Day 63

Last night sleeping in the apartment in Minneapolis. Crazy. This has been one of the best summers of my life.

Yesterday:
We had 2 shows for HONK! And they both went very well. It was very fun working with these talented kids. Nothing bad went on during these shows. Yay! All was good. The parents provided a potluck for in between the shows and we had more food then all of us could eat. Before the evening show, we did warm ups and then Ed gave out compliments to the students. During the compliments, the stage manager came through and told them some things then wished them all good luck. Before he could leave a student called G... said, "Hey everyone let's give a round of applause to the best intern ever!" Everyone applauded, even myself...but I couldn't help but feel a little left out...but I'm an actor and I can hide those feelings. But about a second into the applause a whole bunch of students around me started yelling, "But what about Lydia! Don't forget Lydia." Which made G change it to, "The best duo of interns ever." He looked like he felt really bad about what he had done. Then when the stage manager left and we got back to the compliments, the three girls nearest me, who are some of my favorites...and some of the ones I have done favors for in the past, looked at me and said, "Seriously Lydia, don't let what he said bother you. You are seriously one of the best interns we have ever had." Awwww it was really nice that they said that. Made me feel loved again. :) Later I went into the girls' dressing room where some of the girls brought this issue up again. Some of them were mad about it saying that I was a really good intern and that it was awful of G to say that. One girl even said she preferred me over the stage manager. Awwwww, it was too nice. They really do know how to protect me. :)

After the show we had strike and then a little party where we ate some of the food from earlier and had some cake. This is when I said good bye to all the students and told them how awesome they all are. It was really horrible to have to say good bye to all of them, I really wish I could work with them all again. They were such a fun group to work with.

After the party, Sam, Sarah (costumes), Sean, Ed, and I stayed and continued cleaning up. I was sweeping up the room where we had cake. I saw that Ed was saying good bye to everyone else...and about to leave. I felt hurt that he hadn't come down to say good bye to me yet (yes, he knew exactly where I was). So I yelled to him, "Good bye Ed!" And he turned around and said a big OHhhhhhhhhhhhh. That fucking Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh is the definition our whole 3 weeks together. I do lots of shit for him, and what does he do for me? Forgets about me. Grrrrrr. So he said good bye and that he wished me good luck in the coming up school year. I said, "It's been great working with you." Even though at that point I was just super pissed at him. And he said "It's been great working with you too." Then he left. Wow he can be such a jerk sometimes. Oh well, it is over.

After I talked to Sean about it. Another "Ed Talk". He pretty much said that Ed is self-absorbed and that he just doesn't think about the people "beneath him". I really hate people like that. But Sean congratulated me on staying with HONK! and he said that it will help me later on with this career because there will always be "More Ed's and Debra's to work with." And now I know how to deal with them. :) So Sean really made me feel better after Ed left me on a sour note. Thank you Sean. :)


Today:
Today I started off in a depressed mood. I believe this is because I realized I was leaving...and it hit me hard. So I cancelled all my plans and decided I needed to be home by myself packing. But "packing" meant me throwing a few things in a bag and then laying on my bed thinking. When Karla, my roommate, got home she came into my room and asked why I was still home and if I was okay. I just started crying... I was pissed at myself for not doing anything today and that I had cancelled all my plans. But I really think it was all because I didn't want to make a big effort to do that much and that I was really quite sad about leaving. So Karla, being as awesome as she is, said that she would take me wherever I wanted...so I didn't have to ride the bus, which takes such an effort some days. But my friends that I "ditched" were already doing other things, so Karla asked if I wanted to go kayaking with her...I think she didn't think I would say yes. But the yes, really made her happy. So we went to Lake Calhoun and decided we would do a foot pedal boat instead of the kayak. It was really fun and this was my first time seeing some Minnesotan lakes. Karla and I had a blast.

After going on the lake, I went out to dinner with Melanie, an intern at CTC that I ditched earlier. We went out to "The Bad Waitress" and talked for a while. It was very nice and very relaxing. Thanks Melanie for hanging out with me! It's been great getting to know you.


Tomorrow:
I am going to Debra's Assassins rehearsal from about 10am to 1pm. Then I am coming home and doing laundry and packing the rest of my stuff. Then at about 5pm/6pm, my mom and Nana should be here. They are coming to pick me up to bring me back to Michigan. We are going out to dinner then we are packing up the car and going to stay at a hotel. Then bright and early on Tuesday morning we will be heading back to Michigan.


Crazy, fucking crazy.I cannot believe it is over. Seriously. Seriously it has been the best summer of my life. I have learned so much about theatre, children, this career path, Minneapolis, other people, and most importantly, myself. I am so happy with who I am and where I want to go with my life. I am now so sure about this career choice and it makes me so excited about the future and the journey I will have to make to get there. I am so excited for it. I will never regret my choice to come to Minneapolis for this internship. Even though I didn't get paid, paid a lot for rent and really didn't save money or whatever, I know what I have gotten from this internship is worth a lot more than the money I could have earned at a summer job or the money I have lost. I am so proud of myself for taking the risk to come to a new state, city, and theatre to try out something that I didn't know if I would really enjoy.

I want to take this moment to thank everyone to has made it possible for me to be here and to all the people who have made this experience the best ever. Thank you, you know who you are. :)

I plan on coming back here. So it doesn't feel like the end. If I don't come back here next summer, I know I will be back sometime in the future because this place really has a wonderful theatre scene. And it is not as "city like" as New York or somewhere like that. I can really see myself living here for more long term.

So I will probably do one more post tomorrow about the day and then maybe one when I get home saying more about reflection on the internship etc. But after that I will probably not be writing much here obviously because my internship will be over. But I am going to keep this blog, so that next year I can use it and continue writing about my experiences with Children's Theatre in the "big city". Thank you for reading all these posts and for keeping up with me. It's been great. See you back in the Mitten soon. If your not from Michigan, well, I will see you back in Minneapolis sometime in the future and please keep in touch.

Have a great night/day everyone!

Day 61

Tonight was opening night for HONK!!! It went really smoothly. I might have cried during curtain call because I was so proud of them...

The best part of the performance was during the Cats' song called "Play With Your Food." This song had 2 girls and one boy singing. In the middle of the song, the music cut out! But the boy hesitated for one second then decided to keep going acappella! And then they girls joined in on their part. And the best part was that they sounded amazing and were still in tune. It was incredible. Everyone backstage were staring at each other with our jaws to the floor. When they finished, we all clapped for them with the audience. We all seemed to be proud of these 3 very smart actors. Normally actors their age would have froze up and gotten out of character, but not these kids. We also had some mic issues but nothing as bad as that. The students handled it all very professionally.

