The Last First Week of Classes of My Undergrad Career!

So I know its been a while since I've written, but I have a legitimate excuse. Did I mention that I'm taking 21 credit hours this semester? And, lest we forget, I have rehearsals every day except Mondays. Well, this week started out pretty well. We didn't have classes on Monday because of MLKJ day, so my friends Juan, Amy and I went out to Hamburger Mary's late Sunday night for some MaryOke (Karaoke for those of you who couldn't figure it out). Hamburger Mary's is this awesome diner/bar/ cool hang out that has free karaoke on Sunday and Monday nights. I went once last semester on Labor Day weekend to see a visiting friend who graduated and moved to New York 2 years ago. That Sunday was the day I was introduced to the amazingness that is Hamburger Mary's. They have the biggest collection of karaoke songs I've ever seen! They even have songs from Aladdin! Anyway last Sunday we got there too late and closing time (2 AM) rolled around right before I was supposed to sing! I cried inside a little because I've been dying to go back there since the first time, but everyone had class on Monday and Thursday morning so they couldn't go. Of course because it was a holiday weekend and no one had to work the next day the place was crowded! Next time we're going early enough so we can get 2 or more songs in like some of the other people there! New Goal!
Tuesday was the official start of the year. It was a bit overwhelming. I had a long day filled with 4 classes. My first class was Quantitative Literacy- sounds easy right? I thought so. Nope! Its definitely real math that requires a graphing calculator and major brain work. The professor is really chill, though, and he told us straight up that we didn't have to come to class all the time and that we could make up any quizzes or exams that we missed. Every class that I had up to this point took attendance and graded us based on it. Of course I'll probably still go every day because math is not my strong point so I need all the examples I can get. I had to go to a costume fitting after that which was interesting. I found out that none of my clothes will be distressed for the show, so I can use whatever I like in my wardrobe without fear! Thank God! Next was my Sex and Gender Differences and Similarities class which seems cool. The professor let us out of class an hour early! Meaning we were only there for 15 minutes. Playwriting, my third class of the day, may just be my new favorite. We all were given composition journals which we are supposed to write in every day because we are writers now (if we weren't already). I love being able to use my creativity for classes. I already have a ton of ideas. Now all I have to do is pick one to use as the one act play that will be put on at the end of the semester!!! The end of the day was kind of melancholy for me because I ran into Lia who was on her way to rehearsal while I had to head downtown to my Intro to Audio Production class. I told Lia to make sure I wasn't put in the back all the time since I wasn't there lol. I hate missing rehearsal! It made it hard to enjoy the class, which does seem like its going to be fun but... I just really didn't want to be there. I had to ask the professor for permission to miss two classes for rehearsals in February- which is a scary thing to do for a once a week class- but he was cool with it. I actually managed to make it to the last 20 minutes of rehearsal. I basically just watched them as they went through the new staging, but it was nice to be there. It just doesn't feel right not to see the cast everyday- except Monday- ya know? Oh and good news: I wasn't ever put in the back lol!
Wednesday was awesome because all I had was my Directing For the Screen class. It seems like its going to be extra fun! The group I'm working with is awesome, and I can't wait to get started. Rehearsal that night was pretty interesting.  Sadly, Jake wasn't there for most of it, but he showed up at the very end! Apparently everyone had last names now so Jamal and I were the only ones who were last name-less because we both weren't there for Tuesdays rehearsal- even though I kind of was. I still need to get on that. Any ideas? My characters name is Rachel and I'm an English professor at Southeastern Louisiana University.  First off, there is a scene where we are all in our chairs like we are waiting in a line for gas. Somebody realized that all of the black characters were at the front of the line and it looked very segregated! Ironic right? We had to change that up a bit, but it was hilarious when it was pointed out. We spent a lot of time on the floor because there's a scene where we imitate the levees breaking and the whole cast falls to the floor where they stand. So we spent a lot of time slowly getting up with the dialog and....we actually get to go off stage now!!!! Originally the plan was for us all to stay on stage the whole time, but for some of the scenes it just didn't make sense. This figuring out stuff as you go and ensemble interpretation and inspiration gets tough sometimes. There were moments where we'd all look at each other like: what do we do in this moment now? We got through it and things started to feel more natural to us. All in all, it was a pretty productive rehearsal.
Thursday night was really rough. We kind of dragged through getting the staging done and it took forever. People were confused, slap happy, and frustrated. I think Ann started to get irritated with us at times- after all, we are a very chatty cast. I had to use my reading glasses for the role of Grandmother which was tough because they are legit glasses, and I have to make sure I don't actually look through them to read from my Bible because they hurt my eyes. There was this hilarious moment when we were staging the part in the Superdome where Ann asked Kyle to reenact a rape scene with Kelsey. Now a lot of you may not know Kyle, but he's one of the sweetest, prettiest, doe- eyed boys I've ever met. Plus he's gay. So him playing a rapist was so out of character. We all cracked up for a good 5 minutes. When it came time for him to play out the moment, I think ever body turned to watch him, even though we were all supposed to be in character, and we just died!!!! Here's this sweet boy (who, by the way, has to grow facial hair for his character- which he's never done before) awkwardly chasing Kelsey off stage in what he think is the way of the rapist! We all just fell apart! I could barely breathe! Every time, I swear, they tried something a little different, but the results were the same- laughter. Finally we got to the end of part 5. We've still got a long way to go, and we move into the theatre tomorrow!!!! We did more work with costumes this afternoon, and everyone was given 20 bucks to buy what we need at thrift stores. I had Audition Seminar this morning which was fun- getting trained in how to be professional and skilled in auditions. I could really use that! lol I also randomly decided to audition for "The Vagina Monologues." I figured its senior year, it doesn't conflict with Katrina, so why not? Besides, I could use the extra practice auditioning. I'll find out tomorrow if I got it or not. We'll I have 25 minutes before I have to go to rehearsal. Time for a power nap!  Later my lovelies....