******** THE VIEWS ********
Head Shot Courtesy Benjamin Ross
Through my dear, hottie friend Rebecca Rea at Red Fence Magazine I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting writer, graphic designer, photographer, and Mac aficionado Benjamin Ross of SmokeRing Graphics, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for the head shots you see on this page. Ben is also Red Fence’s current web designer (stay tuned for their upcoming rollout of RF 2.0– I’ve seen portions of it and it’s incredible!), and can be reached for design work at: benjamin [dot] ross [at] smokeringgraphics [dot] com. (Becca can be reached at Anthropologie, Venice Beach, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, StumbleUpon…)
Additional head shots from our session together are available (digitally only) upon request.
(Thank you Ben (and Becca!) – you’re the best!!)
******** THE NEWS ********
Head Shot Courtesy Benjamin Ross
Web Misc.:
“Cheap Coffee With Actress Ruth Arnell” (1/5)
“LA Is A Beautiful Woman Coated in Gum Wrappers” (2/5)
“The Artistic Integrity of Community Theatre” (3/5)
“Finessing the Finances” (4/5)
“Milwaukee and YouTube” (5/5)
The links above are to blog entries by Russ Bickerstaff at ExpressMilwaukee.com, the fellow who wrote the article in which the blurb below appears. I was nervous about doing the interview, and sick when I heard transcripts were posted because nobody can jam their foot in their mouth like I can! But the excerpts aren’t the silliest things I’ve ever said, and no press is bad press they tell me…
From “Milwaukee’s Rising Talent” (Shepherd Express):
“Ruth Arnell is relatively unique in this respect. The highly talented young actress has landed starring roles in shows with suburban theater companies like the Sunset Playhouse and Waukesha Civic Theatre as well as smaller companies such as Spiral Theatre. Shortly after graduating from college, Arnell moved to California to pursue an acting career. Finding the place too artificial, Arnell says she returned with dreams of becoming a full-time actress in the Milwaukee area. Arnell, who registered with a local talent agency and is gaining steady work, is on her way to attaining that dream. As with many younger stage actors, Arnell is interested in furthering her goals through emerging technologies. She notes that she wants to show audiences the full process of theater acting, a goal she is realizing through video blogs online. Among other items, interested parties accessing her YouTube page (Internet handle “behnnie”) can see her delivering extemporaneous biographical monologues and even eight minutes’ worth of audition preparation.”
Head Shot Courtesy Benjamin Ross
Audition Calendar:
12/07/09: “Crimes of the Heart” (Waukesha Civic Theatre)
03/08/10: “Leading Ladies” (Sunset Playhouse)
Theatre Related Posts on YouTube:
06/27/08: Rehearsal Update: Wait Until Dark (See Express Milwaukee’s shout-out here!)
07/07/08: May Whomever Bless Whatever
08/05/08: Of Walruses and Bloody Ducks
09/16/08: Auditioning! *dun dun duhhhhh*
10/07/08: Rehearsal Update: The Philadelphia Story
12/31/08: Tres Audiciónes
02/13/09: Rehearsal Update: Don’t Dress for Dinner (See Express Milwaukee’s shout-out here!)
