Hello, all!
This past weekend was quite an adventure. School finally ended (yay, no more costume construction!) and my final went really smoothly. Opening night of A Way with Words was Thursday, and our run went really well. My parents came opening night and my mother graced me with the wonderful compliment that there were times that I was on stage when she forgot it was me up there. That was probably the best compliment I got the whole time, but I was very happy that a lot of the professors came up to me and said some really positive things. I really did enjoy the run of the show, and I'll miss seeing all those people all the time.
The cast party was Saturday night, and I didn't stay for long (not much of a drinker). Sunday was my lovely friend Sarah's 20th birthday, so we had a party for her at the pool. It was fun, and I hadn't been swimming in a really long time, so that was nice as well. Later that day, we went over to Tyler's for a slumber party (it was really only me, Melissa and Sarah, but still awesome), and got super freaked out when we heard rocks hitting the window to Tyler's room. We couldn't tell who it was, and Tyler went downstairs to investigate while Melissa and Sarah (and alright, I'll admit, me) freaked out. Turns out it was only Bree and May, but still, we were sufficiently scared. Bree then proceeded to tell us the story of Sydney, the theatre ghost. It was kind of amusing.
The next morning we woke up at 7am (ewwww) and headed out of Auburn at 8:20ish to go to Six Flags in Georgia. I finally got to go on the Goliath with a 200 ft drop and I revisited an old favorite, the Batman. Melissa got over her fear of roller coasters for the most part, but refused to go on the Superman since it tilts you toward the ground. Can't say I blame her, it was scary the first time I rode that one. But she liked the Georgia Scorcher (the one you stand up on) and the Batman. We also hit up a few water rides to get soaked (it was hooooooot). On the way back we stopped at Wendy's for dinner. Fun day =]
Yesterday and today I've literally done nothing to rest up after my crazy weekend. I read like, 134 pages of Harry Potter 4 yesterday, and today I've been writing my Bleach fanfiction (yes, I'm writing a fanfiction. Don't judge =P ). BUT TONIGHT!!!
Tonight my bff Sarah-Jean is driving into town so that we can meet up with our friend Tanner and go see the midnight showing of The Last Airbender. I don't really care what the reviews of the movie say (it basically got panned), I'm excited. I watched the series Avatar: The Last Airbender twice through this summer in preparation for this movie, and even though M. Night has a bad reputation now, the trailers have looked baller. The bending looks very accurate and even though Aang's voice has dropped (weird, he's supposed to be 12) I have high hopes for the cinematography if not for the acting and closeness to the tv show. All I can hope for is that they don't get rid of the character of Toph. She doesn't enter until the second season (so logically the second movie) but I'm getting nervous about whoever the Earthbending dude is in the movie. There's really only one guy that I can think of who this mysterious character would be (he's only labeled 'Earthbending Father' on IMDB) and that's Haru's father, a minor character. But whatever. I guess I'll find out tonight!!
So it will be FABULOUS to see Sarah-Jean again. I haven't seen her all summer, since we went to see Ironman 2 together. LOVE HER!
I'll let you know my opinion of the movie when I see it.
HPRT: 16 days until Awesome Summer of Awesome trip!!
Current Song: Delete You by ALL CAPS
Current Book: Still HP4.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
I am SO behind on this.
Oh my goodness. So much has happened since the last time I posted almost two months ago. I almost don't know where to start.
I guess I should begin with Pops. Wow. That legitimately seems like forever ago. Pops was stressful and high energy and draining/exhausting/any other adjective that is to the same effect. But it was also freaking awesome. Everyone pulled their stuff together during the last couple days and made the show absolutely wonderful. Joey, the director and my voice teacher, said to the girls in the number You Could Drive A Person Crazy (which I was in) that it was the most technically pristine number he'd ever put together. That really touched me, and I was so grateful to have been given a chance in a number of that caliber. The night as a whole went very smoothly, just as in rehearsal (better than, even, especially in One Day More). Overall it was a great night, ended at Joey's house with fantastic food made by the host himself.
After Pops, all I had to worry about were my finals. First up was Beginning Acting. My scene, from David Auburn's Proof, went so well. I was so proud of my scene partner (a non-major who I was genuinely concerned about toward the end of rehearsing) who really stepped it up and brought the necessary tension to the scene. It went very well and I felt really good about it.
Two days after that was Intro. Oh goodness. Let's just say going last did not help my confidence like I thought it would. There were three group performances, and we were the only ones doing Taming of the Shrew. The group that went before us did a hilarious combination of vaudeville and Richard III and... well... it wasn't fair. Let's put it that way xD
I was very disappointed with my performance. I totally flubbed up both scenes I was in and felt like I had really let my group down. Everyone I talked to about it, however, stated that they hadn't noticed anything, and that when it was completely obvious that something was wrong they hadn't thought it was my fault but my partner's fault instead. That just made me feel worse, because I knew it had been my fault, but I shouldn't have been so hard on myself. It was just some dumb final performance. Yeah, a lot of the professors in the department were there, but it wasn't like I hadn't taken the assignment seriously. I ended up getting an A in the class, so I tried not to think about it later.
My last final was Art History. Which I dominated. 88 out of 90. Got an A. Very happy =]
Art History was on Monday, May 10, and that night I had a movie night at my house. Sarah-Jean, Kelly C and Kelly D came over to watch Ironman and The Princess and the Frog. Overall, totally fun!
The next day, that Tuesday, I went to see Ironman 2 with Kelly D and Sarah-Jean, and we were all blown away by the awesomeness. I would very much like to see it again. My parents got home from their NYC trip that night and it was nice to see them.
Wednesday the 12th I got up earlier than usual because my mom and I had to go to the airport. My flight left at 4pm eastern and all went smoothly flying into Chicago. I was SO HUNGRY when I landed, but all was forgotten as soon as I found Meredith!!
