Day 25

Last day of June! Then one more month and a little more than a week, then my internship is over. :(

Not much to update on. Final showings are tomorrow, not worried at all about them. It is super hot here. Like 90s+. So yucky. Thank God, the Theatre Arts Training Program/CTC is air conditioned and in the basement. So I stayed cool until I had to leave, of course.

Logan and I went to get iced chai at Spyhouse (a coffee shop about 2 blocks away from the theatre). It was really nice just to talk to her about the internship and to get a break from the children. Today was a rough day for the both of us but we both survived! The kids, in general, were just acting crazy!

I am so tired, like I always am at this time. My roommate left for the holiday weekend to go to South Dakota (where her family lives). So I have the apartment for the weekend/next week to myself. I am excited, to have the freedom of a empty apartment.

Okay, that is all I am going to update on tonight. I am too tired to try to remember any more. I will have a good amount of posts over the weekend/next week because of my break and birthday and just Minneapolis adventuring! Good night!

Day 24

Hey y'all.

Not too much to update. 4 and 5 year olds are doing about the same things but again with different stories.

During my "break" between my first class and lunch, I actually did some real intern work! I was asked to cut paper and file! Lots of fun... ha ha. We were also asked to bring water out to the high school group because they were working outside and it was super hot out today. Finally Minnesota was hit with some hot weather! The last time that happened, was when I moved here. Tomorrow we are supposed to have a heat advisory, so we will be bringing out water again, I'm sure.

Other news: I might actually be doing things with people for my birthday! Probably not a lot of people because most are going home for the Holiday; plus it is our week off next week. So even if I just get to hang out with 1 person it is better than just hanging out with myself...going to the bar and buying myself a drink. We are going to go bowling! Which is of course a drinking sport! :P I will probably not drink as much as most people do on their 21st. But I already know of 2 or more occasions/parties/get togethers I will be having in the Mitten, so I can have an "official 21st" then. Not that big of a deal to me, especially since I am not a big drinker at all. But since I will finally be able to do it, I might as well. :)

Have a good night/day!

Day 23

Sean put a high school intern with me because he thinks I am confident and outgoing. I'll take that! He thinks I can really help her out. YAY!

Today in the classes we did about the same things as yesterday but with different stories. The teachers are trying to get the 4-5 year olds into a routine.

The only thing that was different was that Chris (who is my afternoon teacher for 4-5 year olds) called in sick. Ritchy (who is a Teaching assistant) was asked to fill in. This was his first time ever teaching, so the high school intern and I were expected to help even more than usual. He did a wonderful job filling in. I thought the three of us with the kids got along great. After the class Debra asked to speak to Ritchy alone. She asked him if he would be able to fill in for the rest of the week because Chris will not be in (sounds like it gallstones, poor lady). So Ritchy is going to be teaching the rest of the class, which means he can do anything with it that he wants. He just needs to follow the monster theme. I think he will do a good job.

After the internship, 3 other interns and I went to MIA (Minneapolis Institute of Art...which is connected to the Children's Theatre Company). It closed at 5, so we only had about 45 minutes to check it out. We just walked around and chatted. It was very nice and relaxing. The Institute had some very interesting art but we only got through a little bit of it. So there will be another day that we will go explore the MIA.

Day 22

Today I worked with 4 and 5 year olds. It was a very fun and busy day. Here's a break down of it:

8:30am-9:30am: Had normal intern meeting with Sean. Then went upstairs and greeted and signed in students.

9:30am-11:00am: Started my first class. (The time is different than what I have been used to. I have been doing full day classes which start at 9am and go until 4pm...with lunch from 12pm-1pm). My first class was called "Onstage" and it was with a wonderful man named Matt. Before class started he did a "check in" with us and got to know us interns and asked us what our objectives were. I love when the teachers actually care to get to know us. :) We had less then 10 students in the class. There were 4 adults in it (1 teacher, 2 interns, and 1 assistant...so lots of help). We did a name game and some warm ups. Then Matt asked me to help him act out the rules in the classroom, which was very fun to do. Then Matt told us a story. He is a great story teller. Then he asked the students to create a new story like the one he just told them. So the story they created was about a family of T-Rexes who were making Mac n Cheese when they decided to quickly go over to Fairy Land while they waited for their food to cook. While they were away, a group of superheros came and tried to steal the Mac n Cheese. They were unsuccessful because the T-Rexes lived in a haunted house, so the ghosts scared the superheros away. Cute, huh? Then we took 5 minutes at the end of the class to show the parents what the students had worked on so far. Then they were allowed to go home.

