Time to break the silence . . . Market Street Blues cast, if you can't get fired up about your Monday night performance, June 6, your theatrical wood is wet! The Friday night performance of Tinsel was magic. The Market Street performance was . . . Divine.
For one hour and three minutes, the god of the theater descended from Mount Olympus, and kissed the stage of Georgetown Middle School. "Cry, I did," Yoda said, following the show. "Knew, I did, that in them, the Jedis had it. Believe in themselves, finally, they did. Impossible, it would be, a solitary moment, to highlight, as 'best'. Stellar, the entire show was."
There's no limit to how good you can be. Can anyone say, summer school?
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
What Can I Say?
Broadway Knights Theater Academy students, don't you ever forget the Tinsel performance, tonight! That is the stuff of theater magic. "Only hope, I can, that proud, you are, as I am." 'Nough said!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
It's a pretty typical storyline: boy meets girl, boy courts girl, boy slips arm around girl's waist, girl cuts boy off. Hey, wait a minute! That's not how the story goes. Que pasa, Jedi Spaccarelli?
The exercise was supposed to be about acting while singing, about bringing emotional intensity to a musical performance. Things started off well. Allie, although understudying for Ciara Jacobi, was doing a great job, singing the song. Matt Rogers performed his part with typical aplomb. But then something went terribly wrong. When Matt slipped his arm around Allie's waist, she stiffened like the Washington Monument, thrust her hip into his thigh, and looked away . . . affecting the dreaded Triple Cut-Off.
When questioned about her acting technique, the only thing she could mutter was, "But it's Matt." And so it always seems. Several actors in the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy shout "Nyahh" for no other reason than Matt. Alyssa Holston delivers her lines like she's trying to beat Animal Kingdom to the Kentucky Derby finish line because of Matt. BKTA actors exhibit Matt-Mouth because of . . . well, I imagine that, by now, the reader can infer the answer.
To test this theory, Yoda did an improv acting exercise to ascertain whether anyone could act in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The results? With the exception of Ciara- acting under her stage name, Clara Jacobo, and, to be fair, delivering lines from Market Street Blues- every other actor approached the stage with fear and trepidation. Perhaps Taylor Jester summed it up best, when she said, "But it's Matt."
"Good thing, it is, that a renaissance man, Mister Rogers is: an actor, a writer, a director," Yoda said of the young Jedi. "A true asset, he is, and will be, in the dramatic arts, as learn, he continues to do." But, as Yoda says, there's one role even the uber-talented Mister Rogers can't pull off, a role owned by his equally talented best buddy and fellow BKTA renaissance person, Joanie Shinn. Try as he might, Matt will never look as beautiful as Jack, in a black dress and heels.
The exercise was supposed to be about acting while singing, about bringing emotional intensity to a musical performance. Things started off well. Allie, although understudying for Ciara Jacobi, was doing a great job, singing the song. Matt Rogers performed his part with typical aplomb. But then something went terribly wrong. When Matt slipped his arm around Allie's waist, she stiffened like the Washington Monument, thrust her hip into his thigh, and looked away . . . affecting the dreaded Triple Cut-Off.
When questioned about her acting technique, the only thing she could mutter was, "But it's Matt." And so it always seems. Several actors in the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy shout "Nyahh" for no other reason than Matt. Alyssa Holston delivers her lines like she's trying to beat Animal Kingdom to the Kentucky Derby finish line because of Matt. BKTA actors exhibit Matt-Mouth because of . . . well, I imagine that, by now, the reader can infer the answer.
To test this theory, Yoda did an improv acting exercise to ascertain whether anyone could act in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. The results? With the exception of Ciara- acting under her stage name, Clara Jacobo, and, to be fair, delivering lines from Market Street Blues- every other actor approached the stage with fear and trepidation. Perhaps Taylor Jester summed it up best, when she said, "But it's Matt."
"Good thing, it is, that a renaissance man, Mister Rogers is: an actor, a writer, a director," Yoda said of the young Jedi. "A true asset, he is, and will be, in the dramatic arts, as learn, he continues to do." But, as Yoda says, there's one role even the uber-talented Mister Rogers can't pull off, a role owned by his equally talented best buddy and fellow BKTA renaissance person, Joanie Shinn. Try as he might, Matt will never look as beautiful as Jack, in a black dress and heels.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Starburst and Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Jedi Knights had a fever, and the only prescription was more Starburst and chocolate-chip cookies!
The Market Street Blues rehearsal went very well. It was the best rehearsal we've had thus far. It was fun to stand in the house and watch Ciara Jacobi, watching Allie Spaccarelli perfom her confrontation scene with Anthony Thompson. It must have inspired her, because when she and Matt Rogers got up to perform their confrontation scene, they did the best job they've ever done. Perhaps Matt should have been directing the show all along!
But not everything was perfect.