That's right all. I finally went back to Madison!
Meredith and her dad drove down to Chicago to pick me up, and we stopped at a Panda Express on the way. We literally stayed up until 4 that morning playing Guitar Hero and filming us being, let's face it, total idiots for her Thursday video. We spent the next day editing the footage and making last minute trips around town to get things she needed for her costume.
THE NEXT DAY WAS ANIME CENTRAL 2010!!!!
We left a little later than we'd hoped, but Meredith, her brother Jeremy and I had everything we needed to make the weekend totally awesome.* We arrived at the Hyatt at around 7:30ish, checked in, lugged all our stuff up to our room (which was conveniently only one floor up from all the con action!) and Meredith and I swiftly changed into our costumes. Jeremy and I had to go to registration as he hadn't registered yet and I had (STUPIDLY) forgotten my badge at home and needed to get a replacement.
Two awesome things happened that night.
1) I ended up not having to pay the $20 for my replacement badge because it was so late and because there had been some confusion about where I needed to go in order to get a new badge, AND they didn't take cash where I ended up and that's all I had. So the guy at the counter took pity on me (either that or he thought I was hot) and didn't charge. Sweet =]
2) On our way back from the Convention Center where registry was, we ran into this guy who was cosplaying as Ichigo from Bleach (I was Rukia and Mere was Rangiku). He literally looked like he had stepped out from the manga/anime. He was that perfect. And he was hot. I mean seriously, look at him! Meredith and I were hunting for him the entire rest of the con for pictures. You don't find that perfect of a cosplay every day, you know ;P
The next day we got up early-ish to go to a voice acting panel. It ended up not being that informative to Meredith since she knew like, everything they were talking about (which was thankfully all correct compared to what her agency had been telling her all semester). It was only an hour. We then went back to the Hyatt briefly to find Mere's brother, who was working on his costume (he was in the room almost all day finishing his gourd ((he was Gaara from Naruto)) ) and then we headed back over to the Convention Center to check out Artists Alley.
Oh. My. God.
That place was unbelievable. So many of the artists there were incredible. I wanted to buy everything I saw for the most part. Meredith bought a breathtaking print of Hitsugaya from Bleach from this guy known as the Yanimator (his last name is Yan, so it was a funny play on words), and I bought some stickers of Rukia, Hitsugaya, Zuko and Aang from Avatar and Light from Death Note. 5 for $5. Pretty awesome deal!
At 3 we went over to the loading dock for the Bleach gathering. There were so many people there who'd cosplayed as someone from Bleach. We were there for the entire allotted hour. I got a cute picture of me hugging my bro (Rukia and Byakuya) and another great picture of me getting attacked by Kaien and being saved by Ukitake. Fun times, fun times =]
We generally just wandered around the rest of the day, and there were tons of people who asked us if they could take our picture. We were pretty convincing as Rukia and Rangiku. When Jeremy's costume was finally finished, he was literally the best Gaara at the con. We all went to karaoke from 10pm-2am (it went till 3am) and then headed back to the hotel. We were beat.
Sunday was the last day of the con. We tried not to think about the fact that it was ending since it was like, the best fun ever, but we finally got Jeremy out to Artists Alley. I bought some really cool things, like an amazing Avatar print (which I want to frame) and Jeremy literally got glomped by four pre-teen girls. It was HYSTERICAL. I really wish I'd gotten it on video.
The rest of the week in Madison was kind of a blur, but it included us going to see Robin Hood with Meredith's friend from high school, me going over to my friend Catherine's house to decorate cupcakes with her and my friends Caela, Aya and Kirsten from middle school, me hanging out with Catherine, Amy, Caela, Dashni and Kirsten again the next day to watch Ponyo and eat pizza, Meredith and I playing a lot of Super Smash Bros Brawl, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, and finally, watching the rest of Avatar: The Last Airbender until my heart was crushed that it was over. It was an amazing week and a half and I miss her already.
My flight home was less than smoothe because my flight was delayed for 2 and a half hours and they didn't bother to tell us until after everyone had already boarded the plane and it had pulled away from the gate. Dumb weather in Atlanta.
I only got two days off to rest because that Monday I started summer school. Way to go, Madeleine, why'd you sign up for summer school?
So that's what I've been doing the last couple weeks. I'm taking costume construction and I'm in the summerstage play. We're doing a collection of short scenes and they're all really fun and powerful. Tonight was our crew view, which means that opening night is only a week away and it feels like it's tomorrow and five years away simultaneously. I don't know how that happens.
News coming up:
After the show is over, everyone that's in town from the Theatre Department is going to Six Flags in Georgia. I'm so excited. I haven't been in 5 years. Sad day.
After that I get half a month off to prepare for the Awesome Summer of Awesome trip. Are you ready to hear what that entails? Are you sure? OK.
Day 1: July 14th. Jennie and I are driving down to Orlando to meet my friend Amy and her friend Caitlin at the airport. We'll go to our hotel and chill for the rest of the day.
Days 2 & 3: July 15th - 16th. Kelly C, using her tickets, will get us into Disney World. Park hopper. I'm finally going to get to go to all Disney parks!! I haven't been since I was 11 so I'm pretty excited.
Day 4: July 17th. We're all going to Infinitus, the Harry Potter convention being held at Universal Studios. We'll be seeing A Very Potter Sequel and going to the Infinity Ball.
Day 5: July 18th. We're spending as much of the day as humanly possible in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I. Can't. WAIT!
Day 6: We're driving back up to Atlanta for ROFLCOPTOUR, where we'll see ALL CAPS, The Moaning Myrtles, The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills and the Parselmouths. My first Wizard Rock concert. I'm going to die, literally. I'm going to meet Kristina Horner, Luke Conard, Lauren Fairweather, Nina Jankowicz, Matt Maggiacomo and all other famous Wizard Rockers in those bands. GAH!
