End of 2011 Theatrical Checklist

Senior Play: Check.
Senior Musical: Almost Check.
NWTG's Cinderella: Around the corner.
Church Musical: Closer than I care to admit...
NWTG Summer Program: Miles away.

What else could there be...? That may be all my dramatic ventures this year. Or something bigger might be coming...
Hobey ho. Here we go.

What Can't Fit In A Bio...

Please indulge me for a moment... I am speaking to my Seniors. I am speaking to Kristen Folkertsma, Jami Jo Libolt, Kelsey Vander Zouwen, and Kaitlyn Brown through the medium of my blog. I am not too terribly good at saying what needs to be said, so now that I can take some time to think, I will hopefully be able to communicate what I am actually feeling.
These chicas have been my constant companions, my friends, my shoulders to cry on, my mic change buddies, my first scene partners, my theatre sisters, my drama dorks. You girls deserve to be honored. You have taught me what it means to be a great actress, and a humble person. Every step of the way, you have been there, you have fought through long rehearsals, you have dealt with flubbed lines, you have weathered hours backstage, you struck for strike, hung up posters, paid for make up, paid for tap shoes, paid for sweatshirts, paid for flowers, paid for tights ;), paid for food, sprained ankles, torn through costume changes, cried, laughed, yelled, danced on that stage, acted on that stage, fought for that stage, gave up that stage, OWNED that stage.
Kristen: your voice, your creativity and composure, your acting, your confidence is unmatched. Jami: your humility, your spirit, your support, your talent is so wonderful to see and be a part of. Kelsey: your love for the art, your incredible talent, your projecting voice, and your willingness is beautiful to see. Kaitlyn: your rock hard facial expressions, your graceful dances, your devotion, and the fact that you don't take it all so seriously is inspiring.
I love you all dearly. 
Theatre Seniors 2012. We got this. We got this. We got this.

"The two hours' traffic of our stage..." (Trinity Western University)

A couple weeks ago I saw Romeo & Juliet at Trinity Western University up in Langley, British Columbia. If you are all familiar with R & J, then you may remember Shakespeare’s famous prologue, “Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene…” When they began the show, and didn’t say the prologue, I thought they had just skipped it for time’s sake. I bothered me for a second, but then I forgot about it as the scenes flew by.

At the end, just when I was getting teary eyed about the two star-cross’d lovers…the rest of the cast emerged from the wings and began to slowly sing the most eerie, beautiful song to the words of Shakespeare’s famous prologue. They saved those magical words for the end of the show!! At this point, I started hard core crying, which I am not afraid to admit. I mean, if you want to love theatre, at some point you must respect Shakespeare. My respect for the director, and for the cast of that show sky rocketed and I knew that TWU did not take their Theatre lightly. All of the actors were so devoted, and so DANG GOOD at their parts, it surprised me. I’d never seen Theatre so professionally done, and yet with an aspect of community that astounded me. The best show outside Broadway that I’ve ever seen.  

So. In some personal theatre news. I am attending Trinity Western University next year, to major in Theatre. The only University around here that actually spells the word the way that it needs to, with “-re”. Reason enough to attend... not even counting the A+ directors, talented actors, AMAZING performance space, great selection of acting/theatre classes, fresh vision, proximity to Vancouver, and opportunities, opportunities, opportunities…

In Which I Speak of the Unspeakable...

