I am a character

These are a few of my favorite things (Summertime Edition)

2011-07-09T23:12:00.001-04:00

I have divided my summer into two distinct times - my summer vacation and the Moscow Art Summer Academy. Tomorrow is my last day of "summer vacation". And on Monday I am headed to Boston. I've been an extreme slacker - so I decided to cover some of my favorite things about Summer 2011.

New York
My family took a five day trip to New York this summer. And it was wonderful! I think I've already mentioned this - but omg, I love New York! We had a great time, basically reliving the trips we used to take when my sister and I were little. We went to the aquarium, the Central Park Zoo, and the Museum of Natural History. We ate in all our old favorite restaurants - some highlights being Mariella's Pizzeria, Venerio's, Ess-a-Bagel, and Little Poland. We tried some new things too. Most notably - the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That museum was beautiful. We didn't have the chance to stay long. But what I saw was so inspiring and breathtaking. I definitely plan on going back.

Shopping
I can't help myself - I am a classic shopoholic. If you know of a meeting time and place for SA (shopoholics anonymous) please let me know. Ok - so my favorite purchases of the summer are -
1. The "Emma" book clutch by Kate Spade. I love books. I love Jane Austen. I love purses. Need I say more?
2. New MAC makeup. I am always looking for new ways to be a pretty girl - it's a lifelong commitment.
3. Clothes from J.Crew. A purple scarf (appropriate for both summer a winter!), three belts (a new thing of mine - loving a belt to define my waist), and a white dress (it's got an old-fashioned feel I instantly feel in love with).

Criminal Minds
This show is addicting! No joke - once you start watching, you won't be able to stop. Beware of the all day marathons on A&E. My whole family is hooked. We just started the first disk of Season Three tonight. I love Dr. Spencer Reid. He's presh. The episode where he gets kidnapped by the psychotic religious guy - one of the most intense episode. Hard to watch. But the series is smart and the characters are flawed, yet extremely likable. I just can't stop watching!

Reading
Something I never thought I would say - I really enjoyed my summer reading! For Boston I had to read My Life in Art (Constantine Stanislavsky), An Actor Prepares (Stanislavsky), and To the Actor (Michael Chekhov). These books were wonderful. I learned a lot and was given a new way to think about my art form. Would definitely recommend them to any actor - I think they'll do nothing but great things for you.

New bangs
And finally - my new bangs. I got full forehead bangs at the beginning of the summer. I wasn't sure I was going to like them, but I think they're great. They give me the new look I wanted without chopping all my hair off. And they make me feel a little bit braver for actually going through with it. Not to mention I just like how they look. I think they'll be here awhile.

Way delayed - But finally have Eleemosynary pictures.

2011-06-04T15:23:00.000-04:00

Bucketlist Week

2011-05-20T21:43:00.002-04:00

Last week I deemed Bucketlist week - in which I set out to do things I hadn't gotten the chance to do yet.

Day 1 - Senior Walk
Senior Walk is a Clemson tradition. Seniors (or anyone 21 and over) can purchase a Senior Walk t-shirt. Then, on the day of, everyone wearing the shirt gets special deals and discount in most of the bars and restaurants in downtown Clemson. In addition to Senior Walk, the Performing Arts seniors were invited to a happy hour for a final chance to see our professors. Lots of fun, drinking (glasses of water :), and memories ensued.

Chris gives Miss Sarah a temporary tat

My tattoo - fit for a princess

Day 2 - Greenville Trip

My roommate, Sarah, needed a dress and shoes for graduation. Since we live in Clemson, we had to make a Greenville trip in order to go shopping. And because he would feel left out, we invited Chris to come with us. Our original plan was to shop and then go to a Clemson baseball game (another item on our list). However, after shopping for several hours, the three of us agreed to just go to dinner and go back to Clemson to watch the Glee Prom episode. We sat around the apartment and realized we hadn't checked anything off our list. So we made a moonlit trek to Lake Hartwell in order to take a midnight swim.

Lake Hartwell. Not in the moonlight. But still beautiful.

Day 3 - Licklog and Pigpen

Last year in Comm 250, one of our classmates gave a persuasive speech about going to see local waterfalls. Since then, Sarah and I have been determined to see a waterfall. We searched local waterfalls and Licklog and Pigpen caught our eye. Located in Oconee County, the twin waterfalls weren't too far away. So we packed up Little Blue Car and headed out on our adventure. Little did we know, we were setting out on a 24 hour adventure that would leave the two of us exhausted. The drive was a little terrifying, since a third of it was on a one-way gravel road. But, finally, we reached the beginning of the trail. Soon after starting off, we were greeted by a new friend - a stray puppy who accompanied us on our entire hike. We hiked for over an hour, with no waterfall. So Sarah and I made the executive decision to just turn around and go home. However, we took a small detour, and got lucky.

We finally made it back to the car, a little worse for the ware, with our new friend in tow. We called several shelters - all of which were closed, or full. Our only solution was to drive out to Anderson, where we took the puppy to Petsmart to be checked out by the vet. The vet was impressed by the good shape that the puppy was in and sent us on our way with numbers for more shelters. The adventures continued with a cookout - we "inherited" the leftover food from the Big Bash and this was our second cost free cookout. The puppy kept us busy and tense all night - he slept in my bathroom and kept me up most of the night.

Day 4 - The Dike
The final day of Bucketlist Week completed the puppy adventure - Sarah and I happily dropped him off at a local no-kill shelter. Then, we went running and took a nap - as neither one of us slept well the night before. I rounded off my lazy day by decorating my graduation cap. Sarah and I agreed that the best way of end our undergraduate life was by going downtown one last time. We left the bars right before midnight. And, suddenly it hit the both of us - the way to start our graduation day was a last roommate trip to the Dike. So, with Glee's rendition of "Friday" blaring, we raced Monica to the Dike to make it there before Friday officially began. And we made it with a minute to spare. The moment our cell phones confirmed that it was in fact Friday we shouted and yelled in a mix of fear/excitement. One last chance to run away. A successful bucklist week.

I swear... I'm a pretty girl in real life...

