Author: Lee Hurtado

I, Event Coordinator

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It’s been a familiar sight at film and music events over the last couple of years.  See Nikki Young running an event, and you know you’ll find her assistant close by to help keep things moving smoothly.  Usually in a suit…

Since 2007 it has been my privilege to be Nikki’s “right-hand man” (or, as it were, “write-hand man”).  And beyond that, it’s been a rather amazing learning experience.  I suppose it was inevitable that one day I’d have to put what I’d learned to the test.

As it turns out, the day was last Saturday. Continue reading →

Rumors Control, Week 3: “Well I could have been an actor, but I wound up here…”

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I figured out a long time ago that I have little talent for acting. I can’t build a character out of the slightest nuances like Gene Hackman or Paul Newman can. The keen intelligence that Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn bring to their best roles is far beyond my reach. And my American accent’s nowhere near as good as Hugh Laurie’s.

(from an old blog about my acting class experience)

Working with actors as I do, I’m often asked if I ever think about becoming an actor myself.  Of course the answer’s yes.  I’m nowhere near as good as the talent I’ve seen in the last three or so years (not to mention the talent I’m working with now on Rumors), but I do enjoy those moments when I have to step in and play the actor for a read-through or rehearsal.

Of course, answering the question is an invitation to the obvious punchline “What I really want to do…”  And I had a chance at both this week. Continue reading →

Rumors Control, Week 2: Off Book, On Track

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The student in me is enjoying working on Rumors as an incredible learning experience.  The ex-teacher and still-blogger in me is enjoying them as an incredible teaching experience, an opportunity to offer readers a glimpse behind the curtain and introduce them to some of the basic terms and concepts of acting.

One of those terms, “off book”, is a trade term for actors who’ve memorized their dialogue and therefore don’t have to go back to the script when they’re rehearsing or performing.  Of course, it should go without saying that the ability to memorize lines is one of the most basic and most important skills an actor must possess.  And that was one of the goals of this first week of rehearsals, to help the actors get off book as they continued to refine their performances. Continue reading →

Rumors Control, Week 1: Meet The Mongers

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It wasn’t so long ago – honestly, I’m not sure two posts back is long enough to even qualify for “not so long ago” status – that I mentioned The Renaissance Guild‘s upcoming production of Rumors as an opportunity to support one of S.A.’s many great theatre companies.  As it turns out, it also meant an entirely new opportunity for me… Continue reading →

The Next Williams

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I’m not the first to say it.  But I believe it all the same, and so I don’t say it lightly.

Which is to say, Michael Giacchino is the John Williams of his generation.

He’s that film composer in every generation, one of a handful at most, who inspires so much excitement about his music, so much interest in film music in general, that even people who may otherwise know nothing of film composers know of him.
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Why I Am A Kind Of “Renaissance” Man

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Read any related post on PDP’s News & Events page, and you’ll see a common thread when we talk about our relationship with The Renaissance Guild: privilege.  As a PrimaDonna, it has been my privilege to have worked with TRG over the last three years, and as an emerging theatergoer and critic, it has been just as great a privilege to attend and review the company’s productions, from Steel Magnolias in 2007 to their out-of-the-park performance of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom earlier this year. Continue reading →

You Always Remember… Usually…

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“That is the kind of life I’ve had. Drunk, and in charge of a bicycle, as an Irish police report once put it. Drunk with life, that is, and not knowing where off to next. But you’re on your way before dawn. And the trip? Exactly one half terror, exactly one half exhilaration.”

That brief excerpt from an essay by Ray Bradbury has been the heart of my near-former MySpace profile for a long time.  Beyond being a really cool (to say nothing of painfully Obviously Meaningful) profile quote, it’s a reminder of one of those key moments that set me on the path to becoming a writer. Continue reading →

An Unexpected Sequel

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It was surprise enough when Nikki was invited to MC a Luminaria stage last month.  We could hardly have expected that an even greater surprise would come of that.

But as it turns out, representatives of The CE Group, the event management firm for Luminaria, were among the over 200,000 in attendance that day.  And after seeing Nikki’s performance, they were very impressed.  Impressed enough to consider her for another event they were working on… Continue reading →

The Luminarian Annual

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I know it’s just slightly late for a Luminaria blog.  Or it’s way too early.  I haven’t quite figured out which it is yet.

But having written about it for two years running (year 1, year 2), it was always my plan to share my perspective on this year’s incarnation – or regeneration, as it were.  That’s one thing about Luminaria – you can throw in a gratuitous Doctor Who reference like that and it actually fits.  Because each year brings with it its own personality, its own energy, its own life… and that’s about as far as I got with the analogy.  So I’ll leave it to you to decipher where, on a scale of Hartnell to Smith, the 2010[th] Luminaria would fall.  Meanwhile, I’ll approach the point… Continue reading →

NESA Is The Word

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Working at PrimaDonna has given me an interesting perspective on the ongoing fight to save the North East School of the Arts, since many of the talent we’ve worked with are students there.  And having seen them grow as artists and performers, I know how important it is to have a place like NESA that encourages them to further that growth and make the most of their talents.  It’s absolutely worth the fight.

And as the fight goes on, so must the show… Continue reading →