I so thought there was at least two stage kisses in Hello, Dolly!...
Guess not! I checked the script, and there is not one moment in this show when Cornelius & Irene share a moment...or even Dolly & Horace. That's awkward!
Forgive me, but I have a few thoughts about stage kisses (which is interesting, since I haven't ever had a stage kiss myself). At the level of theatre that I am currently involved in, it is VERY iffy to kiss onstage. But that's part of the distinction between LC shows and other community shows: we never skip out on it. We have (nearly) always been true to stage directions. If it's there in italics next to a line, we will try our very best to perform it. So, we have tried and failed, and tried and ROCKED at stage kissing in the past, but it's always been there, and we have been respected for it. And this time, no?
I'm sort of disappointed, actually. Those moments onstage have the potential to show our audience our dedication and talent...AND there is nothing more exciting than the day when we block THAT scene. The kissing scene. Somehow, the entire cast ends up being out in the auditorium at the same time, our two leads standing up onstage, blushing, laughing, smelling their breath etc. until they kiss. It's great fun.
There is technique though!
1) If you find out that you are going to kiss onstage, build up to it. As soon as you get the part, find your partner, hug them and say, "I can't wait to act with you!". As weird as it sounds, having physical contact will make things easier. Hug, playfully punch, actually punch (jk lolz), dance...This is for the audience's sake, not your own. If you want to give your fans a performance they can believe, chemistry MUST be built.
2) Do not be dramatic about it. Seriously? How immature is that. You're an actor, it's all part of your job.
If you're nervous about it: pretend you're not.
If you're excited about it: definitely pretend you're not.
Be indifferent.
That's definitely the main lesson surrounding stage kisses: Keep it cool, boy. Real cool. Your audience will thank you. Your acting partner will thank you. Your director will thank you. Your boyfriend/girlfriend will thank you. Everyone WILL thank you.

To the characters mentioned above: I am criticizing the writers of our musical, not your immense talent. All of you would handle stage kissing with grace, and fresh breath. But you don't have to! So you're completely off the hook! Yes! Celebrate and laugh like ha ha ha.  

In the news...
The Lynden Performing Arts Guild (it's a GUILD, love it!) is doing a great show called The Christmas Toy Shop. November 30, December 1 @ 6:30 pm. December 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17 @ 7:30 pm. December 3, 10, 11, 17 @ 2 pm. Claire vg Thomas Theatre in the Windmill. :) One of my theatrical mentors is in it. It's gonna be a BLAST.

Thoughts from a Difficult Saturday...

RIGAMAROLE: An annoying series of seemingly unnecessary steps that causes a commotion and results in confusion, irritation and resentment. (Urban Dictionary)

Auditions Auditions Auditions Auditions Auditions Auditions Auditions Audition Auditions Auditions Auditions Auditions...that's what happened recently in my theatre life. Besides rehearsing, opening and closing You Can't Take It With You, an Audition Rigamarole has been occurring.
...Not gonna lie, it's been a hard journey...Remember that whole post that I put at the beginning of my play? The one about disappointment/expectation? The one sitting right below the post you are now reading? Yeah. Me being a stupid human being, I decided to ignore my own advice going into this audition. My mistake.
Time travel back four years to September of my freshman year. Fools. I was SO banking on the fact that I was going to get in. I was nearly pre-rehearsing my part. My mistake. I was cut. And all the confidence that I felt before and during my audition came back to slap me in the face.
Zoom forward four years to November of my senior year. Hello, Dolly! I was SO banking on the fact that I was going to get this one role. I was  nearly pre-rehearsing (idiot). My mistake. I didn't get it.

I'm not writing this for pity. Ew. That's the last thing I want. I am writing this because of what came afterward. I couldn't even anticipate everything I learned because of not being cast in this role. When I thought about abandoning everything I worked for, these theatrical sages flew in from out of no where.
Here is what they said...

"and no challenge?! MAKE it challenging. Do something you've never done before. make a character that blows all your other characters out of the water."

"Casting isn't just "who's the most talented", it is also who needs to go where because of what's best for them. There is no such thing as small roles, only small actors."

"Have fun with it and don't be disappointed. It doesn't make you any less talented."

"A part is a part is a part is a part."

That being said: HERE WE GO. My senior musical. My very last show. #8. Here's to my theatrical sages.

Hello, Dolly!: February 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 & 11. Lynden Christian Worship & Fine Arts Center. @ 7:30 PM. Save a seat.

