Pop and Lockin' for Jesus

http://www.theway.org/Current/March07/Mar07Hi4.htm

70 Scenes from Halloween (production pix)

Photobucket Album

Welcome Back!

So, the summer is winding to a close and everyone will soon be back in Waco, back on campus, back in the Green Room(which has a WHOLE NEW look...very nice). I'm sure I'm not the only one who is ready for classes to start and ready to see people. I'm ready to get back in the routine of things...I've been going to bed so late these past months and waking up even later, that I need to know what it's like to get up at 8am for my first class of the day, after having gone to bed before 12am the night before. 

Basically I just want to say WELCOME BACK! 

See you in the Green Room!

Peace & Love

Kelsey

Tape Production Pics

Photobucket Album

Summer Shows

Don't forget to make plans to be back for the third and fourth weekend in June.

Video leaked...

here.

Shameless self-promotion

Get excited...

The Playwright's Coffee Shop

I couldn't resist sharing the opening paragraph from the paper I'm writing for Dr. C.

Imagine with me for a moment an after-life coffee shop where history’s great playwrights gather for lattes and discourse. On the menu there are specialty drinks bearing names like Hamlet-chino, Machinal Macchiato, The Caucasian Chocolate Mocha, and A Doll’s House Blend. In one corner, on purple felt couches sit Euripides and Moliere sharing a slice of Lemon Pound Cake. It is impossible to know what these great playwrights would discuss, separated as they are by 2000 years and a dozen movements in dramatic literature. And yet, it is difficult to imagine that the words “deus ex machine” wouldn’t come up before the night was out.

I have to wonder, have I come up with the best coffee drink names? If you can think of better I'll sub your answers in for the ones I have here.

Picasso

Saw PALA last night and had a great time! What a fantastic show.

The direction, the set, the performances, the costumes, the lighting, the sound design, all worked cohesively.

I was especially impressed with Joey, Clay, and Jeff. All the actors did a great job, but I saw these three take a step forward in their acting ability. Not that they weren't great already, I just saw new great in them last night.

Well done, everybody!

On a side note: I made a minor fool of myself last night. I saw Totie B with a guy I didn't recognize last night, way across the smokey Mabee Theatre. So, I sent her a text that read, "Is that your bro?" Thinking it might be her New Orleans brother. She texted me back and I saw her talking to him and laughing. When her text arrived it read "That's Dr. Jortner." (My new graduate professor) I looked up and he was waving. I sheepishly waved back.

After the show I got to chat with him, and he's a kind, accessible guy, who wants students to call him Dave or David. Nice. Looking forward to learning from him.

Is it REALLY amazing?

I'd like to outlaw the use of the word amazing. It needs a break. Especially the use of it as two words "Uhhh Mazing!" Please stop when tempted to use this word and reach into your vocabulary for a different word.

That is all.

Spongey Blue... no more

Today the Green Room will be painted. And as one would expect the hours leading up to the actual painting involved lots of people walking by saying, "What's the color gonna be?" And when they were told, they wrinkled their noses. It's the nature of people, they only like the decisions they've made. Just remember, the color was Patrick's idea. (Not really, but blame him if you don't like it.)

The actual color will be "Jamaican Bay" which I can only assume looks like this: With accent walls, which have nothing to do with Jamaican accents to my great disappointment.

A new coat of paint will bring a breath of fresh (possibly Jamaican) air to the Green Room and I would like to thank those who donated funds, those who made decisions, and especially those who did the actual work. You are saints and yet all you'll hear is griping.

Just remember everybody, the alternative plan was one devised by Beki and I and it included a mural a la the one at Texas Roadhouse.

Our version would have Chekhov riding Stanislavski in front of the Hooper-Schaffer Center hollerin' "Yeah, Konny, you're mah bitch!" And Brecht would be smoking four cigarettes in the corner wearing a Che Guevara t-shirt.

Hillary going for the BUT Vote

Muppets Bloopers

I've always loved the Muppets and this is a recently released bloopers reel. Awesome.

What happens when you run a Google Image Search on Steven Pounders.

Everyone has, at one point or another, Google Image Searched their own name either out of vanity or sheer curiosity. I prefer to Google Image Search the names of those around me, in hopes of yielding entertaining results. For example, venerable professor Steven Pounders.

We start with a fairly normal picture (from the Baylor website):

Not so bad, eh? Dark, brooding, Kevin Kline-esque. After bypassing a photo of Jenny Ledel (an individual often confused by the paparazzi with Mr. Pounders), we come to something a bit steamier:

Our beloved Steven was hailed by some critics as "MacBuff" for his performance in this Shakespearean masterwork. Soon after, however, the pictorial procession becomes all-too-familiar to his stalkers and those who read Star or Us Weekly. It's Pounders using his same old bag of tricks. Pounders as a sexually ambiguous therapist, Pounders as a reputable New York Equity actor, blah, blah, blah. Then, just when all hope seems to be lost, Steven shows us something truly remarkable. It's Steven Pounders as we've never seen him before:

Move over, Jin from Lost ! Can Pounders ride this new wave of success (pun achieved) back into the hearts of those who used to love him but eventually lost interest? Only time will tell. One thing, however, is certain: the Google Image Search is not a toy, but a tool by which we can ostensibly mark the success of those around us.

