Opening Night and Other Shenanigans

Wowza!

The weekend just flew by! It served the purpose of being the much needed break from Collected Stories for me. I was back and ready for action on Monday.

Monday afternoon we ran Act II, and then Monday night we had 1st Dress (Rehearsal). We had to stop a couple times for line issues (though we never asked to be given a line) and for technical issues.

Tuesday afternoon we ran Act I and Act II scene 3. It went well, and by night rehearsal we were on our game. We didn't have line flubs, the tech was on track and there were only a couple of issues that arose. Gotta love live theatre. I forgot my coat in one scene, and forgot to take it off in another. The keys I'm supposed to have weren't in my pocket, and many of the lights weren't focused. All in all though, it went really well!

So, Wednesday comes. Now, Monday and Tuesday I'd been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, printing programs, getting them checked and rechecked, printing more programs, negotiating bills, picking up T-Shirts (and then going back to pick up shirts that were printed wrong), Designing program inserts (because even after all the checking, somehow some important people were left off the program--my fault!), printing program inserts, cutting program inserts, inserting program inserts, Updating( printing, cutting and inserting) bookmarks, passing out flyers for fundraising, and SOMEHOW memorizing a monologue for class.

This monologue was performed Wednesday morning for Professor B. We were supposed to be able to come into the room in character, and use whatever prop/set piece she set before us. It was improvisational and REALLY hard. It would have been more fun for me if I had memorized my monologue before the night before and if Wednesday wasn't opening night. However, that was no excuse. I didn't do the best I could have, and Professor B called me out on it. She also gave me an out, saying she knew how much I had on my plate and that I had an entire play of lines to memorize. I find it odd how everyone has made such a big deal about Rhea and I having so many lines. To me, it just seems like my job to get it all done, and I love it so it isn't a hassle. And it makes me feel horrible when people use it as an excuse for me. So I went to Professor B after class and told her that I didn't have an excuse for not doing well, and that she shouldn't give me one. Weirdly enough, she wouldn't accept that. She told me that it was OK, and that she understood. I tried to fight her on it, but she wouldn't let me. It was kind of surreal, honestly. I just wanted her to know that I would never use my PR job plus being in a show as an excuse, and she just told me that it was a good excuse.

So I lost that battle. I also presented my global ethics project with my group. We ended up having to go last and had little time to present, so we did an abbreviated version of our process so far. Professor T was impressed at the buzz in the community about our 'A Walk in Their Shoes' event. All our proceeds are going to The Hunger Project, and our interactive walk will be fun I think! It's on Sunday, so I'm sure I'll have more about it on here later. I also designed the beautiful poster you see here.


OK, so all of this happened, and then I had opening night last night. I hadn't even felt like it was opening night all day because there was so much going on. We cleaned up the Warehouse and did all our last minute things. We redid some of the lighting, lined the wood flooring, and created the Biography Board. We had a Warehouse Board Meeting at 5:30 because it was Wednesday and we rushed through everything we needed to talk about, and then we scattered to get ready for the show.

Rhea and I were pumped. Our understudies were excited, and Director couldn't have been happier that it was opening night, I think. The show went GREAT. Rhea and I were solid in our performances and we made it through every technical difficulty presented to us! And boy, was it a fun night of live theatre difficulty. There were new costumes, early light cues (that left us either entering the stage in light or exiting the stage in light), phones that didn't ring, and the best of all--a bottle of sparkling juice that wouldn't open. Rhea has a long monologue where she opens a bottle and then pours us both some juice. She couldn't open it, so I took it from her (while she was monologuing) and tried to open it, and when that didn't work, she simply went to the kitchen (lucky we had a kitchen on stage) and she poured us some tea! Something to remember: always buy twistable caps, never the kind you have to pop.

But everyone loved it, and no one could tell that anything was wrong. I felt good about it, and I'm very excited for the rest of the week! Professor R and Professor D both saw the show last night and were very complimentary.

But the best part of my night last night was getting to hang out with my Mentizzle. Mentor Mentizzle is the mentoring program we set up in the Warehouse Theatre to get the underclassmen more involved. I haven't gotten to speak to her much this year, and last night we got to spend more time with each other. It was a lot of fun!

