Regrouping

I am currently on a 2-hour break from Nest rehearsal. It's 87 degrees out, but it's quite comfortable in the little enclave called my bedroom. I am trying to decide if I just want to take a nap now or have some dinner. I think I will take the nap and have an hour to get up and eat. I just consulted the schedule and we work tonight until 11PM. I am not so happy about that. These are super long rehearsals and we are all exhausted.

Yesterday I was able to sleep until almost 11AM before I got up and ran to a series of meetings. I vented to Della about the CORE project from the day before and spoke with Melanie for just under 2 hours about voice and movement and the future.

After a really great Measure for Measure dance rehearsal, I went to a birthday party for Anna, the gal who played my daughter in Fate & Spinoza. She turned 21 on Wednesday. Her beau threw a theme party for her. We had to dress as if we were going to a theme party, but the theme was up to us. After a great facebook chat with Damon I decided that wearing a nightie and being a Freudian Slip was not a great idea. However, I put on all black and lots of black eyeliner and dark brown lipstick. I couldn't decide if that was goth or some rockstar thing. I figured it really didn't matter.

When I arrived at the party Tony came over to me in his footie pajamas and said, "what happened before your CORE piece? i heard you blew up at Patricia."

We moved to the couch after I grabbed a glass of wine and I told him the tale. I told him the long story, as he split focus and kept checking out the door and all of the guests in their funny costumes. The long and the short of it is that Patricia was not prepared for our presentation and started changing things as we were setting up. I just had it with her. I lugged all of the strawberry shortcake makings from my house including bowls, knives, plates to serve, my hand mixer and all of these clothes that showed my identity. I knew Zac was going to bring nothing but Patricia had all of these ideas and asked Lynne for a tablecloth right before we presented. So in my frustration as we were setting up, I stopped in the middle of the Arena as yelled "I am fucking pissed with you. We obviously are not communicating. This is not communicating."

We then cobbled together our ideas, but Patricia was very quiet. I apologized for my outburst and commented that we cannot do our presentation with so much bad energy in the room -- that we just had to get through this. At that moment Jade peeked her head in and let us know that we were 3 minutes over our 10 minute prep time. I told her to bring the class back in.

(to be continued)

I'm Still Standing

It's Thursday and I am still in my jammies since I don't have to be to the department until 1PM for my Nest costume fitting. My body is not happy. My knee has started aching and my eyes hurt. I also took a Merce Cunningham Master class yesterday morning and my calves are moaning. It's been forever since I have taken a class and am a little frightened about teaching 2 this summer.

I feel old. Or as I said to Tony last night on the way to join our friend Jeanne for her 24th Birthday, "I'm having an old day."

I have started to get over the fact that I do indeed feel old. Most people do not know that I am in my mid-30s and I have to say that I usually feel good. But as we all now know, I took way too much on this quarter.

In fact, I dropped my independent study with Barbara -- not officially -- but since it does not look like I will be teaching the Fundamentals of Movement class either in the summer or next year, there's really not a point to cram the creation of a syllabus during this quarter. Yes, Barbara is leaving and so is Melanie, but good news is that they will be available via email or phone if I have questions.

Anyway, it's 10AM and we have our presentation for CORE today. I'm sure it will completely suck, because I just cannot work with one of my group partners. In fact I knew that NOBODY else in the class would want to work with her so I was the martyr and took that on. We are working on Identity and have to create a piece that shows our individual identities and the identity of the group.

I proposed about 8 different ideas, but there was no energy around any of them. No one said "no" to them, but no one said "yes" either. Then on Tuesday, this one difficult group member brought in this completely strange and illustrative idea. I thought the easiest thing was to go with it, because WE HAD NOTHING TO SHOW and only 2 DAYS LEFT to performance! What is completely frustrating is that the third member of the group brings nothing to the table! It's okay, though, since I hate the class and I really don't care! Fingers crossed that it won't hurt my straight A status.

Wow, what was that outburst?

