Life is a Musical, Might as Well SING!

What to do...

2011-06-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody!!
Today is the last day of school for the underclassmen in my school. I graduated this year, so, naturally I'm sitting at home doing nothing haha I drive down to new york city for orientation tonight! That's pretty scary, I have to say. But I am so excited!! It is going to be weird not being with my family next year. We are really close, I think. Sometimes we fight and I don't necessarily agree with everything my parents believe, but I am going to miss them. I'll be 5 hours away. Still close, but just far enough. And the city has always been where my heart is. It is the one decision that I know I made for myself. Movie to the city will be the best thing that I do. Hopefully. While I am there, there will be many ways for me to be involved theatrically. I will do my best to document and share with the internet and the people who actually follow me (thanks, you three!)

Over the summer I am participating in Boston Children's Theatre's Studio 4- the summer intensive program! I did it last year and had a blast. This year, we are doing Little Women and Spring Awakening. Two amazing shows!! I am more than excited :]

Now, last year didn't work out so well with video blogging through that whole ordeal. Partially because I didn't know anybody at all. Legit. But this year will be bigger and better- I promise. Kevin and I are seeing to that. Speaking of Kevin- I need to make some photocopies for him today. Oopsie!! Almost forgot, man.

Alright.
I have to go pack!!
Bye loves,
Bri

Some Thoughts

2011-06-17T05:16:00.000-07:00

Hey people. Currently, I am sitting in an empty hallway in my high school. I graduated two weeks ago and things are looking pretty crazy.
Firstly, I am organizing a cabaret to benefit the Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS organization. It was supposed to be next Tuesday, but due to some confusing and schedule conflicts, it is going to have to be moved later in the summer. Yes, it is a bit sad, but hopefully everything will be alright. As long as it doesn't conflict with SSPA, I'm good on that front.
Secondly, I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm seeing a show today that was written by my friends Christie, Emily, and Hannah. I am VERY excited about this- perhaps I'll blog about it later if I have time (which, I will) So, that's what is going on today, but not that I'm graduated, I have nothing to do. Literally, it is the most boring thing in the world. My "summer" so far has consisted of cleaning my room and Tumblr. (link here)

Naturally, this has got me thinking.
Isn't it weird that we wait so long to be done and then when it finally happens, we don't know what to do with ourselves? Maybe it is just me, but I think others are feeling it too. Now that I have nothing that I have to do, there isn't much that I want to do. Maybe if I make a list of things that need to be done before certain dates, I'll have more fun procrastinating.

What is life?!

During High School, I have learned many things. None of them I will list here, but I am thankful to have had the experience that has taught me so much. Many look back on high school and hate the experience. I'll admit, I am not the biggest fan of school in general, but there is one thing that I am certain of: I would not trade my experiences for anything. It is the experiences alone that have shaped me into the person that I am now. And I love who I am. I may not be sure of exactly what I believe sometimes, but I know that I love the way I turned out.

So, how do you feel?

Beginnings

2011-05-17T07:16:00.000-07:00

This week, many things are coming to a close. I have had my final BCT main stage performance, this is my final week interning, I've said goodbye to some people that realistically I may never see again, my last spring concert is on Friday... and still, new things keep coming. Yearbooks were distributed yesterday, a Disney trip is scheduled to begin next tuesday, and soon summer will be here to warm us all.

Of course, I am a very emotional person. You know that, I know that, everyone who has ever met me knows that. I feel things to the extreme. I don't know why it is like that, but I have always been that way. When I was in preschool, I cried simply because a little boy in my class was sad. I didn't want anyone to be upset. When I am surrounded by people who love and care for one another, I become attached. This company has meant a lot to me in the past year that I have been involved. No, I haven't been in 20 of their shows, no I don't know everybody on the staff, no I haven't been with them for my whole life. But I know what that feels like. Sitting backstage on Sunday was like saying goodbye to an old friend. I know, that is so cliche but that is how I felt. Saying goodbye to anything, whether it is my first show or my fifteenth, is difficult. I found myself feeling less worthy to be upset than the people who have been here for years longer. I know that I have every right to feel however it is that I would like, but I try not to take away the attention from others by being sad, myself. Coming here, though, was something that may have saved me. I came here knowing nobody. I left with people who text me first. That sounds stupid, but when somebody else contacts YOU, don't you feel good? Don't you feel special when somebody wants to talk to you out of everyone in their entire contact list? Now I'm rambling, but what I am trying to say is that I have found a group of people who love and care about me. I will never forget that, and I will always be thankful. For those of you reading this from bct: thank you for accepting me.

Yesterday's yearbook distribution was so weird. Before they gave us our books, we watched a slideshow of all the pictures that would be in the yearbook itself. A little pointless if you ask me, since we were just going to look at them all anyway. I got a few signatures. I am going to need a little more time for others to sign, though. There are many others who I want in my memories. There is something I don't understand about what went on yesterday, however. some people refused to allow their books to be signed. I understand they they will want something special from the people who they know really care about them and whatnot, but why would you deny a person the opportunity to say to you something they may have been keeping inside for... well, ever? Imagine if a person you thought hated you wanted to sign your yearbook and they had planned on writing something incredibly nice and an apology for something they may have done? I mean, high school is ending, if things are not resolved now, they never will be. I don't know. I just wish I knew what people were thinking. Maybe I just like people to sign my possessions.

This is what is written under my senior portrait in the yearbook:

" Friends,
You are beautiful. I hope you smile every day. Sing because you are happy- and do not care who is listening. Inspire others. Be the sunshine. Live to the fullest. Become the person you want to be. Make someone's day. Most of all- love everyone.
I love you all.
Love,
Brianna :] "

Thank you

To Kill a Mockingbird

2011-05-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

We have successfully put on 4 shows, which only leaves 9 performances left for TKaM!! Crazy, right? Today we had back-to-back school performances. I was a field trip once again. That's pretty solid, I think :] The cast is so incredible. It is an honor to work with them every day- truly. I know that a lot of people probably say things like that and don't really mean them, but honestly, I love going to rehearsal and doing the shows. I have so much fun with the people around me. It is wonderful to be here all of the time. It really gives me a sense of community. Plus, working with the "adult" actors is helping me learn a lot as well. It is a team effort.

My part in the show is minimal performance-wise, but I don't mind that. The court scene is long and intense and exciting to watch. We sit and fan ourselves and react like southern racists. Quite fun, actually. But the most exciting part of the show for me are the scene changes. We have extremely involved scene changes at the beginning and end of the court scene. They involve moving stairs, making doors into windows, turing a house into a judge's bench, getting rid of flower boxes, bringing on benches, etc. etc. It is CRAZY. Rachel and I are a power team- today, we literally had our part of the scene change done in less than one minute. I'm having a lot of fun with this. I'll post some videos of Jess and I on youtube later- I'll link it here when I do that!

In other news: I am currently trying to make my life work so that I can successfully audition for and be cast in a production of Hairspray. It begins rehearsals on May 31st and ends its run on July 3rd. Studio 4 starts on July 5th, so it would be crazy, but extremely doable. Such is the life of a theatre artist, right? I'd love for my life to be like that all of the time. Soon, it will be I hope! Show after show after show. I won't be present for the physical auditions, but I am going to send in a video. Sadly, I cannot make up the dance portion, but hopefully my video, headshot, and resume will be enough. My one really big issue right now is that I do not have my license. Hopefully, I will within the next few weeks, however. That would make my life SO much easier. Or rather, it would make my life for my parents so much easier. Yes I am 18. But I'm always busy! Hw can I get a license?! That, and I am somewhat lazy.

Alright!
So, that is my life right now. I'll actually keep this updated from now on. I tend to feel like talking pretty often nowadays!!
Follow me on Twitter or Tumblr or subscribe to me on Youtube!
Love,
Bri

My Entire Theatrical History

2011-05-02T06:58:00.001-07:00

I have to admit,
I just felt like writing.
There just seems to be a lot on my mind, so thought I might share it.
I am very anxious about going to college next year. I am so so excited, but I have been having stress dreams about it too. Mostly, I really want to know who my roommate(s) will be!! I can't wait to start, but at the same time I am really not ready to leave my high school. I feel like I really want to have more opportunities here even though I've been heavily involved all four years. I am going to miss being here every day. I will miss the shows and the people and the musicals and the cabarets and the listening lunches. I will miss the teachers and the lessons and everything that makes up WA.

