Friday, April 16

This is the first day all week with all three of our normal classes. And it's the 2nd-to-last time (or "penultimate", for the fancy folk out there) that this will happen. Weird.


VOICE
We went over all the things we'll be doing for the Voice showing (which will be on Tuesday, from 10:00am-11:00am in the Allen Studio. The things the 2nd-years will be doing:

- I will be doing the monologue from The Importance of Being Earnest that all the ladies worked on for our British RP dialect unit.
- The whole class will be doing scenes from Play It Again, Sam that we worked on in our New York dialect unit
- Big Show & Wifey will be doing a scene from Juno and the Paycock that we worked on in our Irish dialect unit

It's been awhile since we've done RP, so I'm slightly rusty on the monologue, but Voice Professor thinks I'm going to be just fine. I got 100% on both of my RP exams, so she has faith in me.


MOVEMENT
We started a new scenario for Commedia that is based off of some of the stuff that worked the last time we did Commedia.

It is HARD. There are so many times when other parts of the scene are active instead of mine, so I have to stay frozen. But my type, Vittoria, stands on one leg, or in positions that appear unbalanced. It's REALLY HARD to keep those positions for 5 minutes at a time while Movement Professor works with other people. At one point, I had to be frozen in a semi-upside-down state with my legs in the air, and I got so dizzy that I had to stop and lay down. Oh man. My limbs are going to be hurting tomorrow.


ACTING
We did as much of a run as we could of the scenes, although All-The-Way, Killer, and Wifey were out sick.

General notes:
- pick up cues!!!
- the antidote for list-making = internal Landing
- Organize backstage area with Wifey on Tuesday
- footwear is important. Shoes make a profound difference in getting your subconscious to play along with you.


Richard III notes:
- showing too much on face. Especially at "praying nuns" and "beauteous princely daughter"
- Link 1st 2 lines
- "Life" is apex of the list "comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life!"
- "Be brief, lest that..." -- link
- move head less
- "Well then, who dost thou mean shall be her king" -- link
- "Ay, and for her sake" -- monosyllabic
- work on Stillness
- "What were I best to say?" -- quieter
- "Too deep and dead, too deep and dead, poor infants..." -- don't breathe, keep building
- Don't grind on "Harp on it still shall I till heartstrings break"
- faster cue on "Yet thou didst kill my children"


All's Well That Ends Well notes:
- sit on the line "Mine honor's such a ring."
- "When midnight comes..." - pick up cue
- Go SL instead of SR on "My mother told me..."



HOMEWORK
Acting Professoressa wants Big Show and I to get together over the weekend and rehearse our Richard III scene while doing some sort of ballroom dancing.

I have to brush up my RP dialect, and re-memorize my New York dialect scene. And also print out copies of both, just in case.

I have to try to write down as much as possible of what I remember of Commedia. (Which will end with me getting more things for Ruffiana's stew, and missing Flavio entirely).

I have to buy glitter to stand in for Cayenne pepper.

I have to get props with my classmates on Sunday.

I have to work on the end of my Stuffed Turkey monologue.

I have to solidify all my costumes. For everything.

Acting II Summer Homework

I just realized that I never put this letter on here, so I figured it was better late than never. :) We received it from Acting Professoressa on April 21, 2009.

Dear First-Year Students,

Congratulations on completing your first year of training. I know it hasn't always been easy. You have a lot to be proud of.

As you know, the second year focuses on the classics. Here's what you will need to have when you come back to [town].

1. Actions, The Actors' Thesaurus, but Marina Calderone & Maggie Lloyd-Williams, Nick Hern Books, London (http://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk)

2. A copy of the complete works of Shakespeare, Riverside Edition. These regularly turn up second-hand, in used book stores or online, for far less the rather steep price of a new copy.

3. A Shakespeare glossary. The one-volume version by C.T. Onions is fine. For more depth, you may wish to invest in the two-volume edition by Alexander Schmidt.

4. Playing Shakespeare by John Barton.

5. The Greeks, translated by Kenneth Cavender. This script is out of print. You will need to get a photo-copy made from my master. I will ask that one of your reps see me and take on the responsibility of organizing this effort. Please come to first class next fall having read this text.

6. Mythology by Edith Hamilton. Used paperback editions of this text are widely available. Please comt to first class next fall having read...

- Chapter 13: The Trojan War (Part Four: The Heroes of the Trojan War)
- Chapter 14: The Fall of Troy (Part Four: The Heroes of the Trojan War)
- Chapter 17: The House of Atreus (Part Five: The Great Families of Mythology)
- Chapter 18: Agamemnon and His Children (Part Five: The Great Families of Mythology)


I'm very much looking forward to our work together next year. You have my best wishes for a happy summer. With affection,

[Acting Professoressa]

Wednesday, August 26

Voice
Voice Professor says that we will at some point work on an Irish dialect this year (urban Dublin). So cool!

Today, we just spent all of class revisiting our tremor positions. Today was 1st Position, 2nd Position, Dying Cockroach, Arm Tremor, and Half-Plow. I think we'll do the rest tomorrow.

I really have no endurance when it comes to destructuring. I think it's because of how violent my tremors are. After about 30 seconds in a position, I'm work out. I hadn't done 2nd-Position or Dying Cockroach in a long time (2nd because I have easily-injured hip sockets that don't like it; Dying Cockroach because it's too intense a tremor and I can't control).


Movement
We started with Clouding. Today was the first time that I had ever been clouded, and it was kinda scary for me. The basic concept is that one person "falls up" into the air, and everyone else uses their hands to support the person's movements. It's kind of like a really advanced version of the game "light as a feather, stiff as a board" that people played in middle school. Everyone went today. It's not that I don't trust my classmates (because I truly do); it's just freaky to look down from that position.

After that, we started with the basics of an exercise called "Little Bears", which is apparently a version of contact improvisation. Two people would get on their hands and knees next to each other, and try to synchronize their breaths, and then their impulses. I didn't go today. It seemed trickier than you might think.


Acting
Acting Professoressa started off by having us review what we talked about yesterday (she says it's always a good idea to do so). She then started telling us about her expectations of us for her class.

Expectations:
- At the first read/rehearsal of new material, come in with the basic questions answered. Understand everything you're saying. Have an approach to try out. Have somewhere to go. And, most importantly, come in with a "need" already mapped out.
- Take the challenge of technical mastery seriously. This is especially true of the clear, clean use of language.
- Don't "hit the clear button" from class to class. Mentally go over what you've learned after class to make sure it's going to stay in your brain. Synthesize the work from all classes. Bring it all in and make it work for you.
- Be a good colleague.
- Avoid working out of a fear of failure. Don't pull back because you're trying to not get notes. Be hungry for notes. And when you get them, say "thank you" or "okay". If you have questions, clear them up in a polite way before your next run. Remember notes the FIRST TIME you get them.
- Budget your time well.
- Do the homework.
- Have drive about what you want to achieve.

At one point, Acting Professoressa compared acting to Harry Potter, and I totally geeked out. She said that Harry has to leave the muggle world and enter the wizard world to be successful. This is similar to the actor leaving their own world to enter the world of the character. They are both realities (Reality #1 and Reality #2, respectively, as she calls them).

