Holy Week 2015

                                                                  HOLY WEEK 2015


   




    This week is the culmination of the entire Christian faith. The greatest love story ever told and we are at the center of it. This is a beautiful,solemn,introspective week leading to a jubilant Easter. I will not blog any further of my own words, I feel today they are inadequate in the shadow of what is to come in these next few days.
    Together let us gain some perspective this week and be reborn in His Love.

Prop Tree!!!

Hi! So today we are going to have a little chat about the "Tarzan" tree. 

It started off as this really great idea. We needed a huge tree that Tarzan's parents could build a "treehouse" in. We looked up alot of different ways to make prop trees but nothing we could find was conducive to what guidelines we needed to follow. We had to follow all the rules of the school, it had to fit on the side of the stage because there wasn't room for it on the stage, three people had to be able to stand in it, I needed to be able to easily build a shelter on top of it in one verse of a song, people had to climb up and down it throughout the show, etc. There were some big hurdles to overcome. One tree that we had found had this really great look but the way they had done it wouldn't work for us so we thought of a different way to make that look work. We came up with the idea of using twisted brown paper. In our heads it was a fairly simple idea...however, that was not the case. Originally we thought we would be able to buy those huge roles of brown paper that you can get at the craft store but very soon after we started building we realized that we would need way to much paper and it was way too expensive. So we figured we would get white paper and paint it. We did. Painting the paper was extremely time consuming. We had to lay out the paper on the grass in the front of the school and paint it with rollers. It was hard not to rip the paper because we had to water down the paint which in turn obviously made the paper very wet; and then there was the wind to deal with, even if we weighted down the corners the wind would still catch the middle and rip the whole thing up. And it was hard to find weights in the first place because there were no rocks or anything around. We also had to paint both sides...ugh. We got lucky though because the cast was helpful and so we didn't have to do it all ourselves, especially because if we had to that would've been the only set piece we had haha.

After the paper was all painted we had to twist it. Since the pieces were like ten feet long using two people to twist was the best way. So one person would hold it while the other person twisted and put tape around it periodically so that the whole thing didn't come undone. That also took a very long time.

While the branches were being made we also had to make the structure they would be attached to. Jewel and Jorne decided our best bet would be scaffolding instead of wood or something else because it fit in the area we needed it to fit in and they didn't have to build it from scratch. So they assembled the scaffolding and then I attached the branches. I did that by first wrapping fabric around the whole structure and then hot gluing/taping/pinning/tying/ any other way I could think of to attach it. It took me a VERY long time. The branches had to go on diagonally and they had to be touching cuz it would look stupid if there were spaces.

After the bottom was done we had to try to make it look somewhat round because scaffolding is rectangular.  So a couple of the guys took a huge piece of wood, lowered it down into the tree and then angled it to try and make the whole thing look round. It pretty much worked. haha :)

Then I had to do the top. The boys made 4 sockets where I could fit a slab of wood to build the "walls" of the treehouse. Then we took chicken wire and tied real leaves and such to it and balanced it on top of the wood slabs for the "roof."


Here are some pics ( They are not the greatest pictures and some of them make it look kind of crappy but, trust me, come showtime it looked pretty awesome!):

SEUSSICAL

MISSION STATEMENT

Snow days a blessing and a curse!

     And we are back with another beautiful Thursday and to start today I'm gonna tell you what's been happening since last I post . So this past Monday I was really excited because we had mandatory Monday for lacrosse a and all that really means is the official start to the season . It being my senior year I was really pumped for it to start but after the first Monday night practice Tuesday Wednesday and today were all snowed out so I kinda feel like the season didn't really start yet. I am enjoying the break so my body can heal a little bit but I'm also pretty scared because my coach has been really hard on us this season and coming from three days off I can see tomorrow being really tough. I can take it though as long as o can think about some simple sayings one of which being that. The more pain I feel now the less I feel when I'm beating my competition. The team and I are looking for a district title and maybe a state championship but to achieve that its gonna take A Lot of hard work on practice days and a relentless attitude that we will not be beat no matter what.
     On another note Seussical is going but its kinda on pause right now because of all the snow and ice we keep getting. Although that pause is only for the actors, because I assure you we are working feverishly to get everything we need done from costumes to sets to advertising we are doing it all on these nice snow days. The bad part is that with such a short rehearsal prosses we are getting a little bit behind but we are going to give a strong push and its gonna be the best show yet!
     Other then that I literally don't have a life because both those things take up a bunch of time. But I'm okay with that because its two things that I really love. No one complains when they are doing what they love.
   

