Theatre Student Hell

I'm an 18 year old theatre student and this is how I do things

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The lovely Martha of Virginia Woolf :)

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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf- A WIP

I was just taken on as stage manager for the RAT’S showing of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf! I can’t believe how absolutely beautiful the script is. I think my favorite character is Nick, but the most interesting character is definitely Honey. The fact that she recognized the incantation of Death and joined George in speaking it shows that she really isn’t just an idiot that followed Nick there and forced him into marriage. 

Expect a full blog entry on my opinions of Honey as a character, because I could write 20 pages on her to be honest. 

I’m working as stage manager under direction of Shane Brown, who is also my professor at the college, and Tom Somethingorother, who I have a date with soon. So. That may be a conflict of interest, but I can accept that. 

Show week is exactly one week from today, next Wednesday the 16th we open. 

Eep. I think the actors are getting there, they just need polishing. It’s always a risk when you bring in an unexperienced actor into a heavy play like Virginia Woolf. 

I have faith. 

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Cinderella (High School)

I put that it was at the high school because I also directed Cinderella in my children’s camp. That will be explained later. I was the wicked step mother! Mwahaha! 

Unfortunately, however, there are no pictures from this show. If I ever find some, I will be sure to let you know. 

Let me just say that my wig was two feet tall. 

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John Lennon And Me

This show is quite possibly the most important show I have ever done, and will ever do. I was cast as Star, the lead character, who is only off stage for 30 seconds of the entire play. 

This was the most important show to me because I went beyond learning lines and doing that onstage- I started characterizing. I started theorizing. The story behind Star is that she wants to be a big actress, like her mother, but she has cystic fibrosis and will likely die in the next five years. 

Pretty heavy stuff. But I was 17 now. I could handle it. I researched like a mad man. 

What does a cystic fibrosis cough sound like compared to a regular cough? 

Where was she being hit when she went to therapy? 

What happened to her when she got really sick? 

I had an entire notebook filled with things that Star would say, Star would think. I became almost obsessed with the character. 

It was the first time a show had ever revolved directly around me. Now, usually, I would have been scared. This time, I was determined. I was going to nail this part. 

And, in my personal opinion, I absolutely did. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. But whenever I think of Star, I think of how much I need this. How I live for theatre. How I breathe for it. 

It’s my life. And if Cystic Fibrosis couldn’t stand in Star’s way, nothing is going to stand in mine. 

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Fools

Fools! On of my FAVORITE shows I’ve done thus far. It was so funny, everyone fit their casting perfectly, and I got to make fun of Drake the whole time. Just a great show. 

Here I am, short hair is still happening. Don’t worry, it doesn’t go away for a while. I was playing Lenya Zubritski , the wife of the doctor and mother of... What was her name again...? 

Sassy face. 

This was my first experience with a two story set! It was terrifying, amazing, and super fun all at the same time. 

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1984

Baby’s first stage kiss :) 

I was cast as Julia, lead female and number one flat character. She had no purpose other than to have sex with Winston. I tried to do what I could with the horrible script adaptation. 

Red sash is me. I know, I’m short, my hair is short. The guy in the background, in the black? That’s my little brother! And the guy I’m standing next to, Winston, was my actual boyfriend at the time. Talk about romantic tension! 

HERES a good acting action shot of me! In Julia’s world, guns are pointed at you fairly often, so you don’t really panic. You just brace and hope for the best. 

My mother was not happy that I didn’t tell her that I was going to have a gun to my head. Oops. 

There’s me, as Julia, with my weird and annoying glasses. And there’s Hayden, as Winston, with  his weird and annoying glasses. Weren’t we a couple. 

Yikes, look at that red hair. 

That terrifying projection? Yours truly. 

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Snoopy

Snoopy! The knockoff version (or ‘sequel’ as Nordstrom preferred) of You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. I was cast as Sally Brown, younger and more adorable sister of Charlie Brown. My best friend Pk was Snoopy. :) 

See the girl in the corner, next to the blue box? Giant pink bow? Yup. That’s this kid. Loved that freakin’ costume. 

I think it was around this point where I started to understand stage presence- how to demand attention when it is your turn. I remember feeling awkward, thinking all of my motions were too big, but that Nordstrom said I was doing something right. It was during this show that I realized there was a lot more to theatre than just learning lines. 

