It feels as if we've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off. We've been trained to give tours of our Production Building, our Mainstage, and Stage II (the theatre where the smaller, edgier shows and the Player shows are) in which we are tested. We've been dutifully searching high and low for monologues for our monologue workshop series. We've started rehearsals for our fall show/one of our tour shows. We've been attending the ballet and jazz classes twice a week. We've been attending rehearsals understudy rehearsals. We've had IPA workshops and Fitzmaurice workshops and playwriting workshops. And it's not like we have it nearly as busy as Players in past years.
Usually, the Players are in the Mainstage shows, some, even 2 Mainstage shows in the fall. That is in addition to the 4 shows we are rehearsing and performing! Due to budget cuts and a script not totally ready for performance (it has been replaced by The Glass Menagerie, not too shabby, eh?), the 5 new Players aren't able to be cast in a Mainstage show. When we were first told this in the middle of the summer, we were all a little disappointed, but then so many learning opportunities have opened up.
I've mentioned before, everyone here is willing to learn and everyone is willing to teach. The job-in (people who aren't part of the resident acting company) dancers have been teaching us back-to-the-basics ballet and jazz. Dancing is one skill that make most of the Players pee their pants, but twice a week we are doing barre work and stretching. We are improving our dancing and vocabulary so when that dreaded dance audition comes, we will kick its butt...with a turned out foot of course. It's amazing how much people have improved just within the last couple of weeks, not to mention how sore I am from not dancing for 4 years.
A former Player turned resident actor is leading us through a Fitzmaurice workshop. Fitzmaurice is a voice technique that focuses on total relaxation of your muscles to facilitate free breathing. It's pretty fascinating. Basically it's doing really uncomfortable yoga positions until your muscles start shaking, or "tremoring" in Fitzmaurice terms, then relaxing the rest of your muscles to allow the tremor to travel your body. We had an hour and a half workshop one night, and afterwards, I could breathe and speak so well! Just wait Alisa, I'm gunna be a good breather yet. I know it seems pretty new age, but if you are at all interested, here's a website http://www.fitzmauricevoice.com/.
The director of our first two shows and the two shows in the fall, John Hardy, has been giving playwriting workshops. He has his PhD in playwriting and is a great actor and a diligent dramaturg. He's pretty gosh darn a genius. Here's his website, http://johnhardytheatre.com. I have learned soo much about the inner workings of a playwright's mind and have started collecting ideas for a play of my own. I can't believe I have the balls to even consider writing a play. That would have never happened before the Barter.
Our artistic director, Katy Brown, has offered to do a Monologue Workshop series with us throughout the fall. We gave her a list of all of our monologues and she told us what kind of monologues we needed, what monologues were overdone, etc. She knows, she has done the casting for the entire company for a while. My assignment was to find 3 contemporary monologues, ones without accents, by last Saturday. Now, finding monologues was always something I never knew how to do. I used to be so unsure, but having to find them this summer, I now have confidence and found some pretty good ones. We've also been assigned a partner each week to have coachings on our monologues. This is when I realized I do actually know something about acting. I can see and express all of the lessons we've learned throughout our time here. It's also really great to have an environment where we trust our peers to give sound, non-catty, advice. This week our assignment was to put a contemporary monologue up on its feet. We show them tomorrow, wish me luck!
The play we are doing in the fall and will eventually take on tour is The Call of the Wild. Some of you may have read the book by Jack London and you may ask, "how can you write a play about a book told totally from the perspective of a dog?" It can be done, I tell you. Cathy Bush (http://catherinebushplays.com/), our resident playwright, has written a kickin play. There are probably about 30 characters, but only 6 actors. It's going to be awesome. I play a mexican, 2 dogs, a husky, an irishman, and a wolf.
It's amazing how much I grew during The Reluctant Dragon and not even know it. You may remember in previous blogs how frustrated I was with not being able to talk during the play, but unbeknownst to me, it made me grow leaps and bounds as an actor. Our first rehearsal, I dove into the world of the play with such abandon. I couldn't believe how many problems I gave my character to solve and how much I gave my character to do. When I say "giving my character problems," I'm simply talking about giving my character motives. What does the character want from the other people in the scene? What physical obstacles does the character have to move around? Stuff like that.
Another skill I took away from Dragon was the ability to be aware and respond to other people's movements onstage. It's actually frighteningly scary how two people can be so in sync with one another.
Well, that's all for now. Until next time...
Friday, September 2, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
On a Positive Note...
It seems as though my last couple of blogs have been on the cloudy side. My time here has been anything but overcast (you see what I did there?). I'm learning so much about myself. I've changed how I view acting and, basically, how to live life.
I live with over 30 people, and work with many more, who come from all walks of life. One of our Stage Managers used to own a bakery and has just recently started working in the theatre. Our playwright in residence, who wrote "Princess and the Pea" that we just closed a couple of weeks ago and wrote (based on the book) "Call of the Wild" that we'll be doing in the fall, used to be a lawyer in New York. The year between her college and her Playerdom, Rebekah (another year round with me) worked at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair and Lenscrafters. In addition to their main jobs--acting, directing, coaching, stage managing, costuming, painting, building, dancing--these people are song writers, artists, writers, designers, bone marrow givers, Muslims, Jews, Christians, jugglers, instrumentalists, parents, grand-parents, homosexuals, Pagans, spouses, and the list goes on and on.
It's amazing how rich lives can be. I've learned here to dedicate fully to what you are doing, live in the moment, and always do it with passion. Never pass an opportunity up and never allow yourself to regret. The situations and events in our lives when we feel that useless emotion--regret--are what shape us into living breathing human beings.
Experience new, different, scary, terrifying, mortifying things. Our Player Projects are great examples of this. In our showings, which is nearly a week away, we are all doing the most scariest things we could think of. Even though this is making all of us quake in our boots and we may still be struggling with our skills, everyone's going to clap and cheer, because we tried. We're taking a leap towards fear, and are being congratulated for it. I wish all artistic communities I'll ever be a part of will enable me to face unknowns with abandon.
I've always taken myself too seriously, always been worried how I would be perceived and nervous that I wouldn't be good enough. That I would disappoint. You will always disappoint if you don't cannon ball--or bellyflop--in and try with all of your might. I used to feel sorry for people who "failed;" now, I'm envious of them.
I'm trying my hand at writing. First, I want to start with song writing, and, eventually, write stories or plays. In the past, I've tried to write or draw but stopped because I was my toughest critic; it wasn't good enough. I want to be able to express myself without the regard of other people. I want to experiment with being vulnerable. I'll probably fail, but at least I know I attempted. I want to just do something and hope there is beauty and art in my effort.
Don't worry, I haven't become some flighty arteest who wears all black and cuts herself. I'm still my regular old self; I'm just cultivating and embracing fearlessness.
If you're reading this, I really appreciate it. At first I started blogging to let y'all know how things were going, but now, writing and reflecting is very therapeutic.
Also, I'm coming home in a little less than two weeks. I can't wait to see you all!
