Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage: Lemon's Lurve List ...

by Lemon

I started watching.  I learned about how Johnny Mercer met his wife, and his life in Savannah, Georgia.  I was reintroduced to some of the jazz standards like "Old Black Magic" that I'm sure I've heard a bunch of times but never thought about who wrote the words.  In addition to being a singer/songwriter, Johnny Mercer was also actor!  Like me!  Pretty cool, huh?   I grabbed my notebook and started taking notes like I was some sort of student in class.  There were some songs and people I wanted to look up online later!!  I sat in my towel on the hotel bed for the next two hours, watching and notating.  Somewhere during a commercial break, I turned off the water and drained the bath tub.   Back in San Francisco, I bought a guitar and started learning how to play.  I have definitely made some improvements, but I'm still pretty bad and the only people who get to hear me play are myself and my famous guitar teacher who has been giving me lessons over Skype.  I started out trying to learn other people's songs, but instead, playing guitar lead me to write my own songs!   I have always loved writing poetry for myself, but until starting this tour, I hadn't written a song since high school!   I think it's important as an actor to have other creative outlets or hobbies outside of just auditioning and performing.  Whether it is writing, or playing an instrument, or yoga, or dance class, every new hobby is bound to help you someday onstage or in an audition. Learning about Johnny Mercer sure inspired me this week to keep up my extra curricular song-writing-activity outside of the show!

Source: Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage: Lemon's Lurve List ...