Anyway, here's a little list update:

MUST HAPPEN TODAY:
-- work more on choreography for They Way We Get By for tomorrow's Measure for Measure rehearsal
-- review Scenes 2 & 8 for tonight's NEST rehearsal
-- pack bag for today's CORE presentation on identity

AND THE LIST IN GENERAL:
-- observe someone either live or on film with languid qualities
-- read BFE by Julia Cho for CORE class
-- schedule time with Mindy Cooper to talk about performing in Oklahoma next year
-- work on Helen monologue for Movement on Monday
-- continue learning lines for NEST
-- complete choreography They Way We Get By
-- schedule brow waxing
-- continue reading Barteneiff book and learning anatomy/physiology terms
-- buy dry cat food

Celebrate the Earth!

So today is Earth Day. I would like to think I am doing all I can, since I am an avid recycler, have those twisty light bulbs and rarely drive my car. However, I'm sure there are tons of stuff that I COULD be doing. I am going to give us a little history and then pass things over to Michelle Kaufman. She apparently thinks Earth Day is every day.

Crazy!

Well, not so much.

In September 1969, at a conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on the environment. Senator Nelson first proposed the nationwide environmental protest to thrust the environment onto the national agenda.” "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."

Five months before the first April 22 Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the rising tide of environmental events::
"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...." Senator Nelson also hired Denis Hayes as the coordinator.

Each year, the April 22 Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles' last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina -- an incident not acknowledged for 18 years. At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news. But Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. The April 22 Earth Day in 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world 'round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy. Earth Day 2007 was one of the largest Earth Days to date, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places like Kiev, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; Tuvalu; Manila, Philippines; Togo; Madrid, Spain; London; and New York.

Click here for Michelle's blog!

575 or poetry in mexico

Angela gave us a task for Chris' birthday. Write a haiku and send it to her by the 15th. Well, I decided to write them over Spring Break. But since it was a surprise I could not share them until now.

Some of them are completely obscure. Kinda like location jokes.

Enjoy...and Happy Birthday, Mr. Aquino!

sunny mexico
waves frolic against the sand
I think I need beer

Rolls of fish and rice
The service in here stinks
Pass the wasabi

Boyz gather in groups
throw football by the ocean
hope reads sexy play

Monopoly game
Eating Mexican pastries
Go great with coffee

you can drink urine
like seven times before it's
bad for you here goes

Bitching ‘bout classmates
Talking over drama 10
Nice to have good friends

With printed ticket
Universal studios
Let’s ride the mummy

Spring break drinking games
Shit I rolled a 43
pose and take a drink

The Pendulum Swings

So I keep vacillating between anxiety and ease. My life is indeed stressful, but if I stick to the plan, I should be fine. That is until I missed a meeting yesterday. For the past 2 weeks I have scheduled a bunch of meetings with people in other departments about collaborating on my Dada piece. I completely forgot about my meeting with the professor in the French department. I just sent her a note apologizing and asked to reschedule. Truth is, that project is now on the back burner. I do keep checking in the Peter, our department head since I put a proposal in for funding. But he is not the most proactive guy. And he has not moved forward on it. I just want to make sure I get SOME support from the department.

After my hell day yesterday -- teaching, dishes and light clean-up, voice, prep for day 2 of filming in Sara's class, a LONG 3 hour filming session, a TA meeting and 2 1/2 hours of rehearsal WITHOUT a break. I stumbled home. I took a shower and sat on the couch with my choreography notes. I had not seen Tony in quite a few days, so after some minor epiphanies in the The Way We Get By number, I went to Tony's house for some wine and conversation with him and a lovely undergrad named Jenna. We went through the AFIs Top 100 list and then watched some Eddie Izzard on youtube. I needed that break.

But now, I need a bit of list updating...

