Adventures Under the Sea: Kitchen Massacre

Today we choreographed the aforementioned Les Poissons. While I am pretty excited about the actual choreography, today's lesson that I learned was that blocking and formations need to be thought out just as in depth as the choreography. Probably more-so actually. It is definitely helpful to know which cast member is singing which part because, especially for this song, that influences where they stand and when they move greatly. Several cool things that Kivan and I were hopeful about turned into messy blobs because we were trying to switch around where they were standing and moving to match their singing parts. Also, focusing on the kids dancing strengths is an important aspect to play into this because we had two not so strong (but very enthusiastic) dancers on one side together while we had three of the stronger dancers on the other. While the two tried very hard both of them were still a step behind dance wise and it resulted in them being a few steps behind choreography wise. I am very proud of how hard they all worked, but without taking these things into consideration it took a lot longer than we had originally expected. Add that to the fact that we were missing two of our dancers and it just made for a difficult rehearsal. But the good thing is that now we know the importance of these possible issues and will put that into the melting pot for the next time.

Adventures Under the Sea: Drowning in Procrastination

I have always been a pro-procrastinator. It's been one of my specialties for school work, and I have quite a system when in comes to that. Sadly, it is not just isolated in my school work. Today, Kivan and I were (okay, are) having trouble in starting the choreography for Les Poissons which is on the schedule to teach the kids tomorrow. It's frustrating when something that you are so passionate about is something that can also cause you such struggle. Both he and I know that it is not fair to the kids to wait until the last minute to choreograph, but sometimes that's just the way things go. The thing with creativity that can be so hard is you have to be in the right mindset for it to strike you in the right way. What I'm grappling with now is should I feel guilty about procrastinating until the creativity is right, or more guilty about trying to choreograph with a "must-get-it-done" attitude. In both cases, there is the chance that the work won't be as great as it could be. Yet, I think with procrastination, you always hit a stride where everything gets silly and bigger than life. And this is where Kivan and I have always found our most exciting ideas. Granted, waiting for these ideas to hit us can be very stressful and frustrating, but it is also one of the most exciting things when one of them pans out. I think having the forced outlook on it stifles creativity and results in work that neither Kivan and I, nor the kids can get excited about. So maybe what I'm thinking is procrastination is not the greatest thing, but knowing to wait until you hit your creative power hour can be the the bold choice that just might result in the coolest thing since sliced bread.


*Update: We finished at 12:17 and we stumbled upon funny faces, funny walks, and beautiful sentiments.

If These Buildings Could Talk....

If these buildings could talk

What would they say? 

Today we revisited Westminster Abbey and took the tour of the cathedral. As we were walking around the area I was thinking about what the buildings would say if they could talk. It is mind boggling to think about how old some of these places are in London and all the people that have walked here and are buried here. This city is rich with greatness, it speaks of hard times, and revels in majesty. One can't be helped but inspired. 

“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two aq`¡ß`pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”

― C.S. Lewis

I was thinking about what it means to be an artist and a writer (one can't help but think about these things in a culture so saturated with both of these types of people.) These thoughts were spurred when visited Poet's Corner in the Abbey and went to the British Tate Art Museum. I couldn't help but question this when I was standing in the presence of these great people and their art. It amazes me that some of writer's and artists that we praise the most were regarded as "crazies" back in their day. Sometimes I think that we have a false idea that putting forth new work or new ideas will somehow gain us fame and glamour.  In the end some of these people suffered a great deal for their ideas and what they did and they never saw the fruit of their work. Even if I don't agree with some of them, I do admire the courage in those that stand up for what they believe in despite controversy or other people's opinions. 

This was great lesson for me. 

Courage 

Boldness

Excellence

Truth

Integrity

The Good, the True and the Beautiful.

These are qualities that I want to characterize my work.

