Sunday, October 30, 2011

DTASC!!!!

So i've gathered that this post title means nothing to most readers...well it would mean nothing to me as well if i didnt have friends in theatre last year when they talked about it...
So here's the break down... DTASC
Drama
Teachers
Association
of
Southern
California

alright... so DTASC is a theatre competition that schools from Southern California enter. Well at our school here's how it works. In early October there was this sign-up sheet for students to direct scenes to enter into the competition. The scenes can only be student directed. There were a few categories you can do.
Well there was a tech category (lighting, costume, set, etc.) but no one from our school entered although i believe 2 or 3 people at our school do have the talent to win in those categories. The performance categories are Large Group Drama, Audition Monologues, Large Group Comedy, World Theatre, Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy, One Acts, and Musical.
The student directors got to pick the categories they wanted to direct.
So the breakdown of what categories went from our school is this:
~Two Audition Monologues: i dont remember where the two girls got there's from...one was from the Crucible though... for the monologues, the guidelines are to pick two contrasting monologues...so for example, one would be depressing and the other would be exhuberent... i guess its to show you're acting ability...
~Large Group Drama: they did The Elephant Man
~One Act: um i think it was called Borrowed Parts...it was really good...i loved it...
~Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy: i was in this one and we were an all female cast and we did The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
~Musical: they did Next To Normal which was absolutely amazing!

so after the directors held like a mini-audition to see how we acted, they cast us into our parts... like i said...i was cast in The Tell-Tale Heart...i played one of the cops. and then rehearsals began!
We rehearsed everyday at lunch and then on Thursday of this past week, we held a showcase of all of our scenes that we were taking to the competition at night. It was fun and that was my very first time performing in front of an audience. I could literally feel my heart pumping in my chest, but after i started moving on stage, i forgot about my nerves.

So yesterday...i woke up at 5:45am and got ready to go to school. I arrived and we departed at about 6:45...we watched the sun rise in the bus. The school where the competition was being held was this HUGE school for performing arts and although it had a big campus and an amazing theatre, the outside felt like you were in a prison yard. The walls needed some color and they badly needed grass....but other than that, it was a good school. and so the competition began!

Oh! first thing i should mention.... the rules for the Horror/Sci-fi/Fantasy category is that your scene must be student directed, has a time limit of 5 mins, must not have costumes or make-up (as cops we just wore all black), and the only props we're allowed to use is up to 4 chairs... now i'll get into the chairs a bit later.

We went to our first room with our first set of judges and performed and watched the other performances...we werent too worried about that room.... the next room we went to for the second set of judges was just terrible! Everyone was so talented we just looked at each other like "Oh my gosh!"...then it was lunch time.... we ate and then headed over to the main area place where they announced who would move on to semi-finals. As we stood there in the hot sun for about half an hour...we were nervous...but finally they threw the butcher paper that had all the school codes (we were FT...we're not allowed to used our school names while we're there to prevent bias from judges that may know us) and there it was! FT! we had made it to semi's!!! :D Not only had we made it, but one of our people that were doing monologues made it, the one-act made it, our drama made it, and the musical made it! it was great!

Then we went to perform in front of the semi-finals judges and boy was there pressure in that room. It was very nerve-racking... we got through it without any mistakes so that was good... then we had to go out and wait in the hot sun again to see if we made it to finals... now i'm being completely serious... i dont think i've ever been this nervous in my life... we stood there..the four of us, surrounded by everyone else that came from our school and we held hands and waited for the butcher paper to be thrown over the little balcony thingy...They threw over our category's paper and there it was! blocked by the hand of the guy holding it! FT! we SCREAMED and hugged each other for like 5 minutes... i was like crying! i dont think i've ever felt so accomplished in my life! it felt so good to have so many people congratulating us...too bad only us and the musical made it to finals...but hey! we got to represent our school in two categories...

So now the pressure was really on as we were waiting to perform for the finals judges! that was SCARY! but once we got up there...i felt like we did pretty good!
oh i think now is a good time to explain about the chairs.. so we're allowed up to 4 chairs in our scene and you can do whatever you want with them....well the more creative you are...the better it works towards you...so our director devised these really fetchin' chair tricks for the killing of the old man and the smothering of him, and the hiding of the body.... we also did this this where we pounded our hands against our chests to make the sound of a heartbeat...because that is a recurring thing that pops up in our scene...

