A Year of Shows

This day last year, I was at my friend Alex's house on a farm in Waterbury, VT, with lots of friends and my boyfriend, John. My family doesn't have a ton of New Year's traditions, so while my parents meet friends for dinner and my siblings might attend First Night, a series of cultural events in the cities of Burlington and Montpelier to celebrate the new year, it's always a toss-up as to what will happen. Today, December 31st, 2010, I am in Bridgeport with Michael and his family, gearing up to meet his friends tonight.

I played the chef in the spring mainstage.

It's hard to believe how much can change in a year, whether you believe it is for worse or for better. In January, I prepared for a semester full of theater and applied to Saint Michael's Playhouse for my second summer as a stage management intern. February and March were chock-full of rehearsals for the college mainstage, The Notebook of Trigorin, in which I was acting the small part of the chef; The Actor's Nightmare, a drama club production I stage managed; and scenes from Almost, Maine, a senior exhibition project which I designed lights for. All three of these shows opened in April, so it was a busy month. I spent most of my spring semester gaining confidence in myself socially, preparing for the summer, and lots of time with John. I also spent time with my mother and my brother's fiance's family planning and attending wedding showers for Kate! My brother Dan proposed to her last fall on her birthday, and they planned the wedding for July 2010.

The set for Always, Patsy Cline, from the catwalk. 

 

Unfortunately, at the top of the summer at Playhouse, John and I decided to break up. Although that was hard, I still believe it was the right decision for both of us to find ourselves in the world and stop depending heavily on one another. The summer at Saint Michael's Playhouse was, in a word, amazing. The mix of interns was a perfect balance and we each made many close friends and contacts for the future. Starting with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the season moved its way through musicals, adventures, and comedic drama with Around the World in 80 Days, Blithe Spirit, and Always, Patsy Cline (scenic design for the picture shown is by Tim Case). I met Mike, the electrics intern who I'm now dating, and although I lived off campus for the summer in an apartment with 2 friends, I got to spend more time with the interns and staff than the previous summer at SMP.

Photo taken by Andrew Liptak

During July, Dan and Kate got married! Luckily I got time off during 80 Days to attend the rehearsal dinner and wedding, being a bridesmaid. It was a fun and beautiful day, and I'm so glad to have a sister :) since Dan and Kate had dated for 8 years throughout high school and long-distance during college, it has only gotten better to continue seeing Kate and most recently start hanging out at their place and welcoming her to even more family events.

When the Playhouse season was over, I spent a week in Maine getting to know Mike's family. The fall semester started up, and junior year has been harder than ever. The beginning of the semester was especially hard trying to find my place at a college where I had never been without a close relationship and a group of guy friends. On top of the social confusion this semester, I was the President of the Drama Club, which includes many responsibilities such as running executive board meetings, planning events, and keeping things moving within the club. I stage managed a play for Champlain College at the Flynnspace called The Shape of Things, which was challenging and rewarding all at once. My grades were also lower than they've ever been mid semester, and I spent the rest of the fall trying to bring things back.

Eventually I made close friends with my suitemates and our "brother" suite, many of whom I'll be skyping with while in Spain and living with my senior year. My boyfriend Mike also was really amazing and supportive during this semester, even though we go to school 5 hours apart. Thank God for all those wonderful people <3 At the end of the semester we had a secret santa party and everyone helped me move all of my things out so Heather, who spent the fall semester in London and is returning to take my place both in the suite and as Drama Club President, can live there. The Drama Club also organized and sponsored a benefit concert for the Devlin family. Our advisor John Devlin lost his son last fall to leukemia, and his daughter Kat was diagnosed recently with myelodysplasia, a pre-leukemic cell state. We arranged the benefit concert to show our support and raise money for the various treatments and procedures they will need to undergo, and many thoughts and prayers were and are being sent their way from the SMC and Playhouse communities.

Over exam week, I stage managed the Moving Lights Dance Company's The Green Mountain Nutcracker, which performed at the Barre Opera House in December. Although it was stressful to manage the show and attend exams, I made it and the show went very well. I also fulfilled my mentor duties with the Drama Club by getting my star mentee, Alan, a job on the show as a spot op and possibly work in the future (not to mention mentor-mentee bonding time!)