11:00am-12:00pm: Did random things for Sean like getting ready for lunch.

12:00pm-1:00pm: Ate lunch with the students then played/colored with the students.

1:00pm-2:30pm: My next class didn't start until 2:30! So Sean let me go help with the 4th-6th graders in the Clowning class. Yeah, you read me right, a CLOWNING CLASS. It is so frickin' awesome. I want to take the class myself. I feel so fortunate to be able to be in the class for the hour and a half that I am.

2:30pm-4:00pm: The next class was called 'Monster Tales". Which we will be reading the books by Mercer Mayer. (You know the "Little Critter" books! Look him up, and you will know.) The teacher was named Chris. She has been a teacher I have been wanting to work with since I met her at the orientation meeting. She greeted me about the same way! That she was so excited to be finally working with me! She had books laid out at the top of the class for students to read with their parents on the rug. She said that this will happen everyday 15 minutes before class starts. She felt a lot like a kindergarten teacher to me. Very kind and loves to hear the students' ideas about things. We played a name game (or rather with this age, just went around and asked for their name and a certain thing about them, for Chris' class, we asked what their favorite color was, for Matt's it was what is their favorite art activity). Then Chris read the book There's An Alligator Under My Bed. After the book she asked the students what happened, then asked the students if they could re-enact the story. Half the class were alligators and the other half were the kids (There are only 6 students in this class). Chris really helped them act out the scene by telling them where to go and what to do. But by the 2nd or 3rd time they did it, they didn't need as much help from Chris. Then Chris had them make Alligator hats/masks. It was a pretty cool craft. We used those form visors, with puff balls and googly eyes for the eyes, and triangle form pieces for the teeth. Then at the last 10 minutes of class, the parents came back so the students could show them their scene with their new costume pieces.

4:00pm-4:15pm: I said goodbye and checked out students for the day.

4:15pm-4:30pm: I waited with a student (who was in my high school class from the first week) for her mom. She said I didn't have to, but I know how sucky it can be waiting for a parent to pick you up. She seemed to appreciate it. So we chatted for a while until her mom came. They offered me a ride home, but I preferred to walk. I am really enjoying my walk to CTC and back.

It was overall a good, but busy day. I am of course tired. :)

Day 20 and 21

Saturday I went to the LGBT Pride Festival in Loring Park. Which is just a 5 minute walk from my house. I just walked through it and stopped at booths and signed up for things. It was just like other festivals but with an awesome theme. A lot of the booths were about human rights including gay marriage. There were also booths about things that were not just that related to LGBT rights but human rights in general like anti-war. It was an interesting experience seeing what everyone was standing up for. There was also booths from businesses that were just giving their support. It was also interesting to see everyone dressed up in their best rainbow outfits. There were also some of the weirdest outfits I have ever seen, like two men dressed in super short shorts and nothing else. I loved seeing all the couples there, holding hands and just being happy with their partner. My favorite couple that I saw were two women who were blind. They were holding hands, and in their other hand their held their cane.

It was an awesome experience. I didn't stay too long, because there wasn't too much to do by myself.

Other than going to the festival, I took two naps and ate a good dinner. 

Today has been similar. I have just been being lazy and eating good meals. I am thinking about taking a nap right after I am done with this. I am supposed to be hanging out with another intern today but she keeps moving up the time. So I hope that happens. We are thinking of going out for dinner or just exploring downtown. But I am ok with staying at home and sleeping. I have been going non-stop since I started my internship. Not like I regret any of it. :) 

Oh and a week from today I turn 21!!! I cannot wait! I don't think any of my friends are staying here (it's our break off and most people are going home), so I think my 21st will be very low key. :( But the plan is when I get back home to the Mitten, I will have a 21st to hopefully remember (or not remember :] ). Otherwise maybe when my intern friends come back from the break, we could head to the bar or something. Whatever, I am just excited about finally being 21!!!! 

Happy Pride!

Day 19: Cinderella Showing

Overall today was a great day.

