Babbel.

I honestly don't know where to start. Sunday night we took down the set to Arsenic and Old Lace, a set which I had partially helped build, and the next week was weakly powered by lack of sleep and a hope to get to Christmas break.

Thursday marked the first time in seven years that I missed a Christmas choral concert. I don't know if I ranted about the schedule debacle that was, but bottom line I wasn't able to schedule guy's ensemble - the guys-only audition-only group we have at CHS. So what did I do? I ran lights.

It's very strange to be on that side of a concert, but at the same time I have gained some perspective on it all. This time that I have being on stage, with unlimited resources and the ability to hop from tech to performer is very finite. I don't mean that in a doom-and-gloom 'everything ends' way but rather simply an "I appreciate that I have this" sort of way. Bottom line, it was weird.

Moving on, last night I adventured avec ma famille downtown to see the city all lit up. I'm very fortunate to live near Pittsburgh to the point where it's only about a 20 minute drive in. We spent the majority of the time at Market Square which had been transformed into a "holiday marketplace" with vendors from all over the place. I, of course, took my little $5 camera down to take pictures. Unfortunately, it doesn't do too well with dim-lit spaces, but I was still able to get some great pictures, including this one from PPG Place:

That tree in the window isn't in PPG place -  it's a reflection from the ice rink

More to come on my flickr page, but nevertheless Pittsburgh is a very photogenic city. Unfortunately, cityscape and the cold were not a good combination for my little camera. The little metal ring on the end labeled "IMAGE STABILIZER" kept falling off, and I think I snapped the little rubber eyepiece in the cold. I am way more disturbed by this than I should be, considering it's six years old, but I've taken it on as my own. 

Again, my apologies for the lack of order here, but I'm working on it. And again, to anyone that made it out to see Arsenic, Thanks. You have no idea how amazing an experience you were a part of. 

“The best things in life aren't things.” - Art Buchwald

On Opening Night - 6 December 2013

Interesting words, and when you consider that you work on a production for months in front of an empty auditorium, it's quite strange to have it suddenly filled with people. To hear people laugh when you say the most ridiculous lines ("General Goethals was very pleased, he says the canal is just the right size! ... Dear me, this'll be a shock to the general!?") is a strange experience.

I've never had a speaking role in any production, so I've been more than able to slip into the background and ignore it all, but it's so different to be a leader with it.

Take, for example, at the beginning of the second act. I get all up in Clay Bodnar (in this production he's Johnathan Brewster). I've known him for years, and have worked with him on so many projects, which should make it easy for us to fight on stage. But it is so hard with his ridiculous makeup and my ridiculous lines and glued on mustache! I sort of understand now how hard it must be for the people on Saturday Night Live to not break character... At the same time, I wouldn't trade it for the world.

This is such a great cast to be a part of, and come time for our bows at the end of the production when we all stand together, hand in hand before whoever shows up, we truly are a family; and truly a great group of friends. I'm writing this to remind myself in the future what it felt like - it was strange, but so much fun.

Thanks to everyone that came last night, to everyone who will be there in roughly four hours for show two, and everyone that will be there tomorrow. And a huge thanks goes to everyone that has helped put this together from Ms. Longo (director) to Al (sound guy) to everyone who has put up with my bugle insanity and especially to my Brewster family:

Cast of Arsenic and Old Lace

To the Ends of the Earth Would You Follow Me?

Those are lyrics to a song called "Ends of the Earth" by a group called Lord Huron. If you listen to it and it sounds familiar, it's in some sort of Zales commercial with balloons...

We recently blocked the last bit of Arsenic and Old Lace. To those unfamiliar with theatre terminology, 'blocking' is the process of putting the lines in the script to actual motions and things on stage. It's an interesting process, albeit a sometimes tedious one. Nevertheless, it's all set.

Also that day I (along with most of the cast) was interviewed by Megan Guza of the Signal Item (Trib Total Media). It's very strange to be interviewed, not necessarily the whole having-a-conversation-with-someone-and-them-writing-it-down thing but the whole knowing-this-may-go-to-print thing. I'm perfectly comfortable with it all (I write a blog after all and have conducted interviews through WYEP a few times) it's just bizarre being on the other side.

Today I read that interview in the Signal Item... and it's so strange realizing that something you said was notable enough to put to print. If you're interested, you can read the full article here: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourcarlynton/yourcarlyntonmore/5058234-74/senior-brewster-carlynton#axzz2lKuJwk1P.

I talked for about seven minutes with Megan Guza alongside Jeff Henke (Mr. Witherspoon) and Tyler Piper (Dr. Einstein). It was quite an interesting conversation, going everywhere from how Aidan convinced us all to try out for the play to where we plan on going. Though I do share some satisfaction in being the one that came up with the word camaraderie, which landed in the title of the piece.

Anyway, I'm posting this because I wanted to record what it felt like at the time - being interviewed, and capping off my first Carlynton play.

Shameless self-promotion:

Join the wildly talented Carlynton cast as they present Joseph Kesselring's Arsenic and Old Lace. What happens when you take two murderous little old ladies, mix in a dash of identity crisis, sprinkle in some dead bodies, and add just a hint of romance? The complete recipe calls for Brooklyn cops, wanna-be writers, a bugle, a window seat, and some elderberries. Don't miss your chance to find out why Aunt Martha and Aunt Abby have so many people simply dying to try the wine! Bring the whole family for a great evening of laughs and entertainment.

