Today we’d like to introduce you to SKY Palkowitz.
Hi SKY, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hi. My name is SKY. I’m an Actor, Entertainer, Activist, Educator, Creator, Dreamer…and many other things. I have some really FABULOUS NEWS to announce, but we’ll get to that later!
IF LILY TOMLIN AND CAROL BURNETT HAD A LESBIAN LOVE CHILD, THAT WOULD BE ME.
A FEMALE ROBIN WILLIAMS. A WHITE WHOOPI GOLDBERG. Sasha Baron Cohen meets Matt Lucas; Tracey Ullman meets Sandra Bernhard; Kate McKinnon mixed with Lady Gaga, throw in some Cirque du Soleil.
Imagine a little girl of 2 or 3 years old, in the middle of New York City in the early 70’s, in a gigantic theatre, center stage, singing and dancing in a dazzling blue tutu, with a troupe of other little girls, twirling, singing, dancing all around, and that little shining star in the middle. Me. That’s my first memory of being onstage, of being alive, of Being.
I was born and raised in New York. First the city, where I started dance classes at 2, and moved to Long Island at 5, where I spent the rest of my formative years. Growing up with the heart of New York City just miles away, I was immediately inspired by theatre, the arts, museum trips, school outings, Broadway, and all of the TV commercials advertising the current shows… “Evita starring Patti Lapone!”, “A Chorus Line!”, “Jesus Christ Superstar!”, “Annie!!”, “Cats!!”, “I laughed, I cried, I had a good time!” I wanted to see them all. I wanted to embed myself in the fantasy of theatre.
I began singing in elementary school, by age 8 was competing in voice and singing in the school chorus. I was ultimately inspired by my music teacher, Mrs. Smith, who opened the world of music up to me, and I soaked it in, hard core to my very being. I always had a gift for performing and making people laugh. My roots lie in musical theatre, which I started at age 14, playing my first character role of Mae Peterson in “Bye Bye Birdie.”
I performed in every play in high school, and started doing community and children’s theatre in addition to my school musicals. Then came Shakespeare. At age 21 I was the youngest actor ever to be invited to the Nation’s top graduate conservatory in Shakespeare and classical theatre, The Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) at the University of Delaware. For 2 years I emerged myself in Shakespeare, before heading off to complete my MFA at the University of Iowa, known for their new plays and festivals, their playwriting program, and constantly evolving and emerging content. I taught Acting to undergraduates there, and performed some great roles for 3 summers with Iowa Summer Repertory Theatre. I was inspired by studying some of the great solo artists of the time, and began creating, directing and performing multimedia extravaganzas with the support of the Theatre Department. I began my life as a Performance Artist.
Above all, I’m a dedicated, diverse and professionally trained Actor/Director/Producer. And I do many other things… I’m an Entertainer, a Musician, a Clown. A Healer, a Writer, a Storyteller, a Poet. An Editor, a Filmmaker, an Educator… I’m a passionate, fiercely driven, visitor to this Planet, here to make people laugh and think and be better to each other.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of Legacy lately, and how messed up the world is, especially here in our once great Country. In the midst of a mad Dictator attempting to shut down the Arts, and stifle the artists, Hollywood, theatres, the creators, the beings that make a difference…. We are in deep crisis. The so-called President is quickly erasing history, and in efforts to eliminate the future of diversity, freedom, equality, individuality, the rights to choose, the rights to Be… And yet the Arts are the only thing that can save this Planet and shift us forward. I come as a messenger to tell stories through theatre, film, music, movement, voice, poetry, performance…that bring good messages and curious consciousness, and love and light into peoples’ hearts, minds and lives. I’d like to leave behind a body of work that future generations can look at/listen to/read/watch…and become inspired, hopeful, expressive and uplifted. That would be a nice effort of and reward to paying forward my Legacy.
I’m lucky to have discovered my “calling” as a child. My first audition in 9th grade, (Mae Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie), was my first experience of being high. Onstage, at the audition, making my peers laugh, the same vicious kids who tormented me daily for being different (for it was the 80’s and I was a punk rocker); those kids suddenly were laughing because I was funny, not because they were laughing at me. That’s when I knew that I would spend the rest of my life performing, and embodying other characters. I got the role. And thus, that was the beginning of my path, my yellow brick road.
