The Start of a Perilous Journey

I have never been more confused, frustrated or upset in my life. I don't know what acting is anymore. All it took was one day, not even, simply minutes, to completely turn my world upside down. I'm almost afraid to act now. I don't know if what I'm doing is right or wrong. I feel like each decision I make is like a leap of faith, except without me actually having any faith. After so many years of acting and coming to the conclusion it was wrong, I don't know what to think. I feel as if I'm lost in a foreign country without a map. It's a really frightening feeling. I have a lot more to learn than I thought I did. I did not realize how far behind I was. I feel like I'm taking my first steps all over again. Now, I feel like a really horrible actor. I assume that now I have to start over and hope for the best. 

My Future

I've declared that I will major in musical theatre when I go to college. Musical theatre is my passion and I don't know where I'd be without it. Musical theatre is my escape, my opportunity to let all my stress flow out of me like steam out of a tea pot. I walk on stage as Andrew Greiche and I will forever be Andrew Greiche but do I feel like him on stage? No, I don't. I feel like a different person. It's almost like the feeling of watching the world you live in but outside your body. Musical theatre gives me so much joy and so much happiness, I can't picture myself anywhere else. My dream is to be on Broadway. My dream roles would be the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera and Jack Kelly from Newsies. I'd love to be in any Broadway show. I'm passionate about my dream of being on Broadway. All of us have dreams but they will forever remain dreams if we don't do something about it. As I have said numerous times, being on Broadway is my dream. I'm prepared to run for my dream and if need be, I'll run a marathon or several marathons to reach my dream. For the past several years and in the years to come, I am training for my marathon. Restrictions prevent me from starting but in two years, those restrictions are removed and I start my marathon; I will not stop running until I cross the finish line, no matter how long or rough it is.

Newsies

Today I saw a Broadway production of Newsies with my family. It was one of the most spectacular performances I have ever seen. The choreography, acting, and singing was so impressive. Never in my life have I been more awed. This is my favorite ensemble song from the show!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqKJh5vXv7U
Newsies - Carrying the Banner. Youtube.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqKJh5vXv7U>.

Scene Analyzing and Monologue Preparation

     Yesterday, I found that analyzing my scenes really helped. It helped me understand what was going on during the scene and to better understand my character. I still don’t understand what a “psychological gesture” is or what a “perfect body” is. I haven’t managed to grasp their concepts.

     As for the monologue preparation today, I found it very helpful. I found out that after reading the monologue once or twice, I could basically go through it and almost have it word for word. As long as I got the basic concept of each thought in the monologue, it was fine. 

My STAC Live Performance

My STAC Live performance was awful. It was the worst performance I’ve ever done. I was not cheating towards the audience. I was too far upstage. I was not loud enough. I did not annunciate and articulate enough. I did not have a good connection and I went through the scene unnaturally. I do not know why it sounded unnatural. It may be because I am still unable to manipulate my current emotions into the lines of the scene. This was a major player in ruining my performance. I need to learn how to make the scene sound more natural. It may be because I did not have enough time to rehearse the scene over and over again to build chemistry. I may have to do another performance using Practical Aesthetics to see whether or not it works for me. Overall, I’m extremely disappointed and ashamed of my performance.

                   

How to Succeed Update

Well, it's crunch time for the show. We're a little less than a month away from opening night and we have a lot of progress that needs to be made. I've been listening to Love from a Heart of Gold often to learn my vocal part. I've already memorized a number of my lines because I've said lines many times by now. I've clearly decided the posture, voice and the characization for Biggley so I'm pretty much set. As soon as I learn my lines 100% and learn the vocals 100%, I'm set for the show. Well, besides costumes that is. As a whole, we have a long way to go but it will pull together!

Decisions, Decisions...

I'm not sure what I would like to do for my STAC inquiry. I'm debating several things. One, to explore monologues. The very last monologue we watched today, the film with David Hoffman and Ed Harris, the name escapes my mind, for some reason intrigued me and made me want to try preforming it. I've also always loved learning accents because I find interesting to be able to manipulate your voice to sound different. So, I've debated doing an inquiry on learning various accents. Off the top of my head, I'd love to learn how to speak with a Italian accent, German accent, Russian accent, and perfect my British accent. Lastly, I'd do an inquiry in musical theatre. I'm not exactly sure how I'd do this but I've thought of researching a particular writer and look up his/her musicals and maybe pick a few pieces that I would like to sing and preform them. I'm not sure which direction I'm leaning in right now, they all seem like they could benefit me and could all be great fun!