Hunter

Okay so it’s been like 2 and half weeks maybe since we’ve closed Neverwhere and I’m still holding on. So I’ve decided to officially close this part of my life and say goodbye to Hunter and London Below in my own way.

Dear Hunter,

I don’t know where to begin. I had one of the best journeys of my lil life getting to step into your shoes. I was so afraid to that I couldn’t never even come close to such a woman, and now I’m so proud of everything I’ve accomplished with you. I went from never even touching a staff to having Serpentine become an extension of my left and right arm. From being a bit timid to stand tall at times, to rooting myself fully and truly. Letting myself fly, letting myself be ugly, and selfish at times. But letting whatever was be my guide, my truth. My heart, mind, soul, and body has stretched (literally and figuratively) beyond what I thought it could; reaching and grasping and have me wanting more always. I will always want more because I got to play a woman like you. Demand more, expect the best, give more because I now know I can.  I will never be able to full articulate how much I’ve learned and have grown these past 5 months; how grateful and open I feel; how touched, how brilliant, strong, inspiring, honorable, and beautiful because I got to play such a woman and a such force. There aren’t too many roles like this, and I will miss being you. What a journey. Truly. Thank you.

Love and Honor,

Devereau

And for the everyone else who came on this journey to London Below with me…

A moment for some serious gratitude. Thank you to EVERYONE who come this journey with me. My friends, loved ones, acquaintances, and people I didn’t even know, who spent their time when they didn’t have it and/or the money when they didn’t have it; those who shared their hearts, those who showed up just at the mention of Neverwhere, those who had no idea what Neverwhere was, those who were skeptical about LA theatre and still showed up anyway, those who showed up when sick (or healthy, those who showed up once, those who showed up SIX times and more, those who shared links/emails, those who stayed after the show just to connect and talk with me, and those who just believe enough in good art to support me throughout this run, support this cast/crew, and mostly importantly support good art. This has been THE best production I’ve ever worked on. I’ve owned every bit of this and sharing this with you all has been heart-expandingly incredible. Here are just some of the faces I’ve managed to capture (with my staff Serpentine, and to those who I didn’t get, thank you still. My family and friends, thank you for your support, now and always, I love you. HUGE thank you to Alex Webster and Tierney Nesbitt, for coming all the way out to Los Angeles from Sarasota Florida to see me do my thang! And a very special thank you to some incredibly brave and bold artists Neil Gaiman, Keegan Michael Key, Hugo Schwyzer, and the love of my life Ryan Nance. Thank you for your art and thank you for witnessing mine. 

Love and Honor,

Hunter signing off….

Neverwhere Memories (set one)

Backstage Life

Some of the best memories didn’t even happen on stage. They were the moments before the show, the preshow routine/ritual, fig newtons, quote of the day, singing to 90’s pop, random Beatles’ tunes, vocally warming, intermission chats, Vine-ing during the show. All of it.  All the stuff the audience never saw, that only we the cast shared. For all the moments of panic and stress, and laughs, and tears, thank you to my beautiful castmates for sharing your selves on this journey with me. Getting me through each show safely and lovingly. For inspiring me and helping me be the best Hunter and Devereau I could be. Thank you for keeping me afloat, lifting me when I couldn’t, giving me advice and love, and letting me love you too! This was the best show I’ve ever worked on… I miss you guys! 

Pictured (top to bottom, left to right)

~Donnelle as Crrrpppprrlll

~Marz (Father Abbot) mid-show

~ Earl’s Court fun during a photo shoot

~ I love me some Angel Islington (Carlos)

~Sylvia and Door (Paula) meet, but only backstage

~Goodbye hugs on closing night (Yonie and Marz)

~Donnelle as the beast and Richard during a production photo shoot

~A moment with Lady Door and Richard (Michael)

~ “Thank you for everything” qotd in our dressing room….