I have wanted to perform since I was very young. Very, very young. With my dad in a band and my aunt a professional opera singer, things have always been musical for me. In the summer of 2004, I did a summer program called Imagination on Wheels- coincidentally, run by the man who directed Blood Wedding here- and fell in love with the craft. I played a narrator in four Dr. Seuss productions. It was interesting and inspiring and fun! Sadly, the program ended after my first year. I auditioned for everything in the town, but I wasn't given another opportunity until 6th grade when I was cast in Annie as Pepper. The role fit me well even though I am the complete opposite of the character. I was the tallest girl in the company. After being rejected from middle school theatre, the summer of 7th grade I discovered SSPA. Summer School for the Performing Arts. The program changed my life again. I didn't know that I wanted to act until then. I knew performance was something that I loved, but it was that summer when I discovered that performing was what I wanted to do with my life. SSPA became my home, my safety, my happiness after that. They loved me, they cast me, they believed in me. Knowing that somebody believed in me meant more than any type of lead role. Finally, I was cast in a middle school production during 8th grade. I was a Brainiac in High School Musical (not my proudest moment, I admit) and the summer after that, I was in Pippin as one of the (many) Lead Players. I started high school with nothing and everything. I knew some upper-classmen, but I didn't know the ropes yet. I had been taught to act, but not to apply what I had learned. My first monologue during auditions was the speech from the end of the movie Accepted. Yes, the one with Blake Lively and Justing Long. It was embarrassing to say the least. What made it worse was that I sang One Song Glory. I was called back, but to no avail. Into The Woods clearly was not to be my WA debut. Defeated, I helped with Dancing at Lughnasa and The Guys and then came back for my Sophomore year much more prepared and in an Advanced Acting class. Sophomore year, I was in Rent as a featured soloist, and Angels in America as a chorus member. But I was excited and happy to be there. I worked on props for None Of The Above, and then that summer I was a counselor at SSPA. I thought I would be able to still take part the same way, but I wasn't. I became the person who watches. I had nothing to teach them. I couldn't help in any way. I didn't know what to do. I ended up as the assistant director for the black box. It was a wonderful experience. I loved helping, but it was clear to me (and all of those around me) that I was somewhat resentful of the children around me. I felt horrible. I wasn't allowed to perform anymore. It was against the code- and for good reason. It is about the kids. I can't be trying to make it about me when they are pushing for part themselves. I should be lifting them up, not tearing them down. I should be their coach, not their competition. It simply wouldn't be fair. I had to find something else. A new home. Somewhere that gave me hope and the opportunities that I needed. I couldn't do that to the kids. And I was far too selfish to stay. Junior year I was in Chicago: The Musical as D.A. Harrison, but that was as far as my involvement with WATA went that year. My drama department went to see a production of A Child's Christmas in Whales during the year. I wasn't there because I had no theatrical classes until the second half of the year. Somebody told me that the company, Boston Children's Theatre, was to perform Spring Awakening in the summer program. I decided to audition for their spring shows so that I wouldn't be a completely new face when I auditioned for the summer. Apparently, they really liked me because I landed the role of Gertrude in Seussical Jr. I had found a new family. I made a bunch of friends and finally felt like I belonged somewhere again. It was what I had been looking for. Finally, the summer, I was in the Drowsy Chaperone. I worked for SSPA the first week of the session, but after that, I was in BCT mode. This year, I am going to be at BCT again. I love it there. I am an intern full time right now, and I am loving it. I have now been in The Phantom of the Opera, and I have directed a musical, and I feel like I have gained some insight into my own life as well as the rest of the worlds'.

But that is my theatrical life.
That is all that I have experienced.
Next year, I will be in a completely new place, with a completely new group of people.
Different processes, different challenges, different lives.
What will I do?
Hopefully, I figure it out before I get there.
And if I don't, New York City will just be a new adventure and exploration.

Love,
Bri

Woah, its been a while.

2011-04-29T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well hello Blogger family!
My, has it been a long time since I've posted anything. Let's see,
1. Phantom is LONG gone. It was a nice, crazy experience with lots of dramadrama and tears, but ultimately it was successful.
2. Picasso at the Lapine Agine was great- I was on the props team and made some great-looking bottles of raspberry vodka.
3. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar turned into J'Caes- a ghetto-fabulous adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic. Very classy. Very powerful. I was in the chorus and on for two scenes, but it was a great experience and it landed us in the top three winners at Festival this year.
4. Children's Letters to God was wonderful. We ran into some problems involving music, etc. but we powered through and I learned that I need to take responsibility, not blame, for actions and things that end up going wrong. Plus, I loved my cast and they loved me (for the most part, I think. Except the one time I was mean and I feel awful. But I guess that's the life of a director, right?) But it was the most powerful lesson that I have ever learned in my life and I will never forget it and I will always cherish it. Not everybody can say they've made history, and even though mine was on a smaller scale, it made a huge impact on my life, so I am honored to have been chosen. If any of you are reading this, I love you all very much and thank you Mr. Towers for the opportunity to direct these wonderful people.
5. To Kill A Mockingbird is the show I am currently working on. It is being directed my Burgess Clark and it is an adaptation for the stage from the classic novel by Harper Lee. It is with Boston Children's Theatre- look it up if you want to come. It is going to be great :] I'm on;y in one scene but the people playing the principles are wonderful.
6. Blood Wedding is happening at my school currently- there is a performance tonight (which I am happy to say that I will be seeing!!) and I think there might be one tomorrow and then next week there are two more. I will not be there for the second weekend, as it will be the opening performances of TKaM, but I am proud of my school and my friends for putting on such an amazing production. I have only seen the costumes and makeup so far, but I know that it is going to be an incredible show. Plus there are only 3 seniors, I guess. Maybe 4 or something- that's what I overheard. I am probably terribly incorrect and will end up embarrassing myself but whatever.
7. I'm no longer in school! Well, that's kind of a lie, but I am on internship currently, here at BCT. Its great- I'm working Props for TKaM, I've been helping a lot with costumes lately (the Ham is going to be fabulous) and I am organizing Daniel's vocal studio. It has been a long 11 days (today was my 11th day) I am going to be averaging 30 hours a week. Right now, I'm at about an average of 5.5454545454545 hours per day, meaning 38 hours per week. Pretty solid, I'd say. Its a requirement that I take 30 hours a week, so I am pretty pleased with this current statistic. Plus tomorrow, I'll probably be getting a few more hours in due to the crazy Saturdays (don't even get me started on what happened on the 16th.
8. I am doing the Broadway Cares Cabaret again! Just don't ask me any details yet because currently I do not know them!
9. I have chosen a college. I'm going to Pace University in New york City :]

I love you all- I have to go back to work, but I'm excited to be back :] Perhaps I'll post some of my required journal entries here!
check out my twitter (cause its great): @Bri_is_awesome

Have a wonderful day!
Bri

My brain on Phantom...

2010-09-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well hello!
It has been a little while.
So, as you may or may not know, my high school is performing Phantom of the Opera this fall! First high school in Massachusetts (represent!) to be putting this show on. That is pretty darn exciting, if I do say so myself. We started with auditions on the first day of school- a Wednesday, might I add- and after a long and frightening weekend of waiting for results, our wonderful assistant director Audrey sent out a facebook message of the callback list. I received 2 callbacks: 1 for Carlotta and 1 for Madame Giry. If you are familiar with my voice at all, you know that I fit Madame Giry best (if you are not, familiarize yourself here) but this summer, through all of the Drowsy love and craziness, I did a lot of vocal work and my head voice has come a very long way. Well, to cut a very long story short:
The cast is like this (I can't legally post last names, so, these will have to do) ...

Phantom: Caleb
Christine: Jill
Raoul: Nick
Carlotta: Hana, Bri (me! :] )
Piangi: Felix
Madame Giry: Christie
Meg: Nicole, Jackie
Andre: John
Firmin: Paul

I am VERY happy with how this cast turned out. I am extremely excited to be playing Carlotta in a team with one of my good friends and the rest of the principals are fantastically placed. I am very proud of them all, as well as myself for achieving my summer goal.

So, we have now begun rehearsals. We had a successful run of Act One last week and we are working on Act Two currently. We are far from finished, but it is coming along wonderfully. If I get the chance, I will be posting pictures and videos and audios of rehearsals so that you can also mark our progress and see how things are going. I am going to try and keep this blog up to date through the process, since I rarely ever do that. So, although we have been rehearsing for a few weeks now, I am going to start with today's rehearsal with our wonderful conductor.

Hana and I met with Mr. C today after school to work on our intonation, rhythm and overall singing. I have been sick for the past 3 or 4 days, so, I really didn't have much of a voice and had to sing most of it an octave down, which turned out to be fine. Hana was fantastic, as always, and we ended up having a very successful rehearsal with him. He taught us about positive thinking (mostly for me because I wasn't feeling too great due to my lack of voice today) and of course, he taught us the correct notes!! Very important when we're doing Phantom of the Opera.

This has been a brief, and yet informative update for you all! I hope that you will be joining me for this journey to the Opera Populaire over the next month and I will be writing again soon!
Love,
Bri :]

Team Drowsy

2010-08-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

Well friends,

It is done. We've put on our maid and butler and 1920s costumes for the last time and performed the best show in our power for a final audience of adoring fans. Holding hands with all of you before our show on Sunday, I realized something. This truly has been the most influential and meaningful experience that I have had. I'm just sorry it took me until the program was over to figure it out. Each and every one of you have a special place in my heart where you will all stay for the rest of my days. We met as a cast for the first time on our second day of camp and read through the script. At the time, I don't believe that any of us foresaw how tight-knit we would become or that by the end we would all be begging to return. I say a lot of these things at the end of shows. I usually write a note to the cast about the end or how it all made me feel. Never before have I felt so accepted in a group of (with an exception of a few) complete strangers. I didn't know that in a short 5 weeks, these strangers would morph into friends.

