Tuesday, November 17

VOICE
Voice Professor gave us monologues that she spliced together from The Importance of Being Earnest, which we will be working on with the British RP dialect. The female one is as follows...

GWENDOLEN:
Yes, I am quite well aware of the fact. And I often wish that in public, at any rate, you had been more demonstrative. For me you have always had an irresistible fascination. Even before I met you I was far from indifferent to you. (Jack looks at her in amazement) We live, as I hope you know, Mr. Worthing, in an age of ideals. The fact is constantly mentioned in the more expensive monthly magazines, and has reached the provincial pulpits, I am told; and my ideal has always been to love someone of the name of Ernest. There is something in that name that inspires absolute confidence. The moment Algernon first mentioned to me that he had a friend called Ernest, I knew I was destined to love you... Jack?... No, there is very little music in the name Jack, if any at all, indeed. It does not thrill. It produces absolutely no vibrations... I have known several Jacks, and they all, without exception, were more than usually plain. Besides, Jack is a notorious domesticity for John! I pit any woman who is married to a man called John. She would probably never be allowed to know the entrancing pleasure of a single moment's solitude. The only really safe name is Ernest.

Our transcription for that passage (aka the British pronunciation IPA of it) will be due on Friday.

We discussed a couple more one-off pronunciations of words in RP: been & again.

Voice Professor says that using a tapped or flipped medial "r" is our choice, but it doesn't happen with great frequency. The word that most often has a tapped/flipped "r" in RP is "very".

We learned the difference between Full Transcription (all words completely transcribed) and Narrow Transcription (Full Transcription plus all diacritical markings).

At one point, when we were all reading aloud the "Signature Sentences" for RP, apparently, I sounded like I was speaking with a Southern American dialect. Voice Professor says it's because I need to tighten up my vowels.


TAP WORKSHOP
Dance Instructor is back this week, to teach us a workshop in tap dancing. I very much like tap. I took it for many years in my childhood, and had to break it out in high school for a show. I love its percussive nature. It's kind of like making music and dancing at the same time.

Of course, I haven't done it for about 10 years, so I'm pretty rusty. But it's nice to know the basics already.

Dance Instructor says that the thing I need to work on the most is getting grounded again. Right now, I'm jumping around too much instead of keeping my weight into the floor (which probably has a little to do with the fact that I have high-heeled tap shoes, a little to do with how enthusiastic I am to be tapping, and a little to do with my body having forgotten how to tap).


ACTING
Acting Professoressa recommended that we try to obtain a copy of the book Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare by Isaac Asimov.

We continued reading Cymbeline out loud. We got through most of Act III, if I remember correctly.

Acting Professoressa seemed to dislike my interpretation of Imogen in Act I, Scene vi. Oh well.

Favorite Cymbeline line of the day...
"I am glad I was up so late, for that's the reason I am up so early."
- Cloten, Act II, Scene iii


THE MYSTERY PLAYS
The show closed on Sunday. Everything went really well. I already miss the show, as strange as that may sound. It's weird to not be performing right now (I'm typing during the time that would've previously been showtime... I think we would've been around my second scene as Amanda the Agent right now).

I took some pictures of my costumes in the dressing room, but I can't find my camera. They will be posted at a later date.

Thursday, November 12

VOICE
Our "cheat sheets" for the RP dialect are due Tuesday.

We started listening to a dialect CD from Paul Meier, and taking notes on the various rules of RP. Some of them are WEIRD. Did you know that the Brits pronounce "lieutenant" as "leftenant"? Totally weird.

Voice Professor says that when you're working on any text that involves a dialect, it's important to use all your resources. Check the Ask List. Check the pronunciation dictionary. Check the dialect book and CDs. Use the IDEA site. Talk to people with the dialect.


MOVEMENT
We did some bar work, and then moved on to further blocking in our ballet routine. I have some more complicated moves with Thrill than I've done in ballet. It's going to take some time for my body to get used to, but I'm excited.


ACTING
We spent the entirety of class looking at monologues for people.

All-The-Way's possibilities:
- The Tempest; Miranda; III, i
"Alas, now pray you."
"I do not know one of my sex."
(strange cutting)
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Julia; IV, iv; ln 180
"A virtuous gentlewoman, mild and beautiful."
(love it! Great casting for All-the-Way. Lessons embedded in the piece. Discovers, works through, and decides.)

Two-Shots-Up's possibilities:
- Antony and Cleopatra; Cleopatra; I, iii
"Pray you, stand further from me." (created monologue)
(Great monologue! Done a lot. Perhaps not QUITE old enough, but do-able)
- Cymbeline; Imogen; III, iv; ln 74
"Why, I must die."
- The Tempest; Miranda; III, i
- Cymbeline; Imogen; III, iv; line 46
"I false? Thy conscience witness! Jachimo..."
(perfect age to play it)
- All's Well That Ends Well; Helena; III, ii; line 98
"Til I have no wife, I have nothing in France."
(Acting Professoressa LOVES this piece)

Iceman's possibilities:
- Henry IV, Part I; Prince; I, ii; line 195
"I know you all, and will a while uphold..."
- Henry IV, Part I; Hotspur; IV, i; line 111
"No more, no more! Worse than the sun in March..."
- Richard III; King Edward; I, iv; line 103
"Have I a tongue to doom thy brother's death."
(Epic, and not done often)
- King Lear; Edmund; I, ii
"Thou, Nature, art my goddess..."
(overdone)
- Cymbeline; Posthumus; II, v; line 1
"Is there no way for men to be, but women must be half-workers?"

Wifey's possibilities:
- The Winter's Tale; Paulina; III, i; line 173
"What studied torments, tyrant, hast for me?"
(overdone)
- Titus Andronicus; Tamora; II, iii; line 9
"My lovely Aaron, wherefore look'st thou sad?"
- Richard II; Duchess; I, ii
"Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur?"

O.D.'s possibilites:
- Othello; Iago; I, iii; Line 383
"Thus do I ever make my fool my purse."
(overdone)
- Othello; Iago; II, iii; line 335
"And what's he then that says I play the villain,"
- Richard III; Richard of Gloucester; I, ii; line 227
"Was ever woman in this humor woo'd?"
- Richard III; Richard of Gloucester; I, ii, line 151
"I would they were, that I might die at once..."
- Henry VI, Part III; Richard; II, i; line 78
"I cannot weep..."
(no 'Need')
- Henry VI, Part III; Son; II, v
"Ill blows the wind that profits nobody."
(Talking to dead body means eyes are too low. Too heightened emotions for auditions)
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Proteus; II, iv; line 191
"Even as one heat another heat expels."

Thrill's possibilities:
- Othello; Othello; V, ii
"It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul;"
- Othello; Othello; V, ii, line 259
"Behold, I have a weapon;"
- Titus Andronicus; Aaron; II, i; line 1
"Now climbeth Tamora Olympus' top,..."
- Titus Andronicus; Aaron; II, i line 103
"For shame, be friends, and join for that you jar."
- Titus Andronicus; Aaron; IV, ii; Line 87
"Sooner this sword shall plough thy bowels up."

