Goodbye California Breeze and Hello Iowa Heat

Hi All,

So my internship has officially come to a close and I am so sorry to see it end.  I have never had such a wonderful and memorable summer.  I've been fortunate to be a part of so many great experiences and I have met such wonderful people in my short time here.

For my last night here, I am sitting in a rehearsal for a new musical entitled Rocket Science (recent winner of the Richard Rogers Award). I was fortunate enough to actually take part in the casting process about two weeks and I can't tell you what an interesting and awesome experience that was.  It was so cool to experience the other side of auditions for once.  It was really eye opening to see the process behind a professional audition, and the biggest thing I think I learned was to not to take it personally if I do not get cast.  And wow!  What great talent there is in LA.  I only wish I could see the entire process all the way through the performance!

So since I last posted, I have continued to take classes at The Groundlings as well as I finished up a comedy sketch writing class I was taking in West Hollywood and today I had my last boxing class at my local gym. (Creepers beware!)  I can't tell you what amazing friends I have made because of these classes.  And each week my friends and I go to two or three comedy shows at The Groundlings as we get tickets very cheap because we are students.  Last night I went with a friend to a UCB (Upright Citizens Brigade)  comedy show, which I must say I wasn't  impressed. I much perfer The Groundlings style (think SNL).   However I  think it's only fair to give UCB another shot when I return to LA.

So as my internship comes to a close, my thoughts go ahead to next summer.  I've been invited to return to LA and work with the Festival (which I would love!) and on Thursday I also went into The Groundlings office and talked about the possibility of an internship with them, so we'll see what happens. =)  Either way, I can't wait to return to L.A. and all of the traffic that goes along with it! (I survived Carmageddon! haha)

But even with all of the fun I've had this summer, I am so excited to get back to ISU! I can't wait to see you all and get back into some ISU theatre!  I'll be seeing you all soon! =)

TITP

A fun story to give a giggle to go with our fun show.

Last night we were forced to call off our show due to a huge storm in the area.  We only made it through the opening number before we had to make the announcement and clear everyone out of the park.  Our executive producer had a friend in the audience with his five year old son who was SO excited, just beside himself, to see the Cat in the Hat.  He settled in near the front with his blankie and his Cat in the Hat stuffed toy just doe-eyed for the show.  He saw about seven minutes of the show and we made the announcement to clear the park.  His dad was so sad he had to tell this little boy they were leaving and he wouldn't see the rest of the show. "Come on son we have to leave now." he said.  And the little boy replied, "Thanks, Dad, that was best show I've ever seen!"  

Ah, children and theatre....

Also, we have just announced our upcoming season: Sweeney Todd, Sweet Charity, A Disney Double Feature of Cinderella and Jungle Book (yes that's two shows every night for two weeks!), Urinetown, and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown

This is a big change in our theatre considering we usually only do family friendly "PG"ish shows...and we usually only do four.  I love our new executive producer and what he's doing for us... but I have to be honest, that's some scary changes!  We just want to know if we get paid more! ; )

4th of July weekend

During the weekend of the 4th of July, I went down to help Mallory finish up the rest of the set.  We worked specifically on props, or what I called, very technically, the "hanging on things," which were basically parts of the set made out of poster board.  I created two mirrors, a fireplace, a radio, a sign, two broken windows, and two stained glass windows.  Again, I must express my admiration for designers.  Personally, although I did some research as to what certain things looked like, I more or less just dove in and started drawing.  It was interesting drawing on the poster board as well, since I was drawing on the floor in her living room, practically dancing around the pieces in order to finish lines or add some decoration to certain parts.  After drawing out what I wanted, we painted them the next day.  I must say, despite my belief that I have very little skill in actually drawing/painting/etc, I was very proud of my rose stained glass window and of my fireplace.  They may not have been perfect, but they looked like they should, with the fire looking a bit more like actual fire than I had thought it would.  After finishing painting and such, we loaded everything together and made sure we had made everything we could before going to Orlando.

From doing the construction and much of the designing of what the set would look like, I have learned a few things.  First of all, I have learned that I do have some artistic talent, so I will stop saying that I do not have any.  It is not my area of concentration, but I enjoyed experimenting and working on something new that I am not completely comfortable with and getting to learn how much work it actually takes to create a cohesive design.  Second of all, I have most certainly learned a respect for set painters and art designers.  They make their jobs look easy and now I know how much it truly takes to make it look as simple as it really is not.

PRT past week and a half update

Hola mis amigos. Como estas?

So it's been a little over a week since I have talked to you last and I'd like to go through a couple things and what has happened for me.

Starting off where I left off last time, we went to Apple River and camped for a night. Apple River consists of tying inner tubes together and floating for 3 hours, really fun, rocks hurt. It was so hot and humid that I literally sweated for a good two days straight. Hey, at least I'm keeping hydrated! That was on Monday, Tuesday we headed to Minneapolis and hit up the Mall of America where we shopped for a couple hours. Here the best thing happened to me. I was going to the bathroom (I know, but this is why it's the best thing) and in my stall I noticed an entertainment type of newspaper talking about movies and shows and what not. I was reading through it and saw that there was a production of Waiting For Godot that was being performed that weekend in an abandoned theater, unfortunately I couldn't go. Anyway on the back was an ad that said "God of Carnage now performing at the Guthrie" so me and Tamara (Ms. Tamara White accompanied me on my trip :) ) went and got rush tickets for God of Carnage at 730 in the Guthrie proscenium stage. And let me tell you that it was really really good. The set was great, acting was good, and all in all very funny. After the show we met up with an old friend of Tamara's and had a few drinks (I didn't because I was driving) and hit the road and got home at 4 am...

