Upcoming performances
Sep. 3rd, 2010 01:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
usernamenumberI am so happy to be performing again. For years, larp has been my only creative outlet, and I still love it (Game 2 of Serendipity Station was great fun!), but singing and performing on stage had been out of my life for way too long. In the next week or so I'll be doing my second show with the MIT Musical Theater Guild, and my first performance as a member of a band since college.
Show
Today was the final dress rehearsal for Superstar, and I am feeling really good about this show. There is one part in The Trial where I kept forgetting my lines-- I would just blank, and the lyrics would go *poof* in my little head. I finally figured out how to keep this from happening: I stopped looking directly at the ensemble. Seriously, our ensemble is intense. They keep telling me that I play a very scary Pilate, but I actually have to distract myself from them onstage to keep from getting hypnotized.
Immediately after the rehearsal today, as everyone was basking in knowing that if our opening night is anything like as good as what we'd just done we would have made something worthwhile, the orchestra starting playing through Simon Zealotes to brush up on it, and the entire cast just slammed into the lyrics, belting out all the solos in an expression of the relief, camaraderie, and satisfaction we were all feeling. It was one of those absolutely beautiful moments.
Trying not to get too excited about opening night, lest I jinx something, but squee. Come see the show. Rome commands it!
I know I'm going to regret having made that image, but I couldn't resist! In other news, having just seen Cabaret (see below), I think I want to play the emcee some day. :)
Also, pro-tip: If you want to get the extra-intense experience during a certain portion of The Trial, sit in the front-left (audience perspective) of the theater. ;)
Band
And then there's the afore-mentioned band. Playing in bands was a huge part of who I was when I was in high school. It was how I made friends. See, the nice thing about punk rock is that it's not about whether you can play, but whether you sound like you mean it, so pretty much everyone knew enough of some instrument and had enough angst to pound out a song or two, so if I met someone interesting and wanted to get to know them better, I would invite them over to jam.
Flash forward to now.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunspiral asked emp42ress to perform some of her songs at his End of Summer party on the 11th. She asked zebediah, natbudin and I to form a band with her toward this end, and Stranger Ways was born. Truth be told, I'm a little self-concious about our "This Are Serious Band Website", but that's what happens when one of your members is a very fast-working webdev guy and his fiancee is a photographer. Said site has a couple of rough demos we recorded in my basement, including one of emp42ress' originals, and a cover of one of my favorite songs from Tripod vs The Dragon. We've already decided on some changes to the arrangements, but they've been dubbed at least "good enough for demos", so there they are. :)
Because I'll have to run from the party to JCS, we will be playing early, starting at 4pm. The party is invite only, but we can provide some invites if you want to attend and haven't been invited explicitly. Just let me know.
Anyway, should really make with the sleepings now. As @lediva put it on Twitter earlier this evening, "never enough time, but life is good".
Cabaret
Oh, before I wrap up, I should also plug the ART production of Cabaret. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go see it. I went to the opening preview, and posted a mini-review on Twitter that said in part "this is the kind of immersive, evocative theater that I want to do". I was really touched when a few hours later, none other than @amandapalmer replied "Please. Do it.". I love theater that is intense. I love theater that gets in people's faces and makes the audience a part of the show. I love theater that bends gender, emotion, and reality. Perhaps I'm over-stating things attributing all that to this production of Cabaret (which, to be fair, still has its weak points). but it was that kind of theater, and if nothing else it met my #1 criterion for a good production: whenfaerieboots, fontia and I went out for dinner afterwards, we spent most of our time discussing it.
And another pro-tip: Amanda Palmer fanboys/girls with weak hearts should avoid getting seats at table #24 on the seating chart. You get up close. ;)
Ok, now I sleep.
Show
Today was the final dress rehearsal for Superstar, and I am feeling really good about this show. There is one part in The Trial where I kept forgetting my lines-- I would just blank, and the lyrics would go *poof* in my little head. I finally figured out how to keep this from happening: I stopped looking directly at the ensemble. Seriously, our ensemble is intense. They keep telling me that I play a very scary Pilate, but I actually have to distract myself from them onstage to keep from getting hypnotized.
Immediately after the rehearsal today, as everyone was basking in knowing that if our opening night is anything like as good as what we'd just done we would have made something worthwhile, the orchestra starting playing through Simon Zealotes to brush up on it, and the entire cast just slammed into the lyrics, belting out all the solos in an expression of the relief, camaraderie, and satisfaction we were all feeling. It was one of those absolutely beautiful moments.
Trying not to get too excited about opening night, lest I jinx something, but squee. Come see the show. Rome commands it!
I know I'm going to regret having made that image, but I couldn't resist! In other news, having just seen Cabaret (see below), I think I want to play the emcee some day. :)
Also, pro-tip: If you want to get the extra-intense experience during a certain portion of The Trial, sit in the front-left (audience perspective) of the theater. ;)
Band
And then there's the afore-mentioned band. Playing in bands was a huge part of who I was when I was in high school. It was how I made friends. See, the nice thing about punk rock is that it's not about whether you can play, but whether you sound like you mean it, so pretty much everyone knew enough of some instrument and had enough angst to pound out a song or two, so if I met someone interesting and wanted to get to know them better, I would invite them over to jam.
Flash forward to now.
sunspiral asked emp42ress to perform some of her songs at his End of Summer party on the 11th. She asked zebediah, natbudin and I to form a band with her toward this end, and Stranger Ways was born. Truth be told, I'm a little self-concious about our "This Are Serious Band Website", but that's what happens when one of your members is a very fast-working webdev guy and his fiancee is a photographer. Said site has a couple of rough demos we recorded in my basement, including one of emp42ress' originals, and a cover of one of my favorite songs from Tripod vs The Dragon. We've already decided on some changes to the arrangements, but they've been dubbed at least "good enough for demos", so there they are. :)Because I'll have to run from the party to JCS, we will be playing early, starting at 4pm. The party is invite only, but we can provide some invites if you want to attend and haven't been invited explicitly. Just let me know.
Anyway, should really make with the sleepings now. As @lediva put it on Twitter earlier this evening, "never enough time, but life is good".
Cabaret
Oh, before I wrap up, I should also plug the ART production of Cabaret. Seriously, do yourself a favor and go see it. I went to the opening preview, and posted a mini-review on Twitter that said in part "this is the kind of immersive, evocative theater that I want to do". I was really touched when a few hours later, none other than @amandapalmer replied "Please. Do it.". I love theater that is intense. I love theater that gets in people's faces and makes the audience a part of the show. I love theater that bends gender, emotion, and reality. Perhaps I'm over-stating things attributing all that to this production of Cabaret (which, to be fair, still has its weak points). but it was that kind of theater, and if nothing else it met my #1 criterion for a good production: when
faerieboots, fontia and I went out for dinner afterwards, we spent most of our time discussing it. And another pro-tip: Amanda Palmer fanboys/girls with weak hearts should avoid getting seats at table #24 on the seating chart. You get up close. ;)
Ok, now I sleep.