Well i mean we didnt win a trophy...we got an honorable mention for making it to the finals so we got a plaque but you know what...we were all totally okay with it... The two groups who won 1st and 2nd place truly deserved it. Alice in Wonderland won 2nd place and they had the accents down perfectly and the acting was just amazing! and for first place...it was Dracula and it was like this version that had only been performed i think three times before and while i was watching it...i was truly scared...the acting was phenomenal and just the screams and everything they did...it was truly a horror and i think i would have been upset if it hadnt won...

so i was very proud of myself that we made it to finals my first time there...and just proud of everyone! :)

so i shall say goodbye because i have homework to do...

oh! i was going to say! in our first room for our first and second performance it was sooo CREEPY! on one wall there was this huge poster of Edgar Allen Poe on the wall and it was a freaky picture of him...then on the back wall there was a raven and a little figuring on Edgar Allen Poe with a little raven on his shoulder...and on the front wall...there was a poster of like great male authors....and Edgar Allen Poe was there too....it was like he was haunting us! it was SCARY! my friend who plays the crazy man leaned over to me between two scenes and said "Oh my gosh. I swear i just delivered my the whole scene to the raven in the back." It was hilarious! but creepy that we got put into that room...while doing the scene we were doing...

If you've never read The Tell-Tale Heart.... i suggest you do...it truly is a GREAT short story and i'd definitely recommend it...

True! Nervous...very very dreadfully nervous...I had been and am...but why must you say that I am mad? 

If you would like to read the original story here's the link!
and here is an amazing animation that i love...James Mason narrates it... it is just so well done! it gives you a good feel of what our scene was like...what the atmosphere felt like... Watch and Enjoy!


Sunday, October 23, 2011

Leo...

Today I'm not going to write a lot because i just don't think i can...

I was doing my homework and i hear my mom talking on the phone about something or other and then she mentioned "hospital" and she sounded worried and i'm like what? so i get up and walk to her room and she's talking on the phone and she tells me that my best friend's dog is dead. They don't know what cause it. He barely turned one this September...he was just a puppy....

I can't believe it...he was the most boyish dog i've ever seen. you could tell he was a boy. he walked with this assertiveness that could only come from a male, he was so playful, and so sweet. If he was nipping at you, and you'd say "Leo! Be Nice!" he'd immediately stop! He was just this adorable puppy and he was my dog's best friend. I named my friend my dog's god mother and i was Leo's god mother as well. Now he's gone... i just i really can't believe it.

I don't know how i'll react the next time i go over to her house, it will just seem so empty. They had built him a  dog house and everything. I dont even want to think about how my friend is feeling right now. I know that if my dog died, i'd probably go mad. and i say that in all seriousness....

My thoughts and prayers go out to my friend and her family....

i didnt have any pictures of him...so this was the only one i could find.

i love you Leo
and i hope you Rest In Peace.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

DTASC, Flu Shot, and Glasses...

So it's Saturday! Yay! finally the weekend...it seems that this year the weekend just doesnt come soon enough...

So this past week has been kinda hectic...but it seems like every week is...on thursday i went to the doctors to get a flu shot..those things hurt A LOT! my arm is still kinda sore....i guess it might have to do with the fact that im a big baby when it comes to shot...i really DONT like needles... XD that's why ill probably why i'll never get any other piercings or any tattoo in my life...i'd be too scared to!

Um so yeah,  i got the flu shot and then we went to go get my eyes checked because i've been having trouble reading from far away (mainly the board) and when the people came to our school to check our hearing and eye-sight...i was having a hard time taking the eye test...well so we went to the optometrist (that's what they're called right? ;P) and he put me to look at all these different machines to test my vision and stuff...we'll im happy to say that my eyes are 100% healthy...but that's just the eye ball... it turns out i'm near-sighted, like my mother... its not bad right now..but i am getting glasses and they helped a lot when we tried on the lenses because i could actually see clearly! it was amazing! so ill be getting the glasses in like a week or two.... ill be sure to tell you about that.... what does scare me is that the doctor said that as my eyes grow, the near-sightedness will progress...which means its gonna get worse :( oh well....

