The Rover

OH ALSO I went to see Rover about 3 weeks ago now haha. forgot to blog about it. first time seeing a play here at college!  it was really funny actually! i had to read about it on wikipedia beforehand so i knew what it was about.  they should really put a summary in the brochures they give out.  all the actors did such a good job. they had to speak in accents which were kind of hard to understand. and some of the jokes i couldnt really get either.  but other ones were hilarious.  i think it was about Hellena being slutty before she has to go off into a covenant.  i think i liked it because of all the sexual jokes. really kept the play interesting.  the sword fight was SO COOL. they were so good i could not even believe it.  anywho, although the plot was a little hard to understand i really enjoyed it!

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

So it's been awhile since our play but I just finished my finals so I found some time to blog!  The play was sooo much fun!  Everyone did so good I couldn't even believe it.  Nobody had to yell LINE haha.  I was definitely nervous that that was gonna be me.  But I didn't forget my lines either!  I was so happy.  There was one part where Alex I think said too many of his lines without letting me respond and it threw me off big time but luckily I picked up from where it made sense so nobody noticed.  I think Alex did a really good job.  Everyone was laughing.  Even my laughs were genuine haha.  All of the other scenes were really good too.  Some funnier than others some more heart felt than others but all in all I had a great time watching everyone's scenes.  When people finished their scene it seemed like they stayed backstage but I sat in the audience and watched the rest of the play and loved it.

This year has been a roller coaster with acting but one that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  I came into the class  late after having missed maybe the first two days of class so I had NO IDEA what to expect.  I kind of just went with the flow and hoped for the best.  And you know what, I'm so glad I stayed in the class!  It was such a new and exciting experience for me.  I can't wait to see what else I'll be able to explore in the theatre world later in life!

4/18

I met with Alex at 2 o'clock on the second floor of PBK right before acting class to rehearse.  We just went through the lines first and then the second time we went through it with the actions.  We have become SO much more comfortable rehearsing.  It seems to flow a lot more and has become a lot more fluid.  I think it's because we both know all of our lines really well now which makes figuring out our actions a little more easy.  We went straight to class afterwards and rehearsed our part in front of the professor.  We made it through the entire scene!  I was so excited!  Some of the things we needed to work on though were the first scene where we are having sex, the professor said it needed to be longer.  Honestly we haven't worked much on that part considering how weird it is but we're definitely going to practice that and figure out what we want to do for it exactly.  We also still need more secondary actions.  Our scene has a lot of just sitting on the bed or walking into the bathroom.  The professor suggested I do something like pluck my armpit hairs but that wouldn't be something that I (Frankie) would be doing in front of Johnny.  I still need to think of something better to do that will be entertaining to the audience.  Alex also came up with the idea of playing cat and mouse when it came to him trying to get to me and me pushing him away.  There is a part where I walk into the bathroom and I'm brushing my hair and Alex suggested that he walk in the bathroom as I'm walking out, and then walking back into the bathroom when he comes to get me, that way he's constantly trying to get to me but I keep trying to get away.  All in all I think our scene and both Alex and I have come a long way individually and together and I'm hoping that we'll be able to prove that in the actual play next week!  

3/16

I met with Alex last Wednesday twice in the morning.  We met at 11, then he had class at 12 and then we met again at 1 until I had class at 2.  Rehearsal went really well though.  We met again in the basement of Swem, it has come to be our little spot where we close the doors and nobody seems to walk by or hear us which is good.  Since we knew all our lines for the first 5 pages we really worked on the actions.  When we rehearsed in front of the class the week before I remember one part where he asked if I was coming back to bed and I said I don't know but I was already sitting in bed with him so I had to get up and walk away and say I don't know again.  By then I was laughing because clearly I had not cued that right.  Anyways, we worked on when I would get up and go to the bathroom, when I would turn on the light, when I would be brushing my hair or changing.  We needed to get some other actions going on so that it wasn't just us sitting in bed.  The second time we met I practiced more of my lines that came later on in the play where I had more to say.  Believe it or not I actually remembered the lines!  It was the part that I've had the most to say where it's more than just one or two sentences.  Alex and I are getting a lot more comfortable with each other and getting together to rehearse has become fun rather than just working.
     Later on that day when we had class we rehearsed our part in front of the class.  The first scene where we have to be having sex was a little uncomfortable...we had to practice that at least five times, discussing with the class different positions and then trying them out.  Then me having to work on my screaming from orgasming.  Definitely a little weird and I started getting really uncomfortable by the third time I had to be screaming and thrusting... Besides that scene I think Alex and I did pretty well.  I had all my lines down and walked away from the bed on cue so it definitely flowed a lot better than the first time.  The only thing we didn't do was know what we were actually talking about in the scene.  We hadn't done any research on some of the conversation that Frankie and Johnny were having so we didn't really know how we should be acting or sounding when talking.  Like I don't know what fifty-third and tenth in Brooklyn is or what Prizzi's Honor is....we need to do a little researching.

