Auditions!!!

Auditions are going great, lots of tough decisions to make! (could use a couple more female dancers)

Preparation a companion to the great!

     Hello everybody, its been a while hasn't it? I guess I really didn't realize that writing a blog once a week would be so hard to remember! In my defense though no one ever reminds me, every other day its like hey Teara remember to write your blog and twenty times later she does it but not for me, I'm lucky if I get one reminder when I'm in the car and have no place to write it, well then of course I'm gonna forget two hours later when I get home. In the end though it is my fault  for forgetting. This was so not the point of my post today so I'm gonna get on topic now if you don't mind. 
 Today I want to talk about preparation. Truthfully, without preparation you almost have no chance to  do whatever it is you want to do. Me being an athlete, most days are preparation. Do you really think anyone wants to go to practice just so he/she can run around, get tired, get yelled at by his/her coaches and then be told they're not trying when he/she feels like they have nothing left in the tank. NO, I'm pretty sure no one wants to do that, I know I don't, but without practice you are bound to fail come game night. OK, now there are a few thing to think about, if you prepare for something with a bad attitude then its not worth it because you won't get anything out of it. If every day I went to practice thinking this is really gonna stink, why am I even playing this sport then? I'm gonna get nothing out of it. Same way if I go into rehearsal for a show thinking I don't want to be there. I'm pretty sure if your anything like me you're gonna mess up most stuff and just not have a good time. Jewel and I came to practice a little bit late on Tuesday and our coach said at the end of practice we have to flip a tractor tire the length of the file and back. That's a total of 220 yards. Yeah, it was hard and I didn't really want to do it, but I did and I made the best of it because what's the point of being mad when in the end its helping me to be better.
I'm gonna take this one step further though, I want to challenge you to not just prepare when you have to but practice on your own time. That's where the few are separated from the many. Who is willing to work for that extra hour to be the best? 
     During lent we are preparing for  the Triduum, which is preparing us for Easter. Now, really think about that, for forty days we have to prepare to prepare for Easter then that Easter celebration lasts for 50 days. Now imagine if that's how we attacked everything we do in our lives. We would be so ready for every trial and exceed every type of goal we set for ourselves that we would be so much happier all the time. There is a great quote I want to share with you, "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" -Seneca. There is so much to be taken from that but in the end it really means that those who prepare have already won half the battle. We have been thinking about Tarzan for about 4 months now and that's what it takes for us just to put on a show that we think is good. I assure you that if we could every minute of our day would be spent on Tarzan for as long as you would let us, but we have a time limit and its our job to make the best darn show that anyone has ever seen. That's our goal and that's what we expect out of out cast, nothing less will be accepted. 

Greatness is in the eye of the beholder and my eye aims very high!

Auditions are Coming <',^,'>

"GOD so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that whoever believed in Him would never perish but have eternal life", John 3:16.  HAPPY EASTERRRRR! (spat through all of the food crammed in my mouth, gotta love holidays).

   So.......we are a week away from auditions and I can't wait! Every single show we have alot of cast turnover and we never know who is walking in that door. As the talent of the cast increases so does our ability to push them. We welcome more and more people from different backgrounds into our cast increasing the reach and spread of Sing For America. This being said, I hope the 'originals' are with us forever.
   Over the last three years my sisters have been fine tuning the process of refining our performers into the best they can be. We follow a very different schedule than any theatre or dance school around, a more professional approach but definitely an original one. It is one of those "from the outside you can't understand it, from the inside you can't explain it."
    Now for the readers who've been part of our cast and for those thinking about auditioning imagine our entire style and process of rehearsals and put it on turbo overdrive. You will be pushed hard in ways you didn't think you would be in theatre. It will be your responsibility to learn your stuff while we give you all resources necessary, rehearsal's will be relatively few and fast. We will work, laugh, and work some more! Again, all of you who know 'us' know, we will have fun and goof off and be totally crazy, that is not changing just being focused into production.
    After Tarzan we want each person to be #1 a more wholesome human being having donated their Summer helping kids whose families have given the greatest sacrifice; but besides that a better singer, dancer, actor, performer, painter, builder, designer, leader, worker, and friend. To accomplish this we will need our cast totally buy in  and that is the only thing that matters. A committed group, team better,can accomplish anything when they are united. Having been on more sports teams than I remember I fully believe this.
     Tarzan will be a big step forward and I want all of you to take it with us.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!

