Day 72

Day 71

Huzzah! I hope Zac appreciates that I am finally caught up. And Eric too. And the occasional Kyle. :)

So, it's the Friday of Spring Break. I'm getting ready for my trip to New York City, with my trusted companion Chasen. I'm so stoked, you can't even imagine. I'm also excited to see "The Complete History of America: Abridged" at LCT tonight!

I'm going to try something new for this week. Instead of having to sit down and type out my blogs, I'm going to record video blogs and post them on here. I figure that will be easier for me to keep up with, and it'll be cool to see me in NYC! So, look for those this upcoming week. And who knows, it might catch on and be a semi-regular thing.

But, I shall say goodbye for the week, typing wise. And let the Broadway theatre week commence!

Day 70

So, I had to read "Mother Courage and her Children" for my theatre history class. Crazy, right? For those who haven't read my blog, I wrote an entry about watching a documentary about Bretch and a production of this with Meryl Streep. So, needless to say, I was super excited about reading the play. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's very stylized, so it was sort of hard to connect to. I think it helped that I saw the documentary, because I could see some of the scenes from the documentary as I was reading. It's hard to imagine Mother Courage differently than how Meryl Streep played it. I see her as so rough and tough, and I get the feeling that the original Mother Courage was a little softer.

I would really love to be in this show. I'm interested how Bretch directed his actors to act in the original production. It's not really realism, but it's not all presentational either. I guess it's in between? I would love to learn a different style of acting through being in this show. I also have added another role to my wish list. I want to play Mother Courage. I know it'll be years and years before I ever get the chance to, but I hope I do. It would be a fantastic part :)

Day 69

I found this videos and they are hilarious. I'm posting them because they still have to do with theatre....kind of. And they are hilarious.



and this

Day 68

I was in a directing scene for a friend of mine today. It was sort of last minute. We only rehearsed all the way through a handful of times, so I was a little nervous to say the least. It was a scene from "Baltimore Waltz". I haven't read the play. I wikipedia-ed it to know the general gist of the story, and it was pretty interesting. Although one of the things that was said was that it gained popularity during the late 80's when the AIDS scare was growing. A critic said that the play has lost some of is umph now because AIDS really isn't a death sentence anymore. But anyways...

The character I played was a Doctor who couldn't give a shit about anything anymore. It was fun because it is a serious scene, but I was sort of the comedic relief. I had to spout out these ridiculous sentences with medical mumbo jumbo that made absolutely no sense. It was a bitch to memorize, and even during the performance I couldn't get it. But, thankfully, since the audience, or other characters, aren't supposed to understand what I'm saying, I could make up words and no one would know the wiser. It was also interesting to play this character because it's the first time I've played a character that just didn't care about anyone else. There's a loss of humanity within her, and it was weird having to go in that direction. The little me inside me kept wanting to be more sympathetic towards the other characters, but I couldn't. It was a weird thing.

The scene went very well. I didn't get to stay for the critique, and I wish I could have heard what the other students thought about it. I enjoyed it. I like doing directing scenes because you can always learn something from it and grow as an actor.

Day 67

I miss the modular theatre at ASU. I started thinking about it today, and how awesomely cool that space was. It was the main theatre at the college I went to my freshman year. It's basically a giant room made up entirely of black boxes. The walls are boxes, the floor is boxes, just 4'by4' boxes. And you can arrange it however you want. You want a normal stage on one side, audience on the other? They can do it. You want to create theatre in the round and put the stage in the middle with the audience surrounding? They can do it. You want to create 4 different stages in the corners with the audience situated accordingly? They can do it. It's one of the most versatile spaces you can have, and it allows for so much creativity for a scenic designer.

I wish we could have different scene designs here. I know that we are limited with the spaces we have, but I wish we could do a show and change up everything that is in typical theatre. Like, put the audience onstage and the actors in the audience. I don't know how or with what show, but I'm getting a little tired of the typical theatre setting. I love it when things are different or odd because it wakes you up as a theatre goer. You become more aware of....everything!

Day 66

I forgot to tell about my other epic win in musical stage dance last week!

So, as I talked about before, we had our mock dance audition to a West Side Story song, and I did fairly well. On Thursday we had a mock singing auditioning. We could use a song they picked out or bring our own. I wanted to try and find another song to use, but last week was crazy so I didn't have enough time to look. I used "Learn Your Lessons Well" from Godspell. I was a little nervous because, while I love Godspell, I only knew the songs on the movie soundtrack. This song was in the Broadway show but cut out of the movie. So I learned it pretty quickly. It wasn't anything impossible, not really a singer's song, but that's fine with me. While I can carry a tune, I'm not a quote, unquote singer.