D-Train's possibilities:
- Hamlet; Hamlet; I, ii; line 129
"O that this too too sallied flesh would melt,"
(done a lot)
- Hamlet; Hamlet; II, ii; line 549
"O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I..."
(overdone and too long... But he could start it at "Am I coward?" and go to the end, and it might be fine.)
- King John; Lewis; V, ii; line 78
"Your Grace shall pardon me, I will not back."
(done a lot)
- Henry V; King Henry; I, ii; line 259
"We are glad the Dolphin is so pleased with us.


And as for me...
I brought in a Goneril, a Lady Percy, a Phebe, 2 Helenas (Midsummer, not All's Well), and 2 Isabellas (recommended by Acting Professoressa). All were shot down except for the one Isabella that I really didn't like. So it looks like I might actually do a cutting of Constance from King John, even though it's an overdone speech. We shall see.


THE MYSTERY PLAYS
We had a lovely talk-back.

Tuesday, November 10

VOICE
Today we had our spoken exam, in which we attempted to speak our individual scoring for the Portia monologue we've been working on. I think I did alright. I hope.


MOVEMENT
We started off by lifting weights. Last year, I did a little bit of lifting when I had an injury that prevented me from jumping rope. At the time, I started with 5 pound hand weights, and then moved up to 8 pounds... But now, I've decided to scale back to 3 pound weights. And even with just the 3 pound ones, it was tough. For a lot of the stuff, we end up holding both weights in one hand anyway. Some people in my class are starting with 10 pounds.

We moved onto ballet after that. Honestly, I can't even remember most of what we did in ballet. Mostly reviewed stuff that we have learned in past weeks. The new things were more about combinations than new steps.


ACTING
We started off with watching the DVD corresponding to Chapter 5 of Playing Shakespeare, which is all about "set speeches" (aka monologues/soliloquies). Here are some notes I took during today's class (most of which are just reiterations of things we've discussed previously):

- Don't play the mood; play the need/intention
- Make discoveries. Everything is more interesting if you're discovering it in the moment.
- When addressing the audience in a soliloquy, choose one person (or areopagite) at a time to speak to.
- Make sure to hit all antithesis
- Keep "landing" lines
- Have an active inner life, and stay engaged in the scene
- Don't get your motor going by doing something artificial, like panting. It's a trap. and it's irritating to the audience.
- Go for the argument.
- Act on the lines
- Pick up cues
- Avoid being "woolly" (unclear)
- Clarity is our first obligation
- Is the outcome of your need immediate and verifiable?

Set speeches generally can be broken up into three sections:
1. React to what has just happened
2. Explore the ideas that have just come up
3. Arrive at a conclusion (or decided that you can't possibly come to a conclusion)


We turned in our sonnet assignments, in which we were to define all of our given circumstances (including partner, scenario, point of view, and inciting incident) and our tactics (aka "doings") for each of the four sections of the sonnets (three quatrains and a couplet). I think, in retrospect, that mine are all totally wrong...

We had to come up with "literal doings" and "sensual doings". I have sonnet 115. My doings were:

Q1: to comfort/to stroke
Q2: to engage/to grab
Q3: to bait/to tug
C: to excite/to massage

We'll see if any of those stick. Today, we went over Killer and Thrill's sonnets, and a lot of things changed while working with them. So who knows?



THE MYSTERY PLAYS
I did something really stupid backstage during the show today, and as a result, I was a second late on one of my entrances. It wasn't actually that big of a deal (the stage manager didn't seem to even have noticed), but it was really upsetting to me. I've been doing the show for two weeks, and for the most part things are running smoothly. It's unnerving to think that I could still do something like that. But I guess it's a good lesson about theatre: you always have to be on your A-game.

Friday, November 6

VOICE
We spent class doing a full warm-up, complete with like a week's worth of tremoring. Hoo, boy.


MOVEMENT
Today, we got to revisit Contact Improv (in preparation for our open class, also called a "showing", at the end of the month). And it was AWESOME.

My first pairing was with Killer. Movement Professor wanted us to work together because we both have a good sense of humor in contact improv. At one point, something happened with my body in a flip-over-turn-around sort of way that my classmates have been referring to as "when Angela turned her body inside-out". It was fun, but I have no idea what happened, and certainly wouldn't attempt to replicate it.

My second was with D-Train. It started off kind of slow, but by the end it was really goofy, and as some of our classmates mentioned, "all about butts" (which I didn't notice while in it, but that's what they perceived from the outside).

The final one I did was a trio (my first ever!) with Two-Shots-Up and All-The-Way. It felt like we were the Graces, or muses or something. Very Botticelli, and surprisingly more sensual than the pairings I had with guys earlier in the class.

Trios in general were neat to watch. D-Train, Iceman, and Thrill had a particularly acrobatic and athletic one. Wifey, Killer, and O.D. did something that Movement Professor compared to demons at the gates of Hell. Cool stuff.


ACTING
Wifey started us out with a "Great Actor Series" presentation on Charlotte Cushman, who was probably the first American-born female stage star. Her mantra seemed to be "Devotion and Work", which I thought was lovely. Ms. Cushman played a lot of male roles in theatre, including Romeo and Hamlet. And she was a lesbian who traveled with her partners in tow, which our class thought was really interesting, as you don't often hear about lesbians who were (at least somewhat) out of the closet in the 1800s.

We read chapter 10 of Playing Shakespeare in preparation for class, and then watched the corresponding DVD segment, which I think of as "The Battle of the Shylocks" (I think it's actually called "Exploring a Character" or something like that). David Suchet and Patrick Stewart had both played Shylock under the direction of John Barton in different productions. And although they agreed on several things (that Merchant of Venice has anti-semitic characters but is not an anti-semitic play; that Shylock should not be played as a sympathetic character or a hero; that Shylock is an outsider; that Shylock is a bad Jew, whom other Jews would not have approved of), their interpretations were wildly different.

D-Train explained the differences between Shylocks in a way that I found to be true, and related it back to Artistic Director's theory on "needs". He said that Stewart's Shylock was fighting for Self-Respect (status and what others thought of him) and Suchet's Shylock was fighting for Self-Worth (identity and integrity).

And a great piece of advice from John Barton:
"Look for ambiguities, and play them."

We finished talking about my sonnet, which is #115.

Sonnet 115
Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer:
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.
But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents
Creep in 'twixt vows, and change decrees of kings,
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,
Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;
Alas! why, fearing of Time's tyranny,
Might I not then say, 'Now I love you best,'
When I was certain o'er incertainty,
Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?
Love is a babe, then might I not say so,
To give full growth to that which still doth grow.

We were trying to come up with a scenario, and inciting incident, and a need for me to work with when playing it. We went through a lot of possibilities (including trying to convince my lover that I should have an abortion, or that he needed to grow up, or that I wanted to have a baby...), and I felt most secure with a suggestion that Newbie made.

So. I'm speaking to my fiancé. It's the morning of our wedding, and he has cold feet. He tells me he thinks that all the poems I wrote him before mean nothing and he thinks we're going to fall out of love with each other. I speak the sonnet to try to convince him to go through with the wedding because, while the future is uncertain, I believe that our love is going to grow.

It's not a 100% perfect fit, obviously, but it was definitely the most active, positive, and playable thing that we came up with. I think it's going to work well for the assignment. As D-Train said (paraphrasing one of his lines as Orestes from The Greeks), "It made all things clear, and plain, and simple." And I think that's exactly the goal with Shakespeare.


