Cue to Cue to Cue to Cue

Tickets for my family!

So here's something I've never done before! Cue. To cue. Okay so maybe I've done in on a much smaller scale, but this right here. This is legit.

Basically what my last three rehearsals have consisted of has been starting a scene, saying a few lines, getting a hold, going back to that spot, entering again, saying your lines, getting a hold, either doing it again, or skipping to the ending transition. This is all while the lighting people and the sound people get their cues down.

And I'm actually enjoying it a lot! Lights have always been the icing on the cake for me. Once you are doing your scene with lights on you, it brings some sort of magic into it. I know its cheesy but I kinda get emotional about it! Like my passion for the art is brought out under the lights.

It is astounding how absolutely beautiful these lights are. They compliment the stage so well and bring out almost a fairy tale like color in all of the scenes. Its really making our good play turn into something great.

So, SIX DAYS until opening! SIX DAYS We have all of our props, and I believe our costumes start today. Wow. What an addition that will be. We're finally going through a real, live run of the show.

Oh! And we started playing with the electronic cigarettes. So fun and interesting! Granted, it tastes like crap - its pretty legit. The smoke is so realistic. Just as long as i don't try to smoke it the wrong way or ACTUALLY light it on fire when i'm 'pretending' to light it. We'll be good. This is a pretty fail proof play. haha.

MY FIRST PERFORMANCE AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY IS SO CLOSE!

Crew Watch... out!

My dorm room door! - every single thing about my shows ha.

'On The Shore of the Wide World' opens in 12 days! Unbelievable!

Last Friday began our official turn into almost tech week / basically tech week status. It was crew watch! 'Crew watch' was a new concept for me. I'm used to actors rehearsing until tech week and then lights and other crew people coming in a few days before we open to just throw in some lights while we're rehearsing one day. So Friday, the entire crew of OTS sat in our our rehearsal, just to watch the show. All costumes, lights, sound, vocal coach... anyone who's involved with the show got to see it all the way through before starting any work. Fantastic. Plus, an added bonus to basically have a small audience to bump up the energy in the room.

Sunday (Not Saturday, because Ohio State had a football game on Saturday... so of course the rest of the campus stops all other activities) we were in a classroom, away from the beloved stage because of all the light work that needed to be done. How strange - lights getting done BEFORE tech week and WITHOUT the actors present! How.. professional. I got to rehearsal an hour early to participate in an optional warm up lead by the lovely Allison, playing 'Susan' in OTS. I was a little late, so I didn't get to completely indulge, but my goodness. She knows how to make you relax! Its so nice to know that there are legitimate warmups for actors with the body andddd the voice. Voice isn't just for singers! Quite a lovely learning experience and something I will certainly keep in my bag of tricks.

But Sunday was a good rehearsal. We have started perfecting the 'transitions' of scenes which we started the other day. Its such an interesting concept. At the very end of one scene, (most scenes only consist of two characters) each character says a line. Then the next scene says two of their lines, and they alternate until the first scene is done and by that time the other scene has already got started! It is the perfect addition to this play especially because the mood is so deep and kind of depressing. It gives a nice movement and flow to the show and definitely will keep the audience's attention high!

To make Sunday even better - my director surprised us all by having written HAIKU's about every character in the show! It was incredible, she's such a lovely lady. She read each of them, and we had to guess which character they were about. Here is mine

"Damaged by parents. Searching for a better tribe. Trusting the tight rope."

I just keep on learning so much every day. I've never actually filled up a notebook with work from a show, and doing it for this one is a great feeling. My momentum is at full force! 12 more days until we step off the shore!

What an awakening!

WOW a lot has happened!

So, i auditioned for winter quarter on Saturday morning. I was auditioning for Spring's Awakening (the drama) and Midsummer Night's Dream. I did a monologue from The Misunderstanding by Albert Camus. Which is apparently pronounced Alber Camu - and i was like 'yeah its a monologue by ALBERT CAYMUS. The director corrected me at the end of my monologue. So embarrassing. But heres the results!