So we get there and have to wait in the hall while we go in one-by-one like a normal audition. I went in and sang my song. I forgot the words at one part, but got over it pretty quick. It wasn't my best, but I wasn't too worried about it. Then they brought us all back in and picked out a few people to sing their songs for the class. Surprisingly, I was one of the people who got called to perform. I was shocked. I didn't do all that well and I'm not a singer. So I went up and performed, thankfully a lot better than I did before. Then our instructor and singing assistant talked about why they called me back.

One of the things that the assistant said was that while I am not the best singer, this song showed off the good parts of my voice and gave me a chance to act. I know the assistant personally, and we've talked about how I'm not a singer at all. But one thing he said about me, and I took it as a great compliment, was that I know what songs to sing and what characters I will play. I'm never going to be the young ingenue/romantic lead in a musical. EVER. So it would be foolish of me to pick a song that was in that style. I know what roles I can play, and I'm pretty good at picking songs that show that off. I think a lot of people still have that problem. Because they don't have a lot of experience, they don't know what roles they are being looked at and what roles are out of their range. Now, by no means am I encouraging this type of pigeon-holing, but let's face it, we have to realize what are strengths and weaknesses are. Sadly, I've learned the hard way, but once you realize it, it becomes a lot easier to deal with audtions, because no matter how hard I try, I will never be Cinderella, or Millie, or Christine.

But by God I will be Miss Hanigan! lol

Day 65

I just saw an amazing piece of theatre. And I want to jizz in my pants.

Well, maybe not the jizzing part, but I did see some fantastic theatre! Tech's production of "Rabbit Hole" was one of the best shows I've seen them do since "Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet". It was wonderful. It's the first time in a long time that I've actually got to sit and enjoy a show without critiquing the hell out of it. Mind you, there were some little things that irked me, but it was overall grand.

I was worried going into the show because I've done a scene from it and have read the entire thing. I already had some preconceived notions about the play and how I think the characters are. But it was nice to see that translate onto the stage with the actors' interpretation of each character. They seemed to be real characters up there. I think that's what I loved most about the show. It was almost like we were just peeking in on an actual family. They seemed real and genuine and didn't go towards the Lifetime movie of the week route. And I adored what the director did with some parts of the script. With a lot of the fights he overlapped the lines to make it sound like an actual fight. It's not like that in most of the script, so I applaud that directorial choice. I think it worked marvolously!

Seeing theatre like that just rejuvenates me. Whenever I see good theatre, it helps inspire me with what I'm working on at the time. I sometimes get a little tired with the routine of rehearsals, so to get that little jump, that spark....it always helps. It makes me want to be just as good as them. I can only hope.

Day 64

It's a sad day today for me. It's the last event of The Limelight Theatre before they shut down. Limelight has a special place in my heart because of so many things.

First off, it was an amazing place artistically. I could go there and pretty much do anything I wanted to, within the life of the play of course. There was no censoring myself or worrying about what the audience would think. I had complete creative freedom, which is something you don't normally get. I had the chance to be in an amazing show where I could be and do anything. I got to sword fight with didlos, be in an orgy with guys and girls alike, strip down to my skivvies onstage, and rape a guy on a coffin. Where else would I get the chance to do all that in one show??? I got to work with a brilliant playwright and amazing director who would call me out on my shit and make me work for the role. I couldn't get by with my bag of tricks. I had to work hard and develop a character to the very core. There were other shows as well that were super fun to be in. I was looking forward to continuing on with the theatre until I graduated, but sadly it will be no more.

Secondly, Limelight has been a personal savior in my life. Thank god, it was there at the right time, when I went through hell and depression. I almost drowned. It brought me back to the surface, (and sorry to get all metaphorical and mushy here) but it truly was almost like a baptism. I came back to the surface a different person. Through meeting new people and hanging out with them, I changed so much over the course of 3 months. Limelight and the people involved with it helped with all that. I don't regret anything I've done because I've learned, so much, from it all.

The Limelight Theatre, even with all the bullshit dealing with its demise, will still be one of the best memories in my mind. I love that theatre so much and all that it's done for me. Thank you Limelight Theatre. Thank you.

Day 63

Ah man. I just had one of those really really awesome rehearsals! Just one of those fun rehearsals where I really got to play around and make bold choices. I'm the type of actor that is willing to fall on my ass during a rehearsal trying new bits out. Usually my gut instinct is the best one, and the first to come out, but it's always fun to experiment with what's going on. That's probably why my favorite improv game to play with a show is "New Choice" when you say or do something and the director tells you new choice and you have to come up with something else. It's really fun, especially when you get to do it through a show. You get to be truly creative and let your imagination just go with it.