Can you say Harry Potter nerdfighter-love?
HPRT: *. It's fairly obvious what the rest of it is. See above ^.
Current Song: Teething from the Little White Lie soundtrack (created by StarKidPotter, the same people who brought you A Very Potter Musical)
Current Book: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Geez, everything is HP related today!
I guess I should begin with Pops. Wow. That legitimately seems like forever ago. Pops was stressful and high energy and draining/exhausting/any other adjective that is to the same effect. But it was also freaking awesome. Everyone pulled their stuff together during the last couple days and made the show absolutely wonderful. Joey, the director and my voice teacher, said to the girls in the number You Could Drive A Person Crazy (which I was in) that it was the most technically pristine number he'd ever put together. That really touched me, and I was so grateful to have been given a chance in a number of that caliber. The night as a whole went very smoothly, just as in rehearsal (better than, even, especially in One Day More). Overall it was a great night, ended at Joey's house with fantastic food made by the host himself.
After Pops, all I had to worry about were my finals. First up was Beginning Acting. My scene, from David Auburn's Proof, went so well. I was so proud of my scene partner (a non-major who I was genuinely concerned about toward the end of rehearsing) who really stepped it up and brought the necessary tension to the scene. It went very well and I felt really good about it.
Two days after that was Intro. Oh goodness. Let's just say going last did not help my confidence like I thought it would. There were three group performances, and we were the only ones doing Taming of the Shrew. The group that went before us did a hilarious combination of vaudeville and Richard III and... well... it wasn't fair. Let's put it that way xD
I was very disappointed with my performance. I totally flubbed up both scenes I was in and felt like I had really let my group down. Everyone I talked to about it, however, stated that they hadn't noticed anything, and that when it was completely obvious that something was wrong they hadn't thought it was my fault but my partner's fault instead. That just made me feel worse, because I knew it had been my fault, but I shouldn't have been so hard on myself. It was just some dumb final performance. Yeah, a lot of the professors in the department were there, but it wasn't like I hadn't taken the assignment seriously. I ended up getting an A in the class, so I tried not to think about it later.
My last final was Art History. Which I dominated. 88 out of 90. Got an A. Very happy =]
Art History was on Monday, May 10, and that night I had a movie night at my house. Sarah-Jean, Kelly C and Kelly D came over to watch Ironman and The Princess and the Frog. Overall, totally fun!
The next day, that Tuesday, I went to see Ironman 2 with Kelly D and Sarah-Jean, and we were all blown away by the awesomeness. I would very much like to see it again. My parents got home from their NYC trip that night and it was nice to see them.
Wednesday the 12th I got up earlier than usual because my mom and I had to go to the airport. My flight left at 4pm eastern and all went smoothly flying into Chicago. I was SO HUNGRY when I landed, but all was forgotten as soon as I found Meredith!!
That's right all. I finally went back to Madison!
Meredith and her dad drove down to Chicago to pick me up, and we stopped at a Panda Express on the way. We literally stayed up until 4 that morning playing Guitar Hero and filming us being, let's face it, total idiots for her Thursday video. We spent the next day editing the footage and making last minute trips around town to get things she needed for her costume.
THE NEXT DAY WAS ANIME CENTRAL 2010!!!!
We left a little later than we'd hoped, but Meredith, her brother Jeremy and I had everything we needed to make the weekend totally awesome.* We arrived at the Hyatt at around 7:30ish, checked in, lugged all our stuff up to our room (which was conveniently only one floor up from all the con action!) and Meredith and I swiftly changed into our costumes. Jeremy and I had to go to registration as he hadn't registered yet and I had (STUPIDLY) forgotten my badge at home and needed to get a replacement.
Two awesome things happened that night.
1) I ended up not having to pay the $20 for my replacement badge because it was so late and because there had been some confusion about where I needed to go in order to get a new badge, AND they didn't take cash where I ended up and that's all I had. So the guy at the counter took pity on me (either that or he thought I was hot) and didn't charge. Sweet =]
2) On our way back from the Convention Center where registry was, we ran into this guy who was cosplaying as Ichigo from Bleach (I was Rukia and Mere was Rangiku). He literally looked like he had stepped out from the manga/anime. He was that perfect. And he was hot. I mean seriously, look at him! Meredith and I were hunting for him the entire rest of the con for pictures. You don't find that perfect of a cosplay every day, you know ;P
The next day we got up early-ish to go to a voice acting panel. It ended up not being that informative to Meredith since she knew like, everything they were talking about (which was thankfully all correct compared to what her agency had been telling her all semester). It was only an hour. We then went back to the Hyatt briefly to find Mere's brother, who was working on his costume (he was in the room almost all day finishing his gourd ((he was Gaara from Naruto)) ) and then we headed back over to the Convention Center to check out Artists Alley.
Oh. My. God.
That place was unbelievable. So many of the artists there were incredible. I wanted to buy everything I saw for the most part. Meredith bought a breathtaking print of Hitsugaya from Bleach from this guy known as the Yanimator (his last name is Yan, so it was a funny play on words), and I bought some stickers of Rukia, Hitsugaya, Zuko and Aang from Avatar and Light from Death Note. 5 for $5. Pretty awesome deal!
At 3 we went over to the loading dock for the Bleach gathering. There were so many people there who'd cosplayed as someone from Bleach. We were there for the entire allotted hour. I got a cute picture of me hugging my bro (Rukia and Byakuya) and another great picture of me getting attacked by Kaien and being saved by Ukitake. Fun times, fun times =]
We generally just wandered around the rest of the day, and there were tons of people who asked us if they could take our picture. We were pretty convincing as Rukia and Rangiku. When Jeremy's costume was finally finished, he was literally the best Gaara at the con. We all went to karaoke from 10pm-2am (it went till 3am) and then headed back to the hotel. We were beat.