As for me? Ah, search engine fame is only for the few. But, if you must, search and let me know what you find. After all, I'm no Lincoln Thompson...

It's Limerick Tuesday

Go check out this week's topics.

Whoa, hold it! Stop everything...

Andrew Saenz... AKA Nick Marquez. Watch the film here.

Why is Dan on crutches?

The whole sordid story here.

The Blue Green Room...WTF?

It is known as the Green Room, the place where we come between classes, knowing someone will always be there. Whether it's John Ruegsegger sleeping on the STD infested couch or Lindsay Ehrhardt creating another Facebook album during crew or Christopher Eastland working on his Macbook....someone is bound to be there to greet your face as you enter. But one thing that has always confused me about the Green Room, is the color...it's blue...but what color blue I don't know. 1. It's called the Green Room...this is confusing. 2. Who the hell wanted to paint it faded blue with white sponge marks on it. It's like someone covered Zach Krohn in sponges and gave him some caffeine and let him loose. So there have been discussions that the room will actually be repainted...when this is occuring I do not know. But I for one wonder about if they happen to paint it green, what the response will be...will the green room be the same after the blue walls are gone? What do the blue walls of the green room represent when it comes to our department?

I welcome the change because the green room is a second home to me...but I am looking forward to the reactions...sic'em repainting.

Limericks!

Oh and be sure to stop by my personal blog and participate in the limerick contest! (Taking entries Tuesday and Wed).

Mixed Business Game (continued)

You've done very well so far on the first batch. Lindsay and Signs were especially impressive.

Here are some more combos for you (I jotted these down on one of my son's Addition Flash cards while waiting for Chicken minis at Chik-fil-A:

Sushi Bar / Math Tutoring
Laundromat / Consignment shop
Veterinarian / Car Wash
Personal Trainer / Chimney Sweeps
Carpet cleaners / Barbershop quartet

Mixed Business Game

Mary Laws and I have been playing this for a few weeks and thought I'd share it with you. We take a strange business model that mixes two disparate trades and we come up with the perfect name for it. Examples:

A shoe store and dance club: Tongue and Groove
A fish store / weight loss service: Scales
A proctologist / tanning salon: Where the Sun Don't Shine
A coffee shop / fertility clinic: Better with Cream

We were so pleased with ourselves and our naming abilities, we've decided to start...

a business naming service / valet parking company:We'll Drive Away With Your Title

(Laws, if you remember more examples let me know them and I'll add them)

So, come up with your own for these combinations (or combinations of your own if you like.)

Used Car Dealership / Dentist
Road Painters / Party Clowns
Video Rental / Bricklayer
Hawaii Travel / Bible Printers

Good luck!

when costume run crew goes terribly, terribly wrong.

once upon a time, baylor theatre did a production of schoolhouse rock live! it was an enjoyable experience for all involved, cast and crew alike. except for one fateful night...

the shrl! costume run crew consisted of me, zach krohn, emmie rothenbach and taylor kulhanek...basically a group of badasses. we managed to cover the responsibilities of both run crew and maintenance, going above and beyond our call of duty. after a stellar performance one night, zach, taylor and i had gathered the laundry and taken it up to the costume shop to wash. we started a load of multicolored splatter-painted tshirts and then headed downstairs to retrieve a laundry basket full of vests. it was late and we were tired, so we thought we'd take the elevator...we deserved it.

so we climb aboard. the doors slide closed. i press the "1" button. we wait. and wait. and wait. and nothing happens. i push the "1" button again. and wait....and wait...and wait. nothing happens. zach has the wonderful idea to push the "1" and "2" buttons at the same time. taylor and i agree that this is obviously the best way to get the elevator moving. but alas, nothing happens. we sadly resign ourselves to taking the stairs and push the button to open the doors, but to our surprise...they don't open.

i wish i could say we stayed calm, assessed the situation and dealt with it like mature adults. but then i would be lying. instead, zach starts laughing, i startshitting the doors, and taylor has a minor panic attack. "guys," she says. "i'm claustrophobic." zach and i say "REALLY?" and she says, "no, i was just trying to be funny...but it is hot in here. i think i'm getting a rash. does that look like a rash to you?"

fast forward fifteen minutes. we finally have the bright idea to push the big red button that says EMERGENCY on it and have a nice chat with a member of the baylor dps, who obviously had nothing better to do with this friday night but wait for elevator distress calls. and i thought my life was boring. he deduces that we are caught between floors, assures us that help is on the way and tells us to stay put (WHERE WOULD WE GO?). we calm down a bit and settle in to wait for our rescue.

