the performance was on thursday. =O we did really well, especially considering we didn't really get to know the space or run through the play properly. the music actually fit in neatly even though we didn't really rehearse those scenes and the curtains/lights/sounds worked out well. =)
i know that this was probably the first time most of the cast has done a whole play and everyone did really well. heefa and maria pulled through and even with a few emergencies and missing props, we figured things out and made up for what needed making up.
some people were outstanding--karen, mingo, alexis, david, gina, elysse, alberto, just to name a few. the singers were also really good and even though hira got nervous and forgot a few lines, she didn't let it stop her and made sure she said something to finish her scenes and she really is an excellent rosalind. everything hira does is hilarious.
krystle and aaron pretty much knew their stuff but the chemistry still isn't there. =/ dr. s suggested rushing the first act (we have to cut things anyway) but i do still want to try improving their scenes. i'm glad heefa was in their scenes because she helped liven things up when the chemistry was most obviously dry. it's not so much about their acting as their chemistry, although krystle could be more forward and aaron could be more responsive. oh well. they have improved so much and i have hope that they will be even better.
our final is on thursday. ahhh. we still have to figure out the staging for the third floor library. i think i'll do that now. =O
oh, and just because every grown-up i've heard try to quote it misquotes it:
"if this were played upon a stage now, i could condemn it as an improbable fiction." - fabian, twelfth night.
5/31/08
5/28/08
performance tomorrow!
our performance at MS #4 is tomorrow at 4:30 PM =O
i'm kind of nervous, of course, but i know everyone will do their best and it'll be excellent. =)
there's still a lot to do and i still have to get a vaccine so i have no idea how this is going to work out. =(
i'm praying and i know God works all things together for good and He will not give us something we cannot handle. i have faith!
also, open mic is coming up. =) but i don't know what to do--i want to do a solo but i also might perform with joelle, massiel, and mark in separate acts but i don't want to go four times. ugh. =(
i'm kind of nervous, of course, but i know everyone will do their best and it'll be excellent. =)
there's still a lot to do and i still have to get a vaccine so i have no idea how this is going to work out. =(
i'm praying and i know God works all things together for good and He will not give us something we cannot handle. i have faith!
also, open mic is coming up. =) but i don't know what to do--i want to do a solo but i also might perform with joelle, massiel, and mark in separate acts but i don't want to go four times. ugh. =(
5/24/08
cutting it close, making it secure, and strawberries.
oh no. i just realized that most of our rehearsals are not being video recorded. =O we need to create a making-of video as well and we only got some footage on mingo's camera but that broke, so i don't even know if we have that. if anything, we can shoot at a dress rehearsal and then have a bunch of talking heads to make up the video.
our performance date is getting very close. we're performing on the 29th at ms4 and on the 5th at our school (although i think we should go on the 6th since we were originally supposed to go second at the school, but whatever.)
we got a lot done in the past week but there are still some scenes we need to do. then we have dress rehearsals and we have to work on staging, using props, blocking, etc. ahhh. there's so much we just have to work out and we won't have much time to do it, sadly. =/
also, things have been complicated because my poor mother had to go to the hospital for, I believe, non-fatal reasons. she hasn't come back yet and i'm not sure if she's still waiting in the waiting room or if they're still running tests on her in the ER. prayers for her, please. =)
i got an e-mail from kean university's john wooten. he gave me excellent advice and did as he suggested. i registered my play with the WGAE ($22 for nonmembers, $17 for students) and i am not going to take anything from the ticket sales from bergen county academies for using my play since they aren't making personal profit and it's a school production. i feel wonderfully about it. hopefully they mail me a program or something at least. =) if they do put it on, i'd love to see it, but that just might be impossible.
friday was a strawberry-filled day, actually. mr. oshaughnessy's sixth block performed (most of) The Not-So-Lovely Tale of Strawberry Fructose and they seemed to like it. i wish we could've finished =/ but we did get through quite a bit and we were actually on the last scene. i had forgotten how much i loved that play. i'm quite proud of it, even if the line "However, I can give you a lick. In fact, I can do a lot better!" still freaks me out every time i hear it.
for me, the impression of reisman's "60s, jerry garcia, drugs" lion performance will never leave that role.