Sunday was the last day of the con. We tried not to think about the fact that it was ending since it was like, the best fun ever, but we finally got Jeremy out to Artists Alley. I bought some really cool things, like an amazing Avatar print (which I want to frame) and Jeremy literally got glomped by four pre-teen girls. It was HYSTERICAL. I really wish I'd gotten it on video.
The rest of the week in Madison was kind of a blur, but it included us going to see Robin Hood with Meredith's friend from high school, me going over to my friend Catherine's house to decorate cupcakes with her and my friends Caela, Aya and Kirsten from middle school, me hanging out with Catherine, Amy, Caela, Dashni and Kirsten again the next day to watch Ponyo and eat pizza, Meredith and I playing a lot of Super Smash Bros Brawl, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, and finally, watching the rest of Avatar: The Last Airbender until my heart was crushed that it was over. It was an amazing week and a half and I miss her already.
My flight home was less than smoothe because my flight was delayed for 2 and a half hours and they didn't bother to tell us until after everyone had already boarded the plane and it had pulled away from the gate. Dumb weather in Atlanta.
I only got two days off to rest because that Monday I started summer school. Way to go, Madeleine, why'd you sign up for summer school?
So that's what I've been doing the last couple weeks. I'm taking costume construction and I'm in the summerstage play. We're doing a collection of short scenes and they're all really fun and powerful. Tonight was our crew view, which means that opening night is only a week away and it feels like it's tomorrow and five years away simultaneously. I don't know how that happens.
News coming up:
After the show is over, everyone that's in town from the Theatre Department is going to Six Flags in Georgia. I'm so excited. I haven't been in 5 years. Sad day.
After that I get half a month off to prepare for the Awesome Summer of Awesome trip. Are you ready to hear what that entails? Are you sure? OK.
Day 1: July 14th. Jennie and I are driving down to Orlando to meet my friend Amy and her friend Caitlin at the airport. We'll go to our hotel and chill for the rest of the day.
Days 2 & 3: July 15th - 16th. Kelly C, using her tickets, will get us into Disney World. Park hopper. I'm finally going to get to go to all Disney parks!! I haven't been since I was 11 so I'm pretty excited.
Day 4: July 17th. We're all going to Infinitus, the Harry Potter convention being held at Universal Studios. We'll be seeing A Very Potter Sequel and going to the Infinity Ball.
Day 5: July 18th. We're spending as much of the day as humanly possible in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I. Can't. WAIT!
Day 6: We're driving back up to Atlanta for ROFLCOPTOUR, where we'll see ALL CAPS, The Moaning Myrtles, The Whomping Willows, Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills and the Parselmouths. My first Wizard Rock concert. I'm going to die, literally. I'm going to meet Kristina Horner, Luke Conard, Lauren Fairweather, Nina Jankowicz, Matt Maggiacomo and all other famous Wizard Rockers in those bands. GAH!
Can you say Harry Potter nerdfighter-love?
HPRT: *. It's fairly obvious what the rest of it is. See above ^.
Current Song: Teething from the Little White Lie soundtrack (created by StarKidPotter, the same people who brought you A Very Potter Musical)
Current Book: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Geez, everything is HP related today!
Friday, April 23, 2010
Musings on The Future, and Other Serious Topics.
Tonight I went to see my friends in Opera Workshop perform Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). It was a little production in the recital hall featuring scenes from Mozart's famous opera, and I'm friends with almost everyone in the cast, PLUS the daughter of the director. So needless to say I got in free. xD
So I got there a little bit late because Pops rehearsal went over a bit, and I missed the first four pieces. But there I was, sitting next to my mom in the darkened recital hall, listening to my friends pour their hearts out into some of the best music ever written and I thought, "I would love to do this."
Now, we all know that I'm a Musical Theatre major. I love musicals. They're what bring me the most joy in the world out of everything that I've done in my entire life. I can totally picture myself in 5 years in NYC, living large and holding down a day job while I audition for shows and hopefully get in one some day. Somehow, it's always been in the back of my mind and heart, like no matter what I thought I might do with my life, Musical Theatre would always end up being the ultimate destination.
But I know that I'll only be able to sing the ingenue roles for so long before the weight in my voice kicks in like it did for my mom (we're essentially the same person, even down to the voice). Eventually, my voice is going to get too big for musicals. The only way I'll be able to keep doing it is if I do character roles and sing with half my voice. Do I really want to not sing fully? So here's the real question:
What do I do with my career once this happens? Do I give up? Do I go back to school to train for a job that I wouldn't enjoy nearly as much as what I gave up?
The answer, to me anyways, is completely obvious.
Of course not!
So I was sitting in that hall tonight, listening to my friends and I thought, I could absolutely do this. And in fact, after I've had my turn with Broadway (if it happens at all), Opera is really what I would love to do. And it unfortunately took me 18 and a half years to realize it.
My mother has been bugging me about it for almost ever, saying that if I gave it a chance, I would see where I would eventually end up. And as much as any teenager ever hates to admit it when they're parents are right, I can't find the resentment in my mother's correct observation that I "should" be feeling. But we've always had a rather abnormally close and trusting relationship. I was never that typical teenager who avoided questions from her parents and got moody or screamed that they were ruining her life. That was never me.
And unfortunately, I get the feeling that people look down upon my relationship with my mother.
It's a rather peculiar situation, one that no one should really ever have to go through. My mother is a professor in the same department in which I am a student. She sits in on rep class and hears me sing (she's not allowed to comment in front of the other students though. If she has something to say, she'll tell me at home). I should be able to go to a school free of parental pressure and just learn. But I see my parents every day. I still live at home. And they're in the same business. It makes it more difficult.
But ironically, I don't think that I could survive the situation if I didn't feel so close to my mother.
