Musicals and 4 weeks left
Last weekend I had a gig with the pit orchestra of the Monona Grove High School production of Ragtime. When I first got the music I wasn't quite sure what to think of it (especially since the cd they sent kept skipping, so it was very difficult to practice along). I was honestly not expecting a high school group to be able to pull off some of the strong themes in this musical, but was pleasantly surprised. Ragtime follows three groups of people: a black couple from Harlem and their baby, a white upper/middle class family and an immigrant father with his daughter. The play openly approaches issues of racism and hate crimes, which the students were able to handle in a convincing and even powerful manner.
While the harp part was fairly typical, the music was extremely well written, with a very high ratio of really good songs among the usual stock numbers. Yet even the "filler" songs had a pretty good connection to the rest of the show - providing a setting to the events (though there was one recurring song that was particularly annoying...)
Can I say that the Monona Grove theatre is one of the nicest I have ever seen, let alone played in. It seemed like every single seat had a great view of the stage, and they have a real pit! A real under-the-stage variety pit that you can actually stand up in! We even put the harp up on a 3 ft high platform and still had ample room to pull the instrument back and everything. I did have to remember to tune down to 440, but that's not a huge deal. Basically they sealed the pit and miked all of the instruments out so they could control all of the levels. This was amazing in that they could control the overall volume to stay below the singers, and since I had a separate mike that they dialed way up, I didn't have to destroy my fingers on the glisses.
They hired several other outside musicians - and some of them have been playing with that pit for over 10 years (damn!). It was amusing to hear them call us "the pros". hehehe. aaaaand they paid in cash. Nice gig.
But seriously, that was one of the nicest shows I've played in. Only drawback was that we couldn't see the stage at all - though that did prevent anyone from being too distracted to play their music.
In ceramics, the kilns are finally back on line, though the glaze tests we ran look awful, frankly. You'd think with 15 different high firing glazes, they could get more than 3 to look halfway decent. What pisses me off about the glazes is that there are no middle firing ones at all. Not even bad ones.... I would really really like to have some cone 5 or 6 glazes to work with. I suppose I could mix some up... but there is so little time in the semester to be experimenting with glazes! So frustrating!! And I know I sneer at the low temp glazes, but that is honestly for a reason. They just don't feel nice in your hand, which is a drawback for objects that are meant to be handled!
I finished my 40 cups (20 with handles) that was our latest assignment, and I'm feeling more solid on the wheel, though I want to try and narrow down to a more consistent style. I don't feel drawn to any particular shape yet, though I think once we've bisque fired the first round, then it will be easier to handle the pieces and see what feels right.
I have made a few trips back to the Memorial art department (gasp!) for the first time in 2 years, and it was really nice to remember the feel of the place. Mr. Herman was the one who made me decide (at the last minute) that I did want to be an art major as well, and he was just as encouraging now as he was back in high school. That's why I don't think I could be a great art teacher -- how does one inspire the way he and all the good teachers do? Whenever I visit, I leave wanting to go and throw a zillion different pieces!
Also I've been planning a big installation in the art loft, so that should be fun. My last things dealing with the humanities staircase were admittedly less than successful, but this is taking a different approach. Yey.
I've been thinking about classes for next semester, but more on that later.
While the harp part was fairly typical, the music was extremely well written, with a very high ratio of really good songs among the usual stock numbers. Yet even the "filler" songs had a pretty good connection to the rest of the show - providing a setting to the events (though there was one recurring song that was particularly annoying...)
Can I say that the Monona Grove theatre is one of the nicest I have ever seen, let alone played in. It seemed like every single seat had a great view of the stage, and they have a real pit! A real under-the-stage variety pit that you can actually stand up in! We even put the harp up on a 3 ft high platform and still had ample room to pull the instrument back and everything. I did have to remember to tune down to 440, but that's not a huge deal. Basically they sealed the pit and miked all of the instruments out so they could control all of the levels. This was amazing in that they could control the overall volume to stay below the singers, and since I had a separate mike that they dialed way up, I didn't have to destroy my fingers on the glisses.
They hired several other outside musicians - and some of them have been playing with that pit for over 10 years (damn!). It was amusing to hear them call us "the pros". hehehe. aaaaand they paid in cash. Nice gig.
But seriously, that was one of the nicest shows I've played in. Only drawback was that we couldn't see the stage at all - though that did prevent anyone from being too distracted to play their music.
In ceramics, the kilns are finally back on line, though the glaze tests we ran look awful, frankly. You'd think with 15 different high firing glazes, they could get more than 3 to look halfway decent. What pisses me off about the glazes is that there are no middle firing ones at all. Not even bad ones.... I would really really like to have some cone 5 or 6 glazes to work with. I suppose I could mix some up... but there is so little time in the semester to be experimenting with glazes! So frustrating!! And I know I sneer at the low temp glazes, but that is honestly for a reason. They just don't feel nice in your hand, which is a drawback for objects that are meant to be handled!
I finished my 40 cups (20 with handles) that was our latest assignment, and I'm feeling more solid on the wheel, though I want to try and narrow down to a more consistent style. I don't feel drawn to any particular shape yet, though I think once we've bisque fired the first round, then it will be easier to handle the pieces and see what feels right.
I have made a few trips back to the Memorial art department (gasp!) for the first time in 2 years, and it was really nice to remember the feel of the place. Mr. Herman was the one who made me decide (at the last minute) that I did want to be an art major as well, and he was just as encouraging now as he was back in high school. That's why I don't think I could be a great art teacher -- how does one inspire the way he and all the good teachers do? Whenever I visit, I leave wanting to go and throw a zillion different pieces!
Also I've been planning a big installation in the art loft, so that should be fun. My last things dealing with the humanities staircase were admittedly less than successful, but this is taking a different approach. Yey.
I've been thinking about classes for next semester, but more on that later.