i finished my Linda Gray book today! i LOVED it! i really do recommend it to a lot of people...but really i would recommend it to girls because she says a lot of things about like life and how to stay healthy and to feel good about yourself and i think what she says is really true and just good to know... im officially thinking of her as Larry Hagman's female counterpart because not only are they just perfect together...but they have the same way of looking at life and the same sense of humor! i was laughing so hard at the things she was saying it was great! my mother must have thought i had gone mad! :P



I started volunteering at the hospital again, now during the school year, so its only 2 hour shifts, which i find nicer and a little easier to handle... so that was fun i guess...
im at my mothers office waiting for her to finish the accounting she's doing or whatever it is she's doing and then we get to go home and do homework! yay! can you tell i said that sarcasitcally? XD

oh! yesterday i went to work for my aunt and we watched Narnia...the new one...it was good...

i'm beginning to get nervous because DTASC (the theatre competition im gonna be in) is next Saturday and the showcase at our school of the scenes is on Thursday...i've never acted in front of a crowd.... i've actually never acted until this year, so yeah...i'm nervous...oh well ill get through it in one piece..hopefully....

i actually had a dream about it last night and it was a disaster! we completely failed and were laughing on stage and it was just terrible...then there was something about a mall and kung-fu...
yes i have weird dreams, you should know that...maybe some day ill tell you about them.... i mean i've got 4 followers...what have i got to lose? one of them already knows my dreams are a little weird...because we talk about them a lot...and she taunts me about them.....so now i cant look at a can of Sprite without laughing really hard...and well the three other followers will either think im strange or have gone mad... probably you'll think i'm mad... why else would you be reading this anyways?

this just reminded me of Linda's book actually...its good to poke fun at yourself...that way you dont take yourself too seriously...and trust me...i poke fun at myself ALL THE TIME!

"I've had a pretty laughable career, and the thing that has gotten me through it is my sense of humor"
take it from her people, it helps!

has anyone told you that you are loved and appriciated recently? well you are... so have a good day and thank you for reading! :)
~Briggitte

ps: if you have the time, please drop me a line or two of your thoughts on the blog or anything else...i'd love to hear from the people that read this..if they do... dont be shy! :D

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Wood Shavings, Dust, and Spanish-English books....

Howdy everyone!

so today is Wednesday! yay! the week is almost over! i'm glad..... we did this really fetchin' lab in chemistry yesterday and we got to pretty much blows things up! okay well maybe im exaggerating... but we did get to break test tubes and use the Bunsen burner...so that was fun!

Oh yesterday, we worked in the set shop (the place where we have all the materials to build a set for a show) mainly cleaning it up...that was fun because i was with friends, but boy was that hard work! There was dust and wood shavings everywhere and i had it all over me! it was terrible! and hard to breathe in! but fun! :)

Tomorrow i'll be going to get my eyes examined because i'm having trouble seeing from far away...yeah its annoying... :(

today i got two of my books that i ordered from amazon...i got my Spanish book...which ended up being a translated version in English...so i dont really know what use that'll do..but oh well...im still gonna read it! and then i got my Linda Gray biography.... and you dont know how HAPPY i was to find out that the cover was autographed! i freaked! it's great! im so excited to read it! and scan some of the pictures in it because they're really good! :D umm what else is there to say.... school is good...i guess....

oh my friend and i discussed how cliques are really everywhere... because people at the beginning of the year said that theatre isnt clique-y and how we're all a family and stuff...and i agree! its true! but there are cliques! there's like this group of girls that like to party...there's this big group of people that are just like average kids (me and my friends) and then there's this group of kids that are kinda ...well im not sure how to describe it...they kinda keep to themselves though..they dont sit with us at lunch...BUT the thing is our cliques get along...like we respect each other and we dont really hate on each other like i know a lot of groups at school do...so i find that kind of nice...and i love how since i'm one of the new kids this year...they've made me feel really welcome and are really very friendly...so i really appreciate that....especially because i was so nervous going into the program... but its all good now...

so time to go read The Linda Gray Story (that title sounds soooo dramatic to me) aahaha so enjoy the rest of your day or night...depending on where ever you are reading this...

yes, she's wonderful :)

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Homecoming, My Father, and Kevin Bacon....

