Well, this wonderful summer is coming to a close. Last night we had strike until the wee hours of the morning, but all 4 sets have been taken down and moved to storage.
I had such an incredible experience working for the Neil Simon Festival this summer. I learned A LOT about what it's like being an actor as my job instead of just for fun. I learned that it's not always very glamorous (sometimes you have to move your set on and off the stage each night, or participate in strike, or do your own costume laundry) but it's definitely worth all the hard work. And sometimes it is glamorous (sometimes you get to stay for free at some beautiful condos in Park City.)
I got to participate in post-performance talkbacks throughout the season as well, and it is amazing to get to hear back from the most important people in the theatre, the audience! Hearing how the shows impacted them and made them laugh and feel things...there's nothing like it. Just another reconfirmation that THIS is what I want to do with my life.
I love the theatre and I love acting. I'm so grateful for this experience and because of it, I'm one step closer to taking on the world!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Opening Weekend!!
We opened, at last!! What a whirlwind this rehearsal process has been.
Of course, dress rehearsals and opening for Foreigner wasn't a very big deal. We just re-spaced the show for the bigger stage of the Heritage Center and made sure no one had forgotten any lines. Opening was wonderful and the audience seemed to love it as much as they did in Park City. Good to know we're still funny! ;)
The dress rehearsals for I'm Not Rappaport were a little more rough. Some people were still struggling with memorization and the way the show is set up, if you forget what happens next, you could easily skip over a large section of the script. The set also didn't get finished until last minute, so I only recently got to start practicing walking/sitting on it and climbing down the stairs off of it to do the fight choreography.
Besides all that, I think the opening went pretty well! Hopefully as the run progresses, memorization will become even more solidified and we will get more and more used to our set.
This was useful to me as I'm in training to be a professional actor because I learned that even professional companies sometimes have things that go wrong or don't get built in time, so working together as a cast and staying flexible and easy to work with is essential.
Of course, dress rehearsals and opening for Foreigner wasn't a very big deal. We just re-spaced the show for the bigger stage of the Heritage Center and made sure no one had forgotten any lines. Opening was wonderful and the audience seemed to love it as much as they did in Park City. Good to know we're still funny! ;)
The dress rehearsals for I'm Not Rappaport were a little more rough. Some people were still struggling with memorization and the way the show is set up, if you forget what happens next, you could easily skip over a large section of the script. The set also didn't get finished until last minute, so I only recently got to start practicing walking/sitting on it and climbing down the stairs off of it to do the fight choreography.
Besides all that, I think the opening went pretty well! Hopefully as the run progresses, memorization will become even more solidified and we will get more and more used to our set.
This was useful to me as I'm in training to be a professional actor because I learned that even professional companies sometimes have things that go wrong or don't get built in time, so working together as a cast and staying flexible and easy to work with is essential.
 |
| Me on opening night of I'm Not Rappaport! The show takes place in the 1990's, so I got to let my curly hair do it's thing! |
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Benefit Night
WHEW! We open our Cedar City run tomorrow!! How crazy is that?!
I wanted to post really quick about the Preview/Benefit Night we did this week. Every year, NSF does a preview night for all their show. Each play performs a scene from the show and actors can perform separate musical numbers as well, to show off the talent we have in our company. The best part is, all the proceeds from the night go to a few different local charities!
I participated in the scene from The Foreigner as well as sang "Much More" from The Fantasticks! I loved getting a chance to sing, because neither show I'm in is a musical, and I love singing.
It was also cool to see the scenes from the two shows I'm not a part of. It looks like we're going to have a very strong season, possibly the best NSF has ever had!
Speaking of shows I'm not a part of, I guess that's not necessarily true. I am featured in Chapter Two, one of the Neil Simon plays in the season. The main character has a wife that recently passed away and so the director asked me to do a photo shoot with him so he can have pictures of the wife hanging up around his apartment. So, technically, I'm a character in 3 shows this summer.
I'll do a separate blog post about dress rehearsals and opening weekend in a few days!
I wanted to post really quick about the Preview/Benefit Night we did this week. Every year, NSF does a preview night for all their show. Each play performs a scene from the show and actors can perform separate musical numbers as well, to show off the talent we have in our company. The best part is, all the proceeds from the night go to a few different local charities!
I participated in the scene from The Foreigner as well as sang "Much More" from The Fantasticks! I loved getting a chance to sing, because neither show I'm in is a musical, and I love singing.
It was also cool to see the scenes from the two shows I'm not a part of. It looks like we're going to have a very strong season, possibly the best NSF has ever had!
Speaking of shows I'm not a part of, I guess that's not necessarily true. I am featured in Chapter Two, one of the Neil Simon plays in the season. The main character has a wife that recently passed away and so the director asked me to do a photo shoot with him so he can have pictures of the wife hanging up around his apartment. So, technically, I'm a character in 3 shows this summer.
I'll do a separate blog post about dress rehearsals and opening weekend in a few days!
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Back home again
Well, we've been back in Cedar City for a little over a week now, and although I'm missing the tour life of Park City, it's nice to have a much lighter rehearsal schedule. I am also working my normal on-campus job, which is suddenly so un-glamorous! ;)
The first day back we had a company barbecue with all the actors, directors, crew, and Board of Directors for NSF. I moved into company housing and met my roommate, Melissa Nield, who will be performing with my in I'm Not Rappaport, the other show I am cast in.
