The Rules of the Game -- Free Reading

I'm going to be directing a rehearsed reading/workshop of a new play this weekend, so I thought I'd invite pass along an invitation. :)

The reading is FREE!
Saturday, July 23rd @ 8pm
The HuB (First Building)
1413 Boulevard of the Arts
Sarasota, FL

http://www.hubsarasota.com​

*Warning: this play contains strong language throughout and adult material that some may find offensive.

**Please note: seating is limited and will be assigned on a first come first served basis.


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THE RULES OF THE GAME
by Philip Gawthorne

Cast: Sarah Brown, Megan DeLay, Jesse Dornan, Jake Staley and Lindsay Tierce
Directed by Angela Sauer

"Sometimes love is a contact sport..."

You are invited to a FREE rehearsed reading of 'The Rules of The Game', the new play from acclaimed British playwright Philip Gawthorne.

Gawthorne made his Sarasota debut in January with a reading of his play "The Thrill of the Chase" as part of the Asolo Rep Late Night Series. His previous work has been performed at various New York venues such as Atlantic Theater Studios, The Sanford Meisner Theatre, and Manhattan Theatre Source, as well as in London at the Old Vic, Royal Court, and Soho Theatres, amongst many others. Broadcast magazine recently listed Gawthorne as one of the top ten writers in the UK under the age of 30.

This is a rare opportunity to be the first audience at a special preview of his controversial latest play, a provocative exploration of contemporary sexual politics, which follows in the tradition of David Mamet, Neil LaBute and Patrick Marber.


Facebook event: The Rules of the Game

Friday, April 23

No Voice class today, due to the Movement showing.


MOVEMENT SHOWING
The showing went really well.

D-Train started things off with his Scapino character doing a bit.

Then Big Show and Newbie did their ballet/contact duet to "Fly Me to the Moon". It was super cute.

The 1st-years did their "simple tumbling" first, which was neat. They turned it into a whole choreographed thing. My favorite part was when a whole group of them did a move called "The Duck" in a V-formation. Pretty great. And at another part, it looked like girls in the class were "riding" boys as they did the combat crawl. Those boys are SO STRONG!

The 2nd-years did our Commedia stuff, and it went pretty well. At one point, I slipped and fell on a prop, which actually fits in perfectly to how I do Vittoria. :)

The 1st-years did their "complex acrobatics". Honestly, I couldn't see most of it, as I had a costume change, but what I saw was FANTASTIC!!! Oh man, they did some awesome things. So impressive. I'm super proud of them. (And in awe of them!)

Thrill & Two-Shots-Up did their ballet/contact duet to "In a Sentimental Mood". It was incredibly sexy.

We came out for a Restoration Salon, and then transitioned into our "Stuffed Turkey" monologues. I had to go first, and I was way more nervous than I've ever been before. I delivered the monologue to 1st-Year Acting Professor, who was sitting right in front of me. He seemed amused. The people who did monologues were me, Killer, Wifey, All-The-Way, & D-Train. Everyone's monologues went well. ESPECIALLY Wifey's, which I think was the best she's ever done it.

From there, we went into the Pavane. It went surprisingly well.

Then the 1st-years did a tumbling/dance routine to "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (so appropriate for the end of the 1st-year!). It was great! Very cool, and very light-hearted.

So yay! Successful showing!



1ST-YEAR ACTING SHOWING
In the afternoon, the 1st-years had their final acting showing. They presented scenes from short stories by J.D. Salinger (last year, my class used short stories by Kurt Vonnegut). They did great work. They're such a great class, and I'm so excited to see them up on stage next year. They're going to light this place on fire. :)



WRAP-UP
So that's all she wrote.

Can you believe that I've been in graduate school for two years? I've earned both the M and the F in "MFA". :)

I don't know what's going to happen to my blogging now. I'll try to update while I'm in London (OH MY GOD I LEAVE FOR LONDON ON MAY 5TH!!!), but probably not daily. And next year when I'm in rehearsals, I really don't know. As I learned this year, it's a lot harder to write daily posts about rehearsals than about classes. So I make no promises.

But I want to thank you all for taking the time to (even just occasionally) read about my journey. Thank you for sharing it with me.

One more year!



All good things,

~A~

Tuesday, April 20

Today was the Voice showing, so there was no Movement class.


VOICE
I started the showing with a demonstration of a British RP dialect, using the monologue from The Importance of Being Earnest that all the ladies in my class worked on earlier in the year.

After that, we all did our New York dialect scenes from Play It Again, Sam in chronological order. Voice Professor said she's never had a group show New York before, so I think that was fun for the audience members (many of whom have seen several past showings).

Finally, Wifey & Big Show did their Irish dialect scene from Juno and the Paycock

Then we moved on to the 1st-years! They had an IPA-a-thon (which is a sort of relay race where the teams are trying to properly IPA words that have been pre-written on the chalkboard). They also did their Standard American monologues from The Wood Demon (ah, memories!). Finally, they worked with vocal extremes, shouting a scene from Cowboy Mouth. They did great work! Oh, I'm so proud.


ACTING
There's so little time left before our Acting showing. It's kind of insane. But the scenes are going well. Tomorrow we're coming in early for "tech" (which is pretty much "lights up, lights down; music start, music stop").

General notes:
- Take the transition from Reality #1 to Reality #2 seriously. There is no magic formula. You are responsible for figuring out what works for you.
- KISSING 101: Don't make a tepee with your bodies; don't knock your partner off balance; don't have to keep moving/traveling

Richard III:
- "Cousins, indeed." - lower voice, feel outrage, don't use upper register
- "Well then..." - innocent
- "What were I best to say" - this was in the right ballpark today
- Build -- needs work

All's Well:
- Nice work from both
- work on seeing the ring
- rethink the skirt


MOVEMENT MEETING
I met with Movement Professor for a sort of end of the year conference. Here are the notes I took:

- maintain strength, always
- stretch properly, always
- keep working on awareness of form
- use a mirror when preparing for period work
- never let them see you sweat... have a good poker face
- keep doing ballet
- when dancing, focus on the knees up (my feet do the right thing, but my body is approximating)
- look at movement in 3D, not 2D (don't watch instruction in a mirror)
- work on kinesthetic sense and better visual sense
- Go home on day 1 of rehearsal and work on any specific physicality that the director asks for
- keep facial neutrality while receiving notes (otherwise it's distracting to the director, and makes them wonder what I'm thinking, as I have a very expressive face)
- turn body toward director during notes
- don't say "thank you" when getting notes; it makes some directors uncomfortable. Say "okay" instead.
- do meditative breathing
- do the Daily Dozen alignment exercises
- Try to enter a flow state.

I will have my next alignment lesson on Thursday, April 29 from 1:30pm-2:15pm (even though technically, the year will be over by then).