Alyssa Holston came to rehearsal infected with a severe case of both Trotting-Tongue and Matt-Mouth. And it must have been communicable! It wasn't long before Joanie Shinn was experiencing the symptoms of Matt-Mouth and Syvester-McMonkey-McBean-Syndrome. Then Brittany Yeo, doing a wonderful job understudying Alyson Tober's role, came down with Matt-Mouth and Trotting-Tongue. The only actor in the Tinsel overlay scene with enough theatrical antibodies to resist these debilitating diseases was Ciara . . . probably because she was performing under her stage name, Clara Jacobo.
The Market Street Blues rehearsal went very well. It was the best rehearsal we've had thus far. It was fun to stand in the house and watch Ciara Jacobi, watching Allie Spaccarelli perfom her confrontation scene with Anthony Thompson. It must have inspired her, because when she and Matt Rogers got up to perform their confrontation scene, they did the best job they've ever done. Perhaps Matt should have been directing the show all along!
But not everything was perfect.
Alyssa Holston came to rehearsal infected with a severe case of both Trotting-Tongue and Matt-Mouth. And it must have been communicable! It wasn't long before Joanie Shinn was experiencing the symptoms of Matt-Mouth and Syvester-McMonkey-McBean-Syndrome. Then Brittany Yeo, doing a wonderful job understudying Alyson Tober's role, came down with Matt-Mouth and Trotting-Tongue. The only actor in the Tinsel overlay scene with enough theatrical antibodies to resist these debilitating diseases was Ciara . . . probably because she was performing under her stage name, Clara Jacobo.
Friday, April 22, 2011
How Theater Leads to a Healthy Human Psyche
From the beginning of civilization, theatre has helped people discover themselves and understand their relationship to the world and other people. It has always been a life affirming force. Throughout the ages, drama has opened portrayals to real-life situations that no lecture or book could, and has been more closely allied, than any other art, to the exploration of the deepest thoughts concerning human nature and destiny.
Public education trivializes the arts, including theatre. This is unfortunate, because a healthy human psyche needs to explore and comprehend its surrounding environment, and then express the discovery. When we deny our need to explore our world and express our discoveries in healthy ways, our personal growth is stunted.
Through the theater, people have the opportunity to vicariously experience various life situations. The theatre allows the audience to look through the bakery window, to smell the sweet aroma of the baked goods, without having to purchase anything they may not want.
A great practitioner of the dramatic arts- whether through acting, writing, or directing- can do far more to develop a healthy, mature human psyche than any shelf of self-help books.
Public education trivializes the arts, including theatre. This is unfortunate, because a healthy human psyche needs to explore and comprehend its surrounding environment, and then express the discovery. When we deny our need to explore our world and express our discoveries in healthy ways, our personal growth is stunted.
Through the theater, people have the opportunity to vicariously experience various life situations. The theatre allows the audience to look through the bakery window, to smell the sweet aroma of the baked goods, without having to purchase anything they may not want.
A great practitioner of the dramatic arts- whether through acting, writing, or directing- can do far more to develop a healthy, mature human psyche than any shelf of self-help books.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tale of Two Spaccarellis
There is little doubt that Allie Spaccarelli has some of the best acting chops in the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy. Her ability to express emotion on cue is second to none. Which is why Yoda was still laughing himself silly several hours after Tuesday morning's Enrichment when he thought of Allie's unparalleled performance of Green Lantern.
For the uninitiated- and we can be fairly certain that Allie is one- Green Lantern is a superhero created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 in 1940. The green lantern was actually a reference to a magical ring, considered one of the most powerful, and most dangerous weapons in the universe.
"Surprised, I was, when Jedi Spaccarelli, on stage, did hunch, carrying a lantern." Yoda said through gales of laughter. "Thought, a superhero, she was supposed to be. Diogenes, expect, I did not!"
But perhaps Allie's performance was no accident. Perhaps, her provocative behaviour was an educational stunt, like Diogenes', and carrying a lamp onto the stage was a metaphor, suggesting that she was looking for an honest actor.
But we doubt it. Because later, when assigned the character Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Allie got on her knees and claimed to have no knowledge of him either!
For the uninitiated- and we can be fairly certain that Allie is one- Green Lantern is a superhero created by Bill Finger and Martin Nodell in All-American Comics #16 in 1940. The green lantern was actually a reference to a magical ring, considered one of the most powerful, and most dangerous weapons in the universe.
"Surprised, I was, when Jedi Spaccarelli, on stage, did hunch, carrying a lantern." Yoda said through gales of laughter. "Thought, a superhero, she was supposed to be. Diogenes, expect, I did not!"
But perhaps Allie's performance was no accident. Perhaps, her provocative behaviour was an educational stunt, like Diogenes', and carrying a lamp onto the stage was a metaphor, suggesting that she was looking for an honest actor.
