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"The Belles of Beccaria" by Karen Eterovich. A family frozen by loss awakens to repressed desires with the return of an old flame. A Midwestern take on The Three Sisters. Starring Louisa Cabot, David Copeland, Marianne Cullinan, Barbara Farrar, Anthony Newfield and Leslie Shreve, Music/Sound David Green. Original Direction by Erma Duricko.

Very happy to have finally hit upon my synopsis summary. Always excited about the work, feel something very special about this work. Have had all sorts of ideas about directing it too. Yet how could I hope that anyone would ever let me or why? I mean I've had the full fantasy of it...Lincoln Center phoning me up, giving me an unlimited budget. Why we could have a real kitchen, live orchestra, ballroom dancers...starring Olympia Dukakis, Marian Seldes, Angela Lansbury, Vanessa Redgrave, Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, somebody stop me!

Tech is done, Locust Grove is lush and green, beautifully situated, an idyllic setting for the show. I can well imagine myself back in time. Skin terribly dry, can't seem to get anywhere with it, I am grateful for the humidity. Dress working beautifully, providing much needed coolness. Tired, happy looking forward. Very good I ran play backwards, I felt ready to jump around as I had to!

Had final fitting Friday, delighted with new dress, it will still be in keeping with the December date of play, but be light and cool for any warm weather bookings we might get. Photos must come soon!

Travel Journal Pick Up - MAY 1, 2011 HILTON HEAD ISLAND - Every thing is running on schedule. Hank met us at the theatre, gave us a tour, signed and gave us his book too! Went to lunch first, then to housing, a lovely condo near the beach - Fiddlers Cove. The warm air so soothing. Back to the theatre for tech. Which goes quite well. We run it with cues, then go cue to cue. Ann and Andrew, from Next Stage - Bath - drop into rehearsal - I am thrilled to see them - it has been since September! After tech, back to condo for a walk on the beach and a light dinner. Very happy with the SCRC black box theatre. Quite comfortable, acoustics excellent. I've discovered I've no access to a computer. The condo is not wired. J will work during the day while I have our little one and then I am performing every night. So no access. A week without one. A week of emails piling up. But there it is. I will make the best of it. I have posted the wrong charity, Hank tells me, but I cannot correct this now until I am home and can revise the link. Home is where I have "contribute" so there it is. The correct charity is linked here: http://www.hhisafeharbour.org/

Pick up from Travel Journal: April 30, 2011, Saturday
I write today from Savannah, GA. So comfortable down here. One arrives and one feels taken care of. I feel I have a special link or tie to the south. When I came down here for graduate school (University of South Carolina) I had just been through a terribly difficult time. And here we are, my dear father, Anthony Eterovich, has just passed away. It's very hard to explain how comforting the warm wind is. May is a perfect time to be here because it's not too hot yet. Though the heat never bothered me much, I used to walk around carrying a large cup of ice and sipping it as I walked up the street to rehearsal. Wish we could see Jeannine, but will be too hard to make the trip up and perform. We had a lovely meal at Vic's By the River. Our little one went to sleep early because no nap today. But I worry about everything and am excited to see the theatre tomorrow, May1.

http://www.hiltonheadtheatre.com/Just back from a rewarding week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I will provide updates as I look back in my journal from the week. There was no opportunity to do real time updates. The condo where the theatre located us had no internet connection. I performed the show every night and was not able to go to the club house during the day to do updates. On my project list, get a new phone! I can't believe I've waited so long to do this! Just very out of date! Want to post photos as well. SCRC is an absolutely lovely theatrical space with wonderful acoustics. Jane Austen did well in there!

