Week 12:
Family Part 3

August 13, 2018

This week was the last week that my family was in town! They left on Wednesday, and I already miss them a lot. My cousin dragged me outside to do a hike, which was actually really nice. We did a hike called “The Up and Over,” and it was beautiful. We hiked up the hill that runs parallel to the town, and eventually got up a cliff that overlooks the entire town. It was amazing, even though the altitude and sun kicked both of our butts. We also went to a waterfall this week- the first time I’ve been out of Creede since I got here! I’m very grateful that I was able to have my family in town- I love them a lot, and having them with me in town makes me feel more grounded than I have been feeling lately.

This week, I also house managed Boomtown again! We had a problem with a few patrons trying to come in while the show was going on, being really loud and demanding tickets and popcorn, but luckily Britney, my manager, was there to take care of it and it was dealt with was a minimum of fuss. This has happened before- the front wall of the Ruth Humphreys Brown is mostly windows, which means that everyone walking past can see inside. Occasionally, that also means that people see us working inside, making popcorn for intermission, and really want to get in. Fortunately, this has only happened twice to me, but the first time I was the one in charge, and my manager wasn’t around, so I had to deal with a belligerent patron late at night on my own. I’m definitely learning a lot more about what it really means to work in customer service, and it’s not always pleasant. Fortunately, those sorts of patrons are definitely in the minority- the vast majority of patrons I interact with are pleasant and polite.

On Sunday the 12th, I had my second and final masterclass. The masterclasses are a part of the internship program at CRT- interns get to explore different parts of theatre directly with staff members. This specific masterclass was a Period and Styles masterclass focused on the rehearsal process of Miss Holmes, our most recent mainstage show. Two other interns and I got to spend three hours with Jess Jackson, the Artistic Director of CRT and director of Miss Holmes, doing scene study, movement work, and a bit of accent work. I got the chance to pick a scene and character, perform it, and have her give me notes. This is an amazing opportunity, and also the first time I’ve gotten to act since I’ve been here! I really miss acting, and I’m very excited/nervous about auditions coming up in a few weeks at Cornell!

A lot of the work that I did talking about period pieces can be applied to any play that I do in the future- almost every play is set in a period of time, and by researching that you can figure out how the social conventions at the time impact your character. With accents, I learned that being historically accurate is not necessarily the most important thing- the most important thing is to have your accent convey something that the audience will recognize about your character. It’s meant to inform your character- if it’s accurate but confusing (say, an accurate British accent for the time period of Richard II) it will only alienate your audience. I’m really happy I got to do this master class- I learned a lot that I can apply to theater at Cornell and in my future career.