2011-05-09T00:01:00.001-04:00

Tableaus started the show - this is the "court" tableau
From left to right: Le Beau, Duke Fedrick, Celia, Rosalind

Telling the ladies about "ze wrestling"
Rosalind, Attendant, Le Beau

Rosalind is banished
Duke Fedrick, Le Beau, Rosalind, Celia

Celia stands with her cousin, Dad is furious
Duke Fedrick, Le Beau, Celia

Oliver is commanded is find his brother
Duke Fedrick, Oliver, Le Beau

Battle of wits - Chop logic vs. Common Sense
Touchstone, Cora (Corin)

Phebe berates Silvius, while others listen for sport
Phebe, Silvius, Rosalind/Ganymede, Celia/Aliena, Cora

"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players, They have their exits and their entrances"

2011-05-08T23:41:00.001-04:00

It's taken me a long time - two weeks - to write this post. Every time I sat down to try I would either start tearing up or wouldn't be able to think of anything to say. But as I begin my final week in Clemson, it seems fitting to talk about my final production in the Bellamy Theatre.

As You Like It had a very successful run. We sold-out every night and always had a long line of hopefuls adding their names to the wait list in the hopes that someone's wouldn't show and there would be an extra seat in the house. The audiences received us well - overall they gave us their attention and focus as we drew them deeper into our story. I've been told be characters were both well developed and crafted, yet every fun to watch (a compliment I don't normally get). I think the biggest triumph for me were my accents - French and American Southern - because before this production I would have told you that I couldn't do accents. In fact, I had been almost completely convinced that I would never be able to do a convincing accent onstage. I happily proved myself wrong.

The most difficult performance for me was Sunday. My final performance in the Bellamy Theatre - a place that I have come to love and call a home in my four years at Clemson. I had mentally prepared myself in the car on the ride to the theatre that this would be a hard day. But that I couldn't cry, because I had a job to do and a story to tell. But as soon as my stage manager opened the loading door and I could see into the theatre, I knew all of my self-talk was out the window as quiet tears began to roll down my cheeks. I stood with a hand on the back wall of the Bellamy, my show bag at my feet, and (as strange as this may sound) thanked the Bellamy for everything it's done for me. And I cried - in fear, in joy, in pain, in happiness, in love. I pulled myself together and headed down to the dressing rooms one last time. I cried a couple more times during the evening - when the house opened, when we were called to places for the top of the show, and finally, onstage during curtain call.

Kendra, our resident costume designer, saw me before the show. She said she wanted to check in and make sure I was doing ok, since this can be a hard show for the seniors. And then, she gave me some of the best reassurance. While I can't remember word for word what she said, here's the gist--
You came here to graduate. You're here for four years to learn. And then you're done. And you're ready. And we send you off into the world. It's hard to leave. But you wouldn't want to stay here forever. You'll come back and there will be a disconnect because there are kids you don't know and things are happening here that you're not a part of. But that's the way it's supposed to be. We all want you to leave here and go on and do great things.

And of course she's right. I don't want to stay in Clemson forever. I guess I just never anticipated how hard it would be to leave. I have loved my time here. There were certainly times in which I was certain I had died and gone to hell. There were times in which I was certain things couldn't get worse - only to be proven wrong. Multiple times. There were times in which I couldn't imagine a day like today. But here I am. With a passion for theatre that is so intense it scares some people. With a conviction and drive that won't let me stop. With wonderful friends that I plan on keeping forever. With good memories and amazing learning experiences. With love for Clemson University, the Brooks Center, and the Bellamy Theatre. I will miss you.

But I know this is my exit.

Don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore

2011-04-22T11:09:00.002-04:00

As They Like It

2011-04-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

So today's Friday (FUN FUN FUN FUN partyin' partyin' yay!), which means that we're halfway through the run of As You Like It. The show's going really well - we've gotten nothing but great reviews from the audience. One of my roommates told me last night that on the CAT bus she even heard people talking about how much they liked the show - which blew me away (for some reason I can't see people gossiping about the show around campus, but I'm thrilled that they are).

Of course, some shows have been better than others. And some shows have been good for me, but not so great as a whole and vice versa. But any of our hiccups or mess ups have been minor. Only things that we, who have lived with the show for a little over a month, would notice. Which is great, because we obviously don't want the audience to know when we mess up. I think the best compliment that I've heard about the show is that the audience easily followed the story - in spite of the Shakespearian text, the location change, or the dialects/accents.

I'm excited to post show pictures - my costumes are beautiful, but slightly ridiculous.

3 more performances!

Hi. My name is Teresa and I'm a theatre-holic.

2011-04-14T08:41:00.000-04:00

From My Life in Art by Constantin Stanislavski

Let all young artists know what results may be attained by work, technique and true art. Tamagno was great in his part not only because of labor of the two masters, but also because of the temperament, the sincerity, and the feeling of truth given him by God... He could do nothing by himself. He was taught to play the part, but the means used to make him do so remained a mystery to him. They were art and technique. LIke the majority of actors, he worked on his part, but he was not an artist...

I mention all these memories also to show young artists how important it is for us to take in as many beautiful and strong impressions as we can. The artist must look at, and not only look at but know how to see, the beautiful in all the spheres of his own art, of all other arts, and of life. He needs impressions of good performances, art, concerts, museums, voyages, and pictures of all tendencies, from the most academic to the most futuristic, for no one knows what will move his soul and open the treasure house of his creative gifts. All tendencies are good which help to create the beautiful life of the human spirit in artistic forms, that is, which reach the fundamental goal of art.

Let the artist live, let him be enchanted, disappointed, happy; let him suffer, love, and live through the entire gamut of human emotions, but let him at the same time learn to recreate his life and his emotions into art!

An Open Window

2011-04-06T22:58:00.001-04:00

These past two weeks have not been the easiest for me. I received another rejection letter - a round and even 5 "no"s from all 5 graduate programs I applied to. I was broken up with - and am currently working through my first heartbreak. I'm fighting with my mother... again. I couldn't sleep for a week. And then the only way to get any rest was to take Unisom - which, if you've never taken it, is the strangest, non-restful rest you'll ever experience. I was incredibly stressed over internship applications - I clenched my jaw so hard that I couldn't open my mouth without wincing from how sore it was.

I'm not a very open person. It's hard for me to express my feelings. It's hard for me to say how I feel or tell someone what I'm really thinking. Actually, just writing this blog is difficult - an exercise I force myself to do. Because its good for everything to come out, one way or another.

So on top of all the listed things above, I felt like an emotional basket case. I couldn't stop crying for days - it was as though I had no control over my tears. They were going to come at any time, whether I was in class or at work or alone. I felt raw and numb - a weird combination, I know. But I was experiencing both with acute pain at the same time. And, the worst thing (in my mind at least) - was that everyone knew how I was feeling and why I was feeling that way.

But, as the cliched (but true) saying goes - time heals all wounds. Today marks a week since my break-up - and I haven't cried in 48 hours. Some of my application have been sent, and last night I slept drug free and woke up actually feeling rested.

