It's 2:03 am. I have class at 8am. I still need to finish a paper, and yet i am here blogging.
how stupid am I?
I can't be that stupid, I'm in COLLEGE for crying out loud.
By the way, this show is ruling my life right now:
Oh yeah. I drew that. I figured it was better to use red construction paper than waste all that red ink. Plus, the logo's really just a bunch of lines anyway.
-Leah
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theatre. Show all posts
Procrastination...
i'm tired...
of hearing about headshots, monologues and songs.
and not having any days to sleep in.
-Leah
Crumbs! Bottom of the Barrel! UGH!
I HATE REGISTERING FOR FRIKKIN CLASSES.
My window is always the last one so I NEVER get to take the classes I want to.
Music theatre 1: FULL
Ballet Workshop: FULL
Jazz Workshop: FULL
Chicano/Latino Studies 62: FULL
Drama 35(voice): FULL.
And the worst part is I missed Chicano/Latino Studies BY A HALF AN HOUR. THREE FRIKKIN PEOPLE, MAN! it's a GIGANTIC LECTURE HALL!!! Whose going to notice if I'm there or not? ESPECIALLY IF half the people signed up don't show!
AHHHH!!!
I am FRUSTRATED.
My window better be earlier next quarter, or else.
-Leah
Public Enemy Number Thirteen OR How I Spent My First Seven Weeks At UCI
This is the performance review I wrote for Drama 30A. If you're in the cast of Anything Goes and you're reading this, please don't get upset. haha. I'm just doing my job as a student.
Being a production assistant on Anything Goes makes the task of writing this essay incredibly difficult as I have seen the process of bringing the play to the stage from the open dance call, to the first table read to the closing performance. I watched as the actors transformed into their characters physically, vocally and emotionally. Michael Doonan’s portrayal of gangster Moonface Martin in Anything Goes displayed the most growth from the beginning of the rehearsal process resulting in a strong comedic performance due to his emotional investment in the character despite a lack of preparation at the outset.
I’ve been told that many people were surprised by Doonan’s turn as Moonface, as he has been cast primarily in dramas, however I was not aware of this until after the play had opened. In rehearsals I was always laughing at him, so for me to picture him as anything but a comic is difficult. When approaching his character, Michael constantly questioned the directors, aiming for the best result possible. He created his character’s given circumstances and gave him life focusing on even the most minute details like why Moonface would know what a “mizzen mast” was if he had never been aboard a ship. Michael embraced Moon as a con man, sparking a few physical tools, like creeping around corners and his amazing facial expressions, to use in his ‘less than sinister’ arsenal. These tactics were used to his advantage, in his dealings with the conniving pair of Chinese, attempts to threaten the wealthy Evelyn Oakleigh, and fooling the ship’s officers with a simple costume. “...I know I’ll get into trouble in this get up. I don’t know how to act like a minister…” Mooney tells his cohort Bonnie, played by Ashley Moniz, as they sneak aboard the ship. Moonface’s unconfident approach to his disguise somewhat mirrors Doonan’s approach to the character. Michael was unsure how far he should take certain jokes, like how crass he could be when polishing the gun, or how much more he should pile on, such as his resemblance to a five-year-old when Moonface whines because Evelyn isn’t afraid of him. Every rehearsal Michael tried to explore new physical things, some would work and some wouldn’t. A constant factor however was his 1930’s accent.
Vocally, Michael was perfect, but his next step was to work on the physical and emotional aspects of the character. He had an idea of what he was aiming for, but all the elements weren’t quite fitting together. Physically, he needed to go bigger, and three weeks into rehearsals, while everyone else was off book, he still had his script in hand. I ran lines with him while the director worked on other scenes almost daily for a week or two, and even after that when I was taking notes he still missed or butchered many lines. It made everyone a tad nervous and illustrated the importance of learning your lines. Acting cannot happen while one has the script as a crutch, and once Michael had his lines down he was able to explore the character more physically, creating some of his character’s hilarious slapstick moments such as rolling around on the floor with his suitcase prior to “Bon Voyage” or being thrown back into the crowd during his speech before “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”. He better established his relationships with the other characters, almost forming himself as a sort of comedic glue between the plotlines. He kept the audience, and myself, in stitches. His chemistry with Bonnie (Moniz) was perfect. Her tough yet bubbly personality balanced out his childlike whining and made the duo even funnier. The trio of Moonface (Doonan), Billy (Lewis) and Reno Sweeney (Goretsky) couldn’t be anymore flawless as the three share the same goal: to take care of Evelyn and get Billy his girl back.
It was a really eye opening experience as an actor to be a production assistant because I was able to see the entire process from an almost omniscient point of view. I believe that Michael Doonan’s performance was one of the stronger ones in the show because he created a life for Moonface and he worked hard to make up for an initial lack of preparation, resulting in an amazing and hilarious performance, which will not soon be forgotten.
Being a production assistant on Anything Goes makes the task of writing this essay incredibly difficult as I have seen the process of bringing the play to the stage from the open dance call, to the first table read to the closing performance. I watched as the actors transformed into their characters physically, vocally and emotionally. Michael Doonan’s portrayal of gangster Moonface Martin in Anything Goes displayed the most growth from the beginning of the rehearsal process resulting in a strong comedic performance due to his emotional investment in the character despite a lack of preparation at the outset.
