The new season for the 2009-2010 Schuster Theatre season has been chosen!! And Fr. Shawn Clerkin just put out a new video talking about all of the shows we will be doing. We'll start off with Dancing at Lughnasa, a memory play told from the point of view of Michael Evans, recounting the summer in his aunt's cottage when he was seven years old. Next, we will perform Nevermore, based on the life of poet Edgar Allen Poe and the women in his life. After that, and probably the one I'm looking forward to auditioning for the most, is Title of Show.
I've always been sort of drawn to modern plays and musicals, probably since I feel like I can relate to them moreso than to more period pieces. That why I loved I Love You Because so much last season!! It was a musical set in present day NYC, and I really felt at home in the setting (even though I don't live in New York... some day though, some day.)
After that is a brand new adaptation of The Wizard of Oz written by recent Gannon graduate Zach Flock, called The Oz Project. We just had a read-through of it towards the end of last semester, and it is so cool. It has this dark wit to it, with all the characters you recognize from the original, along with some you don't.
In the video, Fr. Shawn goes on to talk a little more about a master class we'll be offering with Daphne-Ruben Vega (from the original cast of RENT!), as well as this year's fundraiser, American Scrapbook. Check it out!
Peace, Nicole
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
I'm a... junior?! Crazy!!!
Friday, May 8, 2009: A day that has been marked in my Gannon planner since I moved into my apartment at the beginning of the year. Today is the last day of finals, and my last day of Sophomore Year here at Gannon!!!
This week has been crazy, two exams, three projects and a design presentation (which we may get a video of at some point!), but it's finally over and summer is coming FAST!
I'm going to continue blogging over the summer, since I'm planning on doing something pretty exciting- I was accepted as an intern in the programming department at KDKA 1020 radio in Pittsburgh!! I can not wait to get started and work in a station in the city.
Also, I recently started a "twitter" account for shorter updates sometimes when a blog entry would be just too long (honestly, sometimes none of our attention spans are long enough for a full blown entry). But to follow my twitter- check out http://www.twitter.com/dohoda001.
As always, over the summer you can always email me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the University, or my major- Theatre & Communication Arts! You can even find me on Facebook.
Good luck to all the graduating seniors in high school as well- I hope you're looking at great colleges like GANNON for the fall semester!!
Peace- Nicole
This week has been crazy, two exams, three projects and a design presentation (which we may get a video of at some point!), but it's finally over and summer is coming FAST!
I'm going to continue blogging over the summer, since I'm planning on doing something pretty exciting- I was accepted as an intern in the programming department at KDKA 1020 radio in Pittsburgh!! I can not wait to get started and work in a station in the city.
Also, I recently started a "twitter" account for shorter updates sometimes when a blog entry would be just too long (honestly, sometimes none of our attention spans are long enough for a full blown entry). But to follow my twitter- check out http://www.twitter.com/dohoda001.
As always, over the summer you can always email me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the University, or my major- Theatre & Communication Arts! You can even find me on Facebook.
Good luck to all the graduating seniors in high school as well- I hope you're looking at great colleges like GANNON for the fall semester!!
Peace- Nicole
Friday, May 1, 2009
Complete video of our Springtopia dance!
Remember that Springtopia dance I wrote about? Well our own theatre & comm department made a sweet video of it! Check this out, we had cameras walking around, across the street, even one on top of the Zurn Science Center. This is one you don't want to miss.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
“Let the sun shine”
Never before have I been so proud to be a part of the theatre department here.
This week on campus is “Springtopia,” an event designed to celebrate the end of the year, the completion of another semester, and the incoming of beautiful summer weather. This year, along with the other planned festivities, my improv class (which I’ve already been talking about in past posts) decided to do a little something to add to the ambiance.
This one started a few weeks ago, when Paula found a video of a train station in Germany of people spontaneously breaking into dance. The music just came from nowhere, and the dance started with only one person, slowly adding more and more as the music grew, and before too long there were over 100 men, women and children dancing to Julie Andrews voice within the station. (I learned from my journalist friend Sara Toth that this was called a “flash mob.”)
