It's 2010!

Well, 2009 is over. And it was...eventful. Extremely eventful.

What did you do in 2009 that you've never done before?
-Directed an entire show
-Turned 22
-Celebrated three years together, two years of engagement, and one year till the wedding
-Dragged Patrick around Disney World!
-Had four big onstage roles

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Well, let's see. Last year I vowed to...

-Write a page in my second novel every day. HA! That didn't happen. But I'm at least on chapter seven, so that's progress.

-Practice voice more often. Eh, hit or miss. I definitely practice more than I used to.

-Exercise more regularly. Definitely more, but still not consistent.

-Watch less television. LAWLZ. I think I watched more TV this year than I did the year before...but that's mostly because I have to have something on when I'm sewing or writing.

As for this year's resolutions...yeah, they're happening.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. I have a feeling I'm going to be the first person in my circle of friends to have a baby...so...wait a few years...and there will probably be a little Trevathan around.

Did anyone close to you die?
My grandfather passed away in September from pancreatic cancer.

What countries did you spend time in this year?
Just this one!

What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A husband, a decent apartment, and a job. At least one of those is taken care of...

What dates from 2009 will remain etched on your memory, and why?
September 28th. See three questions higher.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Probably playing Miriam Goldman in Beau Jest. I worked so hard for that show, and it paid off in a major way. And I found out that the show was cast around me, so that was nice for my poor little bruised ego (see the majority of theater-related blog entries from 2008 and early 2009.)

What was your biggest failure?
Not doing as well in my classes as I would have liked.

Did you suffer any serious illness or injury?
No, thank goodness. I did my time in 2007-2008. Shingles in the fall, mono in the spring. It was terrible.

What was the best thing you bought?
My new laptop, Spock. And my car, the Mach 5.

Where did most of your money go?
Well, I made very little money in the spring, made a lot of money in the summer, and then spent it slowly in the fall. So basically...living expenses. That sucks.

Compared to last year, are you...

...happier or sadder?
Happier. Mostly due to the fact that I finally regained the confidence that I lost throughout 2007-2008.

...thinner or fatter?
I'm fatter than I was in the summer, but thinner than I was this time last year. So...yay?

...richer or poorer?
About the same.

What did you get really excited about?
Working at Disney again!

What do you wish you'd done more of?
I wish I had more time to hang out with friends, but I was working in the Happiest Place on Earth and doing SEVEN shows. So...now that I have too much free time on my hands, I'm glad things worked out the way they did.

Did you fall in love in 2009?
I fell in love four years ago, but I will say that Patrick and I are more than "in" love. We love each other.

(and everyone just threw up a little bit. At least I'm not proclaiming "Welcome to 2010, the year of our wedding! EVERYONE MUST CELEBRATE WITH US BECAUSE YOU WILL NEVER BE AS ROMANTIC AS WE ARE, SO YOU BETTER BE ENJOYING THIS VICARIOUSLY.")

How many one-night stands?
Um...doesn't this question sort of negate the previous one? But in any case, the answer is no.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of. I don't really have a hit list or anything.

What was the best book you read?
Oh, wow. Um...I read my favorite book, Little Women, four times this year. Does that count? Honestly, though, I can't think of a new book I read that I really, really adored.

What did you get and not get?
Nothing, really. I'm quite satisfied.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 22 this year. I spent my birthday in the theater- we had a matinee and an evening performance of Enchanted Attic.

What one thing could have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting married in 2009 instead of 2010. But we're down to 70 days, and I can do that.

Who do you miss?
My Disney family!

Who was the best new person you met?
My Disney apartment mates- Shana, Sam, and Carissa. And Adriana totally counts too. Love them!

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009?
Sometimes it's exhausting to work your ass off, but it pays off in the end.

What sums up this year in a quote?
"Isn't that niiiiice?" (the Beau Jest catchphrase)

And to close...my 2010 resolutions!
-Get married.

-Lose weight.

-Actually try to get Beatrice published.

