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Well, the results are up and... I didn't make it. No biggie. It was fun, and I didn't really think I'd make it anyway. PLUS, there were gonna be a LOT of rehearsals. I'll get 'em next time, though, I promise. ;D

posted by _paul @ 11:39:00 PM 4 comments

bleh. I am currently surviving day 2 of the flu. Who has flu in late May - almost June? Honestly, I just don't get it. Anyway, here's to hoping tomorrow sees the ends of thrills, chills, and spills (almost makes flue sound exciting, eh?). Thea's being a great help to me, though, and really pampering my like a baby. *sigh* Mebbe I should be sick tomorrow after all... NOT.

I had been waiting until I got pictures of "In The Park" to write about it, but it seems that the photographer has forgotten about me (well, when I say photographer I just mean the girl in the ballet who remembered to bring a camera.). I'll get 'em eventually. At any rate, the show went off without a hitch. I didn't make any mistakes (that I know of) and afterwards quite a few people came up to me and thanked me for an entertaining show. "In The Park" is only about fifteen minutes in length, but we performed as part of a bigger show. The show was in Dowagaic, at Southwestern Michigan College's Lyon Theater and was part of their Dogwood festival. As such, the festival provided attendants with autograph books, so I even had to sign autographs after the show. Pretty crazy. Also, the mayor of Dowagaic spoke after the show and said that, since the show was SOOOO good, that he was making us all honorary citizens of Dowagaic - the sheer unadulterated joy!

On Monday, I auditioned for a part in 42nd street, which is coming to the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre next Fall. The audition had me pretty nervous, and almost scared off, but everyone I know was so supportive that I just couldn't afford NOT to try out. The audition consisted of singing, dancing, and script reading.

For my song I chose, with the help of Mike, "Herod's Song" from "Jesus Christ, Superstar". Mike helped me learn the words beforehand. This was much needed, as those of you who know me well know, since I'm absolutely ABYSMAL at remembering song lyrics. We only had to sing sixteen measures, and I chose Herod's ragtime breakdown - you know, the part that goes "You are the Christ, the great Jesus Christ. Tell my why you're so divine, change my water into wine. That's all you need do, and I'll know it's all true. C'MON King of the Jews!" Well, it was a good choice of song because the piano accompaniment included the melody (something West Side Story's songs, which were my first choice, did not). However, the accompaniment did not include any introduction, so it may have been a bad choice (for nervous ol' me) in that regards. I did... okay on my song. I slowed it down at first, then rushed it, then stuck my hands in my pockets... I DID manage to nail the "C'MON" line, however. lol

After the singing, all the men were shuffled off into the dance room, where we met the guest director, Ron, who had danced in the original Broadway production of 42nd street for eight years compromising of over 1500 shows! Suffice it to say, this dance audition was waaaay hard. I'm not sure I'll make it into the show, but if I do I'll definitely have my work cut out for me.

After the dancing we swapped rooms with the girls and all read some lines. It was probably the most fun part of the whole audition, though it was certainly the least nerve-wracking - which I'm sure helped it seem fun. I think I actually did quite well at this part, but it didn't matter since I was only auditioning for a dancing role.

I'll find out on Friday around noon if I made it into the show or not. Here's hoping.

posted by _paul @ 1:45:00 PM 4 comments

Well, Alice is over and I'm done with ballets... at least, that's what I would've said had you asked me last week (and, in fact, what I DID say to some people last week). However, due to the lack of male dancers at my dance school and the sudden disappearance of the only other one, I know find myself in the Kalamazoo Ballet and Bullard School's 2006 performance of "In the Park". Crazy how things turn out sometimes!

I only have one week to learn this show (well, two more days as of this posting), as it is this Saturday, May 13th. Fortunately, I had taken all but Monday off from work as my birthday is on Friday. Apparently I'm doing ballet for my vacation. Not my first choice, but not entirely undesirable either. This time I have more of a leading role though, and am center stage during almost half of the show. I don't do much in the way of dance steps (though I DO have a couple), but I have lots of lifts and promenades with six different ballerinas. So, yeah, I'm pretty much a stud now, ;D. lol

I'm writing this blog entry from the beautiful Dowagiac campus of Southwestern Michigan College (which, coincidentally, is where my ballet show is at on Saturday), straight from the TLC (Teaching and Learning Center) where Gene is currently fulfilling his employment roles. It basically consists of talking to me, getting up and making people sign in, and browsing the web, checking email, and blogging (all of which he has blogged about over and over again on his blog). So... not wanting to disrupt such a harmonious environment, here I sit blogging contently in between articles on ram timings and the Korean android, Ever-1. Now I'm finally living the dream. ^^

posted by _paul @ 11:13:00 AM 3 comments

And here're the pictures of Thea (there were too many to put patiently into one posting). The first picture showcases here forest animal, which is either a 1) fox (which we were told it was), 2) a squirrel, 3) a tree with a tail, or 4) a horse. I dunno, I personally think it's a pangolin, but what do *I* know.


The rest of the pictures are Thea as a Card, the 3 of Hearts. (which ffxi fans might be interested to know are called Cardians by Thea ^^). First she is doing the Card Walk, then she is leading the jury in (and holding a lovely banner), and finally, she is holding the flamingos for the doing of the croquet (how's that for proper English?).



Well, if you didn't make the show, hopefully these pictures will suffice. I you *did* make the show, hopefully these pictures will remind. Also, we should be getting a DVD of the performance, so interested parties may yet have a chance to watch the slickest ballerin and ballerinas around! ^^

posted by _paul @ 1:01:00 PM 2 comments

Here're some pictures of me in my "bear" costume (which I know looks more like a wolf than a bear, but the original plan was to be a bear, so that's what my motivation was :P). Perhaps it is a long-tailed bear, or a bear-wolf hybrid. I dunno. Anyway, enjoy!




Oh, and the ballet went wonderfully. I only messed up, like, twice out of all four shows. Once I forgot to start the jury scence dance on time. The other time I was moving the first flat that I move and it almost tipped over on top of me, lol - now THAT would've been a show!

posted by _paul @ 12:23:00 PM 1 comments