Uta Question #4 What is your relationship?
My relationship to this blog is that it's my journal. It's a place I can rely on to record and review what I've learned so far. It's a place where I can be honest with myself.
I really don't feel like elaborating on that any further, considering that this post is going to be a 'catch-up' of the last few days. It's been awhile!
Alright, so on the 6th, Wednesday, we had monologue class with Beth. Monologue class happens every two weeks, so that we have two weeks to prepare a new monologue for her. The objective of the class is to finish the class with a monologue portfolio of at least 5 different types of monologues that you can use in auditions. 1 Shakespeare, 2 Modern Realism, 2 Contemporary.
Our task with this monologue assignment was to use the room. To be honest, I didn't even pick or memorize my monologue til a day before. That is my fault, because I was distracted and stressed out about other assignments. I ended up choosing to do a monologue from "Relative Strangers" by Sheri Wilson. I had done a monologue from that play in high school, but I chose a different monologue this time. The monologue addresses the possibility of breast cancer in my character. She has no mother and she's desperately seeking advice and comfort. Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do with the room! I wasn't going to be able to practice before performance time, so it was really all up to creativity and immediacy.
Beth always says, "Don't go with your first choice. Push yourself, go with your third or fourth idea." My first idea was to use the water fountain. My monologue is very conversational and my objective was 'to seek comfort'. I thought I could use the water fountain in getting a drink and then refilling as I got more nervous and worked up in my monologue. Then I realized, what if the person I was talking to wasn't in the room? So I decided to place them outside of 'the room' and used the cabinet as doors. That gave me motivation to move in that area of the room more easily. It gave me a point of direction, which made it easier to find other choices. I also used the mirror as my 'tag'. Beth said I had a great, strong tag. I turned to the mirror in the back of the room and did a breast cancer check and then turned and delivered my last line. Up until the last line, I had not said the word 'cancer'. My last line was, "Does a lump always mean cancer?" I think I'm finally getting the hang of making creative, strong tags for my monologues that make sense. I can't believe I never knew about tagging until now...that would've been useful information to have had earlier in my training.
The next monologue I'm doing is from Kennedy's Children, I believe. I'm still deciding...but that's the frontrunner for right now. It would be my contemporary comedic. Comedy is not something I feel particularly comfortable with. Our assignment is to come in the room (in character) and use whatever prop is in the center of the room during our monologue.
Then, on Friday, the 8th, we presented our Shakespeare scenes. I was genuinely impressed with our class, for the most part. I also felt really great about mine! It's interesting, but I rarely feel nervous about performing Shakespeare. I felt totally comfortable in jumping up and performing. It should always feel like that, but I know it doesn't. I feel similar to that when I'm singing or doing a musical theatre audition. I feel more anxious than I feel nervous. Shakespeare is just comfortable to me. Perhaps that's because I feel like both genres are heightened in performance, in text, in emotion. I don't feel quite as vulnerable as I do when I'm performing a dramatic contemporary scene or monologue. I realize that Shakespeare and Musical Theatre require just as much vulnerability as contemporary text, but there is something different about the energy signature and the way you bring about vulnerability. I don't know....hopefully I'll find out what that difference is. Hopefully I'll be able to feel the same way about contemporary texts as I do about Shakespeare and musical theatre soon enough. Or just someday. Either way, Rob really enjoyed our scene. Specifically, he said that I was solid and that he could tell I understood what I was saying and that I was enjoying what I was saying and playing. He liked my choices as Viola.
So, overall, a successful week!
I mailed my UPTA registration forms...and I'm mailing my Midwest application this week. Things are happening so fast!
-Melissa
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Graduation? What?
Uta Question #3: What Time Is It?
Well...this question is totally appropriate for today. Time. Today was definitely about managing my time. In 6 months from now, I will be graduating. I had to turn in my graduation paperwork today, which was a surreal experience. Days are just flying by! Currently it is 10:30 PM, on a Friday night. It's 2010. It's also the very first of October - one month closer to graduation. I am 4 month away from my 21st birthday. It's currently fall....the leaves are starting to turn, the air is turning crisper, and mid-terms are approaching. It's even starting to smell like fall...the precursor to that biting winter wind and the smell of hot apple cider. Can you tell I'm looking forward to winter? :)
Anyways, today was busy and I totally didn't expect it to be. It was like I was being tested on time management today. I had my Shakespeare Lit. class from 12:00-1:00, and afterwards my Shakespeare scene partner and I met in the green room to run over our scene before meeting with our professor for some one-on-one time to work the scene.
The scene we're doing is from Twelfth Night. It's the scene in which Olivia unveils herself, and Viola, still masked as a boy messenger attempts (and succeeds) in wooing her. It's such a fun scene to play because I've got the role of Viola, which means I have the task of playing a girl, playing a boy in a very convincing manner (at least, in Olivia's eyes.)
Rob, (our professor), is simply fantastic to work with. We worked the scene for roughly 40-45 minutes. We had a lot of stop and starts and he just had a lot of great, insightful things to say. He said, "I love your energy, I can tell you're excited about this, just give yourself time to live and breathe in the excitement, as the character." My tendency is to rush into my lines, especially when I feel comfortable in what I'm doing and saying. My confidence, excitement, and emotion get the better of me, and my mouth gets ahead of me. I feel like I made strides in correcting that today, just in this working session.