Neverwhere Memories (set 2)

Backstage Life

Some of the best memories didn’t even happen on stage. They were the moments before the show, the preshow routine/ritual, fig newtons, singing to 90’s pop, random Beatles’ tunes, vocally warming, intermission chats, Vine-ing during the show. All of it.  All the stuff the audience never saw, that only we the cast shared. For all the moments of panic and stress, and laughs, and tears, thank you to my beautiful castmates for sharing your selves on this journey with me. Getting me through each show safely and lovingly. For inspiring me and helping me be the best Hunter and Devereau I could be. Thank you for keeping me afloat, lifting me when I couldn’t, giving me advice and love, and letting me love you too! This was the best show I’ve ever worked on… I miss you guys! 

Pictured (t to b ; l to r)

~Me and mess I create before I get on stage

~Donnelle, Sylvia, and the Old Woman (Cassandra) preshow 

~Surprise! What I got flowers?! Rad!

~Silly faces with Donnelle first act

~ Vocal warmup

~Preshow fun with Cassandra and Julia

~Poor Carlos 

~Hunter and Lamia get along backstage, but on stage, well thats a different story

~ Hunter and Bob Simpson stepping in for the Marquis

~More vocal warm up magic :)

Neverwhere Memories (set one)

Backstage Life

Some of the best memories didn’t even happen on stage. They were the moments before the show, the preshow routine/ritual, fig newtons, singing to 90’s pop, random Beatles’ tunes, vocally warming, intermission chats, Vine-ing during the show. All of it.  All the stuff the audience never saw, that only we the cast shared. For all the moments of panic and stress, and laughs, and tears, thank you to my beautiful castmates for sharing your selves on this journey with me. Getting me through each show safely and lovingly. For inspiring me and helping me be the best Hunter and Devereau I could be. Thank you for keeping me afloat, lifting me when I couldn’t, giving me advice and love, and letting me love you too! This was the best show I’ve ever worked on… I miss you guys! 

Pictured (top to bottom; left to right)

~Hunter and Lady Door (Paula Richard) we have a secret…okay the secret is that we took this picture with no pants on….

~Croup (Ezra), Hunter, Master Longtail (Juila)

~ Vocal warm up with Richard (Michael)

~ Preshow fun with the Marquis (Jonathan) and Richard

~Natasha Norman stepping in for Donnelle! with Julia and I

~ Josh stepping in as the Angel Islington

~ Intermission hotness with Sylvia and Vandemar (Bryan)

~the Marquis and Hammersmith (Bryan) 

~Alejandra and Hunter :)

Neverwhere Memories (Set 1) April 28, 2013

I think this might be my favorite memory of all…meeting Mr. Neil Gaiman himself…

So, hmm, where do I begin? Yeah. Okay, so you know how there is that moment when you meet a huge hero like figure and you find out that they are not so great in person? You’re a little let down but you understand?…

Yeah that’s literally LIGHT YEARS yes LIGHT YEARS away from Neil Gaiman. So I step off stage, a little nervous. Side note- I’ve had the extreme joy and pleasure to perform and meet some of my playwright/author heroes, in the past and they, sadly at some point are not as much as I hoped they’d be, maybe it was them, maybe it was me, but just not what I would have liked- so yes a little nervous that it could very well be that moment. Now I already had so much awesome Neil support and energy, from him sharing of my production photos to him sending me a Happy Birthday Hunter tweet, I figured if he doesn’t come, its okay, I totally understand, he’s already given so much love…but then we get the official “yes, he is coming” “yes he is here….” oh my f*cking god…

Then I manage to work my way through the crowd of fans waiting outside the theater after the show, and finally greet him. As nervous as I was, I managed a calm, collected, grounded “thank you so very much for just being here, this means more than you know.” He replies by warmly taking both my hands, looking into my eyes and says “you were wonderful, just wonderful…”

Then of course after that moment, I fell apart completely. First off I’ve never had such a prolific, brilliant, amazing artist and figure, be so unbelievable beautiful and open with me. Making contact and connection from the first moment, meant the world to me. What a beautiful person Neil is. One of those people that just makes the world better by being here. Truly. I’m probably not doing this moment justice, but I felt so equal and comfortable, he made everyone so comfortable so happy, so excited to share and connect with him. He talked almost every single person who stayed behind, he signed books and took pictures with joy and pleasure. We had him come back into the theater and take photos with the cast and costumes and set, oh the BEAST, he took a picture with the beast! Amazing! 

