Thursday, February 19

Movement
With the possible exception of Thrill, I think everyone in my class is sore from tumbling. We're taking everything really slowly and gently, but our bodies just aren't used to moving in these ways.

Some of the hardest things to do are things that I thought I already knew how to do. Log rolls (when you put your arms straight above your head and your legs straight down, and roll sideways... like you're rolling down a hill) are hard for me because we're supposed to use our psoas muscles and not arch our backs (I'm a habitual archer). Forward rolls (aka somersaults) are awkward because we're supposed to put our heads to the side and lead with one leg (I'm used to being square in my hips and going head-first). And I already mentioned cartwheels.


Voice
It turns out my vocal production is really far back. So is Iceman's. We think it's something we may have developed because of the roles we used to be cast in (Iceman played a lot of older men; I played a lot of older women, and a lot of men because I attended a women's college).

I talked to Voice Professor about setting up a tutorial (private instructional meeting) on Forward Placement. She said that if I promised not to worry about forward placement in the meantime, that she would. So I'm trying not to worry.

We tried humming on the same pitch with the same vocal quality while slowly rolling our heads around as a sort of diagnostic. I didn't do as badly as I thought I might, actually. It was definitely easier for some people in my class (like Thrill and All-The-Way) than others.


Acting
Movement Professor AND Voice Professor came to Acting class, so we got vocal and movement notes on our scenes.

O.D. and my scene... Well, I've never been more confused.

We started getting direction on characterizations. My character is now in the "Marilyn Monroe/dumb blonde" archetype, and O.D.'s character is some sort of body-builder. I felt like I was creating a caricature instead of a character. And I was going in and out of "I Am" like crazy. But when we finished, Acting Professor said that it was the most sense that the scene has ever made.

I don't know. I just feel like a whole new concept was thrown at us yesterday mid-scene. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it at some point, but right now it's really difficult to reconcile it with what I've been learning (how do I take the 1960s "twisted figure-8" walk that Movement Professor showed me and use it in the scene organically?). I just wish we had more time to work on it before Friday's test.


Analysis
Analysis Professor gave us a "pop quiz" (but can it really be a pop quiz if he warned us about it?) on Brecht on Theatre. I'm not sure I did all that well, even though I understood the material. I think I misunderstood two of the questions...

Anyway. Brecht is less bothersome to me than I originally thought. The concept of "the alienation effect" is badly translated; it should really be "the effect that makes things strange or different." Therefore, Thornton Wilder's plays are Brechtian. I was previously under the impression that Brecht was trying to make the audience uncomfortable, but that apparently has more to do with people who have adapted his style down the line, and was not really part of his original construction.


Understudying
The second person from my class officially went on in an understudy role yesterday: D-Train played Cleante in The Imaginary Invalid! The head of costumes interrupted our Voice class to pull D-Train out for an "emergency fitting" around 11:00am for the 2:00pm show. CRAZY! Sadly, it was a matinee, so the rest of us were in classes and couldn't attend (we tried to sneak in on our break, but it was during part of the show when he wasn't on stage). Anyway. I know he did a great job. CONGRATULATIONS D-TRAIN!

I ran into the actress playing Beline in The Imaginary Invalid. In yesterday's show, she said that when she said her first line, she barely had a voice. I told her that if she's too sick to go on, she doesn't have to worry; I'm a capable back-up. (Not trying to pressure her into not going on... I just wanted her to feel like the show could go on). There are only a handful of performances left, so we'll see what happens.

I stayed in the student lounge with Newbie last night reviewing our blocking for Act V of Winter's Tale on the video tape. I hope it all sticks in my brain.