So, Day two of the run of Collected Stories. I had a commercial audition for Nuts and Bolts today. Unlucky for me (or lucky depending on your outlook) I was called in for the Diet Coke commercial. I was asked to dress contemporary casual but edgy by my agent (who is really just my teacher, but he likes to simulate the real world in these class exercises). So of course, the Diet Coke commercial is the one that includes the most improv, and I am horrible at improv. It's a skill I've always wanted to learn, but have always been too intimidated by. Usually when you are trying to learn it, you are surrounded by people that are really good at it, and it makes it harder. So I had to walk in (and I was called before I expected to be called) and tell a charming, funny story about the best Diet Coke I ever had. I was possibly charming; not at all funny. Then he wanted me to tell a different story, but I hadn't thought of a different one, and since I'm horrible at improv I couldn't think of one on the spot. So he gave me some ideas, and I tried a couple of them. Then he told me to take it darker, and I said some more of his ideas. Then I tried one idea of my own and I was done. He told me good job, how much it would pay if I got the gig, and what they were planning on doing with it. All of this took place within the span of 2 minutes.

All commercial auditions are 2 minutes long, and all commercial auditions are improv. Therefor I predict I will probably never be very good at commercial auditions. I'm OK with that though, because I'm not incredibly interested in commercials. Apparently, many of them are moving to Non-Union which means it's harder to be paid residuals for every time they air. And if you book a national commercial then people might see you as 'the girl in that one commercial' which can ruin any TV/Movie career you might want. Professor D told us that you have to be willing to trade a successful TV career for a successful commercial career. My roomie Kaitie is really good at improv and it sounds like her commercial went way better than mine. Go her!

So, Mom and Dad get in today, but I have class, then a movie to shoot, then a Warehouse Company Meeting to attend, then a show to perform, then photo call, and THEN I can see them. Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow since they're here until Saturday! It should be lots of fun!

Remember Remember the 5th of November

So I looked up the story behind this rhyme--very gruesome.

Another crazy week and a half has come and gone. Rehearsals have been great! Rhea and I have had a blast (give or take some stress) putting this show together and breathing life into these characters. Director gives notes at the end of every scene and we write down the things we need to work on for the next time. It seems to have gone by so fast. Just last week, I was still reading from the script. Now I'm off book, we're performing in the space, and my costumes are coming together!

Monday was designer watch, which means the designers watched a run through of the show to make sure they have everything they need before we open. Wednesday was Crew Watch, which means the crew and production team watch the show, since they won't be able to see the final product because they'll be busy back stage working on it. Last night was our first night of Tech Week. We did a cue to cue, which means we only said the lines before and after any light changes or sound effects so the board operators could get the feel for where their technical elements come in. Tonight we'll be doing a full run through, with some costumes, and we might have prospective students come watch.

That's right--it's prospective student weekend! Every department at school is giving tours, and as an ambassador so am I. We're hosting an overnight for all interested students (there's over 100 I believe) and then tomorrow we'll be giving downtown tours. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun, and it's our job to make the school look as good as possible and bump up those admission rates!

In other news, school has been crazy. We did mock performances of our Shakespeare scenes ( I may or may not have already said this in my last post), I got together with my group and planned our presentation (including a rap to keep the kids interested), I presented Othello to my Shakespeare Lit class with my group, I created the program for Collected Stories, I created and sent the advertisements for Collected Stories to the local newspapers, I got the blog mentioned in the local news blog ( http://www.columbiatribune.com/weblogs/art-axis/2010/oct/14/no-hiring-freeze-on-columbias-stages/ ) , had 2 Warehouse Board meetings, written dilemmas for Ethics class, visited with my mom, had poster run, taken headshots for the show, performed my Shakespeare soliloquy for real (and received fabulous feedback from Professor R who thinks I have a real future in the classics), and miraculously got off book for Collected Stories. I've also received my Midwest (combine regional theatre audition in February) form saying what time slot I have and who all will be attending. I've researched the theatres on the list and I'm now considering who to play my audition package to.

Most of the theatres attending are interested in musical theatre singers and dancers for their summer stock companies. If I play my cards right, I might be able to try and swing my audition to get the attention of the Shakespeare companies attending, since those are the theatres that interest me the most.

I also signed up for next semester classes. I'll be taking a total of 14 hours now (I might add more), which is the lowest amount I've ever taken. I'll be taking Advanced Acting on Camera, Advanced Acting for Comedy, Box Office Internship (where I'll learn some awesome PR skills, and gain business management experience), Dramatic Literature (all focused on plays), and Creating Online Media (which will be beneficial for a future side job in graphic design/PR).