I live with over 30 people, and work with many more, who come from all walks of life. One of our Stage Managers used to own a bakery and has just recently started working in the theatre. Our playwright in residence, who wrote "Princess and the Pea" that we just closed a couple of weeks ago and wrote (based on the book) "Call of the Wild" that we'll be doing in the fall, used to be a lawyer in New York. The year between her college and her Playerdom, Rebekah (another year round with me) worked at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair and Lenscrafters. In addition to their main jobs--acting, directing, coaching, stage managing, costuming, painting, building, dancing--these people are song writers, artists, writers, designers, bone marrow givers, Muslims, Jews, Christians, jugglers, instrumentalists, parents, grand-parents, homosexuals, Pagans, spouses, and the list goes on and on.
It's amazing how rich lives can be. I've learned here to dedicate fully to what you are doing, live in the moment, and always do it with passion. Never pass an opportunity up and never allow yourself to regret. The situations and events in our lives when we feel that useless emotion--regret--are what shape us into living breathing human beings.
Experience new, different, scary, terrifying, mortifying things. Our Player Projects are great examples of this. In our showings, which is nearly a week away, we are all doing the most scariest things we could think of. Even though this is making all of us quake in our boots and we may still be struggling with our skills, everyone's going to clap and cheer, because we tried. We're taking a leap towards fear, and are being congratulated for it. I wish all artistic communities I'll ever be a part of will enable me to face unknowns with abandon.
I've always taken myself too seriously, always been worried how I would be perceived and nervous that I wouldn't be good enough. That I would disappoint. You will always disappoint if you don't cannon ball--or bellyflop--in and try with all of your might. I used to feel sorry for people who "failed;" now, I'm envious of them.
I'm trying my hand at writing. First, I want to start with song writing, and, eventually, write stories or plays. In the past, I've tried to write or draw but stopped because I was my toughest critic; it wasn't good enough. I want to be able to express myself without the regard of other people. I want to experiment with being vulnerable. I'll probably fail, but at least I know I attempted. I want to just do something and hope there is beauty and art in my effort.
Don't worry, I haven't become some flighty arteest who wears all black and cuts herself. I'm still my regular old self; I'm just cultivating and embracing fearlessness.
If you're reading this, I really appreciate it. At first I started blogging to let y'all know how things were going, but now, writing and reflecting is very therapeutic.
Also, I'm coming home in a little less than two weeks. I can't wait to see you all!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Restlessness
You know that anxious restlessness that comes along with the end of summer? This year, it's hittin' hard. I don't know if it's because we've had more time off, or if my brain is confused and is nervous for the up coming school year (which, of course, isn't happening).
I've been antsy. I find myself driving to Bristol, the town 10 minutes away, to try to calm me down, but the endless trips to Target aren't the trick. I think I've always felt this way around August, but usually coined it as before-school jitters. But I'm not going back to school in 3 weeks like the rest of everyone else, I'm living life and becoming an adult. Is this what adulthood feels like?
It doesn't help we're going on vacation in 2 weeks. Everyone around here sees vacation as a light at the end of the tunnel. Not that we don't like the work we're doing (I'm still loving every day here), but most of us are in an artistic rut. The huge walls and barriers we knocked down at the beginning and middle of the summer were great leaps in furthering ourselves as great actors. Now, however, the walls are stronger and harder to overcome. This may be due to our lack of rehearsal where we get intense individual attention every single day, or maybe the constant go of being a Player is wearing on people. Whatever it is, we all seem to think vacation will be able to cure it.
During my Player Project meetings, I've had a hard time getting rid of my strengths so I can let a natural, unforced acting take it's place. My voice and my expression being some of them. Acting should flow freely and not be manipulated or indicated in anyway. However, for 22 years of my life, I depended on my voice, presence, and expression to show what I was feeling, not actually experience what was happening to the character.
My mentor keeps on me, making sure I have outward stillness and inward expansion. What does that mean? Well, think about it. When normal people speak, they don't frantically raise their eyebrows or make huge frowny faces (theatre and performance people excluded), and if they are it's coming from a real, truthful place. Nothing is contrived. Seriously, pay attention to yourself when paying attention to a conversation, you're not thinking "I should furrow my brow because this upsets me" or "I'm going to raise my eyebrows because I'm surprised." No, your face automatically responds to the emotion and psychological state of your being. Ok, that sounds a little new-age mumbo jumbo, but it's true. On stage, you don't need to be doing anything besides pursuing an action and being open and reacting to any and all stimulus. This is when performers become mesmerizing; the audience on edge wondering what the performer will do next.
I attribute my overuse of expression to show choir. Even my voice teacher in college would say "feel, don't show." It's so difficult. Every moment on stage I feel as if I look uninterested. I'm trying to hold on to a safety net, only letting go finger by finger.
On Sunday, my mentor told me to not indicate ANYTHING and pretend like my monologue was improv'd. It worked. Suddenly I was in the character. The lines I have known by heart for nearly a month were lost until the exact moment I needed them. I was in the moment and raising the stakes of the situation and finding problems my character had to solve. It was amazing. After about a 3 week slump, I was finally getting somewhere.
This was a little ray of sunshine on the otherwise tense and fidgety phase I'm going through. I would give anything to sit at a table outside, sip coffee (which I have grown quite fond of here), and watch passers by that have no connection with theatre. People who can remind me there is life outside of all of my acting shortcomings.
But, soon, this phase will end. Not only am I making steps towards acting improvement, but vacation is coming up sooner than we all realize and the summer is coming to a close. This means 9 Players leave our company, and there is only 6 of us left. I will miss all of the old and summer Players. Each and everyone of them has taught me so much. With them gone, the responsibilities weigh great on only 6 shoulders.
In three weeks, we will be running to the fear at full speed, and I'm ready to accept the challenge.
I've been antsy. I find myself driving to Bristol, the town 10 minutes away, to try to calm me down, but the endless trips to Target aren't the trick. I think I've always felt this way around August, but usually coined it as before-school jitters. But I'm not going back to school in 3 weeks like the rest of everyone else, I'm living life and becoming an adult. Is this what adulthood feels like?
It doesn't help we're going on vacation in 2 weeks. Everyone around here sees vacation as a light at the end of the tunnel. Not that we don't like the work we're doing (I'm still loving every day here), but most of us are in an artistic rut. The huge walls and barriers we knocked down at the beginning and middle of the summer were great leaps in furthering ourselves as great actors. Now, however, the walls are stronger and harder to overcome. This may be due to our lack of rehearsal where we get intense individual attention every single day, or maybe the constant go of being a Player is wearing on people. Whatever it is, we all seem to think vacation will be able to cure it.
During my Player Project meetings, I've had a hard time getting rid of my strengths so I can let a natural, unforced acting take it's place. My voice and my expression being some of them. Acting should flow freely and not be manipulated or indicated in anyway. However, for 22 years of my life, I depended on my voice, presence, and expression to show what I was feeling, not actually experience what was happening to the character.
