Student Blog: What Have I Been Up To?

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog. It’s been a while since I’ve talked about what I’m doing. This is going to be a little update as to what has been going on in my life.

I’m currently a junior at LIU Post getting a BFA in theatre arts, with a concentration in acting. This semester, I’m taking a whole slew of exciting classes. I will be talking about them in the following paragraphs.

My first class is an English class. I originally was not excited to take this class, but I have to take it to graduate. However, I have found a common interest with my professor, which is that we both write poetry, and we’ve been sharing our work. I’m also learning how to use a lot of Microsoft Office tools, which are extremely valuable. The reference button in Microsoft Word has changed my life. I am writing a paper on the effects of late autism diagnoses on women. As a female who had a late autism diagnosis, I am very interested in this topic. Overall, this class is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

My next class is my voice lesson. I have had the same voice teacher, Amanda Chmela, for two years now, and she is one of my favorite people on earth. She also has a dog named Charlie, who is a very good boy. Anyway, she has been helping me get in touch with my higher part of my range. In high school choir, I always sang alto. Now, with a little help from Amanda, I’m singing songs like “Somebody, Somewhere” from The Most Happy Fella. My progress has been incredible and I’m really happy with it.

This semester, I have also started vocal coaching with Courtney Balan. Even though the coachings are only half an hour long, I have already added three songs with lots of variety to my book. I am currently working on “Alway a Bridesmaid” from I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. I admit that it’s never a song I would pick for myself, but it’s growing on me. She has helped me lean into the character of each piece, and in this one we’re working on comedy and specificity. You can never be too specific when acting a song.

I’m also taking advanced acting, and advanced voice and speech. Although they are technically two classes, the meetings are joined together. These classes are focusing on Shakespeare. I love studying Shakespeare. My teacher recommended an app that allows you to look around the Globe using AI. I can practice my soliloquies as if I am in Shakespeare’s Globe! I just finished working on a Joan of Arc soliloquy from Henry VI part I. I learned so much about my own process, including a flash card trick that has been very useful. I have just been assigned a Cressida monologue from Troilus and Cressida, which I am very excited to start.

Finally, I am taking playwriting 1. I didn’t think I would like playwriting, but it turned out to be my favorite class! We have a tight-knit group of less than 10 people and we all come in with wild ideas that make our classmates laugh, gasp, and scream. We’re about to start our final, a 30 page one-act, and I have so many ideas buzzing in my head that I will update you on later. 

In addition to my classes, I assistant directed Men on Boats by Jacklyn Backhaus. I loved that show! I got to work a lot with the understudies, and they were wonderful. We created a beautiful show with a powerful feminist message. I am so proud of my cast and fellow crew, and I cannot wait to assistant direct more shows. I even want to solely direct something, so stay tuned for that.

There’s everything that has been going on in my academic life. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time. I am sending you love and good vibes.