the actor who played her father played a lion who wanted to eat her. her true love? a dog who wanted to eat her. symbolic or not? =O
oh, and also on friday, i directed mrs. gupta's 7th and 8th blocks through dna extraction labs using strawberries. =) but i missed even more of pan's labyrinth. =( now i really have to borrow it since we're going to have a quiz on it. unfortunately, my dvd player is not working. i need to go to someone's house. =O
p.s. adrien brody = hot.
our performance date is getting very close. we're performing on the 29th at ms4 and on the 5th at our school (although i think we should go on the 6th since we were originally supposed to go second at the school, but whatever.)
we got a lot done in the past week but there are still some scenes we need to do. then we have dress rehearsals and we have to work on staging, using props, blocking, etc. ahhh. there's so much we just have to work out and we won't have much time to do it, sadly. =/
also, things have been complicated because my poor mother had to go to the hospital for, I believe, non-fatal reasons. she hasn't come back yet and i'm not sure if she's still waiting in the waiting room or if they're still running tests on her in the ER. prayers for her, please. =)
i got an e-mail from kean university's john wooten. he gave me excellent advice and did as he suggested. i registered my play with the WGAE ($22 for nonmembers, $17 for students) and i am not going to take anything from the ticket sales from bergen county academies for using my play since they aren't making personal profit and it's a school production. i feel wonderfully about it. hopefully they mail me a program or something at least. =) if they do put it on, i'd love to see it, but that just might be impossible.
friday was a strawberry-filled day, actually. mr. oshaughnessy's sixth block performed (most of) The Not-So-Lovely Tale of Strawberry Fructose and they seemed to like it. i wish we could've finished =/ but we did get through quite a bit and we were actually on the last scene. i had forgotten how much i loved that play. i'm quite proud of it, even if the line "However, I can give you a lick. In fact, I can do a lot better!" still freaks me out every time i hear it.
for me, the impression of reisman's "60s, jerry garcia, drugs" lion performance will never leave that role.
the actor who played her father played a lion who wanted to eat her. her true love? a dog who wanted to eat her. symbolic or not? =O
oh, and also on friday, i directed mrs. gupta's 7th and 8th blocks through dna extraction labs using strawberries. =) but i missed even more of pan's labyrinth. =( now i really have to borrow it since we're going to have a quiz on it. unfortunately, my dvd player is not working. i need to go to someone's house. =O
p.s. adrien brody = hot.
5/21/08
we're evolving! from porifera to platyhelmenthis (sp?)
First of all, I wanted to document something that pleases me quite a bit--two girls, Brianna Delfs and Juliana Chapman e-mailed me recently. They are students at Bergen County Academies and saw The Not-So-Lovely Tale of Strawberry Fructose performed at the Playwrights Festival last year and loved my play and now they would like a copy of the script and rights to possibly perform it next year! It's such a great compliment and I'm so flattered! I will most def. let them have a copy but I have to kind of copyright my work first and figure out what I have to do. I e-mailed Jim DeVivo from Playwrights Theatre and asked him for advice and he was very nice about it and said he'll help me out. =)
There was a Ford Focus commercial that was kind of funny
Sometimes I feel like that as a director. =O Sometimes it's fun being bossy, sometimes I feel like a jerk. Oh, some definitions:
We've been having rehearsals every day after school until about 5:30 (although many people leave earlier) and we haven't even gotten through the whole play once yet. Ahh! Oh no! I made a schedule of due dates so we can get everything done at least once by Memorial Day and after that we're going to perfect everything and do more staging, blocking, transitions, technical stuff, etc.
We have been getting much much better, though. Here are my thoughts on some of the scenes so far:
Scene 1.1
This scene was just recently completed even though it was one of the first we started working on. Wait, that sentence sort of doesn't make sense. Basically, it took a ridiculously long time to even get our actors running it straight through. The first half has an Orlando monologue by Aaron and a fight between him and his brother Oliver, played by Nicholson. This half has gotten so much better since the beginning. At first, Aaron's diction wasn't good enough and his passion wasn't convincing but after diction lessons at Dr. Solberg's one Saturday and my uhm, passion exercise (basically making him run up and down the stairs two or three times) he was so so much better! Mr. O'Shaughnessy told me later after he saw the scene that Aaron was quite good and had obviously been working. This scene is gettingmuch better dialogue wise, but Aaron needs to find the intensity in his body, Nicholson needs to nail his lines and say them convincingly, Jan needs to look more solid both in body and knowledge of lines, and everyone needs to understand what they're really saying, not just the dictionary definition of each word, too.
