CLOWNZZZ

Jim Carrey was born when two hilarious comets crashed into one another after slipping on a banana peel with pies attached to them. A few examples of his clowning techniques in feature films include: Liar Liar, Ace Ventura, The Mask, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Dumb and Dumber and The Grinch.

Jim Carrey was born in Newmarket, Ontario on January 17, 1962 and was the youngest of 4 children. Jim Carrey can be considered a clown because of the characters he creates as well as many of his movements.

In the early 1990’s, Carrey created the infamous caricature, Ace Ventura. Animal lover and nature enthusiast by profession, Ventura travels to Africa to regain a rare fruit bat. The sequel features Ventura assisting the Miami Dolphins football team find the mascot, “Snowflake”. His character can be considered a clown because he jumps, falls, rolls and has the overall body language and movements of many clowns.

A great example of this is the movie "The Mask". In this movie, Jim Carrey is accurately compared to a cartoon character because he dons different roles, much like Bugs Bunny. He plays characters similar to Carmen Miranda, a love struck cartoon with giant eyes that spring out of his head, a stereotypical Frenchman, and a suave zoot suit-wearing playboy. His wacky personalities really vary between each of his distinct characters.

Years later, Carrey was basically transformed into the famous Dr. Suess villain “The Grinch”. Jim Carrey’s quirky behaviors and zany energy make him the perfect candidate for playing many cartoon characters. The green costume added so much character to Carrey’s performance.

Thankfully Jim Carrey continues to perform in many hilarious comedies and television shows, such as Saturday Night Live. Let’s hope that Jim Carrey NEVER gets old and will always make the world laugh at his clowning.

Lucille Ball and Marx Bros.--Consummate clowns

Go check out this post (in case you don't follow my main blog) about...well...just watch:

http://bonzuko.com/?p=3593

We're Baaaaack!

Jenn as Jasper the Court Jester: I had to learn 5 magic tricks for this play.

Don't forget to do your reading, response, and  research project! See you Saturday (in KC Dance)!

Jamie O'Roarke and the Big Potato

Here's the read-aloud you all were so good as to help me with before break. The sound isn't so great, but that's the fault of the echo-y room. :) If you don't mind, I may want to do this again a few times this semester--I could just read into my webcam, but it's much more fun to have a live audience to interact with. ~Prof. Jenn

Read-Aloud: Jamie O'Roarke and the Big Potato from Jenn Zuko Boughn on Vimeo.

Another Amazing Clown

Here's that clown that uses the plastic bags I mentioned in class yesterday.   ~Jenn

Everyday Problems are Most Serious Problems

I found it amazing how much went into the construction of becoming a clown. I remember being a young child and thinking that all a clown had to do was put on some make up, a flamboyant costume, and drink an entire pot of coffee before going in front of people. Now I realize just how much goes into becoming a clown, it is pretty much just as much work becoming a clown that an actor becoming a character. The most interesting part of the reading was the break down of comedic bits such as playing the piano, the double take or the spit take (which I used in Major Barbara btw).

After watching the videos, i also realize that I have probably mistaken most clown these days to be comedic actors. Marcel Marceau is one of the clown i can mostly associate with clowning. That is frankly thanks to the makeup he is wearing along with the oh so very silly costume. Mr. Bean however is amazing in the fact that he can be a subtle clown. His bits always start out so small and just become these enormous spectacles of humor and comedy. Although after watching Bill Irwin it seems that this is a common formula for clowning around.

Although is there too much of a difference between the birthday clown to the professional clowns that we see in Cirque du Soleil, besides having advanced technique? I know that the level of experience is what differs one clown to another, but I guess I am just wondering if there is a difference in what a clown's ultimate goal is, or if the grounding for a clown is pretty much the same all across the board. Although we do have the Insane Clown Posse, one of the most god awful bands to come to existence in my opinion, even though I feel that way i guess its hard not to just accept them as clowns as I would Bill Irwin, because they are there to entertain.

All the world loves a clown!

Mr.BEAN! Wow! What an incredible comic genius Rowan Atkinson is! It was such a pleasure watching his piece. He is brilliant at bringing hilarity to mundane tasks. I am so impressed by his specificity of actions. Although none of his movements were supremely hard, he was incredibly specific as to match his actions with the sound. In addition, he continued to follow through on his actions and fully believed in what was occurring, never once breaking character. I especially enjoyed the cat bit at the end.

