'When Harry Tries to Marry' with Ginger Graham

Hi Guys,

I'm Ginger Graham a Junior BFA Acing major/Dance minor here at Pace University (NYC). I am SO excited to share a recent experience of mine with you all. Recently I was cast in a film ‘When Harry Tries to Marry’ which is shooting some of its scenes here at Pace. I am very proud to be a part of this project though I initially had doubts about auditioning. The role that I was up for was 'Stripper #1' now, when I heard the word stripper I became hesitant to consider it. However, after auditioning and going through two callbacks I was able to become a bit more familiar with the script and comfortable with the role.

There is no nudity, super revealing outfits, club scenes or anything that would make me regret my decision in the future. As a performer and in life in general, we must make sure that we never do things that may hurt our careers or future paths in life. Fortunately, 'Stripper #1' will not. It sounds like it could be raunchy from the name, but 'Stripper #1' is nothing more than a humorous, outspoken girl who knows how to party. As an actress I must always find something endearing about a character to take it on and I found this character quite entertaining so I am completely comfortable with the role and being able to bring her to life. I know that if I were watching the film, I would find her entertaining.

This past weekend, I was on set for the film for the first time. It was a very exciting experience. I have been on movie sets before, but this was my first time having a speaking role. I have also done commercials before, numerous stage productions and even produced a show before, but I have always anticipated my first role in a film. I would have never thought that I would be playing 'Stripper #1' but that is the beauty of being an entertainer, you never know what you will be taking on next.

The day started out with me going straight into hair and make-up which I was surprisingly, not so fond of. Shockingly to some, I am not a girly-girl. I hardly ever wear more than mascara and lip gloss on average day and I am not a fan of being seated for long periods of time for my hair to be done. Do not get me wrong, I love being a female and all that comes with it, but unfortunately, I have no patience for things of that nature. However, the hair and make-up crews made it enjoyable because they were fabulous!

After being dolled up, I went right onto set, rehearsed my first scene a few times and began filming. We actually shot what will be shown as the second half of my scene first. It was like filming backwards. Other than the wonderful director (Nayan Padrai) and crew, other actors included Rahul who plays Harry, Grant who plays the Doctor and my ‘co-worker’ so to speak, Ivanka who plays ‘Stripper #2’. What made this experience all the more special was the fact that I had a scene with Grant Kretchik!

If you do not know, Grant Kretchik is not only one of the acting professors here at Pace, but one of the very best. I have learned so much in the courses that I have taken with him and to my surprise, I was able to work with him while still being one of his students. He was phenomenal and our scene is quite humorous if I may so myself. I am so glad to have had my first experience in a film be a scene with Grant Kretchik. He is also ‘the man’ who got us the auditions for the film.

At Pace we are given many great opportunities and this was definitely one of them. Not only can I say that my first role in a film was shared with my professor, but also, at my school which is super cool. We will film the 'big' scene which will be shown before what we shot over the weekend in about a month. Shooting and editing films are a very long process. Very different from being on stage which I also love.

Once we film the next half of our scene I will fill you guys in on how everything goes. It is great to be able to have done this with my professor, at my school and now be able to blog about it on its website for all of you to see. After being on set and feeling the wonderful vibe of everything and everyone, I am more than excited to share my future on set experiences with you guys so stay tuned. Talk to you all soon!!!


-Ginger Graham

When Harry Tries to Marry

Hey everyone!

