Grit in the Greasepaint

Charlotte chats with Jenna Kuerzi about how she's proudly a "garbage person", just what people get up to in escape rooms, celebrity corruption, taking the piss out of the things we love, and life with diabetes. All with a touch of the afterlife.

Why do we associate how much money you make with success? Why is a mother's blessing so powerful? Is the lure of a career in the hotel business enough to leave the arts behind? How does a quiet, gentle dude end up with a muscle car? And boys can do ballet. Charlotte and actor/teacher/VoiceOver artist and all-round nice guy Eric Mills talk about all that and more.

Why does the Bard have such an influence on us still? Can you be a 'reluctant pal' with Shakespeare? What do you do when you love playing sports but you aren't very good at them? Artist, educator and toy blogger J Hernandez chats with Charlotte about the need actors have for validation, how to uplift the artist, and his favorite comic book character of all time.

Nathan and Charlotte discuss the joys and pitfalls of being parent artists, as well as the polar opposite need to be solitary and among people. Math puzzles, the pull of legitimacy and just how the size of your body influences the world around you are fertile ground for this larger than life discussion.

Star Trek. Respect by and from actors. Responsibility in casting and what an audience should expect...of themselves. All the big topics get discussed this week with actor, stage combatant and super rad person, Kimie Muroya. Kimie Muroya | 室屋季美恵 is excited to join Charlotte to talk about all things theatre! Her body of work includes Man of God (InterAct Theatre Company); The Sea Voyage (Philadelphia Artists' Collective); King Lear (Shakespeare in Clark Park); Whisper's Gone (Theatre Exile); Julius Caesar, The Wild Duck (Quintessence Theatre Company); An Infinite Ache (South Camden Theatre Company); No Exit (Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble); The Taming of the Shrew (Delaware Shakespeare). Her feature film debut, Antarctica, will premiere at the Raindance Film Festival in London on November 4th! Training: Temple University BA 2016, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble Acting Internship, Arden Summer Professional Apprenticeship, Theatre Nohgaku. Thanks to Mom, Otosan (父), Mikito and Kayla for all their love and support! Check out more at kimiemuroya.com and @kimie.muroya on instagram. As always, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

We go off in a slightly different direction with this episode to explore what life looks like when you don't necessarily have the privilege of choosing your career path. How life, art and science intersect. Charlotte's Dad, Nick, tells us all about growing up in England, missing the train in Liverpool, moving to a whole new country and realizing that it's not worth doing something if you can't be great at it. Bonus: Charlotte origin story(ish). Content warning: some discussion of suicide, depression, forensics and....teeth.

Kaci takes Charlotte on a journey to discover that actors are smart and that the art of acting holds value - not in the monetary sense, but something higher. Actor, producer, film-maker and Daiquiri Hut aficionado, Kaci M. Fannin joins us from Texas to talk about finding who you are and not what you do, the great energy to be found in the new voices telling stories that need to be told and never going back to a broken normal.

On this episode, Charlotte speaks with Eli Lynn - an artist who has so many talents, it's hard to keep up. An actor, musician, painter, Fight Director, Intimacy Director, electrician and Storyteller of Cheese, Eli does it all. Join us to hear about how curiosity and saying "yes" will take you to magical places. Warning: contains Adult LanguageEDIT: In the introduction, Charlotte states Eli is a certified fight director. This is not the case. Eli is a professional fight director and certified Intimacy Director. The mistake is entirely that of Charlotte. Apologies to Eli.

Actor, Director and Revolution Shakespeare Artistic Director Tai Verley talks about her frustrations with type-casting as a Black woman, navigating her family's expectations relative to her career, and the need for positivity in the arts during the Pandemic.

Philadelphia actor/playwright Jared Michael Delaney discusses the rewards and challenges of life in the arts, the respect actors give (or don't) to their own profession, the variety of simultaneous jobs that support his creative life and the current and future state of American theater against the backdrop of the Pandemic. Warning: Adult Language

Up-and-coming actor Travoye Joyner explores his experience working as both a teaching artist and restaurant server to supplement his career as a professional Philadelphia actor. He also addresses the importance of portraying the full range of African American experiences on-stage, in addition to work that emphasizes the effects of racism and violence on Black bodies.

Actor, voice over artist and fitness instructor Annette Kaplafka shares her experiences and insights into the worlds of theater, film, advertising and the fitness industry--and survival as an artist during the pandemic.