Scene 2.1
This scene took forever too. It's about how Jacques feels killing deer in their own territory would be like usurping a throne--making Duke Senior feel rather hypocritical and awkward. This featured Alexis and Elysse dancing as Jacques and Deer. The words were good, the dance was good, but it took us forever to figure out how to merge them. But this scene is wonderful and we need to make sure it is absolutely perfect and solid, blah blah, but it is one of my favorites. Mostly because the dance is just so cute. Haha.
Scene 3.2
Because of scheduling, we still have not done this completely. This scene is when Orlando puts love notes in the trees, Corin and Touchstone have a match of wits (court vs. country), and Rosalind finds the rhymes and realizes Orlando is writing them. The Touchstone x Corin part is most def done. We've done it so many times and I think because Corin and Touchstone are being contrasted so much in this scene, it's really helped me figure out how to be Corin and acting like him is getting a lot easier. I'm aiming for the gentle sort of older man who can see the folly of the youths around him and comments, but simply rolls his eyes when they don't listen. I am so sick of this scene. Oh well.
Scene 3.5
I think this scene is going to be excellent. It is Phebe and Silvius's first scene together with the Phebe monologue and it's when they meet Rosalind. Gina and David are extremely hard workers and have practiced their scene over and over. After directing David's arms to actually move, I find they play their roles very well. David isn't exactly graceful and smooth when he goes nuts over her (like when he yells O Phebe, Phebe, Phebe in his scene with me) but I think sometimes the awkwardness of his movements adds to the sillyness of his lovesick swain act. Gina is so funny when she's pretending to flirt with Hira and the way Hira scorns Gina and Gina ignores Silvius is hilarious and sometimes delicious. This scene is actually pretty tight. We do have to work on the latter half with Hira more, though.
Scene 4.1
The mock wedding. I love this scene because it is probably the greatest opportunity to have a hot Orlando x Rosalind moment in the play besides, perhaps, the meeting scene (which will take even more passion on Aaron's part--I hope we don't have to use the stairs again). Mingo and Hira are friends so I know it's weird for them, but the way they speak and the closeness of the direction is enough, I think. Also, they've built up chemistry from their work in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Wed. Elysse is so adorable in this scene (well, okay, she's cute in every scene). I just love this scene =) We have to run through it once more with Alexis's part at the beginning included, though.
Scene 4.3
I love this scene too! So far, especially considering since it's the half we've rehearsed most (this has rarely happened to me, haha), I much prefer the last half of the play. Both Hira and Elysse have their own brand of spunk and Hira has the idealistic-ish, heroine spirit necessary for Rosalind and Elysse makes Celia so endearing. I'm impressed with Elysse in general. She's thrown herself into this whole production and leaped (literally) into the role of the deer and is doing very well as Celia. And of course, Hira is amazing too. (I only hope she gets the last half of her lines down pat. =O) Anyway, I love this scene because Alberto and Elysse's love at first sight part as Celia and Oliver is just so cute, funny, and charming. Also, there is a hilarious fighting scene starring Mingo and Alberto as Orlando and Oliver, respectively, versus the Lion, played by Nicholson. It is so good. I'm not even joking. We just need to straighten out the first part of the scene with Silvius and Rosalind too.
And those are some of the scenes and my comments. =) Actually, considering how much time has passed, we're doing really well. But considering how much time we have left--we're so far behind. Oh no. Hopefully a Memorial Day practice will fix this. If anything, the PS #4 performance for parents and friends will end up being our first real dress rehearsal and best motivation for improvement.
Pray for us.
P.S. You know, I really like George Michael. I didn't realize that until now. =P
There was a Ford Focus commercial that was kind of funny
Man: Phone! Call my wife!
Sometimes I feel like that as a director. =O Sometimes it's fun being bossy, sometimes I feel like a jerk. Oh, some definitions:
Director: Someone who tells you how to do a single thing 16 times, each time a different way, before thinking you might be able to understand what to do.