So this is my first time blogging on the Pace website, and I have an awesome experience to share with you all. This past Friday, I filmed my first scene in a film! As an acting major, it's difficult to build your professional resume while juggling school, homework, and jobs. Not only do I get to add this movie credit onto my resume, I didn't even have to leave school to do it! The film When Harry Tries to Marry (directed by Nayan Padrai), is a romantic comedy surrounding a young college man who decides to undergo the traditional 'arranged marriage', much to the surprise of his friends and family. Professor Grant Kretchik has a supporting role in the film, and many scenes in the movie are being filmed at Pace. Grant was able to get students who were interested an audition for featured extras in the film. I went in, auditioned, and received a role! I was and am still so excited and thankful. It all happened so fast: within about two weeks of auditioning I met with wardrobe and was soon given my call time to shoot my scene. On the 23rd, I went to Schimmel Theater at 6:30am. Based on what I've been told and read about the insanity which goes on behind the scenes of movies, I figured I would spend hours waiting, being pushed around and ignored, until I finally taped my scene and left. I was so surprised by how wonderful an experience it was! I came in, and instantly people were introducing themselves and treating me as if we've been friends all along. There were a few other Pace students there who also had a small role or were used as extras, and we were all treated extremely well. Everyone was smiling and being warm and caring. Even the lead actors introduced themselves and were so pleasant (especially for so early in the morning!). After I was given my costume and my hair was done, we all went to City Hall Park to start filming the scene. I played a young lovebird, along with fellow Pace student, Spencer Bazzano. In the scene, the lead character Harry (played by Rahul Rai), runs by us while in the park on Valentine's Day and is appalled by how we are acting with one another (You know how you see those couples out in public, goo-goo-ing and eskimo kissing each other for all the world to see? And you just want to smack them? Yeah, it was sort of like that). The director, assistant director, and cinematographer were so funny and nice. They treated us so well, like we were old pals. They told us what they were looking for, and instantly we went into rehearsals and soon began rolling. I had no idea how insane filming one small scene is! First of all, you need to do the scene a million different times and exactly the same way. They tape it at every different angle imaginable. A woman runs around taking pictures of those in the scene, to make sure everything continues to look exactly the same. Hair and makeup are always standing by to fix a fly away hair or apply lip stick. There are times when the camera is directly up in your face, and you have to swallow your anxiety and keep going as you were before. It took us about six hours to film the one scene I was in. When they said that we were done, so many people came up to us and congratulated us and said it was great. After we changed and were ready to leave, we were given our paycheck. How much, you ask? 100 bucks? Maybe 50? 25? Nope. Even better. ONE DOLLAR. That's right! One dollar. When all of the extras took their pay and looked at each other, we couldn't help but begin to laugh. Even the crew laughed; they knew it didn't matter what we were paid, the experience was priceless. Dollar in hand, I left the building and felt like I was on cloud 9; it was such a fast yet exhilarating experience. Having done only theater in my life, it was a HUGE difference. Tv/Film and theater are two COMPLETELY different mediums of art, something many people probably don't realize. When I called my mother after, who had a professional career in entertainment, and told her what happened, she was so shocked by how wonderful it went and by how well we were treated. She told me to always remember this experience and be grateful for it. I am still very young and have a long ways ahead of me; I'm sure there will be times where I work with horrible people, and others wonderful. But one thing is for sure, I will never forget how great this experience was. I will always keep When Harry Tries to Marry and the amazing 6 hours I spent with the crew in my memory as the first and best experience on a movie set. If it wasn't for Grant and Pace, I probably would not have gotten this chance. And, no, I still haven't spent my dollar yet.

Physician Assistant Studies Students Visit Today Show

Stephanie Lang, the class of 2011 class representative tells it well:

I recently discovered that even though New York City is the city that never sleeps, everyone seems to be sleeping at 5:00 am on 48th and 5th. However, students from Pace University Physician Assistant program were wide awake as we got up early to attend the Today Show. That is one of the perks of living in a major city--there are so many opportunities and fun adventures to take advantage of. However, as a Physician Assistant student there is not always time in our schedule to explore all the possibilities in New York. Despite having a practical exam in the afternoon, we still managed to get a group of us together to attend the Today Show, which is filmed live at Rockefeller Center. We did not go to see our favorite celebrity or listen to the newest band, we went to represent a passion in our lives: Physician Assistants. It was Physician Assistant week, and we wanted to tell the nation on live television. Of course we had to be noticed, so we got decked out in our white coats, held up our school banner, and made posters. We showed up at 5:00am, but no one was there except a man selling bagels. It turned out that we were the first people there, and so we were the first in line. Eventually others started trickling in, all of them intrigued by our signs and outfits. It was a great way to spread the word about physician assistants. The gates opened and we filed in, followed by a woman who was a fellow PA and was so excited to see young faces representing the profession. The theme of the show that day was flu shots, and Al Roker was getting his shot live right in front of us! CVS sponsored the show and handed out bags full of flu prevention materials. It correlated perfectly with our visit. The cameras rolled by our crowd, and we were able to hold up our signs and wave with big smiles. It was an eventful start to all of our mornings, and a great way to spread the word about physician assistants, a group we are all so proud to be associated with.

The Fall 2009 Semester Begins

Welcome back! Over the summer, the Dyson Web site transitioned into the New Web site design. Take a look around the NEW Dyson Web site and let us know what you think.

