An update for the ages.

HELLO THERE!

I keep being a fart about updating my blog. I'm sure all my faithful blog readers keep checking for updates, only to have their hearts dashed and their weeks ruined. Well, here you go, Chiara Atik.

As my trusty dog Baxter sleeps by my side, I will recap all that has befallen me in this past month. I am SO sad Dear Brutus is over now, because it was a great time, a great part, and great people I worked with. We had a lot of people come see it in the mere week it ran, so that was really awesome. Nothing like playing to a full house!....mainly of elderly ladies, but isn't that what theater is all about? And now I will show you a couple pictures from the show, courtesy of our director Kymm:

There's me bein all sad about my husband kissing another lady, played beautifully by Jeff and Karen.


And then in the magical wood, the tables are turned! Now I am beloved.


Me realizing I'm still Jack's wife as Joanna (Karen) realizes she isn't. Hah.

There ya go!

So once it was over, I really wanted to keep working with Zephyer Rep and the Wings folks, so I auditioned and got cast in their next show, a rockin 80s all-chick Midsummer Night's Dream! Hooraw! I've only been to one rehearsal but it was very promising, it's cool to see chicks acting male roles better than I've seen actual guys do them. I'll be playing Snug the Joiner, the slightly off Mechanical who ends up playing the Lion in the meta play. I'm having a great time perfecting my vacant stare and general confusion at everything happening around me. It's really great to be a dim character in Shakespeare, because everyone around you is saying freakin Shakespeare and then there's you, picking your nose. Note: I would never pick my nose on stage, let alone in Shakespeare.

Also, last week I made my guitar singing and playing debut, also at Wings, in their first cabaret with the lovely Angel Drake. I even got a clap going! That was cool. Although I messed up a chord, right after I sang the word "fuck". I guess I got too excited about saying it.

And yesterday, I did my first job on the set of the new HBO series, "Boardwalk Empire"!!! It was an incredibly fun day, we got to be on their main boardwalk set which was so intricate and authentic I really felt like I was at the beach, even though there was a huge blue screen where the ocean should be. Movie magic people!!! The crew was great, which is so important when you're on set for 10 hours straight. And I loved being dressed like the littlest sailor girl. Oh, you want a picture?....Ok.


Anything else? I've reviewed two shows for Broadway After Dark and have 3 more lined up in the next couple weeks, which all came from this silly blog, so I'm VERY happy about this. I'm seeing lots of good theater for free!

And how is the rest of my life??? Hahahaha, I laugh in your face, the rest of my life doesn't exist. I'm trying my best to use my sparse free time correctly: seeing my friends, drinking with my friends, going on dates (with the same guy I've been going on dates with for 5+ years), and catching up on my favorite shows. Those being American Idol, Ghost Hunters, and LOST. Do not judge me, but if I miss any of those shows you better believe I'll be cranky. I guess that's not really a good threat, but it's the best I can do, I'm still reeling from the Boardwalk 5:15am call time.

Anyone watching LOST by the way? Isn't the last season amazing? Every Tuesday is another piece in the puzzle fitting together. Tonight is Ben's Sideways fate--can't wait! I actually saw Michael Emerson at Hill Country once and got too nervous to say hi. He was having fun out with his pals, and didn't need some fangirl drooling over him. To this day, I kick myself in the shins thinking of the things I would have said to him, like, "I wish you would get trapped on MY island", or, "Hey, you're the guy from the show where you keep getting punched in the face! Cool dude."

It's probably better I didn't speak to him at all.

Until next time, friends.

What do you cling to when it all becomes overwhelming?

When the Backstage listings pile on each other after each refreshing, as you look at them and go, "is that part worth changing my Thanksgiving trip?" or, "can these be anything more than internet porn?", it's hard to keep going. And it takes a lot for me to say that, especially me, because I don't find it easy to admit that I'm struggling. I think we all should, it actually makes me feel better to admit that what I'm doing isn't a typical way of life, nor is it the easiest way of life. But it's all I can do, and even now as I sit on hold with some person in need of a password to our website, it's so obvious that I should never be behind a desk. Not because I'm stupid, because my knees knock together and I finish everything too fast so I get more and more work piled on and I feel GUILTY about leaving to go on auditions. Guilty! Ridiculous!

That, friends, is why I applied to be on Who Wants to be a Millionaire today, so don't judge. Besides, it's on tv, and you have to go through an extensive audition process so it's not completely unrelated to acting.

I guess you could call me hungry. Starving. And it's not like I'm not working--I've been rehearsing or performing almost every day since freaking mid-August! I'm just hungry for more. Every day I don't work makes me try harder to get auditions, stay in shape, and book something. And every day I do work, while it seems weird, just makes me even hungrier. I guess it's like someone who quit smoking and then sneaks a cigarette in one day. Sure, every day you don't have a smoke is hard, but if you cheat and have just one puff, your brain must instantly go crazy with the possibilities of smoking a pack a day, cancer be damned, not a care in the world.

I have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm not even a smoker!

All I want to do is act. It's all I've ever wanted to do. I have to keep that in mind or I'll go crazy. I guess I just resent when people act like I had no idea how hard it would be. Everyone on the freaking planet knows how hard it is to make a living, let alone as a professional actor.....but NOBODY and NOTHING can prepare you for the reality of getting through each day and ending on a positive, hopeful note. For now, I'm working, I'm young, and I'm doing good things in my work. I'm growing, and improving, and learning, and always raising the bar to something greater. And as long as I can keep that up, I won't ever be satisfied with the present, always looking to the next thing. And that's quite alright with me.