Wooo! I was thrilled. Speechless. And terrified. I wanted to be in Spring Awakening so bad, and I got called back for one thing. I was going to have to kill it. I biked to the Drake and picked up my sides which were conveniently taped to the door outside for easy pickup.

The first callbacks were for midsummer. I read for alot of things, but mostly puck. The concept for the show is in collaboration with The Royal Shakespeare Company. The graduates are doing a production of Othello with them. A handful of schoolteachers went to study with the company, and the purpose of Midsummer was to tour to those gradeschools and spread the content with younger children. That was from 3 - 6.

At 7:30 was Spring's Awakening callbacks. I was dying. I had sides for the 'beating' scene with Melchoir and a scene with Thea and Martha. These callbacks were different then I've ever done, they terrified me. The director Jimmy paired us off with scene partners. We had one shot. he wouldnt call you back in, even if he liked you. So he never called back in the people he was going to cast to see how they worked together. No one had any idea how it was going to turn out. And the scenes were LONG, so callbacks went forever. I was so scared. I wanted it so bad.

So, the moment you've all been waiting for. Heres how it turned out.

I don't know if you can see my name that well but I'M WENDLA! What a dream! This is the biggest role I've ever gotten. I'm thrilled! Such a beautiful, dramatic role. I have yet to read the script, I'm picking it up tomorrow. But my goodness, a lead. Already. Winter quarter, freshman year. Wendla. Once I take this all in I'll be able to write more, but I can't even process it. Not to mention were not even at tech week yet for On The Shore - I'm still Sarah! So shes got my focus right now.

Speaking of On The Shore, we're moving along swimmingly! Everyone is offbook - we had the most painful rehearsal on Saturday. We read through the script 3 times. Just read it. With the scripts in our hands, even though were off book. We need to have the words down perfectly, so it was painful. But other then that everything is AWESOME. The floor is painted like an earth. Were setting around little nick nacks like books and bottles to decorate the mismatched stage. I can hardly describe it, and I would post a picture but apparently the set is under a copyright so I cant! So, we've got a few weeks left but we could probably go on tomorrow if we needed to. We have this stuff mostly down :)

We actually started this new idea of overlapping scenes. So for the last like 10-20 seconds of a scene, the other scene starts. So two sets of lines are going on at once. Two scenes, one stage. Even if the same character is in both scenes. Its insane, but AWESOME. It makes the play move along so quickly with so much fluency to it. Really awesome move.

I have my costume fitting on Thursday - can't wait to see it! God theres so much I could go on about but thats enough for now. WHAAAAAA

BTW - I did not get cast in Midsummers, but It was all okay! I'm so happy with what I was given!

My life is awesome. I'm Wendla. I'm Wendla.

"Mahnchestah Is a Luvely Ci'y"

(Me and Zach who plays Alex my boyfriend)

I believe we're about a week and a half into production of 'On The Shore' now and we're farther then I have ever seen at this point. The entire script analyzed, completely blocked, and everyone off book.

This show has introduced to me something called 'Table Work'. Instead of jumping right into blocking after the read through, there is another step involved. Our little cast gathered around the stage and painstakingly, cut, read, and analyzed every scene individually. We found symbolism in everything from counting stars to brushing teeth to tuna. I gained so much insight into who my character was, why she does what she does... it made me wonder how I even could act before without knowing who I was. Needless to say, having this kind of knowledge toward the show is going to bring it up a whole new level. I not only learned about the play itself in this time, but how to think and analyze and put that knowledge into action. This is what acting is about.

After that the blocking began. The most painless and enjoyable blocking I've ever had to do. "Here's your area. Now do the scene." - This is how you know you're moving up in the world and being trusted for you abilities. This sets apart the "I can act when you tell me exactly how to" from the "I can act because I AM an actress". Seeing how people take that liberty and make it into their character is another great learning experience. Aside from that - being so engulfed in your character that YOU get to choose the blocking that THEY would do adds a lot of depth. The show is molding into a complete masterpiece already, and its only a little over a week in.

