Keep the Drama out of the Drama Department

I love Theatre, if you can’t tell. I’ve been blogging about it since I started a year and half ago. But my one happy place has been tainted by a girl who can’t seem to get her act together (no pun intended).

I work my tail off in that class to do well so the production will be amazing. This is our beloved teacher, Mrs. Bach’s, last year. This is her final Advanced Theatre show and I want more than anything for it to be perfect. Or at least really good…but this girl.

She keeps posting things about me on Facebook, getting up in my face about things, and she’s in my cast so I can’t just ignore her in the hopes that she’ll go away. We have to work together and she’s making it really difficult.

Angst.

Special Girl and the New Cell Phone

So I never really told you guys who I got in Sweeney Todd. I got the mute part. Great, right? No speaking lines? Well, in my high-stress life it’s been pretty great. All my lines are gesticulations, most of my cues are directed at me so I don’t have to completely pay attention to every word being said, and I get a TON of stage time. I also get to sit on the edge of the stage and mess around with the Pit (that means Daniel)!

Best part of the whole role? The mute girl’s name is Special Girl. That’s it. Not Amy or Matilda, nope. Special Girl. I am Special Girl and I’m never going to hear the end of it from my friends.

I also got a new phone. The Samsung Intensity 2 (go look up how old it is) that I bought myself in the seventh grade finally gave up the ghost after 6 years of faithful service. I got the Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s an amazing phone and for the one day I’ve had it I’ve really enjoyed it. Yay for new technology! I went from a slider phone to a touch-screen.

But hey now my music and texting is all in one spot. That’s nice.

Well, if anyone cares, that’s been my life for a bit. Work is as stressful as ever and I’m cramming all of my homework for 4 days into one day in order to get to bed at a decent time on school nights. Dan says I need to quit, but he doesn’t understand. It’s not that easy. Sometimes I just feel like my world is falling in around me and nothing can stop it. I try to explain it to him, but it usually just comes out as me complaining. First world problems, ya know?

Anyway, I need to go to bed. Night, all!

Week 2: Senior Sickness and the Cast List

Well the plague is sweeping through my school. My friend has it, my boyfriend has it, and I’m sure that I’ll get it (though hopefully through preventative medication I have avoided it). 

Life is pretty good, otherwise. I haven’t caught senioritis. I’ve managed to keep up with all of my homework as well as college applications and scholarship things. I’m nervous, but I’m really hoping to get into Grand Valley. That would be super nice. They have a beautiful campus, a good educational system, and a huge cultural center in Grand Rapids. Not to mention their theatre performances are audition-based, not class-based or major-based, so I could still be involved in my favorite thing. My life would be complete. 

Speaking of Theatre! The cast list for Sweeney Todd comes out today. I’m really nervous but also very excited. I really want to play Sarah Lovett, Mrs. Lovett’s daughter. I don’t have my hopes up too high, though, because I might get Special Girl or Abigail or some lesser character. Not that they aren’t important, I just don’t want to get stuck with a character part again. I’m not a good character actress.

Well, wish me luck. Or rather, don’t. Good luck is bad luck in theatre. Break a leg is what I need to hear!

Drumline blues

I don’t know why I feel so left out. I mean, I have Theatre. That’s my place. I belong there and I’m happy there and I have no urge to leave that safe place and join anyone else’s little clique. Why, then, am I so easily irritated when Bryce, Britney, and Dan start spouting off about drumline? “Cadences” this and “band camp” that. I’m out on some great big joke and it nearly never stops. I don’t go around talking to them about booms, rigs, set design, costume pieces with funny names, or technical theatre speak. I always try to include them, invite them into my world. I understand that I can’t take a step into the drum lounge, that it’s off limits, but they make the entire business seem like a mafia of sorts.

It’s not only that, it’s the fact that Daniel has made so many plans for summer. I don’t begrudge him his plans. I’m sure most of them were made before I was even considered for girlfriendship, but it kind of stings when he says that he’ll be really busy so offhandedly. Like it’s not a huge deal that we might not get to spend very much time together, and he makes it sound like that will be the case.

I wanted to spend time with you. I only have this last year left before you run off to England, probably without me, and I never see you again. Next summer will be full of college panic. 

I understand. He’s a busy person, always has been. Schoolwork, camping, getting a job, doing street performing, drumline rehearsals every Tuesday and Thursday and band camp in August are all various examples. I have work and a trip to Washington D.C. with my family to look forward to. That’s it. I had so many fun dates and adventures planned!

Day trips to fun places, mixed CDs, picnics, bonfires, parties with friends, just enjoying summer together like teenagers are supposed to do when they’re in love. I’m being selfish, I know, but it still hurts, ya know? It sucks being ignored or pushed aside by someone you really care for. Honestly, if this summer turns out the way last summer did…I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Pain is Temporary, Awesome is Forever

I have spent the past week taking part in a traveling circus that is visiting my school. This is the third consecutive year I have taken part in the circus, and this year I’ve pushed myself even harder than before. The first year I was in contortion and floor acrobatics. Last year I did triple trapeze. This year I am doing both contortion and areal hoops (lyra). The two most painful acts our school will be doing. I’ve spent over 20 hours working over the past week, and in another week I will be performing. 