From that day on Paula was determined to have this be our final project for the class. We started choreographing and before we knew it, it was Monday morning and people were gathered in Friendship Green to celebrate Springtopia. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the 5th Dimension’s rendition of “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” started playing from the speakers.
One of my classmates, Chris Wroebel started to dance, and before the first chorus our entire class was dancing in the sun to the music. Never before have I seen such an awesome group effort that made everyone passing stop and stare.
Some of our teachers were walking around passing out flowers to everyone, and as quickly as it had begun the song ended and we dispersed into the crowd around us.
I feel like this isn’t something that can really be explained by writing it..the complete video will be online soon, but you can get a better idea by checking this out:
http://www.erietube.com/_Springtopia-at-Gannon/video/627015/3766.html
(Although one person did sum it up better than I could, Gannon Knight editor Sara Toth. The next issue will be up this week, and her column does a wonderful job of painting a picture of yesterday’s amazing morning.)
Now that the semester is ending I can’t wait til next fall, and hopefully to try this little guerrilla experiment again.
This week on campus is “Springtopia,” an event designed to celebrate the end of the year, the completion of another semester, and the incoming of beautiful summer weather. This year, along with the other planned festivities, my improv class (which I’ve already been talking about in past posts) decided to do a little something to add to the ambiance.
This one started a few weeks ago, when Paula found a video of a train station in Germany of people spontaneously breaking into dance. The music just came from nowhere, and the dance started with only one person, slowly adding more and more as the music grew, and before too long there were over 100 men, women and children dancing to Julie Andrews voice within the station. (I learned from my journalist friend Sara Toth that this was called a “flash mob.”)
From that day on Paula was determined to have this be our final project for the class. We started choreographing and before we knew it, it was Monday morning and people were gathered in Friendship Green to celebrate Springtopia. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the 5th Dimension’s rendition of “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” started playing from the speakers.
One of my classmates, Chris Wroebel started to dance, and before the first chorus our entire class was dancing in the sun to the music. Never before have I seen such an awesome group effort that made everyone passing stop and stare.
Some of our teachers were walking around passing out flowers to everyone, and as quickly as it had begun the song ended and we dispersed into the crowd around us.
I feel like this isn’t something that can really be explained by writing it..the complete video will be online soon, but you can get a better idea by checking this out:
http://www.erietube.com/_Springtopia-at-Gannon/video/627015/3766.html
(Although one person did sum it up better than I could, Gannon Knight editor Sara Toth. The next issue will be up this week, and her column does a wonderful job of painting a picture of yesterday’s amazing morning.)
Now that the semester is ending I can’t wait til next fall, and hopefully to try this little guerrilla experiment again.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Another Opening, Another Show...
I wrote this last night, but didn't get around to posting it until today...
Well thats it. I just got back to my apartment after our last dress rehearsal/preview show. And now tomorrow is it!! It's time to put the show we've been working on in front of an audience! We've finally worked out most of the kinks that come with a show of this magnitude (things that naturally become difficult when you're working with a two-floor set).
I am so excited, and I really think we're at a point where we need to put the show in front of people to see if it's funny. The show's 5 dollars for admission, unless you are a current Gannon student or faculty member with an ID, then it's free!!
Hope to see you there! And I'll have to put up some pictures after the run of the show :)
Peace- Nicole
PS- Get more info on Noises Off at www.gannon.edu/theatre and check out the preview article and photos in this week's Gannon Knight !!!
Well thats it. I just got back to my apartment after our last dress rehearsal/preview show. And now tomorrow is it!! It's time to put the show we've been working on in front of an audience! We've finally worked out most of the kinks that come with a show of this magnitude (things that naturally become difficult when you're working with a two-floor set).
I am so excited, and I really think we're at a point where we need to put the show in front of people to see if it's funny. The show's 5 dollars for admission, unless you are a current Gannon student or faculty member with an ID, then it's free!!
Hope to see you there! And I'll have to put up some pictures after the run of the show :)
Peace- Nicole
PS- Get more info on Noises Off at www.gannon.edu/theatre and check out the preview article and photos in this week's Gannon Knight !!!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Why Improv class rocks...
I love Paula Barrett's Improv class. Here's why:
It's one of the coolest classes I've ever taken, and Paula is an incredible teacher/director/person/friend.