MUST HAPPEN TODAY:
-- work more on choreography for They Way We Get By for tonight's Measure for Measure rehearsal
-- review Scene 2 for tomorrow's NEST rehearsal

AND THE LIST IN GENERAL:
-- prep and copy Haggadah for Sunday's Seder
-- shop and cook for Seder
-- work on current CORE small group presentation on Identity (we're creating a guided tour with everyone using their own ipods. it will be cool.)
-- observe someone either live or on film with languid qualities (yes, we're back to this again)
-- memorize Helen monologue to present with languid information for Monday
-- continue learning lines for NEST
-- complete choreography They Way We Get By
-- do laundry
-- schedule brow waxing
-- memorize Annie Hall scene for Acting for Film class
-- REALLY clean apartment for Monday's shoot (we're on location in my APARTMENT)
-- continue reading Barteneiff book and learning anatomy/physiology terms
-- start lesson plan/syllabus for Movement for Actors class to discuss with Barbara on Tuesday
-- buy dry cat food

Maybe I Made an Error

So last quarter I took 21 units, was a 75% TA (which means I am that percentage of faculty) and had a large role in one of the plays. I came out the other end relatively unscathed with the golden snitch -- in the form of a big fat A.

This quarter I decided to keep the challenge going. I am at 50% TA-ship, have a smaller role in a show, but am taking 24 units. Our Graduate Advisor, Victoria almost had a heart attack when she found out how many units I'm taking. But since I've been pretty organized and have gotten all As so far, she let it go.

As I look at my to-do list from yesterday. And hear the ticking of my cat clock, I really just want to sit here with Lincoln in my lap purring away.

My eyes hurt from our long rehearsal last night and I am very worried that I am not going to have the dance finished for Thursday. And there is all that memorizing. Oh, and when am I going to finishing prepping for Seder?

But again, I need to take one moment at a time and celebrate the small victories.

Like this morning. I just taught one heck of an acting class. I now have a cohesive group of students that completely trusts each other and has fun while learning. When I dismissed them, one of the students started to clap. I think some of the others wanted to, but it's a foreign practice for them. So they didn't. Clap after a class? These guys are not performers or majors who are accustomed to applauding after say, a dance class.

And I'm not saying that they were going to clap for me. Even though I taught a good class. But it was the energy IN the class that needed some applause. We moved mountains today and we need to celebrate that.

So instead of cursing myself for being seemingly unprepared or behind. I am going to raise my hands in the air to praise the things I HAVE done. One baby step at a time.

Including the crazy decision of being in a show, choreographing another, taking 4 classes and an independent study.

I encourage all of you to do the same with your own accomplishments. Now, raise those hands in the air.

Higher.

Higher.

Now give yourself a hand.

Bring in Breath with Inspiration

I woke this morning with a little anxiety in my belly. It was only 6:45am, but I had a feeling I was late for something or at least I should have been up -- working hard on one of my many to-dos. I was able to lie there and listen to the mediocre radio station I have on my clock radio and just breathe. It was also a great chance to give some kitty love and put things into perspective.

For one thing, no, I do not HAVE to be anywhere right now. I don't have class until 2:10pm today and if I am efficient and productive there's PLENTY of time to get things done.

As I type I am eating one of the best breakfasts I've had in weeks. Actually, I am going to take a break and really enjoy this...





All right, now.

I got home from rehearsal last night and whipped up some sauteed veggies with pesto and poured it over some leftover shell pasta. The CSA veggies box from last week was chock-full of goodness so I pulled some swiss chard, carrots and then some conventional onions and mushrooms that had in my very unorganized fridge. When I got up this morning to feed the cats, I saw that I left everything out when I went to sleep last night. It was much easier to just USE the veggies than put them away. That and I don't think I have a clean plastic container since they are all dirty and sitting in my bulging sink.

So, I reheated the veggies, added two eggs, and some parmesan cheese and threw a flour tortilla in the toaster oven. Bing! I gots myself a Pesto Breakfast Burrito. Shazam!

I would prefer to think about lunch, but I must tend to my to-do's. Since my list is mostly in my head, let me be a little more proactive, and write it (well, type it) out.

