Oscar Gold

 

Hello, my friends. I finally got to update the picture I did a few years ago of all the Black Actors that had won Academy Awards for Acting. In the past years, there have been a host of new winners. I happily included the most recent 2024 winner:  Da'Vine Joy Randolph for Best Supporting Actress.

This is a constant source of inspiration for my own acting career. Dreams do come true! These happy winners show that. Whatever dreams you have, keep making them real! 

Dream Thought # 123: You are not past your prime!

My Latest Headshot

 

The UK's First All Black All Female Shakespeare Company

Happy Monday, my friends. I have always loved Shakespeare and I have opportunity to perform it as well. Seeing this all black, all female Shakespeare company made my heart sing! I thought this is a lovely thing to share during Black History Month with all of you. Enjoy!

Romantic vignette #20 : Love Awaits

Happy Monday,my friends. Here is something I filmed in my local park. Enjoy! The words and voice are all me.

 

Schools are closed and Life goes on...

Happy Monday. So the word came down this weekend that NYC
public schools are going to continue online learning. Jake misses
his teachers and classmates. I know that. Honestly, I rather keep him
safe at home. It's been a mixed bag teaching him at home. I think I
may have said this before I always wanted to homeschool Jake. I get
a practice run in a way. My aunt was a teacher. I feel teaching is a
true skill. I can teach to an extent. I have taught private acting
lessons. It's easier to teach from what you love or know well.


via GIPHY


I hope you all are safe where you at. Doing your best to keep
calm and hopeful for the future.  I did freak out a bit on Saturday
when I saw the one way arrows at my local Stop n Shop. You had
to shop in a certain way with the arrows. Yeah, got a bit too real and
constricting. This is the new normal for the time being.

via GIPHY

In the meantime, I am starting to submit myself remotely for
acting projects. 2020 is the year to get back to my acting.
Also my intuitive business has been picking up steam which I
love!!Here is my latest video right there.I also do instagram live
 on Friday nights at 11pm est. I do readings and talk about
all kind of metaphysical topics. It's been really fun. I do hope you
 join me.If you are interested in a reading with me, go here.




Have a great Monday, my friends.

Dream Thought #103 : Dream the Impossible

"Dream the impossible. See the invisible.
Pursue the intangible. Achieve the incredible."

- Matshona Dhliwayo

Manifest Monday: Get Happy

Happy Monday, my friends. What makes you happy?
Where your happiness is your gold mine for
manifesting a great life.

Why? Your energy is glowing like a big sun. Your bright
energy is a beacon for matching energy to come your way.
Like attracts like, right?


(Me on a cold and happy day in April.)

Do something everday that makes you happy. Allow yourself
to be lit up within. Then watch how manifestations, some new
or older ones,become real in your life. Here is my example

For years, I was obsessed about getting in SAG. The Screen
Actors Guild. I felt like it was important for my career.
It was. Then I decided to have a baby. Some of my acting
longings got overshadowed with wanting to be a mom. Having
Jake was and still is the biggest and happiest event
I ever manifested in my life. About seven months
after I had Jacob, guess what came in the mail:
my SAG card. AFTRA, the other acting union I was in,
merged with SAG after many years of negotiating.

I felt like since I was so happy with being a mom. Another
long held wish came through for me.

So, get happy and watch how that happy energy attracts
wonderful events, experiences and people to your life.

Have a great Manifesting Monday

Actors on Acting #4 : Robert Taylor

After seeing Robert Taylor films back to back, I was curious to see if he any good insights on Acting. He sure did. Robert's quotes on Acting totally capture how I was trained as an actor.

"A screen metamorphosis is more psychology than histrionics. The thing is to analyze the character you are playing and then the various stages of self-development become a logical outgrowth of that individual finding himself."




