www.MindyLym.com

Hi Everybody!!

My new website, www.MindyLym.com is officially up and running! You can get updates on upcoming shows, buy tickets, browse photos of past shows, join my mailing list, leave comments and keep up with my on my new blog. Sadly, that means that this site has become a bit obsolete. However - I will leave it up and running as an archive of old posts, as I don't want to go through and transfer every post over to the other site. That would take quite some time!

But enjoy the site!! It was designed by Troy Ziel. You can find his design website here, and his photography site here.

ENJOY!!!

Updates Galore!

One of the PR shots taken by Mark Kitaoka for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Wow! What a great beginning to 2010! I feel like I'm being showered with blessings. I just landed the role of Maria in West Side Story - my second Equity contract, and this one will running for two months down in southern California, in addition to a full month of rehearsals. This, for me, is a dream come true! I started watching West Side Story when I was about 3 years old, and begged to watch it as often as I could. I'd started to wonder if I'd get an opportunity to play the role - I can only pull it off for a few more years. But here it is landing in my lap at the perfect time. I'm so grateful! The show's opening night is already ALMOST SOLD OUT!! Holy cramoly! So get your tickets NOW! The show is at PCPA, one month in Santa Maria, and one month in Solvang.

Rehearsals for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels have started, and I think it's going to be fantastic! The cast is wonderful. I've bee sick the last few days, so I haven't been able to sing, but we're rehearsing none-the-less, and the sickness will pass, and the show will go on! We preview on April Fools Day! Perfect! And we open on April 2nd!

The show is being put on by Broadway By The Bay, the outstanding company where I met the love of my life, and got to play Cinderella in 2008! And it just so happens that he'll be working this show as well. So, once again, I'll be onstage, and he'll be backstage, chasing people down when their body mics start acting up. I can't wait! We're going to have so much fun, I can hardly stand it!

I was also thrilled to find out that I've been nominated for a BATCC (Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle) Award for my performance as Natalie/Ed in Center REP's production of All Shook Up. That show just had an essence about it. Every cast member I talked to agrees - there was something magical about that show from the instant we set foot in the rehearsal hall. Everything just glowed. It clicked. If felt right - better than right! I can't explain it. We were on fire every night, regardless of what the audience thought. We were having the time of our lives out there, and maybe, just maybe, the audience felt it too. So it's really lovely to get the nomination, whether I win or not. It gives me a little hope that maybe the audience felt the joy and ecstasy that we did.

Well, that's all for now folks! I'm going to make myself dinner, blow my nose several dozen more times, and then head out to rehearsal. Have a great night!!

Mindy

P.S. My new website is almost ready to launch! Look for it April 1st! www.MindyLym.com

designed by Troy Ziel.

Shellie Award for Best Actress In A Musical

Wow. It's been almost a week since the Shellie Award Ceremony, and I'm just finding time to sit down and write about it. It was an amazing evening. My parents and my boyfriend were there with my, along with what seemed like most of the Contra Costa theatre community.

As I sat there listing to the names of the nominees in my category being read, and the drum roll beginning, I was simply thinking about how much each and every one of these women must have put into their role and their production, and how worthy we all are. It's odd to be singled out, I think we all deserve awards. But as I sat there, a wave of surprise went through me when I heard her read "And the award goes to: ... For Evita ..." - and then I couldn't even hear my name being read because the wave of sound, and the wave of bodies rising out of their seats was so overwhelming. That was what shocked me more than anything. The thing that totally floored me was the amount of support I received. Daniel and about two or three hundred other people shot out of their seats before I even realized I had to stand up. So here I am looking at this beautiful, adorable hand painted statuette with my name on it.

In that wave of shock, I didn't bring up my little piece of paper with all the people I wanted to thank on it. While I feel I did a great job of expressing my thanks and gratitude, I forgot to thank so many people without whom I never would have been standing on that stage Saturday night. So let's try that speech again:

This award sitting on my desk belongs to so many people. What goes into a performance like the one I gave in Evita, goes far beyond my own work. It's an illusion spun by dozens upon dozens of people. So I share this award with each and every one of them. This award is for Richard Nickol who built every last note in my voice. It's for my parents who always supported my dreams and ambitions no matter how outlandish, and trusted me to know my own way. It's for Daniel Cadigan, who puts up with my leaving bed at 2:00 in the morning to go write for an hour on a revelation about my character, and understands why I come home at midnight six nights a week for the sake of a show, and still loves me through and through. It's for every cast member that shared the stage with me, and wept with me every night. It's for Scott Strain, Shannon Demmers, Danny Boyle and Dustin Riggs who make CCMT what it is, and who made sure Evita happened at all. It's for Kevin Morales, our director, Karl Pister, our music director who made sure that each and every one of us was taken care of and Suzanne Brandt who made me feel like a dancer for the first time in my life. For Marianna Ford and her delicious constumes. For Erin O'Donoghue for getting me out there fully clothed every night - assure you that wouldn't have happened without her! This award is for Bobby Weinapple, who is continually helping me grow into the actress that I aspire to be. It's for Carol Kammen, Jodi Gold and the entire Pathways community who have helped me learn what it is to be a woman, and to own myself in this ever changing world, and then, what it is to let myself go so that something else can come through.

