Thoughts

*Spread the word: Next year's 9th graders from Midvale, Union and Albion Middle Schools will be allowed to audition for Hillcrest's Shakespeare Team this year. Auditions will be held on Wednesday, August 25 which is only the third day of school, so help us get word out over the summer. If you know any of next year's 9th graders, let them know and tell them to spread the word. Mass text messaging! Tell them to come to this website where I will post details about the team and the auditions. Also, some announcements about some minor changes to our team for next year will also be posted soon. Keep your eyes peeled (what does that mean?).

*I've been studying and preparing "Cinderella" for the big show. It has some really interesting ideas and thoughts in the script (which has a version which was updated in 2004). Surprised me. It's actually a really cool script. It should be a really great show to work on. Remember to have a song ready for auditions. In the style of classic 1950s-1960s musical theatre would be a smart choice. :-)

*For the Productions Company: When I was in New York, I watched a video recording of the original production of "Metamorphoses." This is going to be awesome. :-) Boys, I need you as strong as you can get for when we start rehearsing this when school starts...and girls, I need your fear gone...K? Oh, also, "The Wedding Singer" is playing at Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley right now. So, if you want to get an idea of how the show works as a musical (much different than the movie), go see it!

*So when I was in New York, I saw 19 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows in 12 days. It was awesome! Although it wasn't the greatest season in Broadway history by any means, there was a show that was super-though provoking. It was called "RED" and was about painter Mark Rothko and his assistant boy. It won the 2010 Tony Award for Best New Play. There were so many interesting thoughts and ideas about art and why art is important. At one point, Mark Rothko gets frustrated with modern ideas of what art should be and says the following:
"You know what people like? Happy, bright colors. They want things to be pretty. When people tell me one of my pictures is 'beautiful' I want to vomit. 'Pretty.' 'Beautiful. 'Nice.' 'Fine.' That's our life now! Everything's 'fine.' It's our constitutional right to be amused all the time, isn't it? We're a smirking nation living under the tyranny of 'fine.' How are you? Fine. How was your day? Fine. How are you feeling? Fine. Well, let me tell you, everything is not fine! HOW ARE YOU?! HOW WAS YOUR DAY?! HOW ARE YOU FEELING?! Conflicted. Nuanced. Troubled. I am not fine. We are not fine. We are anything but fine! Look at these pictures. Something feral and primal and REAL. Not nice. Not fine. Real. And whatever it is, it's not pretty and it's not fine. I AM HERE TO STOP YOUR HEART, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?! - I AM HERE TO MAKE YOU THINK! I AM NOT HERE TO MAKE PRETTY PICTURES!"
It was pretty intense...just something to think about as artists. :-)

*Also while in New York, I bought a whole bunch of new awesome theory and exercise books for Theatre 4. The class is going to blow your mind! Bogart, Chekhov, Adler, Meisner, new people... If you've taken Theatre 2, you should really look at getting in this class this year. It is going to make some kick-butt actors for sure!

*Oh, also, any seniors wanting to audition for scholarships this year (either at UTA or somewhere else) should be working on your pieces now. Use this time over the summer because things start getting crazy once school begins and the next thing you know, you're one week away from the auditions. Do it now. Seriously. 2 contrasting monologues. Or 1 monologue and 1 song (also contrasting). No more than 2 minutes for the whole thing. Get going, kiddos...

*We will probably begin some set-building work next week at the school. If you're willing to come help out, contact one of the presidency members.

Ate logo!
---Long