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Every Little Step
May. 3rd, 2009 07:22 pm I thought about going to Harold Night on Friday. I decided to really need to sleep instead. I ended writing The Story I'm Currently Working On. (Some stories are total gifts that write themselves. This one is like extracting a tooth with a carp and a banjo, then realizing you were supposed to fill in a cavity on the other side of the patient's mouth.) Not nearly enough sleep happened.
Saturday was two improv workshops essentially back to back. (They were scheduled four hours apart, but each workshop was three hours long.) I learned a lot. However, as always, the issue is execution. Towards the end of Harold class today, the instructor issued me a challenge. (As it turns out, I never got a chance to do another scene so the challenge remains unfulfilled, but I know it's something I need to work on.) He was having problems finding a way to put it so I said it for him. He wants me to play a calm character. That wasn't exactly it, but it freed up his internal log jam. He revised what I said to "deliberate." The character doesn't need to be calm, but I tend to get all flaily and hyper-excitable. I should play more grounded, focussed characters.
Sadly, I've gotten this note before. He praised my energy and enthusiasm. I really do need to focus it better. (This applies to so many other areas of my life. I'm flaily and hyper-excitable in real life to the point where people ask me if I'm on Ritalin. That always struck me as an odd thing to ask. If I were on Ritalin, I don't think I'd be so flaily and hyper-excitable.)
The amusing thing is that I spent most of 6 hours on Saturday playing focussed, grounded characters. I can do this. Just not when I'm nervous as all hell and scared out of my wits. That pretty much describes my state whenever I'm in Harold class though. Oh well. It's always good to know what I need to work on.
Oh yeah, someone finally asked if we have a graduation show. Of course we have a graduation show. Scheduling will be tricky since members of all four Harold teams resident at the theater are in the class (plus the three of us who are unaligned). Pretty much no matter what you do, someone will be working for the full hour. Since what the instructor wants us to do for the grad show is A Long Form Structure That Is Not A Harold, someone suggested that we do a Harold too. That way, we all have to work for a whole hour. I'm not thrilled, but it would be the fairest thing to do. (Of course, there are two other student shows to schedule also.)
After Harold class, i went to see <em>Every Little Step</em>. It's a documentary about the casting of the recent Broadway revival of <em>A Chorus Line</em>. Yes, it's a movie about about people auditioning for a musical about people auditioning for a musical. Perhaps not coincidentally, the end result is very much like Michael Bennett's (obviously unused) conception of what a movie version of <em>A Chorus Line</em> ought to be like.
I saw the production the movie documents. Knowing who they eventually cast doesn't ruin it at all. Neither does knowing what happens in <em>A Chorus Line</em>. It's a terrific movie. I think anyone who likes musicals would enjoy it.
(There was, however, this odd parallel. I spent the first half of the day learning how to put it all out on the line. Then I went to see a movie about people putting it all out on the line and why doing that is totally worth it.)
Saturday was two improv workshops essentially back to back. (They were scheduled four hours apart, but each workshop was three hours long.) I learned a lot. However, as always, the issue is execution. Towards the end of Harold class today, the instructor issued me a challenge. (As it turns out, I never got a chance to do another scene so the challenge remains unfulfilled, but I know it's something I need to work on.) He was having problems finding a way to put it so I said it for him. He wants me to play a calm character. That wasn't exactly it, but it freed up his internal log jam. He revised what I said to "deliberate." The character doesn't need to be calm, but I tend to get all flaily and hyper-excitable. I should play more grounded, focussed characters.
Sadly, I've gotten this note before. He praised my energy and enthusiasm. I really do need to focus it better. (This applies to so many other areas of my life. I'm flaily and hyper-excitable in real life to the point where people ask me if I'm on Ritalin. That always struck me as an odd thing to ask. If I were on Ritalin, I don't think I'd be so flaily and hyper-excitable.)
The amusing thing is that I spent most of 6 hours on Saturday playing focussed, grounded characters. I can do this. Just not when I'm nervous as all hell and scared out of my wits. That pretty much describes my state whenever I'm in Harold class though. Oh well. It's always good to know what I need to work on.
Oh yeah, someone finally asked if we have a graduation show. Of course we have a graduation show. Scheduling will be tricky since members of all four Harold teams resident at the theater are in the class (plus the three of us who are unaligned). Pretty much no matter what you do, someone will be working for the full hour. Since what the instructor wants us to do for the grad show is A Long Form Structure That Is Not A Harold, someone suggested that we do a Harold too. That way, we all have to work for a whole hour. I'm not thrilled, but it would be the fairest thing to do. (Of course, there are two other student shows to schedule also.)
After Harold class, i went to see <em>Every Little Step</em>. It's a documentary about the casting of the recent Broadway revival of <em>A Chorus Line</em>. Yes, it's a movie about about people auditioning for a musical about people auditioning for a musical. Perhaps not coincidentally, the end result is very much like Michael Bennett's (obviously unused) conception of what a movie version of <em>A Chorus Line</em> ought to be like.
I saw the production the movie documents. Knowing who they eventually cast doesn't ruin it at all. Neither does knowing what happens in <em>A Chorus Line</em>. It's a terrific movie. I think anyone who likes musicals would enjoy it.
(There was, however, this odd parallel. I spent the first half of the day learning how to put it all out on the line. Then I went to see a movie about people putting it all out on the line and why doing that is totally worth it.)