How-To Tuesday!...I mean Wednesday...

Hi! I enjoyed last weeks post and I thought it would be a cool idea if i did a sort of how-to every week!...At least for a little while...haha.
This week I am going to go with some of the more intricate/interesting costumes that we made for Tarzan. For those of you who have never seen the stage version of the old Disney classic there is this whole song/scene that Jane Porter sings about all of the very unusual plant-life in the jungle. Now, if you know us when something says interesting and unusual plants you know we have to go all out and make these plants the most interesting and unusual plants ever seen. Teara spent a bit coming up with different ideas and we would all try to figure out what was an actual feasible plan and what, well...wasn't. One day she stumbled upon this European designer who made clothes for the purpose of looking like plants! The outfits were pretty incredible; I'm not quite sure what they were actually for because they weren't meant for costumes but they took avant garde to a whole new level haha. Anyway, now we had an inspiration all we needed was to figure out how...
The problem was that the fabric had to stiff and mold-able...yeah, not happening. Teara looked up anything and everything to try to turn any regular fabric into something stiff and mold-able. Every avenue turned up empty, just one problem after the next. Until the bright idea came up of using wire! It seemed so obvious I don't know what took so long to come up with it. And the perfect source of wire? Something cheap, abundant, thick enough but not too thick....wire hangers! Yay! The idea and the know how was born, on to the building.
Building the costumes was no small feat. First we had to figure out the design of each plant. We wanted them to be sort of reminiscent of certain plants but nothing too pin-pointed. Once we had the designs we had to straighten all the hangers. It was very difficult. After the first one I was like 'oh this isn't too bad, it will be done in no time', boy, was I sadly mistaken. We figured out that using pliers was faster but still hard. We straightened too many hangers to count but the worst part was that after we straightened them we had to bend them into the shapes we wanted. And even-ness is not my thing so I had to be extra diligent unless I wanted some ugly lopsided petals. 
Here are a couple pictures of some of the costumes:

 For this one we made the vine by sewing a tube of fabric then stuffing it with cotton to make it thick. Then we attached some hangers together and stuffed them through the vine to make it able to wrap around (that was the easy part.) The leaves we made by shaping the outline out of the hangers then hot gluing the fabric on to cover them. The headpiece, (well it was originally supposed to be a headpiece, we had to change it because he couldn't do his dance with it on) was harder. The bottom ring and the outline of the top is wire but we needed a way for it to stand up. Taryn wound up stuffing fabric into the point and tacking all of the hangers to the fabric to stay in place.

 The claws for this were inspired by a Venus Fly Trap. Teara shaped the wire for the outline but she also made a little handle inside so that Olivia (the girl in the pic) could leave them on and control how they moved. The wire for the teeth was shaped and wrapped in fabric then sewn to the hand. Then also wrapped in lights, which made for a very cool effect on stage!

 This costume was very time consuming. The leaves for the skirt had to fit perfectly together and not be too bulky, the leaf for the top had to be shaped just right so that it could be attached to the fabric of the bodice underneath and not hit her in the face while also attaching to the skirt the right way; the hat had to be able to sit on her head like that just with bobby pins and not fall off while she danced also with the vines not hitting her in the face! We had to sew each piece of fabric together first, then sew in a casing for the wire so that it didn't move once it was put in, then stuff the wire through, then shape the wire. This was one of my favorite costumes because the fabric is beautiful but this picture doesn't do it justice at all:(

This was basically done the same way as the one above except that it was a hat. It was hard to figure out how to attach it because it needed to stay on and he moved his head around alot. We also sewed lights into this one.

Yay! My costume! I loved wearing this. It was kind of hard to move around in and I got stuck on stuff sometimes but those were only minor difficulties haha. For the top leaf Teara made the vest shape and put the wire all around the edges so that it would stand up by itself when I put it on. The closure is just a simple hook-and-eye. It is hard to tell what the skirt really looks like so I will try my best to explain but t might be a bit confusing. The petals are just single pieces cut out. There are multiple slits cut lengthwise on each one and there are two pieces of wire weaved through each one. Then the leaves were hot glued sandwiched between two belts; ALOT of hot glue was used. 