Marcel Marceau has been a long time favorite of mine. My mother studied and competed in Pantomime in high school and passed her love of it onto me. When I was 13 I even dressed up as Bip the Clown for Halloween. I love his consistent fluid physicality. He never lacks engagement. Almost dance like, his movement flow from one movement fully thought-out and the lack of sound brought a very cool variety to it.

Bill Irwin…I can only dream of ever moving with such clarity! I love really liked the integration of the words to supplement the action, although it quite possibly would’ve been equally as strong without the dialogue.

I really enjoyed watching the differences in styles in these three performers. As a child my dream job was being a clown and/or pediatrician and working at a pediatric hospital. I thought that level of bedside manner would offer some release and freedom from the painful world sick children live in. Kids have the best imaginations. Perhaps if you have to ability to offer a full clowning class that might be something I can explore doing. How incredibly fun would it be to create characters and dress-up and go over to the Children’s Hospital and brighten a child's day? Sounds awesome to me!

Clownin' around!

I found it interesting in the readings to find "the value of clown work for the contemporary actor." Well I think if anything, clowning is an inherent way of expressing oneself. If I could mesh all the readings together and say I had one thought in particular, I would say that clowning is a physical caricature that everyone can identify with; making fun of human predicaments and problems in an exaggerated manner is something to be enjoyed by all. Because I missed class last week, I found the videos to be helpful in preparing me for understanding the different types of clowning. I thought the video with Rowan Atkinson was awesome, and I kept thinking how effortlessly he made what must have been very difficult miming seem. Also, the difference in style between Atkinson and Marcel Marceau was outstanding. Marcel seemed sad almost, but it was hard to get an overall sense of emotion from him when he started mixing his emotions with his "masks." I thought the very end of his performance must have been incredibly difficult because he kept his face in a smiling "mask" while the rest of his body was struggling and panicking while trying to take the mask off his face. The Bill Irwin video make me think of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin tricks, he was definitely the most physical with his comedy and very flawless at that. I can't imaging how long it took him to get those hat tricks down so effortlessly. It seems to me that clowning requires great skill and coordination to effortlessly seem bumbling. It is a very impressive art indeed.

Workout log #6

This week for my workouts they consisted of running, some ab work as well as walking around as much as possible. I have started the P90X ab routine- I've done it before and it is quite the workout, but I have always enjoyed it. When all i can do is walk however, i park as far away as possible and I always take the stairs.

Im looking to hopefully get into more a routine workout started during break!

Reading Responses and Video Responses

First let me say that when I heard that there was going to be a clowning unit, I was a little wary. Sure I have been to the circus and have seen clowns, but I never really put much or any thought into how they do what they do, and even more so, how many different types there are of clowns! I didnt know that there was the Whiteface clown- and that he literally was all white with paint. I thought that there were two types of clowns- the ones with the permanent (sp?) smiles and red noses on their faces with the big red curly afro, and then I thought there were the creepy and scary clowns, that make people afraid of them. I guess I am more familiar with the Auguste type clown. I also found it interesting, that in the clowning reading to find Lucille Ball listed as a clown, but when I think more about it and how I have seen her act in episodes of I Love Lucy, I can completely understand why :) I am really surprised at how interesting to me this reading was. The part on the hats also made sense, you want to find one that not only has character, but can be used for so many different clowning purposes! I also enjoyed the think like a clown section with the piano "problem" and how he went about to fix it. I guess what really struck me was how much effort and time and skill and thought are put into a clowning unit or piece to be shared with an audience.

This brings me to the videos you poseted for us to watch. I loved Rowan Atkinson's performance and how realistic and animated he was with the sounds of his drumset, especially at the end when the cat startled him and he threw it into the gong, the timing was done very well, and had me even laughing throughout the video. The next one with Marcel and his masks was very entertaing, especially at how well he could hold those faces or "masks" and how realistic they looked!! being that there was hardly any sound made me wonder if the audience themselves found it funny and if it was ok to laugh at that time period. When he had his last mask on at the end and couldnt get it off, the miming was incredible at how his body language was telling something completely different than what his mask was saying. the third video where he was doing bits and talking to the audience and the reporter really showed how well he could move his body- with the dancing and one foot going crazy, and his movement and control with his hat even too. Plus the talking added extra comedy too. The last video that was posted of the man climbing the silk to get to the basket was pretty good too. How strong he must be to continously climb up and haul his whole boddy weight!