When a door closes, a window opens

Today I said yes to a wonderful opportunity - the Stanislavsky Summer School. I will be attending a summer intensive program at Harvard from July 11 - August 14, where I will be studying 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Last week I was accepted to the program - and I was told I was accepted because of my Harvard MFA audition (guess I don't suck as much as I thought a week ago :) It's days like today that I harken back to something my acting professor in high school said -
Having a professional life as a theatre artist while also having a personal life is difficult. Sometimes you're going to feel like it's impossible. It will certainly seem that way. The only thing I can tell you is make your opportunities work for you. If a window opens in your professional life, fly through it. If a door opens in you personal life, walk on through. And don't regret taking those opportunities. Someday it balances itself. You'll make sure that it does.

So here I stand - with a personal door having just closed and a professional window opening wide. It's hard for me not to regret my relationship - but when I really think about it, how can I possibly regret love? I can't fault myself for falling in love and taking a chance. It's just the facts of life that some leaps of faith don't make it to the other side - they end in breaks and bruises. And in these situations - it's how you heal that matters. Will I set myself straight - to come back stronger before? Or will I heal without the proper treatment - the results of which are jaded and scarred.

I'm healing. Slowly. But surely. And I'm climbing toward that window sill - ready to take my next chance - on my truest love - theatre.

Days until opening night of As You Like It: 12!

The little show that could

2011-04-06T17:15:00.001-04:00

This weekend the little show that could - Romeo & Juliet: The Greatest Hits - was successfully performed. In spite of all that faced us (illness, weather, lost members, many new drafts, and recasting), the R&J creative inquiry team performed for 240 audience members on Saturday and Sunday. And we've heard nothing but positive feedback. The audience loved our added narration (they said it was easier to follow) and our simple tech design (which came more out of necessity than anything else). My sister's English class came (for the extra credit they were promised) - and she told me they were all very surprised and impressed with the show. In fact, some of them are coming to As You Like It. I've been surprised and honored by the specific reaction I've received for my Juliet performance. Many people have told me I'm the perfect Juliet (which is ironic, because I don't think I'm the stereotypical Juliet that a casting director would look for). But I appreciate their compliments - it's a welcome change to hear some positive feedback right now.

And while the closing of a show is always bittersweet, it's a relief to only have As You Like It to focus on now.

Some pretty pictures of the Botanical Gardens (couldn't find any of the amphitheater)

Between love and a waste of time

2011-04-03T12:12:00.002-04:00

I love theatre

2011-03-26T18:24:00.002-04:00

Spring break has been a week of rest, catch up, and thought. Because no matter who I see or what we're talking about, the conversation eventually leads to the that horrible question - aren't you graduating in May? Followed by an even more horrible question - what will you be doing next year? I want to scream at the top of my lungs, "I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA!" And then I want to bring it down a notch and calmly say, "But thank you so very much for reminding me that I have absolutely no future at the moment."

I know everyone's just interested and concerned about what I'll be doing with my life (though at the moment it feels like life will end as soon as I'm handed that diploma). But I honestly don't know why everyone's so high strung - if I have some delightful news about how wonderful my life is going to be next year, I'd going to post a billboard so everyone would know. And if I'm not talking, it's probably a safe bet that I'm headed back home for an undetermined amount of time, and it's an even safer bet that I DO NOT want to talk about it.

Needless to say, this week has been challenging. It's not a failure to go home after graduation. At least, that's what I'm constantly being told. However, I know that, despite this annoying reassurance, I will be disappointed. I imagine everyone in my situation is.

Yes - I'm currently in the process of applying for internships. So no - not all hope is lost. But I'm very scared. The unknown is terrifying. Particularly for someone like me - who only feels secure if I know what I'm doing a week in advance. It's a difficult learning process for me - to find a way to be ok with not knowing.

My only comfort is that, whenever I try to think of another job, I cannot fathom another field I want to work in. I love theatre - it really is that simple. So, even in my saddest and darkest days, I have to have faith in myself. And believe that sooner or later, things will work out.

Spring Break = Catch up

2011-03-24T19:25:00.002-04:00

I feel as though I'm always starting these posts off with some version of "so...it's been a while..." Guess it's a habit I can't quite break.

So... It's been a while...

Eleemosynary had a good run. While we never performed to a sold-out crowd, we received some very nice response. This show was better suited for a smaller audience - gave it an intimate feeling that I liked. Our little family was very happy with the run, through I was very happy to give up the hair paint and latex while Chelsea (who played Artie) was very, very, very happy to dye her hair back to blonde (she was a brunette for the show). The KCACTF respondent gave us some excellant response and praised all of our work - it's always nice to hear positive feedback.

And since I'm a crazy person who doesn't understand the meaning of rest, a mere three days after Eleemosynary closed I was already cast in another show, As You Like It - which is the final show of the season. Our production is set in bellapoqlx/antebellum South Carolina, and we transformed the forest into a swamp. I was double cast as Le Beau (a flamboyant French fop from New Orleans) and Cora (the matronly shepherdess who cares for Rosalind and Celia once they take refuge in the swamp). Our director is a guest artist from Greenville - Jayce Tromsness, a Shakespeare genius whom all of the students are very excited to work with. Jayce is already challenging us - requiring that we get off book faster than ever and giving us reading assignments and homework to complete over the break. I'm very excited about this process - Jayce is inspiring to work under, I've never had two major roles in a production, and I'll be working on my first accent (French).

Additionally, I am still working on Juliet - we perform R&J is only eight days! The class is definitely in crunch mode - all of us are in a slight panic that we won't be able to perform a quality show. I know that the class can pull through - it all depends on how much work everyone put into their part over the break. I have faith though - there is always the fear of "This won't happen!" before a show goes up. And I've never been in a show that didn't go up.

And to round off my busy schedule, I am currently applying for artistic management and literary internships and fellowships. I've gotten three no's from grad schools, and while I have two still to answer I think I need to cast a wider net. Keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have something to do next year and trying not to freak out!

When I grow up I want to be a Disney Princess

2011-03-01T16:54:00.001-05:00

This past Sunday (February 27th) I ran the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. My group and I had an absolute blast! It was crazy - with over 16,000 princesses running the half-marathon. And it was hot - a delightful (not!) 85 degrees when I crossed the finish line. But in spite of this, we had a great time.

My family and our running buddies left from South Carolina at 4pm on Friday and after much angst, and a stop at a closed gas station when our car was running on fumes, we finally made it into Orlando at 1am. I got to sleep for a majority of the ride down to Florida (since I'd only gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before - gotta love tech :) And once we got to Orlando I quickly hoped into bed and slept some more. The next day we had to be up and out the door by 9:30am, since we had to beat out all of the other princesses for the exciting things being sold at the Princess Expo being held at ESPN Wide World of Sports. We also wanted to finalize our registration and get out before things really got crazy.

