Dana Mazzenga received her M.F.A.
from The New School for Drama. Some favorite past theatrical roles include Mary
Jane in Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train at 59 E. 59th St Theatre, Dina
Dorf in a New School production of The Pillars of Society directed
by Johanna McKeon, and Deborah in Empire of the Trees at The
Abingdon Theatre, directed by Sherri Eden Barber. Look for her in the latest Rubbermaid
"Reveal" commercial! Dana is
immensely grateful to Wide Eyed for the opportunity to work on such a beautiful
piece in this inspiring endeavor to showcase work written by women. In addition
to her dear director, playwright, and cast-mate, Dana thanks her husband and
their cat for the home-base love and support without which a gal could be
driven to madness.
- You’ll be performing in Laura Maria Censabella’s Posing as part of our upcoming production of A Girl Wrote It. Can you tell us some of your initial thoughts about the piece? How are rehearsals going?
Sure! Rehearsals are going wonderfully... I’ve worked
with Nate many times over the past 6 years and we are good friends and really
trust each other on stage. That’s important especially when playing
characters as vulnerable and, dare I say, damaged as these two. And Tim,
another New School
My first
impression upon reading this play was “Oh geez.... I’m in love.” Both
Elaine and Pete made me feel something upon just one reading of the piece.
I immediately was imagining where they both came from and how they got to
this point - and where are their mothers?! - and what is going to happen to
them after this night? I wanted to protect and stick up for Elaine as I
was filled with this weird sense of admiration and pity for her all at once.
I knew she didn’t have the same luck in life that I had - but what
freaked me out a little was that, had I not been brought up in such a loving
environment and told all my life that I was worth something, I might have found
myself in the similar shoes as Elaine. I think that goes for lots of
people. And I think there are a lot of Elaines out there and I’m sure I
know a few. I wanted to play her. And I wanted to do her justice.
Laura has written such life in this piece! Even in the face of all
that is horrible, Elaine remains a dreamer. That girl has hope. And
the fact that Pete is the one that could potentially shatter that hope that
she’s managed to garner against all odds, makes him a very interesting, scary
and desirable character to play against. Plus she has a New York
- When did you know that you wanted to be an actor? How did you get started?
I knew I wanted to be
an actor, like for real and not just for fun, when I was a sophomore in college
playing Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie. Rehearsals were
different than what I’d originally experienced from doing plays in high school
and my first year of college. These were so demanding - of my time and of
my focus! When it finally came together and it was opening night, my
nerves were completely shot. I was excited because I really felt “ready.”
But I was still scared because this was a long play (at least in my
experience that far) and I was going to have to carry a good portion of it.
Sure enough, I get almost to the end of the first half and find myself
completely stuck forgetting what I was supposed to say next. I froze up.
As we were all amateur actors, the guy playing my son, Tom, just kept
saying, “Cat got your tongue, mother?” over and over, rather than actually
helping pull me back on track. The theatre fell dead silent and it didn’t
take long before I decided that I was either going to run off the stage
screaming bloody murder, never to return, OR I was just going to have to come
clean to the audience. I chose the second one (though many might argue
the first would have been better). I turned directly to the audience and
in my best Amanda Wingfield southern accent I simply announced, “I’m sorry
everybody, but I seem to have forgotten my lines!” I don’t know what I
was hoping for - an understanding sort of giggle maybe from the audience... or
someone off stage to whisper the next line to me... Instead the audience
let out this big gasp mixed with horror and cold air and it seemed to go right
into me and SUDDENLY - I remembered my lines! I finished out that first
half filled with so much emotion and excitement that I felt almost like I was
flying!
The second half went better than any rehearsal and people
congratulated me like crazy afterward. I think, in retrospect, they
probably felt like I was such a ninny and felt bad for me and didn’t want to embarrass
me for acknowledging my horrible mistake! But, at the time, I just felt
like something truly magical had happened. And that that experience on
stage was SO SCARY. I’d never felt anything like it. But I OVERCAME
IT! And when I did, I felt even more connected than ever before. I
guess it was then that I decided I wasn’t going to find any other job (other
than maybe being an undercover drug dealer) that let me play dress-up and do
funny accents and left me floating on such a delightful high...And so, I
decided at the end of that run, that I was going to be an actor. Like,
for real. Like, not just for fun. Though, fortunately, it is often
really fun.
- Who or what do you consider to have been your biggest creative influences to date? Why?
My greatest creative influences started with my mom
and dad. My mother is an amazing artist - writer, painter and jewelry
designer. She once single-handedly put together and designed our entire
block party in the style and fashion of a medieval Renaissance gathering of games
and foods and decor while the other local block parties were stupidly adorned
with hot dogs, pin the tail on the donkey, and a soundtrack full of M.C. Hammer
music... She is so driven and creative. It’s a truly amazing mix that
I’ve never seen in anyone else. And my dad - oh my dad! He is quite
possibly the goofiest man in the world with the biggest and most hilariously
wonderful imagination. He used to tell us stories that “really happened”
(they didn’t, I’ve now come to realize) that made my younger brother and sister
and I laugh so hard! Or be filled with such amazement - or horror!
We had a really fun childhood, for sure. I still look to them for
inspiration as well as my siblings who have also grown to be artists in their own
professions...but nowadays, I could never keep up without being constantly
surrounded by my husband’s inquisitive and thoughtful approach to life,
combined with his constant support of the arts. We try to fill our lives
with music and good company and love and books and movies and plays... He’s my
creative partner for life.
- What is your favorite part of the creative process before you perform for an audience? Do you have a particular pre-show ritual that you engage in before curtain? If so, can you share it with us?
My favorite
part of the creative process is when we have finally gotten off-book in the
rehearsal room and we are just playing and trying different and new things for
the piece. I love seeing what works as well as what doesn’t work and
figuring out why. I like to be surprised and that happens so much during
those first couple of runs off-book. My pre-show ritual is this - during
the course of rehearsals I find some music that helps me relate to things I’m
working on for the character and build a sort of soundtrack for myself. I
can’t always use that in the rehearsal room since there is more going on than
just getting out and performing. So, before I go on stage for an actual
performance, I like to lay flat on the ground and imagine releasing all of the
tension out of my body and doing so while listening to my soundtrack. And
that’s it. Sometimes I do a little improv/running lines with other people
in the piece too... but the relaxation and the music are what really help me
focus.
- I believe this is your first time working with Wide Eyed. We’d like to get to know you a little better. Could you tell us a bit about what you like to do in your spare time?
I’m so grateful to be working with Wide Eyed - it’s been
a really great time so far! In my spare time though, lately, I’m addicted
to reading The Hunger Games. More generally speaking, however, I’ve just
recently started a business with one of the other actors from the New School
- Are you working on any additional projects at the moment? Care to share with us?
Fearless Me Films! Fearless Me Films!
Fearless Me Films!!! Help spread the word? www.fearlessmefilms.com
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