Even more amazing-ness: He signed my book! Like a geek, I totally asked him to sign my book and address it to Hunter. Again with pleasure, he signed away. 

Now here’s the kicker, so this amazing man has been at the theater for about 6 hours at this point. He had dinner with our director before the show, then saw the show (which was 2:45) then stayed for picture. I was so sure he was beyond exhausted. But as ballsy as it was, I asked him if Hunter could by him a drink….AND HE SAID YES! Even thinking about it now I squeal with joy. I felt like the coolest person ever! So he stays and chats with everyone for another hour or so. Unbelievable. I was soaring the entire night! Another side note- I had friends who flew all the way out from Sarasota, Florida to come see Neverwhere, and they got to meet Neil. So to feel like I made that happen made it all even better. 

I honestly can’t describe how incredible was to have had him there that night. It was such a beautiful night.

Thank you Neil, for giving us your heart and art always. Thank you for creating such beautiful strong characters to step into. Thank you for all the support. Thank you for the love. Thank you thank you thank you. You are a hero, a prolific figure, a fucking incredible artist, but you are also one of the most down to earth, brilliant and beautiful people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I’m so hoping for more opportunities to cross paths again…

Love always,

Hunter…

Pictured (T to B, L to R)

~Neil and Hunter ;)

~Neil and Croup (Ezra Buzzington)

~Neil with Old Bailey/Earl (Marz Richards)

~ The Marquis de Carabas (Jonathan Kells Phillips) meets Neil :)

~Neil and Master Longtail ;) (Julia Griswold)

~Vandemar and Croup, the old firm (Bryan Krasner and Ezra) meets Neil 

~ The Angel Islington (Carlos Larkin) and Neil  

~ Neil with our costume department Ruth Silveria

~Another picture of my special message the day after ( because I had to make sure I didn’t dream it all up ;)

~Neil writes to Hunter 

Neverwhere Memories (Set 1) April 28, 2013

I think this might be my favorite memory of all…meeting Mr. Neil Gaiman himself…

So, hmm, where do I begin? Yeah. Okay, so you know how there is that moment when you meet a huge hero like figure and you find out that they are not so great in person? You’re a little let down but you understand?…

Yeah that’s literally LIGHT YEARS yes LIGHT YEARS away from Neil Gaiman. So I step off stage, a little nervous. Side note- I’ve had the extreme joy and pleasure to perform and meet some of my playwright/author heroes, in the past and they, sadly at some point are not as much as I hoped they’d be, maybe it was them, maybe it was me, but just not what I would have liked- so yes a little nervous that it could very well be that moment. Now I already had so much awesome Neil support and energy, from him sharing of my production photos to him sending me a Happy Birthday Hunter tweet, I figured if he doesn’t come, its okay, I totally understand, he’s already given so much love…but then we get the official “yes, he is coming” “yes he is here….” oh my f*cking god…

Then I manage to work my way through the crowd of fans waiting outside the theater after the show, and finally greet him. As nervous as I was, I managed a calm, collected, grounded “thank you so very much for just being here, this means more than you know.” He replies by warmly taking both my hands, looking into my eyes and says “you were wonderful, just wonderful…”

Then of course after that moment, I fell apart completely. First off I’ve never had such a prolific, brilliant, amazing artist and figure, be so unbelievable beautiful and open with me. Making contact and connection from the first moment, meant the world to me. What a beautiful person Neil is. One of those people that just makes the world better by being here. Truly. I’m probably not doing this moment justice, but I felt so equal and comfortable, he made everyone so comfortable so happy, so excited to share and connect with him. He talked almost every single person who stayed behind, he signed books and took pictures with joy and pleasure. We had him come back into the theater and take photos with the cast and costumes and set, oh the BEAST, he took a picture with the beast! Amazing! 

