Monday, March 7

SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT
Today, my theatre did its season announcement for next year. It's strange to think that I won't be around for that season. Three years is a long time to be somewhere. This is my home now. Today was the first time it really hit me that I won't be here for much longer. And that was a little hard to take.


LAS MENINAS
We've been rehearsing for 1 month, 6 days (according to an app on my iPod Touch called "Time Flies", which I love). We are going on the set for the first time tomorrow for a designer run through (which means we'll do the play in front of the designers for the first time, so they can see what the show is becoming). We start tech next week. Our first preview is on the 16th, and we open on the 18th. I think this is the longest rehearsal process I've been in since high school, which is a result of having to schedule our rehearsals around the performances in the Rep calendar.


BOEING BOEING
We had a string last week where I believe we got to do the show 5 times in 6 days, which was lovely. But now we haven't done it since Thursday, and we're not doing it again until Wednesday. Rep is so weird sometimes.

Despite the gaps in our schedule, we're doing quite well. We've been finding new things in the show, which is always a nice place to be. The two performances we had last week were particularly fun, I thought.

Also neat: I got to see the understudy run of the show! It was so cool! I've never been able to SEE a show that I've been IN. There are sight gags that the guys pull while I'm on stage with them that I've never been able to watch, so it was neat to see how they play out. It really is a delightful play. Congrats to our awesome understudies!


LAS MENINAS UNDERSTUDYING
We had our first official Las Meninas understudy rehearsal on Saturday morning. It didn't feel like the first for me, as I have gone on in my role many times in rehearsal. I'm understudying our Acting Professoressa, who plays both the Queen Mother and the Mother Superior. Whenever our rehearsal times conflict with her class schedule, then I have to step in for her. I believe that there's only one scene of hers that I have as of yet to do, which is a scene that is predominantly her character talking (so when she's unable to attend rehearsal, they skip over that scene instead of putting me into it). As a result, I'm mostly off book already, and I know most of her blocking. So that's nice.


DEATHTRAP UNDERSTUDYING
On Sunday, we did the first readthrough of Deathtrap with the understudies. I am understudying the role of Helga Ten Dorp, the Dutch psychic. Voice Professor gave me some materials so that I can work on the Dutch accent, but I haven't had time to work much with them yet. Right now, my Dutch sounds like a cross between German and Italian. It's not accurate, but it's pretty funny. I'm excited to work on this role.

Unfortunately for me, Las Meninas and Deathtrap rehearse at exactly the same times! There are people in both casts who are in Boeing Boeing AND there are people in both casts who are in Twelve Angry Men. As a result, whenever either BB or 12AM are performing, then NEITHER of the other plays can rehearse. As a result, the blocks of time that are open to rehearse for them are the same times as each other. This means that it's going to be VERY difficult for Wifey (who is understudying the wife), Thrill (who is understudying the lawyer), and I to attend any Deathtrap rehearsals until they're in tech. So we're going to have to try to get as off-book as we can, and then learn the blocking at the last minute. YIKES!

Sunday, September 26th

LATE NIGHTS

There are 2 performances of Red Light Winter today. By the time you read this, you'll still be able to make it the the 8pm performance tonight (Sunday). It's free, and it's excellent. I have a brief cameo in the pre-show, so come say hello.

There was a performance on Friday night that was extremely well-attended. The space only seats about 60 people, so we had a standing-room-only situation, and had to (sadly) turn some people away. I hope they can make it tonight.

It's a seriously great show. Iceman directed it, and it stars All-the-Way, D-Train, and Killer. Come if you can. It's worth seeing.

(Note: This show has nudity and sexual content.)



ANTIGONE NOW
Rehearsals have been going fairly well, except that half the cast is under the weather.

The show was fully blocked by Tuesday. It's a short play, so we made it through quite quickly. Now, we're mostly just running it and doing work-throughs.



UNDERSTUDYING
As a 3rd-year, I have understudy responsibilities for the Rep, just as I did in my 1st-year. Our understudy assignments were posted on Friday, which it felt like we'd been waiting for forever.

I'm understudying the Queen Mother/Mother Superior in Las Meninas (bonus: the actress playing those roles is my 2nd-year Acting Professoressa! How cool is that?). I'm also understudying a role in Deathtrap: a Hungarian psychic named Helga. You may have heard about Deathtrap recently, as it just opened on the West End (and there's a decent chance that it will be transferring to Broadway) starring Jonathan Groff (of Spring Awakening and Glee fame). Our theatre magically got the rights to do it JUST BEFORE the rights were locked up by the West End production. So we are the only other theatre (that I know of) that is being allowed to do it this season. So that's kind of cool. I'm really excited for my understudy roles.

And you know what else is kind of awesome? Someone is understudying ME this year! One of the 1st-years is understudying me in two different shows in the season. I've never had an understudy before. Ever. This is crazy.