-Finish ALL my half-finished sewing projects.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Musical Monday #7!

I must preface this with a warning. This song, while hilarious, is about 90% profanity. Now, while I am not one to drop cusswords, I do think this is hysterical. So...watch at your own risk!

The reason I picked this song is...well, I'm not sure. Ashley, the girl I directed Enchanted Attic with, played this for us during rehearsal one day and it became the unofficial theme song. We would wander around singing "Oh my effing s, it's a dinosaur..." under our breaths, because it got stuck in our heads.

And it's funny. And right now, I felt like picking a funny song. Why? Because I'm getting evicted.

The powers-that-be have declared new rules about what areas of the dorms are going to be freshman-only. One of them is my floor, so I'm getting kicked out. I've lived in the same dorm building since I was a freshman, and I've had the same room for the past three years. I only have one semester left, and I have to spend it in a strange dorm.

So I'm going to cheer myself up and listen to the dinosaur song.

*ppbt*

(that's the noise of me sticking my tongue out at The Man, by the way)

Musical Monday #5!

I had to look up last week's MM to rememeber what number this was...

This week's Musical Monday is very, very special, in that it has a great deal of different music and even more sentimental value. This is the pirate chase scene that I put together for Enchanted Attic, the show I just directed.

This was honestly the hardest part for me. I had throw out the script and come up with something funny and imaginative that allowed the actors show off how awesome they were, and that used our set. It took an entire 2 1/2-hour rehearsal to block this, and they were always so tired afterwards, but they did a fantastic job and the audience thought it was hysterical.

So here it is! The pirate chase scene from Enchanted Attic. Now you can see what I was agonizing over for the past month and a half...



(it wouldn't let me embed. Let me go cry now...)

But anyways, here's the music I used for the scene (which makes it qualify for a Musical Monday! Yes!...yes? Maybe? If I beg hard?"

"Hide and Go Sneak (score)" from Peter Pan

"Two Hornpipes (score)" from Pirates of the Caribbean

"To the Rescue (score)" from Nightmare Before Christmas

"Sootballs (score)" from Spirited Away

"Tsugaru" from DDR: Max 2

"Theme from Jaws" from...well, I'm going to have to say Jaws

"Jack Sparrow (score) from Pirates of the Caribbean

And...another show over

Enchanted Attic closed last night, after a decent run. We had about 150 at each open-to-the-public performances, which is definitely good.

Now I have to write a post-mortem...which is a fancy term for "what do you think went well, and what do you think could have gone better?". And then I get to talk it over with Mike and Deb. Should be interesting, but it'll be nice to know what Mike thought of the show.

I think it was a really good show, but it had one terrifically bad weakness: poor dialogue. The story and the physical comedy were perfect for children, but the dialogue was so high-brow that it was definitely meant for adults. So weird! Also, the physical comedy vanished after the first act, because there was no real opportunity to use it. Dangit.

And now I have nothing to do for the rest of the semester but perfect my audition for Guys and Dolls. Which I'm honestly getting excited about. I haven't been onstage in a year and it feels so odd.

Oh! And I'm twenty-two now! It's pretty astounding. I keep thinking I'm about seventeen or so...but I'm not. So weird.

But I spent my whole birthday day with fun people doing fun things. And I had candy. Lots of candy. And SO MANY FLOWERS!!!!! Emma got me flowers, and Rose got me flowers, and P gave me the most beautiful bouquet of yellow roses...which I love. Makes my day.

One performance down, three more to go!

The first performance went over pretty well yesterday! It's always so different to go from dress rehearsals in perfect conditions to the actual show. And the actual show conditions translates as "five hundred kindergarteners unable to sit still."

Projection could have been stronger, energy could have been higher. The script could have been BETTER WRITTEN. Also, the ASM shouldn't have walked onstage in full lights to close the puppet theater. But still, it was a good performance, especially since so many cast members are feeling sick. Especially poor Freida. She keeps calling it the black lung, though, which we all giggle at.

