Comments

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  Deby Cedars August 16, 2008 at 9:28am

  Well you've done it Vegas....You've done it in LA......Now it's time for it to happen in the BIG APPLE, baby!!!!!! Start spreading the news, start planning today. I want to be a part of it NY NY. If you can host it there! You can host it anywhere it's up to you NY NY......I wish I could post a recording of the song above....(my version....not Franks). (smile)
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  Bob Bergen August 16, 2008 at 12:54am

  Hey!
  
  Got your sweet thank you. I believe you meant 2008. But I'm sure it did feel like you've been working on this 2 whole years!
  
  xo!
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  Debra Cole August 15, 2008 at 8:36am

  Penny, thank you for inviting me into yet another wonderful space. When we first met at last year's AOVA workshop in San Diego your style was one that spoke directly to me -- it was your positive attitude and willingness to share without an ounce of concern or worry that you would lose something by giving all of us so much. You taught me to "dare to suck" and while sucking doesn't buy the baby new shoes it sure makes the next audition more fun! And it worked just this week because baby's gettin' new shoes!
  
  Thanks, "Mom",
  
  Debra
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  Dean Nickel August 13, 2008 at 11:15pm

  Hi Penny! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, for writing your moving "bio". I feel the fear you talked about. I'm coming "out of the gate" at 41, after 2 decades in the construction industry. And, with no coaching or mentoring around me, I have shyness issues to battle as well. Your story gave me some hope that there is hope. And, you are an inspiration to us all!
  
  All the best,
  Dean
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  Arlene Kahn August 13, 2008 at 12:41am

  Penny -- I had to smile when I read your opening post. I was a litigation secretary for more years than I care to admit to and though I was extremely good at the job, absolutely hated it. I had been taking class, working in small theaters and auditioning for on-camera the whole time but got to the age where I started telling myself that I didn't want any "what ifs." I also finally figured out that if I put as much effort into my acting career as I did in trying to make the stupid attorneys happy (my apologies to any attorneys reading this) that I probably could build a career that made me happy.
  
  When I finally decided to leave the legal world, I had six on-camera auditions in one month and I usually didn't have that many in a year! Furthermore, I had been called back for a national spot and it had been down to me and one other person (unfortunately, I didn't book it). When I looked at that month's experience, I figured there was something there to seriously explore. Took me a while to get seriously started, but I finally did and slowly things are starting to happen.
  
  I keep telling myself persistence is all and so I keep working and learning from all of you wonderful people so willing to share your knowledge and expertise.
  
  Arlene Kahn
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  Deby Cedars August 6, 2008 at 3:02pm

  I then prayed that God would give me another song.....just a song that If it were true would help me get through it somehow......The DJ came on and said they it was a double shot of U2. The song was.....It's Alright It's Alright. She Moves In Mysterious Ways.......I was hoping the first song might just be a coincidence.....this was too much to believe in coincidence.....I was on a pop station......Through my tears I asked God to give just one more......just one that would be something I could relate to.......And I Miss You Like The Desert Misses the Rain was the last song......I found out my brother was murdered while working as a manager at a Walgreens drug store........
  
  But God finally revealed himself to me.....When I needed it most
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  Deby Cedars August 6, 2008 at 2:56pm

  I live in the NYC/CT area now but, I'll never forget the day I was working in LA and I got the call. I lived an hour and half away in the high desert Lancaster area. I had been doing cabaret work till 2 am and I decided do to the long hours and muscle aching dance routines I would stay in a hotel in Burbank (next to Dipples). I had worked 2 days and only had one night left when at 3 in the after noon my husband (at the time) called me. Told me had to come home. It was an emergency. I asked what it was he couldn't handle. He said just to come home. "We have to go to Houston...Arrangements have to be made" That gave me pause....that wasn't my ex's wordings....Those were words my Mom used to say about funerals. My silence prompted him to say. it's not your Mom....your Mom is fine. "It's my brother" I guessed. It was only September right before my birthday and I had just seen him last Christmas. He was going to be 33 and very healthy.....WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO HIM.
  
  I thought maybe a car accident....Maybe he was in the hospital. I asked my ex if he was....."JUST COME HOME" "I can't drive ALL THE WAY HOME THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS IN RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC NOT KNOWING. "You won't be able to make the drive if I tell you."...........that shut me up.....shocked me......I told him I was on my way....threw my costumes in the luggage quickly and called the people I needed to quickly......as I drove home in my heart I knew my brother was dead.....My ex would have told me if he wasn't......I prayed that it wasn't so......I asked God to let me know.....that I needed to know. I asked him to give me a sign...I would turn on the radio and if the song was at all positive he would be alive...if negative he would be Dead......The song was Sunday Bloody Sunday.......I then prayed that
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  GAURAV MARWAHA August 2, 2008 at 6:59am

  A very deep human psycholgy revealed in very simple, practical story Penny...
  Thnx for those wise words
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  Jody Olson August 1, 2008 at 11:52pm

  Penny,
  As you know, I’m not the shyest person on the planet annnd from time-to-time I may have pushed my exuberance a little too far. One of my favorite sayings is “I’ve done a lot of things in my life that I’m not to proud of but there are not too many of them that I wouldn’t do again”.
  In the Navy I had the opportunity make a fool of myself on five different continents and I am the subject to more than a few sea stories. There have also been times when those watching have said “Man, I wish I had done that”
  I’m my own worse critic and I have to continually remind myself to not take myself so seriously and because I love to make people smile, when it happens it is magic.
  I try to live my life to the fullest because I’ve seen fire, flooding and death in the Navy and this aint it.
  Have fun, live happy and let the other guy worry about how silly I look.
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  Deby Cedars August 1, 2008 at 9:53pm

  ahh man.....all those bruises for nothing! I hope they do remember me tripping. I think tripping is a comedic art form which requires good timing. Luckly I have a lot cushioning for it too. (impish giggle)