Until next time,

Bethany Berger

Red Flags

This morning we started a read through of the first play I'm a part of. It is called There Goes the Bride. All the characters have British accents which is not an easy thing for me and I'm very uncomfortable with it, but I'm sure I will get used to it and this will ultimately help me grow.


I thought once we started working on the shows and I got to act - which is what I came here to do in the first place - that I would like it better here. But we open this show in a week. And the other actors don't listen to each other. They just wait for their turn to deliver their line. It's awful. And the director only creates an atmosphere that fosters such carelessness by encouraging us to highlight our lines. I am going to attempt to disregard this instruction. He says highlighting our lines will help to keep the speed of the show up, but how can I live honestly on stage if I am not permitted any time to process what has just been said to me. I'm not asking for an hour. I don't even want to use as much time as one might take in real life, but no audience member will believe anything we say if we're jumping on each other's lines and not hearing anything the other says. That is one sure tell of not listening to your acting partners: when you try to react/respond to something they haven't even had the chance to finish saying yet.








I understand that we have only done half a read through and I should give it some time, which I will. But I also have watched the first show - one of the two I am not in - now that it is all put together and up on its feet and the same thing is still happening for them. This is not the kind of theatre I want to make.








And the accents completely detract from any character work we might do. I am wary of this and so I think I will be able to avoid sacrificing real character analysis for the sake of my accent, but the others seem to just be mimicking the British dialect instead of finding the ideas behind the words.








I'm very worried about the rest of the summer.








I'll keep posting. Hopefully things will start to look up soon.








W






PS - This blog is going to be invaluable to me this summer, because no one else here seems to even notice the harmful things that are going on. This will have to be my outlet, because the people here are actually proud of the garbage we're making and it would only serve to ostracize myself if I were to speak out about it.

Seeing the World

“To see the world, things dangerous to come to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel, that is the meaning of life.” 

                                             The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

This quote has been on my mind for my entire adventure here to London. It’s from one of my favorite movies. Walter spends his days working for LIFE Magazine and in short, lives a very ordinary life. He hasn’t been anywhere or done anything. All of the sudden he gets the chance to go on a grand adventure and live out the motto of LIFE Magazine.

It seemed appropriate to me. 

Yesterday we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and today we took a day visit to Stratford-upon-Avon. 

The Victoria and Albert Museum is the largest museum of decorative arts in the world. It was founded in 1852 and is in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. We spent two hours in this museum and we barely scratched the surface. The building itself was magnificent. They have glass windows and altar pieces of Medieval Germany, sculptures that once stood in Florence, Italy, and Raphael paintings on loan from the Queen that once hung in the Vatican. It was breathtaking, to say the least. I couldn't help but say "wow!" out loud when I was walking around. 

Stratford-upon-Avon was a much different scene. It was a small village about two hours outside of London by train. When we arrived we ate at a tiny little pub called the Black Swan or as it was renamed by the American soldiers in World War II, The Dirty Duck. It's famous for its food and it was delicious! After we ate we went to the birthplace of Shakespeare, Shakespeare's home, and his daughter's house. A lot of it was reconstructed to look like what it did in Shakespeare's time but it was still an amazing experience. The garden's were my favorite part and although it was raining, we still managed some fun pictures. 

Despite the difference both of these places inspired me to think about who I am, what I want to be and how I need to remember the people who paved the way for me to have the opportunities that I have.

Two of my favorite moments:

i. Sitting in the room with the floor to ceiling, bigger than life, Raphael paintings depicting different stories of the Book of Acts and crying because they were so beautiful and I felt so small. It was one of those moments when you have a glimpse of clarity and you realize that you are part a bigger story somewhere, somehow and everything in you longs to jump into that river that will carry you on adventures farther than your imagination could roam.

ii. Smelling the sweet peonies in my favorite playwright's garden. One day I desire to write beautiful, potent words that inspire and infuse people with ideas long after my life is over.


London is grand.