We had a reception after the show where we were able to mingle with our audience. The girl's mom from yesterday (poop), came up to me to thank me and gave me a thank you card. Inside the card was a note from the mom and from the girl...plus a check for $20. I felt uncomfortable about it but then I found out Sam, the stage manager also got a card with $20 in it so I felt less awkward about it. :)


But the best part about today was this morning. After my last morning meeting at CTC this summer :(, one of the interns told me that Debra wanted to see me. All I said was "Oh shit." But it was a good meeting. She gave me a huge smile and asked (for the millionth) time if we were good. And I said yes. She then repeated how proud she is of me and all that jazz. I then started my good byes but then remembered I would see her on Monday to watch her rehearsal. I then left the office after she "checked in." But then I went back in because I wanted to check what time I should come in on Monday and she said whenever I wanted. I was about to leave again, when she said, "Wait, I want to give you one of my business cards. I want you to keep in contact or whatever. Also you can use me as a reference or whatever you need. Seriously. And I don't say this to that many people. I am very serious." And obviously I was very flattered. I said, "Thank you! Of course I would love to use you as a reference. Thanks Debra." Then we said good bye...I left with a huge ass smile on my face. She is going to be an awesome reference to have for the future. :) I feel so lucky to have gotten on her good side and to be in a place where I feel like she would easily want me back for next year.

Tomorrow we have two shows. One at 2pm and the last one at 7pm. I will have to have another long day. I will be there from 12:30pm to about 10pm+ since tomorrow night we are having our strike. Should be a very good day. I'll try to write tomorrow!

Day 60

Today was just an interesting day.

It started off with a child getting bullied (which is ironic because we are doing a frickin' musical about bullying) and being asked to look at a girl's poop.

The child was being bullied because some students thought he had been seen going home with his microphone on. And they thought this was an appropriate thing to make fun of him for. So a good portion of my morning was yelling at students for making fun of him and comforting this child. He apparently did not take his microphone home but I guess he must have misplaced it at the theatre somewhere. But anyway he got bullied. Poor kid.

The girl was making me look at her poop because she thought her stomach was bleeding. But really her poop was reddish because she ate a cupcake yesterday with pink frosting... So I got the honor of checking out her poop and then convincing her that she was definitely going to be alright. Oh the perks of being an intern.

Then for the rest of the day I helped with costumes and quick changes and all that jazz. It wasn't that bad but it definitely wasn't entertaining. But it was a great rehearsal and we are very much ready for an audience! Tomorrow night is our first performance! I can't wait.


This evening I went with Logan, Melanie, and Logan's mom to go see a show at the Guthrie. Yes, THE GUTHRIE! And yes, it was so fucking awesome. We saw the show God Of Carnage which is a comedy. It was so frickin' hilarious. I haven't laughed like that for that long in a while. It was easily one of the best shows I have ever seen.

After the show, we went to explore the building a little bit. They have this part of the building called the "Endless Bridge". Which is this piece of the building that sticks out on top of the Mississippi River. What a beautiful view! Here are some pictures!!!

It was a great night with a good show and good friends.

Tomorrow is one of my last days at CTC....I still have Saturday (And I am going in on Monday for a half day to watch Debra's rehearsal) but tomorrow will still be a sad day. It will be the last day to see a lot of my friends I have made at CTC. This experience has been incredible and I am so soooo happy I decided to take a risk and leave Michigan for the summer and come to this wonderful theatre. It has been perfect. 

Day 59

Today was one of the worst, best, stupid, smart, crazy, memorable, and teachable day I have ever had. And it is a long ass story that I have already told like 3 times...but I can and will tell it again. So hold on to your seats because it's a long and crazy story.

This morning I got an email from Ed about a posting on the CTC blog about HONK! I was asked to be in charge of student postings on the blog. The main blog lady wrote a posting about HONK! and stated some information. But this information was wrong. So Ed emailed me, Debra, and Sean asking that whoever is in charged of the blog get the corrected information and fix it. So I responded saying "Hahaha I will fix this right away! But if I get to have an excuse the main blog lady did this one. I have just been editing the students' stuff. But it will be fixed." I thought it was an acceptable response.

But apparently, in Debra's eyes, it was not. I was sitting in the dance studio in the morning with the other interns waiting for our morning meeting when Debra came in. She said good morning to everyone and then asked if I had received her email. I told her I got one this morning from her saying to Ed that I was the person in charge of the blog. But she said no, that she had sent me another one about the fact that it was my fault this posting was wrong because I was in charge of all the editing. But I told her I didn't see this post about the show but she somehow still believed it was my fault. So she started getting pissy with me...so I got a little pissy back. And then just accepted that it was my fault because I didn't want to argue with her in front of all the interns. She said she was just trying to cover my back because she thought Ed would not like my email response because it was unprofessional and was making a joke about something he was serious about. So when she finally left the room, I burst into tears. Which made me feel so embarrassed. But the interns were so incredibly awesome to me, mainly because they know how Debra works even though they didn't know what the situation was really about. Literally 2 seconds after I started crying, Lynn handed me tissues, Chloe had closed the doors, and the rest were comforting me. Thank God for these awesome interns, seriously wonderful people.

Then after the meeting, I had to go into the office to get some tape...which meant seeing Debra. She confronted me and told me she was sorry for talking like that to me in front of all the interns. Then she went to all the other interns and apologized to them about it as well...

Then she told me that she would like to walk me to my class...which was just down the hall. Then we stood in the hall and had another conversation....that should have lasted 5 minutes but instead lasted like 20 to 30. We talked about Ed and our "conflicts" which I thought were resolved... but I guess were not. We talked about the way I portray myself and that I don't portray myself the way I think I do. Fucking bullshit. But she has a point. She thinks I don't take things that seriously...that I joke too much. Which I can agree to. But then she said she knows I that take things seriously...so I guess I portray that I am not serious?...I do not agree with her. She also talked about how I should have brought the Ed "conflict" to her instead of to Sean because it would "have been resolved quicker". Again I don't quite agree. I told her I believed it had all worked out and that Ed and I had been communicating and seemed to be on the same page. But Debra thought this email I wrote would ruin that.