My mentor keeps on me, making sure I have outward stillness and inward expansion. What does that mean? Well, think about it. When normal people speak, they don't frantically raise their eyebrows or make huge frowny faces (theatre and performance people excluded), and if they are it's coming from a real, truthful place. Nothing is contrived. Seriously, pay attention to yourself when paying attention to a conversation, you're not thinking "I should furrow my brow because this upsets me" or "I'm going to raise my eyebrows because I'm surprised." No, your face automatically responds to the emotion and psychological state of your being. Ok, that sounds a little new-age mumbo jumbo, but it's true. On stage, you don't need to be doing anything besides pursuing an action and being open and reacting to any and all stimulus. This is when performers become mesmerizing; the audience on edge wondering what the performer will do next.
I attribute my overuse of expression to show choir. Even my voice teacher in college would say "feel, don't show." It's so difficult. Every moment on stage I feel as if I look uninterested. I'm trying to hold on to a safety net, only letting go finger by finger.
On Sunday, my mentor told me to not indicate ANYTHING and pretend like my monologue was improv'd. It worked. Suddenly I was in the character. The lines I have known by heart for nearly a month were lost until the exact moment I needed them. I was in the moment and raising the stakes of the situation and finding problems my character had to solve. It was amazing. After about a 3 week slump, I was finally getting somewhere.
This was a little ray of sunshine on the otherwise tense and fidgety phase I'm going through. I would give anything to sit at a table outside, sip coffee (which I have grown quite fond of here), and watch passers by that have no connection with theatre. People who can remind me there is life outside of all of my acting shortcomings.
But, soon, this phase will end. Not only am I making steps towards acting improvement, but vacation is coming up sooner than we all realize and the summer is coming to a close. This means 9 Players leave our company, and there is only 6 of us left. I will miss all of the old and summer Players. Each and everyone of them has taught me so much. With them gone, the responsibilities weigh great on only 6 shoulders.
In three weeks, we will be running to the fear at full speed, and I'm ready to accept the challenge.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Two Months
I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've posted on here. So much has happened to me and I've learned and grown unbelievable amounts. All of my time has been spent either in rehearsals, shows, meetings, or just hanging out with people, blogging has been at the bottom of my priority list.
Coffee has never had an effect on me as it does in Playerdom. It's not that I don't have the opportunity to sleep, it's just after finishing at 11 or 12 at night, I want my social time. Usually I do get into bed around 2, which for the summer is an acceptable time to hit the sack, but I'm up for fight call (rehearsal before every show to ensure no injury or death, haha) for our player show at 9 am.
I love doing the Player shows. It's like a cup of Folger's. Seriously, everyone drags their butt out of bed and arrives at fight call groggy, but after half hour (the required time before any show for the actors to get dressed, basically prepare themselves for the show) we are ready to put on an awesome show.
Rarely in a young actor's life does one get to perform a show for 20 times, but we get to. Before being a Player, I would've been tired of doing a show. Now? I could do shows 100 more times and never get bored. They teach us here to always experiment, to never let a show get easy for you. There is never a goal in which there is an arrival point; the actor is always searching for ways to go deeper in the world of the play. (By "world of the play," I mean totally succumbing to the character's thoughts, goals, surroundings, etc.)
Some experiments I've done to keep my characters in the world have been...never letting my vocal production be untruthful; moving only when my character needs to move; pretending I lost a son, and wondering if all of the people my character came across was my son; visualizing my surroundings; having the same inner monologue (what my thoughts are saying, such as, "give me money") throughout the entire play; doing my actions and saying my words at the latest point of attack; give my character sexual thoughts; give my character violent thoughts; being open to stimulus; having a secret; changing the volume at which I'm speaking; having the goal of my scene partner to look at me or touch me...etc.
These all seem like miniscule experiments, but they made a load of difference in each performance. I was discovering new things every show. It was soo cool.
This "never arrive" theory, I've applied to other aspects in life as well. You never arrive at some goal in learning, or finding happiness. To take things, or--in a larger sense--to take life, inch by inch is a much feasible task than yard by yard. Also, knowing that there is always more to explore, in whatever you are doing, so many possibilities open up.
We have a saying here, "live moment to moment." It basically means having trust in this moment so fully, that trust will allow you to focus and allow depth within that moment. Don't be thinking about what comes afterwards, just focus on the task at hand, and the character's, or your, intentions will come across. Human's can't multi-task, it's a proven fact, so why should we expect our characters to? (Or vise-versa)
As far as learning and developing goes, now I feel I'm at a stand still. I made such great strides at the beginning of the summer, now I'm not noticing the tiny steps I'm taking to getting rid of Cami, and delving further into a character. It's frustrating. I keep telling my Player Project mentor, that I feel I'm on the edge of a breakthrough, but it's not coming fast enough. It may be because we aren't rehearsing a show now. Being the end of the summer, we only have "The Reluctant Dragon" shows in the morning and no rehearsals until after vacation week. It may be because I don't speak in Dragon (I'm the right arm of the Dragon, way fricken awesome).
It's amazing how what you learn by rehearsing a new play can be applied to the show you are performing every day. We never have a chance to breathe. An hour after the opening production of "The Princess and the Pea" we started rehearsing our next show. We were sprinting earlier in the summer, and now that we are walking; we aren't getting much of an artistic workout.
Even though I'm taking itty bitty tiny steps towards becoming a better actor, I feel I'm still making progress. I've been trying towards progress with all of my might. My director told us a story about one of the Resident Actors who spoke to some college theatre students. (This is paraphrased, but the gist is still there) They asked "How do you make things important to your character night after night?" The actor replied with, "Will power. 'Cause if you don't have will power, go find another profession."
Boom.
Coffee has never had an effect on me as it does in Playerdom. It's not that I don't have the opportunity to sleep, it's just after finishing at 11 or 12 at night, I want my social time. Usually I do get into bed around 2, which for the summer is an acceptable time to hit the sack, but I'm up for fight call (rehearsal before every show to ensure no injury or death, haha) for our player show at 9 am.
I love doing the Player shows. It's like a cup of Folger's. Seriously, everyone drags their butt out of bed and arrives at fight call groggy, but after half hour (the required time before any show for the actors to get dressed, basically prepare themselves for the show) we are ready to put on an awesome show.
Rarely in a young actor's life does one get to perform a show for 20 times, but we get to. Before being a Player, I would've been tired of doing a show. Now? I could do shows 100 more times and never get bored. They teach us here to always experiment, to never let a show get easy for you. There is never a goal in which there is an arrival point; the actor is always searching for ways to go deeper in the world of the play. (By "world of the play," I mean totally succumbing to the character's thoughts, goals, surroundings, etc.)
Some experiments I've done to keep my characters in the world have been...never letting my vocal production be untruthful; moving only when my character needs to move; pretending I lost a son, and wondering if all of the people my character came across was my son; visualizing my surroundings; having the same inner monologue (what my thoughts are saying, such as, "give me money") throughout the entire play; doing my actions and saying my words at the latest point of attack; give my character sexual thoughts; give my character violent thoughts; being open to stimulus; having a secret; changing the volume at which I'm speaking; having the goal of my scene partner to look at me or touch me...etc.
These all seem like miniscule experiments, but they made a load of difference in each performance. I was discovering new things every show. It was soo cool.
This "never arrive" theory, I've applied to other aspects in life as well. You never arrive at some goal in learning, or finding happiness. To take things, or--in a larger sense--to take life, inch by inch is a much feasible task than yard by yard. Also, knowing that there is always more to explore, in whatever you are doing, so many possibilities open up.