I think I'd like sneakers like this

We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing and gearing up for the next day. We strolled through one of the biggest malls I've ever seen, ate a delicious lunch at Cheesecake Factory, took a nap, and then carb-ed up with fettuccine alfredo (just like Michael Scott in the Fun Run episode). We all called it an early night...

...because we had to wake up at 3 in the morning the following day! We left the hotel by 4am and was headed to the corales by 4:45. But not before taking some lovely early morning photos:


Sisters - both in blood and Theta love

The entire royal court

While we were originally spread out into several corales, we all decided to stay in D - you could move down but not up. And D was the farthest back a member of our group was. A was sent off at 5:45am and we got to cross the starting line at about 6:20. It was all very exciting - the Fairy Godmother wished us well and instead of a gunshot, fireworks went off. And then we were off, on the road to the Magic Kingdom.


At the entrance of the Magic Kingdom - only the entrance. The actual park was three miles away. Which I didn't realize at first. Despite this, it was very exciting. As made evident by the expression on my face.

Mile 3. More uncontrollable excitement. Love me some Little Mermaid.

After the fake entrance into Magic Kingdom, we finally made it into the park. Where I continued to be very excited. And yes, I have more photographic proof.

See - ecstatic


So pretty - maybe my future home?

I'm clearly overwhelmed. I should learn to reel it in.

As we exited Magic Kingdom and ran toward Epcot, the road was lined with princes and princesses to cheer us on. And for a photo opp, of course.

Gaston kind of looks like a tool. Which I suppose is appropriate.

"Enjoy your path."

An overwhelming amount of princes.

And finally, a casual 13.1 miles later... we crossed the finish line!

Victory shot

We spent the rest of the day recuperating - which entailed taking a three hour nap, drink a ton of Powerade, eating a massive cheeseburger from the Rainforest Cafe, shopping in Downtown Disney (for a princess tiara!) and finishing the evening with a delicious sundae from Ghiradelli. We left Orlando at 6:15am on Monday and I happily arrived back in Clemson around 4:45pm, just in time to watch the opening night of Eleemosynary. Tonight is my first performance of the run - I'm so excited!

Why, yes... I will be playing Juliet. Thanks for asking :)

2011-02-24T09:16:00.016-05:00

That's right - I have been recast in our production of R&J and will now be playing Juliet instead of Mercutio. Our original Juliet had to drop out and on Monday our director announced that I would be taking the role. I'm really excited - it's the role I originally wanted :) But, as Juliet herself says, "It's an honour I dream not of." I could never have fathomed an opportunity to play this character, but am thrilled to now have the chance.

Of course, this changes a lot of things for me. I have to throw all character work I did for Mercutio out the window and begin again. I had also been getting offbook for Mercutio all winter break, so I need to really push and get Juliet's lines in my head instead (Bye Queen Mab!). But I think the opportunity to put "Juliet" on my resume is well worth it. And, luck for me, I've spent a year with this show (last summer I played Lady Montague in an outdoor production - so I've heard this show over and over again since last April). So getting offbook won't be as hard as it would be for a show I'd only just started working on.

Juliet and Mercutio couldn't be more different. Juliet is naive and innocent - she's been isolated and sheltered from the dangerous world of Verona. With our world in mind, I'm going to play Juliet with a sense of awakening and exploration. A young woman who throws herself carelessly into this world because she knows nothing else and cannot be alone anymore. A girl who's terrified of the life that is being planned for her by her family and has an idealistic, and completely unrealistic, dream of what her future could be. And so, when she does commit suicide, it is more because she is too afraid of what her future will be, and not solely because she's so overcome with true love. I want to see Romeo as an escape and the promise of a better world.

Instead of finding people that remind me of Juliet (like I did for Mercutio) I'm going to do some image work. These pictures are from a Vogue Romeo and Juliet spread.

Wow! I haven't blogged in quite a while...

2011-02-22T16:54:00.000-05:00

Okay - so the last time I blogged was before I went to New York. A lot has happened in the past month, so I'll do my best to include everything in here.

The biggest obstacle to my blogging for the past month was that I didn't have internet access while I was away from Clemson. I know it seems crazy - but I didn't have internet in my hotels in NYC, Daytona Beach, or Chicago. And without the internet it was impossible to blog. But now I'm back in Clemson, and after a week of being a strugglemuffin, I'm back into a routine and able to pick this back up. So let's start at the beginning.

Being in New York was amazing! My flight into LGA went off without a hitch and getting into the city was easy. I was blown away by the hotel. I was staying at the Marriott under my aunt's name who travels there for business all the time. Upon checking in, I was given my room key and a handout that said "You're elite. We can tell when you walk in the room." So it was exciting to be elite for a few days, even if under my aunt's name. I ate pizza at least once everyday. Two slices of pepperoni pizza with a Diet Peach Tea Snapple - yum! In general, I ate a lot in New York - bagels, pastries, Jewish food, Italian food, more pizza, and lots of coffee. The Phantom of the Opera was amazing; I really enjoyed the performance! And the architecture of the Majestic Theater is breathtakingly beautiful. I could have stared at their audience space for an hour and it suited the performance so nicely. In my spare time, I ventured out into the city, visiting locations that are deeply connected to my childhood - the Museum of Natural History, Union Square, the American Girl store, the Disney Store, and Stuyvesant Town. Of course, the bulk of my time and the whole reason I was in New York was auditions. I felt, relatively speaking, good about my auditions for NYU, Brown, and USD. The only real saga I had revolved around my panty hose - I ripped three pair in the span of an hour before my NYU audition. I also had the opportunity to see the lovely Victoria Medley. I sent two nights catching up with Victoria - we wandered Hell's Kitchen and stumbled into a tiny Italian restaurant for dinner. And since I was spending my birthday in New York and since it was Restaurant Week in NYC, we went out on my birthday to the Russian Tea Room (that's right - for my birthday I got an $80 three course meal for the cool price of $35. Be jealous). Getting home was very stressful - it snowed on Thursday and all of the flights to Atlanta before mine were canceled. By the grace of God, my flight was the first flight out of LGA. I sat in the airport for five hours, obsessively checking to be certain that they weren't giving my seat away to one of the 82 people on standby. But I got back safely and mostly on time. And my boy was waiting with a rose for me in Atlanta. We got back to Clemson around 11pm - and then had to get up for a 9am class the next morning. Good thing we're both troopers. I had about two days of "down-time" to prepare for Florida.