Then she went on about how she thought I was talented, good at this, and would be able to do well in this field and that was why I needed to know this information so I can grow even more. She said I should have responded to they email just "Yes, I will get it done." And that I should not have joked about it especially when we are in our show week when Ed is really worried about things. She does have a point and I will remember it. :) She went on about a lot of different things and she made me cry a few other times. Which made her want to hug me a few different times. But at the end of the conversation we were in a good place and I was open to what she had been saying to me. She then asked me when I was coming to one of her Assassins' rehearsals. And I told her I would be coming Monday in the morning. And she said that she would love that and that she wants my honest opinion about the show and that she wouldn't just take "I like it." So she made me feel like she respected me again. This lady can be so frustrating. But I know she is only doing a tough love thing...she said a few times in her ramble that I reminded her of herself and that she really likes me...

After this chat, I had to go to rehearsal and apologized to Ed because I was late and that I hadn't finished what he needed me to do before rehearsal. I told him I was having a "Debra talk". And he joked, "Doesn't she know that I have you now, and that she can't be asking you to do things?" Which made me feel better because I came to the rehearsal with newly mixed feelings about how Ed felt about me because Debra made me question what I thought I already knew and made better.

During rehearsal, it was crazy. Sam, the stage manager had me doing a lot of errands so I wasn't in the theatre for most of the time. Then a girl had a really bad migraine and I had to try to help her. I felt so bad for her, she kept crying and moving around and was obviously in pain. Chloe helped me with her, because I was holding back a little bit because Ed, on Monday, asked me not to baby the students so much. So I let Chloe do it and she was better at it anyway. :)

Then I had to leave them because I had my exit interview with Duncan and Sean. Which didn't go as expected. I thought we would talk more about the things I did very well and the things I could work on. Which we did talk about but only briefly. We mostly talked about the Ed "conflict". At this point I was already sick of it. We talked about ways that it could have been better and how it went wrong and that it wasn't my fault personally and all that shit. Then Sean said that it seemed that I was happier in the classrooms than when I am working on HONK! Which is true. But the only reason why I was "unhappy" in HONK! was because I didn't have things to do and I didn't know how to go about telling Ed. But I figured it out (also asked for Sean's advice) and Ed and I solved it... But normally I LOVE working on shows and this was literally the first time this has happened. Oh well, I guess there is a first for everything. It was an okay meeting and they said they enjoyed working with me and that their own critic is that I need to be more selfish with my objectives. Which isn't that what I was trying to do with Ed? But I guess it can be something I work on quicker. OH and the best part was that Sean said he could see me being successful in this field as well. :)

Then I got to back to rehearsal, which I apologized to Ed again because I hadn't been present during the morning part of the rehearsal and it was because I was running errands for Sam and dealing with migraine girl. He understood and even thanked me. I then said I had to leave again because I didn't get a chance to eat lunch because of the migraine and my meeting and he just told me "Go eat your lunch! That's important."

The rest of rehearsal was a good but slow process. It was our first time in the space so we went through the whole show scene by scene making sure the spacing was right. It took us the whole day to do the full show, which normally takes a hour.

After rehearsal I decided I would check in with Ed just because I didn't know where we stood any more. And the conversation went something like this: "Hey Ed, I just wanted to make sure we were still good. I have been hearing from others about conflicts going on and I thought we were all resolved. I have been having a great time the last few days and have felt like I have had an active role. But I talked to Debra and she made it seem like there was still a conflict or something."
Then Ed said, "She seemed to make the conflict bigger than it actually is." And I said, "YES! That is exactly what happened!" And then we laughed about Debra for a second. That she just made the "conflict" worse and that we had both thought we had handled it and handled it well. So that was really nice to hear.
Then I said, "I just want you to know that I think you are really great at what you do." Which is the truth. "And I am here because of that and because I want to learn from you. That is why I have stuck here because I really think you are amazing at directing." Which of course made him smile but it so is the truth. Then I said, "I was intimidated by you the first week because you are so good at this and I didn't want to touch anything without your permission because I didn't want to ruin your vision." I think he also respected this honesty. I also said that that may be why we were "conflicting" during the first week. Which may him say, "Well, I really didn't have too much for you to do that week, since we were doing auditions and learning songs. But now I obviously have things for you to do."
I then apologized for my email that morning and I told him I hoped he didn't think I wasn't being serious about this job etc. because Debra thought he would be upset about it. But all Ed said was, "Lydia I knew what you were saying. You were covering your ass and making light of the situation...I would have done the same thing." Which gave me so much relief. I then joked, "You really didn't think I didn't know we only have been rehearsing for 3 weeks instead of 4?" (which was one of the mistakes in the blog posting). Which made him say, "Of course I knew it wasn't you. I knew it had to have been someone else." Then we hugged and said once again how happy we were working together and that the next time we work together we are just going to keep our "conflicts" to ourselves and not bring "others" into it, especially because when we handled it, it made it all better. :) Fuck yes.

So I left the internship feeling good because I do know how to talk to people and how to read them. I knew the email wouldn't bother Ed as much as Debra thought it would. She was starting to make me feel like I don't understand people and I don't work with them to work things out. But she was wrong. :) I also left feeling so much respect for Ed and knowing that we are in a good place. Yay. A good crazy day.


After the internship we had a "Intern Thank You Potluck". Where like all the important people came to meet us. We ate food and then were asked to stand in a big circle so we could all be introduced to each other...such a theatre thing to do. :) The best part of the Potluck was that Peter, the Artistic Director aka the most important person at CTC, came over to my group of interns and talked to us. He is a real down to earth person. He asked me all about HONK! even though I didn't tell him I was doing it...he just knew. :) He really cared about us little interns. It felt really nice.


Then after this Potluck. Logan, Melanie, and I went exploring! We went down by the Mississippi River and took pictures then went out for dinner. It was a really nice night and a great finish to my weird and wonderful day. So I will finish up this long post with some pictures.

Day 58

Tomorrow is our first time in our performance space for HONK! For the past couple of weeks we have been in a rehearsal hall up on the 4th floor. But tomorrow we will finally be moving to the black box on the first floor!!! The black box has at least 10 more feet of room onstage so we have been itching to get there for quite some time. After rehearsal we had another production meeting which only lasted a half hour. Then Sam, the stage manager, some other people and me moved down all our scenery and props from the rehearsal hall into the black box. So tomorrow is going to be a very important but good day.

After rehearsal tomorrow the staff is throwing a "Thank You Intern" Party! So that should be enjoyable! I just got an email about it a couple of hours ago...so I should probably go, even if it is a little last minute. :) Then after that party Logan, Melanie, and I are going to go exploring! We are going to go see the Mississippi River and go to St. Paul. I am really looking forward to this and I will hopefully be taking lots of pictures of these two events to post here.