This is off-topic, but I hate people who talk to themselves. And breathe through their mouths. Like the girl in the computer lab right now. Ugh. Shoot me.

Anyways, we have our second performance tonight. Hopefully things will be even better!

"Nancy" is a great adjective

One of the actresses in Enchanted Attic keeps using "nancy" as an adjective and it cracks me up. Like when we were blocking out the kung fu fight in the chase scene, and she's like "Oh, I can't actually hurt you, I'm such a nancy." Ah, good times.

Our run-throughs have gone really well. We moved from our rehearsal space to the official performance space on Sunday, and Ash and I expected things to be pretty train-wrecky when we started rehearsing on the real stage. Not so! Everything's going really smoothly. The past two nights we've done a run-through, then gave notes, then ran some trouble spots. And bam! All in all, we're pretty pleased.

Mike the Almighty Director is announcing the season for next year tomorrow. I have literally had nightmares every night this week about because I'm so anxious. It'll be my last semester, after all, and my last musical here. Sad days. But here's some of my suspicions:

1) Guys and Dolls: I don't hate this show, but I don't love it. Sarah Brown gets on my last nerve. If we were doing it, I'd shoot for Adelaide. She's all nasally and it's great. But I don't think we'll do it; the theater department did it in the late 90s, and we try to not repeat shows.

2) My Fair Lady: I would love it if we did this show. I've been singing it since I was 10, and it's fabulous. I'd definitely try for Eliza. But alas, not only would I probably not get the part (my high range is weeeeeaaaaak) but we probably aren't doing this one. Not dancey enough.

3) Pajama Game: Don't want to do this. Really campy. Don't have a clue if Mike is thinking it, though!! It's definitely the wild card.

4) Godspell: This was in the running last season. Eh, I'd be up for it. I don't think we'll do it though...not dancey enough, and we just did a Bible-story-based-play.

5) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers: OMFG. If we did this show, I would explode in joy. Seriously. I'd shoot for Millie, but if I got to play a bride (especially Alice or Dorcas) it would make my life. And this is the on I think Mike will pick!! It's dancey, it's a big-scale production, and we've never done it here.

So yeah. That's what my money's on. But if I got to pick the musical...

-Les Miserables (Eponine)

-Into the Woods (Baker's Wife or Little Red)

-The Secret Garden (Mary or Martha)

Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Gah!

I hate waiting.

Especially when you don't know when the thing you're waiting for it going to arrive.

Gah.

I applied for the Disney Alumni summer program, and now I'm just waiting to hear from them. I think I'm doing another interview, in which I will loudly shout "Great Movie Ride! Great Movie Ride! I wanna go back to THE GREAT MOVIE RIDE!!" Although I did also mark down that I was willing to work Icon Attractions...

...which, incidentally, is where GMR is located.

I'm just trying to find out what the usual schedule is...like when they typically start calling people. There's still about five months until I would leave for the internship, so I'm guessing they'll contact me for a phone interview by the end of March at the latest.

Gah. That's a long ways away.

Enchanted Attic is going decently well. I'm just frustrated with the amount of blocking I have to do. Miss Divalicious is terribly unhappy that I'm not giving her more Star Stage Time. But hey, she's an extra. She'll deal.

We had a pretty rough production meeting last night. I was fine- I've worked with the technical director before, and have a decently clear picture of what he expects. He wants me to communicate better about what we want? Sure. I can handle that. But, as all involved expected, the backstage crew got raked across the coals. Honestly, though, Jessica has impressed me. She's shown a lot of initiative, and it's fair to say that she's on my good side...she was definitely off it during the run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. And once Caleb turns in his application, he'll be an ASM too. It'll be fabulous. I just hope that Nick can call the show. I think that'll help the performances run smoothly.

Gah. Still waiting on Disney.

It's all I can think about.

Crap.