I'm not sure why this post includes so many parentheses quotes. On the upside, we got to speak to an Equity Representative in Nuts and Bolts yesterday. He explained the different styles of contracts and the benefits of what Equity can do for us if we join. He also gave us advice about knowing when to join (only when it's right for you, never feel pressured). We also spoke more about side jobs in the acting world, and our newest project is to create our own work of some sort, whether it's performance based or a website. This is to help teach us that we're capable of making our own work when we're in a rut in real life and we're not being hired.

I'm sure there's a ton more I've done that I'm missing, but I'm not sure what all it is. Mom and Dad (!!!! Awesome) are coming up to see the show this next week. And after that it's one more week until Thanksgiving Break. That will be the first break I've had since Boji; the first break I've had since May. Whatever will I do with my time?

So much to say, so little time

It seems that I have less and less time to write these days. Since Wednesday I've presented my project in Nuts and Bolts, gone to Ethics class, written a vernacular translation of my Shakespeare soliloquy and talked through it with Professor R, Watched the the Julie Taymor version of Titus (Shakespeare'sTitus Andronicus), set up and helped run a costume sale, went headshot shirt shopping (say that 5 times fast), finished a ton of homework, filmed my last movie scene, performed my soliloquy, and taken my headshots! Plus rehearsal.

So: the project went really well. We seemed to be the only cities encouraging people to not move there. Kansas City was good, and Minneapolis was interesting, but I was actually interested in Denver and Orlando. Denver is a market I would move to if I wanted to settle down and have a family, I think. They have a great, smaller scene, and it's just a great place to live. Orlando seemed cool for just starting out. I'm not especially interested in Disney, but there are other theatres around, and I do love the Florida atmosphere. Today we get to hear from Chicago, NY, LA, and Seattle. I'm extremely excited about all of these, because if I'm serious about this, I'll definitely end up in one of these places. Kyle (who took my headshots, and acted at Boji) will be a guest speaker in class today, which will be really cool too. He lives in NY as an actor/singer/photographer, and he's going to tell us all about it.

I really like the soliloquy I've received in Shakespeare. It's Queen Margaret from King Henry VI Part II. We had to present them individually yesterday, and I'm excited to work with Professor R on mine to make it better. I played one level the whole time, and he reminded me not to put emphasis on non-operative words such as: HIS head. It should be his HEAD.

My weekend flew by! The Costume sale went swimmingly! We raised more money than I think we imagined we would, and half of the proceeds are going to The Women's Shelter. I also bought some great things, for very cheap! We're very proud of that. I placed our Warehouse T-Shirt order, so hopefully those should be coming in soon next week.

Sunday was a crazy day. I thought I would film my 2 line scene for one hour, tops. Instead, I ended up at a 5 hour shoot because they had to take close-ups, different angles, and over the shoulders of me and my partner and my mother. I never knew it could take so long. I had a lot of fun while filming. It was a really emotional scene, but Garret (my 'brother' in the scene) and I had a lot of fun in between takes. It showed me that I really do love film acting as much as I always thought I would. However, I didn't like waiting around between takes or before takes. On a real set, I wouldn't have homework to be doing and I would have a trailer to stay in--so this problem was purely a student film issue. :) I received great direction, and enjoyed the experience overall.

I took my headshots yesterday! It was scary, but Kyle made it fun and easier than I thought it would be. I ended up with over 400 pictures, and Katie Mac and I got it down to just over 50. They're on Facebook mom!

Rehearsal has been going really well. We were completely blocked (all our movement was decided) by Friday afternoon. We were working scenes by Friday evening. We just finished working Act 1 yesterday! It goes so fast. We need to be off book Act 1 by Wednesday, and Act 2 by Friday. And then we'll just start running the show. I'm loving the script more every time I do it, which is good because that doesn't always happen. I'm constantly thinking of new things to try, and Director is really great about giving us ideas and letting us have freedom in the process. She keeps it real. She reminds us when we've glossed over an important moment, and to really think about what we're saying and listen to each other. It's difficult because there are only the 2 of us in this play, so we have to be careful that certain things have meaning, and we don't forget them.

Anyways, I've gotta go memorize my monologue for Wednesday's class!