MUST HAPPEN TODAY:
-- mail my taxes
-- read Fearon pages from Identity paper for CORE
-- start choreography for They Way We Get By for Thursdays Measure for Measure rehearsal
-- do dishes
-- review Chaplain scene for tonight's NEST rehearsal

AND THE LIST IN GENERAL:
-- prep and copy Haggadah for Sunday's Seder
-- shop and cook for Seder
-- figure out what the hell we are doing for our current CORE small group presentation on Identity
-- observe someone either live or on film with languid qualities (yes, we're back to this again)
-- memorize Helen monologue to present with languid information for Monday
-- start learning lines for NEST
-- complete choreography They Way We Get By
-- do laundry
-- schedule brow waxing
-- memorize Annie Hall scene for Acting for Film class
-- REALLY clean apartment for Monday's shoot (we're on location in my APARTMENT)
-- continue reading Barteneiff book and learning anatomy/physiology terms
-- start lesson plan/syllabus for Movement for Actors class to discuss with Barbara on Tuesday
-- buy dry cat food
-- confirm or reject nomination to teach summer dance classes


Breathe in and out. breathe in and out.

The First of Many Challenges

Okay, so I got a call from Damon on Friday asking how the heck to post a comment on this very blog. I should say that I took a break from choreographing to call him back. He was surprised that I was actually doing ANYTHING. With new blog knowledge he knew that my schedule was light. Um, that's what I get for publishing my schedule.

Anyway, I went through the posting process with him, but two days later there is still no comment. Therefore I will start the first of my challenges. If I do not get a comment by the end of the day, Mr. Boggess, I challenge you to do something silly in public and somehow document it.

5pm EST.

Go.

On Uneven Ground

So, after a week of rehearsals, I am in a new place. This has been a completely new experience for me. The past 5 days we have not had a complete cast and we've done a lot of playing and when we read the script we rarely read our own parts. The reading part I've done before, but all of the warm ups and physical exercises were nothing I'd ever done in the rehearsal room.

For example, for homework we had to go through the script and write down all of our physical actions. Mine are:

2 scans the bookshelves
looks through papers on the desk
takes letter
17 stands in the rain
reads
confesses to the Chaplain
26 kisses Jacob suddenly and hard
31 studies Susanna
36 addresses the ladies group
50 prays by her bed
53 repeats the chain of events
59 lies in bed reciting poetry

We then had to announce our actions and walk them (or mime them) while the rest of the group copied our actions. It was a little bizarre, but it forced me to be specific with my actions, so that others could copy them. The problem is that I went first and I was not able to look at my list before I started. I have not started learning my lines because the playwright is in town making changes and I don't want to keep relearning. So, I not only had a hard time remembering, but she also wanted us to fill in the gaps. What are we doing IN BETWEEN our time on stage. Including the entrances and exits from rooms and being specific about where we stand in the rain. Later the stage manager commented that the exercise was difficult to watch. Just as I did Rinde, I have to get into the brain of Irina Brown. She does not give clear directions so my brain needs to do a little analyzing before it sets my body in motion.

By yesterday, I was comfortable. I read the lines without affectation as we sat in a circle and did the exercise of finding our center and changing its weight with gusto. I do feel more experienced that all of my other cast mates. I mean I am the only grad student and they are just younger with less training. They swallow their lines and trail off ends of sentences or words. They don't have the strongest breath support. They are however super smart and well read. That's when I keep quiet.

However, at the end of rehearsal, Irina asked to see me. We walked to the other side of the room and she said "remember in the auditions that I asked you to lose the character? and talk from a real place?" I nodded "well, I just want to make sure you continue to do that." With a questioning look on my face, I asked if I had done that since the audition and she said no. I wanted to ask, THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU MENTIONING IT AGAIN??!!! but I stayed quiet and let her continue. She basically kept repeating her comment over again in different ways and then started back peddling and said that she's sure I will be brilliant. By this time I was completely confused.

I went to sleep last night in a state of uneasiness. And I just question why. Did she just want to keep me aware of something that I did once and immediately stopped upon comment? Or did she want to shift me off my center and get me into a place of unsuredness -- and more importantly a place where I can be vulnerable?