Cast (in order of appearance):
Abby Brewster- Marin Exler
Mrs. Harper- Cassie Clark
Teddy Brewster- Alex Popichak
Officer Brophy- Colin Henke
Officer Klein- Caleb Staker
Martha Brewster- Natalie Thomas
Elaine Harper- Angela Zucchero
Mortimer Brewster- Aidan Kalimon
Mr. Gibbs- Kassi Longstreth
Jonathan Brewster- Clay Bodnar
Dr. Einstein- Tyler Piper
Officer O'Hara- Jarod Latta
Lieutenant Rooney- Rachel Roach
Mr. Witherspoon- Jeff Henke

Tickets are available at the door. Price: students and seniors $5, adults $7.

No Matter What we Breed We Still are Made of Greed

**Note: I thought I had posted this when I wrote it - Friday the 8th. Apparently I had not**

The title consists of lyrics from Imagine Dragons' Demons. It has nothing to do with this post. However, I recommend their acoustic version, which you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PthxO_lRu9c

Anyway, my week was busy, but as the trend has gone lately, I've spent a lot of time at the high school and more specifically in the auditorium. I'm in a strange position that I personally love: that of a tech and of an actor. I'm involved with the winter play, Arsenic and Old Lace and it's quite a different experience from anything I've done thusfar.

This is the first 'role' I've had to date, and it's interesting having actual lines versus being in the ensemble of a musical or being cloaked in black with most tech... Though my heart still is very much laying in the shadows - in the dark - in the control rooms.

We did maintenance, our ragtag crew of an adviser that was all of our former band director, my brother, one of his friends, and another guy we've picked up along the way. Our adviser is new this calendar year, but has been involved in Carlynton Tech for years. Honestly, I'm quite thankful to have someone knowledgeable teach us the ropes, and over the past week alone I've learned so much - and fixed so much!

It's when there's nothing going on in the auditorium - no shows, no people, no performers, nothing - that I've learned to appreciate this hidden zen of silence. I like the control of running a light board, the knowledge of a rigging system, and above all else the magic that we can create. A good tech crew - which over the past year the group of us have become - can do so much, especially when we're passionate about it. I'm not saying we do an amazing job with everything, it's just we love what we do.

But acting - bringing to life the scenes and tech - creating the backdrops and illusions, are so different. I'm thankful for being able to do this all, and I don't care if it ever lands me anywhere. I just love doing it all.

How Can You Dream In The Doorway Without Ever Going In?

First I'm going to acknowledge that this is my 200th post since I started the blog nearly 4 years ago.

This week was an interesting one. Tuesday brought with it auditions for this year's Carlynton Winter Play, Arsenic and Old Lace. It's this dark-ish comedy about two aunts who live together with their insane nephew who thinks that he is Teddy Roosevelt, and basically they take boarders in and kill them. When their 'normal' nephew Mortimer discovers this, well, you'll have to come in December to see it live.

Auditions are always the most nerve-wracking part of a production if only for the reason of the big unknown - you don't know how it will go, and your mission is to sell to the panel your acting skills. If they like you, they call you back. And they called me back. 

Callbacks were fun, and I realized that our entire on-air talent with the morning announcements (Aidan, Clay, and I) were all called back, and I knew pretty much the entire callback crew, so that made things fun. They had me try out the Teddy character, and asked me to try an officer character (again, you need to see this thing) which I attempted a Brooklyn/New Jersey accent on.

I said one sentence and the auditorium started cracking up. It wasn't the line, it was the ridiculous accent (which if you've seen BBC 2 1/2, you can picture an accent of that ridiculous scale.... downright overdone and goofy)

They had me try out also for all-too-serious-yet-semi-sarcastic Mortimer character, a role that was sort of hard to pull off after throwing two ridiculous characters out on stage... but whatever. After that we were left to wait.

Thursday brought the announcements that we were asked to record for Open House that night. We never record, or pre-record our announcements. No delays, no nothing, always live, which made this a bit, um, stressful (I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm telling the truth!). It was a trainwreck. So we had to come in and re-record everything on the VHS tape during 6th period, my lunch.

I was first into the studio after our adviser. I told her, that that was my lunch period and she responded "oh, it'll just take like four minutes."

It took a total of five takes (four that period) to get the good copy. And since we were using a VCR and VHS tapes, we had to start over every time something went wrong. Our visual producer put it this way:

@AlexPopichak MOST STRESSFUL THIRTY MINUTES EVER
— Natalie Thomas (@NatCat301) September 20, 2013

So yeah, we got it done, and the broadcast that night was flawless; too bad I didn't get to eat my lunch that period... Oh well.

That night brought open house, which I announced the changing of classes and directed parents, and that night I got the email to check the cast list.

And I got cast as the insane Teddy Brewster. So yeah, this is going be fun considering my character's brothers are the normal Mortimer Brewster (portrayed by my WCHS cohort Aidan Kalimon) and the evil Boris Karloff-esque character Jonathan Brewster (portrayed by... wait for it... my other WCHS on-air cohort Clay Bodnar). This is going to be something else.

And Friday brought with it another Carlynton Football win, this time 42-0 over Serra Catholic. Over half of the cast of the play was with me in the student section, so that was cool....

I hope that was long enough. Thanks for reading, and here's to 200 posts! *raises juicebox*