Saturday, May 4, 2013

Closing Much Ado/Opening One Act Festival AND..... Summer! :)

Well Hello!!!
So.................. Much Ado About Nothing is over, but now, THE 322 ONE ACT FESTIVAL IS STARTING! we opened the show yesterday and had A FULL HOUSE! it was incredible!

If you missed the show yesterday, you can come today at 3 or tonight at 730! It is in the Fine Arts Center in J Studio in the theatre Department (if you've seen Metamorphoses, Company, or No Exit this year, it is the same theatre!)

Congratulations to all 7 directors (and three playwrights!) and to all of the wonderful actors, designers, crew, management and thanks to the audience! I cannot think of a better way to close this school year!

I cant believe I am about to be a senior! The past three years just FLEW right by. I cannot express in words the wonderful experiences I have had here. In just this year alone I have been concessions manager, have been cast as Amy in Company, and Inez in No Exit, received an ACTF nomination, have written and directed my own play, AND my own music video, as well as ASMing for the first time! Not to mention that I was able to Hair/Wig/Makeup design TWO shows! I also was able to stand as the department's Vice President and Office Assistant. I cannot thank URI theatre enough for these wonderful opportunities! But enough about me!! COME SEE THE STUDENT DIRECTED ONE ACT FESTIVAL!

Have a great summer everybody! Enjoy the sun and the beach! And spend time with your friends and family! See you next year! (though I will probably post over the summer!!!)

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Welcome Day!!!

Hey everyone!
Well today me and Mr. Ben Hill dressed in our finest attire (aka beautiful costumes courtesy of URI Theatre Costume Shop!!) and stood in the Ryan Center to talk to potential incoming freshman! We met some awesome theatre kids! If any of you came to URI today, you probably met me! I was the girl in the bright pink period style dress at the Fine Arts Center booth!

So what is going on at URI you ask?
SO MANY DIFFERENT THINGS!!!!! First: Much Ado About Nothing opens in two weeks, so if any of you will be in the area, you should definitely check it out! Second: The student directed "322's" are in progress! There are seven one act shows going up May 3rd and 4th such as "Sure Thing" to be directed by Julia Bartoletti, "Watermelon Boats" directed by Mia Rocchio, "Titles" an original work written by Rico Lanni directed by Gianna Soprano, a shortened version of "Thread Men" directed by Ben Hill, "Portrait" an original piece I will be directing, "Neon" an original piece directed by Olivia Khoshatefeh and "Words, Words Words" directed by Marc Tiberiis.

This week also marked the beginning of Juries (a day in class where acting students present their monologues to the head of the Acting track, as well as to the rest of their classmates!) Yesterday, the seniors and juniors presented their juries, and next week the Sophomores will, then the week after that, the freshman will present!

Classes are in full swing! I know for me, I am getting ready for finals, and memorizing my final scenes for my acting finals/musical final, finishing up final projects, getting organized and trying to stay focus even though the idea that summer will happen so SOON! As well as getting all my ducks in order for next year when I will be..... A SENIOR! I cannot believe where all of the time has gone! It seems like only yesterday that I was freshman here! But there is plenty of time for me to reflect about the time that has past here at URI, now I should be telling you guys about this summer!

Me, Benjamin Hill, and Marc Tiberiis will all be in the play "This Is Our Youth" with Kira Hawkridge at the Beacon Charter School through OutLoud productions! So if you are around at the end of June, you should definitely try to check it out!

So! Things to check out! Welcome Day! (Another one will take place Saturday, April 20th if any of you are free and want to come check it out!) Much Ado About Nothing, to take place in our Robert E. Will Theatre, The Student Directed 322 Productions which will take place in J Studio!

Come check out URI Theatre guys!

Until next time! :)


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Almost Christmas

Hello out there!!!!
Glad to see we all survived the end of the world! Well there are two days left until Christmas and my family is in Holiday mode! The tree is completely decorated and all the presents are under the tree, there are cookies EVERYWHERE (but none are gluten free so I can't eat them, thank goodness) and all of us are together at my dad's house. This is my favorite time of year, I love shopping for Christmas presents! I always end up starting in August and continue to buy all the way through December.

