So I realized that I never really wrote at all about who Andrei is!
A 1983 grad of UArts, Andrei lives and works in the Jersey Shore region. He is interested in all sorts of photography. His studio is filled with images he made featuring models in gorgeous gowns or lingerie in sort of femme-fatale/film noir style images. He does a lot of amazing digital collage work with his images, he showed me his process earlier in the process and it was super interesting. I love seeing how different people use Photoshop... you can truly do everything so many different ways and each artist certainly has the capacity to use it in totally different ways.
Anyhow, a note on Andrei's adventures in his career... he told me that when he got out of school, he went into assisting for photographers in New York. He worked hard and made money but realized that he wasn't doing what he wanted to do. He spent some time travelling and photographing musicians and concerts. He smiled reeeeally big when he was telling me about these times. I could tell that he definitely valued that choice of his.
I admire his realization so soon that he was following a path he didn't want to follow. He kind of "blazed his own trail" according to his goals and interests. I think it's really important, but can also be hard especially thinking about it in the context of today. Coming out of school with a degree in fine arts can be intimidating, and I know that my immediate goals are for security. But I have aspirations and interests I intend to pursue as well. so we shall see!
Andrei is one of the nicest fellows I've had the pleasure of being in contact with, and I'm so pleased to have been able to share a few thoughts about him!
-Elyse
The Summer Fellows Program provides opportunities for high-achieving UArts students to gain meaningful experience in a creative field during summer break. Fellows are matched with a UArts alumni host, who invites them into his or her workplace to observe, engage, and participate in unique projects and programs. Here are their stories.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Laughing in the Phace of...
Veronica and her group CHER have a new show coming up August
2nd titled Laughing in the
Face of… But it should really be called How
to Promote Yourself and Succeed, because this exhibition exists as a result
of CHER’s ability to take opportunities as they come.
The exhibition is being held at PHILAMOCA, and was obtained
through Veronica’s impressive bargaining skills. In exchange for an exhibition
space we agreed to give the walls of PHILAMOCA a much needed paint job. Veronica,
Jessie, Lydia and I spent an entire day sanding off years of hipster dirt, and
beer saturated stains, and then painted the walls a professional looking art
gallery white. Our team of four cleaned out the depths of floor moldings and
reached the near ceiling in order to rid the room of the cigarette ring which
once circled its horizon. Yeah reach rollers!
Another great trick to self-promotion is beer. Alcohol is a
great way to get people to come to an art event so getting sponsored by a beer
company is a great way to bring in guests for free. Laughing in the Face of… is sponsored by Narragarsett.
And of course people need to know about the beer (and art),
and one of the cheapest ways to do that is through flyers. Using the Fedex
copier and printing machines we soon had an assembly of paper notes that could
fill up an entire Vegan-Cash-Only-Coffee-Shop. We canvassed the city, handing
out flyers, hanging them up on bulletins and telephone poles, and keeping
hydrated in the 100 degree weather.
Whew, can’t wait until August 2nd, we also agreed
to paint the walls again after the even so August 3rd should be
really fun too.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Kennedy Dickerson: In the Thick of It
Week Three was a busy one. Monday was relatively normal, minus the fact that I was an hour late to work due to the bus driver getting lost somewhere in Jersey for a solid 45 minutes. When arriving at work, I was given the task of archiving and organizing How I Met Your Mother discs from 2006 to present.
After dropping something off at Laumont (more details later in post) and spending some time in the heat I decided to splurge and buy an ice cream from the guy parked on the corner.
Tuesday, the busyness really began. At 11:00 am the three of us walked over to Laumont Photographics, a fine art business that deals with editing, printing, scanning and framing of artists works and archival masterpiece's. We started off by meeting Monica who works with the retouching and editing of photographs for the work to be ready for promotional purposes such as billboards or websites.
Second on our stop was the printmaking department. The woman to the right is Valerie. She is one of the many people that work within Laumont. She showed us many of the samples of the different varieties of paper and mediums that it is possible to print upon when working with Laumont. Everything from silk and satins to wood, or even metals. It was really awesome to get to talk to Valerie one and one because of how passionate she was.
