Hyperventalation Ensues

Theatre is different this year in the fact that Lori will no longer be just handing out parts and saying, "Okay, get memorizing." This time we'll have to actually try out for parts. Lori has decided we'll be doing I Hate Hamlet, a play in which there are only 6 parts. However, we're to have the play over a course of 4 nights in November, so Lori's going to try this thing called "double casting." That means, two people will play the same part, but on different nights. *Shrugs* But that still means that only about 12 of us will get parts, out of about 22 people who almost all want to act. So crap. The play goes like this: Andy Rally's a TV actor whose girlfriend, Deirdre, thinks he's hot stuff... but she still refuses to have sex with him, or anyone, much to his dismay. When Andy's show gets canceled, TV producer Gary decides to cast him as Hamlet in Shakespeare in the Park, but he... well, isn't a very good actor. So his real estate agent Felicia, his talent agent Lillian & his girlfriend Dierdre, have a seance to bring back the ghost of famous Hamlet actor, John Barrymore (Drew Barrymore's great-great grandpa) to coach Andy so he can play Hamlet well. Sounds good, no?

Wednesday was Script Reading Day in theatre, so we all gathered ourselves into groups of six containing 3 girls and 3 dudes, so that we could read the play together for the first time. In our group, the likable & easily amused Danny played Andy, shy & quiet girl Ashley was Deirdre, good ol' Kyle played Barrymore, cutie-pie Monica was Felicia, the walking pick-up line Ben played Gary, and I was Lillian. I have to say it went quite well, except that Danny seems to be very near-illiterate and Ashley doesn't seem able to say the word "sex" or make out with anyone on stage, as her part requires. Kyle kept helping Danny pronounce words & Ben asked Ashley who turned on the sensors. During this reading, I decided that I very much want to try out for the part of Lillian. She's all old & won't quit smoking... She has hilarious lines, and although Leah will probably also want her part (and may be better at it, seeing as she is a chain-smoker & I'd never touch a cigarette with a 10-foot pole), I REALLY want to be Lillian. I can do a smoker's voice quite well though & perhaps Leah and I can both do the part. I'm not very excited about competing with Leah, as she's my kiddo, but... sigh. I know one thing-- I don't want to do technical work or makeup or directing or... anything other than acting, so over the next week, you can watch me hyperventalate. *Fishes through purse for inhaler* Look, Nick & his wife had their baby and he brought him to class! His name is Jay and Leah seemed to go even more nuts for him than I did.

Mom and I went to Great Lakes Crossing yesterday to look for the I Hate Hamlet script in their bookstores, since Lori didn't make enough copies for everyone, and I must practice before trying out. But they didn't have the script there, or at Borders, or at the Borders here in Flint, or anywhere else. While at the mall, we were bumped into by many foreign people who apparently felt the need to yell things back and forth across the mall to each other in Yugoslavian. In other, completely off-topic news, OH NO, JOHN RITTER DIED! I loved that guy! I had just recently started watching Three's Company reruns and 8 Simple Rules was my favorite show! I watched a special about his life, and Mom and I thought it was quite neat that, when asked what he would do if he wasn't an actor, he replied that he wouldn't want to do anything but act, as that's what I always say... *Hugs for Angel-version of John Ritter as well as his family, friends & cast-mates*