Enjoy the video, and Happy Easter!
It's one of the coolest classes I've ever taken, and Paula is an incredible teacher/director/person/friend.
Enjoy the video, and Happy Easter!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Near may be better than far but it still isn't there...
“Near may be better than far but it still isn’t there..”
Being a musical theatre lover, quotes from a musical have a tendency to start relating quite closely to life; sometimes a little too closely for comfort.
We’re closing in on the end of the semester, which means summer is getting closer! But it also means scheduling classes for next semester, starting to look towards finals, and for me, finishing the show at the Schuster!
I’m currently rehearsing Noises Off, a British farce comedy about a play within a play. I was a little nervous coming back to rehearsal after not being on stage since last semester, but I cannot even say how happy I am to be back. After stage managing A Tuna Christmas last semester, I knew how much it made me miss performing, but this just brought that right back to life.
Rehearsals have been so much fun. Never have I been in a show with so much action going on without words. I know that sounds sort of confusing… but if you come to see it (opening April 23rd!), I promise it will make so much more sense. Act I finds us- the cast of Noises Off, rehearsing for the show our characters will be performing in, Nothing On.
Act II finds us a month into the run of the show, and the audience no longer sees not what goes on “on-stage,” but the action going on behind the scenes. If you think that sounds boring, you could not be more wrong. True to life, the backstage drama can be even more.. well, “dramatic” than what’s going on on stage.
Finally, the front of the stage is back in view as we are reaching the end of our tour in Nothing On.
I was slightly skeptical about this whole setup of performing a “show within a show,” but the more we rehearse the more excited I am getting about it! I play Belinda Blair, who plays “Flavia” in Nothing On, and I am starting to absolutely fall in love with her as a character. She is a gossip queen who loves to feel like she’s in control, and begins to run into problems when she works with characters who are just as bull-headed as she is.
We’ve been rehearsing for about three weeks, and have the entire show blocked (or planned out) as of yesterday. That is great since now we have just under a month to clean and polish everything to be ready for opening night!
If you’re in the area at the end of April you should definitely come check it out at the Schuster Theatre, I’ll probably write more about it later, but for now I should go get some sleep to be rested for rehearsal and classes tomorrow!
Being a musical theatre lover, quotes from a musical have a tendency to start relating quite closely to life; sometimes a little too closely for comfort.
We’re closing in on the end of the semester, which means summer is getting closer! But it also means scheduling classes for next semester, starting to look towards finals, and for me, finishing the show at the Schuster!
I’m currently rehearsing Noises Off, a British farce comedy about a play within a play. I was a little nervous coming back to rehearsal after not being on stage since last semester, but I cannot even say how happy I am to be back. After stage managing A Tuna Christmas last semester, I knew how much it made me miss performing, but this just brought that right back to life.
Rehearsals have been so much fun. Never have I been in a show with so much action going on without words. I know that sounds sort of confusing… but if you come to see it (opening April 23rd!), I promise it will make so much more sense. Act I finds us- the cast of Noises Off, rehearsing for the show our characters will be performing in, Nothing On.
Act II finds us a month into the run of the show, and the audience no longer sees not what goes on “on-stage,” but the action going on behind the scenes. If you think that sounds boring, you could not be more wrong. True to life, the backstage drama can be even more.. well, “dramatic” than what’s going on on stage.
Finally, the front of the stage is back in view as we are reaching the end of our tour in Nothing On.
I was slightly skeptical about this whole setup of performing a “show within a show,” but the more we rehearse the more excited I am getting about it! I play Belinda Blair, who plays “Flavia” in Nothing On, and I am starting to absolutely fall in love with her as a character. She is a gossip queen who loves to feel like she’s in control, and begins to run into problems when she works with characters who are just as bull-headed as she is.
We’ve been rehearsing for about three weeks, and have the entire show blocked (or planned out) as of yesterday. That is great since now we have just under a month to clean and polish everything to be ready for opening night!
If you’re in the area at the end of April you should definitely come check it out at the Schuster Theatre, I’ll probably write more about it later, but for now I should go get some sleep to be rested for rehearsal and classes tomorrow!
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