Here are some Dyson links you might be interested in:

• Academic Departments and Programs


• Center for Community Action and Research at Dyson College


• Dyson Advising

The beginning of then end : (

I simply cannot believe that tomorrow is my graduation day from the Disney College Program. I can still remember the first day I arrived here in January, terrified and doubting my decision to come here in the first place. So much has happened since then, between bonding with my roommates, learning about the Walt Disney Company, getting my role and completing training…I have no idea where the time went! Tomorrow my roommates, friends and co-workers will be attending the graduation picnic at Mickey’s Retreat (the cast outdoor recreation center). I’m really excited to get my Mickey Ear graduation cap, complete with the tassel that only us College Program graduates get…don’t you worry I’ll post a picture ; ) I don’t leave until May 22, but several of my co-workers are leaving next week. Although the thought of my friends leaving brings a pit of dread to my stomach, there are a lot of fun activities I’m doing before we have to say goodbye. One of my managers planned a Main Street East Merchandise scavenger hunt in the Magic Kingdom! We split into teams and will be going around the park trying to figure out trivia and riddles…hopefully my team will win! After graduation, a big group of us are doing a Disney mini-golf marathon and are hitting up each of the three mini-golf courses: Winterland and Summerland ( the golf courses designed after the retreat Santa built for his elves at the Blizzard Beach water park) and the one in the Fantasia Gardens. Me and my roomates just finished our long planned roomate day in Magic Kingdom ( that's us and our friend Andrew in front of the tea cup ride!) Things have been pretty routine since I last wrote, yet each day is never the same as the last. It’s been fun bonding with my co-workers at IHOP after a long closing shift or playing at one of the parks, and becoming more confident in my role. I know I’m going to miss it here so much! These next few weeks I plan on soaking up as much Disney as possible with all of the amazing people I have met here.

The Half Way Mark

Hello everyone! Once again, I’m soo sorry I’ve been slacking on keeping up every week! It’s spring break season at Disney so I’ve been working a lot of long, late hours. This Sunday I’m working until 3am! But, it hasn’t been all work. I’ve been having a lot of fun with my co-workers, roommates and family when they came to visit. For Erin’s birthday all of us roomies, except for Joelle, who hates rides, ventured outside of Disney into Islands of Adventure at Universal Studios. It was a lot of fun, and barely crowded at all. We didn’t wait more then 10 minutes for any ride…we got to ride the Hulk 2xs in less than 25 minutes (see the pic)! We all agreed it was no Disney…the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat definitely weren’t as lively as Mickey and the gang, but it was still fun to do something different. We stayed true to tradition and ended the birthday celebration with the Kitchen Sink ( if you don’t remember, it’s the giant ice cream sundae with 8 scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, bananas, cherries, butterscotch, candy bars, brownies, angel food cake…and a whole can of whipped cream). The other week was Main Street East movie night. When the park closed, a bunch of people I work with met in the Cinema (the store where we sell fine art and play classic Disney cartoons on a movie screen) and watched The Incredibles. We had some issues getting the volume high enough for us to hear, but we were all talking and laughing most of the time anyway, so no one cared too much. After we all went to the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) where I had the best blueberry pancakes of my life! It was really fun to hang out with everyone from work. One of my managers is organizing a scavenger hunt in the Magic Kingdom for our next work get together. I really hope it happens! My family came late last Friday night. It was so good to see them after 10 weeks…the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing them. We had a wonderful weekend bouncing around from park to park (my parents of course loved that they got in for free with my Main Gate Pass that I get to use to bring in 3 people six times for free!). We met up with my aunt, uncle and cousins in Animal Kingdom the first day. We only planned on staying for a few hours but ended up spending the entire day there. The highlight of the day was probably when we all went on the Kali Rapids and my mom, aunt and sister got completely drenched. My mom, who gets cold easily even when dry, had to wrap herself in my grandma’s knit blanket for the rest of the day! The next day we all went to Hollywood Studios, then my mom and I (my dad had to drive my sister back to the airport since she had to teach the next day) met my roommates and their families, who were also visiting, for dinner at, of course, Beaches and Cream for the Kitchen Sink. I swear, getting ice cream back in New York will never be the quite as satisfying after getting spoiled by that sink! I loved that my parents finally got to see the Magic Kingdom fireworks for the first time. Even though they took my sister and I as kids, they never got to see them because we would always be too tired and I used to be afraid of the loud booming. They both agreed that it was the best fireworks they had ever seen, which made me very happy : ) It’s officially past the half way mark here which makes me sad, but there’s so much more to see and do that I’m not gonna worry about yet…

Celebrate Earth Month This April

Throughout the month of April the Environmental Center on the Pleasantville campus will be buzzing with activity and special events designed to promote an awareness about issues related to our natural environment.

A green boutique, mystic arctic wolf visit, movie nights, birds of prey fly-by, campus beautification, dog training tipsters, and border collie patrol are just a few highlights of this year’s Earth Month activities.

>> Join us at one of these events.