Moving Forward

Last week went by so fast, and yet so much happened. Spirit Week really helped raise awareness of the Warehouse, at least in the theatre community on campus. We had a great Open Mic night, and our Speed Friending event was packed full of eager first years and upper classmen who were willing to be their mentors. We've all officially been paired up, and I'm excited to get to know my mentizzle.

Our Dance on Saturday was a big hit, and I had a great time after cleaning up all day. We had a nice turn out for the clean up and we were done and set up for the dance in no time. Everyone showed up Saturday night with great 90s costumes. I went as Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls and danced the night away.

Today was extra packed, and I'm still feeling a little behind.

We performed our sonnets in Shakespeare today. Professor R told me I was confident, clear, precise, and really handled the language well. He reminded me to emphasize 2 of my consonants on 'dooM' and 'erroR' so all the syllable could be understood. We performed once in the rehearsal room (where we have all our theatre classes this year) and once on stage. It's always fun adapting your piece to fit a larger space after being in a smaller one. I thought everyone did a great job with it, and with interpretation. I can't wait to move onto scenes!

Shakespeare Lit was just a discussion of Richard II, which we will be continuing to talk about on Wednesday.

I had my second voice lesson today, though, and I had a blast. Voice Professor T warmed me up and we covered some Alexander exercises. Alexander technique is something we covered our first semester in college. It's a technique that properly aligns your body to get a healthy, natural sound that vibrates and carries. Many exericese are similar to yoga positions. It's a very useful technique and it carries into voice lessons well (imagine that).

We picked two ballads and one (AWESOME) up-beat song that I can't wait to start on.

I've written my response to the moral dilemma assigned in my Ethics class. Here's the dilemma, if you're interested:

You are a journalist for an American newspaper on assignment in a remote African country. Your job is to objectively gather information about rumors that the country’s government is planning genocide by stockpiling weapons and closing roads out of the country. You have been given clear instructions to report but never to intervene, and you have sworn that you will comply with this request. While doing your research you find a massive list of people that appear to be targeted for murder the next night. What do you do? In answering, make use of Kant’s ethical theories and specific terminology.

I've completed my personal inventory assignment for acting which will help me discover what type of characters I should be looking at for acting. I started the Warehouse Blog too! I'll post the link as soon as I'm more confident about it's appearance. I've also finished my Resume and had a meeting about the Costume Sale we're putting together as a Warehouse Fundraiser. Half the proceeds will be going to a women's shelter in town, so that's exciting.

Anyway, it's been a full day, and I haven't even begun to pick my monologue for All My Sons auditions which are happening on Saturday. It's on the top of my THINGS TO FINISH, HURRY UP list.

The most informative part of my day (in a day so full of learning, how could I possible choose you ask?) was the helpful discussion I had with Professor B about grad school. I asked her professional opinion about putting together an audition package for URTAs (the regional, combined auditions for graduate schools). She explained that sometimes you can go to the URTAs and never even see a college representative. They put you in front of a screening board first, and decide whether or not they like you enough to put you through. She thinks that if you have a place in mind, it's much smarter to visit the university and audition on campus. Smart advice! Especially since I'm undecided on what I'd like to do after graduation.

She suggested trying the nearby programs, such as UMKC and seeing if my package works for me. I could learn that I've picked the wrong monologues, and then I would know what to fix.

She reminded me that we shouldn't be so worried about being behind. We all think we have so much to do before we graduate, but we're graduating a year earlier than most people, and we can use that year to do whatever we'd like. She suggested studying abroad while I still have only myself to think about. She referenced some great internship programs (which, ironically enough, are the ones I've been most interested in throughout my research) and reminded me that both of these things could help me grow as an artist and a person.

Professor B made a point that I hadn't thought of, as well. She said that if I do go to graduate school, I need to be prepared to stay in the area a while. If I went to UMKC, after I graduate, the smart option would be to work in that area, where all of my fellow graduates, guest directors, and professors have connections. If I really want to work in NY or LA, I need to find a school in that area to meet those people. She said she knew amazing people that graduated from her program at UMKC and went to LA and never worked because they didn't have the contacts. Interesting point.

So, as of now, I will be looking into making two separate packages. One for the possibility of grad school which will include a classical, a shakespeare, and a modern realism monologue. And one for internships, which will include 2 modern pieces (because Professor B knows that's my strength) one comedic and one dramatic.

SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT!!!!!