Catch up
Hey guys, thanks for all the support when my cousin died and sorry it's been so long. There's a lot I could say about the case etc but I won't at the moment considering things are still rumbling and I don't want to cause any problems by publicly saying things I shouldn't. But let's just say, the funeral went as well as can be expected but it was so sad as you can expect. She was such a nice girl, attractive inside and out and that she's dead at 23 is just the most unfair thing I can think of.
Otherwise, things are OK. Drama went well. We had the am dram Festival which is always good to see. It's a national competition between am dram groups that starts locally and the winner goes through to the next round etc. It's good, it's friendly competition and you get a chance to see what other groups are doing and learn from them. I went to all the show's except Tuesday night (funeral was Weds morning) and I was late for the first one on Monday and on Saturday but other than that, I saw them all.
A play called Mirror Mirror by the Wednesday Players won and it was excellent. It was a parody of Sleeping Beauty and it was hilarious. The guy who played the Mirror was projected on a screen. He was standing backstage, he couldn't see what was going on, he could barely hear but his reactions to everything was perfect and he was continually facially acting because his face was close up on screen. He played it as really camp American and he was so good that he took some of the attention away from what was going on on stage! My favourite line was when the Witch asked him who the fairest of them all is and he goes in a really camp voice, "you are mistress, after the nose job, botox, tummy tuck and let's not forget the boob job!"
A play called Hold was the runner up and that was really good, really well choreographed and made you think a lot. It was about people who were really suffering at home, about a son dealing with a mother with mental problems, a father who was sexually abusing his teenage daughter, a couple who's baby suddenly died and an abusive husband whose wife lost their baby after he beat her up. It was really well acted and put together, touching but uncomfortable at times especially when the father killed his daughter and all the characters reached down to her to help. It started with childhood innocence too and them imitating a ball game and the characters whose story wasn't being told were wearing masks and they were slogans on their T-shirts to emphasise their points. It was really well done and they came up with it themselves which was good.
We did very well, the group got an A for Babysitting Calvin, which is a comedy about a ten month old baby called Calvin who can remember his past life as a guy called Tommy. His mum goes for her first night out since the baby was born with her friend Donna, who's a real man eater! Calvin's wife from a previous life (Laura) comes over to look after him by coincidence as does his sleazy best mate Bob, who was always trying to score with her even when he was still alive as Tommy. It's basically about Calvin trying to stop Bob scoring with Laura in any way he can! Rick (Bob) and John (Calvin) won joint best actor which was good and the right decision too and Danny was nominated for Best Director. He didn't win (the guy who directed Sleeping Beauty did) but that he was nominated and it was his first shot at directing was excellent.
Hero, which was our other play, about the First World War, went fairly well but not as well. We got a B but I the adjudicator seemed not to like the actual play itself so he was going to be a bit against it from the get go which I think he was.
The thing that confused me though was Best Supporting Actor. Darran was nominated for it for his part in Hero which was weird as his character was not a supporting one b/c the play was about his character! Samantha was rightly nominated for her portrayal of Donna in Babysitting Calvin which wasn't much at the start but the character really set up Bob as a complete sleaze and set up all the action as her and Bob flirting and leering at one another gave Calvin the idea to try and drive Bob out of the house so he'd go and find Donna and sleep with her instead of Laura! And the adjudicator was right when he said that she played it brilliantly. But he gave it to a young teenage girl who was in the last two minutes of Mirror Mirror and who basically did a sexy dance and I just fail to see how that is being a supporting actor never mind the best one! I'm not saying she did it badly because she didn't but it added nothing to the action, they could have easily cut it and nothing would have been lost. But she was a 16 year old girl doing a seductive dance so maybe the adjudicator's brain travelled south!
For our next production, we're doing Play It Again, Sam. Auditions next week and it's set in New York so I'm trying to have a go at an American accent. I started quite well in the read through but it started veering into a strange hybrid of Scouse and Scottish after a while! But I'm working on it and have the basics so hopefully I can do enough to at least not embarrass myself in the audition even if I don't get a part! There's only three men and about eight women as well but it's only fair because most of the recent productions have been stacked in the favour of the men so I guess it's fair that it goes in the favour of the women this time!
