Eve By the Sea

We just completed Music History block at school and for our "final" we all had to do a project that has something to do with music. When trying to come up with a project I thought back to when my dad and I would play this game in the car where we'd listen to a song on the radio and say the "scene" or "image" that came to mind. So I thought to myself, why not do this with photography? Take a song, find an "image" and then photograph it. I decided to use "Clair de Lune" by Claude Debussy. It is one of my favorites! After about two weeks of planning, I got together with My, woke up at 6 am and headed to the beach! All the photos are self portraits meaning I took them myself using a remote and the help of My. Here are some of the best from the shoot!

Model-Me
Photos-Me
Make-up-My
Styling-My

The Great Race

There are some movies that I remember watching over and over when I was younger. When we're little we never seem to get bored of a story, or film, we like. The Great Race was one of those movies. I remember Ventana and I loved the film and would watch it over and over during the summer. About a month ago I thought to myself "What ever happened to that film?" so I went on Netflix and soon it was at my door. Now I only remembered three things about this movie: 1. It was about a car race. 2. Jack Lemon was in it. 3. There was a pie fight. The Great Race tells the story of two competitors: Doctor Fate and the Great Leslie who decide to have a race from New York to Paris. They are joined by Ms. Dubois, a women's rites activist who believes she can win the race, and mayhem ensues along the way. I quite enjoyed the film. It's not what you might call "a great film" but it is entertaining and good fun. It felt rather like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bed-knobs and Broomsticks and even Start the Revolution Without Me. The film took place at some really pretty locations. There is a castle that I simple adore. It's always fun to go back and re-watch your favorite childhood films.

West Side Story

Greg recently got West Side Story through Netflix after I mentioned Corby (our director) was asking what our favorite musicals were. I really didn't know anything about West Side Story except the song "Tonight", that Natalie Wood was in it, and that it was a loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. So I had a fairly clean slate before watching it which I always think is good when seeing a movie you've never seen before. West Side Story is about two enemy gangs, the Sharks and the Jets, living in New York City. With the families of these gangs, Maria (in the Sharks family) and Tony (in the Jet gang) fall in love. I actually enjoyed it a good deal. There are so many good songs in it. Everyone was good in it as well, although it did have a bit of that "older film acting style" that is different to me, because I'm used to films nowadays. It was rather sad to me that neither Maria (Natalie Wood) or Tony (Richard Beymer) didn't sing their own songs, but were dubbed over. I will say that the dubbing was really well done for it never felt like someone else was singing.
One trouble I had with the film, is that because I knew it was the story of Romeo and Juliet, I knew what was coming, which spoiled a bit of the fun. The film is an example of how I feel that old musicals are better than newer ones. In all it was very enjoyable and I recommend it if you haven't already seen it.

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.

Into the Wild

There are a number of things that make a film a good one. The story, the soundtrack, if it is "beautiful" to look at and most of all, it has to have great acting in it. The film Into the Wild has all of those things and more. Into the Wild tells the true story of Chris McCandless who leaves behind his old wealthy life and parents to have an adventure in nature. He breaks away from everything to be with himself and experience the type of adventures we all dream of. It is a story about finding oneself and in a way finding out what life is all about. I though Sean Penn, the director, did a fantastic job. The film looked so wonderful and felt so real that I found myself believing I was there watching the events. Some of the shots were utterly gorgeous, they felt like the most amazing photographs come to life. The soundtrack was also very lovely. It was so calm and yet had a life and energy that really fit the story. It didn't over power, merely assist, which is what a soundtrack is supposed to do. I thought the acting was phenomenal. Jena Melone would played Chis's sister was great as always. She has such a sad wisdom in her voice that seems as though she has seen much of life, which was perfect for her character. I love seeing how William Hurt, Chris's father, whom I always see as softer characters had this hard strict edge. I felt as if he was a completely different person which means as an actor he was doing his job. Hal Holbrook was good as well for he was so natural. He had an odd wisdom to him that made me curious about the character. Emile Hirsh was so amazing to watch. He was really inspiring for me as an actress because I never felt I was watching an actor, only that I was watching Chris McCandless. He was so likable and relatable that you could understand why this character did what he did. It was a hard part to play and Emile played it perfectly. His performance makes me want to act and try things and push myself. There are many great performances, but not many actually inspire me to act.
In all I really loved this film for it was amazing in every aspect. Everything was there, and yet it didn't feel consisted like film often can. It felt as though everyone who was a part of it really cared about it and was humble at the same time. If you haven't seen Into the Wild, I highly recommend it. Although the year just started, it is definitely one of my favorite films I've seen this year.

