Wednesday, May 5

I am in at the airport right now with my classmates. We'll be boarding our plane to London in about 15 minutes.

Much love!

~A~

Sarasota Magazine Article

I did an interview a few months ago for a magazine, and there's a picture of me in the May 2010 issue. (I actually didn't realize the issue was out until three different people came up to me at the 3rd-years' graduation today.)

It's apparently the first in a series they're doing about local up-and-comers. It's not online yet (I would link to it if I could), so I'm going to go for the alternative of questionable legality: retype it verbatim. (If you get the magazine, it's on page 24.) Enjoy!

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Angela Acts
An [Awesome Conservatory] student scores a Web hit with her blog

When she enrolled at [Awesome Conservatory] last year, Angela Sauer, now 25, began a daily blog about her experiences. Now her "Angela Learns to Act" has been named one of the country's 100 best blogs for film and theater students. Sauer's blog doesn't identify the school or her 10 classmates -- "I'm comfortable with having my life online, but that doesn't mean others are" -- but so many people have figured it out it's become something of a marketing tool for the Conservatory. Like Sauer, the blog is candid, funny, and irrepressibly enthusiastic about the Conservatory, from its "fabulous teachers" and individualized approach to an "incredibly supportive community." Loose-limbed and expressive, Sauer declares she "can't survive without the theatre in my life," but hasn't yet "nailed down my type -- I want to do everything!" - Pam Daniel

London Top 10s

The 11 of '11 leave to study abroad in London on Wednesday morning (05/05/10). I can't tell you how excited I am!

Our campus in London sent us their "Top 10 Lists", so I thought I'd share them...


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Sights in London

1) The view from Waterloo Bridge at night. Perfect view of the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, St. Paul’s, The National Theatre and so much more.

2) Primrose Hill at sunset/sunrise. It’s a gorgeous view of London and it’s free, unlike the London Eye!

3) Millennium Bridge at sunset/sunrise. It’s a nice little footbridge over The Thames. (Look out for rainbows when it rains!)

4) The roses in bloom in Queen Mary’s Garden in Regent’s Park. Make sure you see them before November(ish).

5) Changing of the guard that takes place at Buckingham Palace daily.

6) Fireworks over the Thames which can definitely be seen at the yearly Thames Festival, Guy Fawkes Day and New Years.

7) Street performers that perform every weekend on the South Bank.

8) Covent Garden on a weekend; the shopping is out of control!

9) The view atop of the hill in Greenwich Park where you can see the Maritime Museum and if you go up far enough, all of London!

10) Christmas lights anywhere! Oxford Street, Covent Garden, Marylebone are just a few.



Experiences in London

1) Having a picnic in Hyde Park, the biggest park in London.

2) Going to a BBC Prom at The Royal Albert Hall, which usually take place July through September. £5 promming tickets are available every day! Royalty attends these, so you never know who you might see... just ask Julia!

3) Pub crawling around London: There are many organized ones you can find online, or just pick a few in one neighborhood, bring your friends and have a blast!

4) Random bus rides around London are an amazing way to see just where you are going and to learn more about the area. Hop on a big red bus, ride around and if a place looks interesting, get off and explore!

5) Clubbing in Soho is an interesting and fun way to meet all sorts of people. Plus, a lot of places will offer you good deals.

6) Eating cheap Indian food, especially in the Brick Lane area. So many different types of great food! A favourite with the Admin staff is Mela on Shaftesbury Avenue- check out their lunch time deals.

7) Royal Observatory in Greenwich is a really neat experience where you can straddle time by standing over the Prime Meridian!

8) The British Library is a beautiful building that has incredible exhibits, the John Ribault Gallery and so much more.

9) Indie rock shows in Camden; cheap and a good night out!

10) Any Football/ Rugby match is a great way to experience British culture. Whether you have a team or not, go check one out! Some tickets run as cheap as 5£.



Unusual things to do in the UK

1) The Great Gorilla Run is a charity fun-run that usually takes place in September and spans 7km of London’s most well-known areas.

2) The Great Christmas Pudding Race is a relay pudding race that takes place for cancer research usually in the beginning of December in Covent Garden and is a fun way to spend an early December day.