Monday, April 13: A Week in the Life

So my week has been pretty complicated. Want to see the schedule of the life of a grad student? Here's what mine was last week:

TUESDAY
8:30am - 9:00am - frost cake for Iceman's birthday, head to school
9:00am - 10:25am - Movement
10:35am - 12:00pm - Voice
12:15pm - 12:45pm - Student Rep meeting
12:45pm - 1:00pm - construct set for Chekhov work and get into costume
1:00pm - 4:00pm - Acting
4:10pm - 5:30pm - Text Analysis
5:30pm - 6:00pm - group meeting with O.D. and Two-Shots-Up regarding Mr. Marmalade
6:00pm - 11:15pm - rehearsal for Three Postcards
11:30pm - 12:30am - homework while Skyping with boyfriend

WEDNESDAY
9:00am - 10:25am - Movement
10:35am - 12:00pm - Voice
12:00pm - 1:00pm - study Winter's Tale lines, type blog post from day before, eat lunch
1:00pm - 1:30pm - group meeting group meeting with Director A, D-Train, O.D., and Two-Shots-Up regarding Mr. Marmalade
1:30pm - 2:00pm - construct set for Chekhov work and get into costume
2:00pm - 5:00pm - Acting class
5:15pm - 5:45pm - move props for Three Postcards from classroom building to Historic theatre
5:45pm - 6:20pm - dinner break
6:30pm - 11:00pm - rehearsal for Three Postcards
11:00pm - 12:00am - group meeting with Director A, D-Train, O.D., and Two-Shots-Up regarding Mr. Marmalade
12:15am - 1:00am - bake cake for Two-Shots-Up's birthday while doing homework and Skyping with boyfriend

THURSDAY
9:00am - 10:25am - Movement
10:35am - 12:00pm - Voice
12:00pm - 12:30pm - go home to retrieve laptop, type blog post, eat lunch
12:30pm - 1:00pm - construct set for Chekhov work and get into costume
1:00pm - 4:00pm - Acting
4:10pm - 5:30pm - Text Analysis (my group's presentation on Mr. Marmalade
5:30pm - 6:30pm - dinner break
6:30pm - 11:00pm - first day of tech for Three Postcards
11:15pm - 12:00am - homework while Skyping with boyfriend

FRIDAY
9:00am - 10:25am - Movement
10:35am - 12:00pm - Voice
12:00pm - 12:30pm - watch video tape of Winter's Tale in student lounge to brush up on lines before understudy run
12:30pm - 1:00pm - type blog post, eat lunch
1:00pm - 1:30pm - meeting with Acting Professor
1:30pm - 2:00pm - construct set for Chekhov work and get into costume
2:00pm - 5:00pm - Acting (final day of Chekhov work, with invited audience)
5:00pm - 6:30pm - dinner break
6:30pm - 11:15pm - rehearsal for Three Postcards
11:30pm - 12:30am - reviewing lines for Winter's Tale

SATURDAY
7:50am - leave to pick up D-Train
8:00am - 8:45am - warm-up for understudy run
9:00am - 11:50am - Winter's Tale understudy run
11:50am - 12:00pm - notes from Voice Professor regarding Winter's Tale understudy run
12:00pm - 12:30pm - drive to Burger King, get food, eat lunch in car on way to rehearsal
12:30pm - 5:10pm - tech for Three Postcards
5:20pm - 6:40pm - dinner break, talk to roommate, type up "Quotations" blog post
7:00pm - 11:15pm - tech for Three Postcards (we were actually called until 12:00am, but got out early)

SUNDAY
10:30pm - 11:30pm - Easter Mass
11:45pm - 12:15pm - grab lunch, head to theatre
12:30pm - 4:00pm - tech for Three Postcards (this was originally supposed to be a 12:00-5:00, 7:00-12:00 day, but was drastically shortened because 1. Tech was going well, 2. They didn't want to actors to wear out their voices)

MONDAY
Sweet freedom
(a.k.a. time to blog about how complicated the last week has been)

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Saturday morning was the final understudy run for Winter's Tale, and it went really well. Afterward, I was on a massive Shakespeare-high. It feels so great to perform that work. And playing Paulina gave me this sense of power and authority. She's such a bad-a**. It was awesome. I hope that someday in the future I can play that role for real.

One of my donors came to watch the run, which made my day. :)

Voice Professor was there to watch and give notes (normally it would be Analysis Professor, but he asked her to cover for him because he's in tech for Three Postcards, which he directed). Her notes to me were:
"Angela. Excellent. Good sending and landing from upstage. Beautiful work."

I'm very proud of that. Especially since earlier in the day I had gotten this e-mail from her regarding Friday's final Chekhov day, which she attended:

hi Angela

i very much enjoyed hearing your 1st year class selected scenes from the three sisters! i did take a few specific word pronunciation notes, but mostly i listened for overall voice/speech issues. keep up the good work! namaste, [Voice Professor]

-sometimes you fell off vocal energy on your final words
-you cannot throw lines away and go off-voice, we must hear what you are saying; you need to act "outward" not "inward", even with a character like masha, or you will fall into a trap of not being able to be heard and/or going off-voice

I have a feeling those notes had a lot to do with the nervousness that Acting Professor commented on the day before. But I'm glad to know that once I got on the stage in the big theatre, I didn't have any vocal issues. I think the class notes were mostly the result of an off-day. I just need to be aware that going off-voice is a danger for me, and do what I can to combat it.

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I've been in tech for Three Postcards this weekend, and it has gone pretty well.

Big Show and I are responsible for putting together all the food props. For this play, that involves:

- 1 Rob Roy on the rocks
- 2 lillets with twists of orange
- 1 bottle white wine
- 1 bowl of cream of fennel soup with parsley
- 1 seafood mousse with chives and crackers
- 1 roast duck with rice, chives, cherries, cranberry sauce, and honey
- 1 Cornish hen with Bulgar wheat, parsley, asparagus, carrot, and honey
- 1 veal paillard with rosemary, rice, asparagus and carrots
- 1 rum-flavored apple aspic with apple slices
- 2 cups of coffee

Can you keep a secret? We're using half fake food and half real food, and the majority of the real food is not actually what it's representing. SHHHHH!