The stage combat reading was a good reminder of the things we have gone over in class and the reading and language was very easy to read as well as understand :)

Overall, I find myself wanting to go look for clowning videos and see how many different forms and types there are out there. I really am amazed at how easy it looks for all of the performers- granted they have been doing it a long time- but it makes it so simple and entertaining to watch. Makes me want to be that funny, or even change my ideal job lol.

Clowning

So it turns out I've been clowning since I was, like, four, without ever realizing it. Well, I knew I was goofing around, but I never called it clowning. I called it being an attention whore when I got older, which, in retrospect, makes me understand why the hell theater was so appealing. I used to look in the mirror for hours, practicing facial expressions just so I could see what I looked like as opposed to what I felt like my face looked like. The difference was kind of striking. But it helped me get a lot of control over what kind of expressions I wanted to make. It's how I learned how to arch either one of my eyebrows at any given time. Seeing Marcel jogged that memory. He holds the honor of being the only French comedian I've liked as well as the only mime. Well, okay, Rowan Atkinson's miming bits are amazing. The drum piece is my second favorite performance in that medium. My absolute favorite is where he's in a fight with the invisible man. That rubber-faced bastard is amazing.

I'm bringing in a wool stretchy hat tomorrow so I can simulate both a normal hat and a sweatband at the same time. I think it will be adequate to learn everything I need to with the hat movements. On that same note, Irwin was friggin' amazing. Jenn, do you have any info on the context of that clip? It was so...surreal. I'm not sure what to make of it, other than the bits.

Re-reading the chapter from Stage Combat, I was reminded of every performance I've used that kind of movement in. The running and different types of locomotion haven't come up much, but the falls have been valuable time and time again for a wide variety of performances. Now that I remember how to do the front-falls, I think I might use them for working out. It really worked some muscles I need to get back into shape.

The reading on clowning seemed familiar to me, but I knew I'd never read the book before. It was only at the end when they were going through takes and such that I realized there's an episode of Tiny Tune Adventures that explains all those elements of clowning (except for the different genres, like miming) in almost word-for-word descriptions. They even have a clown running in the background three times during the episode and explain at the end he's the running gag.

So. Yeah, pretty damned cool. Workout log: More walking. As the weather gets better I feel encouraged to walk more places and do more things. My pace is getting faster and faster, day by day. I love this time of year.

So that's it for me this week. See y'all in class.

Prof. Jenn: Her Life and Times

I've supposed to have been weight-lifting 3X a week for the past month, but lately life has gotten in the way and some of those weeks we've only done one or two days. Today we did all our exercises (described earlier) at 1 set of 10 reps @ 75% heavy. Then we soak in the hot tub. Ah...

Also, who here besides me was ridiculously sore after last week's class? :)

Finally, for your amusement, I post this pic of me and friend in our high school's clowning unit. This would have been back in '89 or '90--as our exam for that clowning unit, our teacher made us go out on Pearl Street Mall and clown in public for at least one hour. I remember amusing quite a few people...

workout log

I went to the gym, biked for a couple of miles and then used the machines and worked legs, abs, some back and shoulders. Also, I've been spending a good amount of time at a new job in a restaurant where my job is to run food, and it is quite a workout at my size carrying heavy loads of plates back and forth all day.

clownzzz

http://youtu.be/tICSIKkQO58



this is the Skywatcher in Cirque du Soleil's "Varekai". His clowning act with the sound machine is amazing

Workout blog:

tuesday 3/15 45 minutes of elliptical and 20 minutes of yoga

thursday 3/17 45 minutes of cycling and 15 minutes of leg work along with 10 minutes of stretching

friday 3/18 1 hour of circuit training with personal trainer

I am also in rehearsal 4 hours a day while wearing heels, dancing and doing some stage combat...and I will totally count that as a workout.

Ran for an hour twice this week & did a super circuit each time.
Plus rehearsals for A New Brain... I'm not in a huge amount of choreographed pieces, but I do spend the show (and every rehearsal) in heels, which lends itself to the discipline we learned in the Rivals unit. I learned the choreography for 'Whenever I Dream', which I'm in heels, sitting on Josh Holcomb's lap and moving simultaneously via rolling stool and belting at about a million miles an hour... I'd be lying if I said that wasn't physical.