I became experimental and efficient with mimicking voices and accents, doing celebrity impersonations, and from my early singing training, I had full access to a limitless instrument. From poetry to music, solo shows to multimedia to the avant-garde, my creative work is filled with mayhem and meaning, themes and social activism, laughs and cries, identities and connections, and makes-you-ponder, think, and evolve kind of moments and messages.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The life of an Actor, or any kind of Artist is not an easy one. We are taught from an early age that it is a dream not worth aspiring to, that most don’t make it or continue their chosen artistic career beyond college, when they are thrown into the “real world” and told they must have a “real job” in order to “survive.” Thus, most live the life of a “starving artist”, and work hard year after year performing some tasks or set of chores completely unrelated to their G-d given gifts and talents, their calling or path, and at the end of their lives, they say they wish they “could have, should have, would have done this and that, then Life would have been fulfilling and they would have been happy”. I made a decision very young, or the decision made me, that in order to be happy, I must do what it is I was put on this Earth to do: to Entertain, Enlighten and Inspire. I was fortunate enough to have parents that supported my decisions and my choice to follow the path of an Artist, but it’s still been tough , and holds many challenges every step of the way.
Health Insurance. Don’t get me started!
From time to time, I’ve fallen away from my path and purpose, mostly when I chose to serve others in relationships that weren’t in my best interest. If I could go back in time and take back all of the time I wasted, and learn from it, I would have/could have/should have been/would be more productive, more determined, more focused with my time.
Moral to others: Love yourself, honor your own self and needs, wants and desires before you bend over backwards to please others who aren’t worth your time. Think about the big picture and let your drive and commitment to the craft guide you to stay on target, and honor your life’s Artistic quest, course and Divine Purpose. Don’t get distracted. Never give up.
I now live life in the moment. I am here with a very clear calling that I must fulfill while alive, while able, before it’s too late and Time slips away. I made the decision on the first day of Pandemic that I would stop working for others in meaningless, mindless jobs, and persevere forward as I continue to pursue my dreams. It’s tough to rely on the Industry, between Pandemic and Strikes, jobs are few and far between. I believe work begets work. This keeps me going.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been singing since age 5, acting onstage since 14. Once I discovered my calling, my passion, my raison d’etre, I’ve been following my path ever since, never stopped, never looked back…I have performed in regional theatre around the country, and toured in states and cities I had never been to over the years, and eventually I wound up in San Francisco on a Pacific Northwest tour doing educational theatre with the National Theatre For Children in 1999…Shortly after that, I bit the bug and moved to Hollywood, with a car packed full of everything meaningful I could fit from NY, and drove across country in the end of 2000, not sure of how long I would stay.
I came to make a film based on my first one-woman show, “ALIEN RHODA”, with a colleague from Iowa. California quickly became home. I’ve been in LA for 25 years and have run the gamut from assembling and running a women’s theatre company in Hollywood, to touring solo performances around the country, standup comedy (I’ve played the WORLD-FAMOUS COMEDY STORE Mainstage many times), to playing original live music, to plays, productions and Performance Art, to Television, Theatre and Film. I’ve worked with great actors and directors over the years, met and partied with many admired colleagues, and ultimately, I lead an amazing, fulfilled Bohemian life, always looking forward to the greatness that is yet to be on my journey.
I have great agents whom I teamed up with during the height of the Pandemic, and I’ve been getting lots of voiceover, commercial and theatrical auditions and opportunities. I have a body of work on https://www.youtube.com/DelusionalDiva that includes: standup comedy, funny and experimental short films, music videos, reality series, stage works from the living room to lots of Los Angeles theatres and venues to off-Broadway… music, comedy, and characters galore.
I am an Acting Coach and Consultant. I teach classes and do Masterclass workshops for Colleges and Universities. I work with clients around the World via Zoom on auditioning techniques, self-tapes, castability, branding, how to get representation, how to increase your auditions… I will give you a free consultation if you mention this article. If you look me up, you can reach out via telephone. https://www.imdb.me/DelusionalDiva
I am a Visual Artist, as well. I started painting abstract works of Art that consists mostly of Aliens, UFOs, Pyramids, Elephants, Dolphins and all things from Outer Space, when I came to California at the turn of the millenium. I had an art museum that was my apartment for 17 years in the heart of East Hollywood, where I threw themed performance art parties and happenings, with music and comedy, and all things avant-garde. Many were welcomed over the years to explore the wall-to-wall works of art that was my ongoing development of paintings. I began exploring work with fluorescent paints about a decade ago, and have a giant body of work for show and sale. I created my company name, “COSMIC ALIEN ART”, in 2020.
