Day 2

So yesterday, my first day of classes at the University of Maryland, went off fairly well. I didn't have any problems finding my classes and ultimately accomplished all that I needed to. My teachers from my French, Performance and Math classes (the classes I had yesterday) all seem very good, so I'm excited about that. I think I will enjoy my courses, although I'm sure I'll be very consumed with work from now until the end of semester. Campus is so alive now. Visiting here during the summer and even for the meetings and such before classes began, campus was very empty. Big and empty. But now there are people everywhere, rushing from this class to that, meeting in the Stamp Union Center, strolling the quad. Cars flood the few streets through campus as well. Walking across Campus Drive yesterday reminded me of a busy weekday afternoon on 18th street in NYC. Cars honking, pedestrians crossing in between them, and university busses toting passengers in the mix. They really should close off car access on campus during the day. It would make it safer and less stressful for everyone.

Last night I only had to worry about my Math homework because that's the only class that I have everyday of the week. But tonight I'll have to worry about all of the classes from yesteraday that I have tomorrow plus government and math. But it won't be a problem yet because we've basically just had class introductions and the like. Nothing very serious - yet. But I will apply myself liberally, as always, and do look forward to doing so. In addition to my workload which I know will be heinous, I have already signed up for three auditions: one for The Weir, one for The Distance from Here, and one for my CAPA scholarship. I'm also considering signing up for the UTAS reading series auditions as well. But I'm not sure. I definitely don't want to overload myself - living off campus, being a new student, and taking a very intense math. So I think I'll wait and see on that one. I don't know if anything will come from the three auditions that I've lined up so far, but even if nothing does it's always good to audition and audition often. So I will.

I'm sitting in the plaza right now in front of the Hornbake Library. My next class isn't until noon in the Armory and my play analyisis professor let us out of that class EXTREMELY early, so I really don't have anything to do for a while, so I'm blogging! They're calling for possible flooding and hurricaine weather up here in The District, and from being outside I can attest to the pre-rain aura that looms about the campus. The sun is strating to peek through though. Hopefully I won't be caught in any rain today as I don't have an umbrella, something I really should invest in. But what will happen will happen and I only have two more classes today, something I'm very thankful of. Maybe I'll be able to get home before the monsoon cometh. Who knows? Well that's it for now, I'm going to go study something. Because I'm back in university and that's what people in university do.

And We're Off...

...to the start of a brand new semester! A new school, a new city and a new semester. So much to digest, analyze and execute that a person could go crazy! But I'm just trying to flow with it all and enjoy it while it lasts. Today I went to campus for a couple of theatre meetings and the theatre picnic. People were nice for the majority and it seems to be a great program. I'm still in awe of the amazing facilities that UMd has to offer! But the meetings went well and the administrators talked at us about tons of information, some of which I already knew, some I didn't. They went over everything from study habits to the Undergraduate Theatre Arts Society (UTAS). I really want to get involved with this theatre community and judging from what I've seen so far, that won't be a problem. There are so many opportunities and organizations here. So much theatre around! On and off campus. This weekend I'll be seeing Ibsen's An Enemy of the People at the Shakespeare Theatre downtown. Some reps from Squonk Opera will be coming in a week or so to do a workshop for UMd students and audition for extra roles in their new production of College Park: the opera. Squonk seems like such a fun and crazy theatre company from the research I've done on them and I'm crazy excited about seeing them. A mixture of Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group it seems. But before that happens I'm going to audition for the Off Center production of The Wier. I'm going to try to audition and see as much theatre as possible here, those were original goals I'd set for myself before coming here and now I must see them through. I want to start working hard on my theatre career, hard and serious. And I know I'm ready. So bring it on!

In other news, I've been reading and studying more of Respect for Acting by Ms. Hagen. As I delve further into it I'm not sure how much this method of theatre is for me. It seems to be a method of acting that I feel relies too much on props and costumes and focuses more so on acting as yourself instead of acting the part (which I may think is the way to act, I'm just not sure yet). But in any case, I plan on continuing my private study of Hagen's teachings and applying them to scene and monologue work that I'm doing myself. I still have the CAPA audition growing nearer by the day, and I'll use the methods from this book towards this audition and see what comes of it, if anything, and if I like the way it feels. If I don't like the results, or even if I do, I'll continue my research on acting methods, next studying the Meisner approach. But it will probably be a few months or even December before I'm able to take on and apply another method, because my classes and extra cirriculars will be taking up a lot of my time.