It was also a great rehearsal because I felt things beginning to click. It's a hard feeling to describe, but sometimes you're rehearsing a scene or a show and some things just don't feel right. Then, with some minor changes, things start to feel right and click together to make a connection. I'm starting to get that feeling. We got to work little moments out and discover new aspects of the characters that we didn't even realize before. I love being able to do that. Sometimes stuff like that doesn't happen until you get into the nitty gritty of dress rehearsals and final techs. It's nice to get this weeks before we open....which is actually in about 3. Eeek!

But, in all actuality, I'm not nervous about it at all. I think we're in a really great place right now. We will definitely be ready for an audience by first preview. I'm at the point where we are running the show, but I would love to get some other outside eyes to see and react. It's hard with a suedo comedy because it really can't take flight until you have an audience to work off of. I'm ready for it though!

Day 62

Big things are happening, my friends. Big, BIG, things.

We had a general APO meeting today, and everything went well. We started talking about ACTF and possibly doing more acting things. It got all these ideas starting to roll around in my head. I plan on running for president for next year, and I have a good shot of getting it. I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but this is like the only acting "group" that we have at Tech that's not class-related. So, if I do get it, I plan on implementing a lot more acting related activities for us to do. I've realized, especially this year, that it's difficult to not get cast in the season at Tech. It's almost like a semi-death sentence, lol. But if we have more opportunities just through APO, it could create a really great environment to learn and get better. I have a lot of plans, and some I might scetch out on here first. I do have 5 followers now :) although one is a made up person, so I'm curious as to who it really is...and maybe I can buy him/her a drink! bahaha

On the other hand, we have a new organization starting up that I'm a part of. A friend of mine came up with the idea of a group that puts on original works in found theatre spaces. And it won't even be theatre all the time. The group encompasses film as well. It's a really great idea, and a lot more exciting than anything going on right now. Now that the Limelight is closing down, there's not really another place to do theatre that you wouldn't normally see in a theatre building. And I've talked on here about random ass theatre, like the NY Times article about the show that was performed in an actual street. Through this group, we could pull that off now! We just started, but it's taking off like a rocket! We have a ton of people interested in this, so hopefully things will actually get done.

If I can't find work on campus, I'll create opprotunities to get work. I'm a doer. Big things are happening here. Get excited :)

Day 61

Today was probably one of the most painful days I've had in a while. And also kinda awesome :)

I'm taking a musical stage dance class for my dance credit. And, going in, I don't think I realized how difficult it would be. We're learning the actually choreography to Broadway shows...which is awesome, but also really difficult for a level 1 class. We did a mock dance audition today in which she taught us a bit of the choreography to a West Side Story dance, and we learned the rest today. Then we had to get numbers and pretend like we were auditioning for her.

Now, let me add that I'm not a dancer in the least bit. I haven't taken legit classes. I can move pretty well, and I've done simple dances for musicals before. So this was a huge stretch for me. So we all go through the dance in small groups twice, and they did a callback. I actually got chosen for the callback. I'm not gonna lie, I was shocked as hell. I thought I did ok, but it's hard to tell when you're moving and have no idea what's going on. But I did make sure that I at least tried to embody a character and be "tough". So we had to dance again, and then they had another callback. I didn't make that one, but I wasn't disappointed. The fact that I actually made the first cut, without being a dancing person made me feel really good.

And some points from this that really hit home...I realized that enthusiasm and a willingness to make a fool of yourself can makeup for lack of dancing skills. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I know I wasn't the best dancer, but I made sure I had a character and went balls to the wall, even if I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I made sure I was the loudest with vocals and tried to be the biggest in movement. I know there were people probably looking at me weird or making fun of me, but at this point I don't care. I lost my pride and dignity in theatre a long time ago...

I won't go into this, but I think you have to leave your dignity at the door and just make a complete ass of yourself. Make stupid decisions! Be big! Just be stupid!

Anyways, now I'm feeling the pain. My knees are blue and I can't walk without a little limp. The pain of dancing I guess. But I feel good about it. I think I'm improving a lot, and I hope we get more opportunities like this in the future.

Day 60

2 month mark! Whoooohoooo! Maybe I can eventually keep up with this and not have to do makeup posts. Just maybe...

In Principles today we talked about stuff that went on this weekend, mostly ACTF. Our professor made a remark about a quote someone said. I tried to find it online, but you try typing in "quote about theatre and manure"....but the basic gist of it was that we, as avid theatre goers, see a lot of shows. And because of this, we see a majority of awful shows, AKA "manure". The guy he quoted said that even though we see the bad shows a lot, we have to learn to appreciate the "manure".