She says that when you get a character, you have to put it in a centrifuge (like they do with blood on crime shows) to figure out what all the components are. Some of the most important traits to "test for" are things like "What does the character think morality means?", "What is the character's greatest fear?", and "What are the implications if the character fails to get his/her need met?" (and they'd better be huge).

We started playing some Status scenes. Status reflects the relative position of social standing. The rules of the scenes were:

- The high status character is seated.
- The low status character enters through the door, as though they have been called to enter the room.
- The high status character reads a recipe aloud. (Acting Professoressa gave us the recipes to read)
- The high status character stands up and walks over to the low status character.
- The high status character smiles.
- The high status character exits.

I noticed that in most of the pairings of my classmates, certain patterns began to form.

Low status:
- Standing still
- Looking down or directly at the high status person
- Nodding

High status:
- older in age
- condescending
- angry/upset/bad mood
- sitting still
- slow, deliberate speech

So, when it was my turn, I decided to kind of experiment with things. Because if you can't experiment in graduate school, then when can you?

When I was the Low Status person, I tried having like 8 other things on my mind. I fidgeted and wandered. I was staring upwards or perhaps off into the distance (trying to recall if we had all ingredients in the pantry). All-The-Way (who was the High Status person) was really intimidating. She gave me so much to work off of, which was awesome. By the end, I had turned into someone really kind of nervous and frightened.

When I was high status, I tried being young, excitable, and hyper-active. I was REALLY EXCITED about the recipe, and was trying to get the low-status person (Killer) excited, too. I also tried being a fast-talker, which made Killer's job (presumably as the servant who was going to have to make said recited recipe) very difficult (because he had no idea how he was going to remember the recipe).

Acting Professoressa seemed to be in support of my experiments. But after the Low Status one, she advised me to "be careful of leaking" instead of "trying to fix the problem" in the scene. She said that I did a good job of seeming like a real person (instead of a slave), but that I was wearing all the emotions instead of just feeling them.


Homework
Our homework for Acting class is a pairs assignment, preparing for some improvisation scene-work for tomorrow. My partner is Two-Shots-Up, so we got together tonight to work on our scenario. Here are the guidelines that Acting Professoressa gave us.

YIN-YANG EXERCISES

1. Establish the relationship. Make the relationship important. (Don't choose you and the waiter who serves you lunch.)

2. Establish "X." "X" is the subject of the conflict, the desired, needed object in the problem. Make it specific. The person in the room has "X." He or she should have very strong reasons for denying "X" to the partner. The person coming into the room wants "X." He or she must have a very strong objective -- to get "X" or to achieve "X." "X" might be an incriminating letter, for example. Getting or refusing to relinquish "X" should have very important consequences. (Not a pizza, for instance.)

3. The person in the room must have an independent life need that doesn't anticipate the arrival of the person coming into the room. This independent life need must have some urgency attached to it. It might take the form of dressing to go to a job interview, for example. It must be important. (Hint: bring props.)

4. The conflict must be built in. That is, today is not the first time you've discussed the fact that the person coming into the room wants "X." Nor is it the first time the person in the room has denied "X." All the arguments for and against have been hashed out before. The person coming into the room must decide why is the issue hot today. What is it that allows you and compels you to come in and try again?

5. This is not a course in screen writing. Originality isn't what's important. Simply work toward developing given circumstances that have potential to activate something deep in you and in your partner.

6. A note to the person in the room: if you and your partner decide that your "packing" includes having been treated badly by that partner, make sure that enough time has passed since the injury to allow for you to have, to some extent, recovered.

7. Partners should agree on all the given circumstances of their past lives. If they were formerly married, for instance, how long did the marriage last? The course the conflict has taken is also to be agreed on. Do not discuss with your partner anything to do with your independent life need (in the cast of the person in the room) or the "why today" issue (in the case of the person coming into the room).

8. Remember that partners should discuss only three things:
- Given Circumstances
- Relationship
- X


I just realized while typing this up that we may have done it a little bit wrong... I'll let you know how it goes.

~A~

Monday, March 23

First off, congratulations to Big Show who went on in one of his understudy roles for The Winter's Tale last weekend!

Thursday, most of my classmates and I headed to the props storage facility (which is the biggest props storage facility I've ever seen in my life. How big is it, you ask? It's the building where the Conservatory USED to be, years ago. Props are stored in every classroom, studio, office, and performance space. It's insane. We went for the purpose of gathering props for our Chekhov project for Acting class. Among other things, we borrowed a fake baby, a mismatched Silver Service (assembled by All-the-Way), a hanging plant, and some picture frames (someone had the idea that we should put a picture of Acting Professor in one of them and treat it like he's our dead father -- I thought that was pretty great).

I have a costume for Másha that I borrowed from 3rd-year MT (she played Másha in her first year and still had her black dress), so I should be okay for tomorrow. I don't have a good hat for the character, but we have a substitute sort of rehearsal hat that I think will work for now until we can fill out the proper paperwork for the costume shop.

I read Orestes 2.O and A Nearly Normal Life by Charles L. Mee. Probably should've read A Nearly Normal Life (his memoir) first, as Analysis Professor recommended. But no, I'm a stubborn fool and insisted that I could understand the play without it. The play? Good. Confusing. And when I finished it, I felt dirty. The memoir? All about how Charles L. Mee had Polio as a teenager, and now he writes in a fractured style about imperfect worlds, because that's what is truer to his experience. It may be madness, and yet I see the method in it. (Yes, I just paraphrased Shakespeare.)

I did the IPA on the whole monologue from The Wood Demon. I literally looked up every single word (I figured it couldn't hurt). It wasn't TOO bad, although it made it clear to me that I DO have some of the Midwestern vowels that I thought I'd escaped (Voice Professor says I'm good with self-diagnosis). Mine are not as pronounced as most, which is why I haven't gotten much criticism on them, but they're there. It's difficult for me to say the word "man" with the correct vowel, instead of widening it and giving the "a" a hint of "ee" (if people have it strongly, "man" almost sounds like "mee-yun"). I've been working on it.

The most difficult words for me so far:
- calculating: 'kælkjəleItIŋ/kælkjʊleItIŋ (the "-cu" part should start with a "ky-" and have the vowel of "rut" or "foot", NOT "tube"... I keep incorrectly saying it like the "cu" in "cute".)
- for: fɔr (vowel is like the "aw" in "law")
- forestry: 'fɔrɛstri (first vowel is like the "aw" in "law")
- happiness: 'hæpInIs (sounds like "HAP-ih-nihs", NOT "HAP-ee-nihs")
- husband: 'h^zbənd (sounds like "HUZ-bund", NOT "HUZ-bind", "HUZ-band", or "HUZ-bend")
- married: 'mærid (first vowel is like the first one in "apple")
- more: mɔr (vowel is like the "aw" in "law")
- of: ɒv (has a 'v' consonant, not an 'f')
- or: ɔr (vowel is like the "aw" in "law")
- tormenting: 'tɔrmɛntIŋ (first vowel is like the "aw" in "law")
- very: vɛri (first vowel is an "eh" like in "met", not like "air")
- your/you're: yɔr (vowel is like the "aw" in "law")

I'm not sure if we're pronouncing the name "Sonya" as "'soʊnjə" or 'sɒnjə" (so that the first vowel sounds like "sew", or so that the first syllable rhymes with "on"). I also don't know if we're saying "laughing" as "læfIŋ" or "lafIŋ" (the first is like "apple", the second is decidedly more British... almost like "father"). I guess I'll ask tomorrow.

