Stella Alder

On our first Tuesday at ICF, we had our first lesson at Mole Richardson and then our first acting course at Stella Adler. After Mole Richardson class in Hollywood, we headed back to Lantana offices aka ICF in Santa Monica. Around 5:30pm, we all headed out to Stella Adler back in Hollywood. I had no idea where this building was but traffic was atrocious. We piled up in my car and I took the streets all the way to Stella Adler. Once I got to Hollywood, we started looking for parking. At the time, I had no idea that free parking was impossible in Hollywood. I drove up and down Hollywood neighborhoods to look for parking. I rolled down my window and asked the gentleman pulling out of his home. “Excuse me, do you know where I can find free parking?” He looked at me and said “free parking in Hollywood?’ Then he proceeds to laugh hysterically and drive off. Wow. I finally found meter parking. I didn’t have enough coins and I didn’t want to get a ticket. Everyone got out of the car and I followed but in my mind, I was panicking about my car. I ran into Elizabeth or Liz, our office manager, and I told her about my car and how I didn’t have enough change. Luckily, she had changed. She told me not to worry and that she would go put more coins in. At the same time, she yelled at me and said we were late. Whoops. She had us follow her into this corridor which had this secret door that led us inside Stella Adler. I would have never guessed in a million years that an acting studio was hidden on Hollywood blvd. Honestly, it felt magical to be able to enter these secret buildings. I felt like I was a part of a secret club called Hollywood. It felt magical. That is the best word to describe it. Since I spent the last seven years acting, I was excited to go to Stella Adler. First, we heard a little bit of a lecture. Then we got on stage. They asked if any of us had any cool fun warm-up activities for all of us to do. I volunteered Marlon, Hector, and I. This was our turf since we all spent years in theater. We warmed everyone up with the “ I am a banana” song. Basically, we danced around like bananas and then we peeled the banana in the dance too. I know it sounds strange but it felt good to feel that energy again. It felt good to be on a stage again and I remember feeling super nostalgic. When the class finished it was almost ten. Karla and I walked the few blocks to the car as quickly as possible. I was scared. Hollywood blvd is not a nice place to be at night for two young girls. We were being cat-called left and right. My fear was that my car wouldn’t be there but it was there. We got in the car and did the long drive on the streets back to the valley.

Cheers,

Frshta