I’ve been told that many people were surprised by Doonan’s turn as Moonface, as he has been cast primarily in dramas, however I was not aware of this until after the play had opened. In rehearsals I was always laughing at him, so for me to picture him as anything but a comic is difficult. When approaching his character, Michael constantly questioned the directors, aiming for the best result possible. He created his character’s given circumstances and gave him life focusing on even the most minute details like why Moonface would know what a “mizzen mast” was if he had never been aboard a ship. Michael embraced Moon as a con man, sparking a few physical tools, like creeping around corners and his amazing facial expressions, to use in his ‘less than sinister’ arsenal. These tactics were used to his advantage, in his dealings with the conniving pair of Chinese, attempts to threaten the wealthy Evelyn Oakleigh, and fooling the ship’s officers with a simple costume. “...I know I’ll get into trouble in this get up. I don’t know how to act like a minister…” Mooney tells his cohort Bonnie, played by Ashley Moniz, as they sneak aboard the ship. Moonface’s unconfident approach to his disguise somewhat mirrors Doonan’s approach to the character. Michael was unsure how far he should take certain jokes, like how crass he could be when polishing the gun, or how much more he should pile on, such as his resemblance to a five-year-old when Moonface whines because Evelyn isn’t afraid of him. Every rehearsal Michael tried to explore new physical things, some would work and some wouldn’t. A constant factor however was his 1930’s accent.
Vocally, Michael was perfect, but his next step was to work on the physical and emotional aspects of the character. He had an idea of what he was aiming for, but all the elements weren’t quite fitting together. Physically, he needed to go bigger, and three weeks into rehearsals, while everyone else was off book, he still had his script in hand. I ran lines with him while the director worked on other scenes almost daily for a week or two, and even after that when I was taking notes he still missed or butchered many lines. It made everyone a tad nervous and illustrated the importance of learning your lines. Acting cannot happen while one has the script as a crutch, and once Michael had his lines down he was able to explore the character more physically, creating some of his character’s hilarious slapstick moments such as rolling around on the floor with his suitcase prior to “Bon Voyage” or being thrown back into the crowd during his speech before “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”. He better established his relationships with the other characters, almost forming himself as a sort of comedic glue between the plotlines. He kept the audience, and myself, in stitches. His chemistry with Bonnie (Moniz) was perfect. Her tough yet bubbly personality balanced out his childlike whining and made the duo even funnier. The trio of Moonface (Doonan), Billy (Lewis) and Reno Sweeney (Goretsky) couldn’t be anymore flawless as the three share the same goal: to take care of Evelyn and get Billy his girl back.
It was a really eye opening experience as an actor to be a production assistant because I was able to see the entire process from an almost omniscient point of view. I believe that Michael Doonan’s performance was one of the stronger ones in the show because he created a life for Moonface and he worked hard to make up for an initial lack of preparation, resulting in an amazing and hilarious performance, which will not soon be forgotten.
Are you F-ing Kidding Me?
What's the point of having an on campus Starbucks if it doesn't open until 9:30 on the weekends?
Students have rehearsal, people! We need the caffeine!
And what's the deal with the commons being closed until 9:30?!? My call time is 8:30! And I don't think I get breaks!
The only thing that's open at 7:30am is a convenience store, and granted they take the zot bucks, that doesn't compare to starbucks or commons because you still have to come back and COOK whatever it is you bought.
GAAH!
See? I shouldn't be allowed to be awake this early! And for the record I've figured out if I have an 8:00 class I need to be up like 2 hours early to guarantee that I'll get there on time. Beings as I've realized that, OPEN UP SOME PLACES FOR COFFEE, DAMNIT!
That is all.
-Leah
Epiphany
well, no, not really. I'm just psyched because the sweeney todd trailer came out today! woo hoo!
so i was trying to figure out what song Johnny was singing, and after many plays of the soundtrack (i just sort of let it play instead of actually looking for it) i figured out it was Epiphany. I also realized that hollywood is running out of music to play in movie trailers because the dramatic cues in the sweeney trailer were EXACTLY the same as the one in the trailer for Pirates of The Caribbean: At World's End...except the sweeney one is orchestrated and not sung.
see? haha.
anyway.
Other 'Epiphanies' i've had include:
1) sometimes posts on imdb are HILARIOUS, but i can't laugh because it's 2:30am and my roommates (see previous post for a definition) are sleeping.
in response to johnny sounding like jack sparrow in the trailer: "Just think of it as a Marketing angle.
POTC 3 and a half...Jack Sparrow goes to Barber College"
"attend the TRAILER of SWEENEY TODD"
2) All college bathrooms suck.
3) I'm honored that prince is reading my blog, because my friends don't even read my blog. haha.
4) No matter how much sleep i've had or how early i wake up, i'm still up until past 1am.
5) people are really open with their drugs here. I went to the ARC with a bunch of people and practically out of our front door (well not really, but on the patio across from it), there were two big groups at the tables smoking hookahs.
6)no matter what floor you're on, outside noise always sounds like you're at ground-level and people are 5 feet from your window.
7)Despite having the appearance of being very organized, half the things in college shows would fall apart without Assistant Stage Managers and Production Assistants (because sometimes the actual Stage Manager is MIA and spacing out, or the Director is nowhere to be found.)
8) Disneyland is the only answer to the question "what do we do this weekend?" because everyone's got season passes because either they live in so-cal, or are weird nor-cal people like me and buy them just because they went two weekends in a row.
9) not having a car or a license sucks.
In response to epiphany #9, i must get some sleep because pieces are breaking off of my laptop, and the only nearby apple store is in Fashion Island, and i have to take the bus. bleh. goodnight, or in all technicality since it is 2:50am, goodmorning.
-Leah
Despite Having No Sleep, I'm Still 20 Minutes Early To EVERYTHING
Yeah. It baffles me too. I'm never on time for anything, much less EARLY. haha. Drama 30A I was almost 20 minutes early and studio 4 was still dark and empty. That class went awesome. Anyway. I should leave in case stage manager/director (who sort of scares me) comes in and needs me to work.
-Leah
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