When things take a turn
I worry about saying too much about this topic at the moment, for fear of jinxing a few things that have come up as well as of looking like an idiot if everything falls apart. But I will say the following:
1. Today was all kinds of crappy and difficult, and not just because of the following point.
2. I will not be attending DePaul in the fall.
3. The loss is entirely DePaul's, in my opinion, because whatever grad program I end up in is going to be so proud to have me as an alumnus. I'm not missing out on DePaul; they're missing out on me.
4. There is still a chance I will be starting grad school in the fall. More information will be divulged as it comes to me.
5. My director, Lisa, is a phenomenal person/artist/mentor.
6. I am unbelievably proud of myself for being able to hold my shit together today, and even more proud that I was able to formulate, believe, and type out point #3. If that's not progress, I don't know what is.
So it's on to Cincinnati in April. I'll need to put another contemporary piece together by then, but I'm ready and willing to tackle that task. Work is starting, Iowans are coming Monday, court rapidly approaches, I start the tv show next week, Casey may be coming out at the end of the month to see Tallgrass Gothic with me (and maybe Amy, though I know she just came out to Chicago this weekend and may not be able to do another trip so soon), I'm seeing Moira on Sunday, and until I know more about point #4, I'm not going to pull out of this Point Foundation scholarship business. I'm totally buying Milk when it comes out on DVD this Tuesday, I have a show to close, protests to attend, and a future to plan.
Frankly, having a future at all is a gift. And when I felt like unraveling in bumper to bumper traffic today, watching myself become later and later for tonight's Red Shoes performance, I held myself together by remembering these things:
Directing Ms. Karczewski is an absolute delight. Rehearsals with her are some of the fondest memories I have of the theatre because of her intelligence, intensity, daring and brimming curiosity to try different things to “get it” or “find it”, those brief glimpses of what is true for that character at that moment. She latches onto difficult questions and follows them up with more difficult questions and becomes more energized (never defensive) as she moves deeper and deeper into the world of the character. She is a positive force in a rehearsal that sets the bar for the kind of work ethic and attitude that push a production into the specifics of art. She is a personality that everyone wants to work with because going to work with Ms. Karczewski is, quite simply, fun. She lights up the room with creativity. - Scott Pardue
I met Danielle as a sophomore in our Acting II class at the University of Iowa. Her energy for the work caught my attention the very first week, and to be honest, it was initially a bit surprising and off-putting. I had not met anyone with such a genuine passion for theatre, and still have not to this day. She laughed loudly and unabashedly, and eagerly contributed in class. Her enthusiasm, however, was contagious, and we became great friends. At the end of that semester there were auditions for the Iowa New Play Festival, and we both wanted to be cast in the same show, Timberland. We decided to team up, rehearse the callback sides, discuss the characters, and generally pump each other up. Despite the fact that we seemed too young for the characters, together we broke through the boundaries and landed the roles. We saw ourselves as an unstoppable auditioning duo, and over the next few years, we helped each other prepare for and get cast in many more shows at the University.- Casey Boland
I am so proud of myself. I did really good work today, and not just in the context of my prior work, but generally. I think you could hold up what I did today on its own and say, "Yeah, that's good stuff." I am so happy that I did it well, and that I can walk away from it with a big smile on my face. Now it's just the long wait until March. But like I said, I'm perfectly happy with today no matter what. Do I desperately want to be in this program? Absolutely. But if it doesn't happen, I know it will have had nothing whatsoever to do with how good my work was today. Because it was good, and I know that, and that's enough for me. - Me, re: my DePaul audition
When people can say such wonderul things about me, it seems impossible to see myself as anything but valuable. And when I can say such beautiful things about an experience, I have to believe that that experience had a purpose in my life, regardless of its outcome. My life and the people that fill it are tremendous. I have friends who love me: they write me letters with funny nicknames, call me "sister from another mister," drive around Chicago at 11 PM looking for a Dunkin Donuts, or they call just to call. I have a famlily that takes me out for pie instead of throwing me a pity party. I have a rich life full of work that is meaningful to others and makes the world a better place. And I have more strength and resilience that I ever thought possible. Things really do happen for a reason. In the face of what should probably be a big setback, I am more sure than ever that I am meant to lead an extraordinary life, and a letter from a grad school is absolutely not going to change that.