The Tudors, Ethics, and Getting Cast

So, over the lovely 3 day weekend I managed to finish off my project about the Houston/Austin theatre scene. It's not as in depth as I'd like, but I think it's fairly well done. Truthfully, it was difficult to answer some of the questions because the markets are so small that they don't offer up a lot of information about theatre. It's difficult to even find pictures of the theatres, because they aren't known on a national scale. I've tried to figure out how to upload it here, so you could look at it if you'd like, but I'm not sure this blog has the capabilities. I'll look into it!

Also over the weekend, I started watching the television series
The Tudors which is about the reign of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. It's mostly fictional, but all the characters are historically accurate. It's very well acted and well scripted, then again most Showtime shows are. It's made me think a lot about classical acting in my future. I really enjoy the classics and I think I'll definitely take the time to train for those somewhere. The University of San Diego has an incredible graduate program geared towards the classics, and they study abroad at the Globe Theatre. On a side note, I discovered that Austin has a replica of a Shakespearean outdoor theatre. I must go.

Speaking of classics, Shakespeare Acting has been going well. We performed our 10 line 'midterms' and I received good feedback. Now we've moved onto soliloquies. I'm performing Queen Margaret from King Henry VI Part 2. She's a very powerful woman, and I'm excited to be playing her! I did a lot of research on the play so I understand all of the historical context. That's the problem with Shakespeare's Histories: they were automatically understood in his time, because everyone knew the back stories. These days, very few Americans know about many of the English Kings aside from Henry VIII. There's a lot of names to keep track of, and lineage to check out. I wish I had the time to read every Shakespeare play we receive scenes from this semester. We're supposed to, but realistically it's impossible.

I'm taking Shakespeare Literature too, and we have a new play to read every week in there. The plays we receive in acting class are different Shakespeare plays, and there's no way I could read and digest 2 Shakes plays every week around all the other homework I have--plus rehearsal!

Because I got cast.

I'm so excited! Monday we had auditions for Collected Stories in the Warehouse. We have a new student director, Michelle, and she did auditions and callbacks in the same night to ensure that rehearsals could start on Tuesday. We're already a week behind in rehearsals because of midterms last week, so we'll have 2 weeks of rehearsal and 1 week of Tech. So I performed a new monologue that I had prepared over the weekend for auditions and received a callback. Collected Stories is a 2 women play that we fought hard to have in our season. We thought that is was an important piece of work that needed to be done, and the ladies at this school should have an opportunity to play these intelligent and mature characters.

At callbacks I read for the older character first, and then the younger character. I ended up getting to read for the younger character several more times before she released everyone except 5 of us--to stay and read for the older character. I've been wanting a younger character on my resume to even it out. It's difficult to explain to theatres that are interested in you why your resume consists of characters that aren't your age. So the more younger characters I can get on my resume, the better, because those will be the roles I actually get called back for in the real world.

All in all, the callbacks were really fun. We did separate reads with out partners for the first half, then the director brought us all in and picked pairs to perform scenes in front of everyone to move it along. It's very rare in an audition here that we get to watch each other perform, and it was very useful. It was interesting watching how the first years would get nervous to perform in front of everyone and I had to remind myself that they weren't used to it yet. It made me remember how scared of performing I was when I first came here. The 3rd years were so talented and that was daunting. I had a first year scene partner in one of my callbacks, and she did a great job being courageous. Now she's an understudy!

So callbacks lasted until 11 pm, then I woke up, went to class, and then the cast list was up! I'm playing Lisa, the younger character! I had class right up until rehearsal and then the read-through sped by. It's been a crazy couple of days, that's for sure.

I had voice midterms on Monday; that went well. I ended up singing my 16 bar cuts Acapella for memorization purposes. Then I turned my Houston/Austin project in to be graded. I received my grade for my Ethics midterm. I got an 86%, and I got a lesson about education. My Professor had created a test that was impossible to make up answers on. We were really angry at how specific he was because we had had to study so hard and then we still weren't able to answer some of the questions which made us look like we hadn't studied at all. However, he told us that education shouldn't be about the grades you make, it should be about what you learn and the knowledge you retain. We had to admit that we had learned a lot in his class and through the studying that we did for the test, so he had done his job, even if we didn't test well.