But most of all I want to share it with the audiences. It's for the theatre goers. Because you're why I do this at all. I do this because I know what it is to sit in a theatre and have my life changed because somebody is willing to get up there and show me a way of being that I'd not been able to reach on my own before. The more of myself I can understand, the more of myself I can bring to you. And my deepest hope is that that gesture will bring you home to yourselves. So thank you for giving me a reason to love my work, and for making it possible for me to sustain myself on it.

This award, my heart and gratitude go out to you.

Cheers,

Mindy

P.S. If you'd like to watch the video of me receiving the award, here's the link: Mindy Wins The Shellie

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Wow!!! My first EVER, full length Equity contract. Thanks to CenterREP, who got me into the union during the last two weeks of "All Shook Up", I'm receiving an Equity Contract from Broadway By The Bay for playing Christine Colgate in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". I could fly!

First of all - what a role! I so thrilled about that. But what makes my spine turn to jelly, and puts a permanent grin on my face is the fact that I'm actually going to get paid. I get all that joy from doing a show. But suddenly the stress is gone. It used to be that when I did a show, I was working full time and taking classes during the day, and then at night, driving myself into the ground (and loving every minute of it), pouring my heart into whatever show I was doing, and just barely paying the bills.

But now I'm getting paid... Which means, yes, of course I'll keep my students, because I love them, but, my God - my income isn't going to DECREASE from doing a show, it's going to INCREASE. Whudda thunk it?? It's like I can breathe all of a sudden. This means that shows are no longer this great love that I make enormous sacrifices for... They're this great love... that love me back and take care of me! This marks the beginning of a completely new relationship to my art. Hallelujah!! I could sing! In fact, I think I will!

SO. "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". Aaaahhhh. I can't wait. The show is utterly hysterical. I've never played anybody like this before, and I can't wait! I can't tell you too much, I don't want to give away the plot - but I'll tell you this much: I watched a bootleg of the show on youtube before it was taken down, and I had trouble staying on the couch because I was laughing so hard and so long!

The show will be directed by the fabulous Brooke Knight, music directed by the brilliant Rick Reynolds and choreographed by the wonderful Robyn Tribuzi. This is sure to be a knock out show! I'll keep you posted as I find out about the cast. I hope you'll come see it!

Happy New Year!

-Mindy

YEAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! This cast is AMAZING!

All Shook Up PR Shot - No, it's not me! They had to do the shoot before they had cast the leads. But it's a fantastic shot! What can ya do? :-)

www.CenterREP.org

Ok. I am SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!! We just did our first read/sing through, after a week of music & dance rehearsal. And I have to say - this cast is PHENOMENAL. I am so thrilled to be working with this group of people. And not only is the cast amazing, the artistic staff is incredible!!!

I can't say enough, how excited I am! It's ridiculous! The voices are amazing, but what's even more astonishing, is that every single person is perfectly cast. Some of these people just seem born to play these roles. I had an idea of what the perfect "Dennis" (a character in the show) would be, and this guy BLEW my mind. He is HILARIOUS! He blew my concept of the character out of the water! And that's just one example. I have been astonished around the board by these people. Each person brings such electricity, excitement, fun and power to the room.

If you get to see me in ONE show this year. Come see THIS. I don't usually say that - those of you who know me can vouch for that. Sometimes I'll even keep my mouth shut about what I think of a show. But this one? It's gonna be fierce!!

On another note: This character that I'm playing (Natalie Haller - female lead, mechanic in the 50's, in her mid 20's) is possibly the character that feels closest to my heart, and closest to who I am, that I've ever played. And that is both mildly terrifying and incredibly exciting. Revealing that much of myself onstage in new to me. Revealing even more of a completely different person is a whole different story. Eva Peron?? Nothing like me. (I pray. Ok. I'll take the good traits. ;-) But since I felt I was a completely different person, it was so easy. Less electrifying however. Natalie is so genuine. She's a tomboy. And there's no way she can doll up and be any other way.

It's funny. So many people think of me as a "Cinderella", or an "Eliza Doolittle", you know... the princess-y ingenue. And I can play that really well. I'm very proud of that in fact. Even people in my daily life might see me that way at times. But the reality is, I created that identity in high school because I'd always been so nerdy. That's a big ACT. It's a tool that I take to auditions, and into professional environments. So to play Natalie, who's almost never worn a skirt in her life, is so freeing. It's like coming home.