"Know yourself", said the wise old Greeks. That is the simple but profound maxim which, I am convinced, has been largely responsible for my feet stepping firmly up the movie ladder. Unless you do know yourself, your capabilities, and--what is perhaps more important still--your limitations, then opportunity will go on knocking on your door in vain. If you analyze yourself and find out your own strength and weaknesses, then you have taken the first step towards understanding others and being able to interpret them. In its more direct application to the film business this will result in there being less likelihood of any miscasting. And, by carrying out these principles I very soon learned to resist the temptation of "flying high" and playing roles for which I was temperamentally and physically unsuited.I have rigorously kept to that rule of only playing roles for which I know myself to be fitted."

Dream Roundup for January - April 2017

Happy Monday, my friends. I am sharing a few of my favorite posts from January to April.
Romance


Friday the 13th


My second big chop


You ain't see the best of me yet



Earth Day

You ain't see the best of me yet...

I was 11 years old in 1980 when I stayed up, with my mom, to watch the Academy Awards for the first time. I went to bed tired and dazzled. I remember going to school going the next day vowing I be there some day.

I be like Rita...



Like Sidney..



Like Halle and Denzel...



But what happens to Dreams when Life takes you in a different direction. Now, I understand the words of Langston Hughes from one of his most famous poems called Harlem.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

My husband had a dream to finish college. Jake, born at 28 weeks, needed various therapies to help him. I deferred my dream for my family. As many mothers and fathers have done before me. Here at Swanofdreamers, I'm all about seeing the good in everything. I still do. Jake is in a special ed Kindergarten class and doing well. Sean is scheduled to graduate at year's end and become a counselor for people who have drug and alcohol issues. That is the good I see.



Honestly,it has been painful for me at times. I work on my monologues. I've looked at photographers to plan who I will take my new headshots. I think on the promise I gave Christopher. I am buoyed by my husband, my close friends and my mom who all are not even thinking of me giving up acting. That I can take up where I left off. So dreams do explode. Then you have to decide whether you let them lie on the ground destroyed or do you pick them back up to reshape your dream to where you are at now.



These are the 11 Black Actresses who have been nominated for Actress in a Leading Role. They are Dorothy Dandridge, Cicely Tyson, Diahann Carroll, Diana Ross, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Gabourey Sidbe, Viola Davis, Quvenzhané Wallis and Ruth Negga. Ruth is nominated tonight for her role as Mildred Loving in Loving. Halle Berry is the only one to have won so far.

Will one day I'll be part of this list? Will I win one? I use to want it so much. For now, I want to get back to acting and work in my craft. I am open. I am hopeful. Whatever your dream was or is. It doesn't have to stay buried. I am 48. I am actor. I'll always be an actor.

Acting and The Full Moon

Happy Full Moon Friday. Today is a simple ritual especially for all my artists out there.

Tonight's Moon glows in the royal sign of Leo. Leo's trademarks are passion, success and basking in the sunshine. Leo energy also highlights creativity especially with the performing arts.



Get a lovely yellow candle.On my candle I carved the image of the sun and the words good fame. I sprinkled cinammon and a beautiful sun oil that I got here on it. You can put whatever oil or herb that speaks to you.

Then I said a prayer that spoke from my heart. Afterwards,I put on music that echoed my love of acting and success to me. Whatever your creative endeavor, you can find songs that fits that.

Here are a few of the songs I played
Fame by Irene Cara.
As if we never said goodbye sung by Barbra Streisand.
That's Entertainment sung by Judy Garland.
If you can dream sung by Lena Horne.

This helped me get reconnect to my love for acting and feel hopeful about my future. You are free to adapt this to suit your needs. As I always say, do what feels right to you under a Full Moon. Wishing you all a very wonderful Full Moon weekend.

Shakespeare 400

Today is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death. Could he had imagined those plays he wrote for his company would one day encircle the whole world and be performed from one end of the world to the other? Translated into different languages and spawn other plays and movies based on his plays? That schools of drama and english would exist to only study and perform his work?

I like to believe William was a regular guy with an amazing talent. (There is a whole school of thought that William Shakespeare never existed and is a pen name for other people.) I'm not here for that. I believe William Shakespeare lived and breathed just like I am now. He wrote from his heart, his imagination and his inspiration.