Acting Professoressa asked us to nail down some of the benefits of working on sonnets this way. Some of our ideas:
- defining the specificity of the situation. (because it things aren't specific for the actor, they won't be clear to an audience)
- keeping the stakes high
- learning not to work against the text
- make the language your own
- start with a 'need'


THE MYSTERY PLAYS
The show has been going well. I'm still learning things about my characters, which is fun. And the unexpected happens, as it always does in live theatre. Like the night when my bluetooth phone flew off my ear while I was playing Amanda-The-Agent. I rolled to it in my office chair, grabbed it off the floor, "checked" to see if it was still working, put it back on, and finished the scene. Good times.

I can't believe that we only have another week of it. It's going to be weird not to have this show any more. I really love it.

Thursday, November 5

VOICE
We went through with each person reading the entire text of our Portia sonnet, and then getting individual notes, based on the scoring that they'd chosen.

My notes were:
- Don't make the word "even" in "And even now, but now," operative
- Remember to pitch-match downward again after the parenthetical "my lords!" (I have decided to raise my pitch for that parenthetical instead of dropping it, as I think that it gives greater momentum for the end of the speech.


MOVEMENT
We started getting some choreography today, which is always nice. I do dig choreography.


MOVEMENT TUTORIAL
Movement Professor and I worked on my pirouettes. I can do inside turns just fine, but outside turns get me all off-balance and not turned out with the leg that's in passé.

There are so many things to think about during ballet that it's hard for me to do them all at once. When I was working with Movement Professor one-on-one, there were times when she said that I did things perfectly, but it was only after she reminded me of like 3 things that I'd forgotten about my position.

It's tricky. But at least I know that it's physically possible for me to do it... it's just a matter of getting my mind on the right page so that my body can match it.


ACTING
Chapter 3 of Playing Shakespeare is Language & Character. It's really so much better when you watch the DVD. And not just because young Roger Rees was hot (although he totally was... and young Ian McKellen... and young Patrick Stewart...) It just makes everything far more understandable.

We went over more sonnets, including mine. At the end of class we were still debating things on mine, so we're going to start with it again tomorrow.

On a side note, I have to submit three in-verse Shakespeare monologues next Wednesday that I might do for class. I'm looking for something comedic (which doesn't often go together with verse)... I have to bring in 3-5 pieces. If you have any suggestions, by all means, send them my way.


THE MYSTERY PLAYS
No news on this front. Just wanted to remind you that I'm still performing this every night after my classes. Which is why I'm so tired this week, I think. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.

Tuesday, November 3

VOICE
We've been going through our Portia monologue, one person at a time, one sentence at a time. My biggest note from Sentence 1 last week was to not have a downward inflection on the word "better" (which can be tricky, since it's trochaic and at the end of a clause).

Today, in Sentence 2, my notes were:
- Don't put too much weight on the word "me".
- Don't put too much weight on the word "learn" (especially tricky since, in one instance, I'm expanding the word to two syllables)
- Put more weight on the word "commits" (since, right now at least, I have it marked as operative)
- Make sure to take all marked breaths (especially the last breaths before enjambment when I CAN'T breathe) to avoid rib squeeze

A lot of people seemed to be having difficulty saying the word "dull" correctly (so that the "uh" vowel is really present). Voice Professor said that they're going to have to drill it.

In the last chunk of text, there are several lists in the same sentence. Voice Professor says to release the build of each list when it ends, and certainly before starting the next list, so that the sentence doesn't become ridiculous.


MOVEMENT
Ballet, ballet.

We learned a new step called "pas de cheval", which means "step of the horse" (but Movement Professor told us it's more the step of a "tiny pony"). It's comprised of other steps we'd already learned (coupé, developpé, and tendu).

Movement Professor helped me a bit before class, and said that my second position tendu turn-out is getting a lot better.


ACTING
Oh my goodness, I have SO MANY NOTES from this class today. I might fall asleep while typing them all... But I'll try to get as much down as I can before passing out.

We started with Killer's "Great Actors Series" presentation, which was on William Macready and Edwin Forrest, who had a rivalry that led to the Astor Place Macbeth Riot. Acting Professoressa said it was the best presentation she had ever seen on those men. Yay Killer!

One great note I wrote down today, I unfortunately didn't write down the context of... but it's great wording, so I'll share anyway. Be so adept that you can adapt.

Acting Professoressa told us to remember the word "embellishment" or "embroidering" in reference to over-playing things, and to avoid it. Don't feel that you have to demonstrate the language (for example, by illustrating with hand gestures). Just DO things to people.

We are supposed to bring in possibilities for Shakespearean monologues to work on next week, and our discussion about the monologues also went into how to have a successful audition. So here are my lists of notes...

On our monologue assignment:
- Either choose something that you want for your audition repertoire, or choose something that you probably wouldn't be cast as but really want to discover in yourself.
- If you plan to put it in your audition portfolio, make sure that it's actually good casting for you.
- Choose something in verse
- Aim for 60-90 seconds long (it can be longer for this class if you really want it to be)
- It must be active and not narrative
- Don't choose anything that requires an answer from an invisible partner
- Go for the star of the show. It doesn't have to be a famous speech, but it does have to be important.
- Bring in 3-5 pieces


Things that you should have in your "back pocket" audition portfolio:
- A classical dramatic monologue
- A classical comedic monologue
- A classic contemporary dramatic monologue (think O'Neill, Miller, Williams, etc.)
- A modern comedic monologue
(Those are the big four. The rest are also good ideas...)
- one joke (short and sweet)
- one poem
- one "hot right now" monologue (from a play that is brand new, or currently being done on Broadway, etc.)
- one "off the wall" piece
- one British dialect piece
- one other dialect piece
- one monologue from a movie


Advice on Auditioning...
- Come in, announce your pieces, and do your pieces. Structure it like a short 1-Act (or 2-Act, maybe) play
- Even if someone has already announced your name, it doesn't hurt to repeat it
- Walk to one spot where you can introduce your pieces and talk to the director & posse (if they feel like talking). Walk to a new spot before beginning your first piece. Walk to another spot before beginning second piece.
- If you get direction, especially if it's direction you don't fully understand (like, "Do it again, but this time, do it like a pregnant donkey. And more purple."), walk to a new place before starting. It helped them psychologically to see a difference, even if you're not changing much.
- Props should only be things that can fit in your pocket (like a letter)
- Don't ever correct the stage manager (like if they say your name wrong... the people have your résumé and can see what your name is. Don't worry about it.)
- Don't use a dialect piece unless they have asked for one.
- Make sure that you can really plug into your "need"
- In soliloquies, you may use the audience as your scene partner. Just not the director. Try to use the costume designer or an assistant or someone if you must.
- Knowing the focus of your pieces is important. There is inner-directed focus, other-directed focus, and outer-directed focus. Other-directed is usually the one to aim for when choosing audition pieces.
- Don't go nuts adjusting furniture before your scene so that it's perfectly under the light.
- That said, do try to stay in good lighting. But don't go nuts over it.
- Don't pick pieces where you're running around like a maniac, especially if the action doesn't make sense out of the context of the play (like, if the character is being chased or something)
- Don't make the shock value too high. They will be paying more attention to the fact that you're swearing and talking about violence at 9am than they'll be paying to you.
- Don't make elaborate costume changes between pieces
- Don't come in wearing a cleavage-bearing cocktail dress. You don't want them to think of you as an exhibitionist
- Don't come in wearing any sort of joke costume for attention (such as a clown nose)
- Don't put your "other" on a chair or on the floor. Keep your eyes UP.
- Whenever you go to the theatre, take notice of potentially useful monologues for the future, and look them up when you get home.
- If you don't have the sides for an audition, go SUPER EARLY
- Actually, go early anyway. Try to see the space you're auditioning in
- With auditioning, practice makes perfect. Audition a lot.
- Know that you are the potential solution to the director's problems. You are valuable.