We have a saying here, "live moment to moment." It basically means having trust in this moment so fully, that trust will allow you to focus and allow depth within that moment. Don't be thinking about what comes afterwards, just focus on the task at hand, and the character's, or your, intentions will come across. Human's can't multi-task, it's a proven fact, so why should we expect our characters to? (Or vise-versa)
As far as learning and developing goes, now I feel I'm at a stand still. I made such great strides at the beginning of the summer, now I'm not noticing the tiny steps I'm taking to getting rid of Cami, and delving further into a character. It's frustrating. I keep telling my Player Project mentor, that I feel I'm on the edge of a breakthrough, but it's not coming fast enough. It may be because we aren't rehearsing a show now. Being the end of the summer, we only have "The Reluctant Dragon" shows in the morning and no rehearsals until after vacation week. It may be because I don't speak in Dragon (I'm the right arm of the Dragon, way fricken awesome).
It's amazing how what you learn by rehearsing a new play can be applied to the show you are performing every day. We never have a chance to breathe. An hour after the opening production of "The Princess and the Pea" we started rehearsing our next show. We were sprinting earlier in the summer, and now that we are walking; we aren't getting much of an artistic workout.
Even though I'm taking itty bitty tiny steps towards becoming a better actor, I feel I'm still making progress. I've been trying towards progress with all of my might. My director told us a story about one of the Resident Actors who spoke to some college theatre students. (This is paraphrased, but the gist is still there) They asked "How do you make things important to your character night after night?" The actor replied with, "Will power. 'Cause if you don't have will power, go find another profession."
Boom.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Beauty, and the Beast of a technical show.
My last entry was on acting, but that is in no way where I've spent the majority of my time here at the Barter the past couple of weeks.
I am on the run crew for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. For those of you who don't know what a "run crew" is, they are the people who run the show backstage. I've never been on run crew, and the trust, the friendships, the responsibility required from us is so great. It's probably one of the most character building jobs I've ever had to do. Not only am I learning a whole different skill set, one I've been aware of though never fully appreciated until now, but I'm learning responsibility, and most importantly, how to treat everyone working in the theatre with respect.
The show is technically difficult. So much magic; it took us 3 hours to get through the prologue. For three days, we went scene shift to scene shift, cue to cue trying to put the show up on its feet. We were afraid the show wasn't going to get finished. By Thursday night (our second night of Tech) we hadn't even gotten to the 2nd act. The show opened Saturday. We actually did it. It was tough, but we did it.
Since then, the show has gotten smoother and smoother, but, sometimes, really terrifying things happen. Like things that can kill people. It's terrifying. Going into detail would take too long to explain, but I can say this, I've apologized many times.
As far as my daily schedule, I get up at 8:30 for my 9:30 "Pigs" call, get done with the show at 11, maybe have an hour for lunch, go to our crew call for Beauty and the Beast at 12, finish with that show around 5, have maybe an hour and a half for dinner and then another call for B&B at 6:40, and finally get done with the day, after doing our post-show duties, at 11 at night. We had three days of this last week. It was exhausting.
Luckily, for our sanity and health, they are teching the other Mainstage show this week, for which we are not a part of. So my days are pretty chill, a "Pigs"show in the morning, "Princess and the Pea," our new play, rehearsal in the afternoon, and working on my player project or doing laundry at night.
I've been here a month, and though Abingdon is becoming a home, I still get homesick.
I miss and love you all.
I am on the run crew for Disney's Beauty and the Beast. For those of you who don't know what a "run crew" is, they are the people who run the show backstage. I've never been on run crew, and the trust, the friendships, the responsibility required from us is so great. It's probably one of the most character building jobs I've ever had to do. Not only am I learning a whole different skill set, one I've been aware of though never fully appreciated until now, but I'm learning responsibility, and most importantly, how to treat everyone working in the theatre with respect.
The show is technically difficult. So much magic; it took us 3 hours to get through the prologue. For three days, we went scene shift to scene shift, cue to cue trying to put the show up on its feet. We were afraid the show wasn't going to get finished. By Thursday night (our second night of Tech) we hadn't even gotten to the 2nd act. The show opened Saturday. We actually did it. It was tough, but we did it.
Since then, the show has gotten smoother and smoother, but, sometimes, really terrifying things happen. Like things that can kill people. It's terrifying. Going into detail would take too long to explain, but I can say this, I've apologized many times.
As far as my daily schedule, I get up at 8:30 for my 9:30 "Pigs" call, get done with the show at 11, maybe have an hour for lunch, go to our crew call for Beauty and the Beast at 12, finish with that show around 5, have maybe an hour and a half for dinner and then another call for B&B at 6:40, and finally get done with the day, after doing our post-show duties, at 11 at night. We had three days of this last week. It was exhausting.
Luckily, for our sanity and health, they are teching the other Mainstage show this week, for which we are not a part of. So my days are pretty chill, a "Pigs"show in the morning, "Princess and the Pea," our new play, rehearsal in the afternoon, and working on my player project or doing laundry at night.
I've been here a month, and though Abingdon is becoming a home, I still get homesick.
I miss and love you all.
Monday, June 6, 2011
It's been a while since I've posted...
So I'm going to split up these next few entries. We'll start first with our acting.
We Tech'd and opened our Player show "Three Little Pigs" last week. It was fun to do a less stressful tech (as opposed to Beauty and the Beast, more on that later). All throughout the week before I "rehearsed the play" during tech. Now "rehearsing the play" is reading through the script and really delving into what the character is doing. I probably spent at least an hour during each of our Tech days for Beauty rehearsing, reading, jumping into this imaginary world where Wolves crave pork and pigs are architects. It helped so much. By the time "Pigs" tech came around, I was discovering new things and totally giving myself up to the character. So much so, my director didn't yell at me, but actually complimented me! It was awesome.
Our first performance went well. We've rehearsed this play for 3 weeks, yet performing for a bunch of tiny people who's feet can't touch the ground from the theater seats. For one, some jokes are for the adults; the kids don't quite get everything. Another thing, kids love falling, running, slapping, dancing, basically anything physical and most of them laugh for the sake of laughing. Babies cry, a lot, and often when you aren't delving deep enough into the play. This is when you really kick it into Piggy gear. And the last thing that's majorly different, there are bodies soo close to you (it's in a thrust theater). One performance we've had, a girl kept stroking the arm of one Pig who was "handcuffed."
The hardest part of putting the show up on it's feet, is trying to keep the "actor" out and the character in. It's been so long since I've done a show for more than just a couple of runs, and keeping the world of the play alive is a constant struggle. Our director was giving notes after our 3rd show, and he said to me "wasn't your best work, huh?" I knew he was going to say that exactly. You see, the things I discovered while "rehearsing the play" during Tech became stale and old and I was expecting those discoveries to work every time. But that never works out. You constantly need to push those this-is-how-I-did-it-last-time thoughts out of your brain so new discoveries can be made.