Holly

Improvisational Humping and Daria Is Neat

Name: Holly
Nicknames: Wanda
Age: 19
Height: 5' 7"
Hair Color: Brown with some fabulously fake blonde highlights
Eye Color: Blue-ish green
Born in: Flint.
Education: Edjamawha? Oh right, my schoolin'. High school ran into my sleeping schedule, so it was pushed aside and replaced by a G. (good) E. (enough) D. (diploma). And now there's college, and I make my own schedule now, so my classes are in the PM nowadays.
Fav. Hobbies: Teaching my dog to talk (she's up to three words and no, they're not "bark, woof and arf"!), reading nerd stories (fan fiction), and acting (like a dork).
Fav. Singers, Groups & Musicians: Amy Grant, Lifehouse, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Michael W. Smith. And Evanescence is fairly awesome as well.
Fav. Movie: The HPs and Orange County, Moulin Rouge.
Fav. Books: The Harry Potter series, courtesy o' J.K. Rowling, the Kissed By An Angel series by Elizabeth Chandler and This Lullabye by Sarah Dessen.
Fav. Animal: Kitties, dogs, horses, they're all good.
Favourite Place you'd want to Visit: Besides Vegas for the 40th time? How 'bout Platform 9 & 3/4? *Grins nerdily*
Fav. Color: Tickle Me Pink (for you weirdos who weren't brought up with Crayola, light pink).
Fav. School Subjects: Theatre an' English.
If you were a character on the Cast of Friends, who would you be?: The guest character who doesn't like any of the normal characters, and brings her friends Daria and Johnny Bravo to make the show better.
If you were a Flower, you would be a...: Holly plant. I'm poisonous yet festive!
If you were a tree, you would be a...: Peach tree. Mmm, peaches...

As pertains to Harry Potter:
House: Gryffindor. I used to think I'd be in Hufflepuff since I tend to be all optimistic and I tend to be a bit of a doormat, but I don't like doing work like the 'puffs and folks tell me you've got to be brave to be a theatre major.
Favorite Book: Good ol' book 3, Prisoner of Azkaban.
Favorite Character(s): Hermione Granger. That kid's great, sticking up for the House Elves and always looking out for her kiddos, Harry and Ron. *Fondly ruffles her hair, making it a bit bushier*
Wand: 12", Holly (*grins*) and Veela hair, springy, good for Charms.
Pet: (Pets, actually) Chyna the Talking Dog, Daria the Escape Artist Cat and Amy "Scratch Attack" Cat.
Hi kids! What's new? What's new with me is that school has started, which, of course, means that theatre has started! *Bursts into relieved tears* Oh-ho, I'm so freaking glad! *Sputters and sobs* Do you have any idea how much I've missed that class? To me, the word theatre is synonymous with the term complete and utter happiness. The good news is that Leah and Kyle (theatre just wouldn't be theatre without them), Nick, Shawna, Sudie and Monica (from 1st semester) have all returned! The bad news is that Don, the dude who gets my vote for Hottest Theatre Kid and everyone's vote for Most Likely to Win an Acadamy Award, has graduated. *Goes pale* I'm just sick about it. Plus, we lost a ton of other fun actors... like, 12. So that sucks. We haven't done a whole heck of a lot yet, but we did some pantomiming which consisted of the whole class losing their friends' dog, and ruining folks' hair colors. We also got to play my all-time favorite theatre game, Bus Stop, where you must get the person "waiting for the bus" out of their seat by doing some quick-thinking improv. I got a new guy, Justin, out of his seat by walking up and saying, "BEEP BEEP! I'm the bus, get in!" but then stealing his seat when he got up and exclaiming, "Ha ha! I'm not a bus, I'm just a person who wanted your seat!" Then Kyle decided to get me out of my seat by walking up to me and pretending to hump me. After about 5 seconds of this, I looked at my watch and asked him when the bus would arrive, but he pointed out that, has this happened in real life, I would have been long gone. I had to agree, and admitted defeat. *Hangs head*
I recently decided to re-read some of the Daria fan fiction I used to read obsessively a few years ago, and realized that I can't just abandon this awesome stuff just because I now read Harry Potter fan fic. That would just be wrong, as this stuff is great, and I'd forgotten just how great it is. I used to bloody love the show Daria, but it was the fan fic I was REALLY addicted to... specifically a cluster of Daria fan fiction written by a writing goddess who called herself Invisigoth Gypsy. The fics always managed to cheer me up and make my day a zillion times brighter, and I think you should all read her stuff if you ever get the chance. The whole series is focused around Daria and Trent, and how they were both too scared to admit they liked each other, so it was extremely cute, and it's one of my favorite sources of entertainment. Plus, there was no Tom (the boyfriend Daria eventually had)! Hurray for Trent and not for Tom. Now, move toward the link... that's it, closer... closer... The IVG Shipper Continuum

<3, Holly :-D