Wednesday came and it was our last performance of Arsenic and Old Lace, kind of bitter sweet. We had a really good house for that night and things were going really well. However, we have a company member who decided to change up the ending a bit (he's a principle character mind you) and "come back to life" after I have supposedly knocked him out. This little event was not known by the 3 of us characters onstage at the moment and when that happened what do I do? I instinctively tackle him back to the ground and hit him in the head one more time. not even thinking, it was pretty sweet, love being in the moment. We played it off like we knew what we were doing but behind the scenes I was not a happy camper. Our patrons pay to see the same show every night and when things like this happens, well, it's just not professional. So strike for the AOL came after and that came down quickly as well for being a big set. After we were done loading the U haul with AOL we started building Crazy for You. So the biggest problem I have had with this company is that the majority of members will sit there and talk and complain rather than work. We all knew it was going to be a long night, but it doesn't help when some of the people just stand there and complain how they aren't going to get to bed til 4am. There were 2 units that I guarantee wouldn't have gotten done if I hadn't started on them. And people wonder why I get frustrated. Anyway we got CFY damn near complete when we decided to head back to Brookings. There we had to then unpack AOL from the truck. We didn't get done till 330am that morning and we had rehearsal for CFY at 11am. Love rep!

So we had a pick up rehearsal on Thursday which went well and then a performance that night. You could tell that it was dragging and we were lacking energy because we had only 5 hours of sleep and then a rehearsal which should be counted as a performance with how hard we went. I personally stayed to get things done with the set and then performance. *phew* Busy, busy.

Just a side note, it's really hard to perform two different shows back to back in two days. Well, not necessarily hard but it's exhausting. Two different characters in two days as well. But it was fun nonetheless. and this actually added up to 8 straight performances for audiences. My endurance has grown so much in that sense. Crazy for You's run went really well and I'm glad that I'm finally done with performing for the summer. Now I can just relax. Another note, the actor who changed the ending for AOL is also in the ensemble for CFY, and he is the type of person not to care if he's in the ensemble. Decided to instead of actively listen and help tell the story, decides to come up with new bits and one liners ever night to make people laugh, however, that pulls focus and messes up timing with the others onstage who are actually trying to put on the show that was directed. I have to write a paper at the end of the summer and so I'll put it up and that'll have more details.

Other than the little things I really am still having a good time here, unfortunately I only have a week left. I'm going to miss everyone here. The major things I have learned are that I'm patient, hard working, can put on multiple shows in days, my people skills are still good, and I have learned not to put up with dumb people, if I have a choice. Along with my shop skills and tap skills I think this whole experience was great and I learned a lot I wouldn't have if I would have stayed home and done a community theater show or something. I don't regret anything that I have done this summer and can't wait to get back and show everyone what I have learned about myself and theatre.

Sweating out Toxins

Expect the unexpected in Prestonsburg. I ended up doing landscaping today for a set.
For The legend of Jenny Wiley there is no backdrop, there is no cyc, no curtains. But wooded mountains, we have that. They needed an entrance upstage center, so we carved steps into the clay of the mountain and paved it with other stone from another.

They light the forest for the show, and I get to hid inside a Styrofoam rock. I gave it an Indian name "Big Log in Stone" because that is what it is.

I might have a good job next summer, if I choose to come back. We're talking mega promotion. To the yeah.

Curtainbox Theatre Co, Ninth Post

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted. The office is a brick oven when it’s super hot out, so Kim decided to cancel class on the 18^th for the students’ safety. This week it finally cooled down a little, so we had class on Monday. After doing a few warm-ups, including sound ball which the students are getting really good at, we read through two of the final scenes, including the scene for the pair I was working with last week. It was really fun to see the students perform, even though it was only a cold reading. It was apparent that the students had internalized many things that we had taught them, such as articulation and projecting. This is particularly notable, as autistic individuals in general have a strong tendency to mumble or stutter. One student in particular often can only rapidly repeat the first syllable of what he is trying to say. Fortunately, this can be dealt with by counting down from three to the student. I don’t know specifically why this works, but I’d guess that it has something to do with the fact that autistic children take everything literally (sarcasm, for example does not register with them), and the student would not understand that the countdown at its core has no power or meaning.

Kathleen

Finally a Strike

We finished Annie. I got to rip stuff apart. I made me feel good from all my pent up frustrations at the lack of leade-...skil-...motiva-...well anything from the ATD we have here. So I've all but officially stepped into that role. Which means, I have a lot of influence, but no authority. A lot of responsibility, but not much pay. So goes it.

We all dug the set for The Legend of Jenny Wiley out of like 3 different storage facilities. Watched the designer run of that today, its surprisingly well written for a locally written historical drama.

Its a crazy puzzle, but its working out far better than I hoped for. The rocks are beautifully carved foam, and a true testament to the guys of the summer of 2009 who had to rebuild the whole set.

We were supposed to do some paint tonight. but it rained. Bummer...not.

Last day in Santa Fe!

OK, my car is packed, the apartment is cleaned (I want my $100 deposit, please!), and the last thing on my list is to go see "The Last Savage" by Gian Carlo Menotti. It opens tonight, and I was able to get a ticket, so I haven't seen any dress rehearsals. It's the only comedy this summer, but it's not a well-known opera, so it hasn't been selling. Hopefully there will be good reviews, and it'll be the must-see show of the summer!