Even more amazing-ness: He signed my book! Like a geek, I totally asked him to sign my book and address it to Hunter. Again with pleasure, he signed away. 

Now here’s the kicker, so this amazing man has been at the theater for about 6 hours at this point. He had dinner with our director before the show, then saw the show (which was 2:45) then stayed for picture. I was so sure he was beyond exhausted. But as ballsy as it was, I asked him if Hunter could by him a drink….AND HE SAID YES! Even thinking about it now I squeal with joy. I felt like the coolest person ever! So he stays and chats with everyone for another hour or so. Unbelievable. I was soaring the entire night! Another side note- I had friends who flew all the way out from Sarasota, Florida to come see Neverwhere, and they got to meet Neil. So to feel like I made that happen made it all even better. 

I honestly can’t describe how incredible was to have had him there that night. It was such a beautiful night.

Thank you Neil, for giving us your heart and art always. Thank you for creating such beautiful strong characters to step into. Thank you for all the support. Thank you for the love. Thank you thank you thank you. You are a hero, a prolific figure, a fucking incredible artist, but you are also one of the most down to earth, brilliant and beautiful people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I’m so hoping for more opportunities to cross paths again…

Love always,

Hunter…

Pictured (Top to Bottom)

~Me and Neil!! eeeek! :) 

~Neil, Lady Door (Paula Rhodes) and Hunter ;)

~Neil and the Cast

~Neil and The Beast

~Neil and Scott Leggett (our fearless leader)

~Neil with Lamia/Jessica (Cassandra Vincent)

~Neil with Donnelle Fuller

~Neil signing my lil sister’s book with Ryan

~My special message from Neil…:)

Memory 6 “The Fans of Neverwhere” A huge Thank you to the fans…

When I signed onto doing this show, my first concern was how am I going to do this role?! The dialect was intimidating, the stage combat was mountains away from me, and also how am I gonna keep up with all these other incredible brilliant artists beside me? So as you see loads of things to start with. And then I began to research and read Neverwhere and got completely lost in its world of magic and power. After telling my friends and other fellow artists that I was involved with this production, I soon began to realize that not only does Neverwhere have a huge following, but Neil himself has a huge following, and that since I’m playing Hunter, I not only have all the other things on my plate, I felt a huge responsibility and fear of meeting the expectations of the fans. I realize that with many novel-to-stage/novel-to-movie adaptations, the subject is so very sensitive and prickly for people in such an inexplicable way; so I had to brace myself in very different way. Unlike a lot of friends, I was very new to this world, only coming into it once I was cast in the role. However once I jumped in it, there was no going back, but would that mean I would still be accepted by the many many devoted followers? 

Okay so were are few days from opening and there is still that little fear of will I be the Hunter that captivated myself and so many others before me? I’m headed to my car after one of our last rehearsals that night and I’m pulled aside by my assistant director, Natasha. She quietly asks me what was different about tonight. I told her that something was different I didnt know what. “…tonight you were the Hunter I always imagined in my mind when I read Neverwhere” she tells me. That made my night and week. To already feel like I was on the road to something as great as Hunter. And getting that before we opened gave me such confidence to push and work towards making her even better and more clear in my mind. 

And then we finally opened. Of course performing for my family is one of the biggest honors I can have, nothing like seeing, hearing, and feeling their love support and energy out there, while they cheer you on. 