But we doubt it. Because later, when assigned the character Dopey from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Allie got on her knees and claimed to have no knowledge of him either!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Get Real
Why do so many people like movies like A Walk to Remember so much? Because it gives them the opportunity to experience emotions and life situations vicariously; emotions that they feel boiling deep inside themselves, but fear to express, because they don't want to be mocked by their friends or family.
Great actors are shepherds of emotion. They understand that real emotion comes from the inside out, not the outside in. Therefore, they begin by removing their everyday masks and costumes and explore their inner selves. From the platform of reality, they provide emotions and life situations convincing enough to move not just themselves, but their audience.
When you get right down to it, acting is the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody, or when we want to hide something from somebody, or when we pretend that we're somebody we're not, we're acting. Most people do it all day, every day, without ever stepping on a stage. Acting is easy. Being real in front of an audience, is not.
"Proud, I am, of the Jedis and Padawan Learners, for making an effort," Yoda told Mrs. Erskine. "Painful, for some, it was. Behind a mask, most of them live. If learn, they do, their true selves to expose, better actors and, more importantly, better people, will they be."
Great actors are shepherds of emotion. They understand that real emotion comes from the inside out, not the outside in. Therefore, they begin by removing their everyday masks and costumes and explore their inner selves. From the platform of reality, they provide emotions and life situations convincing enough to move not just themselves, but their audience.
When you get right down to it, acting is the least mysterious of all crafts. Whenever we want something from somebody, or when we want to hide something from somebody, or when we pretend that we're somebody we're not, we're acting. Most people do it all day, every day, without ever stepping on a stage. Acting is easy. Being real in front of an audience, is not.
"Proud, I am, of the Jedis and Padawan Learners, for making an effort," Yoda told Mrs. Erskine. "Painful, for some, it was. Behind a mask, most of them live. If learn, they do, their true selves to expose, better actors and, more importantly, better people, will they be."
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Can Means Will
Memorizing lines is easy. Acting is hard. Improv is harder. Doing an entire half-hour of improv in a chaotic environment, created by Yoda, is nearly impossible. And that's why the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy is learning to do it!
In Act 2, scene 7 of As You Like It, Shakespeare rightly observes, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." What Shakespeare fails to mention in Jaques' speech, is that real life is not scripted. It's mostly improvised.
When a Delaware student takes the DCAS, the only persons who know whether she passes or fails is the student, her parents, her teachers, and her administrators. When Jedis or Padawan Learners are acting, and they pass or fail their test, hundreds of people sitting in the audience know it. Instantly! And audiences don't grade on a curve.
Smart people learn from their mistakes, intelligent people learn from others' mistakes. Super-intelligent people want to learn and learn and learn. They want to know everything they can about a subject they really care about. Yoda calls that hunger for knowledge, "passion".
"The Jedi, to whom much is given, is expected, much, to do," Yoda said about his Jedis, when contemplating their frustration. "Better, the Jedis are, than they think. If, continue to learn, they do, great actors, and better people on life's stage, they will be!"
In Act 2, scene 7 of As You Like It, Shakespeare rightly observes, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts." What Shakespeare fails to mention in Jaques' speech, is that real life is not scripted. It's mostly improvised.
When a Delaware student takes the DCAS, the only persons who know whether she passes or fails is the student, her parents, her teachers, and her administrators. When Jedis or Padawan Learners are acting, and they pass or fail their test, hundreds of people sitting in the audience know it. Instantly! And audiences don't grade on a curve.
Smart people learn from their mistakes, intelligent people learn from others' mistakes. Super-intelligent people want to learn and learn and learn. They want to know everything they can about a subject they really care about. Yoda calls that hunger for knowledge, "passion".
"The Jedi, to whom much is given, is expected, much, to do," Yoda said about his Jedis, when contemplating their frustration. "Better, the Jedis are, than they think. If, continue to learn, they do, great actors, and better people on life's stage, they will be!"
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Why Be So Hard on Yourself?
Nobody's perfect! As hard as it is for some Jedis and Padawan Learners to believe, the only way to learn anything, including in the theater, is to make mistakes.
Missing the mark is not a sign of weakness, it's an opportunity to learn . . . an opportunity to be better. A Jedi's willingness to acknowledge gaps in knowledge is the best way to become the smartest person- the best actor, writer, or director- in the room. It is only the over-ambitious, unteachable Jedi that is in danger of giving into the Dark Side, risking a fall into outer Darth-ness!
Why mention it? Because in theater there is no DCAS. There's only an actor, an audience, and the actor's ability to create a reality the audience can believe in. "Do, or do not, there is no try! And if fail, you do, better, you'll do, the next time."