I tried to do some tumbling on my own, but there's just not really a safe place to do it. I did some donkey kicks, back bends, rolling, and cartwheels in my living room. I don't think it's wise for me to do much else without Movement Professor watching anyway.

I'm not as memorized as I probably should be on Three Sisters, but I hope it will be enough. The worrisome part is mostly just trying to remember cue lines. A lot of what Másha says are lines of random reactions to other people. So many people on stage at the same time makes things trickier than our usual whatnot in that class.

I hope I'm ready for classes to start again tomorrow. Tuesdays are always the hardest for me, as I have class from 9:00-12:00, student rep meeting at 12:15, and then class from 1:00-5:30. After two weeks off, it's going to be a rough adjustment going back to that.

~A~

Tuesday, March 17

Saturday night I spent some time dressed as a "colonial townswoman" for a Development event for the theatre. It was a dinner out on the beach, and we watched the sunset as we ate. It was really rather lovely. And being in costume was all kinds of fun. :)

Sunday I finally got to see Miss Julie (directed by Acting Professor, starring three 2nd-years), and it was SO GOOD. I love watching other people apply the techniques that I'm learning. Also, four of my 1st-year classmates who are crewing the show were recruited to be servants in the play (All-The-Way, D-Train, Newbie, & Wifey), and have a neat movement scene in the middle. It was so exciting to see them up there! I'm very proud.

Yesterday, Two-Shots-Up and I got together to go over some lines for Three Sisters. I still have a LOT of work to do on that...

I have successfully IPA-ed the monologue from The Wood Demon. Now I have to get the language into my mouth properly, and then I can start memorizing it.

Today I plan to read Orestes by Charles Mee.

A little bit at a time is going to be the best way to get all my work done, I think. Thank goodness for break.

~A~

Monday, February 23

Understudying
This weekend we had two understudy rehearsals for The Winter's Tale. Sadly, we had to do them in a rehearsal room because the ballet is performing this weekend. The result of this? It means that when we do Act IV and Act V at our understudy run, it will be the first time that any of us has done that blocking on the set.

I'm doing... alright. The first day we did the end of the play, and I ended up giving up and carrying my script for the final scene. Which is upsetting, but then I remembered that it was the FIRST TIME that I had ever rehearsed those lines with people other than myself. I just need to work the lines and blocking on my own, and I'm sure it'll be fine.

The second day was better. I went script-less for most of it, and I got all of the blocking without being reminded of it.

If I had to go on for Winter's Tale tomorrow, it would be rough, but I think the show would go on. (Well... except for the "Music, awake her, strike" monologue at the end... That might still be a little... paraphrased).

Our actual understudy run isn't until April 11. I'm praying that the actress playing the role doesn't get sick between now and then, because I'd really like to be able to rehearse the second half of the play on the set before performing it. I'm sure it would work itself out, but the experience of trying it on the set would make me a lot more confident about the whole thing.


Theatre
This weekend includes not one, but TWO late nights (student-produced theatre events).

Sunday night I went to see a reading of a fairly new play called "Breathe". It's about two young boys who are in jail for separate murders, and the ways that their families are dealing with it. The cast was Thrill, D-Train, Two-Shots-Up, and a few 2nd and 3rd-years. I was glad to see that several of my schoolmates and some people from the community came out to support it, even though it meant missing the end of the Oscars.

Tonight I'm going to the "Poetry Mixtape", which Iceman put together. He's done a lot of performance poetry in the past, so he assembled a group to put on the show. I'm looking forward to it.


Voice
I received the following email from Voice Professor regarding my Vonnegut test in Acting class:

hi Angela,
Excellent open expressive vocal work!
Strong S&L
Strong application of speech to acting, great!
Good vocal energy, even during whispered lines

I struggled a lot last semester with staying "on voice", keeping vocal energy, and sending & landing my lines when I was actually in scenes (as opposed to just focusing on them in class). I've been working hard, and I'm so, so, so, so proud that I'm getting better at this stuff.

Now, if only I can stop locking my knees when I act...


Homework
It turns out the 2nd-years ALSO have to read Bus Stop and Morning's at Seven by Tuesday. The reading part isn't the problem; the obtaining copies of the plays on such short notice that's the problem.

I got really lucky, and bought probably the last copy of Bus Stop in town (the store said they didn't have it, but I went there anyway to look... It was there in an anthology that was horribly mis-alphabetized). I read it immediately and passed it off to Killer, who said he'd pass it to All-the-Way, who said she'd pass it to Wifey. Big Show checked a copy of Morning's at Seven out of the library, which I read and passed to All-the-Way. I hope that everyone can pass all the plays around and get them read in time. *fingers crossed*

I still have to finish Mother Courage and Her Children by tomorrow as well.

Now I just have to find time to do my grocery shopping...

~A~

Wednesday, February 18

Movement
Tumbling! Turns out, my right side is way more educated than my left side. I was having all sorts of trouble trying to do "ah-oos" (they're sort of like modified cartwheels) on my left side. But then when I tried the other side, it was a piece of cake. Two-Shots-Up had the opposite problem. Movement Professor says that means that I have a right-sided body, and Two-Shots-Up has a left-sided body. All exercises are going to be stronger on our more educated sides.

We learned a way to do cartwheels that is different from the one I was familiar with. We're doing our rotations completely in our side plane, as opposed to facing the leading foot. The idea is that it will better prepare us to do one-handed cartwheels. It's a little tricky to get used to, but I'm starting to get it.


Voice
Voice Professor informed me today that I'm "an adjuster", meaning that I have a tendency to drop whatever exercise we were just working on completely when asked to do another task, in favor of adjusting back to my (incorrect) habits. Drat.

Today it came up when we were working with forward placement, and then she asked me to speak some text. Once she told me that, I spoke the text again with forward placement and did fine. Somehow, I didn't connect that I was supposed to apply the exercise to the text until it was pointed out to me. But at least I think I understand the physical difference between the two. I'm hopeful that I'll start figuring out how to apply it tomorrow.

Voice Professor says that in this part of Florida, February is the worst month for mucus. Which is probably why half of my class sounds a bit phlegm-y right now. Blergh.


Acting
Voice Professor attended class to start giving us vocal notes before our test on Friday.

We discussed how in our current project (adapting short stories into scenes), we're not only focusing on truth for the actor (as we were last semester), but now also have to keep the truth of the character and truth of the author.

