She’s sitting comfortably at a wooden desk in her one-bedroom apartment on Wayne Street in Jersey City, candles lit, the windows slightly open. Christine Goodman writes down several lines while listening to Ani DiFranco and Pete Yorn CDs.The new poems are for a poetry demonstration to be held outside of City Hall in Jersey City on June 7. The event is approved by the office of the mayor and is called "Poetry Without Walls."
Goodman does not think of herself as a radical demonstrator or an extreme political activist. She just likes to think that through poetry and the arts, people can come together peacefully and make a positive difference in their community. It’s a liberal view from a confident 24-year-old artist with professional acting aspirations – but somebody has to do it, she says.
"Alone/In this one bedroom apartment/My voice chiming walls/In a symphony of solitude/Ringing through empty rooms/Saturating the silence with soliloquy/But really,/It is the walls I am talking to," she writes in On the Subject of Talking to Walls, one of several poems she is finishing this week.
"Is it good?" she asks politely. "I don’t want people to get bored. I’ve been working on this one for a while."
After about a half-hour of writing and re-writing and editing, she takes a break. She sits on her snuggly couch and turns the TV on. She plays her favorite DVD this month, The Royal Tenenbaums. She skips to her favorite scenes and calls a friend while drinking tea.
"I love this movie. The best is when she gets off the bus to meet her brother," she says, smiling.
This is a "relax" day for Goodman, who usually wakes up everyday at 4 a.m. to be in New York City by 5 a.m. to audition for TV, movie, and theatre roles. She has experienced a fair amount of success, but Goodman insists she can do better.
"You can’t take rejection personally," she thinks. "What keeps me going is my love for what I do. When I get a role that I can connect with strongly, that’s when I experience success. So much about acting is unglamorous. You just have to hang in there and persevere if you really love it."
After watching several scenes from Tenenbaums, she puts on her shoes and sweatshirt and heads over to a Japanese café for sushi. With her large ’60s sunglasses and her curly hair messy from the wind, Goodman looks the part of an independent conscientious artist. In fact, ask her what her profession is and she’ll quickly tell you: "Artist."
Goodman, a New York University graduate with a fine arts degree, grew up in Maryland. A shy yet brilliant student, she excelled in the arts – primarily acting and poetry. She moved to New York City in 1996 for college and lived there for four years before moving to Jersey City in the summer of 2000. While relocating from one apartment to the next in the downtown section of Jersey City, Goodman decided to start a poetry reading series like the ones she frequented in the NYU area. After searching for venues for a few weeks, she came across Victory Hall on Grand Street. The art director at the hall was searching for a fresh cultural event for the community, and Goodman’s idea for a poetry open-mic was the perfect fit.
"I sat down with her and I just told her what I wanted to do," Goodman said. "Surprisingly, she said, ‘Yes.’ "
In February of last year, she launched Alliteration Alley with the help of a partner, and after a couple of months she took it over and renamed it The Art House.
Three dozen attendees
At The Art House, held the first Thursday of every month, more than three dozen area residents gather in the quaint second floor performance room at Victory Hall. A musical group breaks the ice with an approximately 20-minnute performance. The music ranges from experimental mellow rock to folk. The music is followed by the evening’s featured poet. Normally the event features are accomplished poets from the tri-state area. After the featured poet finishes, the mic belongs to the crowd.
Artists, aspiring actors and comics, and poets approach the stage, sometimes nervously. They read their thoughts to the audience, who is often supportive and receptive.
"We’re here to listen," Goodman said. "We listen and share a personal aspect of ourselves."
For Goodman, The Art House is more than a social event designed to promote the arts. It is a way to express thoughts and maximize the capacities of life and peaceful karma. People share thoughts, many times Bohemian ideas, but it is the unity of minds that matters most.
"You never know what to expect from people at an open mic," Goodman said. "They talk about anything – war, peace, life, death, money, love, religion, sports, culture and art. The unpredictable is what makes it worthwhile."
The acting bug
When Goodman is not hosting a poetry reading, producing the broadcast of The Art House for Jersey City’s public access channel or attempting to save the world with poems, she acts.
The professionally trained actor, who has degrees from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Pirouette Dance Company, and the Shande Shurin Acting Studio, has appeared in more than a dozen film and television roles. They include Sex and the City and the independent movie Foolin’, which she is currently filming, as well as the plays Trust, Last Call, Flying or Falling, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ubu Is King, Ethereal Killer, The Tempest, and Threepenny Opera.
For her performance as "Sheila" in Last Call last summer at New York City’s Fringe festival, she received rave reviews from critics. The play dealt with life in post "Sept. 11" America, and Goodman’s acting captured the end-of-innocence state of mind in a messy and poetic way.
"It was a challenging approach, but it was well-written and it allowed me to take new approaches in acting," Goodman said.
The next couple of weeks will keep Goodman busy. On June 5 she hosts The Art House featuring Bill Rood and The Freddy Gomez Band. On June 7 she coordinates "Poetry Without Walls" at City Hall, and on June 29 she performs at The Backfence in New York City.
After the sushi, trips to the post office, the library, and the grocery store, Goodman returns to her apartment. She sits at her desk and revisits On the Subject of Talking to Walls, the poem she was working on earlier. She makes subtle changes. When satisfied with her work, she prepares for bed.
Before bed, she reads a few pages from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. She has an audition the next day. She reads to relax her mind.
"I’m going to do this with all my passion," she says. "If I put my soul into it I know I tried the hardest. That’s what I believe in and keeps me motivated."
For information on Goodman, visit www.arthouseproductions.org, www.christine-goodman.com or call (201) 915-9911. The Art House is held the first Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at Victory Hall located at 186 Grand St. in Jersey City. The event is televised the first Thursday of the month on Channel 51 in Jersey City at 10 p.m. q
In February of last year, she launched Alliteration Alley with the help of a partner, and after a couple of months she took it over and renamed it The Art House.