And the best part is that the end of the story isn't Natalie learning how to doll up and get her man. It about her falling in love with who she really is, and taking a stand for that, even if it means she loses something very dear to her. Someone once asked me "Can you betray another to be true to your own soul?". And that's what Natalie ultimately ends up reckoning with. All in the very fun, very lighthearted, rockin' musical, that packs a punch!

PLEASE: Come see this show! I promise: It won't let you down!!!

The Time Between

I love the time between shows. Especially right now. I have this nice sense of accomplishment from all the shows I've done over the last two years. I also have this sense of standing at the foot a giant mountain, and wondering when I'll finally decide to climb it. I know I can. I feel like a big fish in a very very small pond. Cliché, of course, but how true. 

I'm really looking forward to All Shook Up, and I'm also really relieved to be done with Evita. She's so strident, and strong ALL THE TIME. Even in her death, at her weakest moment. As wonderful as it was to perform that role, I grew tired of constantly "holding her up" so to speak. I enjoy the vulnerable, playful, and sometimes even the uncertain moments in life. There's a joy in not knowing what's coming next. There's a joy in letting a situation play itself out, instead of (as Eva would do) masterfully manipulating it to come out the way I like it. Oy. That's a LOT of energy. It's no wonder she died so young. And I'm certainly not the first person to say that. 

Right now, I'm happy to have let that role go. I recently compiled a list of songs that I've "completed". (I put that in quotations because I don't think anything is ever truly complete. Yes, it can get rusty, but even if you keep it fresh, there are endless possibilities of what you could do with it next. Anyhow.) So I made this list, and it included all the roles I've done, and under the titles of the show, each of the songs that were in the show that I could perform solo, or as a duet. I then listed all the songs that I've learned independent of shows. I then listed (all of this in MS Word) all the songs and roles that I've begun building and never finished, and then made ANOTHER list of things that I'm really right for, and have never touched. 

Having it all summed up like that is such a relief. It's like looking at a three page thing that just says "Oh, so this is where you are." and then I say "Cool. Now I know what to work on!" Instead of sifting through books, I can just look at my long overdue repetoire list and say "Oh, I never finished building "Beauty And The Beast", if that ever comes up I should NAIL it. I'm gonna finish building that this month." or even just "Wow. I had not idea how much material I know." 

That was really the biggest revelation. I thought it wouldn't even take up a full page (two columns). It's a full three pages. I was honestly startled. It took me more than three hours to look through all my books and compile and organize all the material I know. I feel this vast sense of accomplishment, and even a sense of comfort knowing that I have that much material in my back pocket. The first page is "performance ready" material. The next two are all "in progress". So I also have this great sense of focus and direction now. 

On a totally different note - I put that picture at the top of this post because I see this time as a sort of... coming back to myself. I feel like I'm recovering from playing Eva Peron, and rediscovering myself, and re-learning that I actually *like* myself. That's nice. This picture reminds me of some of the most essential parts of myself that I love. 

It's nice to not have the responsibility of keeping myself up to par for a show every day. I can just be me. 

All Shook Up!

I'm delighted to announed that I've been cast in another show! I'll be playing Natalie in Center Rep's "All Shook Up". It's all music by Elvis Presley, and the plot is loosely based off of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". What can be funnier than Shakespeare? Really? She love him, and he loves her. But she loves the other guy, who loves the first girl, and the last guy loves the other guy. Wait. What? In the 50's? Ok. Cool!

I'm playing Natalie, a girl who, in the 50's, is a mechanic, and loves motorbikes (as she calls them). She has no idea how to be girly, and then, of course, she falls in love. Since she has no chance of winning her guy (Chad), she decides to dress up as "Ed", and quickly becomes his best friend, hoping he'll take him (her), on the road with him. Added to the mix is a sexy, sophisticated museum running bombshell, Natalie's best friend (a guy with, perhaps, more than friendly feelings for her), the mayor of the town who wants none of it, and a young star-crossed bi-racial pair of lovers being kept apart by their parents. Set it to the fantastic and irresistable music of Elvis, and you've got All Shook Up.

I think I'm gonna have a LOT of fun with this one.

It just so happens, that the guy starring opposite me (David Sattler), played Prince Charming to my Cinderella. So, as our ASM said - a reunion! And this time, we'll actually have stage time together. It was amazing. For being a stage couple that meets, gets married, and then gets divorced again, we were hardly EVER on the stage together. Our characters never even kissed in Into The Woods! Ah well. They will this time!

Whoops. Did I let that slip?? Sorry! Didn't mean to spoil it for you! :-)

Don't worry, I havn't ruined any surprises. It's far from a conventional love story. And that's what I love about it!

Love,

Min