So now that everyone is off book we're moving into individual scene work. Everyone has been given call times individually and given about a half hour to work on their scene. This starts tomorrow.

My character has quite a few piercings. Lip, Eyebrow, and all over the ear. I've been wearing a lip piercing to get used to the mannerisms and how to talk with it in. I went on Thursday to get 2 piercings in my helix (cartilage). Its going to be a nice way to remember this show for the rest of my life!

The accent is also quite an interesting learning experience as well. I would like to say that I've just about mastered the Manchester dialect - my only problem is that I sound too pretty. I sound like a proper english lady and my character obviously is not. So, I have to work on... relaxing my jaw. Using my lips more then my teeth. I need to be a dirty english girl from Manchester damnit! Haha.

Still, learning so so so much every day. Believe it or not, auditions for Winter quarter are on the 16th already. Like a month before On The Shore even goes up! So I have to memorize my monologue for that too now. I'll be auditioning for Spring's Awakening (the drama) and Midsummer Nights Dream WHICH will be working with THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY. I won't get into the importance of that until after the whole audition process haha.

So basically. I'm in love.

New & Exciting Shores!

I got the part. I got the part of Sarah Black in On The Shore of the Wide World. Who in the world would have thought, freshman year, autumn quarter, i would step up and defy the odds this way. The list went up yesterday. I swear I talked and screamed to myself all the way throughout my bike ride home. Im ecstatic!

First of all, lets cover callbacks. I got there a little early, and its a good thing I did because people had picked up their scripts (or 'sides' as they called them - ive never heard that term before) a day in advance, I was just receiving mine then. I'm a total noob, and it was showing. They called us in, talked a little about the show, and we began. There were four girls going out for Sarah. I read for the first scene twice. I was called back in for a second scene. The third scene, they called me in along with two other characters. They rotated one of the other characters out about 4 times, but I stayed. We left, and we waited. Callbacks - majorly uneventful except for meeting a few people, getting an adrenaline rush, and then knowing I had to wait.

Callbacks for 'The Fair Maid of the Exchange' went very well also, although I did not get a part in that. The concept of the show ended up being very interesting and I would have liked to be a part of it. I'm almost positive it was the project of two graduate students. They described the show as a long shakespearian type script. But the scripts were very odd. Say two people were having a conversation. Well I would be given a script with all of my lines, and only the last few words of the person in front of me's line. So I basically have no idea what the other person is saying, and I have to make inferences about the scene from only my lines. Apparently this was used in Shakespeare's day, and they wanted to replicate it. Very cool. Also, they were following a shakespearian rehearsal schedule which means four rehearsals, then a performance. Thats a lot of work. Also involved was cross dressing, no lighting (as in... the audience has the same light as the stage), no fourth wall, and most likely cue cards. It would have been a very interesting experience and I would have learned from it a lot, but I don't think that it would have been possible for me to do two shows and thats why I didn't get it! Okay! So!

Tonight was the read through for On The Shore. Not only was it a read through, but at the shows here all of the technical staff gives presentations. The first guy to speak worked with the actual playwright himself when he was writing the script AT THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. He had original playbills, scripts, the whole thing. Pretty cool. The set. My god the set. It is going to be incredible! The Theres set designer got up to speak prepared with a powerpoint and one of those 3D objects that architects make of houses before their built.going to be windows coming from the ceiling and the wall going out into the audience... The floor is going to be painted like an earth. Really, I can't wait to take pictures. The costumes are very natural and modern. My character has eyebrow and lip piercings with a possible tattoo - I was described as 'the girl you do not want to take home to your mother'. The lights were researched very in depth and are going to be... hmm how do i describe it. They said - expanding and coming back in. Like at one point the whole room will be lit up and characters will be able to expand their stage into the audience. So the fourth wall is a little down in this play too. Like in one scene I'm in a taxi, lights will be flying by, flashing, they are really going to be amazing. Wow, I'm going on and on now but I'm just so impressed. I guess I didn't have very high expectations of plays beyond Notre Dame. For a team to surpass my expectations like that is not only completely surprising but EXCITING! I am thrilled to be moving a step up and actually for the first time in a long time learning something NEW.