Continuing on with the tour, Michael and I were in awe of the large format Cruse scanner that Tom and John use for prints that are up to 40" x 60". One of the many artworks that they are working on, which could not photographed out of respect to the artist, was one of the biggest pieces that I have ever seen (and very impressive, too). He had artfully placed a large amount of canon fuses on a canvas and then burned them consecutively. The result was certainly a sight to see. The piece was so big that they had to scan the work of art in 6 different installments.
This is John working away at some negatives that have been given to him by an artist. He skims over each and every one to make sure it is color corrected and without major mishaps.
The next stop on our tour was printing. Almost all of the works that we viewed were large scale, and beautiful if I don't say so myself. Once again, I was not able to photograph a lot due to the amount of work in the room and, of course, out of respect for the artists.
Esteban is the expert in this field and showed us many different prints that had been made within the past couple of months. He explained his processes and what he would suggest to any customer that comes through the office.
This is one of the two printers that they use. The size of the printer alone was something to gawk at.
Framing and Mounting had to be one of my favorite stops of all. The people there were so kind, generous, helpful and full of useful information. The red headed woman pictured above gave us the tour around the department. She explained all of the different options that they have in regards to framing your work. She made up the end of our tour and it couldn't have been sweeter.
Because there was a photoshoot on Wednesday, I stayed at the YMCA on 63rd and Central Park West.
I got my room and decided that because I was not even a block away from Central Park and had never been before that I should hang out there until the sun went down.
While there I watched a multitude of kickball games and met this man, pictured below.
We had stricken up a conversation because of my attempting to catch a moment within the kickball game. He asked me if I was a professional, to which I responded that I would really like to become one. From there, we talked about New York City. I had asked him what his favorite thing to do in the city was and he tentively responded with "walk through Central Park." We talked until the sun had disappeared behind the skyline and parted ways.
The first room that I was given had broken air conditioning and was 90 degrees. It was not until 11 o'clock at night that the situation was solved and I was moved into the room pictured above, where I promptly passed out and slept for four hours.
I was awoken by my alarm at 4:30 am. I got up, threw on some relatively comfortable clothes and prepared myself for the hottest day of the week. I was to meet Heather Wines, the photographer, and Chris Kneller, the LA art director, at 72nd and 5th Ave at 6:00, which was on the other side from where the YMCA was located. If I didn't make it at exactly 6 am or earlier, the two of them would promptly leave me behind. I took off at 5:30 and made it just in time to meet Heather and Chris at our destination.
This is Heather Wines, she has been with CBS for four years now, originally coming from a photojournalistic background. Although we had met before, Heather and I got into really talking while searching Central Park for good plates. She impressed me seeing as she has had almost every job in the business, but suggests television because of its stability.
The point of the shoot was to acquire what they call "plates", i.e. a shot, photograph, etc. of various areas around New York that represent the up and coming television show. This plate above was a spot that Chris Kneller, Art Director, deemed suitable for the upcoming comedy, Partners. Within this photograph, David Krumholz, Michael Urie, Sophia Bush and Brandon Routh will be animated, creating a visual spectacle.
A lot of the time, Michael and I were used as test subjects and would stand within the frame to give Heather a little perspective. Needless to say, the two of us have come to the conclusion that it should be our career of choice.
Soon after, we headed up Central Park West and 100 Ave(s) to shoot some of the houses that resemble the set in How I Met Your Mother. The four of us packed ourselves into a van and were driven around by a Minute Man, notifying him whenever a location was deemed right for the shot. The next three hours in the van were a blast. The four of us talked about a plethora of things such as siblings and babies (Chris had just been blest with a baby girl), NYC vs LA, and stories that Heather and Chris had had from meeting the various stars of CBS shows.
When we finished, it was 11:00 am, but from my silly sense of time it felt like 5 pm. I stayed in the office for 2 hours and then dismissed myself to nap before going off to David Letterman!