SHOWCASE RUN
The 3rd-year students are doing a NYC showcase in a week. Yesterday, they did their showcase scenes for us! They're terrific, and I'm super proud of them. They're going to rock. :)

Wednesday, April 14

No Acting class today, as the cast of The Game of Love and Chance had a final tech run before their opening night.

VOICE
Another day of vocal production, for the benefit of the actors.


MOVEMENT
Movement Professor wrote a rough sketch out of a whole LONG 11-person Commedia scenario for our class, incorporating all the lazzis we came up with for our characters. We played around with it for awhile, and then eventually, it evolved into something completely different.

We started it over and tried again.

Lots of fun things happened. At one point, there were two Flavios (who is the man my type, Vittoria, fancies) because someone else had disguised himself as Flavio. And the Harlequino took both of their handkerchiefs, and then Vittoria thought that HE was Flavio. It was insane.

At one point, Columbina (Wifey) and I switched places, but then the three men took Ruffiana's love potion and had fallen in love with Columbina, and I revealed the switch to get away from them.

Very fun stuff, this Commedia. I wish we had more time to work on it before our showing.



THE GAME OF LOVE AND CHANCE
Opening night!!!

I am so proud of my classmates. The show was completely hilarious, and they still found truth within it. They're awesome. I was laughing at all the wrong times, and apparently they could tell it was me... Haha. It's a lovely light show amongst the rest of our relatively dark season. If you get a chance, go see it and support them!

Tuesday, April 6

VOICE
We went over our Irish scenes more.

Currently, the sound that troubles me the most is the vowel of words like "hut" that switches to the vowel of "wood". Luckily, Iceman and Killer are doing well, and they're my scene partners, so that helps me a lot.

The other hard shift sucks because of how often it comes up. The word "it" shifts to sounds like "ut". It comes up a lot more often than I thought it would. (As evidenced by the three instances in this paragraph.)

In my car when I'm listening to the radio, I try to recite the lyrics of pop songs making all the shifts of the Irish dialect. I have particularly enjoyed doing this to the song "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha (apparently the $ is pronounced like an S... I won't go into how much that bothers me). It helps me a lot, and makes me feel like I have a good handle on the dialect shifts.


MOVEMENT
We lifted weights at the top of class. I started this year with 3-pound weights. Then I started using both 3-pound weights in one hand for certain lifts (so, really 6-pounds). I recently switched to 5-pound weights, but they're not hard for me, since I was essentially working with 6-pounds before. So now I grab a 3 and a 5 with each hand, to give me make-shift 8-pound weights. :) It makes me feel strong.

We worked on our Commedia characters in small groups. My group is me (Vittoria), All-The-Way (Pedrolino), and Wifey (Columbina). Our homework is to come up with scenarios that involve those characters.


ACTING
Newbie and I met with Acting Professoressa over our lunch break to work on Twelfth Night. We're adding an element into the scene: Newbie desperately wants to touch me, and I desperately want to avoid her touching me..., while still appearing polite.

So the big things I have to work on are:
- be polite, so that Olivia won't report to Orsino that I've been rude in any way.
- stop the touching... in a polite way
- be a BOY (I'm playing a character who is pretending to be a boy... and I have to get away with it.)


During class, I worked with D-Train on our All's Well That Ends Well scene. I think it's going pretty well. It's kind of a silly scene, but it's fun to work on.


KING JOHN
We had our final performance of King John, and it went exceptionally well. I'm proud to have worked on this show. I wish we could do it again. :)

Wednesday, March 31

Movement class was canceled today.

THE PERFUME SHOP
I went and saw it again last night, and it's just as charming as ever. This show closes Thursday night, so go see it if you haven't!


VOICE
I got my Irish transcription back. I got 90% on it (which is a more disappointing grade for me in grad school than it was in undergrad), mostly because of stupid mistakes. And also because apparently I IPA the word "sorry" incorrectly in Standard American (the vowel should be the same as the word "honest"). Oh well.

I started reading through the scene out loud, VERY slowly, with both of my scene partners, Killer & Iceman. (Because we have an odd number in our class, someone has to go with two partners. And that lucky person is me.)

I'm starting to be able to hear it, but not in the way that I could with RP or New York. After awhile, I could just FEEL those, and instinctively KNOW when I was saying something incorrectly. I honestly don't know if I'll ever get to that point with Irish. It's going to be more about memorizing specific sentences with all the proper sounds, and drilling them. I'm sure I'll do fine, but it's going to be hard work.


ACTING
We started blocking the Twelfth Night scene that Newbie and I are doing... and decided that we might actually make it longer, by adding a bit on to the beginning with Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Mariah. The guys are drunk, so that's pretty entertaining.

Tuesday, March 30

KING JOHN
Last night was our first performance of the King John late night, directed by 3rd-Year KS. We had a great crowd! And it was a lot of fun to tell that story. It's been a long time since I was in a Shakespeare play (not just a reading, or a scene, or an understudy role... but IN one. The last one was in 2006), and it was nice to get another chance to be in one.

If you missed it, we're having another performance! It will be Tuesday, April 6th @8pm in the Cook Theatre. Hope you can make it!

FIZZ
Over the weekend, I saw a staged reading of Fizz by Rogelio Martinez, which is part of the Unplugged Festival of new works. It's about the president of Coca Cola in the 1980's, and it was awesome. So, so, so funny, but also poignant. And the 3rd-years who were in it were fantastic. It was wonderful to see.

VOICE
Today Voice class was optional, for anyone who hadn't finished their Irish transcriptions, or who wanted extra help. So I went. Because Irish? It's super tough for me. As I may have mentioned.

There are tons of shifts, and they're all super specific. And, unfortunately, the text we're converting has the dialect written in, which just makes transcription harder. (Why do playwrights do that? WHY?)


MOVEMENT
We started off by walking around as our Commedia characters. Then we got out the mats, and started moving as the animals that are connected to our Commedia types. (My character Vittoria, is connected to both pink flamingoes and love birds.) Then, we had to "evolve", from the animal into the character, keeping some of the animal characteristics in tact. It was really funny to watch.

Then, we were put into groups of 3-4 characters that often work together (my group was me, Wifey, Iceman, and Two-Shots-Up... aka Vittoria, Columbina, Harlequin, and Harlequinetta), and had 2 minutes to come up with a scenario to play out. Then we played them out, using Grammelot.

Grammelot is a way of speaking gibberish that is based off of the sounds of another language. Some people find it's easier to create Grammelot based off a language they know. Some people find it's easier to do Grammelot based off of a language that they DON'T know. I'm in the latter category. I've studied German and Italian, so I'm going to do French Grammelot. All-The-Way is already really good at her Italian Grammelot. I was impressed.

If you want a good idea of Grammelot, watch this video. It's a bunch of Italians singing a song in "English Grammelot" (aka, what they think English sounds like, including a couple of actual words, and mostly gibberish ones).