This has been one hell of a ride. I came into this program blind. I did not know what to expect, who would be here, what was happening, or anything. I walked into the auditions with a few friends from Seuss and I was off. People can be clique-y. I know from experience that when doing a new summer program, people aren't the most accepting of newcomers. Fortunately for me, this is not just any random camp. Over the weeks, I have come to know and love all of you with my whole heart. I believe that we truly were and are a family, no matter where we live, no matter who we are, no matter our past or present, or future. I am truly honored to have been a part of this cast.

You should all be so proud of our accomplishments. Somehow, we managed to put together a knockout show, learn a'cappella and group pieces, perform individuals and grow as people of the planet as well. I know that I grew. I am more confident, I know myself and others better, and I learned that you don't have to play a principle to be a part of the family.

I wish I could write more. My mind is pulling me in seven different directions and I have all of these things that I want to say, but I do not know how to place them in the form of a blog or email. I shared with you at the end of our run that I was honored and touched to be accepted into such a loving and caring group of people. You are all truly my new family. I wish for you the best of luck and I hope to see you all soon. Know that we are all here for each other as we stumble through life's crazy labrynth ;]

Love,
Brianna

The forgotten blog post!!!

2010-07-30T17:21:00.000-07:00

The following post was written in the middle of Summer and never posted. I just found it and it amused me :] the original title was, "Time passes WAY too quikly" enjoy!! Real update to come later today!

Do you like my random capitalization in the title?
It certainly amuses me.

Well, friends, it has been a few weeks since I have written. Amazing how fast time flies. I know its a bit cliché to say that, but for real, have you ever really thought about it? now you will ;]
In my past weeks at BCT, things have certainly improved. My last post was not the happiest, I will admit. This one will be a lot better. The purpose of this blog is to primarily write and document my life and also to share some insight that I think might one day help the world... possibly.

This was our final week of classes, unfortunately. Next week begins tech and production week which is both sad/terrifying and exciting. This week, we danced the best combinations of the program, sang our songs confidently, and created the best characters in acting. A good way to end the summer, I think. Although it is not over yet, we can't fight the fact that it will be all coming to a close in a short 9 days. I feel like I just began to get to know everyone and making friends. That initial audition day seems like it happened years ago while the time in the actual program has floated away and been lost. The days pass slowly some of the time, but then you look back and wonder where the weeks have gone. I am not pronouncing it over yet, because it is not and that would make people sadder. Instead, I would like to celebrate right now some of the awesome times that we have shared backstage and around the campus in the past week.
In no particular order (especially not in chronological, Dear God)...

-Alexis slept over in the dorms
-Daniel told me that my shirt reminded him of hooters
-There are Gazelles everywhere
-There was a scary spider in the shower this morning and it frightened me and the dorm
-I hid under Abbie's bed
-Philipp talked to an empty room by accident
-Kristina and I wonder how they clean the ceiling of the theatre
-Allsun is Sutton foster
-Rachel is Alice Ripley (but so is Brian...)
-Abbie and Magda (they don't even need an explaination)
-Kyle as Aldolpho
-Kevin (because I promised I would mention him in the next blog and I don't really know what to say about him other than that he's in the program and speaks a lot in acting class)
-The improv exercise between Burgess and Mark
-The understudy run-through on Wednesday
-scheduling "cake" for Brian's birthday into the rehearsal
-Getting no food from GDA (hey, thanks Governor Dummer)
-Playing the celebrity game
-Philipp the God
-Team Drowsy T-Shirts
-Dressing like Ashley
-Dancing to Iris and Quicksand and S-Club 7
-Making Friends
-Everyone always asking if Josh is alright after his fake fall
-Gaga
-Billy has to eat SO MUCH FOOD during the show

Good times :]
love,
Bri

"Champagne makes me drowsy"

2010-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!
Today is my first day back home with air conditioning and a comfy bed. This week I started Boston Children's Theatre's Summer studios. I am dorming there because it would interfere with SSPA if my parents had to drive me every day, so, we decided that it would be a good experience to live away from home (excluding weekends) for 5 weeks. I have survived week one (narrowly, might I add). I think that I am going to break this blog down into days. It is going to be a long one, so if you don't have the time right now, I would advise that you wait to read it.

Day 1
After waking up extremely early to shower and get ready for the hour long ride to campus, we started on our journey East. We arrived around 8 and met one of my RAs, Brian. And then my parents wanted a tour of some sort. I stood awkwardly while kids stared and wondered why my parents were there. After they left, auditions began. That's a lie. After introductions from the staff, auditions began. As you might know, I am a very nervous person. Whenever I have to get up in front of people and do things, I get extremely nervous. Good thing I'm a performer, right? Everybody who sang was incredibly talented. Finally, it was my turn to go up on stage and wait my turn. Two seats away. One seat away. Time to go. I sang Out Tonight from Rent, hoping that it would result in a callback or consideration for the Wedding Singer. After everybody finished singing, we all went down to the black box an learned dance combinations from the Wedding Singer and the Drowsy Chaperone. The space was very cramped and it was difficult to learn the dances with so many people around. Somehow I was able to do so, however, and not completely suck. When the dancing was over, the numbers for Wedding Singer were called and I was not one of them. I sat in the lobby waiting to hear anything about anything for probably an hour or two. Finally, they called for the remaining girls to the black box for Drowsy callbacks. I sang for Drowsy and Mrs. Tottendale. They went well, I thought and that was pretty much the end of the day. We had orientation and introductions back at the dorms. We met each other and I found out that there are 4 Briannas at the camp. Good. I am also living with 10 German students and 2 American girls (not the dolls, literal people). Also- There's no AC.

Day 2
Our classes were chosen and assigned in accordance with our auditions and I was put into Dance, then Music, and then Acting. Every morning we go to these classes starting at 9am. I thought that I would hate dance, because I suck, but I actually rather enjoyed it. Its a really nice workout and we did a combination to Tainted Love. It was a lot of fun :] In Music, we started an ensemble piece- A Weekend in The Country from A Little Night Music. It is difficult, let me tell ya. Then in Acting we were introduced and we went around the circle saying out names, who our favorite actor/actress is, and then say something that we wouldn't normally tell anyone the first time we met them. It was pretty upsetting. The whole idea was to become comfortable with being vulnerable around each other. We had to stop part-way through due to the time. Then it was time for the cast list. Still holding a little bit of hope in my heart, and still knowing that I was not going to be in the Wedding Singer, I approached the large group of people crowded around the small bulletin board upon which our fates were posted. I scanned the Wedding Singer's list for my name and when I didn't find it there, I found it next to the label, "u/s Drowsy Chaperone." I then went off to lunch and rehearsal where we learned a few group numbers and then I went back "home" a bit upset.

Day 3
The hottest day in history. I woke up slightly discouraged and dragged myself to the shower at 6am (how disgusting) to cool myself off. Breakfast was good, then classes were good. In dance we continued with Tainted Love, in music we learned theory and sight singing, and in acting we finished our exercise and started watching Dog Day Afternoon. In the afternoon we had rehearsal and then I went back to the dorms and chilled with the Germans.

Day 4
In dance we learned some salsa stuff. I wasn't the biggest fan of this. This is because I am an awkward human being. In Music we were assigned group numbers. Everyone got duets aside from 2 groups- one of three, one of four. I was in the group of four girls. We were assigned a number from The Frogs by Stephen Sondheim- originally performed by Nathan Lane and Roger Bart. Yes, 4 women singing a song written for 2 men. It's fine. I'm sure we can do it. Acting we almost finished Dog Day Afternoon and then after lunch the entire cast of Drowsy Chaperone almost died because of the heat in the room. Fun day.

Day 5
The opening of Day 5 includes our first Master Class. This week's was dance- again, my weak point. It was completely intense (in my opinion- I mean, it might not have been that bad to people who actually dance) We learned two combinations- one from the 20s for the Drowsy people and one from the 80s for the Wedding Singer people. They were fun :] I was better at the 20s one. I think it has something to do with my Chicago experiences. After that we had rehearsal and we danced on the lawn with Brian to Toledo Surprise.

My comments
During Acting, Burgess said something about how sometimes (in fact, most times) getting what you want is not what you need. I guess that is what happened to me this week. I went to the program hoping to be cast as Holly in the Wedding Singer. I chose my audition song based on that desire, I dressed for the occasion, and I did my hair differently in the hopes that I would be cast as the crazy, young, fun person from the 80s. When I wasn't even considered at all for that show, I won't lie, it really made me sad. The Drowsy Chaperone is a fun and hilarious show and I should be honored to be a part of the small cast that it is made of. I'm learning to accept things for the way they are. I cannot make people consider me for a role they just don't believe I fit. I cannot belt higher than my abilities will take me at this time. I cannot make myself shorter. I am myself. All I can do is stand up in front of the directors and choreographers and the others and accept my life for what it is. I can only embrace what I have. I can't change what people are going to think about my talents or what they can be used for because it is not in my power to do so. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though I am still not crazy about the role that I have been assigned, I am learning to accept it. I am up to the challenge and I will be learning all the way. I didn't need to be in The Wedding Singer. I needed to be in The Drowsy Chaperone. I know this because if it weren't meant to be, it would not have happened. Someone with more power and wisdom decided my fate and I can do nothing but trust that they were right. I have no doubts that if I go about this correctly, smiling, embracing, and accepting the hand that I was given, I will learn more than I have ever imagined.

Enjoy the week, friends-
I'll be back soon.
Love,
Bri

High School Never Fails to Amuse Me... Oh Wait... That's a Lie.