I had a busy week--after first dress on Monday night, the designer (Allen Moyer) decided that one of the costumes wasn't working, and the team that built the first costume had too much to do for "Wozzeck" the last opera, and couldn't build a new costume. So it fell to my team to build a new pair of pajamas for the title character! Since second dress was the next night, they pulled a pair of PJs from stock, and sent the shopper out looking for animal print fabrics. He came back with about a dozen swatches, Allen picked one, the shopper went back and bought the fabric, and we were off and running! We got the basic garment pieces done, had a fitting with the singer (Daniel Okulitsch, who is a real Barihunk!), and finished them up in time for final dress on Thursday night! Whew! So I'm excited to see everything on stage tonight!

And then, in the morning, I hit the road! I'll get home early evening on Monday. I can hardly wait! It's been a fun summer, even with the fires, and road construction, but I'll be glad to be home! See you soon!

TITP

Tonight we opened the ADD friendly and ever-popular SUESSICAL the musical!  And let me tell you, it's a darn good time. Unbelievable cue heavy and everyone still has no idea what we're doing...but guess what?  Kids still had a freakin great time and there nothing better than that.  : )   Honestly we could use another night or two just to run the show and really work out the glitches, I've never had a rougher opening night.  However, the director and our executive producer were still pleased with the show because, like I said, our patrons still had an awesome time.  We had a ton of compliments and one little girl asked our board op. if we would be doing the same movie next weekend....kind of cute (and a little sad that she said 'movie', but still delightful she had such a good time).  We have over 200 light cues and we had spot pick-ups til our hands burnt and our eyes blurred but we're having a great time.  Hope everyone else is wrapping up their summers with such a fun time.  And if you're not... Shawnee Mission Theatre in the Park,  Kansas City, Suessical,  8:30....be there, we'll cheer you right up.

GRSF

So... It is getting close to that time when we are wrapping things up here. 1.5 weeks left and the apprentice/ intern show of King Lear opens this Sunday. It's exciting, terrifying, and tiring, but it will go on.

I have had a great time here and hope that i will be able to return in the future to continue spreading the art and getting people excited about shakespeare. Even though I am tired and cranky and mostly sick of the people I a working with at this point, I am having a great time.

One thing that i have learned about being an intern specifically, is that the information you recieve about what is going on is predominately information that is absolutely necessary for you to know. If there are things that are happening or decisions being made that are for or about the company, you probably wont hear about them, or know that such things are being talked about. That is frustrating, especially for me because I really like to be involved and part of the creative and decision making process. I hope that in the future, if I do make it back to Great River, I will be able to lend my thoughts to the important decisions. Or maybe not even the important ones, just any decision in general.

TITP

We just closed Aida this weekend.   Sunday night was change-over, midnight to 6am.  Then back today at 2pm-4am.... plus it was about ten thousand degrees out here so everyone was in a sleep deprived, heat stroked, zombie coma.  Today was a terrible day.  Nothing went well, everyone was cranky, and as usual I was yelled at for not getting enough done...even though I am not the one in charge of what gets done on a daily basis.  My job is to do what I'm told and I don't understand why I am the one getting reamed over what I have no control over.  That will probably be very vague to all of you but remember, anyone can read these : /    Anyway, we also had our swing quit tonight.  His parents came to talk with our boss and said the hours are just too outrageous and they would be taking him home never to return again.  Well....okay.  So that sucks.  We are in the middle of a change over to our last show of the season, literally two and a half weeks and we are done and NOW he quits?! I don't understand it, but I suppose things are what they are.  We haven't finished focusing, or even hanging/circuiting yet and the designer has yet to see a run of the show so we have zero cues.  Look out Seussical... welcome to The Park.

Hairspray is Open!

Hairspray opened Friday, the 15th, after a preview the night before and an un-official preview the night before that. Shows have been going well thus far - there are still some kinks with the synchronization of the band, recorded accompaniment, and singers; I've got my fingers crossed that they'll get worked out... eventually. The audiences seem to enjoy the show, but why take their word for it?? Tickets are ON SALE NOW at dmplayhouse.com, use the coupon codes "TRACY" or "FRIENDS" for a discount :) (End shameless plug) A review of the show was posted on the Des Moines Register website today (http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2011/07/18/theater-review-hairspray-at-the-playhouse/) it could be better, but it could be a lot worse too - I'll take it!
So... I'll see you at the show.

PRT Update

So last time we talked was when we opened Church Basement Ladies. So those two shows went REALLY well, ended up selling out an 800 seat auditorium the second night! Wow! Ushering was really fun for that show...not. Remember when I said this was an all around learning experience? Well my learning continued on Thursday when I had to work box office for 6 hours. It was great getting my people skills back in action. That night we had our first change over and it went pretty quickly, relatively. CBL got taken down in 25 minutes and we got up Arsenic and Old Lace up in a couple hours which really isn't bad. Speaking of AOL, as of this afternoon we have had three out of our four performances and today was the best of them all. It's hard remounting a show after not touching it for a month. We had one pick up rehearsal before we opened and even though the show was still relatively good it felt like we were fishing for reactions and just going through the motions, which you never want to do when on stage. Finally we got back to where we were today thankfully. We have one more performance of AOL on Wednesday night then we pack that up and do CFY. Man can't wait to dance on the Brandon stage, there's soo much room!