Your Videos For Homework

Here are the vids I'd like you to view/add to your reading response:

1.) Rowan Atkinson


2.) Marcel Marceau


3.) Bill Irwin


(you can also include the Aerial Clown bit I posted earlier of Jeff Wills)

CloWniNg iZ fUn

So, after watching the clip on the arial clowning guy, I really started to think about what really constitutes as clowning? The obvious things are silly guys dressed bright and colorful with red balls on the end of their noses. They ride tiny bicycles and play gags on each other to make an audience laugh. But the guy in this video was just a guy in an old style bathing suit... ok, so he did have the pedophile stache going on, but let's not focus on that. He was playing things comedically by using sharp movements and miming how strong he is and whatnot but I don't think I would consider him a "clown" though. (I do have to say, Hats off to his choice of music though!) If his act is considered clowning, then why don't we call Vaudeville acts "clowning?" Are the Three Stooges considered clowns? I guess I am not understanding what qualifies you to be a clown versus a vaudeville actor or even just a comedian. Heck, could we consider candid camera or punked a type of clowning? I know that movement has a lot to do with "clowning" but I just want to know what true clowning is. Back to the video though, I wanted to point out a few things. This guy really knows how to use his instrument or the fabric and it was indeed entertaining. I really liked how he would try to tease the audience and make them think that he was going to fall or was afraid of falling. I am sure that is considered clowning/joking. I really liked the part when the fabric split into two pieces and how he utilized it. I thought that the routine was entertaining but felt that it lacked some of the comedy he was trying to get at. I felt like some of it was lost in the choreography or something. And I didn't get the whole pumpkin pale thing at the end. I have seen other people do similar "fabric" dancing and they seemed a lot more fluid that he was. It flowed better therefore was not as predictable as his. I also noticed that his back was to the audience so I felt that I lost a connection with him because of that. It is amazing that the way we communicate and move really has a lot to do with the way we present it. I don't know... what this guy can do is WAY more than I will ever be able to do in my life so I really don't have much room to talk. I know what he did was very difficult and I commend him for it. These were just some observations I made, that's all... I don't want to hurt Jenn's friend's feelings :)

workout log #5

For this last week I went running Mon and Wed, and then did some yoga on friday. Plus all the walking around at school and work.

Taihenjutsu Cheat Sheet

Here's the collection of taihenjutsu we've done in class. Remember you need to have 5 of these minimum (max: all of them!) in your Clownlympics events.   ~Prof. Jenn
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Taihenjutsu Cheat Sheet      Stage Movement/Combat Class                Jenn Zuko Boughn

Falls

forward

backward

swoon/side

Captain Kirk

Rolls

forward

backward

side

Jenn being thrown in a martial arts test, 2009 (air break fall)

forward rolling breakfall

(crucifix)

-ball & bowl rolling to work up to em

Isolation

pushes with indication

pushes into falls and rolls

Locomotor

walk

run

leap

gallop/chasse

skip

Jumps

straight/punch

hop

leap

1-2 feet (assemblé)

2-1 feet (sissone)

tuck

straddle

gingerbread man/Toyota

pike

(ninja)

-jumps into falls/rolls (smooth transitions from air to floor)

Clownlympics tableaux

and one more thing...

ok, this was suppose to be my picture but google is being a butt.

I am gonna get my husband to upload it for me later :-)

Workout log:

Tues: 3/8 45 minutes elliptical followed by 20 circuit weight training with arms and then ab work @ gym

Thurs 3/10 45 minutes biking followed by 20 minutes circuit training with legs and then ab work @gym

Friday 3/11 1 hour workout session with my trainer @ gym

I also do a lot of movement and some combat in A New Brain and I am not really counting on that as a workout but it should be counted as something!

Aerial Clown

A clown piece that's also an aerial dance piece. By Jeff Wills, a fellow movement pro.   ~Prof. Jenn

Ok, for some reason while I was reading the blog I noticed that my "stillness" blog did not post.

Grr. I really liked that post! I spoke about the Buddha and meditation and how stillness can be the way we can connect to not only ourselves, but each other and God.

I will repost this later....

For now - starbucks and class.

Christae and Sophia

I really enjoyed this scene. Christae has extremely good comedic timing and i loved watching her go from a sweet girl to a spoiled brat. Her fan was very usual, as it was a mirror but she used it very well. Sophia was very good as well and had all of her lines memorized (which is a tough thing with this show) and reacted to Christae very well. I also enjoyed both of the actors physicality with their character and thought their movement was well thought out.