In Professor D's Nuts and Bolts class yesterday we talked about Ancillary Acting work. He gave us a list of entertainment jobs that we could do instead of performing on a stage or in film. We talked about: Theme parks, stunt work, cruise lines, industrial shows, industrial films (like the training videos at every workplace), voice overs, and being a reader in auditions.

My two favorites were being a reader and voice overs. If you're a reader it means that you're an actor's 'scene partner' in their audition. You read the other characters lines, usually while sitting down with the casting director and director, while the auditionee performs. This is a great way to watch what makes an audition work and what specific casting directors are looking for. Casting directors are your big in, in this industry and it's important to know them and know what they like.

Voice Overs can be done anywhere and everywhere. There are so many opportunities to do voice overs, and if you're lucky you can get a job that pays a ton of money! There are some people that do just this for a living. They have recording studios in their basement and they receive scripts, record them, and email them off and they're done for the day. They take special microphone training and you need to have an array of voices at your disposal for specific radio ads or television commercials. Voice Over artists are the highest paid actors in the business. This is a great supplementary job that I would love to do.

Cruise lines are also of interest to me, and Professor D promises that we'll interview some of his friends that work on cruise ships about their experiences. These jobs can be horrible if you aren't careful choosing the line you go on. Some cruise lines offer a weekly meal schedule, and it can be hard to eat the same thing every Wednesday for 6 months. You also have to be careful of who's giving you insurance. Cruise lines are all non-Equity (the stage actors' union)and so you have to make sure of who is taking care of you if you break your leg. Who flies you home, the ship, or you? Another thing to be careful of is who is paying for your visa? If your visa costs $30 to get off the ship at every country and the ship is going to 10 countries, you should probably make sure that the ship is paying for it. Or the theatre company you're working for.

The downer is that there are very few straight play cruise lines, which is what I'm interested in. And the other downer is that you're away as long as the ship is away, so if something happens at home it's really difficult to make it back.

Next time in Nuts and Bolts I'll be presenting my city research with my partner. I'm really excited about these presentations because I'll get to learn about the theatre markets in a lot of cities, so I can find a city that fits me that I could potentially move to. Top of the list right now: Seattle and Chicago.

I have a Warehouse Board Meeting today to approve the poster I've made for this show. I have afternoon and night rehearsal, and somehow in there I also have to find time to make an appointment to cut my bangs before headshots next week, and to plan my presentation for Nuts and Bolts. It's going to be a busy day! Good thing I had the morning off!

And for my sake, some notes I received at the read through yesterday:
* Think of different ways to end all your sentences with question marks
* Work on using a higher register for your voice, you sound too similar to Rhea
* Dye hair light? Highlights? We need to see a visible distinction between Rhea and me (both tall, both brunette)

Oh! P.S. I've started a guest blogging series on the Warehouse Blog, meaning I've contacted people and interviewed them about things I think the students here will be interested in! I'm really excited about it, and the first interview is up! It's not letting me add the warehouse link, so you should scroll down a couple posts to where I added it before!

Almost Midterm but Not Quite

Friday sped by, and so did my weekend! However, I did get a lot accomplished in my seemingly short amount of time.

On Friday we presented out Shakespeare scenes for the class. I had a section of Hamlet. Everyone's scenes went great! The language was clear and easy to understand. Everyone understood the point of their scenes, and it was like we weren't watching Shakespeare at all! My scene went very well, too. I had a blast performing it because I took risks and committed more fully than I had been in some of our rehearsals. Professor R had told us to not hold back or be afraid to be a little melodramatic, and so I didn't. I didn't end up being melodramatic, but that direction really allowed me to stop being so small and closed off.

Here are some of the notes we received from Professor R afterwards:
* You are a master wordsmith. You carved out every line and syllable and made it your own.
* Both of you really understood the scene and committed to the story.
* I can tell you love Shakespeare

So, they were very nice notes to get. It always feels good to not receive a critical note, however that doesn't mean the scene was seamless. I think it just means that in the amount of time we had, we really showed Professor R what he wanted. Which is great!

Acting in Shakespeare is a class I'm really enjoying, and it makes me think that I'd love to study Shakespeare and Restoration more in depth. Maybe I'll do graduate school one day.