Actor: Someone who will probably have to try 17 times to get something perfect.
We've been having rehearsals every day after school until about 5:30 (although many people leave earlier) and we haven't even gotten through the whole play once yet. Ahh! Oh no! I made a schedule of due dates so we can get everything done at least once by Memorial Day and after that we're going to perfect everything and do more staging, blocking, transitions, technical stuff, etc.
We have been getting much much better, though. Here are my thoughts on some of the scenes so far:
Scene 1.1
This scene was just recently completed even though it was one of the first we started working on. Wait, that sentence sort of doesn't make sense. Basically, it took a ridiculously long time to even get our actors running it straight through. The first half has an Orlando monologue by Aaron and a fight between him and his brother Oliver, played by Nicholson. This half has gotten so much better since the beginning. At first, Aaron's diction wasn't good enough and his passion wasn't convincing but after diction lessons at Dr. Solberg's one Saturday and my uhm, passion exercise (basically making him run up and down the stairs two or three times) he was so so much better! Mr. O'Shaughnessy told me later after he saw the scene that Aaron was quite good and had obviously been working. This scene is gettingmuch better dialogue wise, but Aaron needs to find the intensity in his body, Nicholson needs to nail his lines and say them convincingly, Jan needs to look more solid both in body and knowledge of lines, and everyone needs to understand what they're really saying, not just the dictionary definition of each word, too.
Scene 2.1
This scene took forever too. It's about how Jacques feels killing deer in their own territory would be like usurping a throne--making Duke Senior feel rather hypocritical and awkward. This featured Alexis and Elysse dancing as Jacques and Deer. The words were good, the dance was good, but it took us forever to figure out how to merge them. But this scene is wonderful and we need to make sure it is absolutely perfect and solid, blah blah, but it is one of my favorites. Mostly because the dance is just so cute. Haha.
Scene 3.2
Because of scheduling, we still have not done this completely. This scene is when Orlando puts love notes in the trees, Corin and Touchstone have a match of wits (court vs. country), and Rosalind finds the rhymes and realizes Orlando is writing them. The Touchstone x Corin part is most def done. We've done it so many times and I think because Corin and Touchstone are being contrasted so much in this scene, it's really helped me figure out how to be Corin and acting like him is getting a lot easier. I'm aiming for the gentle sort of older man who can see the folly of the youths around him and comments, but simply rolls his eyes when they don't listen. I am so sick of this scene. Oh well.
Scene 3.5
I think this scene is going to be excellent. It is Phebe and Silvius's first scene together with the Phebe monologue and it's when they meet Rosalind. Gina and David are extremely hard workers and have practiced their scene over and over. After directing David's arms to actually move, I find they play their roles very well. David isn't exactly graceful and smooth when he goes nuts over her (like when he yells O Phebe, Phebe, Phebe in his scene with me) but I think sometimes the awkwardness of his movements adds to the sillyness of his lovesick swain act. Gina is so funny when she's pretending to flirt with Hira and the way Hira scorns Gina and Gina ignores Silvius is hilarious and sometimes delicious. This scene is actually pretty tight. We do have to work on the latter half with Hira more, though.
Scene 4.1
The mock wedding. I love this scene because it is probably the greatest opportunity to have a hot Orlando x Rosalind moment in the play besides, perhaps, the meeting scene (which will take even more passion on Aaron's part--I hope we don't have to use the stairs again). Mingo and Hira are friends so I know it's weird for them, but the way they speak and the closeness of the direction is enough, I think. Also, they've built up chemistry from their work in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Wed. Elysse is so adorable in this scene (well, okay, she's cute in every scene). I just love this scene =) We have to run through it once more with Alexis's part at the beginning included, though.
