Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Blaine. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Jennifer thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
All my performance work strives to touch and move people. Whether I am making people laugh, or bringing atttention to an overlooked issue, I do it in a way that is disarming and often changes how people think and feel for the better. In the theatre we are looking for a catharsis. As a solo performer I have to somehow accomplish that with just me and my instrument. In the 2010’s I had been working as a resident playwright at The Kimmel Center, a renowned performance venue in Philadelphia, writing original plays for teenagers in our musical theatre Showstoppers program. We used others’ music for the shows, but I always longed to create my own songs and musical. Then the pandemic struck and I realized I had time on my hands. A memory surfaced of an abandoned fur store in Philly. It had been defaced with anti-semitic graffiti on the night of the 2016 election. I decided to re-imagine the shop in all its vibrancy through various eras, and install an elderly jewish shopkeeper at the helm, flanked by her mannequins who come to life in her imagination and speak and sing to her. I wrote through the shutdown of 2020, so at a time of profound deprivation I found power and energy in my creative life. I cast a reading of the show with actors all around the country, I’ve done a cabaret of the songs for a festival, and recently made the 14 character show Mannequin into a solo musical dramedy which I perform myself. I give the audience the opportunity to face the horror and hardship of our times and have a catharsis, and to affirm our unity. Even now, when it feels like our world and worlds are falling apart we can and will create new ones, that may begin in our imaginations.
Jennifer, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I love that when I am having a hard time or a difficult day I can turn to my self-expression and either process it or utterly jettison it by being creative! I love getting up early and writing material and making myself laugh! It is so fulfilling to feel the power of my wit and come up with a strong one-liner or plot twist. Because I have been writing material for so long I also feel as though I am having a creative dialogue with other writers. When I hear about their process I commiserate, identify, and am inspired. So even though I am a solo artist, I feel connected to a community of creative people. We are all in a conversation of what it means to lead a life in the shape of our creativity, which comes from honoring ourselves and our deepest truths. That in and of itself is really fulfilling. But when an audience applauds or laughs that is also incredibly rewarding too. They don’t always laugh at the things I expect they will, and it’s so funny to me to see what they like or don’t. But then I get to come home to myself and appreciate how something I made to fulfill a need for me, feeds so many others in my community as well.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
There was one day I went out trying to share my comedy with venues all throughout a neighborhood in Philadelphia called Old City. I went to so many bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and asked if I could entertain there for their clientele. I did this for an entire day and all of them said, No. But amazingly I felt awesome about it. I was so proud of myself for sharing. I then walked with a friend the next day and told her about it. She said, “why not try this Starbucks?” So I went in and shared again and the manger said, “okay, yes!” He wouldn’t let me work for tips so I said “no problem.” He said, “I am going to pay you!” I love this story because sometimes bad news is just a test to see if you’re ready for a great opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jenniferblaine.com
- Instagram: j.blaine
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.blaine.35
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-blaine-coaching/
- Twitter: @JennBlaine
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbn5XaI_tJ4q8hWHeR34YnQ
Image Credits
Channing Billups, Jeff Fusco