Other things mentioned:
- You need to earn your pauses. If you pause after every line, the pauses lose weight and your scene loses momentum.
- You have to release every emotion/impulse, or you end up being cut-off in the scene.
- Impulses can carry you through many lines if you let them. You can't wait for a new impulse for every line, or the scene won't go anywhere.
- You should never hold yourself. You should let out everything you have while you're on the stage. Once a scene is played, you shouldn't want to (or be able to) play it again immediately. If you can, it's a sign that you didn't put everything you had into it the first time around.
- You have to be careful not to enter into a "movement storm", doing random things while on stage, as it could hinder your ability to follow your impulses and connect with your partner (although we have at least one person in our class, Big Show, who does a pretty great job of following his impulses DESPITE his movement storms).
- You can't let there be anything precious about acting a scene. You have to feel things and just go with them.
- Do not portion your breath when acting. It makes your voice passive, undynamic, and small.
- You shouldn't play the problem in the scene; you should solve the problem.

Understudying
I was going to attend The Winter's Tale tonight, but decided instead to go to the student lounge and watch the archival tape we have of the performance. I only watched the scenes that Paulina (the character I'm understudying) is in. I'd watch the scene once. Then the second time, I'd pause at all my cue lines and try to say the correct line. I'd then hit play and see if I got it right. I think I'm doing alright, but the real test will be at our rehearsals this coming weekend.


Homework
For Analysis class tomorrow, our assignment is to read most of Brecht on Theatre and do some research into it. Wish me luck.

Wednesday, February 11

Movement
We continued doing alignment work focusing on our arms. My arms and torso are pretty loose parts of my body already, so I don't always feel the effects of what we're doing right away. But for some of my classmates, these things are helping a lot. Big Show said today that something Movement Professor did to his arm made it feel better than it has in years (he had an old injury there). It's good to know that the things we're doing are working, even though it's not always easy to feel the differences in myself.


Voice
More IPA practice exams to prepare us for the real thing on Friday. I tried to do mine today without using my vowel chart (as we won't be able to on the real test). I got one of the symbols for a diphthong wrong, but I knew what I meant. :) The word that proved the trickiest for me today was "firefly". The first syllable has a triphthong in it, which I didn't hear when I was writing it out. Oh well. I'm still doing a lot better on this stuff than I was.

I'm starting to understand the "All/Honest/Fathers" differentiations. It turns out that this is one case in which being "seduced by the spellings" of words (something that Voice Professor usually warns against) is not always a bad idea.

Voice Professor gave us a take-home practice exam. I can already tell you that the word I'm not sure on is "children" (I THINK that the last syllable has the "met" vowel, but I wouldn't be shocked if it's the "sit" vowel or the "run" vowel). In theory, I could just look it up in my pronunciation dictionary, but somehow that feels like cheating (even though this is only a practice test, and it is not being graded... I am moral beyond defensible logic, apparently).


Acting
We're still chugging along on our Vonnegut scenes. Big Show and Wifey had a particularly emotion-filled run of theirs today. All-the-Way and Iceman have found a really layered and complex take on theirs. In general, everyone is just really doing great work. More importantly, everyone is consistently improving. Our characters are growing, our stories are growing, and clearly we are growing as actors.


Homework
I got together with my group for Analysis class briefly to discuss how we're diving up things for our presentation on the use of imagery in Titus Andronicus. There's so much of it... I hope that the four of us will be able to squeeze everything into our allotted 25 minutes.


Tech
I've had box office duty several times recently (I filled in for Killer tonight, as he was going on in The Imaginary Invalid again). One of the people who worked there asked me if I thought that working there was teaching me anything that would help me in the future. I told her that more than anything, it has shown me how much people in box offices get abused. I will always be kind and patient to them, especially when asking for comps. :)

Monday, February 2

Okay, first of all, how did it get to be February?


Stage Combat Workshop
The 1st-years were given permission to observe the 2nd-years certification exam. The exam is in two parts. In the first, the actors do the fight that they've been working on in the context of a scene, to show that they can safely use their choreography in a way that forwards a story. In the second part, the SAFD Master shows them new moves (to see if they've just learned one fight, or if they've learned HOW to fight). There are only 11 Masters in the USA right now, and they do all the recognition exams.

I am happy to report that all of the 2nd-years passed their exam with flying colors, and are now all recognized as actor-combatants in unarmed combat by the SAFD!

It was really cool to watch, and the Master guy even let the 1st-years who came participate in the second part a bit.

I'm glad I went. I'm so much less nervous now about the certification process than I was before. I'm confident that my whole class is going to pass next year.



On Camera Workshop
I wish the Film Students were ALWAYS in our town. They were so much fun to work with, and I think we ALL learned a great deal from the experience.

We spent the weekend shooting scenes. My scene partner (2nd-year BW) and I shot the same scene with two different directors (once on Saturday, once on Sunday). They had different interpretations of what was going on in the scene, and it was neat to see how that ended up playing out in the final product.

One of the things that I thought was especially cool was watching how each of the directors edited things together from the different takes. So much of the story-telling is done in editing. I had no idea.

We watched all of the scenes as a group (actors and directors), which was a lot of fun. It's interesting how differently we all looked at the same product, though. Due to the differences in our training, we're focusing on different things. When I was on screen, I kept thinking about my sibilant "s" sounds, and watching myself deny impulses. But when I spoke with directors, they commented on things like lighting and continuity.

After watching them, we had a discussion about what directors want from actors, and what actors want from directors. It was then that I realized that I'd been treating that film project differently than I approach theatre, and not in a good way. I'd been looking at it less as a collaborative effort and more as trying to do what the director wanted. On stage, you're an asset if you bring in your own ideas. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that it's the same in film.

All in all, it was an incredibly valuable experience, and I hope that we're able to do it again next year. I also hope I get the chance to work with these directors again. I know that they're going to need actors for film projects they're doing this summer, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone thinks of me for something.


Homework
Tonight we came back to reality after a week of workshops.

I got together with Thrill and Two-Shots-Up to work on our Shakespeare homework. We went through the scene we're dissecting from King Lear line by line to make sure that we knew what was happening in all of it. The homework assignment we have is rather like our sonnet paraphrase. We have to go through the whole scene looking up every word (or at least every word that might've meant something different to Shakespeare than it means to us), and write out all the possible definitions that we find (in as many sources as possible), then marking the ones that were most helpful to us. Then we have to go through and paraphrase the scene, keeping as much of the sense of the original text as possible.

We also worked on our Voice homework, which I think was to make lists of ten words each (and IPA) for the vowels in "honest" and "father". And I realized, I seriously do not understand the "honest" vowel. I don't think I use one. Every word that is on our example page for "honest" sounds like a different vowel to me.

For example:

- "omlette" is the "honest" vowel, and "Amish" is the "father" vowel. I say the "om/Am" exactly the same for both.

- "laurel" is the "honest" vowel, but I say it "or" (although I'm probably saying "or" incorrectly as well).

- "long" is the "honest" vowel, but I say it like "law".

Actually, I'm pretty sure I even say "honest" with the "father" vowel. And therefore, I am confused to no end. I'm pretty sure that whatever I turn in tomorrow is going to be completely wrong.

Tuesday, January 20

Audition Workshop with Carl Forsman
It occurs to me that I never wrote about this. Whoops. Basically, it was set up vaguely like an audition would be, with someone pretending to be the Reader and the other person being an auditioning actor (a reader is someone who sits in a chair and reads the lines of the other character in the scene for you while you audition). Then Carl would give us some notes, and we'd try it again.