Respect for Acting

Currently I am reading the book Respect for Acting byUta Hagen. It's just what I needed! A comprehensive guide on how to be a presentational actor rather than a representational actor. A view and school I've always believed in, just never had it layed out in front of me before. And then this book takes it and multiplies it time one thousand! It's great and I feel that I'm learning so much from it, so many questions arising and answer to be found. Like Hagen says, theatre is a spiritual experience where we (the actors) strip our souls and nourish the public through our labors of love. We must always strive to identify to a character instead of just portraying them as a "stereotype." We must observe ourselves rather than observing others. Such a genius concept and one that I look forward to understanding more as I apply it to my studies. BE PRESENTATIONAL.

So lately my thoughts have been consumed by that philosophy, but in the real world of life I continue to get ready for my first day of classes. I trekked over to campus again today to pick up the lacking text I needed for my math. I can't wait until the direct shuttle goes into effect on the thirtieth. Using the University of Maryland University College bus is so inconvienient right now, it stops at the Marriott and it's quiet a walk from there. But that will change and my commute will become more efficient and easy. Tomorrow I will call TSI to see if they have any open positions for me this weekend. I hope they do so I can make some much needed money. There's a lot of theatre coming up that I want to see. Ibsen's An Enemy of the People is the season opener at The Shakespeare Theatre, and I've found out that the student rush is only $10 there!! That's better than Barter, even. Charles Aznavour is coming to the Warner Theatre and I would love to see him, but the ticket prices are a little ridiculous and I don't know if I want to pay that much, so I'll wait on that. But the countdown for classes keeps ticking and I know that I need to enjoy my remaining time in the city. So tomorrow, if nothing else comes up and I am able to take care of all of my business early enough, I think I'll head back downtown and explore some more. But for now I'm off to read more of Respect for Acting.

Temp

I have been hired! By Temporary Solutions in downtown D.C. I'll basically be doing various receptionist/concierege work on the weekends at various locations that hire from TSI. I'm excited about the job, not to mention the money that I'll be making through it. I took a trip downtown today around noon for my interview and to officially be hired. The TSI headquarters are located on Connecticuit Ave between K and L streets. I got off at the North Farragut metro station and I must say that I love that neighborhood. Very business district-y. Every time that I go to a new neighborhood in D.C. I'm surprised and delighted at how different it is from the last. Each neighborhood up here has a very distict flair, yet they all blend together so well. From the hip clubs of Adams-Morgan to the quaint, historic homes of Georgetown. It's all been great so far and I have so much more to explore and discovery in this town. I anticipate and relish it everyday!

Yesterday I finally registered for all of my classes at UMd and it's just what I needed. I love that campus, the school, even the atmosphere there: wonderful! I can't wait for classes to start and to see the campus get into "full swing." The residents move in sometime next week and classes actually begin on the 30th, so it's all coming together quickly. Before I left I stopped by the bookstore to get all of my books. The price of a text for college is so ridiculous, but college is mainly a money scam anyway. A necessary evil. But anyway, I got everything I need but for one book (it wasn't in stock yet). Then I headed back to the bus, then the metro, then my apartment all the while lugging my large bag of text books. Whew, that was a trip. But I got home and finished the day with business and needed to finish and an early bedtime.

Tomorrow I think I'll head back to campus and see if they have the book I need in yet or not. Then I'll have all day to mess around! Fun fun!

Interviews...again

So today has been a very nice day in the sense that I was very productive and have the feeling of getting something accomplished. This is good because I often feel like there is something that I should be doing and that I'm not doing it. I guess that's natural, or maybe it's guilt for being so lazy recently. But in either case I have learned that everything works out perfectly in time. So therefore I will not worry, I'll sit back, accomplish things, and go with the flow.

