Today was a very nice day. I am currently on a break from school until May and have been relaxing and sleeping (finally!) The weather was especially nice, so my friend and I spent some time outside and then went to the gym. Being active again felt great! I was starting to get a little lazy and lethargic. After the gym, we grabbed some really great, light food. It was wonderful.
After coming home, I slowly began searching for a new monologue. My only resource for this when I'm at my parents' house is Google, as we live in a rather small town. "Google is amazing," you might say. Well, it is for many things, but when you're a theatre student in Canada who is new to this and you need to find a monologue that was written in the past 10 years, it doesn't do much good. Sure, you can type in "contemporary monologues for women" and it will give you results that fit that category, but "contemporary" does not necessarily mean that it was written within the past 10 years. There is also the fact that our school requires that we only use monologues from published plays, which poses another problem with Google: there are many monologues on the Interweb that are just monologues, floating along in cyberspace hoping for some actor, any actor, to come across them and put them to use. As much as I like many of the ones that I find, I am not allowed to use them. Humph!
I came across this one monologue that I loved. It's from Laughing Wild by Christopher Durang, but it is sadly not something I can use right now as it was published in 1987. I will definitely keep this one for future use, though. It is hilarious!
My friend, Eric, suggested two plays to me after I sent him a text message expressing my frustration and disappointment. I read each one's synopsis and they seemed good, but another problem arose in this situation: they are both so new - as well as Canadian - that even though I can find them listed on Google Books, there are no text previews so I have nothing to go on.
Long story short: I gave up for tonight.
Eric and I are meeting up downtown tomorrow to visit different used book stores and theatre book stores. This should prove to be a more efficient way of hunting than the use of Google. I will inform you of my findings tomorrow.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
13.4.11
11.4.11
Introduction
Here I am writing my first ever blog post. I asked myself what I should write about and still am not so sure as to what I will come up with, but I guess I can start with an introduction to my story.
I am 21 years old, I live in Toronto and I go to a musical theatre school where I study dancing, acting and singing. I am also a member of a professional tap company (it was two until just recently, but school is getting too hectic). My lifestyle is rather crazy and I sure experience many exciting things on a regular basis. I seek refuge from my daily stressors by writing and listening to music. My name is Geneviève and most people where I live have a hard time pronouncing that, so I can often be heard saying "just call me Gen" in a reassuring way; hence this blog's URL and my screen name!
Now, let's see... how did I get into musical theatre? Well, it was never my original plan. It's funny how it happened, really. I've been dancing since the age of 4 and playing the piano since the age of 5. Those were my two main focuses as I grew up and by the time I started high school, they were both more important to me than school; I knew I wanted to be an artist after completing school. In grade 11, I started taking psychology and sociology courses, and began to develop a serious interest in these studies. Having always been one to whom my friends would come for advice, I decided that psychology would be a good back-up plan for me if I couldn't make it as a professional dancer (by this time, being a musician had become a nice hobby for me, but I didn't plan to ever make a career out of it). When I graduated from high school, I applied to various universities for both dance and psychology. The school that I was set on going to for dance rejected my application after my audition and interview process, simply because I was not the type of dancer that they were looking for (i.e. I did not want to become a professional ballerina) but at the time, I thought that it meant that I just wasn't meant to be a dancer. It broke my heart and I decided to go straight into the psychology program at the same school. It was alright at first and like any new experience, I appreciated the change, but after a year and half in the program, I realized that it really wasn't the place for me. I was so miserable there and just wanted to leave. I then decided to take time off from school and spent a year working. I continued to work as a server (which I had been doing while in university) and eventually left that to go work full-time in a car dealership. Now that is a whole other story in itself! Anyway, I applied to new schools when the deadlines began approaching, but I wasn't so sure about staying in the psychology/sociology field; if I had to go back to that, I'd stick with sociology and become a social worker for a children's aid society, but I'd much rather be doing what I'm doing now. While filling out my applications, I remembered a school that I wanted to apply to when I was graduating from high school.
The problems back then were that:
a) The school could only supply graduates with a certificate (my father did not approve)
b) I just wanted to be a dancer
c) It was VERY expensive
What had changed this time was:
a) They had become an accredited private college and could supply graduates with college diplomas
b) I had begun to understand that if I wanted to make it as a performing artist in this day and age, I would have to learn to do other things in order to compliment my dancing
c) I had been making a lot of money
I applied to this school, prepared myself for my audition despite the fact that I had never had a vocal lesson nor had any experience as an actor, and just went for it. I received a call within 3 weeks saying that I was invited to join the program that following September. "HOLY CRAP," I said aloud in the car with my parents after that phone call. I simply could not believe that they were willing to let me join the program. After receiving their student contract and reading it over very carefully, I took one very deep breath and signed it, promising myself to just dive head-first into whatever was to be thrown at me, and assuring myself that I must belong there, despite the lack of experience.