Missing the mark is not a sign of weakness, it's an opportunity to learn . . . an opportunity to be better. A Jedi's willingness to acknowledge gaps in knowledge is the best way to become the smartest person- the best actor, writer, or director- in the room. It is only the over-ambitious, unteachable Jedi that is in danger of giving into the Dark Side, risking a fall into outer Darth-ness!
Why mention it? Because in theater there is no DCAS. There's only an actor, an audience, and the actor's ability to create a reality the audience can believe in. "Do, or do not, there is no try! And if fail, you do, better, you'll do, the next time."
Monday, April 4, 2011
Send in the Clown
Oh, Jedi Spaccarelli! Who knew, in those salad days of sixth grade, that she would be able to cry on cue? "Feel many leads, I do, in Jedi Spaccarelli's future," Yoda said, enjoying the glitter of a real tear on her cheek. "Learn well, the young one has. Proud, of her growth, she should be." Here's how she got there . . .
While many of her peers were busy doing other things, Yoda noted Allie's commitment to acting in the background of Tinsel without a defined role. He decided she deserved more. Why not a clown? A melodramatic mime? Doesn't every farce need one? But did she have issues, he asked? Well . . . not exactly . . . but . . . maybe a little. And with that fearful commitment, a clown was born.
After contacting a professional clown to instruct Jedi Spaccarelli in make-up and movement, Yoda announced the exciting news to the Broadway Knights. "There's really such a thing as a clown college?" Jedi Rogers asked, excited. "Forget about college. I want to go there!"
"Have a feeling, I do, that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, my neck, is going to break!" Yoda exclaimed. And so it goes.
While many of her peers were busy doing other things, Yoda noted Allie's commitment to acting in the background of Tinsel without a defined role. He decided she deserved more. Why not a clown? A melodramatic mime? Doesn't every farce need one? But did she have issues, he asked? Well . . . not exactly . . . but . . . maybe a little. And with that fearful commitment, a clown was born.
After contacting a professional clown to instruct Jedi Spaccarelli in make-up and movement, Yoda announced the exciting news to the Broadway Knights. "There's really such a thing as a clown college?" Jedi Rogers asked, excited. "Forget about college. I want to go there!"
"Have a feeling, I do, that Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, my neck, is going to break!" Yoda exclaimed. And so it goes.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Now You Know
"How do you do this . . . everyday? How do you put up with [us]?" Jedi Shinn asked Yoda, after she and Jedi Rogers worked with the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy in a peer-teach exercise. "Proud, the young ones should be," Yoda later said of Matt and Joanie. "Good work, they did. Know, now, they do, why certain things, I do."
And. Who knew that Kirby Wilson had it in him to sing "Dream On" like Neil Patrick Harris? Could it be that the BKTA may have just discovered its own diminutive Doogie Howser? Given the anger he and Rebecca Wilson made during their performance, one can only imagine what must go on in their house when these siblings have a difference of opinion.
"Have it in themselves, the young ones do, to accomplish much," Yoda opined, following Saturday school. "Too hard, they are, on themselves . . . especially Jedis Shinn and Rogers. Learn, they will not, if right, they have to be, always."
And. Who knew that Kirby Wilson had it in him to sing "Dream On" like Neil Patrick Harris? Could it be that the BKTA may have just discovered its own diminutive Doogie Howser? Given the anger he and Rebecca Wilson made during their performance, one can only imagine what must go on in their house when these siblings have a difference of opinion.
"Have it in themselves, the young ones do, to accomplish much," Yoda opined, following Saturday school. "Too hard, they are, on themselves . . . especially Jedis Shinn and Rogers. Learn, they will not, if right, they have to be, always."
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Walls Have Ears
School should be fun as well as educational, don't you think? So. On the heels of such a successful GMS-TV broadcast, this morning- Alyson and Ciara really sold that April Fools script . . . Yoda had a visit from a certain soccer coach who informed him the he is NOT skeered!- let's talk Saturday school.
Rumor has it that some of the BKTA Jedis were talking about having a Cabaret. What a great idea! "A special script, I wrote, to teach the Padawans and Jedis, a musical, how to put together," Yoda told the informant, who shall henceforth be known as Mrs. Stoolie E. "Time, it is, for the young ones to learn, their own show, how to produce and cast."
So. What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret. Put down your homework, your books and the broom. Time for a holiday. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret. Come taste the stage. Come hear the band. Come blow your horn, start celebrating, right this way your show's awaiting. No use permitting some prophet of doom to wipe every smile away. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret.
Rumor has it that some of the BKTA Jedis were talking about having a Cabaret. What a great idea! "A special script, I wrote, to teach the Padawans and Jedis, a musical, how to put together," Yoda told the informant, who shall henceforth be known as Mrs. Stoolie E. "Time, it is, for the young ones to learn, their own show, how to produce and cast."