But performing for the fans….NOTHING beats performing for the fans! I remember right after we opened, Neil shared a couple of production photos of me as Hunter and told fans to check out the show on Facebook. One was the day before my birthday. What a gift! Best gift ever! I woke up to over 300 shares of the photos, thousands of comments about how much people loved the photo of me, how much I looked exactly like the Hunter they envisioned, how much they wanted to see it! And one was after he had seen the show and shared it on Tumblr. Again more comments and shares and feedback that I never thought was come my way from playing this role! I was definitely soaring! To get such incredible feedback from the fans! Unbelievable!

Then of course there were so many beautiful moments where people came to see the show just because they were fans, and stayed after the show to talk to me and share their love for the work we’ve done or to just geek out about the show. Nothing beats performing for the devoted enthusiastic. It was such an honor to feel like I did Hunter justice in their minds and hearts, and then be able to meet and connect with some (sadly not all) of the people who came was amazing!  Again, a huge thank you to the fans who supported us in the run of this production. You all took this experience to a new level. 

Here are a few photos of some memorable nights when the fans showed up and stayed to chat after the show

Top to bottom (all pictured with Serpentine, my staff :)

* I met these two lovely ladies Tosca (left) and Nicole (right) in our last week of the run. Tosca and Nicole are both writer/director/actors as well as huge Gaiman fans. Tosca had already seen the show but insisted on seeing it again so she brought Nicole. I felt an instant connections with these awesome ladies. We sat and joked and geeked out about the show, and art, and Neil. It was great, especially because I made a great artistic connection, looking forward to working with them

* About halfway into the run I met Isaac and Anna. They were huge huge fans, stayed about 30 minutes after the show just to speak to me! It was so touching, not to mention that was my first autograph as Hunter. It was rad! We connected about the most random and interesting things, we ended up closing the theater that night we stayed so late! Again always so amazing to meet strangers who have so much in common and connect. We still email each other too! :)

* After our first weekend I stopped over at the faculty bar, for a beer and met Trevor (left). He told me how huge of fan he was, that he even auditioned for the show, and that he totally had plans to see it. After he finally came to see the show, he gave me a signed unproofed copy of Neverwhere! “I was so impressed, and I thought it only appropriate that Hunter have a special piece of Neverwhere…” he said… Freaking rad right?!!

*My little sister Stella and my brother in law Brandon came to see the show about halfway into the run. They halfway flipped out, I could hear their laughs and reactions, not just to me but everything. She’s a huge Gaiman fans, so geekin out with her afterwards was the best. Her favorite part of the show : Marquis de Carabas (Jonathan Kells Phillips) and rightfully so, the guys’ got swagger!

*It’s always awesome finding flyers for your show in a place you usually go to (i.e. local bar) but you didn’t put them there…:) and more importantly you know none of the other castmates did either :)

* These lovely ladies came all the way from the Inland empire just to see the show with their English lit teacher! Definite geeking out there! :)

Memories from London Below

Opening Night! (Set One)

Easily opening night of Neverwhere was the best opening night I’ve ever had. Like I have mentioned so many times with Neverwhere, nothing short of pure magic has come from this show. Opening night: magical. I arrived super early at the theatre that day to prepare and soak up all the wonderful buzzing vibes before the call. Setting all my stuff up, I couldnt help but wonder “how will the world accept this show?” I mean Im under the impression “do good art and mostly likely all good things will follow” but the idea of people not truly falling in love with something that is and was so incredibly fall in loveable, was a bit overwhelming. At some point before I went on stage, I silently gave hugs to each person backstage, took a moment to myself and said “remember to do good art,” and “oh yeah its opening! of course they’ll love it!”  And yes they did, most of the audience from that day forth did. As I came on as Hunter, nothing but pure joy vibrated out into the room, into the world, into the universe. I was so damn proud to be apart of something so special and beautiful, and I got to show off all my crazy stage combat moves for the most first time! Super rad. 

And well the craziness that took part afterward…Fish ‘n Chips, aged scotch, dancing and party til 2 or so. Crying, laughing, enjoying every compliment, and story, and bit of love that came our way. Such an amazingly beautiful night. Oh and if you want to know, yes that last picture there is of myself and Lady Door mixing emergen-c and scotch…because of course thats what you do on opening night?…good lord.