ACTING
We moved our set pieces down to the theatre, where we'll be doing our Acting Showing at the end of this semester. Acting Showings are usually done in a classroom, but we requested the stage and got approved.

We began staging the "Comedy of Errors" scene (All-The-Way & Killer) and the "Two Nobel Kinsmen" scene (O.D., Thrill, Newbie, & Two-Shots-Up).

Monday, March 22

Hello world! Long time, no blog.

So things have been hopping around here on Spring Break. What, you ask? Let's see...

- The run of Machinal closed on March 21st. It was a great show, and I'm sad to see it go. I'm proud of the work that I did in it, both as the Matron and as the Nurse. And I will miss the Matron's unibrow. (Um, yeah... I might have not mentioned this, but I gave the Matron a unibrow. It was intense.)

- I've been rehearsing for a Late Night production of Shakespeare's King John. We have a performance on Monday, March 29 at 8:00pm, for anyone reading who is local. It's free. (Yes, we know that it's on the first night of Passover... We're looking into the possibility of having a second performance for the people who won't be able to make it on the 29th. I'll let you know if that happens). I'm playing Queen Eleanor and Lord Salisbury.

- The New Play Festival has started up. I've only been able to attend two of the readings: How to Pray by Michelle Carter, and The Innocents by Steven Drukman. Both readings were excellent. If you're in town, I highly recommend trying to see some of these. I think tickets are about $5 per show, and it will totally be worth your while, I promise.

- My parents came down to visit. Which was awesome. And I already miss them.

- I've finished blocking my "Stuffed Turkey" monologue for Movement class

- I e-mailed the incoming Class of 2013. (WOWZA! I feel old.)

- My classmates and I have started brainstorming ways to do fundraising for our Showcase trip next year. If you have ideas for us, please let me know.


Spring Break (break? what break?) has ended. Let the games begin!

2010-2011 Season Announcement

Today was the official season announcement! We now know the shows that will be going on next year.

In the third year of training at my Conservatory (which will be next year for me and my classmates), students become Associate Company Members of the super-exciting Repertory Company. Which means that the shows I'm about to list were of particular interest to my class this year, as we could be in them. *squeal!*

I'm pretty much just going to copy and paste the press release now, since it's a lot to type up...



Antigone Now by Melissa Cooper
Preview October 4; Opening Night October 9, 2010
Touring dates and locations to be announced.

A modern retelling of Sophocles' classic play, Antigone.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Antigone Now will be the ensemble show for my class next year. It's part of the educational theatre series that the theatre has been doing for the past few years. We will be touring it to schools in the area, as well as other performance spaces. It will also be performed as part of the Ringling International Arts Festival in 2010. And the best news of all? Our Machinal Director is coming back to direct us in it!



Bonnie & Clyde: A New Musical, Book by Ivan Menchell, Music by Frank Wildhorn, Lyrics by Don Black
Pre-Broadway Run
Previews November 12 &13
Performances November 14 - 18
Press opening on November 19, 2010
Runs through December 19, 2010

Everybody had a dream. They had a plan.

Bonnie and Clyde's riveting adventures are brought to the stage in this vibrant and stylish new musical from the composer of Jekyll and Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Svengali and Wonderland! This seductive and cinematic new musical examines how a troubled Texas teen and a love-sick waitress became America's most infamous couple, with a thrilling new score that combines rockabilly, blues and gospel music. This is a pre-Broadway engagement.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Yes, you read that right. My theatre is doing this show in 2010, and the producers expect to put it on Broadway in 2011. HOW COOL IS THAT??? Actually, I wasn't allowed to say this before now (as the season hadn't been announced yet), but I got to audition for it last month! Please pray for me! It's being directed by Jeff Calhoun, whose production of Big River for Deaf West won a Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre in 2007. AMAZING!

La Bête (The Beast) by David Hirson
January 7-February 24, 2011

This sharply funny comedy follows a 17th century acting troupe whose financier/patron forces them to add an actor to their ensemble - the street-performer Valere. Trouble soon follows when the troupe's cultured leader hates the new actor. But Valere soon charms the troupe, and the audience, with his impressive and highly entertaining antics. Find out who wins in this laugh-a-minute, award-winning play. Winner of an Outer Critics Circle Award and Olivier Award.

ANGELA'S NOTE: Rumor has it that this show is in verse. In other words, it's the closest thing to a classical piece in our season. And you know how I love the classics! *fingers crossed* It will be directed by Artistic Director. Apparently, our theatre got the rights before it was announced that it will be going to the West End this coming season. We're so in vogue!

Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose
January 14-March 31, 2011

Drama Desk Award winning and Tony Award nominated drama

A gripping contemporary classic about a young man on trial for allegedly murdering his father, but one lone juror among the twelve is not convinced the boy is guilty. As he examines all the possibilities of what might have happened the night of the murder, his open-minded outlook convinces the other jurors there is a possibility of innocence after all. This engrossing courtroom drama will keep you on edge to its final moments.

ANGELA'S NOTE: This show is going to be done in conjunction with another theatre, and will begin its run there. Which I think means that some of the men from my class will be out of town for a while. Sadness! But what a great play to get to do. And it's going to be directed by the amazing Frank Galati. Do you think they could rewrite it as "Eleven Angry Men and One Angela"? ;)



Boeing Boeing by Marc Camoletti translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans
January 21- April 23, 2011

A stylish knee-slapping romp through the age of glamorous, jet-setting air travel. The debonair Bernard, an architect living in Paris, is juggling relationships with three vivacious flight attendants - each of whom believes she is his only girl. All goes well until his friend Robert arrives for a visit, and the airlines decide to change their schedules! Chaos and fun take off as Bernard's clever plans unravel. High flying fun! Boeing Boeing recently enjoyed a successful Broadway revival with 279 performances.

ANGELA'S NOTE: I cannot tell you how excited I am for this show. It was on the West End and on Broadway just a couple of years ago, and I wanted to see it but never got the chance. I love farce, but I've never really gotten the chance to be in one... And there are three roles for young women in it... *crosses fingers* It will be directed by Head of Program (aka Analysis Professor, aka Mystery Plays Director).



Deathtrap by Ira Levin
March 11-May 14, 2011

Sidney Bruhl was once a celebrated playwright famous for his intricate thrillers. Now slightly past his prime, he enlists an ambitious younger writer, Clifford, to help him pen his deadliest tale yet. But as Clifford secretly begins writing his own version of Sidney's life story, and the quirky psychic next door begins to have real premonitions of murder, events quickly spiral out of control - who will survive? This is the most successful and popular whodunit in history!

ANGELA'S NOTE: I honestly don't know anything about this play yet. It sounds fascinating. Based on some quick internet searching, I don't think there's a role for me in it (the two women in the show seem to be in their 50s). But there could be a young man in it, which means one of my classmates might be involved. I'm excited to see it. I don't know who will be directing it yet. But apparently, our theatre got the rights JUST before it was announced that it's going to be produced on the West End and Broadway soon. That's TWO shows that are in our season right before other major productions. We're setting trends left and right around here!



