Natalie Holmes

American Bard Theater Company is in its Second Season and so the Fall offering was Measure for Measure...and the honor of directing such a monster of a show was yours truly!

It is almost one year later and The American Bard Theater Company, which I am a proud founding member of, has put up its second production..."Much Ado About Nothing." I couldn't be more grateful to be playing Beatrice, it is a role I have wanted to play ever since I was a young girl in high school watching Kenneth Branagh's movie version when I was home from school with a cold. I've been one lucky lady so far, to have been able to play two of my dream roles.

Well, I am in the process of creating a new theater company, from scratch, with a few of my peers from American Globe Theatre's conservatory. Why, you ask, would you start a theater company during an economic crisis?

So today was just an ordinary day, started with work and then a trip to midtown to see "Songs for a New World" (in New York for the first time since its opening back in '95), directed by Debbie Slevin. Little did I know that Jason Robert Brown would be there for a Q&A afterward. It was an extremely pleasant surprise to be able to have an experience like that in an Off-Off venue. He is not only a musical genius, a quirky/hilarious human being but, he also seems like a genuinely wonderful person. Not many people would give of their time the way he did; it all goes back to karma.

Although I am not performing in anything at the moment I feel I should update the news with projects I am working on no matter what (I am always a busy busy bee). Currently I am working on finishing up a second short film script, adding onto my one woman show script and will be working on a very interesting and very new idea for a website that will marry entertainment and my need to save the world! More to come on that as it begins to unfold...

I have had the ultimate pleasure of taking Shakespeare classes at the American Globe Theatre in NYC since January and although I will not be studying over the summer I will return in the fall. The fall class will end in a showcase which I am EXTREMELY excited about! For anyone out there who is interested in studying Shakespeare I have to say that John Basil is one of (if not the only) the most amazing teachers of classical acting I've ever seen. The classes are worth every moment and dollar spent!

This past weekend I was given the chance to play a role in a webisode series that will be "airing" this fall. Details will follow the closer it gets to launch date, but I wanted to give some credit to the company that is producing it. "Just for Girls Entertainment" is the production company and they do so much for young girls in the tween/teen demographic.

Just a heads up...I've been working with playwright Bob Stewart for some time now reading stage directions for readings of his plays at the Workshop Theater Company in midtown. This upcoming week I will be reading stage directions again for a staged reading of his. The play is called Memory Play and I invite all to come see it, his work is brilliant and this play in particular sounds like something many can relate to...should your parents have ever been married?

I had the amazing opportunity this weekend to see August:Osage County on Broadway and I have to say...this is a must see, not only for every person who has anything to do at all with theatre, but also for the regular theatre patron. This is the kind of instant classic that Broadway has been in need of. I don't want to say too much about it and spill any beans but the dysfunctional family that the play revolves around are beyond dysfunctional, beyond funny and beyond charming so much so that the three hours feels like a one act!

One must always be changing to keep up with the self and the times so I hope you enjoy the new site, special thanks to Robbie the Geek for the design and implementation (http://www.HeartyHandshake.com).