So. What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret. Put down your homework, your books and the broom. Time for a holiday. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret. Come taste the stage. Come hear the band. Come blow your horn, start celebrating, right this way your show's awaiting. No use permitting some prophet of doom to wipe every smile away. Life is a Cabaret, young ones, come to the Cabaret.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Why Your Theatrical Education Matters
The theater should never be seen as an extra part of our lives. It is through the performing arts that we tell the story of our past and express our hopes for the future. Dramatic performances challenge our assumptions about life; they expand our understanding, and push us to view our world in new and imaginative ways.
It is through the actor-audience exchange- the process of give and take, of creating a new and vicarious reality- that we educate, and inspire, each other. We experience the richness of our common existence, one on one, up close and personal.
People who don't speak the same language, who have few shared experiences, can still be drawn together when their minds are stirred by a vision on a stage. That is the power of the theater- to remind us what we each have to offer, what we have in common- to help us understand our history and imagine our future, to give us hope in the moments of struggle, and to bring us together when nothing else will.
It is through the actor-audience exchange- the process of give and take, of creating a new and vicarious reality- that we educate, and inspire, each other. We experience the richness of our common existence, one on one, up close and personal.
People who don't speak the same language, who have few shared experiences, can still be drawn together when their minds are stirred by a vision on a stage. That is the power of the theater- to remind us what we each have to offer, what we have in common- to help us understand our history and imagine our future, to give us hope in the moments of struggle, and to bring us together when nothing else will.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
What Will Your Scene Be? An Open Letter to the SERIOUS Broadway Knights, from Yoda
"Promise, I did, if a white board, I had, a lesson, in Latin, on Saturday. And deliver, I did not. Do this, now, I do, because, about the serious Broadway Knight Theatre Academy students, a great deal, I do care." Put another way . . .
Now let me dispel a few rumors so they don't fester into facts. Yes, I have taught drama in Indian River School District on and off for quite some time. And no, at the beginning, I was not the theatrical giant you see before you at Georgetown Middle School. In the beginning, I was the dramatic equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. I would go to the beach and people would kick Shakepearean plays in my face.
As an educator, as far as I'm concerned, teaching you is a battle, a war. And if I fail, the casualties could be your hearts and souls . . . your minds. Robert Herrick wrote, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying." The Latin term for that sentiment, my young Jedis and Padawan Learners, is Carpe Diem . . . put another way: seize the day.
Consider the great actors when they were in school. They weren't that different from you. Filled with hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world was their oyster. They believed they were destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes were full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? They seized the day. They made their lives extraordinary.
I appreciate the sacrifices, the difficult choices many of you make to come to Enrichment, to get up early for Saturday school when you don't feel like it, to memorize pages and pages of lines, to sit impatiently by while students of less ability are being instructed, to allow yourselves to be publicly critiqued. It takes courage. It proves that you understand the concept of Carpe Diem.
Those of us who are serious about the theater don't study drama because it's always fun. We invest ourselves because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, drama, are not idle entertainments, these are the things for which we stay alive. To paraphrase Walt Whitman: "O me, o life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, o me, o life? Answer: that you are here. That life exists, and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a scene. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a scene." What will your scene be?
PS: Only a SERIOUS academy student will have bothered to read this far. And to you I say, studying drama is worth it. Not for the applause which fades as soon as the house lights come up. But for the life experience you gain, for the expansion of your imagination, for the opportunity to become better human beings- people willing to offer their lives as a gift to those too afraid to live life, too scared to seize the day for themselves.
Now let me dispel a few rumors so they don't fester into facts. Yes, I have taught drama in Indian River School District on and off for quite some time. And no, at the beginning, I was not the theatrical giant you see before you at Georgetown Middle School. In the beginning, I was the dramatic equivalent of a ninety-eight pound weakling. I would go to the beach and people would kick Shakepearean plays in my face.
As an educator, as far as I'm concerned, teaching you is a battle, a war. And if I fail, the casualties could be your hearts and souls . . . your minds. Robert Herrick wrote, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying." The Latin term for that sentiment, my young Jedis and Padawan Learners, is Carpe Diem . . . put another way: seize the day.
Consider the great actors when they were in school. They weren't that different from you. Filled with hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world was their oyster. They believed they were destined for great things, just like many of you. Their eyes were full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? They seized the day. They made their lives extraordinary.
I appreciate the sacrifices, the difficult choices many of you make to come to Enrichment, to get up early for Saturday school when you don't feel like it, to memorize pages and pages of lines, to sit impatiently by while students of less ability are being instructed, to allow yourselves to be publicly critiqued. It takes courage. It proves that you understand the concept of Carpe Diem.
Those of us who are serious about the theater don't study drama because it's always fun. We invest ourselves because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are all noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, drama, are not idle entertainments, these are the things for which we stay alive. To paraphrase Walt Whitman: "O me, o life of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish. What good amid these, o me, o life? Answer: that you are here. That life exists, and identity. That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a scene. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a scene." What will your scene be?