The first week back

The first week of my last spring semester EVER is just about over. It's so weird to think that this time next year I'll be out of school and finishing up wedding plans. I can't wait, and at the same time I really want to stick around in the theater department. Maybe I can still be in spring shows since they hold auditions in December.

We officially have recast the role of Josie!..but now her name is Josh. The guy playing the youngest kid is absolutely fantastic. He was in Joseph last semester, and he always had the best facial expressions. He came for rehearsal last night, and it was EPICLY AWESOME.

We had the pirates come in for the first time last night, and it was pretty fantastic. Once the blocking is fine-tuned, it's going to look really great. My only real concern is that one girl is playing a guy and she'd rather be a girl, and...well, the other is Miss Divalicious. I think MD was expecting a lot more stage time, and the fact that she never talks and has to do all of her acting in tandem with her onstage partner in crime is not pleasing her. But it'll all work out. Even if she's a diva, she is a hard worker.

My baby sister is playing Ernestina in Hello Dolly!. I couldn't remember which character that was, so I looked it up...and found this:

"Brittany Curran is Ernestina Money, the crude uncultured slut who escorts Horace to dinner at the upperclass "Harmonia Gardens" and does the hootchie kootchie on the chair at the dinner table."

Oh, Lindz is going to be EPIC. Considering that the two of us are generally polite, cultured, unslutty nice girls, it's going to be hilarious.

It is so freezing in this lobby!! People keep leaving the door open, and even though I have a heater under my desk, my fingers are so cold I can barely type!!

...maybe that's a sign that I should do something else. Like homework...that's due in two hours...

The second-to-last semester begins!

Thank God for the heater under my desk. Because seriously, it's 7:12 am, and it's dang cold in here!

First two days of classes are over. How's it going down? Like this.

Script Analysis (MWF at 10)
Also known as Dramaturgy. And in Erin-language, Scriptology. Basically, we're going to read a bunch of scripts. And then we're going to analyze them. Fabulous.

World Lit I (MWF at 11)
In order to get my English minor, I just need to take two more English classes: World Lits I and II. So yeah. That's why I'm taking this class. I've had the professor before (for Modern Drama) and we're doing a lot of Greek theater, so I feel pretty prepared.

Marriage and the Christian Home (MWF at 12)
This is going to be a fun class. It's my Bible credit, but we're talking about marriage stuff! Yay! I'm pretty dang excited.

Fundamentals of Physics (TR at 8)
I just had to put off one of my GenEd courses. And it just had to be this one. On the upside, I have one of the best professors ever. P and Kat both took physics from him and said he was fabulous. Plus, P is a physics major, and he said he'll tutor me. My goal is to get my first ever A in a science class on my report card.

...or at least my first B.

...I am SO not a science person.

History of Theater I (TR at 9:25)
I keep forgetting I even have this class. Basically, we're reading (and watching) plays from the earliest Greek theater up to Shakespeare. Technically, I'm supposed to take History of Theater II, but I'm graduating in December so they're pulling some strings. Awesome.

Voice and Diction (TR at 1:20)
This is definitely the BEST CLASS EVER!!!!!! Like seriously, best ever. It's a performance-based class focused on vocal performance. We get to work on dialects, and specialize in one (although I want to do like four). And then...

...WE'RE MAKING A DEMO!!!!!!!!

I was going to ask my parents to pay money for me to record a demo with Joe, but if I can do one for free in class, I'm SO TAKING IT!!

I've been excited about theater classes before, but this is definitely the best one ever!! We're doing voiceacting!! I feel like I'm finally getting a chance to show what I can do. I'm probably gearing myself up for some kind of spectacular failure, but right now I'm so thrilled and so happy I don't even care!

Physics Lab (T at 2:45)
Aaaaaand...this is where my fabulous class schedule loses its fabulosity. It's bad enough that the lab goes form 2:45 to 5:15. It's downright hellish when the lab instructor lectures from 2:45 to 4:35. And it's not even a useful lecture. He lectures about how to round up numbers. And then he tells us "Oh, you'll have to hurry to finish this lab." It was his fault!

