The Black Box Blog

I’m writing, partially because I’m always last, alphabet aside, and because there’s a lot I really just want to say before this process ends, we split up, and go on to do different things during the spring season and then college. While I may not always show it, I loved working on this show with all of you, and I mean all of you. I know we have had our moments, (ask anyone who knows me they can recount at least two of my “moments”) but this process, this show, this art form that all of us has created is absolutely amazing. It’s wonderful and brilliant and I hate that it ends tonight. So, seeing as this is the final show, I wanted to just thank everyone, one by one, for all the hard work they have put in, and all we have gotten out of their hard work. Going in no specific order, just whoever comes to my mind, I want to thank Ross for being enthusiastic and talented and always managing to put a smile on our faces when were down, and Mikey for being the most ridiculously hilarious guy I have ever met, and throwing himself into every character he performs with a level of dedication I have seen in few people, and Dee Jai, for somehow managing to stick by my side, handle my over-the-top-ness and help me create the wonderful set we have now, and Ayaka and Su Min for their amazing costume and t-shirt designs, and Kyle for being the newbie who manages to show up almost all of us all the time with your amazing Clarke, and Ella for always keeping control when we need it most, and scaring me, yet having those few moments when she shows she loves all of us as much as we love her, and Julia, for just being the complete embodiment of everything we try to give out and get from the theatre program, and Peyton, for keeping long photo logs of all us (many of which are embarrassing), yet will provide great memories when this is all over, and Eamon, who, while being quite new to this process, threw himself in there to go up against the veterans and came out with the greatest character(s) I have ever seen, and Monique, who manages to go from being kind of quiet in the beginning to passionately portraying her character show after show after show, and Charlotte, where would we be without Charlotte? You and I have our little tiffs, but I do love you, and its going to suck when I cant work with you on Zombie Prom. You’re funny and talented and you manage to always bring the lighter side into view when it seems like things are going wrong. And last, but certainly not least, Boss. I call you Boss, because that is exactly what you are. You run the show. Even now, while the majority of us are up on the stage and who ever isn’t stills makes it run likes a smooth machine you still run the show. You take a group of teenagers, so teenager-y in their very existence and yet, every season, manage to turn them into passionate actors, writers, designers, and techies. You’re always there when we need someone to talk to, you listen to all of our issues, (both stupid and important) and every day come back as happy as you were the day before. And your passion for theatre has been absorbed by all of us, and you make a big impact not only on what we do in the theatre, but what we do in our entire lives, at least I know that is true for me. So, before tonight’s last two shows, I just want everyone to know that, while Hope Is… may be taken down and put back in the shop and in a few days it’ll look like we were never there to begin with, it’ll still live on in our hearts and minds. Thank you, each and every one of you.

Dear  Readers,

Being a Yingling, I am always last. I have found through life that this can be both a blessing and a curse, but in the case of blog writing I'm exciting to be sharing the most exciting part of our journey with you. By 'most exciting' I realy mean most nerve racking, incredible, and just plain CRAZY.. I think crazy is infact the perfect word to describe this process. I for one am a little crazy.. it is crazy how much I have become a family with the V.A.T. group, our scheduals have been crazy.. and in case no one else told you... the play is about CRAZY people!!.. I hope that wasn't a secrete.

Anyways, the past few days of rehearsal we have been working on lines, lines, costumes, lines, lights, lines, acting, and lines.. We start every rehearsal with a warm up, playing zip zap, and word games, and then running around the room doing silly dances and such. It's really amazing how much you learn about people when playing follow the leader!

Examples:

1. Peyton is an undercover ninja? 

2.Ross belongs in a profession air band.

3. Charlotte I could picture doing some sort of a tribal dance around a fire... I don't know why........??

4. Our whole group belongs in a music video about big booties.....

We are very comfortable around eachother and I deffinitely value having a close group of friends to be CRAZY (there's that word again) with.