It is almost midnight here and I NEED to go to bed. But tomorrow I will try to leave some more time to write a much better and longer post. Because I do have a lot I am missing but maybe these can be things I tell you all in person. :)

But in general, already this week has been a good week. But I really can't wait to go home very soon. Have a great night/day!!!

Day 57

Holy crap! I have one week left! I cannot believe it. My mom and my Nana come next Monday to come pick me up. Then Tuesday morning we are back off to Michigan! So crazy.

This week is going to be crazy busy but it's going to be great! This week is show week for HONK! Opening night is Friday at 7pm. And then we have 2 shows on Saturday, one at 2pm and the last one at 7pm. Plus I need to start packing to move out (not like I have that much to pack...so that will only take a few hours on Sunday). And I want to still go out and see and do as much as I can. Especially since the last couple days I have not done anything because I have still not been feeling well.

Honk! rehearsal went really well today. We went through some of our trouble spots and then ran through the show. Ed gave me lots of things to do, so I am happy. I am in charge of figuring out quick changes, when people can go to the green room, and really just the backstage area. Ed and I had a talk after rehearsal and it really is seeming like he is trying to include me. Finally. :) Yay! I think once I started speaking up a little bit more and telling him my opinion (even if they were stupid opinions) he started respecting me and realizing I could help. So, I am very happy about that.

Here are some Honk! rehearsal pictures I took on Friday.

Some colorful mother hens from the song "Joy of Motherhood"

Ida with her ducklings.

Drake with the ducklings first laying eyes on Ugly.

Drake trying to see if Ugly is a Turkey.

Drake taking a picture of the family.

Family picture.

Ida getting interview about Ugly's disappearance.

Townsducks figuring out places to look for Ugly.

Greylag and his troop during "Wild Goose Chase"

Swan ballet to "Now I've Seen You".

Frog dance to "Warts and All".

The cats helping Ugly out. 

It's a really fun show with a lot of talented actors. I feel very fortunate to be working on this wonderful show. 

I am going to try to update every single day this week, since I am doing so much and it is my last week. So stay tuned! 

Day 53

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days but I can fill you in very quickly.

Monday: Just rehearsal for HONK! Learned new songs, blocked new scenes, you know the drill. Theune came by quickly so I could give him a tour of the children's theatre. It was great being able to show him this theatre I have been working in for the past two months.
I went out for milkshakes with my friend Madison who just graduated from Grand Valley and lives (and is from) St. Paul. It was great talking about things from back home and hearing about each others lives in the Twin Cities.

Tuesday: I woke up with a super sore throat and just a queasy feeling so I called in sick to the internship and literally slept all day.

Wednesday: Woke up again not feeling the best so I called in again and slept all day. Very boring days. I hated missing my internship. Hated it!

Thursday: I made myself go to the internship, but it has been a hard day. Today was the runny nose, sore throat, and headache portion of my cold. It sucked but I was really glad to be back.

In the morning, at 7am, a good amount of us interns met at the theatre so we could all go out to breakfast before work. A surprising amount of interns showed up (9 out of 12ish). We had the best conversations and it was just great being around people since I had been stuck in my apartment for the past 2 days. I am really going to miss these people.

When I went to HONK! later the stage manager was super excited to see me (he is my age and a fellow intern). Ed greeted me the best ever...which still wasn't that great but I will take it! Some students asked me how I was feeling and seemed to miss me. But not that many and I didn't dwell on that for two long but tried instead to have a good time with them. At lunch we had a mini musical dance party so of thing and I did a little too much and exhausted myself. Oh well, it was fun. We pretty much have the whole show blocked, choreographed, and sung. Which only took less than two weeks, crazy. We just have a few things to clean up and then we will be ready for show week next week! We also have the majority of costumes and props. We are so ready for show week!

Today after the internship we had a resume workshop. Ellen Baker, who is the Production Manager of CTC, lead the workshop. She went through how to write an application letter, a resume, explained some important tips for interviewing, and gave us some employment resources. SO FRICKIN' AMAZING AND HELPFUL!!! She is the person in charge at CTC of hiring the majority of the staff so she knows her shit. She gave us two guides: one for designers, stage managers, administration, and technical theatre staff and one for actors. She then took our resumes to look over to correct and to help make them more powerful. So I should be getting my resume back with helpful tips from the Production Manager of one of the top children's theatres in America!!! What an awesome opportunity. That was the main reason why I went to the internship today because I knew this would be important. Too bad I snuffled through the whole thing, it was worth it though.

Day 49

Today was an awesome day. Today was "spend the day with the Theune family". The Theunes are here from Michigan on their vacation, going to the Mall of America, of course, and visiting me.

We first went to the Mall of America aquarium where we got FREE tickets because I knew one of the people that work there (he is an intern at CTC). THANK YOU CHRIS! So that was great, we went knowing that Chris was going to give us 50% off but then a manager or someone was there by him and said "Oh you're with Chris? Then you get your tickets for free." It was awesome.

The aquarium was amazing. I think the best part about it was reminding myself that it was in a mall! Here are some pictures:

We then went to the Theme Park in the Mall of America and rode a couple of rides. The girls rode a swing ride and then the twins, Nikki and I went on a roller coaster. It was really fun. Oh and then we met Spongebob, my favorite Nickelodeon character. I wasn't excited at all. :P

Then we all went to Como Zoo in St. Paul. Which is a FREE zoo and it was pretty awesome for being so. More pictures:

Then after the zoo, we went out to dinner in Downtown Minneapolis (after the girls insisted that they see my apartment, of course :] ). We went to Brit's Pub. And I had my first alcoholic drink with my favorite teacher/director/mentor/etc and his wonderful wife. He just sent me this picture. 

It was an awesome day with a truly awesome family. These people are a blast! Have a safe trip to Packer Land and then back home to West Michigan Theunes!!! 

Also tomorrow Theune is coming to CTC to see where I work. I am going to give him a quick tour. It's going to be awesome showing him this amazing place I have been working at this summer. 

Also I am having coffee after the internship tomorrow with my friend Madison who just graduated from GVSU and lives in St. Paul. I haven't seen her all summer and it is going to be great to catch up. 

Such a wonderful, wonderful day. :) I am definitely going to bed early tonight.  

