Continued Vloggery

(Twelve vlogs with a wet noodle? Hrm.) For those who can't get enough of amazing dance....



Outward with Pete to Ratatouille. Fun in the sun!

Mood: Mieux que l'autre jour, mieux depuis koosh
Music: Cass' Australian Buffy CD
Question: What does it mean that, in watching the Disney remake of Annie I got all teary-eyed again? Gosh darn it. The sun will come out tomorrow.
Singing: TOMORROW! TOMORROW! I love ya! Tomorrow! You're only a daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! (JAZZ HANDS! YEAH!)

For Diction's Sake

A few reference videos. The first is Beatrice/Benedick - the first squabble. Note their diction. The second two are references for those dancing Jess' contemporary routines. Notice the intent and force of each motion! (As well as what Jess is very cooly calling "Truth in Motion" - or is it Truth in Dance...?)







Mood: BLAUGH!
Music: Randominity
Thought: Autonomy. Donne-moi, maintenant!

Rehearsal rehearsal

So what have we learned thus far?

Multiple people calling out "Don Pedro is approaching" is far more funny than one person doing so

Don Pedro thinks he's a Southern Baptist Choir all in one

Mike as Don John is a really, really good sport...because when Ryans are finally allowed to hit someone, they enjoy it

Gayle as Hero taught us the joy of a slooooooooooooow burn

I can't wait for the reversible arm band-y thingies

"Ooooohs" and "Aaaaaaaahs" add so much to a scene!

It is possible to be off-book by day two: provided you're swordfighting at the same time

It is also possible for the directors to leave before 9:15 p.m. (yaaaaaay!)

To dance manly, you need straight arms

Sometimes, it's helpful to have a Father with a replica of an original Star Trek phaser

And, for Jess, the very quickly edited Brigadoon funeral dance



Mood: Busy busy
Music: "Run" by Snow Patrol
Thought: Forget Boston in the Fall...in the Spring it's gorgeous
AND! Midsummer Night's Dream is this year's Shakespeare on the Common. I am so there. Huzzah!

In response

To the captives of Massachusetts losing their constitutional right to vote, which bothers me even more (if possible) than that which we submitted ourselves to a tyranny for. Good to see someone still knows where babies come from!



Mood: Conflicted
Music: "Somewhere Only We Know"
Lyrics: This could be the end of everything/So why don't we go/Somewhere only we know." So.True.
Thought: Despite graces received earlier this morning...I don't want to go! Get me off this ride! (And no, I'm not talking Much Ado so, nyah.) Oh...God. Amen.

Psyched!

I don't know about everyone else, but personally, I'm psyched beyond words for tonight's audition and kick off of (drumroll) PLAY! Yippee! A summer of dress-up! (Extraordinary, non?)

And to that end, since it's always good to know what crazy galoots we're dealing with, allow me to point you towards your choreographer and assistant director's Jess Daigneault and Ryan Gonor respective video pages. Woot! And for those of you terrified of tonight, just look what you have to look forward to!



Mood: Anticipatory
Music: Keep Myself Awake by Black Lamb - yeah, I have my relaxing CD on
Lyrics: It's always cold/It's always day/You're always here/You always say/"I'm all right/I'll be OK/If I can keep my/Self awake."
Thought: Modern is good. Let no one speak otherwise. Boooo.

Auditions: Having Fun

Alina Saez, a handful of shows ago, came in early to auditions, went right up to the whiteboard, and wrote out helpful tips for auditions - the last of which is always, "Have Fun!"

There really is no better advice than that. A large part of feeling comfortable at an audition is to go in with a sense of "Let's just have some fun." It's then, when you're not looking at yourself and how you're doing and trying to gauge how you are against someone else (who may not even be a "rival" in the director's eye for you!), it's when you're focused on making the whole process enjoyable for all present that you often shine. (Rather like Matt and Maureen when they read for Ophelia and Hamlet...respectively.)

Why? Well, because all theatre is not based in examining how one is doing, but rather is engaged in "encountering the other." That means that you aren't trying to be "angry," but rather you're trying to "tease" or "crucify" or "command" another person. And if you, the actor, feel "angry," its because your acting partner was doing their job changing your emotions. Acting is like a game of catch. You don't catch the ball because it threw itself at you, you catch it - you adjust for it - because your partner threw it in such and such a way.

So, as y'all are preparing for auditions, come in to have fun. Come in to play with each other. We're all just kids again, and that's kind of nice, huh?