This weekend I did a mock tour for Student Ambassadors which went well. I had to check out early because I was supposed to film some of my scenes for one of the films I'm in. I didn't know where the film site was so it took me a while to find it, but when I got there they ended up not needing me for a couple hours yet. So I came back to campus and attended the understudy performance of Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, which was fabulous by the way. The understudies really did their homework, and I was very proud of them. I had to leave at intermission because I got a call saying they were ready to film me. So, I went and filmed my scene, which only took about 15 takes or so. It was a lot of fun! I actually received direction from the director about where I should put my hand and how she wanted me to stand and if she wanted more in my voice. It was nice to know she wanted me to turn out well on film. It makes me more excited to see the final product. Honestly I have about 7 lines in this film, so it won't be anything to remember, but it's a great experience. I still have one more scene to shoot yet.

Then I made a letterhead for the Warehouse, to hopefully add to an e-mail subscription list I'd like to set up. After that it was time to go to the closing show of Five Women! I had to run in early and print off 40 more programs. And 10 minutes before the start of the show, the house manager ran up and told me we needed about 30 more because there was a line of people waiting for programs! That's great! The show had great word of mouth PR, and our ad in the newspaper as well as the posters downtown really brought in a big crowd. We ended up selling higher than normal for one of our shows!

The show was hilarious and heartwarming. It was a great script and a great cast. It was amazing to watch how everything came together for this show. Being a part of it was so much fun, and all of our hard work really paid off. We had strike after the show and the set came down in no time. We were out early and I got to bed early.

Sunday was filled with massive amounts of homework and small spurts of procrastination. I finished up memorizing lines for the Shakespeare midterm, wrote a cover letter and a review of Five Women for Nuts and Bolts, wrote in the discussion board for class, and typed out my section of the proposal for our Global Ethics Senior Capstone project. I spent about 4 hours looking for a good monologue, but it took me until yesterday to find the one I'd like to use. We're supposed to being 'using the room' for our next monologue assignment, and so I had been having difficulty finding a monologue that I could accomplish that with.

The monologue I'm using is from Lanford Wilson's Ludlow Fair and hopefully it will turn out to be a good addition to my repertoire.

In Nuts and Bolts today we talked more about Living in the Big City. There was a lot of discussion on security at the apartments we live in, as well as car security, and grocery delivery. We also talked about collecting unemployment. Unemployment is given to people who are let go from their jobs or when the job they have ends. As actors, we sign contracts for 4-8 week gigs---and then our jobs end. Because of this, as long as we are actively seeking employment such as auditioning or attempting to find auditions, we can collect unemployment to help pay the bills.

Professor D suggested some good part time jobs, as well. When in a large market such as LA, NYC, or Chicago where acting is seen as a legitimate profession, auditions take place during the day and performances and showcases take place at night. This means if you have a day job you can't audition, and if you have a night job you can't perform. So how do we do it, you ask? We have to find jobs with flexible hours that allow us to audition and perform. This means: massage therapy, certified personal trainer, temping, or knowing your employer well enough. Professor D used to be a bell boy, and has friends that work as personal assistants or vet assistants who have boss' that allow them to take off for auditions.

We talked a lot about temping and its benefits in class today. It's one of the most flexible jobs, and it's easy if you know how to work computer's and type well.

Well--isn't it interesting the things I have to look forward to? Who knows what part time job I'll have? I'm not too worried about it at the moment. For now, I'd like to focus on actually acquiring a theatre related job!

Thinking About the Future

Food for thought:

I graduate in 8 months exactly. May 7, 2011. I haven't been in college for very long. Still, high school seems like a life time ago. I learned so much about theatre my first and second year here. It's become so much more than a possible career. I came into college loving what I experienced in high school, but knowing there was more out there. 2 years later I realize now that what theatre is to me has changed. It's always been about family and about creativity. It's been about expressing myself and sharing an idea. Now, all of that has grown. It's become about the art and the craft itself. It's about the history of theatre and what it has always meant to the people who perform it. It's about learning something not only about myself, but something human everyday. It reminds me that everything in life changes and evolves. It has shown me that I can change and that I can help change people. It's about representing the bigger picture and bringing new ideas to a wider public. And I love the process. I love delving into situations I have or haven't experienced or making people laugh. It's a sort of psychology for the soul. And I use my body and my mind everyday. At the end of the day I know I've worked hard for something, usually with someone else. It's a community experience.