I was the reader twice. The second time, it was for a scene in The Hollow... and since it's an Agatha Christie play, Carl wanted us to use British accents. The problem? We haven't actually been trained in dialect work yet. I did the best accent I could muster, but I was incredibly self-conscious about it.

My scene from Merton of the Movies went pretty well, I thought. I was the last person to go, so I had the benefit of watching the adjustments that Carl had given to my compatriots first. He only gave me one note, and after my second time through the scene said, "Wow, that was a major change. That was way more improved than I thought it would be." (Which then immediately made me wonder how bad it must've been the first time through...) Anyway. I think it went pretty well.

I have to say, though, hearing Carl talk about the industry was a little discouraging. He was talking about how many headshots he gets, and how he weeds through them to call people into audition for things. It made me feel like even getting auditions is hopeless. And then I promptly had one of those moments of, "Why couldn't I just have a normal job?" But after about 24 hours I remembered how much I love doing this, and that I wouldn't be happy doing anything else. Yes, it's going to be hard, but my need to do it is too great to ignore.


Movement
We finally had a real movement class again today! My Movement Professor commented how much better my alignment is. I guess all the "Daily Dozen" work and the Anatomy Coloring Book assignments I've had have been paying off. :)

We worked with our movement monologues, and it was so much more fun than any of us remembered. We were following our movement impulses and allowing the text to follow. We were specifically instructed to explore high areas (with your feet off the ground... like jumping and leaping) and low areas (with your head at least as low as your knees would be if you were standing). It was very freeing. I'm excited to continue developing it this week.


Voice
We had our Sending-And-Landing exam today, and I felt pretty good about it. But man, every time I have to say a line like, "...and a black baby lamb with a bell in its tail," or, "F*** Nerval! I wanna dishwasher," or, "I don't have any housewife s***. I want some stuff ladies have," I sort of want to laugh.


Acting
Another exam. (Why does it always seem like we have two in one day?) It was on observations of animals, inanimate objects, professional skills, and people. Each of us had to do 3 of the 4. Here was our order:

Big Show - Person (Ernie)
Thrill - Object (Chair)
D-Train - Person (Mourice)
Iceman - Animal (Cow)
All-the-Way - Professional Skill (Pastry Chef)
Two-Shots-Up - Person (Lenore)
Me - Professional Skill (Floral Designer)
Killer - Animal (Squirrel)
O.D. - Person (The Reverend)
Newbie - Professional Skill (Cake Decorator)
Wifey - Animal (Cockatiel)
Big Show - Animal (Lizard)
Thrill - Person (Sally)
Iceman - Person (Tyler)
D-Train - Object (Vacuum Cleaner)
All-the-Way - Person (Ally)
D-Train - Professional Skill (Barrista)
Two-Shots-Up - Professional Skill (Massage Therapist)
Me - Animal (Flamingo)
Killer - Person (Twitch)
O.D. - Object (Pencil Sharpener)
Newbie - Person (Matthew)
Wifey - Professional Skill (Hair Colorist)
Big Show - Professional Skill (Wine Maker)
Thrill - Animal (Dog)
Iceman - Professional Skill (Painter)
All-the-Way - Animal (Sea Lion)
Two-Shots-Up - Object (Grab & Go/Claw Machine)
Me - Object (Inflatable Mattress)
Killer - Professional Skill (Butcher)
O.D. - Animal (Tortoise)
Wifey - Person (Kim)
Newbie - Object (Stapler)

Actually, that last one is a lie... We didn't get to Newbie's stapler (but 32 observations in 110 minutes is pretty darn good, I think).

They went really well! I didn't think to take a picture of my floral design thing, but maybe I will tomorrow.

But here are some pictures of Adrian, the baby flamingo I've been observing:


He's grey because he's a baby. He'll turn all pink when he gets older.

I took this video with my camera, and Adrian walked right up to me at the end of it (he snuck up on me, which is why I stopped filming... that's my voice, calling him baby). He's pretty shy around people (and around other flamingos, actually) because he's a baby. But because I've been observing him, he's getting pretty comfortable with me.

Cute, right? (By the way, the fact that there's a place down the street from my grad school where flamingos will eat out of your hand? Freaking awesome.)


Analysis
There were two group presentations today regarding Elizabethan society. The first was on the monarchy (and hoo, boy, was it crazy) and the second was on madness (or "melancholy", which they thought may have been caused by an excess of black bile). Interesting stuff. We're going to discuss King Lear (which I haven't started... whoops) on Thursday.


Homework
I spent some time this weekend working on my Paulina lines for Winter's Tale, but I still feel like a disaster. The show opens Friday, which means I should be ready to theoretically perform on Friday in case of emergency. Let's just say that as an opening night gift I will be giving the actress I'm understudying a big box of Airbourne, along with a card telling her to break a leg and begging her not to get sick.

Tonight, I'll be starting King Lear and probably coloring in my Anatomy book a little (I swear each one of those pages takes me at least 20 minutes because of how complex it is). And I'll probably glance at the text of my Movement Monologue, because I was paraphrasing all over the place today.


Much love,

~A~

Thursday, January 15

Ballroom Workshop
I have to say, I think we've come a long way with the waltzing. It still isn't perfect, but we've improved a great deal. If any of us gets famous enough to be on Dancing with the Stars, I don't think we'll be kicked out in the first week. :)

We started choreographing a routine a bit, but I don't know how much we'll get done. Tomorrow is our last day of this workshop. Apparently we're going to learn a little snippet of polka, so that should be fun.


Voice
I tried to send-and-land the text today as my Voice Professor had one hand on my stomach and the other on my ribs. It doesn't sound like a huge deal (and is actually minimally invasive), but it makes you hyper-aware of every movement in your body. It's a bit jarring. I'm actually doing pretty well with my rib swing, as it turns out. I don't seem to have a problem with landing final words, which is a common issue. Rather, I occasionally invert my rib swing or take too many rib swings, breaking up the text more than I should.

As a side note, while I'm learning how to breathe, send, and land, all my acting goes completely out the window. One thing at a time, I guess.


Acting
Just showed observations, as usual. :)

Inanimate Object:
D-Train - Vacuum Cleaner
Iceman - Emo Hoodie
Two-Shots-Up - Claw Machine

Person:
Killer
Two-Shots-Up

Professional Skills:
Iceman - Painter
Newbie - Cake Decorator
O.D. - Gardener
Thrill - Fisherman
Wifey - Hair Colorist

So if my notes are correct, we have a lot to get to tomorrow before we decide what our exam is going to consist of (each of us will show two of our things at an exam on Tuesday). Five animals (All-The-Way, Big Show, Killer, Newbie, and Wifey) and two people (Wifey and me). Hopefully it'll all go swimmingly.


Analysis
My group presented the book The Elizabethan World Picture by E.M.W. Tillyard. If you (or someone you know) is interested in Shakespeare, tell them to read it. I'll be honest, it's not a "fun" read; it's dense and complex. But it's pretty short and once you read it, you really end up with a better handle on Shakespeare's world (and the audience for which he wrote). More than that, you'll understand more references he makes in his plays (e.g. when Lady Macbeth says, "Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?", the audience would've understood that Duncan was sanguine).