3) Coasteering in Wales with Preseli Venture, an amazing company that does adventure weekends in Pembrokeshire.

4) Eating Haggis in Scotland.

5) Watching Shakespeare on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall.

6) Explore the London Docklands (East and Southeast water area of London) by hopping on a Light Railway and going through the skyscrapers in the area.

7) Walking around Ashdown Forest located in Sussex which is the largest free public access space in the South East. It’s known as the home of Winnie the Pooh!

8) Climb Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales!

9) Meal at The School of Life, a great place of fellowship for young adults.

10) Gondola rides in London’s Little Venice in Northern London.



Museums in London

1) The National Portrait Gallery is a free museum that holds the portraits of thousands of men and women that spans centuries.

2) The National Gallery is right next to the Portrait Gallery and also free; home to over 2,000 masterpieces by Monet, Picasso, Seurat, etc.

3) The Tate Modern is located on the Thames, is free and holds various displays of international modern and contemporary art.

4) The Victoria & Albert Museum is an extensive yet unique collection of everything from paintings to theatre costumes and is also free.

5) The Natural History Museum is a huge, free collection of all things scientific and hands on! Between October and April, check out a favourite annual exhibition- the Wildlife Photographer of the Year – it’s very popular with the staff.

6) Tate Britain is by far the best FREE place to see an extensive collection of British art from 1500 to the present day.

7) British Museum, possibly the most famous in London, holds an enormous collection of world art and artifacts, including the Rosetta Stone. It’s free and a block away from the Study Centre!

8) Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms: Students pay £10.40 for this extensive look into Churchill’s legacy.

9) London Transport Museum is a unique way to explore London’s transportation system. It has artwork, exhibits and much more!

10) The Foundling Museum- just up the road by Russell Square, this small museum tells the moving story of London’s first home for abandoned children. There are also exhibitions dedicated to two of its original benefactors, the composer Handel, and artist Hogarth.



Filming locations in the UK

1) Postman’s Park, which is featured in Closer.

2) Old Bailey as seen in V for Vendetta.

3) Australia House as Gringott’s Bank (Harry Potter); Durham Cathedral, Diagon Alley and many other Harry Potter sites. You can also take Harry Potter walking tours around the city!

4) Bridget Jones’ flat located in Borough Market on top of The Globe pub.

5) Criterion Restaurant where Rachel and Harvey Dent eat in The Dark Knight.

6) Hugh Grant’s bookshop (now called Gong) on Portobello Road as featured in Notting Hill.

7) Selfridges on Oxford street; seen in Love Actually.

8) Church of St. Bartholomew the Great: Shakespeare in Love.

9) Steps of St. Paul’s’ where the bird lady sings in Mary Poppins.

10) Albert Bridge: seen in A Clockwork Orange.



Literary sites in the UK

1) The Globe, a meticulously researched reconstruction of the theatre in which Shakespeare first presented his works.

2) Oxford is a great historically literary city, with the pub The Eagle and Child, which is where the Inklings (an Oxford’s writing group whose members included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) used to meet. And for fans of the movies Shadowlands and Wilde, visit Magdalen College to see where they were filmed.

3) Bath is a great place to explore for its literary value. Jane Austen used to live and write there and many of her stories take place in Bath.

4) Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a pub located just off Fleet Street, is known to have been the drinking place of Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson, Alfred Tennyson, Mark Twain and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

5) Highgate Cemetery; houses the graves of people such as Douglas Adams, Karl Marx, George Eliot and the Dickens Family.

6) Poet’s Corner, located in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey, is where poets and artists such as Laurence Olivier, Charles Dickens, Ben Jonson, Dr. Samuel Johnson, and Alfred Tennyson are buried. There are also many more who are commemorated in that area.

7) Kensington Gardens located in Hyde Park which is known as the setting of J.M. Barrie’s fairytale, Peter Pan.

8) Charles Darwin’s home, located in Kent. He also had several different London residences- look out for the Blue plaques…

9) Fitzroy Square, a twenty minute walk from the Study Centre, has historically been home to writers such as George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf.



Restaurants and pubs in London

1) Princess Louise: beautiful two story pub with a great atmosphere. Grab a bitter for £2! Make sure that you have a traditional Sunday pub lunch at least once whilst you’re here- Yorkshire pudding, anyone?

