AGE: Actors only give their age range — 45-65.
OCCUPATION: Actor/director/theatre educator.
RESIDENCE: North End of Westerly.
BORN, RAISED & GREW UP IN: Kansas City, Missouri.
RIGHT NOW I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF: Endings and beginnings. I just wrapped up directing "The Belle of Amherst" at the Granite Theatre. We filmed it live onstage without an audience and streamed it as an On Demand Video. I’m very proud of how successful it was. Now I’m getting ready to appear in a theatre project with the newer West Bay Theatre in Wickford in May. They were just starting out when the pandemic hit. They’re doing an evening of monologues with actors behind the storefronts of Wickford businesses after hours. It’s a cool concept and I’m excited about it.
I AM COPING WITH LIFE IN THE AGE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC BY: Some days I don’t cope at all. It’s been difficult for those of us in the arts. Some of us have made theatre online in the form of Zoom plays, or hybrid productions like "The Belle of Amherst," but the ability to make a living or practice what we’ve trained for has vanished. There’ve been a few theaters regionally that have given outdoor drive-in performances. Our industry has completely shut down for the pandemic and the ability for most of these theatres to survive has depended solely on fundraising and grants. I’ve done radio plays, Zoom plays, given coaching classes on auditioning for community theaters and have spent a large portion of the shutdown helping to keep the Granite Theatre alive. Also, I have an incredibly funny kid who is also a house mouse so we’ve spent almost every moment of the pandemic together making each other laugh.
MY PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Of course my kids are the obligatory answer. They’re both pretty awesome people, but I think that’s more of their accomplishment than mine. Teaching myself to crochet via YouTube was pretty awesome.
TOP ON MY BUCKET LIST: Continue my efforts to build a local contemporary theatre company with a female focus. I’d started to solidify Hera Theatre Productions right before the shut down but the pandemic wiped out my funding and my performance space. Also, I’ve always wanted to keep bees.
I ALWAYS CARRY/WEAR: Pockets. I can’t function without pockets.
WHAT I WANTED TO BE WHEN I GREW UP: I’ve always wanted to be a performer. There has never been a doubt in anyone’s mind that I would be an actress or musician.
MY HEROES ARE: Many. Catherine the Great, Julie Andrews, Barbara Cook, Henry Brown, Queen Elizabeth I, Harriet Tubman.
FAVORITE AUTHORS: Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Jane Austen.
BOOKS ON MY NIGHT STAND: Currently in the "To Read" pile: "Phantom" by Ted Bell, "The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt" by H.W. Brands, "Men At Arms" by Terry Pratchett (I’m always re-reading a Pratchett) and "Let’s Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson (another re-read).
TOP THREE SONGS ON MY PLAYLIST: Songs? No. Soundtracks? Yes. The soundtrack to "The Prom," soundtrack to "Something Rotten," and Earth, Wind and Fire’s "Essential Hits."
LAST THREE SONGS I ASKED ALEXA TO PLAY: Alexa and I aren’t on speaking terms.
FAVORITE THREE MOVIES OF ALL TIME: I’m so horrible at favorites. I love too many things all at once! "Emma" (2020), "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," "Pride & Prejudice" and "Zombies."
FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Pretty much any British murder-mystery. Bonus points if it’s a period piece.
FAVORITE RADIO STATION/SHOWS/PODCAST: "Theatre Forward" gives a great podcast for professional regional theatre. My friend, Steve, is constantly sending me Mark Maron podcast episodes.
TOP COMFORT FOOD: Popcorn with butter.
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES I USE MOSTLY: Facebook and Instagram.
TRAITS I MOST ADMIRE: Integrity, kindness, empathy, a wicked sense of humor.
PET PEEVES: How much time have you got? Let’s just say that I believe manners should be more about courtesy and less about etiquette. And put your shopping carts in the cart return, people! If you can push it around a store for 35 minutes while it’s full you can walk it 12 steps to the return when it’s empty.
FAVORITE QUOTATION: “I’m a shimmering, glowing star in the cinema firmament. It says so. Right there.” — Lena Lamont, "Singin’ In The Rain."
MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT OUR LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD: I love my North End neighborhood. Modest houses with multi-generational neighbors, backyard gardens, kids on bikes and tons of dog-walkers.
CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: My phone. How I ever got anything done without it I can’t remember.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I worked as an entertainer in several sing-along, duelling piano bars. Once I left the business, I refused to ever play a Billy Joel song ever again.
BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED: Try therapy.
ADVICE I BEST LIKE TO GIVE: The only business that concerns you is your own.
IF I RULED THE WORLD I WOULD: Delegate authority. Crush systemic racism and the patriarchy. Reform our schools to emulate the Scandinavian model. Encourage weirdness and individuality and make every opportunity accessible for all backgrounds and abilities.
IF I WON THE LOTTERY, THE FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS: Buy my rental.
I DRIVE A: Blue 2011 Honda CRV named Captain Rex, with a Grogu decal in the back window. He and I have seen some stuff.
I WISH I DROVE A: Fiat 500. Unfortunately it just doesn’t have the cargo space I need. Props don’t move themselves.
ALWAYS IN MY FRIDGE: Baby salad greens.
IF I COULD INVITE ONE SPECIAL PERSON TO JOIN ME FOR DINNER AND CONVERSATION, I WOULD INVITE: One? Only one? My birth mother in Arizona. We found each other around 18 years ago but because of time and finances have yet to meet face to face.
— Interview arranged and edited by Nancy Burns-Fusaro
The Link LonkMay 09, 2021 at 07:40AM
https://www.thewesterlysun.com/lifestyle/in-the-easy-chair/in-the-easy-chair-with-paula-glen/article_f1161376-a75c-11eb-8a25-9fc9a48c334f.html
In the Easy Chair with Paula Glen - The Westerly Sun
https://news.google.com/search?q=easy&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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