Gingerbread house

Three hours drive north of LA is the town of Visalia. This is where a little student film called "Ginger" was filmed over the weekend. The drive was all freeway, so generally tedious, but it did take me through some different landscapes of southern California (aka SoCal). The cracked concrete river wound through rocky, yellow hills, followed by scrubby hills and flat farmland. My destination turned out to be a large red brick house decked out like a wedding cake, complete with gables, ornate decorative iron-work and formal English garden. Inside it was a crazy funhouse with black and white tiling, plush royal blue carpets, a spiral wrought-iron staircase, jars of lollies behind the bar, an old-fashioned wrought iron stove (who knows whether or not it was actually functional), archways dripping with fake ivy, gothic statues and a fireman's pole; it was like a Tim Burton film set, cleaned up for the kiddies. The college these film students are associated with have some connection to the house - possibly the owners? - but it is also rented out as a wedding venue, as evidenced by some brochures lying about and the Laurelwood website. Check it out, I'm not exaggerating! I highly recommend viewing the Laurelwood movie (link on the home page), it's a divinely cheap exercise in sentimental, misty-lensed cheese.

The place lacks the authentic sophistication of Ripponlea, but it was the perfect venue for the whimsical tale of young Ginger whose four year vow of silence is broken by the charms of an amiable cable repairman. I played Ginger's self-absorbed mother, and also the narrator of the film in British accented voice over. The crew worked efficiently and were running on schedule so in the end I spent more time on the freeway than at Laurelwood. I felt quite bleary by the time I got home on Sunday evening.

Today (Monday) I researched some good female monologues. Alas, my favourite monologue to date (the marvellous work of one Ms Burton) is a good 10 minutes which is waaay too long in an A.D.D. town like LA. Well, to be fair, it would be considered too long as an audition piece anywhere. I need to find a couple - dramatic and comedic - that run under 2 minutes. The internet yielded a few promising results. Monday is a yoga day - bliss! - and I also rehearsed a scene in preparation for my acting class tomorrow night. It's a very funny, fast-paced scene of a bickering married couple in therapy. I'm also reading John Irving's 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' which I'm enjoying very much. I've not read John Irving before, but I like his style; warm, witty and wryly nostalgic.