I don't think I'll ever truly work this through logically in my head, this whole same department, same household thing. But when it comes down to it, it's not about them. It's about me. Am I going to let my parent's presence in this school hold me back or bring me down? Hell no.
To those who don't talk to me because they're uncomfortable with the fact that both my mother and I are in this department: It's not your problem. It's mine and it's hers. So get over it. I'm not unapproachable. I'm a pretty laid back person. If you talk to me, I will talk to you back. I don't think I'm a very scary person. Just please don't automatically associate me with my mother. And even though I joke that we're the same, we're not. We're different people. Very different.
So. What does all this have to do with going to see The Marriage of Figaro??
Once I figured out that opera was most likely going to be a part of my future career, I decided that I should try to be involved with Opera Workshop in the fall. I don't have the room in my schedule credit-wise to actually sign up for the class, but I'm fairly certain that I would still be able to attend the class and just do the performance.
This is all dependent on whether or not I get in any of the productions in the fall, which I won't know about until next semester actually starts and I audition. Oh well.
Oh goodness. Way too much ended up being said in this post. I had no intention of going in that direction, but it's funny how when you just start typing, the thought progression that you take ends up straying drastically from the simple topic you'd planned to start with.
*Sigh* I suppose I should end this now. Thanks for listening? Reading? Does anyone even read this? I doubt it, but it doesn't matter. It feels good to get some of this out in the open.
Farewell for now.
HPRT: Julia (who was in the opera tonight) and I were thinking we should get those plastic "Best Friends" necklaces that are cut in half but fit together, and I mentioned the fact that the jagged edge of those necklaces remind me of Harry's scar. I'm SO lame.
Current Song: Zac and Sara by Ben Folds
Current Book: Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
So I got there a little bit late because Pops rehearsal went over a bit, and I missed the first four pieces. But there I was, sitting next to my mom in the darkened recital hall, listening to my friends pour their hearts out into some of the best music ever written and I thought, "I would love to do this."
Now, we all know that I'm a Musical Theatre major. I love musicals. They're what bring me the most joy in the world out of everything that I've done in my entire life. I can totally picture myself in 5 years in NYC, living large and holding down a day job while I audition for shows and hopefully get in one some day. Somehow, it's always been in the back of my mind and heart, like no matter what I thought I might do with my life, Musical Theatre would always end up being the ultimate destination.
But I know that I'll only be able to sing the ingenue roles for so long before the weight in my voice kicks in like it did for my mom (we're essentially the same person, even down to the voice). Eventually, my voice is going to get too big for musicals. The only way I'll be able to keep doing it is if I do character roles and sing with half my voice. Do I really want to not sing fully? So here's the real question:
What do I do with my career once this happens? Do I give up? Do I go back to school to train for a job that I wouldn't enjoy nearly as much as what I gave up?
The answer, to me anyways, is completely obvious.
Of course not!
So I was sitting in that hall tonight, listening to my friends and I thought, I could absolutely do this. And in fact, after I've had my turn with Broadway (if it happens at all), Opera is really what I would love to do. And it unfortunately took me 18 and a half years to realize it.
My mother has been bugging me about it for almost ever, saying that if I gave it a chance, I would see where I would eventually end up. And as much as any teenager ever hates to admit it when they're parents are right, I can't find the resentment in my mother's correct observation that I "should" be feeling. But we've always had a rather abnormally close and trusting relationship. I was never that typical teenager who avoided questions from her parents and got moody or screamed that they were ruining her life. That was never me.
And unfortunately, I get the feeling that people look down upon my relationship with my mother.
It's a rather peculiar situation, one that no one should really ever have to go through. My mother is a professor in the same department in which I am a student. She sits in on rep class and hears me sing (she's not allowed to comment in front of the other students though. If she has something to say, she'll tell me at home). I should be able to go to a school free of parental pressure and just learn. But I see my parents every day. I still live at home. And they're in the same business. It makes it more difficult.
But ironically, I don't think that I could survive the situation if I didn't feel so close to my mother.
I don't think I'll ever truly work this through logically in my head, this whole same department, same household thing. But when it comes down to it, it's not about them. It's about me. Am I going to let my parent's presence in this school hold me back or bring me down? Hell no.
To those who don't talk to me because they're uncomfortable with the fact that both my mother and I are in this department: It's not your problem. It's mine and it's hers. So get over it. I'm not unapproachable. I'm a pretty laid back person. If you talk to me, I will talk to you back. I don't think I'm a very scary person. Just please don't automatically associate me with my mother. And even though I joke that we're the same, we're not. We're different people. Very different.
So. What does all this have to do with going to see The Marriage of Figaro??
Once I figured out that opera was most likely going to be a part of my future career, I decided that I should try to be involved with Opera Workshop in the fall. I don't have the room in my schedule credit-wise to actually sign up for the class, but I'm fairly certain that I would still be able to attend the class and just do the performance.
This is all dependent on whether or not I get in any of the productions in the fall, which I won't know about until next semester actually starts and I audition. Oh well.
Oh goodness. Way too much ended up being said in this post. I had no intention of going in that direction, but it's funny how when you just start typing, the thought progression that you take ends up straying drastically from the simple topic you'd planned to start with.
*Sigh* I suppose I should end this now. Thanks for listening? Reading? Does anyone even read this? I doubt it, but it doesn't matter. It feels good to get some of this out in the open.
Farewell for now.
HPRT: Julia (who was in the opera tonight) and I were thinking we should get those plastic "Best Friends" necklaces that are cut in half but fit together, and I mentioned the fact that the jagged edge of those necklaces remind me of Harry's scar. I'm SO lame.
Current Song: Zac and Sara by Ben Folds
Current Book: Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli
Saturday, April 17, 2010
STRESSTRESSTRESSTRESS!!!!!!
Yes. Just like the title. I hate this time of year. It's all nice weather and everything, but you're so busy and freaking stressed that you don't have the time to appreciate anything.