My partner and I had some rough ideas of blocking that we wanted to try out, and most of those ideas actually ended up making it into the final ground plan, which is fantastic. Rob was very patient and urged us to experiment and act on our impulses, which is something I need to be more confident on. But today, I acted on my impulses more than once and it felt great! I had some really bold ideas swimming around and I just wanted to try them. There were so many images I had in my head when reading this scene, of how Viola would move, what she would do to seem convincing as a male. I experimented with standing in a very Restoration-esque pose, with my feet in 3rd position, flexing and showing off my calf muscle as men often did.
I'm very excited to work and develop this scene more on Monday. I have recently discovered how much I really enjoy working on Shakespearean text. It's something I would love to do professionally.
I also discovered that I'm not afraid to make big choices and act on strong impulses when I'm doing Shakespeare as compared to when I approach other text. It's interesting.
OH! And in the working session today, all 3 of us had a revelation about a line that I say toward the very end of the scene. Even Rob, who has been working with this material for decades was surprised to find something new in the text. Before my exit, my lines are:
Viola: "Love make his heart of flint that you shall love.
And let your fervour, like my master's, Be plac'd in contempt.
Farewell, fair cruelty."
Notice my parting sentence. Isn't it amazing that Shakespeare can write something so simple, yet so perfect in language? It's no mistake or coincidence that there is a play on the word 'fair', but it's SO easy to overlook those things! Viola is searching for the right parting message, and this is what she says. If you place the emphasis on those words in your line delivery, it gives the line an entirely different feel.
SO NEAT.
It's also the weekend.
Tomorrow night: You Can't Take It With You at the St. Louis Rep!
Well...this question is totally appropriate for today. Time. Today was definitely about managing my time. In 6 months from now, I will be graduating. I had to turn in my graduation paperwork today, which was a surreal experience. Days are just flying by! Currently it is 10:30 PM, on a Friday night. It's 2010. It's also the very first of October - one month closer to graduation. I am 4 month away from my 21st birthday. It's currently fall....the leaves are starting to turn, the air is turning crisper, and mid-terms are approaching. It's even starting to smell like fall...the precursor to that biting winter wind and the smell of hot apple cider. Can you tell I'm looking forward to winter? :)
Anyways, today was busy and I totally didn't expect it to be. It was like I was being tested on time management today. I had my Shakespeare Lit. class from 12:00-1:00, and afterwards my Shakespeare scene partner and I met in the green room to run over our scene before meeting with our professor for some one-on-one time to work the scene.
The scene we're doing is from Twelfth Night. It's the scene in which Olivia unveils herself, and Viola, still masked as a boy messenger attempts (and succeeds) in wooing her. It's such a fun scene to play because I've got the role of Viola, which means I have the task of playing a girl, playing a boy in a very convincing manner (at least, in Olivia's eyes.)
Rob, (our professor), is simply fantastic to work with. We worked the scene for roughly 40-45 minutes. We had a lot of stop and starts and he just had a lot of great, insightful things to say. He said, "I love your energy, I can tell you're excited about this, just give yourself time to live and breathe in the excitement, as the character." My tendency is to rush into my lines, especially when I feel comfortable in what I'm doing and saying. My confidence, excitement, and emotion get the better of me, and my mouth gets ahead of me. I feel like I made strides in correcting that today, just in this working session.
My partner and I had some rough ideas of blocking that we wanted to try out, and most of those ideas actually ended up making it into the final ground plan, which is fantastic. Rob was very patient and urged us to experiment and act on our impulses, which is something I need to be more confident on. But today, I acted on my impulses more than once and it felt great! I had some really bold ideas swimming around and I just wanted to try them. There were so many images I had in my head when reading this scene, of how Viola would move, what she would do to seem convincing as a male. I experimented with standing in a very Restoration-esque pose, with my feet in 3rd position, flexing and showing off my calf muscle as men often did.
I'm very excited to work and develop this scene more on Monday. I have recently discovered how much I really enjoy working on Shakespearean text. It's something I would love to do professionally.
I also discovered that I'm not afraid to make big choices and act on strong impulses when I'm doing Shakespeare as compared to when I approach other text. It's interesting.
OH! And in the working session today, all 3 of us had a revelation about a line that I say toward the very end of the scene. Even Rob, who has been working with this material for decades was surprised to find something new in the text. Before my exit, my lines are:
Viola: "Love make his heart of flint that you shall love.
And let your fervour, like my master's, Be plac'd in contempt.
Farewell, fair cruelty."
Notice my parting sentence. Isn't it amazing that Shakespeare can write something so simple, yet so perfect in language? It's no mistake or coincidence that there is a play on the word 'fair', but it's SO easy to overlook those things! Viola is searching for the right parting message, and this is what she says. If you place the emphasis on those words in your line delivery, it gives the line an entirely different feel.
SO NEAT.
It's also the weekend.
Tomorrow night: You Can't Take It With You at the St. Louis Rep!
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