Weather update, I don't know about you guys but we have had the worst humidity I have ever experienced! I'm sweating from just typing this! However, we have had pretty cool heat lightning storms that have been fun to watch.

The next two days we have off so the company is traveling to Apple River in Minnesota for a day of relaxation, can't wait for that! That's going to feel great in this heat! I'll let y'all know how it goes, hopefully I don't get sunburned again...

TaTa for now!

Josh

Beauty Plays 12

Had our last show for the summer. It's been a crazy. Started off with building the set and furniture and then helped back stage for 3 different shows. I've had to remember 3 crews, 3 different arrangements of the set, 3 different groups of props, and 3 different schedules. If it would have been 1 show, it would have been less strain on the brain. But it is what it is. It's been a blast, but its time for me to recover for the school year. See ya then.

Ziemann out

The Show Is Over

The Final Battle has been performed!  Over all the performance went better than I anticipated it to.  There were a few moments that I feel were rough due to the lack of tech rehearsal time.  There were a few scene changes that took way too much time.  I do have to say, that this experience has helped me to realize that even if tech week is sometime a little like spending a week in hell, it is an absolute necessity to putting on a good show.  My job of documenting the show went really well.   After all the rehearsals and the performance I have taken a little over 5000 pictures.  All of these are taking up about 16GB of space on my computer.  This internship has been a great learning experience for me in many different ways, and I feel that it has helped me grow as a theatre artist.

Taylor

Final Day of Final Battle

Yesterday was the one and only performance of The Final Battle for LeakyCon 2011. It went pretty much as I expected. The call times were unclear, and many people were not where they needed to be when they needed to be there. Though all of the actors were asked to bring their own foundation, at least 3/4 of them did not. I was apparently the only makeup designer who knew which characters she had been assigned to, and it took me nearly 2 hours to finish 7 actors makeup (even though I only worked on each actor for, at most, 15 minutes) because none of them were there when they were called. I was expected to be doing mic checks simultaneously with the makeup applications. That also did not happen. During the run of the show, all the mic changes actually went really well backstage. The mic change crew leader and I had gone through the whole script with a chart of the changes, which I'm sure helped us tremendously. The scene changes that happened during the show were another story entirely. They took FOREVER because they had never been through a tech rehearsal. I have heard many an actor talk about how they will never take tech rehearsals for granted again, now.

Showtime = OUR Final Battle

This morning was the moment of truth; all of our hard work online over the last few months and VERY hard work these past few days finally came together. I, personally, feel that today was an excellent performance. Even with such limited time to put everything together, the entirety of the cast, crew, and orchestra pulled every last ounce of effort to pull this off. In a reflection of my performance, I was very satisfied. I know I did make a few mistakes (mostly missing queues, which I made up for by sneaking nonchalantly onstage in opportune moments), but my feature scene "The Prince's Tale" was better than I had predicted. I remembered almost all of the choreography and my handstand was stable held longer than I expected, totally surprising me.

Overall, I say the show was a great success, even with being put together in such as short amount of time. However, as amazing as doing this show was (the rest of the convention excluded), I have to say that certain things could have run better and more efficiently, and I will never take tech rehearsals for granted again, after having only a partial one.

I feel I learned more about the process of doing theatre than I had expected, mostly because the whole process was compressed into 3 days. But that is knowledge worth having for the future.

This ends my summer internship, and I will now get to enjoy the rest of LeakyCon with the rest of the Harry Potter nerds!

Tech/Dress Rehearsal & DH p2!!!

Tech rehearsal was very early this morning, and even with our early planned start time, cast and crew were still late, which is NOT good in any theatre setting; in addition, we were unable to get far into the show running tech as the room we were using was reserved for other events afterwards. This left us unable to finish tech, but the crew is working overtime to ensure that everything goes smoothly tomorrow. In addition, we had our dress rehearsal in the afternoon, employing full costumes (no makeup), so cast could get a feel for the pace of the show. It was rough again, but we are all learning really quickly, so it can come together by tomorrow morning!! It all comes down to this!

Details of the side events: went to see Deathly Hallows, part II with TFB folk and bawled my eyes out! couldn't ask for a better chance to celebrate my love of Harry Potter and performing then by attending this years LeakyCon!

Opening Tomorrow!

Yesterday we had our first rehearsal and it was a little rough around the edges.  Of course this is to be expected.  I used most of that rehearsal time to help Casey make the stain glass windows and finish up some painting that needed to be done.  When I wasn't helping Casey I was doing my job real of documenting the production through photos and videos.  Now today, bright and early in the morning, we did out tech-reshesal for the show.  It is unfortunate however that we only got two hours to do the tech-rehersal.  Needless to say we did not get through a whole lot of the play before we had to leave the room.  I did get a lot of good pictures from the tech-rehersal!  There was also a dress rehearsal this afternoon that I also got a lot of picture from.  All together I have taken a little over 3000 pictures of The Final Battle rehearsals.

