Mark Evans Studio

  The Power of Failure: Shaping Your Future Failure is often seen as something to be avoided, but in reality, it is one of the most powerful tools for growth and success. Every setback provides valuable lessons, resilience, and a deeper understanding of oneself. Instead of viewing failure as an end, it should be embraced as a stepping stone toward future achievements. Learning from Mistakes Failure provides insight into what doesn’t work, allowing us to adjust our strategies and improve. Every successful individual has encountered failure along the way.  I experienced this firsthand when I auditioned for American Psycho on Broadway. At the time, I was dealing with significant anxiety and depression, which affected my performance. The audition did NOT go well, and I left feeling extremely discouraged. However, this experience taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of mental well-being and stability in my professional life. Building Resilience Experiencing failure str...

How often have you found yourself saying, “I can’t do that”? Maybe it’s when faced with a daunting task, an unfamiliar challenge, or a dream that feels out of reach. Those three little words—“I can’t do that”—can act like a wall, stopping us in our tracks before we even begin. But what if you switched perspective? Instead of saying, “I can’t do that,” try asking, “How do I do that?” This simple shift in language transforms a roadblock into an open door. It moves you from a place of limitation to one of possibility, curiosity, and action. Collaboration is Key One of the most important lessons I’ve learned and that I regularly remind you all of is that we’re not meant to figure everything out on our own. Asking “How do I do that?” opens the door to collaboration. It’s an invitation to seek advice, share ideas, and work together to solve problems. There’s so much strength in leaning on others, whether it’s a teacher/coach, a peer, or a friend. When you bring others into the process, you n...

  Letting Go I turned 40 last week.  Getting older has never really bothered me. In fact, from a young age I’ve always wished to be older.  “I wish I could drive myself.” I said, aged fifteen, to my mum who was driving me to an athletics class. “Don’t wish your life away” she responded.  “I wish these next four months were four weeks instead” was the thought I had when touring and feeling really depressed because I was struggling to do my job and needed vocal rest. “You’re gonna come into your own in seven years” was the advice I was given by the late Jay Binder who was an incredibly supportive casting director and friend. I was thirty at the time, willing myself to look older so I could play the mature roles I wanted to play.  There are plenty more examples I could give of me wanting to be older. But last week, a couple of nights before my birthday, I woke from my sleep and really considered what it meant to no longer have a 3 at the beginning of my age. I’m FO...

There's a kind of holiday season we all should aspire to, right?!  If we are guided by history, society, mainstream and social media we are expected to have something close to a  Hallmark special. Lots of red and green. Lots of laughter and joy. Lots of gift giving and smiles. Lots of eating and drinking. Lots of love and togetherness. I truly hope you experience all of the above because it sounds glorious, doesn’t it? However, even the romanticized version of the holidays above can make one feel all sorts of conflicting feelings, so I encourage you to not just get wrapped up in the ‘social media’ presentational version of the holidays but to actually experience ALL of it. As you head into the holidays, I want to remind you of the power of your breath.   If you experience tremendous joy -Allow a breath  If you feel overwhelmed - Allow a breath If you feel anxious - Allow a breath If you feel content - Allow a breath   Notice how I write ‘Allow’ and not ‘Take’....

“It’s Both” Last Monday I attended the memorial of my beloved friend, and friend to many , Gavin Creel.  Gavin was a human like no other. A bright light, a joy and a relentless inspiration to myself and many others.  One of the things I appreciated during the memorial was that in addition to focussing on his successes and joys and what will ultimately be his legacy as a Broadway superstar talent, they also focussed on his occasional struggles in life. Mentioning his challenges at the memorial, was an effective way to humanize a Broadway icon and allowed us all to remember the real him and not just the idea of him. Gavin often navigated periods of deep pain and struggle and one of his mottos was the word ‘BOTH’. That in the search for an answer, remembering that two (or both) things can be true. A simple reminder that you can experience happiness and grief in the same moment. Gratitude and disappointment. Pride and jealousy.  It’s ambivelence. Meaning that multiple things ...

  Love Within Brutality. As most of you who are members of Mark Evans Studio are aware, on September 3rd I started rehearsal for the brand new Broadway musical Tammy Faye.  After six weeks of studio and technical rehearsals we began preview performances on October 19th. We officially opened the show on November 14th. Then, on November 19th, just five days later we each got a call from management saying that our show would be closing in three weeks, on December 8th.  More than a hundred actors, stage managers, musicians, crew members and many more staff who were contracted for twelve months, will lose their jobs nine months too early.  Many people reached out to me personally, asking how I was feeling when the news broke publicly and my main response was, “I feel absolutely exhausted”.  Not just in the throw away “I’m really tired today” way but really EXHAUSTED. Exhausted and depleted of my energy, my determination, my focus, my hope, my resilience, my ...

 Be A Director And Zoom In When the world, the country, politics, or your life become too much and you understandably feel overwhelmed, within this blog is some advice from me to you. If you are already sick and tired of people telling you how you should handle yourself in these trying times, you can absolutely choose to stop reading now. Please know that this is not me telling you what to do but an offering for you to consider.  The biggest difference in the medium of TV and Film compared to stage work is that the story on screen is predominantly told through pictures.  Consider an opening montage of a movie:  You see shot of the city of San Francisco, then a specific neighborhood with a row of houses, then a tighter shot on the house with the blue door, then a shot of a person laying in bed with morning sunlight spilling in from the curtains, you hear an alarm go off, you see an iPhone on the bedside table, then a hand shutting off an alarm that is labelled ...