Danielle, Nicole, and Jen:
Oh my gosh girls, how fun was this scene. Danielle, you were so funny! I loved your timing and your vocal quality. I would cast you in that part in a second. Nicole - I loved your physical life and they way you interacted with Danielle - it was lovely to watch your chemistry. Jen, you had great posture and I thought you used your arms very well and I could see your connection with the other girls really well. Good job, such a fun scene.

Zak and Mallory:
Um, what can I say about you guys. You too really took the direction Jen gave in class and flew with it. I thought that not only your British accents were excellent (thank you David Wygant) but your chemistry and timing was unbeatable. The bit with the rose was so. funny. and they way that Mallory then pouted and fanned herself really help enhance the scene. I loved how Zak reacted to her the second and third time when she threw the rose - as if to say, "Really, women, really??" Great job!

My Scene:
Working with Rachel was such a pleasure. We had instant chemistry which worked really well on stage. I do have to admit that Rachel was the one that came up with the idea to have "swooning war" and it really stuck with everyone.

The biggest challenge for me was not to make my character too unrealistic - but still be bigger than life. I opted not to wear a corset for this scene because of being squished in one for Major Barbara for seven weeks I had a good idea of the movement and breathing challenges that one can create. I also will work on my "turtle neck" when listening to the other actors.

Cheers everyone! What a great time!

Rivals Scene Reviews

Image comes from here.

Christae and Sophia
They did a fantastic job. I particularly enjoyed Christae's integration of the mirror as a prop. It looked funny being used as a fan, but I'm quite sure she noticed, as she used it as a mirror later in the scene (for very comedic effect). I noticed her wrist movement was very careful and practiced while still maintaining the mask of ease and leisure. For Sophia, I have to compliment her on her timing, which was pretty perfect on a few choice lines. I do agree with Matt, a little more buoyant energy probably would have helped - or maybe just posture.

Danielle, Nicole, and Jen:
Danielle is both hilarious and scary when she puts on the Lydia voice. It was very well suited to the character, but also kind of disturbing at the same time. I loved the way she used her wrists to indicate things. Nicole's entrance was very well done, and I liked the way she used her skirt to accentuate the shape of her walk. Jen's use of turning was also very well done, as well as the way she presented the books in a Price is Right fashion.

Zak and Malolory:
Loved the use of voice and movement. The asides were done particularly well, especially Jack's comment to the audience over Lydia's head. The use of the flower was amazing: the timing, the physicality, the conflict between attempting to appear cool and the difficulty of the clothing was one of the funnier things I've seen this semester. Mallory's facial expressions to signal her intent after dropping the flower each time were also worth noting. I loved the way she held her eyes up and her lips partly puckered. I also very much enjoyed their use of the love seat as a prop piece and the standing and sitting efforts.

Rachel and Taylor:
As was said in class, the dueling fanning/fainting was hilarious. The posture for that bit added a lot, particularly with the corsets getting in the way (or enhancing it, depending on your point of view. I think I'd go with the latter). I loved the way they used their limbs while sitting, it was very evocative and brought the characters into a nice sharp focus.

As for my scene with Matt: After reading the other reviews, I can see it probably would have been better to have a bit more blocking. Once we started, though, it felt most natural to be close for this scene. If it'd been the argument scene, it probably would have been easier to note the places where a movement was called for. But que sera sera. The most challenging part for me was (as I'm sure was obvious), getting the lines down as written. I had more trouble memorizing this set of lines than any other piece I've done. I can do Elizabethan, I can do modern, I can do Victorian, but Restoration seems to have my number. That said, I loved this scene very much. Anthony is my favorite character in the whole of the play, and I love the way he carries himself.

As for movement: I tried to keep most of my movement in the chest and arms, as that's where I believe Anthony "lives." The torso is his center and all the rest of his body, as well as the universe, revolve around it. The pelvis is also important to him, as displayed in his lusting, but it's more denied, part of the appetite. The mask is all chest.

The coat was the hardest part of clothing to deal with, after the corset, shirt, tie, etc. were put on under them. I can say I think the people of the 18th century were quite insane trying to affect ease and easygoingness with clothing restrictions like that. It does raise some questions about the military men of the era and how the hell they managed to go to war. Not being able to bend was a trouble as well, even though I probably had more range of back movement than the whole of the rest of the class.