I, unfortunately, cannot say similarly nice things about Daytona Beach while we were there for KCACTF. The week long experience began at 6am on Tuesday morning. All students were riding down together in two twelve-passenger vans - one of which was to be commandeered by yours truly and my bf. There is nothing that can properly prepare you for the experience of driving 80 miles an hour on the highway in a twelve-passenger van. When we finally got to Daytona Beach (about 8 hours later...) we began to notice how gross some of the motels were. My van laughed and joked about how horrible it would be to stay in a place like that... until we pulled into the parking lot for our own skanky motel - the Conch House. When I was later describing the Conch (as we fondly began to call it) to my mother I told her, "It's like... where all the skanky, cheap Daytona hookers come to rent rooms by the hour to turn tricks, while their crack selling boyfriends deal in the lobby. And I won't be surprised if the suspicious stains on the floor were from the most recent drug related gang murder." Hopefully this helps paint a picture of my "home" in Daytona. I stayed a very busy bee in Daytona - I was a scene partner for the Irene Ryans acting competition and my nominee, Will, and I made it the final round (just to put this in perspective - there were about 300 nominees who competed in the prelim round and only 16 finalists). Will and I did a scene from Golden Boy and the gravedigger scene in Hamlet. I had a ton of fun and it was a real honor to make it to the finals - though getting to the finals meant very long nights and all day rehearsals. Clemson performed These Shining Lives on Friday night. The actors ended up being very lucky - load-in did not take as long as we had originally thought, which meant the actors got a dinner break before the performance (always a good idea to feed the actors before a performance - actors are kind of like children and will get very cranky if not fed). Load-out was relatively painless and we were back at the Conch by 1am. And then it was back to Clemson on Sunday morning - we left Daytona around 7:30am and because I was so ready to get back, we literally drove at least ten miles over the speed limit the whole way back.

And since I hate staying in one place for too long, as soon as I got back to Clemson I had to do my laundry and pack again, because my flight to Chicago was on Monday (the day after we got back from Daytona). My flight to Chicago was not nearly as smooth as my flight to NYC. We sat on the tarmac in Atlanta for about 45 minutes while Midway working to clear the snow. And once we were in the air, we were put into a holding pattern for about 30 minutes above Midway since they weren't finished clearing the snow. When I got out of the airport, I found a line 50 people deep - there were NO taxis for anyone. But, finally, I got to my hotel. I woke up the next morning, the morning of my auditions, with the flu. All day Tuesday I inhaled hot tea with honey, cough drops, and VitaminWater, praying I wouldn't cough up a lung during my auditions. It was -10 degrees in Chicago, so I didn't leave the hotel until I got into a taxi to go back to the airport. Luckily my auditions for Harvard and UVA were in my hotel, so I didn't have any reason to leave. I sat in a lot of traffic on the way back to Midway, so when I did finally arrive at the airport I didn't have much time to spare. And isn't it just the case that when you are already running a little behind to get to your gate, airport security decides to check your book bag in a random security check. My flight ended up being delayed an hour due to engine troubles, but it was nerve-wracking at the time. I happily crawled into my bed in Clemson around 1am.

Last week as a crazy week in which I tried desperately to play catch up, which turned out to be more difficult than I had anticipated. Last week was my first full week of school this semester - I was feeling very overwhelmed and stressed. But now I've gotten myself into a routine and I'm feeling better. Slowly (very slowly!) but surely settling into my final semester at Clemson.

With never a dull moment in sight, this week in no exception. Tech begins tonight for Eleemosynary - and we open in six days! And this weekend I'm going to Orlando to run the Disney Princess Half-Marathon. I'm glad to be back on the blog and back in Clemson - at least until Friday!

Last Minute Scrambling

2011-01-20T16:46:00.000-05:00

I am leaving for New York in two days, so most of this week has seemed like a desperate attempt to keep my life in order. Yesterday in particular was a ROUGH day. I spent a majority of my day in rehearsal - not that I'm complaining! I love rehearsal. Yesterday was just a marathon I wasn't completely prepared for, in part because I kept forgetting to eat.

Here's how my ridiculous day went:
9:05am - 10:20am: Play-writing class (First one of the semester... and I won't be able to come to class again until February 10th OMG)
10:30am - 12pm: Monologue work with my acting professor (We worked my grad school audition monologues. So thankful she found time in her crazy schedule for me!)
12:15pm - 1:30pm: Monologue work with a directing professor (Always good to have another set of eye)
2:30pm - 3:30pm: Rehearsal for my roomie's directing scene (In which I kiss her bf. More than once. Slightly awkward. Had trouble reeling it in.)
3:30pm - 5:30pm: Movement lab (I fall more in love with movement class every time we have it :)
5:30pm - 6pm: Rehearsal for the KCACTF acting competition (Fulfilling my duties as responsible and caring partner)
6pm - 7pm: DINNER! (My first meal of the day - which I devoured rapidly)
7pm - 10pm: Eleemosynary rehearsal (Last night of table work - We start blocking tonight! Yay!)
10pm - 11:30pm: These Shining Lives rehearsal (My last rehearsal until our dress rehearsal - yikes)

And I was asleep by 12:15am. I'm very hopeful to not have another day/night/all day extravaganza like yesterday for a long while.

Now I'm in final preparations mode: Printing off my flight inventory, my hotel reservation, and my The Phantom of the Opera ticket confirmation (yes - I am going to see the best show on Broadway. Or so I've heard haha). I'm taping my resume to the backs of my head shots and stapling my personal statement. And, naturally, I've saved the least pleasant job until the very end. I'll spend the night before my flight packing like a mad woman, confused as to why I can't just bring everything with me.

Days until These Shining Lives performance: 14
Days until I leave for NYC: 2

New Beginnings

2011-01-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

Today was my first official day of school for this semester - while classes started last Thursday, all of my classes last week were canceled. I feel weirdly behind and already feel like I'm playing catch up, before anything has really begin. That feelings probably also tied to the fact that I know I'll be missing a lot of school in the next three weeks. However, I'm comforted by the fact that my classes are all manageable while I'm living out of hotels and my suitcases (Yes, more than one - I don't understand what it means to pack lightly).

Today also marks the beginning of a new rehearsal process. Last night I auditioned for Clemson's next department show, Eleemosynary, and was cast as Dorthea. I'm very excited! This is a new type of role for me that I think is going to offer me some real opportunities to grow and learn.