This morning, I am trying not to think about it. Or at least over think it. Today, I am going to get my free bagel and coffee from the Grad Studies Association, finish choreographing the opening number for Measure for Measure, clean up my apartment and cook some Chicken Rollatini for the pre-concert dinner at my house. How the heck am I going to fit 8 people in my apartment?

There's the email bell. Gotta run.

okay, we're rolling...

our acting class this quarter is acting for the camera with an emphasis on the editing process. it allows us as actors to see how our performances can be altered within scenes on film. tim is directing victor and jesse in a scene from bullets over broadway. charles is on boom.  i am doing a bit of pa work, but in this rare state of getting an internet connection in here, i thought i would do a little blogging.

i direct a scene from georgia with christine, rebecca and jessica on monday. and the following week randy directs tim and me in a scene from annie hall.

be funny.

go.

but i like being lazy

my thursdays and fridays are pretty light so i need to be better about sharing the wealth - making sure i stay productive on my easier days to keep the really heavy days from being completely hellish. yesterday i did plan to catch up on my reading and finish one of the dance numbers for Measure for Measure. However, I woke early to finish some reading for Barbara and got an email from Christine inviting me to a Shakespeare for teachers workshop at the mondavi center. so, i decided to go. it was a small group of local elementary teachers and some UCD students. an actress/practitioner from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre lead the workshop and we learned some great warm up games and exercises to get students interested in shakespeare. i think i will use some of the exercises in my DRA 10 class on monday.

After the workshop, i stopped by the department to make a copy of the Nest script and was wrangled into a short presentation on how to use the A/V equipment in one of the classrooms. I bowed out early and headed home. while i had so much to do, i couldn't think of anything better (and more needed) than a nap! on my bike ride home, i craved my super soft couch by the open window. a little slumber with a kitty on my belly as the breeze blew. however, when i arrived home, animal control was there and my next door neighbor, gian was freaking out. apparently the girls in one of the front apartments called animal control. i believe he was slightly intoxicated so his freaking out bordered on beligerent. he asked me if i would vouch for him. gosh, i was a little torn. his dog is flea ridden and he continuously loses one of his cats. he loves his animals, he's just not a good owner. anyway, the officer eventually made her way back to talk to him and the conversation took place right in front of my apartment. you know the one with the open window? with the little breeze? so i wound up getting back into bed and slept for about 3 hours. before getting up and heading to the wyatt to see the student production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.

this morning, i just want to stay in bed. we have our first Nest rehearsal today and it's from (catch this!) noon to 10PM. we have an hour break in there, but for the love of pearl. it's going to be intense. better yet, i found out from my friend kristin, who's stage managing that the playwright will be with us for the first week. let's just RAISE the stakes a bit.

now when the heck am i going to get to Measure for Measure rehearsals?!!?

Wicky Wacky Woo

So in Davis there's a local drink that Cafe Bernardo calls the Wicky Wacky Woo. I went there with Jessica Herman to celebrate us both being cast in Nest. I started writing about her in my last post and then deleted the paragraph. Throughout the evening of callbacks I coached her. She REALLY wanted the role of Susanna, the servant. She also read for the role that I got, Elizabeth, but she just didn't mesh. She was one of the dressers on Fate & Spinoza, and started to ask me about how to prepare for the Nest auditions during the run of the show. Since I really didn't care about being cast, I was very open with her and tried to get her out of her head.

The guy that I read with last night was cast as my husband and similar to last night he gave me absolutely nothing in tonight's second round of callbacks. Then Jessica told me that his grandmother died yesterday and he flies to Ireland for the funeral on Saturday. Okay, I will give him a little slack for that. I hope that Irina calls him out, just as she did me. If not, I will.

So tomorrow morning I have my first Independent Study meeting with Barbara and I am a little tired from that cocktail. Dude I don't even know what was in it...

So my quarter will be interesting with double rehearsals (Nest and Measure for Measure) and a full schedule of classes -- oh and I started planning my Dada Cabaret...

