The 3 looks of Jensine...

Photo from Living Dead Girl Photo-Shoot
Character: Jensine Blackensdale
Model: Kara Addington

When you write, some parts of your personality show up in some of the roles you create. At least, that's what happens to me when I write. Mostly its that one characters gets one trait and another character gets another...and so on. But when I started writing the first book of the Living Dead Girl Series I decided to physically base one of the characters on how I looked at the time.

When I first started the book I was in college (so yeah, a while ago...before the internet was a household thing...*cough cough* OIY.) so the character is described as petite, short but curvy, with curly blonde hair to her shoulders. I had a real, true, bottle induced, golden yellow blond head of curls. I also have olive green eyes. So...that's how you meet Jensine.

But, her looks change throughout the story...much like my looks have changed throughout the past ___ years. I was blonde, then I had long red hair and now...as you can see by the pics here on the blog, I have short black hair.

My real hair color? Well hell...I would say a mousey blondish brown. Some would call it a dark blond or Michigan blond. If I'd have grown up in a southern state it'd been more blond than that but alas, due to crazy cloud cover in Michigan my head was usually a light blondish brown.

Anyhoo...I decided it'd be fun to show you the different looks Jensine has throughout the photo-shoot. The first pic, at the top, is her "blond" look at the top of the story. But, like me, it changes...

Her RED look:

















Her BLACK look:

Kara Addington, the model for Jensine, did an amazing job and I can't wait for you to see her in the video we filmed of the bo-staff fight she does with David (Character: Alex). Our fight guys, Mark and Trevor, were bloody excellent! The fight is both elegant, intricate and has a bit of humor to go along with the aggression.



Have a great day all....more pics to come as I introduce you to everyone else so stay tuned!

Tamsin :)

In honor of Marriage Equality in NYC...

Picture from Living Dead Girl Photo-Shoot.
Characters: Grayson Alex Stoltz & Stephan Throneburg
Models: David Mavricos & Thomas Daniels

Most people state that Grayson is their favorite character in the series and that his relationship with Stephan is their favorite pairing in the series as well.

So, in honor of MARRIAGE EQUALITY IN NYC I decided today was the day to leak the pics of everyone's favorite couple.

This is Stephan Throneburg (Model: Thomas Daniels)



This is Grayson Alex Stoltz (Model: David Mavricos)



CONGRATS to everyone in NYC! As a city we are diverse and we've always been ahead of everyone else. This is just more proof that we are embracing that diversity and showing the world our acceptance of anyone, be it their race, sex or sexual preference. I was in LA when I learned the verdict on the vote and I was, and still am, proud to say, "That's my city!" I can't WAIT to attend all those weddings that finally get to be official and legal in the eyes of the state!

xoxo

Tamsin :)

Oh my...you have to see...well...this...

Character: Pepper
Model: ?

Thought ya'll would find this entertaining.

xo

Tamsin :)

Meet Sean, Atlanta and Valencia

(Pictured above: Brian Cluney as Sean and Angeliese Adams as Atlanta.)

I thought I'd share this pic...as I like it...though we laughed and said it looks like a picture Sean and Atlanta would use for a engagement announcement in the paper. LOL!

I've started going thru pictures from Sunday's shoot and I'm hoping to get workable files today for the Saturday shoot.

Stories of how the shoot went, in order, with pics will start as soon as I have the pics from the first day....until then, I leave you with this picture of Valencia (played by Amanda Magyar) and Atlanta (played by Angeliese Adams).

Not a drop fell!

So...before we LAUNCH into TONS of stories and pics from the LDG photo-shoot from this past weekend (that I think my body hates me for...but whatever) I wanted to talk about one tiny thing.

Rain.

We got hammered with it on Saturday for a bit and lost some picture opportunities. By the end of that day we were so tired and the weather reports were screaming scattered thunderstorms for Sunday and unlike Saturday, where part of the shoot was inside, we would be outside ALL day. Every picture of weather for Sunday showed tons of lightning.