Memories of 2009

It seems like just yesterday I was sitting at my desk writing last years end of the year post. This year has speed by and yet was also rather long. I can't say it was the best year, but it wasn't the worst either. I've decided that instead of going into a long summary of the year, I'll merely mention the things I really enjoyed. This way, I can look back and remember the good and forget the not so good.
I suppose the year began, in a way, with the performance of Pippin. It was such a grand experience to be a part of, and it changed the way I see musicals. Before Pippin, I hated musicals and didn't want to be a part of one, and after I was craving for more. It is very different from normal theater and I'm not saying I like it more. I suppose it is a build up of nerves, a bigger inhale before stepping out onto the stage and a bigger round of applause when the certain falls. I learned a lot doing that play.
The daddy daughter dance was fun as always, I'm so happy its almost here once again! And prom was fun as well, although I'm still not sure whether it is my cup of tea or not. I suppose I have two more years to find out.
And with that, the school year came to its close. With promises of laughter and seeing each other once again we were launched into glorious summer vacation. In my case, that meant climbing aboard a plane to Ecuador. That was one of those trips that while you're there you often miss home and the little things we take advantage of here, but at the same realize what a wonderful time you're having. For example, staying in the amazon was amazing. I don't think I'll ever forget that even with all the troubles we encountered. It was so amazing to be around such a source of green and vitality. It makes you feel more alive. After all it is considered to be the lungs of the planet, so I suppose its natural to feel so wonderful there. People talk about how there can be no good without bad, this trip was a perfect example. It was great at some times and not so much at others. One thing I must say, the food was very very good. The potato soup, wow.
Once we returned, it was off to Comic Con. Those three days contained some of my favorite moments of this year. Being there with friends like My and Mary was such a blast! I can't imagine having more fun then I had with those two. Meeting the writers of Lost and getting to go to the Lost panel are two memories I will cherish forever. I'm not kidding, seeing that panel was utterly unbelievable. In fact it was definitely one of my top three things of 2009. It may sound weird to feel this way about a TV series, but I suppose its more than that. It's about being part of the world that is Lost, because for anyone who really loves Lost, that was history. Yes, it may just be an hour long talk, but it was the last of its kind. There will never ever be a Lost panel again, and although I may be totally obsessed My, who has never watched the show, will tell you it was pretty fun to be a part of.
Two Gentlemen of Verona was an interesting and educational experience. I got a leading girl in a Shakespeare play which hasn't happened since second grade. I got to play alongside Ventana in a role that I think related a lot to me at the time I was playing it. Although I wasn't always super happy, I think it was a great experience. I can't wait for next summer to do it all over again.
I set an odd record this year for longest postponement of a birthday party. My birthday is the end of January and I finally had a party in August, more than six months later. I don't know what that says about me, but it definitely says something.
School began again, bringing the perks of eleventh grade, a new play and the Catalina trip. I won't go into the trip to much, but I will say that snorkeling in the kelp forests was such an awesome experience. I had such a blast and it was so breathtaking in that world beneath the waves.
The rest of the year had flown by in a flurry of play rehearsals, German exams and weird revelations. I've also been taking a ton of pictures and discovered just how much I love photography, I've improved so much since last year. I hope the same is true for 2010.

Throughout this year I've had friendships disappear completely, new ones arise, tears and tantrums, a new love of singing, several shocks and inspiration from a source I would never have expected. It's been quite a ride and I find myself hoping for a little bit of a break, but alas breaks never come when you could use them.
And I suppose with that it is time to wish a fond farewell to 2009. I suppose that is why I've never liked New Years, because of saying goodbye and knowing that it'll never be here again. I'll look back at this year and smile as well I breath a sigh of relief knowing that its over. Its been a year to grow and learn and I believe next year will be as well. I think this year has shown me that I need to take chances and not do what I always do and hide away from them. And with that, I bid you adieu 2009.

Bonjour 2010!