Las Meninas (The Waiting Women) by Lynn Nottage
March 18-May 15, 2011

A story of an unlikely friendship, and an even unlikelier romance, unfolds in the royal court of 17th century France. Queen Marie-Therese longs for the love and attention of her husband, King Louis XIV, but when she receives a mysterious package from a relative containing an African man named Nabo, her entire world changes. Nabo becomes the Queen's close companion, but their relationship puts their lives, and the life of their child, in peril. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning and internationally renowned African American writer Lynn Nottage.

ANGELA'S NOTE: I love Lynn Nottage's play, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, so I am totally geeked about this. It's especially cool to do it because Lynn Nottage just won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in drama for her play Ruined. It sounds like it's going to have a HUGE cast, so I have a feeling that all of my classmates and I will be in it (as ensemble, if nothing else). A couple of my classmates were asked to audition for it. Please pray for them! It will be directed by Artistic Director. It sounds like this is only the second production of it, and the first was directed by Artistic Director at another theatre years ago.



Unplugged 2011 (TBA)
[The Theatre]'s new play festival returns, with readings planned for April 5, 7, 9, and 10
Full details, titles and final dates will be confirmed later this year.

World Premiere: New Play (TBA)
Join us as we explore a ground-breaking piece of new American theatre in the greater depth of a full production, presented from April 15 through May 14, 2011.

ANGELA'S NOTE: The two above things might very well include me or my classmates... but everything is still TBA at the moment. "Unplugged 2010" is almost upon us, and the world premiere new play might be chosen from amongst the readings and workshops that they're currently working on, but they're not sure yet.

George Gershwin Alone by Hershey Felder
May 19-June 5, 2011

Beethoven as I Knew Him by Hershey Felder
June 7-12, 2011

ANGELA'S NOTE: The above two plays are one-man shows, performed by the author. Apparently, he's an incredible performer. The weird thing is, I don't know if I'll get to see Beethoven. Why? Because I will have *gasp* graduated by then! And I might be moving before that point! Oh man, I can't think about that yet. Too stressful. Take deep breaths. Wow.



So that's the Rep season! So exciting!
But I don't want to leave out the lovely 1st-years. Next year, they'll be 2nd-years, which means they'll be the ones performing in the Conservatory season (as my class is right now). And they have one heck of a season to look forward to! Here it is:


Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare
directed by Head of Program (aka Text Analysis Professor, aka Mystery Plays Director)
Starring the entire class of 2012!
October 26, 2010 - November 14, 2010

What's more important - love or friendship? In a world full of adolescent angst and hormones, the outcome is inevitable! A bright sparkling comedy about romance, passion, music and fickleness of youth. A contemporary look at Shakespeare by the entire second year conservatory class.


reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute
directed by Acting Professoressa
January 4, 2011 - January 23, 2011

A passing comment about a female coworker's pretty face threatens to unravel the relationships between four friends. A scathing, dark comedy about our culture's fixation on surface beauty, by the author of Fat Pig.


The Lady from the Sea by Henrik Ibsen
February 22, 2011 - March 13, 2011
directed by 1st-Year Acting Professor

Obsession, passion and guilt overpower the spirit of Ellida Wangel and she struggles to choose between a mysterious stranger and her husband in this fascinating play of the greatest writers of the modern age.


Tartuffe by Molière
April 12, 2010 - May 1, 2010
directed by guest artist Wes Grantom

The classic comedy of religious hypocrisy, by one of the world's great comic playwrights. Orgon falls under the power of the dark and lascivious religious leader Tartuffe, and his family goes to outrageous lengths to show him the truth about this treacherous zealot! A classic French comedy performed in the [Historic Theatre].



Yeah, their season is completely envy-inducing. I'm so happy for them!


In other words, local folks, I highly recommend that you get subscriptions to these seasons. Because both the Rep season AND the Conservatory season are going to be sensational. Mark my words!


I'm off to enjoy a little of my "spring break". :)

All good things,

~A~

Thursday, February 4

STAGE COMBAT WORKSHOP
We've now blocked our entire exam fight, which is cool. In order to do so, we had to review safe ways of falling, elbowing, strangulation, throwing, etc.

The fight goes kind of like this:

- Person A pushes or shoves Person B.
- Person B pushes or shoves Person A.
- Person B slaps Person A with their left hand, and Person A does a clap knap (they use their hands to make the sound of the slap)
- Person A backhand-slaps Person B with their right hand, and Person B does a clap knap.
- Person A walks past Person B and bumps their shoulder as they go by.
- Person B puts their upstage hand on Person A's downstage shoulder to stop them.
- Person A pivots around, and raises their upstage arm to meet Person B's extended arm, and then throw it off.
- Person A uses their right (upstage) fist to try to punch Person B, which Person B blocks with their forearm.
- Person B uses their left (upstage) fist to punch Person A in the latissimus muscle.
- Person B uses their right (downstage) fist to try to punch Person A, which Person A blocks with their forearm.
- Person A throws a punch to either the back of Person B's head, or to Person B's right ear. Person B does a clap knap.
- Person B takes a couple of steps backward
- Person B preps for a sidekick (by chambering the leg at the knee), and then kicks, and Person A uses both hands to block it.
- Person B tries to take a big swing at Person A, which Person A blocks with both forearms.
- Person A tries to elbow Person B, but Person B steps in towards them.
- Person B reaches around and begins to strangle Person A.
- Person A reaches a hand up through the crook of Person B's arm to get away.
- Person A turns around and punches Person B. Person A uses a slip-hand knap.
- Person A pulls Person B's hair
- Person B reaches over Person A's shoulder to get into a grappling position.
- Person B flings Person A around
- Person B knees Person A in the stomach twice.
- Person B pushes Person A, and Person A falls backwards to the ground.
- Person A tries to side-kick Person B, and Person B avoids.
- Person A tries to heel kick Person B, and Person B bats it away.
- Person B steps in toward Person A
- Person A kicks Person B in the groin
- Person B falls to their knee
- Person A tries to crawl away
- Person B grabs Person A's shoulder and throws them back onto the ground
- Person B begins to strangle Person A
- Person A uses their arms to break Person B's hold
- Person A throws Person B off of them.

And from there on out, we can block whatever we want in order for our scenes to make sense and for the right person to "win".



SEARCHING FOR EDEN
I went back to see it again today, because 1st-Year JaS had to go on as an understudy for Adam. (As in Adam of "Adam and Eve"... in a two person play.) It's the largest role that an understudy has had to go on for at our theatre in YEARS, so a bunch of us who had time went to support him. He totally rocked it, and made the Conservatory proud. Great job, JaS!