And finally, workout log: Did a lot of walking, particularly quick walking in order to run a few errands down town over the course of the week. Having trouble with my leg muscles getting extremely tight after a walk. Not sure why.

In the first group, i really loved Christae's posture and the fan really helped develop character. Sophia did a wonderful job performing, i feel that she could have added more of a lift in her posture, but overall the scene was fun to watch.

The scene with Danielle, Nicole and Jen was a delight to watch. Danielle's characterization was spectacular and her juxtaposition of emotions were such fun to watch. I enjoyed jen's portrayal of the servant with the more simplified gestures and postures. Nicole's understanding of the scene and the character was interesting to watch and i felt this group was very in sync with one another.

Zak and Mallory's scene was so funny because they added bits into the scene that were schticky and clownlike, with the dropping of the flower three times and Zak attempting to pick it up. The scene was propelled forward by the energy and understanding of the text.

Taylor and Rachel's scene was wonderful because of the chemistry they had with one another as well as the use of the props and the blocking was very well though out. The swooning of both characters was a bit too much to enjoy but it was great to see both actors go there.

In dealing with my scene, I loved the use of the male corset. Now i understand why women are always bitching about them. They really affected my postrue and although i did not sit down, they helped my sitting to make it very graceful. The sword in the belt became challenging, but was interesting to work with.
My scene with Roberto didn't have too much blocking particularly because we were having a father to son conversation, but i felt that making bigger choices could have helped the scene for the period in time.

Well done, all!

Rivals Scene Review

Rivals Scene

I really enjoyed the process of integrating physicality into our characters, and I felt utilizing the corset’s really helped.

Zach & Mallory’s scene was hilarious. I really appreciated the time they took to entirely polish their piece and take full advantage of the awkward romantic nuances in their selection. I felt like their scene had a ‘film noir’ feel to it and was a great performance, especially in embodying the character’s emotional life made the scene all the more enjoyable to watch.

Rachel and Taylor’s piece was super and very entertaining. I think all girls (and perhaps guys) can relate to the whole ‘getting caught up in the moment feel’. Although Julia is seemingly more levelheaded than Lydia, I especially liked how Taylor reacted and played off of Rachel’s character. The coughing bit was a hoot!

Roberto and Matt’s piece was also very wonderful. For whatever reason, Matt’s physicality really stood out to me and I loved how he carried himself. It sort of reminded me of a stork. I was reminded of Walt Disney’s “Robin Hood” when watching their scene. Roberto! I was very impressed with his fantastic understanding of the text and ability to present his character in a honest, funny light. Despite the line flubs, it made for an entertaining piece.

Jen, Nicole and Danielle had a great scene. It was really fun to see a different take on the same scene as I did. Danielle had a really strong grasp of the text and that made the scene even more fluid. Jen was very in the period. Nicole was lovely and easy to understand.

Working with Sophia was great. I really enjoyed to opportunity to work with someone who comes from a very different background than I. She was very helpful and we ended up being able to help one another in various ways and I think we both grew a lot.

I think the biggest challenges out class faced was fully grasping the language and focusing on the vocal qualities/dictations/accents necessary to make the scene full. However, this being a movement class, I’m happy with how it turned out.

Rivals scene reviews

These scenes were actually really fun! As a class we all did really well and brought something unique to the language. Wearing a corset was morbidly fun for me, and trying to move in a completely new way was a cool challenge.

Christae and Sophia were a great way to start out the scenes. I liked how Christae had a very specified posture and was playing up the melodrama of Lydia's character. Sophia was fun to watch because she played Lucy kinda of sarcastic and tired. I'm sure being Lydia's servant is one hell of a task. I could have used more projection from Sophia. They both had their own specific characters and I liked the difference between the two. Energy wise it was cool to compare them. Overall it was strong. I think all the groups could have gone deeper into the subtext and innuendo of the jokes, but the jokes played well in general.

Zack and Mallory were just hilarious. I can see how this style kind of turned into melodrama, because the emotions are so ridiculous. They both had great detail in their movements and characters. The little funny comedic moments really added to the scene. The flower bit was just genius. Sometimes they were a little hard to understand because they were talking really fast and over-emphasized. I found it hard personally to slow down when using this language. It's so easy to rush and get caught up in the pace. They really did a good job. They made it ridiculous and funny, but not a joke. These were still real characters I felt.