I unfortunately was not allowed to take any photographs inside the Ed Sullivan theater, but my experience could not have been more awesome. On my way over to The Late Show a huge storm rolled through the city, one that no one seemed to expect because the majority of the people that I encountered were soaking wet. When I arrived, everyone was huddled under the sign, I was considered a VIP so I was let in with the first bunch. While waiting to be seated, a woman that was also known as a "page" gave us the rules on what to do while experiencing the filming. 1. You must laugh the loudest that you possibly can, David Letterman feeds off of laughter. He does not bring out the good jokes if the audience is not interested. 2. If it isn't funny, laugh now, think about it later. 3. No "Woooooooo"ing, the mics are very sensitive. (To which she let us all get out our last "wooooo" of the night). Fourthly, and the most important rule of all, have fun!
I was seated on the balcony, which is to the employees of the theatre the best seating in the house! Upon sitting down I was surprised at how small the stage and set up was. On television it looks so big and spacious, but in real life everything seems to be cramped and crowded. Everyone was seated and then we were introduced to Paul Schaffer and the CBS Orchestra as well as a comedian who opened the show with a couple jokes.
The special guest of the night was Woody Harrelson, most notable for his role in Zombieland, who was there to talk about his new play that was being opened "off Broadway" entitled Bullet for Adolf. The play is about his experiences with long time friend Frankie Hyman.
http://youtu.be/2vEEdnk6a94
Here is a short clip of Woody Harrelson's interview with David Letterman.
All in all, I had a wonderful time.
Thursday was full of FINALLY finishing the monster that was How I Met Your Mother. Now I just need to finish three other projects...
There was an ice cream truck on nearly every single block due to the heat conditions. Justina and I sat outside CBS while I ate my chocolate and vanilla swirl and very quickly after that the day was finished. I made it to the bus station by 5:10 and got in my place in line. Not but 10 minutes of waiting, a man comes up and stands behind me, to which we immediately start talking. I have talked to many people at bus stations and on train rides, but very rarely does the conversation go on until we arrive at our destination. Being a Philly local himself, as well as being a chef, we talked about our favorite dining and hang out spots. The talk continued on a variety of topics. I managed to get this photograph of him before getting off the bus.
Second on our stop was the printmaking department. The woman to the right is Valerie. She is one of the many people that work within Laumont. She showed us many of the samples of the different varieties of paper and mediums that it is possible to print upon when working with Laumont. Everything from silk and satins to wood, or even metals. It was really awesome to get to talk to Valerie one and one because of how passionate she was.
Next we were taken to scanning where we met Tom and John. This is Tom explaining to us the difference between the two drum scanners that they have acquired in the department. The scanner (pictured below), and the one he is currently describing was manufactured in 1988 and has not been in stock for quite some time. Needless to say, it is still running strong and certainly does the job.
Continuing on with the tour, Michael and I were in awe of the large format Cruse scanner that Tom and John use for prints that are up to 40" x 60". One of the many artworks that they are working on, which could not photographed out of respect to the artist, was one of the biggest pieces that I have ever seen (and very impressive, too). He had artfully placed a large amount of canon fuses on a canvas and then burned them consecutively. The result was certainly a sight to see. The piece was so big that they had to scan the work of art in 6 different installments.
This is John working away at some negatives that have been given to him by an artist. He skims over each and every one to make sure it is color corrected and without major mishaps.
The next stop on our tour was printing. Almost all of the works that we viewed were large scale, and beautiful if I don't say so myself. Once again, I was not able to photograph a lot due to the amount of work in the room and, of course, out of respect for the artists.
Esteban is the expert in this field and showed us many different prints that had been made within the past couple of months. He explained his processes and what he would suggest to any customer that comes through the office.
This is one of the two printers that they use. The size of the printer alone was something to gawk at.
Framing and Mounting had to be one of my favorite stops of all. The people there were so kind, generous, helpful and full of useful information. The red headed woman pictured above gave us the tour around the department. She explained all of the different options that they have in regards to framing your work. She made up the end of our tour and it couldn't have been sweeter.
Because there was a photoshoot on Wednesday, I stayed at the YMCA on 63rd and Central Park West.
I got my room and decided that because I was not even a block away from Central Park and had never been before that I should hang out there until the sun went down.
While there I watched a multitude of kickball games and met this man, pictured below.