Tomorrow, I have to go to strike for about 8 hours (4-midnight. Seriously???) which is just unbelievably inconvenient, not just for me, but for everyone involved. The people overseeing strike certainly don't want to be there until midnight, but it's looking like it'll take that long. Great.
Monday, I have the auditions for the first fall semester play, The Birthday Party, direct by my very favorite professor, Chase. Unfortunately, I also have rehearsal for Pops at 8 in the morning and at 6 that night, in addition to the auditions.
Tuesday, 8am rehearsal for Pops, mayhaps callbacks and evening Pops rehearsal.
Wednesday, 8am rehearsal, performance for my Introduction to Theatre class (which means that I have to find time in between classes and rehearsals and auditions to meet with them and memorize all of THAT), evening Pops.
Thursday is (thankfully) just morning and evening Pops, as is Friday.
Saturday: Dark day. And you can bet that I will shut myself away in the hole that is my room and just wallow in exhaustion and TV shows on my day off.
Next Sunday we are called at super random times all day for light cues. Really annoying but it's the way it has to be.
Next Monday is morning and evening and stress stress stress. Same with Tuesday-Thursday. It will all be over Friday night when we actually perform and have Pops.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
In between all of this craziness, I have to memorize and meet with my Beginning Acting partner for our final scene. I don't have a problem with meeting him, it's just WHEN DO I FIND THE TIME??
I really wish I could just fast forward to finals. Because through all of this, my finals week is really not going to be stressful at all. I only have 2 tests (one of which is a real test, the other is a quiz of sorts) and 2 performances. Big deal. Sarah-Jean has about 5 finals. I'm totally fine with my schedule.
HPRT: I met someone two days ago who'd never read Harry Potter. She made my soul die a little bit inside for her lack of knowledge.
Current Song: Henry Gale by The Oceanic Six
Current Book: The Routledge Companion to Critical Theory. Totally not for recreation.
Tomorrow, I have to go to strike for about 8 hours (4-midnight. Seriously???) which is just unbelievably inconvenient, not just for me, but for everyone involved. The people overseeing strike certainly don't want to be there until midnight, but it's looking like it'll take that long. Great.
Monday, I have the auditions for the first fall semester play, The Birthday Party, direct by my very favorite professor, Chase. Unfortunately, I also have rehearsal for Pops at 8 in the morning and at 6 that night, in addition to the auditions.
Tuesday, 8am rehearsal for Pops, mayhaps callbacks and evening Pops rehearsal.
Wednesday, 8am rehearsal, performance for my Introduction to Theatre class (which means that I have to find time in between classes and rehearsals and auditions to meet with them and memorize all of THAT), evening Pops.
Thursday is (thankfully) just morning and evening Pops, as is Friday.
Saturday: Dark day. And you can bet that I will shut myself away in the hole that is my room and just wallow in exhaustion and TV shows on my day off.
Next Sunday we are called at super random times all day for light cues. Really annoying but it's the way it has to be.
Next Monday is morning and evening and stress stress stress. Same with Tuesday-Thursday. It will all be over Friday night when we actually perform and have Pops.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
In between all of this craziness, I have to memorize and meet with my Beginning Acting partner for our final scene. I don't have a problem with meeting him, it's just WHEN DO I FIND THE TIME??
I really wish I could just fast forward to finals. Because through all of this, my finals week is really not going to be stressful at all. I only have 2 tests (one of which is a real test, the other is a quiz of sorts) and 2 performances. Big deal. Sarah-Jean has about 5 finals. I'm totally fine with my schedule.
HPRT: I met someone two days ago who'd never read Harry Potter. She made my soul die a little bit inside for her lack of knowledge.
Current Song: Henry Gale by The Oceanic Six
Current Book: The Routledge Companion to Critical Theory. Totally not for recreation.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Shame on you, Pope. And musings on life.
Ok, the title only has relevance if you go down to the bottom of this post and read my Harry Potter Related Thing.
Little disclaimer: Sorry about the ridiculously depressing post yesterday. It was depressing but like I said, it needs to be in the media's attention. Take their advice and write to anyone in power in your community, state, and especially the nation's capital.
Today was a generally good day, aside from starting off with me being absolutely exhausted from only getting 4 hours of sleep. There was really no reason at all for how little sleep I got, but I'll tell you now, I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. Yay for classes that start at 11 tomorrow!!
Pops was great today. We sang through One Day More from Les Miserables, and it was so epically awesome that it just made me want to do Les Mis at some point in my life. Maybe a tour. Maybe a revival. That would surly be EPIC!!
Acting, meh. Rep class, meh. Art History, meh. Idk. I guess as the day kept going on I just became more and more indifferent to my classes. I did show up to them all, though, which is good. (I have yet to skip a class this semester, so seeing as there are only 3 more weeks of classes, I'd say that's pretty freaking good).
SPEAKING OF!!! ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS!
I cannot even begin to describe how badly I want this school year to be over. The only thing that is slightly concerning is the fact that I will be finishing my freshman year of college. Seriously, where does the time go?
I feel like I should still be 12 years old, living in Wisconsin, short and pudgy and still slightly immature. When did I get taller and become smarter and grow in maturity and in mind? I feel as though my life is racing by and that I don't even have time to register the change before I'm already done with another year of school. It's frightening to think that I only have 3 more years of school left after this one has concluded. My entire life, school has always just been there, another step to climb before my "real" life starts.
When I was younger, I couldn't wait to be out of the hell hole that was grade school, and now that I'm out, it's as if I would give anything to go back in. I know I'm certainly not ready for "real" life to begin. I'm a young freshman as it is, and therefore it makes sense for me to not necessarily feel up to facing the real world just yet. I suppose as college continues, I'll become more accustomed to the idea of going out on my own and finding work. In fact, I sincerely hope my feelings change. I see the current seniors, who are just weeks away from graduating and moving to large cities where they'll do slews of auditions, and they're all just so ready to be out there. I have to have faith that by the time I'm a senior, I will be just as ready as them to get out. Because right now, I'm just immature enough to be scared out of my wits of the real world.