Theatre Games

Thought I would make a list of all the new theatre games I have learned so far. I took them from other interns and teachers, so feel free to take as well. :)

• "Vampire"- There is one person who is the vampire. The whole group, including the vampire, has their eyes closed. Everyone moves slowly around the room. (There should be some people, the teachers, with their eyes open making sure no one runs into anything). The vampire finds people and taps them 3 times on the shoulders with both hands. The person they tapped must wait 3 seconds, scream and then fall to the ground and then wait another 3 seconds and become a vampire as well. If 2 vampires tap each other, they say, "Num, num, num" and move on. When everyone becomes a vampire, the game is done. Played with: High schoolers.
• "Bus Stop"- One person at a time sits at the bus stop (can be a bench or whatever). Another person comes up and improvs a way to get the bus stop bench from the first person. It is usually something awkward so the first person will run away. This is a fast paced game. So if the first person shouldn't wait until they feel super uncomfortable to left the bus stop but when the second person does the first awkward thing. Played with: High Schoolers.
• "Zip, Zap, Zop"- Like "Zip, Zap, Zoom". You pass the word around, one word at a time, by pointing your handing out in front of you like you are praying and make eye contact with the person you are passing it to. I have also played where on the Zop you can yell "Sea Monkeys" and the group has to yell "Unite". Played with: High Schoolers and 4th-6th Graders. 
• "Footstepper"- The group spreads out equally in the space. One person is the leader. The leader jumps and everyone needs to jump at the same time as them. If not, they're out. When jumping the leader can step on other people's feet to get them out. After the leader jumps, he/she then points to another person and they become the jumper leader. Once the group gets a hand at the game, the goal is to work as a team to get to only one person in only a minute. Played with: 4th-6th graders.
• "Falling Numbers"- Everyone gets a number. There is one leader who calls out a number (I suggest using a piece of paper to write down the numbers because when the numbers get out, it's hard to remember who is in and who is out). The leader calls out numbers, and whoever is that number needs to start to fall down, the rest of the group tries to catch them. If the person falls to the floor they are out, if they are saved, they get to stay in. Played with: 4th-6th graders. (this is one of my favorites).
• "Honey I Love You"- One person is it. That person goes around the circle asking "Honey if you love me will you please please smile?" The other person needs to say "Honey, I love you but I just can't smile."  If the second person smiles they are the new "it". If they don't smile, the "it" goes to another person. They can do whatever they want vocally and physically but they cannot touch the other person. Played with: All ages.
• "Doggy Where's Your Bone"-A person sits in a chair with a "bone" underneath them (the bone can be anything). The rest of the group sits in a circle around the "dog". The group goes one at a time to slowly try to steal the bone without the "dog" noticing (the "dog" has his/her eyes closed). If the "dog" thinks someone is or has taken their "bone" they must say stop and guess who has taken it.

Those are all the games I have written down! I know there are more. I will probably make another list soon.

Day 47

Today was not as an eventful day as yesterday but it was still a good day.

I seem to be back on Debra's good side. She complained to me about the show she is directing (Assassins, which is the 5 week Senior intensive) for more than 5 minutes. I enjoyed it though. I then asked her if on the Monday of the week I leave to go back to Michigan, if I could sit in on her rehearsal for the whole day, and she said "Duh, you can come in anytime you want." Frickin' love her. I just am dying to see how she directs.

When I got upstairs...I was late (since I was talking to Debra). So the group were already working on learning some songs. When we transitioned into blocking some more scenes, E came up and thanked me for yesterday. I asked her if she was feeling better and she said yes. Poor girl. But she seemed really excited to be back. And seriously this was a bonding experience, she is one of my favorites now...if I can have favorites. :)

We have blocked about half of the show!!! The students' homework for the weekend is to memorize their parts for that half of the show. Next week we will finish blocking the show, and I am sure, start doing some run throughs.

Lunch was so successful today!!! We did a scavenger hunt and it caught all of the rowdy boys' attentions. So good thing to know for the future...if you have a lot of rowdy 4th-6th grade boys to entertain give them something that will occupy all their attention, something that is very organized. It seems very obvious now. :)

I have decided to stay on HONK! for the rest of my time here. No other camps or half days. I really like what we are accomplishing with this camp and the students are fun and incredibly talented. The only negative is I can't figure out what Ed wants from me. My plan is to ask him, again, straight up. He is just very independent with his directing that he has a harder time giving me things to do. So I am going to try to just start doing more without him telling me. Like taking certain actors into the hall and running lines or something. I am also going to talk to Sean to see what he thinks, if he has any advice. I just know Ed is a wonderful director and I want to learn his secrets...but he has a hard time telling people what they are! So I need to work harder to get them. :)

I have a great weekend planned for me! The Theunes are coming to the Twin Cities area tomorrow afternoon!!! We are going to go see Annie Jr. at a local theatre and maybe some other things. Sunday we are going to the Mall of America! I am so excited they are letting me be involved in their vacation. I am very excited to see them all. Have a great night, y'all!!!

Day 46: One for the books

Today was a crazy day. Crazy but interesting and good.

The following post is only suited for mature audiences. Thank you very much.

This morning I walked in to a girl (very pretty...barbie doll type, one of my students) telling me that her stomach was hurting her and she just wanted to let me know. I told her to take as many breaks as she needed throughout rehearsal, but just to let us know. About 5 minutes later she came up to me and said that she was feeling worse and that she wanted to call her mom because her mom would know what to do. So we went downstairs and she called her mom. She cried while telling her mom that she wasn't feeling well. But the mom seemed not to be able to pick her up right away and told her to try to stay.

So I took (let's call her E) E to the green room to lay down. I got her some water and a cold compress for her head. I then went back and told Sean and Debra what was going on. Sean asked me if E might be feeling bad about the role she was cast and that maybe this upset stomach was from that. I said no, I thought she was happy with her role. I also said that E thought it might be from something she ate. Then Debra looked at me and asked if it might be her period. That she is old enough to be starting it for the first time (E is 13 years old). I first thought that this couldn't be the answer. Debra asked me if I wanted to ask E. I said that I probably could but that I might be a little blunt about it and this is obviously a sensitive situation. So Debra asked E where her stomach pain was, and E pointed to her lower belly....where most girls have cramps. Debra then asked her if she has ever had her period and E said no. Debra then said that this may be her period and that if she needed anything, like supplies, she could just ask me. Debra left and I tried to distract E by talking to her. She was wiggling a lot and was in obvious pain. Then she asked for the trash...so she could vomit in it. I gave her my hair tie and rubbed her back. I also told her it was okay after she told me sorry and that she didn't have to be embarrassed.

After that she went to the bathroom a lot...it seemed to be to check if she had gotten her period yet. In the meantime, Sean came down to ask if she wanted some Sprite or some crackers. E didn't seem to care, so since Sean is so frickin' nice and cares for kids, he got her some anyway.

After she vomited, she called her mom, and her mom said someone would be there soon. Someone got there a hour later.

After the many bathroom trips, E told me she needed the trash again...and again we repeated the vomit game.

