The art of acting

By Darrian Dowdy

From forest fairies to Shakespearean princes, Monica Morrisey has a diverse portfolio of other personas she has embodied as an actress. Morrisey, a theater major at Niagara County Community College, has been acting since she was 12 years old.

“I’ve wanted to do something performative since I was little, and middle school musicals were what initially introduced me to acting,” Morrisey said.

Last spring, she played a fairy in the locally produced show, “420: The Musical.” This show, written in 2011 by Buffalo comedian John Kehoe, has been performed annually on April 20 in the Elmwood Village.

Morrisey, center, plays a fairy in “420: The Musical” in Buffalo, April 20, 2015. Photo by Darrian Dowdy.

It features Jerry the stoner, who falls asleep and wakes up in the Land of 420. It follows his story as he tries to find the meaning of happiness.

“It was a lot of fun,” Morrisey said. “That’s where I first started to break through my comfort zone as an actor.”

She is skipping the Land of 420 this year, and moving on to the City of Verona. Morrisey will play Mercutio in NCCC’s spring performance of “Romeo and Juliet.”

“In this production, we’ve placed a lot of attention on [gender in Verona],” she said. “Verona is in present day, it’s urban and dangerous…. Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio, the princess, and the apothecary are all played by women…. We’re portraying the characters as women.

“To play Mercutio as a woman took a little more work compared to other roles I’ve had. Shakespeare gives Mercutio this heavy monologue in which he talks about women in disdain. As a woman, is that resentment or resonance?”

Michael Devine, a theater major at Buffalo State, also has some Shakespearean experience.

“I have read Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and a Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Devine said. “It has made me think of stage acting as a small piece of the idea of acting…. It is behaving believably under imaginary circumstances.”

He has taken the skills learned from live theater and applied them to acting in film. He is not currently working on any projects, but plans to over the summer. 

“Theater has given me perspective and something to rely on when preparing for a film,” Devine said. “Theater will teach you what acting is and will better prepare you.”

“I think it’s important to have an introduction to theater when doing a film,” Morrisey said,  “but there are a lot of fundamentals that you have to throw out the window when you do a film.”

Morrisey and Devine agree that film is an individual entity.

“Film is more precise,” Devine said. “It’s specific action, whereas stage is a bit more free and has more range.”

“Hurry up and wait,” Morrisey said, “You hurry up, get into costume, get all your props, be ready, and wait for when you’re called.”

Morrisey says that she prefers theater over film. “Will I [continue to] audition for films and take parts? Absolutely, but it’s not my end all…. Buffalo runs on this schedule where everyone has a day job, and they act, rehearse, audition at night.” Morrisey hopes to follow that path.

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Buffalo as a backdrop

By Darrian Dowdy

Buffalo has been invaded by zombies, pigmen, and aliens in recent years. 

Tyler Cheman, a local filmmaker, has been witness to this since the fall of 2012, when he began his work in the film business.

“ALIVE: An Undead Survival Series,” Volumes 1 and 2, were written and directed by Cheman. The series follows a small camp of apocalypse survivors just outside of Buffalo who must travel deep into the city for more supplies.

“Sci-fi holds a strong grip on Buffalo filmmakers,” Cheman said.

Science fiction has influenced the town of Angola, where the legends of Pigman and Holland Road have been the subject of movies such as “Holland Road” and “Pigman,” as well as being featured on Travel Channel’s television show, “Destination Fear.”

Local legend says that Holland Road is haunted by the ghost of a serial killer, Pigman, who kept pig heads on stakes around his home to keep people away. Jason Dunlap, a student at Brooklyn College, directed the documentary “the Horrors of Holland Road.” 

Holland Road - Darrian Dowdy

“I think that it's so popular due to the controversy surrounding the area. Everybody has their own personal ghost story regarding the place, and it makes for an exciting location,” Dunlap said. The documentary was entered into the Nichols School Flick Fest, where it was nominated for Best Horror Film.