Not only do we have to put all the food on plates, but we have to put them on with specific presentation so as to give the appearance of them being from a fancy restaurant.

Of course, this means our job also involves a lot of clean-up.

- 6 spoons
- 6 forks
- 4 knives
- 3 rocks glasses
- 3 water glasses
- 4 white wine glasses
- 2 martini glasses
- 1 tumbler
- 2 coffee cups
- 2 saucers
- 3 dessert plates
- 3 entree plates
- 1 soup bowl
- 1 wine bottle
- 1 creamer cup
- 1 ramekin
- 1 tray
- 1 pitcher
- approximately 24 fake pieces of food
- 1 tub (that we carry things in)

Now, let's talk about the complications of the theatre we're in...

1. The only area where we are allowed to handle food is on the second floor. The theatre is on the first floor.
2. There is no dishwasher.
3. There is no sink in the designated food preparation area.
4. The only three available sinks are in single-stall bathrooms; 1 is in the men's dressing room on the 2nd floor, 1 is in the women's dressing room on the 2nd floor, and 1 is on the first floor but has no place to put the dishes after washing them or drying them.
5. The refrigerator and the microwave are both on the second floor.

So basically...
It's impractical to wash dishes downstairs, since we need them upstairs (and because it's the smallest bathroom and tricky for 2 people to maneuver in, and has no space to put all the dishes). There are three women in the show and most of the crew is female, so the bathroom in the women's dressing room is constantly in use. Therefore, we've been using the sink in the men's bathroom.

That's right. All those things above (somewhere near 70 items, although I typed that list from memory and might be forgetting something) I am washing by hand in a shallow bathroom sink, aided only by a bottle of dish soap and a sponge. I wash things, put them on the seat of a chair in there, and then Big Show picks them up, dries them, and sets them down on the seat in the shower stall. We have to do all of this before the two men in the play are called (or, at least, before we're too much of an inconvenience to them).

At least Big Show is around to help now. When I first started, it was just me. Then when he came on board, he was pretty ill, so we made the decision that he should stay away from all dish-washing and food preparation in order to protect the health of the cast. He's now well enough that we've decided that he can dry the dishes (I'm still doing the washing), and he can mix the drinks. I'm still handling all of the food preparation on my own for the time being.

I'm also transporting most of the food on my own from upstairs to downstairs, most of it mid-production. The coffee, for example, needs to be made in the middle of the show. Three of the dishes (the soup, the mousse, and the aspic) need to be refrigerated until just before they go onstage. That means I have to carefully time when I have the ability to go upstage and am not needed backstage (either to give props to the actors or take them from the actors) to make the trips to prepare and transport the food items.

My legs are getting a workout.

And, although food production and dish washing are the largest parts of my job, that's not all I do. I have to do a couple of quick prop exchanges with one of the actors. And Big Show and I also have to do all the prop presets... which include napkins, menus, a wine list, coats, replacing a battery in an electric candle (which needs to be done before every show, as it only lasts about a show and a half), pushing in chairs in a way that doesn't affect the shape of the tablecloth, etc. It's not that it's difficult; it's just a lot to do.

While I was rushing around on Saturday to get the food, I didn't notice that a leaking water cooler on the 2nd floor had left a huge puddle on the tile floor, so I slipped and fell. I hurt my ankle and my leg in the process. Not significant injuries, but enough that it makes all the stairs trips a little less simple and a little less pleasant. I hope that having today off will give me a chance to recuperate.

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The first preview for Three Postcards is Tuesday night (we're getting out of afternoon classes to finish tech), and it opens Wednesday. If you're in the area, I hope you'll be able to come and see it. It's really a fun show, and I'm proud to be working on it.


All good things,

~A~

Wednesday, March 4

Today was a big day for the understudies.

The actor playing Camillo in The Winter's Tale was out sick. His understudy is 3rd-year DY, who normally plays Young Shepherd. 3rd-year DY's understudy is Thrill. And 3rd-year EA, who normally plays Dorcas (among other roles) is still out with an injury. Her understudy is Two-Shots-Up. So in a very unusual performance, THREE understudies went on in one day (two of whom had never been up in those roles before). Crazy!


Tonight was also important because it marked the opening of the 2nd-year show, Miss Julie by August Strindberg. It was sold out tonight, and the preview last night had been sold out as well, so I haven't gotten to see it yet. I did attend the opening night party to support and congratulate all involved. I hope to be able to see it within the next couple of days (especially because one of my roommates -- 2nd-year NP -- is in it).

Sunday, March 1

Two-Shots-Up has had an exciting weekend. She has been understudying the same actress (3rd-year E.A.) in two different shows, and that actress has had an injury. So on Saturday, she had to go on for BOTH roles! In one day! Dorcas in The Winter's Tale and Angelique in The Imaginary Invalid. She went on again today for Imaginary Invalid for the closing performance. And rumor has it, she might be doing Winter's Tale next week as well.

I went to see both of the shows on Saturday, and she totally rocked them out. I was so very, very proud!

I drilled my lines today. I hope that if I have to go on, it'll be okay. It's pretty good in my kitchen, but on stage is a completely different matter.

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.

Tuesday, February 17

I've been down a computer the last couple of days, but I have borrowed one of my roommates' computers (2nd-year NP. I also live with 3rd-year HK). And now I have a lot to catch up on!


Understudying
Saturday morning was our official full understudy run for The Imaginary Invalid, and it actually went really well! I didn't forget my lines or my blocking. There were no really major flubs by anyone, actually. We were pretty awesome. A bunch of other 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years came to support us, as well as one of my donors and one of my friends.