The only bad part about it was that N had another attitude. Today it was because Ed asked her, the other fairy godmother, and a Cinderella to work on their scene with me during lunch. During lunch there were the dances from around the world and N was not happy that she could not join. No matter what I said she would not understand that we had a show today and this was priority. I told her that if we hurry up and finish what we were doing we could join the dance. But with N, her way to annoy people is to do the exact opposite. She was being tough but I did not let her go until they did the scene at least three times. And then once we were done she wouldn't leave because she was pissed at me because the dance group had started her favorite dance and she had missed part of it. I told her that she could still join them. She gave me a dirty look and stormed away. I had to take a second in another room and let out a few tears. That was all very frustrating. But after lunch, she came up and hugged me...like nothing had been wrong. Weird child. :)

The showing went really well! No one messed up! The parents really enjoyed the show. The show itself was a half an hour but Ed showed the parents some of the things we have been doing in class. So the whole showing lasted about an hour.

At the end of the day I was the last intern in the theatre. This is because our showing lasted right up until 4pm and then I had to clean up the room and put lots of things a way (like markers, pencils, fabric, chairs etc.) But during this time I got the best compliment from anyone at CTC yet. Debra, the main lady at the Theatre Training Arts part of CTC, told me while she was cleaning up the parents' lounge that I am doing a great job and that she rarely tells people that. I did not ask how I was doing...she just told me and continued for about 5 minutes about how it is a pleasure working with me and that there is a HUGE difference between being good at a job and being good AND being a pleasure to work with at that job. She also explained how she would always pick someone who did the job well and that was enjoyable than over someone who did the job well but was not the greatest person. She went on for a while but pretty much wanted me to know that she is happy that I am working there. So another compliment from Debra! Even those she is still kind of intimidating...but she said she likes that I have the balls to talk to her and joke with her (even though I am intimidated). So I think that is a great skill to have...and one I didn't realized I had.

Tomorrow is the LGBT Pride Festival and it is in Loring Park, which is just by my apartment. So the plan is to go there and check it out sometime tomorrow. So I will have a post about that experience with pictures tomorrow.

Oh and next week for CTC I am working with 4 and 5 years on two different camps. They have shorter camps. The morning camp is called "Onstage" which teaches the students about the world of theatre both backstage and onstage. The afternoon class is called "Monster Tales with Mercer Mayer" which we will look at Mercer Mayer's monster books and re-create scenes and stuff. Both sound pretty interesting and fun. I have never worked with children that young on theatre. It sounds like a lot of crafts, games, and babysitting, which I have done a lot of that before so it should be fine. Can't wait!

Day 18

Today I felt a lot more productive in the classroom.

Ed asked me to take the Fairy Godmothers and one of the Cinderellas out in the hall to work on their scene. The challenge was one of the Fairy Godmothers (We will call her N) was in a horrible mood and refused to act. So I think he had no idea what to do with her except to give her one on one attention or something.

So I took them out into the hall and tried to work on their scene. N would read her lines...but not at all in a loud or fairy godmother like way. I kept trying to tell her to please act for me. But she wouldn't. So I asked them all to put their scripts down and stand in a circle. And I asked them to put their hands in the middle. Then we kind of did this shaking head, blowing out lips sort of thing (I was making it up as I went!) and we did jazz fingers with our hands. I was trying to get them energized. It broke the ice a little bit. N wasn't so pissed at the world. Then I asked them to try the scene again and somehow N was a little bit better! But not where I wanted her to be yet. I made all three girls (both fairy godmothers and the Cinderella) float/walk around the hall like the fairy godmother. They liked acting silly together, which of course made them all laugh. I told N to act like a ballerina...which made her actually look like a fairy godmother! Yay! Then I told them they needed to have a smile in their voice when playing the fairy godmother and showed them how. I then asked if we could try the scene again. N asked if we could sit down. I said only if she would do the fairy godmother voice. And that was the final breaking of the ice...letting her do a small thing that she wanted to do. After that she was as committed to being a fairy godmother as a 4th grader can. I felt very successful. We went back into the room and they performed their scene better than they had before and N had lost her attitude.