I wish these pictures were better so you could see all of the intricacies because they turned out pretty awesome, but maybe we will use them again and then you will just have to come see the show! :D

Bear The Weight

  
      I am directing Seussical the Musical along with Taryn Gilbert this spring. The show opens April 16 and closes the 19, I pray we send shockwaves through our Lehigh Valley. You see, this show is special for it is in the turning of ordinary acts into great ones that we elevate the state of our fellow man. We are bearing the weight of the world in these times of turmoil as we must fight against the evil or be consumed by it. The martyrs in the Middle east grow in number everyday as the disgusting ISIS pushes on, yet the rest of the world collectively ignores their plight. Back home it seems American culture degrades further and further every awards show. How do we turn ordinary acts into great ones? How does this change anything? When we see ourselves and every action we make as a positive or negative footprint others will follow, when we look to take an activity and see the greatest potential for positive affects, when we we do what we do out of common love, when we refuse to do those things where the positive does not weigh out the negative, these are some of the decisions and mindsets which revolutionize your community and our culture. This is our greatest way to affect change, choosing a life path which answers these questions and then doing every action directly or indirectly accomplish positive change worldwide
    To put this ethereal and seemingly naive thought into perspective think of the coke commercial, Open Happiness. One good deed creates a ripple effect and so on and so forth. Now multiply that by 1,000 and apply it to larger endeavors like.....putting on a musical, or choosing a career, what movies you pay to see, where you shop, what groups you support, or the decision to volunteer and/or donate. That is the only way most of us not in politics or moguls can slowly improve this earth. One person at a time, improving one life at a time and it starts with your own!
  
  A daycare just bought 65 tickets for our Thursday morning performance, we supply the daycares with somewhat of a more educational directors notes. This is comparable to a study guide explaining the principles and messages we hope to express through the show. Truly I hope I can direct a show which reaches each of our audience members on a personal level and for the younger ones it starts with this letter. (Rough Draft #1)
 
               
                                       WELCOME TO SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL!!!
   
    Sing For America Presents is happy to share this story with you and your students today! SFAP performs to bring truth and light to every audience member. This guide is to help you bring that to each of your students. 
   Seussical has so many strong messages, each of which reach to the core of who we are and how to live free, responsible, powerful, and happy lives.  Jojo is the hero of the show and is a dreamer and believer. In the show he is a cast out and loner due to his unique 'thinks'! Jojo's parents only want the best for him and love him very much but are blinded by social standards. In this show Jojo learns the great power and responsibility of being a thinker like him, not that he should be selfish with his gift and only please himself with his wild imagination but that his gift is to be used out of love for his friends and family! In the final scene he learns this as he is the only one who can save Who with a "peculiar new word". His parents see that ,even if Jojo is different, who he is is special and his gifts and talents will bring joy to many people. This is an overarching theme of this story, each of us were made with gifts and who we are is more that we could dream to be, if we let ourselves be it. Horton with his big ears is the only one who can hear the Who's, Gertrude has a small tail but that is 'just right for that kind of bird' and she is able to save the clover and bring it to Horton.Her heart is so pure and she is the least judgemental character in this story.
    The best thing Mayzie La Bird ever did was give up her egg. She Loved it and knew that Horton would raise it better. Hear we see that selfishness is a hard habit to break. Mayzie in the end is the saddest character in the show always seeking gratification and the next thrill she can find. She displays the sadness of a life lived only for ourselves
     The key theme in SFAP's performance is A PERSONS A PERSON NO MATTER HOW SMALL! We have started to see people as a combination of attributes which judge our worth. Even the young ones are feeling this in advertising and pop culture. What we can do in no way correlates to our worth. We in no way can quantify a human life, Down Syndrome, those with deformities, the elderly, these are human beings just like any of us. What makes us human is a greater connection than any race, ethnicity, or opinion. Every one of us is special not because of what we can do or because of who we are in our own uniqueness there is only 1 of you!