BWW Blog: Midsummer Closing

"So give me your hands if we be friends, and Robin shall restore amends." - Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream

The time has come where all of the costumes are cleaned and put away, the set is struck and taken back into storage, and the prompt book is closed one last time. Closing a show that you have prided yourself in is never an easy task, especially when you put your literal blood, sweat, and tears into it (many personal injuries, but we're fine). A Midsummer Night's Dream will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Back in January, we had our first auditions...and I was terrified. I had never done Shakespeare before this, and I didn't know what to expect. I honestly thought that it would be much harder to memorize and perform, but once I knew what I was saying, it actually was a lot easier than any other show than I've done. I was cast in the roles of Titania and Hippolyta, on top of Production Stage Managing. It was a ton of work, but I loved every minute of it.

Being completely transparent: Titania was a hard character for me to honestly portray. I struggled with her characterization for the longest time, but she was also my favorite character that I've done. Once the characterizations finally clicked, it was almost like magic happened. Everything else for me suddenly made so much more sense, and I was able to try new things. Learning her monologue and ways of physicality was incredible to see manifest over time, and I am grateful for the opportunity to bring her to life at Pitt-Johnstown.

On top of acting and stage managing, I also helped with a lot of backstage stuff. I am taking 2 classes that helped build the set (Stagecraft) and paint the backdrop (Painting and Rendering). My painting class started the basics of the backdrop, and then over Spring Break, my director and I came in and did all of the detail work for it. Our Stagecraft class assembled hollywood flats into giant stone arches to resemble Stonehenge, a task that was not an overly easy feat, but I learned a bunch of new techniques for styling and sculpting the material into what we are looking for.

Our campus also has opportunities for Federal work study (campus jobs to help pay tuition fees), which includes jobs in the theatre. I was able to learn basics about costuming this semester in the little free-time that I had, and also helped assemble costumes and costume pieces. The last thing that I was grateful to have had the opportunity to help with: we had a live dog in our show from our local Humane Society, and I got to foster her during tech week and show. She was the sweetest pup, and thankfully got quickly adopted. She spent every day, all day with me up on campus for about a week, and I bonded with her so quickly. She was an incredible actor pup.

I quite literally had my hands on everything for this show, and striking the set this morning had me overly sentimental. You never realize how much you are going to miss a show until it's over. This was my favorite show that I have been a part of so far, and cannot wait for the next show in the fall.

For the summer - on top of working lights and sound for our theatre on campus, I recently also got cast in a local show off of our campus, and cannot wait to begin rehearsals. Look forward to those articles soon.

Finals week, here I come.

Until the next one!

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