Speaking of Rappaport, we started rehearsals for that as well! My role is much smaller in this play, so the memorization and time spent at rehearsal is less. This is a play about two old men, one Jewish, one African American, sitting on a park bench in Central Park. Throughout the play, they face and discuss the many difficulties of aging. I play Laurie Douglas, a young artist who spends much of the first act perching up on the bridge working on my art, with no lines. In act two, when I finally speak, the two old men (and the audience) learn that along with being an artist, I am also an ex-druggie who has substantial debts owed to a terrifying drug dealer called The Cowboy that she can't pay back. He threatens to kill me if I don't get him the money, and the climax of the play is reached when the two old men try to rescue me from him.
Doesn't sound as funny or uplifting as my other role, does it?
The biggest challenge I think I'll face with this role, is creating a character without many lines of dialogue and also learning the patience of sitting onstage for a long period of time with nothing to do but sketch (which I'm not very good at, by the way.)
However, those are challenges I'm excited to go after! Playing this role against Catherine is very exciting as well as I've always wanted to try repertory theatre.
The first day back we had a company barbecue with all the actors, directors, crew, and Board of Directors for NSF. I moved into company housing and met my roommate, Melissa Nield, who will be performing with my in I'm Not Rappaport, the other show I am cast in.
Speaking of Rappaport, we started rehearsals for that as well! My role is much smaller in this play, so the memorization and time spent at rehearsal is less. This is a play about two old men, one Jewish, one African American, sitting on a park bench in Central Park. Throughout the play, they face and discuss the many difficulties of aging. I play Laurie Douglas, a young artist who spends much of the first act perching up on the bridge working on my art, with no lines. In act two, when I finally speak, the two old men (and the audience) learn that along with being an artist, I am also an ex-druggie who has substantial debts owed to a terrifying drug dealer called The Cowboy that she can't pay back. He threatens to kill me if I don't get him the money, and the climax of the play is reached when the two old men try to rescue me from him.
Doesn't sound as funny or uplifting as my other role, does it?
The biggest challenge I think I'll face with this role, is creating a character without many lines of dialogue and also learning the patience of sitting onstage for a long period of time with nothing to do but sketch (which I'm not very good at, by the way.)
However, those are challenges I'm excited to go after! Playing this role against Catherine is very exciting as well as I've always wanted to try repertory theatre.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Look how cool!
Today I was featured on the Neil Simon Festival blog as the "Player of the Day"!
For some reason, seeing this really made it sink in that I'm performing with a professional acting company! Yes, it's still in Cedar City and one of my theatre professors owns the company, so I had a huge "in" at my audition, but if I can do this while I'm still in college, think about all the possibilities my post-college career holds!
For some reason, seeing this really made it sink in that I'm performing with a professional acting company! Yes, it's still in Cedar City and one of my theatre professors owns the company, so I had a huge "in" at my audition, but if I can do this while I'm still in college, think about all the possibilities my post-college career holds!
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Park City!
Hello again! Sorry I've taken so long to post, I've been caught up in Park City! We have our final show up here tonight and then we head back down to Cedar City after the show tonight to start rehearsals for the rest of the NSF season.
Park City is beautiful! I loved exploring during my free time. It is like a town in California that was somehow transplanted to the mountains of Utah.
The rest of rehearsals went well! We pulled this show together so fast, but everyone was somehow so prepared for opening night. There were a few emotional breakdowns (including from myself) but that is to be expected from such an intense process. In a way, the craziness of the past three weeks has really prepared me for anything in the professional world, because I've learned the stamina and healthy habits I need to start forming now in order to survive in any repertory theatre.
Our set is SO COOL, by the way! I am completely in love with it. Our set designer/builder really came through and created a quirky, adorable little Georgian lodge.
Opening night was probably my favorite performance we've had so far. There is no better feeling than performing a comedy for an audience for the first time. You remember how funny the script is and you get a boost of adrenaline and confidence when they laugh at anything you do, because it means you maybe actually know what you're doing!
 |
| The view from our condos! |
Park City is beautiful! I loved exploring during my free time. It is like a town in California that was somehow transplanted to the mountains of Utah.
The rest of rehearsals went well! We pulled this show together so fast, but everyone was somehow so prepared for opening night. There were a few emotional breakdowns (including from myself) but that is to be expected from such an intense process. In a way, the craziness of the past three weeks has really prepared me for anything in the professional world, because I've learned the stamina and healthy habits I need to start forming now in order to survive in any repertory theatre.
Our set is SO COOL, by the way! I am completely in love with it. Our set designer/builder really came through and created a quirky, adorable little Georgian lodge.
 |
| Not the best picture of me (far right), but you can kind of see the set and how cute it is!! |
I have really grown so close to this cast. I'm glad we still have a nice long run in Cedar City yet to come, because I'm not ready to say goodbye.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Park City Dress Rehearsal
 |
| Yay dress rehearsal!! (I get my own dressing room, how cool is that? Perks of being one of two girls in the cast!) |
I don't have much time to post, because it's in the middle of a show, but I wanted to upload this picture I took of my Scene 1 look. Look at those pearls and curls! ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)