Taylor

Two More Days Down, Tomorrow We Open

Yesterday was spent moving and organizing the array of set pieces (that were finished) under the stage. I spent the morning using tissue paper to make stained glass. I then spent the afternoon going through the script with the ASM in order to figure out who was going to have which mic at which time, and obviously when to bring mics in and out. This doesn't seem like it would be too bad... however: I have used more sticky notes to mark cues for this show than probably any other show I've worked on. I also then had to go back through the entire script to figure out the exact moment that mics were coming off one set of actors and being transferred to others, make a chart of said changes, and relay that information to the backstage mic change crew person. We actually have a fleet of mic change assistants as well, since we only have 10 mics for about 60 people. Today we had a tech rehearsal that was supposed to start at 6:00am. Of course, half the fleet of tech personnel was there by 5:30, yet we weren't able to even begin a tech run until after 6:30. It seems that both the stage manager and one of the ASMs were somehow MIA today, for the tech at least. And, since we were only able to have the rehearsal space for two hours, we were only able to run 31 pages of the 77 page script. I feel awfully sorry for the poor lighting designer, who had to attempt to set the rest of the cues in a mad 10 minute scramble at the end of the tech rehearsal as we were being kicked out. I also feel sorry for the poor mic change crew backstage, though nothing too awful seemed to go wrong with the changes from what I could hear in the booth. I just wish that we were able to run everything and see if the planned mic changes were feasible throughout. We open tomorrow. Call time is 8:00, but I think that's when mic checks are supposed to happen and I am also responsible for applying makeup to seven actors. Before 8:30 when select scenes are supposed to run. Fingers crossed. Smiles engaged.

Beauty Plays 11

Down to the last 5 shows, 3 for Shape of Things and 2 for Fat Pig. Despite the amount of chaos I've been through last weekend all is running smooth and on time. Reasons to be Pretty closed last weekend after 5 shows. 1 down, 2 to go!

First rehearsal

So our first rehearsal started at 8, and lasted through 3, only doing the show ONCE! It was great meeting new people throughout the whole time, but I was really hoping for the chance to rehearse a little more today, as I know I need help in certain areas. All I can hope for is that everyone is COMPLETELY focused during our tech rehearsal in the morning, so we can cover as much as we can in the little time we are allotted. But I'm sure that we will continue to combine our energy into making this show amazing!

On a side note, the opening festivities were excellent! Guest appearances from popular Harry Potter fandom groups, such as rock bands and Potter Puppet Pals, and wonderful video montages from fans, the movies, and interviews from LeakyCon officials. So, in short, a LOT happening in a SHORT amount of time! Wish us luck!

Done with Brookings, now down to Brandon

Howdy! It's been a week since I last posted and several things have happened since our last show opened and I'd like to share that with y'all.

First off the day after we opened I went to the pool for a couple hours for the first time of the summer. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon especially after working for 6 weeks straight. The unfortunate part of it was that I forgot to put on sunscreen and I ended up getting a sunburn over my entire upper body! I was going to put some on..but low and behold I forgot. The only conciquence was being very uncomfortable and hot in my costume for CFY.  But I had a smile on my face for the whole performance and didn't show my pain one bit! Those couple days taught me to A) use sunscreen and B) to except responsiblity and fight through it and not complain, because it's my own fault.

Anyway, the run went really well, smaller houses the last couple of nights, but the audience members were real responsive and that's all you need. Saturday we did a promo in the park at 'Arts in the Park' where we performed a couple numbers from CFY and Church Basement Ladies. That experience was great because it got residents of Brookings excited to come see the shows. However it was really really hot and all of us were drenched in sweat after the first number, but hey, no pain no gain right? We had our last two performances after that, which meant that we would be finally moving down to Brandon.

Oh, side tangent, so Friday last week I got invited down with the light crew to go to HuHot which I thought was pretty cool. But I soon found out that I would be hanging lights for 4 hours before we went to HuHot...it wasn't too bad, I got to learn how to read a light plot really well and what gels go where and how that is all set up. The only problem is that I still had quite the sunburn at that point and I was really uncomfortable. I didn't get home until a half hour before call, so that day was kind of a bust. Brandon I'd like to note is a great performance space! They have a great working double purchase system, a fly-space that is real big, I'd like to compare it to CY but I know it isn't that big. Their stage is made up of material that fills itself back in once you take the screws out. And below the stage, the orchestra pit is on hydraulics so that's sweet. 3 cat walks and a big ol' lighting and sound booth with a nice table and chairs for the stage manager. This place seats 800 and has a great balcony. It truly is incredible and it's only a high school!!! I don't even know if the kids there know how privileged they are to have a space like that. 

So tangent over. Monday I drove down to Brandon with a crew to set up the first show in Brandon, CBL. It really only took a total of 3 hours to set up the whole thing along with adjusting lights and unloading Arsenic and Old Lace backstage as well. What's also cool about Brandon is that we can have all the other shows back stage and we can be working on them while another show is up. Tuesday I sat in on a pick up rehearsal and took notes about finishing touch-ups that need to be done on the set.

Well today is opening night at Brandon and we have damn near sold out tonight's show so that's exciting! That was my week in a couple paragraphs. I can't believe I only have 3 weeks left of this internship, it's going by too fast! Hope all is well back in Iowa!

Josh

Load In

Today we had a very good load in of the set and the instruments!  Unfortunately we did not get to put the set up to see how it looked in the performance space due to other events happening at LeakyCon.  However, if all goes according to plan we will get to use the set for rehearsal tomorrow.  I am really enjoying getting to meet people who are just as excited about this musical as I am.  I did notice today that this event seems to be a little disorganized.  I suppose that this little bit of disorganization will help me learn how to roll with the punches in future theatre jobs.  I am enjoying this experience greatly and I am Looking forward to our first in person rehearsal tomorrow!