2010-06-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

Weird that it has literally been a year since I started writing this blog. I know that nobody reads, but someday it might turn into a thing. Until then, I'm just writing for my own and my one follower's enjoyment. Friday night marked the 11th annual Academy Awards (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, look at my past blogs- I explain there) Next year's season was announced.

Our main stage season is as follows:
Season one- Phantom of the Opera
Season two- Picasso at the Lapin Agile
Season three- Julius Caesar
Season four- The Women
Season five- Flat Stanley the Musical

Along with these, the seasons for the black box were also announced. Each year, a lucky handful of senior students are chosen to direct a show in our studio theatre (Black Box). Since my freshman year, my goal has been to direct a musical in the black box, something that has never previously been done at our school. My original plan was to direct Last 5 Years by Jason Robert Brown since there are only two people and I think that it would be amazing down there, but after much consideration, it was decidedly too difficult for freshmen and sophomores to pull off. It was this decision that led me to Children's Letters to God the Musical. I submitted my director's proposal a few weeks ago and eagerly awaited the announcement on Friday. Of course, I was interested in the awards themselves, but really, I had been waiting the entire ceremony to hear the results of my efforts.

After sitting through the announcements of the guest directors for the main stage and breaking Matt's hand, it was finally announced that another first was going to be present in the season. So, my dear friend(s), you are reading the words of a person making history. Children's Letters to God is going to be living in the studio theatre during the third season next year. I am incredibly excited and honored to have been chosen for this and I cannot wait to start working. Unfortunately, I submitted my only copy of the libretto for my proposal, so I am going to need that back. If you are interested in hearing some of the music, click HERE. That is probably my favorite song from the show. It is called, "I Know"-it makes me smile and I love it. The kids who perform in it are incredibly talented- this particular video is from a Philippines version of the musical (according to the video description) I tried to find the obc on youtube, but it wasn't there. The official website of the show is HERE. I can't wait to scout talent from my own neck of the woods.
If any freshmen or sophomores are reading this: Here is a bit of information to get you ahead of the game...
Characters: 3m, 2f
Brett, age 13- his parents are divorced. He loves his father and wears a hat full of pins from places they have gone together. Although he says that he doesn't wear it to bed, he completely does.
Joanna, age 13- she wants desperately to be a princess. She wants a fairytale ending and she is head-over-heels in love with Brett, even though he is sort of a jerk sometimes.
Iris, age 11- her best friend is her pet turtle, Arnold. She resents anyone who doubts the love between her and her turtle, but she secretly longs for more friends. She likes Brett a little bit, too.
Theo, age 10- he wants to be Brett's friend so badly. He wants nothing more than to please his parents and learn how to play baseball and be more athletic. He does not want to be chosen last anymore.
Kicker, age 9- he is Joanna's sister. He loves her, but also hates her. (it is a mutual hatred, but it is just sibling rivalry, nothing violent or horribly mean here)He wants to be accepted by the older kids and fit in.

Obviously, this is completely early- a little less than a year in advance- to be releasing the information, but I am extremely excited. Hopefully more people will read this blog and become interested in auditioning.

I am still eagerly awaiting the rooming list for BCT!
Hopefully that will be in very soon.

Another exciting thing,
For my job shadow in April, I took a trip to New York to follow a Casting Director, Mark B. Simon (he has cast all of JRB's shows and many others). I was allowed to sit in on the auditions for Eric Whitacre's New York production of Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings. It was a fantastic experience. I hope to return someday and do some more "work" with them. For now, I have tickets to see the show, so there will be a review of some sort up when I return. I know it is going to be absolutely wonderful. I can't wait!!

Sorry this post is so unorganized- I am supposed to be working on a project for Creative Writing right now :P
I hope you could follow easily enough and I am excited to write more this summer!
Have a wonderful week everybody!
Love,
Bri :]

It has been Months, but I'm back!

2010-05-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Hello people!
Well... person.
I am here to talk about a few things this blog post. The topics will be as follows:
1. Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
2. Evening of One Act Plays
3. BCT and Bri!
4. BroadwayPants

1. Broadway Cares
Currently I am sitting in a very hot and humid Marine Biology room pretending to do a project on oil spills (well, not actually pretending- for more info go HERE)and I am reflecting upon the wonderful success that was the Broadway Cares Club Cabaret! My friend Krissy is the president of the Broadway Cares Club here at school and I am the Vice President :] We co-chaired/directed a Cabaret about a month ago now. The cabaret consisted of many musical theatre numbers as well as some EXTREMELY talented individuals. Footage will be posted on my youtube channel at some point (soon I hope!!) and I will post pictures once we all go through the pictures that were taken and sort out the good and bad. I just wanted to give a little shout out to the wonderful people who helped and I thank you all! I love you so much :] We ended up making over $600, so you should all be proud. :]

2. Evening of One Act Plays
This happened a few weeks ago now, but there were 3 black box shows to see and I saw them all 3 times :) one role in each show was double cast, so I had to see both and everyone was wonderful! Krissy directed a show called The American Century, Jen directed 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, and Katie directed The Pokey.
The American Century was a play about family and a boy who shows up at the house of his parents post WWII. He is their son from the future and things all get jumbled and confused, but it is wonderful. The cast (Jill, Jackie, Nate, and Johnny) was amazing and everybody did absolutely wonderfully. The chemistry between them was real and believable. My mom loved it too. (My dad showed up about two seconds after the show started and so, he missed the whole thing because it was in the Black Box and if someone comes in late to a Black Box show, it just disrupts everything.) Wonderful job! Congratulations :]
27 Wagons Full of Cotton was more difficult to follow, but it was wonderfully directed and cast. It was about a married couple who have issues (abuse, arson, etc.) and a plantation burning down. What was cool, though, was it was a political allegory to the Good Neighbor Policy. The cast (Michelle, Alexa, Dylan, and Ryan) was believable and I could see the situation and how it was all affecting them. The set was really cool, too. They made a legit PORCH on the stage with a swing and a screen door and everything. It was great.
The Pokey was very interesting. It was the most modern, I would say. It was about a rockstar who wakes up in the jail of a town in MiddleOfNowhere, Texas (aka Prolly). She swears a lot and jumps around and is crazy, but likes books and befriends the jailor who is never named :( The end was cute and I was glad the last line was, "you motherrrr" because that just makes it funnier. The cast (Patty, Emily, and Matt) made it completely hilarious. All three were perfectly cast. It was great
A Job WELL DONE to the directors, casts, and crews of all three of these wonderful productions!!

3. BCT
I am proud to announce that this summer I will be working with Boston Children's Theatre (LINK!) to improve my skills as a performer and to be in one of two productions: The Drowsy Chaperone or The Wedding Singer. Personally, I hope to be cast in The Wedding singer after the whole Chicago thing. (In cast you didn't know, Chicago was not the BEST experience I have ever had in my life. It was incredible fun, however the comments that were made on my hair were a bit much.) Needless to say, I do not want to cut my hair for the 1920s again. Either way, this summer is going to be wonderful. I am so very excited to join this company for another "season". My plan right now is to document the summer in the form of a reality show (giving an update of some sort each day or week or possibly bi-weekly.) and making "episodes". The show will be on my youtube channel all summer and should be pretty dramatic and fun :P Hopefully I can get some good "interviews" from new friends to make it even better. I'm pretty pumped about this plan. I'm not going to lie. I am super duper excited to be living in the dorms and I am eagerly awaiting the information about rooming. That is the update as of right now for that particular area. Hopefully I will be learning more soon! I can't wait :]

4. BroadwayPants
Well. It is my pleasure to introduce BroadwayPants. I am not exactly sure how this is going to work yet, but I have decided to announce this anyway. The people who read this blog are most likely familiar with the pants that I create when seeing certain Broadway shows. I have decided to extend this project with the world. For right now, I am taking orders for the summer. Half of the proceeds will go to Broadway Cares, the other half will go to the BroadwayPants fund which will help pay for new sharpies and materials that go into MAKING the pants. Email requests to: Tootsiepopowl210@gmail.com (For now. This will change later. I will post an update for a new email address in the coming months)

I hope that you all have a wonderful week!!
I love the people reading!
Don't be afraid to comment :]
Love,
Bri <3

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

2010-03-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

Quote- Dr. Seuss.

This Sunday, I wrapped up one of the most meaningful theatrical ventures of my life. Weird how I am talking about a production of Seussical Jr. the same way that I talked about RENT last year. This production was a complete step outside of my comfort zone. People who know me think that I'm crazy-outgoing but, I am extremely shy. I walked into the audition at Boston Children's Theatre with my friend Tara, thinking that we were going to take this adventure together. Turns out that she had traveled for nothing when she realized that she could not actually audition for Anne Frank because she will be in Italy when it is being performed (lucky duck!). So instead, I walked in alone. I sang my Spring Awakening song, did my Ilse monologue, and took a step out side of my little box. A few weeks later, I stepped farther when I returned for a callback. After I was cast, rehearsals started and I was on my own. I had two almost friends from auditions/callbacks, but that was it. Who knew that I would be begging to return not even two days after it all ended for good?