As one of my english teachers said, Shakespeare wrote the Soap Operas of his time. I always loved Shakespeare and believe his work is for everybody not the select few. I think the best way to get to know Will is to read his sonnets. Everything he wrote in the sonnets echo in his plays. Yes, everything. Love, Death, Passion, Love, Lust, Sex, Betrayal, Revenge, Heartache.

Here are two other Shakespeare posts I did last year reading Juliet's speech and And the year before.

Enjoy. Have a great weekend everyone.

Happy Birthday, Bette!

On this day, April 5, in 1908, Bette Davis was born. When I was a kid watching old movies with my mom, I remember being spellbound with Bette. The only classic movie star to rival my affection for Bette is Judy Garland.


I adored the fact that she could play bad girls and nice girls with equal grace, complexity, and power.

She had her own style. Though today, we value a more naturalistic style of acting. Her performances still stand the test of time because she is authentic.

These are my two favorite quotes by Bette:
Acting should be bigger than life. Scripts should be bigger than life. It should ALL be bigger than life.
This has always been a motto of mine: Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.


These are a few of my favorite Bette films: Marked Woman, Dangerous, The Letter, Dark Victory, It's Love I'm after, All This and Heaven Too, Now Voyager, The Great Lie, The Man who came to Dinner and The Winter Meeting.


Happy Birthday, Bette. Thank you for all the great films and roles you have left behind.

Dusting off Old Dreams

Happy Friday, I know I was supposed to be here yesterday. It has been has a busy two weeks at home for me hence why I haven't been around as much.

Today, I did something for my acting. I know I haven't mentioned me actually acting in a long while. I haven't forgotten my first love at all. With my husband in school and working and an active four year old, there is little time for acting. I have decided this year it's time to dust off that old dream and get back to it. I went to a meet and greet for a theater company that focuses on getting actors in front of agents. I was nervous about going but decided to just check it out. I felt a glimmer of my old self again. I know I can never be that free spirited single actor I was. I can be the me I am now. A still free spirited actor who is a mom and a wife. I had a bit of swag going on with my leather jacket, my hair done and my makeup on. I haven't completed left acting, I did direct two solo shows in late 2013. I still work on my monologues. I'm currently working on a script collaboration with my bestie, Neo, to film a short film in the summertime.

So what dreams have you been working on my friends? Or old dreams that you had to put on the shelf for a bit, like me? I love to hear all.

Here is a picture I put on snapchat today. With a bit of my makeup still on from the day.


I've been loving snapchat. If you like to follow me, please do. My user name is Shellofdreams. I love to follow you as well, if you are on it.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'll be back here on Monday. Seriously, I will. To share some of my new splurge makeup I got.

Love Affair vs. An Affair to Remember

I am dedicating Fridays, the day of Venus to love this month.To kick off this Friday Love Day post I'm going to wade into an decades old romantic debate: Love Affair or Affair to Remember. Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne vs. Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr
I adore Love Affair (1939) starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. They starred in three movies together and I they are wonderful on screen together. I wrote about their special chemistry together here. To be fair to Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, they also starred in three movies together,too.


Finally, I got to see 1957's Affair To Remember starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. Both versions were directed and co-written by Leo McCarey. I read online that originally McCarey wrote the male lead with Cary Grant in mind. And wanted Cary and Irene do do it together. (Irene Dunne and Cary Grant also starred in three movies together.) The movie is beautiful to look at in all that glorious color. There are expanded scenes in this version especially with their unlucky previous mates.


The story is the same though the male names was changed. Michel Marney/Nickie Ferrante, international playboy is set to marry a rich American heriess. On the translatic voyage he meets Terry Mckay, an American use to the good life ,aka Pink Champagne, with her rich boyfriend. Unexpectedly, the two fall in love. One of my favorite moments is when Terry meets Michel/Nickie's grandmother. In both versions, that scene is sweet. As they arrive in NY, they decide to meet in six months at the Empire State Building while they get free of their respective past loves and learn to make money on their own. Now, I won't spoil it by telling you what happened. Of course, Affair to Remember is heavily referenced in Sleepless in Seattle.