Also I lead a game called "Falling Numbers". It was a hit with the kids. Everyone gets a number...like 1-17. There is one caller (which was me). The numbers walk around the room. When the caller calls out a number, whoever has that number has to slowly fall to the ground. The other people in the room have to try to catch that person before they fall to the ground. If they get caught, they get to stay in the game. If they don't get caught, then they are out. Ed and Marea seemed to like the game and let me play it with them after lunch and at the end of the day.

Lunch was fun today too. All the interns are taking turns doing an activity after lunch. This week two interns are doing dances from around the world. Monday was India (I think), Tuesday was Indonesia, Wednesday was Africa, and Today was America (Appalachian). So today we did a line dance and it was so tiring! But this week has been very successful with these dances! I have no idea what I am going to do when it becomes my turn.

So today Sean told me that Ed does enjoy working with me! And that he would love me to work with him on Honk Jr. Which is a three week program/musical at the end of my internship. Ed is very independent but he is slowly letting me help him with things. So just imagine what he will be letting me do with 3 weeks.

Today we also had Leah's high school group come down and watch our performance. They were a great audience! They thought the 4th-6th graders were very cute. Which is very very true. My job during the show is to play the CD that has 3 of the songs (Owl City's "Real World", Lady Gaga's "Born This Way", and the Minuet from Cinderella/Taio Cruz's "Dino-mite" that Ed mixed together.)

Tomorrow is the showing! Should be fun. I am really hoping Ed will let me take some photos/videos...but I don't know. So we'll see.

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Day 17

Not much happened on day 16. Just working on our short version of Cinderella. Lots of dancing, singing, and acting. Today was about the same. Just practicing. I feel like I am doing a lot of observing which is okay because Ed really knows what he is doing. The students have a lot of fun with him. He knows how to bring out the actor in each student. But I wish I just had a tiny bit more interaction sometimes. I believe tomorrow and Friday I will because we will be practicing in smaller groups and I will probably not be asked to act (like I have been asked everyday). So in these smaller groups I will be able to coach instead of act. That is the main reason why I am here...to learn how to coach acting and educate...not be a fill in for actors. But I understand it comes with the intern territory and it wasn't all that bad. I love lunch time because that is when I can really interact with the kids. I can talk to them one on one and we can play games and just get to know each other.

Today after my internship I went to the Mall of America with my fellow intern Logan!!! It was incredible. I don't think I grasped how big it was because we didn't get through the whole place. So we will be going back! I only bought things at Forever 21, like jewelry and headbands. For dinner Logan and I ate at Rainforest Cafe!!! I went to the one in Chicago before but apparently this one is better...and it is the original. The servers were very proud of that fact.

It was a very fun adventure. And I am so proud to say that I have now been to the Mall of America.

But next time we go, we are also going to Ikea!!! Another place that I have never been. :)

Day 15

I am exhausted today. I plan on going to bed as early as I can.

Today was the first day of the "Cinderella: The Adventure Begins" camp for 4th-6th graders. It was an interesting day and obviously very different than last week.

The teacher is named Ed, and he is a director/actor/choreographer. He is very out there and fun. He is also going to be directing the musical Honk Jr. which is being performed the beginning of August. I may work on it as well but this week is our trial week to see if Ed and me get along. Which I can not see us not. There is also an pianist named Maria (MAR-e-a) :) She is very fun! And very good at what she does. She has written some musicals and works on composing and creating lots of different kinds of music. I met her on my orientation day. There is also another intern in my camp named Chloe. So I won't be alone this week! Also I am in the basement with the rest of the camps instead of being on the top floor all by myself. So this week I can interact more with other interns. YAY! Even though I already miss my high schoolers a little bit.

Today the students learned a good amount of the songs from Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. They learned "In My Own Little Corner", "The Stepsisters' Lament", "Ten Minutes Ago", and "The Prince is Giving a Ball". It was very fun singing and listening to the students. I also went down memory lane since Cinderella is the first big show that I had a lead in (I was a step-sister!). So it was great seeing them love the show like I do.

They also did some scene work but no one was given roles yet. Ed is not going to cast one Cinderella, Prince etc, but let multiple people have the chance to shine. Which I think is the point of a week long workshop like this. So all the students will be singing the songs together too.

Since Ed is a choreographer, he had the students do a lot of dancing that they will add to the show. They did a whole playing tag/hide and seek/london bridge etc dance to the new Owl City song and they also did a dance to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way". I am interested to see how we fit it into the Cinderella show. :)

Now I am actually going to the Mall of America on Wednesday. I didn't go on Friday because my friend/fellow intern that I was going to go with was sick. :( So Wednesday it is! Also another intern is planning a tie dye party on Friday, yeah a tie dye party!!! I already know this girl and I are going to get along. So some plans are coming together already for the week.

I hope you all are well. Talk tomorrow.

Day 13 and 14

Saturday- Minnesota Centennial Showboat in St. Paul

Saturday night I went on my first CTC intern outing. Our supervisors are really great about getting free tickets to shows in the area. This time we got free tickets to see the University of Minnesota's Centennial Showboat. We went and saw "The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" AKA Sweeney Todd. The musical "Sweeney Todd" is my favorite musical, so I had no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't like this show. And I was not disappointed, at all. It was the same story line as the musical but without the music. The best part about this show was that is was a melodrama. Which means that the theatre encouraged the audience to interact with the show. So we were told we could cheer, boo, hiss, etc. whenever there was a good guy, bad guy, something good happening, something bad happening etc. It really kept the audience entertained and we felt for the characters/story even more. They also had little breaks in the show where they had the actors sing songs and dance. These little numbers were hilarious and normally had nothing to do with the actual show. It was just to keep us entertained. 

It was a wonderful night and it was nice getting to know some more of my fellow interns. Sean says he is going to get us free tickets to the Guthrie Theatre next!!! Which is one of the places I have been wanting to go to since I knew I was coming to Minneapolis. 

Sunday- Stone Arch Festival: Festival of the Arts in St. Paul

Today I worked from 9:30am to 6pm at a CTC booth at the Stone Arch Festival. We created star fans with the children. We also handed out a whole hell of a lot of coloring books that had CTC's next season in them. The children could color scenes and characters from the coming up plays. We walked a lot around the huge festival handing out these coloring books. I am SO tired, my neck hurts and my ankles are throbbing. So I should go to bed soon...after I take a shower, of course. 

This weekend was filled with CTC things, as well as last week and this coming up week. Tomorrow I start the camp with 4th-6th graders working on Cinderella. It should be very fun and right up my alley. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Father's day!!!

Day 12: Last day of Shakespeare Camp

Today was the last day of the Shakespeare camp. So it was a day filled with excitement and sadness. I will probably see most of these students again because they will be in other camps but I will probably not be working with them again (at least this summer) because this is my first and last high school aged camp. 

The excitement was for our performance for their parents. The showing was at 3:30pm, so we had since 9am to work on things for the show. We worked on the Shakespeare song parody (which are what the pictures are above) then we worked on scenes and then we just rehearsed the show over and over again (with some theatre games thrown in there as well). 

The show was really fun and really good. I believe every student took something incredible away from this week. We learned a lot about parodies, Shakespeare, acting and friendship (awwww). 

I feel so fortunate to have work with Leah (the awesome teaching artist). She really knows what she is doing and really works well with high schoolers. We have the same sort of philosophy about theatre and children (treat them like adults, like they know what they are doing and that they are serious about it. Because they are). I have this philosophy but I don't always act on it, so the methods she used that supported this philosophy, I know I will use in my theatre teaching in the future. 

Awesome plans for the weekend:

Saturday: Sleeping in!!! YAY! At night I am going with some CTC interns and staff to see The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (AKA Sweeney Todd) at the Minnesota Centennial Showboat in St Paul. It is a theatre troupe from the University of Minnesota. They gave CTC free tickets to give to their interns and staff! So I am excited and not sure what else to expect, except what I just typed. So it should just be a fun outing with people from CTC.

Sunday: I am helping out CTC with the Stone Arch Bridge Festival in St Paul from 10am to 6pm. We have a booth and we are doing crafts and playing games. There are going to be other interns there and it should be, of course, enjoyable!

Videos of the song parodies. (They are less than 30 seconds because they are on my cell phone and it doesn't take videos longer than that!) Enjoy! They are song parodies about Romeo and Juliet!!!

First video is a parody of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. The second video is a parody of "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri. And the last two videos are the parody of "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. 

Day 11: Awesome kids

Today was a relaxing day...which I didn't think it would be since we have our showing for the parents tomorrow. We didn't work on our scenes at all. Instead we worked on our Shakespeare song parody. Which is going to be a medley of Bohemian Rhapsody, Jar of Hearts, and Don't Stop Believin'. So it should be hilarious and all about Shakespeare. I heard the Jar of Hearts one today and it was brilliant, I can't wait for all of us to put them together to create the medley.

We hung out a lot today which was great because it gave me a chance for the kids to really like me and get to know me more. Yesterday I was being discouraged because some of them were being disrespectful but today that all changed and we were buddies. It was really fun. So the close of this camp tomorrow will be exciting but sad at the same time. I will see these kids later this summer, I'm sure, but I am not planning on working with high schoolers again this summer.

At the end of the day we went outside and "played". Some people were setting up for a music thing for that evening, so they were playing music over the speakers. So we danced together and had fun, hence the pictures above. I think we all really bonded today, which is what I really love about camps/classes like this.

Day 10

It's a wonderful thing when the people you work for remember your name. It seemed to me that both Sean and Debra knew my name quite quickly, especially since I am not too hard to forget. But today was the day I really realized this, because we started joking with each other. Debra told me she likes me because I am "snarky" and that she gets annoyed with the people who are always happy and nice (haha...I always try to be like that!) So I am taking that as a compliment, that she likes my sarcastic sense of humor. Even though snarky, doesn't seem like the greatest thing to compliment a person with...
I love it when people get my sense of humor...and so quickly too. I just want to make sure I don't piss her off in any way. I really think she is awesome and she is snarky right back to me. So I think we will get along swimmingly.

Not much to update on the Shakespeare front. Just working on scenes. We might do a Shakespeare song parody, which would be awesome, but we are going to start that tomorrow.

Sean told me what I am working on and with next week already. I am working with 4th-6th graders on Cinderella. I feel very confident on both of these things. I work really well with that age group and obviously love Cinderella (it was the show that I had my first lead it...I was a step-sister).

Alright more tomorrow, of course. Have a great night/day!

Day 9

I am so tired right now, but I had a good day. I will start off with some pictures!

These photos show you what the kids are kind of doing and the awesome classroom I get to be in from 8:30am to 4:00pm. Right behind me is a wall of mirrors. It's a great room, that's up on the top floor. 

Today the students continued working on the scenes they were given yesterday. Then they were given scenes from the big Hamlet scene at the end of the The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). Most of the students have been able to take these scenes and make them their own. We have a couple of students though that have the issue of seeing the movie version of this play and cannot get it out of their heads. There is one student that keeps asking how we are going to perform this show. It seems like he is thinking we are going to do this huge production of this show, with costumes, lights, props etc. But we only have a week and are going to do what we can do....which will be very minimal. So this kid kind of had a break down but Leah (the teacher) handled it very well (she was so calm, while most people at that moment would have been a little annoyed). Later she told me that he is borderline autistic and that he has improved greatly since the first time she met him. But he still sometimes gets focused on one thing and has a hard time focusing on something else.

I didn't do too much today but watch the students works on their scenes and play theatre games. So it wasn't as exciting of a day as yesterday. But tomorrow I should be able to help more since we will be polishing up their scenes. 

After the internship today, I went with another intern (a girl named Logan) to a local coffee shop called Spyhouse to hang out. It was very nice hanging out with someone other than the roommate and the children at the theatre. She is the intern I went to see Annie with. We seem to get along great and have made plans to do stuff later this week and more in the future. (She wants to go see Harry Potter with me!!!) We are hoping to get a group of interns together and go to the Mall of America to hang out on Friday. So sounds great to me! 

One last picture, then I am going to go. This is the dedication for the play we are doing (The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)). It's just a little taste of the authors' humor. 

"This book is dedicated to all the brave men and women who have lost their lives in the performance of Shakespeare's works."

I really enjoy this play and would love to direct it or something back home. 

Later!

Day 8: First day of the internship!

So today was the first day of my internship! It was everything I wanted and more.

I got to the theater at 8:15ish. I met with Sean (my supervisor) and the other interns and had a quick meeting to remind us where we were going and what we needed to remember for the day. I didn't get to greet the coming in students like I wanted but was asked to go to my classroom to prep and tidy up. I think once I am working with younger children than high schoolers, I will be asked to greet outside or wherever...so I know I will do it sometime.