I have never been involved with any sort of production outside of my little high school theatre world until now. It took me this experience to realize that I am capable of so much more than I ever thought. I don't get cast as the lead. I get the chorus roles. Chorus roles are just as important, but when you don't ever get that chance to really be there after the hard work that you have put in, it seems almost hopeless. It is now that I have realized that I can do it. This step out of my boundaries, this allowed me to grow so much as a performer and as a person. I have been in the same town for my entire life, surrounded by the most talented people I have ever met and maybe, because of this, I didn't feel like I could ever live up to them. I didn't have the confidence that I needed to make those roles because I didn't know that I could ever do it. This whole opportunity gave me the chance to show myself what exactly I was capable of.

This is my thank you. I want to thank the whole cast and creative team for working together and really being a family to me and each other over the last month. You have ALL taught me so much about myself and about friendship and about theatre arts in general. The professional atmosphere scared me a bit, but really when it comes down to it, that was what I was used to anyway. My only complaint is that I wasn't allowed to help build the set. :P I'd like to keep in touch with all of you after this is over (which it now is). I have many of your numbers and facebooks and things such as this. But I wanted you all to know that, even though its weird to say, you have truly changed my life. I leave this production with more confidence and happiness and experience than I ever have any other. I owe this growth to all of you and only hope that I have helped any of you in the slightest bit.

You don't need a big performance space and 4000 audience members to have a successful and beautiful show. You could perform on a 20'x20' stage with yellow curtains and still experience something meaningful. I know first-hand now. You could ask my friends- I had issues with some technical aspects but once we all started working together and really getting to know the show, I truly loved being there and putting on that feathery hat every day. :)

I feel like I have written way too much at this point. It would be a miracle if you read this whole thing. Thanks to those who did.
I look forward to seeing you in the summer, BCT, it has been wonderful.
Love,
Brianna
P.S. http://www.BostonChildrensTheatre.org

Many things to discuss...

2010-02-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

This blog comes to you in many parts: 1. The follow-up on the Chamber Music and Catholic School Girl auditions 2. Catholic School Girls Show (I think you can guess how number one went now) 3. BCT 4. Musical Theatre: The Class! 5. A Tragic Story

1. The Follow-Up
So, Once again, I glanced upon the cast list on the beloved box office glass that my existence surrounds and saw the absence of my name. I'm not going to lie, I had dreams about it the nights leading up to that day and they all had something to do with the directors assigning me some kind of technical position like props. So, I signed up for props. (Only to find out that I could not be involved with Chamber Music... more info on that in number 3!) I don't remember if I cried for this cast list. I don't think I did, though, because I remember not expecting to get very far with Chamber Music and I was happy to have even been called back for both of them. For Catholic School Girls, I was called back and the first half went very well and then I was asked to stay for the second portion. That was wonderful and I'm honored to be able to say that I had a second callback. I feel like I saw it as an opening. I was kind of learning to let go and being grateful for the opportunities was enough for me. I think that people in this business and doing this for fun need to think about it as fun and looking out for opportunities. We are all just going around and looking for new experiences and, if we're lucky, we absolutely love what we are doing. I think that we all need to look at this theatre thing and not just see it as a form of entertainment or a career, but as something that we love. If people get up every day and say, "Goodness, I hate going to work. I hate my job." Obviously, some adjustments need to be made. It can't get much simpler than that, really.

2. Catholic School Girls...
was WONDERFUL! I saw it twice while it was happening. The cast list was as follows:
Elizabeth - Rachel
Maria Theresa - Patty
Colleen - Ashley
Wanda - Erin
Sister Mary Lucille - Hannah
Sister Mary Agnes - Christie
Sister Mary Thomasina - Lizzy
Sister Mary Germaine - Christina

I honestly wish I could put last names, but I don't want to put any of these girls in danger and so, there they are, in their one-name glory. All of them were spectacular. If any of you read this, please, know that all of the performances were fantastic and that I am proud of all of you. Many of you I have had the privilege of working with before or watching grow in some way and everyone was wonderful. I love you all.
The show was directed by the lovely Patti (I have mentioned her before, so, go back to the archives to read more about her) and the set was a simple set of 4 desks, a beautiful stained glass window that was constructed by many people and out of light gels and two giant blackboards. The show is a satire on life in a Catholic School by Casey Kurtti. I suggest reading it, it is wonderful =]

3. BCT
Short for Boston Children's Theatre. (Links: Website, Facebook Page) I went to audition for their productions of Diary of Anne Frank, Miss Nelson is Missing the Musical, and Seussical Jr. a while ago. After singing my heart out with Spring Awakening's Blue Wind and getting the feedback that it did not show off my full potential as well as being one of nine girls who had a monologue prepared (also from Spring Awakening in the role of Ilse- you can just call me redundancy) I landed 3 callbacks out of three. The first one, for Anne Frank, I had to leave early. The second, for Miss Nelson, I had to turn down because I realized that I am busy on the show dates. The third one, for Seussical Jr. , took place two weeks after the initial audition. My, what a long two weeks that was to wait. I have been in one production of Seussical before. I played the Cat in the Hat along-side Mike and Emily (we had three cats, don't even bother to question it. I tried and just ended up confused) at SSPA's version the summer of my Freshman-going-into-sophomore-year. At this callback, I would just like to point out, what I like to call a "Callback Miracle" happened. A Callback Miracle is something that I created a term for. In other words, it happens at a callback and one is able to suddenly hit a note that is just a little bit higher than they are normally able to reach, or dance a little better than they think they can, or anything that enhances skills for just that moment and occasion. This happened to me at these callbacks. I'm not going to go into extreme detail because they would be boring, but, basically, we all danced (a combination that was one million times easier than one of Larry's. Once you have worked with Larry, you win. That's it. haha) a combination and then everybody sung Oh The Thinks You Can Think (this is when said miracle occurred), and then they gave me Sour Kangaroo music, and then Bird Girl music, they shaved off a round of people and had the bird girl people sing, they threw me to the other side of the room for some reason, the Hortons and Jojos sang, then I was given Gertrude music, Mayzies sang, Gertrudes sang and they made me sing mine again because they thought I gave up (haha... oops.), and though this whole thing, they shaved people off until there were literally 7 or 8 girls left and those people sang for Sour Kangaroo. I was among those last girls and so were two nice people I met during the whole process (Alexis and Michaela) and then we all left. The cast list was posted and it was like a Christmas miracle. I was cast as Gertrude. For those of you who are not familiar with Seussical, let me just say, that Gertrude is the lead female role in the show. I am completely honored and excited to start working on the 16th of February. This saturday, we have measurements for costumes being taken and that should be fun as well. The only thing about this is that is interferes greatly with Chamber Music and after bringing this up with CM's director, it is clear that I am sticking with BCT for this run. For those of you who'd like to buy tickets- *LINK!*- please do! =]

4. Musical Theatre: The Class!
This is just a quick school update. I have started the musical theatre class of 2010 and I am loving it so far!! I sang Mama Who Bore Me from Spring Awakeningand it went very well. Everybody else is doing wonderfully! When I know more about it, I will let y'all know!

5. Untitled
I did not really name this section. I'm not going into specifics because I feel that is unnecessary. But I don't want to go about things like nothing happened. Liv, you will be missed in the hearts of many. Keep smiling on. Live For Liv. <3

I hope that you all have a wonderful week and weekend
Love,
Bri =]

The end... and a new Beginning!

2009-11-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hello people! I have two things to share with you today!
1. Chicago- the final days.
So, as you may or may not know, we did Chicago this past weekend (and the weekend before that) and it has come to an end. It would be silly to compare it to my other theatrical experiences because none are identical, but this was one of the shows that had the cattiness in the background. That happens, though. If you are around the same people for 2 or 3 months, fights happen. It's alright- we deal with it, and we move on. Overall, my experience with the show was a lot of fun. The show is not extremely vocally challenging, but the dancing was crazy, a large reason why we cast actual dancers. Half of the time, we had people singing backstage while the people who could dance were on stage. We were both doing our thing that way :) I don't have anything profound to say. I am going to miss the people I have worked with for years whose last musical with WATA this was and I hope that they will come back and visit next year :) It is really sad getting the musical over and done-with at the beginning of the year. We had auditions the second day of school, so, really the time has flown by. We went through 6 successful performances together, so, cast: if you're reading I'd like to offer my congratulations. thank you all for making this show possible!!

2. On to the second order of business: AUDITIONS
Auditions for Chamber Music and Catholic School Girls are on Monday! We really don't waste much time, do we? I have chosen a monologue from Laughing Wild (no, NOT the tuna fish one) and I have yet to memorize it. Hopefully I'll know it well enough to perform it on Monday. I signed up for the first time slot and I will write about how that goes when it comes. Truthfully, I hope to be cast in Catholic School Girls because Chamber Music is out competition piece and that is a ton of pressure. I would rather work on props when that comes around :) I will let you know when and if anything happens with casting and if I'm not cast, I will do costumes!!