Pictured Top to Bottom

*Lady Door and I in the dressing room with opening night butterflies

* my set-up for Hunter, Rat-speaker Spinderatta, and Sylvia (minus the whiskey)

* Natasha Norman (Assistant Director) and Old Bailey (Marz Richards) gift giving

*Scott Leggett (Director) and his opening night gift

*Tracy, Sean and I after the show

*Terry fixing an opening night bouquet of roses

*A cheers to our fearless leader

* Our fearless leader and fearless producer, Henry Dittman

*Again scotch and emergen-c not the best choice, especially when already drinking….ugh

Memories of Neverwhere “TECH Week” Set 2

Talk about the longest and best tech I ever had. No fuss or drama. Quickly working, no wasting anytime, completely productive. Along with being the best production I’ve ever been in, the tech weeks were pretty awesome. Finally getting to see what Neverwhere looked, sounded, sometimes smelled, and felt like. To finally and fully transition in London Below was great. Some of the best moments of tech were (in which some are pictured) include the day after my huge house party, when I didn’t think I could make the day, just hearing the first few moments of the show (Door’s first moment and Richard’s first moment) and immediately jumping out of my headachy slugging and right into Slyvia and Hunter. By the end of that day we managed to get pretty far into the show, and celebrated at the local Faculty Pub across the way. Another awesome moment, meeting the beast for the first time while leaving rehearsal. That thing is huge! And I could finally get the scope of what I would be dealing with for the show, so that was pretty awesome! Another moment was Lady Door’s (Paula’s) birthday. A few days before we opened we celebrated with her at the theater. We surprised her with balloons and cake and lots of love. She was most definitely surprised and super grateful. And lastly one of my favorite moments of tech, was just walking outside on a break and seeing our producer David Mayer put up our banner for the show. It made my heart swell, and chest puff up a bit. Somethings random as they may be, tend to make the experience much more real. And that was one of them.

Pictured top to bottom left to right

~My awesome amazing partner Ryan and I having a celebratory drink at the Faculty with the cast.

 ~Me loving my station in our dressing room

~Lady Door (Paula Rhodes) and her cake

~Hunter and Croup (Ezra Buzzington) making silly faces

~Sir David Mayes proudly hanging our banner

~Lady Door after her surprise in the dressing room

~My first meeting with the beast. Btw, this was in a dark alley while walking alone to my car. yes im a whimp ;)

Photos From Tech Rehearsals March to April 5th

Pictured Top to Bottom

Richard Mayhew (Michael Holmes) and Gary (Carlos Larkin) 1st office Scene; Richard meets the Marquis (Jonathan Kells Phillips); Lamia (Cassandra Vincent) stops the smell the rose ;) Door (Paula Rhodes) and Sylvia; group gathering of notes after tech rehearsal #one million (we had so much tech it was ridiculous); Donnelle learning the mechanics of the beast with the Puppet Master! 

Now that our beautiful production is over I wanted to throw up few more memories of an awesome ride.

Memory 6

“Photo Shoot for Hunter’s Cinemagraph.” 

On a sunny but early Saturday morning one of our amazing show photographers (and Jessica/Lamia/et al understudy) Shaela Cook, David Mayes (awesome Producer), Ruth Silvera (Costumes) and Martin Morse (Costume Designer) headed out to Griffith Park Old Zoo and shot this incredible cinemagraph. I’ve never done a cinemagraph before; the trick is the subtly of action, which was perfect for Hunter how which action to choose. All my yoga classes paid off. Holding the positions exactly the same each time, was the most difficult, but everything else was fun and easy. And that day was the first time I had ever seen my full costume. I was blown away. Not only was it completely different than the sketches, but it was nothing I knew Martin was working on Plus was perfect for Hunter. Absolutely Perfect! I needed clothing that was appropriate to the character, but I needed  light enough clothing to do stage combat in. Perfect vision. Needless to say I was so pleased with the shoot. And Mr. Gaiman himself, shared the cinemagraph~ so I’m quite pleased with all of our hard work :)

