Phew...

          About a week ago, my friend and I took our duet musical piece to competition. After hours of watching other classmates, watching competitors, and sitting around in the hot, hot sun, it was finally our turn to perform. As the authors of A Practical Handbook for the Actor say to do, I calmed myself before hand, and practiced enough only to the point where I was confident, yet not overdoing it. 
          Ta da! We're done. Unlike my partner, I was actually very confident with how it had turned out. She seemed to think we had messed up the big finish, but, she always thought that. I guess it's because it's very hard to judge your own singing, how can you tell where your own voice lies with pitch? Oh well. 
          In the end, we got an excellent with positive comments on our energy, choreography, and everything else (except our pitch... yeah yeah I know haha). But still, it was a fun experience, and, luckily, we get to perform it one more time on Tuesday at an event. Can't wait!

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          At the moment, I am taking a break from my Thanksgiving vacation to write this blog. Normally, I'm pretty excited about writing, I like to just write what I'm thinking, and to be able to look back later and say "Wow, I was so ____". Usually, the words to fill that blank space are "cute, weird, stupid, annoying, funny" bla bla bla. 
          Anyways, this coming week is the week of our one act, a short morality play entitled Everyman. I was a little apprehensive when our teacher announced to us that we would be putting on this show, it seemed pretty risky to me (the Christian Undertone is doing a little more than undertoning). But, as the weeks go by, it's shaping up into something very nice.            
          We'll be performing the show for our school on wednesday, and taking it to competition on thursday; (it should be a performance on friday for competition, but, apparently, it is okay to call up the director of the show one week before the competition date and announce that the performance will actually be on thursday, not friday). Our drama troupe has been known to take a show from a giant mess, to a beautiful masterpiece in a matter of days-- let's see how it goes! Wish us luck!

Yes!!!

Yesterday, November 13th, was the first part of our District Individual Events competition. It was the day where the straight acting and and some technical events were performed and judged. Having never seen many of the pieces being performed by my classmates, I was so blown away when I saw their final performances. Monologues, Duet Acting, Ensemble Acting, Set Design-- the whole shebang. I could not believe (well, yes I could-- my classmates are amazing actors) how incredible they all were. At the end of the day, out troupe walked away with 2 critic's choice awards! After weeks and weeks of rehearsing, evaluating, analyzing, more rehearsing, and stressing-- it was all worth it! Now, we will be heading back for part 2 of the competition next saturday, for some Solo musicals, duet musicals, small groups, large groups, mimes, student directed scenes, and a few more tech events. I will be performing a duet musical piece with another classmate; we've been rehearsing for a while, but have recently made a great stride thanks to another student with beyond incredible music skills :) Wish us luck! Congratulations and Good Luck Troupe!!! :D

Favorite Passage? 10/31

My favorite passage in A Practical Handbook for the Actor is one where the authors discuss emotion. They state that actors shouldn't come onstage into a scene with a set emotion-- emotion should come from the physical actions that happen onstage. For example, an actor shouldn't come out decided that he or she will be mad at something the other character says or does, he or she should actually react to what the other character says, in the moment. Emotion comes out the best when it is real.

Free Write 11/7

The authors of A Practical Handbook for the Actor often treat characters as an illusion. This illusion is something the audience needs to create for themselves-- the actor shouldn't manufacture emotion onstage. This is something I disagree with. Sure, the audience's minds create the rest of the illusion, but the cast and crew need to start it. Without an actor's emotion onstage, the scene will not be believable, and the illusion will be broken. Most scenes are centered around emotion, and are built almost solely upon it. For example, in The Phantom of the Opera, if Christine does not display her love for her father, or her fear and compassion for the Phantom, the credibility of the entire musical would be put in jeopardy. Emotion is so important, it cannot just be cast aside as the audience's responsibility. 

Free Write 10/24

Last Thursday, after sitting in a dental office for over an hour getting a root canal, I attended Miami Children's Theatre's production of Fame. It was incredible!!! While watching the show, I thought about everything the actors must have done to prepare for their roles. Did they have their own 1-3 steps to analyze and correctly portray their characters? How did they know exactly how to act out their characters, while putting a little bit of themselves into it aswell? 
The role of Carmen Diaz, played by Ana Campos, was done very well. Ana played the character just how she was meant, while adding a bit of her own personality and touch in there too. The show was so well put on; the same line is still ringing through my head-- "Fame- I'm gonna live forever." I feel such a longing to be at PA, to be a part of it, to attain the Fame. 

Agreed?

Although A Practical Handbook for the Actor is one of the best, most spot-on handbooks I have ever read, the authors are very demanding and straightforward. When it comes to acting, the actor must have some room to play with their character/scene. Acting is never just black and white, there is so much more to it. 

It seems that it would be very tough to make a numbered list of how to act; even if it were possible, it mustn't be very accurate.

I do not agree with the authors' "1,2,3" steps of how to analyze a scene. They state that by following the three steps, the same way each time, they will lead to a performance that follows the playwright's intentions. However, would that not be boring for the actor? Following the same steps every time before performing a scene. A bored actor leads to a boring scene. 

One of the best parts of acting is the creativity-- the chance to make a character grow and develop because of the actor's choices-- choices that are not always the same.

Although the "1,2,3" list is a great outline for performing a scene, it would not be detrimental to a scene if it is not followed the same way each time.