But for today I worked, quite a bit. The morning started off extremely early: 5:50 a.m. I woke up so that I could get ready and take the metro up one stop to campus where I would see how reliable campus transportation is. I have some business on campus early in the morning and since I don't have a car I'm relying on public transportation to get there. However, I wasn't sure how reliable, if at all, the UMd transits would be or even how long it would take me to get to where I need to go. So I decided to have a trial morning where I would test out my times, etc. And to my shock, the bus system is really simple, just one transfer from rail to road and I'm let off within fifteen minutes practicallin in front of the building I need. Nice. I've always had a fear of relying on busses to get to where I need to go. In NYC I never take them. I much prefer the reliable rails and subways. Same applies for me here in D.C. too; I always take the metro rail and have yet to test the metro bus. But come August 30th I'll be relying on the bus system a lot! I'll be taking a direct bus from the front of my complex, Prince Georges Plaza, directly to where I need to be on campus. But now that I see how easy and reliable the system is, I won't worry as much. I did, afterall, often rely on the busses at Disney...

But back to the rest of my day! After my excursion to campus, which, by-the-way, was as lovely as ever, I got back home at around eightish. A little later on I recieved a phone call from the company TSI, which I had applied to about a receptionist position in downtown D.C. TSI is sort of like a temp agency, they contract out employees to various agencies according to the agencies wants and the employees want as well. They e-mail me a link to an online test that I took. It recorded my "secretarial ability," I suppose, or at least my WPM and how well I knew Microsoft Office. So after I finished that, which I didn't think I did that well on, I sent it off to the man at the office. He shortly contacted me again and we set up an interview for Wednesday. So I'm hoping that all works out and I'm able to get a nice weekend job that pays well. God know's I need a good paying job while I'm up here! So I hope something well comes out of this.

For the rest of today I spent my time filling out appropriate applications and forms downloaded from the internet as well as printing off resumes and all sorts of other businessy things I needed to take care of. Tonight I think I'll spend working on, or trying to find, a monologue for a future audition I have. I have acquired a copy of the script Tradin' Paint from Nick Piper at the Barter back in Abingdon, VA. I saw the reading of it at the AFPP and I thought it would be a great piece for me to get a monologue from. So I'll probably read it tonight and break down what I think could work and go on that. But I have to go and get started on it because I've limited myself to a strict bedtime of 9 p.m. tonight, cause tomorrow is the real 5:30 morning!

Adams-Morgan and Pentagon City

So yesterday was a busy, fun day full of exploration and adventure in this new home of mine. I started the morning off semi-early, leaving around eleven or so after sleeping in a bit and getting ready. I took the metro to Chinatown where I transferred to the redline and got off at the Zoo/Adam's Morgan stop. One I got off of the metro and exited the terminal I proceeded onto THE LONGEST escalator I've ever seen in my life! I thought it had no end. I imagine if the pyramids of Giza had an escalator to the top, it would look like this. So after finally reaching the street level, I headed down Connecticuit Avenue to the Adams-Morgan neighborhood. Adams-Morgan is the more trendy, clubby, nightlife part of town. It reminded me of 18th street in New York, around NYU. I went there in the day to visit the Design Within Reach studio and get a bedside saddle, since I don't have a nightstand. The studio was just perfect! As you enter through the large, golden facade, a group of various chairs sit amongst the door. Modern furnishings were stocked everywhere: rugs, lamps, beds, couches. And it was all terriffic! I am a huge fan of the modern furniture/asian design school, so it was like heaven for me there. After getting my handy bedside saddle from the nice lady there, I headed out to 18th street where all the trendy restaurants and bars live. Most of them aren't open for lunch, since it is a nightlife area, but a few were. I stopped in and had lunch at an Indian restaurant called the Chefs Kitchen. Very good and authentic. Next I hiked back to the metro stop, which was a bit of a walk, and descended the pyramid escalator into the tube. Since I hadn't been out much yet, and not really having anything to do for the rest of the day, I decided to head down to Pentagon City where the metro lets you directly out into a great mall. Once there I got a pomegranate frappacino from the Starbucks stand and began my walk around and up the mall. That's right, up. There were five seperate levels to this mall all circling around an open atrium where, at the bottom, there wan an awesome food court. Once I had armanied, banana republiced, and ivy crewed out, I decided it was time to go before I started spending lots of money that I didn't have, so I hopped the metro back to Prince Georges Plaza. Still needing a few sundries I stopped by Target and spent about twenty minutes or so there. Why is it that when one goes in Target they suddenly need everything there? It's such an amazing store, not just because the stuff is great but because it just seems to suck in your money! But after much restraint, I ended up getting a great cookware set! Stainless steel, no non-stick crap on it so my guests or I won't be getting cancer. So after regrettably checking out I came back to my oasis of an apartment: so neat, clean, and fresh. I've tried to make my room some place that I can retreat to and truly relax, and I believe that I've accomplished that. To end the night I made a great dinner of Thai curry chicken on black rice with my new cookware. So I ate and enjoyed. Nice times in a great place.