Most importantly though, I think theatre has taught me that there is so much more to life than I thought before. There are different people and places to experience. There are things that I want to do that have nothing to do with working in an office and everything to do with learning about life. I wish I could spend my life traveling and meeting new people and experiencing different cultures. But I know I can't. Not realistically--at least for a little while.

And I think that might be the saddest thing I've learned in college. American theatre has become so commercial. So much of it is based on money and public desire. The regional theatre movement is slightly better, but it's really the store-front, independent theatres that are able to perform the work that matters. But in other parts of the world, theatre is different. Theatre is not only a respected art, but a respected career. It's not seen as a claim to fame, or idealistic. The people that practice it aren't usually out to get famous. In England actors are knighted for their craft. It's considered respectable to study theatre and to perform it. It's odd to not only concieve of the notion that somewhere else people might not laugh when I say I'm an actress, but odd that somewhere else my idea of a future is a legitimate one. And that has allowed me to understand that my future is legitimate--if I so choose to make it that way.

I suppose I'm thinking about all of this because in 8 months I'll be out there, and I'll have to make decisions about what I want to do. And I don't really know what I want to do. I want to act, but only if acting is bringing me the same joy that it has brought me so far. I want to be part of a cast that loves what they do as much as I do. And I want it to be about the experience, and very rarely about the money. They always say that if you do theatre, you can never just do theatre. You have to do other things to give you the experience you need to do theatre. And I like that. I like knowing that I can do other things to be good at what I love to do. Nothing I do will ever be a waste of time.

Now--the key is to actually do this. To be successful. But I think my success will be measured by my happiness, and by the people I've met along the way.

Full Speed Ahead

Wow, I'm failing miserably at keeping up this year. I'm sorry.

Next week is midterms, so this week and last week are crammed full of teachers throwing information at me. Which is ok, to an extent.

Let's pick up where we left off, shall we? I'm loving my new haircut, for one. Mom's visit was awesome and gave me a much needed mental health weekend. Also, over the weekend we had our 2 annual Warehouse Field Day! It was a great success and everybody had a great time. This week I had to get the Warehouse Programs printed. They look beautiful! My poster that I designed is on the front, and we had them printed in color, which is a step up from last year. I also created a 'Warehouse Theatre Bookmark' insert. It's bookmark with the rest of our upcoming season as well as our blog and twitter accounts, so the public can keep up with us online.

I also had to get the dress display for the lobby situated. We wanted to put student made dresses on display as a show of campus involvement in the Warehouse. It ended up that only one student submitted dresses, but we had enough for a great display!

So it was a busy week for the Warehouse. We opened the show last night and I hear it went great! The photo/bio board for the actors and designers looks amazing, the show was hilarious, and we had a group of 33 come! It's rare to get a group, so that was really cool. We played to 81% last night! We might even run out of programs--and that's great!

Now, onto my school life, because really, how did my life become only about the Warehouse?

In Shakespeare we reviewed our scenes to be performed Friday. Kylie and I did well, and I had a few notes about emphasis placement, but Professor R says we're well on our way. In Shakespeare Lit this week we studied All's Well that Ends Well. Coming up next we're studying Titus Andronicus. Each week now there is a new group presentation on the play and then we discuss it. It's become more of a process than a learning experience, but I'm working on it.

Nuts and Bolts this week was fun! We discussed Our Leading Lady which closed on the mainstage over the weekend. It was a great play, but an odd script. Not one of Charles Busch's better ones in my opinion. However the cast did a beautiful job. Then we also talked about our interviews. Professor D told us most everyone did a good job. I got to watch the video of my interview. Professor D said I was charming and comfortable, and well composed. I thought my interview went pretty well. I was wearing rings, and I continually clinked them against the table and that was annoying. I felt that the interview could have been slightly more personal, but I know what I need to work on for next time. Also this week in Professor D's class we talked about 'Living in the Big City' and leasing apartments. A very educational lesson, for sure.

Professor B signed my UPTA paperwork, which I can now send in to be registered officially. UPTAs are the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions. They're a combined regional audition where theatre companies, producers, casting directors, and touring groups come to audition new talent. It's one of the most widely attended in the country, and I'm more interested in this audition than in Midwest Auditions, which consists mostly of summer stock theatres and small touring shows. But, maybe I'll be able to attend both. I can't say for sure what will come of either of these, but it's always good to register.