PS: Only a SERIOUS academy student will have bothered to read this far. And to you I say, studying drama is worth it. Not for the applause which fades as soon as the house lights come up. But for the life experience you gain, for the expansion of your imagination, for the opportunity to become better human beings- people willing to offer their lives as a gift to those too afraid to live life, too scared to seize the day for themselves.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Expand Your Imagination
Jedis Rogers, Shinn, and Spaccarelli have suggested that the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy needs to get t-shirts. What a great idea! A royal blue shirt with a nice yellow line drawing of the logo developed for the BKTA Facebook page . . . but what should it say?
Do, or do not, there is no try? Acting is doing? Can't means won't? Broadway Knights . . . we are very ver-sa-tile? BKTA: we can sing, we can rap, we can dance, we can juggle . . . okay, okay, okay, so we can't juggle? Nyaah?
"An idea, I have, for an academy slogan," Yoda said, smiling, "apertis tuam diripiunt doctrina Glossarium." After a moment's reflection, he laughed and added in the clearest American English he could muster, "And on the back, we could write: 'If I have to explain it . . . you wouldn't understand."
Do, or do not, there is no try? Acting is doing? Can't means won't? Broadway Knights . . . we are very ver-sa-tile? BKTA: we can sing, we can rap, we can dance, we can juggle . . . okay, okay, okay, so we can't juggle? Nyaah?
"An idea, I have, for an academy slogan," Yoda said, smiling, "apertis tuam diripiunt doctrina Glossarium." After a moment's reflection, he laughed and added in the clearest American English he could muster, "And on the back, we could write: 'If I have to explain it . . . you wouldn't understand."
Monday, March 21, 2011
Think OUTSIDE the Box!
Proscenium, end, thrust, arena . . . the type of stage you're acting on matters! "Harder, it is, than you think, to act," Yoda told the Broadway Knights, "when, surrounded, on all sides, by an audience, you are."
With the BKTA-sponsored dance looming, and Yoda wanting the theatre academy to do a performance, it was time to act on a different kind of stage . . . a dance floor. Oddly, the geometrically challenged Broadway Knights- who typically couldn't form a pattern, even if aliens landed, and flattened acres of crops- immediately formed a circle, thus cutting off their audience from the action. After two hours, a lot of sweat, and some serious Jedi intervention, the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Padawan Learners finally got it! And the Obi-Wan goes to:
A special thanks goes to the GMS girls' soccer coach, Mr. Kevin Cash, for allowing his athletes to participate in the second half of the rehearsal. Now, if Yoda can persuade Candace Banister to wear matching shoes- "Think, I do, Miss Banister, in the dark, dressed, Saturday!"- and the Broadway Knights performance might be a hit.
With the BKTA-sponsored dance looming, and Yoda wanting the theatre academy to do a performance, it was time to act on a different kind of stage . . . a dance floor. Oddly, the geometrically challenged Broadway Knights- who typically couldn't form a pattern, even if aliens landed, and flattened acres of crops- immediately formed a circle, thus cutting off their audience from the action. After two hours, a lot of sweat, and some serious Jedi intervention, the not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Padawan Learners finally got it! And the Obi-Wan goes to:
- Allie Spaccarelli- Best Actress in a Glee-esque Musical
- KeVona Morgan- Best Contact with the ENTIRE Audience
- Tiffany Raeuber- Best Mime of a Cell Phone Call
- Candace Banister- Best Dancer
- Joanie Shinn- Best Director of a Moving Circle
A special thanks goes to the GMS girls' soccer coach, Mr. Kevin Cash, for allowing his athletes to participate in the second half of the rehearsal. Now, if Yoda can persuade Candace Banister to wear matching shoes- "Think, I do, Miss Banister, in the dark, dressed, Saturday!"- and the Broadway Knights performance might be a hit.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
It Must Be the Haircut
What is it about Matt Rogers that causes the female actors in the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy to turn and run for the wings? He's got good looks, a Marlon Brando stage presence, and tan cargo shorts. What more could a girl want?
When Yoda asked Rebecca Wilson to understudy the role of Cheyenne in Market Street Blues, she was very excited . . . until she realized that she would have to perform the second scene of Act I . . . the dreaded first-kiss scene. Like many of her peers, Jedi Wilson tried to use her hair as a curtain: "If I can't see Matt, maybe he really isn't there!" But Jedi Rogers is a resourceful actor. He brushed her hair from her face, and planted a kiss on Rebecca's cheek.
"You're not going to put this on GMSTV, are you?" she asked Yoda, blushing. "On YouTube," he answered, smiling. Rebecca's sigh of relief at being spared the eyes of her five hundred school-mates is wonderfully ironic.