   Before I begin I would like to wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter season! I hope you had a nice day yesterday with family and friends and ate lots of good food and lots of chocolate! This past week and the week before we spent painting our living room and redecorating for Easter. It was quite the process so we decided to reward ourselves with a few days off this week so we can gear up for the craziness that will be TARZAN!
  While on the topic of Easter though I'd like to touch on the Octave of Easter. It began yesterday and will continue for the next 7 days. It is the 8 day long celebration of the resurrection of Jesus beginning on Easter and ending the following Sunday. The idea of an octave comes from the Old Testament. Many Jewish holidays are celebrated in octaves. In different parts of the world people have parades and parties and huge events this week to celebrate Jesus' resurrection and to celebrate the most important virtue that comes from Jesus' rising from the dead... Hope! Continuing through this Easter season and meditating on and thinking about the sacrifice that was made for us and the miracle that happened on the third day we are reminded that Life will always conquer death and we must always have hope. No matter what we encounter in this life whether its physical pain, frustration that we aren't where we want to be in life, emotional pain, etc. it is important to remember that one day we will be resurrected. This is not the end. One day we'll be happier than we can ever be here on earth. We have something to look forward to! 

   Hope is such a comforting feeling. When everything is going wrong and you feel like you can't win there is always hope! Never give up on anything! Reminding yourself of the miracle of Easter is a great way to give yourself the boost you need when you feel hopeless. 

Holy Week

    You have all noticed how slow the blog has been the last couple weeks, sorry about that. You see the days are closing in on the most important days of the year, the Easter Triduum, leading to the joyous exaltation of the Christian identity on Easter. These are the times when first things come first - so as much as I feel my 'work' is God's calling, I can never let anything separate me from the Lord. Lent and especially this week is when I am gracefully charged for the rest of the year to continue following His plan. It is the centering of who I am at my core, a centering where Christ must be.
      So last week and continuing on, each of us has been preparing the house for our usual Easter celebration when all the family comes over- the girls painted and rearranged the rooms; a long, painful, and yet unfinished process taking a toll on my back and more importantly spiritually. It is hard with our 'scream in your face everywhere' pop culture and technology to focus up when it is needed. I am always being reminded of happenings in the world instead of being totally in sync with our Creator.
     As if that isn't hard enough, after tuning out the world's cacophony, I can't silence the thoughts of I need to be 'acomplishing' something. Tarzan is fastly approaching like a train that won't stop (not that I want it to) auditions are in two weeks, the show opens in 12, we need a cast, did we get the audition posters up? is it in The Morning Call? have we made the contacts like dance schools and music teacher?......MUSIC, our orchestra! Is it in place? where is our conductor coming from?  are we going to have pay? and what about advertising billboards,WFMZ,  RCN , WAEB, B104???? ahhh have to contact allllll of them schedule meetings and follow up..........OH we have to bring our supply needs list for the set to Lowe's, but if we don't have the set blueprint we can't... what if it is to late? we won't have a set from them who will donate??...costumeeees uh how big will our cast be? fur is so expensive, whats the design? rehearsal space not the YMCA again they were amazingly gracious but it is to restrictive there... oh what about our new plan for rehearsals? is it done? will it work? will the cast commit? how much cast support will we have? and how do we foster it? oh yeah and did I forget we have to follow up and schedule a heck of a lot more sponsorship meetings! we need MONEY! how is the presentation? lets rework it...?????..............................................whew! hopefully you all have a goal and it is always fueling you eating away at you when you feel it has not been committed to, but no matter how big the dream you can't ever lose sight of the true meaning of each of our lives...that is to serve God.
       This is the time for me to step away from our business and completely devote myself to God in prayer, meditation, and suffering. Our purpose is to glorify God in all we do, and it takes constant reaffirmation, constant offering up of our sufferings, and constant prayer. During this season of Easter where we are surrounded by New Life, is the best time to rededicate my life to God and my faith so that I can truly be His instrument.