3/14

Today we learned how your words and body motions are related or connected. The length of the actions and words should be intertwined.  Later we laid on the ground with our eyes closed and hummed.  We were able to push the hums to the center spot between our eyes and be able to feel the vibrations.  When the professor came and shook my feet out I could feel my hums moving with my body.  Then the professor told me to make the noises of a cat having an orgasm.  I had my eyes closed and starting moaning/screaming meow.  There were other animal noises too like a sheep bahing.  Then we moved around and played with the other animals.  Ivy asked me to be her pet so I then sat with her and meowed.  Then we partnered up and I got to drive my partner around while she had her eyes closed.  I know she was supposed to trust me but even I was nervous!  When we started to have to drive at higher speeds and run faster there were a lot of cars running around too.  I think I was actually less nervous when she was driving me and I had my eyes closed.  I trusted her and it was easier because I didn’t have someone else relying on me so heavily.  Why is it sometimes easier to trust someone else rather than yourself?


I know this isn't much of an acting related question but I did find it strange that I felt more comfortable being the car rather than the driver and it got me thinking.  I think I'm the type of person who gets really nervous under pressure.  Like in a soccer game when we're losing a game and I know that the coach is relying on me to do something like score or assist but for some reason I just seem to break down.  I don't like being under pressure even though I know it happens all the time in life and I know that I need to get better at dealing with it.  I don't think I have much confidence in myself when it comes to those situations but I know that other people show a lot of confidence in me.  Why is that?  I don't know why I can't seem to find it in myself even though other people can.  I wonder if other people feel the same way.  Like the way I had confidence in Ivy, I wonder if she was really nervous about driving me around while I had my eyes closed.  I felt comfortable trusting her and she seemed calm and confident but I wonder if on the inside she was freaking out a little bit about whether or not she would run me into another person or a wall or something.  Just something I was thinking about...    

2/28

I met with Alex in the morning from 9:30 - 10:30 in swem basement again.  We were supposed to meet Sunday night at around 10 but when the time came around I was so tired and luckily Alex agreed to meeting the following morning.  I felt bad though because he told me that 9:30 was the earliest he had woken up all semester!  He's crazy.  Anyways, we read through the script and got down the first five pages.  Then we practied our sex scene...I felt a little more comfortable because I knew him a little better.  The first few times we did it we were in an awkward position and it didn't look or feel real/natural.  Alex suggested we positioned ourselves a little differently and it made a world of difference.  We definitely need to practice it a lot more and probably make the scene longer and not rush as much.  I had class at 11so we had only practiced for an hour but the more time we spend together the better so we can establish more of a relationship and chemistry not only between ourselves but for our roles too.

