#evanplaza

[muhlenbergtheatredance]

A look back to a Sunday on La Grande Jatte

Hi Guys! Its Evan Plaza here to bring you another blog post from the Theatre and Dance Department! Last year (as crazy as that sounds), I was fortunate enough to work on the mainstage production of Sunday in the Park with George.  This musical follows George Seurat, an aspiring artist in France creating his well-known piece, A Sunday in the Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Besides myself, my friend Katie Fletcher, and both actors who played George and Dot, the whole show was double cast. This meant for each role, two actors had the opportunity to create and perform the roles they were assigned. One of the greatest things about being in this show was definitely being able to watch other actors interpret their characters.  Since I was not double cast, I was able to see these actors bring their characters to life, each bringing something different than their counterpart.  This added new discoveries to throughout the rehearsal process, and brought a lot of funny moments to the show.  Another great moment is when we moved into the Empie Theatre to start running the show.   Seeing all of the scenery, props, costumes, lighting and hearing the orchestra helped the show flourish.  I remember hearing all of the gasps and seeing all of the dropped jaws as we started our tech rehearsals.  

On another note, something that also made this experience wonderful was the show itself.  Sunday in the Park with George was created by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim.  I found the lyrics in this show to be so precisely placed that they all created such beautiful images when they were performed.  One could truly hear the emotions behind the songs.  Some that come to mind are “Beautiful” and “We Do Not Belong Together” where I found the passion in the lyrics.  Needless to say, I think Sondheim and Lapine knew how to transform their thoughts and ideas into beautiful works of art.  It was a great learning experience and I’m very honored I had the opportunity to be in it.  That’s all for now, see you next time!

[muhlenbergtheatredance]

Thanks to all

Hi guys, it’s Evan Plaza back at it again with another blog post!  So we have just closed our Mainstage Production of The Pirates of Penzance.  We have put on this show 8 times, from October 28th to November 6th.  I am not gonna lie, it seems weird to now have free time in my schedule again.  I felt like after we had closed the show, I was thinking about the next day when we had to go to call time tomorrow and get ready.  This show was my first Mainstage production, and I felt like I have learned so much from this experience.  I have learned what it is like to rehearse a show in a month and a half’s worth of time, and how valuable that time is to the production.  The rehearsal process is so special to any production because it is where the actors get to play and the show begins to mold itself together like a refined sculpture.  Having this time determines many things about a show: the tone, the flow, and can even define the overall message that the show is trying to portray.  During this process I also learned an essential skill that every actor, better yet, every person, should learn: how to be professional.  This show required an amount of time to put together, the time needed to explore and create art determines the success of the show.  Having said that, it is important to be punctual, and come prepared to create the art.  It is also important to be patient and to come with different ideas to the show; some choices might not fit with the director’s vision, or just don’t correlate with the characters in the show.  I am so grateful I got the opportunity to work on this production alongside a loving and supporting cast.  That’s all for now, I’ll see you next time!

[muhlenbergtheatredance]

Make ‘Em Laugh

Ahoy!,

This is Evan Plaza! I’m a sophomore business and theatre double major with concentrations in acting and marketing. I’m making my Mainstage debut in our production of Pirates of Penzance as a Pirate ensemble member. Since I have not been in a Mainstage before, this has been an eye-opening experience for me.  I have come to enjoy being able to perform alongside such talented people, some being my close friends. While being in rehearsals for a Mainstage, I have realized that there needs to be a level of time commitment in order to deliver a thrilling performance.  I always love watching my fellow cast members deliver hilarious yet outstanding numbers at rehearsal.  I’ve always found the process to be the greatest thing about being in a production, because it’s where an actor really gets to experiment with the play.  I think that this show will make people laugh out loud because of the hilarious choices that the actors in this production have made.  Every time we run the show I always find something new to laugh at.  We have been in tech now for a while, and it makes me even more excited to be a part of this show and to open it very soon as well!  We are beginning to run the show with our different sets and our costumes.  I audibly gasped the first time I saw the sets for our show.  Yesterday we began running the show in our costumes, and everybody looks amazing in them!  Today we begin rehearsing with our orchestra, and I can’t wait.  I will be posting about my other great things happening in the show in the near future, so stay tuned and make sure to buy a ticket!