Matt and Roberto did a good job with their lengthier scene. Even though there wasn't a lot of movement it kept my interest. You could tell they both worked hard on that awkward way of standing and revealing the calf muscle. Now and then the diction got a little sloppy, but other then that they seemed to have a really good idea of what they were saying. The sexual innuendo moments were just hilarious. Talk about mask and appetite.

Rachel and Taylor were hilarious. I liked that they added a lot of movement to their scene. It's so easy to get stuck just sitting, but they really moved around. Their energy was really high. I loved seeing the differences in this scene, because three different groups had parts of this scene. Everyone saw these characters differently. Sometimes they also were a little hard to understand because of certain vocal choices. That is probably my biggest thing for the whole class. I totally struggled with it too. Not going into my head voice and speaking ridiculously was challenging. That's the difference between playing the character or just playing the accent.

I really liked playing Julia. Being Lydia's best friend was a cool relationship to explore. One of my favorite aspects was working with the corset. It was terribly uncomfortable, but it really challenged me. My posture improved and I was forced to walk differently. I could feel my body fighting against it though, and I did still have some posture issues. It is something I will continually need to work on.
I also thought Danielle did a really good job with her movement. She was over the top, but it totally it. Jen was great with staying true to the period but being utterly annoyed by her lady. I got to watch them from the wings and it was fun to see them get more comfortable with the movement and language. I liked working with these two. We all were patient with each other wrapping our heads around the language and were were open to trying new things.
If I could do this again I would really try and get into the movement with my whole body. I would try and get rid of all my modern lazy gestures and stuff. It could take an actor a long time to perfect this!

Period Scene Reviews

Christae and Sophia

I felt like these guys did a great job. Sophia was so adorable and played the servant role very well. Her posture was definitely influenced by the corset she was wearing but she took her place in society as well. She didn’t over do it which is what Lydia does. Christae had a nice upright posture and seemed very constricted in her corset (nice corset by the way!) She had a tendency to look up a lot which made her “status” seem more real to me. And actually, come to think of it, Sophia was looking down a lot so that fit perfectly as well! I loved how their interactions were minute. They rarely looked at each other in the eye which also sends out a “status” signal. Overall, I felt like they did a great job!

Nicole, Danielle and Jen

I thought Danielle was absolutely fantastic. She played the rigid Lydia very well. She seemed very stiff and constricted in her corset. I think out of the whole class, she did the best in showing how hard it was to “be” back in the 1700’s. I loved her facial expressions as well. She was very entertaining to watch. Nicole seemed a little more relaxed which is ok and I am guessing was a character choice. I loved how she seemed to flow to where ever she was going. Lots of buoyant energy with her. I did notice that she was bending over a lot and didn’t know if that was period. She wasn’t slouching or anything. She would hinge from her hips but was that appropriate for the time? Jen M. did a great job as well playing Lucy. I loved her sarcasm and her impatience with Lydia. I felt that she really showed her “manners” but also kept her status. The way she would interact with Lydia was hilarious. It was nice to see my scene done with all three of the characters and how differently the scene was portrayed.

Zak and Mallory

Zak was absolutely hilarious in this scene. I really think he captured how annoying and uncomfortable it was to wear corsets back then. I loved how he would struggle to get the rose every time Mallory dropped it. I thought his standing posture was really nice and masculine but when he sat down, I saw some of it go away. It wasn’t much but I guess that goes to show how hard it is to be in those damned things. Mallory looks very natural in a corset but that is probably because she has had so much experience with wearing corsets in shows. I liked how she always seemed to walk or sit “taller” because that was probably the idea of what a corset was used for. She also had a pleasant buoyancy to her movement and really knows how to glide across the stage with grace.

Matt and Roberto

Roberto was super fun to watch and it was interesting watching his posture throughout his scene. I felt like maybe his corset wasn’t tight enough or something. I could see the posture most of the time but it looked like he fell out of it a few times also. He really does know how to carry himself in a very gentleman like way. It was very refreshing to see. Matt, on the other hand... JK! Luv u Matty! Matt’s posture was totally different from Roberto’s. Some of that is obviously their different stature but I found it interesting that Roberto would tend to lean down and Matt would lean up in posture, almost backwards. I don’t know if that was a character choice but it really seemed to work given the circumstance in the scene. I think Matt did a great job in keeping his movement very genuine. I really enjoyed their scene. It was hilarious!

