BWW Blog: Parker Hughes - Work It, Darling

Inspiration comes from strange places! For me, it seems to come from people saying profound things on accident. Today's 'out of context life lesson' comes from Rupaul's Drag Race contestant and all-around wonder woman, Mrs. Kasha Davis. Do yourself favor and check this lady out, because she is an absolute doll. Sweet, funny, talented, and charismatic, Mrs. Davis is a terrific entertainer and personality. The other day she appeared on YouTube's WOWPresents's segment "Ring My Bell," where callers can phone in and speak with drag icons. Right off the bat, Mrs. Davis shows her wise and caring side when a caller named Houston requests some advice for people just starting out in drag. She tells them, "Number one: there's a lot of gals out there that have paved the way - watch them, get some ideas, pull from those. Number two: practice, practice, practice! And number three - just own it! Whatever it is you're going to do, own it and love it and everyone will too!"

What great advice! I love her. Love, love, love, love, love her. And I love this advice. She may be talking about drag, but I think Mrs. Kasha Davis's three tips can apply to the world of theatre, too.

So, how can Kasha Davis's advice apply to ... script writing, as an example? Mrs. Davis says first that we should study and draw inspiration from those who have come before us. I personally turned to writers like Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, and Samuel D Hunter for not only inspiration, but ideas and lessons. If you're looking into becoming a writer, I highly recommend immersing yourself in theatrical literature. Read not only the most famous of works, but scrounge up a few darling unknowns, and then begin to identify patterns you enjoy, diction you find fascinating, and character styles that intrigue you. Study how the greats of now and then unraveled their stories, and through intense research your own stories will begin easing themselves onto paper. The same goes for acting, singing, dancing, or anything. Actors should not be afraid to learn about methods, for example. Finding the proper method can be crucial in unlocking the true potential of your own ability, for when you are comfortable with an approach, you are able to branch out and experiment more freely.

Secondly, ol' MKD tells us the timeless mantra of practice, practice, practice! What I can tell you for sure is that if you want to be good at anything, you can't stop. The more you run it, the better it will be. When I was at Thescon, I met a make up artist at a booth who told me, "If you're on stage, you're in make up. You are always full out. Never go through the motions if you want to succeed. Every time you run anything, you need to run it full out." Work until it hurts, sister! Dance so hard you're drenched in sweat. Sing so much you could make a handwritten copy of your sheet music without looking at the original. Write day and night, every thought you have, even if you can't bring all of your ideas together. Whatever you do, however, do not let failure or a bad run get in your way of being the best you can be. Not everything you make is going to be great, but you're not going to make anything great if you don't make a lot of not-great stuff first.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, you have to own it. You can never let other people question your work. "Why'd you write that?" "I don't think you should try belting!" "It's a bit..." Politely regard every what if, why not, and how about, but don't let anybody tell you what you've done is wrong, or weird, or frightening, or whatever! You're thinking of taking a big character risk during rehearsal? Own it! There's this gut feeling telling you to try belting that one super high note? Own it! Thinking about producing a Greek tragedy loosely based on Keeping Up With the Kardashians? Own it, please, because I would love to see that.

Give it your best shot. If it doesn't work out as well as you hoped it would, you just have to move along to your next big choice (and own that one, too!).

Furthermore, on the subject of owning it, I should mention that being a successful actor is all about doing something. In fact, the key to doing anything, with a particular emphasis on theatre, is just doing something! Just the other day one of my directors told me that if I went into my callback unapologetically, with a big character, I was going to impress. I think I did! When I didn't waste time worrying about looking weird and not being what the director was looking for, I gave my best performance possible. My knees still shook but it sure didn't stop me!

My boyfriend, John, is one of the most fearless actors I know. He's always going for bigger, better, and newer. John is not afraid to jump and run around, wave his arms about, and do some ridiculous accent to make a show that much better, and it pays off. John owns it, basically. John owns it, because he isn't afraid of looking stupid, or being turned down by his director, or getting laughed at. Mr. Grizzle is constantly asking us in rehearsal to take a risk. John isn't afraid to take a risk! Imagine if every cast member did something different every time they ran something! Maybe a big, honking drastic change in interpretation or just a super minor adjustment of the hands during a dance number.

What if everyone was less concerned with looking stupid, and more motivated to look amazing? The way I see, either we can own it, love it, and take a risk or we can take a seat.

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