PS22 Chorus

I wanted to share a recent find that I've had in the world of YouTube. Im not quite sure how I stumbled upon this, but I am WILD about this group of children and their music teacher. This group of 70 odd NYC public school 5th graders is taking the world by storm--particularly as a result of their popularity on Perez Hilton's blog.

These two videos are especially moving for me:

"The Call" (Regina Spektor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6bTtLPO5ao&feature=related

"Dont Dream It's Over" (Crowded House) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LutJSqspl4w&feature=related

These kids remind me of the Langley School Music Project, 1976-1977. I wrote about this before, but PS22 is the same sort of thing, just moved up a few years. Read about Langley here: http://keyofz.com/langley/

So right now, listen to PS22's version of "Dont Stop Believin'". It's totally worth it.

rotation 1 & 2

Major breakthroughs:

I am 23 now, a fact which was celebrated with much rejoicing and a pinata.

I have designed 2 of the 6 shows I am to design this summer and they have opened. I would post pictures, I issue a caveat on the professional ones and I haven't seen any of my friend's yet.

Minor accomplishments:

I have managed to endear myself to the shop, which I consider a good thing.

I like my preset cue sheet format.

I got a new printer for my images and it has a copier/scanner part, which is AWESOME.

summerstock?

In about a week, I head off to Ithaca NY, as one of the Design Fellows at the Hangar Theatre Lab Company for the summer. Now, I honestly dont know what to think--except the part where everyone is really excited and says that its tons of fun. what I do know is that im terrified. weirdly. we shall see...

epic fail

today was a giant fail. it all started when i was unable to save my project on the Hog and thus ERASED my project (note to self: "new show" and "save show" are not the same thing...). and then the light lab was completely booked until 11 am the next day (and i mean EVERY hour of the night as well) and then although i used the offline editor (which is a hot mess in and of itself) the Hog wouldnt read the disk (or ANY of the disks that i tried) and then i had no project. and then there was a fiasco with whether or not I was going to the preview tonight or colloquium....and that was a mess bc both sides of the question got mad at me about it when it wasnt my fault in the slightest...and then i came to the BCA to reprogram the end of Act I and ended up having to do WAY more than i expected and i wanted to cry.

and im sitting here at preview, with a full night in the light lab ahead of me to do this Hog project and a Mariann to do and a Roger project to do...

why am i in grad school?

my first foray into this so-called professional realm

so: the show I am assisting on for HTC went into tech today. Focus was yesterday--and I was TOTALLY scared. However, it went really well, and I got complimented on how well it went from the LD so I was happy. He was skeptical of my method of keeping track at first, but it works for me so all was well.

And now we are in tech. a LONG tech. today is very slow--slower than normal. i am doubtful that we will reach the 2nd act by the end of the day. And I started at 7:30. The end of the day is midnight. Yea. Im a wee bit tired. Thank goodness we have tomorrow off.

I dont know what I think of him yet. Ill have to sleep on it.

counting down...

Communication. People--it's that simple! I dont like looking like a flake but its very very hard to not look like a flake when the people who are supposed to tell you the schedule DONT include all the dates that you need to know. It is very important to me that my first professional assist here at the theatre go well, because I want to make a good impression and I want to learn alot--both things one cannot do when one has not been provided with the proper information.

Tomorrow is my first day helping out RR on the show over at the other mainstage. I think its going to be fun. The set it HUGE--but the plot seems pretty normal for the space. Im nervous about running focus on Saturday--I've run focus before but its scary in this case. I really want it to go well. Other than that, my first interaction with the LD will be tomorrow at 2 pm for a walkthru and then a runthru of the show. Oy!

light lab 2.0

When I arrived at BU, I discovered that one of my primary functions was to be responsible for the two student spaces at the theatre: the studio space and the Light Lab. While this sounds like a simple task (everything has a place and people put away tools, etc) is it NOT. and it has taken until NOW for me to get the hang of how to police these spaces accurately. I have discovered that the following (and ONLY the following) technique works.

Assess the space. What is in the space that shouldn't be? What is NOT in the space that should be? The large chalkboard on the wall is EXTREMELY handy for this!

In the case of the former, begin to annoyingly and persistently ask everyone you meet if the item is theirs and if so can they please remove it now. do not take "later" for an answer. In the case of unclaimed items that are clearly not useful to anyone make a big show of throwing it away in front of someone else so that they know you mean business. In the case of something belonging to HTC take extra care to show up in the office, with a concerned story and an incredible sense of urgency. How else do you think I managed to get 10 large tables to disappear in half an hour?

In the case of the latter, begin to constantly ask students "have you seen this?" the only way to find out where something is is to find out from someone else who used it last (the person who actually used it last will never tell you) and then to email and call and stop them in the halls until it is returned. keep in mind the disposition of the person and their schedule--the best is to catch them personally when they are clearly not in a rush and to demand that the item be returned "that day" for a project of some sort.

If these rules are followed, i have a 50/50 chance of being able to put the light lab back in order in about an hour. of course, when i come in the NEXT day it is completely in shambles again....people cant seem to pick up and respect all the equipment but then what did i expect? the worst is the gel, and the focus, and the cable, and the board being left on... sigh :)

at least I know where everything goes! :P