2/28

     Today we rehearsed our scene in front of the entire class and our professor.  I was definitely nervous.  My partner and I haven't had too much time practicing our actions, we've been focusing mainly on our lines.  I think it ended up going pretty well.  The beginning where we have to have sex was a little awkward/funny and everyone was laughing.  We had only rehearsed that scene once and that was this morning.  We kinda put that scene off because we didn't know each other very well so I think neither of us really wanted to bring it up.  But I think with a little more work it will go off pretty smoothly.  To be honest I'm still a little confused as to what I (Frankie) am thinking and wanting from Johnny in this scene.  To me it seems like I just wanted sex out of him, that I'm still a little hostile toward him, and that I'm ready for him to leave and for me to go back to living my life.  Because this is what I THINK I'm feeling in this scene I act really sarcastically toward Johnny and try to put him off.  I'm thinking that I'm on the right track because after watching the other scenes go I can tell that I get more and more comfortable with Johnny and start giving into him as the play progresses.  I really like mine and Alex's parts.  I think that this scene is actually a lot like me in that I probably would have acted the same way Frankie does if a guy acted like that towards me.
     I think that the other Frankie and Johnnys did a really good job with their scenes.  It was very telling of the play, with some cute parts, some funny parts.  I also think that it seemed as though every other partnership had a lot of chemistry.  Getting together outside of class definitely helps with that and I can tell from people's blogs that each team has been spending a lot of time together.  I think that I've been very busy lately but I'm definitely going to make more time to meet up with Alex so that we can build a stronger relationship.  We're even trying to go see one of the plays showing this week.  I really like Alex and I think we get along very well and our personalities mash up well, we just haven't had as much face to face time.  But I'm looking forward to more of it!
    

2/23 First meeting

Yesterday I met with my partner Alex for the first time to rehearse outside of class.  We met at 6:30 for about an hour in the basement of Swem library.  We had already read together a few times in class so we were a little more familiar with the script.  We primarily worked on the first 5 pages in order to memorize our lines.  We figured that first we could try and remember our lines then as we kept rehearsing the words and underlying meanings would come more naturally.
     I was really surprised at how well we remembered everything.  Alex had a long monologue but he picked it up really quickly.  Thankfully I don't have one that long!  I think the first meeting went pretty well.  We skipped over the intro scene where we had to be climaxing (we didn't want to scare anyone in the library).  We didn't really act out any of the actions either like getting up or brushing my hair.  First memorizing, then we'll start working our other actions!

2/9

     The first thing the professor brought up in class today was about making our blogs public so that everyone in the class could read them.  I honestly don't have a problem with that besides the fact that I haven't figured out how to make a blog so I've been writing everything in my notebook...Luckily I asked Chris how to do it.  He's been really nice and helpful considering I came a day late because I switched my major and had to enroll in all different classes and so I had no idea what was going on in this class.  Some people seemed a little hesitant to share their blogs.  I can definitely understand why.  It's a little nerve-racking to share your deepest thoughts and feelings first off with people you barely know and second off people you'll have to see a few days later.  They might think differently of you after they see what you were really thinking.  I can understand that.  But I also think that it would be healthy and helpful to get our emotions out on paper for everyone to read.  It might make people more comfortable to see that other people feel the same way they do.  I don't know, I just think it would be kind of cool for everyone to share their thoughts.
     Today we also talked about last class and how acting can be therapeutic, however it is not to be thought of as therapy.  You do not have to call upon past memories in order to let out some of the emotions and feelings that need to be portrayed during acting.  You have to go balls to the wall and let yourself go and be free in order to reach those emotions.  And you have acting coaches or teachers who are there to help you along the way and to help you feel those different emotions.  And, even when you put yourself in someone else's position you can still reach those emotions, sometimes deeper than you might think.  I never really thought of acting as therapeutic but now I can definitely see it.  Whether you can relate to your character or not there are ways to get to the root of their thinking and motives through your own experiences and emotions.
     We were also given a page from Boleslavsky and told to find the underlying action going on on that page.  To tell you the truth I think I hit mine right on the head but for some reason the professor was a little hesitant and kept pushing me and asking me questions and making me second guess myself.  After a lot of questions and a lot of pushing I just got down to a synonym for the action word that I had chosen to describe what was going on.  I was a little frustrated because I had the right answer all along.  I think that the problem was that my verb wasn't strong enough.  Our professor likes to see us use strong action words and I guess mine was too simple.  I didn't mind being pushed though.  It was kind of fun.  I had to stand up and act some lines in front of everyone and I was really nervous but I figured I'd try and let lose and go for it and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun!  I don't know if I did very well or not but the scene I was doing I had to be very excited and I really got into the role.  I actually did start breathing heavily and getting really frantic and excited so when the words came out I think it kind of sounded like I was feeling the way my character was supposed to be feeling.  Doing this has made me realize that acting in front of people isn't TOO scary.  I think I'm still working on it though...
    