I hope all of you have a lovely day today! Enjoy GLEE tonight!
Love,
Bri :)

2 Theatrical Lovelies

2009-10-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

1.CodeMonkey
A while ago, I was able to attend a BC production called Code Monkey. Luke Jorgensen, one of the 3 guest directors that grace our high school every year was not only the director, but also the writer. Using music by Jonathan Coulton, he created a crazy (yet intriguing) musical that kept me laughing throughout the entire show. The talents that the cast possessed was indescribable and the commitment to the outlandish characters was incredible. I didn't see it recently, so I can't really say anything extremely specific about it, but my favorite songs were, "IKEA" and "De-Evolving". They were so funny and fantastic, it's great. I wish they had done a cast album, because I totally would have bought it. Bottom line: It was a fabulous piece of theatre. I almost missed 40 minutes of rehearsal for this show and I can't really say I regret it because Laramie rehearsal went overtime and I didn't actually end up missing anything. :)

2.the Laramie Project: Ten Years Later
I don't have a lot to say about the content of the show because it was very similar to the first. I would say that it was a lot less emotional because I didn't cry. I feel horrible because I feel like I definitely should have, but, I came very close a few times. What's exciting is that WA was chosen to be one out of two public high schools in the world to perform it. Nobody in the high school was in it, however, many alums and guest directors were. The show was fantastic. Even though they all had scripts in their hands, the show was incredible.

Side Note: If any of you are in MA, come see Chicago!!
Click Here to buy tickets!!

Have a lovely night everyone!!

Give em the old Razzle Dazzle...

2009-09-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it has certainly been an interesting process so far at the home base. We had auditions for Chicago the second day of school. I can't speak for anybody else since I wasn't there, but I would say that auditions in general went very well. I feel like they went pretty smoothly and when I left they were only about 4 people behind (which, let's be honest, is kind of an accomplishment). So, at my high school, the theatre department is as close to professionalism as possible. We need 16 bars of an up-beat and ballad as well as a well rehearsed, memorized 1-2 minute monologue that correlates with the piece we are auditioning for. I sang "I Can Do Better Than That" from The Last 5 Years and "Easy to be Hard" from HAIR. My monologue was Val's monologue from A Chorus Line. I thought they went very well. I was SO incredibly nervous. I get nervous for absolutely everything. Even last year during Rent, I would FREAK out every night right before the second act. I had a solo in Seasons and Every single night I was like, "WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS??"

Anyway, after a lot of scaredness and whatnot about callbacks, the list was emailed to us. I was called back for Velma (THAT was a huge surprise) and Mama. The callbacks were pretty much like this: We all sat there while they called all the boys in, then the Roxies and then the Velmas and Mamas. There was singing and reading of scenes. I read for Mama twice and Velma once. We sang, "All That Jazz" and "When You're Good to Mama" And then, at 7, we all packed up and had to zoof over to dance auditions. I had a lot of fun, but I am not a good dancer, so, it was a little uncomfortable, especially learning the dance. Our director is Larry Sousa, so, it's going to be a HEAVY dance show.

Well, finally the cast list was posted. I would post it all here, but I'm afraid to say names because people might get angry even though nobody reads this but Allie. So, I'll just spare myself the trouble. I'm in the chorus. I was disappointed to say the least, but after a chat with the assistant director, I felt better. Last night we had our first rehearsal. The first half or more was dedicated to the technical stuff. Contracts, costume notices, cast lists, etc. were given out. I looked at them and saw my name twice. These were scene-by scene cast break downs. I love these because they are so incredibly organized but last night, they weren't my favorite. I want to take this time to say a few things that I need to be saying to myself lately. It really doesn't matter what part I get. I had been thinking it would feel the same as Rent if I got a bigger part or if I had a solo. But it wasn't the solo that made Rent so special. What made Rent special was the people that I got to work with. We were so loving and such a big family, but I need to get over that this isn't going to be the same. We have 6 weeks to get this show up and ready. If there is one person who isn't committed, the show can't work. I need to put aside my disappointment in myself and just start working. If I look at this negatively, nothing will happen positively the whole process. So even though I'm in 2 numbers, even though I'm being made to feel like I'm not as important, even though I'm not going to be able to see many of my friends during the process, it's going to be a good experience. It doesn't matter how I feel about the show. What matters is that I'm committed to making the audience believe.

Than that's the note I want to end on.

Keep it positive :)

HAIR review- August 15, 2009

2009-08-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Instead of figuring out who understudied who, I'm going to type the cast list as it was given to us as a separate sheet in the playbill.
Dionne- Saycon Sengbloh
Berger- Will Swenson
Woof- Bryce Ryness
Hud- Darius Nichols
Claude- Jay Armstrong Johnson
Sheila- Caissie Levy
Jeanie- Kacie Sheik
Crissy- Briana Carlson-Goodman
Mother- Allison Gruinn
Dad- Andrew Kober
Margaret Mead- Andrew Kober
Hubert- Josh Lamon
Abraham Lincoln- Nicole Lewis
John Wilkes Booth- Josh Lamon
Buddhadalirama- Allison Guinn
The Tribe: Ato Blankson-wood, Jackie Burns, Matt Deangelis, Lauren Elder, Allison Guinn, Chasten Harmon, Anthony Hollock, Kaitlin Kiyan, Andrew Kober, Josh Lamon, Nicole Lewis, John Moauro, Megan Reinking, Paris Remillard, Michael James Scott, Maya Sharpe, Hannah Shankman, Tommar Wilson

Alright :)
First, I was a little bummed we weren't seeing Gavin, but, I really didn't mind. After all, sometimes understudies can give fabulous performances. So, I was open-minded about this. Plus, I was really excited to see Saycon again. I saw her as Elphaba in Wicked the first time I saw it and she was fantastic :) Okay, starting the actual review now!

ACT ONE

Aquarius It was fantastic. The music was wonderful (as always) and Saycon was just as wonderful as I remember. The harmonies were so incredible... It was just great :) After Aquarius, Berger establishes himself and people introduce themselves. Will Swenson is FABULOUS. One of my new favorite people. First of all, there is a LOT of audience interaction. They speak straight out to the audience all of the time. He was like, "Call me anything you want... you could call me, 'Banana Berger'... or 'taking my pants off Berger' (that's when he took off his pants- by the way) or, 'I'm playing with my cell phone instead of watching the show Berger'" It was so funny. He was great. He couldn't get his pants off, so he said, "'I can't get my pants off Berger'" It was fabulous. He put his leg up on the front row chairs and was like, "Do you have any spare change? what? I'm just stretching... it could be a nickel, a penny, a dime, a spare hundred dollar bill. I'll just sit here all night with my b***s hanging out" omigod. So funny.
Donna So good. You're going to hear just about the same thing from me for every song. It sounded just like it did on the CD, yadda yadda. Will Swenson is extremely talented. the singing blew me away :)
Hashish So cool. It was trippy (duh... that's what the show is) Many... let's say, "interesting" movements made by the tribe on stage. Actually, someone is always doing something sexual on stage haha. But anyway, on the CD, my favorite part of the song is when they say, "LSD" and they didn't say it that way in the show hahaha! It made me sad, but then made me laugh because I felt sad about nothing.
S****y I'm starring these words out for the little eyes and ears. Just so you know. Gah. It's such a good song. If only I could sing it in public places without getting yelled at by authorities. Bryce is fantastic, too. Crazy how that works, huh? They're on Broadway and they're all talented... weird. Anyway, great song.
Colored Spade Can't really say much. I love the song. Darius is wonderful, too. Tia (my sister) said he should play Judas in JCS. He could. He definitely has the voice for it, that's for sure!!!
Manchester England Enter Claude. Berger said that he was, "The most beautiful creature in the forest" Tara and Tia both absolutely think Berger wasn't far off. They're pretty much stalking him at this point (not really, though) He is a really attractive person. I just feel like trying to know him/like him on a personal level just kills the character he created on stage in a way, so I tend to stay away from that. But he is extremely good looking. He's so talented. He is definitely as good as Gavin, if not better. Seriously, he was such a good singer. I couldn't even tell that he was an understudy.
I'm Black Not really much different from the CD. It was good, but VERY short. Like, literally 16 bars so, not really much to say.
Ain't Got No So cool. Of course, they're all out in the audience. So, it was awesome. The chanting was great and everything. It was just fabulous. I loved it.
Sheila Franklin Enter Caissie Levy. My favorite cast member.
I Believe in Love She is so fantastic. Her singing looked absolutely effortless. This song gets stuck in my head SO OFTEN it's crazy. Live, it was even better.
Ain't Got No yup... just about the same. as the first one lol
Air I love this song. Can I just say that Kacie Shiek is so hilarious?? She's so funny. She's all preggers and she singing the song and like, "FALL OUT" to her baby. She was so funny. Her voice was great too. I love the song. Another one of those songs I can't really sing in public, but only because people give me odd looks.
The Stone Age Another very short, but good song. It makes me happy, but it's so short that nothing really happens.
I Got Life One of my FAVORITES. The scene before it is the parents yelling at Claude and he goes, "Moooom!! Not in front of the audience!" and they're like, "oh... audience? sorry..." anyway. Another fun song. I wanted to sing with it, but I thought that would be looked down upon. Oh. Speaking of being looked down upon. Some guy 2 rows ahead of us was filming the show with his phone and he got yelled at like, 5 times. So funny.
Initials I love this because whenever I listen to it, I do the sign language letters as it's playing. So I did them quietly and discreetly in my seat :) The blocking for this was cool They were in a triangle of sorts and they were shuffling back and fourth.
Going Down Berger comes in and is like, "yoooo! I got expelled from High School" and everyone's like, "groovy" (except for that is not the dialogue at all) and they sing this awesome song. Will's voice is absolutely amazing. He has such a clear tone and it doesn't sound like he's stretching at all. It great. It is such a privilege to see this many talented people in one show. It really is.
Hair OMIGOD. MY FAVORITE. I love this song with the burning passion of over 1000 suns. The scene was amazing, the response from the audience was amazing, the people in it were amazing. It was great. But during it, Will's voice cracked and they just laughed. He and Jay were just sitting there laughing for like, 3 minutes. But it was great because they were still in character. The experience was wonderful. Many people think this is the end of act one, but NO! There is more!!
My Conviction The control in Andrew Kober's voice is the best I have ever heard. The crescendo is truly out of this world. I can't get over how great the cast is. Truly, I can't.
Easy to be Hard She's my favorite for a reason. Once again, efforless. She didn't even look like she was speaking. What I mean is that there was no strain in her neck or any of her body. She was just singing. It was like the notes came as naturally as blinking. My mom is absolutely convinced that I am able to sing this song well. I am not haha
Don't Put it Down So entertaining. The harmonies were incredible and the three voices, of course, were wonderful. I'm running out of adjectives. How many ways can you say fantastic? But yes, this song was very entertaining!!
Frank MillsI have to say, I was really looking forward to seeing Allison Case. But again, open mind :) Briana was great. She was a very talented singer and she was very animated the whole show. I love the character, and she played Crissy very well!
Hare Krishna It was so interesting. The songs like these where people are just kind of walking around and singing are so hard to describe. I wish I could give credit where it's due, but I don't know who this girl is. She's an amazing operatic singer and she looks like Fuzzy Pink Bra Girl from RENT. She was amazing. Anyway, The song gets super intense as it goes on. They're all burning draft cards and everything. It's great.
Where Do I Go ahh, the famed nude scene. Let me tell you how it really went. The song is beautiful. Claude sings it and it fantastic. As he is singing, the spotlight is on him- very far downstage right. and there is very low lighting on the tribe in the back. It wasn't until halfway through the song that I even noticed any of them were naked. The thing was, though, that it was so incredibly subtle and well done. The cast was comfortable, and therefore, so was the audience. It was almost nice. I don't know, it was motivated, and not uncomfortable for me in the least bit.