Another hard thing about doing the shows is our directors aren't always there to gauge our progress or call us out if we weren't bringing our best. We have to take the responsibility for ourselves to push ourselves towards the unknown. It's up to us to put on the best show possible.
One of my favorite part of doing the shows are the meet and greets we get to do with the kids. They are so cute! Friday, an entire school came with pig t-shirts with pig faces on the front and tails on the back and pig noses!
All right, I'm exhausted. We start rehearsing for our next Player show, The Princess and the Pea, tomorrow. :)
We Tech'd and opened our Player show "Three Little Pigs" last week. It was fun to do a less stressful tech (as opposed to Beauty and the Beast, more on that later). All throughout the week before I "rehearsed the play" during tech. Now "rehearsing the play" is reading through the script and really delving into what the character is doing. I probably spent at least an hour during each of our Tech days for Beauty rehearsing, reading, jumping into this imaginary world where Wolves crave pork and pigs are architects. It helped so much. By the time "Pigs" tech came around, I was discovering new things and totally giving myself up to the character. So much so, my director didn't yell at me, but actually complimented me! It was awesome.
Our first performance went well. We've rehearsed this play for 3 weeks, yet performing for a bunch of tiny people who's feet can't touch the ground from the theater seats. For one, some jokes are for the adults; the kids don't quite get everything. Another thing, kids love falling, running, slapping, dancing, basically anything physical and most of them laugh for the sake of laughing. Babies cry, a lot, and often when you aren't delving deep enough into the play. This is when you really kick it into Piggy gear. And the last thing that's majorly different, there are bodies soo close to you (it's in a thrust theater). One performance we've had, a girl kept stroking the arm of one Pig who was "handcuffed."
The hardest part of putting the show up on it's feet, is trying to keep the "actor" out and the character in. It's been so long since I've done a show for more than just a couple of runs, and keeping the world of the play alive is a constant struggle. Our director was giving notes after our 3rd show, and he said to me "wasn't your best work, huh?" I knew he was going to say that exactly. You see, the things I discovered while "rehearsing the play" during Tech became stale and old and I was expecting those discoveries to work every time. But that never works out. You constantly need to push those this-is-how-I-did-it-last-time thoughts out of your brain so new discoveries can be made.
Another hard thing about doing the shows is our directors aren't always there to gauge our progress or call us out if we weren't bringing our best. We have to take the responsibility for ourselves to push ourselves towards the unknown. It's up to us to put on the best show possible.
One of my favorite part of doing the shows are the meet and greets we get to do with the kids. They are so cute! Friday, an entire school came with pig t-shirts with pig faces on the front and tails on the back and pig noses!
All right, I'm exhausted. We start rehearsing for our next Player show, The Princess and the Pea, tomorrow. :)
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Serving the Audience
One of the Barter Player's mottos is to "Serve the Audience," meaning, because we are now professional actors, the work we do is to serve the paying customers. It is no longer for our benefit as it was in college. We cater to the folks shelling out money for a night of entertainment. A way us Players do it is through run crew.
For those of you who don't know what run crew is (Grandma), they are the invisible performers who make all of the scene shift magic happen. It's intense. We had our first scene shift rehearsal tonight, 4 hours long and we didn't get to Act II. Despite the amount of time it took, it actually went really well.
It's not as if I didn't have respect for the people involved with technical theatre, I just never had a chance to experience it. When we were getting oriented with the space, I was terrified. So many integral parts that so many people would get mad at me for screwing up. I remember running sound for our school play my sophomore year in high school; it was a lot of responsibility to take on and a lot of pressure. Now, while pushing on Belle's room or setting props for Gaston's tavern, I feel the same pressing weight of responsibility.
Despite being anxious about it, I'm excited to take all of this on. It's another way we can serve the audience, another way I'm learning about the theatre.
As far as rehearsals for "Pigs", we have no more until tech next Tuesday. We had our final run through today. I'm trying to not "act," but it's hard. There are these blocks getting in my way of totally giving myself up to the world of the play. In the week I have before tech, my goal is to practice facing the unknown and using my imagination to keep Cami out of the character.
One of the members of the company watched our run through today. On our way home, the company member said they had learned a lot. We asked what it was and they said "No matter how absurd the circumstances of the play, you can still make it believable." That was encouraging; we've done our job. Yes, it's ridiculous to play a role in which you are eating whole pigs and you have the ability to blow down houses, but if you wholeheartedly commit in the world of the play, anything is possible.
I better get to bed, we have full on Beauty and the Beast 10 of 12 (more for us on crew) for the next 3 days. And then we open with 2 shows on Saturday. It's going to be the longest week of my life.
For Grandma: Tech is when you run the show from scene change to scene change, run light cues, focus lights, work spacing etc. Usually grueling work where you are at the theater all day and everyone gets really frustrated with each other. Hope that helps!
For those of you who don't know what run crew is (Grandma), they are the invisible performers who make all of the scene shift magic happen. It's intense. We had our first scene shift rehearsal tonight, 4 hours long and we didn't get to Act II. Despite the amount of time it took, it actually went really well.
It's not as if I didn't have respect for the people involved with technical theatre, I just never had a chance to experience it. When we were getting oriented with the space, I was terrified. So many integral parts that so many people would get mad at me for screwing up. I remember running sound for our school play my sophomore year in high school; it was a lot of responsibility to take on and a lot of pressure. Now, while pushing on Belle's room or setting props for Gaston's tavern, I feel the same pressing weight of responsibility.
Despite being anxious about it, I'm excited to take all of this on. It's another way we can serve the audience, another way I'm learning about the theatre.
As far as rehearsals for "Pigs", we have no more until tech next Tuesday. We had our final run through today. I'm trying to not "act," but it's hard. There are these blocks getting in my way of totally giving myself up to the world of the play. In the week I have before tech, my goal is to practice facing the unknown and using my imagination to keep Cami out of the character.
One of the members of the company watched our run through today. On our way home, the company member said they had learned a lot. We asked what it was and they said "No matter how absurd the circumstances of the play, you can still make it believable." That was encouraging; we've done our job. Yes, it's ridiculous to play a role in which you are eating whole pigs and you have the ability to blow down houses, but if you wholeheartedly commit in the world of the play, anything is possible.
I better get to bed, we have full on Beauty and the Beast 10 of 12 (more for us on crew) for the next 3 days. And then we open with 2 shows on Saturday. It's going to be the longest week of my life.
For Grandma: Tech is when you run the show from scene change to scene change, run light cues, focus lights, work spacing etc. Usually grueling work where you are at the theater all day and everyone gets really frustrated with each other. Hope that helps!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Teamwork
Before starting this job, I knew some about the inner workings of a theater, but coming here, it boggles my mind. I am in awe of everyone who works here. Each and every person has a specific job and they do it well. I was talking to one of the wardrobe people at a grill out the other night, and she was like, "I could never do what you actors do" and I was like, "I could never do what you guys do!"
I'm learning more and more about the behind the stage magic and it fascinates me. Thankfully, I didn't drop a light or fall through the ceiling tonight at the changeover. Instead, I learned the lingo of the electricians and got really brave carrying heavy lights on ladders.
