[Fill in the Blank] Actress

This weekend has been a lot of fun, because I'm in pre-production for my web series, Smart Actress, which I co-created and will co-star in with Sherry Locher.

We met up yesterday with our director of photography and editor, David Schulder, and walked through the various locations for the shoots, which are happening in February.  Then Sherry and I met to solidify the other logistics.  

Today I sent off e-mails to everyone we've cast in the series - about 30 people, all told.  Some will be playing less featured roles, but I want to make the shoot worth everyone's time, so we are going to showcase everyone in a mini-featurette we are calling Fill in the Blank.  Everyone will choose the adjective that best embodies the kind of actor they are: quirky, serious, etc.

Bottom line: I'm really excited/nervous/making lists.  There's something really empowering about making your own work.  More to come!

Solo Inspiration

If the theme of my Jake Lipman blog is how my show business life is a series of funny juxtapositions, I have to talk about my love of solo shows.  The very name sounds like an oxymoron, right?  Solo.  Show.  A solo is something you do in privacy by yourself, and yet a show is public.  And great solo show is deceptively simple, but profoundly affecting.

Like my conversation tonight with a fellow solo show artist.  I had coffee with the amazingly talented actress/singer Sarah Aili.  We met because I produced two sections of her solo show, The Glory of Love, in my production company's Plus One Solo Show Festival, and we talked about her application to be in the New York International Fringe Festival.  She's launching a new website soon, but you can check her out on Twitter @sarahailimusic.

Sarah has an incredible voice and has the most joyful way about her.  Her solo show is a funny, musical rumination on her singing and acting life, which pays homage to her grandmother's borscht belt singer days.  It's honest and great theater, without any of the baggage people sometimes create in solo shows (and that ultimately give the genre a bad name).

I can't wait to see her show as she collaborates and develops it further and gets into the Fringe (I know in my gut it will!).  And talking with Sarah about her solo show made me feel entirely reinvigorated to jump into my next project, my web series Smart Actress.   Is the inverse of e pluribus unum also true?

Smart Cookie

My favorite things in life are always a juxtaposition of seemingly opposite traits: straight-laced on the surface, silly underneath.

If you are following me on twitter @jakelipman, my fan page on Facebook, or on my blog at www.JakeLipman.com, my posts are a mix of sweet and salty. That’s why people call me smart cookie. I am on-the-ball but in a warm, gooey kind of way.

To kick things off right for this blog, I’m going include my recipe for perfect chocolate chip meringues.

Whoah, Jake, meringues? Slow down. I’m no French pastry chef, here.

No sweat, they’re easy and yet look sophisticated. How do you like that juxtaposition?

Chocolate Chip Meringues
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
3/4 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (the mini ones are perfect for this!)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.
Separate the egg whites (this is the one tricky part, so keep the yolk intact to ensure it doesn’t taint the egg whites).
Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff, gradually adding in the sugar and vanilla.
Fold in chocolate chips (Feel free to customize with chopped nuts, other flavorings like mint, or butterscotch chips).
Drop by rounded teaspoon onto a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil.
Bake 22 minutes.
Let cool.

Yield: about two dozen.