Advice about acting as a career
- In general, never go anywhere without a headshot/résumé in your purse/backpack/briefcase. You never know whom you'll meet on a train, at the dentist office, or in the gym.
- Have "monomania" about your career. This is a business. You are the product.
- You will get more work from directors you have worked with than from auditions you go on. Every director that you get to work with is a huge connection that you should foster. Don't be a pest, but write thank you notes.
- Start a file system about auditions. After every audition, write down what you auditioned for, the date, the character description, who you met (casting directors and the like), and what you wore (so that, if you get a callback, you can wear it again, or at least something of a similar style vein).
- Remember that the theatre world is a very small universe full of erudite people.
- You will not get points for memorizing incorrectly. Do not paraphrase.
- Project an image of professionalism.
- Be the kind of actor who is good to have "in the room" and whom directors want to be around
- Don't bad-mouth ANYONE. This guy might be that guy's cousin. You don't know. Also, you want to be thought of as discreet, not as a gossip.
- Find a way to relax before auditioning/rehearsing/performing. Acting Professoressa suggests being hypnotized (as actors, we're probably very suggestible)
- Aim for a state of alert relaxation
- Assume that they people like you.



THE MYSTERY PLAYS
The show is going well. Week 2, baby! A couple of my scenes were particularly on-target tonight, which felt great. I hope it continues to go well.

Wednesday, October 28

OH MY WORD! WE OPENED! THE MYSTERY PLAYS IS OPEN!!!

And you only have a window of 3 weeks to see it, so go buy your tickets NOW.

It was exhilarating. I'm so proud of my company. And people were incredibly complimentary and supportive. Yay hooray!

Congratulations to All-The-Way, D-Train, Iceman, Big Show, Newbie, O.D., and Wifey! I love you guys!

And now, I'm off to bed.

Tuesday, October 27

VOICE
We got our scoring exams back today. I actually did shockingly well on mine, considering how confused I was right before I turned it in. We spent most of the class period discussing questions that individuals had on their tests.

Here are a few more notes on our scoring rules:
- You cannot have a full sentence without operatives.
- You cannot use a trochee in the 5th foot. (although I feel like I've seen a line that was entirely trochaic once... I wonder if that would be okay...)
- You cannot use a pyrrhic in the 5th foot.


JAZZ
Movement Professor is out of town (she was asked to perform at Merce Cunningham's memorial), so Dance Instructor (who taught us waltz last year and will be teaching tap later this year) is doing a jazz workshop with us for a couple of days.

I really like jazz stuff. It's very fluid, which is fun, but simultaneously seems to use what Michael Chekhov would call a "molding" quality. And I dig that. I have to say, though, I don't remember the last time I've sweat as much as I did today.


MYSTERY PLAYS
In the afternoon we had a run-through and notes session. Head of Program stressed how important it is to keep everything sharp, clean, energized, and weighted. We need to know what we are responsible for communicating in order to move the story forward.

At night, we had a preview performance. Rumor has it that there were 58 people in the audience (which is, strangely, a number that is significant in the show). It went really well. I'm excited for our official opening tomorrow night. It's a great show, and I'm glad that we're finally getting to share it with people.

I'm especially excited because I think the show has some really positive messages in it.
- Everything happens for a reason.
- God is in everything, even if you don't see him there.
- Forgiveness is easier than you think, and saves a lot of pain.

I'm glad to be telling these stories. I hope that we can tell them well enough so that audiences get as much out of them as I have.

Here are some photos taken at a dress rehearsal on Sunday (unfortunately, I don't have any of me):

(All-The-Way, D-Train, Wifey, and O.D.)

(Big Show and D-Train)

(Newbie, All-The-Way, and O.D.)

(Iceman, O.D., and Newbie)

(O.D. and Newbie)

Thursday, October 22

VOICE
We continued with operatives and colored words for a bit. We got a new "hint" about operatives: they are not usually in parentheticals.

Then we moved into breathing.

Marking breathing has proven to be REALLY DIFFICULT for me. I learned breathing a completely different way previously (in First Folio classes back when I lived in Chicago), and letting that go isn't easy. At one point today, Voice Professor said I had "plastered a look of disdain" on my face, which was unintentional and I felt terrible about it. But it's hard to learn one thing so solidly for so long, and then to be told that for this class, it's completely and totally wrong.

So for this class, breathing goes as such...

MUST BREATHE: At all periods, question marks, and exclamation points (even if they're in the middle of the verse-line)

CANNOT BREATHE: At enjambment

USUALLY BREATHE: At colons and semi-colons

ALLOWED TO BREATHE: At commas -- depending on context (even if they're in the middle of the verse-line)

Voice Professor was very clear in pointing out that "breath" does not mean "pause". They are quick catch-breaths.


ACTING
We started off by discussing the value of The Greeks, and how training from our 1st-year both prepared us for and differed from the classical training of the 2nd-year. Acting Professor says that it's kind of like a dance where you learn the steps and then go home and drill them until they become natural.

All-The-Way and D-Train had Great Actors Series presentations today. All-The-Way spoke about Sarah Siddons (the most iconic tragic actress of her time). D-Train discussed Edmund Kean (who was probably the first actor to incorporate his spontaneous impulses into his work instead of relying heavily on technique, and personalized language instead of just orating).

Then we talked about the Shakespearean sonnets that we're going to be using for our next unit. Acting Professoressa says that we do sonnet work to try to blend passion and eloquence (as one always tries to do with heightened language). We are going to make each sonnet into a theatrical event in just 14 lines.

In general, sonnets are usually set up like:
1st quatrain - set out a theme
2nd quatrain - expand on that theme
3rd quatrain - personalize the theme
couplet - twist/button/surprise/summation

We have 154 sonnets that Shakespeare wrote, which are sometimes thought of in categories (which may or may not be historically accurate):
1-126 -- To "The Young Man" (the first 17 of which are urging him to procreate so that his beauty might be preserved
127-152 -- Regarding "The Mysterious Dark Woman", who apparently is a subject of desire for both the poet and The Young Man
153-154 -- A story about Cupid

Here are the sonnets that we will be working with...

All-The-Way: 61
Angela: 115
Big Show: 97
D-Train: 27
Iceman: 145
Killer: 43
Newbie: 18
O.D.: 29
Thrill: 12
Two-Shots-Up: 62
Wifey: 34


MYSTERY PLAYS
Tech is s-l-o-w. This show is really tech heavy, so I think we expected it. But after seeing some of the tech stuff today, I think this show is going to look and sound incredible by the time it's fully cooked.

Wednesday, October 21

VOICE
Today was our first day playing around with "operatives", which are the words in a sentence that you really use/play in order to get the point across and obtain your need. They are usually the most important words in the sentence.

