On Sunday, Broadway Training Center
had their end of year recital. I helped them with their load in from our studio
in Hastings-on-Hudson to the Irvington Town Hall Theatre. During the recital, I
mostly observed, and performed in my Advanved Acting/Improv piece and my Modern
Dance piece. After the recital was over, I helped them take their things out of
the theatre (strike). Then I cried because it was the end of my last year as a
student there as a “child”. (They do
offer adult classes and I plan to take them later.)
On Monday, I did the first four
levels of the conservation campaign in one of my favorite computer games, Zoo
Tycoon. I unlocked the Red Panda and Ring-Tailed Lemurs! Then I got really
bored and texted my friend , Clara, who is in 7th grade at the
middle school. We met in BTC and she is like my sister (we look like it could
be true!). Sadly, she’s moving to Boston in the end of July. Durning and after
that, I watched the series finale of House. It was good!
On Tuesday, I woke up early,
because I had a relief from my boredom. I took the 39 Bee-Line bus to Central
Park Ave, and transferred on to the 20 witch runs up and down Central. I got
off in Scarsdale and took a Beginner Ballet class. I enjoyed it a lot.
On Wednesday, was going to go to
the ballet class again, but I slept through my alarm. I emailed Bryan (the
Emelin supervisor). Then I played another one of my
favorite computer games, The Sims 3. I got bored quickly, and ate lunch with my
mom who works from home. Then I got the email with this document and did the
interview with Jason (BTC supervisor), and filled out the rest of this sheet.
Thursday consisted of a whopping
two ballet classes, one at 9:15a and another at 8:30p. Between those, I went to Petco and got a stupid goldfish and two hermit crabs.
On Friday, I went to Panera with
my social worker. When I came home, I discovered thatm Bryan from Emelin got
back to me and so I have a schedule for the rest of the externship J
On Saturday, my friend Clara
came over and we swam in our pool and it was fun. Then three of my other
friends came over and we made a scrapbook to send to Mr. Baird.
And that’s my second week. Oh so
productive.
Jason comes off as a warm and friendly person. In his case, this is really who he is. I’d say that he is very successful because he changes the lives of his students, myself included. For example, from Feburary 2011 to Febuary 2012, as you may know, I had a very hard time controlling my depression and was in a psychiatric unit four times. During this time, he was always there for me. In August, he literally saved my life. Part of the reason I was able to get in in control in just one year was because he was around for me to talk to. He’s also really on top of what he does, because he has to be because he is always doing many projects at once. In September, for the past couple of years, he has not only directed our show, but the opening and closing ceremonies of the US Open (tennis, not golf) I know that Jason feels fulfilled with his work because like he says, he really does like working with the students. I’ve taken classes with him for the past 5 years and you can really see the enthusiasm in his eyes. He really does love what he does. It seems to me that he has a near perfect life.
Bryan is a different story. He comes off as a bit scary because he is a large man and has a beard and a long pony tail, making him look rather unkempt. Inside, though, he’s very nice, but flaky, as we now know. I don’t think he’s fulfilled at Emelin because he’s done a lot of things at higher levels (see week 1’s log) and is underemployed. Perhaps because he is flaky.
Ok, so since I've really started my externship, there will be a series of four entries regarding the experience. They are answers to questions I had to answer for school.
I chose The Emelin Theatre for
several reasons. The first is that it was the only theatre I reached out to to
contact me. After they interviewed me, it seemed like a good fit because I got
along with the people there well, which can be hard for me. Thirdly, they are
well funded, so they have a lot of the latest technical instruments available
to the public. Another thing I like is that they are well known in the local
theatre world. If you say “Emelin Theatre” to any real thespian over the age of
15 in the tri-state area, they will know what you are talking about.
Because of my concern about
getting enough hours at Emelin, I asked if Jason, the co-artistic
director of Broadway Training Center (BTC), and my mentor figure, if I could
count the hours I usually spend with them in preparation for their junior
ensemble’s spring show an annual recital towards my externship. Working with
BTC over the last five years has been a remarkable experience. Among other
things, one thing that sets BTC apart from other groups like Play Group Theatre
in White Plains and Irvington Town Hall Players is that BTC hires only working
professionals in their field. This means that our instructors are people who
have actually made something of themselves in the business. They say that those
who cannot teach, but that is not true with us.
In both sites, I am working
alongside industry professionals at an equal level.
Emelin’s first impression was
along the lines of “holy [cheese], this is epic.” I was thrilled that they have
a lighting catwalk and really wanted to get up there. Interestingly enough, my
first call was a lighting restore! Although I’m used to working with
professionals because of BTC, it was taken to a new level of amazing when I
found out that my supervisor, Bryan McPartlan, worked sound for the national
tour of Cats and was a stagehand on a Canadian tour with Alice Cooper.
I can’t really attest to my
first impressions of BTC because my first impression was made six years ago,
but I remember thinking that it was something I really wanted to be a part of.
I don’t drive yet. Because
Emelin is in Mamaroneck, I have to take the bus there. I’ve used the Bee-Line
system before, so it isn’t the getting there, it’s the time that it takes to
get there. The bus that comes in closest to my call time has been up to
forty-five minutes before I was supposed to be there, and I was locked out of
the building!
I am also anticipating some
degree of being overlooked because I’m not a real employee. I suppouse this
comes with the territory, but I can’t help but think that if they asked me
something that I would be able to do it, instead of watching them do it. I’m a
hands on learner, and I do really want this to be a learning experience. I’m
hoping that this will pass soon as they realize how capable I am.
There really is no typical
day at Emelin that I’ve observed yet, keeping in mind that I’ve only been there
twice so far. One say was a lighting restore and they actually had me do things
to help and the other day was a small children’s dance recital, at which I
observed Bryan cueing the sound. We also spoke about illegal frequencies
because the videographer had their microphones in that set of frequencies. It’s
a whole interesting thing about the FCC owning airwaves that I won’t explain
now because it’s a very long and somewhat confusing legality.
The normal day at BTC
involves running the show in its entirety or in bits and pieces and adding
things like lights and sound effects and finessing set changes.
Any job in theatre at the
rehearsal level doesn’t have a typical day because if each day were trhe same,
there’d be no progress.