Mar ‘13

Memory 5 “Costume parade”

Costumes parades are awesome. Period. Its like a day off from school when you’re a kid. Lots of fun showing of your stuff. Trying different options. One of favorite things said that night was from our amazing director Scott, “Dev can we please add more clothing for Sylvia, remember we’re in an office!” “But Scott, come on! She’s totally the office hottie!” Yes, lots of Sylvia the slut jokes that night. It was so great seeing everyone’s character come to life even more once they revealed what they were wearing. I think the design in this show is pretty spot on! Very fortunate to have that! Even though the picture of Jonathan in his black motorcycle pants was apart of the show, I just wanted to share the photo, those pants are awesome! And I actually didn’t end of keeping the cape for Hunter, all the fight choreography, would restrict me so, we cut it. 

(

Here is yet another incredible piece of work that involved Mr. Gaiman! 

This is an incredible project! Lets help get it produced!

“Blood Kiss” by Michael Reaves

And for the set…. the world of London Below… inspired by Lee Bontecou

Memory 3

Walking into London Below as it was being built!

Feb ‘13

Parking my car and walking towards the theater in normal fashion. However that night was different. I was aware that they were build because of the heads up from the production the week prior, but I could hear the sounds of welding and see people moving large pieces of metal wood, and tools into and out of the space. I curiously scurried to the theater to see all the excitement going on. Wow was I surprised. It had been while that I had even seen the theater that bare; we were so use to rehearsing on the “Absolutely Filthy” set. It was also exhilarating to know all the genius that our set designer Michael James Schneider had in mind, was being created at that very moment! He has such vision and passion! It was also the first time, I got to run a small portion of the staff fight on the proper platform. Wow was I terrified; it was so little space we had and such a high platform to jump off of. I was very intimidated. Thinking back now, I’m so thankful for such a set, it gives me the best workout ever during the show! 

Here’s some more information about Michael’s inspiration for London Below! 

http://www.blcksmthdesign.com/2012/10/23/in-between-the-warp-and-weft-or-a-sublime-monstrosity/

Feb ‘13

Blocking the “reveal” of whose behind all this…..

That’s right, when we are not working hard away at blocking, or scene work, we are on our phones and in our books!

Top to bottom

(Michael/Richard, Natasha/A.D, Ezra/Croup; Sondra/Hunter u/s, Donnelle/The Beast)

Feb ‘13

“Neverwhere” Memory 2

Man this damn staff! At this point in the process I was hating this damn staff. I hadn’t yet learned to be one with her yet, hardly able to hold her upright and maintain the rest of the scene. It was such a long journey to get to Serpentine. Yes that is my staff’s name. I figure since we don’t have Serpentine in the play, I wanted to fit her somewhere :) Anyhow, the very first day working with her was a nightmare. The next week was ever worse. And half way through rehearsals it was only slightly better. Afraid each and every rehearsal at the thought of killing my poor castmates by accidents, I could never really get in sync with her. At the time my apartment was to hard to practice in, so every now and then I’d take her to the roof and practice. Practice during breaks, before and after rehearsals. And sometimes, well sometimes I just wanted to burn the damn staff. I wish I could remember which day it was that Serpentine became Serpentine and I Hunter, truly, in sync, partners, together, but I don’t. I can’t recall, all I remember is that it just became easier, and I began to feel more confident. I took her home every night. I painted her and repainted her, repaired her, cared for her. It was relationship. A beautiful one at that. All this of course, well, most of this work became unconscious because I had such a great fight choreographer and fight partner. Andrew( fight chor) and Bryan (Vandemar) remained patience and open the entire time, while I huff and puff and cursed my staff with all my might. They and as well as the cast and crew reassured me that I was Hunter and that I could do it. Today as I prepare to get on stage, we run through our fight call without worry. Bryan and I get to fly and have so much fun up there. I call it making love, not fighting. We take such care of one other and our staffs. The whole process has become even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. And to think, I’ve never even used a weapon on stage before this! Now I proud boast about my training and technique. And that day will come, and soon, when I have to put Serpentine away…but until then…let it roll!!