ACT TWO

Electric Blues Let me just say that I want to wait outside the theatre for intermission. they come in from OUTSIDE. that means that they're out on the street. I want to see that. Some guy was awkwardly standing out there watching them go back in. Some people were still getting back to their seats when they came in so Caissie Levy and a bunch of other cast members were hugging them and being like, "where are you guys going? i'll walk you there" It was so great. And then Will was walking past me (My mom let me sit on the aisle for the second act! yay!) and he tickle-scratched my shoulder, gave me a head nod and said, "hey babe" which, made my life, and I was like, "hey!" and got excited. and then he went up to Caissie and pointed at me and she gave me like, an, "oh, hi!" look. haha. It was great. Best ever. anyway, the song was fun, as it alway is, even listening to it on the CD its fun.
Oh Great God of Power So pretty. It's a really pretty song. Lots of candles, the vocals are nice. And then, "gasp! It's lord buckingham!" and they go into Manchester England again. And the lights return :)
Black Boys This song requires so much vocal range, it's crazy. It's a really really good song that makes me happy. Lots of movements that not many people would smile upon, but, its plenty fun and it goes into another really good song called
White Boys which is a better song than Black Boys. It's just a lot more up-beat and interesting. If I sang it, I'd look like a racist, though. The vocal abilities of the six girls who sing these songs are astounding.
Walking in Space This is when they're all passing out pot haha. But Woof was like, "roll roll roll the joint... *rhyming that I don't remember* and pass it to a friend"
Minuet uh... I'm sure it was great. It was instrumental according to the playbill. I wish I remembered what happened during it.
Yes, I's Finished on Y'alls Farmlands haha, interesting name, right? It's a quartet of 4 of the "black boys" in the Tribe. Lots of fun, but very abstract as are the next few songs, as they are a part of Claude's trip. haha
Four Score and Seven Years Ago OMG. The girl who played Abraham, was so great. She has the vocal range of... I don't even know, but it's a really good thing! The whole show is fun, I think you get that by now. Have I said it enough? This song was fun, and nice.
Give Up All Desires Not gonna lie, this scared me a bit. It was pretty funny, but also kinda creepy. I was like, "oh... that person is supposed to be REALLY REALLY old" ha
Three-Five-Zero-Zero I don't know what it means, but it was interesting. The Music is fantastic. It carries the show on its own, but this song, the music carried the story for me. I don't really know what was happening because Claude was all tripping out and everything, but, it was gorgeous to watch.
What a Piece of Work is Man This is the most beautiful song in the show as far as harmonies go. And it's sung by two random background people, too! I love when everyone in the chorus of the show gets to have some kind of solo. It's my favorite. So, this song made me happy. And it's beautiful, so, it was great :)
How Dare They Try They're all talking about the stupid dumb war. It makes me sad, because I love the hippies and all the peace and love and everything they stand for. I understand how they're trying to end the beauty. It is such a powerful show while maintaining it's fun-ness and everything.
Good Morning Starshine My mom has been singing this to me since I can remember. It always had a little bit of a soft spot for me, you know? I love it. It was done beautifully. Caissie Levy. Aghhh! Why can't I have your voice? Once more- effortless. Plus, the song is wonderful on it's own anyway, so... yeah. It was a great scene.
Ain't Got No (reprise) Always makes me sad for reasons I don't want to ruin here. But it's sooo powerful, and you'll get it when you see it.
The Flesh Failures This is meaningful. Claude is going through a time of decision making and it's kind of like, "I'll do this because I know I have to" and then it gets all trippy, but not literally and the Tribe is looking for him, but they can't find him... ugh. So sad.
Eyes Look Your Last This is so sad. I almost cried, but I didn't I don't know why I didn't. I should have. It made me want to cry but the tears freaking wouldn't happen!!! It was so weird. I cry about freaking everything.
Let The Sunshine In DEFINITELY should have made me cry. But didn't. So Amazing.
Curtain Call Right now you might be like, "why the frick is she making a section for the curtain call?" well, you people, it's because at the end of the show, you get to go up on stage and sing with them. YEAH. I freaked. Especially since we were the only people dressed as Hippies for the show. We blended in (kinda, but not really) anyway, you don't know what it's like to stand on a broadway stage when the theatre is full of people. It's an absolute rush. It was wonderful.

Stage Door Everybody was really really nice :) I got 18 autographs! And a bunch of people commented on my pants. Some people were really excited about them ahha. I'll post pictures. Will stopped smiling before the final flash, so he looks like a creep-and-a-half, but that's okay. Tara had everyone sign her jeans. They look really cool. We missed one person who came out and I was sad. He skipped us because we were taking a picture with someone at the time. We missed pictures with a lot of people, too, because my mom didn't have the camera ready or something stupid. But yeah. It was the best theatrical experience of my life. The best show I have ever seen!!!

Also, during the show- I can't remember when, we were invited to the Be-In (so was everyone else...). They gave out flyers and everything. I got one :) And she stopped right in front of our row and was like, "Okay guys, listen up. This is the most important part. You gotta bring your own pot, okay?" haha I'll post pictures soon. But the show is amazing. Go see it if you get the chance!!

A lot of things to talk about. This blog comes to you in 2 parts!!

2009-08-14T05:05:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't been blogging. I don't really think anybody reads, but, I'm writing anyway :)
Since it's summer, there isn't much high school theatre happening right now. But I do have an update at the end of this plog (part 2) that pertains to my High School theatre as we know it.

Part 1- SSPA
So, because it is summer, there is no school theatre, meaning there is a lot of room for Summer School for the Performing Arts. Our artistic directors were(and are) Patti and Mr. Towers. This year, the musicals were Children of Eden for the first session, and Songs for a New World the second session. The Dramatic acting/studio theatre productions were The Dining Room for the first session and All in The Timing (only 5 one-act plays from the book, however) for the second. Going into the camp after 3 years as a camper and then being pushed up to counselor status threw me a bit. I did not think that I would be in any of the productions, but the first day I got there, they told me to jump in and gave me places to stand in Children of Eden. So, I was a chorus member and literally went on stage twice, which, worked out quite well since I had nothing to worry about after I was finished and all of the kids were on stage the entire second act as well, so I didn't have to worry about wrangling children. I would usually take intermission to take off the face paint and then I would chill backstage until the show was over. The shows went wonderfully, I'm very proud of our actors and actresses in both COE and The Dining Room. The Studio Theatre production was wonderfully done and hilarious :)

