Week 1:
3 Bucks, 2 Bags, 1 Me – NYC

June 17, 2021

This first week of my program has been crazy, jam-packed, and filled with amazing experiences! I can’t believe I’ve experienced so much in such a short amount of time! I came to New York City with my mom on Friday, June 4th, on an American Airlines flight from O’Hare in Chicago. Flying is already a stressful and exhausting experience, but with the added stresses of COVID-19 and having to move somewhere for 2 months, it was even more stressful and intense than usual. We landed at Newark Liberty International Airport and took the AirTrain to the rail station to catch a New Jersey Transit train to New York Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan. From there my mom and I trudged down 34th street in the intense East Coast heat with my two suitcases, backpack, and duffle bag to check into my residence. It was then that we discovered that, due to COVID, my mom could not come up to help me settle in because their changed protocols prohibited visitors of any kind into the building. I was definitely disappointed but tried to get over it quickly. Once I had deposited my things in my room, my mom and I checked into the Courtyard by Marriott, just a block away, where we were on the 18th Floor! 

For the rest of the weekend, Mom and I toured the area and the places I would be going to for my Fellowship (Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Broadway Dance Center, etc) and did some sightseeing (Staten Island Ferry, Central Park, Times Square, and a couple of pizza places). On Sunday, I said goodbye to Mom at Penn Station and she headed back to Newark for her return flight to Chicago. On Sunday evening, I was able to meet up with several other students who are also studying at Stella Adler this summer at Battery Park near the Staten Island Ferry station. We had a potluck “dinner” of Krispy Kreme donuts, Cheez-Its, and Kit Kats and got to know each other. I was super happy to have some new friends going into the first day.

Then on Monday, June 7th, my Musical Theater Intensive at the Stella Adler Studio began! We started off with a virtual orientation where we all performed for each other and were able to introduce ourselves to the group. We then came into the studio in the afternoon to all take our first class together: Audition Skills and Strategies with Carol Linnea Johnson, where we had to sing 16 bars for each other and write down three adjectives per person to see what our “essences” are, or how we are first perceived by people.

On Tuesday, June 8th, we had virtual movement and acting classes in the morning, and in the afternoon we had our first Masterclass with Tony Award winner, BD Wong!!! It was so awesome to be able to observe his expertise and take notes of his experience in the field. It was very inspiring to see such a knowledgeable, friendly, and humble Broadway star be so willing to share his experiences with us as students. 

Wednesday was our first fully in-person day! We got assigned our scenes for the next 5 weeks and our scene partners and had to learn our musical parts in the morning. I’m playing Elphaba in “For Good” from Wicked and Joanie in “It’s a Woman’s World” from The Full Monty. Then that afternoon we had our first in-person Movement class with our instructor Vanessa Butler. After that class, we were supposed to have our first Acting a Song class with our accompanist, Julianne Merrill, since our regular instructor had to be out that day. We were able to work with Julianne for 10 minutes per student and get some (needed) vocal coaching and suggestions about our song cuts and choices.

Thursday, June 10th was a great day full of wonderful information starting off in the morning with virtual Musical Theater History and Song Analysis class with Mark Fifer, followed by the Business of Acting class taught by Dev Janki, the director of the studio’s musical theatre division. We had a break for lunch and travel to the studio and in the afternoon we had two in-person classes, Movement and Acting a Song.

On Friday, June 11th, the final day of our first week of the intensive, we performed our assigned scenes for other students in the musical theatre intensive and for Dev Janki to get notes on our progress and then had another round of our Audition Skills and Strategies with Carol Linnea Johnson. I feel like I have learned so much already that is building upon what I learned in Cornell’s Musical Theatre program. 

On Saturday, June 12th, I was able to meet up with two friends I knew from Cornell and we ventured into the Bronx! We went to the Bronx Museum of the Arts and saw their current exhibition: Born in Flames: Feminist Futures. It was a beautiful exhibit filled with powerful and empowering art made by women in 2020. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to pursue this dream of mine here in NYC and take part in this wonderful program, and I absolutely cannot wait to see what comes next! Hooray for the first week! 🙂