So many jobs contributing to one thing, creating art. So many jobs contributing to one goal, putting on a great show. So many jobs contributing to serving and entertaining and reaching an audience. How cool is that?
Saturday, May 21, 2011
"Which one of these auditioners look deluded enough to be a Player? Which ones look like they want to be put through hell?"
This was said by one of our playwrights in residence here at the Barter. We had a picnic and were all sitting around discussing how we came about getting the Player job, and she said she was really good at picking out people who had Player material, then said the quote mentioned above.
All of the new girl Players auditioned at UPTAs. One of the boys auditioned at "locals" (auditions held in Abingdon in December), another is a Player from last year (you can do the program for 2 years), and the third auditioned to be in Beauty and the Beast and was offered a Player contract.
It's so interesting to hear where everyone comes from. Most of the Players are from around Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Others are from Pennsylvania, Alabama, Louisiana, and, of course, Nebraska/Iowa. :) There are so many different accents, and I've already started saying "Y'all" like, all the time.
A lot of them went to private schools and a lot smaller programs than the ones at UNL. We are actually quite lucky. To have an Opera program that does 2 mainstage and, usually, a couple readings of a new work and a Theatre program that puts on 4 mainstage and 4 Theatrix shows each year, we are blessed to have the opportunities most others do not. Most of the Players do only 3 shows a year. One of them said their college doesn't even offer a Shakespeare class. People often brush off UNL's performing arts programs, but they shouldn't. We are getting opportunities most other college students don't. Remember that.
Today in rehearsal (now only about 3 hours left of rehearsing before tech) our coach looked at me and said, "There was no acting going on in that entire scene." I felt such a feeling of accomplishment.
A funny thing that I haven't mentioned earlier, our coach doesn't believe in Talent. He says it like its a bad word. He constantly says he's a "scientist of the theatre" and he doesn't know what exactly Talent is. Putting Talent into the equation means that some people without this "Talent" can't get better with their craft.
I tell you what, it was so relieving knowing he wasn't constantly thinking "that girl is soooo unTalented" in our first couple of rehearsals. Not using the word Talent puts everyone on the same playing field. It lessons the need/want to size yourself up against other actors. Just something to ponder.
I have to leave for electric changeover. The next three hours I'll learn all about lights in a dark, haunted theater.
I miss and love you all.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Nerve
The demands put on us Players is incredible. Not physically, or schedule-wise, but mentally and emotionally. We are required to bring so much more of ourselves to rehearsal than I've ever been asked to, and we can. It's amazing. The leaps and bounds I've taken as an "actor" have been huge.
I've put actor in quotes because most of our rehearsal is getting rid of the actor. Crazy right? The "actor" consciously makes choices whereas a character simply lives in the world of the play. Our coach stops rehearsal, even run throughs if he sees even a bit of acting take place. I have been acting a whole heck of a lot my entire life. Very few people have called me out on my stuff so I've fallen into these patterns and ways to go about a character. This does not fly here.
You know those moments in performance, where everything just clicks and you're totally in character and you are reacting and responding and you don't know what part of you is emerging from your body and doing all of these things? That is what made me fall in love with acting. Here, we get to that point the second rehearsal.
Today we had a full run through. It's our 5th rehearsal and everyone was near memorized. Not because we have spent countless hours working on memorization, or as our coach says "picturing yourself in your character," but because we have learned to trust what is happening from moment to moment. The character knows the lines. That is the only way anybody knows a character, by what they say in the play. I had a hard time to not decide beforehand how a line should be said. Neither the actor or the character knows what needs to be emphasized; it just happens. The line is not the only thing that shouldn't be predetermined. You can never put a label on a character. When deciding what a character is like before exploring and experiencing what they're like, you are constricted to make the character a certain way. By doing this, you can't fully emerse yourself in a play.
People have told me I'm a brave actress. Two weeks ago, I was a pansy compared to where I am now. During shows, I would have spent so much time in a practice room rolling on the floor, emphasizing lines, so I could effortlessly say them with no pre-determined emphasis. Now, I'm getting close to the point where I can do that the first time I read the lines aloud. I'm learning to trust the unknown and to totally lose myself into an imaginary world. It's incredible knowing I'm capable of that!
As far as life here in Abingdon, it's great. We get discounts to almost every restaurant in town, a free pass to the Rec Center at any time, and everyone here looks upon you with awe because you work at the Barter. We're basically the bread and butter of the town.
The days are getting longer. This week I've spent hours in the costume shop, hours in "Three Little Pigs" rehearsal, and hours watching the Mainstage rehearsals to prepare for understudy work. We just got our "Beauty and the Beast" tech assignments (what we will be helping out with backstage), and tech rehearsals for the show begin Tuesday for the opening of the show next Saturday. Tomorrow night, I'll be in the main theater, which is haunted by civil war ghosts (no joke, actually a lot of places around here are haunted), doing changeover (rehanging lights between the different rep seasons) from 11-2. I'm glad I got the early shift, some have to work starting at 4:30...
I'm off to bed. Our coach said we may have only 5 more rehearsals left of "Pigs" before tech on the 31st and tomorrow is one of the rehearsals. Here's to show biz!
I've put actor in quotes because most of our rehearsal is getting rid of the actor. Crazy right? The "actor" consciously makes choices whereas a character simply lives in the world of the play. Our coach stops rehearsal, even run throughs if he sees even a bit of acting take place. I have been acting a whole heck of a lot my entire life. Very few people have called me out on my stuff so I've fallen into these patterns and ways to go about a character. This does not fly here.
You know those moments in performance, where everything just clicks and you're totally in character and you are reacting and responding and you don't know what part of you is emerging from your body and doing all of these things? That is what made me fall in love with acting. Here, we get to that point the second rehearsal.
Today we had a full run through. It's our 5th rehearsal and everyone was near memorized. Not because we have spent countless hours working on memorization, or as our coach says "picturing yourself in your character," but because we have learned to trust what is happening from moment to moment. The character knows the lines. That is the only way anybody knows a character, by what they say in the play. I had a hard time to not decide beforehand how a line should be said. Neither the actor or the character knows what needs to be emphasized; it just happens. The line is not the only thing that shouldn't be predetermined. You can never put a label on a character. When deciding what a character is like before exploring and experiencing what they're like, you are constricted to make the character a certain way. By doing this, you can't fully emerse yourself in a play.
People have told me I'm a brave actress. Two weeks ago, I was a pansy compared to where I am now. During shows, I would have spent so much time in a practice room rolling on the floor, emphasizing lines, so I could effortlessly say them with no pre-determined emphasis. Now, I'm getting close to the point where I can do that the first time I read the lines aloud. I'm learning to trust the unknown and to totally lose myself into an imaginary world. It's incredible knowing I'm capable of that!
As far as life here in Abingdon, it's great. We get discounts to almost every restaurant in town, a free pass to the Rec Center at any time, and everyone here looks upon you with awe because you work at the Barter. We're basically the bread and butter of the town.