One of the most notable locally produced films is “The Final Night And Day,” a feature length science fiction film directed by Hamburg High School alumnus, Adam Steigert.At the second annual Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival, the film won the award for Best Western New York Horror Feature. It is the largest locally produced independent film, with over 1,200 cast and crew members. 

Steigert is also known for his production of “Ombis: Alien Invasion,” which filmed at many unique locations such as Buffalo’s grain mills and the Cheektowaga town hall.

Despite Buffalo’s love for the supernatural, Cheman wants to move forward from it. “That’s why I wrote an action spy comedy,” Cheman said about his current project, “THE AGENTS: C.O.D.E,” which will be rated R. 

“It’s hard to write PG-13, because as a writer and filmmaker you try for so long to make it a quality film,” Cheman said. “And then the evil angel on the shoulder says… It’s better the other way.”

As Cheman continues to write and direct his own films, the local community is starting to change. 

“There is a lot of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) work slowly coming to Buffalo,” Cheman said. “It will be costly to have those kind of films but it is something that the local film community is preparing for.”

“I would like to see independent work that really explores the city: shows it as the living, breathing character it is,” said Dunlap.

“Dreams can be expensive,” Cheman said, “but having a heart for something is always free.”

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The Horrors Of Holland Road

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From Los Angeles to Buffalo: A night at the Oscars

By Darrian Dowdy

Michael Devine spent Oscar night in a suit and tie, walking the red carpet, and posing for photos. He even took home the award for Best Actor.

Devine, a theater major at SUNY Buffalo State, wasn’t in Hollywood. He was on campus at the 9th Annual Television and Film Arts Night at the Oscars, a multimedia gala celebrating the Academy Awards as well as Buffalo State student films.

“It was very classy, right from the start,” said Devine, who starred in three student films nominated for awards. “Everybody was dressed up, it was very formal. ... A fantastic atmosphere.”

Community members were invited to walk on a red carpet and view the Oscars projected on the big screen in the Student Union Social Hall, all while enjoying live music and complimentary refreshments. 

Oscars Poster - TFA Program

The Sunday evening event also encouraged audience members to vote for the best student films of the year. The films were available for prior viewing online, or at iMac terminals set up around the hall. The awards of the night were Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress.

Devine assumed he won his Best Actor award for the short film, “Affinity.” 

“I don’t know for sure,” he said. “There was just a name attached to the category, there was no film attached to the name.”

TFA major Eliza Zanolli-Stiles was the director of “Affinity.” The three-minute short film is about a man whose world goes black and white after a recent breakup, until he meets a new woman.

“His world gradually begins to turn back to color,” Zanolli-Stiles said. “Affinity” won her the award for Best Director. “This was a film that I was very proud of and put a lot of work into, and I was glad to be recognized for that.” She also took home Best Actress for her work in three films.

Other films recognized at the event were “I Like You A Latte” for Best Screenplay, and “The Devil’s Dime” for Best Picture.

Jordan Sims, writer, director, producer, and editor of the short film “Solid Foundation” said, “It’s a chance to showcase our own work. … It’s our own little taste of what the future may hold.”

“It’s not even about winning awards,” said Zanolli-Stiles. “It’s just to showcase [the] work work that [we’ve] spent so much time and energy on.”

The audience turnout this year was lower than past years, Sims said. 

“I think that’s more to do with the Oscar’s themselves…,” he said “It’s not appealing to the mass audience anymore. The Oscars are getting too far into their own little bubble, and they forget that we’re all normal people. TFA can get better and better every year with this Night at the Oscars, but if the Oscars themselves aren’t really that interesting, it’ll kind of all be in vain.”

 
“I hope to see it grow,” Zanolli-Stiles said. “I think we have a pretty good thing going right now and hopefully it will continue to evolve as the years go on. … It’s such a unique experience.”

“It was very nice and very humbling to see that my work is noticed,” said Devine. “It changed me as a student film actor.”

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