I’ve got big plans for this summer

IN SHAKESPEARE:

·         Prep for Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night (then play the role)

·         Prep for Hastings in Richard III (and play the role)

·         Read The Elizabethan World Picture

·         Read The Rediscovery of Style

·         Re-Read The Training of the American Actor

·         Read Instant Shakespeare

·         Read Mastering Shakespeare

·         Watch/Listen/Read as much Shakespeare as I can

·         The MIGHTY 5/BIG 10:

o   5 Audition Pairs of Classic monologues (around 3 ½ minutes)

o   8 must be Shakespeare, 2 must be from Moliere or Restoration Comedies (or something similar)

o   Saturday, September 1 the second years will unleash our offerings for faculty the first years and anyone else who would like to witness the “fun”

FALL PRODUCTION WORK:

·         Read/Wrap My Head Around Serious Money (the fall show that goes up at the end of September). This play is a doozy: rhyming couplets, scatological, rapping, the crash of the London Stock market in the 80s.

·         Prep/refresh knowledge of Mother Courage

·         Work up monologues for fall auditions (August 25).

PHYSICAL:

·         Get stronger and more grounded

·         Get a regimen going. I’m thinking about a combo of yoga, body weight training, and running.

·         Tai Chi

·         Rolfing appointments once I’m done with my Arkansas Shakes contract…?

LISTENING/CONCENTRATION/FOCUS/CONNECTION

·         Listen through an entire major work (a symphony or an album). No breaks. Listen from start to finish. I have aspirations to take this to the next level and do this on a weekly basis, interspersing major symphonic works with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Miles Davis, etc.

·         Cold Reading dense language in RP

·         Read a few novels

TRACKING PROGRESS/LEARNING

·         We’re to keep up with Jack over the course of the summer through 3 emails , answering “What Do I Know Now That I Didn’t Know Before?”

·         I’m toying with crafting weekly updates to send to my classmates and faculty. I may copy them on this blog. My Voice Professor is doing something similarly with her notes as vocal coach for As You Like It at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and assistant vocal coach for Henry V (isn’t that freaking awesome!?).

RESEARCH/WANDERLUST…

·         I’m seriously considering an Amtrack or Greyhound pass to travel to a handful of theatres this summer. I’ve got “artistic cousins” and classmates performing all over the country, and it would be great to see them and visit other theatre companies. This is all fund-permitting, but I think something can happen. And shoot, I haven’t really been on a vacation since…I don’t know when.