MACHINAL
Another one of our "usual" games is a "switch places" game. We all stand in a circle, and one person makes eye contact with another, letting them know that they're going to take their place in the circle. The person starts walking, and the person they've made eye contact with has to find someone else's spot to take. The goal is that people are always moving, and that no one ever gets to anyone else's spot before they've found someone to switch with. It might not sound complicated, but it really is, as you kind of have to see a couple of moves ahead... And then the Director throws someone a tennis ball... And WHILE all the other trading spaces stuff is occurring, we have a second objective of throwing the ball around. So you're constantly looking around to see if someone is making eye contact with you, either to take your spot or to throw you a ball. We're getting better at it, but it does require a great deal of concentration.

We started blocking the Prologue, sort of. At the beginning of the play, a woman talks about her journey to work on the subway, so we're going to stage it as part of our production. We haven't gotten very far on it yet, but I'm interested to see what direction it goes in.

Wednesday, February 3

STAGE COMBAT WORKSHOP
We continued with our pushes, shoves, slaps, and punches.

We also started working on kicks (including groin kicks, which seem to be a real people pleaser), chokes, and contact punches (where you end up actually touching your partner... just in a safe, non-painful way).

We began getting the blocking for what will be the 2nd-years' exam fight. It's similar to the one that the current 3rd-years did last year, but it has some new moves in it. It'll be fun to work on. My partner is All-The-Way, and I think we're going to have a good time with it.



THEATRE
I went to the matinee performance of The Life of Galileo, because I wanted to see it again before it closes and this might have been my last chance (depending on what my Machinal schedule turns out to be like). It was sold out, so I ended up sitting on the stairs in the mezzanine.

I cannot remember if I mentioned, but I saw The Search for Eden: The Diaries of Adam and Eve last week at the matinee. The actors in it are both graduates of my conservatory, who are now married to each other, and they are also playing Jamie and Cathy in the Rep's production of The Last 5 Years right now. They do Eden some days, and L5Y on others, and to complicate it further, the husband is also in Galileo. Such demanding schedules! But they're totally pulling it off. I particularly liked the second act of Eden. They seemed really connected with each other in it.


MACHINAL
The way rehearsal has been running lately is sort of like this.

- We start with the whole cast/class (clast?) sitting in chairs in a semi-circle, facing the Director and Stage Manager. We are sitting on the edge of the chairs, with our feet on the ground, and our hands resting on our legs, as though we're ready to jump to our feet at any second. (It's a Russian thing, apparently.)

- Director tells us to close our eyes. He claps once, and we internalize our circles of attention, trying to hear only sounds being created from within our own bodies. He claps twice, and our circle of attention widens, so that we're listening for any sounds in the room. He claps three times, and our circle of attention shifts to sounds made outside of the room and outside of the building.

- Sometimes then he asks us to extend an arm and draw a circle in the air, and tells us to try to see the circle, in a specific color. Once we can really "see" that circle, we are supposed to lift our other arm to draw another, and try to see BOTH circles. If we can get that, then we try for a third. (Honestly, it's really hard for me to do two circles... I've never tried the third)

- Director says to pick up our chairs and move around the room. The Clast takes a second to sense each other, and then attempts to stand up as one, turn to face our chairs as one, lift up our chairs as one, and begin walking as one. Then we have to try to "fill the space", while not walking into each other, and "find a tempo", meaning that we all have to be moving at roughly the same speed.

- Director claps, and we all stop wherever we are. Then we try to put down our chairs as one, and sit in our chairs as one.

- As soon as we're seated, someone says "A", someone else says "B", someone else says "C", and soforth. We have to try to sense when someone in the room is going to speak a letter so that no two people are speaking at the same time. If two people do, then we have to start over at "A" again. We try to remember our letters, as sometimes we then play a game with them in which we have to spell a sentence by clapping whenever our letters come up in the sentence, and collectively hitting our laps whenever there's a space.

We do other, different exercises depending on the day. Today they included:

- We put up a wall (it's a black hinged flat). One person stands on each side of the wall. The person on one side is the "initiator". They have to take a position and an action, and then call the person on the other side of the wall. The "follower" has to try to sense what the initiator's position is and mimic it while saying their name. (Way easier said than done.)

- Repeat the Rhythm - . Sometimes it's that one person makes a rhythm and then the class repeats it, with each person doing one clap. Then when the conductor person claps, we have to change the direction that the rhythm is going in our line of claps

- Add to the Rhythm - One person starts a basic rhythm with their hands (clapping or snapping). One by one around the circle, everyone finds a way to contribute to the rhythm using their hands. Then we add to it one by one with our feet, and finally we add to it one by one with our voices.

- Choreographer - One person stands at the front of the group and dances to a piece of music in a way that they think everyone can follow. Today was my day to be choreographer, and as soon as I got up, my classmates made jokes like "No back bends!", and asked me not to do certain things that are in my movement vocabulary that are not in theirs. But no worries. I know my class really well, and I know what they will and won't be able to handle. The Director played "Back in the USSR" by the Beatles, so I choreographed to that. I had a blast, and a couple of them told me after that they had fun following me, so I think I did an okay job. :)


We started blocking Scene 4, which is the hospital scene. In it, Newbie has just given birth, Iceman is her husband who is trying to cheer her up to no avail, I am the Nurse, and Big Show is the Doctor who thinks I'm incompetent.

I really like the way the scene is going. I'm almost hesitant to write about it on here, because I don't want to ruin anything for the people reading this who might end up seeing the show... But anyway. I like it, and I was happy to get a chance to work.

Friday, January 22

Acting Professoressa flew out last night to start recruitment, so we don't have Acting class for a couple of weeks now. In the meanwhile, we're expected to work on our Shakespeare scenes on our own.


VOICE
I turned in my New York dialect cheat sheet. I hope I did everything correctly.

We got some scenes to work on with the dialect over the next 3 weeks while we're in workshops and won't have Voice class. The scenes are all from Play It Again, Sam. Our partners are:

- Killer & Wifey
- O.D. & All-The-Way
- Iceman & Two-Shots-Up
- D-Train & Newbie
- Big Show, Thrill, & Angela

Our homework is to transcribe our scenes for 02/18 (which will be our next Voice class... man, that seems so far away). We're also supposed to listen to the New York dialect clips on the IDEA Site.


MOVEMENT
We started with lifting weights. Movement Professor gave us three exercises that she wants us to work on during the next couple of weeks while we don't have Movement. (Man, it's going to be weird not having ANY of our regular classes.)

We did a barre, and Movement Professor remarked on our progress. She says that we've come further than she thought we would, and she's impressed. She says that some of the people in our class could get professional dance work. She thinks that of any class she's taught, at this school or the others she's taught at, our class has done the best with ballet. :)

She talked to us about how to handle mistakes that we might make, and how we shouldn't acknowledge them to the audience. She also spoke about how people don't remember the entire dance or the entire play; they remember moments.

