Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Classes, Coaching and Workshops

Despite the economy it had actually been a good year for my classes and private coaching. Classes on Fort Myers Beach are fun and educational. We are currently working on scenes that we will actually perform at the local Coffeehouse.
I am also currently experiencing the great opportunity of coaching teens on their monologues for entrance auditions into Colleges and Universities. "Break-a-leg" to Krysten Tapp on her upcoming audition for entry into Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. She is a wonderfully talented young lady.
Its time to start preparation for the annual NYC Workshop that I will most likely conduct in June this year. My son has met and worked with many young actors that are interested in attending the workshop and I am looking forward to meeting and working with them and of course instructing the wonderful and talented ladies of the Yahoo group that attend annually.
I am also ecstatic to say that one of my workshop students, Heather Bunch, is really doing well developing an acting career for herself in NYC.

This summer I will also be instructing a preteen and teen class in Fort Myers. So anyone that is interested in any of the above please contact me through this website and come and join in on the education and fun.

Monday, January 12, 2009

How we can help

Well, the holidays are behind us and we are living 2009. We will soon have a new President and a renewed hope for the future. It is really sad though, that the world is in turmoil and it has affected each and everyone of us personally. Sometimes we tend to ignore what it going on in the world until it hits home. Now that it has we must come together and help our new President clean up the mess. There are a couple of things we can do from our home and that won't cost us a dime. Please see the emails I have received lately regarding petitions we can sign from the comfort of our homes.

Dear Friends,Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this and the country needs the arts--now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.I have just read and signed the online petition:"Secretary of the Arts"hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/esnyc/ I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.

Hi, I've just signed this emergency petition calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, you might want to do the same. Already over 600 people have been killed and the death toll is climbing daily. Read the email below to learn more...
Dear friends,
The bloodshed in Gaza is escalating −− the death toll now stands at over 600 people and rising, almost half of them civilians and over 100 children dead.[1] As Israeli tanks, airplanes and artillery bombard thickly populated urban areas, hitting UN schools yesterday, thousands more have been injured and 1.5 million terrified civilians have no escape from this prison−like enclave −− the borders have been sealed. Hamas continues to fight and fire rockets deep into Israel: 11 Israelis have died, including from friendly fire. Our worldwide call for an internationally−guaranteed ceasefire to protect civilians on all sides has begun to ring out loud and clear, winning the support of leaders in Europe, the Middle East and beyond: hopeful outlines of a deal are emerging.[2] But Israel is rejecting a truce for now and escalating its offensive, while US President Bush is blocking a negotiated UN ceasefire, trying instead to impose a skewed alternative that could legitimize Israel's suffocating isolation of Gaza.[3] Enough is enough: these civilian deaths can't go on, and we can't let Bush and co block a fair, negotiated ceasefire. 250,000 of us have signed the ceasefire petition, let's make it half a million −− we'll publish it in a hard−hitting ad in the Washington Post and deliver it in meetings with UN Security Council members −− follow the link below to see the ad, sign the petition, and forward this message to all your friends and family: http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/98.php?cl_tf_sign=1

Our efforts really can make a difference −− Israel's own foreign minister admits that international pressure, if intense enough, could ensure a ceasefire. As the international community debates and delays, civilians are dying by the day. The top UN official in Gaza says, "There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized." Opposing a United Nations resolution, Bush reportedly proposes to exclude Hamas from any ceasefire deal and leave Israel a free hand, something that would guarantee that the violence continues. That's why we're targeting incoming President Obama and US decision−makers, as well as the European Union and other international leaders, to pursue a fair and stable resolution. To be lasting, a ceasefire must protect civilians and end all attacks −− Israeli bombings and incursions as well as the rockets Palestinian factions fire into southern Israel. International supervision is desperately needed at the borders, to reopen Gaza's borders and crossings for food, fuel, medicine and goods, to prevent weapon−smuggling which has only grown under the blockade, and to monitor and enforce the ceasefire on both sides.[4] Hamas, which won elections in 2006 and now runs Gaza, suggests it will agree to such a ceasefire.[5] It should be challenged to live up to its word just like Israel. There is no military solution for either side −− it's time for world powers to step in, advancing a fair deal to protect civilians on all sides and let them live their lives in peace and security. Sign the petition now at the link below and send this message to everyone you know −− we'll publish it in The Washington Post and elsewhere, and seek face−to−face meetings to deliver the petition with the Obama team, the UN Security Council and European leaders: http://www.avaaz.org/en/gaza_time_for_peace/98.php?cl_tf_sign=1 With hope and determination, Paul, Graziela, Ricken, Luis, Alice, Brett, Ben, Iain, Paula, Veronique, Milena and the whole Avaaz team P.S. We wrote to European, US and Arab leaders last week about our campaign, and received several responses −− now we need to escalate the pressure. For a report on many of Avaaz's other campaigns so far, see: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2