In other theatre news. Lynden is doing Once Upon A Mattress! One of my best friends is King Sextimus. Be there or be square ;) Performances: TBFOAAALT (To Be Found Out About At A Later Time)

Northwest Washington Theatre Group is doing Imagine Christmas: Performances: December 9 & 10 at LC Worship & Fine Arts Center. @ 7 pm. OR December 15 at the Mt. Baker Theatre. It's gonna flippin' rock.


Oh. William, Weston and Thomas. thanks.

You Can't Take Disappointment With You

"And a quality of an actor is to be half in love with rejection. Because that's what you're gonna get. I mean, actors get more rejections than Jehovah's Witnesses." ~ Tom Baker

There's a spectrum of  emotions that actors can select from when they get cast. It starts with rejection, a bitter kinda cold feeling that usually resides in your stomach area. It ends with elation, a bubbly, light, shaky happiness that can't be dulled by any attacks to your self-esteem. It's usually in your chest/heart area, and makes you feel like you rule the entire universe.
But...on a scale of 1 to Elation, there is a 5: Disappointment. I can't even pinpoint where in the body you actually feel this emotion: all I know is that you feel it a lot. Do yourself a favor and when you read Baker's quote, just substitute the word "rejection" with "disappointment" (that makes me really like the whole JW part). Being in love with disappointment: a very difficult task and no one has actually mastered it yet, (that I know of) but here is some news and advice surrounding it.
Just yesterday, I finished my audition process for my annual school play. This year is You Can't Take It With You, about a girl with a zany family who wants to get married to a guy with an uppity rich 5th Avenue type family. Families collide and hilarity ensues. There was one part that I was actually shooting for: Gay Wellington. There isn't a ton of stage time, I admit, and the time that you are onstage, you're drunk. You pass out after about 10 minutes and remain onstage for the last half or so of the play. It's a super great part, there is SO much opportunity. I thought I was gonna get  it, but I didn't. Then I got a little bit of the 5 feeling, just a tinge.
After realizing that I was a tad bit disappointed, it just brought me back to the root of all my issues. Expectations. Oh darn those things! My mother wisely tells me all the time that expectation ruins relationships... until I realized that expectation ruins pretty much everything. My advice: when you go into an audition, keep your expectation to a minimum. This is a sure shield against every feeling below 5. It also keeps feelings 6-10 really, really pleasant.
Another way to steer clear of disappointment: pay attention to your fellow cast members. Congratulate them, encourage them, offer to run lines with them. In the end, the cast is your family, and why be disappointed if you get to be a part of it? The cast is the thing!
TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT:

Rule 1) No expectations.
Rule 2) Remember each other.
Rule 3) Run with Rule 1 & 2 everywhere...even outside the stage doors.

Amerikids: "The entrance of the pilgrim is extremely important. It's like Time Travel." (Fullfillment)

I got myself into another production.
It's one of those ones you would see at church on the Sunday before Easter where all the kids are staring dumbfounded at the audience, and not exactly paying attention to the motions to the song (with heavy clarinet, and the slickest, awkwardest jazz you've ever heard). It's called Amerikids (!!!) and the fact of the matter is that it's been a while since I've enjoyed theatre this much.
I have the greatest honor working with an actress named Maria (Childcatcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang). She is WAY TOO TALENTED for words. She went to school for theatre in Lebanon. Take a moment and let that sink in. We are blocking/loosening up our young actors, cracking them open so that they give a sincere, realistic, entertaining performance. There is something about that that makes chills go down my spine. And as I was explaining the significance of what they are doing onstage, something inside of me melted.
And at that moment, I knew exactly what I needed to do.
I think...I THINK...that this might be what I should do for the rest of my life.
Advertisement: Come to the Cascade Business Park this Friday and Saturday for our performances. 7:00 Curtain. Let the games begin...