Really, it just felt great to be on stage again. It feels like it's been eons since I was last in a real play on a real stage... and it was a marvelous feeling. This is what I'm built for.

Afterwards, Analysis Professor (who directed it) gave us notes. The biggest note was to stop playing the comedy, and instead to play the objectives. If you try to make a joke work, it won't. It's a good piece of advice for any comedy.


Theatre
I went to see The Winter's Tale again on Friday. I'm still not sure that I've got everything down blocking-wise (although I'm doing better on the lines than I was the last time I saw it). We'll have our understudy rehearsals for that next weekend.

I also went to a student-produced Love Late Night on Valentine's Day. A bunch of students (1st, 2nd, and 3rd years) did songs, scenes, monologues, sonnets, and choreography all based on the theme of love.

The best part of the Love Late Night? At the very end of it, Iceman invited his girlfriend on stage... and PROPOSED!!! It was the sweetest thing ever! And she said yes! (Well, nodded, actually... but it was a yes.) Congratulations Iceman & Icegirl!


Tech
On Sunday, several of us were called for set load-in for Miss Julie. Luckily, it went pretty fast (despite the fact that we had to move a really tall platform and some staircases). Today we had the props load-in, which literally took about 7 minutes. I hope strike goes as easily.


Movement
Today was the first day of our tumbling unit! SO EXCITING!

Movement Professor gave us a handout giving some information about the tumbling unit...

The objectives and goals of this unit are:
1. To become habituated to taking new risks, through risking in new physical activities, or in improving skills you already know, in new ways. The habituating of physical risk strengthens the actor's ability to embrace emotional risk onstage.
2. To work on physical skills that you may use in your career, particularly within contemporary productions, which are often highly physical and use these forms of movement.
3. To habituate ways of doing tumbling and lifts that are safe for your body, so that you can do those moves as you grow older without injury.
4. To continue to work on partnering and ensemble skills and creation of a sage environment for creative exploration, through spotting each other, watching each other, and helping each other. These skills apply directly to professional rehearsal situations and should be practiced at all times.
5. To gain strength, flexibility, range of movement, and increased coordination. Tumbling and acrobatics quickly strengthen core, arm, and leg strength. They also help actors to become more in control of their bodies at all times, and increase actors' facility in picking up physical material. This last prepares actors for dance.

Every day you will go through a series of moves and strengthening activities. The class will progress together at the beginning of the unit. As you get better, I will begin to individuate degree of difficulty for the moves, and people will be required to do different things. At no time should anyone think that they are not doing well, unless they hear so from me. You will develop, safely, under my supervision with my mind and eye constantly on your body and form, looking out for your safety.

Here are three rules that must be followed:
1. Never do anything that you do not feel ready to do, even if I ask you to. Tell me so. Your body will tell you when it wants to move on.
2. Keep all talking to an absolute minimum and keep your eyes on your classmates' progress. Be careful about distracting people working on the mat.
3. If I shout, "STOP!", stop safely, but immediately. It means that I see something dangerous that must stop immediately, for your safety. I make that call, not you.

No one has EVER been injured in this unit, save for a few strains. Follow these rules, listen to the directions, make required changes to your old form, and you won't be injured either. You will also progress more quickly.

She added to that the idea that we should never give each other notes in class. Getting notes from each other as well as the professor will most likely only prove confusing, and could lead to endangerment.

Today, we started with some fast and furious warm-ups after our daily rope-jumping. Then we went into our first bits of tumbling on the mats (which wasn't all that tumb-ly -- we're starting slowly).


Voice
We got our IPA tests back, and it seemed like everyone did alright. I rocked mine, and I was so relieved!

We started doing a bunch of things involving humming into our faces. At one point, we all sounded like cicadas, which was pretty amusing. And at another, Voice Professor sounded a bit like a tea kettle.

The humming is supposed to be light (easy quality), high (in pitch), and forward (from the front of the face). It's also supposed to leave space within the mouth, as though you had closed your lips onto a sound that you were making.

There was one thing we did that we decided was a "laser triangle hum". We're supposed to practice that tonight.


Acting
My scene with O.D. was a bit off today. It was disappointing to me, as it had been going really well lately. For some reason, I was completely contracted through the beginning of the scene. I thought that it was the character doing it at first, but now I'm not sure if it was the actor or the character... I don't know. It felt terribly wrong.

We discussed my character. There's this idea that she might fit the Marilyn Monroe archetype, and also that she doesn't like to be alone.

Movement Professor attended class, and gave me a lot of notes. I'm still locking my knees (which I still can't feel). She also said I'm thrusting my head forward. She said that part of the way through the scene my alignment shifted into a better position and my inner-tempo picked up (which was a good thing). She said to watch for facial tension, as that's a good indicator that something is going wrong in the rest of me.

She also said that I need to practice getting in and out of chairs while wearing a dress. I have to do this at home so that I won't be awkward about it in scenes (Angela does not wear a lot of dresses; "Hildy", my character, does.)

O.D. was told to start playing "up and out, like a fountain or a flower", which I thought was a neat note.

Acting Professor said that if you get to a spot in one of these exercises where you know you're not being truthful, you should take a second and "just resign", allowing yourself to drop out of the scene so that you can come back into it and receive truthfully.

We also discussed correcting things like knee-locking while in a scene without dropping character. If you notice a technical glitch in the scene, then ignoring it is as detrimental as denying any other impulse. If you don't correct your knee-locking/vocal quality/facial tension/etc. when you notice it, you're going to end up thinking about it for the rest of the scene and missing your other impulses as a result.