06/15/09: Theatre Mini-Update
07/24/09: Nice little mention in Express Milwaukee’s “vlog blog” here
09/18/09: Kitties, Birdies, and Nose Rings
******** THE REVIEWS ********
“These Shining Lives” (Staged Reading) with Renaissance Theaterworks
“…the absence of the trappings of a full staging only collapses the distance between these characters and us; Marnich’s words and the actors’ skills hit home with devastating force. …Ruth Arnell brings personality to the perkiest of the factory girls…” (Express Milwaukee)
“Noises Off” at Sunset Playhouse
The cast of "Noises Off"
“This exuberant and fast paced farce requires the ablest of actor bodies for as it is intense physical comedy, along with synchronized timing to complete in rapid succession while appearing effortless. Each member of the cast successfully provides this… Ruth Arnell (Brooke Ashton) pertly gives her character, both the ‘on’ and ‘off’ stage persona, a delightful pout.” (Vital Source)
“The Sunset Players juggle the characters in the farce with the no less farcical actors who play them: the personal flaws that feed into an infernal Rube Goldberg machine of doors, staircases, vases, flowers, a cactus, and several plates of sardines… Yet the cast plays out the comedy with precision timing and madcap grace, expertly handling the dizzying shifts between actors and characters.” (Jeff Grygny)
K. Magoon, R. Arnell
“Don’t Dress for Dinner” at Waukesha Civic Theatre
“Ruth Arnell as Bernard’s mistress seems to have quite a bit of experience with infidelity and is pretty nonchalant about the whole mess except when she is expected to play cook. She knows exactly how to get what she wants from whoever is willing to dole it out.” (Waukesha Freeman)
M. Neufang, R. Arnell, J. Kosek
“The Philadelphia Story” at Waukesha Civic Theatre
“When she is onstage, Ms. Arnell is not an actor playing a character, she is a human representing another human – an accomplishment few actors ever attain, and rarely at her age.” (Writer Ben Parman)
“Tracy, well portrayed by the ever-reliable Ruth Arnell, a headstrong woman who is adored for her beauty… is restless and unfulfilled. … the three main characters – Tracy, Connor, and Dexter – are clearly delineated by the aforementioned Arnell, Mark Neufang and Will Elwood. … The scene when Tracy and her three suitors all collide is one of the best moments in the play…” (Waukesha Freeman)
“Wait Until Dark” with Spiral Theatre
“… Press and Arnell have a palpable chemistry together that establishes itself early … In the role of the heroine, Arnell is probably onstage for longer than any other person. Arnell carries the center of the play with casual, well-executed grace. … Arnell does a breathtaking job of grounding the production in a very sympathetic emotional center. …” (Shepherd Express)
“Ruth Arnell is quite believable as the harried but shrewd Susy. It is hard for the sighted to imagine and credibly convey blindness, so credit is due here. …[She] deserves the acting award for this show.” (Waukesha Freeman)
R. Arnell, R. Dance
“Butterflies Are Free” with Spiral Theatre
“There is only one good reason for a theater company in 2008 to produce the 39-year-old comedy “Butterflies Are Free.” The troupe has an actress who is a sure fit for the play’s pivotal character, a cute and quirky 19-year-old divorcée who enchants and infuriates an audience. Spiral Theatre has the performer in Ruth Arnell, and she wins and breaks our hearts with disarming ease. … The passage of decades … places added responsibility to connect with contemporary audiences on the actress playing Jill. If she can make us fall in love with her a little, she bridges the gap. Arnell does exactly that, and when the character’s behavior shifts, the actress effectively reflects her self-centered immaturity.” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
“Towards the end of last February, Spiral Theatre staged the single best romance of the year with Ruth Arnell and Ryan Dance in “Butterflies Are Free”…” (Shepherd Express: Year In Review)
“Arnell, recently featured in relatively flimsy roles (“The Girl” in Sunset Playhouse’s The Seven Year Itch and similar roles in a couple of different bedroom farces), is overwhelmingly magnetic and captures her role with depth. She conveys Jill’s idiosyncrasies with a casual, lived-in charm that never feels forced. Her performance is so believable that it’s actually kind of exhilarating to watch her character fall in love. There’s a familiar sense of excitement about that particular conversation that brings two strangers together, and this pair brings that excitement to the stage with vivid precision.” (Vital Source)
“Spiral Theatre’s “Butterflies Are Free” elucidated the stereotypes we have regarding the handicapped. Sometimes the sighted are more blind than the blind.” (Waukesha Freeman: Best of 2008)
R. Richter, R. Arnell, M. Patten, K. Huber
“Whose Wives Are They Anyway?“ at Waukesha Civic Theatre
” [M]aking a notable appearance is Ruth Arnell as Tina… Tina spends a good portion of the play drunk. The impressive thing here is that Arnell is both funny and convincing as a stage drunk. Her bubbly intoxication and Patten’s instincts make this a production worth seeing.” (Shepherd Express; link no longer available)
“[An]other character who contributes to the hilarity [is] Ruth Arnell as Tina, the beautiful but slightly ditzy blond clerk, whose drunk scene is superbly executed…” (Waukesha Freeman; link no longer availale)
R. Arnell, C. Tutton, M. Chobanoff
“Jake’s Women” at Sunset Playhouse
“… Ruth Arnell rounds out the cast as a young woman named Sheila. …We see [Jake] speak with her while his mind is casually falling apart. It develops into a cleverly written dialogue between Jake, Sheila and Jake’s uncontrolled imaginary interruptions by Maggie. It’s an almost musical bit of three-part comedy. Arnell (who appeared as the female lead in Sunset’s production of The Seven Year Itch last season) is an excellent comic beauty, almost flawlessly performing her part in the three-person interaction.” (Vital Source)
