Friday night was the opening of Vestige Group’s “Lonestar, TX: A Popcorn Throwing, Rock-Country Musical”.  I play Beth Anne, a conniving cowgirl.  This show is more fun than I ever imagined it would be!  Audiences are raving and so will you!  Come and see the show if you are in town.  It runs Wednesday - Saturday, 8pm at The United States Art Authority through November 21st.

The tour of Pollyanna’s  “Patternation” is in full force and going strong.  We will be touring through January.

Unfortunately, the Fort Hood gig is no longer.  There is a possibility of the show being reinstated, but nothing is set in stone.  On the same token, my thoughts are with the men and women there who were affected by the recent tragedy.  That is incredibly heart breaking.

Recently, I’ve begun working with Dan Winters.  I modeled for a piece that he is doing for the New York Times which will run every Sunday for the next year and last week I modeled for a bodies in motion piece for Real Simple Magazine.  I feel incredibly privileged to be working with such an accomplished and wonderful photographer.  Check out his work at  DanWintersPhoto.com.

Away from the stage and the camera, I have also been periodically recruiting casts for CMT’s “The World’s Strictest Parents”.  If you catch an episode that takes place in Texas, it was probably a family that I recruited!

“Talent is as common as horseshit in a stable.  The cultivation of it is extremely rare.” ~ Eric Morris

Coocoocachoo.  So there it is.

Michelle

Welcome to my beautiful chaos!

My main gig right now is for the United States Army. Yes, you read that correctly, and no, I did not enlist. I am doing a suicide prevention show every Tuesday at Fort Hood. Not only is it keeping me gainfully employed, it is giving me a sense of peace knowing I am helping thousands of men and women who are out there fighting for our country.

On the flip-side, I just got cast in Lonestar, TX: A Popcorn Throwing Cowboy Punk Rock Musical. It should prove to be a lot of fun. The show opens late October at The United States Art Authority.

I am currently rehearsing for The Sherwood Forest Faire. It is a new renaissance festival that will be open in February and March. I am playing Alice de Beauforest. This is completely new territory for me and it’s proving to be quite challenging, actually.

Next month also begins Pollyanna Theatre’s tour of Patternation. We will be traveling to area schools throughout the fall and winter teaching and entertaining the leaders of tomorrow. When you think about it that way, it adds a little pressure.

Finally, my newest endeavor…modeling. I’ve never considered myself to be a “model”, but a friend convinced me to start  Model Mayhem and One Model Place profiles and I thought I’d try it out. As it turns out, I am enjoying it and getting quite a bit of work from it. Who knew?

Check out my new demo reel. The wonderful Tag Simler put it together.

“I love acting. It’s so much more real than life.” -Oscar Wilde

‘Till we meet again,

Michelle Keffer

Bonjour mon amies!

I’ve been a busy little bee lately. I am currently in rehearsals for two shows. The first is an original sci-fi musical entitled Faster than the Speed of Light. We open this Thursday, May 28th at Salvage Vanguard Theatre and run through June 13th. This is a show you don’t want to miss. We have a live band, video projections, singing and dancing!

The second is Pollyanna Children’s Theatre’s Patternation. We shot the DVD version of it and now we’re preparing the stage version. As well as acting in the show, I recorded the songs and voice-over. We open Friday, June 19th and run through Saturday the 27th.

Last week I flew to LA and met with the producer and directed of the upcoming independent feature Tears of the Vampire. I am being considered for the lead. The film will be shot in and around Los Angeles in September and October.

I just had a shoot with Nils Juul-Hansen for the perfect headshot. I uploaded a few of them to my site if you’d like to take a gander. He’s an amazing photographer and I am very happy with the different looks and the quality of the pictures.

Be prepared for frequent updates as I continue to climb, climb, climb!

“Without wonder and insight, acting is just a trade. With it, it becomes creation.”

-Bette Davis

Until next time,

Michelle

Hello all!  What’s next is a little piece of advice that I got from a great friend and acting coach, Van Brooks.  I find myself constantly asking this question.  When I don’t get a role, etc., what’s next?