So yeah. That is the one downside. Thank goodness it's only once a week.

Other than lab, I'm happy with how the semester looks. I'm taking 18 hours, plus I'm directing Enchanted Attic and I have private voice lessons. They should be announcing the season for next year pretty soon, and I am hell-bent on getting into the musical. If I'm just an ensemble member, I will be the happiest girl on the planet.

Speaking of ensemble members, my sister has stepped up from tech and ensembling to a speaking part in her senior year musical. They're doing Hello Dolly and she's just thrilled. So yay! Congrats to Lindz!

Now I have to go read Oedipus Rex. Yaaaaay....aw.

First rehearsal of Enchanted Attic last night. What did I learn?

-I am not good at rehearsal schedules.

-The people we cast as the kids are FABULOUS together.

-Gender-bending galore.

-It will be a cold day in hell before a minor character gets a personal choreographer hired for them.

-Costumes are going to be SO PRETTY.

-Ash will eat me if I'm late again.

But yeah. The readthrough went really well last night. I think this cast is going to work really well together.

I'm on such a major sewing kick right now. It's awesome. I'm planning out about three or four months worth of sewing. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. I'm so excited. Christmas break will be AMAZING in the sewing department.

I was thinking about having a Dead Day party. But since Dead Day is tomorrow, I don't think that's happening. Sadness. Oh, well. I'll eventually have a Christmas party. It'll be awesome.

I just discovered a new clothing website that I LOVE called Modcloth.com. Their stuff is so awesome! They have a fabulous clock that I desperately want:

Is that not completely and utterly amazing! Thanks to Courtney for finding the site for me. ^_^

I have to memorize my lines. I MUST memorize my lines. I have the Down the Road scene down just about perfectly, but I really need to learn the scene from My Cup Ranneth Over. Like really.

The espresso is a bit much...

Whew. I knew my sweets-and-caffeine tolerance had dropped, but this astonishing! I've sipped maybe a fourth of my tall espresso truffle from Starbucks, and I'm done. I can't take anymore of the buzz!

I signed up for Twitter because all of the cool kids are doing it. I'm just not going with the cell phone option because really...really, I don't want to be barraged with Twitter updates at 3:00 am from freshmen who stay up watching Adult Swim at all hours. *coughnickcough*

I don't have to do anything till 5:00 pm today when I have to go to the Disney College Program offer party and talk to a bunch of kids headed off to work in the parks like I did almost three years ago. Kind of sad, really. I miss it. Then I have the first Enchanted Attic rehearsal at 6:00, which will be fun. I can't wait to see how the cast works together, chemistry-wise. Honestly, that's one of the big things I look for when I cast- how an actor works with the other actors.

I'm going to do a lot of sewing during all of the downtime between my exams, and there's going to be a lot of it. Here's what my class lineup looks like:

Gospel of Mark for Women: Exam on Saturday at 8 (or 9. I'm not sure about it, so I'm showing up at 8. But ew, Saturday!)
Shakespeare's Tragedies: Exam next Wednesday at 8
Advanced Acting: performing a scene from "My Cup Ranneth Over" tomorrow (I play Yucca) and a scene from "Down the Road" (I play Iris) either tomorrow or...um, maybe Tuesday. I have to check.
Lifetime Fitness: already finished that class!
First Aid and Emergency Care: already finished!
Costuming Practicum: my exam was hell week and the aftermath for Joseph, so I'm covered.
Beginning Directing: my exam was Shorts!, so I'm all done!

So yeah. Plenty of downtime for sewing.

...and studying, I suppose.

Audition Purgatory: Day #3

Callbacks for Enchanted Attic went down last night. They went really well, although I think the improv actually did more to cast them than the cold readings. There were some great surprises too- one girl in particular. I'm going to wait until after everyone's cast before I discuss them...not that anyone who auditioned reads this blog, but just to be safe.

