BWW Blog: Welcome Back to School – Time to Readjust and Get Organized

Hello BroadwayWorld universe! My name is Lea Passione. I am an upper Junior/Lower Senior in Queens College. I major in Drama and minor in Journalism. I'm excited to take you through what happens when you study drama at Queens College. There is a lot going on now since it's the first week of classes, but I have been at school since the 18th of January because we started rehearsals for the Spring production Middletown by Will Eno. I'm playing the role of 'Sweetheart' and this is my first college show. Aside from college, I have activities on campus and in the city since I am actually just a bus and subway ride away from all that Manhattan has to offer. New York is as the musical Hamilton says is "the greatest city in the world" and my college has a view of the New York City skyline.

Forgive me, I have never blogged before but I am excited to try and for you to come with me on this journey. For those college students going back to school, I hope you have a great semester. With Middletown am I excited? Yes! Am I terrified at the same time? You bet your bottom dollar I am. I am surrounded by a wonderful cast and production team and I come out smiling more. I will have more on them in the coming weeks as we get this show up. Its going to be crazy with rehearsals now in the evenings (before our rehearsals were in the morning/afternoon) and three classes. Upon looking at my syllabi, part of me wants to curl up, stay in bed and not think of the terror it brings. I am learning how to be flexible in the time management department which I'm sure will alleviate the stress.

My semester kicked off Monday with Visual Storytelling which is part of journalism on Monday mornings. I will be learning how to create video stories and learning how to write for video. I was a little nervous about this class because I'm not very handy with computer programs for editing videos, but I have hope. My professor works for ABC News and knows how to record, write and edit their stories so I'm learning from a professional. My passion is to combine theatre and journalism while still being a part of the theatre world.

My second class is Asian Performing Arts which is a dance class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The professor is someone I have had before in ballet classes. We will be learning about Balinese dancing which comes from Bali in Indonesia. I danced for 14 years before I decided to take up theatre seriously, but I take dance classes to not lose the training I had. Maybe in another blog I will take you to a place where I go to besides class for dance classes and other activities I do to stay fit (as one of my goals for 2018 is to be more active).

My third class is Contemporary Theatre and it's a class I'm definitely looking forward to. Some of the plays we are reading are plays that I'm very familiar with like Angels in America, Rent and In the Heights. There are plays that I'm very excited to read like the Vagina Monologues, The Heidi Chronicles, and M. Butterfly. A fun fact: I like reading the plays before seeing the play (like reading a book before seeing the film version of it).

Since we are at the height of rehearsals, I am experiencing what the majority of drama students in plays have to deal with: late night rehearsals. I experienced them before in community theatre productions but it is new for me in college. 9PM and 10PM rehearsals- yikes. I'm not worried. I'm having the time of my life. I just had my first fitting and I squealed when I saw myself in my costume for the first time. I can't wait to perform in this outfit.

The first week can be hard. It can be tough to adjust to the first days of class and I end up wanting to cry because I am so scared thinking about how to handle the work load. I know I have the support of my parents, my friends, my professors and now my cast to help me get through it.

Aside from the stress there is a lot to look forward to: Opening night of Middletown, events at school, stuff in the city which I am looking forward to sharing.