“Wow.”  That’s the first word that crosses my mind walking into the Sherwood Forest Faire the Saturday before we begin filming Disenchanted.  This thought was quickly followed by, “Is that full grown man dressed as a Centaur?  How is his tail moving? Why doesn’t his ladyfriend have anything on underneath that chain mail?”  These and many other questions remained unanswered throughout my time there.  In fact, I realized it was just better not to ask them in order to avoid nonsensical conversations like the following one I had with Gual (actual name Jeffrey), who was an authentic faire fairy and was cast as the number one in the Faerie Queen’s sparkle army.  Here he is:

Me: Oooh, is there a Maypole?  We could get some excellent faerie b-roll with some maypole action.

Gual: No, that’s not historically accurate.  This faire is set in 1190.  Maypoles weren’t around until the 16th century.

Me:  Oh, of course, that makes sense.  (Said while leaning on Ye Olde ATM contraption).  Wouldn’t want to make that mistake.  Let’s go get some Old World Nachos and a draught of your finest Budweiser.

I had two days on this production, and it was a blast.  The first day on set, the faire was closed to the general public, and shooting went briskly.  I got to play a villain, as the Faerie Queen, whose insecurity makes her more dangerous than if she was just plain evil.  I had wings that required their own handler, a long blonde wig, and a glittery entourage. I wish I was always so lucky.   The second day I was called, the faire was actually open for business and after I was wrapped, I stayed in costume and wandered around the faire.  Strangers asked me to take photos with them.  Little girls hugged me.   I pondered eating a turkey leg but ultimately waited for some post-faire Elgin sausage. (That my friends, is a truly magical experience.)

Gual then introduced me to the Faerie court.  He took me by the hand and whispered, “How would you like to be introduced?”  I said, “I don’t know what to say,” afraid of being exposed as a fraud, ” I’m just going to smile and make noises like Bjork.”  He said, “I can work with that,” and then presented me to the ren-folk and the children that had gathered for the tea party, as a visiting Faerie Queen, whose voice had “been stolen and taken to the underworld.”

“Wow,” I thought for the 113th time that day, “Improv genius.”

Now here for your enjoyment, is the cast trailer they put together for the wrap party. It’s nothing official, just something to make us all laugh, which it did. Now if can get a little pixiedust sprinkled on post-production, we should be in good shape. (Unlike the lady in the chain mail.)

Disenchanted Cast Trailer from mark spacek on Vimeo.

If you aren’t in Austin for the multiple 4/20 Alamo screenings, you are in luck. If you get your cable through Time Warner, T-Mobile, Verizon, Charter, or Brighthouse, “420 Austin High” is waiting for you on Movies on Demand, in glorious HD or watchable SD. If you get it through Cox or Comcast, it’ll be up in your house on May 3. This is the super sweet, NSFW (profanity), extended trailer, including slightly  more of me than my gratuitous, but legitimately funny, makeout scene with Adriene Mishler.

This is a super late entry and I’m kicking myself for not posting this sooner but there is an incredible performance happening tonight and AN ADDED DATE of tomorrow SATURDAY APRIL 7th at Salvage Vanguard Theater and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you experience it.  It’s called The Orchid Flotilla and it is dreamy and provocative, erverse and didactic, sweet and super weird.  It is my cup of tea.

Creator and performer of Glass Half Full Theatre, Caroline Reck is a personal hero of mine.  She is able to create something from nothing using whatever objects she encounters, or should there be none,  her own body becomes the tools of her storytelling.  She is a force my friends. She is alone for much of the play, a woman surviving on a flotilla of garbage and orchids on the open sea,  before the foxish Gricelda Silva joins her on her plastic island.  I encourage every actor in Austin to see the show for the lessons that both women teach in the industry of their movements.  Every gesture is both graceful and informed, and is endlessly watchable. I was captivated.  I wasn’t the only one.  Here’s one of the best reviews I’ve ever read in a very long time, although I haven’t read Brenner’s Aliens review yet.

When Caroline was in rehearsal for Flotilla, she created something else out of nothing:  A fundraiser wherein East Austin artists and designers and artists from the theatre community were asked to create bathing suits out of materials that would survive the Apocalypse, then they or their models wore them in a Fashion Show.  I was one of the brave that trod the wooden staircase wearing a lot of not much.  Fortunately for me, Kelli Bland was the creator of my swimsuit and it was divine.  Here is a video of the show plus an interview with the oh so incredibly lovely Caroline, and some pictures, just for funsies.

I’m also proud to say that I created the show’s posters and postcards.  Love doing this kind of work for people that I admire. Here is an up close shot of some details that don’t come through at smaller sizes.  All of this is actual sea trash floating out there somewhere, near the flotilla. Which is where you should be.. near the flotilla TONIGHT AND TOMORROW, your last chance.

So it’s almost April and I feel like I am still recovering from the relentless hustle, grind, wonder, and drunkenness of spring break SXSW.  Previously, I wrote about some film bumpers I was stoked to be asked to act in, but wasn’t aloud to disclose where they would be airing.  Well – breaking news alert – they aired between films during sxsw as a series called “How Not to Be Lame at SXSW.”  I got to work with two of my favorite directors in Austin, Joe Nicolosi and Geoff Marslett.  I was in three trailers (I think), although in the one I’m about to show you I was just background.  I was featured enough in the other two that strangers shouted “PURSE JERKY” at me on a number of occasions (that will hopefully make sense later if that trailer is released) and that Janet Pierson herself (the woman behind SX) gave me a sweet congrats in the lobby of the Alamo South.