Dun messed up

I..................Missed................mmmy first blog day.....................NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

4 Steps To Organization!

Wow... I have been slacking lately and I'm sure you've all missed me ;P
  Anyway, back to another Monday! Time is passing and we are getting closer and closer to auditions for TARZAN!!!! We are all so excited to start everything :-D But in this post I'd like to talk about the importance of organization in life. Now don't think I'm gonna give you a lecture on how everything needs to be neat and orderly from your clothes to your plans each day because I am the biggest failure in that department but I am a firm believer in a certain degree of organization. Everyone's brain works differently and everyone functions better or worse in different environments. Creative people tend to be a little more cluttered. I speak from personal experience because myself along with 3 of my 4 siblings tend to work better when we are at the last minute and don't need a clean area to think and create. However, my mom is the complete opposite. She needs things to be clean and uncluttered in order to think clearly. Jorne is somewhere in the middle... He likes his stuff to be orderly but doesn't necessarily need a clean area to create. And my father is a the worst of us all. He's just a slob! Lol
   So, with that in mind, I've found over the years of producing shows and having, as a family, to split up the tasks and accomplish everything on time, that having order in areas that are your weaknesses are so necessary in obtaining the desired results. This is how you do this:

1. Identify where your weaknesses are and find a way to strengthen them.

For example, I have a hard remembering the things I have to do from minute to minute. I always have such a long list and can easily get stuck on one task and then forget about the rest of what I had to do that day. So to avoid forgetting what needs to be done I make myself a list on my phone and check the things off that I do as I go along.

2. First things first.

Put your priorities in order. Do the pressing and important things first so once you get to do the things you enjoy you don't feel stressed or guilty for doing something you enjoy when there are "so many things to do." I have so often done this and felt like I could be doing so many things because there is always something to do in my business but I've realized that in order to stay sane and refreshed I have to take a break and do something enjoyable once in while whether it be writing a song, dancing, reading, or hanging out with friends.

3. Make goals.

Have goals for yourself and make plans to reach them. Know one wants to feel like their life is passing them by and they aren't where they want to be. Don't spin your wheels, be proactive but start with a goal and way to achieve that goal.

4. Follow through.

Don't have your plan, not follow through and wonder why you're goals weren't reached. Make a conscious effort every day to stick to your plan. It'll be worth it in the end!

Don't give up, stay focused, and make your life what you want it to be. Don't let anyone tell you your dreams are unrealistic or impossible or not worth pursuing. Reach your goals and prove them wrong!!!!!

Saturday Night in the City: Spring Awaits

There are some phases in life when I completely drop off the face of the earth. Busy with work, with school, with existential crisis, with whatever. Unfortunately, you caught me in one of those phases in the past month or so I haven’t been able to post. And for those of you new readers in the past month of Sing for America’s blog, hello. I’m Tristan J. Shuler. As you’ll hear, I live in New York City (and the irony of that is I always only find time to post here when I’m visiting the Lehigh Valley) but a lot has gone on in the past month. Tarzan?! SAY WHAA, SO EXCITED. I only have ONE WEEK left of classes before my examination plays at the Academy. I’m a manager at a restaurant I’ve been working at in Chelsea. I love going to gym (who knew that would ever happen), and I’m back on my feet.

Everyone has those significant events that set them back or set them forward, but nonetheless move them somehow. One of my greatest friends that I’ve met in the city experienced a huge loss weeks ago, and it’s odd, because well, that’s not my loss so why should I be affected? And yet I think it meant more to me than even makes sense. Death is some crazy phenomenon that no one really likes to talk about, but it’s so important. What’s even more important is making our lives worth the most that they can be. Watching someone and trying to help someone mourn, if that’s even possible, is one of the hardest things I’ve yet to face, but still I feel like it has been one of the most important experiences. My empathy has developed and, more importantly, I learned how to stay by someone’s side in perhaps the hardest situation for them to deal with. And the beauty of it is that we can all accept how human we are, because when we do that, we are a community. We are an ensemble of people who can live and work together. We are humanity. Not such a crazy thing.

In other aspects, I think humanity certainly must be crazy with some of the people I see each day. I crossed paths with a woman the other day on the sidewalk who stopped before me and yelled, “WILL  YOU JUST SHUT THE F*** UP?!?!” I was like, “Um…uh…did I say anything.” And then she started hacking like a cat with a hairball stuck in its throat and I don’t know if I should have called the ambulance perhaps but instead I went and got a cookie at Subway. Should I feel ashamed? Or nah.

It’s that time of the year where I’m thinking, “Oh gosh, what’s next?” This month has flown by. All the grief in retrospect seems like a few days. It all kind of mixes together, and that’s only how I feel as an outsider. Time flies. And now my friend is on his feet again, struggling but there. And I think he’s doing amazingly. He inspires me and I love seeing him as much as I do. I don’t know if I’ll stop worrying about him for a while, but we’re back. And Spring is here. Beautiful springtime. I think everyone has their own blossoming of Spring, when things fall into place for them after a hectic Winter or the future starts to look bright again! I’m waiting for my Springtime blossoming.

David Mamet theorizes in “Three Uses of the Knife” about how human nature is to make relations between the weather and mood or the weather and everyday luck. “I don’t feel good because of the rain” or “Everyone’s moody – it’s cloudy outside.” “it must be the weather.” I don’t know if it’s a frivolous thing to blame the weather for our own faults, but I’ll go ahead and blame the weather for the future looking up. This summer is going to be amazing. Beautiful and warm and eventful. Sing for America’s on a role. Youth theatre is ever so powerful. And your Spring time is coming. Promise.

Oh oh oh! And one last thing, some PHENOMENAL theatre artists I know are producing a series called “Goody Goody,” filming its pilot in May of this year. There’s only about 10 MORE DAYS to help them find the funds to do so, and I suggest you check it out for sure! It’s an historical comedy about colonial women finding their ways in a newfound celibate society. Hilarious, and I think a definite success! These, I remind you, are some of the people who have fostered me as an actor and director, and therefore, I think simply must be the bee’s knees! DO IT!

www.indiegogo.com/projects/goody-goody-pilot

I’m back,

Tristan J. Shuler

R.I.P. Nikki Scott

R.I.P. Grandma Piegza

TARZAN!!!

     I can not wait to become immersed in the fabrication of our world of Tarzan. See what I did there:P A friend said to me the other day, "Hey, since it's just a bunch of gorillas this time, costumes should be a cinch!" haha haha uuhhh, yeaaaa.... butttt... well, have you met me? The "simpler" the project, the more intricate and complex it all too quickly becomes when placed in my lap. On one hand this is a terrible curse of mine, as I can't manage to keep anything easy, but I like to think of it like this: with more freedom comes more creativity. For example, if someone told you to make specifically chocolate cookie chunk, caramel swirl, toffee crunch ice cream, it would be a pretty challenging, not to mention stressful, task with not much breathing room. But if someone said make whatever you want, it just has to start with vanilla ice cream... well then the imagination soars, because not only do you have a pretty much blank slate, but the pressure is all by you and for you... a fact which makes your life a temporary torture chamber when you are your own worst critic, as all successful artists always are. But if you thrive on that self imposed stress then these clouds that your imagination is reaching for become a comfortable home; a home where the very thrill of living in it lies in the simple fact that at any moment it might dissipate underneath you and leave you plumeting, grasping for anything solid to hold on to before you crash. And so far, you've always found something;)
     I see these gorillas as powerful and fierce. We've been trying to really think outside the box, searching for innovative ideas to suggest certain physical qualities of the gorilla while maintaining danceable, wearable, and eye cathching attributes. None of us were neccessarily in love with the "tassle" idea they used for Broadway, although the pants outfits in the German production do look pretty fabulous. We'll probably recreate something close to that, but still not for all of the gorrillas. We want each of them to have their own identity. This brings us to the most difficult part: figuring out which fabrics to use. My guess is that the reason for the tassle costumes is largely due to the long list of difficulties that accompany using fur, and that's assuming you have found the right kind of fur in bulk, (which is proving near impossible,) or can have it specially manufactured... good joke. So we've come up with a general idea, using small ideally placed patches of fur on each costume. We plan to focus heavily on the African theme, playing with tattoos and jewelery to really accentuate power, and bring out character. This band of gorillas has an enormous task with the telling of this story. They carry the show, convey emotion, move our tale from scene to scene. Of course this will be done largely through the dancing and acting, but the look must fit these elements like a lock and key. And after all, first impressions are everything, and most people, whether they believe so or not, base not only their opinion of the show when it's over, but also their ability to enjoy the show as they are watching it, on their initial feeling when the curtain rises and they see the stage/actors for the first time.
     So... we have a big and exciting adventure ahead of us with these costumes. I'm pumped. Wish us luck and send all your good vibes annd good ideas! I'll have some sketches up here soon.