It's hard to have off days, but it's important to know that you learn just as much from them as you do from good days.


Analysis
I did not finish my Titus Andronicus paper (partially due to my computer issues, and partially due to my inability to prove any thesis). I went and discussed it with Analysis Professor for a bit today. I have a good understanding of the play, but not great footing to write this paper. I'm going to keep working on it and hope that I get a better grasp on it by next class.

We watched a video of The Wooster Group's production of The Emperor Jones by Eugene O'Neill. It's apparently Brechtian in style. Mr. Jones was portrayed by a white woman in black-face. Frankly, I thought it was a visual migraine in film form. It was aurally and visually assaulting. I understand the goal of that style (to try to force an audience to reexamine the play taking other things into consideration --which, in this case, was supposed to underline the racism inherent in the writing), but I don't find it to be particularly successful. I was covering my ears (because the sound was so hostile) and looking away from the screen frequently in order to make it through.

Thursday, February 12

Movement
I have to say, our alignment work is really working. The last few class days, when I've gotten in my car at lunchtime, I've had to adjust my rear-view mirror up (and then down a little the next morning). I didn't really think about it... but then I realized: after alignment work, I'm TALLER. My spine is lengthened or straightened or something. If that's not proof that our alignment training works, I don't know what is.

I was partnered with D-Train and Two-Shots-Up today to observe each other's alignment. Both of them said that they could really tell a difference between how aligned I am now in comparison to when I got here. And I can really see it in some of my classmates, too (D-Train thinks he's grown a full inch and a half. And O.D. is SO much more even than he used to be).

Our alignment work today involved using exercise balls. It made me dizzy and tired, but in the end, my back felt AWESOME.

We have a "check-up" tomorrow (which is the Movement Class equivalent of a test... sort of) to make sure that we've learned everything properly.


Voice
I did really well on my IPA stuff today. Turns out, my Voice Professor will accept "children" with a "sit", "met" OR "gum" vowel at the end (I wrote all three on my paper... and I decided that I think that "sit" makes the most sense).

I think I've gotten to a place where I can hear all the vowels, but it's often a matter of whether I have already learned the Standard American pronunciation or the General American one (we're being tested in Standard American, which is a dialect in and of itself... it feels pretty foreign a lot of the time).

We have our official test tomorrow (the one that gets graded). As long as I don't make any stupid mistakes (like using an "h" in a word like "honest" where it's silent... or using two "l"s in "tallest" when it's only one "l" sound), I should be fine.

ETA: Also, it turns out I'm pretty good at saying the vowel in "voice". It's supposed to be an "aw" + "ih", as opposed to an "oh" + "ee".


Acting
O.D. and I did our full story for the first time today. When it started, I received him as being creepy and weird, so I (or, rather, my character) evolved into being someone who was ready to fight if attacked. And from there, she changed entirely. Instead of being someone who was settling and lost, she was manipulative and sarcastic. It felt really truthful (and actually made total sense), but when it finished, I felt like I'd done something wrong.

Acting Professor encouraged it entirely. He said that it was the first time that O.D. and I had really found the "Vonnegut" in the story. He says that Vonnegut's writing (like O. Henry before him) has "no sentimentality whatsoever", but people project it onto his works a great deal. He said that we found a way to make it clear that the characters were misunderstanding each other. So that's cool. If that's the case, then I really had been misinterpreting the story. I hope that we can reconcile what we found today with things that we've found in past runs.

A couple of other cool things happened today. Thrill found a way to be calm as an actor while playing a nervous character. And Killer found a way to get to an upset, emotional place as a character while being comfortable and happy as an actor. It showed how well the technique we're learning is working.


Analysis
The class had been divided into three groups to present parts of Titus Andronicus: plot, character, and imagery. I was in the imagery group.

Iceman and I did tag-team presenting on the mythology imagery. I thought it went pretty well (although really, we could've spent another half hour on mythology if time had allowed, easily).

I'm going to try to start working on my paper on Saturday, as it's due Tuesday. Wish me luck.


Understudying
Killer went on for Imaginary Invalid for the third time today, which means he can officially put the role on his résumé without calling himself an understudy. Awesome! I went to see it again (to watch the blocking once more in preparation for the understudy run-through on Saturday morning), and he did a great job. It looks like Thrill might go on as Young Shepherd in The Winter's Tale tomorrow night. I'm praying for him. :)

Tuesday, February 10

Hello to all prospective students of my grad school! I understand that some people have been directed to this blog by my professors. If you have any questions (seriously, anything... no matter how random), by all means, email me. I usually respond to emails as soon as I get them. angelaacts(at)gmail.com


Movement
Today our alignment work focused on our arms. We did one thing that made most people's hands tingle. And we've now learned The Fish, which is a tremoring position that we hadn't learned in Voice class (it's seems like it's a position that requires supervision; I can see how someone could get injured if they weren't being careful).


Voice
We spent the day doing self-testing. The words we're practicing with seem to be getting progressively more difficult. The words I messed up today were "arrow" (I used a schwa with r-coloring, when I should've used a linking-r because it's intervocalic) and "jury" (for the middle vowel, I used the one in the word "stir". It's actually supposed to be the vowel in the word "would").

We briefly discussed when to use "liquid-u" sounds (which is when you say a "y"-ish sound before a "u"). The general rule is to use liquid-u sounds after the letters "t", "d", "n", and sometimes "l" (hence why "Tuesday", "duty", and "new" have them, but "crew" doesn't).