O.D. did our introduction. I specifically focused on "Order" and "Sin", as well as the Elements and the Humours. All-the-Way & Killer focused on "The Chain" and "The Links of the Chain". D-Train spoke about "The Correspondences". Miraculously, we presented on the entire thing in about 50 minutes (we were originally supposed to have 90). I'm pretty pleased.

We spent a long period of time talking about the sonnet paraphrasing that we had done. It's important when reading poetic text that you don't ignore anything in it, and also that you don't add things into it that aren't there.

As this is probably the first homework assignment I've had that can actually go onto a blog with relative ease, I'll share mine with you. The assignment was to research every possible meaning of the words in the sonnet, and also to look at past interpretations. Then, we had to paraphrase it in a way that kept the original meaning in tact as much as possible (with a sense of flowery language), but made it easier to understand.

Sonnet 54
O, how much more doth beauty beauteous seem
By that sweet ornament which truth doth give!
The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem
For that sweet odour which doth in it live.
The canker-blooms have full as deep a dye
As the perfumed tincture of the roses,
Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly
When summer's breath their masked buds discloses.
But, for their virtue only is their show,
They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade;
Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;
Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made;
And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall vade, my verse distils your truth.

And this is how I paraphrased it (broken down into the three quatrains and the couplet):

O! How much more attractive beautiful things appear when they are enhanced by the decoration of a delightful spirit! Roses are beautiful, but we believe them to be even more gorgeous because of the lovely fragrance that they exude.

Wild poppies are just as red as sweet-smelling roses. They have similar thorns, and they are just as seductive when breezes unfold their disguised petals.

But they are only as effective as roses in appearance. They are undesired, and they are ignored when they lose their beauty (just like what happens to handsome shallow people as they age). They die alone. Sweet roses do not die alone. When they leave for heaven, beautiful perfumes are made out of them. They live on, even more beautiful than they were before.

You are like the sweet roses, my handsome and lovable young friend. Your beauty will fade, but this sonnet I wrote for you will preserve the essence of your spirit, which is even more lovely than your physical beauty.


I actually thought that assignment was a lot of fun. We're going to be reading a couple of Shakespeare plays this semester, and I'm stoked. It's like playtime for my brain! (Yes, I'm a huge geek.)

~A~

Wednesday, January 14

The coolest thing to happen to me today? I read this list of the 100 Best Blogs for Film and Theater Students, and this blog was on it! I'm #48, baby!

Ballroom Workshop
Man, it's hard not to lead. And I never notice that I'm doing it until someone (usually D-Train) points it out to me. Have GOT to work on that.

We waltzed to "Dancing" from Hello, Dolly! for most of the day, which meant you really had to listen to the music, as the tempo changes frequently. We also worked on spins, which were great fun (if occasionally dizzying).

Voice
More of our sending-and-landing work with text. I didn't go today, but I'm already concerned that I might be breathing incorrectly... I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Acting
We didn't get to very much today, because our professor lectured a great deal.

I did my floral design professional skill observation, and it didn't go terrifically well. I think I was concentrating too much on precision with my movements and not enough about artistry. *sigh*

Professional Skills:
D-Train - Barrista
Killer - Butcher
Me - Floral Designer

People:
All-The-Way
Newbie (nickname still not yet established)

I think that was it. Which means we have a TON to get through tomorrow.

Homework
Now that I'm back from working the box office, I have to get to work on my part of a group presentation for Analysis class tomorrow on The Elizabethan World Picture. I'm taking the subjects of "Order" and "Sin". Should be interesting.

I also really have to work on my "person" observation before tomorrow. I feel like I still don't really understand how to use the essence of the person I observed. I pray that it'll go alright tomorrow, but I'm pretty nervous for it.

And I feel like I am SO FAR BEHIND on memorizing my lines for The Winter's Tale. It opens a week from Friday! I'm going to eat, sleep, and BREATHE that text this weekend.


~A~

Monday, January 12

I know we just got back from break, but I feel like I need some time off.

I observed another floral designer for several hours this morning. I'm really not sure how it's going to go when I try to show the skill. I'm showing my inanimate object tomorrow, my professional skill Wednesday, and my person on Thursday.

I went to what was supposed to be a run-through of Winter's Tale yesterday, but left when it was clear they weren't going to make it to Act V. I swear the blocking changes every time I watch it. I don't know how much I actually benefit from attending those rehearsals at this point. I think it might be better to just stay home and drill lines.

I did my assignment for Analysis class analyzing Shakespeare's Sonnet 54. I hope I did it correctly. *crosses fingers*

I haven't had time to read Elizabethan World View, and I'm in a group that's presenting it in Analysis on Thursday. I hope to read it tomorrow night.

Anyway...

Here's my class, as it looks now.

Back row: D-Train, Iceman, Big Show, Newbie (to be named later)
Middle row: Wifey, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Acting Professor, All-The-Way, Killer
Front Row: O.D., Me


And the standard "goofy" shot.
Back row: D-Train, Iceman, Big Show, Newbie (to be named later)
Middle row: Wifey, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Acting Professor, All-The-Way, Killer
Front Row: O.D., Me

Thursday, January 8

Today was the first day of my Spring semester. Thank goodness. I was going a little nuts not having class on a regular basis.

We also got a new classmate today (nick-nameless as of now). She finished her 1st semester here two years ago, but then took a leave of absence. Most of us met her back in August, and we've known that she was joining us. I'm thrilled that she's finally here. :)


Ballroom Workshop
We've started our Ballroom Workshop, which will take place over 8 days. I have shiny new character shoes that I'm having a blast using. It's been so long since I've danced in a structured way (before my current understudying role, the last choreography I learned with in 2005). And dancing with a partner? Not since I attended meetings of the "swing dance club as a freshman in college, which was back in 2002.

We did a jazz warm-up, and then learned a bit of rag (which will be part of our warm-up for the next 7 classes). We finished with the beginnings of waltz (learning "school-figures", which are the basic outlines of the step before you manipulate it in any way).


Voice
Ah, it's good to be back in Voice class. I think I tremored in every position today. Seriously. Destructuring (tremoring) is so much easier to do in a group (for me, at least). We also worked on our sending/landing and breathing.


Acting
It sounds like the coming days of Acting class are going to be spent showing all of our observation work without much of an order. The observations we've been working on are:

- People
- Animals
- Inanimate Objects
- Professional Skills

D-Train, O.D., and Iceman all showed people today. They "lived" as the character for a bit, and then answered our questions using the inner-life of the character.

All-The-Way showed her professional skill. She had observed a French pastry chef. She had pre-made her dough, but went about constructing something she called "apple gilletts" (no idea on the spelling).

Thrill showed his observation of the front door to his apartment. People exited the apartment. Someone couldn't find the right key, and then knocked to be let in. Dogs scratched at it. It was pretty funny, actually.


Textual Analysis
We're getting into what will most likely be my favorite thing that we do in this class: Shakespeare. (SQUEAK!)