We had stricken up a conversation because of my attempting to catch a moment within the kickball game. He asked me if I was a professional, to which I responded that I would really like to become one. From there, we talked about New York City. I had asked him what his favorite thing to do in the city was and he tentively responded with "walk through Central Park." We talked until the sun had disappeared behind the skyline and parted ways.
The first room that I was given had broken air conditioning and was 90 degrees. It was not until 11 o'clock at night that the situation was solved and I was moved into the room pictured above, where I promptly passed out and slept for four hours.
I was awoken by my alarm at 4:30 am. I got up, threw on some relatively comfortable clothes and prepared myself for the hottest day of the week. I was to meet Heather Wines, the photographer, and Chris Kneller, the LA art director, at 72nd and 5th Ave at 6:00, which was on the other side from where the YMCA was located. If I didn't make it at exactly 6 am or earlier, the two of them would promptly leave me behind. I took off at 5:30 and made it just in time to meet Heather and Chris at our destination.
This is Heather Wines, she has been with CBS for four years now, originally coming from a photojournalistic background. Although we had met before, Heather and I got into really talking while searching Central Park for good plates. She impressed me seeing as she has had almost every job in the business, but suggests television because of its stability.
The point of the shoot was to acquire what they call "plates", i.e. a shot, photograph, etc. of various areas around New York that represent the up and coming television show. This plate above was a spot that Chris Kneller, Art Director, deemed suitable for the upcoming comedy, Partners. Within this photograph, David Krumholz, Michael Urie, Sophia Bush and Brandon Routh will be animated, creating a visual spectacle.
A lot of the time, Michael and I were used as test subjects and would stand within the frame to give Heather a little perspective. Needless to say, the two of us have come to the conclusion that it should be our career of choice.
Soon after, we headed up Central Park West and 100 Ave(s) to shoot some of the houses that resemble the set in How I Met Your Mother. The four of us packed ourselves into a van and were driven around by a Minute Man, notifying him whenever a location was deemed right for the shot. The next three hours in the van were a blast. The four of us talked about a plethora of things such as siblings and babies (Chris had just been blest with a baby girl), NYC vs LA, and stories that Heather and Chris had had from meeting the various stars of CBS shows.
When we finished, it was 11:00 am, but from my silly sense of time it felt like 5 pm. I stayed in the office for 2 hours and then dismissed myself to nap before going off to David Letterman!
I unfortunately was not allowed to take any photographs inside the Ed Sullivan theater, but my experience could not have been more awesome. On my way over to The Late Show a huge storm rolled through the city, one that no one seemed to expect because the majority of the people that I encountered were soaking wet. When I arrived, everyone was huddled under the sign, I was considered a VIP so I was let in with the first bunch. While waiting to be seated, a woman that was also known as a "page" gave us the rules on what to do while experiencing the filming. 1. You must laugh the loudest that you possibly can, David Letterman feeds off of laughter. He does not bring out the good jokes if the audience is not interested. 2. If it isn't funny, laugh now, think about it later. 3. No "Woooooooo"ing, the mics are very sensitive. (To which she let us all get out our last "wooooo" of the night). Fourthly, and the most important rule of all, have fun!
I was seated on the balcony, which is to the employees of the theatre the best seating in the house! Upon sitting down I was surprised at how small the stage and set up was. On television it looks so big and spacious, but in real life everything seems to be cramped and crowded. Everyone was seated and then we were introduced to Paul Schaffer and the CBS Orchestra as well as a comedian who opened the show with a couple jokes.
The special guest of the night was Woody Harrelson, most notable for his role in Zombieland, who was there to talk about his new play that was being opened "off Broadway" entitled Bullet for Adolf. The play is about his experiences with long time friend Frankie Hyman.
http://youtu.be/2vEEdnk6a94
Here is a short clip of Woody Harrelson's interview with David Letterman.
All in all, I had a wonderful time.
Thursday was full of FINALLY finishing the monster that was How I Met Your Mother. Now I just need to finish three other projects...
Friday, July 27, 2012
Kennedy Dickerson: Archival Extraordinare
I apologize to everyone for the extreme delay on all of my posts. My weeks are hectic commuting back and forth between New York to Philadelphia and life has kind of gotten in the way, so without further adieu I give you the past three weeks of my life.