Yep, true love.

And when the Nutcracker closed right before Christmas, I spent days relaxing! My oldest brother, Andrew, proposed to his girlfriend of a year and half, Megan, and they are now happily engaged :) I spent the days leading up to Christmas (and Christmas itself) enjoying the company of my now-sisters and my brothers and the family. Now I am in Bridgeport, CT, for New Year's to meet Mike's friends and relax with his family before I leave for Spain, after which I won't see Mike for about 6 months. Long-distance can be very hard, but we're hoping for the best. When I get back, I hope to be working for the summer in a theater before starting my senior year at Saint Mike's!

As you can see, it has been quite the year for me, and although many things have changed I know I'm stronger and more focused coming into 2011. Living in a Spanish city for a semester will also change my life, and hopefully I'll be able to keep up the blog updates and reflect on how my theatrical career will change because of this experience. Thank you, as always, for reading! Happy New Year!

December, December

It has been such a long time since I last blogged! Oh no! Things have been very busy with the close of the semester approaching, as I'm sure you are experiencing or can imagine. The Drama Club hosted a mentor/mentee Thanksgiving dinner, which was a big success, right before break. My mentee Alan and I made mashed potatoes :) I am really proud of how far the program has come since it sort of flopped the past few years, and hope next fall is even better! Although we probably won't have specific mentor/mentee events in the spring, it is always good to have an upperclassman you can trust to call or ask questions or just hang out with, even after you start to feel at home here.

Thanksgiving itself was a really nice well-needed break for everyone, it seems. I went home after Christmas shopping with my Mom, and Michael came to our house for the break which was really nice! The family gathered on Thursday and, with much threatening from my mother on a kiddie table outside on the deck, we settled to owl-print napkins and a huge meal. We were so over-prepared for dessert, everyone is still working on finishing the pies and cakes now! Mike and I helped Mom decorate on Black Friday, and over the weekend we headed back to our respective schools for the last 3 weeks of classes and exams.

As far as exams go, I have 3 in the topics that are the hardest. Politics, Psychology, and Spanish III apparently don't have the presentation mentality that Lighting Design and Directing do; while I am looking forward to preparing an ACTF-style poster and presentation for Equus in Lighting Design and am almost done with my directing scenes and staging analysis for Directing, studying for those exams will be crammed between trips back and forth to the Barre Opera House, where I am stage managing The Nutcracker next week. The Directing I Class scenes will be presented in a showcase free and open to the public on Monday, Dec. 13th at 7pm in the McCarthy theater. The scenes do contain mature content and language, so be aware of that, but they are a wonderful mix of funny, scary, thoughtful, and romantic for an adult audience.

Also coming up in terms of SMC theater is a benefit concert called Make a Joyful Noise! to raise money for the Devlin family, strong members of the Saint Michael's community who discovered in November that their daughter, Kathryn, has myelodysplasia, a pre-leukemic cell state. The Devlins' son Patrick died last fall after a long struggle with leukemia.We are hoping to give the family as much support as possible while they go through Kat's bone marrow transplant in Boston! You can send donations to:
John Devlin
Box 161
Saint Michael's College
One Winooski Park
Colchester, VT 05439
You can also send small things to help them out for their trip to Boston for Kat's transplant. Here is a list of places the Devlins stopped frequently if you are interested in sending a small gift card:
Au Bon Pain, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, Sbarro, Breuggers' Bagels, Panera Bread, Trader Joe's, Starbucks, Dragon Bowl, Bertucci's.

The benefit concert will be at 6pm in the McCarthy theater and includes uplifting music and dance pieces. A suggested $3 or more donation will be accepted at the door. I will let you readers who are unable to make it know how it goes! I don't know if I'll be able to write again until after exams and The Nutcracker are finished, so stay warm, enjoy the holiday music, and send a prayer out for the Devlins.

November Blues...uh, Greys

Today is the 8th day of November, and Mother Nature is letting us have it. It has been freezing rain and sleeting all day! It is definitely the kind of day to curl up inside with the heat on and not go out!

Luckily, this past weekend was a little kinder. We had several exciting events going on in the Saint Michael's College Theater world, the first and foremost of which was a workshop with next semester's guest director Chris Edwards.