And, true to form, my next few weeks are jam packed with rehearsals, meetings, and traveling. My current main focus is lines - I've got a lot to memorize! Here's a brief overview: These Shining Lives (the 2011 revival), Golden Boy and Hamlet (scenes for the Irene Ryans competition at KCACTF), Proof (scene for my roomie's directing competition), Romeo and Juliet, Eleemosynary, and several audition monologues. It seems daunting when I list it all out like that. But, honestly, I'm just so thrilled and honored to have so many opportunities right now to do what I love so much.

Days until These Shining Lives performance: 17
Days until I leave for NYC: 5

I'm Such a Slacker

2011-01-14T00:52:00.001-05:00

So I was a slacker over Christmas break. Not that there was much to post.

But now I'm back at school, and quite a lot is about to happen in a very short amount of time. 2011 is coming on fast and strong.

These Shining Lives

First of all, Clemson's production of These Shining Lives was selected to attend KCACTF Region IV's regional festival. These Shining Lives ran at Clemson in the beginning of October, so its very interesting/strange/surreal to be returning to this play. It's also incredibly exciting because we will have the opportunity to perform in front of our region.

Proof of the Blizzard of '11
And yes, that is a handcrafted midget fort.
Just in case you were wondering.

Due to the Blizzard of '11 (yes - it was officially a blizzard... at least in the South that's considered a blizzard), our two first rehearsals were canceled. So rehearsals started yesterday. Luckily we have a badass cast who were all already re-off book (Special props go out to Meredith, our newcomer/life saver). We've got about two weeks to restage this show since we leave for the regional festival on February 1st - Daytona Beach!

Naturally (since I like to keep my plate extra full at all times), These Shining Lives won't be the only thing I'm doing at KCACTF. I'm also a friend's acting partner for his acting competition. And I'm in my roommate's scenes that will be judged for her directing competition. And I'm auditioning for an internship. Never a dull moment.

Next up on my agenda are graduate school auditions. I will be jet setting to New York for five days in just a week. Am I freaking out? Yes. Even though I'm pretty well prepared? Yes. Will I be obsessively rehearsing my material for the next week? Of course - that's the only way I know how to roll. It's a good thing one of my New Year's Resolutions was to travel - I've got that one in the bag. New York, Chicago, Daytona Beach, and Diseny World. And all in the span of two months. Time to put my game face on.

Yes, Disney World. Because my family and I are running the Disney Princess Half Marathon. We're all very excited (except for the fact that I'm running 12 miles on Saturday - not so excited about that). We get to spend the weekend in Disney World. And we're dressing up in princess tutus to run the half marathon in. My princess of choice is Ariel (if only I could find supportive athletic shells...). It should be a lot of fun. There's a princess at every mile (and for those of you keeping score - 13.1 miles), so I know we'll be taking a ton of funny/ridiculous pictures.

Days until These Shining Lives performance: 21

Days until I leave for NYC: 9

Be A Whistleblower For Peace

2010-12-18T22:58:00.003-05:00

As a senior Performing Arts major, I have to complete a group senior project during the 401 seminar. This year the seniors decided to do a project together rather than splitting into groups. After many disagreements on what the project should be about, we finally came to an idea that everyone fell in love with - raising awareness for Falling Whistles. Falling Whistles is an organization that helps refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the DRC). My class, which was made up of theatre and audio students, decided we would rely on our talents to raise awareness about Falling Whistles.

For our project, we created a mobile theatre experience which we performed in the Hendrix Center (our new student union). Everyone's role in this project coordinated with their talents and interests. For instance, my roommate and I wrote the piece. It was a completely new experience for me - we were writing the text which can be heard over the speakers as well as "writing" the movement. We used found text for the dialouge; Sarah focused on current facts (mostly using recent news articles and interent data bases) while I looked to older text that described how long this problem has been affecting the DRC (my main sources were King Leopold's Ghost and Heart of Darkness). For the movement "script," we spent a lot of class time doing constructed movement improvs, so Sarah and I talked over everything that had been done and pieced together the best story with movement that we saw/did in class along with some new ideas. In addition to writing the piece, I was one of the actors.

For more information on Falling Whistles, go to: http://www.fallingwhistles.com/

But This Picture of Us, It Don't Have a Price

2010-12-15T08:35:00.004-05:00

WOW2010 Show Pictures

You seem unattended madame.

I confess I do blaze today, I am too bright.

I'll take my death I think you are handsomer...
and within a year or two as young.

Odious endeavors!

How can you name that supper-annuated luber? Foh!

Have you all gathered together like players in the last act?

A good looking cast and crew.

Director: Kerrie Seymour
Set: Shannon Roberts
Lights: Tony Penna
Costumes: Michele Labar
Props: Marie Rosaco
Sound: Nathan Millam
Projections: Loren Klingman

Clemson University
November 15 - 21, 2010

A First Look at Mercutio

2010-12-12T17:27:00.050-05:00

Mercutio is one of the only nobles in R&J. While the Capulets and the Montagues might be well-established in the community, they are not nobility. Mercutio is the Prince's niece and Paris' cousin. Mercutio's best friends are Romeo and Benvolio. She is rich and powerful, and does not care about anything. She perfectly embodies the world that we plan on creating. Her parents died when she was young - around twelve. Once an orphan, Mercutio was left to fend for herself. With her parents' fortune and internet advertisement empire left to her, Mercutio dropped out of school when she was sixteen. She took over her parents' company three days after she dropped out. She's extremely competitive, a trait that comes in handy for the youngest CEO in the history of Verona. However, her competitive side gets her in a lot of trouble, particularly with Tybalt. Tybalt and Mercutio have hated each other for years - both are hot-headed, competitive, and bloodthirsty. Tybalt is the main reason Mercutio doesn't like the Capulets, Tybalt and the fact that Romeo is one of her best friends. Mercutio met Romeo and Benvolio in the fifth grade; they quickly grew inseparable. The Montagues aren't particularly fond of Mercutio, she's a party girl who isn't afraid of anything. Yet they know that Mercutio's friendship means a political alliance they need in the ongoing fight against the Capulets.

Images:

It's A Never Ending Circle - And I Love It!

2010-12-08T13:40:00.002-05:00

Finals week kept me away from blogging - there is absolutely nothing interesting to say about studying for a Shakespeare final or frantically writing eight weeks worth of biology journals in the span of three days. But today marked the end of Fall 2010 semester; my exam was yesterday and my journals were emailed out this morning. With this new found freedom, what else would I do, but dive into next semester workload of course!