The days are getting longer. This week I've spent hours in the costume shop, hours in "Three Little Pigs" rehearsal, and hours watching the Mainstage rehearsals to prepare for understudy work. We just got our "Beauty and the Beast" tech assignments (what we will be helping out with backstage), and tech rehearsals for the show begin Tuesday for the opening of the show next Saturday. Tomorrow night, I'll be in the main theater, which is haunted by civil war ghosts (no joke, actually a lot of places around here are haunted), doing changeover (rehanging lights between the different rep seasons) from 11-2. I'm glad I got the early shift, some have to work starting at 4:30...
I'm off to bed. Our coach said we may have only 5 more rehearsals left of "Pigs" before tech on the 31st and tomorrow is one of the rehearsals. Here's to show biz!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Run to the Fear
"Run to the Fear" is a common saying around the Barter Players. One way we run to our fears is through Player projects. Our player project is a homework assignment of sorts that we work on throughout the entire summer. This past week, we had a meeting with the Artistic Director and discussed the things we are terrified to do in front of people. Most of the Players are doing projects involving singing and dancing (lucky!), but mine is going to be a whole different beast, dialects.
I am awful at dialects. I actually tried all last semester, when driving by myself, to read street signs in different dialects. Not to offend anyone, but I sounded like a mentally challenged deaf person. Some have a gift of picking up people's speech patterns, not me. This fear of having to speak in dialects was revealed to me in our first rehearsal Wednesday, when our acting coach asked a few of the characters to speak in a German and Spanish accent. Luckily, I wasn't one of those characters; I would have no clue on where to even start.
So, when in my Player project meeting, I mentioned my fears. Improv, raw acting, being vulnerable, and dialects. The Artistic Director said, "don't you know a lot about dialects from studying opera?" My answer was, "nope." I mean, I've had to sing in many languages, but applying the rules to English is hard. She said, "that's your project right there."
I guess one of the roles I'm understudying has a German accent. This is terrifying. I'm awful at German. Never have I ever thought German was a beautiful language and I hated singing in it. Also, it was my last semester of Diction and it was real early in the morning.... However, the past three days I've been watching countless YouTube videos about a German dialect and trying to rack my brain of all of the rules of German diction.
I'm hoping, by August 14th, when we have our Player project performance, I'll be able to comfortably speak in at least 5 different dialects. We were to send a project proposal to the Artistic Director and I proposed this: to learn 5 different dialects and 2 monologues and have a roulette-type performance where I didn't know which dialect goes with which monologue. Throughout the summer, it'll be my responsibility to contact the diction coach they have on staff and get the materials I need to not look like a total idiot at the end of the summer.
On another note, our acting coach is out of town doing a one man show, so our sole responsibility has been understudy work. I'm understudying the Wardrobe in "Beauty and the Beast" (I have to wear 3+ inch heels to be able to see over the pvc-piped costume) and Trudy, a German secretary, in "Elvis has Left the Building." The latter is a play that was read at last year's Appalachian Play Festival that is held here every summer. It's fricken hilarious.
The two women I'm understudying are Marnee Hollis, an actress who was in Broadway's "My Fair Lady" in the early 90's, and Mary Lucy Bivins, a resident actress of the Barter who's probably pushing 70. It's so cool to have these women to look up to.
The past 4 days since I've blogged, I've been watching rehearsals and run-throughs, diligently taking notes and trying to learn words and music, just in case I have to fill in at some point during this rep (ahh!). We were informed that usually, there comes a point in the summer where everyone has to understudy...
As far as my Player duties, I've been in the Player shop (conveniently located in the basement of the Inn) sewing. I've learned how to hem, tack, and reminded how to use a machine. Also, on Friday, I did rep for the first time. For those of you who don't know, that means switching the set over from one show to the next. Here, learning something new everyday is an understatement.
Theatre is such a small world. Our Technical Director, Mitch Critel, went to UNL for his undergrad and has worked for the Nebraska Rep. He hired Byron Hunt, who also went to UNL. One of the dancers for Beauty and the Beast, Abbey Elliott, is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was in Follies and choreographed for Theatre Cedar Rapids. She also went to Milikin with soo many people I know. Audrey, another year round Player, worked at Big Fork, Montana with Zac Parker. It's kind of
ridiculous.
I got really homesick for the first time Friday night. I was grocery shopping at Krogers, and got this sick feeling. All I wanted was to be shopping at the 50th and 'O' HyVee. Of course I miss all of y'all back home, but I know we'll always be there for each other. Our relationships will not suffer because I'm far away, but only get so much stronger. Long phone calls also help :)
Well, that's all there is here. Today's plans are going to the Rec Center (which is free to all Barter employees), then sewing and watching a "Beauty and the Beast" run-through, and ending the day with a monster birthday bash in the Shakespeare Garden (the area behind the Inn where someone keeps trees and bushes nice for us).
I love you all.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Humility
Today was tough. Not that we had much to do, but because we had our first rehearsal.
We are doing a version of the Three Little Pigs. I was cast as Sam, the smart pig who decides to build the house of bricks. Now, usually, the rehearsal process begins with a "read through," but we begin with a "sit-down rehearsal." We didn't get past 2 pages without stopping and working on things. Our acting coach, a passionate middle-aged man from Jersey who ends every sentence with "that's some fucking true shit," is super supportive and encouraging, and also has this way of picking a person out and using them as an example throughout a rehearsal. I was the example today.
It was tough. At school, very rarely in a play rehearsal process do we have so much individual attention within the entire group. I froze. Became defensive; why wasn't everyone else getting notes like I was? Why was he picking on me? Then I came to the realization that his goal was not to scare me or to put me down, but to make me a better actor. Not only just me a better actor, but through my bad habits, he explained to everyone why they don't work.
After three hours of our "sit-down rehearsal," we began staging (not blocking because our coach never wants us to be blocked from anything). In an hour and a half, we got to the second page. By this time, we had to call it quits.
It's amazing to watch the old Players (the ones who are finishing up their 3 months) read at the sit-down rehearsal. It was like they have been rehearsing the play for weeks the very first time they said the words aloud. Yesterday, we got to watch their show and the passion and commitment they put into everything they did and said on stage was remarkable. Sometimes, actors look like they would rather being doing anything else than be in Children's Theatre, but not these guys. It's like they wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing anything else.
We watched a rehearsal today for one of the mainstage shows, and it was instantly clear which actors were former Players. Their focus and energy and the graciousness in which they received notes were like nothing I've ever seen before. They are definitely something to aspire to. I can't wait to see how much I will learn and grow in the next year.
Needless to say, I'm exhausted. The focus I had to bring to that 4 1/2 rehearsal was grueling. Until the next time...
We are doing a version of the Three Little Pigs. I was cast as Sam, the smart pig who decides to build the house of bricks. Now, usually, the rehearsal process begins with a "read through," but we begin with a "sit-down rehearsal." We didn't get past 2 pages without stopping and working on things. Our acting coach, a passionate middle-aged man from Jersey who ends every sentence with "that's some fucking true shit," is super supportive and encouraging, and also has this way of picking a person out and using them as an example throughout a rehearsal. I was the example today.
It was tough. At school, very rarely in a play rehearsal process do we have so much individual attention within the entire group. I froze. Became defensive; why wasn't everyone else getting notes like I was? Why was he picking on me? Then I came to the realization that his goal was not to scare me or to put me down, but to make me a better actor. Not only just me a better actor, but through my bad habits, he explained to everyone why they don't work.