Back to rehearsals, the past few we have walked around the room after warm ups and considered what it is that our characters want the most. We are all hot, and sweaty, this seems to be the best time to contemplate life. Then we are meant to envision that want as a colorful, glowing ball of energy (mine was yellow :)!) Then we are meant to chase after our ball of energy and start to interact with other characters that we consider friends, or enemies. This is a really good excersize for me and I always envision my yellow energy ball when I get stuck on stage. This prompts me to be angry, sad, or happy, depending on my situation in the scene.

I don't think it has quite hit me that the play is tomorrow! AHHHH!!! We are working extremely hard to pull this off and I know it will be everything we could hope for!

  I am proud to say that the work we have been putting into this play is paying off! It's really amazing how mixing a group of 14 completely different teenagers and one Mr. Burmester, with one similar goal and passion can create such an incredible product, as well as some of the best friendships I will ever have. All of our different ideas, and skills, and techniques have gone into this play. I just hope that I have been able to impact every member of V.A.T  as much as they have impacted me.

I'll see you in the audience! (or on stage)

Always,

Monique Maria Delapaz Belt Lamadrid Yingling

This week in theater, the V.A.T group started with our daily warm-ups, and continued on with our normal routine. We than began running our lines. There has been much hard work put into this play since its initial creation at the beginning of winter.

Theater is going great and I am quite positive that everyone will really love the finished product. Line practicing has going very long and the practice times seems to drag on even longer when you are repeating the same exact thing over and over, and over, and over and over.. and over. and... Well.. You get the idea. But it is all in good faith to make you all happy! And us happy! And everyone Happy! Woo! Alright, so more on whats been going on. Practice has been going great and we are so close to the finished product. Just a couple more days until you all get to come see the show! Oh, remember to buy a V.A.T shirt, they are super cool and not to mention really comfy!

See you there!

Kyle Perfect

Today, Thursday the third of February, we took one more step on the long road to the performance.  We are now in the final stretch of our journey of creation.  There are only seven more rehearsals left.  So far as of date it has been a long and testing journey, but personally I feel that we will arrive at our destination with a new sense of meaning.  I can see that we are starting to convey a great truth in our work, and it is our job, as actors, to give you, the audience, this truth.  The writers have finalized the script.  The designers have made us a mega creamy set, and are working on some sick nasty costumes.  I just know that with hard work we can pull this of.

 Now one of the main responsibility lies in the hand of the actors.  You can have the greatest set designers, and writers (trust me we do), but the art will not be properly seen the way that it was intended unless the actors pull through.  I believe that we are more than capable of making this great.  I think that for the most part people know their lines (Personally I am having some trouble with the six page poem, but I'll deal with it).  Now comes the hardest part making everything look real and truthful.  In this stage you have to rehearse everything and make it look as if it was not rehearsed.

 Today we continued in that very process. We began working with scenes three-six.  And of course Mr. Bermiester (spelt wrong intentially) told of one of his myriad of stories about his experiences in the theater.  We learned about an experemental play that dealt with perspective where a man wore a really big shoe.  We have a great cast and crew and we have all put so much of our selves into this.  Its REALLY AWESOME!!!!  And even though I may miss the super bowl It will be alright because we have CREATED.  WE HAVE GIVEN BIRTH TO ART.  (And that is the most specialthing in the world. and anyway the big blue wrecking crew didn't even make the play-offs.  I hate you Matt Dodge.)  I also just want to tell you again how awesome everybody is on the set.  I love everyone of you.  We are now all one big family.

 Sincerely,

Michael Douglas Reilly Jr.   