But that wasn't the sole irony. "The Jedis should know, when speak on the stage, they do, that hear them, I can," Yoda said. "Yes, Jedi Shinn, your favorite teacher, to her classroom, tomorrow, will return. For the love, thank you, I do!"
When Yoda asked Rebecca Wilson to understudy the role of Cheyenne in Market Street Blues, she was very excited . . . until she realized that she would have to perform the second scene of Act I . . . the dreaded first-kiss scene. Like many of her peers, Jedi Wilson tried to use her hair as a curtain: "If I can't see Matt, maybe he really isn't there!" But Jedi Rogers is a resourceful actor. He brushed her hair from her face, and planted a kiss on Rebecca's cheek.
"You're not going to put this on GMSTV, are you?" she asked Yoda, blushing. "On YouTube," he answered, smiling. Rebecca's sigh of relief at being spared the eyes of her five hundred school-mates is wonderfully ironic.
But that wasn't the sole irony. "The Jedis should know, when speak on the stage, they do, that hear them, I can," Yoda said. "Yes, Jedi Shinn, your favorite teacher, to her classroom, tomorrow, will return. For the love, thank you, I do!"
Friday, March 11, 2011
Nyaah!
Okay. So Matt Rogers doesn't have the measles. We know this because Alyson Tober made it to school this morning, although Ciara Jacobi, the recipient of Matt's kiss did not! But this morning, during the announcements, we learned that Matt does have a disease. And apparently it is communicable.
There's little doubt that the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy students do a fine job presenting the Friday morning announcements on GMSTV. Cold-reading copy on live TV, sometimes hand-written, is not an easy thing to do. The fact that the students do the news so seamlessly is a credit to the things they are learning in the academy.
Things were going along wonderfully, this morning. Sure, when the Jedis started the skit for the BKTA dance, they knocked the American flag off the wall, but, all-in-all, the skit was going well . . . until Joanie Shinn came on screen, stuck out her tongue, and said, "Nyahh!"
"That line, in the script, was NOT!" said Yoda. "Jedi Shinn, Jedi Rogers' disease, must have caught."
On the bright side, Alyson Tober arrived at the GMSTV studio just in time to read Ciara Jacobi's lines. In doing so, Alyson proved, without question, that she is a very ver-SA-TILE star!
There's little doubt that the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy students do a fine job presenting the Friday morning announcements on GMSTV. Cold-reading copy on live TV, sometimes hand-written, is not an easy thing to do. The fact that the students do the news so seamlessly is a credit to the things they are learning in the academy.
Things were going along wonderfully, this morning. Sure, when the Jedis started the skit for the BKTA dance, they knocked the American flag off the wall, but, all-in-all, the skit was going well . . . until Joanie Shinn came on screen, stuck out her tongue, and said, "Nyahh!"
"That line, in the script, was NOT!" said Yoda. "Jedi Shinn, Jedi Rogers' disease, must have caught."
On the bright side, Alyson Tober arrived at the GMSTV studio just in time to read Ciara Jacobi's lines. In doing so, Alyson proved, without question, that she is a very ver-SA-TILE star!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
At Last, a Real Kiss!
Finally . . . at long last . . . a real kiss! Well, kinda. Now, if only our star-crossed lovers, Matt and Ciara, would look into each others' eyes, they might actually convince the audience that they at least like each other.
What is it about Matt Rogers that makes the female members of the cast of Market Street Blues avoid him like he's got the measles? Is it his Peter Brady haircut? Is it his plaid Bermuda shorts? Is it his inability to deliver his lines without sticking out his tongue, and going, "Nyaaah"? Is it the fact that he's so afraid of a stage relationship that when the script calls for him to kiss his stage girlfriend on the cheek, he kisses the air about three inches from her ear?
Apparently Alyson Tober- that slender home-wrecker- doesn't fear him, though. When push came to tango, Alyson proved that she knows how to take the lead! If, however, she happens to be absent from school tomorrow, we'll know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that there might just be something to that whole measle thing.
What is it about Matt Rogers that makes the female members of the cast of Market Street Blues avoid him like he's got the measles? Is it his Peter Brady haircut? Is it his plaid Bermuda shorts? Is it his inability to deliver his lines without sticking out his tongue, and going, "Nyaaah"? Is it the fact that he's so afraid of a stage relationship that when the script calls for him to kiss his stage girlfriend on the cheek, he kisses the air about three inches from her ear?
Apparently Alyson Tober- that slender home-wrecker- doesn't fear him, though. When push came to tango, Alyson proved that she knows how to take the lead! If, however, she happens to be absent from school tomorrow, we'll know, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that there might just be something to that whole measle thing.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Crying Over You
So you want to be a star in a Broadway Knights production? Try remembering how important it is to be engaged in every scene, whether you're in the spotlight, or just sitting in the set. Some actors try to get attention by upstaging other actors . . . and then there's Allie Spaccarelli.