My classroom was on the 4th floor. Everyone else's was in the lower level of the building. So I felt like I was in my own special world. When I got to my class, I was the first one there. Students started trickling in and then the teacher, Leah. Leah is awesome. Such a great teaching artist. She is super mellow and works wonderfully with high schoolers. My favorite part about the way Leah teaches is how she lets the students lead their acting. It is so important for the students to have a say in how they act and what they want to do.

We are working on the play The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It is a parody of Shakespeare written and originally performed by three Californian men who know a shit ton about Shakespeare. It is hilarious. Some highlights from the show: They turn Titus Andronicus into a cooking show, they do all the Shakespeare comedies in one scene (because they are all alike and pretty much the same play), and they do a rap to summarize Othello. As you can see it takes Shakespeare and really has fun with it. It's a great way to introduce high school students to something as intimating as Shakespeare. We will only be doing pieces of the show. The students were broken up into groups of three and we gave them a scene to work on. They were asked to have fun with the scene...they didn't have to stick AT ALL with the descriptions and footnotes. The work I was already seeing from the students today was hilarious! The cooking show was turned into a cooking show by the Jersey Shore cast, the rap was rapped by three of the whitest kids in the class, and the Macbeth fight was turned into a mortal combat thing. All were funny and the students are really great actors, who go for it. I cannot wait to see what they bring to the table tomorrow.

We also played LOTS of theatre games, which I was allowed to join in on. I love playing improv games with kids because it really shows their creativity and they really go for it. We could have easily played these games all day and never have been bored.

I ate lunch with the students. We went outside to eat since it was such a beautiful day and the cool high schoolers wanted to get away from the not-so-cool younger kids. :) I had one boy already cling to me. He just talked up a storm about plays, musical, auditions, shows he has been in, and things I had no idea about. :) At this point I wanted to get to know some of the other kids, but I had to remind myself that I had all week to do so and this kid obviously wanted/needed my attention. So I listened.

Again it is interesting the different types of theatre people. I could even see it in just this small theatre class. We had the kids who thought they were too cool for school, we had the awkward joke telling boys, and we had the "normal" kids...which isn't that normal for theatre. :) I am sure there will be even more types tomorrow when I get to know them all even more.

Tomorrow I will be working in the same classroom on the same topic. At the end of the week (on Friday) the students will perform their scenes for their parents. Yes, they will have to memorize these scenes by then...even before then. They will do fine.

After class tomorrow I am going out to coffee with some interns (YAY friends). It will just be nice to hang out with someone other than my roommate (not that I don't love her). Especially since we are all theatre education interns and probably have LOADS in common. So I am really looking forward to tomorrow for not only hanging out with some awesome interns but for doing this theatre education thing, that I am already in love with.

Thanks for reading! Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 7

The last two days I have been kind of lazy. Just sitting in my room with the window open reading a book. Just relaxing, getting ready to start my internship! Tomorrow is the big day and I cannot believe it is finally here. I am so excited to be working for such an incredible theater. I have to be there before 8:30am. We have a quick meeting at 8:30am and then we start greeting the children coming into the theater for their camps. I hope I get to greet the children instead of being asked to do other "intern" type jobs. But I think since it is our first day, our supervisor will have all the interns greeting! Yay! I am just so excited to share my love of theatre with whoever will listen. I also can't wait to learn more about theatre from the teaching artists, professionals, and the children of course. It is going to be such a well-rounded learning experience.

So my big adventure today was I went to a boxing match with Karla, my roommate. It was at a restaurant called Brit's Pub. We went to the porch/roof of the place where they had a boxing ring set up on their lawn bowling grass. Here are some pictures...they are hard to see but I think you get the idea.

We were kind of far away but no one was sitting on the grass close to the ring, so we had to sit on the deck chairs. It was interesting enough but definitely not my cup of tea! I don't get the sport of fighting like that. But I am here in Minneapolis for new experiences and here is one for the books. The boxing was for the Tornado Relief fund...I'm guessing for down in Missouri. So at least we were helping others while people punched each others brains.

The view at this pub was beautiful. It is surrounded by the downtown buildings. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, which made the sky have the perfect amount of clouds. I wish I had an actual camera so I could have taken a picture of how pretty the clouds were. Oh well, you all can imagine them, I'm sure. 