Of course, I won't be able to know who has which part until Mike the Almighty Director holds his callbacks on Monday...so I won't know if I have a part until right before Thanksgiving. Augh.

However, there is one thing I realized. There are, I think, seven girls called back for the role of Ethel. I am one of them. Four of those girls were called back for Enchanted Attic, three of them have been lined up for parts and we're probably going to get them. That leaves four girls still in the running.

Contestant #1: A fantastic actress, but she's also called back for Corie and we think she'll get the part.

Contestant #2: Another amazing actress, but she's younger and has an accent.

Contestant #3: Terrific musical theater actress...not so good at straight theater. My personal thought is that since she was so good as the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Mike the Almighty Director wanted to see her read. She's called back for Corie and the mom, but I know she can't play old.

And Contestant #4 is me.

Honestly, I feel like it's between me and Contestant #1, but I really feel she'll get the part of Corie. Everyone's money is on her. And I've played a lot of older characters, so I feel I have at least a bit of an edge. Plus, I called a friend of mine and he's going to coach me this weekend on the two callback scenes.

I hope I get the part.

Audition Purgatory: Day #2

Callbacks have been posted! I am now in the running to play Ethel in Barefoot in the Park. Terrifying and exciting all at the same time. I know the two guys called back for Velasco, and I know the two guys called back for Paul really well, so I have hope that I'll do a good job relating. What scares me is that Mike, the all-powerful director, has already matched up who he wants to read together. Will I get to read four times with all four guys? Or will he have me read just once, thank me politely, and get my pity you're-a-senior-and-I-feel-obligated callback over with?

There is so much drama in theater, and it's not even on the stage.

From the other end of the table, callbacks for Enchanted Attic are tonight...which I am conducting with Ash and Deb. It's going to be fun- cold readings and improv. My favorite kind of audition, honestly. Cold readings put everyone on the same level (except for the smart overachievers like me who read it beforehand and practice, but the director doesn't know that!) and I can do improv pretty well. I wish I had a callback for Enchanted Attic instead...it's such a cute show and so much less pressure, but you takes what you can gets.

P and I are trying to pick our china patterns. Over Thanksgiving break we're going to have a big registry day, but we're still surfing around the 'nets for cool things. Who loves Kate Spade dishes? I love Kate Spade dishes.

Kate Spade June Lace

Kate Spade Library

Kate Spade Primrose

What do you think? We certainly can't decide...

Audition Purgatory: Day #1

Auditions went down last night...from 6:30-10:00. Freaking forever. What made it worse was that I knew I was going last. So I had to watch every single competitor perform before me, knowing we were all up for the same parts. Granted, they were also auditioning for Enchanted Attic, which I'm not auditioning for, but still. There's only two female parts in Barefoot in the Park, and I want one of them. Most likely the mother, since that's what I'm built for.

When it actually came time for my monologues, I really think I did well. I did a piece from "Heads" by Jon Jory and a piece from "Plaza Suite," also by Neil Simon. I wanted to demonstrate I could be a mother and deliver Simon's lines.

I think I did well. I kinda peeked a little and I think I have a callback. Think, hope, pray...yeah. I want a callback really badly.

Audtions on both sides of the table

I really don't know how to feel about this...mixed emotions...nervousness, excitement...

I hate auditions.

So it's a lot hatred, I guess.

See, from 6:30 to 10:00 I will be in the University Theater with my grown up clothes and my expressionless director face, watching actors come in and pour out their monologues. I will then write unintentionally scathing remarks like "too cutesy," "doesn't understand the part," and "NO" on my pages, and then decide whether or not they are worthy to get a callback for my play.

But then at 10pm, it will be my turn to stammer out some monologues and pray I'm deemed worthy.

Yeah, I really hate auditions.

We're casting for two plays- Enchanted Attic and Barefoot in the Park. I'm one of the directors for Enchanted Attic, but I really want to be in Barefoot. Who knows how this'll go? I'm pretty nervous, but I've got my monologues. So we'll just see.