I'm certainly not ready the way I am now, technically, financially nor emotionally, to begin that stage of my life (hence college), so I have to have faith in myself that I'll get there.
Back to reality!! I just did a homework assignment that was technically due at 9, but I totally forgot, so I just got it done. Yay! I hope my professor accepts it...
Hooray for college.
HPRT: The pope doesn't like Harry Potter. Well, guess what, pope? Harry Potter doesn't like you back.
Current Song: Your Song by ALL CAPS
Current Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Little disclaimer: Sorry about the ridiculously depressing post yesterday. It was depressing but like I said, it needs to be in the media's attention. Take their advice and write to anyone in power in your community, state, and especially the nation's capital.
Today was a generally good day, aside from starting off with me being absolutely exhausted from only getting 4 hours of sleep. There was really no reason at all for how little sleep I got, but I'll tell you now, I'm going to sleep like a baby tonight. Yay for classes that start at 11 tomorrow!!
Pops was great today. We sang through One Day More from Les Miserables, and it was so epically awesome that it just made me want to do Les Mis at some point in my life. Maybe a tour. Maybe a revival. That would surly be EPIC!!
Acting, meh. Rep class, meh. Art History, meh. Idk. I guess as the day kept going on I just became more and more indifferent to my classes. I did show up to them all, though, which is good. (I have yet to skip a class this semester, so seeing as there are only 3 more weeks of classes, I'd say that's pretty freaking good).
SPEAKING OF!!! ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS!
I cannot even begin to describe how badly I want this school year to be over. The only thing that is slightly concerning is the fact that I will be finishing my freshman year of college. Seriously, where does the time go?
I feel like I should still be 12 years old, living in Wisconsin, short and pudgy and still slightly immature. When did I get taller and become smarter and grow in maturity and in mind? I feel as though my life is racing by and that I don't even have time to register the change before I'm already done with another year of school. It's frightening to think that I only have 3 more years of school left after this one has concluded. My entire life, school has always just been there, another step to climb before my "real" life starts.
When I was younger, I couldn't wait to be out of the hell hole that was grade school, and now that I'm out, it's as if I would give anything to go back in. I know I'm certainly not ready for "real" life to begin. I'm a young freshman as it is, and therefore it makes sense for me to not necessarily feel up to facing the real world just yet. I suppose as college continues, I'll become more accustomed to the idea of going out on my own and finding work. In fact, I sincerely hope my feelings change. I see the current seniors, who are just weeks away from graduating and moving to large cities where they'll do slews of auditions, and they're all just so ready to be out there. I have to have faith that by the time I'm a senior, I will be just as ready as them to get out. Because right now, I'm just immature enough to be scared out of my wits of the real world.
I'm certainly not ready the way I am now, technically, financially nor emotionally, to begin that stage of my life (hence college), so I have to have faith in myself that I'll get there.
Back to reality!! I just did a homework assignment that was technically due at 9, but I totally forgot, so I just got it done. Yay! I hope my professor accepts it...
Hooray for college.
HPRT: The pope doesn't like Harry Potter. Well, guess what, pope? Harry Potter doesn't like you back.
Current Song: Your Song by ALL CAPS
Current Book: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Monday, April 12, 2010
If you don't like being depressed... well, read anyway.
Today in my Introduction to Theatre class, we discussed a play that was to be read for today's class. It's called Ruined, by Lynn Nottage. I mentioned that I was reading it in yesterday's post, but the severity of the issues raised in the play didn't fully hit me until the three presentations were given in class.
The one presentation (done by my fellow classmates) that truly horrified me was about the rape and torture of women in war in the Congo. Not many people realize that this problem even exists because it's been eclipsed by the wars in Rwanda and Darfur in the media. I'm not saying that those were not extremely serious conflicts that demanded our immediate help, but the war raging in the Republic of Congo is immeasurably more fatal and brutal, and has been going on for much longer. One of the points made in the presentation was that the final death toll in Rwanda was under the estimated 250,000, and while that is an absolutely horrific number of innocent lives spent, the death count for the Congo is well over 1,000,000 and it is still climbing even today.
I won't go into any graphic detail, but let's just say that they then told the stories to two small girls who were sexually tortured and killed in very gruesome ways. This kind of torture has unfortunately become custom on both sides of the battle. This kind of behavior is specifically done to target the opposition's spirit, to instill a sense of fear in the locals and kill their will to fight the war. It would be bad enough if it stopped with the opposition, though. Often times women who are taken from their homes for months or raped and tortured in public return to their communities and are shunned by them, the very people who should be helping and supporting them.
As disturbing as this class was today, I think it was necessary for us to learn this information so that we can actually begin to reverse this kind of behavior. I encourage you all to visit this website. It's the UN's solution to stopping rape and violence against women as a weapon, called Stop Rape Now. Please, please, PLEASE visit this site and do anything and everything you can to help!
Sorry for extremely upsetting post, but I really felt that it needed to be said.
I think that about takes care of my blogging for the day.
HPRT: I brought my completed Gryffindor scarf (i knitted one myself) to show my costume professor today. She said it was gorgeous =]
Current Song: Whatever Evan Lysacek just danced to on Dancing with the Stars!
Current Book: An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski
The one presentation (done by my fellow classmates) that truly horrified me was about the rape and torture of women in war in the Congo. Not many people realize that this problem even exists because it's been eclipsed by the wars in Rwanda and Darfur in the media. I'm not saying that those were not extremely serious conflicts that demanded our immediate help, but the war raging in the Republic of Congo is immeasurably more fatal and brutal, and has been going on for much longer. One of the points made in the presentation was that the final death toll in Rwanda was under the estimated 250,000, and while that is an absolutely horrific number of innocent lives spent, the death count for the Congo is well over 1,000,000 and it is still climbing even today.
