albuquerqueARTs:
Is Oberon a fun role? Do you have to remain serious (or clueless) while others on stage are clowning around?
Oberon is, perhaps, one of the most fun roles I have ever played, mostly because it has been a true challenge – finding his personality, physicality and making him truly seem like the proverbial fish out of water. While Oberon’s ego insists that he must always remain dignified even when he insults his sidekick Puc” with digs like “You unwiped, panderly puke stocking!,” there are still some opportunities for him to be silly or even childlike and vulnerable – especially when it comes to his infatuation with the show’s ingénue, Olivia. While he is thousands of years older than she, Oberon realizes that he can learn a lot from her about the strange environs in which he and Puck have suddenly found themselves.
albuquerqueARTS: Are you primarily a comedic actor?
In real life, I crack myself up all the time, but onstage I’m a bit of a closet comedian. Friends have always told me that I’m funny, but seldom have I had the opportunity to bring that to a stage role. Thus far, I have done mostly musical theatre, and not the fluff stuff like “Back to the ‘80s,” which I recently did at the Adobe Theater . My first leading role in an original comedy came in 2005, and I think I was particularly funny when I played Ko-Ko in “The Mikado” in a production near Seattle a few years ago. By nature, I’m pretty shy, so I tend to gravitate to headier, quiet-type dramatic roles. “Shakespeare” has given me the confidence to see myself in a different light, challenge myself more, and be more willing to play in the rehearsal process. I have the best of both worlds in this show, since I have to be funny without knowing I’m being funny.
albuquerqueARTS: What other artistic pursuits do you enjoy and make a living by doing?
For the last eight years, I made my living as a public relations professional in New York City, having been with Scholastic for the last three. While fortunate enough to work on launches like the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, a layoff forced me to reexamine my life’s priorities – a real blessing, I think! I love p.r., but I decided to journey to New Mexico to recapture the artistic spirit that I feel I lost after I graduated from college in the early ‘90s. I’m amazed at how quickly I have been able to find my creative self here!
New to the art world, I began creating wire screen and mache masks and wall sculpture for fun two years ago. Last year, I began showing them up in Woodstock, New York. They have also found a new home in New Mexico at Desert Intarsia Gallery on Gold Avenue in downtown Albuquerque. Even in this tough economy they have been selling, and I was thrilled when the owners, Brian and Stacy Maggard, gave me my own show as part of the city ArtsCrawl in September. I still hope to do some freelance p.r. work as opportunities arise, but one of my main goals is to take my New York television spokesperson experience and somehow transfer that into promoting Albuquerque’s arts and culture. In the meantime, I continue to write about fun bargain shopping finds, art and everything on my blog, “Uncle Paulie’s World” . I’m finding that there are lots of exciting things to write about here.
albuquerqueARTS: How did you get into public relations?
[As] a struggling actor in New York for many years, I was unable to make my theatre contacts work for me to get a performing job. In the end, the resourceful business person in me discovered that those same people needed marketing help. I offered to work for free to get myself in the door. Right after 9/11, while working on a project sponsored by New York Women in Film, I was introduced to Anna Nicole Smith’s publicist and I began working for him. I call those my “intern” days because the salary was practically nonexistent. That said, it taught me how to be resourceful as a publicist and how to get gossip items into Page Six. My boss also taught me how to be politely assertive and not be afraid to pick up the phone and make those dreaded cold calls to editors. That’s my favorite part of p.r.! After a two-year hiatus in the Pacific Northwest, I returned to New York, where all that PR 101 experience served me well working with fashion clients through a small boutique agency. My real p.r. experience came when Scholastic Corporate Communications hired me to be the primary liaison with the national and regional Spanish-language media. It was there that my bosses taught me everything I know about being on camera, producing a TV segment, and how to pitch a real story. Ironically, it would be that job that brought me to Albuquerque last year for The Today’s Show’s “Al Lends a Hand.”
albuquerqueARTS: Are you in New Mexico to stay?
New Mexico is definitely my new home for the long haul. When I first moved here I went to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. I read her quote (and I’m paraphrasing here) where she talks about coming to New Mexico and knowing that it was her “country.” I just stood there with tears streaming down my face because that’s how I felt. I came here to breathe the arts, whether it’s making or supporting contemporary visual arts, attending and doing theatre, or collecting and being an advocate for Native American arts. In August, I attended my first Indian Market and had the opportunity to be introduced to a number of top Native potters, who I am now proud to call friends. I can’t get enough of that stuff! There is a real connection here for me to the people and the land. And I look forward to, in whatever capacity I can, being a part of keeping Native American arts alive for future generations to enjoy. One thing that amazes me is that many locals don’t value the riches that New Mexico and Albuquerque already possess. I’ve been asked numerous times, mostly by younger people, “Why did you leave New York to come here?” Because it’s a great place to discover your true self and reinvent your life. Albuquerque is a “no judgment zone,” which I love. So many people are discovering this vibrant city and bringing their talents here, and I believe it will be the place to be in the next five years. My hope is to keep getting involved around town and remind people that Albuquerque already is a true destination for the arts.
— albuquerquearts editor, Stephanie Hainsfurther