Then finally after the millionth bathroom trip, E came out and announced to me, that there was blood. I told her I would be back with a pad asap. So I jogged down to Sean's office and told him that I needed a pad (my backpack was upstairs...so I couldn't get any of mine). Sean said we could get one from the machine...but we didn't have charge. So I found another female intern and asked her for one. And of course she had one. I gave the pad to E and made sure she knew how to use it...not really that hard. After she went to the bathroom again, Sean came down the hall and announced to me that he had "stuff" for me. I looked in his hand and he had a tampon and pad from the machine. :D He was really proud that he had figured out that he has a key to the machine. I love this man.

When E came out of the bathroom she had calmed down quite a bit. Since she now understood that she wasn't dying. She then took a nap. I sat by her reading a magazine. Later she woke up and asked me some questions about being a woman aka will cramps always be like this and will they last forever?!?

Then soon after someone came for her. That person was her wide-eyed step father who was just recently filled in by Sean. What a whole nightmare of a situation for E. :(

E and I went upstairs quick to get her stuff. I then told her that I would have supplies tomorrow if she needed any and that she should not be embarrassed to ask because all girls ask each other for them. Then I told her that when she gets home she needed to take some meds and take a nap. I felt so bad for her. She had such horrible cramps... I don't think I have ever had any that bad.

Later Sean said to me that I handled the situation really well. He also mentioned that this was probably the most important job I have had to do here at CTC so far. Which I have to agree. This girl will remember this traumatic situation for the rest of her life and it was important that there was someone there like me to handle the situation in a positive and respectful way. It's interesting the things you learn that's aren't theatre related on a children's theatre internship. :) But I am thankful this experience. I can now add to my resume: Can deal with females just starting period. :P


After this situation, in another classroom, a teacher accidentally hit a kid in the face. She was gesturing and the kid somehow got behind her and she hit him. He started screaming. His lip was cut over and there was lots of blood.

So Sean's joke for the day: "It was a bloody day."  :D I seriously enjoy this man so much.

There were some other minor things that happened in my class...minor injuries but not as important. But the lesson for today was that there was some fucking shit going on.


Lunch was better today. We decided to let them play tag. Which wore the students out and made their afternoon teachers thank us...so we should probably do it tomorrow too.

I had another production meeting for HONK! after the internship today. Nothing too much going on. It was just great to be included and able to see how a professional production meeting is run.


After everything today, I went out with some intern friends: Logan, Lynn, and Melanie out for dinner and to see Little Shop of Horrors. It was a really great evening with great friends and a good show. This was my first time seeing Little Shop, and I have to say that I wasn't disappointed. We are hopefully all going to explore the Mississippi River/St. Paul next week. I can't wait.

Now, I have to get to bed, since it is late here. But I'll write tomorrow of course. Miss all my Michigan friends and family, but I will be home soon enough.

Day 45

3 weeks today and I will be making my way back home. This internship has really gone fast.

Not too much to report about HONK! Just learning songs and dances, and blocking scenes. The biggest thing I did today was work with the cats by splitting up their lines (the cat is usually played by one person, but in our show we are having two) and then reading through it with them. This was really fun and exactly what I want to be doing. Helping the actors with their parts. These actors had a great idea about their cats...they want one to be smart and one to be dumb. So we were discussing how to make these lines fit those descriptions. I loved it. I told Ed at the end of class that I really enjoyed this and would love to do more of that kind of work. Ed said he would try but that their wouldn't be that many opportunities for it....grrrrr. I am getting sick of turning music on and off, making copies, watching him teach the cast how to act and dance, and etc. I know it comes with the intern territory....but it can get kind of boring sometimes. BUT I do really love watching the students work though, that is very entertaining and Ed is very good at what he does. I just hate having to shush the students that are not onstage. That is not fun at all. Oh well, there are always going to be ups and downs to being an intern.

Lunch went better today...but not very much. We started off playing Wax Museum, which is a stupid game in my opinion but the kids really enjoy it. But it's a game where people get out and then can't play anymore. So the kids that weren't playing anymore were running and screaming around the room. So I switched the game to a game called People, Trees, Storms that I learned at Grand Valley. It was much more successful. It didn't exclude any students and it had the students running....the goal was to try to get some of the energy out. I think we are going to play this game tomorrow as well since it was so successful. Yay! Even though we had so much success with the game, there were still students that didn't want to play but instead wanted to run around the room...it was very distracting. Oh well, can't win them all.

After the internship I went out for coffee with Melanie who is a new intern from Memphis. It was very nice chatting with her. And I had been craving an iced chai ALL FRICKIN' DAY!

Mostly likely tomorrow, a group of interns and I are going to see the musical Little Shop of Horrors. I have never seen this show but I have always wanted to. Anna, who was a teacher I worked with last week, is the director of this show. I am really excited to have an "intern outing" and to see another show. 

Day 44

Today was audition day.

They reviewed some songs in the morning, then did their audition song for Ed and Victor (vocal coach). These kids are seriously talented. This was one of the least painful singing auditions I have ever been to. It was fun listening to all the different types of voices.

Later in the morning they did some scene work...which was also part of the audition. Again it was fun watching them all. Very fun.

I had to go downstairs to do lunch with the younger kids. (Which takes really important bonding time away from my HONK! group...but next week I will be able to have lunch with them, so no worries). The kids downstairs were crazy and wild today. We tried to lead some games and it was kind of successful... The kids who were playing the games seemed to kind of be into it. But the kids who didn't want to play with us...were kind of a distraction. Tomorrow we are kind of giving in and playing a game that all the kids seem to want to play. It's kind of a mystery game...but not really.

After lunch, my HONK! students reviewed some dances and then had their dance auditions. Seriously I am so impressed by their dancing. SO GOOD. And they learn so quickly.

Then they did some "call backs" and some students had to do some more singing and scenes.

Then Ed, Victor and Mackenzie (choreographer)  left. Leaving Sam (stage manager) and me in charge. We played some games with them. We played "Kitty Wants A Corner", "Honey If You Love Me", and "Party Quirks". So lots of fun games (If you want to know how any of these games work let me know!)

Then Ed, Victor and Mackenzie came back and sat the students down in a circle and told them their roles. Which was cool but sad at the same time because I then got to see the excitement of the students when they got the role they wanted and the disappointment when the students didn't get the part they wanted. There was a little boy who kept repeating over and over that he could believe he got the part he got...he seemed to be really disappointed about it. Most of the other students kept to themselves. But I could read their faces of course. It is hard to keep those kinds of feeling to yourself: excitement and disappointment.