I was beside myself. I had a moment where I just lost hope. I'd worked SO hard to get 2 days of this organized...cast...etc. If we lost shooting on Sunday we lost the role of Alex to a show in Maine until mid August AND Josh, who lives in LA, would obviously be gone. Plus we'd have lost the role of Elizabeth until end of July as she's getting married (Cheers, love!). AND...you never know who else will move away by then or be booked. It could've made HUGE issues as some who played roles on Saturday were playing roles on Sunday too (ie: The twins, Amanda and Alicia; Amanda pics were Saturday and Alicia was to be Sunday). Add on that we were loaned clothes from Vampire Freaks that are perfect (and if we don't use them we loose them)...it was a nightmare.

As many of my friends know, I'm not overtly a religious person, but I'm quite spritual. So during my breakdown on the train (silent tears of exhaustion and stress as I headed home) I prayed about Sunday. And to be honest...I felt a real calm come over me. Like God just said, "Don't you trust me?"

Well, there's no arguing in that. So I trusted and I emailed the cast when I got home and said, "We're still ON" ----with one change...we moved make-up to my apartment (and THAT's a story all on its own I'll share later!) which is 2-3 blocks from the shoot locale that day.

And you know what? I slept w/o fear, w/o stress, and w/o worry...and I woke up to dry, overcast weather (great for even light for pictures) and not a drop of rain fell until just after midnight. Not a single drop fell where we were the entire day of the shoot. They called for thunderstorms...and we got almost perfect lighting. Other people told me that areas of New York City were windy. We didn't get that either in the park up in Inwood.

Miracles like this are great, no?

We got most of the pics I wanted...and the ones we didn't get, had nothing to do with the weather THAT day.

Trust and faith.

I had a great lesson in it this weekend.

Hallelujah!

More stories to come about the shoot...so stay tuned!

I get the pics TONIGHT! Woot!

xoxo

Tamsin :)

A Summer of Changes

Some of you know Tamsin Silver is my pen name. Some don't...so to those who didn't...SURPRISE!

Under my real name I do theatre. I have a BA in Theatre Performance and Directing with certification in Secondary Education as well. And THAT, my friends, is wicked hard to get. Education classes are rough and the NTE (National Teachers Exam) is NO JOKE!

That said...when I came to NYC to do theatre I started off by working for others and ended up, like many, working for myself. I started producing. I was the Artistic Director of a company as well as the President and then I ended up being treasurer....and let me tell you, THAT was not a good idea. I'm horrible with paperwork. All I ever wanted to do was direct. But I learned to produce and got pretty good at it. I even became a better SM and TD because of it.

Problem is...it's stressfull and the money of one show was necessary to be able to afford to do another show. We were fine...we made enough each show to move on, barely, and had our heads above water..........until the economy crashed and people didn't go out to the theater. We had very little money but we started to consider what we could do to raise it.

Then the three of us in the company had major life changes. I started writing more, our secretary and Assoc. Artistic Director left her day job to persue a full time acting and music career, and our VP and Assoc. Artistic Director got married to a lovely lady and his job promoted him BIG time. We've held onto the company for the past 2 years anyway...but not really done anything with it. Which is sad as its a nice little non-profit company with its own 501c3 status. But, life is what it is.

Directing for the festival I'm working on now made me realize something. Even after a hiatus this long, I hate producing. The drama of it all exhausts me. I don't want to be in charge of program info, paying for rehearsal space, FINDING rehearsal space, etc. I don't. I want to direct every now and again but I don't want anything to do with the money, the taxes, getting butts in seats. I just don't. I want to be artistic...not business.

So, sadly, I emailed my board yesterday and we all agreed to dissolve the theatre company. I cried as I wrote the email but I knew it was right. And they agreed with me and so, the company will be done as soon as our insurance runs out this year. We'll not renew it and we'll let the company fold. It's sad but I think its the right thing to do.

At first glance this closing looks like the ground I gained has been lost. But that's not true. I think it's just the opposite. I think that Michael, Rachel and I grew as people together on that company and made the contacts necessary to move forward on our own. I think that we all created something wonderful for 5 years (along with those who were with us earlier on and left) and it is something to be cherished. I honestly believe that company gave me what I needed to learn my craft better, from a NYC stand point, and make connections. And that going out on my own now, as a freelance director, is a step forward...not a step back. It built my resume and now, I can take that and move onward.