The play itself is extremely deep and intricate and there's soooo much to learn just in that. Already I'm falling in love with my character. The cast seems to have a ton of talent and I'm so excited to bring it to the stage. I can't wait to record my progress and share the new things I learn because I know there is so much to come with this one!

Plus i get 3 free credit hours. WOOOO.

Thats my name alright.

^ I got called back for Sarah!

^ I got called back for this one too!

O-hi-lastminuteauditions.

(The Oval)

And thus, with the closing weekend of Cinderella, my performance motivation came to a halt and up until now have I had the opportunity to take up anything else of theatrical interest. But I'm finally here THE Ohio State University and I'm having a blast! I moved in on Sunday and everything has just been a whirlwind until about now. I'm finally settling in, classes started on Wednesday and it finally feels like home.

The other day was a huge event called 'The Involvement Fair' where almost all of Ohio State's 1,000 student run organizations set up a table on 'The Oval' (A large patch of land with criss-crossy sidewalks thats in the middle of campus). Immediately I headed towards the lane that contained the performance clubs! Two which really stood out were OUT (Ohio Union Television) and Off The Lake. OUT is an organization which works on the three parts of creating filming/broadcasting, content, production, and talent. They need talent? Sign me up! Its been a goal of mine to expand my horizon to film and television. The video clips created by this club are mostly blurbs about what is happening around campus, and they play in the Student Union on many of the televisions. Exposure, Experience, and Involvement! It sounded great to me. Even better is the club called Off The Lake. The University itself can only put on so many shows a quarter, so this club puts on a few more musicals that are more student run. They don't start until January, but any more opportunities to get me into a show is exactly what I'm looking for!

And then for the actual University productions. This year they are putting on a musical called Aida, and their main drama is called 'On The Shore Of the Wide World'. In the midst of this whirlwind of a week, I checked on the theatre website to see when auditions would be held. Well, this was Wednesday, and auditions were Thursday. No monologue prepared, no sheet music in sight. Luckily, in anticipation of a surprise audition I had a few monologue books handy and had lightly skimmed a monologue I thought would be good for any type of show. I picked a modern version of a monologue from Antigone because I felt like it got deep into a powerful and demanding character. I locked myself in the basement, and I read, and i read, and i memorized, and i yelled, and i got it done.

Auditions were last night. My appointment was at 8:18. Two hours ahead of time I'm practically pacing the halls, not knowing what to do with myself. I had the monologue down, my hair was done, i was dressed, and I just wanted to go. I decided to go about a half an hour early, and I was lucky I did because they were running ahead of schedule and I seemed punctual! I signed in with the stage manager, they took my picture, and I waited. Walking into the audition room was unlike any other audition I've ever encountered. There was a small stage with seats that resembled bleachers instead of a small incline that go far back. There was a woman on paino on stage for people auditioning for Aida, and there was about 20 people in the audience watching. I stated my name, my piece, and I waited for a nod to begin which never really came so I begun. First line, mess up, second line, worse. Ok Mackenzi, get in the zone. The third and fourth lines shakily took me there and by the sixth I was Antigone. I left that theatre and I was so engulfed in that performance that I couldn't see the lights, the walls, the people staring at me. I finished powerfully, thanked them, and left that room with so much adrenaline I could have screamed. I could have swore I heard a woman say under her breath 'that was great'. I'll never know but I'm sticking too it!

That was hands down the most invigorating and powerful audition I've ever had. I was so proud of myself, I thought I did great. (Which is going to kind of suck if I don't get a callback). The list is posted tonight at 11:00. I can't wait. I will be disappointed if I didn't get something, but I know I did my best. Next time I'll take a week to prepare at least!

And so begins my theatrical reign at The Ohio State University. Lets hope I got it right.