Mighty Wooden Arms

The stage might just be the scariest place in the theatre.
I remember my very first audition when I was a wee lass of only 13. Those three stairs up onto that alien platform nearly killed me. I was absolutely terrified. And then, in one moment, after it was over, I looked up at that tiny stage that had nearly done me in, and we became friends.
The stage was designed so that everyone in the audience could sit comfortably and have the actor in complete view. So, even when you are standing on an empty stage in a silent theatre, you still have 400 vacated seats staring up at you! It honestly gives me a rush, but I remember the first time: I was exposed and insecure.
But...the stage only exists so you can stand on it.
Every motion you make, word you say, or note you sing is amplified, and supported by the wooden stage beneath you. The stage is never your enemy, it is always your ally. On it, you face fears, and offer up the art that has been practiced for centuries. The stage doesn't coddle you, and there is no place to hide. So, the only solution is to conquer.
When you step on the stage, STOMP the first time!
While you are onstage, it obeys you. You create the world. You have the right to command the scene and take it along with you on a tangent. And the stage will hold you up with it's "mighty wooden arms".
The stage is yours. OWN IT.

Rule #2 of Acting: Don't Be a Diva

I was in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang once. It was supposed to be a really impressive, technically challenging, supremely acted, thoroughly-rehearsed musical extravaganza that would make Dick Van Dyke proud. In the end, looking back, it certainly was an extravaganza...but maybe not the kind that we would have liked to produce.
(Quick aside to the the NWTG people who may be reading this: I loved CCBB, it was a fantastic cast and wonderful production crew, and we put SO MUCH work into it. It's something that I'm proud of, this is just some healthy criticism. Thanks. Please cast me again. :) )
There are two things I wished I could have changed about the whole experience (so, of course, these are things I could never have affected): the first I will tell you at some other time, but the second was the extreme Public Displays of Diva (PDD).
Some of our most influential leads (not all, just some) WOULD NOT take direction. They blatantly refused to change the way they had originally acted or sang. They arrived whenever they felt like showing up at rehearsals. At one point, one stormed off the stage because of a unfortunately timed comment on how they should improve. IMPROVE. It not only created a sense of disunity in the cast, it made me not even want to speak to them when we were backstage.
My advice if you are of the Diva Persuasion: Stop right where you are. Consider your cast and crew, and try not to be a brat. No one likes working with people when they are full angst and cockiness. In a phrase,
If you are doing it for attention, DON'T DO IT.

No Regretzzzz

In any art, there are times when you have to go out on a limb. This being said, when you do go out on a limb...and fail miserably...it feels pretty much like you spilled spaghetti sauce all down your new white shirt.
And when it comes to Theatre, going out on a limb can mean failing miserably in front of 500+ people.
However, you need to learn to live with no regrets.
One thing that can cripple any theatrical experience is running over a scene in your head and thinking, "Now, I could have done that. That could have been done with way more emotion. That was just tacky..." etc.
Be proud of the way you act. Be proud of the art that you put out there, even if you thought it might have failed. Don't shoot yourself in the foot, OR LOOK FOR ATTENTION, by saying that you could have done a scene or a line better. Act the way you act.
Regrets are just the things you dwell on. Everyone else has already moved on.

An Overture, I Suppose

I am actress.
However, this doesn't mean that I am ultra-experienced, or some sort of theatrical sage or even exceptionally talented at acting. It's something I JUST LOVE TO DO.
I'm Mijo Buiskool-Price, I'm from Washington State and a senior in high school. If auditions are held, I will try my best to be there.
My intention here is not to talk about what I am doing in my theatre life exactly, it's mostly intended to be a tool for anyone who is on this path with me. I am distressed when I am at rehearsal sometimes and the people I work with aren't acting like actors are supposed to act. I don't even mean onstage. I mean offstage.
I want to try my hand at working a revival in the world of theatre. For although our job is to be fake, it should be our intent to become more real.