Sure, Allie could just be a wallflower during Jack's emotional scene in Tinsel, sitting in a folding chair upstage, staring at the audience while Jack gets all the attention. But Allie chose to break Yoda's heart, by bringing such emotion to her role, that it appeared she would burst into tears at any moment.
"Jedi Spaccarelli, a good mentor, is," Yoda said. "Understand, she does, that modeling, louder speaks, than words."
Sure, Allie could just be a wallflower during Jack's emotional scene in Tinsel, sitting in a folding chair upstage, staring at the audience while Jack gets all the attention. But Allie chose to break Yoda's heart, by bringing such emotion to her role, that it appeared she would burst into tears at any moment.
"Jedi Spaccarelli, a good mentor, is," Yoda said. "Understand, she does, that modeling, louder speaks, than words."
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Emotional Reverberations
The first session of Saturday school ended with a bang! After two and a half hours of physicality exercises, improvisation, and theater games . . . the Broadway Knights achieved an emotional breakthrough.
"Up in the house, standing I was, when, happened, suddenly, it did," Yoda told Mrs. Erskine after the students left for the day. "Like an emotional lightning bolt, it was, flashing through the theater!"
"Up in the house, standing I was, when, happened, suddenly, it did," Yoda told Mrs. Erskine after the students left for the day. "Like an emotional lightning bolt, it was, flashing through the theater!"
What "it" was, was an improvised scene performed to the Glee version of "Dream On." What "it" was, was an emotional sunami that rolled from the stage with such intensity that it caused the students watching the scene to recoil, simultaneously. And the Obi-Wans for the first session of Saturday school go to:
- Best Actor: Matt Rogers- for having the courage to establish a character and stick to it.
- Best Actress: KeVona Morgan- for getting her facial expression just right, pulling her hood over her head thus cutting off the audience and her fellow actors, and throwing the paper bad at Matt.
- Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Hudson- the catalyst that raised KeVona's ire.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Who Knew?
Who knew that the Broadway Knights Theatre Academy blog's number one follower was a teacher? Who knew that that teacher will be performing a role in Market Street Blues?
Maybe it was waiting for Mrs. Erskine to kiss the goat. Maybe it was the crisp $100 bill from which he was about to be separated. Maybe it was all of the hip-hop music being played, ad nauseum, at the school dance. But somewhere in the frame of that fateful Friday, Yoda found himself face-to-face with Mrs. Tracy Clark, asking, in regard to the BKTA blog, "To be, or not to be; that is the question."
While Mrs. Clark had long departed the dance by the time the DJ played her favorite song, just listening to the classic lyrics of "The Chicken Dance" and considering her Shakespearean quote gave Yoda an idea: "In a cameo, in Market Street Blues, Mrs. Clark, as Rosalind!" Who knew?
Maybe it was waiting for Mrs. Erskine to kiss the goat. Maybe it was the crisp $100 bill from which he was about to be separated. Maybe it was all of the hip-hop music being played, ad nauseum, at the school dance. But somewhere in the frame of that fateful Friday, Yoda found himself face-to-face with Mrs. Tracy Clark, asking, in regard to the BKTA blog, "To be, or not to be; that is the question."
While Mrs. Clark had long departed the dance by the time the DJ played her favorite song, just listening to the classic lyrics of "The Chicken Dance" and considering her Shakespearean quote gave Yoda an idea: "In a cameo, in Market Street Blues, Mrs. Clark, as Rosalind!" Who knew?
Monday, January 3, 2011
Time to Step Up Your Game
"Dialect. Projection. Cold reading. Improv. A lot, for the first day back, that was. And proud, I am, for the effort, the Jedis made! Much ground, today, they covered. Put it, another way, I will . . ."
Theatrical growth is all about the click . . . about the moment when something goes very right. Mr. Horton manages to speak with such clarity that the audience knows "he can do this." Miss Herlihy becomes the leader in an improv scene. It's also about doing new things . . . like dialects. A wise Jedi knows learning doesn't happen when one continues doing what one knows, but when one does something one doesn't. Because- everyone take a deep breath, and repeat after me- acting is doing!
"Do what they know, and good actors, they will be, but grow, they will not. Do new things, and grow, they will. Better actors, they will be. The first lesson, recall, they must . . . do, or do not, there is no try."
Theatrical growth is all about the click . . . about the moment when something goes very right. Mr. Horton manages to speak with such clarity that the audience knows "he can do this." Miss Herlihy becomes the leader in an improv scene. It's also about doing new things . . . like dialects. A wise Jedi knows learning doesn't happen when one continues doing what one knows, but when one does something one doesn't. Because- everyone take a deep breath, and repeat after me- acting is doing!
"Do what they know, and good actors, they will be, but grow, they will not. Do new things, and grow, they will. Better actors, they will be. The first lesson, recall, they must . . . do, or do not, there is no try."
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