Cheers!
Bethany Berger

Wes Ketcham: My summer in Brownville, NE (week 1)

I had a rough first week here. I left home on Friday morning (May 16th) and began my not-so-long journey to Nebraska. When I arrived we had an orientation meeting with all the company members and Doc (Charles Harper) who runs the theater here. There are only two returning company members, but there are several people from NDSU which made me a little worried about being included and achieving cohesion within the company. So far this has not been an issue at all. Everyone is really nice.

After the orientation meeting, we split up into our production team job groups and took inventory on everything in our work areas since the theater only does business during the summer and therefore required some rebooting. As monotonous as taking inventory can be, it was a good opportunity for me to start getting to know Shelby, who is my assistant in the box office. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that my job on the production side of things is box office supervisor. Shelby and I are responsible for all the ticket sales (online and in person), budgeting, email and mail, and whatever odd jobs arise that relate to any of those things. Until last night (May 26th) I was incredibly busy. There was always something that needed to be done. This is pretty impressive since we work 7 days a week from 9am to 11:30, then 1pm  to 5pm, and then 7pm to 11:30 with the only exception being Monday mornings which we have off. This leaves little room for social time in the evenings unless you're willing to sacrifice what little sleep we are given time for. But last night I got everything caught up and since then I have had virtually nothing to do. There are very few phone calls coming in as of now and since our big trip to Omaha on the first Monday here (May 19th) when everyone got all the supplies they would need for the season, there have been even fewer receipts to enter into the budget excel sheet. It seemed overwhelming at first, but now I feel comfortable with my responsibilities since the learning curve was so intense.

The reason I had a rough first week is that at the end of Omaha day (May 19th), we ate at Spaghetti Works and right as we were finishing up dinner, my mom called me to give me the news that my Grandpa (her father) had passed away. He struggled with Alzheimer's for 7 years so it wasn't unexpected but I was so mad that I had had to leave just 3 days before it happened and that I couldn't be there to support my mom. I didn't know my grandpa very well and I have plenty of regrets that I don't need to go into, but my mom was my biggest concern. And if that wasn't hard enough, two days later she called me again to give me the news that my dog Leo died too. At the time, I had similar feelings as before. I was so angry that this was all happening right after I left and all at once. There was a lot of stress to deal with that week and I'm still dealing with it but it's getting better. Doc was understanding enough to let me leave for a few days to attend my grandpa's funeral and spend some much needed time with my family. Before I left, the company here all gave me a big group hug and when I got back, they had baked me a cake. They're really nice people.


 





















At this point I am just counting the hours till I get to start rehearsing. Our season consists of 5 shows: 4 comedies and a musical. I was cast in the musical and two of the comedies. I believe I'll be performing in a total of 31 performances over the summer and I can't wait to start playing with the other actors. That was one thing I disagreed with right off the bat here. I would have really liked to do some preliminary rehearsals right when we got here in order to get more comfortable with the rest of the company early on. But we have found other ways to get to know one another and now we're all just itching to get into the space and start doing what we came here to do, instead of the traditional work that we have been doing thus far.

I know I should have been posting last week, but as you now know, there was a lot going on. So I hope no one will hold it against me. Anyways, I'll be posting plenty from now on.

Till then!

W

A Drizzly London Day: Thoughts on Life, Story and Art.

Today was the first day of class. We learned about Medieval England.

I woke up still sleepy from a restless night. My body is still adjusting to the six hour time difference between here and the States, plus we have some pretty rowdy neighbors who think they're nocturnal. All of this combined with the drizzle that persisted all day long and a little homesickness creeping in, made for a tiring day.

BUT on the bright side, I got to visit the National Gallery today.

The National Gallery is one of the top 5 art museums in the world and houses the most encyclopedic selection of paintings in a museum in the entire world.

I could have spent all day roaming the halls of this amazing art gallery. The building itself was a piece of artwork with its tall ceilings covered in gold, vaulting and wood work, velveted wall paper and mosaic floors.