Now, thinking more about it, I'm a little confused about the whole thing. I'll spread my thoughts out on here. There could be a lot of things that he's saying. One aspect I see is that we need to appreciate the bad theatre because it gives us a chance to see what is bad and appreciate the good a lot more. I guess it's the whole thought process of going through a traumatic experience, and when you pull through it you appreciate life and what it has to offer a lot more. I guess when I see a string of bad shows, it makes the next good show I see a lot better. And it makes me appreciate when good theatre does happen.

OR, he could be saying learn to see the good parts in even the worst of shows. It is usually extremely rare that there isn't at least one redeeming quality to a show. It could be the worst thing you've ever seen, but there could be an actor who does really well, or the set looks really cool. Maybe he's telling us to not be so pessimistic about every viewing experience. I wrote before about how I critique the hell out of every show I watch, even if I enjoyed it a lot. I'm a big negative nancy when it comes to stuff like that. I guess this would be the opposite of that. I know I need to be able to identify the good aspects of a show as well, because there has to be something.

I don't know. It's an interesting thought process.

Day 59

So back to the grind of rehearsals. Tonight was actually nice because we had a semi-audience. All the head tech people came to see a general gist of the show so they know where to go with their designs. Thankfully, RROAPS isn't that difficult to design. Costume wise it isn't that hard. Everything else can be pretty difficult, especially for our show since we move around a lot. I'm interested to see how the hanging will go. We keep doing it and I always worry that it'll look dumb. I'm just standing on the ground pretending like I'm being hung. I know it's stylized, and with the lights it will be better....at least I hope so.

We're at a new valley in our show. We're finally getting the scripts out of our hands and trying to go off-book. The first night is always rough. Acting kind of gets thrown out the window in order to remember lines and trying to move and talk at the same time. Funny how difficult that can become when you don't have the script telling you what to do. I'm usually pretty good with getting off-book. I don't find memorizing that difficult, so moving on to that in the rehearsal process is exciting. I'm ready to really be able to act and focus on all aspects of my performance. All the Luger stuff we just learned has been creeping into my head. I'm trying to work on the physicality of the character a lot. And period styles is finding a way into my character a lot too. My character is a princess after all, so I'm trying to think about all the status stuff we are learning and trying to apply it to the character. It's becoming very useful in what I can do onstage.

This is our first little bump in the road. After we get over the line thing, we should be growing a lot more and getting better. I'm excited. :)

Day 58

So, Day 2 of my excursion to the great city of Amarillo, TX for ACTF. Today we got to watch two shows instead of just one. First off we saw "Awake...and Sing!", which is surprisingly not a musical. It's a drama...set in the 30's....about a family and their dog Tootsie...yup. Well, the dog isn't that important (although for like 2 minutes they had a dog onstage, and during one of the most pivotal moments of the play, everyone in the audience was freaking out about the dog...not good). The show was not good. The script was so-so (not gonna lie, I'm not a big fan of dramas about the Depression) but it had potential. The acting was just very melodramatic and not real at all. One guy, who played the grandpa type character, was really really good, but everyone else was mediocre or bad. The set and lighting was cool, but it didn't mesh at all with the production. It's like they didn't even read the script; they just came up with a random design and tried to apply it to the show. I was disappointed that the show could be at the Kennedy Center, representing our region. It shouldn't, and hopefully it won't advance because I'm sure there were much better shows before we got there.

Then we took Day 2 of "The Lueger Method", and it was awesome because no one else from the day before showed up, so it was basically a mini-workshop for just our group. We started applying some of the things we learned into random improv movements. Something just clicked inside me when working on this. I seemed to just get it, and the instructor seemed very impressed. It wasn't anything momentous, just random movements and sounds, but I was able to just let go and let my body and voice just move. It felt great. I wish I could have stayed longer to apply everything we learned to actual text. I would love to try it on my own, but with some sort of mentor or instructor to lead us in the right direction, I think it would be very difficult.

The last show we got to see was "The Machinal". We just learned a little bit about this play in Theatre History on Tuesday, so I was super excited about it. I knew it was an Expressionistic play, so I warned everybody that it was going to be "different". I actually enjoyed it a lot. It was my favorite play out of the 3 that I saw. They relied heavily on music and spectacle, which totally worked with the show. The opening scene was brilliant and got me super stoked for the rest of the show. It kind of went downhill from there. They lost a lot of energy and now, looking back, some of it was very messy and uneven. They had a lot of great moments though, and I enjoyed how they modernized some bits of it. I would definitely love to act in it or even direct it some day. It was a great show.

That best sums up my trip to Amarillo. I absolutely loved the trip and am so glad I went, even if it was only for two days. I learned so much and got to see three shows I maybe would have never seen. I hope next year I'll be able to get even more people to go, or even get the department to excuse us so we don't have to "skip" class.