December | 2011 | Artmistice

22 December 2011

Happy Holidays!

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with warm moments with your loved ones. We would also like to thank all of you who have helped make this year a great one for Artmistice. As a new year approaches, we have decided to make passion our focus for 2012. Passion is what drives us to succeed and it is what inspires greatness. We truly are passionate about what we do, no matter how big or small our projects may be, and as such our accomplishments are that much more fulfilling. May 2012 inspire you to follow your passion and may it also bring with it all the joy and promise of new beginnings.

22 December 2011

A Burlesque Birthday

We had the great pleasure of being part of a burlesque themed birthday party recently. Discovering the culture of burlesque, one that is risqué while maintaining a certain level of class, was great fun and we hope to have the opportunity to do other such contracts. Videos will be up soon. Stay tuned!

22 December 2011

Flying High

Always up for new and challenging experiences, we recently had the opportunity to take a trapeze class. We always had an enormous amount of respect for people in the circus arts, but we now have a deeper appreciation for what they do. After a very short briefing, we were thrown right into the deep end, swinging in the air, back-and-forth and upside down. The experience not only allowed us to overcome certain common fears, but made us aware of how our most internal issues and personality traits could become so physically apparent. The simple act of trusting a stranger to hold you back on a tiny platform, as you are perched at a 45-degree angle overlooking nothing, then following their instruction to make that jump, took a lot of courage on our part. As you’re swinging across the air, more instructions are yelled up at you to achieve perfect timing, relinquishing all control of your movements. It is all about timing and there is no room for even the slightest hesitation. It took a few failed attempts, a few falls, but as soon as we were able to just let go, the feeling was exhilarating! By the end of the night, we accomplished much to be proud of and learned a little more about ourselves.

11 December 2011

Stars on Broadway

I must admit, I didn’t have very high expectations of Daniel Radcliffe going in to see How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. I just could not shake the image of a prepubescent Harry Potter prancing around a Broadway stage, trying to keep up with the more seasoned adult performers. Much to my surprise, not only could Radcliffe sing and dance surprisingly well, but the boy had transformed into a more than suitable adult male lead, having shed any trace of the iconic teen wizard the world has embraced for the past 11 years (that’s half of his life). I believe Daniel Radcliffe has found his true calling. If anything, with the end of the Harry Potter series, Broadway has saved his career by showcasing his genuine talents and sparing him from the process of being typecast. I have never been a very big fan of casting stars as Broadway leads. Too often, whether these actors can really sing and dance is secondary to the seats their names will fill, not to mention all the choreography modifications made to accommodate a star. This brings me back to a production of A Chorus Line I saw where they cast Mario Lopez as Zach, the director/choreographer. It was one of the most painful things I ever had to watch. The fact that the chorus line had to lower their high kicks and their standards to match his did not make him a very credible choreographer. He simply did not have the technique and whatever he could pull off was not clean. Sorry, Mario, but even your sweet dimples couldn’t save you that time. I witnessed another surprising performance on Broadway that night. John Larroquette, who I hadn’t seen since Night Court, delivered a stellar performance in every way imaginable. It is not only difficult, but rare to be a successful television or film star on Broadway. The transition from a set to live performance alone can be daunting for those who spent most of their careers on-screen. Also, for the ones who have unshakable screen personas, it is sometimes hard for an audience to see a different character on stage. Nonetheless, I was floored when I saw Chris Rock in The Motherf**ker with the Hat and forgot that he was, well, Chris Rock! After seeing so many great shows with very recognizable faces, I am humbled and pleased by the real deal triple threats out there; those who can truly act, sing, and dance without compromise. Those who work hard to harness and nurture their talents in different ways, yet still find the time and energy to maintain their first career. Those who champion the arts by continuing to better themselves, even after they’ve already “made it.” They truly are stars. ________ Current and upcoming celebrities on Broadway: