What Keeps a Man Alive?

( I would like to apologize if I spin off into Spanish at points. Just trying to think Argentinean)

Good evening. I come to the interwebs tonight in an intriguing mood. After tonight's rehearsal, I can honestly say that I have never been so excited for a show to open. I've done a good amount of shows, but I don't think I have ever been so moved or affected by any show as much as I will by Evita. Singing A New Argentina at the end of the show, I was nearly in tears by the energy and conviction coming from the cast, and it's only going to get better as we get closer to opening night. Everyone is absolutely fantastic, and I'm still amazed I even got in the show let alone working with so many talented people. Taylor and John alone are fantastic to watch, but when we hit those chorus numbers, the audience won't know what hit them.

As we rehearsed the second act tonight, it finally hit me as to how human Eva really was. I mean, in the legacy this show has, Eva has covered the spectrum from a manipulative hard-ass to a weepy ingenue. While both depictions hold some truth, they are too far in the extremes. This woman was a wonderful humanitarian who was taken from the world far too early at age 32. Though she never had children of her own, she became a maternal figure to the entire nation of Argentina. She was raised in those slums, and, having experienced this, she knew how much help the people really needed. Even if she just threw money at the problems, it was still a sign that she cared for los descamisados, su gente. Yes, she made mistakes, and yes, she was frowned upon by the upper class, but Eva Peron did her gosh-darn best to make a difference.

In other news, I hurt my knee and ankle dancing the other day. Guess what this means......ACE BANDAGE and KNEE BRACE. Maybe I should explain some of this though. During Jekyll at Truman, I was the Bishop, meaning I was the first to die at the hands of Hyde. Since it is also the end of the first act, it's a pretty important death. However, this meant I was doing fight rehearsals for half an hour before we even started normal runs. During the fight, Hyde knocks me to my knees far too often, and on one occasion, something popped. Nothing broken, but it hurt like the dickens, and I had to brace it for every performance. And it seems like I may have to do this again for Evita. The choreography is fantastic, and Robin is a genius, but in a physical sense, I am not made to move certain ways. There are far too many pops and cracks. So, safety first, and know that when you see the show, I will be armed with a knee brace, ACE Bandages, and gel cushions in my shoes, AKA, a true theatre daredevil:P

And now, for something completely different, SPANISH!
Vaya con dios, mis amigos, y vamos al teatro para la espectacula, EVITA, de Andrew Lloyd Webber y Tim Rice. Presentó con permision del Orginacion de Rodgers y Hammerstein.

What's New

It has been a full week since my first Evita rehearsal, and I am loving the experience so far. It's been a while since I had this much fun with a show. The cast is fantastic, and I can't wait to start blocking rehearsals this week.

At the same time, I've started trying to come up with my character(s) for the show. As an ensemble member, I'm playing everything from Eva's brother to a member of the military, so I've been trying to make a general profile of each character I am in each song. My favorite one that I have come up with is my character for "Buenos Aires". During the dance, we are serving as the populace of Buenos Aires, Argentina. While thinks she is entering this wonderful world of the big city, the rest of the ensemble are the reality of the city: a dirty, hard place of sin and corruption. The character I am, or the mentality I'm trying to maintain, is a member of the underground crime movement. At one point, the majority of the taxi companies in Buenos Aires were under the control of an organized crime syndicate, who would control the access of taxis to major locations in town; typically they would control the people coming and going through los aeropuertos (airports).

Vaya con Dios, everybody

A New Argentina

Tonight was my second rehearsal, and I'm even more excited than I was last week. This music is some of the most difficult show music I've had to sing in a long while, at least since Jekyll, or Bat Boy. Everyone sounds fantastic, and I feel privileged to be part of this company. I can't wait to start the blocking rehearsals now.

Til next time, Vaya Con Dios!

And so it begins

This is my first blog, so I'm a little nervous trying to do this. But I will do the best that I can.

Starting next week, I am in rehearsals for New Line Theatre's production of EVITA, and I can barely contain my excitement. Since seeing Grease a few years ago, I have wanted to be involved with a New Line show, and I'm even more excited to be working with them on my first show post-graduation. It's going to be a great experience, and I can't wait to start working with this cast, including some of the best talent I've seen in St. Louis.

My opinion of the show: I didn't know a lot about it before auditioning. I'd heard a portion of the soundtrack, and saw a few scenes from the movie a long time ago. While it didn't rub off on me right away, I loved most of Lloyd Webber's early stuff, mainly when he was with Tim Rice, so I thought auditioning would be a good experience.

A little about myself, for those that don't know me. I just graduated from Truman State University, with a BA in Theatre, along with a minor in English. While there, I had the chance to perform in Bat Boy the Musical, The Threepenny Opera, and Jekyll & Hyde the Musical, along with working on other mainstage productions. In addition to these shows, I performed in the workshop production of the new children's musical Jack vs. Giants. While being involved with the theatre department, I was part of the Truman's co-ed a cappella group, Sweet Nothings, and had the privilege of being on their self-titled CD.

Until the next time, Vaya con dios