Funny story- See the blocks everyone is sitting on? And how mine seems a little shorter than everyone else’s? Yeah, I couldn’t climb onto it without having to step and climb with my arms, so Nordstrom decided it would be cute to have mine be a few inches shorter. I have to admit, it was pretty adorable. 

1. Check out how cute my nose slope is. It’s probably my favorite thing about me. Anyway, this was the coat hanger sculpture monologue, and I have to admit, having me build the damn thing was a good idea because it made me angry so I was seriously annoyed when in the show it got a ‘bad grade’. 

This is the cutest shot of that dance, FYI. 

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The Crucible

If anything knocked me off of my high horse and deflated my head, it was Arthur Miller. And it was a good thing it happened then, because if I had let it gone on any longer I probably would have quit and become a secretary or a politician. Ew. 

Although I was disappointed to not be cast as Abigail, I understood the casting. I needed to step back and let someone share the spotlight, and Mary Warren is NOT a bad character to have on your resume ;) 

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of my costume. Bummer. Trust me, I was Mary Warren. 

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STATE THEATRE 2012 YEAH

Alright. I have to admit. This is when I started getting a big head, even though it was totally unwarranted because everyone else did all the work and I just did two things and got to go. Let me explain. (I’m the one on the right, by the way. With the tear.) 

In Idaho (and presumably everywhere else), there are district theatre competitions, and whomever wins those goes on to be in state theatre! NO underclassmen from our school had ever gone. Ever. I was a sophomore at this point, and I was bound and determined. My pantomime piece was going. 

AND DAMMIT WE DID! 

Aw, look, fetus me with acne, a trophy, and a fedora. I think that was Jason’s, but I can never be sure. 

Anyway, so that was the coolest thing ever, and state was even cooler! 

The whole team! And yes, now I’m sure it was either Jason or Tristan’s fedora. Look at me hogging the spotlight. This picture is still my director’s facebook cover photo. I don’t blame him, we are pretty awesome. 

So two weeks later, state rolls around. 

Look at our faces! And yes, all credit goes to these two senior ladies. I’m the one in the middle, they really did all the work. I love them! <3 

The whole gang! 

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Suessical

Ah, yes, Suessical the Musical, my second production and first lead role! I was cast as Jojo the who, firstly because I am 4″11, secondly because I was one of the few singers in our school who could actually sing decently. This show solidified it- I was going to do something theatre related, no matter the cost. That was a bit dramatic, yes, but I am a bit dramatic. :) 

See the girl in the Auburn shirt and no shoes? That’s me. This is also the day that I learned that working onstage without shoes while things are still being built is a no-no. What can I say, I was 14. 

What’s any show without a spine as strong as an ox? From left to right, this is Karl Nordstrom (my director and theatre teacher and all around swell guy), Julie Fox-Valenzuela (Our choreographer and personal ‘chill out caroline’ human), and Janis Walton (singing instructor and member of the Walton dynasty). 

Observations- 1. I am very short. 2. PLEASE YOUNG ACTORS- WEAR SHOES ONSTAGE. If I was in this show now with past me, I would be getting fed up with her. But that framing tho. 

Ah yes, that yellow shirt, my worst enemy. With converse! I had no clue what character shoes were at this time, nor did i know how to stay in the light. Drake (the guy next to me) kept grabbing my shoulder and pulling me back, pretending it was part of the scene, but it was really to keep me from wandering into the darkness... Thanks bud. :) 

And that was Suessical the Musical- first musical, first lead role, first time ever dancing, first time being lifted, and first time dating the man playing my dad! Ah, how the theatre throws us for a loop. 

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The Big Day

My first theatre production ever. I was so nervous, I almost didn’t even audition. I was bound and determined to be a band geek and only a band geek, but then two of my only friends auditioned. I figured it would be a good place to make new friends, as I had just moved across the country, so I went for it. This is me, acting as Pheobe Bardello. 

Yup. Red haired girl is me. I played an 8 year old, which is still the same general age group I play now. I had no clue how acting worked, but NO, that paper is NOT my script! :) If I try really hard I can still remember that monologue.