alex.

Alex is one of the many wonderful people I have met here at DU. I previously mentioned him in one of my posts as one of the makeup artists. He is a reformed theatre major and is always, without fail, singing some song from a Disney movie, which the rest of the room can't help but to sing along with him. I first met him at callbacks for "Julius Caesar" and had a blast preparing for it with him and the other guys in our group. Alex hardly knew me, but immediately gave me a hug when we were reunited for "The Old Women." 

He's that kind of guy.

age.before.beauty

Another shot I took backstage. Here, Katy is putting makeup on her hands to make them look old to suit her character as a very creepy old lady. She has the greatest makeup box ever, which she decorated herself with pretty much every musical you can think of and pictures from the shows she herself has been in. It amazed me how she did her own makeup every night and it always looked so great. The impeccable makeup simply added to her impeccable characterization of La Bossue.

lit.up

So this weekend was my show, I DID manage to get my voice back, though it dwindled down to practically nothing by the end of every show. I also had to overdose on every kind of spray, pill, syrup, and liquid right before my entrance, but I managed.

Anyway, this is a shot I took while I was fooling around with my camera backstage in the makeup room. I liked the pattern of repetition of the lights on the makeup mirror and lightbulbs are somewhat fascinating to me. Our times in the makeup room prior to each show are probably some of my fondest memories of this show. I got to hang out with crazy theatre people, including the ones I had already grown to love in my cast and the awesome makeup crew (made up of Jerica, Alex and Jenny). It was hard during the first two performances when I wasn't allowed to talk because forcing oneself to NOT laugh is nearly impossible when you're around those three.

desperation.

This is my life at the moment. Last week I started getting a wicked sore throat, which progressed into me losing my voice completely. Turns out I have laryngitis and an upper respiratory infection. I have since been jamming my body with every drug the docs throw at me and every old wives tale my neighbors and friends tell me.

Steroids: FAIL

Cayenne pepper+honey+hot water: FAIL

Halls cough drop + hot water: FAIL

Prescription cough syrup: FAIL

Dr. Pepper + OJ + cinnamon + honey + warmed up: FAIL

5 Nalgenes of water in 3 hours: TBD

The list goes on.

Pictured here are just some of what I've been using. I've also been going the last 5 days without talking, or speaking minimally, which has been a very strange experience. I now understand how the Little Mermaid felt. My deepest sympathies, Ariel. 

I wouldn't be so desperate to get better if the show I happen to be the lead in weren't tomorrow night. I've only been sick for one show before, but luckily I was in the chorus and could easily blend in. That is not the case here.

I need a miracle.

flashbacks&flashforwards

As I was uploading photos from my phone, I found this one from what I think was the last time I saw Kate. We went up to overlook the city of Boulder from the mountains, stargazed in Chautauqua park and got ice cream. Here, she is taking a picture of the stars. I miss the girl.

We recently had a conversation about her coming home from Minnesota in three weeks and how much of a daunting idea that is. I have the same fears about winter break; I'm afraid that if I spend more than a month back at home with all my old friends again and being around my family constantly, I'll have to start over adjusting at DU when I finally have to come back. But that fear is just a part of the whole process. Every time we have to return to our respective lives that we're trying to establish, the readjustment will get a little easier because soon it will become the only life we know.

social.network

Khumbo, Katy, a guy from Katy's floor and I went to see "The Social Network" tonight. I've lost my voice completely thanks to laryngitis and an upper respiratory infection so I needed something to do that didn't require me talking. I've wanted to see this movie for a long time and was thoroughly pleased with it. I have no doubt that it overdramatized and romanticized the real story of the birth of Facebook, but that's cinema. Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow founders were nothing short of geniuses--I don't think anyone could dispute that. It's amazing to think that a couple of Harvard undergrads managed to revolutionize the world, connecting over 5 million people in over 200 countries. They've changed the way we run our lives. I check my FB more than twice a day on my laptop and phone. It has become my primary source of keeping in touch with my friends from high school, a fact that is both profitable and somewhat sad. I wrote in my first essay for my Media class that if I didn't spend about 130 minutes on FB every day, I could be using that time to make friends in real life, rather than pretending I'm still involved in the lives of my old friends in cyber life. But all our worlds are infected by the enigma that is Facebook. When I came back to my room after the movie, my roommate and her mom were ironically on the site. My first impulse when I sat down at my desk was to check my Facebook, even though I had just done so not 10 minutes before while waiting for the light rail. That's power.

children.of.the.theatre

This part of the film was taken when I brought my disposable to rehearsal. I have rehearsals for "The Old Women," a senior project play I got into, Monday-Friday from 10-12. My character, Louise, goes through some traumatic stuff (creepy old women, creepy doctors, creepy nuns, oh and getting her eyes gouged out), I get drenched in stage blood every night, and sometimes the emotions I have chosen to portray Louise (sense of abandonment, loneliness, and desperation) come through in my real life. But even through all that, it is during the preparation for this production that I have found myself the most happy since coming to DU. I solely owe this to the people I have met while doing this production. Katy, one of my new closest friends I've made since coming here is pictured on the upper portion and Khumbo on the bottom. Katy is my fellow freshman, my Gleek partner, and an overall amazing person. She never fails to make me laugh and is always looking out for me. Khumbo moved here from Africa last spring, and despite having no family here in the states, she so easily creates her own family with the friends she meets. She's a barrel of fun to be around and so hilarious. Inside jokes can't help but ensue when we're around her.
I don't know what it is about theatre kids, but they're different in the best way possible. Perhaps it's because in order to take on the role of an entirely different person than ourselves, we HAVE to be unafraid, and thus, let go of any inhibitions we might have. We have to embrace ourselves so much so as not to lose it and that makes us more comfortable in our own skins. It's funny how through every character we play, we actually find out something new about ourselves, and because of that, I think theatre kids are more real than any other breed of human.
Rule #21: Theatre is a god-sent. Praise it. Love it. Stick with it.