So today has been pretty much a day full of nothing, which is important every now and then. And since I've spent my last three days or so running around the city and going to and fro I think I deserve it, especially with classes starting soon. Earlier this morning I made myself a great cup of freshly ground and brewed coffee with two peanut butter stuffed muffins. Terriffic. Since then I've just layed around, chatted with some friends, and watched "The Workout" on Bravo. Lazy me. I still have to send off my resume to a few places, so I'll probably do that in a few, but other than that I'll probably stay put doing a whole lot of nothing....

The Smithsonian

So this morning I finally got myself up early enough to go out and explore D.C. So I did. I took the metro to the Smithsonian stop and decided to explore them. I went into the Smithsonian Castle first, entering from the garden side in the back. I purused the West Hall, which contains mainly information on the progression of the Smithsonian foundation itself as well as some of its most interesting gift artifacts. After buying a good map of D.C. from the gift shop so I could find my way around, I headed across the large, open mall to the Museum of Natural History. I must admit that I quickly brushed through this museum and must go back in the future. I did, though, spend sufficient time in an interesting exhibit that they had on the Sihks and their religion. Lots of great music and art in that exhibit, such a great, interesting culture. After rushing through the NHM, I went next door to the Americn History Museum. I spent the most of my time in here where I saw exhibits ranging from american science to Jim Henson muppets. It is also this museum that houses both the Star Spangled Banner flag and the flag that was draped over the Pentagon after 9/11. So those were both neat to see. After seeing what I wanted to see for this day, I headed to Subway for lunch and then off to more sight seeing. The day was mainly spent acquainting myself with the town, and it's a very quick learn. Knowing my way around NYC and its subways does help a lot, I must admit. So I walked up to F street and basically just went from block to block looking at the stores and governmental buildings. Very governmental, very. All the buildings are clean and institution looking. But I stopped by some of the theatres such as The Warner and The Ford's to get literature on shows coming this year. I can't wait to start seeing shows up here!
At the end of the day, around 2 p.m., I headed back and just lounged around ever since, working on a couple of monologues for my audition. I'll post pictures as soon as I learn how to on Blogspot! But for now I must run and get some chores done. I think I'll go shopping tomorrow because my final check posts tonight and there are some things I need. Pentagon City Mall, here I come!!!

I Have Arrived

Arrived in Washington, D.C. that is. Yesterday (Monday) I moved, with the help of my mother and aunt, to my new apartment in the recently constructed Towers at University Town Center. So yesterday was spent mainly hauling boxes up to my 11th floor flat and in the evening uncrating everything and then arranging it all. It's been fun and I must say that my room and all is coming together very nicely. I went shopping for groceries and sundries at the Target next door in the Prince Georges Mall. It's so nice to have that convinience there, and to be shopping in a Target for groceries again. The Target in Johnson City doesn't have a grocery section and I missed that from Orlando. But after a looooong day of travel, lifting, unpacking, shopping and arranging I was exhausted. So I dove into my bed for a luxurious long night of sleep on my brand new bed in my brand new home. Home. This is now my home and I like it a lot. I will make DC my home. My hometown will always be Abingdon, Virginia but my home will be in D.C. And I think I'm going to like it here a lot.