Alright. Moving on to the second Session of SSPA where my life turned to pure stress. Are you ready? So, I was looking forward to working on my first Jason Robert Brown show. I love JRB, so, it would make sense that I wanted to be in Songs for a New World. We lined up and he was going to assign the new Jr. Counselors to Senior counselors. Long Story. So, it turns out that Patti requested that I be her Assistant Director in the Black Box. but I still want to be in Songs for a New World. This is when the stress comes in. We go through the whole 3 week session. Mr. Towers insists that I AM in Songs, but I have never been at any rehearsals. All in the Timing is coming along great, the show is fun and energetic, everyone knows their lines, it's all blocked. It's great. We get to the final day. I zoof to dress rehearsal for Songs during my lunch break and am blocked into the last number. Said Towers, "Just pick a line. I trust you to know where you're going" okay, fine. I go and I choose a line, and it works out. Great. After that, I zoof downstairs, get out of costume, and run to the Black box where I have a dress rehearsal at 2. We do our dress rehearsal. It runs smoothly, ASA takes pictures and we then start to prepare for our first show. We do the first show. It goes very very well. So, I then run downstairs for the first show of Songs. I have never rehearsed the Opening number and don't really know what to do. So, Towers again says, "You'll be fine." He shows me where to stand when I get down into the Pit from the upper right of the house and I'm juts like, "oh... okay... I'll be fin... what's the worst that could happen?" Somehow, though, I made it through the show without any screw-ups. It's a miracle, but it happens. I then go home and sleep. The next day: 12:30 call for Timing and show at 2. Call for Songs? 4:30 show at 5. It would have been fine had the day ended there. but no. life can't be easy. So, I had a show of Timing at 7:30. We got out of Songs at 7. So I ran, got out of costume and slipped out the back way and ran to the Black Box as fast as I could. We then waited for Towers to arrive and then we proceeded with the show, which went very well. Afterwards, we had a meeting with Mr. Towers and then went out to dinner and my hell weekend was over :) I'm so proud of all the kids that were in the second session as well as the first!! I hope they all return next year for another year of fun haha :)

Part 2- WATA Update
Alright. So, I announced earlier this summer that my high school is performing Sweeney Todd this year. Well, it was recently changed to Chicago. We've been applying for the rights to Chicago for 5 years now and finally got them. so, I'm excited about that, but I am not much of a dancer so I'm a bit frightened. I should either learn to dance very fast, or just pray that I make it through auditions. That is my announcement. I started writing this particular blog post about a week ago and originally I had much more to say, but I can't remember them :( lame.

I'm going to count the number of times I said the word, "so" in this blog. Just for fun.
including that one ^ there are 15 of them :P
Too many. But I'm too lazy to edit the post. oh well! haha
Peace
Bri :)

Academy Awards and The Clear

2009-06-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

I have two things to talk about!!

the first thing I would like to talk about is the Academy Awards. These took place on Friday, June 12th. We have these theatre awards at my High School. They're basically to celebrate the seniors' accomplishments, but, the underclassmen get tons of awards as well. Everyone dresses up, and it's wonderful. We're all formal and everything. It's a very fun time. One of the best night ever. The night started off with all of the directors speaking and telling us how awesome we are, yadda yadda. We gave out the "Fan of the Year" award to a well-deserving individual. They gave out a $200 scholarship, they talked about the TAMY awards, they recognized everyone who was in the "all-star cast" for the MHSDG drama festival, Matt and Andrew gave the honor of being Improv Troupe President to Mark and Rachel. That was coolio. Then they announced the Theatre Board members (not me), Gave out a bunch of achievement awards and then announced the nominees for the following categories:
Best Black Box Performance
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Musical Actor
Best Musical Actress
Best Featured Performer (I was nominated for my solo in Seasons of Love)
Best Theatrical Design
Best Direction
Best Performance by an Actor
Best Performance by an Actress
Then there was an intermission during which people voted on the above categories. The winners were all very much deserved :) I lost to a wonderful performer, who deserved it like, 10000 times more than I did! Congrats Ashlinn!!
Tara got an Unsung Hero award :) Then there were a TON of other awards that I don't feel like naming beause I don't know who won them haha
The season for next year was announced then! Our Musical is... *drum roll* SWEENEY TODD. Omigod, I'm so fricking excited. Alright, then we are also performing Catholic School Girls, Chamber Music as our competition play, and Live at the Coconut Grove- Written by Dr. Luke Jorgensen. Best night ever. I love the Academy Awards :)

The Clear!
So, this is part two of my blog today.
The Clear is a movie that is to be filmed in late August and is being released like, the summer after? Anyway, it is about Werewolves. Imagine Twilight- only with Werewolves. You have "the Clear". It is really funny, though. That is the only difference and the main characters are a bit different. All the same, it definitely appeals to the Twilight fans out there. I auditioned for the Clear on Saturday, June 20th with Tara, Hannah, and Caleb. We had a wonderful time. We got there at 12pm. There wasn't a huge line and Jerad had already gotten there (someone we expected to see from school) So, we signed in and were given numbers (I was number 14) and we waited for a VERY long time. It took 4 hours for them to get to any of us, so, that was fun. We occupied our time by dumping out Hanhah's bag and trying to make a game out of the contents of it, looking at the attractive boys, and playing ten fingers. Then, we were called up by number (after the union actors because they're special) and we were with groups of people who we didn't know (except I was with Caleb and then Matt, who is friends with Jerad) We did a screen test or two, and then we were pretty much set free. We were all emailed saying that we would hear back from them in 2 weeks, so, that should be nice :) They made a video from the Auditions. Click HERE to watch it!!
Hope you're all having a wonderful week.
Today was the last time I'll ever have to think about chemistry again. I get out of school tomorrow! woohoo!!
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Love,
Bri :D

Advanced Acting Final

2009-06-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday everybody!
Today was the day that I was supposed to be performing my Advanced Acting final, however, due to sickness, the people who were out for over a week get first dibs on the slots later in the week, so we got moved up 4 days. We performed our scene on Tuesday instead. For Finals this year, our teacher gave most of us very short one-act plays to perform. My group (Matt, Shannon, and I) recieved a 10-15 minute play walled, "Words, Words, Words" this play is about 3 monkeys who are part of an experiment and have to type until eventually, they produce Hamlet. There is a theorem called the "Infinite Monkey Theorem" that predicts if three monkeys type into infinity, they will produce Hamlet completely by chance. The play is a comedy, which I was not used to because if ever I were cast in a comedy I would probably laugh too much to perform it. Being moved up 4 days created a slight problem for us, but we adjusted and were able to successfully perform our final on Tuesday. My character, Swift, is based somewhat on the rebellious side of, "Puck" from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Milton is based on a poet and author who penned, "Paradise Lost", and Kafka is based on a philosopher who said many things about women and also success.

The scenes went quite well on a whole. There was one other group who performed the same scene. They did it VERY well. If I had thought to video tape the two, I would have, but, alas, my video camera is missing and I didn't think of it.

Tonight is the 10th annual Academy Awards. The Academy awards is an award cerimony for the theatre department where different students are recognized for achievements and such. I will blog about it once it happens! Only 6 hours and counting!! We announce the musical as well as the season for next year tonight and I am extremely excited! I hope all of you had a great week! (better and less stressful than mine, for sure!)
Have a great Weekend!
Love,
Bri

TAMY Awards

2009-06-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who read (which is probably... nobody truly) RENT was nominated for 19 TAMY nominations. We walked away with:
1) Best overall production (This is the absolute WIN)
2) Best Actor: Alex (Mark Cohen)
3) Best chorus (That's me!)
4) Best Musical Director: Becky
5) Judges Special Award for Outstanding guest Director/Choreographer/ Designer: Larry Sousa
6) Jerad (our Pianist) Also recieved a special award for playing the entire first act with a bloody nose.

I was slightly disappointed that we didn't win best set design, but then I found out that Back to the 80's had a GIANT rubik's cube in their set so I was like, "it's cool"

There's really not much else to say.

I got a ride from my friend Matt's family- but Matt wasn't there because he had to be there earlier, so, I went with a bunch of people I don't know but then! God smiled upon me and didn't give Adrianne a car, so, we picked her up as well and I wasn't lonely :) Then halfway to the venue, I realized I had forgotten my ticket so my mom had my sister take and send a picture of it to me, and the guy at the door was like, "can I rip this?" (referring to the picture on my phone) and then we laughed and he let me in, which was very nice of him :)

Graduation is on Friday which means that I have to say goodbye to all of my senior friends :(
If any of you happen to stumble upon this blog one day: I love you all so much! I know you will have a wonderful life!! Text me often!

Love,
Bri

A Bit About Me

2009-05-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

So hello people of the world who will not read this blog but hopefully will. My name is Bri, I'm currently 16 years old and attending a High School with a wonderful theatrical program. I've only now decided to blog about it because I'm halfway through my high school career. I am very much involved with the theatre aspect of my life because, quite frankly, it's the only thing I am remotely good at. We just finished up a production of RENT: School Edition directed by the well-known choreographer Larry Sousa-- that was wonderful.

So, I have decided that on this blog, I will share my experiences in a typical High School Theatrical setting. Just a note: I'm just getting around to this now because I AM so involved in theatre. Now that the theatre season is over, I don't know what to do with myself!) I will be blogging about the Summer Camp for Theatre Arts I will be working at this summer and I'll be talking about the kids there and how the shows are doing. This year, we are performing "Children of Eden" and Jason Robert Brown's, "Songs for a New World". Unfortunately, I am not able to take part in either of the actual performances since i'm like, 4 years older than the oldest camper, but It will be fun working on them all just the same!!

Well, stay tuned for updates on the Academy Awards (my school's theatre award program), TAMY awards, and everything else! I'll be posting later this week about those. And in a few weeks, I'll talk about how finals in Advanced Acting class go :P

Thanks for reading!!
Love,
Bri :D