Hello Everybody!

Thanks for joining me again on this Thursday may it be in the morning, afternoon, or night. Today I am gonna tell you about me day yesterday because we had a pretty busy one might I say so myself.
My day started at 6:30 in the morning getting ready for orchestra. Our teacher keeps holding us longer and longer because we are getting ready for an adjudication on May 3rd. She selected two pieces of music for us to play: The Moldau and The Radetzky March. I really like these two songs, but they are both challenging so we gotta work!        After orchestra I went home for a little while (meaning 20 minutes) and the four of us piled into the car to go to our grandmother's house to help her with a few things. Tasia got really sick this morning so she had to stay home for the day. Our grandmother has a really cute beagle named Bailey, the funniest part is that ever since she got him he gained weight and now he waddles around like a cute goof ball.
After our grandmother's we went to our show we had that afternoon at Phoebe, but since we were early we went to McDonald's and all got some iced coffee so we would have some extra pep in our step for the show. We are trying to transition some of our songs into accapella so for this show we just brought our Bose speaker and our voices. A very important part of shows like this is to project so the whole audience can hear you. The show went very well - all of the people really enjoyed it!  I sang some favorites of mine, including Puppy Love and Mack The Knife.      


Seeing the audience's expressions when you sing old songs they love is one thing you can never get  anywhere, and as they hum to themselves you know you did what you came to do. If I can make just one person's day for me is worth it, it's all the little things that matter not just the big.
After our show we sped to Easton high school to get to lacrosse practice. If you didn't know, me and Jewel are playing this year for Easton. It's only really our second year playing. We played for Moravian Academy two years ago, then last year we couldn't play because of a whole lot of things that were going on with the schools. I was really mad but there was nothing I could do. Anyway now we are at Easton where Jewel is a defensive midi and I play straight defense. We are both getting some time so it's pretty cool.











































Practice was hard today. We did a lot of what our coaches call "hidden conditioning" Yeah right!  We all know why we are doing it, but we need to be in shape for games so if that's what it takes.... For every point another team scores on us in a game the team has to run a hill we had to do 9 yesterday and after practice - no less - believe me they are a real bear.
After practice you would think the day's events are over, right? well they are not! We showered up and we made our way to a rehearsal for Pirates of the Carobbean at the Confor Suites in Bethlehem. It's a dinner theatre a show the six of us are in. It opens on Friday so tonight is our last rehearsal. It is coming along good, there are a few shows over the next  few weeks so that's always fun. Best part is I get to bring out my musketeer costume from our production of Shrek so I'm really excited for that! Rehearsal ended at around 10. Boy was I tired, but finally the day was over and I could look forward to going to sleep in my nice cozy bed.

Making Music

Today will be the first meeting of the Easton Area High School cello ensemble! I have been working since Saturday to prepare for this.I have a four part Titanium arrangement I transposed and wrote out on Musescore and a list of scores I found for the others to choose from. My favorites are Hey Brother, Pompeii, Pokemon Theme Song, All Of Me, Sail, and Happy. The hardest part is that I can't do all of my favorite songs....that's life though.

           I don't know if I bit off more than I can chew but it is definitely a massive mouthful. After this I will definitely be more prepared for composing, arranging, and creating in our own business. Musescore isn't easy but it is a free and invaluable  tool.

 

 

IN OTHER NEWS EASTON BOYS LACROSSE 5-0 AND FACING THE RIVAL EMMAUS HIGH SCHOOL ON FRIDAY. Emmaus will be a big challenge but we definitely can overcome the Hornets.