Week Two was very slow in photography respects. Monday started off very quietly. Justina was out for the day and there was not much work to be done around the office. Instead, I was given the task to watch the pilots of the upcoming television shows that will be airing within the next couple of months, in order to familiarize myself with the look and feel of each show. Needless to say, I was the happiest girl in the world. If there is anything you need to know about me it is that I absolutely LOVE movies/television. If photography was not my number one passion I would be involved in films, critiquing them, making them, watching them ALL THE TIME (which I already do for the most part), etc.
I started out watching Made in Jersey, which set a really good mood to my day. The premise is about a 20 something woman named Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery) trying to make her career at a law firm in New York City. The premise was very similar to that of Drop Dead Diva, minus the fact that Martina didn't die in a freak car accident and press the "return" button in heaven, haha. The dynamic that Martina shares with her very large and very Italian family is, as to be expected, hilarious. I have never seen Janet Montgomery in anything before, but really enjoyed her performance and the personality, most notably the sass, that she brings to Martina Garretti.
This is what a photoboxi looks like. The top is a monitor that has a touch screen so that you can easily select all of your preferences, such as background, skin, text, etc.
Week Two was very slow in photography respects. Monday started off very quietly. Justina was out for the day and there was not much work to be done around the office. Instead, I was given the task to watch the pilots of the upcoming television shows that will be airing within the next couple of months, in order to familiarize myself with the look and feel of each show. Needless to say, I was the happiest girl in the world. If there is anything you need to know about me it is that I absolutely LOVE movies/television. If photography was not my number one passion I would be involved in films, critiquing them, making them, watching them ALL THE TIME (which I already do for the most part), etc.
I started out watching Made in Jersey, which set a really good mood to my day. The premise is about a 20 something woman named Martina Garretti (Janet Montgomery) trying to make her career at a law firm in New York City. The premise was very similar to that of Drop Dead Diva, minus the fact that Martina didn't die in a freak car accident and press the "return" button in heaven, haha. The dynamic that Martina shares with her very large and very Italian family is, as to be expected, hilarious. I have never seen Janet Montgomery in anything before, but really enjoyed her performance and the personality, most notably the sass, that she brings to Martina Garretti.
I watched Elementary next, to which I was very pleased. The only information that I had known previous to watching the pilot was that the overall premise was a modern development on Sherlock Holmes. I was asked by the Art Director of the show from LA (more on him later) as to what my "hot or not" perception was on Jonny Lee Miller, to which I replied that Miller has a certain charm and charisma that makes me not want to turn away, suffusive to say that he really isn't that bad looking, either. I told him that Jonny Lee Miller suits Sherlock impeccably. Opposite Miller is Lucy Liu who adds a soft, yet edgy feel to the production. The pilot was fantastic and only made me want to keep watching.
Vegas, pictured below Elementary, is set in 1960 Las Vegas, Nevada. It is focused on Dennis Quaid, who plays the local Sheriff of the vicinity and his relationship with Michael Chiklis' character, a Chicago mobster. This show was not exactly my cup of tea, but Quaid and Chiklis' performances were not be unnoticed. I would like to watch more of the show to see if the plot pulls me in as the storyline progresses.
Partners was the last of the shows that I watched for the day, and I definitely saved the best for last. Not only does this show have a fantastic cast of people, but was also genuinely funny. When the pilot ended I found myself wanting to click next just as much as the others (doesn't help that I am also a television fiend).
On Tuesday the universe was trying to tell me not to leave Philadelphia. For starters I began the day off by waking up 20 minutes before my bus was scheduled to leave. I quickly got ready, but could not find half of the things that I needed in order leave. When I had decided that I might not go in, I call my mother who tells me that it would not be under the smartest of my decisions. I gather my things and head out the door to attempt to buy a ticket for 9:00 am, only to find that it has been sold out. Instead, I buy the 9:15 ticket that takes 30 minutes longer and stops in Newark, New Jersey. I get in line, everything going smoothly until it is my turn for the driver to collect my ticket who promptly stops me and informs me that there might not be anymore room. At this point I am just about to give up when he comes back from the bus and tells me that there is only room for two more. In the back of my head I am preparing myself for the bus to crash due to the luck that I had been having that day. To make matters worse, even though I grabbed a camera with a fully charged battery, I had forgotten an SD card. Thankfully, the rest of the day went off without a hitch, I returned home and promptly set my alarm for 5 am.