We started looking at a couple of sonnets today, and just discussing how one needs to read poetic text. I'm totally geeked over it. We have an assignment to analyze one of the sonnets, break down everything completely, and then paraphrase it. Our professor wants us to "show our work". This means that we'll be copying pages of the Variorum and our Shakespeare glossaries and circling the things that we found helpful.

Wednesday, January 7

I went to a flower shop today to watch some floral designers in action. It was actually fascinating. I was observing two women simultaneously, and they were super nice to me, and explaining every part of their processes step by step. And then when we got into discussing event-related flowers, one of them made me a boutonnière on the spot to demonstrate how complicated the process is if you're doing it well.

I also went to some local jungle gardens (man, I love Florida) to observe some animals for class. I should say "hang out with" more than observe. I petted a white male peacock, and a newly-hatched flamingo (which was shockingly huge) tried to eat my map. I think I'm going to focus on the flamingos, as they were all really friendly and active. I tried to look in their eyes and understand their psychology, but it's just REALLY not the same as it is with people.

I've been having email conversations with our Tech instructor. Apparently he no longer needs me on costumes for Miss Julie, so I'll be on box office for a bit longer. I'm a little disappointed, as I was looking forward to costumes, but oh well. I might be planning a Late Night this semester (I emailed people asking if they'd want to do the musical The Last 5 Years with multiple actors playing each of the characters, and I've gotten a healthy number of responses), so this should give me more time to figure out if that's going to work.

He also asked me to let my class know that we're going to have weekly meetings with him this semester.

I've been reciting my Imaginary Invalid lines while driving, with the hope that I'll get them stuck in my head better that way. Our understudy rehearsal is on Saturday (yes, we only get the one rehearsal), and the understudy run of the show (in front of whatever schoolmates and professors feel like coming) is on Sunday. Which is insane.

Monday, January 5

I am so anxious to get back to classwork, you have no idea.

I went to the school today and did etudes with D-Train, Iceman, and All-The-Way for about an hour, which was pretty great. I've been doing work on my own, but it really isn't the same thing. My creative subconscious needs more room to stretch than my living room allows.

After that I met with Two-Shots-Up (she's understudying Angelique) and the 3rd-year who is understudying Argan to work on Imaginary Invalid scenes. We made it through Act I, and I think we're doing pretty well. I'm still paraphrasing, but it's not nearly as bad as it was even a few days ago. I'm really quite pleased.

The weird thing is trying to recreate someone else's performance in a way that is truthful for me, but also close enough to the original that it wouldn't throw off anything in the play. The actor I'm understudying is really well-trained (she actually graduated from my program a few years ago), and I'm just not up to her skill level yet. I'm just going to do the best I can, and hope that it's sufficient.

I went out with Two-Shots-Up to try to buy shoes for our Ballroom Workshop (which starts on Thursday, I believe), but the store was closed. Just one more thing to do tomorrow, I guess.

For our Acting class, we have a "Character Development" assignment that we'll be working on this semester. It sounds like we'll be adapting characters from literature and creating scenes based on that text. The texts we've been assigned are collections of stories by Kurt Vonnegut called Welcome to the Monkey House and Bagombo Snuff Box. We're supposed to focus on four stories from each one. I've read the ones from Monkey House in a Word document that Killer somehow tracked down. I just got Snuff Box in the mail today, so hopefully I can read those tomorrow. We're supposed to let our professor know which characters we're drawn to.

I had a Movement Tutorial with my professor last week to work on what she calls "The Daily Dozen" alignment exercises. There are some that she has decided I don't need to do because my upper body is already open and released. But some of the ones focusing on my spine and lower body she wants me to do twice a day. They're not strenuous by any means, but it's difficult for me to feel when I'm doing things properly with my spine or psoas muscles right now. It's a challenge.

I just got my Anatomy Coloring Book in the mail that my professor recommended I get. She wants me to start with the spine, followed by the pelvis, and then the femurs. Hopefully it will help me to understand my body better.

I've been watching floral designers on YouTube and reading about it online, as I haven't been able to watch any yet. I'm hoping to see some in person in the next couple of days. I already see a potential problem with my props... I don't want to use real flowers, as that would be very expensive. But fake flowers just don't move the way real ones do (especially since I think I'm going to focus on exotic design, which involves things like puncturing and folding leaves). And I'm not sure of a good way to cut the stems of fake flowers... This could be tricky.

I think I'm also supposed to read The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill for Textual Analysis class before Thursday, but I haven't started it... Whoops. Hopefully I'll be able to do that Wednesday. Wish me luck.

I'm off to do some Chekov exercises, try to move my spine, and read some Vonnegut!

~A~

Tuesday, December 30

I got together with 5 of the other Imaginary Invalid understudies a couple of days ago, and we tried to run the show ourselves (with various people filling in for the missing cast members). And I realized just how bad of a job I've done with memorizing these lines.

I thought I had things down pretty well because I can mouth the words along with the actress during the scene. But once I'm actually on my feet and trying to remember the cues myself? I'm a big old mess.

So yesterday I sat down and started trying to use my NORMAL method of line memorization (which involves writing down the first letter of every word... It's a method I made up for myself, and I've been told that it looks like hieroglyphics or something to other people). Then I got together with Two-Shots-Up to run our scenes, and I'm already doing significantly better (which is good, as the show opens in a few days!).

Tonight is a dress run, so I'm going to attend that to really solidify the blocking in my mind. Hopefully everything will go well.


I called a bunch of florists this weekend to try to locate a floral designer to shadow, but I got a bunch of answering machines (it turns out, a lot of florists take a few days off after Christmas... And a lot of Florida florists are closed on Sundays for some reason. And the one florist I actually got a hold of gave me a flat out "no") But I have a little more time for that, so I'm not freaking out yet. I'm sure I'll be able to find people to observe.

Thursday, December 18

I felt like I was getting down to the wire on my professional skills assignment, so I finally wrote to my Acting Professor a few days ago:

Okay, [Acting Professor]... I'm still not positive what I'm doing for professional skills assignment, so I thought I'd send you a list of the things I've thought up so far and see if any of them are bad ideas...

- Vacuum cleaner repair
- Floral arrangements
- Cupcake decoration (there's a place that sells just cupcakes... not sure if this is too similar to [All-The-Way], as last I heard she was considering a baker)
- Soap making (the only people I've found so far that do this would require me to drive pretty far, though)

I also found a couple in [town] who makes skin care products (like moisturizers and scrubs), and they really seem like ARTISTS, but I don't know if there is a repeatable skill involved yet.

Thoughts?

Thanks

~A~


I thought it was a pretty healthy list. I had a feeling he was going to cheer for vacuum cleaner repair... This is the response I got.

Hello Angela,

All variants you mentioned can work quite well. The one I would lean towards is floral arrangements. It will call for fine nuance in exercising the specificity of the skill, for (in theory) everyone can make a floral arrangement. A lot here will be resting on "how" and "a little bit". However, it is doable. Plus, considering that flowers are all about occasions (landmarks, events) in people's lives, you may be able to hit a deeper "theme" here. You see what I mean? And finally, among many florists you can observe in [town], sooner or later you will find an artist.