I'm Not sure if i Can do this, or if I'm even allowed to but blog posting has come to a near complete halt recently and I thought I'd revive it. Dee-Jai and I have recently finished all of the lighting and set design. One day this week we spent just driving around in a car, but other than that the two of us have been hard at work trying to complete all of the flats needed for the flat wall on the set. Its required alot of breaking down, cutting, and putting back together. The writers finished the script quite a while ago and now the main process is to observe the scenes and go about editing the script to the optimal level. The actors themselves have been hard at work learning their lines, running lines when not on stage, and then working on staging and making the scenes great one by one when they are on stage. This process seems to have been taking its toll on everyone involved. Creating a play is a stressful activity, but I think that this group is strong enough to really pull through. Everyone has their days, and the topic we are trying to wrestle into a believable and great show is quite dark in and of itself. But everyone has done a great job of pulling together when we all really need it, coming together as a group, a team, and as friends. and The show is well on its way to being a great production. Good job to everyone involved, and even though it seems stressful now, I assure myself and everyone involved then when its all over we'll look back on this show as one of the bet highlights of our highschool career. Also. Ross came back this week! Which was really exciting because Dee-Jai really couldnt act that well. ;-)

- Your always faithful, but not always attentive Set Designer

Samuel Jonah Wallman

Dear Theatre Nation, VAT,

I apologize for being late to write this post.  Yesterday we embarked on a journey, no a quest of theatrical exploration that led us through the caves of uncertainty to the fields of knowledge.  Yes, that was a healthy dose of philosophy for the day. Su Min and Ayaka talked about their costume ideas for the show, and they were excellent. I really think that they have a firm grasp on the core ideas that are being displayed in the show. We then heard from Sam and Deejai about the set and lighting. Their ideas are excellent, and add a really institutionalized atmosphere that contributes positively to the show.   Lastly, the actors read through the script. Yes, we now have a script. It is incredible how quickly the writers transferred the ideas from the actors into a great script. It’s an excellent combination of all the core concepts explored in improv. As we read through the script it was clearly evident that the actors (especially me) were unable to read from a computer screen. While we did a great job, the computer machine spoiled our reading skills.  Overall, we had a very successful day, and one that generated many great ideas.  I am reaching the all dreaded word limit, therefore, I must stop writing.  Varsity Theatre continues its commitment to excellence plus awsomeness.  Over and Out.

Eamon O'Keefe

Hello all blog readers <3

Today I (Ella) will be talking about yesterday. Because I'm a slacker like that. Yesterday, we split up into our little groups, Writers in the mechanical room, actors improving, set designers designing and management (me) with the writers. I pretty much worked on poster design the whoooooole time (which tired my brain out  very well) Sam and Dee-Jai worked on a rough sketch of what the set should look like and what the lighting should look like. The actors improvised scenes based on ideas given to them by the writers, and even some on their own. The writers were nestled in comfy chairs answering some basic questions that needed to be answered and tried to put the scenes we wanted in some sort of order. Towards the end of the day, there was a little spat (which I stayed away from) but everything resolved itself and we're one big happy family again! YAY! After that, we went home and enjoyed our freedom, coming up with new ways to do impressive things during our next meeting.

Have a good day!

Ella 

Salutations Blog Readers!

On this wondrous snow day we all met up cheerful today ready to conquer the task of beginning our storylines. Whilst Deejai and Sam were looking at potential design ideas for the set and lighting I was among the improvisation group consisting of Julia, Ella, Eamon, Mikey, Monique and Kyle. During this time Ross, Sarai and Peyton were using their unique talents in the mechanical room to begin the process of the actual writing of  our script.

The improv group started out our rehearsal with a warm up superbly led by our very own Julia Bianconi. While our zip zap started out like any other it was quickly morphed into a creation I am not even sure we could call zip zap anymore. I believe creations such as “gibbable” and “kapowboing” were thrown into the accepting airs of our circle. Afterwards was following the leader, which seemed to have many airplanes and too much rolling on the ground for my taste.