What’s next for me is TIME STEPS, the 11th annual Out of Ink Festival.  Out of Ink is a celebration of new works from local playwrites and I am fortunate enough to be cast in three of them.  We rehearse through the month and open on March 26th.  The shows are at 8pm and run through April 4th at the Blue Theatre.  Come support local playwrites!

At the end of March I begin rehearsals for Pollyanna’s Patternation.  We will be shooting a DVD in the middle of April.  The live performances won’t be until this summer.

I’m still auditioning, networking and trying to make things happen.

“Life’s like a play; it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters” -Seneca

A beintot!

Michelle

It’s been almost a year since I last blogged, but it’s not for lack of information! I’ve just returned from Puerto Rico where I was shooting the Nicole Elmer film. We were staying in Culebra, an island off the coast of PR, for about six weeks. The crew was great, the island beautiful, and the experience was one for the books. I loved my character and the story line is complicated, dramatic and fascinating. I will update as I know more about the post production. The B. Iden Payne awards were last month and Dog Sees God, a production I did with Hyde Park Theatre, won Best Comedy and Best Director of a Comedy! Next week I begin rehearsals for Wonderdog, a Pollyanna Children’s Theatre production. I play a very mean little girl and a stuck-up poodle. Love children’s theatre! This weekend I will be acting in a short film that will be rotoscoped, which is animation on top of film. I can’t wait to be cartoonized! I just auditioned for The Drowned World, which Ken Webster is directing for Frontera Fest long fringe. The play is fantastic and I’m really hoping to be cast in it. Wish me luck! There are many other projects and possibilities on the horizon. I am continuing to reach for the stars and grab everything on my way up there. Dream big! Michelle

What a crazy start of 2008! Firstly, I have three shows in Frontera Fest short fringe. The first, Kelli Bland’s “A Genuine Plea to My Insides” was performed last week and went on to Best of the Week. “Larius Likler” by Amie Gonzales was performed on Wednesday and was a huge hit, so keep your fingers crossed for Best of the Week this week. Rocky Hopson wrote another episode of “Cowgirl Mary’s Old West Puppet Theatre” and we perform that on February 7th. How fabulous if they all went to Best of the Fest, huh! “Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Pollyanna opened today and we have shows through January 30th. I’m having a ton of fun playing Mustardseed and Quince. Check out www.pollytheatre.org for ticket information if you are interested. I also have been cast in “Humans” at Hyde Park Theatre. It’s a fabulous cast of five amazing women. The show runs March 3rd - the 26th, Monday- Wednesday. In film news, I’ve been contacted by Nicole Elmer, the director of “Lessons of the Tongue”, about working on the feature of the same film. I am very excited to be working with her again and I think this film is going to be successful in festivals and the like. I was also contacted by the producer of the pilot I did, “The Times”, about a film that he is working on. I’m really enjoying this not having to audition thing. Be on the lookout for Caught in the Act Magazine next month. It is bigger and better than before. We still need advertisers, though, so if you or anyone you know is interested, contact me and we’ll work it out! Until next time, Michelle

It’s the time of the year when we reflect on what has happened the past 12 months and have faith that the new year brings new beginnings. That’s my thinking, anyway. Subtext was cancelled a couple of weeks ago for reasons that are not exactly known. There’s a possibility that we might be back on air in some form, but I have no details as of yet. I started rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream last week with Pollyanna Children’s Theatre. The tour for Patterns was great, so I’m excited to be working with them again. There are public performances of Midsummer at City Theatre in Austin, January 25th-30th. It will be touring in the fall. Watch for me at Frontera Fest this year as I will be doing three short fringe pieces. I will write again with the exact dates. Caught in the Act is definately back in the game. Pick up a copy with a new attitude in early February. I believe that’s all the news I have at this time. I’m trying to work on overhauling my career and taking it up a notch. It’s time to move the dial to 11! Have a marvelous holiday season, Michelle

I am in the running to be the next veejay on ME!  The only way I can get the job is with tons of votes.  That’s where you come in.  Just go to metelevision.com, click “The Next Veejay” and then click on Michelle Keffer.  It’s very simple, takes about 20 seconds and you can vote as many times as you like (vote over and over and over again).  I appreciate your support!!!