    

2/7

Today we were told to close our eyes and hold a cookie and had to think back to a time when we were eating cookies.  I remembered a time when my roommate and I made the most delicious, ginormous chocolate chip cookies.  These cookies were 50% chocolate chip, and seeing as how I have the biggest sweet tooth, this was the greatest day ever.  We had to sit in front of the class and talk about our experience.  Because mine wasn't a very deep and connecting experience there was not much emotion that could be drawn from it.  It was more of just a fun memory than an emotional one.  There were some people who had a time when they remembered something about their mother or family and so the professor was able to pull some emotional strings from those people.  He also had them imagine that they were the other people from their memory and act out what they think they would have said during that experience.  It made me really sad to see Erica cry.  I felt so bad all I wanted was for her to stop crying, to maybe console her but I don't know her very well and the professor kept pushing her to delve deeper.  I was glad that by the end of it she seemed strong and able to overcome her feelings of sadness with feelings of strength.  I think she did a really good job sharing and opening up and I definitely admire her for being able to do so in front of a group of people that she, or I barely knows.
     I hope that in future classes I am able to open up like Erica and some of the other people did.  I am a little reserved when I first meet people, and it's definitely been hard to throw myself out there to a group of people I barely even know.  I think I'm worried that they will judge me.  But I'm starting to see that the people in this class are not here to judge but just to have a good time and to learn about acting.

2/2

Today we closed our eyes, turned off the lights and were made to hold hands.  Then we were told to make a circle and to do so by finding a way to communicate with each other without using words.  I swear on my life it was impossible to make a circle.  At some points I thought our teacher was playing some sort of sick joke on us, like he was just standing there laughing at us try and complete this impossible task.  Sometimes I would sort of give up and just stand there and wait for someone to pull my arm in a certain direction.  The worst was when I was getting pulled from BOTH directions! That actually made me laugh more than anything.  And apparently, when we opened our eyes to see where we were, somebody had let go and switched the hand they were holding!?  I have no idea.  I think the point of the exercise was to try and feel what your partners wanted from you.  For instance if my partner pulled my hand down I knew to duck under someone else's arms, or if they pulled my hand up I knew to high jump over someone's arms.  I think it was also to learn to trust our partners.  Although I think it was kind of hard to trust them considering nobody had any idea where they were actually going.  But I trusted them anyways because it felt like the right thing to do.
     Later we watched two people act out a little bit of Frankie and Johnny.  I actually really like this play.  It's weird because it kind of reminds me of my own relationship and Frankie reminds me of the type of person I am.  My mom always tells me I'm too much like my dad.  I'm a very sarcastic person and not very good at sharing my feelings.  Frankie seems to me to be pushing Johnny away, and I think I do that with a lot of boys because I don't really trust them so much and I don't really feel like having to deal with having someone around all the time. But it's funny because my boyfriend LOVES telling me how he feels about me. He has definitely helped me to be a little more open and I do trust him.
     Anyways, from this acting out of the play we learned that first you have to just read the script.  I think it's more just to know your lines and remember what to say.  But second, you have to understand the story.  When you are able to understand the story then acting out your character comes naturally.  You don't have to push to act you can just know what the character is feeling and you will be able to feel that way too. Then when you start saying your lines it will just be you talking, not your character.
     When I think about it, this really makes sense.  I always thought actors just read scripts and said lines the way they thought they should sound.  But now I see that there might be a little more to acting than I thought.  Last night when my roommate and I were watching Hannah Montana the movie she made some comment about how Miley Cyrus was such a bad actress, to which I replied "You don't know what it takes to be an actress!"  Clearly I said it in a joking, sarcastic tone but there is some truth to that statement!  I now look at actors differently when watching movies.  I will probably have more to say about this subject when I learn more about acting in future classes.  !*~!*~CaN't WaIt!*~!*~