We also discussed the regional substitution of the "sit" vowel for the "met" vowel. For example, in some parts of the country, "pin" and "pen" sound the same (also "tin/ten", "tint/tent"). It happens in words that are spelled with "en" and "em". For example, one of my classmates used the "sit" substitution in the word "September". If you have that substitution, it's something that you have to pay special attention to when learning lines (I suppose "attention" and "when" are good examples, actually).

Tonight our homework is to review the vowels of "all", "honest", and "fathers".


Student Rep
My student rep meeting today was when I was informed that my professors now know about my blog. *waves to Analysis Professor* Luckily, they don't plan to sue me. :) But I did get a couple of "Don't you dare put that on your blog!" comments during the day.


Acting
We discussed how important it is to be fully accepting of the character you're playing. If you can find a way to love the character, that is 90% of your success.

Our professor also said not to keep your foot on the break in your acting unless you're doing film work.

When recording our lines (which is sort of like memorizing them... but not), it's important to keep openness through the chest, a sense of expansion, and to continue to send and land with the voice. If you do this as you're putting the lines into your brain, you will continue to do it with those things in mind during the scene without having to focus on them.

My scene with O.D. went pretty well, I thought. We ended up doing far more of the scene than we had anticipated (3 pages more than we had recorded, in fact... but the lines just started saying themselves).

Our Movement Professor attended class today. She let me know that I was locking my knees from the moment I stepped on stage. It's still really difficult for me to neither lock my knees nor bend them. I feel a little unstable (which is probably because I'm not connecting my psoas muscles through my body properly). But I'm working on it.

I was told to record keeping my hands away from my face, and without tensing my hands. At the moment, I'm not recording enough ease. I was also given the note that I need to be more comfortable in my costume (I thought I was comfortable in it... but apparently it's not reading that way). I also need to make sure I'm sending and landing all my lines (which is not always easy to do when you're in an intimate scene).


Analysis
We discussed Act 4, Scene vi of King Lear, which was the scene that we had researched, dissected, summarized, and paraphrased for class today. Our Analysis Professor refers to it as being "the most meta-theatrical scene in all of Shakespeare." In the Elizabethan era, most scenery was created through descriptive language, as opposed to actual sets. In this scene, a man (Edgar, disguised as Poor Tom of Bedlam) is trying to convince a blind man (Gloucester, his father) that they are on a very high, very dangerous cliff. In actuality, they are on level ground. The scene is therefore written in a way that allows Edgar to fool Gloucester with his description, but allows the audience to understand that they are not, in fact on this imaginary cliff.

We're presenting various aspects of Titus Andronicus on Thursday. I'm in the "Imagery/Mythology" group with All-the-Way, Wifey, and Iceman. And then I have a paper on the action of that play (using the imagery from my research to support it) due Monday.


Understudying
Today was a big milestone for my class; it was the first time that one of us has had to go on for an understudy role. Killer went on for Claude DeAria in The Imaginary Invalid. Several of us went to see it and support him. He did a really terrific job, and made us incredibly proud. CONGRATULATIONS KILLER!

Our Imaginary Invalid understudy run is on Saturday morning at 9am (yeesh... I'm not used to having to act that early in the morning). I know Analysis Professor will be there, and some of the other professors might be as well (as well as donors, classmates, and friends). I'm actually looking forward to it. I think I've got it pretty well down at this point. I think it'll be fun. And getting to act on that stage will be a total thrill.

I'm going to try to see The Winter's Tale again tomorrow. I haven't seen it since opening night, so I really need to.


All good things,

~A~

Sunday, January 25

I have officially been put back on vocal rest by my Voice Professor as of about 15 minutes ago. After having a sore throat all week, I started really losing my voice last night. So now, no talking and lots of hydrating until further notice.

Anyway. Being under the weather made me spend a lot of the week resting when I could, so I'm a little behind on this... Back to Friday...

Movement
We finally did our movement monologues individually as performed pieces. I went first, which was nerve-wracking and uncomfortable. I was so worried that I was doing it wrong. But no, this is the kind of thing that you CAN'T do wrong.

After performing, we gave each other positive feedback, talking about our physical vocabularies and individual strengths. My professor said I had excellent "port de bras" (which is a dance term referring to the "carriage of the arms"... I looked it up). I'd write the other comments, but it feels to braggadocious to type out my compliments.

It was a very cool assignment, in retrospect. I learned a lot about the ways in which I habitually move, as well as the physical patterns of my classmates.


Voice
It turns out, I have a weird vowel shift that most people do not, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how I got it.

We started discussing the vowel in the phrase "God's hotdog". All three of those "o"s, in Standard American Dialect, should be pronounced as the same vowel -- the "o" sound in "honest".

In contemporary American speech, many people have started shifting their "honest" vowels so that they sound more like the "a" in "father". (If you're reading this and can't tell the difference between those vowels, you're not alone. They're similar vowels, and the shift is very common. We just can't learn it because it makes our speech sound too modern, which is limiting.)

I, however, somehow got the opposite shift. Instead of turning my "honest" vowels into "father" vowels, I sometimes round them too much and turn them into "law" vowels. So when I say "God's hotdog", I get "God" and "hot" correctly, but for "dog", I might as well be saying "dawg".

The three vowels in question appear in the phrase "tall coffee latte". "Tall" = "law", "coffee" = "honest", "latte" = "father". But I say it wrong, because I say "coffee" as "cawfee".

You know what other word I apparently say wrong? "Wrong". I put the "aw" vowel in, instead of the "honest" vowel.

My professor thinks it may have something to do with the fact that I grew up in the Midwest. The "honest" => "father" vowel shift is heavily present there, so I over-compensated by going in the opposite direction.