But the work doesn't stop! Throughout break I have scattered rehearsals for Amour with Bill and for ACTF, and I've been busy working on memorizing lines, and I will start work soon! Of course there are also auditions coming up when students get back from break for the last Main Stage of the year, "Much Ado About Nothing", and the student directed full length play, the 420 which will be "No Exit."

It will be a busy winter break! Hopefully all of you out there are enjoying your time with your friends and family :)

Happy and Safe Holidays!!!!!!!

Monday, December 17, 2012

Winter Break!

Hey All!

It is almost that time of year! WINTER BREAK! I am so excited to spend some time with my family! There wont be much time for relaxing though because I am in a show, and will be working, AND will be rehearsing for the American College Theater Festival!!

The show I am in is called "Amour with Bill: A Night of Shakespearean Love Scenes" I am in it with a company called "OutLoud" run by Kira Hawkridge (who is also a director for the show!) I am playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Phebe in As You Like It! I am very excited to be working on some Shakespeare! The language is difficult, but extremely beautiful!

I will be working with Bonnie in the theatre office at URI over the winter break doing some projects around the Fine Arts Center on campus, getting ready for the upcoming spring semester.

As for the ACTF, I have been nominated from "Company" to represent URI in Cape Cod at the acting competition! My scene partner is the wonderful and talented T.S. McCormick (if you came to see "Company" he played my husband, Paul!) we have already begun to pick scenes, along with the help from my acting coach for the festival, Bryna Wortman.

I have already taken most of my finals, just one more and them I am done! I hope all of you out there reading this are having a wonderful end to your fall semester, and are ready for a well deserved winter break, where we can all spend time with our friends and families!

I wish you all Happy Holidays, and safe journeys. Talk to you all soon!


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Interview with Marc Tiberiis II

Hey all this is a really cool opportunity where I got to talk with Marc Tiberiis II. Marc is a junior at URI he is a Theatre Major with concentrates in Acting and Tech and he also dabbles in directing and as a playwright. He is also the SME which means Student Master Electrician and he worked on the show we just closed Company!

So for everyone out there who is looking into URI for theatre and tech, what does being and SME mean to you as a tech concentrate?

Marc: As an SME your job is to assist the master electrician in any way that they need, I've done it before but this semester was for credit for a lighting design course. What we do is we go to all of the hang and focus nights and we put the lights up and on the second weekend we point them where they want to go.

How did you get involved?

Marc: You take THE 161 which is required for all majors where you do 6 electrical hours, which means you work as an electrician either on hang or focus, my first time I worked on a show I went for a weekend and I really enjoyed it so I kept coming back over and over again. This in turn sparked my interest in lighting design and I designed two shows ("Much Ado About Nothing" and "Romeo and Juliet") at The GAMM Theatre for their Summer Intensive program.

What do you like about URI Theatre?

Marc: I think its a great environment for learning whatever you want to learn whether it be acting directing tech or management all of the faculty are really open the professors are really helpful. My favorite thing here is how supportive the entire department is of other people, we really feel like a community here.

What do you want to do once you graduate?

Marc: I would like to move to Boston and work as a lighting designer and build up my resume and apply to a grad school for lighting design and get a MFA. I would love to go to BU or UCONN, one of my mentors went to BU and I know a couple people at both schools who really really like the program.

What's next for you Marc?

Marc: I really want to be involved in Metamorphoses but next semester my big project is to design the student directed full length show directed by Samantha Ryel, "No Exit." It's a show that's based in hell but the "hell" that the characters experience isn't the "hell" that we all think of, its more of a dentist's waiting area. Hopefully next year, as a senior, I will be able to do lighting design for a full length production on the main stage.

What are you doing over winter break?

Marc: I'm in a show with my girlfriend Kira's theater company called "Out Loud" and we are doing a show called "Amour with Bill" which is a night of Shakespearean love scenes, I'm acting in it and doing lighting design for it. I'm doing a monologue from "Much Ado About Nothing" as Benedict and three scenes, two with Kira ("Taming of the Shrew" and "The Tempest") and one with two other friends from URI Theatre, we're doing  an awesome scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream."