I'm in a year-long course which culminates in an outdoor production of Romeo and Juliet in March. So Christmas break (when I'm not re-reading the Harry Potter series or preparing for my grad school auditions), will be dedicated to character work and memorization. Our production of R&J only has eight actors, so everyone (with the exception of Romeo and Juliet) is playing multiple roles. My "main" character is Merctuio. I'm very nervous/excited for this role. Mercutio is unlike any character I've played before. Our production is taking place in present-day, in a world that is violent and dangerous consumed with a "gotta have it right now" mentality. She has to be brassy, in your face, and overly sexual. I tend to play quieter roles. However, Millamant in The Way of the World was loud and took up a lot of space, so maybe I'm learning how to play a bigger variety of character types. Mercutio will be my first onstage death, something I'm actually pretty excited about. In the original script, Mercutio is taken offstage to die (a common convention in Renaissance theatre). But Mercutio is the first of many deaths in R&J and we want it to really hit the audience - so I'll be dying onstage. Mercutio also has a well-known speech to give, the Queen Mab speech (which is nearly a page long!). I'm so glad I'm done with work, so I can get started on this character.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

2010-11-28T23:52:00.002-05:00

I definitely slacked off in my posts during the performance week of The Way of the World, so I'm going to try to make up now. We finished the week very strongly with great audiences on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Midnight Harry Potter showing with the cast was magical (yes--pun intended :) One of the greatest things about the WOW cast was how well we got along and how easy it was for us to hang out outside of rehearsal. It was so much fun to share in the excitement of HP in the dressing room when getting out of costume on Thursday night in order to hurry to the movie theater. The best example of how the cast worked together was something that happened during the last performance. Will, Colin, Josh, and I peeked through a tiny gap in the curtains on the tech gallery in order to watch Erin and Hunter's scene one last time. We wanted to watch the hilarity that always ensued in that scene for the last time. And when I crossed to the other side, Thomas, Kaylee, Chelsea, and Kate were doing the exact same thing. The WOW cast was extremely supportive and tuned into their fellow cast mates. As I type this a full week after strike I can remember as if the show closed today. The Way of the World is a show and a cast that I won't soon forget. It is very near and dear to my heart - definitely one of my favorite shows to be a part of. We haven't gotten pictures yet; I know that most of the cast is eagerly awaiting them to be posted in Facebook. At least we've got a tangible reminder of the laughs we all shared :)

'tis the way of the world

2010-11-18T14:49:00.001-05:00

So two performances have passed since I last wrote.

Tuesday night was a very rough night. Everyone was preoccupied and concerned with avoiding second night slump, and although we did have a good performance, the amount of energy wasted on worrying about the second night curse did not do good things for us. Also, we went from having a sold-out audience to having an audience about half full. And then, half of that audience left during intermission. I have come to discover that it is very difficult to perform a comedy to an audience that is unresponsive. It's actually, surprisingly, harder to perform a comedy to a dead audience then it is to fight back your own laughter when the audience is laughing along. I'd take a loud and excited audience over a painfully respectful and quiet audience any day. And on a personal note, Tuesday was a hard night. I was exhausted and felt like a fussy toddler that just needs to be put to bed. I had a couple of wardrobe malfunctions, including my backless bra (aka the bane of my existence when getting into costume) coming unstuck while I was onstage. So, like a responsible actor (funny joke - I know), I did not go out with the cast after the show, but instead went to bed.

Last night's performance was much better. We performed to a sold-out house. The cast was not so fixated on impossible things that are out of our control anyway. My costume did not have any crazy issues. All in all, last night went pretty smoothly. I personally feel that opening night has been my best performance so far. But I know that I have a better performance still inside and work every night to get a little closer to the best that I know it can be.

Tonight a large group of the cast and crew have a great reward for after the show - we're going to see the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. I am very excited - I'm a huge HP fan (read all the books a couple of times over) and am pumped about the movie tonight. I think it's giving most of us a new push, as if we have to earn seeing HP through a good performance tonight. We are about twenty tickets away from having a sold-out crowd. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We'll just have to wait and see!

Number of performances left: 4

Opening Night

2010-11-16T14:38:00.001-05:00

Last night was opening night, and I don't think we could have asked for a better audience. For one thing, it was a sold-out house (which I did not realize until my first entrance, an aggressive and slightly ridiculous pose to the audience). But that fact aside, the audience was attentive and interested. They also laughed, something actors always appreciate when performing comedies. I even got a laugh or two, which was very exciting as my character is not a comedic force. The audience had great energy and focus that I know just helped fuel a great run. Something that the cast has struggled with time and time again is our pacing, but I think our Act I found a good driven and energetic speed that kept everyone's attention but allowed everything to be understood. Our Act II lost some of this pacing, probably because it was our first night with audience reactions (both of disgust and enjoyment). I'm confident that tonight we'll be closer to hitting a solid pace the entire show through. Our other problem is volume, but I think everyone can rise to the challenge. And luckily the cast is wary of the second night slump, so I don't think that will be a problem for us.

Personally I was very happy with the show last night. I didn't even let my backless bra (which really stresses me out) distract me. I felt really confident onstage and certain in the story I was telling. I'm excited for tonight - a brand new audience and another chance to tell this fun story.

Number of performances left: 6

You know it's tech when...

2010-11-13T08:37:00.000-05:00

So last night was the first night of tech - we managed to get through our Act I (Congreve's Acts I - III). There's a lot of technical fun going on - raging lights, bumpin' music, and glamorous slides from our photo shoot a week or two ago. We also added our costumes, hair, and make-up (and let me say everyone is looking their very best and most fabulous). I'm very partial to my character's look - a curled up-do with braids, metallic eyes, black sequin shirt, flowing purple top, and a purple faux fur coat. And towering four inch purple heels to top it off. It's a combination that I never would have put together - that's probably why I'm not a costume designer! Everyone else, like me, was apprehensive about their costumes at first, but everyone has settled into their clothes very nicely and we're all being to obsess over how much we love them. Tonight we went cue-to-cue through our Act II (Congreve's Acts IV and V). Once we finished that (there are far less cues in Act II), we ran our Act I with tech. It was a strange run for the actors - there are so many new things to work with and think about that I know I was distracted at times and found it difficult to live in the moment. But then again, tech night isn't about the actors; it's the opportunity for the technical team to work and fine tune their designs. I'm certain that us actors will have a better acting rehearsal today. The newness always wears off and then we are able to feel more comfortable and at home onstage.

Tech: Stop and go of Act II and a full dress run tomorrow
Countdown to opening night: 2 days!

Got my flash on, it's true, Need that picture of you

2010-11-11T14:16:00.000-05:00

The family Christmas card

Oh my God... I'm just trying to live my life.