After work I walked out and realized how hot it was. I looked later on weather.com and it said the temperature was 96 degrees but felt like 120 degrees. Soooooooo gross. So an intern offered to drive me home. Thank God for nice people!

Day 43

It's very hot here. Yucky. But thank God my apartment AND CTC are air conditioned. Just walking from the apartment to CTC and later in the day back to the apartment, were enough to really get me sweating.

Today I started the 3 week intensive for middle schoolers. These kids are really talented. Seriously. We sang through some of the songs, and they picked them up really quickly AND sounded good. Then we learned some dances (which I had to participate in) and they picked up on the dances also really quickly...whereas I, did not. :) Dancing is one of my goals this year to work on more...if that means taking a class at GVSU or really listening to Ed when he teaches us these dances, I will do it. Ed is really talented. He went away for about a half a hour to a hour and choreographed a whole dance and then  came back and remembered it enough to teach the kids....plus his dance moves are really impressive. He is so talented and knows what the hell he is doing.

Dancing was really the most I did. Other than making copies, taping the floor (this is when you tape what the real stage is going to be like on the rehearsal floor and what kinds of things will be on stage so the actors will get use to the area they will have), and other intern like things. I also did a lot of watching, which was fun, since these students really know what they are doing. And if they don't know what they are doing, then they still try. It's going to be a really impressive 3 weeks.

Tomorrow afternoon we are holding auditions for their roles. They had auditions to get into the show in April but waited until now to give them their parts. So today, we tried for an ensemble feel which we will have in a lot of the show. This is nice so everyone felt good about getting into the show, but no one felt like shit because they didn't get the part they wanted etc. But now they will know each other a little bit more and know where Ed is going with the show. So hopefully the rejection won't be as hard...but we'll see.


I lead lunch today with Briana. This meant that I had to go all the way to the basement (my class is on the 4th floor again!) and eat lunch with the little kiddies and then take them into the dance studio and entertain them. Today we played a game called Sandman. This game is like Assassins, if you know that game. A sandman is secretly picked by me (students close their eyes, and I tap one of their heads). Then the students go around greeting each other, by shaking each others hands. When the sandman greets someone, she/he needs to wink at them. The person who got winked at then needs to count to 5 and then fall to sleep (lay down on the floor). The players need to try to figure out who is the sandman. If they want to guess who it is, they need to yell out STOP! If they guess wrongly, they "go to sleep". It was kind of a successful day. It really didn't keep their attention for 30 minutes though...so next time (tomorrow) we are going to do two games instead of one.


After the internship I stayed at CTC and helped out Ritchy. Ritchy also is a costume/wardrobe person (he was the education assistant who took over for that sick teacher). He has worked in wardrobe for about 10 years. He is doing costumes for the show Anything Goes at a neighboring theatre. I offered my help a week ago and he took it. Especially since his first dress is tomorrow and he still has a lot to do. So I stay there for about 2 hours and sewed a lot of snaps. Which is a pain in the ass job but I know Ritchy appreciated it. It was my good deed for the day. :)

Day 42

The last few days have been pretty awesome.

Thursday Night: I saw Harry Potter with a couple of friends and it was incredible! Such a great ending to the series and my childhood. I will read these books to my children and I will also continue to read them to myself over and over again. Yes, they are just that good.

Friday: Showings went really well. Morning was okay...still kind of chaotic but the students performed, the parents enjoyed it, and that's all that matters. Afternoon was just awesome. They sang and danced to 4 songs ("Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis, "Hard Knock Life" from Annie, "Monkey Around" from Seussical the Musical, and "So Long, Farewell" from Sound of Music.)  They did so well, and you could tell they were having fun. It was very sad to say good bye to all of my k-3rd graders. I think this is one of my favorite groups to work with. So loving and so much fun.

Next week I start the 3 week intensive of Honk! with middle schoolers which is also one of my favorite groups to work with. I already have the songs in my head just because I listened to the cd once or twice. The songs are quite catchy.

Saturday: I went out to eat with two intern friends. We went to a bar type restaurant and I had my second drink as a 21 year old...I suck at drinking...but I try. We picked a really bad restaurant because the Twins game was going on at the same time and this restaurant was right next door to the Target center where they play. And of course the people I were going with were running late (one got lost and the other couldn't find a parking spot) so I stood in front of the restaurant while hundreds of Twins fans passed by me for a good 20 minutes. It was actually some very nice people watching. Also I got hit on...which was entertaining and the guy was actually kind of cute. :) After dinner we went to see Harry Potter! Yay! for me it was the second time and for the other girls it was the first. It was just as good as the first time. This time I wasn't so emotional so I caught a few more things during the movie.

Sunday: Today I am doing nothing. I actually slept in until about 11:30am. I couldn't believe it but it was really nice. I may go on a walk soon, since it looks really nice outside.

Next weekend my high school director/teacher and his family (The Theunes!) are coming here for their vacation to go to the Mall of America! So we are going to hopefully see a show together and go out for dinner. It will be really nice to see them and have some people I really know here to hang out with. I cannot wait to see them all. Have a safe trip Theunes!

3 more weeks here and then back to Michigan. I am excited about going home but sad that my time here is almost done. There is still a lot I want to do here before I go. One being seeing more shows.

Day 39

I had my first professional production meeting today. And it was intimating as hell, but I survived. Ed asked me if I wanted to join in on the production meeting for Honk! It was during lunch and I really couldn't say no. It was up on the 4th floor in a room called the Skyline Room aka "the best room with the best view in the building, so all the important people are there". Scary. And of course I was so nervous about going up there, that I forgot to bring a pen/pencil and a piece of paper to take notes. Not like I really needed to...but it would have looked like I was excited about it and actually prepared. Dammit. Oh well, it was okay. I have three weeks to show them all what I got and this is all a learning experience anyway. This was the first time on my internship that I was actually scared/intimated...so I think that's good. Especially since I have been working here for 4 weeks at a Professional, Tony Award winning, Equity theatre.

The classes went well today. Just working on things for the showings tomorrow. So not too much report there.

I was tired/hyper today...weird mood. I needed to drink coffee but then I was hyper because of Harry Potter opening tonight. Which I am now going to!!! YAY! So I can't wait and have no idea what to do with myself right now. I can't nap because I am so excited. But tomorrow I am going to be so tired. But whatever, it is going to be so worth it. I cannot wait. It's going to be so stinking good.

Day 38

I talked to Ed right when I got into my internship today about Honk! next week. We now seem to be on the same page about my objectives for working with him on this show. Yay!