In fact, I sent an email to a theatre company I've always enjoyed...who has been around NYC for many years that contains a big group of great people. I wanted to let them know I'd be available to direct for them if they ever thought I'd fit a project. I figured maybe sometime in the next year I might get a call. I actually got an email 20 minutes later asking me to meet with them for coffee/tea to discuss where they might be able to use me, artistically.

So now I'll be jetting out on my own. When I do the theatre camp I've talked of, it'll be just under my name vs. the theatre company. And to be honest, my resume is better suited for that than the company's was. I'll start small, teaching lessons and whatnot I think. But probably not for another year as I do have a book coming out and all.

I'm excited to see where I go from here artistically and I've never felt like I've done something so right in my life. I'll miss the company greatly....but I think we'll be remembered for doing good work and I'm happy to say I don't regret my time running it with amazing and talented people who were and are my rock, in many ways.

Seems its a summer of changes for me...new roommates, no more company, traveling more, running huge photo-shoots, my book coming out...etc. Good thing I'm good with change, huh? :)

Have a great weekend all! I'll be buried in getting this show ready to go up on Wednesday AND getting ready for my photo-shoot next weekend. Pray I stay sane and it all stays smooth!

xo

Tamsin :)

I'm directing a show...you know you wanna come see it!

Hi all! As you all know I'm directing a show for the West Village Musical Theatre Festival here in NYC and it goes up NEXT WEEK. **begin panic attack**

Some of you expressed interest in knowing when it goes up so...here is that info! (if not interested you can stop reading now) :)

The festival is 18 short original musicals ranging from classic musicals to rock musical to operettas. Each series holds 6 shows. Each of the 6 shows inside each series is 15 minutes and the whole night of theater per Series is about a 90 minute show with no intermission BUT there is food and alcohol (a HUGE vat of sangria btw) and A/C!!!!

Here's the difference between the different Series:

Series A are "Shorts": 6 musicals written to just be 15 minutes, period.
Series B are "Snapshots": 15 minutes of 6 original FULL musicals...so its a snapshot of some of that full show. (THIS IS ME!)
Series C are "Workshops": 15 minutes of 6 shows that were developed/written just for this festival.

Each series performs 5 times, once a day, from June 8-12th. Wed - Saturday the shows are at 5pm, 7pm and then at 9pm and on Sunday the 12th they're at 12pm, 2pm and 4pm. Each series does NOT have the same time slot each day...it changes. This way all shows get to perform at peak times and off peak times and it makes it easier for more people to work set schedules to come see their friend's work. Yay!

That said, THE SHOW I DIRECTED IS IN SERIES B.

Series B performs:
Wednesday the 8th at 7pm
Thursday the 9th at 5pm
Friday the 10th at 9pm
Saturday the 11th at 5pm
Sunday the 12th at 2pm

I will be attending the performance on the 8th only as I'm only given one comp ticket to see my own series AND because of getting ready for that photo-shoot for Living Dead Girl on the 11th and 12th. If you come out to see my series on the 8th...we'll all get a beer afterwards....and yes, we'll keep it an early night as we all will have work the next day, me included.

The shows are at Thirteenth Street Repertory Theatre located at....you guessed it....13th Street (btwn 5th and 6th Aves)!

You can see the list of shows...the different series...and times...PLUS where to buy tickets (ONLY $18...LESS if you buy in advance I think) at the WVMTF Website Tickets Page.

Oh...and before you wonder where the hell my name is on there....remember....I do all my theatre stuff under my real name. I promise I'm in Series B...It's a Fantasy piece....I know, you're SOOOO shocked....***Hear the sarcasm***

Let me know if you're coming on the 8th!!!! I'd love to see you after the show and have your support!!!!

OH OH OH!...and if you can't come on the 8th DO still go if you can. The audience gets to vote on favorites and I'd love for my cast or my show to win one award in some catagory somewhere if possible.

Thanks so much!!!!!

Tamsin :)