Buckle your seats, ladies and gents, we are in for quite a ride.

This Monday/Wednesday thing is knocking me down!

So, I have a sack of clean laundry by the front door and another in my bedroom and there are a TON of papers scattered around my apartment. It must be Wednesday!

I am trying to catch up, but think I will just take a shower, watch some TV on my laptop in bed and get an early start tomorrow. This morning I had a choice to carry my tea or ride my bicycle with both hands. The practical won out and I left my full travel mug by my back door as I hopped on my bike.

Today's DRA 10 was good. Lots of discussion about inner and external action as well as what's believable acting. Then we did a bunch of fun trust exercises. From there in Barbara's class we each had to bring in a piece of music that best shows our movement quality. I knew I needed something rhythmic and upbeat, but it was hard to find something without lyrics as the assignment required. I wound up choosing the theme from The Triplets of Belleville. It was high energy and I found myself dancing in ways I normally do not. We each had to stand in the center of the circle as our song played. The "leader" started moving and the rest of the class joined in using the leaders movement as an inspiration to create his/her own. It was fascinating to move as others do. My body began to explore shapes and flexion in different ways. Most of the class picked high energy songs, so we had quite a workout.

In Melanie's class we are working on a James Joyce poem. An excerpt from Molly Bloom from Ulysses. It's a very descriptive, sensual piece. I find myself letting go and allowing my voice to work for me. It's very interesting. This class has a certain edge to it. I wonder if it's because Melanie is leaving us. She's trying to impart a ton of knowledge on us.

I biked home and made a really good ravioli lunch with fresh broccoli and garlic. Our Film Acting class was back at the edit lab and we made some decisions about our scenes. I will be directing one with Christine and Rebecca and acting with Tim as Randy directs. If anyone has a good suggestion for 2 women scenes from a modern film, please let me know.

After our TA meeting I ran to callbacks for Nest. I had a good audition yesterday, but since I am not excited about the show, I really didn't care and left all my tensions at the door. She worked with all of the actors before me for about 15-20 minutes EACH. I went in did my monologue and song and was out in 4. She called me back on the spot.

There's something about this being a big fish in a small pond that I really like right now. I just can't get used to it -- or I'll go into major depression every time I audition outside the university.

Callbacks tonight were pretty fun. We sang a folk song as a group and then in pairs, played Assassin and Volleyball (a game similar to Zip, Zap, Zop) and then did scenes. I did feel a little old reading with the actor that would be my husband. He was good, very attractive, but gave me absolutely nothing. There was a kiss at the end of the scene. So, at least there was something. I do have to say that Irina Brown did call my out on my shit. That is a nice change of pace.

Odd Schedule

So, while there was tons to share from Mexico, there was no internet. The ideas of Grads Gone Wild and "what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico" were not quite accurate. There was indeed a lot of drinking, but nothing close to usual Spring Break antics.

Darn it. However, there's always next year.

I got back late Sunday night and jumped into Monday. Taught DRA 10 at 8AM, had a movement class with Barbara at 10, straight into a group study on voice with Melanie at noon. After a short lunch break, Tim and I found our way to the other end of the campus and Meyer Hall to have our Film Class with Sara Pia at 2:10. So that, my friends is 8-5. Christine and I were able to catch up for a moment at Delta of Venus and have a beer and a samosa before I ran back to campus to listen to the beginning of the first read through of Measure for Measure. I'm choreographing and finished about a third of the opening number over break sitting on a lounge chair looking at the ocean.

So, my Mondays and Wednesday are jammed packed and my Tuesdays, Thursday are light (only CORE in the afternoon) and I am completely off on Friday.  Perfect for reading, grading, choreographing and memorizing lines.

I audition for Bathsheba Doran's NEST today, directed by Irina Brown. There are no undergraduate men auditioning so I don't know how I will pair up. Needless to say, I am not excited about the possibility of doing more mentoring that growing as a performer.

But we'll see...