Watch This

Shakespeare with many celebrity voices:

George Bush, Morgan Freeman, Jimmy Stewart, Ricky Gervais, Woody Allen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Garrison Keillor--the list goes on and on. You just gotta watch it.

Audiobook Shortlist

I'd like to listen to an audiobook on my trip to Houston; it's going to be 20 hours I think.

I'm looking for suggestions for what to listen to and how to acquire said book/mp3 files for a reasonable price (because these things aren't cheap).

Other things to consider:

• I enjoy contemporary literary fiction that's a bit on the zany side (a good example would be something like Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story).
• I'd prefer NOT to get an audiobook in place of a physical copy that I already own.(No, I'm not going to list everything I own but haven't read yet).
• I'd also like to avoid anything extremely cerebral or epic (so let's hold off on the Dostoyevsky, George R.R. Martin, or Pillars of the Earth, which is 40+ hours long!)

Here's a short list (in no particular order):

1. In the Woods by Tana French (confession: I do own this, but I can make exceptions because this is my blog and I make the rules)
2. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter
3. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
4. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
5. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
6. Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut (narrated by Stanley Tucci--but it's only 5 hours long)
7. The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño (um... at 27 hours, this would lean very close to the epic side, but this author has been on my To Read in the Distant Future list)

And please, if you think any of these titles or others DON'T lend themselves to audiobook, let me know (whether from experience or reading them. I have to believe that there are some books that simply MUST be read--The World According To Garp, for example)

I also want to jump on The Hunger Games bandwagon, but everyone I talk to says I can race through it in a few days. I think I want to read them instead. I can't quite pinpoint why. At the same time, I have severe concerns that reading for pleasure is on an unofficial grad school moratorium. Maybe it can be something I save for Christmas break??

I mean, the audiobook isn't a dealbreaker for me. I've got lots of music and podcasts to rifle through, but it'd be fun to listen to a book, methinks. I mean, there's not much else going on for this drive, which will be a trek across the following states:

• Nebraska
• Kansas
• Oklahoma
• Texas

Oooh. Does anyone know of kind of road-trip-type novels? (akin to On the Road, which I've already read)

Time to Play a Bit o' Catch-Up

In the past 3 days I've finished my job in Lanesboro, packed up my room, cleaned my room, said goodbye to a ton of people, got sunburned, saw some excellent drum corps, saw a fantastic production of Street Scene, and drank some great beer along the way.

I feel like a ball in a giant pinball machine. Some of it's fun and all. Other times it's a bit jarring and I've got figurative whiplash.

But now, I'm home in South Dakota. I'll be here for 10 days or so, consolidating all my junk and reading like there's no tomorrow.

I've been so behind on the Monster Reading List.

I did some breakthrough progress today already though. I've got my "week one" monologues close to all picked out. My audition pieces for the fall semester aren't quite there yet, but I've got some options that will suffice. I think an achievable goal is to have that finalized by Friday at the latest. This gives me a chance to read through some more plays in case anything grabs me. But then, it'll be time to live with what I've chosen and get them up to speed so that I can check more off my list that only seems to be growing exponentially.

There's paper work to sort out for becoming an employee with the U. of Houston (which has been a kind of dramatic process--details I'll spare). I'm going to be a teaching assistant this first year (which also means I can get faculty parking).

I also have to acquire a bunch of rehearsal/costume pieces. I'll no doubt be scouring the thrift stores of good ol' Sioux Falls for those items.

All that said, I'm not panicking, but there's no time to twiddle my fingers any longer (not that I have, but things have been a lit lax on the prep for school).

The Final Countdown

We're in the final countdown.

I've got until Saturday to move out of Lanesboro.

My parents are coming on Thursday. We'll probably see Little Shop together.

I think I have an audition on Tuesday (for next summer...already).

Orientation begins in 5 weeks.

Ack.

We're in the home stretch

I always intend to update this thing, but I fear it will always veer into the "AH! I have so much to do!"

Right now, I'm in a swirled rotation of the following:

• Work
• Prepping for training my replacement at work (which is still work, but completely different)
• Reading the monster reading list (a lot of acting theory)
• Reading plays and hunting for monologues
• Pilates
• Yoga
• Occasional running
• catching a movie here and there
• "moving logistics" planning, apartment application, packing, etc.
• light following of the drum corps international tour and scores

It's busy. Now we're entering the final stretch. I'm in Lanesboro for 16 more days. Theoretically, in 30 days, I'll be moving into an apartment in Houston.

The apartment business is the most nerve-wracking at the moment (because it's not a for-sure thing yet). I'm also not eager about essentially moving twice in 2 weeks. I've got stuff in MN and then at home. I'm taking everything home and assessing what I need to bring. Right now I live in a fully-furnished house. In a sense, it's great that I don't have much stuff, but I will still be continually packing and unpacking.

