OPENING NIGHT!

Opening night went swimmingly, folks. We were even featured yesterday morning on the news, check out the interview and scene clip RIGHT HERE!

I encourage everyone to buy a ticket, and celebrate Shakespeare's birthday with us this week. It will be a great experience for the lovers of Shakespeare, or a great first "Shakespearience" for our younger audiences!
It is truly a fun and uplifting play. Skip the cliche television sitcoms, ditch the movie theatre, and come see a LIVE PERFORMANCE!

The Final Countdown

Ahoy Mateys! "Tis but fortune, all is fortune." We have been soooooo busy here at TAMU-CC Theatre! It is almost time for our wonderful play to open. Tonight is our first dress rehearsal, and this past week we have been in technical rehearsals. I apologize for the lack of updates, it breaks my heart that I haven't been posting anything all week. We're going to have a GOOD SHOW tonight! We're excited, and I hope YOU are excited. WE WILL SEE YOU APRIL 20th!

Yo-ho-yo-ho!

Work Call

Today the cast and company of TWELFTH NIGHT was called to work along with the supporting students and faculty of TAMU-CC. We broke off into teams for sound, set building, costume construction, light hanging and programming, and also publicity! Check out the new promo video for our play!

Half of our theatre department is getting ready for the premiere of two Senior Capstones tonight(Alice in Wonderland, and The Prophet, an original play). The Twelfth Night cast and crew will be in the audience supporting these plays, as well as preparing for this upcoming week of dress and technical rehearsals.
It's going to be a tiring week readers, but our cast and company is working hard, and all of it will pay off April 20th when we open! ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT!
GET READY FOR TWELFTH NIGHT

Greetings Readers!

AHOY!
I hath some new production photos for thee.
CHECK OUT OUR SET SO FAR!



As Olivia would say, "...MOST WONDERFUL!" We are getting there everyone!
YESTERDAY, the illustrious Kelly Russel watched a run-through of the play in all of its Shakespearean glory.
This past week, Alison worked with the actors and tweaked significant details throughout the whole play from scene to scene.
Tonight, we are focusing on music!!! This is some beautiful stuff, and below you can listen to a rough clip of one of the many songs Ian and Cory have worked on for the shipwrecked scene.
WS_10009.WMA
Cory Kosel, actor who also plays Sir Andrew Aguecheek, has been pulling double duty onstage as a musician and a character in the play.

A photo of Cory with theatre technician, William Dean. SEE? WHO SAYS ACTORS AND TECHIES CAN'T GET ALONG?

Chain of Being

Good Morrow!
Today's post is all about THE CHAIN OF BEING (Cue epic trumpet flourish). Now some of you may be asking, "What the heck is that?!"Basically, in Shakespeare's time, The Chain of Being placed you in a specific class/ order of ranking. The interesting thing is that it was possible to work your way up the chain (which Malvolio tries to do in TWELFTH NIGHT). The belief in a higher power puts God (also referred to as Jove) at the very top. Angels are directly below God. After angels came nobility, the kings that rule over the land that answers God's will. After the king came everyone else, ordered from most valuable to least. Men technically came before women, but under given circumstances, a middle class woman could have a higher position than a peasant man. Unfortunately, musicians, actors, thieves and smugglers have a reserved spot as the lowest of the lows on The Chain of Being. Still unsure? You can see it illustrated in simplified terms below!

Come see TWELFTH NIGHT and discover where all our characters lie on...(trumpet flourish) THE CHAIN OF BEING!
For more information:
1. LINK: http://web.cn.edu/KWHEELER/Tillyard01.html

2.

April 1st, and April 2nd Rehearsal

Hello readers, I apologize for my lack of posting lately. I have been giving my full attention to stage manager duties while our Stage Manager is at a USITT conference. We shall hear more of that anon. I have missed blogging about the show! This week went quite well. Last week, our actors made more discoveries with the text, and we had a run of Act 1. We are slowly combining the elements. It's going to be an epic play you guys! RESERVE YOUR TICKETS, CAUSE THIS SHOW WILL BE SOLD OUT.
Music composers Ian Williams and Cory Kosel met for rehearsal on Saturday, and for this past week have been teaching the actors how to play their special version of "Come Away Death", a song that Feste performs for Duke Orsino. BE SURE TO COME SEE OUR LOVELY ACTORS SING THESE BEAUTIFULLY COMPOSED SONGS.
I think the wonderful emotion-packed scenes between our lovers will be awesome to counteract the work of our clowns in the play. Their comedy has had me and Alison doubled over with laughter in our seats this past week. Here are some great candid shots...


Lighting and Set updates: Our light design class has spent the past week hanging lights for the play, which is great for the actors to get used to the extra warmth of the hot lamps, and for us out in the house so we're able to see all the action onstage! The wheelhouse has been weathered/treated and the broken ship stage right and left are painted now too.
The past week some actors in the show have been arriving much earlier than their call time to prepare/warm up, and tune their instruments (both literally and figuratively). This dedication has not gone unnoticed, and will serve you future equity actors well.
STAY TUNED FOR AN UPDATE ALL ABOUT "THE CHAIN OF BEING". A very important aspect of Shakespeare's plays, and understanding the status roles in TWELFTH NIGHT.
For now, I bid you adieu!

March 30/31st Rehearsal

Hello to everyone!
This week, TWELFTH NIGHT is undergoing an "extreme makeover" with blocking as our actors play with new ideas, and subtext. Indeed, our actors were so creative that at one point when rehearsing the scene where Malvolio first finds Maria's letter, our clowns, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, and Fabian rehearsed their blocking in slow motion with their lines! Ladies and gentlemen, Look out for TWELFTH NIGHT: In Slow Motion. (Okay, maybe not but it could be amusing.)Speaking of amusing, over Spring Break I was digging through a junk drawer in my old room and found something fun and fitting for our play's shipwrecked/pirate inspiration!...
I started growing him, my very own pirate, today! I intend to keep you all posted on the status of Peg Leg Steve.
I digress-
Today we had a makeup workshop for the actors as designer Sarah showed some tips and techniques to the cast, as well as how to apply their own makeup, testing out how everyone will look.


After makeup call, we wrapped up with some lovely music composed by Ian who is collaborating with actors Corey Kosel, Lindsey Hertel, Andrew Robinson, Taylor Whitmire, and Lucinda Rico to create an original soundtrack to the play. The music rehearsal was a time to polish and practice everything that has been composed thus far.