BIO 101 (and I don't mean dissecting a frog)

For the newbie to theater world, actors always have to submit a biography for a Playbill when they do a skit.  When you're in the ensemble (or for readings and such) it is 50 words max.  For me, 25 years of career in 50 words? In a word...well...there is no word. But there are 50. Wow!

I'm doing a reading this week.  Lovely piece called MARRY HARRY at the York.  Really sweet and off. This is the bio I whipped together this morning. Again, 25 years in 50 words.

Christianne Tisdale – Broadway/West End: Original Cast Les Miserables (25^th Anniversary), On a Clear Day, Titanic (1^st Nat’l), Triumph of Love and One Touch of Venus; Belle in Beauty and the Beast. TV/Film: “30 Rock”; “Law and Order, CI”; “Wallflowers” (producer); “A Tale of Cinderella.” Published author. IG @baxandthecity. www.ChristianneTisdale.com

You now know I've done some shizz. It's the important stuff...or at least the stuff that the cogniscenti would find important.  And it's almost written in code. Thus, you don't know that I eventually got the role of Madam T in Les Shiz for a short period of time. Or that my mom died during rehearsals for Clear Day. Or that I was fired from one of these skits (ssshhhhh).  Or that Kristen Wiig was my scene and improv partner on "30 Rock." Or that I almost passed out making yellow tutus for a "Wallflowers" shoot because ours were lost in China somewhere.  

The yummy stuff. The bone and sinew. The breath. The life.

You might get that my stupid ass delicious delightful dog is important to me. But that's it.

And then I thought to meself, "Meself, what would happen if you bio-ed what you really wanted? What if you biograph-ed what was true?"

Honestly, why does an audience need to know what I've done before? Shouldn't they just get lost in what I'm doing in the moment? If there is a need for judgment, shouldn't the gavel come down on the crimes against acting I've just committed as opposed to the "good works" I've done before? Or petty crimes?

This is what an honest 50 word bio would look like for me.

Christianne Tisdale thinks she can act. And sing. She knows she can't dance, don't ask her. Unsure how she got into this, she's sticking with it 'til she's the last actor standing. TiZ has done some really good stuff. And some really bad stuff. Let's hope this is the former.

Yes?

PS  I've had the same agents for 25 years. Only agents I've ever known. They are Harden-Curtis and I love them very much. Hell will have to freeze over before we consciously uncouple.

PPS Champagne is delicious.