I ended up getting separated from the group for most of the trip, partly on accident, mostly intentionally. I love walking around art museums by myself. I like to take my time to appreciate the art, look at the details, and understand the story. Needless to say, I had a wonderful time.

There were several moments that I caught myself on the verge of tears because a painting captured my attention with such severity. Plus, I couldn't believe I was seeing some of these paintings in person. I love the Impressionistic artist Claude Monet, and they had almost an entire room dedicated to his paintings. I spent a lot of time standing close, stepping back and appreciating the color and interpretation of his work. I also, enjoyed the Dega's oil pastels of dancers. Degas captured the movement and life of a performing artist so brilliantly in a still life renderings.

I carried my notebook with me in the art museum and jotted down some thoughts and questions I had while wondering the great halls. Here they are in there rough form:

-Is there some reason art and religion are so interconnected, beyond the fact that for ages spiritualism and the natural world were thought of as one? What is the real reason behind this?

-How does painting communicate?

-Individual people have individual ways that they see the world. We all have a lens of experience that effects, whether for better or for worse, how we function in the world.

-Painting is yet another form in which we can communicate story.

-Painting transports you visually, to worlds that you will never see. It's a type of transportation.

Those thoughts rumbled around in my head as I toured the gallery, took the subway, did my homework, drank my coffee and ate my pastry.

Call me a nerd, but I like to think about those kinds of questions, "The Questions of Life." Humans are incredible creatures. We create art, have knowledge, function independently, communicate..the list goes on.

Ok.
I'm done for the night.
As the English would say, "sorry" for my rambling on.
Until next time,
Bethany Berger

Heritage: Open Your Eyes

Three days into my London experience and I'm already starting to feel at home.

One of my favorite parts about this city is its rich heritage. It is written in the pages of many great authors, engraved in the walls of buildings, experienced in every conversation. You catch glimpses of it in between buildings, through different people. It lives in unexpected places. You have to find it, search, learn to appreciate. It's there, but not everyone sees it.

 The heritage is in the church service at Westminster Abbey when the sun shines through the stained glass as the choir sings acapella filling the wide space with a heavenly melody only experienced by those right then, at that moment. It was as close to an angelic as I could have ever imagined. To walk the steps that so many kings and queens have walked to take on the responsibility to their country and to yet, see a grave of a serviceman buried at the Abbey, nameless and yet honored by all who walk on those marble stone for fulfilling his duty to his God, family and country, was something of a motivator to play my part, to live with integrity and excellence.

The heritage is in sitting in your flat from the 17th century sipping tea with the window wide open listening to people talk on the street while reading British literature.

The heritage is in eating at a pub, where the reason your there becomes less about being hungry, or needing a drink, and more about the relationships you have and the people you love.

The heritage is in waking up to London drizzle.

The heritage is in smelling the roses in the park.

The heritage is in watching the boats float by on the Thames.

The heritage is in noticing the carvings, gold and sculptures on every single building. All of these, hand made, cherished and meant not only for functional use, but for aesthetic pleasure.

The heritage is in riding the tube and remembering the bravery and courage of all the people that sought shelter in this place during World War II.

The heritage is in listening to children talk on the tube.

The heritage is in shopping in tiny antique shops and book sellers while the old man who own the store sips tea and watches you finger through first editions of 100 year old books.

The heritage is in the sudden rain storm and the warm sun after it passes.

The heritage is in the bakeries filled with tasty delights and espresso for the afternoon.

The heritage is in the bagpiper playing his heart out at the National Gallery of Portraits.

The heritage is in the voices of so many cultures all going to one place,...London.

This is the part of London I love. I want to know why so many people before me have loved this city. I want to open my eyes. I want to notice the small, the beautiful, the lovely, the sweet, the true.

This is my goal.

Until next time,
Carry on.
Bethany Berger

A Hop, Skip, and Jump Over the Pond

I am in London.

It's hard to believe. The last 24 hours have been absolutely crazy.
I left on a plane while the sun was setting on the cornfields of Iowa and after two flights, bad airport food and security, I woke up in London. It's been a long day.