1/31

     Today we had to close our eyes and the professor walked us through an imaginary scenario.  I know it sounds weird but I don't think I did mine right.  In my vision I saw people I knew.  My mom was the person who was facing me, my ex-boyfriend was standing behind her, and my current boyfriend was the one who knocked on the door later on.  I think that the professor told us that he had not asked us to think about people we knew, but just to pretty much see what we saw...if that makes any sense.  But I actually liked what I saw.  I was torn in the beginning because my ex-boyfriend is really hot and I do miss him, but when my current boyfriend knocked on the door and pulled me away I was so glad.  I love him so much and he makes me feel so much happier and safer.
     We were told to go home and try something new.  We were to enter a room with people in it and not say anything and see what happens.  I walked into the kitchen where my two best friends were having an argument.  Both of my friends are EXTREMELY opinionated, which is actually totally opposite of myself.   I usually get really uncomfortable when they start arguing.  They are not so much as arguments but debates.  Neither of their feelings get hurt but they definitely can say some hurtful or opinionated things.  I hate being confrontational and usually just make a joke or say something stupid so that people will stop bickering...ANYWAYS...they were arguing so I was actually excited to see what would happened when I entered the room.  Well I guess I'm no head turner...they just kept arguing!  From one opinion to the next they kept talking.  I think I was standing there for about a minute before they actually looked over at me.  I think I made them feel bad because they know how stupid I think it is to argue and how awkward I get around it.  When they looked at me both of them smiled.  I'm glad they did because it meant that it wasn't actually a serious issue they were discussing, but something menial.  I had actually just gotten back from this class so one of them asked me how my second day in my crazy beginning acting class was going.  From there we just went on to talk and eat dinner together, with more stupid talk more than bickering thank god.

1/26

     Today was my first day in beginning acting.  I was really excited when I saw that there was an open space in this class because I like to think unrealistically and believe that one day I will become famous and I know that becoming an actress is one way to go about doing so.  My roommates found it pretty entertaining that I singed up for this class and my boyfriend tried to get me to come into his public speaking class but I acting sounded way more fun.
     I was a little behind today.  Apparently we were supposed to have brought in three items that we normally wouldn't have in our backpacks and that could be used for different actions.  Because I didn't know this I couldn't really participate.  But it was definitely an interesting first day to see everyone else up on stage interacting with each other and their items.  I'm kind of glad I didn't have my three items because I don't know what I would have done up there.  But everyone else was really funny and I'm definitely even more excited to be taking this class.
     We learned that the first lesson in acting is to do what you are told.  Our teacher told someone to sit down but he questioned him.  Apparently he should have just sat down.  Now I'll know for the future!  We also learned that is someone disrupts your action with their own, it is now your job to react to the other person's action.  You can't just ignore that person and  keep doing what you were already doing, that isn't realistic.  You have to go with the flow and interact with whoever else is around you.  This seemed more like a lesson on improv.  I think that some people did really well and made it interesting for everyone else to watch and I really enjoyed that.  

2/21

Today's class was a roller coaster.  We started off with our breathing and concentration exercises, everyone calm and relaxed.  But with some of the more involved exercises concentration was broken and there was a lot of giggling that I think threw a lot of people off balance.  I know personally I'm very goofy and like to laugh a lot so sometimes I think it is hard to not laugh at some of the things that we have to do.  However, compared to the beginning of the semester I have gotten A LOT better at controlling myself and concentrating on what we are told to do.
     The one activity where we had to close our eyes and feel for different people and act out different scenarios there was one where you told us to imagine ourselves hugging our mother.  I remember this one specifically because I was still looking for someone to hug when you told us to pretend it was our mother.  For some reason I got a little upset that I wasn't hugging her at that moment yet everyone else got to.  I'm not the most sentimental or imaginative person but I wish I had been hugging my mom because I love her very much and she's always there for me and I do miss her (although I may not act like it).
     I was not surprised when we were snapped at today for laughing.  I don't think everyone was taking it seriously, but I also don't think everyone realized that we were supposed to be so serious about it.  But I do think that because of the tone words used to scold us everyone will now know that we need to take our exercises seriously.
     After this class I do feel closer with everyone and as though I can trust them.  I know now that they are not judging me and I feel a lot more comfortable acting out the exercises and expressing my feelings.