So today I decided to start exploring my new home and see what there is out there. I spent most of the morning doing more unpacking and arranging. I made fresh ground coffee on my french press and had whole grain muffins with peanut butter as well. Very nice and comforting. Around 5:30 ish I headed over to Old Town Alexandria to meet my friend Katy. I had met Katy during my Juilliard audition, she was living in Caimbridge, England at the time and we kept in touch. She had since moved back to the states and lives in Alexandria. So I took the metro over to meet her, which is extremely easy to use by-the-way (the metro that is). I transferred lines once, going from the green to the yellow and had absolutely no trouble at all. It's also very convinient living across the street from the Prince George Plaza metro stop. But once I reached Alexandria I met up with Katy and we began exploring Old Town. AND IT WAS GORGEOUS. Old Town is like what Abingdon tries to be: an old town with colonial era buildings, many shops, restaurants, and arts galleries along red bricked sidewalks. Except in Alexandria the shops, restaurants and art galleries are very nice and there are actually people walking on the streets. We ate in the most awesome sushi bar called The Flying Fish, and I must say that they have THE BEST calamari EVER! The whole atmosphere of the restaurant was very '20's barish, not really Japanese influenced at all. But the sushi was amazing! The best I've had since leaving Orlando. So we ate and talked and enjoyed the Old Town. After dinner we walked around some more, passing the old now renovated buildings. Buildings that once housed George Washington and colonial era folks now serve as a Starbucks or a Restoration Hardware and it truly makes for an awesome experience. The cafes were buzzing with dinner crowds as we passed, people purusing the ecclectic shops that Old Town has to offer. Very beautiful. At the end of King Street we came to the waterfront where a cellist (I think that's what you call someone who plays the cello) had set up and began playing for the afternoon people strolling by. It was an amazing view and the music made for a nice evening ambience. She also showed me an interesting art gallery called the Torpedo Factory Art Center, it is an old converted torpedo factory, in case you didn't get that from the name. We then headed back to the opposite end of King Street passing more of the old buildings and their wonderful wares. Before I left we went into a grocery, Whole Food or something like that, where I looked for Guarana to no avail. But I will find that elusive, Brazilian soda somewhere. At the end of the evening, around nine or so, we walked back to the King Street metro stop where we parted and I began my journey back home. Once I arrived at the Prince George Plaza stop, it was already very dark out. I have reservations about being out in the dark in this area because I've heard it's not too safe. But I only love about half a block away, and there wasn't anyone else on the street so it was safe of course. But I got up to my apartment and have just been laying around since. Tomorrow I plan on exploring more, going into downtown and stopping by a Design Within Reach store. I might stop in a Smithsonian or two and have lunch somewhere nice. So much to do, so much I want to do in the two weeks before school starts! And a lot of fun to be had along the way too. I'll try and post daily about my new adventures and discoveries in the government town. For now, more TV and lying around...

Tradin' Paint

Is it even possible for Catherine Bush to write a bad play? I'm beginning to think not. Today was the last day of the AFPP at Barter's Stage 2 and ended with a reading of Catherine Bush's Tradin' Paint. A story about racing stock cars and self esteem issues. The play centers on Darla, a shy girl whos father left her and her alcoholic mother at a young age and she has since blamed it on herself, throwing herself into a bad relationship with her not-so-bright boyfriend and ultimately holding her back. This is until Darla has a flat tire when she meets Lucky Tibbs, a female pit chief for Skeeter Jett, who shows her how to fix the flat tire and inspires her to overcome her self esteem issues and gain more confidence. So on goes Darla as she signs up for classes to get her GED at the adult education center where she meets her teacher Mr. Smoot (or something like that), a gay black man who loves NASCAR. All of this goes on unbeknownst to her boyfriend Coty, who, we find out, is only after her for her fried chicken. Needless to say Coty thinks that women shouldn't be in the pit crews, that the government has a conspiracy and is out to get him with medication, AAA and cell phones, and belives that Col. Sanders is a "fag" who tries to poison him with his "secret" KFC recipie. By the end of act one, all is revealed by Darla to Coty and act one ends with Darla being hit on the head by an Everlast car battery from a disentegrating stock car, which she believes is her destiny.
SO, with that teaser, I won't go any further because I wouldn't want to spoil it for any readers out there. It's just a great, hilarious show with great character and an ingenous structure that weaves in and out of realities. The play was filled with great monologues too, some of which I would like to read and possibly use. Now if I could only get my hands on a copy of that script...