Mood: Sable Valentine-y. Huzzah!
Music: "Mary's Eyes" from the Merry Mix CD
Thought: Duck? What duck?
Edit Redux: Tee hee hee. Gacked from Jules

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Exalted Highness Duchess Emily the Erudite of Fishkill St Wednesday Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Edit Duck the Redux: Bwahahahhaha. It's funny because it's true. (Over 50 pages, 20K words of TSV!)

My Fortune Cookie told me: Take time today to pay more attention to your imaginary friends. Get a cookie from Miss Fortune

Slowly Updating

The old individual pages for shows. Currently available are pages for: The Passion Plays, Guys and Dolls, Seven Ages, and The Matchmaker, as well as Hamlet and Hamlet Videos! Check them out!

Oh, and don't forget that The Matchmaker DVD's are now available. E-mail for more information.

Mood: Bon
Music: "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)"
Thought: Which is apparently the time schedule I'm on.

As promised

Thoughts on Monologues in an Audition

When coming into an audition, particularly the ones upcoming for Shakespeare's Much Ado, about the only thing that the actor has control over is his monologue. Since he doesn't know who he will be reading scenes with, or what scenes, or what parts in which scenes - since, in fact, everything else is a variable, he tends to pin all his hopes upon his monologue, to the point that he tends to get unduly anxious over the monologue.

But what does the director look for in a good monologue? That would first depend on why the director elected to have a monologue section of an audition. For me, the following are reasons why I have a monologue component:

It serves as a warm-up for the actors. Frequently, actors come into an audition, whether their first or their fiftieth, so very nervous that they need something they know to calm them down enough to proceed with the rest of the audition.

It allows the director to see how serious, studious and self-motivating the actors is. If an actor comes in with the monologue fully memorized, having tackled some of the directing and character choices, the monologue is considered a success. Even if the actor's reading of the character is different from what the director has in mind, it shows the director that the actor is serious about tackling the bard.

It can indicate what character (or types of characters) the actor would do well with. For example: let's say an actress enters and reads Leonata's soliloquy - but delivers it in a humorous way that works for the actress, if not for the actual character. While the actress may not land Leonata, by showing off her comic chops, the director will know to audition her for the various other comic roles.

Very, very, very (can we stress how very) rarely does the monologue serve as one of the major deciding factors in casting a part. Because no actor acts alone, the monologue can only do so much. It's very rare that the monologue will so blow the director away that there is no more competition for a given part. (However, it does sometimes happen...so if you're an actor, go for it!)

But what if an actor really really wants a given part, and puts his soul into his monologue and his every opportunity to play the part in scenes and still doesn't get the part?

Well, to be heartless, thems the breaks. However, to be a bit more explanatory, sometimes an actor may do a really good job in a given part - but he may not see that he's doing a better job in another role. Or sometimes, his idea of the character while intriguing, simply doesn't fit into the overarching themes of the show. Or sometimes, his chemistry with another actor is so great, that the show will benefit more from pairing him in a different role with that other actor.



Bottom line: Don't freak if you don't get the role you want. You really have been cast in a role that is great for you!

More thoughts coming later! Good luck to everyone memorizing! Have fun and try out your monologue against someone else - show it off to family and to friends before coming in to the show! God bless, Miss Snyder

Mood: Dance-y
Music: "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne
Thought: Don't laugh! I'm trying to get together the CD for Much Ado.

Updated Gaudete Page!

CLICK HERE!!!

And these are just neat, too, taken from the updated page....

Mood: Industrious
Music: "Zoot Suit Riot"
Thought: TIME TIME TIME...!

We swears it precious

Tomorrow/today there will be a Much Ado thoughts post - particularly on the nature of monologues in auditions. But it is too much to write at such an unholy hour.

And so, instead, I post the very non-productive-for-anyone-else, but for-me-great-accomplishment renderings of (top) Giselle Pridieux and (bottom) what they all think the Sable Valentine looks like. Huzzah!


As always, you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

Mood: Anxious
Music: Randominity - white noise, residual "So You Think You Can Dance," and a little echo of the Merry Mix
Thought: Company is very good

I'd forgotten the joy of Ninja

Right, back to sorting the contents of my classroom which are currently the contents of our livingroom. And I have my piano and Hamlet poster! Life is good!



Mood: Creative. I have to clean, so of course I'm struck with creativity.
Music: Windchimes and fans
No really: That's my music right now. It's so zen....