2) The Court: takes the yellow student card where you can have a beer and burger for £5!

3) Hummus Bros: most creative and delicious ways to eat hummus.

4) Ben’s Cookies: there are no words to describe how amazing these cookies are. Any day with a Ben’s cookie is a great day!

5) Monmouth Coffee: best coffee in London as voted by the Study Centre staff.

6) Brick Lane: so many amazing bargains for cheap yet great Indian food!

7) Souk Medina: a delicious North African restaurant just off of Neal Street!

8) Tas Pide: a great Turkish place located next to the Globe.

9) Cutty Sark Tavern: located in Greenwich with a beautiful river-side view.

10) Lantana: a great Australian restaurant located fairly close to the Centre.



Historical sites in the UK

1) Tower of London; the infamous palace/fortress/prison where Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned before her reign and Anne Boleyn and other wives of Henry VII were beheaded.

2) Hampton Court is the palace that was originally built for Cardinal Wolsey, yet became Henry VIII’s again once the cardinal fell from power. This beautiful palace hosts many festivals and activities throughout the year!

3) Dover Castle is located on the infamous white cliffs of Dover and has housed many kings throughout history. Very scenic and worth the trip out there.

4) Warwick Castle, located in Warwickshire, was built by William the Conqueror, been occupied by kings such as Henry II and is a favorite site of the staff!

5) Hadrian’s Wall is the early Roman fortification that stretches across Northern England. It dates back from 122!

6) Roman Baths; located in the picturesque city of Bath and offers an extensive walk through the site along with an extremely informational museum!

7) Westminster Hall is now located within the Houses of Parliament and was built in 1200’s. It’s held numerous coronation banquets (the last being King George IV), has been used for trials (Sir Thomas More, Guy Fawkes) and is used for lying-in-states (Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother).

8) St. Paul’s Cathedral is a building that has stayed with London for many, many years; through fires and wars: a London must- see.

9) HMS Belfast: major battleship that fought in WWII. It has a great museum on board.

10) The Monument is a historic memorial built by Sir Christopher Wren in honor of those who died in the great fire of 1666.



Reasons to visit during the credit crunch

1) Right now the British Pound is worth approximately $1.60, up to as recently as summer 2008 it was still at $2. This makes a huge difference to your spending while you are in London. For example, a £2.50 sandwich which used to set you back $5, will now only costs you $4, a saving of 20%! The value of the Pound looks likely to stay at this level for a while.

2) You will be living in the heart of London in an area where not many students can usually afford to live. The central location means that you can walk to many of the major tourist attractions, theatres and entertainment areas, saving on transportation costs.

3) The Study Centre flats have fully equipped kitchens which mean you can cook for yourself, saving a lot of money on eating out. You can save even more money by taking it in turns to cook group meals – it’s much cheaper per head to make a meal for five people than to cook for one. You’re also more likely to end up eating more healthily this way too. There are several grocery stores within walking distance of the Study Centre.

4) London is a very student friendly city, with many discounts available upon showing your ISIC card including at theatres, cinemas, clothing stores, tourist attractions and restaurants.

5) The Study Centre takes full advantage of the many group and student discounts available when booking tickets for theatre and other events. It is not at all uncommon for us to get tickets for a top West End (Broadway style) show for under £20 and we pay even less for the smaller shows. This means that we can stretch your class fees a long way for
classes which involve theatre trips. Classes such as Introduction to London Theatre or Readings in Dramatic Literature usually manage to squeeze 10-12 shows out of £125!

6) Our faculty make full use of the on-site experiential learning that is possible in London – often at no extra cost to students as so many museums and galleries are free. As you will spend more time out of the classroom using London as your textbook, it makes your actual textbook expenses lower as you will be using less of them!

7) At the beginning of each semester we bring in travel experts to advise you on great ways to find discounted travel
around the UK and Europe during your stay. The Study Centre staff have all travelled extensively and are on hand
throughout your stay to help you find the best deals with budget airlines, safe and economic hostels to stay in as well
as giving you ideas for places that can be easily reached by train or bus.

