Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long!

That's an old Tom Cochrane song, in case you didn't know.  As most of you know, I've been dealing with some pretty serious medical issues lately and feeling pretty overwhelmed and freaked out.  Everyone's been so great with lots of teachers bringing the family dinner (I haven't cooked in a couple of weeks, and it is quite exciting to look into the staff room fridge and see an aluminum foil plate or tupperware with my name on it!) and everyone trying to help in whatever way they can.  Most people are really good and kind and don't you forget it.  The ones who aren't are missing out and you needn't bother with them.

Mike remains in the hospital and things have been up and down with his surgery and the aftermath and although we are all hopeful and trying to keep things as normal as possible with going to school and all the other responsibilities we have, there are still those dark times when you are trying to read or whatever and you suddenly think what could happen.  Usually I long for down time as I get very little, but these days I don't want to sit and stew and would rather be up and about.

I am hoping for a nice quiet holiday with old movies and Charles Dickens and the Christmas tree all lit up and nice things to eat and Mike at home, but if that doesn't work out and he is still in the hospital, we will make the best of things and make sure we get him home before the New Year.  2014 has been a difficult year with these health challenges and the strike and I hope with all my heart that 2015 will be much happier and more peaceful and much less dramatic.  Who said "please let me not live in exciting times"?  (Or something like that.)

I wish you all the happiest of holidays and all the very best in 2015.  I hope it's "veally 
good"  (a reference to "Fawlty Towers").

"Oh, Doris, it's awful!"

There are lots of great lines in "Fawlty Towers", some that make me laugh every time I hear them.  The above is one and there are so many others.

I just wanted to thank everyone who has come out to the play and laughed and enjoyed it.  It is a lot of hard work to put on a show and it is really gratifying to have such a great response from our audiences.  And of course, a huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone, cast and crew, who worked so hard to bring this thing to life.  You are all stars to me.

We are holding over the show for one last performance on Monday, December 15 at 1, so if you haven't seen it and want to, here is your chance.  We have some seats left so scoot to the theatre before one p.m. and we'll try to squeeze you in.

And now the whirligig of time (a bit of Twelfth Night) brings on his revenge and I must go (to soccer, forsooth!)

No small parts!

Journal for everyone!

There is an old saying in the theatre -- "there is no such thing as a small part, just a small actor!"  That means that no matter how many (or how few) lines an actor speaks, he can still make his performance memorable.  Comment on this idea.  If you saw "Fawlty Towers" (or took part in it), use it as a source of examples.  There are lots of parts in the three episodes that only have a few lines, but the actors have tried to create a back story for their characters to make them fully realized.  It is best to focus on one or two performances or aspects of the show.  If you didn't see it (too bad for you, because it is very entertaining and funny), use another play or movie for examples.

Monologues

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these!

Grade 9/10 Monologues:

Peter from “Goin’ Down the Road”:

Those guys are three dummies.  I don’t get you.  When we were leaving, you couldn’t get out of the place fast enough.  Now you go on about some job in the cannery.  Oh, listen, Joey, it’s gonna be so different.  There you can get all kinds of jobs.  Not just sweat and dirt all the time . . . And the places to go;  we’re gonna hit some night spots, have us some good times!  No sitting in some restaurant all night or cruising up and down main street, looking for something you know damn well isn’t there . . . Joey, there’s going to be so much there, we won’t know where to begin.

Ruthie from “Distended Ear Lobes”:

Well, it isn’t exactly that he doesn’t interest me anymore.  It’s that I’m not quite sure of the chemistry.  Before it was all chemistry, and I didn’t even think about whether he interested me.  Now the chemistry is deluded and I’ve had time to consider whether or not he interests me, I mean as a person, that is.

Anyhow, whether it’s going anywhere or not, I’m having lunch with him because – now promise me not to get hysterical – he’s been looking into the Peace Corps and I’m thinking about joining up with him.  I hate my job in the office and if you’ll pardon the cliché, I want to do something worthwhile.