Taylor

Load-In and Meet n Greet

LeakyCon. Definition: clusterf***. Don't get me wrong, today was fun. The load-in went super quick and almost everyone was pretty cheerful and nice. EVERYONE was excited. Load-in really took a very short time seeing as how we had about 80 people helping. We weren't able to do a complete set up, however. We brought all the set and orchestra pieces into the ballroom where the stage is going to be set up, but the space we're to perform in appeared to already be set up for other events that are to take place there. That means that tomorrow we're going to have to hustle to get everything officially set up and put together where it actually needs to be--tomorrow or the next day, I guess. Also, Taylor and I were informed at the last minute that we needed to build a bathroom sink. We were then handed two tattered cardboard boxes with which to accomplish this, and set free to create. THAT was definitely exciting.

Day 1 - Introductions

There wasn't a whole lot happening today officially, but everyone wanted to try and get together to do work on our own. After we all worked to load in all the set and orchestra instruments, the majority of the cast in the hotel at the time decided to try and get together sometime today to go over material as a group, mostly with choreography, except for the orchestra rehearsal. All the while, however, I got a lot of opportunities to meet with the rest of the cast (who were present) and am POSITIVE I have made long-lasting friendships in just one day. With so many amazing people here, I know the show will come together very quickly, especially with the 7-hour rehearsal in the morning. Wish us broken legs!

Curtainbox Theatre Co, Eighth Post

The building that houses the Curtainbox's office was originally part of an orphanage complex built about a century ago. The office features some fantastic sections of exposed, decaying brick; a high, vaulted ceiling; and an old freight elevator. However, the building is not insulated or air conditioned except for two window units, which means that my autism class yesterday was brutally hot. Because of this, the students were particularly unfocused, and either very antsy or tired. Even one of our most high-functioning students (the playwright from a few weeks ago), kept asking if we could have naptime. Despite this, we did manage to be somewhat productive. We reintroduced the sound ball game to the kids, and successfully managed to teach them to attach a sound to the imaginary ball.

The culmination of the class is a showcase where student pairs perform scenes that they come up with, and today we divided the class up into pairs and had them determine a plot for their scenes. The pair that I was working with had some difficulty at first coming up with an original scene (one of the students kept suggesting Veggie Tales plotlines), but they eventually decided to write a scene about two friends at a sleepover who make a prank call to someone asking for help. After realizing that they may have actually scared the person they called, the two friends call the person back to let them know they were just kidding.

After this, we had the students do an exercise where they were split into pairs again and given an open scene like this:

A: How are you today?

B: I am feeling a little sad.

A: Why?

The students then had to fill in a line describing something that makes them feel sad (there were scenes with different emotions too). This was to help students to apply an event to an emotion and to help them recognize and express those emotions, since, as I’ve mentioned, this is difficult for many autistic individuals. The exercise wasn’t hugely successful, as one student couldn’t stop laughing when he was supposed to be sad, and all the students playing A had difficulty responding to the emotion (for example, sympathy towards someone who is sad) but hopefully more practice will improve this.

Kathleen

Chicago Update

Not really much to report from me. Still doing the Chicago Dramatists administrative thing a couple days a week. I deal mostly with rentals. Setting up who rents the space when, booking times, letting people in to see the rehearsal rooms or the theatre. I work later in the days so I get to see the teachers come in and listen to the first parts of some of the play writing classes before I leave for the day which is neat. I'm getting to see the inside look of theatre promotion and management. Just continuing my journey to know all the aspects behind creating a theatre company ;)

I did a play reading the other day. It was a group of past and present Northwestern students who had a new play and they actually wanted actors to read it instead of themselves. Natalie was already part of it so she drafted me last minute when they needed a 4th actor.
It was really fun. The talk back afterwards actually kinda blew my mind. It was like a talk back like in a rehearsal of a play(bringing up problems, parts that didn't make sense, what really happened/ they were thinking, previous events). Except the notes were for the writer and he could just change whatever he wanted in the play. Take the good ideas and mold them in to the play.. It just felt bizarre, because usually most of the questions were things actors and directors had to deal with and answer for themselves or the audience would have to make decisions on what really happened. For example: before the story, did the married man just kiss this other woman or have sex with her? The playwright can write in to make clear/define what happened now, while if it was a finished play we as actors/directors would decide ourselves. It was just a new enlightening look at making plays.

Landed in Orlando

Landed in Orlando today, with all my books and papers and designs, and a large amount of liquid latex. I look forward to the load-in which is to take place tomorrow at noon. In all honesty, I have my fingers crossed for a fast load-in time. We need it: the orchestra and the actors HAVE to practice. I'm going to ask if I can attend some of the cast/orchestra-only rehearsals on top of the tech rehearsals, because I am terrified of not being quick enough on the sound board or missing cues and screwing things up. In all fairness we really only get one tech rehearsal and then it's go the next day. That freaks me out. I also don't know whether we're doing makeup for the tech. I know we're doing costumes, but I'm not sure about makeup. That's a question I guess I will have to put to the very-stressed director tomorrow during the load-in.

Arrival In Orlando

I am finally in Orlando to help put on the production of The Final Battle at LeakyCon!  I am really excited to get started on the production in person on what we have been rehearsing on the internet.  I am looking forward to getting to see everybody in person finally.  Tomorrow we will get to see the space that we are going to be performing in for the first time.  I will be posting more tomorrow!