8) You can never buy back the opportunity that you have available to you at this time in your life to spend a longer
length of time living and studying in another country. Treat your time as a valuable commodity and don’t undervalue
it! While you are young it may feel that you are ‘time rich and money poor’, but as you get older this will slowly start
to reverse. You should be able to figure out paying back a loan which you may need to take out in order to study
abroad, but you can’t go back in time to regain a missed opportunity once it is lost. Spending several months in
London will give you are far more meaningful insight into the city than you would ever be able to experience from a
short vacation.

9) Almost everybody who goes on a study abroad semester ends up discussing their experiences abroad with future
employers and interviewers for graduate schools. You will stand out as being a candidate who was willing to make
this investment in themselves, to broaden their horizons and gain international experience. You will be seen as
somebody who will not be intimidated by travel or relocation and as a person not afraid to try new things and
challenge yourself.

10) At this time when the economy is keeping many American students at home, the ones who do go will have that much
the greater advantage!



Shopping and markets in London

1) Oxford Street is the most famous shopping street in London and it’s less than five minutes away from the Study
Centre!

2) Harrods is one of the largest department stores in the world and is known for their gorgeous window displays.

3) Borough Market is our favourite place to shop for fresh food! Take advantage of the amazing food stalls there!

4) Portobello Market is home to many different types of stalls; antiques, clothing, books, food, etc.

5) Camden Market is known for its trendy, alternative style and has great clothes, food and miscellaneous shopping!

6) Deptford Market; a great fruit, vegetable and antique market located in South London.

7) Covent Garden Cheese Shop houses tons of different types of cheeses and is a great place to sample something you
haven’t tried before!

8) Hamley’s is one of the world’s most famous toy shops and has seven stories!

9) Columbia Road Flower Market is located in a great area and is open from 8am-3pm on Sundays.

10) Charing Cross Road is a great place to go book-shopping as there are several cheap stores with various collections.


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So to all the folks out there who have been to the UK before... Do you have any additional advice or ideas for my classmates and me? Please leave them in the comments section. :)

Commedia Order

(Vittoria goes to help Ruffiana with the stew. -- Angela as Vittoria. 04/24/10. All photos in this post are courtesy of Pat Baer.)

In Commedia work, some things are planned, and some are improvised. We had "free play" time in class, where we would entirely improvise scenarios. The things that were fun and good, we remembered and kept.

In case you were curious how much of our Commedia was planned, here's what one of our "structured improv" breakdowns from Movement Professor looked like:




Ruffiana Sells a Stew and Arlechinno loses his Bachelorhood for my Dear Class of 2011!

1. All onstage asleep, Except Flavio who is admiring himself in the mirror, and Ruffiana who is stirring the soup. There is a pile of stuff beside her. The banana is planted somewhere.

2. Vittoria wakes up and practices her balances and her fainting, calling for Flavio.

3. Flavio wakes up at the sound of his name and echoes Vittoria the third time she says Flavio, saying Flavio!

4. Zanni gets a taste of the soup, (good business for Ruffiana) and then starts to eat his own finger, then Vittoria's.

(Zanni eats Vittoria's finger. -- Thrill as Zanni, Angela as Vittoria, & Newbie as Ruffiana. 04/24/10)

5.Vittoria calls for Columbina, she doesn't come.

6. Scapino wakes up, goes towards Rufianna and as he passes Arlechinno, Arlechinno wakes up. They try to buy stew. ( CHANGE ) Arlechinno sells his ring for stew.
Scapino tries to find money to pay Ruffiana for the stew, Scapino plays his lazzi of trying to find money. He can't find any, so he tries to sing for his money. He scat sings.

(Arrlechino & Scapino try to barter for Ruffiana's stew. -- Iceman as Arrlechino, Newbie as Ruffiana, & D-Train as Scapino.)

7.Capitano enters and seeing that Scapino is singing thinks that he will fit in, in this new country, if he sings louder than Scapino.

(Capitano arrives triumphantly in a foreign land. -- O.D. as Capitano.)

8.Everyone wakes up who is still asleep.

Move through scenario as choreographed on Friday

9.Arlechinno, Scapino, Arlechinna, and Zanni move towards Capitano. Arlechinna and Zanni take Capitano's cane.