Here are some things we discussed about identifying operatives:
- There is a vague, often broken "Rule of Three", which states that there are no more than three operatives per sentence.
- Look for active verbs, as those are a good place to look for operatives
- Frequently words that come at/near the end of a sentence are most operative.
- Avoid marking operatives that are close together, as one usually detracts from the other.
- "Red Houses" (phrases/images in which more than one word needs stress) count as one operative.
- Look to the direct object, as that is sometimes an operative.
- If you stress everything, you're stressing nothing, and the effect is assaultive to the audience.
- If a word is something that you wouldn't bother typing in a text message (or sending in a telegram), then it's not going to be operative.
- If an image/concept/word has already been established in the speech, then it does not need to be reestablished with operatives.
- Lists often take care of themselves and don't require operatives because of the natural build. Occasionally, the last item in the list will contain an operative.

Voice Professor is also allowing us to use "colored words", which are not operatives, but carry a little extra weight.


MOVEMENT
I asked questions about the things we've been learning because I keep forgetting what they're all called, and which term applies to which move. Here are the things we've discussed so far (that I can remember):

- battement
- chassé
- dégagé
- demi-plié
- frappé
- pas de bourrée
- pirouette
- plié
- port de bras
- relevé
- rond de jambe
- tendu


MYSTERY PLAYS
There was a lovely picture of Newbie and O.D. in a local paper today!


Woo-hoo!

We had a rehearsal from 1-4pm, in which we got notes, ran the show, and got more notes. My big note with Amanda-the-Agent was "don't get bored" (I over-corrected from last time, when I was too excited). My big note with Lucy-the-Lawyer was "don't start a new beat on the last line."

The lovely crew of 1st-years moved all of our set and props during our dinner break, and we began the slow, arduous process of tech-ing this very complicated show from 7-11pm. It's going to be a rough week.

Tuesday, October 20

VOICE
We continued scoring our texts, which included:
- Putting brackets around complete thoughts (full sentences)
- Putting asterisks at the end of verse lines that contain enjambment (which is when there's no punctuation at the end of the line and the thought flows into the next line)
- Putting boxes around antithetical words and connecting the boxes with a line
- Numbering items in lists
- Putting parentheses around parenthetical statements

We also spent some time on inflection, which was a new topic for the day. Here's my chart:

INFLECTION
. (period) = downward
! (exclamation point) = sustained OR upward OR downward
? (question mark) = upward (in Shakespeare)
, (comma) = upward OR sustained
: (colon) = sustained
; (semi-colon) = upward OR sustained
- (dash) = sustained

NOTE: There is no relationship between downward inflection and vocal energy.

Tomorrow we're going to head into operatives. Voice Professor has already warned us that it's going to be a tension-filled lesson.


MOVEMENT
Movement Professor is out of town, so our Waltz/Tap Instructor stepped in for the day to work on ballet with us. We also did some jazz things, including combinations across the floor with different focuses.

I have to say, I really love this dancing stuff. It's so joy-inducing. And even when I'm screwing it up, it still makes me happy. :)


MYSTERY PLAYS
We did a run in front of several 1st-Years who are going to be working crew for us in various capacities. Exciting! It actually went pretty well (and no one seemed more shocked than our director).

Lucy, my lawyer character, really started feeling like a person today. She's growing, and I'm relieved. Amanda, my agent character, is still a little disjointed, but she's getting there.

Voice Professor handed me the following notes:
- "...read about this wreck thing..." - unclear
- "this is buzz" - z more strongly
- Amanda's voice is wonderful! Know that she uses glottal attacks in her "dialect", which sounds exactly right for the character you've created. Your job is to take extra care of your voice since this falls into the "vocal extreme" type category. Great work!
- Excellent use of speech to carve out character + really tell the story
- I'll (this was a note on the vowel sound I used being too Midwestern)
- "You were afraid that your father..." - operative (it's italics)

My notes from the Director were:
- Amanda needs to pick up cues, especially in the first two scenes, and really move things along. (Voice Professor clarified that this is NOT a note about pacing, but just about external cuing).
- Amanda should not get too excited about Burke Denning's treatment
- Lucy needs to help energize scene and move it along


THEATRE
Over the weekend, I had TWO opportunities to see the 3rd-Year Class in action.

On Sunday night, I went to In Progress: The London Monologues. As part of our program, students go to London for 6 weeks to study during the summer after 2nd-Year (which means I'm going in May!). One of the classes we take there is a writing class, in which students end up writing a 20-minute monologue. Five members of the 3rd-year class did a Late Night show to let us see what they've been working on.

The monologues were SO GOOD. Oh, wow. I laughed, I cried, I loved. I am simultaneously excited for and terrified of the writing class in my future. I hope I can write something as interesting, funny, and moving as all of them did so successfully.

The second show was an ensemble piece of interview-theatre that the entire 3rd-Year class compiled/wrote/performed, called Life in the Middle. It was so much fun! I went to the Monday matinee in which the majority of the audience was comprised of middle schoolers (some of whom had been the ones interviewed for the project). It really transported me back to my middle school days (1995-1998, for the record... which suddenly seems not that long ago). I am incredibly proud of them. :)

Sunday, October 18

ACTING
I didn't mention this before, but I really want to have a record of it... On Friday, before The Greeks, Acting Professoressa asked us all into the women's dressing room, and knighted us all as "great actors" using a light-up plastic sword. It was one of my favorite moments of grad school thus far. I loved it.

MYSTERY PLAYS
I love this play. Seriously, I do. It's two fascinating stories in one. I'm really excited to perform it.

That said, I am at a challenging place in rehearsal right now, and some days it's pretty frustrating. I feel like I'm not doing anything right. Neither of my characters is where I want her to be yet. And I know I'll grow into them more in the next week, but it's not easy to make it through this stage of the process.

Our Assistant Stage Manager is 1st-year LB, and he's been doing a great job taking line notes for us. Most of mine right now are paraphrasing (saying "alright" instead of "okay", or "don't do this to me again" instead of "never do this to me again"). Through the course of the day, I got 16 line notes (which, especially considering that I don't have a ridiculous number of lines, is way too high). I have a lot of work to do.

Voice Professor came to rehearsal on Saturday and handed me some notes after the run:
- "I know all I am is your agent" - unclear
- "As soon as I come up with something" - this was difficult to understand
- Angela, excellent work! In both pieces.

That last line made me feel better. At least I'm doing SOMETHING right.

We have rehearsal today from 12pm-5pm. And then tomorrow, mercifully, we have a day off. And I think my mind needs it.

Thursday, October 15

Oh my goodness. The Greeks? TOMORROW. Crazy. How did that go by so fast?

VOICE
Voice Professor started off by giving us notes about the run of The Greeks she attended yesterday.

Last time she attended (I think it was two weeks ago?) my notes were:
- Be sure you're not pressing on your larynx to achieve lower pitches. Allow your pitch range to play with freedom
- Yes, allowing your voice to play freely from top, very good
- "months" (this was a clarity note)
- "we women love that" - vocal drop out
- "slaves" - vz
- "to deal with silly women" - rib squeeze, tight in throat
- yelling is good, but be sure to breathe often enough
- "alive" - v
- beautiful open s & l your voice! (refers to sending and landing)
- ? "furrow" ? (this was a clarity note)

And this time? My notes were very positive! Yay improvement!
- good use of voice technique when using volume
- clear precise speech without being over focused on speech - great!
- very good use of ONE VOICE today, incorporating head resonance, forward placement, AND body resonance.