Today I spent with my friends Elizabeth Oliver and Lindsey Fisher, Lindsey is in from Ohio for a visit and I just love her. A fellow theatre major, she's doing very well at her school: Ohio University. She had to audition for and was accepted into the theatre department there and also got a role in one of their season's shows. I'm very excited for her, she's such a lovely actress and so sweet. Very deserving. We started the morning off by seeing The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe at Stage 2. A player production, childrens theatre. And I have come to the conclusion that I'm not a fan of childrens theatre. There was something about someone or group the a friend of mine in NYC once said to me, and if that person happens to read this: I TOTALLY AGREE NOW, AND THINGS DO HAPPEN FOR A REASON. So after seeing that show we had a nice lunch at the Baja Cafe then Lindsey and I said goodbye to Elizabeth who had to leave for some business. So Lindsey and I purused the Arts and Crafts portion of the festival, looking at all of the junk that will soon be someone's clutter and having to remind myself no to buy anything because in feng shui one cannot have clutter or risk bad ch'i, which I don't want. So I saved and was able to not buy. Around one thirty-ish we headed to Stage 2 again where we watched the reading of Tradin' Paint with our friend Megan Kennedy, who by-the-way, is a player and lovely actress as well. A nice day spent with friends and my two lovely actresses. Now I'm in Java J's Downtown Bristol and waiting for call time for my show tonight. Which is only in fifteen minutes! Gotta run!

Appalachain Festival of Plays and Playwrights, Continued

Here I am again in the Barter Cafe in between readings for day number two of the AFPP. Yesterdays second reading of The Dillsboro Pickle Queen of 1955 was one that I had to more or less convince myself to sit through for the sake of watching a reading. The format was set up so that the entire play "read" like a book. Scenes were separated by "chapters" and the lead male acted as a narrator and would go off on wild, imaginative tangents as writers often do to embellish their hum drum lives. Or at least this writer had a hum drum life as he was forced to stay and take care of his mother because of a promise that he had made with his now passed father ten years before. So he and his mother, forced out of Connecticuit by a hurricaine, moved back to his mothers native town of Dillsboro, North Carolina where she reopened the Smokey Dokey Lodge which she inherited from her father. Anyway, to make a long story short, The writer, Paul was his name, falls in love with a local hard ass beauty queen who has ambitions to be an actress. Secrets are revealed when a talent agent passing through screws over the beauty queen and Paul ends up having a revalation and comes to peaceful terms with his father and the fact that he's been missing all of his life. The script was lacking in what I feel was basic character development. The audience has no reason to feel anything for any of the actors and nothing to sympathize since the action of the play was small and virtually no tension mounted. But overall I liked the way the actin of the play went. The innovative layout made for a new style that I feel we'll see more of in future theatre and the absence of blackouts made for little to no lagtime and a fluid movement from place to place.

SO, with that being said I just got out of the first reading for today and it was GREAT! The play was Catherine Bush's Comin' Up A Storm, the third in the trilogy she has made beginning with The Other Side of the Mountain and the middle being Quiltmakers, which is being used as a mini production for the AFPP. I had the privilledge of seeing The Other Side of the Mountain last year as part of Barter's normal rep season, so seein today's Comin' Up A Storm was a treat. It was, by far, the best of the AFPP reading's I've seen. Fully developed, reasoned, thought out and you can easily love and identify with the characters! Bravo to Catherine Bush and her wonderful works! I hope to see much more of them and possibly either direct or be in one of her productions in the future...Maybe that will be my "calling" at UMD: to introduce Appalachain works to a big city crowd. Who knows? But I do know that all three of Ms. Bush's trilogy plays are terrific and I feel that any of them would read well to an audience anywhere.