For me, I prefer Irene Dunne's Terry McKay than Deborah Kerr's take on the role. Irene gives a bit sparkle and winsomeness that I adore. And Irene Dunne really sang her parts, She has a beautiful voice. Deborah's Terry is more refined. Deborah Kerr's strength is in potraying regal and elegant ladies. She still does a fine job as Terry. The real match up is Charles Boyer vs. Cary Grant. They both do well. Cary Grant reported that he preferred Charles Boyer's version better than his own. I have to agree. I don't think the expanded parts help the 1957 movie. There are songs in the first ones about wishing that Irene Dunne sang that echoed the love story better than the songs used in the 1957 version. As much as I like suave Cary Grant, I do have a tender penchant for my dreamy Charles Boyer.



If I had saw Affair to Remember first, perhaps I feel more loyal to it than Love Affair. The truth is this all a personal preference. If you have never seen either versions. I see Love Affair first then Affair to Remember. So you can compare with yourself. I'm not forgetting the most recent version. Yes, done in 1994 starring Annette Benning and Warren Beatty. I still have yet to see it. When I do, I will report back.

An Affair to Remember is on Netflix now. Love Affair you can watch here.




If you want to spend a few hours lost in the world of transatlantic voyages, pink champagne and passionate love then these movies are for you.

Sonnet 29 on a Saturday

Happy Saturday. I know, I rarely post on the weekends. Perhaps I need to do more weekend posts, something to think about.

I hope the weekend is treating you all well. I wanted to share this with all of you. If you are a new reader, you may not know I'm a fan of Shakespeare. One of my ideas is to film a video of me performing a sonnet like a mini film. What gave me the idea is from this video below I found years ago with Matthew Macfadyen (better known as Mr. Darcy for all your Pride and Prejudice fans out there.) This is sonnet 29. You can tell the video is older because of the phone he uses in it. (Wow, how phones have changed!)
Enjoy, my friends.




Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Dream Thought #77: Life is Art

I think everything in life is art. What you do. How you dress. The way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality. What you believe in, and all your dreams. The way you drink your tea. How you decorate your home. Or party. Your grocery list. The food you make. How your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art.”
- Helena Bonham Carter

Dream Thought #76: Keep your heart open to Dreams

“Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there’s a dream, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.” -Anonymous

Happy Shakespeare Day

Happy Thursday, my friends. I hope you are enjoying Poetry month here. It has been a treat to share poems that I love and new ones that delighted me. Today is also Shakespeare Day aka Shakespeare's Birthday.

I have talked about good old Will before here. And how I adore his sonnets. Today, I'm going to share not one of poems, one of his pieces from one of his most famous plays: Romeo and Juliet. I love Juliet's speech .

It is a beautiful piece full of longing, desire and love. This is from Act 3, scene 2. Here is Juliet's speech read by me. I know some of Juliet's speech, not all of it. I did this spontaneously, I hope you all enjoy it.



Here is the text below to follow along.


Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,
Towards Phoebus’ lodging: such a wagoner
As Phaethon would whip you to the west,
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,
That runaway’s eyes may wink and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk’d of and unseen.
Lovers can see to do their amorous rites
By their own beauties; or, if love be blind,
It best agrees with night. Come, civil night,
Thou sober-suited matron, all in black,
And learn me how to lose a winning match,
Play’d for a pair of stainless maidenhoods:
Hood my unmann’d blood, bating in my cheeks,
With thy black mantle; till strange love, grown bold,
Think true love acted simple modesty.
Come, night; come, Romeo; come, thou day in night;
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back.
Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night,
Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
O, I have bought the mansion of a love,
But not possess’d it, and, though I am sold,
Not yet enjoy’d: so tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival
To an impatient child that hath new robes
And may not wear them. O, here comes my nurse,
And she brings news; and every tongue that speaks
But Romeo’s name speaks heavenly eloquence.

PS. I know some people are having trouble hearing the audio, click on the word Juliet here. This should work hopefully