Taylor

Awed Arrival in Orlando

So, as you can read, I and my fellow TFB mates have arrived in Orlando, awaiting the next day to start final preparations for The Final Battle. I have still not adjusted to the shock that I am actually in another state for a Harry Potter convention to perform in a Harry Potter musical. Ever since my first flight this morning, it feels like I am in a dream; even the flight blew my mind, that feeling of actually taking of, that this moment is really happening. Today was just the start of a truly amazing week, and if each day gets better than the last, I am guaranteed to have the best time of my life!

I know that we have a lot to do in a short amount of time, but I am completely confident that everyone can pull together in time for Friday.

Jenny Wiley

Tomorrow we start to work on our final piece for the summer, a historical drama called the Legend of Jenny Wiley.
We are busy repping Frog Prince and Annie, and crowds love the shows.

Gotta love Monday dark days.

Helen, Fat Pig and Me

Hello everyone! I must say that it has been quite enjoyable reading all the posts this summer. I can tell how much everyone is learning and growing over these intense summer months. I have not posted until now for many reasons. Mostly because I like talking about myself about as much as I like getting a root canal. But as the pressure of performing in Fat Pig has melted away after opening night, I realize that it might help you to know how I arrived at this place. First I must say that I forgot exactly how much actors risk everyday in rehearsal. We cut open our soul and put it on display for no other reason than for the entertainment of others. And while it is an incredibly creative and rewarding craft, it also puts into harsh perspective everything about ourselves that we wish could be different. Yes, I knew exactly what I was getting into by auditioning for a play where my character would be ridiculed for her outward appearance. I didn't really know how emotionally difficult that would be. I actually don't ever remember being made fun of for being plus sized. However, I wan't prepared for the fact that my strongest critic would be myself. I didn't realize that in playing Helen, that I would have to face some ugly daemons from inside my own head. I was interviewed for two different newspapers about Fat Pig, and both asked me what I felt about my character, and honestly, I admire her. She has a fearlessness about her that gets her into this relationship with Tom in the first place. If it were up to me I would just leave him sitting there precariously balancing his lunch tray on his lap. I am sure that some of you would disagree with me about my estimation of myself, but to that I say, I only show you what I want you to see. I am working on this, I am letting Helen influence me, I am becoming brave. In some ways this summer, I realized that I have been very comfortably hiding in and among the fabric, patterns, buttons and bows of my costume world. While I love the collaboration, art and skill involved in designing costumes for you, it left me on the outside looking in at a much braver passion. I am so thankful for the chance to re connect with my actor self! I have remembered old lessons that didn't make sense to me at the time I was exposed to them in grad school. For example my acting professor would always say that if you are struggling with an emotion in your scene, find what you need in your partner. That made sense to me for the first time in some of the last rehearsals for Fat Pig. In rehearsing the final scene of the show, I had no idea how I was going to summon the emotions necessary to give a truthful reaction to Tom's final monologue. But when I sat there on stage in lights connected to my partner, my emotions just came through without any effort at all. It was one of the most honest moments I have experienced onstage up til now. So, yeah, OK, I graduated with an MFA in acting more years ago than I am willing to write down here right now, and yes, there are still lessons that I am learning. So perhaps that is what I hope that you can take away from this posting. You never stop learning, growing and experiencing. The only thing that is a constant, no matter who you are, or what play you are performing in: learn your lines and learn them fast! ha ha! It's only after you get that crap out of the way that you can truly start to play. (oh no! I'm rhyming now! ahh) I am very excited to get back to classes in the fall with all this new found passion for acting. No, not just a passion for acting, for all theatrical arts. I have already been hard at work creating some amazing looks for Hedda that I can't wait to see in fabric and on bodies! So, see you all in August with some bold new ideas and a brave new attitude!

Hairspray

Update time!
We're a week from opening Hairspray (which is pretty terrifying) and we start tech tonight. Two nights ago we had the sitzprobe which was pretty rough - as sitzprobes usually are. It was our first time using mics, so those were being balanced, the on-stage monitors were being used for the first time and the band was trying to stay in time with the recorded orchestra parts we're using to fill out the orchestra sound. The computer program with the digital instruments quit unexpectedly a few times and finding a balance that could be heard easily through the monitors was a struggle and a half. As I said though, not out of the ordinary for the first time with all the musical componenets.
Last night we had a "crew view" or a full run (sans orchestra and mics and tech stuff) for the crew to watch before they get stuck backstage. The cast of Hairspray Jr. also watched the run. The Hairspray Jr. situation is a pretty cool thing; since presently there is no Hairspray Jr. script in existence, the Playhouse got permission from MTI to create one from the original script. When it performs, some representitives from MTI will come watch, and potentially accept the Playhouse's rendition as the new official Hairspray Jr. to be published. I think it's neat.
Tonight we're doing a cue to cue for Act I, which, well, is what it is.
I'm hoping for a little musical theatre magic (I know it'll come) to help pull this thing together in tech week and make it a show worth seeing! Get some tickets :)

Beauty Plays 10

We opened up for Shape of Things. Everything went smooth except that the rope on the string on the movie screen was behind a shelf, rather then in front of it. When it was pulled down, the screen got caught and broke the string. Luckily, we have the other 2 shows before the next performance, so it should be fixed. Tomorrow, (well actually today) we have the final tech for Fat Pig and then we have another performance of Reasons to be Pretty. We are gonna be rolling after this afternoon.