1. Today was all kinds of crappy and difficult, and not just because of the following point.
2. I will not be attending DePaul in the fall.
3. The loss is entirely DePaul's, in my opinion, because whatever grad program I end up in is going to be so proud to have me as an alumnus. I'm not missing out on DePaul; they're missing out on me.
4. There is still a chance I will be starting grad school in the fall. More information will be divulged as it comes to me.
5. My director, Lisa, is a phenomenal person/artist/mentor.
6. I am unbelievably proud of myself for being able to hold my shit together today, and even more proud that I was able to formulate, believe, and type out point #3. If that's not progress, I don't know what is.
So it's on to Cincinnati in April. I'll need to put another contemporary piece together by then, but I'm ready and willing to tackle that task. Work is starting, Iowans are coming Monday, court rapidly approaches, I start the tv show next week, Casey may be coming out at the end of the month to see Tallgrass Gothic with me (and maybe Amy, though I know she just came out to Chicago this weekend and may not be able to do another trip so soon), I'm seeing Moira on Sunday, and until I know more about point #4, I'm not going to pull out of this Point Foundation scholarship business. I'm totally buying Milk when it comes out on DVD this Tuesday, I have a show to close, protests to attend, and a future to plan.
Frankly, having a future at all is a gift. And when I felt like unraveling in bumper to bumper traffic today, watching myself become later and later for tonight's Red Shoes performance, I held myself together by remembering these things:
Directing Ms. Karczewski is an absolute delight. Rehearsals with her are some of the fondest memories I have of the theatre because of her intelligence, intensity, daring and brimming curiosity to try different things to “get it” or “find it”, those brief glimpses of what is true for that character at that moment. She latches onto difficult questions and follows them up with more difficult questions and becomes more energized (never defensive) as she moves deeper and deeper into the world of the character. She is a positive force in a rehearsal that sets the bar for the kind of work ethic and attitude that push a production into the specifics of art. She is a personality that everyone wants to work with because going to work with Ms. Karczewski is, quite simply, fun. She lights up the room with creativity. - Scott Pardue
I met Danielle as a sophomore in our Acting II class at the University of Iowa. Her energy for the work caught my attention the very first week, and to be honest, it was initially a bit surprising and off-putting. I had not met anyone with such a genuine passion for theatre, and still have not to this day. She laughed loudly and unabashedly, and eagerly contributed in class. Her enthusiasm, however, was contagious, and we became great friends. At the end of that semester there were auditions for the Iowa New Play Festival, and we both wanted to be cast in the same show, Timberland. We decided to team up, rehearse the callback sides, discuss the characters, and generally pump each other up. Despite the fact that we seemed too young for the characters, together we broke through the boundaries and landed the roles. We saw ourselves as an unstoppable auditioning duo, and over the next few years, we helped each other prepare for and get cast in many more shows at the University.- Casey Boland
I am so proud of myself. I did really good work today, and not just in the context of my prior work, but generally. I think you could hold up what I did today on its own and say, "Yeah, that's good stuff." I am so happy that I did it well, and that I can walk away from it with a big smile on my face. Now it's just the long wait until March. But like I said, I'm perfectly happy with today no matter what. Do I desperately want to be in this program? Absolutely. But if it doesn't happen, I know it will have had nothing whatsoever to do with how good my work was today. Because it was good, and I know that, and that's enough for me. - Me, re: my DePaul audition
When people can say such wonderul things about me, it seems impossible to see myself as anything but valuable. And when I can say such beautiful things about an experience, I have to believe that that experience had a purpose in my life, regardless of its outcome. My life and the people that fill it are tremendous. I have friends who love me: they write me letters with funny nicknames, call me "sister from another mister," drive around Chicago at 11 PM looking for a Dunkin Donuts, or they call just to call. I have a famlily that takes me out for pie instead of throwing me a pity party. I have a rich life full of work that is meaningful to others and makes the world a better place. And I have more strength and resilience that I ever thought possible. Things really do happen for a reason. In the face of what should probably be a big setback, I am more sure than ever that I am meant to lead an extraordinary life, and a letter from a grad school is absolutely not going to change that.