Capitano reaches for his cane (1-2-3 smoothly) and hold

Arlechinno and Scapino grab Capitano's cape and tug it 1-2-3

Pulcinella walks towards Ruffiana 1-2-3, grabs her stew and runs to stage left with it.

(Pulcinella steals Ruffiana's stew. -- Newbie as Ruffiana, Killer as Pulcinella)

Arlechinno and Scapino tug cape 1-2 , they then wrap the cape around Capitano and either lift or spin him upstage (probably the latter)

Arlechinna and Zanni walk up the big cane, 1-2-3

(Arrlechina and Zanni fight over Capitano's stick. -- Two-Shots-Up as Arrlechina, Thrill as Zanni)


They go to help with Capitano in the sword fight. Capitano falls down dead (he will play dead for quite awhile until revived later)

Pedrolino rushes towards Pulcinella to give him a big hug -- he puts the stew down.

Ruffiana steals her stew back

(Ruffiana with her stew. -- Newbie as Ruffiana)

Pulcinella pushes Pedrolino away.

Ruffiana calls Vittoria over to her and requests her to go and get some cayenne pepper.

Vittoria goes off to find the cayenne pepper takes it to Ruffiana

Then Pulcinella starts to try to 'court' Vittoria.

Vitorria calls for Colombina

Flavio begins to call for Vittoria ---

Then Vittoria calls for Flavio -- they keep moving right past one another not seeing each other

Vittoria calls for Columbina!

Columbina enters and goes to Ruffiana. She wants Ruffiana to cast a spell on Arelchinno, who is involved in a sword fight with Arlechinna and Scapino (since Capitano is now dead for the moment, though he can wake up to watch)

Vitorria calling for Columbina

Columbina enters and goes to Ruffiana to ask her to cast a spell on Arlechinno to make him fall in love with her.

(Columbina shows tells Ruffiana that she wants Arrlechino to fall in love with her. -- All-The-Way as Pedrolino, O.D. as dead Capitano, D-Train as Scapino, Iceman as Arrlechino, Newbie as Ruffiana, Angela as Vittoria, Wifey as Columbina, Killer as Pulcinella)

She explains what she wants by getting Vittoria and Flavio to call for one another with love. Ruffiana gets her message and has an idea of her own --- she will get lots of items for the stew from everyone. She calls for various foodstuffs none of which go together and each actor brings her something

except Flavio, who is doing his lazzi in the mirror throughout and simulaneously (only lazzi to be played while other action is going on)

(Flavio admires himself in the mirror. -- Two-Shots-Up as Arrlechina, Big Show as Flavio)

As they drop their food (items into the pot) they turn to watch Flavio, freeze on him, surround him with menace because he didn't add to the soup. beat 1-2-3. Then, Arlechinna brings her banana. She eats the paper and then drops the banana into the pot.

Everyone goes back to the stew. Vittoria faints from the smell. Zanni faints from the smell. Then wakes up.

Arlechinno takes his jack in the box and goes upstage left with it. Arlechinno skips/acrobats away to where his jack in the box is. Zanni follows him.

Ruffianno then begins to stir the pot incanting over it. She drops the ring into the pot, then fishes it out, lets Columbina smell it. Columbina takes it from her /pause/ focus shifts to Arlechinno and zanni who are investigating the jack in the box, but not turning the crank). Columbina puts ring on her finger goes to them Tells Arlechinno that she loves him with mime from ballet (I'll teach) and lets them smell the ring. she then asks for Arlechinno's 4th finger and puts it on that finger.

Arlechinno laps up the good stew. Zanni goes for Arlechinno's finger.

Columbina pulls Arlechinno away from Zanni, now that he has the ring.. He won't go until he grabs his music box. They go back upstage left , Arlechinno ignores her in order to play with his music box. She tries to get a smooch. They both get scared when the jack jumps and immediately go to sleep.

Capitano is still dead. Scapino tries to wake him up with scat singing. Pulcinella and Pedrolina get the idea that they will wake him from the dead by offering him a woman. they dress up Pedrolina with the fruit. Pulcinella makes sure we know it is fruit and squeezes it from behind Pedrolina as she walks. Pedrolina counts her flower off to Capitano, who doesn't wake.