But I AM HERE.

I wouldn't want to be in any other place.

There is a sense of belonging here. (shhhh. don't tell my mom!) ;)
Already I feel at home.
The streets filled with people.
The fresh produce and baked goods in the shop windows.
The sense of community outside pubs and cafés.
The sounds of people laughing and listening.
The unique style of each individual.
The different languages and cultures.
The pride in their heritage left behind by great thinkers, leaders, teachers, writers, and artists.

I am wonderfully overwhelmed and filled with joy at this opportunity to spend three weeks in this beautiful city studying some of the best authors in British history. What an amazing adventure.

Here is what I did today:
Started my adventure.
Saw my first double decker red bus.
Ate my first European meal. Yes. I had to pay for water.
Went grocery shopping and bought some really yummy English Tea.
Went to Covent Garden Market and saw street performers and where Eliza Doolittle sold flowers in the play My Fair Lady. Classic.

Here are a few things I still have to learn:
Don't worry about the taxi cab driver's driving. "He has it under control"...or so he says.
Look left before crossing the streets.
Be able to convert pounds into dollars.

Well, I'm off to bed for more adventures tomorrow.

Until next time,
Cheerio!
Bethany Berger

Adventures Under the Sea: The Great Age Gap

This past week I had the pleasure of being able to work 2 on 1 with Ariel and Flounder for their "Part of Your World" blocking review. The age range for the show is 9 year olds to 16 year olds, and working with the different ages is a lot much of a difference than I would have expected. Every single one of our cast members is talented and smart, but you can definitely tell the different life experiences they have had by the way they interact with each other, me, and the text. The younger ones, for example are very bouncy energetic when they aren't working, but once you ask them to do the choreography on their own, all of the sudden their eyes are glued to you with a look of mild panic until you steer them in the right direction with a simple reminder of the upcoming movement. The older kids, however, tend to take more ownership of their stuff, even their mistakes which is really lovely to watch. The girl who plays Ariel is a bright, extremely talented 16 year old with nervous feet on stage. As soon as I pointed that out, though, she immediately began having a conversation with me about ways we could fix this. Flounder is a bit younger, but one of the smartest little kids I've had the pleasure of meeting. Her questions sometimes throw me for a loop, and require some genuine thought behind them. This is not to say that the younger kids aren't eager to learn, but I've found that I connect more with the older ones who can use their humor, intelligence, and passion to connect with me versus the younger ones who try their darndest, but aren't quite there yet. That being said, I'm enjoying interacting with the older ones but watching and helping the younger ones grow.

The Des Moines Playhouse: An Old Place, New Role

This summer I am interning at The Des Moines Playhouse in the education department. It is great to be back at this theatre as an intern, especially since I spent three summers in high school volunteering for their Pre-Intern Program (PIP). I get to spend the summer helping teachers instruct a variety of different children's theatre camps with ages varying from pre-K all the way to Freshman in high school. The program has expanded quite a bit and we get to work with a lot of new spaces this summer which were made available because the Playhouse recently finished stage one of their 3-phase renovation project. These past two days have been interesting because I've been busy at work, yet many of you may have noticed that public school haven't let out yet. Well, as a PIP I never realized how much preparation the interns must do the first two weeks before classes start up. Yesterday was great because Kathy, the Education Director, sent us off for the morning on a "get to know you" trip. It was not until hours later that I realized how useful it was that she had done that because that afternoon I found myself trying to hash out the entire summer schedule with the other interns. Remembering how collaborative work at the Playhouse is between interns, I found myself admiring Kathy's decision to send us off on team building exercises for our first morning of work. I'm not sure the work over these past days would have gotten done as quickly if we had not all already become familiar with each other in a more social setting first. Kathy certainly opened the door for the interns to become friends as well as co-workers from day one and that is a valuable management decision I will not soon forget. I look forward to informing you of my adventures this coming summer, especially after all the preparation and cleaning is done.

