Mid-Summer Blues

Okay so it's only mid-summer for us lazy university students with our 7 1/2 months of school, but still.
I'm going stir crazy.
Everything is now officially finished for the summer, no more vocal lessons, no more guides. Recitals are done (more on that later) vacations are done (more later)

I really wish I had a show to rehearse to occupy my time. I'm still really sad over that fact that I couldn't audition for Urinetown. I know I know I can't complain because I was in New York, but I really wanted to do it. The good news is is that my friend Jordan (technically my brothers friend, but he's mine two) got a role in the show, he's in the ensemble and has a featured role a sone of the cops. It's so amazing to watch someone's passion for theatre grow. He was a last minute replacement for the Steward in our high schools production of Into The Woods and then this year he was cast as Kenicke in Grease.

I'll take anything at the moment. Someone give me something to audition for!!!

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On the subject of theatre, finally finished my course selections for next year, how I hate doing them.
Here's my schedule for fall term:



Along with the theatre required courses: Theatrical Worlds in Transition and Ideas of the Theatre. I took two more theatre courses: Acting Shakespeare and in the winter Voice and Speech I
I also have two English courses: Comics and Cartoons I & II, II is in the winter term. One Film course: Hollywood: Old and New in the winter. And finally a music course: Rock and Popular Music.

I'm a little worried that it's a little light sounding but I'm having the hardest time making courses fit to my schedule. I might me insane but I'm thinking of maybe minoring in anthropology. I can see anthropology and theatre going well together, have to talk to my parents about it. Maybe dropping the comic book class and replacing it with Visualizing Ourselves, Visualizing Others: Media, Representation and Culture

The description for the course is: This course interrogates the relationship between media and culture. It focuses on media representations in different cultural contexts in order to develop critical analytical skills for understanding the processes through which identities and social inequalities are produced, contested and transformed.

Just looking through the courses, in third year they actually have a course about the anthropology of the arts. I was a little disheartened by the anthro course I took this year but maybe it was just the type of anthro, I've always been interested in anthropology and archeology and maybe this would be a good way to tie my interests together.
My parents are always on me about having a backup and a teachable, etc, etc. Maybe this will make us both happy.

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Soo I talked about my recital earlier. I shamefully have video.
I was in two numbers, my solo and a group performance.

Due to stupid plane madness I didn't get home until 2am Sunday morning when the recital was at 5pm that day.
Was able to sleep until noon and then got up to get ready. I wore the same dress as my competition for my solo and wore one of the In Harmony dresses for the group.

My solo went okay. I'm still wrestling with the singing alone in front of people as myself thing. I was way better in rehearsal. I also got really scared when I saw my high school drama teacher standing in the back. I feel this overwhelming urge to prove myself to him, haven't succeeded yet.

At least I feel better about this one that I'll actually post it. I also promised I would.
sooo here it is.

The song is 'Christmas Lullaby' from the Jason Robert Brown musical Songs For a New World. Please don't laugh



On the other hand the group performance when really well. All the older girls from the theatre school performed 'Maybe This Time" from Cabaret. I'm the second person to perform (Maybe this time first time..) and I sing "All the Olds are...) after the key change.


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As for the trip? I took my friend Elora to New York City for the first time. We stayed with my uncle and ended up seeing three shows. I don't think she liked the city that much, she said there was too many people and too loud. I think she enjoyed the week though. Upset that was didn't get to see Hair, but that was my fault and I felt really bad about it.
We did get to see three shows though and they were all amazing in different ways.

Though I has seen Next to Normal in October Elora hadn't and the cast had changed a bit (including an extremely interesting one that I was ecstatic about) so I was fine with seeing it again. By some box office magic we were able to get tickets in the orchestra for $40. Great seats missed one thing but that was fine.
Amazing show yet again. The cast change I was excited about was one Brian d'Arcy James in the role of Dan (the dad).
I've talked about him before, he is one of the most amazing talents on broadway at the moment. Love him.

He'd originated the role off-broadway but left to do Shrek the Musical before it moved to broadway. After seeing clips of him in the off-broadway production I was anxious to see him in the broadway version because of all the changes the character went through. The Broadway version is a completely different man.
I was not disappointed. MY GOD he was amazing. I was stunned AND he was super nice at the stage door. (not that I've met anyone who wasn't) but in a show where the leads don't usually comes out he stayed for a good half an hour signing and talking to people.

A clip of the current cast. PLEASE, if you don't listen to the whole thing listen to the song 'I've Been' (starts at 5:05). It was one of the additions to the broadway production and adds so much to the character and Brian sings it amazingly



SLIGHT SPOILER: During 'I've Been' Dan is cleaning up after his wife tries to commit suicide (not seen, it's off stage). In a brilliant theatre magic moment; he takes a clean, white sponge, wrings it out in a bucket of clean water and cleans the floor with it (still white). He then dunks the sponge again and wrings it out but now the sponge has turned red and the water is red as well. Brilliant every time.



Brian d'Arcy James and I :)










I'll finish up talk about New York next time but here's a little something for you, two clips from the other two shows we saw.


LEND ME A TENOR


AMERICAN IDIOT