First class was a little rough. The teacher did some activities that were really boring and not very active for the whole class. Only a few students were acting at a time and the rest were in the audience sitting, watching, and waiting. Not easy things for k-3rd graders to do. I even had trouble. It was more than a half an hour of doing this same activity. I left once for a coffee break and then whenever a student asked to go to the bathroom, I said "thank God" and went with them. This is something I NEED to remember for this age group. If I do this sort of activity again ALL students need to be involved, they cannot and should not sit still for that long. Or the class needs to be broken up into two or more groups to do that sort of activity. That was torture.

We wore name tags again for the 3rd day in a row. But instead of putting our real names on the name tags we put our Superhero names on them. So I had to create a name, and I have to say I am not very pleased with my name. Rainbow Queen. I have rainbow powers. Yeah, I know, a little lame. I had one boy come up to me and tell me it was a horrible name. :) I asked him if he could think of a better one, I would definitely love to hear it and use it. He could not. Boo. There were some great names in the group: Sea Swallower, Jackster, Super Flower Lily, Super Strong, Nature Saver, and so many more.


My second class was much better. I LOVE the way Anna (the teacher) had the students create their story. She picked out 3 songs that the students will dance and sing to, that kind of structure the story. The songs she picked out: "Jailhouse Rock" by Elvis, "Hard Knock Life" from Annie, and "Monkey Around" from Seussical the Musical. She wanted the characters to somehow be in jail ("Jailhouse Rock"), then get on a pirate ship ("Hard Knock Life"), and then end up in a jungle ("Monkey Around"). She split the class into 3 groups. The first group had to make up the story from the beginning and how they got into jail. The second group had to make up the story from the jail until the pirate ship. The third group had to make up the story from the pirate ship until they were in the jungle. This method gave us a really interesting, original, and fun script that all the students contributed to. And it only took about 15 minutes to write the whole thing. Brilliant.

After work went out with Logan to get iced chai teas at a coffee place close by to CTC called Spyhouse. It was nice having some girl talk.Thank God, she is at this internship.

Sad news: probably will not be going to tomorrow night's midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2. So so so sad. But it all makes sense. I am most likely be going to Friday night instead to that midnight showing. I just need to keep reminding myself that it is STILL opening day...even if I am not seeing it the first chance available. Oh well, at all I will see it. Still breaks my heart a little bit.  

Day 37

Morning Class (SUPERHEROS!): Time flies for me in this class! I really think it is because of all of the awesome students in this class. I have a blast with them! Today, after I did a statue scene with a group of boys, I went around and high fived them all. A big mistake. This lead to millions of rounds of "high five, low five, too slow!" Which I was totally fine pretending that they all tricked me each time. The boy from yesterday (we will call him K) still liked me! Yay! Today we had a poking war. He would poke me and then I would secretly poke him back. So much fun.

In this class we played some walking games where we acted like either superheros or villains. We also acted out a scene where some of us were superheros, some were villains and some were prisoners. We also are trying to make a list of all super powers we can think of. Right now we are up to 82 different powers. By the end of the week we want to be up to 200. I thought the class was fun and entertaining until Ritchy (who is the assistant for this class) told me that one of the students told his mom that he was bored during the class. Which I can understand. The teacher is trying to do some activities that are a little advanced for k-3rd. It is a hard age group to keep together because the 3rd graders are grasping the activities much quicker than the kindergartners. I really hope this kid comes back tomorrow and that the teacher tries some new strategies to keep him involved. I would really like to learn from what he does from here.


Afternoon class (MUSIC JAMS): I have a couple girls in this class that follow me around. :) So I make sure to do everything that the teacher is saying so that these girls will be doing what she says. Today we worked on a dance we learned yesterday to an Elvis song (title slips my mind right now). We also learned a dance and the singing to the Annie song "Hard Knock Life". The students will be pretending they are sailors/pirates on a ship and that they have a hard life. It is as cute as it sounds.

I think Anna (the teacher) is doing a really great job with this class. I think her style would be the closest to a style I would use. She has control of her classroom but isn't always yelling at the students. She goes to the flow and takes the students' inputs. She also plays music all the time. I do enjoy learning from her.


This morning Sean announced that I would be in charge of the "lunch break" next week and that I can pick a partner to work with. (We do activities for the students after they eat their lunches). I picked Briana, who hadn't done it yet. I think we are going to do a Mystery week! Each day we will do a mystery type game. Some ideas I have: scavenger hunt, the game assassins (winking game-will probably change name), a game like Mafia, and set up our own "murder" mystery story where everyone is a suspect. It should be a lot of fun, but lots of planning.


After classes today, I went in to talk to Sean about Honk! Which is the 3-week intensive for 4th-8th graders that starts next week. The director, Ed, said to me a couple of weeks ago that my main job would be to do props. After thinking about it, I went to Sean and Debra and asked if there would be more to the job than props because that is not what I am here for. I'm here on a education internship. Sean said he would talk to Ed about it and get back to me. So today I asked what Ed said.

Apparently, the job will not just be props. I will most likely be pulling props with the Prop Master and Sean, but for not very long. Then I am just in charge of tracking the props (making sure they are in the right spots, knowing where they are going onstage). Sean said my job will hopefully be more like Assistant directing. Which is much more of what I want to do. But he told me that I need to talk to Ed myself and tell him what my objectives are, so I can get all I can from this experience. Sean said this is going to be a great experience. He said that the students that are in this show are intense, serious, and talented. And that I will learn a lot from Ed. Which I think I will. I want to know how he is so organized, straightforward, and what his secrets are for teaching. But Sean told me that I need to be selfish about  my internship. That if this isn't something I want to do, I can tell him anytime. He said to try it a week, and if by the second week I don't want to do it I can do something else, or I can go to half days. I have a feeling that I am going to like it. Sean also told me that I have been getting great reviews from my past teachers. That the best part of me is that I am confident in what I am doing. He said a lot of interns go into the classes a little scared...but that I don't do that (I just don't show it :] ). He also shared with me that Debra was really impressed by me, that I came to them about the whole props job and shared my concerns with them, instead of just doing what they ask without enjoying it. That's a big thing to hear from them. I then asked Sean, if the teachers had any things they thought I should work on (because that is what I am here for, to improve), but Sean said not yet! He said that at the end of the internship he will give all the interns information about what they worked best at/with and suggestions on what to work on. That seems really helpful.

So all in all, a really great day. It's good to hear these sorts of things from Sean, so that I know that they care and that this internship is really worth everything that I have sacrificed. It is also great to hear that I am being successful at this sort of work. Good feelings.


Have a great night/day! Talk to you tomorrow!