Senior Drama monologues:

Tom: 

Listen!  You think I’m crazy about the warehouse?  You think I’m in love with the Continental Shoemakers?  You think I want to spend fifty-five years down there in that  -- celotex interior!  with fluorescent – tubes!  Look!  I’d rather somebody picked up a crowbar and battered out my brains – than go back mornings!  I go!  Every time you come in yelling “Rise and shine!”  “Rise and shine!” I say to myself, “How lucky dead  people are!”  But I get up.  I go!  For sixty-five dollars a month I give up all that I dream of doing and being ever!  And you say self – self’s all I ever think of.  Why, listen, if self is what I thought of, Mother, I’d be where he is – GONE!  (HE POINTS TO HIS FATHER’S PICTURE.)  As far as the system of transportation reaches!  Don’t grab at me, Mother!  I’m going to the movies!  I’m going to opium dens!  Yes, opium dens, dens of vice and criminals’ hangouts, Mother.  They call me Killer, Killer Wingfield.

Laura:

I came across his picture a while ago.  It’s in the yearbook.  His name was Jim.  Here he is in “The Pirates of Penzance”.  The operetta the senior class put on.  He had a wonderful voice and we sat across the aisle from each other Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the Aud. 

He used to call me – Blue Roses.

When I had that attack of pleurosis – he asked me what was the matter when I came back.  I said pleurosis – he thought I said Blue Roses!  So that’s what he always called me after that.  Whenever he saw me, he’d holler, “Hello, Blue Roses!”  I didn’t care for the girl that he went out with.  Emily Meisenbach.  Emily was the best-dressed girl at Soldan.  She never struck me, though, as being sincere . . . It says in the Personal Section – they’re engaged.  That’s – six years ago.  They must be married by now.

 

Keep up your journals!!

Senior Drama:

Theatre production:  We need to make English money, paint the kitchen, finish the sign and do one other thing I just can't think of at this moment!

Journal:  What techniques in advertising work on you?  (Music, humour, sex appeal, bandwagon approach, economy, appeals to emotion or intellect).  If you were to promote yourself, how would you go about it?

Drama 9/10:  Write about the comedia del'arte project.  What did you like about it?  What didn't you like?  Which play impressed you the most?  If you had to perform it for an audience of outsiders, what would you change?

Drama 8:  What should Ms. Kosar know about you?  Write about any experience you have in Drama, whether you have stage fright, whether you are good at working in groups, what you are expecting to do in this class, anything you would like to share.

Grade 8's, remember you will recite "all the world's a stage" next week.  Please remember to bring $5 for the play on Wednesday!

The Director's Role

The Director's Role: You are the obstetrician. You are not the parent of this child we call the play. You are present at its birth for clinical reasons, like a doctor or midwife. Your job most of the time is simply to do no harm.
When something does go wrong, however, your awareness that something is awry--and your clinical intervention to correct it--can determine whether the child will thrive or suffer, live or die.”
― Frank Hauser, Notes on Directing: 130 Lessons in Leadership from the Director's Chair 

We're all trying to pull together to get "Fawlty Towers" on the stage.  There's not much more I can do.  I've paid for the royalties (so we have a great script), I chose the cast (and you're all more than capable), and Mr. Price has given us a really beautiful place to show off!  Rachel and Noa and many of you have supplied great props and costumes and we've made things and borrowed them and found them.

For those of you who don't know your lines yet, LEARN THEM!  It is so frustrating to see things bouncing along and think "oh, this is going well" and then you skip THREE PAGES so that people who are in the play wouldn't even get on stage!!  You owe it to your castmates to know your part and your cues and to listen to each other on stage!!  If people on stage miss your cue and jump ahead, and you're waiting backstage, come on anyway!  They'll deal with you once you're there!

The baby is almost ready to be delivered.  We need to get his room ready, and make sure he has warm clothes, good food and fun toys to play with when he arrives!  (On Tuesday of next week!!!!!)

"Fawlty Towers"

The school play debuts on Tuesday, December 9 at 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are only $5.  It is about "the rudest hotelier" John Cleese ever met and Mr. Price has designed a gorgeous set and the actors are very inventive and high energy and there is mystery and romance and a wide variety of wacky characters.  It is very funny and I encourage everyone to come and see the show.  We are running on December 10 at 1:30 and 7 p.m. and Thursday, December 11 at 1:30 and then closing on December 12 at 7:00 p.m.

The matinees are full, so unfortunately if your teacher hasn't signed up your class by now, you and they are out of luck.  My grade 8 class (A Block) -- you are expected to attend during your class time.  Please bring your $5 this week.  The money goes to a good cause -- the money we earn by putting on a show goes to pay for the next show and for scholarships for our graduating performers and crew.  But, if you cannot afford to pay, just let me know.  It is important to me that you get to see the show if you want to and so you are welcome to come either way.