delighted to be featured among the eclectic mix of people captured by Daryl's lens.

From visual to auditory, Elgin OPERA is back with the "Festival of Singers" at Villa Verone from 6-8 pm every Sunday evening through August. I got all involved in setting up my new computer this weekend, and completely forgot to let you lovely folks know I'd be singing last night. D'oh! But I'll be back next week (July 24), and probably a couple of Sundays in August, contingent on my schedule. I'll confirm the dates ASAP.

Resonance is starting to gain momentum, with new cells popping up all over the place! So excited to see what stories the community will come up with to expand the world. The first Chicago video scene is now live, with more being planned for shooting as the summer progresses, along with in-character blog and social media content, and an experiment or three in storytelling in different media. We're currently looking for a logo design for the fictional record label that figures into our story. So here's that key question... Will you help?

In the meantime, you can see Beth and Alice get together to catch up on life since Alice moved to L.A., and compare notes on the early stages of their investigation. This was edited from about 20 minutes of improvised material, shot by the terrific Adam Daniels. The folks at Bistrot Margot could not have been more friendly and helpful, and we had ourselves a yummy brunch besides! If you're looking for a great meal in the Old Town neighborhood, you won't go wrong there.

It's the nature of guerrilla filmmaking that something will always go wrong, and in this case it was the input from our body mikes suddenly deciding not to work when we were actually shooting, even though they were fine when we tested twice! Our experiment with homegrown ADR was also, unfortunately, less than successful. I managed to clean up a lot of the traffic noise, but it and the music at the restaurant still definitely intrude on the scene, so you might want to watch with the captions turned on. (Click the little "CC" near the right-hand end of the video's control bar.)



Onward and upward!

October happenings

In which our Diva has a busy fall on tap

Posting on the fly, as I learn lines and get my set bag together to shoot on location in the woods all weekend. This is the exciting new webseries project I've been cryptically babbling about (shush! babbling can too be cryptic!) on Twitter all week, and I promise to give you all the details just as soon I can! In the meantime, I can tell you it involves quite a few of my favorite things: Playing with swords, urban fantasy, history, a story driven mostly by an array of awesome women, and a rich, complex character I can really dig into. I'm loving every minute, and can't wait to tell you all about it.

In the meantime, I can tell you to come check out Elgin Opera's annual benefit dinner and performance on Sunday, October 24. I'll be singing with the ensemble in several numbers, and enjoying the costumes (I love anything that extends my Halloween), the amazing artists joining us as soloists, and the unfailingly scrumptious Italian food at Villa Verone. Check out the website for all the details, and I hope to see you there! We're also still gladly accepting items for the silent auction, so if you'd like to contribute in that way, please call the office at (847) 695-5014.

Fall in the Fox Valley is gorgeous, with lots of old-growth trees turning amazing colors and shedding their leaves. Last weekend I went out to the nearby Bluff City Cemetery to work with photographer Daryl Darko on his ongoing "Cemetery Girl" project. Check out this cool animation he created using over 1600 photos from the session!