The end of Tuesday and all of Wednesday was full of archiving and editing.
Here Michael and I are trying to decide which of the Big Brother photos we like the best that will appear on the CBS Press Express website.
And here Michael is editing a photograph of Jeanne Tripplehorn that was taken in a gallery for the newest season of Criminal Minds.
It is actually amazing how much editing goes into each and every photograph. Tim, a photo editor and one of the main employees that retouches all of the shots to go in and out of CBS taught the three of us what we should look for in order for the photograph to be acceptable for billboards, websites, etc. All of these rules were prevalent particularly in women: Erase wispies from hair lines, odd shadows under chins, eyes, etc., hide wrinkles. Bring in the waist, soften the curves, eccentuate the breasts, the list goes on and on. Surprisingly, Jeanne Tripplehorn did not need that many revisions. 1. Because she was sitting down and 2. She looks incredible for her age. That being said, there was still a huge difference between the before and after products.
Archiving is a HUGE part of what I do at CBS, and as most of it is considered "grunt work" I really enjoy doing it. The photographs that have been developed over the years at CBS never cease to fascinate me. I have developed a great relationship with Dave Lombard, the man responsible for the whole archival department. This particular project I was to go through all of the photographs on a disc and describe the subject matter, photographer, etc.
Thursday was the busiest day of the week. Upon walking in we were told there was going to be a conference with CBS Sports on the upcoming SuperBowl plans. CBS is partnering up with photoboxi to create a social media outlet for the fans and supporters when attending the big event.
These are test strips that were taken at CBS' Upfront presentation at Carnegie Hall on May 16, 2012. They used these to demonstrate what they would like the product to look like for the 2012 SuperBowl. The main topic of discussion in the conference was how many skins should be available to users, what the text should say, if you should be able to pick the text that you desire, etc. We discussed if the photographs should be able to be uploaded to facebook or twitter, photoboxi only allows one option. The list goes on and on.
Very soon after that we had a conference call with Matt from the LA office about the locations and other logistics for the upcoming photoshoot that we would be doing, tune in for details. :)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Did the morning come too early? Was the night not long enough?
Many times, you may not find out what that reason is, immediately. However, as I reflect on my time here with Endstation Theatre Company, I can only think of the multitude of reasons why this experience was necessary for me, and of the countless things I've learned and how they will greatly affect my career and life. And I know that in the months and years to come, even more will surface.
I came into this internship expecting to learn great things about acting and administration and just generally what it's like to work in a professional theatre company. After living here for 79 days -- just about 1 month shy of an entire semester -- I can say that I've learned all that, and so much more!
During my time here, I rehearsed and performed The Comedy of Errors and Macbeth (2 of 3 shows that made up the 2012 Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival). I observed rehearsals for the third show, the musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
I helped run the Playwrights Initiative's Public Reading Series (readings of new, unfinished plays written by resident and visiting playwrights), and also read for two of those plays. I served as "page-turner" at the season kick-off event, the Broadway in the Blue Ridge Concert, and also at the premiere reading of Unearthed, a new musical and work in development by Endstation Theatre Company.
I ushered for Big River, delivered season materials to local businesses, and helped gather information on musicals to be considered for next year's season. And lastly, I was privileged to attend master classes on scene study, voice, movement, marketing/auditioning, and script analysis.
<< visiting a beautiful sponsor vineyard
cast of Macbeth cast of Comedy
1st dress rehearsal of Big River
I helped run the Playwrights Initiative's Public Reading Series (readings of new, unfinished plays written by resident and visiting playwrights), and also read for two of those plays. I served as "page-turner" at the season kick-off event, the Broadway in the Blue Ridge Concert, and also at the premiere reading of Unearthed, a new musical and work in development by Endstation Theatre Company.
I ushered for Big River, delivered season materials to local businesses, and helped gather information on musicals to be considered for next year's season. And lastly, I was privileged to attend master classes on scene study, voice, movement, marketing/auditioning, and script analysis.