I think this is going to take a long (another word I can't say yet) time for me to correct.


Movement Tutorial
I met with my Movement Professor over my lunch hour. She filmed me walking, on the same tape that we've been using all year. Then we watched what my posture and walk used to look like versus what they look like now.

OH. MY. WORD.

I look like I have a completely different body than I had before. I cannot tell you HOW MUCH closer to neutral I am. And it was so weird to see, because I didn't notice the change happening. More than that, I didn't realize exactly how messed up I looked when I got here. And it's so great to see that the alignment work I've been doing on my own has really been making a difference.

I've apparently evened out the weight I put on my legs now, my feet are in parallel, and they're no longer too close together (rather, they're perhaps a bit too far apart, because I have a habit of taking a note and running with it... it results in a lot of overcompensation, but it's not going to be hard for me to pull back on this one).

My new list of things to focus on:
- opening through the sternum
- letting my face "float"
- bringing my feet underneath me
- stop thinking so much about my lower back (yay! I've improved enough that I can focus on other things!)
- breath into my sides and my back lower ribs (right now the front of my rib cage is expanding far more than the rest of it)


Acting
O.D. and I went first with our Vonnegut scene, and I just wasn't in it. When the conversation begins in the short story, Hildy (my character) is crying. Then during the conversation, she starts crying again and Andy (O.D.'s character) has a line referencing it. But I just can't do it.

My professor says that I don't have to put pressure on myself to cry at the beginning of the scene. He also says that if I "record" that I have to cry, the only reason that it won't happen is if I'm ignoring other impulses that my subconscious is sending to me. If I ignore it sometimes, it will stop working consistently. He (and Killer) said that I had denied an impulse to stand up at an earlier point in the scene, which is why I couldn't reach a state of "I am."

The second time we ran the scene, it was much better. I still didn't cry, but I didn't care to. O.D's line became about the reaction that I had, rather than the reaction that I was "supposed" to have, and there was a lot of life and truth in it.

I am hopeful that it will continue to bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever.


Theatre
I went to see The Imaginary Invalid again last weekend, which was the first time that I had seen it since the opening. I think it's gotten funnier since I saw it last (or maybe it just seemed that way because I hadn't heard the jokes in a while).

The opening of The Winter's Tale was on Friday, and it was the first time that I had seen the show entirely tech-ed. I have to say, it's pretty spectacular. And intimidating.

I went and saw Blur again last night, and I'm so glad I did. I thought it was even better than the last time I saw it (which was opening night). It's great to be able to observe actors continuing to develop their characters throughout a run.


Understudying
I'm pretty sure that I'm ready to go on as Béline in Imaginary Invalid if -- God forbid it should ever happen -- the actress gets sick. But Paulina in Winter's Tale is another story. If I have to go on for her any time soon, I'm seriously worried that I would ruin that show.

As an opening night present, I gave both of the women I'm understudying (the woman who plays Béline in Invalid also plays Hermione in W.T.) Airborne, cough drops, tissues, and hand sanitizer. I included notes telling them "Break a leg (but not literally)", and telling them to "Stay healthy!" (I also gave those things to my 3rd-year roommate, who is playing Perdita, and is also Hallie/Marguerite in Inventing Van Gogh.)

I've been working on my Paulina lines diligently, but man, they're rough. A challenge that I've had with both of these understudy roles is that they're commanding women who lead the scenes they're in. Therefore, most of my lines are not reactionary, making it more difficult to remember the cues for them (especially considering that I'm learning them alone, with no scene partner to feed me the aforementioned lines). An additional difficulty with Paulina is that many of her lines are similar to each other (for example, "...think anon it moves." & "...think anon it lives."), and if I confuse them, everything else gets thrown off.

Today (Sunday), we had our first understudy run for The Winter's Tale (which I did with the hoarse and meager voice I had, before being put on vocal rest). So much of the blocking changed during tech. Paulina is suddenly sitting on a different chair, entering on the opposite side of the stage, crossing on a different line, etc. The lighting is specific, so our blocking has become so as well (standing a foot away from your mark in any direction could leave you in shadow). I feel as though all the rehearsals I attended in December did me little good by practical measure. Still, I'm glad that I went to them. I think it helped me to get more in tune with this production's interpretation of the character.

Anyway. As long as Paulina doesn't get sick next week, I'm sure it'll all turn out just fine.


Tech
I've been doing box office, which I've rather come to like, actually. It's like a cross between two of my previous employment experiences: a customer service desk at a mall, and filing medical records. As long as I smile and alphabetize correctly, everything is a piece of cake.

Tonight is the Blur strike, so I'm called for that. I attached a sticky note reading "I'm on Vocal Rest" to my shirt with a bobby-pin. I hope it all goes quickly, because after that, I'm going to come home, hydrate, and sleep.


Workshops
This is recruitment season for the conservatory, which means some of the professors are off at auditions in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas for the next couple of weeks trying to get a new class together (which is SO WEIRD... I feel like I just got here). In their absence, we are not having regular classes, but are instead in workshops.

We're having an "On Camera" workshop and a "Stage Combat" workshop. The 2nd-years are also having their certifications for hand-to-hand combat this week. And apparently, some directors are coming from our school's main campus (which is about a 4.5 hour drive away from our MFA Acting campus) to work with us in some capacity (although I'm still vague on that).