It is intense, painful, and exhausting. I haven’t gotten enough sleep the entire week and I have multiple injuries and plenty of bruises from my training efforts. But it’s worth it. Every second of pain, every aching muscle…when the stage is lit and the performance is happening, the entire world falls into place. My heart is in the theatre, on the stage. No matter what I am doing, I love it! 

As the coaches say: Pain is temporary, awesome is forever! 

I can’t wait for the performance of Hotel du Cirque!

The Care and Keeping of Shy Significant Others

So far, it’s been a really amazing 5 days with my new boyfriend, who I will call Ferdinand (refer to The Tempest). I could use his real name, as it is a common name, but it’s the principle of the thing, really. So Ferdinand is pretty new to this boyfriend thing, and yet he’s doing really well at it. I don’t think I opened a single door for myself last night except my car door. It was strange.

I’m so used to doing everything myself and paying for everything and then he’s opening doors and paying for food and I didn’t exactly know how to handle it at first. But it’s really nice. Having someone care about me enough to do those things, the little things…the little things matter the most. I woke up this morning in a fog of happiness and it stayed with me all day. I really can’t wait to get to be his best friend. 

Yet, he’s also quite shy. As a very open, affectionate, touchy person I find it hard to be patient. I should be, and I am. I’m getting used to the fact that he probably isn’t gonna want to hug me a lot or hold hands at first. As a jump-to-it kind of girl, I’m actually quite interested in the way this will go. I’m just happy to have someone as sweet and wonderful as Ferdinand, though. So I’ll let him make the first moves, get comfortable, and take charge. 

Anything that makes him happy makes me happy. I am in deep like with him, and if chillin’ out and waiting for him to get comfortable around me is a requirement, I will wait as long as necessary. I just really want to keep him, because I’ve never met someone this absolutely beautiful inside and out. 

Protected: Alpha Girl

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Thespian’s Festival: Saturday

We woke up and got ready, eating the fastest breakfast I have ever consumed before getting on a transfer bus from the hotel to the college/conference center. We saw a performance of a show called “Waiting for Lefty” (Which was amazing) and then we had another one of the most amazing meals I’ve ever eaten. 

After the show and lunch, I took a Shake Up Your Shakespeare class, which taught the different ways to interpret Shakespeare. It also gave the fundamentals of Shakespearean language and we did skits with the insults, which was HILARIOUS. The girl I worked with was absolutely fabulous and we exchanged names/numbers to keep in touch (I love making new theatre-kid friends). 

Then I had a stage-combat class. This is my all-time favorite class. Not just because I adore stage-combat and learning the many different forms and fighting techniques, but because during this class I did the impossible: I met a hot, straight, single guy! THERE AREN’T MANY OF THOSE IN THE THEATRE DEPARTMENT. It was like finding a unicorn. Mostly I just wanted to say that I did it. He lives really far away so there’s nothing to worry about for me, but hey, I FOUND ONE!

Then dinner and some free-time. And then the awards ceremony. A couple kids from my troupe got great scholarships and I was so proud of them. They did amazingly well. I couldn’t be happier with the weekend I had!

We partied until the early hours of the morning, ordered pizza, and just generally chilled out and had a blast together. I am so excited that I’ve created such a close bond with all of the people that went to Thespian’s Festival with me. WHAT TEAM? WILDCATS!

Curtain Call

I watch the lights fading to nothing

The stage is empty for the night

I’m standing here in center, lonely

Moments ago under spotlight

 

He’s walking through torrential downpours

Brown eyes that can’t see through the rain

The coffee shop is so inviting

Caffeine’s a good chaser for pain

 

The cigarette smoke curling upwards

Into the starry, black abyss

She’s not sure if she wants another

Too tired yet from being his

 

They see the sunlight coming nearer

She cuddles closer in the cold

If only this could last forever

Too bad they both are growing old

 

I walk backstage and close the curtain

Another night brings other shows

A cigarette sounds good with coffee

And in the rain, well, here it goes…

F.T.W.W.W.

F.T.W.W.W. is a cuss-word-heavy song written by “Mad Gear and the Missile Kid” (My Chemical Romance under a false name for their alternate reality). And that is exactly how I feel about my theatre class right now. 

Generally, I love theatre. I’ve been involved in the theatre and acting since I was six years old. I love it with all of my heart and it is my passion. I have been working hard on my character and developing her since day one. The directors and teacher have stepped all over it and changed it and made it into something that doesn’t even resemble my original idea.

But I went with it. I took the notes, I incorporated them into my character, and I worked hard to impress my theatre teacher. The directors, when I went to them asking for help and more ideas and new notes…gave me nothing to work with. I had nothing. 

Now they’re saying we have no enthusiasm and no dedication. Maybe it’s because you all killed it with a stick. 

I’m not complaining about the play, far from it. I have gotten rough notes, horrible rants about my acting skills, and lived through Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s intense one-week Shakespeare play blocking (hell on stage and with old English). I WANT more notes, I WANT criticisms. I WANT to be told what I’m doing well and doing wrong so I can continue or fix it respectively. 

PLEASE DON’T DISRESPECT ME AND THEN EXPECT ME TO BE ENTHUSIASTIC AND DEDICATED. It’s rude.