Four of the six partnering pairs got to show their work, and the other two will go after break. Everything looked really cool, despite the fact that they were blocked REALLY QUICKLY. It was neat to see what our classmates had been working on without us. :)

Movement Professor said that each pairing was inspired by something different. One pair is mostly ballet, one is a modern duet, one is very Astaire-Rogers... My duet with Killer is apparently Merce Cunningham inspired (our professor was in Merce Cunningham's company when she was very young).



HEARTS
Tonight was the Rep's opening night of Hearts. If I remember correctly, the cast has 9 people in it, and 5 of them are 3rd-years in the Conservatory! They did a great job. :) It's a very moving piece about a man who fought in World War II. The audience LOVED it! We think it's going to be a huge hit.

Thursday, January 21

I didn't have Movement today, because Movement Professor was just working with partner pairs.


VOICE
I came into Voice class today with sunglasses on because I had a headache. I think it may have actually helped with my New York dialect work. :)

We're having a lot more fun with this dialect than the last one.

Our cheat sheets are due tomorrow.



ACTING
Big Show and I did table-work on our Richard III scene. He's playing Richard, and I'm Elizabeth. It's a great scene, but it's going to be challenging.

Acting Professoressa asked what we thought the challenges in the scene were going to be. The biggest challenge for me will be not using sarcasm at all. Acting Professoressa wants me to try coming at things in the scene with naïveté, so I'm going to try my best to work on that while she's off recruiting.



THE LAST 5 YEARS
Tonight was the Rep's opening of The Last 5 Years. It has been my favorite musical for about 8 years now, but I'd never actually seen it on stage. I fell in love with the cast recording, and have always wanted to see it, and I finally got my chance!

The couple playing Jamie and Cathy in this production are both graduates of my Conservatory, and are married in real life. So during the production, they used actual video from their wedding and their first dance at their reception, their engagement photo, a wedding picture... It added something really special to the production, and made the love between the characters ring so true. I loved that. :)

Thursday, January 7

The first day of a new semester, and already I'm up later than I should be, writing a blog post.

This is my final semester of normal classes (even though I have a year and a half of grad school left). And this semester is short! Due to the Roy Hart workshop, Film workshop, Stage Combat workshop, and Cold Readings workshop... as well as Spring Break Week and Production Week (which we're required to be here for because we have performances of Machinal, but don't have classes during), it's not the usual length. I think that, as a result, everything is going to feel fast and intense, as we have to squeeze a ton in to the classes that we do have.

Today, we just had Voice class and Movement class.


VOICE
Voice Professor gave us a syllabus. This semester, the big things we're working on are:
- One Voice; Volume
- New York Dialect
- Irish Dialect

Everything seems pretty straightforward. Irish is a really hard dialect, so it's a larger portion of our grade than New York. Originally, we were going to do three dialects this semester, but Voice Professor thinks that doing two dialects and really delving into them might be better training for "how to learn a dialect" than learning an additional one but having less time for each.

Voice Professor said to look over our notes for "Screaming Without Suffering" before class tomorrow.


MOVEMENT
We only have 10 Movement classes before our Roy Hart workshop. We're going to meet 9 of those days and start by doing a Ballet Barre as a class. Then, most of the class will be excused so that Movement Professor can meet with us to work on duets, which will be a combination of contact improv and ballet. Our duet pairings are:

- O.D. & Newbie
- Iceman & Wifey
- Killer & Angela
- Thrill & Two-Shots-Up
- D-Train & All-The-Way
- Big Show & Newbie

(Five of the pairings are ones that we did Contact Improv with for our Showing, and then Newbie is going twice because we have one more male than female.)

Movement Professor wants us to put aside at least half an hour every day to work with our partners outside of class. She says that rehearsing in small chunks is going to be the best way to get a lot done. We'll be showing the class our work on January 20.

For our Stage Combat workshop, we will most likely be put into M/M and F/F scenes. We're up for certification this year! CRAZY! 3rd-Year AG will be probably going through testing with us, as she was injured last year and couldn't test with her class.

After that, we move into Elizabethan, Restoration, and Baroque styles. We'll be starting off with short research projects, where groups will just share 30 interesting facts on their topic, as it relates to theatre. The groups are:

O.D., Newbie, & Angela - Spanish Baroque & Golden Age
All-The-Way, Killer, & Iceman - France & Italy
Big Show, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill - Elizabethan
D-Train, Wifey - Restoration

From there, we'll learn three dances, all of which Movement Professor had to spell for me:
- Pavan (a Spanish walking-style dance)
- French Menuet (which is different than an English Minuet)
- Gigue (which sounds like "Jig", but with a "zh" sound...) or another quick-stepping dance

For Restoration, we'll be doing "Stuffed Turkeys" (aka monologues from Restoration plays which are jam packed full of movement metaphors, and which looked AWESOME when we saw the current 3rd-years do them at their showing last year). And we're going to have to get Restoration costumes. For ladies, that involves corsets, fans, handkerchiefs, skirts, soft blouses with open necks, and petticoats (or something that Movement Professor said that sounded like "pan-gay", but I have no idea what that means). For gentlemen, it means tights, breeches, shirt with draping off the cuffs, handkerchief, high heels (which she recommended they buy at a specialty store for drag queens in order to find shoes that will fit), and short pants (because calves were eroticized).

And in the final weeks, we'll be doing Commedia! Movement Professor has been telling me since the first month I was here that she thinks I'm built for Commedia, so I'm filled with anticipation. She wants us all to find the "type" that we want to play (she has already suggested that I should be a Colombina). Then, we will bring in 10 interesting facts about our type (including the animal they were identified with, and the common predicaments they find themselves in). We're going to learn something called "Grammalot", which is a type of gibberish created by using the common sounds of a language. I'm geeked!



THEATRE
Last night, I attended the opening of Blue/Orange, which stars my classmates D-Train, Thrill, and Big Show. They did a stellar job, and I'm super proud of them. As All-The-Way said to me after the performance, it shows all three of them off really well. It's funny, but also intense. And they pulled it off. (I love you, fellas!) If you're in town, don't miss it!

Catch up Post!

This is my Semester Wrap-Up post, which is much needed.

First of all, the traditional end-of-semester photographs:


Back Row: Iceman, Wifey, Big Show, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Killer
Front Row: Newbie, D-Train, O.D., Angela, All-The-Way


Back Row: Iceman, Wifey, Big Show, Two-Shots-Up, Thrill, Killer
Front Row: Newbie, D-Train, O.D., Angela, All-The-Way


MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP
When we started our workshop Sunday, David started by talking about what his goals were for us. He talked about watching Maria Callas on YouTube, and then watching Joan Sutherland. Or Ella Fitzgerald versus Billie Holliday. He wanted us to be able to act the song, like Frank Sinatra (whom David considers to be the greatest pop singer of the 20th century, because he's so human in his music).