After my first day of school, I was in love. As time went on, I let go of all of my previous fears and inhibitions and did everything that was asked of me by my teachers. Now, two semesters later, I have received some wonderful reviews and have been told some very reassuring words. This is where I belong. The other students in this school are just as weird as I am and they are my family. The building itself is more of a home to me than my apartment. We spend long, gruelling days there and it will only get worse, and I can't wait. Yes, it is hard work, but it hardly seems like work when I think about what I was doing two years ago. I have found my niche and am set on doing this for the rest of my life.
As this blog grows and develops, I will tell you more stories from my past as well as what is currently going on in my life. I am not vain enough to believe that people will be interested in my stories - this is mostly for myself. However, if you come across my posts and feel as though you can relate, feel free to follow my story and give me your feedback!
I am 21 years old, I live in Toronto and I go to a musical theatre school where I study dancing, acting and singing. I am also a member of a professional tap company (it was two until just recently, but school is getting too hectic). My lifestyle is rather crazy and I sure experience many exciting things on a regular basis. I seek refuge from my daily stressors by writing and listening to music. My name is Geneviève and most people where I live have a hard time pronouncing that, so I can often be heard saying "just call me Gen" in a reassuring way; hence this blog's URL and my screen name!
Now, let's see... how did I get into musical theatre? Well, it was never my original plan. It's funny how it happened, really. I've been dancing since the age of 4 and playing the piano since the age of 5. Those were my two main focuses as I grew up and by the time I started high school, they were both more important to me than school; I knew I wanted to be an artist after completing school. In grade 11, I started taking psychology and sociology courses, and began to develop a serious interest in these studies. Having always been one to whom my friends would come for advice, I decided that psychology would be a good back-up plan for me if I couldn't make it as a professional dancer (by this time, being a musician had become a nice hobby for me, but I didn't plan to ever make a career out of it). When I graduated from high school, I applied to various universities for both dance and psychology. The school that I was set on going to for dance rejected my application after my audition and interview process, simply because I was not the type of dancer that they were looking for (i.e. I did not want to become a professional ballerina) but at the time, I thought that it meant that I just wasn't meant to be a dancer. It broke my heart and I decided to go straight into the psychology program at the same school. It was alright at first and like any new experience, I appreciated the change, but after a year and half in the program, I realized that it really wasn't the place for me. I was so miserable there and just wanted to leave. I then decided to take time off from school and spent a year working. I continued to work as a server (which I had been doing while in university) and eventually left that to go work full-time in a car dealership. Now that is a whole other story in itself! Anyway, I applied to new schools when the deadlines began approaching, but I wasn't so sure about staying in the psychology/sociology field; if I had to go back to that, I'd stick with sociology and become a social worker for a children's aid society, but I'd much rather be doing what I'm doing now. While filling out my applications, I remembered a school that I wanted to apply to when I was graduating from high school.
The problems back then were that:
a) The school could only supply graduates with a certificate (my father did not approve)
b) I just wanted to be a dancer
c) It was VERY expensive
What had changed this time was:
a) They had become an accredited private college and could supply graduates with college diplomas
b) I had begun to understand that if I wanted to make it as a performing artist in this day and age, I would have to learn to do other things in order to compliment my dancing
c) I had been making a lot of money
I applied to this school, prepared myself for my audition despite the fact that I had never had a vocal lesson nor had any experience as an actor, and just went for it. I received a call within 3 weeks saying that I was invited to join the program that following September. "HOLY CRAP," I said aloud in the car with my parents after that phone call. I simply could not believe that they were willing to let me join the program. After receiving their student contract and reading it over very carefully, I took one very deep breath and signed it, promising myself to just dive head-first into whatever was to be thrown at me, and assuring myself that I must belong there, despite the lack of experience.
After my first day of school, I was in love. As time went on, I let go of all of my previous fears and inhibitions and did everything that was asked of me by my teachers. Now, two semesters later, I have received some wonderful reviews and have been told some very reassuring words. This is where I belong. The other students in this school are just as weird as I am and they are my family. The building itself is more of a home to me than my apartment. We spend long, gruelling days there and it will only get worse, and I can't wait. Yes, it is hard work, but it hardly seems like work when I think about what I was doing two years ago. I have found my niche and am set on doing this for the rest of my life.
As this blog grows and develops, I will tell you more stories from my past as well as what is currently going on in my life. I am not vain enough to believe that people will be interested in my stories - this is mostly for myself. However, if you come across my posts and feel as though you can relate, feel free to follow my story and give me your feedback!
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