Showing posts with label The King Stag. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The King Stag. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

11th Year

It feels like just yesterday I was writing my back to school post ans today I write my end of school review. It's odd how time flies when you look back, but in the moment it can inch by. That is exactly how this year felt for me. In the moment it felt long and slow, with not much excitement, but looking back it flew by faster than I could have imagined. This year felt very different from 9th and 10th for there was a real sense that we were older. I suppose being the second oldest class comes with several things: bigger assignments, college work, and of course a bit more respect.

The year as a whole was pretty good, although I can't say it was the most eventful year. Our classes were good, but there were only a few real standout courses. There were many classes, like Dante's Inferno, which were simply not my cup of tea. I enjoyed the botany and cell biology blocks, as well as bookbinding, atomic theory, and music history. Our trip to Catalina was full of good things and bad. Looking back I had a great time, but then again, there were many things that kept the trip from being anywhere near perfect. But the truth is, I think trips like that are what we'll remember as a class. The things that were awful, will be the things that make us smile.

The King Stag was another experience, that at the time, wasn't what really what I was looking for. More than anything it taught me lessons about acting that you can only learn first hand. Like, for example, not to get to attached to a certain way of playing a part, fate often has other plans for you. This became brutally apparent when I lost my voice the day of the show and had to have someone dub my lines until I could speak in a fairly normal, albeit rather low, voice.

I loved being with My, Liz, and Ventana this year. It's been lovely having picnics on the grass and laughing. It was nice to spend more time with Armand as well, for although he can be super annoying, we'll always have a good time together. I became good friends with Oscar this year. We sat next to eachother in German class and we had to many laughs to count. I'll miss not having German next year, hopefully I can continue to speak the language, because I really love it! It was also fun getting to make our heads in Clay class, I made Twiggy.

One thing that I think was really amazing about this year, was that fact that our class has bonded so much over this past year. Make no mistake, we still get in a ton of arguments, but when we agree on something, we stick to it. Spirit Week is the perfect example of this. We did so much better than before, and I'm so proud of what we accomplished as a whole. We did lots of really fun things, like go bowling as a class. As scary as it is to think, we're the senior class now and I really believe that we're ready. This year was almost a transition and "training" year for us. And though I'm terrified at the thought that I'll be getting a rose next year at the rose cerimony, I can't help but be excited at the same time. I doubt I'll ever feel totally ready, but this is the next best thing.

When Spetember rolls around I'm glad I wont be alone up on that stage, but instead I'll be surrounded by 20 others feeling the same way as I do. Until that day comes I'll enjoy summer and the memories I have from this past year. Everything after that will be about the future.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

The King Stag


As you may know I was recently in a production of the play "the King Stag" at my school. We've been working on the play since September, and I must say it is nice to finally put it on. The play was in the "comedia del arte" style which involves makes and being very over the top. This might seem easy, but I can say one thing for sure, it uses up a ton of energy. "The King Stag" is the story of king Deramo and his search to find a wife, on the way dealing with the plots of prime minister Tataglia. I played Truffaldino the court bird catcher in love with Smeraldina, the obnoxious country girl, who doesn't necessarily love him back (yes i played a guy, again).
Every year I do a blog post after the play, and I thought that this year I'd show you all that went on before the play (tec week) rather than just the finished product.
Day 1 and 2:
Throughout all of the rehearsals we had been practicing in the Eurhythmy room. On the first day of tec week, I finally got to see the place where we'd be doing the show, the new gym.

Day 3:
Happy Birthday Eve! How are you celebrating? By staying at school till 9 pm! Yay.... Again, we had lots of standing around. I got to see my make-up for the first time! It was really bright and fun, it took quite a long time to apply though.

Day 4:
We had our first "dress rehearsal." I put it in quotations because we didn't actually get through the whole play, just the first half and only some of us were in costume and makeup. My voice was acting a little weird, almost as though it was going to disappear. We got to see My's makeup for the first time, doesn't she look lovely?

Day 5:
I wake up to find, I've lost my voice. It's opening night and I've lost my voice. What awful timing. My and I painting all the last minute masks and props and got into costume and makeup. Kim (our assistant director) and I decided that she would "dub" my voice for that nights show and hopefully I would get it back by the next day. The show went well, with only a few mess-ups. It was hard to move my mouth at the right time that Kim was speaking. She did a great job, after all she had never read the part before and didn't mess up once.

Day 6:
My voice began to come back, by the time of the first show on Saturday I was able to talk again my voice was just several octaves lower. I suppose it was perfect since my character was a guy. It was so nice to be able to actually say my lines again!

After the first show we all went to California Pizza Kitchen, which has become a tradition. We weren't aloud to take our make-up off between shows since it takes so long to put on, thus people who walked by us, most have thought we were part of the circus or something.
The Saturday night show was definitely the best out of the four. We had an amazing crowd and so much energy. backstage we were all running around like mad people.


Day 7:
Our final show. It went well, not the best, but still good! We were all exhausted, sleeping backstage until our scene. My had a fever and most people were coming down with colds. After the show we had to "strike the set" which is always a little sad and lots of work.

In all it was a fun experience, although lots of work. It was nice working with some talented actors like Julian who play Tartaglia. Although the play wasn't one I necessary wanted to do, I still really liked my part. Even though it was no where as big a production as Pippin, it was still stressful and a ton of work. I don't feel that anyone in the play was ever to keen on the play itself. And to be honest I think that's the difference between a good and amazing play. The love for the play.
All I can say is, I'm rather happy it is over. Yes I will miss it a bit, but not that much. It was fun, and I'll smile looking back at it.
I wonder what we'll do next year.

Pictures by Andrew Neuhart, Martina Turner and Ms. Meyer.