(Pulcinella dresses Pedrolino up as a girl to try to help Capitano. -- All-The-Way as Pedrolino, Killer as Pulcinella, O.D. as Capitano)

Zanni, who has been sleeping again, walks over to capitano to wake him. zanni tries to wake him with the body part lazzi. Scapino (what have he and Arlechinno been doing all this time? don't know yet-- riding the big horse stick?) starts singing again. Flavio finally wakes him by brushing his hanky over his face. Capitano grabs his sword from Scapino and a sword fight begins with only one sword.

Dev yells Go! Game! and everyone is free to play. Dev yells Stop or Basta!

Flavio and Vittoria play their lazzi of missing one another and end in their orignal positions.

Dane stomps the cane three times. End of Commedia.

(Arrlechino sings with his magic box. -- Two-Shots-Up as Arrlechina, Iceman as Arrlechino)

Quotations: Volume 56

Here are some of the educational, inspirational, and humorous quotations from my classes this week:

(Disclaimer: quotations are often taken out of context and may not accurately reflect the way they were originally intended)



"You two need to stop traveling, or I'm going to have to call you on it. (demonstrates basketball referee hand gesture for traveling)"
- Acting Professor, to Big Show & Two-Shots-Up, about not moving their feet to regain balance while they're passionately kissing in their Much Ado About Nothing scene

"Creativity will not be tolerated."
- Voice Professor, to the 1st-year class (as reported by them)

Angela: (to Voice Professor, after hearing about the "Creativity will not be tolerated" quotation) Did you really say that? That's not true. If you didn't allow for creativity, we wouldn't have the sentence, 'I like Thai guys'. (a sample sentence for the "aI" vowel created by Two-Shots-Up)
Voice Professor: If you had [1st-year JaS] and [1st-year TS] in the same class, you would understand the trouble with creativity.

Voice Professor: Where did [O.D.] go?
Angela: He's like Waldo, remember? (silly voice) Where's Waldo?
D-Train: No, because Waldo's always hiding in plain sight.

"[Iceman], I love what you're doing, you drunken sod."
- Acting Professoressa, to Iceman about his drunken jailer character in Two Noble Kinsmen

Acting Professoressa: Tell me to look out the window.
Wifey: Look out the window.
Acting Professoressa: HA!

"If she tells me to eat pickles, I'll pull out a swordfish."
- Acting Professoressa, demonstrating how Petruchio (Iceman) says he'll solve each problem that he might have with Kate

Acting Professoressa: Do you know what I'm saying, [Thrill]?
Thrill: Yeah, the problem is just that I don't know how to ask a question. My life is over.

Angela: (hugs Voice Professor) [Voice Professor], it's our last ever day of Voice class.
Voice Professor: I know. It's exciting!
Angela: It's sad!
Voice Professor: I have never had a class that was more ready to move on than this one is.

(after the Taming of the Shrew scene)
Acting Professoressa: [Wifey], did you pinch his nipple?
Wifey: I did.
Acting Professoressa: I liked it. I liked it.

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~

Thursday, April 22

VOICE
Our last day of Voice class. Ever. EVER!

I'm sad about it, but most of my classmates seem to be excited that we're coming to the end of our classes here.

I hugged Voice Professor.

We did a day of vocal production, including vocal extremes.

And at the end of class, we did our closing routine one last time. We sat with long spines, brought our hands together, and said "Namaste". *tear*



MOVEMENT
We rehearsed all of the Restoration whatnot for the showing. The Pavane is still sort of crazy.

My stuffed turkey monologue is actually really great, and I'm proud of it. Movement Professor complimented me on how graceful and elegant I've become.

We also did some Commedia. Things change every time we do it. I hope it turns out alright.




ACTING

We had one last rehearsal before the showing, and here are my notes...

Richard III:
- use lower voice register
- don't have false start near the top
- after "Be brief" (mildly blow him off), don't look at Richard until his response
- on "handkerchief" speech, don't stop and start. Do it on one long cross, and get where you need to be

All's Well
- on "Will you not, my lord?", don't push Bertram



The showing went very well. And I'm relieved that it's over!

I'm going to miss Acting Professoressa, though. She's awesome. I hope to see her around a lot next year.