If I don't get a part in that, I'll probably be involved in the Friends and Family which will be good. It would be really good to get onstage.
Otherwise, things are OK. Drama went well. We had the am dram Festival which is always good to see. It's a national competition between am dram groups that starts locally and the winner goes through to the next round etc. It's good, it's friendly competition and you get a chance to see what other groups are doing and learn from them. I went to all the show's except Tuesday night (funeral was Weds morning) and I was late for the first one on Monday and on Saturday but other than that, I saw them all.
A play called Mirror Mirror by the Wednesday Players won and it was excellent. It was a parody of Sleeping Beauty and it was hilarious. The guy who played the Mirror was projected on a screen. He was standing backstage, he couldn't see what was going on, he could barely hear but his reactions to everything was perfect and he was continually facially acting because his face was close up on screen. He played it as really camp American and he was so good that he took some of the attention away from what was going on on stage! My favourite line was when the Witch asked him who the fairest of them all is and he goes in a really camp voice, "you are mistress, after the nose job, botox, tummy tuck and let's not forget the boob job!"
A play called Hold was the runner up and that was really good, really well choreographed and made you think a lot. It was about people who were really suffering at home, about a son dealing with a mother with mental problems, a father who was sexually abusing his teenage daughter, a couple who's baby suddenly died and an abusive husband whose wife lost their baby after he beat her up. It was really well acted and put together, touching but uncomfortable at times especially when the father killed his daughter and all the characters reached down to her to help. It started with childhood innocence too and them imitating a ball game and the characters whose story wasn't being told were wearing masks and they were slogans on their T-shirts to emphasise their points. It was really well done and they came up with it themselves which was good.
We did very well, the group got an A for Babysitting Calvin, which is a comedy about a ten month old baby called Calvin who can remember his past life as a guy called Tommy. His mum goes for her first night out since the baby was born with her friend Donna, who's a real man eater! Calvin's wife from a previous life (Laura) comes over to look after him by coincidence as does his sleazy best mate Bob, who was always trying to score with her even when he was still alive as Tommy. It's basically about Calvin trying to stop Bob scoring with Laura in any way he can! Rick (Bob) and John (Calvin) won joint best actor which was good and the right decision too and Danny was nominated for Best Director. He didn't win (the guy who directed Sleeping Beauty did) but that he was nominated and it was his first shot at directing was excellent.
Hero, which was our other play, about the First World War, went fairly well but not as well. We got a B but I the adjudicator seemed not to like the actual play itself so he was going to be a bit against it from the get go which I think he was.
The thing that confused me though was Best Supporting Actor. Darran was nominated for it for his part in Hero which was weird as his character was not a supporting one b/c the play was about his character! Samantha was rightly nominated for her portrayal of Donna in Babysitting Calvin which wasn't much at the start but the character really set up Bob as a complete sleaze and set up all the action as her and Bob flirting and leering at one another gave Calvin the idea to try and drive Bob out of the house so he'd go and find Donna and sleep with her instead of Laura! And the adjudicator was right when he said that she played it brilliantly. But he gave it to a young teenage girl who was in the last two minutes of Mirror Mirror and who basically did a sexy dance and I just fail to see how that is being a supporting actor never mind the best one! I'm not saying she did it badly because she didn't but it added nothing to the action, they could have easily cut it and nothing would have been lost. But she was a 16 year old girl doing a seductive dance so maybe the adjudicator's brain travelled south!
For our next production, we're doing Play It Again, Sam. Auditions next week and it's set in New York so I'm trying to have a go at an American accent. I started quite well in the read through but it started veering into a strange hybrid of Scouse and Scottish after a while! But I'm working on it and have the basics so hopefully I can do enough to at least not embarrass myself in the audition even if I don't get a part! There's only three men and about eight women as well but it's only fair because most of the recent productions have been stacked in the favour of the men so I guess it's fair that it goes in the favour of the women this time!
If I don't get a part in that, I'll probably be involved in the Friends and Family which will be good. It would be really good to get onstage.