After three hours of our "sit-down rehearsal," we began staging (not blocking because our coach never wants us to be blocked from anything). In an hour and a half, we got to the second page. By this time, we had to call it quits.
It's amazing to watch the old Players (the ones who are finishing up their 3 months) read at the sit-down rehearsal. It was like they have been rehearsing the play for weeks the very first time they said the words aloud. Yesterday, we got to watch their show and the passion and commitment they put into everything they did and said on stage was remarkable. Sometimes, actors look like they would rather being doing anything else than be in Children's Theatre, but not these guys. It's like they wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing anything else.
We watched a rehearsal today for one of the mainstage shows, and it was instantly clear which actors were former Players. Their focus and energy and the graciousness in which they received notes were like nothing I've ever seen before. They are definitely something to aspire to. I can't wait to see how much I will learn and grow in the next year.
Needless to say, I'm exhausted. The focus I had to bring to that 4 1/2 rehearsal was grueling. Until the next time...
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
So many of you have told me to keep in touch. As much as I would love to call each and everyone of you every single day...with a typical 12 hour day schedule, that seems far from possible. So, I decided to start a blog.
As most of you should know, I am officially a Barter Player at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia (http://www.bartertheatre.com/index.php). I am one of the lucky few who have a job out of college (in my case RIGHT out of college) and will be here for a very fun, but grueling, 15 months.
After performing Ordinary Days with my very bestest friends on Friday night, partaking in a very fun party that lasted way too late in the night for me to drive 12 hours the next day, and tearfully pulling away from my three best friends, I was off to make the 17+ hour trek to the Appalachians.
The drive wasn't all that bad, actually. I had goodies from Grandma and NPR to keep me company the whole way. And, once you hit Tennessee, the view is GORGEOUS! I mean, where were the unending fields? What are these things called trees? After a terrific stay with my cousin, Ashley, I had only 5 more hours to get to my new home, Abingdon, VA.
The view? It didn't get any less gorgeous than before. The outskirts of town are commercialized, a Kmart, a Krogers (HyVee, but worse produce), and fast food chains. But when traveling into town, it's like I stepped into 1857. All of the sidewalks here are brick. In the 15 minutes it takes to walk to the theater, I don't think there's a single concrete sidewalk. All of the buildings are brick. All of the houses are brick. The buildings have kept their charm and are so well kept that, aside from the cars, it's like I took a jump to the left and a step to the right and did the time warp again. :)
The Barter Inn, where all of the Barter Players and most of the younger or not-as-permanent Barter employees stay (40 people!), is a huge, again, brick building that used to be a dormitory for a former woman's college. My room is at least 12 ft tall with a probably 7 ft tall window. Our rooms are connected with bathrooms, which I share with 2 of the summer Players. Across the all is my kitchen that I share with about 6 people, all of whom say are clean, we'll wait and see about that... Within the Inn, there is laundry, a TV room, and the Player costume and prop shop where we work on all of the stuff for our shows.
Around the Barter Inn, which is on top of a tree covered hill (soo many of those here), is the rest of the former college which the Barter has turned into their various shops and rehearsal spaces. Next door is the former theater (where Gregory Peck made his debut) turned rehearsal space/costume shop/prop shop/accessories shop. Behind the Inn, is the scene shop and storage space. We each get a parking space with our name on it which is both cute and very convenient.
As far as my Playerdom goes (what they call our time here as a Barter Player), we had auditions yesterday and then a 6 hour lecture about the theatre's acting philosophy. Wasn't as dry as one might think. Within our orientation, I found out all about what our responsibilities are. We have children's shows throughout the entire year that usually go up in 3 weeks and are performed for around a month. We have understudy assignments that, when we have no rehearsal, we go to the mainstage rehearsals and take notes. We run crew for all of the rep shows. And we have player projects where we put together a performance of our most terrifying fears.
There are 2 theaters here. The Mainstage, a 506 seat proscenium theater where the big shows happen, and Stage II, a 100 and something blackbox-like theater where most of the Player shows and the smaller mainstage shows happen.
I have call in a bit for a Rep. safety training, but I'll write so much more later!
As most of you should know, I am officially a Barter Player at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia (http://www.bartertheatre.com/index.php). I am one of the lucky few who have a job out of college (in my case RIGHT out of college) and will be here for a very fun, but grueling, 15 months.
After performing Ordinary Days with my very bestest friends on Friday night, partaking in a very fun party that lasted way too late in the night for me to drive 12 hours the next day, and tearfully pulling away from my three best friends, I was off to make the 17+ hour trek to the Appalachians.
The drive wasn't all that bad, actually. I had goodies from Grandma and NPR to keep me company the whole way. And, once you hit Tennessee, the view is GORGEOUS! I mean, where were the unending fields? What are these things called trees? After a terrific stay with my cousin, Ashley, I had only 5 more hours to get to my new home, Abingdon, VA.
The view? It didn't get any less gorgeous than before. The outskirts of town are commercialized, a Kmart, a Krogers (HyVee, but worse produce), and fast food chains. But when traveling into town, it's like I stepped into 1857. All of the sidewalks here are brick. In the 15 minutes it takes to walk to the theater, I don't think there's a single concrete sidewalk. All of the buildings are brick. All of the houses are brick. The buildings have kept their charm and are so well kept that, aside from the cars, it's like I took a jump to the left and a step to the right and did the time warp again. :)
The Barter Inn, where all of the Barter Players and most of the younger or not-as-permanent Barter employees stay (40 people!), is a huge, again, brick building that used to be a dormitory for a former woman's college. My room is at least 12 ft tall with a probably 7 ft tall window. Our rooms are connected with bathrooms, which I share with 2 of the summer Players. Across the all is my kitchen that I share with about 6 people, all of whom say are clean, we'll wait and see about that... Within the Inn, there is laundry, a TV room, and the Player costume and prop shop where we work on all of the stuff for our shows.
Around the Barter Inn, which is on top of a tree covered hill (soo many of those here), is the rest of the former college which the Barter has turned into their various shops and rehearsal spaces. Next door is the former theater (where Gregory Peck made his debut) turned rehearsal space/costume shop/prop shop/accessories shop. Behind the Inn, is the scene shop and storage space. We each get a parking space with our name on it which is both cute and very convenient.
As far as my Playerdom goes (what they call our time here as a Barter Player), we had auditions yesterday and then a 6 hour lecture about the theatre's acting philosophy. Wasn't as dry as one might think. Within our orientation, I found out all about what our responsibilities are. We have children's shows throughout the entire year that usually go up in 3 weeks and are performed for around a month. We have understudy assignments that, when we have no rehearsal, we go to the mainstage rehearsals and take notes. We run crew for all of the rep shows. And we have player projects where we put together a performance of our most terrifying fears.
There are 2 theaters here. The Mainstage, a 506 seat proscenium theater where the big shows happen, and Stage II, a 100 and something blackbox-like theater where most of the Player shows and the smaller mainstage shows happen.
I have call in a bit for a Rep. safety training, but I'll write so much more later!
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