She also said that I had "great screaming and yelling technique", "beautiful use of pitch range", and that it was "dynamic and interesting" and "not limited".

YAY HOORAY! I am so much more confident going into tomorrow's showing as a result. :)

She also gave general notes:
- watch out for glottal attacks
- be loud more selectively
- make sure to speak to people in the audience as individuals (like Caesar talking to one general at a time) when addressing the areopagites. (She said this is a good note for ANY time that you're talking to the audience in a show)

Completely unrelated, I also just found the notes Voice Professor gave me after my Screaming/Yelling exam and can't remember if I typed those up... so here they are:
Chew and Shakes the hum - excellent, forward
Triangle followed by Twinkle Twinkle - excellent, very forward
Head roll with light high forward hum - sound is perfect (release your face)
Screaming on breath, on voice - excellent, good soft released neck, supported, slightly back and down
Yellong on text on breath, on voice - excellent, open, no tension


MOVEMENT
I actually really like ballet. When we finished class today, my body felt so long. I feel taller. And my arms feel longer. I don't know. It's a neat feeling.

Movement Professor says I keep bending my knees when I shouldn't be, but I still haven't figured out how to feel it.

On the plus side, thanks to my usual kooky flamingo-like stances, I'm really good at holding a passe for a long period of time. It's nice to be good at something.

Oh, and the most fun thing we did today? Jumping. Just up and down, in different ballet positions in our ballet shoes. I don't know why, but it was SO joy-inducing. I seriously could not stop giggling. (Just one more example of me looking like a freak in front of my classmates... it's a good thing they're used to me.)


ACTING
We teched the show, thanks to Tech Director and Stage Manager. The young actor playing my son came in today, which was really helpful for me.

Acting Professoressa said her biggest note for me was Trust yourself. That seems to be a theme around here for me lately.

Other notes included:
- You can be still.
- Make sure the element of topping is present in fight with Hermione
- "I was famous once" - operative is "famous"; don't hit "once"
- Don't let beat about Neoptolemus get disjointed
- Don't look up when referring to the goddess Thetis. We only look up when calling upon the gods, not when referencing them.
- On "I have sent my little son away and have hidden him, and written to old Peleus", use the lines to reassure the areopagites that everything within your power has been done
- "They warned us that might happen" - this is not a new beat
- "Yet you're just like your mother" - lost vocal energy
- "I am in your power" - hit "power", not "your"
- "I am not going to crawl to you" - keep vocal energy up and be defiant
- When Peleus says "...too old for the gods to bother with me.", don't move until after he's completely done with the line
- Say "Look, this is my son." while looking at son, not at areopagites.
- In Helen, only take one step on "Of course you are."
- In Helen, don't forget to say "aww" when Menelaus says his line about "the image"


MYSTERY PLAYS
We ran Act I, and it didn't go particularly well. Especially not for me, apparently.

The Director (Head of Program) says that everything I'm doing as Amanda needs to be way bigger, because right now it's boring. Due to the style of the first act (think "graphic novel"), we cannot be simple or naturalistic. Everything has to be larger than life, and painted with big brood strokes. He has encouraged me to "take control of Joe, manipulate Joe, know what's best for Joe, do it."

I know I can do it. I look forward to taking another crack at it on Saturday. It's going to be great.

General notes he gave included:
- Look for growth from one scene to the next
- Believe in the size and weight of the stuff you're dealing with
- Be big, outsized characters

A really great piece of advice from Head of Program that we got tonight was about exiting the stage. He said that when exiting, you have to make sure that where you're going is more important than where you are, and what's off-stage is more important than what's on stage. You can never look bored when walking off-stage.

Wednesday, October 14

First off, Big Show told us yesterday that if he ever becomes a billionaire, he's going to give money to everyone in our class. O.D. requested that I post that on the blog as record that it happened, just in case. Although I'm not sure how well something written on a blog will hold up in court, but it's a nice idea. (Everyone pray that Big Show is secretly related to Warren Buffet, okay?)


VOICE
We talked a bit more about assonance, alliteration, repetition, irony, antithesis, and rhyme.

Voice Professor highly recommended that we read Freeing Shakespeare's Voice by Kristin Linklater.

Code-switching between classes is difficult for me right now. "Antithesis" is completely different for the Shakespeare we're using in Voice class from The Greeks we're doing in Acting class, and it's tripping me (and some of my classmates) up big time. It's really frustrating to think you know something and then to be told that you're doing it wrong, and to have to learn it a new way. But I guess that's what grad school is all about; re-learning things in ways that are going to help me be a better artist.

Voice Professor says that there are both broad and narrow definitions of antithesis, and that it changes depending on with whom you are working.

Our take-home written exam (due next Friday) is to completely score a Portia monologue from The Merchant of Venice. I started working on it at rehearsal tonight.

You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,
Such as I am. Though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish
To with myself much better, yet for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself,
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich,
That only to stand high in your account,
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account. But the full sum of me
Is sum of something -- which, to term in gross,
Is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all, is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted. But now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now,
This house, these servants, and this same myself
Are yours, my lord's. I give them with this ring,
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.

Our homework (for Friday, I think she said) is to type up the monologue with space between the verse lines to make scoring easier, look up the words that we don't know, and start trying to do scansion on it.

There are a couple of lines that are tricky scansion-wise. In the line:
"But she may learn; happier than this,"
There are only 9 syllables (and therefore 4.5 feet... which is not allowed).
Normally, short lines indicate that there's a pause after (or before, in some philosophies) the verse line. But since this line occurs mid-sentence, that doesn't make sense. I've actually come across this monologue before, and I know that problem is sometimes solved by stretching out the word "learn" to take up two beats. Therefore, it's my instinct to do that, but this is on a TEST, so I don't want to just guess. I think it also might be possible to put the pause at the semi-colon, as that indicates a shift in thought, but we haven't been instructed that this is allowed. So... yeah. Don't know what I'm going to answer that one with.

The other one that bothers me:
"Is now converted. But now I was the lord"
There are 11 syllables, so it could have a random three-beat foot in the middle, or it might just have a feminine ending, but I really don't think that "the" would be stressed over "lord". My first instinct was:
- / -/-. - / / - - / (iamb, iamb, pyrrhic, spondee, anapest)
But it feels like I shouldn't hit "I"...
Then I tried:
- / -/-. / / - - - / (iamb, iamb, iamb, trochee, anapest)
I chose this due to context. She's saying "Even now, I ruled over this place", so I kinda think that both "but" and "now" can be emphasized. But it just feels wrong.
So my next shot is:
- / -/-. - / -/ -/ (iamb, iamb, anapest, iamb, iamb)

Well, we'll see. I'll just keep trucking.


ACTING

We did a run of The Greeks, and Movement Professor and Voice Professor were able to attend, and one of the members of the Rep company did as well. It was nice having a few friendly faces in the audience. :)

It actually felt like a good run today. All of the three plays.

One of the things that Acting Professoressa has asked us to focus on is how to get from what she calls "Reality #1" (aka your own life, circumstances, and point-of-view) to "Reality #2" (aka the character's life, circumstances, and point-of-view). She says that figuring out how to make that transition (and what a person needs to do to make the transition easier) is something that every actor has to figure out for themselves.