Feb ‘13

Blocking “The Ordeal” on the set of “Absolutely Filthy” @ Sacred Fools Proper

(left to right to front) 

Carlos (Islington/Gary), Ezra (Croup/Man 1), Cassandra (Jessica/Lamia), Julia (Woman 1), Michael (Richard), Scott (Our freakin rad director!) 

“Neverwhere” Memory 1

As we dwindle down on performances, I’m going to go back to recount some of my favorite, or more memorable moments from this amazing journey.

A sunny Sunday afternoon in March. Our first week of tech. I had just moved into my new apartment and had a party to celebrate the night before I believe. Exhausted but super satisfied with how tech was going, I was giddy about leaving early that afternoon. Strangely, Paula (Lady Door), Carlos (Islington), and a few other kept hearing squeaking noises from outside while we were running around backstage. I was under the impression it was some cat or mouse or something. But once we finished Josh (Islington u/s) comes to find these little guys outside with a security guard at a near by palm tree. Apparently these 3 little guys fell out of a very high palm tree and lost their mama. I remember that moment of discovering what it really was. I felt terrible. I consider myself an animal woman more than a baby woman, but this was unbearable. Easily the most precious little creatures I had ever seen and to be so in pain. Watching their little bodies struggle for air…my heart was breaking as Paula and I scrammed around to call nearby animal clinics, and hospitals; panicing and trying not to get overwhelmed and start crying in public. I just kept thinking call after call, that they were going to die if no one took them. Both her and I were willing and ready to take them home, even if for the night. However, after about 45 minutes of struggling to find someone to talk to about this, we found a place in Burbank that had a squirrel specialist who nurses squirrels out of his huge SF Valley home. I was beyond relieved, the tightness from my chest began to lift. Paula carry our little guys safely to the squirrel guy in Burbank. We set up an online connection to our friends on facebook, twitter, etc, about how to donate to get the little guys back on track. It was such an amazing day of rehearsal already, but to have such an experience, was even more powerful. So grateful to have found them. Paula named them Islington, Carabas, and Hunter…

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Inimitable ISLINGTON.

neverwherela:

The ultimate Cinemagraph from the fabulously talented Shaela Cook, featuring Caligulos Larkin as the inimitable Islington!

An amazing entry by my awesome castmate Donnelle Fuller!

neverwherela:

I’ve always been a lover of “worlds”. A book nerd before I could even talk, I loved nothing as much as steeping my youth in fiction that transported me from the mundane to the fantastical. I visited Oz, Wonderland, Narnia. Grew older. Took several spins through Hogwarts (who didn’t?). Grew older…

Deverau Chumrau  as Hunter in “Neverwhere”

Photo by Jessica Sherman Photography

Deverau Chumrau  as Hunter in “Neverwhere”

Photo by Jessica Sherman Photography

Deverau Chumrau  as Hunter in “Neverwhere”

Photo by Jessica Sherman Photography

Devereau Chumrau as “Hunter” in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere at Sacred Fools Theater in Hollywood.

Photo by Jessica Sherman Photography

Devereau as “Hunter” in Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere at Sacred Fools Theatre in Hollywood

“Las Meninas” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Las Meninas” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Las Meninas” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Las Meninas” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Antigone Now” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Antigone Now” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Antigone Now” Asolo Repertory Theatre

“Game of Love & Chance” at FSU/Asolo Conservatory

“Machinal” at FSU/Asolo Conservatory

“Imaginary Invalid” at Cal State Northridge