Opening Night! Show #4 almost there (PRT update)

Hey everyone, tonight is the opening night for Crazy For You! The stress and hard work is finally going to pay off and I can't wait. But in the meantime we still have one more work session to put everything into place, get all the set details done and clean up dance numbers. After this weekend, things get pretty slow but also busy at the same time. After this weekend we move down to Brandon, SD where we put on the shows again. The hours are going to be different (like starting later) and we will have long nights driving back. What's fun though, is that I hear the Brandon auditorium is way bigger than the auditorium we are performing in now, so that will be great to have room to put stuff in the back and maybe when we have CFY down there, we will have room to move the rolling platforms on and off stage without a huge delay. That's about all for now, 3 day break was much needed and I'm ready to get this month over with so I can come back to Ames with my experience and apply it at State. Tootaloo!

Session 2!

Well We have a week off this week due to the holiday! Yey! Next week starts session 2!

Its funny how teaching is almost exactly like rehearsal (sorta). Each class is 3 hours long and its hard to fill it up with information while keeping the girls motivated and paying attention. There was one day where all they wanted to talk about was boys! We were on the topic of multi-cultural communication and gender communication and a lecture that was only supposed to take 1 hour took 3, so you have to be flexible and able to adapt to the situation.

I hope everyone had a great 4th! And I hope everyone's summer is going well. I know mine is super busy with 2 jobs and all.

Beauty Plays 9

The past two days (Saturday and Sunday) were really busy. Saturday we had out first tech for Shape of Things. It seems like its the longest of the three plays and there is more work to be done with it, especially with the last scene. It's the biggest and longest scene shift out of all the plays. Sunday we ran our first tech for Fat Pig. It's the shortest of the all the plays. There is only one more tech rehearsal till each play opens. It's hard to keep the scene shifts straight in all 3 plays. I also have to remember where furniture needs to be placed for the next show seeing how I'm the only person the is consistently there. Everything is moving by so fast! We only have two weeks before we strike everything.

Some Jenny Wiley stuff

Hey yo this is some of the stuff I've built while out here in Kentucky. My TD has spoken to me about how he wishes he could have given me a better position than swing carp after I've demonstrated my carpentry and problem solving.

The top two pictures are of the Inner/Outer orphanage unit (The big unit) for Annie, I was given a fron and a top elevation and had to figure it out from there. So I threw it into my CAD (SketchUp) and figured out all the crazy dimensions and angles and doors and made it work.
The next two pictures our designer for the show Frog Prince is what I would could--lacking, so his set design did not include an essential door unit or the king and queens thrones. He had left them to the props department. So being a swing carpenter the job fell to me to swing over into props carpentry.

The door the props mistress has to be into a bedroom and rotate around to a banquet hall. however it didn't seem to reason that a regular rectangle door would fit in the show, and that is all I received. Built from 3/4 inch ply and luan, that top angle was a little tricky, as was hanging it, but it swings well now, and I'm proud.

The thrones in the bottom picture I was shown a clip-art throne and told "do this." Well I put my own spin on it and knowing there was a king and queen, decided to go with a his (right) and her (left) theme. Most of the thrones were built from scrap we had hanging around the shop, and they sit like a dream.

Yesterday I was really upset over my paycheck. I'm getting screwed by taxes and housing deposit, and can't make rent back in Ames, so what. Thanks Mom and Dad, you're great.

My TD has spoken with me about the potentiality of returning next year, as ATD. All I can say is that there had better be a substantial amount more money flowing my way to return. I like it here a lot and all, I just can't afford this sort of situation.

I think this summer is reaffirming that I want to be a TD. It seems like everyone who has a question carpentry-wise comes to me for advice...even the mastercarp and the ATD...and I'm just the "low man on the totem pole" swing carpenter.

I've also submitted my name into the mix for designing the fall show here. Its a new play called Dracula in Tombstone, Written by a local guy named Mickey Fisher. That'd mean I'd get to spend another week down here sometime during October if I'm chosen to design it. And a nice paycheck too.

We're mid Annie run. The build for Frog Prince is really easy, so We're on like half days, after our crazy 20 hours a day on the clock to finish up Annie. Monster energy baby!

We rep Annie/Frog Prince, then have the legend of Jenny Wiley coming up soon too. But for now, we're sitting pretty.

boom.

Finally a BREAK!!!!

So since I last posted it has been hot, stress has been high and there has been a lot of break downs. We have been pushing and pushing to get this set done for Crazy For You, and it's almost there, but it has been a struggle. We have tech'd and added costumes along with everything else the last couple of days and I don't remember sweating as much as I have the last couple of days ever! especially wearing tight jeans and none-breathable shirts. However, after all of the work we have done, and the chewing out that we have gotten multiple times because people don't seem to be smart enough to do scene changes. The dances are coming together and there seems to finally be a system being established to where we can get every part of the tech aspect done in time for the show to run smoothly.

The hardest part about these last couple of days is that I seem to be the only one coming early and staying late to make sure the last finishing touches are getting done and things are being put away. I get a lot of "Thank you, very much, Josh Ster"s but I just get irritated now because I'm just doing and putting forth the effort that I think other cast members should be doing, but I guess I'm wrong. Anyway, we finally get a three day break from all of this chaos so I'm going to relax and not do anything theatre related, and will be all ready to go to have a hot sweaty run of a really cool musical!!

Have a great 4th!

Mr. Ster