My notes for today included:
- Linking (specific lines)
- Landing (specific lines)
- Faster blocking cue
- More vocal energy on "Except that we hide it better"
- Don't focus out/up at nothing during monologue (a habit I think I picked up in Mystery Plays rehearsal, where that is actually what I'm supposed to do), but instead stay focused on an areopagite
- On "You must have courage, old man", help him, don't condescend
- On "Now I see I have more power than men", make sure it's a discovery


MYSTERY PLAYS
I had another costume fitting today. It was pretty geek-ify-ing.

In rehearsal, we worked Act I. The director (Head of Program) wants my character Amanda to be pretty intense. It's hard to keep her in this really heightened state without feeling like I'm just playing anger or playing b****iness. I haven't really found my own personal way into it yet. At least, not in the first two scenes. In her third (and final) scene, I feel like you see a really different side of her, and it's a side that I truly understand and connect with.

(1st-year Acting Professor, if you're reading this, know that I don't normally talk about my characters in third person; I just have to on the blog for the sake of clarity.)

Tuesday, October 13

VOICE
Ah, the joys of scansion.

We discussed:
- punctuation
- enjambment
- scansion
- defining sentences
- parentheticals
- antithesis
- alliteration
- assonance
- consonance
- onomatopoeia
- rhyme
- rhymed couplets

And our homework is to take the Juliet monologue we've been working with and mark:
- scansion
- sentences
- enjambment
- parentheticals
- antithesis
- look up any words of questionable definitions


MOVEMENT
Today was the "ladies only" class day ("gentlemen only" is tomorrow, so I won't have class). We worked on ballet stuff. We learned 4th and 5th position (I think Movement Professor briefly mentioned 3rd, but I can't remember it for the life of me right now). We learned grande pliés (previously we'd only done demi-pliés). We learned frappés (it turns out that they aren't just drinks at Starbucks). It's all very exciting.

Sometimes, I feel things in my body incorrectly. Movement Professor kept telling me that I was bending my leg during tondues today, but I couldn't feel it at all. Due to the fact that it's entirely unconscious (and apparently I wasn't able to prevent it even when I was consciously working on it and still couldn't feel that it was wrong), I sort of want to say, "I'M not bending my leg, my LEG is bending my leg." It's not like I'm intentionally doing it wrong; I just can't figure out how NOT to do it wrong.


ACTING
We're coming down to the final stretch of The Greeks. Our one and only performance is on Friday (at 4pm, and it's free... so if you're local, COME!).

My notes from today included:
- I have gotten to a place of more stillness in my monologue, and it's very good
- Make sure to actually have the sensation of feeling hot before grabbing prop fan
- Enjoy combat with Hermione more. It's at least a little bit invigorating.
- During "I am a Trojan woman" speech, get the rush of a Redbull, have power in legs, and be proud of it.
- Land lines
- Don't paraphrase
- In the line "It is in me", use the vowel of the word "in" more.
- Have more ease in the opening
- Don't play point-of-view in the opening


MYSTERY PLAYS
After working the end of Act II, we did a run of it. I thought it went pretty well, considering how few chances we've had to work on it thus far.

The most notable thing about rehearsal happened in the last 5 minutes. We were spoken to about how to be more professional in rehearsals. Embarrassing that it had to happen, but it's always good to have a reminder.

Wednesday, October 7

VOICE
We had a luxurious warm-up today in Voice class, which we hadn't done for about a week (because we've been focusing on sharpening our mental skills for scansion as opposed to physical skills).


MOVEMENT
I finally got a chance to do contact improv with Two-Shots-Up, who was the only person remaining in my class whom I had not yet been partnered with for it. It was really fun.


ACTING
I got far fewer notes today for Andromache today than I've been getting. Acting Professoressa said that my "linking" was greatly improved and the pace was a lot better as a result. I am now running the script, as opposed to it running me. Here were my notes:

- On the line "What do you think it's like?", draw in the areopagites. It's a tactic.
- On the line "I am merely pleasant", do not taunt Hermione.
- On the line "Yes, feed them at my breast", land the word "breast"
- During argument with Hermione, find more variety in tactics.
- In the "Why should I thank the gods?" monologue, don't do "flipper-action" with hands.
- On the line "Men damage us", don't overdo it with aggression.
- On the line "Out of me will be born men of blood and bone", don't shift weight.


MYSTERY PLAYS
We blocked the end of the second act! Woo-hoo! Preliminary blocking is over. Now we get to hurry up and learn our lines, because the show opens in two weeks. Fun times.

Tuesday, October 6

ELLA HICKSON & CREW WORKSHOP
In lieu of Voice and Movement today, we had a workshop. It was a discussion with Ella Hickson (the playwright/director of Eight, which some of my classmates will be performing in as part of the Ringling International Arts Festival this week). Ella is 24, as I am, which makes me feel wholly unaccomplished next to her. She also had some of her cast members who traveled from the UK with her be part of her panel as well.

Some key notes I took down:
- Ella has never cast anyone that she hadn't already met, seen perform, or heard about from a friend/colleague.
- She recommends keeping an eye out for people who are not going into acting/theatre professionally, but who are good "social secretaries" (the kinds of people who like to look good, throw parties, and invite people to things), because they're going to help you make excellent connections (and they might make great producers in the future).
- Try to control your Google hits. If you can get a lot of positive reviews of yourself online, it's going to help you. (The first thing she does after auditioning people is go back home and Google them.)
- Ella's key to the way the industry works: "Lie, and make friends."
- Be proactive. Write letters to every agent around saying, "Come and see me in this show I'm doing." Even if they don't come, they won't think any less of you, and it might impress upon them how badly you want a chance.
- Go to every show you can.
- Sell yourself. You are your own business.
- Don't go meet a big wig of some theatre if you have never seen a show at that theatre.

The cast also advised us of what companies and theatres we should look at while we're studying abroad in London in May (oh my God, I'm going to be in London in May!!!). They said that while we're there, we should try to attend workshops, and that we shouldn't rule out the possibility of auditioning (or even making our own work). They also said not to do a British dialect if we do audition there (as Ella put it, "There's no point to you impersonating what they already have two billion of").


ACTING
We ran the three shows and then got notes. Acting Professoressa says that The Greeks are a crash course in technique, and that we should expect a lot of notes on details. The details are what make us pros, and they make a huge difference.

I'm really proud of the fact that I DIDN'T get notes on some of the things I usually get notes on (things like "playing the problem" or not being likable enough). But I still got a heaping share of them.

- Be unable to say "Troy" without bursting with pride.
- Link everything within each beat.
- Play the need; play the beats. At each new beat, plug back into need.
- Stop paraphrasing.
- At the line, "I am merely pleasant", be pleasant.
- THERE IS NO ROOM FOR PAUSING WHEN TRYING TO SAVE SON'S LIFE! (Acting Professoressa said that it's even stronger than just regular linking.)
- Stop hitting the words "not" and "don't" (a huge habit of mine, apparently).
- And then a couple of specific notes in which I made the wrong word in the sentence operative.

And the hardest note? As Andromache, I say goodbye to my son, telling him that I'm going to die so that he can live. Acting Professoressa wants me to spend some time trying to really understand the concept of loss, particularly loss regarding someone/something that I'm responsible for. She asked if I'd ever had a pet die, but I really haven't (unless you count a goldfish when I was 4...).

