Introducing IN THE TRENCHES
Munchables for the Musical Theatre Hustle
* DISCLAIMER: We wrote and recorded these episodes what feels like a lifetime ago, way before COVID-19 existed. We're moving forward with releasing them as a gift for our communities. May they bring you a laugh or a smile or an opportunity to escape in these difficult days. As we come together to build the future of our art form, consider these conversations a love letter to the industry woes of the past. *
Meet four actors:
Who chose collaboration over competition.
Who pay their bills booking theatre gigs while supporting other actors in parallel businesses. Who build communities on and off the stage.
Who chase their Broadway dreams while encouraging others to do the same.
Who aren’t afraid to share their audition war stories to help others get through the trenches.
We sign up at the open calls, the EPAs, the ECCs, (the Please SEE SEE SEE mes!), reach out to Artistic Directors all over the country (where even is Atkinson?!), skrelt a casual 8 bars, attend workshops and classes, avoid Audition Update at all costs, support friends in shows, build our rep books, print sides at Staples, self-tape, and sweat...right next to our clients.
Yes, we have many hats in our collection and also question if we even put on deodorant today. One of us moonlights as an audition accompanist. Two others are voice teachers who run their own studio. The other is a whimsical combination of fairy dust and creative coaching.
We support our communities with happy hour actor gyms, something called the BADassery, and an assortment of women’s circles, blog posts, private coachings, and mp3 plunk tracks.
We hear lots of no’s, miss many subways, and juggle google calendar invites with the best of ‘em.
Jenna, Tim, Tara, & Owen are right there at the Ripleys and the Pearls IN THE TRENCHES.
May these episodes be bite-sized conversations of solidarity, surTHRIVal, artistic integrity, and showbiz how tos.
We'll be releasing a brief conversation or two each week! Join us in a world where actors lift each other up.
About Your Hosts
Jenna Pastuszek is the tortoise, moving diligently and purposefully on the race track toward that proverbial career finish line, confident that not all races are judged according to swiftness (she can’t help taking occasional pit stops to admire the scenery and sample the local baked goods). She is a Brooklyn-based actor, singer, voice over artist, and voice teacher, and she strives to help all of her fellow actors and clients hop into the driver’s seats of their careers and drive toward their passions. Proud to stand alongside Tim Russell as the co-founder of Innovative Voice Studio. @jenn005 www.JennaP.com www.innovativevoicestudio.com
Tim Russell is an actor, vocal geek and big band enthusiast. Once upon a time he worked as an aerospace engineer in CT, but then turned a new leaf to chase a musical career in NYC. He runs Innovative Voice Studio with his biz partner-in-crime and former NYU classmate Jenna Pastuszek. Currently, he sings around the country and abroad with a modern swing group, The Flyboys. Every now and then he jams out to early 2000’s punk rock and feels on top of the world. @truss405 www.TJRussell.org www.innovativevoicestudio.com
Tara Tagliaferro is an old soul, Carol Burnett Show and Molly Shannon SNL love child. An AEA actor and mental health ally to her fellow anxious actors, Tara is also a faerie godmomma style coach for the songs in your book and soul in your body. Born a Jersey Italian with her 1st theatrical home in Philadelphia, Tara is now an Astoria QUEEN who often hauls her suitcases theatre to theatre on national and international tours and working regionally about the country. Home in NY, Tara hosts rejuvenating women’s circles with her witchy sisterhood the Wander Women, and toasts audition season with BYOSong, a happy hour style rep prep space, with her partner on the keys Owen. In her own rep book, you’ll find Golden Age gender benders, Florence and the Machine, and the Mary Tyler Moore Theme Song hanging together. Now that sounds like a party! @taratagtickles
Owen Pelesh is an actor and accompanist based in NYC. He co-hosts BYOSong, a boozy song workshop, with Tara Tag. Owen is currently on the road with LEGALLY BLONDE at Riverside and Walnut Street Theatres. Owen calls Hoboken, NJ home: the place he can pour a gin martini and pretend to be a young Sinatra. He feels weird writing this in the third person.