fast forward forty five minutes. all three of us are slumped on the floor of the elevator. we have sung through the entire score of schoolhouse rock live! at the top of our lungs and are currently in the middle of composing a rap song about being trapped in an elevator. r. kelly has nothing on us. hunger, fatigue, and the need to use the bathroom have all began taking their toll, and we're going a bit stir crazy. just when i thought all hope was lost, we hear the dulcet tones of the one and only lisa denman from beyond the elevator doors. "HELP US LISA!" we cry. "don't worry! i'm here to save you! and by that i mean we have a maintenance guy opening the elevator for you!" inside the elevator there was much rejoicing. when those doors finally slid open, we were greeted by not just the maintenance man and lisa, but the entire cast and stage managers of shrl!, who informed us that they had been listening to us sing for at least fifteen minutes. talk about adding insult to injury.

and this is why i refused to use the elevator for the rest of the year.

Further Elevator Ruminations

If you missed it, I have had other observations about the elevator.

Elevator Game - Mary Laws taught me this game. Much love, Laws. The premise is simple, when you are in the elevator with one or two other people, you set the car in motion toward the first or second floor, then you begin running around in circles. When the doors open the first one out of the elevator wins. This game is much easier if you play it with no one else in the elevator.

The Awkward Elevator Opening to the Dance Studio Moment - When I am descending to the first floor, usually on my way to the Green Room, the door opens to a dozen people dancing to Lady Marmalade or Big Girls Don't Cry or something, in the dance studio. Invariably, when they hear the elevator door open, they look to see who it is, and seeing me and knowing that I appreciate a joke, they start goofily dancing aggressively or seductively in my direction. If I were prepared for it, I'd laugh, or do a much more ridiculous dance in retort. But usually, I'm thinking about casting, or the classical unities, or something very far removed from silly, sexy dancing. I usually end up just looking startled and scared and I wave an awkward wave and run. Occasionally, I anticipate the door's opening and strike a "How YOU doin'?" kind of pose, or begin dancing myself. And when I do this, the door opens and there is no dance class and Sally, or Dawn, or Mr. Sherry are standing there looking at me. Embarrassed as I am, they hardly seem surprised to see something like that happening in this building.

Green Room Olympics - Don't Boycott!

In my short time I have seen exactly two sporting events occur in the Green Room.

1. Sock Wrestling - I learned of this game from my son, who loves it, although he is 1-8 in his P.E. sock wrestling league. (And the 1 is his friend Bryson, who has Down's Syndrome.) I, Dan Buck, was challenged to a sock wrestling match by John R. (almost one half my age and twice my height). It was a battle royale witnessed by Victoria Eisle (who, after seeing the last workshop I'm sure could kick both our butts in sock wrestling) and Bethany Salminen. John Rugsseggjgarr edged me out by one sock, but I put up a good fight. I'm still sore (it was over two weeks ago).

2. Windy Ball - This occurred yesterday in the Green Room before workshop when Melissa Flowers donated her Wendy's Kids' meal prize to the Theatre Department. It included two cool paddles, a large plastic ball, and a pathetic paper net. It is called Windy ball because Melissa, and a number of other native Texans say Windy's instead of Wendy's--and when I pointed it out, they couldn't see the difference. So... Windy Ball.

If you know of further athletic feats accomplished in the confines of the Green Room or anywhere in the H-S building, tell us about it in the comments!

Horribly creepy picture of cool people

Ummm...

New Green Room Game - Gangsta Slides

Gangsta Slides
Objective: to waste time.
Rules: Look at each of the screen saver slides on the green room computers and add the words "Beeyatch", "Shiiiit", "Fashizzle", or other gansta lingo to any of the taglines. You'll come up with such phrases as...

"Things are greener, fashizzle!
"Shiiiit, You need help with technology?"
"Murder anyone lately, beeyatch!"

Intro to the Baylor Green Room

I have found that I am addicted to the Green Room. When I don't have a class or lots to do, or especially when I DO have lots to do I find myself drawn to hang out with the most creative fun people I know in the Baylor Theatre Green Room.

Adria's always there and has admitted a similar addiction.

This blog will chronicle the goings on of the Green Room and other miscellaneous theatre happenings and observations. My hope is that they will be about the people, places and events you all know so well that you'll be riveted by every line.

For example:

The Elevator
For all it's faults the Hooper-Schaeffer building has a few glorious qualities, one of which is the immediate-door-closing elevator. When you press the (1) or the (2) button the doors close right away. No delay. No waiting for stragglers to the elevator. Instant gratification.

The other interesting thing about the elevator is that it constantly has more and more seating. I often wonder if people are using it as a rehearsal space. Or I expect there to be a refrigerator in there next time. Senior prank idea - move Stan's entire desk into that elevator.

This is the kind of hard hitting jourbalism I hope to tackle on this blog I hope you'll stop by again soon.