Scene 4.3
I love this scene too! So far, especially considering since it's the half we've rehearsed most (this has rarely happened to me, haha), I much prefer the last half of the play. Both Hira and Elysse have their own brand of spunk and Hira has the idealistic-ish, heroine spirit necessary for Rosalind and Elysse makes Celia so endearing. I'm impressed with Elysse in general. She's thrown herself into this whole production and leaped (literally) into the role of the deer and is doing very well as Celia. And of course, Hira is amazing too. (I only hope she gets the last half of her lines down pat. =O) Anyway, I love this scene because Alberto and Elysse's love at first sight part as Celia and Oliver is just so cute, funny, and charming. Also, there is a hilarious fighting scene starring Mingo and Alberto as Orlando and Oliver, respectively, versus the Lion, played by Nicholson. It is so good. I'm not even joking. We just need to straighten out the first part of the scene with Silvius and Rosalind too.
And those are some of the scenes and my comments. =) Actually, considering how much time has passed, we're doing really well. But considering how much time we have left--we're so far behind. Oh no. Hopefully a Memorial Day practice will fix this. If anything, the PS #4 performance for parents and friends will end up being our first real dress rehearsal and best motivation for improvement.
Pray for us.
P.S. You know, I really like George Michael. I didn't realize that until now. =P
5/11/08
so much to do in so little time
we had rehearsal yesterday but no one came except aaron, nicholson, alberto, and gina. and alberto and aaron weren't even in the room when we first scheduled it on friday. so a lot of people are getting zeroes unless they reported some conflicts to bansri on friday.
we really have to jump into high gear, especially with production. i finished the costume and prop lists and some of the set stuff we'll have to design ourselves. =/ but i have plans! lol
i've at least planned all the staging. we jsut have to get the set done so that it'll actually be possible and we need to uhm, rehearse all the scenes. yay. lol
performances are on the 29th and for now, the 3rd, although that may move to the 6th. so the schedule is very tight. =
someone registered an e-mail address summerdawn0603@yahoo.com and is pretending to be me. but is not me. they e-mailed me saying "bhansri [sic] is soooo hot." i guess it's someone just messing around but in case they start emailing other people, just know--that is not me. =)
i'm actually pretty excited about our production. we have three fight scenes--one serious, two comical, one of them involving a lionness. we have a hopefully very hot scene with mingo and hira (this time with no wall between them). we have perhaps a dance with alexis patterson and elysse sison as a jaques and a deer. if we don't do it comically, it will be inspired by hok and jaimie's jazz dance to "the chairman's waltz" as choreographed by wade robson on so you think you can dance. and we have several songs, probably including "adieu ces bons vins de lannoys," "now is the month of maying" (shoutout to alex arkhipov), and "alone again, naturally" by gilbert o'sullivan. some of the singers? emily petrick, justin jayanty, and nayantara sama.
yay yay yay. also, dr. solberg won the princeton distinguished teacher award! =D congrats!!!
her winning the award gave us a front page article and now the newsletter is complete. =) the only thing i'm really worried about now (besides the play itself) is my ap art history exam. ahhh!
we really have to jump into high gear, especially with production. i finished the costume and prop lists and some of the set stuff we'll have to design ourselves. =/ but i have plans! lol
i've at least planned all the staging. we jsut have to get the set done so that it'll actually be possible and we need to uhm, rehearse all the scenes. yay. lol
performances are on the 29th and for now, the 3rd, although that may move to the 6th. so the schedule is very tight. =
someone registered an e-mail address summerdawn0603@yahoo.com and is pretending to be me. but is not me. they e-mailed me saying "bhansri [sic] is soooo hot." i guess it's someone just messing around but in case they start emailing other people, just know--that is not me. =)
i'm actually pretty excited about our production. we have three fight scenes--one serious, two comical, one of them involving a lionness. we have a hopefully very hot scene with mingo and hira (this time with no wall between them). we have perhaps a dance with alexis patterson and elysse sison as a jaques and a deer. if we don't do it comically, it will be inspired by hok and jaimie's jazz dance to "the chairman's waltz" as choreographed by wade robson on so you think you can dance. and we have several songs, probably including "adieu ces bons vins de lannoys," "now is the month of maying" (shoutout to alex arkhipov), and "alone again, naturally" by gilbert o'sullivan. some of the singers? emily petrick, justin jayanty, and nayantara sama.
yay yay yay. also, dr. solberg won the princeton distinguished teacher award! =D congrats!!!
her winning the award gave us a front page article and now the newsletter is complete. =) the only thing i'm really worried about now (besides the play itself) is my ap art history exam. ahhh!
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