I have my first filming dates this weekend. I'll be shooting a couple scenes off campus for one of the student films I'm in. That will be fun, but hopefully it won't take up all my time on the weekend before midterms. I also have a 'mock overnight' planned with Student Ambassadors, where the returning student ambassadors train the new ambassadors by hosting an overnight and giving a tour. I'll miss some of it because we have our Talkback after Friday's show and the board has to be there, but that's ok.

So, that's my last week in a nutshell. It sounds horribly uninteresting, but I don't have much energy to make it engaging. I have ethics class soon! We've moved from Hindu Dharma to Buddhism. I'm enjoying it a lot! Gotta go!

Oh, and check out the Warehouse Blog I created for our theatre company. I'm quite proud of it.

www.warehousetheatrecompany.wordpress.com

Hello World--It's a New Day!

I'm in a really great mood today for many reasons.

1. I talked to the Houston/Dallas Actor's Equity Liaison yesterday for my research project. She was awesome! Let's call her L. L was not only extremely helpful, but possibly the nicest person I've ever spoken to on the phone. She gave me so many great answers to my questions, as well as a pep talk about my future. By the end of the conversation she was offering to take me to auditions and introduce me to all of her friends (who are all extremely important people in the acting world of Houston, Texas). Of course, L is the kind of person that would do this for anybody, so I'm not the special person in this situation--she is. She told me to keep in touch, and if I'm ever in Houston she would love to meet up with me and do all the things she promised.

She also e-mailed me some great resources for the area for auditions and for renting audition spaces to produce my own work in. Some facts she told me:

* 96% of actors in Houston have a full time job. This means, it's incredibly hard to live on an acting salary, and not many of the theatres pay a high enough salary to live off of.

* The main full time position actors have is teaching! What a coincidence. And, if I were to get my MFA, I could teach college level and get paid more. Guess who went to the renowned Houston Graduate Acting program? That's right, L did. And does she known the head of the program very well? You bet she does.

*Other positions to be had in the area are: running your own business, computer techinician, and working in a theatre office position.

*Since most actors work full time jobs, all rehearsals in the area except at the Alley Theatre and Theatre Under The Stars take place at night to work with everyone's schedules.

All things to think about. She also told me many more positive things about the area, and especially concerning Dallas. Dallas ended up sounding more like the place I'd like to work in. More work seems to go through the area, I think. L gave me the names of the top agencies (which all her friends work for) and told me that they hire a lot of work out of Dallas. And home is right between Dallas and Houston. How convenient.

2. I had a great Warehouse Board meeting yesterday. We're looking into some new opportunities that I can't disclose yet since they haven't been approved, but suffice to say they will be extremely beneficial for the students at school!

3. I had my 'mock' interview with Profesor D today. He was acting as Michael Kirsten from Harden-Curtis Associates. I prepared well. I looked up all the current projects and actors he's working on and with. I worked out all the answers to the regular questions and decided how I was going to present myself. It was odd because I know Professor D, so it wasn't like a real interview would be--but I was just as nervous. Of course he video taped us, so this way we can watch it and know the things we need to fix such as our physicality when walking into the room or if you say 'um' too much.

Some of the questions asked:
*Where are you from?
*What was your college experience like?
*What kind of roles can I send you out for? Right now?
*Where do you see yourself working in 5 years?
*What do you do for fun?

They seem easy, but it was really hard to think of the roles I could be sent out for. It's so easy to think that we can play anything. We've all been taught here that we're versatile actors. But out there, agents look at us and put us into types: quirky best friend, mental case, leading lady, young lover, ingenue, witty side kick. We walk into a room and they know what they want to send us out for--the interview is just a test to see if your personality fits your image.

So I had to really think about how people percieve me and the kind of roles I could feasibly be playing once I graduate. I settled for young strong female lead such as Raina in Arms and the Man and the odd girl such as Prudence in Beyond Therapy. I told 'Michael' that I was interested in abstract pieces by Pinter, Albee, and Durang. He asked me why I hadn't been in more comedies, and I expressed an interest in those as well. I also talked about how I hope to have started my television career in 5 years, and we spoke on that some.

It was a good interview, and I got some positive feedback on it. Professor D told me I can watch the tape when I get some free time.

4. I cut my hair. I wanted a new look. It's just shorter. And I have bangs! Exciting, but it needs to grow out some.

5. Mom's coming tomorrow!!! And I only have 1 class tomorrow!

So--Good Day.