Here it is, the end of 8th week; I have my homework done, papers written...
I'm home from rehearsal, fed, watered; all my TV shows are up to date...
Woah.
What's that I see? Free time? What's that???
So, finally, I have a spare moment to add a few pictures, and tell you about the last month and a half. Here we go...
The Coppola's:
When last we met, I was up to my eyeballs in The Coppola One Acts. I can't remember if I mentioned that there were supposed to be 3 Stage Managers on the project or not, but there was. Supposed to be. Three.
Anyway, what they got instead was ME!
It was a lot of work to balance three directors, three COMPLETELY different scripts, and three casts, but I did! I have to admit, I got to a point where I doubted myself...
(I think it came around the same time that I realized I had slept less than a regular full night of sleep in a total of a two week period.)
Well, we were able to pull it off, and it went really well! It seemed to be well received by the audiences, and that's all I can ask! :) Here are some pictures:
This is the first show, White Kisses. It was written by Alexander Maggio, an MFA playwright; and was directed by Edward Kim, and MFA film director. The actors shown are: Lincoln Castanellos (Junior), Julie Alexander (Junior) and Sean Lewellyn (Senior).
The exciting part about this show was trying to figure out water. At the end of the play, Julie pours out a bottle of "wine" to show they are not going to drink anymore in an effort to get Lincoln to stay. The first time we rehearsed it- WAAAAAYYYY to much water. Not only did they have to finish the show in a shallow swimming pool, but there is a violent scene at the end that quickly became a water wrestling match. If the ground had been covered in dirt, it would have ended with a very different message...
In the end, we used a lot less water, and to keep the slipping (and mopping) to a minimum, we poured it out at the corner of the stage.
This play was called Into the Wild Blue. It was written by MFA playwright Ayla Harrison, and directed by MFA graduate theater director Brendon Fox. The actors in the show are: David Sochet (MFA acting student), Tirosh Schneider (HS Sophomore), and Sarah Watson (MFA Acting Student).
This show was exciting because 1) We got to work with Tirosh! Since he is still a minor, his parents accompanied him. He has a great personality; is as sweet as can be, and it very talented! His parents are also SUPER nice, and his dad makes the most EXCELLENT brownies EVER. and 2) Blood packs. It was interesting to learn the pros and cons of blood packs. Too much, you leave a lovely pile of sticky red goo on the the stage floor to be mopped up. Not enough, not so dramatic.
This show also used live musicians. It was a lot of fun! In fact, I have been contacted in the last week to please reprise a small portion of the show for the Student Awards Showcase this next Wednesday evening. I am happy to do it; it's a great honor - not only for me, but for the playwright and the actors as well. The only problem is that we have all since moved on to other projects, and are having trouble finding time to work in a brush up rehearsal. Not only that, but the stage we originally used (in-the-round) is different than the space we must perform the snippet in this time (proscenium). I know it will come off fine, and will be great, but it's a little nervous-making...
The last show was Glass Soldier written by MFA playwright Craig Jessen, and directed by MFA film director Raza Ahmad. The actors in this show are: Letty Valladares (MFA Acting Student), Wing-Sum Doud (Sophomore), and Henry Silverman (Theater Minor!)
This show was fun because it involved breaking glass on stage. It was sugar glass, but still...it was cool. :) Plus, they had crazy make-up! Look at the scar on Wing-Sum's face!
So, after the show was over, I had two weeks rehearsal free!
Normally I would insert angels here...
But, I had A LOT to do. I knew I was going to be very busy. I was right.
The first week, I just tried to catch up on my work. I had a project with an accompanying paper due, and a test in Spanish...
I spent my first free weekend driving home (YEAH!) to fill out paper work for my summer job at Sea World. I was very happy to be home; even if it was for a very short amount of time. (16 more days until I get to go home for summer! Woo Hoo!)
The second week was spent working on my final paper for my Theater History class, and trying to get ahead. I knew once I got back into rehearsals that if I didn't have certain things done, I was really going to be hurting. I'm glad I went through that two week stress, because now I'm on track, and have some extra time this coming weekend to study my español.
Now it's 8th week. There are only 2 weeks of school left, one final and the packing up of my room before my first year at UCLA is behind me. In the meantime, I am back in rehearsals, crewing for the spring musical, Anything Goes. It's really cute, and makes me want to be a better tap dancer. Plus, though everyone thinks I'm crazy to LIKE crewing, and do it voluntarily (Stage Managers don't usually do that here, I guess), it is getting me back in the habit of crewing, which I hope to do again this summer at Starlight. We'll see though. Due to economic conditions, Starlight is only doing two shows this summer: High School Musical and Annie. Really? Anyway, HSM will already be running when I get home from school, so I'm not sure they will want me for just one show. Luckily though it should be over before Emmalee's baptism date, so I should be able to go to Idaho this summer as well!
Ok, one last thing and then I'll be done...
So, I got to work with a bunch of super nice people in the theater during the Coppola's. My Production Manager, Tim was awesome, and so was Chuck, our prop master. I really like Chuck. He's totally cool. He had me make business cards for myself, and then e-mailed two professional stage managers asking them to mentor me. Because he has taken this interest in me, I was able to sit with a really neat lady, Jill Gold, who is the Stage Manager for an LA based theater company called Reprise. The Artistic Director is Jason Alexander. When I came to sit with Jill they were at the end of a two week run of The Fantasticks. I had never seen this musical before, so it was a really cool experience. Plus, all the people in the show are professional actors, so it was fun to meet people. I will (in the next month or so) get to sit with Jimme McDermott again at The Geffen. He's currently closing one show and getting ready to run another one. The second show is the one I am going to try to come sit with him on. He said it is a lot more technical, with a lot more cues, so it will be more interesting to sit in on. I'm excited about it. I am not, however, excited about having to drive up here to see it. It's not the driving part that I mind... it's the parking part. But I don't have to worry about that for awhile...
Anyway, this blog has gotten way too long. If you actually made it to the end without having to take a break, or getting bored, I commend you! In the meantime, now that I have some extra time to spend, I'll try to get back to more regular posts... though now I won't have as many exciting things to share so... we'll see! :)