performance | Shearwater Productions

Why Voice Over artists should go to conferences

May 24, 2023

This year, I have attended a few awesome VO conferences (both in person and virtual) and am excited to go to so many more. They’ve all been terrific, and each one has a different feel and different learning opportunities and people to meet. And I have attended conferences or in areas that intersect with VO — audiodrama festivals, mystery writers conferences, fantasy cons, and more. That’s a lot of conferences. Sure, conference-attending can be overwhelming, tiring, time-consuming, and costly BUT the benefits so incredibly outweigh all that. I have a few guidelines to help you decide when it’s worth going

Vocal warm up techniques for audiobook narrators: Part one

September 29, 2022

I’m not gonna lie, recording long narration (audiobooks) can be vocally brutal. A bajillion characters, lots of booth time, plus whatever else you have going on in your life, especially if you are doing outdoor shows or working with kids. Despite years in the theatre, including numerous musical theatre leads, I struggled at first with the extended booth time. Even a singing heavy show, you should only have an hour or so of vocal performance — max. I’m often doing a book a week, plus other performance work, meaning I could spend 8 or 9 hours recording on a heavy

Body in Motion, Spirit at Rest

August 18, 2014

I spent part of this past weekend attending New York Summer Sling, “a 4-day stage combat workshop sanctioned by the Society ofAmerican Fight Directors (SAFD). Classes are taught by SAFD certified fight directors and teachers from universities and theaters around the country. Class options include introductory instruction in all of our eight weapon disciplines for the stage, unique and specialized experimentation with period fighting styles, and master classes in advanced physical acting techniques” (from the Summer Sling website description). Despite an incredible lack of sleep and profound anxiety ahead of time, I had one of the most wonderful conference experiences

Holly Adams in her studio recording an audiobook

“On the Spectrum” and On the Stage

May 5, 2014

My wonderful and amazing students from “A Class Act” with The Magic Paintbrush Project performed on April 27th (a play they wrote!) and hit the ball out of the park. They were amazing, they were incredible, they brought the house down. And every single one of them has a disability. I wrote about them last fall, when we were just beginning our process (see “Life is Washable”), but as a result of the show, folks have been asking about children, challenges, and performance, especially children who are on the Asperger-Autism spectrum. I last posted some specific observations and activities about working

Arts impacting life: 3 glimpses

March 2, 2014

These past weeks have held plentiful reminders of the horrendous things we do to each other as people and societies. In the face of large darknesses, we often forget that ignorance and intolerance are bred and cultivated in much smaller arenas long before they grow into mass malignancy. I myself have found it difficult to find anything to write about of late, and I am one of the most pragmatically action-oriented people I know. With this in mind, I have decided to devote this blog and the next to arts-based projects that are creating opportunities for connection and knowledge. The

Boy stands in front of white board with a science lesson on it

Fourth Graders and the Magic of Theatre

December 17, 2013

(Music plays) “The Earth is a magnet. It’s the (beat) third planet from the sun. Flowing electrons and protons/come together to make things run!” The Kid Scientists and Benjamin Franklin sing valiantly through an explanation of their thinking while the storm rages and the flying kite conducts electricity down to their home-made motor. The adults watching in the seats of the professional theatre are grinning, completely enchanted as the first group of fourth-graders performs the play they wrote, with an important plot-driving song, thank you very much. I am once again at the Hangar Theatre for the Project 4 performances,

Mobile Mini Children's Circus kid Tumbling

From Kabul: Mobile Mini Children’s Circus

October 17, 2013

Although I have returned to the United States from Afghanistan, my heart is still in a small bright classroom filled to capacity with girls — bright, ferocious, and beautiful as fireflies. I would like to focus on the Mobile Mini Children’s Circus (MMCC) itself, and the incredibly important work they do. I quote their website below, photos provided by MMCC. “The Mobile Mini-Circus for Children (MMCC) and its local partner, the Afghan Educational Children’s Circus (AECC), together form a cooperative International/Afghan non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young people. MMCC is the supervising umbrella organization under which AECC operates. Activities, however,

"On the Road" from the Bond Street Theatre

From Kabul: Women Speak Out Through Theatre

October 9, 2013

I write this on my last day in Kabul, where for the past 10 days I have had the honor and joy of working with the Afghan Mobile Mini Children’s Circus and being a supporting team member for Eva Vander Giessen in Afghan Friends Network meetings. I have been able to wear bright clothes, walk by myself to the circus in the morning, and eat at restaurants where men and women are allowed to dine together (although they are uncommon, and are generally referred to as “restaurants for foreigners,” even if mostly Afghans are there). Girls go to school in

Peter Sellers, from the blog Chowdaheads

The delicious math of comedy

October 2, 2013

She enters, pauses, then turns and walks stage right, and Inspector Dreyfus leaps out. She stops. “Why didn’t that work?” “You have to count to three. A full count. That was just a bit too long, and I think ‘M’ (the boy playing Dreyfus) wasn’t sure when to jump out.” “Yeah, I thought I was supposed to jump, but you were still there,” the boy adds. “So, it goes step-think-go, walk, then the upstage-right one is the second set?” The girl (‘B’) playing Inspector Clouseau tilts her head, thinking. “The first grab/miss should be just under three seconds, then three

Youth Theatre for Civilians: How to help your students put on a play

August 12, 2013

I get a lot of questions from non-theatre people about how to teach theatre to kids. And I love it! It might be from a camp counselor who wants to put together a skit for the parents or a history teacher trying to get students to understand the choices of the Ancient Romans. Regardless, I have a few tricks that I always like to pass on to educators undertaking this endeavor. What background do I need as an educator? Know first that it will be difficult, similar to running a science camp without a strong background in science. Don’t make

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