What do you think?

Sincerely,

[Acting Professor]

So it looks like I'll be calling florists today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been spending my days attending rehearsals for the shows I'm understudying as much as possible. I call the Actor Rehearsal Line every night, and showing up every time the actors I'm following are called (every time I'm able, that is... sometimes I have Box Office duty). There are pros and cons to doing this, which is why not all of my classmates are doing the same.

The Pros:
- I think I have more of an opportunity to observe the play. Not only the text and blocking, but also the atmosphere.
- It's helping me learn my lines more than drilling from a page would. I mouth the text as the actors say it, with my script on my lap.
- I write down the blocking as it happens (and as it changes... which is a lot for Imaginary Invalid). I think it's a more organic way of learning it than if I were to come in to watch after everything is fully blocked (especially because I get to here WHY the blocking is being set in certain ways).
- One of the shows I'm understudying is being directed by the Artistic Director of the Repretory theatre. The other is being directed by the head of my program (aka my Analysis Professor). I like to think that I'm making a good impression by being around.

The Cons:
- There's a LOT of sitting around involved. The rehearsals are moving very slowly, and it's often boring.
- A lot of times the actors are being called to be there, but aren't actually put to work for large periods of time. And if the actor I'm following isn't doing anything, then there's really nothing for me to do.
- Sometimes it's frustrating to write down all sorts of blocking, only to have it change the next day.
- There are a lot of other things I could be getting done in the hours (it was 8 hours yesterday) when I'm sitting in the rehearsal hall. (Like observing florists, for example.)

It's not required for me to be at rehearsals. All that's required is that I be ready to perform on opening night if the need should arise (although I've also heard of understudies having to stand in during tech and dress in the past).

Opening night for The Imaginary Invalid is January 2 (runs through March 1). Opening for The Winter's Tale is January 23 (runs through May 16).

So you see why I'm getting nervous. Especially because I'm missing three days of rehearsal (for both shows) next week by going to see my family for Christmas. (That's right... the actors in the shows, including the 3rd-Years, are pretty much stuck here for Christmas, New Years, and whatever other holiday should arise in the course of rehearsals. Just one more sacrifice we make in the name of theatre.)

Anyway, I'm going to go chant lines with myself for a bit before rehearsal. Wish me luck.

Monday, November 25

Wilder! Wilder! Wilder! (a collection of five plays by Thornton Wilder: Infancy, Childhood, The Wreck on the 5:25, The Happy Journey to Camden and Trenton, and Rivers under the Earth) finished its run on Sunday. And I have to say, I'm sad to see it go. It was a great production to be a part of.

My entire class was called in for strike, and it went pretty quickly. Even including trips to the scene shop and the props storage building (they're separate, and neither within walking distance from school or each other), strike was over in under 2.5 hours. Piece of cake.

This weekend has been marked by the 2nd-Year Directing students' one-acts for the Late Night Series here (starring members of the 2nd and 3rd year classes). The plays they directed were:

Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? by Caryl Churchill
Trash Anthem by Dan Dietz
Feeding the Moon Fish by Barbara Wiechmann
The Zoo Story by Edward Albee

They were all so different, and SO GREAT. They're all still running through my mind and trying to teach me things. It feels a little bit like when I was in undergrad and went to the American College Theatre Festival (except for the lack of a play that glaringly didn't match up to the standards of the rest... that was something you could always count on at ACTF...).


I met up with my Text Analysis group tonight to discuss Something You Did, which has now been our third meeting. I think we made a lot of headway, and I know we're well prepared for leading the discussion tomorrow. We don't necessarily agree on everything, but we clearly all have deep understandings of the play. I think we're capable of expanding the conceptions of the group.

Tuesday, November 18

Movement
We did our movement monologues to a piece of "romantic music". It was interesting, but I just keep realizing how this movement experimentation is messing with my favored methods of text memorization. I know all the lines in my piece, but because we're trying not to assign meaning to them, I can't remember the order that they go in for the life of me. *sigh*

We used our handballs for more activities today. I'm not entirely certain as to what we're learning with them at this point, to be honest. I just keep trucking along and hope that it'll all make sense to me later.

We did some more of our alignment work, and it turns out I've been doing one of our things completely wrong in my home study. So now I have something new to work on.


Voice
Our voice professor gave us some notes about our Acting test from last week. She made some comments that applied to the whole group about breathing, sending and landing lines, and not falling off voice. Individually, my notes were that I was off-voice for my entire first etude with Two-Shots-Up, and that I did a great job in my etude with Thrill (except for the line "let me see", which she thinks was mostly because I didn't know what to do with the line).

We did more of the standing tremor. My professor has recommended that I modify it because of my history with back issues. So I will never go into a full standing tremor (which requires that your arms be raised above your head and causes your back to arch).


Acting
Something awesomely exciting happened for the first time in my acting class today...

We read from scripts!

I know, I know. It seems strange that I've been here for 3 months and this is the first time we're dealing with scripts. But I'm glad we've done everything that we've done. And now having a script to work with seems somehow liberating. Real given circumstances! Text that means something! Characters! It's all so exciting!!!

I think there are 6 scenes in total, all of which are between one man and one woman. Since my class is currently 7 men and 4 women, one of the scenes will be done twice, and 3 of the women will have to do more than one scene.

I'm actually kinda hoping that I end up being the female who only does one scene, just because rehearsals for BOTH of the plays I'm understudying start on Tuesday. I haven't started memorizing lines for one of them, and I've made very little headway on the other... So only having to memorize one scene for Acting class instead of two would be a blessing to me right now. We'll see what happens.


Homework
Analysis class was canceled (because of how awesomely we nailed Anna Christie on Thursday), so my group met to work on our stuff with Something You Did. One of our group members hadn't had time to read it yet, so we ended up reading it aloud so that she could discuss it with the rest of us. We're not really sure how we're supposed to present it, but luckily another group is going Thursday. Hopefully, we'll be able to gauge what we should do based on what they do, and we'll have it all figured out by Tuesday.


Tech
Three (3!) of the props I'm in charge of broke tonight during Wilder! Wilder! Wilder! Seriously, what are the odds of that?

One of them technically broke on Saturday, which is an embroidery hoop. We replaced it with a new hoop on Sunday, but it's much larger and problematic as a result. Today before the scene, the hoop popped off the embroidery. I managed to get it back on backstage by myself (note: those things are REALLY FREAKING HARD to put on!). But despite my best efforts, it came apart in the actress' hands on stage at the very end of the scene. DRAT!

Then there's a suitcase where the hinge somehow broke (I examined it, and I'm pretty sure that we can repair it with a hammer... the stage manager said she'd have people take care of it).

Lastly, there's a large stick that holds a piece of chalk, which the "stage manager" (a character that Thornton Wilder includes in some of his plays) uses to draw the outline of a room on the stage. I replaced the chalk today, as the last stick was getting low. But when I was putting it back into storage after the show, it was clear that the chalk had broken into several pieces somehow during the show. Hopefully it didn't cause any problems tonight. I'll just have to replace it again before tomorrow.