My upcoming schedule is:

Tuesday, Jan 27 - Thursday, Jan 29:
9am-12pm - Stage Combat
1pm-5pm - On Camera
(and on Wednesday, 7pm-8pm - Box Office)

Friday, Jan 30
9am-12pm - Stage Combat
2pm-5pm - Stage Combat
7pm-11pm - Meeting with Main Campus film directors

Saturday, Jan 31
1pm-5pm - On Camera
7pm-11pm - On Camera

Sunday, Feb 1
1pm-5pm - On Camera
7pm-11pm - On Camera



Phew! I think that's everything.

Silently yours,

~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

Saturday, January 10

This morning was the first understudy rehearsal for The Imaginary Invalid. We made it through Act I, and I think we did pretty well in general.

This show has been open for over a week, and today was the first time I've stepped onto the set. Understudying is weird.

We had ballroom this afternoon. My feet are not used to my 2.5-inch heels yet. I'm glad to have a couple of days off from that workshop.

Two shows have opened this week. Blur, which is part of the 2nd-year season, and Inventing Van Gogh, which is part of the Rep season. I love having so much access to (free-for-me!) good theatre. It's definitely one of the perks of being in school here. And the opening night parties are fun, if occasionally intimidating.

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~

Sunday, January 4

The Imaginary Invalid has officially opened, and I am officially able to be called in to play the role of Beline on any given day. I've been keeping my cell phone by my side, and running the lines on my own on a daily basis. I know I'm still doing a little paraphrasing (saying "Poopsie" when I should be saying "Sweetums", and that sort of thing), and the blocking I'm doing in my kitchen isn't quite what it would be on stage, but I think I'm doing alright. If I HAD to go on, the show wouldn't be a complete and utter disaster. This is despite the fact that we haven't had a rehearsal yet. Weird.

The opening went really splendidly. I sat up in the nosebleed seats with D-Train and a friend from town. We were in the next to last row in the Balcony (seriously, I had no idea the theater was as scary huge as it is until I sat there). The show is hilarious, and the audience really seemed to love it. I'm geeked that I'm connected with it (even though I had absolutely nothing to do with the performance... still, I feel involved).

The next show of the 2nd-year's season opens in a couple of days, and I'm really geeked to see it. They're doing Blur by Melanie Marnich. This is the only show in the 2nd-years' season that I'm not working tech on in some way (I'm working box office this quarter instead), so the anticipation has been building up in me for weeks. So exciting!

Wednesday, December 31

Last night there was a dress run for Imaginary Invalid, and it was unbelievably cool to watch. The set and costumes are incredible. Seriously. Wow.

Everything is looking really great. Now that they're actually on the set, some of the blocking and choreography has changed. I took notes during the run. I hope I caught everything.

The first preview is tonight, the second preview is tomorrow, and the show officially opens on Friday. EEK!

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.

Saturday, December 27

I finally saw This Wonderful Life last Sunday, and I was so very glad I did. I don't know the movie It's a Wonderful Life (which it's based on... but it's a one-man play), but I loved it anyway. I spoke with the actor (or should I call him "the cast"?), and he told me that he added eight pages of dialogue to the script. It was really delightful. And it really put me in a holiday spirit.

I went home for a few days (which caused me to miss three rehearsals for Winter's Tale and two for Imaginary Invalid), but I am now back and rehearsing again.

The version of The Imaginary Invalid that we're doing is sort of a musical. I mean, it's not the sort of musical where characters periodically break out into song while acting... But the prologue and epilogue are song/dance numbers, and there are also small pieces at the end of Act I and at the beginning of Act II.

The composer has come into town for the production, and today the actors recorded the chorus parts of the numbers so that they can be piped into the theatre over speakers to make the sound larger.

They needed an additional female for the recording, so I volunteered and went into the sound recording studio along with the actresses playing Béline and Angelique. I was completely nervous about it at first, as I haven't had any actual music rehearsals... I have the sheet music, but I've really just picked it up from listening during the rehearsals. But it went well! And I get a kick out of the fact that my voice is going to be in that show now, even though I'm not.

Tonight they're doing a full run of Winter's Tale, which I'm excited for. Paulina (the character I'm understudying) is only in the serious parts of the show, so I haven't really gotten to see the lighter parts (Act IV in Bohemia) yet. This production takes place in the 1950s and 1960s, so I've heard that the Bohemia section has some really great dancing and music. I'm SO looking forward to it.

Saturday, December 20

Yesterday several of us were called in to the Scene Shop at 9:30am. Being a 1st-year means getting to help with load-ins for shows. So we loaded in the set for the 2nd-year class production of Blur by Melanie Marnich. Fortunately, it didn't take all that long.

This morning we finally had our readthrough for The Winter's Tale. Reading Paulina was really fun. She's a powerful lady. There are still SO MANY PARTS of that play that I haven't fully memorized the text on, which is scary... But I'm sure I'll get it once I put my full focus on it (lately I've been concentrating on my Imaginary Invalid lines, as it opens in two weeks).

I went to Winter's Tale rehearsal in the afternoon, and they did a run of their Act I (which is Shakespeare's Act I, Act II, and Act III). It went pretty well. And I only had to change a small amount of the blocking that I'd already written down. So that's good.

Tonight I've got Box Office duties for This Wonderful Life, then an Imaginary Invalid rehearsal, and then the closing party for Barnum.

It's crazy how much theatre has all been going on at once here. The 2nd-years are rehearsing Blur. The Repretory theatre is rehearsing Inventing Van Gogh, The Winter's Tale, and The Imaginary Invalid (all of which open in January). Barnum is running in the main theatre, and This Wonderful Life is running in the Historic theatre. I don't think I've ever been around this much theatre in my life. It's extraordinary. :)