Although I will not be here to work on Romeo and Juliet, I went to the workshop out of curiosity, and am really interested to see how things turn out! Chris had us do several group improvisation exercises, including lying on the floor with our heads in a close circle and forming stories by saying one word at a time around the circle. He encouraged us to speak on impulse, still keeping in mind what words had come before. We then worked with a short 4-line, 2-person scene, trying different approaches. Chris emphasized the importance of taking what your partner gives and working with that instead of closing them out. He forced us to confront the conflict instead of walking away, as in real life people do tend to walk away from conflict. We each brought a short monologue to work with, and he had us try saying the lines as if in real life instead of acting. With Shakespeare especially, this is a huge challenge, and we were all exhausted by the end. We learned a little about the production that will happen here next semester: Romeo and Juliet will be presented with the idea of the 70's and 80's punk (combined with today's themes as well) with a DJ onstage and a colorful, graffitied set that may extend into the audience, one structurally sound enough for actors to hang off of and climb on (metal structures). It sounds very cool and edgy, and the theater students here are abuzz with excitement! To read more about the workshop, find the SMC Theater blog here.

This weekend also THE ART OF DINING, Saint Michael's fall mainstage, closed triumphantly. I saw the dress rehearsal last Tuesday and was impressed; the set was a beautiful, multilayered restaurant, and the actors covered every inch of it to tell their stories and work through their relationships revealed as the play went on. It was short and sweet and fascinating. Again, check out the SMC Theater blog here to read more about the rehearsal process and performances.

Adam from THE SHAPE OF THINGS

My play with Champlain College, THE SHAPE OF THINGS, closed this weekend as well. Despite working with an ever-shifting stage crew, a missing sound board operator the last night, and none of our lighting people showing up for strike, we made it! The shows were packed every night with very responsive, invested audiences, which more than made up for the missing faces that some of us hoped would be able to make it. We had a delightful cast dinner party last night and resolved to keep in touch; although it was a stressful situation, contacts and friends were made all around, and once again I have had an experience to grow from and relax out of.

For Saint Michael's, there are several theater opportunities coming up. The Directing Scenes will be presented December 13th; the Directing I class, of which I am a member, is working on scenes from various plays that will represent our final exam on that day. Also in December will be a devised piece of theater produced by the Drama Club that I am directing; more details to come on that at our full club meeting this Tuesday at 5 in McCarthy.

Thanks for reading, as always! Until next time!

Part of the SHAPE OF THINGS set, designed and built by Jim Lantz

The Shape of Things

Last Thursday, Champlain College's production of The Shape of Things by Neil Labute opened at 8pm at the Flynnspace in Burlington. Labute's play draws the audience in seductively with a slow-building plot that slams home in the end, in a way no one would have expected. Local performer Kim Jordan plays the sultry Evelyn, the artist that holds a young man's world in the palm of her hand. Adam, played by Saint Michael's College grad Jayden Choquette, transforms his world and gives up everything for one woman. Ben Cavallari (a Champlain College professor) and Emily Benway (another SMC grad) bring Phillip and Jenny to life as Adam's friends, onlookers, and instigators as only Labute's characters are meant to be.

Directed by Joanne Farrell, this production includes much contribution from students. The lighting and sound design, sound board operator, and stage crew are all made up of Champlain College students. I stage managed the play and run the light board as well as call the show during performances. It has been a brand-new experience for me to work with Champlain, where there is no theater program, and Joanne drives productions into existence through sheer force of will and out of love for the performing arts, along with the help of students who, like Megan Lambros (my ASM) and other dedicated crew members, love the arts as well. 



The Shape of Things runs this week Wednesday-Saturday at the Flynnspace in downtown Burlington. The house and box office open at 7:30 for an 8pm performance; the play runs for about 2 hours, including a 10-minute intermission. Tickets are on sale at the Flynn Box Office.  I hope to see you there!



October!

Wow, I can't believe we only have another week left in October! Where does the time go?


