So it’s been a long while since my last update. I really want to get back to making this a weekly (or at least bi-weekly) update on all things me, so I’ll just need to make it a priority.
Theatre related happenings:
April started off with the great experience that was light designing for the Windham Actors’ Guild production of “Oliver.” I had never lit a show quite as big, nor in this big of a space, so it was an exciting challenge and grand learning opportunity. Sticking with my commitment to always challenging myself, I tried a few new things, used bold colors, and experimented a bit with what I could do with the lights. The two parts that made the entire tech process extra “fun” were having less instruments that I thought I had, and the “Murphy’s Law” moment when I spent six hours getting my Act One cues perfect only to mistype a few commands and erase all my work. Despite all of these mishaps, the show still went up with the lights being a hit. I would like to thank WAG for the opportunity to work with them, and hope we can continue to have a good working relationship in the future.
Cue Zero is rolling right along. Being an independent producer has proven to be a little bit more difficult than I had anticipated, but we are still in great shape to open our inaugural show in July. Auditions are this Wednesday night, and I can’t wait to get to share my beloved script with some wonderfully talented actors and actresses.
Non-Theatre related happenings:
My vacation to Orlando was wonderful. It was great to spend time with my family, watch my sister play softball, and hangout with some very good friends of mine at Disney. I was really inspired by the trip, with the countless things to do. Before the trip, I had never really entertained the thought of working down there like many of my fellow theatre friends, but after the trip, I finally understood the appeal and have added it to my list of possibilities for future paths, although I know there is very stiff competition to be apart of any major attraction in the Sunshine State.
FRC Team 3467 had an extremely adventurous end to our season. After being ranked number one in New England going into the event, the team had a solid showing at the New England Championship event, making it to the quarter finals of the event, and taking home the Engineering Inspiration award. Between the award, and the robot’s performance, the team qualified to compete at the world championship event in St. Louis, Missouri. Getting to St. Louis as pure insanity, as we had our coach bus breakdown on us with no replacement available. We were informed of this shortly after midnight the night before we were scheduled to leave. The team somehow managed to find three twelve person vans to carry our team, another team that agreed to transport all our equipment on their bus, and extra funds to cover any additional costs in eleven very stressful hours. Once the team completed the two day journey to the event, our bad luck continued for our first few matches. Luckily our students are very resilient, and never let any of our misfortunes get them down. We came back from some bad losses to still qualify for the playoffs in our division (which had one hundred teams competing, compared to the 40-60 teams we saw at all our other events). Our alliance played brilliantly and we upset the division favorite to take home the team’s sixth medal on the year. We were eventually defeated in the final four by the eventual world championship alliance, but that didn’t take away from how much we enjoyed the entire weekend. I am extremely proud of all our students, and I am very happy I decided to come out of “retirement” from FIRST to be a part of this very special team.
That’s the super brief version of March and April. My life doesn’t get any less busy, between Cue Zero rehearsals and funding finding, wedding and prom season, and figuring out what I’m doing with my life beyond the month of August, the adventure never stops! Thanks for reading.