I guess this is goodbye

Not to this blog, but to the daily updating of this blog. I have come to the conclusion that I would rather write bi-weekly posts that I am actually happy with and that have some substance to them than post every single day when I end up disappointed with the amount of fluff and filling I write. I think that posts will go up on Saturdays and Tuesdays, and so hopefully the quality of my posts will go up as the quantity goes down.

Keep your eyes open, however, since I am now about 80% sure that I want to start a second blog that will be more of a recording of my season with the theatre company I'm interning at. This will probably be a lot of stuff that might be gibberish to non-theatre geeks, but I'm hoping that I'll make it accessible. However, the point will be more to talk about the new things I'm learning and the experiences themselves, so I'm not sure how interesting readers of this blog who are not big theatre fans will find it. I'll link to it on the day it goes up, which will probably be this weekend.

I will be back on Saturday.

Have a great couple of days, see you then.

Cheers!

-T.A.D.

All the myths are true

Oh the magic of Mythbusters.

I have decided to embark on what is sure to be a long quest: watching every single episode of Mythbusters ever produced. I like the show because not only is it entertaining, but it teaches me things. Mostly these tidbits of knowledge are about as useful as my grandfather's constant anecdotal tales at dinner time, but sometimes there's one that could be helpful, like the fact that going in and out of your car while pumping gas can create a static spark that could catch fire.

For the most part, I admit, it is fun as hell to watch Jamie and Adam blow shit up. Or drop things from insane heights. Or shoot random things. I like watching their endeavors. If I were a science person more than an art person, I would so be working towards employment at that studio.

I had my first production meeting for the theatre company I'm an intern at. Well, the intern. I'm the first and only intern they've ever had. I'm so excited. Just hearing about this show that we're doing gave me chills. I can't wait until things go from ideas to reality. I think that's one of my favorite parts of theatre, to be quite honest. I love being a part of that process.

Well, I'm completely trashed, though to be honest I don't know why, so I will say adieu.

Cheers,

-T.A.D.

Here comes the sun

Woah! I did it!

What did I do? I got the internship I've been hoping for. I started thinking about it last year. And now here it is, right in front of me!

I will be working with a theatre company whose values I share. I believe they create amazing art, and now I get to be a part of it. Art is such a give and take. You can tell when someone is faking it in acting if they aren't giving anything and feeling anything. You have to be willing to empty yourself out and fill yourself out with what is most useful to your part.

I love theatre as an art form and am so thrilled that I'll be involved in it during this "gap year" that I'm taking between high school and college. Tomorrow comes a post about solidarity. A real post. OH MY GOSH!

For now though, I must go bask in my excitement and continue to fill in my friends and family.

Cheers!

-T.A.D.

I was meant for the stage

God. I love theatre. I believe it has the power to inspire change, provoke thought, and present ideas. I believe that the relationship between the audience and the performance that you find in theatre is unique and beautiful and wonderful. There is a give and take in theatre between the performers and the audience; a connection, that I have not found in any other art forms.

Perhaps this is my ignorance. Either way, theatre has spoiled me. I've found my home in theatre. I've found a place where I can love and be loved. It is my passion; my dream. I aspire to inspire. The workshop that I've been taking for the past two weeks is culminating tomorrow in our one and only performance. It's rather astounding: the production periods for shows go on for weeks and then what? I've never been in a show that's had a run longer than a single weekend. But it's worth it. What we're doing tomorrow is different and wonderful and I love it. I am inspired by it and working in this genre has been truly a gift to me.

Slow tempo. Imagine that your everyday pace is a five on a one to ten scale. Now imagine that your five is equivalent to 100%. We work at 5% for most of the show. Approximately 35 minutes. There is no speaking, at least none audible to the audience. Everything is portrayed on a physical level. The fact that we can do this, that theatre has a place for this, makes me stand back, speechless, in awe.

Some of the best memories of my life involve theatre. It was something that I always loved doing. As a young child in my school's productions, I would stand backstage, mouthing along with the lines of the actors. When Rent went on one of its closing tours, with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, I went with my aunt and my sister to see it. It was amazing. I have never heard so much applause and cheering.

I believe that theatre has so much potential as an art, but where it fails is in bringing in a wide enough audience. Approximately 8% of the US population goes to see a play in a year. 8%. That saddens me. Meanwhile, movie theaters and television capture more and more viewers. It is time for theatre to make a comeback.

People say that acting is merely lying. In a sense, that's true. But in another way, I have found that the moments when I have been most vulnerable and true and exposed are onstage. Acting requires you to give a certain amount of yourself to your character and to the storytelling. Yes, we put on the mask of a different person, but acting requires us to find the lines between us and them and blur those lines.

Ah hell. This post is really a disjointed series of some words that barely portray some of my thoughts about theatre. But, seeing as I have a show tomorrow, I really should stop fussing about it and go to bed.

See you tomorrow.

Cheers,

-T.A.D.