I have grown in many ways this summer, and have also realized some personal things that will prove very useful - things like my new-found love of acting (I thought I enjoyed it before, but now I really know how much I love it, and I want more, to dive in even deeper), my passion for music (which has really been with me since I was born) and how much I need to be around it, how much I truly miss dancing every day, and my need to be doing all three together and at the same time. I really, deeply know that musical theatre is where I'm most fulfilled because I get to do all three.
It's been very special to have worked with Geoffrey Kershner, the artistic director/co-founder of Endstation Theatre Company and UArts alumni. It was really cool to have that connection and to know that UArts was supporting me throughout the whole process. I feel very lucky to have gotten this theatre-immersive experience since I focus most of my energy towards dance during the year.
Although I'm incredibly sad to leave this place and the people I've lived, worked, and played with all summer, I'm also wildly excited to see where everyone ends up and what work lies ahead for us all. I leave Endstation with new relationships and skill sets and connections and experiences, and for that, I will always be grateful.
Diane Meck
Class of 2013
Jazz Dance Performance Major
Musical Theatre Minor
Friday, July 20, 2012
Cause and Effect and How to Deal
Friday, June 29, 2012.
a few minutes before 10:00 PM.
Endstation Theatre Company's 2012 Blue Ridge Summer Theatre Festival was reaching the height of its season, while the Sweet Briar College campus buzzed with activity...
The musical "Big River" was in full-swing, with two more box office record-breaking performances to go...
The tech week and opening of "Macbeth" was just ahead...
This year's Playwrights Initiative was about to start up, as well as rehearsals for "Unearthed" - a new musical being developed at the Festival...
A week of birthday celebrations was about to unfold...
And a very enjoyable, yet incredibly hot (over 100 degrees) performance of "The Comedy of Errors" had JUST wrapped up...
A derecho, as I have recently learned, is a "widespread, long-lived wind storm associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms." Its damage is typically directed in one direction along a relatively straight path. (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm#definition)
The record-breaking derecho that hit the Sweet Briar campus traveled 600 miles from Chicago all the way to the Atlantic Ocean, near D.C. The 60-80 mph winds caused widespread damage, downed hundreds of trees, and left more than 3 million people without power.
The derecho also had serious effects on this summer's festival. Thankfully, there was practically no damage to either outdoor set/space, despite the fact that there were large downed trees all over campus. The company relocated to various parts of Lynchburg (about 30 min. away) where there was still power and AC. Saturday's "Big River" show was cancelled, and Sunday's show was rescheduled to Tuesday, in hopes that the power would be back by then. Sadly, it too had to be cancelled, and "Big River" lost its last two performances.
(a wonderful shot from the wonderful show, Big River)
And on Thursday... the power finally came back!! We had our first and only Tech rehearsal, and we miraculously and successfully opened the next night!! Opening night also marked the 5th anniversary of Endstation Theatre Company.
Unfortunately, by opening night, I felt very sick, and by the end of the show the next day, I lost my voice and was put on vocal rest. I think there were many factors that led to my voice loss, but since it had never happened to me before, it was a little scary... especially when it lasted the entire week. But, by the magic of Linklater voice work (and after resting it all week), I magically got my voice back about an hour before the top of our next show that Friday, and haven't had problems since!!
(Me as the Young Native Woman & part of the Macbeth set)
After the power came back, Endstation offered the Big River Celebration Concert for those who hadn't seen the show, for those wanting to hear the music again, and for the actors who worked hard to bring the show to life.
I helped out with the Playwrights Initiative, assisting the producer with The Public Reading Series. This series included the Special Guest, Ad Hoc, and Post Haste Reading Series. At each reading, new plays written by the six visiting playwrights were read and discussed. It was very exciting to hear such great new works, and to take part in their creative processes.
(Yes, those are ipads. Yes, we're awesome.) (5 playwrights with Michael, the producer, standing middle)
...
I can't believe this season is already winding down. My internship is officially over in 1 week. We have our last performance of The Comedy of Errors tonight :( and two more Macbeth shows. I'll be sure to post one more time about my experience as a whole.
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