I won't go into any graphic detail, but let's just say that they then told the stories to two small girls who were sexually tortured and killed in very gruesome ways. This kind of torture has unfortunately become custom on both sides of the battle. This kind of behavior is specifically done to target the opposition's spirit, to instill a sense of fear in the locals and kill their will to fight the war. It would be bad enough if it stopped with the opposition, though. Often times women who are taken from their homes for months or raped and tortured in public return to their communities and are shunned by them, the very people who should be helping and supporting them.
As disturbing as this class was today, I think it was necessary for us to learn this information so that we can actually begin to reverse this kind of behavior. I encourage you all to visit this website. It's the UN's solution to stopping rape and violence against women as a weapon, called Stop Rape Now. Please, please, PLEASE visit this site and do anything and everything you can to help!
Sorry for extremely upsetting post, but I really felt that it needed to be said.
I think that about takes care of my blogging for the day.
HPRT: I brought my completed Gryffindor scarf (i knitted one myself) to show my costume professor today. She said it was gorgeous =]
Current Song: Whatever Evan Lysacek just danced to on Dancing with the Stars!
Current Book: An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski
Sunday, April 11, 2010
NaNoWriMo Woes
Ok, I realize that it's no where NEAR November, so why am I even thinking about NaNoWriMo??
Well, part of it has to do with the fact that I've had the new ALL CAPS album, Bmin/E, on repeat for the last week, so I keep listening to the NaNoWriMo song, which in turn revives unpleasant memories of my first and so far only participation in the writing competition last year.
I've had this great story idea since about 10th grade, but never acted on it until this past fall, my freshman year of college (partially because I had no time to even think about it my junior or senior years of high school). I wrote about two pages of it as a part of an application to the St. Lawrence University Young Writers' Conference, which I was accepted to for the fall of my junior year. Since then, the entire background of the story has been revamped and recreated, but the basic concept is still the same in my mind.
I guess the reason I'm so upset right now about this is not the fact that I failed NaNoWriMo miserably (although I find that 8,109 words is pretty good for a first try, but that could just be me), but rather the fact that I really, truly love the story idea and have since not had the opportunity to work on it. Spring semester has been ridiculously busy, what with working crew for the musical for the first two months of 2010, constant rehearsals for the huge benefit concert that goes up at the end of this month, my first real acting class that's so far really challenged me to make myself into a better actor, and the multitude of responsibilities that is just a natural part of college.
My freshman year has been a true challenge, one that I've really embraced, but unfortunately it's left me with ABSOLUTELY no time to do anything. Like read for recreation. I believe this semester I've read two full books for pleasure. THE ENTIRE SEMESTER! How depressing is that??
Currently I'm working on Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. It's so unbelievably addicting, just like all other John Green books. But unfortunately I've had to put it aside to read Ruined by Lynn Nottage for my theatre class tomorrow (it's a play, in case you didn't know). But back to my story complaints.
I really, really do want to get back to writing it, but I'm afraid that I won't have time until after school ends, and even then, I'm taking a summer class so I can be in the summer show at my college. NO TIME!!!
We'll see what happens this summer. I sincerely hope that I can get back to it, because, to be honest, I miss writing. I don't think I've made writing a priority since 8th grade or something truly horrendous like that. My great aunt would be so disappointed.
Harry Potter Related Thing: I'm thinking about reading Harry: A History, after I'm done with WGWG.
Current Song: Summer of '09 by ALL CAPS
Current Book: Ruined by Lynn Nottage
Well, part of it has to do with the fact that I've had the new ALL CAPS album, Bmin/E, on repeat for the last week, so I keep listening to the NaNoWriMo song, which in turn revives unpleasant memories of my first and so far only participation in the writing competition last year.
I've had this great story idea since about 10th grade, but never acted on it until this past fall, my freshman year of college (partially because I had no time to even think about it my junior or senior years of high school). I wrote about two pages of it as a part of an application to the St. Lawrence University Young Writers' Conference, which I was accepted to for the fall of my junior year. Since then, the entire background of the story has been revamped and recreated, but the basic concept is still the same in my mind.
I guess the reason I'm so upset right now about this is not the fact that I failed NaNoWriMo miserably (although I find that 8,109 words is pretty good for a first try, but that could just be me), but rather the fact that I really, truly love the story idea and have since not had the opportunity to work on it. Spring semester has been ridiculously busy, what with working crew for the musical for the first two months of 2010, constant rehearsals for the huge benefit concert that goes up at the end of this month, my first real acting class that's so far really challenged me to make myself into a better actor, and the multitude of responsibilities that is just a natural part of college.
My freshman year has been a true challenge, one that I've really embraced, but unfortunately it's left me with ABSOLUTELY no time to do anything. Like read for recreation. I believe this semester I've read two full books for pleasure. THE ENTIRE SEMESTER! How depressing is that??
Currently I'm working on Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. It's so unbelievably addicting, just like all other John Green books. But unfortunately I've had to put it aside to read Ruined by Lynn Nottage for my theatre class tomorrow (it's a play, in case you didn't know). But back to my story complaints.
I really, really do want to get back to writing it, but I'm afraid that I won't have time until after school ends, and even then, I'm taking a summer class so I can be in the summer show at my college. NO TIME!!!
We'll see what happens this summer. I sincerely hope that I can get back to it, because, to be honest, I miss writing. I don't think I've made writing a priority since 8th grade or something truly horrendous like that. My great aunt would be so disappointed.
Harry Potter Related Thing: I'm thinking about reading Harry: A History, after I'm done with WGWG.
Current Song: Summer of '09 by ALL CAPS
Current Book: Ruined by Lynn Nottage
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