So with that being said I'm off into the theatre again where I'll view Black Pearl Sings byFrank T. Higgins. I don't know anything about it, but that makes it fun, right? So I'll post either later today or tomorrow about it! I'm off...

The Appalachain Festival of Plays and Playwrights

I am now sitting in the Barter Cafe at Barter Stage 2 in between readings for the Appalachain Festival of Plays and Playwrights. I have already seen one reading at one and another starts in a few minutes at four. The one that I saw earlier was entitled Pow'r in the Blood. An interesting piece about a daughter who's estranged mother is dying and she has to leave her city life to visit her mother on the deathbed and the tensions in the relationship that arise and need to be resolved. The work was written by T. Cat Ford, who was of course present during the reading and the Q.A. session afterwards. That's one thing that I like about the AFPP, the audience along with a panel of three auditors who are proficient in theatre get to express their thoughts on the work that they just saw; critique what works and what could be more developed for a future "real" staging. It went well and I agreed mostly agreed with the auditors and what they thought. That audience input was sort of beneficial I guess, some people knew what they were talking about, but it's always good to know what an audience feels from your production even when they aren't trained or knowledgable about it. It's feeling that one tries to invoke through theatre afterall by use of language and emotions. So I beleive that Ms. Ford will go away with a few great suggestions and ideas which she'll use to further develop her piece and it will eventually be an even better story, one I hope to see again.

So I'm sitting in the cafe trying to blog on their wireless internet using my NEW LAPTOP, but I'm running into difficulty because Ryan Cury continues to talk to me. So I think I'll go and be sociable for the next fifteen minutes before the start of the next reading. The Dillsboro Pickle Queen of 1955 is up next and I'm looking forward to it. I don't know much about it, but judging from the title I would take it for a comedy. I'll post somtime tomorrow with my thoughts on it along with my thoughts on tomorrow's one o'clock reading. Now off to intriguing listening and discussion...

Some notes on things thus far...

Starting tonight we begin the run for Bye Bye Birdie at the Paramount Center in Bristol, TN. After an interesting run of dress rehearsals, I'm leary as to how the show will go. But either way, I will have accomplished what I set out to do with it: get back on stage and do a show. It had been a long time since I'd last done anything onstage, so the expersience has paid off. I believe a couple of my friends are coming tonight, I just hope that they don't come with high expectations or hopes, afterall it's just Theatre Bristol. The show has been getting a lot of unexpected publicity due to a cast member and his recent story. Bleu Copas, who was kicked out of the army for being gay, is in the forefront of a lot of newspapers and along with his story there is a tag about him being in Bye Bye Birdie at Theatre Bristol. He's recently been on USA Today, numerous talk shows, and will be on The Daily Show with John Stewart very soon. The Daily Show is actually planning on filming snipits of Bye Bye Birdie to use in its story on Bleu. So that should be interesting. If you'd like to find out more on Bleu Copas just google his name and read any one of the listings that pop up.

Anyway, right after this show ends I move to my perfect apartment in Washington, D.C.! I cannot wait! Loads of good theatre, city life, always something to do! It will be like heaven for me! And I have a good amount of time before classes start, so I will really be able to explore the city and get slightly used to my new home. But I still have plenty of things to do to be ready for my move around here. And I will use the next few weeks to accomplish it all along with seeing some new readings for the Appalachain Festival of Plays and Playwrights, which is happening now at Barter Theatre as part of the Va. Highlands Festival. I've already seen one of their mini productions for it: Kentucky Wings. A very interesting piece about a girl who's uncle has been falsely accused of murder and the deteriorating effects it has on her immediate family and the tension of hidden secrets amongst them all. I liked it because it reminded me of a McDonaugh play, and he's one of my favorite authors. But at any rate, I look forward to seeing the readings and the other mini production. I like to see new works and believe it is important that I do so.

Well that's about al for now, I have to go get ready for my gala opening, haha.