So my friend just posted a post...lol..on her blog and it was great...i loved it... you guys should really check it out : Living In the Wrong Era
so i felt like i should come on here and write something....

well this week has kinda been really busy....on Friday our school had our homecoming game against this one school called Morningside and we kinda murdered them...it was 41 to 6.... so that was good....it was fun too because all the theatre people sat together and its really true what they said at the beginning of the year...you really do become like a family!
and so on Saturday morning i took the PSAT (the preliminary SAT)  but they told us we couldnt talk about it anywhere so i wont...it just kinda bugged me that i had to get up really early (as if i was going to school) on a Saturday, but oh well...and then i got home and took a power nap!
Saturday night was our Homecoming dance and because my friend

ARGHHH MY DAD TOTALLY JUST PISSED ME OFF!!! MY MOM WAS JUST SAYING THAT WE WERE GONNA START WATCHING SOMETHING TOGETHER SINCE IM DONE WITH MY HOMEWORK AND HE GOES "I DONT WANNA WATCH ANY MORE OF THOSE OLD MOVIES LIKE GOSH REALLY!" well i mean he said this all in Spanish, but you get the point.... Anyways! i totally just screamed back "Well you can go watch whatever you like...no ones forcing you!" and he just totally starts cracking up! and im just like UGHHHH!!!!!! so now we're gonna watch I Dream of Jeannie and I Love Lucy....but im keeping what he said in mind next time i get a movie from Netflix or anything else....

SO ANYWAYS! to finish my homecoming story.... my friend was too scared to ask the guy she likes out to the dance, she asked me if i wanted to go with her and i said yes...it was fun! well for the most part... the theme was Footloose...but the new one...so that upsets me....i have a lot of things against the new one...but it would take a whole post to talk about that...

it is quite insane how many girls really dont have any self respect about how they dance...its just rather disgusting....see thats another reason why i dont like the new Footloose...

ummm i think thats it for now.... alright yeah... good bye!


oh have i mentioned that Kevin Bacon is quite beautiful?

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Fail-Safe and others...

So as my dear friend pointed out, i havent written in almost an eternity!
Well here i am, im afraid i dont have a lot to say at the moment but I just felt like i should talk about something...anything...

Yesterday i watched Fail-Safe with Henry Fonda and Larry Hagman...it was wonderful and by the end i was gritting my teeth...i think for Larry's first movie, he did a pretty good job. My favorite line was towards the end of the film, Larry utters "Holy Mother of God" but it wasnt the line...it was the way he said it...it sent chills up and down my spine... I seriously felt like the world was going to blow up then and there. It also didnt hurt that he wore the glasses I love so much in the beginning of the film. ;)

I also watched Anatomy of a Murder a while back which was also a stellar movie with the wonderful Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick who my friend is totally obsessed with...it's rather hilarious actually... :)

I've added another chapter to my story : When You're Gone and I'm really liking where the story is taking me...or rather where i'm taking it...
I'm also planning on writing a couple of songfics for Dallas. For those of you who dont know what a songfic is...its pretty much a fanfiction...you take a book, show, whatever it is you want, and instead of making up a story out of the blue, you take a song and build from there.... There are SO many songs i could use for the JR/Sue Ellen pairing, so its gonna be really hard to decide where to start...I'm also thinking of writing a plain old fanfic for Dallas...but it hasnt completely materialized in my brain so i cant begin writing it yet....
i hope i'm not boring you....

Last thing i want to mention which for those of you who have talked to me in the last couple of days...was that i found out Linda Gray grew up where i've been living all my life... She went to school (sadly not the same school i go to, now that would be fetchin' awesome!) but she went to school to a school i pass by a lot and I'm just like "Oh my gosh!" I guess i got all excited mainly because nothing like this has ever really happened to me. I've never met anyone who's famous and to think that someone lived and grew up where I'm living and growing up...that's just ahhh just FETCH! thats really the only word that comes to mind right now.... Plus...It's Linda Gray! like that just makes it 10x cooler than Drew Barrymore who was born here.... i dont know... if i tried to explain how my mind works...well id probably go insane...



So there you have it...I promise ill try to be more consistent about my posts from now on...

so goodbye to all you darlin's out there...
~Briggitte
(have i told you guys how much i love the word darlin'? no? yes? well if i havent...thats a story to tell some other time...)