Tonight is the Tony awards! So I will be watching those because my favorite man is hosting (Neil Patrick Harris!) Karla and I have also decided we are going to become pool masters. There is a pool table downstairs and neither one of us is very good at it, so we are going to play until we are amazing at it. It is obviously a very important skill to have...I can see it being useful in impressing guys. So we will be playing pool tonight as well. 

Can't wait until tomorrow! I also can't wait until I can tell all of you about it. Have a great night/day!!!

Day 6

Today I was feeling a little lonely. Which makes perfect sense, since I am new to this city and haven't really had the chance to meet too many people yet. But thank god for my roommate Karla, she asked me if I wanted to go with her to the Farmer's Market on Lyndale. And I of course said yes! I frickin' love farmer's markets. And usually every saturday my mom and I would go to the farmer's market in Grand Rapids...so it was like a little bit of home. This farmer's market was like 5 times the size of the one in Grand Rapids or even bigger! It had everything from vegetables to tie dye shirts. I bought a little bit too much but I think it was worth it. 

*Photo taken from Lyndale Farmer's Market website*

Day 5: Annie

*Photos from the Children's Theatre Company's facebook*

Today I went and saw CTC's production of Annie. It was simply amazing. The talent was unbelievable, from the actors all the way to the costumes and set. The whole time I was watching this show it was slowly seeping in my mind that I am going to be working for this theatre! Holy fucking shit!! I am so honored. I cannot wait to learn everything I can about this company and how they put on these jaw-dropping shows. I have never seen a Broadway show in New York but I have seen the Broadway shows that come through Grand Rapids, and the show I saw today at CTC was just as good as those Broadway ones in GR...if not better.

It also made me really crave wanting to go back on the stage. I would love to do shows like this for children. It would definitely be fun and rewarding. I am just scared about getting back to acting because I don't think I am that great at it...especially since I haven't had any positive criticism for some time. But my fear of acting...or really auditioning (because once I get INTO a show...it's not a problem with confidence but it's just getting into one that's the problem), might be solved or worked on with this internship. Let's keep our fingers crossed. :)

The show started at 10:30 this morning and went until 12:40. I walked back to the apartment then lazed around for a while. Then I decided I need to explore downtown a little bit more, so I made it my mission to find Barnes and Noble and buy some books.

I went down Nicollett St (which is called Eat Street because it is filled with restaurants) for about 8 or 9 blocks (20 minutes), until I found Barnes and Noble. It was very relaxing picking out some books. I felt very comfortable there because I have been to lots of Barnes and Nobles before. I picked out two books and went back home. I am so tired I may only get to read a few chapters tonight. But I have all day tomorrow and Sunday to read. But I do plan to go on a few adventures those days so I at least have something to write about on here. :)

Monday I start my internship, I can hardly wait. 

Day 4

Today was a little rough. I woke up not feeling super great so I lazed around the apartment forever. I even took a couple of naps. At about 3pm I decided, to hell with feeling shitty, I needed to go do something! Make an adventure! So I decided to go to the Sculpture Garden that was only 5-10 minutes (walking) away.

So look out folks, I took a lot of pictures:
To get to the garden I had to cross this scary as hell overpass bridge thing. All I could think about was the wood breaking and me falling into the traffic below...but I did it.

Chimes in the trees. I love chimes.

This one was my favorite. There were quotes written on the top of these bench things. I will share a few. Some were really funny and some were very wise

"There are places that are scarred and the skin is pulled around, like the navel or the head of the penis, that leave you thinking that the body is fragile."

"You can make yourself enter somewhere frightening if you believe you'll profit from it. The natural response is to flee but people don't act that way anymore."

(my fav... obviously I can relate)

"Some days you wake and immediately start to worry nothing in particular is wrong. It's just the suspicion that forces are aligning quietly and there will be trouble."

"Gifted children those with an 10 of 125 or above are prone to feelings of alienation, frustration, and boredom. These feelings can culminate in violence if the children are not encouraged and challenged."

"After dark it is a relief to see a girl walking toward or behind you then you are much less likely to be assaulted"

"When you're on the verge of determining that you don't like someone, it's awful when he smiles and his teeth look absolutely even and false."

. 

And ladies and gentlemen the moment you all have been waiting for the world famous sculpture, Cherry and Spoon!!!

That's all for today folks! Stay tuned for more tomorrow!