Company!

Hey All!
I am so sorry I haven't blogged in a while, but the theatre life has been so crazy! As you know, Company closed this past Sunday. I have had the wonderful opportunity to be in this show, it has been a crazy-busy, crazy-fun, learning experience. I am playing Amy, the tender, neurotic "Not Getting Married" wife. I am also Dramaturg for the show, alongside Ms. Julia Bartoletti (who played the karate-kicking, samurai-screaming Sarah!) which means that we have done TONS of research on the show, gathering information about the time period (it takes place in the year 1970 in New York City) and researching any references in the script to inform cast and crew of any important pieces of information.

URI is pretty unique in that students get to explore many different aspects of theatre life when working on shows, right now I am an actress, a dramaturg and I help Bonnie with publicity in the theatre office. Which means I am contacting different newspapers to inform them of our show dates, contacting reviewers, and posting the event online, just helping to spread the word.

I have had some really really cool opportunities here at URI. While I do like to act and direct, I also really love to do hair and makeup for shows. Last year I had the opportunity to do makeup for Marat/Sade which included using a white facial spray paint on all of the inmates and using brown mud-colored paint to give the effect of dusty/dirty fingers and toes. I also had the opportunity to do wigs/hair and makeup for Singing in the Rain which included around thirty wigs involving time-period wigs as well!

Well I hope all of you out there were able to make it to the show and if not, I've attached a link to give you a taste of what it was like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVmfxPk-OlI

But there is no time to waste! Especially at URI where there are multiple projects going on, it keeps all of the students busy! Today are auditions for Metamorphoses! I actually just got back from mine. It is being directed by a new guest director, and we are all very excited to see what he does with this show.

So the semester is over! I can't believe how fast the time flies at school, but this semester was incredible, fun, and the most amazing learning experience. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard or cried so much, but it was worth it, every roller-coaster emotional second! Finals start this week for us and it will be a crazy schedule!

I hope all of you out there are enjoying your last few days of fall semester and have a wonderful winter holiday break, I will be posting away this winter break, so you'll all have much to read! I will have a blog post of an interview with one of the cast members of company soon so stay tuned!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Marvin's Room

Marvin's Room

Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson directed by Bryna Wortman was our opening show of our 2012-2013 season, here is a blurb from our website

"Marvin's Room is "one of the funniest plays of the year as well as one of the wisest and most moving", said the New York Times when the play opened Off Broadway in 1991.  The words are as true today.  How can a play about family, illness and death be so incredibly funny and so extraordinarily moving?  It simply is.
Join the newly reunited sisters, Bessie who has chosen to care for Marvin, their elderly, ill father and their elderly, ill Aunt Ruth, and Lee, mother of two sons, one Hank, a disturbed teenager and Charlie, his younger brother.  What brings them all together-Bessie's diagnosis of leukemia and the possibility that one of them may be a match for a transplant.  A laugh a minute, right?  Right!  Because the playwright has an uncanny empathy and a fierce sense of humor, human frailty is revealed in an hilarious light.  Marvin's Room is being presented as part of the 2012 URI Colloquium on healthcare:  Healthcare Change?  Health, Politics & Money.  Marvin's Room won the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and the John Gassner Award for Best New American Play.  Scott McPherson's original voice teaches us much about love."

The show starred Christine as Lee, Rico as Charlie, Steve as Hank, T.S as Marvin, Andrew as Dr. Wally, Alex as the Director, Danielle as Dr. Charlotte, Phil as Bob, Maria as Ruth and Sarah as the lead of Bessie.

I did not work directly on the show but I did work in the box office, and became concessions manager (so any of you that saw the show and bought a snack at intermission may have seen me!)

As some of you know, one person from each of our shows is selected to compete at KCACTF (Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival) and SARAH was chosen! We are all so excited and happy for her and know that she will do a wonderful job representing URI Theatre at the competition.

:)