So far only one of these trailers has been released online and it is one of my faves.  Directed by Joe and starring Geoff, it’s the story of sxsw told through Geoff’s expanding beard and diminishing LA slickness.  So yeah, I’m in there too, looking preoccupied or hungover (these are identifying characteristics of badge holders.)  There’s already been an online writeup about this trailer over at Laughing Squid. Good job guys. Here it is for you to enjoy.

If  you are interested in hearing more about the process of making the bumpers from Joe, Geoff and the other filmmakers that contributed, they hosted a panel on the subject that you can listen to online.

Cheers to you, SXSW 2012. You cruel, exhausting, wonderful thing.

Everyone I know in Austin is going to the ND tonight to either perform in or behold the wonder that is Fusebox Festival‘s brilliant annual fundraiser. 60 performances in 60 minutes!!!!!! 60 of Austins finest performers, musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, thinkers, and community leaders will line up to perform sixty solo pieces in 60 minutes.

The Chronicle sums it up best “Holy Shit!”:

Fusebox Festival is coming with more performative brilliance than the city’s seen in years, and this madcap fundraising event is only the harbinger. Did we say “only,” friend? We mean to say, “Holy shit, get a load of this!” Jason Newman and Westen Borghesi are your hosts as 60 of Austin’s finest performers, musicians, visual artists, filmmakers, thinkers, and community leaders perform 60 solo pieces in 60 minutes, one after the other, boom-boom-boom. Rubber Repertory presents a silent auction that’s like a biddable smorgasbord of the kind of strange goodness it purveys onstage. There will be prize drawings, a performance by Rebecca Havemeyer, food and drink specials, and a culinarily enhanced VIP option of such varied extravagance that your taste buds will dance a tarantella. Recommended to blow the lid of your otherwise typical Wednesday night existence. Wed., Feb. 22, 8pm-12mid. $25 ($40 for two; $100, for VIP option).

ND at 501 Studios, 501 N. I-35, 800-3066

Last Chance from Galen Church on Vimeo.

So this is funny – a sitcom that takes place behind the doors of an actual Ren Faire. Three cutie college kids reluctantly take summer jobs alongside the shanty, political maneuverings of the carnies that have worked the Faire for years. The King and Queen, the Sheriff with the mustache, the Jester, the Fairie Queen (that’s me) – all have their own agendas and ways of entertaining themselves while entertaining the Faire-goers.

Galen Church, Justin Neufeld and Mark Spacek, are trying to raise the funding to shoot a half-hour comedy pilot called DISENCHANTED…This is funny stuff: A great script, an awesome location at Sherwood Forest Faire, and a good looking, star-studded (Austin stars, c’mon) cast. What we don’t have is money. This is where we need your help. The video above is our last attempt to fund-raise before our IndieGoGo campaign ends. If you even have $5 to donate, please do. This is something you will want to see. Even if you hate turkey legs and mead.

Read more about the project and donate here.

Mi Casa Es Su Teatro

Saturday afternoon, February 11
$3 per location or $12 all-location pass, cash only at the door
Presenting the 2012 Mi Casa Es Su Teatro, an afternoon of site-based work performed in local homes and businesses–and one of the most popular components of our festival.
This year, join us for a highly unconventional tour of Austin’s historic Bouldin Creek Neighborhood, curated by theatrical maven Sam Webber and theatre director Shobie Partos. Sam and Shobie have gathered some of Austin’s finest artists, including Robert Faires, POPWORKS (Adriene Mishler, Jeffrey Mills, Sonnet Blanton, and Company), Christina Houle, Jason Phelps, Margery Segal, Deborah Paredez, Eliot Haynes, and Katherine Catmull.

Mi Casa 2012 promises to be an extraordinarily memorable and quintessentially Austin experience. Don’t miss the free wrap party at the end of the performances!

Here’s a photo of us at Eastside Kings.  Say goodbye to Marslett’s beard, I hear it’s not long for this world.

The following photos are from a project I can’t really talk about but here are some things I can tell you about my part in it: 1) I had to learn Romanian for the role, 2) I use a bullwhip, 3) I also had to handle a grease gun and a hand grenade, and 4) I am turned on by all this too, it’s okay.

That's Shannon McCormick lurking behind me.

Mark Spacek and me trying to look cool

Someone I have a crush on took this photo

Finally, this is a photo from a rehearsal for a read-thru of Timothy Braun’s new play, The Coney Island Mermaid Parade, or My View From the Gershwin Hotel

Most of my scenes were with Michael Joplin, as Juan Antonio.  I played lonely Penelope. All she wanted was to go to China with Juan Antonio.

We rehearsed all day and then presented the reading to an audience at Salvage Vanguard Theater that evening. I really loved this play and the actors I got to perform it with.

And that’s all for now my dear, as my friend Rafael would say.

]]> http://jennymariejemison.com/austin-theater/photos-from-the-field-or-ive-been-a-busy-girl/feed 2 http://jennymariejemison.com/headshots-photography/hot-out-da-kitchen-new-headshot-and-resume http://jennymariejemison.com/headshots-photography/hot-out-da-kitchen-new-headshot-and-resume#comments Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:08:59 +0000 JMJ http://jennymariejemison.com/?p=1767

Hello darlings. I am happy to announce that I have new a headshot and a new haircut. I despise getting headshots taken, which is why I do it so rarely. It just feels so phony and artificial. I met new friend Scott Gordon on a film set a few weeks ago and we made a plan to try to get something in the most low key manner possible. So we just ran around campus for about 30 minutes and came up with these guys. You can download my newly updated resume as well, if you are so inclined. Looking forward to 2012. Its shaping up to be quite a year.