Okay. So go back to the first sentence of this post. Gah. I told ya so.

I waver between feeling thrilled and terrified. Then there's also some inadequacy/paranoia settling down here and there. I also need to add to the list my monologue prep for the first week. Here's what I've got to perform within the first five days:

First night of orientation:

• 2 monologues (the pieces I used to get here)

Then, on Friday night: a first year showcase of sorts.

• 2 contrasting 2-minute monologues
• 1 verse and chorus of a song (a capella)
• 30 seconds of Standard British

I've got the song and Standard British figured out (but it's a secret). Now I need to just pick the right pieces for this Friday showcase.

THEN on Saturday morning, we audition for The Hot L Baltimore and Our Lady of 121st Street:

• two contrasting 1-minute monologues (I'm really close to having this figured out)

I'm going to stop with this because it gives me minor anxiety.

But that's my world right now. I breathe and knock off one thing after another. This summer has been about leaping into the shallow end of the grad school pool and adjusting to the growing pains of what this training will require. This is a big pool though, and it goes much deeper, I'm sure. But it does me no good to worry about the entire pool yet (even though it's easy to do).

Mamet & LaBute (and more)

I read two things today:

1. Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things - I tread along, thinking there'd be monologue possibilities, but I'm just not digging the final climactic monologue for Adam. Maybe I'm placing too much judgment on it, but its power lies in its context (I think). And I have a feeling that, yes, I could include this monologue in my portfolio, but I don't know that I'm going to have ANY DESIRE to work on it. So I kind of feel like that was a waste of time...

Additionally, I pride myself on the ability to cut and paste a monologue from dialogue together, but that was tricky to do with LaBute. There's just a lot of overlapping stuff that hinges on what the other person says. Good thing it was a quick read. I may change my mind, but I think I'm done pouring over LaBute plays for this monologue hunting. I'm guessing nearly every actor in his/her twenties has a LaBute monologue in their pocket.

2. David Mamet's Writing in Restaurants - I was lost at first, but I got into a groove, and he's redeemed himself since True & False. (But I'm pretty sure T&F came AFTER Restaurants). It's a random assortment of essays on theatre, showbiz, culture. I copied down quite a few quotes.

“Camus says that the actor is a prime example of the Sisyphean nature of life. This is certainly true, and certainly not novel, and additionally there is this: a life in the theater need not be an analogue to “life.” It is life.”

And

“Actors are many times afraid of feeling foolish. We should teach each other to feel power rather than fear when faced with the necessity of choice, to seek out and enjoy, to feel the life-giving pleasure of the power of artistic choice.”

And

 

"[The organic] actor brings to the stage desire rather than completion, will rather than emotion. His performance will be compared not to art, but to life; and when we leave the theater after his performance we will speak of our life rather than his technique. And the difference between this organic actor and the self-concerned performer is the difference between a wood fire and a fluorescent light.”

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In other news, I'm done with my acting tenure at the Commonweal. It's been an adventure--just over two years. I've worked on 6 supremely different roles (and probably at least a couple hundred performances). Two of those roles have been Ibsen (as interpreted by Jeffrey Hatcher). It's an eclectic bunch and I'm immensely proud of this work (and I can tell it's made a difference to people).

I've got just over 30 days left in Minnesota. Then I pack my things, try to sort it all out in South Dakota, and head to Texas. I think my roommate and I are settling on a place to live. I've got to get proof of income, which I'm not sure how to make that happen quite yet.

Aight: It's time to get ready for company-wide dance party. I'm the DJ.

Boom!

Last night, I saw Boom!

It's dubbed as an "international lost and found marching band."

Six actor/musicians comprise the band. You've got members from Jersey, Nova Scotia, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, and Ireland. And they're all brothers and sisters due to their "careless" scientist parents (or something). (The crew is actually from Kansas City...)

It was a zany, zany stuff that had careful attention to detail. And it was performed to a full house in at the American Legion in Lanesboro, MN.

This show incorporated everything that is (or was) my universe: marching band, choir (there were some beautiful 7-part harmonies), and theatre. And it dawned on me that I have tools to create my own show. I mean, it's always been there, but it was more palpable and immediate than ever before. Perhaps I'll even campaign to join their sequel as their long lost Brazilian/Carnavale trumpet-playing brother. I think his name shall be Eduardo.

It's also struck me just how much I want to see some more theatre. I've only seen like 5 productions this year. Granted, I live in a town of 788 people, and it's a good two hours away to the Twin Cities. AND, I'm more concerned with the reading list and monologue hunting and other preparation for grad school. But I'd love to see more. This performance filled me with wonder, imagination, and whimsy