AnythingArtsNewsletter.com - artists promoting artists

AnythingArts.com Newsletter

Thursday, January 8, 2008

AnythingArts.com has been featuring an artist or artsy person, event or venue now for almost three years. The intent is to share information about a worthy individual, one who lives and loves the arts, with our readers. For the most part, we try to surprise the “featured artist” so that they learn about it when the newsletter goes out. Occasionally, we have had to let the cat out of the bag early in order to gather photos and information. This issue is one of those times because the Featured Artist is my AnythingArts.com partner, Christine Alexander. The surprise is blown because I write this stuff and then Christine does whatever it is she does to make it a newsletter. So, SURPRISE Christine: please select some photos and make this article the lead story in Thursday’s newsletter.

The downside to this is that I can’t make up things or write stuff Christine wouldn’t want to share with the world because she’ll just edit it before it goes to print. I can’t mention the three months she spent in a Turkish prison for attempting to smuggle in more Snickers bars than allowed by Turkish customs. I can’t mention the years of exotic dancing, live webcam showers or the electric fly swatter incident. So, I will have to stick to the facts.

Christine was born in Glens Falls, NY in 1972 and moved to Sarasota at age four. Her first spoken word was “famous” and her second word was “me.” Amazingly, Christine is still chasing fame and says the word “me” at least 500 times a day. From an early age, Christine and Karen, her only sibling, would go to movies with their parents, get up under the screen and read and act out the previews for upcoming movies.

Yadda, yadda, yadda, grade school, middle school, high school, a dog, a hamster, “I want a pony,” me, me, me and Christine was kind of an adult. Early jobs included a stint at Blockbuster where she actually busted an adult shoplifter (with his kids in tow) who was pocketing a copy of “Beauty and the Beast.” A short time as a waitress (though I am told by an anonymous source that she was paid a handsome severance to never serve tables again). For a while Christine worked at Gold’s Gym and rode her bike to and from work each day. Unfortunately, what she saved in gas was spent on deodorant during the summer months and she moved on. However, she was in great shape and was a fitness model for Champs and Sports Authority for a while (you can click here to see some of those photos if she has the guts to post them). Until recently, Christine was the COO of Booth Studio and ran the daily operations of the busy photography studio, a job she had for ten years.

Along the way, Christine has consistently pursued her passion for performance, most of it legal. In 2001 she took an improvisational comedy workshop at Florida Studio Theatre and became one of the founding members of the FST Improv Troupe, performing weekly ever since. Audiences love Christine’s wildly kinetic sign language interpreting skit that routinely closes the show. In addition to FST, Christine is a founding member of both Becky’s Rejects and its successor improv troupe, Lazy Fairy. She has performed in several plays with Sarasota Actors Workshop, done murder-mystery dinner theatre, secretly smokes cigarettes and has been in several independent films including the award-winning silent movie made by Team JumpCut for last year’s Tampa 48 Hour Film Competition. You can also experience the many faces of Christine in the Mini-Chefs video where she tackles twelve different characters that all teach kids to cook. Although shy in person, she is a hoot on stage and if you have ever been to an event and thought you heard a sea lion, it was probably Christine laughing.

I am running out of space, so let me recap: born, NY, moved, said famous, me, me, me, school, got a job, acted, improv, movies, video. Oh yeah, married Christopher Alexander, was selected as “40 Under 40” to watch in the 2006 Gulf Coast Business Review and had a cat named Chandler that turned out to be a Phoebe that ran away to live with a younger woman.

All kidding aside, Christine is a bundle of energy, fun and excitement and a great friend to many. She is the consummate networker and will stop at nothing to help others attain their dreams. It has been a pleasure knowing and working with Christine all these years; after this, it may not be so easy to be around her.

Information about show times, places and dates is assumed accurate but not guaranteed. Please contact the presenting organization directly, by the link or phone number provided, to confirm information.

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