Sunday, June 13, 2004

Curtain Call!

I know I'm a little late, but I had to post a few more pictures to remember the awesome play experience, Spring 2004.

The play went well. It wasn't my best night, but it sure was fun. We were all goofing off backstage and going nuts. I didn't check my props ahead of time so I ended up on my desk, without my usual textbook, pen or notepad. Thankfully I managed to grab a magazine on my way out but I didn't have my pencil to mess around with or take notes and just imagined up one. It went alright, I guess - the audience didn't seem to notice.

The audience wasn't all that great, being really small, but Mark and Rachael were there and I couldn't ask for more. Rachael got me a candy lei (edible leis - that's the way to go!!!) and Mark got me a rose. I really felt special.

Anyways, just a few more random pics to sum it all up:


Steve, the hitman AND the lunch boy in Sorry Wrong Number. Be afraid - be VERY afraid! (You should see him when he pulls the dagger on people in the shadows backstage)


Monica and Tiffany. At my suggestion, Monica (who plays my boss in the play) gave herself a 5 O'clock shadow for curtain call hehehe. It was too light to notice on stage though, I think. It was kinda disappointing - no one said a thing. It was still funny though.


View from top - that's my director, Jenny looking up to me! Muahahah!


Me up on the catwalk - after strking the set, a whole bunch of us decided to just chill up there. It was KEWL! I can't believe I was up there in a dress (my tourguide uniform).


Group picture!!! I don't think we got everyone. I'm going to try to name everyone in the picture coherently for the benefit of those who are bored enough to match the names I drop with their faces.

Ok. From bottom up - Paula, I don't know exactly what her job is, but she is in charge of the auditorium and is the silent background worker. Sitting on the chair is Carrera in all her coolness - she did the sound.

Standing, from left to right. Monica, Hannah (the star of Sorry Wrong Number), me, Jenny the director- wearing the headband I wove for her out of coconut leaves, Tiffany with the pigtails, Lisa in her pretty brown gown, Carol the lighting technician in orange.

Next row - right to left. Behind Carol in the white shirt is Heather. She wasn't there for the first few days of rehearsals and was quiet for the last few days so none of us really got to bond with her too much. Really sad. Above her is Mike, who was the other hitman. He had the tiniest part as well, but was in charge of the props and stuff. The guy in blue with the cheesey smile is Cody. Oh my gosh - where do I begin? He is a crackup. He does the Marquesas show at the PCC and you should hear his prize announcer voice. He's just cool that way. Above him in white is Steve, Jenny's brother - we share a birthday! Then there's Jeff, the star of the Actor's Nightmare - which he did so nicely. I also got to film with him in one scene. He's graduating this week and leaves here. *sniffle* The model second last from the left is Ellodie. She is French, has a NEAT accent (her line goes "This is information" - imagine that in French accent) and is just drop dead gorgeous. She surprised us all by busting out in song over and over again backstage that last day. Look what theater does to people! Last but not least, the guy with the cool axe - Bro. Allred, Jenny's dad. He's an English proffessor here at BYUH. He was really neat and just fit in really well, pretty impressive.


Finally, what night would be complete without some backstage action? I can't help but to show off my sexxxy man, know what I'm sayin'?



After the pictures and striking the set and playing on the catwalk, we had pizza, soda, ice-cream bars and games. We played "Do you love your neighbor", Charades (they were mean and made me act out the movie "The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain" - needless to say, having not heard of that movie before, and it being 12 words long, I didn't do very well.

We also played a funny improv game where some of us took turns returning an item to a store without knowing what it was. Cody suggested "girlfriend" once and it was worth a really good laugh.

I always feel so sad when play week ends. Rehearsals last just long enough for you to absolutely fall in love with the people you work with and then it ends - and the semester does too!

I've gotten to know people so much better and it helped me like them SO much more. In fact, there's not a single person in there that I didn't like more after the play. Isn't that neat? For example, I've known Lisa for a long time now but haven't really been friends with her - even though we run into each other all the time (our social circles overlap) because I wasn't able to figure her out. She is not the regular cheery person that I'm usually attracted to - she has a sort of cynicism around her. Not that she was ever mean or anything - she just didn't seem happy. Nor did she seem sad. I don't hang around people who I can't figure out because I'm not sure where I fit in their circle - if I'm welcome or not, so I would say hi to her and have a short coversation if the occasion called for it but didn't slot her in my friends list, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, the play helped me see that she's just a regular girl and if anything needs friends - even if we're nothing like her. We strangely bonded over caramel and onions. Both of which she wouldn't eat. She shoved all the caramel her family sent her that she wouldn't eat since I was the only one who would be eating them backstage. And later, when we had pizza, I would let her pick her onions out of hers and put them on my pizza. Funny way to bond, but yeah, I think that's where the barriers broke - at least for me, and I now feel comfortable around her. I think knowing that she likes me (not THAt way, sicko!) is a great contributing factor. She likes me, and I like her back. That makes us friends.

I can't help but wonder how much of her liking me has to do with the fact that I was in the play. Theater and music people tend to seek out each other and sometimes the only way to make it into their loop is by proving to them that you're "cool" like them too. But, well, I'm guilty of that too. My impression of someone shoots up 10 fold when I find out that they're musical like me, or that they love getting involved with theater. I guess that's a legitimate reason for liking someone. Oh well, we're all human and we tend to put people in stereotypes.

Anyway, as if I didn't like her enough already, Lisa came to my birthday party. I look at that as a automatic friend list factor. I don't know why I think this is blog worthy. Bear with me. Having made a friend that I never thought I would is just strangely a big deal to me. Unfortunately, Lisa is leaving soon. Graduating with her Theater Associates degree (like all the cool people do, they leave too early!) and going to the apostate BYU. *sniffle* We both acknowledged how sad it was that we finally got to know each other and she's leaving.

I guess if I gained anything from the play, it was that I learned a lesson about making friends. I need to be less hasty to judge and quicker to look for common ground. It's a good thing that I didn't let Lisa leave with my previous opinion of her (it wasn't bad, but it wasn't all that great either). I wasted nearly 2 years of friendship with someone really cool and I hope I never make that mistake again.