I also got a note in Helen today. Apparently I did a "funny walk", and I shouldn't. (I honestly don't even remember doing it... so I guess I just have to be conscious of where my body is in space.)


MYSTERY PLAYS
We got further with blocking the 2nd Act/play, Ghost Children, and then we reviewed everything we've blocked so far.

Friday, October 2

VOICE
Something interesting I learned: Shakespeare wrote in a dialect. And the dialect he was writing in (and spoke himself) was probably closer to a Southern American dialect than it is to RP (standard British). (Voice Professor said that Jane Lapotaire wrote about this.) In fact, it's closer to most American dialects than it is to RP. So anytime that you've seen Shakespeare plays where American actors were conjuring British accents? Yeah, that's really not necessary. In fact, it's more likely to screw people up than to help them nail flow of the language.

We're going to be working with a Juliet monologue (from Romeo and Juliet, if that wasn't obvious) to work on our scansion whatnot. We started by looking at the metrical feet of the poem and figuring out what was iambic ("unstressed-stressed", like the word "because") and what was trochaic ("stressed-unstressed", like the word "mother"). We also found some examples of spondee ("stressed-stressed") and pyrrhic ("unstressed-unstressed") which are often found together (i.e. "that was SO FUN!"). There are also feet with three syllables, like anapest ("unstressed-unstressed-stressed"... my instinct is to use "limousine" as an example, but I guess that could be said with the first syllable stressed too... so you'll just have to guess on this one) and dactyl ("stressed-unstressed-unstressed", as in "Angela").

Voice Professor also explained a concept that she has code-named "red houses", which is when two words next to each other form a concept in a way that both words need to be stressed. So in the monologue we're working on, examples include "dark night" and "light love". So those word phrases are spondees, and usually some words before or after them are pyrrhic.


MOVEMENT
Movement Professor started having us do contact improv in groups of threes and fours. It was interesting, but I think most of us were too tired to be able to do what we wanted to with it.

Next week, we're going to be starting our 6-week ballet unit. I'm looking forward to it.


ACTING
We ran all three of the excerpts of plays we're doing for The Greeks.

I obviously wrote down more notes for Andromache than the other two, since more notes were directed specifically at me. I had tried really hard to follow my impulses during the run and live in the state of "I am" with Andromache. And as a result, I got more notes than I have ever gotten before. They included:

- Don't stress too many words in the same line.
- Don't let your "need" get too casual.
- Don't forget to use prop fan to fan self.
- Don't say lines as monosyllabic (meaning all words stressed) unless you have a good reason.
- Don't play the futility of the situation.
- Invest more in the proposition of having the areopagites imagining themselves in your shoes.
- Play more with the vowels of words.
- Don't make faces on words like "pointless" and "evil".
- Link lines together. (I got this note on many specific lines.)
- Don't fall off vocal energy.
- Land lines (which means not only "sending and landing" as it did in Voice class last year, but also involves not letting them have a downward inflection pitch-wise... And I got this note on many specific lines.).
- Keep talking through while fighting to escape.
- Stop putting stress on words like "must", "not", and "don't".
- Pick up cue for final monologue faster (i.e. find a quicker impulse)
- In the phrase "who are our masters", be careful not to emphasize "our" because of trying to distinguish the vowel from "are".
- In the last monologue, highlight the words "happens" and "happened" with verbal quotation marks.

Despite all the notes, I think I made progress. There were a few lines that finally came out of me in a way that was natural and useful (even if getting there did involve not linking or landing for this rehearsal). So that's good. It's just incorporating everything that makes it difficult.


MYSTERY PLAYS
Another day, another rehearsal. We were all pretty tired (as is to be expected when you're rehearsing until 11pm on a Friday after having classes and rehearsals all week). But we're moving along. Head of Program said his goal was to have the whole play blocked by the end of rehearsal on Sunday.

Thursday, October 1

Highlight of my day? I made up some example sentences for the 1st-years' voice class. Earlier in the week, I wrote one for "g-l" endings:

"I giggle as I Google a gaggle of geese wearing goggles."

Tonight, I made up sentences with "t-l" and "d-l" endings.

- "I put on the kettle, and ladle a puddle of pancake mix onto the griddle."
- "A little kid'll waddle and toddle to get a rattle."
- "On American Idol, Paula would coddle, Randy was subtle, Kara would riddle, and Simon would battle."
- "They huddle like cattle as they meddle and tattle."
- "After my car was idle in the middle of Tuttle, I put the pedal to the metal."

Fun, fun.


VOICE
Voice Professor said today that we should buy highlighters and colored pencils because of how much we're going to have to mark on our texts during out upcoming scansion work.

Voice Professor prefers that with short lines in Shakespeare (aka lines that are in prose but have fewer than 5 feet) that we take the pause (of equal length to the missing syllables) AFTER the line. (Voice Professor calls this pause "howl at the wind" time, meaning that you're not JUST pausing, but also using that time for non-verbals)

In Voice class, when we come across an Ecphonesis "O", Voice Professor wants us to pronounce it as "O" (as opposed to Acting Professoressa who says we just need some sort of vocalized exclamation).


MOVEMENT
We did some leg stretches to prepare us for ballet using the bars. Movement Professor says that I have "ideal turnout", meaning that my toes can go out to opposite sides naturally and my legs have a lot of rotation. So that's good...

But as a result, I have to be really careful not to let my feet "sickle" when I'm trying to point them. Unfortunately, I'm still kind of confused about what "sickle" means. Movement Professor said that it has to do with keeping the line of from the hip socket to the foot, but that's not a concept that's easy for me to grasp. D-Train tried to simplify it for me by saying that I was over-curving my foot in the point, and after that, it seemed I was doing it right. But then Movement Professor said I had to make sure not to sickle when my feet were flexed, and then I got really confused.

We did more contact improv without mats. I was partnered with All-the-Way for the first time ever, which was fun. Both of us are used to being lifted more often than being lifters, so we had a couple of comedic off-balance moments. It was pretty entertaining. The only person left in class that I haven't been paired with is Two-Shots-Up, so I hope I get a chance to do so tomorrow (as tomorrow is our last day of contact improv -- *tear* -- before moving onto a 6 weeks of ballet).

I forgot to mention something that happened yesterday, so I'll mention it now. The boys were excused from class 30 minutes early so that the girls could have instruction on how to walk in high heels on stage. So entertaining. I'm wearing high-heel boots for one of my characters in The Mystery Plays, so I wore those. Movement Professor showed us a "Country Club" walk, a "Runway" walk, a "Power" walk, and a "41" walk (which is our code for how to walk like loose women). It was a ton of fun, and good bonding time for the five Ladies of '11.


ACTING
We ran Helen a few times, and it's going well, I think. Acting Professoressa said, "The chorus is doing so well, and it's such a big help in this play." I wrote it down because I'm in the chorus. ;)


MYSTERY PLAYS
We blocked some more of the first act. I show up in a couple of random "move on props" or "walk across stage" kinds of ways. Then we blocked my first scene as Amanda the Agent. I get rolled out sitting on a desk, which is way more fun for me than a 24-year-old should admit to. I may or may not have squealed "wheeeee!" while doing it.

The Director (Head of Program) says his goal is to get the entire play blocked by the end of rehearsal on Sunday. *fingers crossed*