Boone Community Theatre Beauty and the Beast

This summer I am costume designing for Boone Theatre's Children production. I had a meeting a little over a month ago with the director and the rest of the production team. It's been an interesting process so far. The show schedule is between the start of rehearsal there will be five weeks for rehearsal and the sixth week is tech. The director does not live in Iowa, so she will not be here until the second week of working. The first two will be dedicated to music only and the last four will be based around putting the rest of the show together. This is a large show to costume design for and on top of that we have a very, very small budget. We will be using costumes that were already donated to the theatre or can be modified. We will also be making some of the castle creatures out of cardboard in an attempt to save money, but also because it is a sturdy material to build with. There are approximately 30 children in the show. The costume are complex in the essence that each child will have at least 2 costume changes, if not upwards of 2-5 for some.

Tonight however, I went to Boone to finish pulling and assigning some costumes before the first sing through on Monday, so that we could have a first round of fittings finished and to get a jump start on costumes. We have figured out most of the costumes and need only some minor assembly on some, while others need only to have the children bring in their own things such as tank tops and tan pants or shorts. I'm excited to get started on these costumes.

Until the next update, have great time,
Lauren Dursky

Adventures Under the Sea: Choreographing for Dummies

I've never been a very good dancer, and never thought that I would or even could choreograph a dance. Yet, that is what I have found myself doing lately for Little Mermaid. Working as Kivan's assistant for the show means a lot of different things, but the most surprising and nerve-wracking was that we were in charge of figuring out how kids were going to move onstage for several songs. And that's a bit terrifying. Today we worked on Human Stuff, which is a clownish song danced by Scuttle and three backup seagulls. We started out relatively strong, mostly because the beginning part of the dance is primarily acting based. Yet once we hit the minute mark, we were ready to throw in the towel for the day as we kept hitting wall after creative wall. Hard too. So while we were getting ready to leave to drown our sorrows in Diet Coke and Mcdonalds, we were goofing around as we are prone to do. And that is when we stumbled on this (we think) hilarious step that epitomizes everything seagulls are. And lo and behold, our second wind was found. Even though I know that I'm not on track to choreograph for Broadway, I'm starting to find out that children's theatre is something I can do. What I've stumbled upon are three simple rules. 1:If you can't get the step after three tries, the kids aren't going to be able to. 2: Videotape what you have so you don't forget, because there are many different bad variations floating around your head. and 3: Don't make it serious. Work with serious intent, but trying to make it the best dance ever just ends up clogging your head. We've found so far that the moves that make us freak out because they are so incredibly awesome are the ones that we discovered while we were goofing off or making fun of our complete lack of dance ability. Find your inner child, and the choreography will follow.

So serious question. Do I have to register for summer classes or how do I get the credit/how do I register for the class? Does anyone know?

Thanks,
Lauren Dursky

"Much Ado About Nothing" first read May 11

We had our first read-through for "Much Ado About Nothing" tonight at a couple of the cast members' house.  The show is being produced by Fourth Room Theatre of Iowa City.  The director Angie Toomsen explained a little of what she was thinking for the show.  At this point, we'll be in the time period of the early 1960's - think Mad Men.  Rehearsals will start in June, though there might be a couple workshops this May.  "Much Ado" runs August 15-17 and 22-24. Fourth Room has a goal to do a free Shakespeare play every summer for the community.  To make it free, we will be doing a kick-starter sort of campaign to raise the money.  We'll also be performing this show outdoors.

The read-through went really well. Angie has been working on cutting the script, and it ran about 2 hours. I have the part of Conrade, one of Don John's cohorts.  It will be a really fun role, and I'm super excited to continue my experience with Shakespeare. We have about 3 weeks until we start regular rehearsals.  I have several goals in that time: to be off book, to speak with Angie about her thoughts and mine for the character, and to do a thorough analysis and some research of the play.