I do original works for commission, sale, and gallery shows. Last year I created one of my biggest works of art for a show at Studio Channel Islands in Camarillo, CA. It was part of a group show (thank you to the curators at @LAArtDocuments), where I built a 3D, 4-foot wood Pyramid, painted inside and out with fluorescent and glow-in-the-dark paint, that hung from the ceiling, like a giant UFO that people could step under and into, with bright light and black lights alternating ongoingly, to show the fluorescent images hidden within. One of my most ambitious pieces to date. It was an awesome show. Check out more info at https://www.CosmicAlienArt.com or @CosmicAlienArt on social media
https://www.instagram.com/CosmicAlienArt
ACTOR– known for diverse and extreme characters. I’ve written and toured 7 solo multimedia shows around the country, and my last show premiering off-BROADWAY, where I played 50 characters in 75 minutes. In Television and Film, GUEST STAR & LEAD roles as seen on MTV, FOX, WARNER BROTHERS, ADULT SWIM, LOGO… A versatile COMIC, Performance Artist & Musician. I’m getting ready to co-star in the upcoming feature film, “Listen to Lisa”, alongside Ingrid Quintas, the writer who happens to be my wife, partner, co-director and co-producer.
PERFORMANCE ARTIST – I started creating multimedia plays and solo shows in the mid 1990s in graduate school at the University of Iowa. Then I started writing and touring my solo shows around the Midwest and at Fringe Festivals around the country in 1997. I’ve always blended various elements from my versatile set of tools to create unique, semi-autobiographical, semi-Sci-Fi pieces, that utilize my skills in voice, physicality, costume, movement, clowning, mime, Shakespeare, accents, dialects, voices, sound design, opera, poetry, music, instruments…you name it, if I can do it, I will do it onstage.
I spent 15 years in LA as a professional clown. I also trained in avant-garde performance for almost a decade with the legendary RACHEL ROSENTHAL, may she rest in peace. She was my mentor, my friend, my inspiration. From 2000 on, I have performed hundreds of avant-garde pieces, from Rachel’s Espace DbD Studio in Culver City, to Highways Performance Space, to Electric Arts Lodge… to tons of Hollywood theatres, living rooms and beyond. “All the world’s a stage!”
DIRECTOR – film, stage, avant-garde, multimedia. Stage – I’ve directed a number of solo shows in addition to my own, as well as numerous avant-garde creations at various theatres throughout Hollywood and Los Angeles for the last 25 years. Screen – Directed many short films for solo artists, musicians and poets. Co-directed “Samuel Sexy”, written by and starring my triple-threat wife: Actress/Dancer/Writer, Ingrid Quintas.
PRODUCER – 7 solo shows nationally, and over a dozen award-winning short films that have played at film festivals online and around the country. Executive Producer at Delusional Diva Productions, with two upcoming features in pre-production. See https://www.youtube.com/DelusionalDiva
ABSTRACT ARTIST, Painter of Aliens – Cosmic Alien Art. I have a large body of work that began at the turn of the millennium, just before the year 2000, that has shown at various galleries around Los Angeles. I paint glow-in-the-dark, fluorescent mixed media, abstract art that basically consist of Aliens, UFO’s, Pyramids, Elephants and Dolphins. More can be seen at https://www.CosmicAlienArt.com and follow me on social media @CosmicAlienArt
There are a few things of which I am most proud: Resilience! I’m proud to have stayed my course and true to my purpose over all of these years. I celebrate the almost in my career. I came very close to once getting cast in Cirque du Soleil as a clown. To have made the cut over and over at the Las Vegas audition, until the very last cut at the end of the day, was something I am still proud of.
I’m proud that I’ve visited so many different countries, explored other parts of the world, and soaked up different cultures. I bring all of those memories and experiences into my work onstage, as an Artist, as a Storyteller, as a Writer, Songwriter, Director…as an Activist, as an “Artivist”, one who uses Art as a means of Activism. My travels all over Europe, Mexico, Israel, South Africa…shape me and make me more whole of a human. I feel connected to Humanity and the larger perspective, therefore can speak to the issue of “Oneness” in my work.
I am proud that I am constantly expanding and widening my crafts and sets of skills.
Aaaaand….the BIG NEWS I was talking about…
HUGE REVEAL! I’m thrilled to announce that I just got cast in a professional Actor’s Equity play this summer! Mark your calendars! I will be playing the role of OLGA in the LOS ANGELES PREMIERE of a very funny play called “THEATRE PEOPLE, OR THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR”, written by Paul Slade Smith and directed by Cate Caplin. I am super excited about this play. It’s an amazing cast, and it’s so well-written. You will laugh your face off! Come see me live onstage!
CALLING ALL THEATRE LOVERS!
CALLING ALL CASTING DIRECTORS!!
L.A. PREMIERE!!
“THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR” will be playing at the Award-winning, International City Theatre (ICT) at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center’s, Beverly O’Neill Theatre.
JUNE 11-29th (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sunday matinee at 2pm)
Theatre Address: 330 E. Seaside Way, Long Beach, CA 90802
Box-Office Phone: (562) 436 – 4610
https://ictlongbeach.org/angelnextdoor/
I am known widely as “THE DELUSIONAL DIVA”.
