Me and Zach (who plays Alex, my boyfriend) Corn in the background in Aida garb!Opening weekend is over! Shows on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday all went swimmingly, there were the minor complications but they're to be expected!
Thursday was a good show, full house, minor problems. I actually don't remember it too much... that's kind of sad. I didn't have anyone there for me so it wasn't a big hype. It was a big deal because it was my 'debut' though! I do remember the feeling distinctly when i bowed for the first time. It was very rewarding!
Friday my Aunt Mermie was there. We had a great day touring the campus and the show was good that night too. Not as sold out as Thursday cause everyone wants to go out on Friday nights but hey, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else!
Friday my Mom and Grandma and Aunt Rhonda and my roommate Ali were there, that was a great day! We went shopping in Polaris and Easton and then topped it off with the show. They weren't too jazzed at all the cursing and the electronic cigarettes, but I think they liked it otherwise. That was the night we had big tech problems. The show began and me and Zach have the first scene, so I'm trying to get into it and midway through the scene when I have to look up and see 'the moon' i realize that... the lights aren't how they usually are. And as the show continues... the lights don't change. When i finally exit the stage a few scenes later the stagemanager informs me that the cues were frozen and they couldn't fix it without restarting the system. So for about the first fourth of the show we only had one set of lights. (But at least we had them) They somehow got it to work and the show went on, I dont even think the audience noticed.
Sunday was sold out. A lot of people from the other show going on, Aida, were there because they didn't have rehearsal so it was cool seeing some familiar faces. Something interesting happened during this scene too! So as i've said before the seats are kind of in bleacher form, so you can walk under them and stand next to them and look up... We have one scene thats on the railing of one of them. So my knees basically touch an audience member. So as we're doing this scene, the spotlights on us and on those lucky members of the audience who just happen to be on the edge. Well. The dummy right in front of me thinks its a good idea to start TEXTING in the spotlight. When the show started we were told that since we were trying to be 'real' in this show, and since in between our scenes we became a member of the audience, if we caught someone texting we were to let them know to stop. Well Hannah, who plays Alex's mom (or my kind of mother in law) sees him texting, crawls over to him - in the spotlight, and grabs the phone from him. All during the scene. And i'm wondering why this guy is laughing right in front of me. What a dummy.
Hannah and me and Amber (helps with costumes!)We had Monday off which was nice but also kind of depressing. I didn't really know what to do with myself. Well, Corbin (who plays Cristopher.. Alex's little brother) is in a directing class and needed some actors to do a scene that he's directing so me and Taylor (who plays Paul.. Alex's friend) went to the theatre to work on that with him. At least my day wasn't totally acting free.
Corbin and IBut not all of the weekend was just fine and dandy. We got a not so favorable review which I regret to post.
Sigh.
No ones taking it to harshly and we're all having so much fun and learning so much along the way.
Its actually quite interesting how much each day is different. I can feel when a performance is good or bad. Audience reactions have a lot to do with it. The Theatre 100 classes are required to come see the shows, and most of them aren't too thrilled about attending. We don't get a lot of reactions from the audiences full of unwilling students but that raised another question.
Is it really the audience's fault for not reacting, or am I not allowing a reaction? We.. or I have been struggling with this idea for a while. I don't have many moments that are comical - the play itself is not comical in nature. But I want to make sure that the audience is receiving my emotional moments too - laughter is just the only one we can hear and acknowledge.
Its actually quite interesting how much each day is different. I can feel when a performance is good or bad. Audience reactions have a lot to do with it. The Theatre 100 classes are required to come see the shows, and most of them aren't too thrilled about attending. We don't get a lot of reactions from the audiences full of unwilling students but that raised another question.
Is it really the audience's fault for not reacting, or am I not allowing a reaction? We.. or I have been struggling with this idea for a while. I don't have many moments that are comical - the play itself is not comical in nature. But I want to make sure that the audience is receiving my emotional moments too - laughter is just the only one we can hear and acknowledge.
Tori (who plays Ellen - Grandma) and Myself.Needless to say I'm still so thrilled to be working on this. I haven't been this happy in so long. With just one day off I'm getting twinges of what its going to be like when the show is over, and I'm already getting depressed! I'm happy to have another show to look forward to but none with be quite like this.
Me and Allison (who plays Susan - pregnant lady!)
Stage Managers Eve and Sam prepared BLT's for the cast!I'm actually starting to have to consider working for this summer and next year already. I'm thinking about trying to teach or assist at a children's workshop for acting. I kept thinking about my grade school productions and how much I'd love to go back there and just revamp the whole program. Might be fun! If someone trusts me enough to teach their children. haha!
Four more to go, I couldn't be more excited to savor them all. More pictures to come, and I'm sure tons more stories too :)
Ahh, I loved this!
ReplyDeleteI think regarding the emotions, you're right, laughter is the only emotion from the audience that you can actually hear. However, I think as an actor you can definitely tell when your lines are making an impact, even when they're not serious lines. As an actor, though, I feel like the audience's reactions and feelings are felt through the actor themselves. The more intense feelings the audience feels, somehow, the more intense feelings the actor receives, and puts out even great acting and emotion into what they're saying.
I dunno, that's just how I feel. Basically, the audience and actor's emotions are linked, and depend on each other.
Weird? I dunno, but that's what I think. :3
I seriously wish I could seeeee thiiiisssss showwwww. D:! Ahh. I hope it's being recorded?
That's such a wonderful concept! I agree with you, and I think that's been my struggle. Getting to a place where I'm not only one with the actors around me - but one with the audience as well. Its a daunting task but I think I'm well on my way to achieving it!
ReplyDeleteAnd I wish you could too! Unfortunately everything such as the stage is under strict copyright and unless the University issues a video of some sort (which I was told they don't do) it would be illegal of me :( There is a teaser featuring Corbin who plays Alex's younger brother which I'll post later! You'll get to see a little of the stage and hear a line or two so that will be great!
I miss you! Thanks for offering your insights, I always love reading it :)
I have to say, I agree with Dondre. Whenever you walk into a theater you are entering into an agreement with the actors on stage or the audience. As an actor you're promising to take these people on this journey. And as an audience, you're promising to follow along....save for the ocsasional tool texting during a show.
ReplyDeleteSo you just have to trust that they are right there with you. I agree that there are times when you can feel the audience's energy. Especially when you play to different size houses. A small house for a zany screw-ball comedy sometimes works against you. But they're still there with you the whole way.
Just stay true to your words and what you're feeling and the rest really will follow.
It sounds like you're learning a lot and having an amazing time. Continue breaking those legs!