Once hydrated we began with improv ideas from Eamon and Mikey who brought the suggestion of introducing Kyle’s character into the asylum scene would test the characters on how they interact with new people and the potential for escape. Eamon’s new character “Sigmahnt” gave the scene depth, comic relief and of course a new accent.  Kyle’s idea for improv led us in the direction of looking at the relationships between the nurses and the administrator. The struggle over power and fear of this almost alien-like administrator make the nurses more interesting to the plot.

All in all I believe that the people working on improv and developing story lines are really making great advances for our play.

As for the people in the mechanical room; their secretive development in our play has made the experience that more enjoyable. Sarai’s “I’m sorry charlotte” was slightly unsettling (when she told me after rehearsal) and hopefully I can solve the mystery of the character and play development our main writers have constructed.

As for me I believe that unless we have me floating to the ceiling in rigging, flapping my arms like a bird, and singing a rendition of “Baby got back”(perhaps Richard Cheese’s?) at the end of the play, it will be a disaster! (Just kidding…sort of)

Today was one of many productive days to come! Keep working hard guys!!

Love,  Your favorite spectacled ginger Charlotte Murphy

Howdy!

Today we explored to see who was in charge in the scene and to see who was able to take power at different times. We started like we did everyday, although this time Julia led the group in the warm-up and Mr. B decided to film us so the whole school could see how productive and hard working we are. We circled up and played a few rounds of Zip Zap. Then we added a new game called Pass The Energy. It's a simple game, someone passes you the "energy" and you change it. For example when I had the "energy" I pretended it was a bunny then I passed it to Kyle. Kyle then decided to throw it like a baseball. My reaction was also simple, "You threw my bunny." Once we finished that we finished our warm up with Pass The Snap and running until we can't breath. Then the work had to start.

   We started with Kyle, Monique, Julia, and Ross on stage improving. We explored who needs sympathy, who gets the blame, and who is trapped. Within that we saw relationships form and respect. It was interesting to see how serious we could be, but then see who would add the comic relief, if someone would at all. And of course Ross did. That scene would've continued with Eamon entering, but he spoke to soon and was told to sit again. Although he did bring giggles to everyone by yelling another famous Eamon quote,"THANKSGIVING DAY!", unfortunately it was during Mr. B giving brief directions. After Charlotte entered to add conflict we moved on to a new scenario. This time we had Kyle, Charlotte, Monique, Julia, Eamon, and Mikey on stage.We improved with the idea of seeing what would happen when a new character entered the scene to see how the other characters would react. From that improv we were able to imagine more developed characters and situations.

   As I was watching today I started to notice a lot of the relationships and interactions that were happening. It was easy to compare and contrast those on stage with those off stage, which makes it seem more real. As I was watching Kyle and Ross interact it was intriguing to see how they clashed and reacted to what the other was saying and how they were saying it. Off stage though we all usually get along. I'll admit that it isn't always easy to stay calm, but so far I think we have done a very good job of keeping the frustration to a minimum. But we also have tons of fun. Within the past couple of  weeks we have managed to create a big amount of inside jokes and quotes. Today I would like to add another Eamon one, "Have you ever seen a used tissue?" (Throws tissue). Gross, yet very hilarious when played out.

   I'm very proud and grateful to be able to be a part of this new and amazing experience and can not wait to break up into groups tomorrow and start cracking down some more!

   Sweet dreams to all,

   Sarai M

Well done today! Keep it up!     Ayaka Izumi <3

After a long process of difficult, fun, and sometimes ridiculous scenes, we had two ideas left to address. But before we could get to any of, we had to have a little bit of nonsense. We got the energy high and sprinted around the theater in an effort to get the blood PUMPIN'.

So I think this is about sums it up for me.  Things are going very well.      Dee-Jai Kasetrevatin Cowles

Hi Everyone,

Very well done. Overall today was productive but what we should take out of it is that we should listen to one another and not get frustrated when our ideas don't get heard right away, there is plenty of invention to come! Nighty Night!

1/5/11
So, I don’t know if I’m responsible for an introductory or anything - I’m just gonna wing it.