Photo by Owen Benson

Every day is a fun day. Even when there are challenges. Even when everybody in the house has a cold. Working though, lots on my mind. Today worked through the first half of Jane. Focused on my posture and the body types of Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, the Dutchess, Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt and Miss Tilney. The silliness must still be based in reality. Even though I was tired from running around, I still feel joy from doing this work. Couldn't get it out of my mind that Michael Kahn said he might come to see the show at the EAG. But I'm sure he says that to all his ex-students to give them encouragement without really meaning to come. I guess, after all these years, I feel like someone that is as big a deal as he is wouldn't come to a play by little old me. But then there is part of me that loves to hope and loves to imagine it. I feel I can say almost anything I want here, secretly, I think I am the only one that reads my blog! So how can it matter if I express a little self doubt here? It just happens some times. I'm working on "Belles" too. I've found a really nice ending for the play, I think. Like the idea of continuing the Ballroom Dance motif throughout. Photo taken by Owen Benson at the 10th Annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath, UK.

Rehearsing Jane today with props. Working on word endings. One gets lazy, you see. So I am back at it and really having fun. I love the idea that anything can happen (within reason)! Worked on differentiating the physicality of all the characters Jane plays. Amazing that ballroom dancing makes me much more conscious of my body in space. If I were running an MFA program I would make yoga and ballroom dancing part of the required curiculum. What is the well-rounded performer? With so much (technique) out there, sometimes the basics get left behind. Moving and speaking, not just so one is in character, but so one is communicating that character with an audience. Communication must never be left behind. I love all aspects of the theatre and some would say, in my old age, have an appreciation that I never had when I was younger. So this bit of acting I get to do in "Cheer from Chawton" and the writing I get to do on "Belles" I really have come to cherish.

Yesterday, April 7th, was my first ever Skype Interview as Aphra Behn. I was so nervous beforehand! I reviewed the script I had prepared with Dr. Cheryl Wanko's help. We were doing revisions up until the night before. But it went really well! I was surprised to find that I was able to connect with the students and the students really appeared to be having fun. They seemed to be happy with the fact that Aphra questioned and challenged some of the things they asked. I need to work on my endings. I could feel that. When I got to the end of my response, there didn't seem to be any finish. But I look forward to continued work on this! Shout out to Dr. Wanko - want to keep working on this with you! Yay!

Worked with Dr. Cheryl Wanko on Friday, March 25th, another run at how a Skype interview with Aphra Behn would go. I was speaking too slowly, searching for words. Not happy with it. Aphra Behn's mind works like lighting, she speaks at a normal, if not, fast pace. Then it hit me. There are answers to most of the students questions right there in my Love Arm'd text. My secret is, once I get the questions, I will cut and paste and modify answers right out of my text. And it's amazing, I really do remember almost all of that text, though it has been a year since I have performed it! I am excited about this. This I can get my teeth into!

"Belles" has been postponed to September 9th, 6pm due to family illness. On a lighter note I am preparing Aphra Behn for a Skype interview with Dr. Cheryl Wanko's West Chester University students. A shout out to West Chester U Theatre Department with congrats on their recent production at the KCACTF! With regard to the interview, it will be custom made, I am weaving Aphra's words in with spontaneous responses to students questions, how will it go? Thinking stages right now but giving me new ideas about revising the show too!

EVENT POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 9TH, 6PM
"Belles of Beaverdale" on Broadway!

Previously scheduled for Friday, February 11, 2011, 7:30 pm, "Belles of Beaverdale" a reading of a new play by Karen Eterovich, directed by Erma Duricko starring Louisa Cabot, David Copeland, Marianne Cullinan, Michael Graves, Susan Laubach and June Springer. Part of the Friday Night Footlight Series at the Dramatists Guild, 1501 Broadway, 7th Floor, in the Frederick Loewe Room. A Midwestern take on Three Sisters for 5 characters.

Just realized I had 7 gigs to post! It's 11pm and I got them all up. Now to prep a New Year's Newsletter. You go along, you think nothing is happening and then there it is, stacks of mail all around me, how to get to it? But this is a happy kind of busy to be! Miss Bates in Bath, silly, silly, silly!