 The past few weeks, I've been busy with The Shape of Things and keeping up with classes. Columbus Day Break was a really nice long weekend, spent in part at home making cider with my family and Mike, and the rest spent relaxing at school and in Burlington with Mike. We saw UVM's performance of Cloud 9, which was really fascinating and well-performed. This past weekend I saw Vermont Stage Company's Glass Menagerie at the Flynnspace, a show I helped hang lights for, which was also well-done, if to a depressing script. Unfortunately, Death of a Salesman with Christopher Lloyd was sold out. Spamalot also showed at the Flynn, but that sold out over the summer. If you want to hear about that show, ask my brother Andrew.



Spent some time at SMC taking pictures :)

In personal news, I've been sick for the past two days- completely knocked off my feet by some sort of virus. Luckily I'm recovering, albeit slowly; tomorrow I have a full day's rehearsal for The Shape of Things at Champlain, and heading straight to the Barre Opera House after that to work lights for a Jamie Lee Thurston concert. Then it's home, sweet home! for the night before coming back to an evening of rehearsals for the directing scenes, studying for exams/working on projects, and relaxing with a friend to dye my hair :) That's right, I'm dying it purple this weekend!

The directing scenes are scenes chosen by each student in the Directing I class to cast and analyze and direct. My scenes, as with several other class members, are from a play called Quake by Melanie Marnich. Auditions were last week, and they went very well! We had a great turnout and lots of choices for everyone, and during class we cast in such a way that everyone got at least one first choice. I had so many people do well that I had 2 first choices for almost every role! The scenes will be presented on the evening of December 13th.

Otherwise, not much else is new. This illness is quite an inconvenience, but I'd rather it happen now than next week. Starting Monday, The Shape of Things moves into the Flynnspace to tech and have dress rehearsals before opening on Thursday! It will run for 2 weeks. Things are pulling together, if a little rushed near the end of the rehearsal process here, and it has been a scramble to pull a stage crew together, but other than calling the show and my one day of tech Tuesday (also an exam/project presentation day at SMC...) training my stage crew will be my biggest challenge. I'm taking things a day at a time right now though! Many thanks to my wonderful roommates who bought me soup and are very wonderful in general! <3

End of Week 6 Back at SMC

Wow, 6 weeks at school already! I can barely believe it. And yet it has been a long and somewhat rough haul for me so far this semester. Settling back at school and finding my rhythm amidst all the crazy days of meetings, classes, rehearsals, homework, planning events, hosting events, and keeping up with friends has never been as intense as this semester so far, and I'm afraid it's starting to show in my school work. Luckily this weekend is a long weekend to relax and catch up on homework, to go home and make cider with my family one day, and of course to see my boyfriend Mike, who is wonderful enough to drive 6 hours up here from LeMoyne in Syracuse, NY, to see me. Thank God for Columbus Day weekend!

After this weekend, the Drama Club and theater department at St. Mike's have lots of events coming up! My show with Champlain College, as well, will be opening in under a month. The Drama Club kicked off the year with the 24-Hour Play Festival and the Light the Night Walk, as you may have read about in a previous entry. We also had a mentor-mentee scavenger hunt across campus, which was lots of fun, and have 2 more events for our mentor-mentee program in October and then later in November. Also coming up are auditions for the directing scenes, a haunted house right before Halloween (!!!), The Shape of Things presented by Champlain College at the Flynnspace; the Saint Michael's Theater Department production of The Art of Dining; a sound workshop with Aaron Bowersox presented by the Drama Club; Drama Club applications for ACTF, the American College Theater Festival that we attend every January; and a devised piece of theater that I myself will be directing, performing in early December. Right after that, the Directing I class presents scenes at the top of exam week, and the semester wraps up with a Holiday Party! Wow!

Dear Mother Nature, I need a boat to get to class!

This week at SMC,  fall fashion is in full swing. The color of your umbrella, the pattern on your rain boots, and what style raincoat you choose to wear each day are seen and admired or abhorred from underneath dripping hoods and across a misty campus. Luckily the leaves are starting to turn yellow and are brightening things up!

Outside my suite, there is literally inches of standing water in the grass. No water on our floor though so it seems that SMC knows its buildings! There's a puddle in the Alliot circle that actually stands halfway up a car tire- guess I'm not driving over there anytime soon! Hopefully one of the things Saint Mike's will work on in the future is drainage. I'm sure, for colleges without any hills on campus, this is a common issue.

Unfortunately, all this precipitation means I've only gotten to take my new roller blades out once this week!