I am a true chameleon. Being an actor/comedienne with tons of personalities and characters, AND being a Gemini, must give me the ability to channel other dimensions and become what I’m not. I asked my wife what sets me apart and she said that my passion and craving to really know people, to know so many people and to be able to fit into so many paradigms, to truly embrace diversity, to get into peoples’ worlds and to embody them, is something that makes me unique, different, more than just an actor… It’s hard to fit me in a box.
I have a deep desire to know as many people on the Planet that I can. And for them to know me. My solo work delves deep into diversity. I play men and women, old and young, every ethnicity, every race. I have an uncanny ability to jump into someone’s skin. Body. Voice. Gesture. Physicality. Musicality. Tone. Cadence. Dialect… I study these things about people and when I channel, they flip on and become automatic in my body.
My greatest compliment when I am playing a character onstage is when I’m told that “SKY disappeared. I could no longer see SKY, only the character you were portraying.” (This was said by an audience member who was referring to my characters – an old Black woman from the South, a Russian man, a Mexican father, an Israeli female Rabbi…) Channeling characters, tapping into people. What makes them different? What makes them the same? When SKY disappears and the character emerges, and the story is told and the story is clear, then I am doing my job.
Strangers always feel immediately comfortable sharing their precious moments and most meaningful life stories with me. This feeling of being connected and tapping into that Human Connection in my art, in my being, is what drives me. Going through the world with open eyes, with constant curiosity, with an open mind, open heart, growing, learning, expanding, understanding… this fuels my work.
I’m Eclectic, I don’t just do one thing. A true multi-hyphenate. That’s why I am an “Avant-Garde Multimedia Performance Artist”. I think that encapsulates most of me and my essence.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My mom was very supportive through my whole life. She brought me back and forth to rehearsals as a kid, she came to every show she could, she believed in me. If she were alive today, she would be very proud of me and all of my accomplishments.
Rachel Rosenthal was my dear friend, mentor, kindred spirit, heroine. She was wise and knowledgeable, and she gave space for adults to gather and create theatre with freedom and curiosity, with dimension and purpose. For nearly a decade I spent time frolicking and experimenting in her studio with my playmates, and as a founding member of our performance collective, “Fauve Conspiracy”. So many great ideas and artistic theatre pieces came out of improvisation and experimentation, some of which were developed into bigger shows and produced around Los Angeles. Rachel’s spirit has continued to be a guiding force in my work, as well as in my teachings.
My wife – we’ve been together for 16 years. She is a constant source of drive and passion, and pushes me forward in all I do. We are currently in pre-production for 2 of her screenplays to be made into feature films, one of which I will co-star in, and the other which I will co-direct. We also compose music together and will be releasing her new songs for the world very soon.
My friends. I have a few really good, long-time friends. They are my cheerleaders and support system, and for them I am grateful. They are the brothers and sisters I never had. You know who you are.
My Agents!! Shoutout to my agents, SueAnne & Marci! They work hard, long hours behind the scenes, and are a vital part of my Success Team! Thank you Ladies!!
And HUGE THANK YOU’s to Michael Donovan and Richie Ferris at Michael Donovan Casting, for casting me in my upcoming role in “The Angel Next Door” at International City Theatre!
Pricing:
- CAREER BUILDING FOR THE ACTOR AND BEYOND. I do private coaching and career consulting for Performing Artists of all types. Inquire within. I have options, from individual sessions to monthly plans to help you meet all of your goals. Need an agent or manager? I’ll help guide you step by step to create the materials necessary to get you out there, noticed and represented. Have a last-minute audition? Call me and I’ll squeeze you in on zoom (or in person at my studio if you are in the Los Angeles area). I’ll give you the tools, tips and techniques that make your self-tape stand out and get you cast. Visit https://www.DelusionalDiva.com and https://www.SKYPalkowitz.com Reminder: FREE CONSULTATION if you mention you read about me in VOYAGELA
- COSMIC ALIEN ART! Art for sale, individually priced original paintings and mixed media on canvas and wood. Private commissions, licensing images, and products and prints available upon request. – Prices range from $300 – $77,493 and are negotiable at time of sale. Inquire within and SPACE OUT! Visit https://www.CosmicAlienArt.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.DelusionalDiva.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DelusionalDiva
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DelusionalDiva
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/DelusionalDiva
- Twitter: https://www.imdb.me/DelusionalDiva
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/DelusionalDiva
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/delusional-diva-productions-san-fernando-valley-2?osq=Delusional+Diva
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sky-palkowitz
- Other: https://www.CosmicAlienArt.com
Image Credits
Araya Doheny, Deidhra Fahey, Orit Harpaz, SKY Palkowitz, Mary Lou Sandler