A sampling of the notes I took during the workshop:
- Mike Nichols says he directs a scene by summing it up in one sentence beforehand.
- We don't really want to see a character, as much as we want to see a person being real and being themselves.
- You have to find the character before anything happens. During the musical introduction, don't just sit there waiting to sing. Be alive.
- Try to never need the director.
- Use every part of the song. Don't waste any moments. Just like the Inuits use the whale.
- Don't be afraid of going too far. Most people are so afraid that they don't go far enough.
- If you go to NYC to be an actor, look into Actor's Connection, One-On-One, and The Network. They do actually get people work.
- Just look for the conflicts, and your work is done for you.
- Before an audition, do your pieces before a few people, and tell them you don't want any feedback except for, "You're great!"

It was an incredible experience, just like last year was. Thanks, David!


Back Row: 1st-Year BB, D-Train, Iceman, 1st-Year JaS, Wifey, 1st-Year JoS, 1st-Year MD, 1st-Year GK, 1st-Year JMM, Newbie, Angela
Middle Row: Killer, Thrill, 1st-Year LB, Two-Shots-Up
Front Row: All-The-Way, David, O.D., Music Director


Back Row: Angela, Big Show, Wifey, 1st-Year TS, 1st-Year KC, 1st-Year BB, 1st-Year JoS
Middle Row: 1st-Year JMM, David, 1st-Year AS, Music Director, 1st-Year GP, 1st-Year SDW, 1st-Year GK
Front Row: O.D., Iceman, D-Train, Two-Shots-Up, Killer, 1st-Year MD, Newbie, All-The-Way


I'm not even going to try to explain who is who in this one. :)


ASSESSMENTS
My assessments went very well. At one point, Head of Program said, "Angela, you are the perfect student." ;)

Things I need to work on in my *gasp* last semester of classes will include:
- develop a greater sense of feminine refinement
- work with subtler choices and nuance
- work on "characters who aren't so sure of themselves, who don't have all the answers, or who are out of balance"
- increase overall strength and awareness of what my body is doing, specifically with my limbs
- continue to focus on not locking my knees


ACTING
I have an assignment due next Tuesday that I've barely started on... Whoops. It's called "The Monologue Workbook". It has several steps, including...

Gettings Started: Put the monologue in context (i.e. read the entire play from which your monologue comes)

1. Clarify Meanings (look up definitions of all words in monologue)

2. Paraphrasing (maintaining the structure/syntax/punctuation of the original monologue -- including same parts of speech --
paraphrase entire monologue... we must account for every word)

3. Scansion & Breathing (on 1st copy of the monologue and scan the entire thing, as well as intended breathing points)

4. First Acting Concerns (on the 2nd copy)
a. Explain the inciting incident (in the form of dialogue, if possible)
b. Note your need in one simple statement
c. Divide the monologue into actor beats
d. Identify specific, non-intellectual doings for each beat
e. Explain the consequences of failing to get your need met
f. Describe your dream ending

5. Finding Antithesis (on 3rd copy, circle each thesis and antithesis and connect with a line, using a different color for each pair)

6. Finding Alliteration (on 4th copy)

7. Finding Assonance (on 5th copy)

8. Other Verbal Devices (on 6th copy, point out historic rhymes, end rhymes, puns, bawdy, oxymoron, paradox, repetition, personification, apostrophe, and asides)

9. Analyzing Imagery (on 7th copy, note imagery and show how it relates to the theme of the speech)

10. Point of View (on 8th copy, describe point of view on the world, and points of view on the persons to whom you are speaking, as well as point of view on yourself)

11. Literary Research (look at notes for several editions of the text. Write down top three discoveries)

12. Performance History (Check into the history of performances of your role. Write down top three discoveries)


As you can see, I have a lot of work ahead of me. But I think it's going to be fascinating. :)


LATE NIGHT: TUNES FOR TWO
The first Late Night (aka student produced theatre piece) of 2010 was "Tunes for Two", which was an evening of duets. It was so much fun! I sat front row center (as I like to do at Late Nights). I loved it. I hope I can be in the next one!

Saturday, December 12

MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP

I kept fully intending to write the daily happenings of the musical theatre workshop on this blog, but it seemed too daunting a task... We have in fact been having the workshop all this week. This morning we had our showing, which went brilliantly well.

I don't even really feel like I have the energy to write about the week just now, to be honest. So instead, here are the songs that people ended up singing, so that you can entertain yourselves until my return to writing.

(I have linked to YouTube videos... which are NOT of us. I just linked so that you can hear the songs if you're curious. 1st-Year BB tried to tape our showing today, so if he puts the clips online, I will certainly link to them.)

Angela - "If You Hadn't, But You Did" from Two on the Aisle
All-The-Way - "Toll" by Jeff Blumenkrantz
Big Show - "Love Is Here to Stay" from The Goldwyn Follies
D-Train - "Love to Me" from The Light in the Piazza
Iceman - "Santa Fe" from Newsies
Killer - "Along the Way" from Edges: A Song Cycle
Newbie - "Practically Perfect" from Mary Poppins
O.D. - "If I Were a Rich Man" from The Fiddler on the Roof
Thrill - "Young and Positive" by Sweet Honey in the Rock
Two-Shots-Up - "You Don't Know This Man" from Parade
Wifey - "Gimme, Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie
1st-Year AS - "That'll Show Him" from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
1st-Year BB - "This Is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde
1st-Year GK - "Real Live Girl" from Little Me
1st-Year GP - "Frank Mills" from Hair
1st-Year JaS - "All That's Known" from Spring Awakening
1st-Year JMM - "She Cries" from Songs for a New World
1st-Year JoS - "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks
1st-Year KC - "Jimmy" from Thoroughly Modern Millie
1st-Year LB - "Ariadne" from The Frogs
1st-Year MD - "The Light in the Piazza" from The Light in the Piazza
1st-Year SDW - "I Will Be Loved Tonight" from I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
1st-Year TS - "River in the Rain" from Big River



THEATRE
I attended the opening of The Life of Galileo yesterday night, and it was SENSATIONAL. I seriously loved it. If you're local you MUST go see it. The 3rd-Years are all in it, and are doing a great job. :)

Friday, December 4

MOVEMENT
Our Movement Showing went SO WELL!

I could try to tell you about it here, but instead, I did something awesome...

I bought a video camera! A Flip Ultra (which I apparently could've gotten a lot cheaper on Amazon if I'd had more foresight).

I taped some things during rehearsals for the showing, and then I passed off my camera to other people and had them tape some things, too. And then during the showing, I think we managed to tape all the 1st-years Viewpoints work, and all the 2nd-years Contact Improv work.

So I made a YouTube channel! It takes FOREVER to upload anything (about 15 minutes of upload time for each 1 minute of video, it seems), but I'm slowly adding things.

Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/AngelaActs


ACTING
For Acting class, because it was the last day of the semester, we had a pizza party, courtesy of Acting Professoressa. She told us that she loved the Movement Showing, and thought it was impressive. And then we watched a film!

The film was Etoiles - Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. Those dancers are OBSESSED with their art. And even though they're working together, many of them called it a lonely life. Despite that, they seem so satisfied by their art that it doesn't matter. It was enthralling.


1ST-YEARS' ACTING SHOWING
I cannot put into words just how proud I am of the 12 of '12. They did phenomenal work at their showing! They did scenes from an unpublished play as etudes, similarly to what our class did with Sarah Ruhl's Late: A Cowboy Song last year. They blew me away. I kept alternating between tears and laughter. It was really beautiful. My love for them was exploding out of me by the time it was through.


OPENING: THE PERFUME SHOP
The Perfume Shop, which is the US Premiere of the play that inspired The Shop Around the Corner, You've Got Mail, and She Loves Me opened. And it is so charming! My beautiful roommate, 3rd-Year NP, is in it as a number-crunching sales clerk. And the ENTIRE 3rd-year class is in it! It's the first Rep show of the season, and they are officially in the company. It's so exciting! And they did a beautiful job. The atmosphere in the busy shop flows into the audience, and you could swear that you smell the perfume from the mezzanine. I loved it, and I'm so excited to see their next opening (which is only a week away!).

Thursday, October 29

THEATRE
I went to see Life in the Middle again this morning, and loved it even more than the first time. Seriously, it's a wonderful show. I was so moved by it. At one point I laughed and had an audience of middle schoolers staring at me as though I were a freak, reminding me perfectly of what it was like to have the pressure to fit in back in my younger days. At another point, I cried, and Big Show put his arm around me... Trust me, Big Show and I would not have gotten along as our middle school selves, but the fact that we can be good friends is I think encouraging when I think about all the snippets of young lives in the show; they will grow up, they will move on, they will do great things, and I hope that they will be able to put their differences aside and be supportive of each other as individuals one day.

I love the class of 2010. I'm so proud of them.


VOICE
We actually didn't have Voice class this morning (morning classes are canceled for 2nd-Years the morning after an Opening Night... THANK GOD), but I never wrote about yesterday's class, so here goes:

Voice Professor's big advice to the eight of us in The Mystery Plays going into Opening Night? Don't be seduced by the audience. Don't play into them. Don't ham it up. Excellent advice, I thought.

After many classes of trying to dissect our Shakespearean texts and identify rhetorical devices, we started discussing how to actually PLAY those choices.

With operatives, you can emphasize them by changing one of three things:
- your pitch
- your rate
- your volume

Voice Professor advised against over-using volume as the method of highlighting operatives. She said the most useful method is pitch-changing.


ACTING
Acting Professoressa had us start off class by taking turns reading aloud this article from the New York Times: Whispers Offstage? Could Be Actor's Next Line.

We talked a little about The Mystery Plays, and Acting Professoressa had a great piece of advice: when giving other actors compliments, try to be specific.

We moved onto discussing and scanning more sonnets. I got a migraine from frustration. When I got to this school, I really loved scansion and thought I had a good handle on it. But between Voice class and Acting class, I'm really confused now.

Our homework is to figure out two sets of actions/needs/"doings" for our sonnets. The first set should be literal, and the second should be sensual. So, for example, if I am literally trying "to persuade", I might be sensually trying "to juice". If I'm literally trying "to calm", I might sensually be trying, "to stroke". If I were literally trying "to persuade", I might be sensually trying "to lick". Things like that. The goal is to be able to change the partner by saying the poem.

Additionally, we are to read the first chapter of Playing Shakespeare by John Barton.

Acting Professoressa also recommended trying to "walk" the sonnet to get a feel for the rhythm and the irregularities of the text. (Someone -- I think it was Killer -- then made a joke about "Dancing with the Sonnets" that was pretty entertaining).


THE MYSTERY PLAYS
It's nice that the show is open now. It feels freer already. I realized yesterday just how much I truly love this show. It's such a great journey to travel through as an actor, and it has such positive messages. I dig it. And our audiences have seemed to love it, too, which is super cool.

Thursday, October 8

All classes were canceled today, as were rehearsals. Why?

The Ringling International Arts Festival

SO COOL.

I saw six plays today. Four of them were written by students. One was Peter Brook/C.I.T.C.'s Love Is My Sin (which is a show with two actors and one musician, which is comprised entirely of text from Shakespeare's sonnets). And the last was the workshop premiere of Elevator Repair Service's The Sun Also Rises (Part I).

After the show, ERS came and talked to my schoolmates a bit about their process as a company. The thing I think I loved most about them was that they seem to have a lot of fun with creating their art. When Iceman asked what advice they had for working as an ensemble (as my class has to do so much this year), one of them said: "We have so many jokes. So many stupid jokes. And new ones every day. I would say, as a rule, if you don't have new stupid jokes every day, maybe you've gotta change up something."

When asked how they became part of the group, it sounded like most of them did through happenstance (one guy was cast because he looked like another guy who was leaving; one guy did sound for them before being cast; one gal was cast in the role of a receptionist because she had been working in their office as a receptionist... and they've all been doing work with ERS ever since), one of them said, "whoever refuses to go away." I think that's a great way of looking at being in the arts. The people who refuse to go away, who will never throw in the towel, those are the ones who get the work. :)

Saturday, May 23

The Edge of Peace Workshop

This week, I worked with playwright Suzan Zeder on a workshop of the play she's currently finishing up: The Edge of Peace. It's the final play in a trilogy that she's been working on since 1982 (the first two plays were Mother Hicks and The Taste of Sunrise, but it stands on its own as well.

It's a beautiful play that involves a deaf character (who, it is specified, must be played by a deaf actor). I had to learn a bit of sign language for my role.

I played the role of "Girl", who is born in The Taste of Sunrise and is the main character of Mother Hicks. She's a sassy 23-year-old who is a Women's Air Service Pilot in World War II. It was a fun new type of role for me, and I loved it.

D-Train and Newbie were in the reading as well. D-Train read the role of an 11-year-old boy named Buddy (and he did a wonderful job providing most of the comedic moments of the play). Newbie played June Ricks, a war-wife whose husband is M.I.A.

D-Train, me, and Newbie before the reading

We had a final reading of it yesterday, and actually had a pretty good turn out. We did a talk-back afterward, and the audience had some very insightful feedback. It was great being able to share that work with people.

It felt great being on stage again, even though it was only a reading. Aside from understudy runs and open-classes, I haven't performed in ages. It feels so right. I know this is what I was born to do.

Also really exciting? During the rehearsal process, they made us mugs! In the Repertory company, each actor has a mug in the rehearsal room labeled with their name that they can use throughout the rehearsal period. And for this, I got a mug! I was so stoked!