Caught in a bad romance

Can't believe my eyes, so many women without a flaw

Can't read my, No he can't read my poker face (She's got to love nobody)

A Good Night

2010-11-09T01:21:00.000-05:00

I am excited to type that tonight's rehearsal was a good one!

While we still have a long way to go in the next six days, the cast was finally able to show all they are capable of tonight. Our director was the happiest I've seen her in a while during notes and the AD (who is also my roommate) told us on the way home that she actually enjoyed watching rehearsal tonight.

I am finding new ways to interact with my new Mincing everyday - I love the girl who is now playing Mincing and find it much easier to have a functional (albeit sometimes cruel and short) relationship with her. Meredith and I find something new everyday which only helps to bond our characters closer together. Having a relationship with Mincing also gives Millamant a new and interesting character angle. Tonight Onken and I were finding a great stride for Millamant and Mirabell. We were actually competing in verbal dexterity when we first meet in the park, which is exciting. I thoroughly enjoy outwitting Mirabell. And our engagement scene now has chemistry and some desire, two things we've been looking for for a while. All in all, although I know this is no time to pat myself on the back and stop working, I can take a moment and be proud of the work that I have done so far which is clearly showing onstage.

There's always that one section of the show that proves more difficult than everything else, and for me that is the Epilogue of The Wat of the World. I'm still working on dropping Millamant at the end of the play and simply talking to the audience as myself, as simple Teresa. It seems to be a daunting taks that I have no desire to work on. The Epilogue probably scares me, but I need to work harder not to let it win.

Tech: Adding sound tomorrow
Countdown to opening night: 7 days

Playing Catchup

2010-11-06T15:34:00.006-04:00

I'm a slacker and need to catch up, so this post will be about the past three rehearsals.

The first night back from Fall Break (Wednesday) was kind of a bust. Everyone was very concerned about the photo shoot we were having during the second half of rehearsal. We have two very large screens as part of the set and at some points during the show pictures will be projected onto the screens. Many characters have iPhones and browse pictures, which will be the ones of the screens. Also, lines in the script that were originally asides are now texts between characters, so the text messages will also be projections. Of course, the only thing I can think whenever I look at those screens is "My face is going to be so big."

Thursday's rehearsal was not pretty. It was a "get your shit together" kind of night. The thought of that rehearsal is sad. I'll just move on to...

Last night's rehearsal. The best one of the week. It was a run-through/stop and work rehearsal. I know that I feel much better after working some of my scenes (particularly the pre-nup scene, which is finally building some heat). I think the rest of the cast was equally pleased with the work and improvement we did last night. Lines were also much better, and of course you don't really start working until the lines are completely memorized. This cast is hilarious and we are finally able to play and have fun onstage. Unfortunately, I my migraine curse continues - I had a migraine throughout last night's rehearsal. Luckily I'm feeling better for tonight; the cast is meeting to have a line-thru. Fingers crossed that everyone will be ready to go!

And the big, excited news of last night was that Mincing was recast - so excited to now be working with Meredith Kidd.

Countdown to tech: 2 rehearsals (and a line-thru)
Countdown to opening night: 9 days

In Their Own Words

2010-10-31T18:23:00.000-04:00

Our long awaited full show stumble-through finally happened on Thursday night. I could tell you how I thought it went... or better yet, let the cast tell you how they felt.

And with the conclusion of this rehearsal, most of the cast officially went on Fall Break. I was one of the unlucky souls who had Friday classes, but as I type this post on a brisk Saturday morning in Starbucks I am in the full swing of the break. Fall Break has been a long-awaited mini vacation in this semester, but comes at a horrible time in WOW's rehearsal process. The cast does not have rehearsal for four days. However, all of us will be married to our scripts, as the first day back is also our first day offbook. It's hard to believe how close we are to opening night. I'm hoping to break my tech week migraine curse, possibly by feeding my caffeine addiction with copious amounts of Diet Coke and triple caramel macchiatos.

Countdown to tech: 4 rehearsals

Countdown to opening night: 15 days

Welp.

2010-10-27T22:37:00.002-04:00

So, tonight didn't go as well as everyone might have hoped. The energy of the day was just weird and ended up bleeding into rehearsal. We were all slow (our director keeps telling us to take the air out) and just seemed off-beat from one another. But I suppose rehearsals like tonight are just as important as the ones in which we are all awesome.

Shockingly enough, our director, Kerrie, wasn't disappointed. She's hopeful, as I'm sure the rest of the cast is, that our stumble through tomorrow (of the entire play (!)) will have more drive. I certainly plan on setting the bar a little higher tomorrow, or at least aim to not suck.

On the bright side, got some good pictures from tonight's rehearsal. Backstage access - you're welcome!

Quotes of the night:
"I'm like a boob zombie" -Hunter
"Why are you wearing a rain coat?" -Chris "'Cause it's rainin' bitches." -Sarah (which she stole from Hunter)
"Erin will be held. Bring her a dictionary." -Kerrie

Countdown to tech: 5 rehearsals
Countdown to opening night: 18 days

10/27 Rehearsal Pics

2010-10-27T22:11:00.003-04:00

There never yet was woman made...

Like Phoebus sang the no less am'rous boy

I'll do't.

Oh!... Sir Rowland!

Oh, what luck it is, Sir Rowland, that you were present at this juncture!

What, are you all got together, like players at the end of the last act?

Always good to end rehearsal with a laugh :D

WOW 2010 Show Poster

2010-10-26T23:25:00.006-04:00

Design by Kim Van Ness

Here We Go...

2010-10-26T22:55:00.003-04:00

So while this isn't my first blog post, this is my first personal blog. It's weird for me to think of myself as a blogger - I've never been big on sharing my feelings. But I thought this might be fun. From now until November 21st, my posts will revolve around the play I'm currently in: The Way of the World. After that, who knows? Maybe chronically the final semester of a Performing Arts senior as she finishes her degree and aims to graduate from Clemson University in May. But one step at a time... baby steps, if you will...

Tomorrow we stumble through Act II (well, our Act II which in Congreve speech is Acts IV and V). I'm playing the role of Millamant, the crazy, free-spirit, female romantic lead (though it's an ensemble show in the truest sense of the word, so lead is probably not the right word). Millamant is the "prettiest girl at the party," a direct quote from my roomie. I'll see about scanning a family/scandal tree onto the site - it's a complicated play and I've already drawn out maps for some fellow cast members.

Countdown to tech: 6 rehearsals (November 8th)
Countdown to opening night: 19 days (November 15th)