Sunday, January 10, 2016

15 for '15 & 16 for '16

I did this last year. I liked it. Let's do it again, shall we?

Taylor's clearly excited.

15 Amazing Memories from 2015 (in definite not order of significance):


1. Seat filling at the National Television Awards.

A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

2. Performing the Housekeeper in Lorca's Dona Rosita at the Cockpit Theatre in London

Read my blog post about my love for the show and Lorca here. 

3. Pulling off the ultimate surprise by showing up to my family's trip to Disney World


4. Witnessing amazing theatre, everywhere











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5. Having my Alpha Chi Omega sisters cross an ocean to visit me in London (and exploring Amsterdam with them)

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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

6. Turning in the last paper ever (God willing) of my life 



7. Finishing up my East 15 run with Three Birds Alighting on a Field in the heart of the West End

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8. Rome with Katie

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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

9. JoJo's birthday in Oslo


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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

10. Experiencing incredible support in the lead-up to Ed Fringe


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11. Graduating with my MFA


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12. Exploring Oxford with my former Baylor Theatre professor and forever role model Totie B


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13. Edinburgh Fringe Festival





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14. Moving to New York City




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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

15. Christmas in Texas

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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on




Of course not every moment of 2015 was amazing. I may be putting rose-colored glasses on it saying it, but I'll call it my bittersweet memory of '15:

Leaving London.

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The longing to be back wandering through Covent Garden, lazing in the sun room on campus, catching a last minute show in Piccadilly - it's all very strong. But while I wish for the past sometimes, I am excited for the future almost all of the times. So without further ado,

16 Things I'm Excited for in 2016

1. Being able to say I survived my first NYC winter
2. Exciting Barrington Collective announcement #1
3. Exciting Barrington Collective announcement #2
4. Showing my parents around the city
5. Seeing all of the amazing theatre (that I can afford) and maybe some of the bad
6. A wonderful day job nannying two adorable kids with seriously awesome parents
7. Growing in community and faith with my new Redeemer family
8. Experiencing a New York Spring
9. Writing more
10. Traveling (probably not to as exotic of locales as last year, but I've got lots of frequent flyer miles to burn)
11. Being a bridesmaid in my sweet sorority sister Victoria's wedding (#sidebysides624)
12. Turning 29
13. Celebrating Baylor continuing to be good at football (still can't believe this)
14. Developing and settling into an artistic routine
15. Christmas in Texas (never mess with a classic)
16. I don't know...surprise me.

To Auld Lang Syne,


(And yes, I know I need to change the title bar up top. New York is keeping me way too engaged for these things.)

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Monday, December 28, 2015

The City So Nice They Named It Twice

I know he didn't invent the phrase, but that's how David Letterman always referred to his home city. I grew up on Letterman. (My parents raised me correctly.)



Summer after 7th grade, I was in a production of Annie (just like every other red-blooded, American musical theatre kid) and I've never been able to get this song out of my head since:


That moment where she sings, "NYC. Just got here this morning. Three bucks. Two bags. One me." I've always had a love affair with that line. I was never certain if it would actually be me though.

I didn't visit New York until Thanksgiving break my sophomore year of college. The King family either goes skiing or to Disney World. Those are your vacation options. (I have no issue with those options, by the way.) So I was 20, traveling alone for the first real time, going to see a best friend (thanks for choosing NYU, John). To say I was excited would be an understatement.


I was also able to visit the city again during my junior year where I got to see some of my Baylor Theatre professors perform off-Broadway in Craig Wright's newest play. 



Ok, so don't hate me, but when I visited New York City...

...I didn't fall in love with it.


There's this pressure on "theatre kids" in the US to be in love with New York. And I just...wasn't.

Then I studied abroad with Baylor Theatre one summer, spent five days in London, and immediately recognized that feeling I was supposed to have for NYC. That joy of just *being* in a city- reveling in its culture, its history- hell, even its public transport.

Why yes, I will mind the gap.
I felt all of that so strongly for London. Strong enough that studying, living, acting in London became a big time dream of mine.


(Even with the possibility of pedestrian death eater attacks)

Well, we all know how that went. (In case you're new here, may I present the last two years of my blog. Happy reading. Absolutely no apologies for all the dad jokes.)

So what do you do after fulfilling a lifetime dream? Where do you go when you have to leave your favorite city on earth?


New York City very quickly become the only contender. I had a showcase here that went well, my best friends from East 15 (and some from Baylor) are here, I was able to find an apartment in a great location with amazing roommates, I've now officially found a job that lets me still audition. Overall things have fallen into place pretty well. Honestly, it feels a lot like how London happened. Filled with grace. Providential. All those things.

A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

Plus...I get to live here. (Well, not here, as in the top of 30 Rock, but hereish.)

Am I in love with New York yet? Talk to me after winter. For now, we're definitely in a monogamous relationship and it's even met half of my parents (my mom came up for a quick visit and to be reassured that my apartment is actually very safe). So I'd say we're on the road to a good, solid relationship. I'm playing the long game here.


To Liz Lemon and all the other empowered females in this city (fictional or otherwise),



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Monday, August 31, 2015

Ed Fringe

So our magical month in Edinburgh has just wrapped. I would have loved to do more blogging during the actual festival, but sometimes it's better to just live life and not worry so much about documenting it, you know? That being said, this August was one of the best four weeks of my life. Let me fill you in on some of the details:

Like...reviews of the show?






As a first time company, we were over the moon to receive three different four star reviews for Reconciling. We knew we had a great show on our hands and were proud of what we'd brought no matter what, but it'd be a lie to say we didn't appreciate the validation. Plus it's a hella lot easier to get people to take a chance on new writing when they see stars papered over your posters and stapled to your flyers. We did a lot of stapling of stars. And we loved it. :)


Speaking of social media, here's some more of our filtered and hashtagged journey:







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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on




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A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on

A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on





A photo posted by Jenny King (@jkitsmejenny) on




Of course it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. It's an exhausting month, but I don't think I could have asked for a better group of people to go through it with. I love these guys with all my heart. The things they've done for me. It's hard to wrap my brain around it.




For those many family and friends back in America that didn't get to see Reconciling, our wonderfully talented friend Aslam came and took some production shots for us right before we left. Check out his great website here: Aslam Husain photography. Here are some of my faves!









My heart and mind are honestly too fried at this point to write any kind of poignant wrap-up of the whole experience. So instead, here a list.

Through Ed Fringe, we-

-successfully produced our first two shows.
-made some great friends doing theatre in different pockets of the globe.
-experienced support from our classmates and professors like no other.
-climbed an extinct volcano. (Arthur's Seat- look it up.)
-killed many a tree with our flyers. (really sorry about that, trees)
-saw some seriously AMAZING theatre.
-saw some seriously not-so-amazing theatre. (that is a true #edfringe experience)
-spent a month acting opposite lifelong friends.
-slept far too little and were the better for it.
-closed a fantastic first chapter of The Barrington Collective.

In other news, I leave London for the states in about 40 hours.

To the pieces of my heart I'm leaving behind all over the UK,


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