Now, for my scene! Which I thought was not nearly as good as everyone else’s, but I really tried to put true effort into it. For example, I just recently lost some weight and my “Irish” corset was not tight enough. I made sure that for the performance that I wore tons of layers so that the corset would be tight enough for me to feel the effects of it and how it affected my movement. Let’s just say that I got really claustrophobic and hot really fast. I can definitely tell the difference in my speaking patterns when I am wearing the dress and corset. It was like I was forced to speak more eloquently. Funny how clothing can affect you that way. I am a person who slouches a lot but I felt I did a fairly good job in trying to maintain good posture during my scene. I am so glad I didn’t live in this time period because I think I would have killed someone. I bet they were typically pissy back then... who wouldn’t in that clothing! I loved working with Taylor. She is so fun to act with. I really felt like she took on her character very well and really exaggerated it probably like they would have back in 1775. It probably helped that she was just in “Major Barbara.” I really would have liked her to wear the corset and put on a dress for the performance though. For me, it creates a transformation and I think she would have been even more awesome if she dressed the part. Other than that, I really enjoyed working with her!

Everyone saw my makeshift fan... I will bring it Saturday again for everyone to see and to turn it in to Jenn.

Rivals to your Rivals

Thought you guys might get a kick out of seeing last years' Rivals tableaux:
http://bonzuko.com/?p=1554

Commedia Tableaux From Intro to Theatre Class

Check out these guys' awesome Commedia tableaux! Can you guess who they are portraying?   ~Prof. Jenn

http://bonzuko.com/?p=3510

The Rivals Review

I very much enjoyed my experience rehearsing my scene for The Rivals with Jen and Nicole and it was great to see the movement that everybody came up with for their scenes.

For Christae and Sophia's scene, I really enjoyed Christae's physicality for Lydia and how she kept looking away longingly while fanning her face. I also enjoyed how Sophia responded to her with general disinterested confusion because Lydia's world is so ridiculous. It was also helpful to see a different take on the same scene I was doing and how they chose to set up the room and their use of props.

I thought Zack and Mallory's scene was the best for movement. They really embodied the physicality of their characters and used a lot of physical comedy. I thought the bit with the flower was classic and really added to the fun and frivolity of the scene. There were some times when they spoke really quickly and I couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but I could understand anyway based on the movement, which I think is really important when using period language.

Matt and Roberto's scene was hilarious but I think it could have been even funnier with some more movement. I thought the rhythm and expression in the speech, however, was flawless and I understood everything they said, as well as their characters' emotions and intent. I especially enjoyed Roberto's "sword-thrusting" I thought that was awesome, and Matt really did a great job of retaining the "man stance" that we were taught at the very beginning of this unit.

I really enjoyed Rachel and Taylor's take on the Lydia/Julia scene, because I was doing the same scene and they went about it very differently. I thought their physicality was great and the "languishing" and sighing and exclaiming was hilarious and completely made sense for the characters (I wish I had thought of it myself). I thought perhaps they showed a little too much "appetite" at times instead of maintaining the mask of "everything is alright even though it's not" facade but I quite liked it anyway, and I think that for the stage the "tension between mask and appetite" can be difficult to convey especially depending on the size of the house.

For my own scene, I felt like I almost forgot how to carry myself physically because, due to lack of corsets, I only wore one for half a class period and that was the first time I had ever wore one anyway and I sort of forgot the way it was supposed to affect my posture. I tried to keep my middle stiff and my arms "floaty" because Lydia was most likely wearing a frivolous gown that wouldn't allow her to put her  arms at her side. I sat the whole time and used a lot of "languishing" gestures but I think I definitely could have stood up and done something more with the physicality.

I thought that Jen and Nicole used their physicality a bit more than me because Jen (Lucie) was standing and curtsying the entire time and Nicole (Julia) entered, exited and sat, using the full range of her motion.  Also they seemed to have the corset business down. All of us had some trouble with the language at one line or another, or we had to figure out what our lines meant. We dove a little bit deeper into our scene when Jen (teacher Jen) told us that the line "press a few blonds" meant that Lucie was just pressing handkerchiefs in the book "The Whole Duty Of Man" so that Lydia shouldn't worry about that book, implying that Lydia was stupid and would only read romance novels. Even deciphering that one little joke helped us (or at least me) with character development.

  

Tabelaux...

So I became very inspired by the reading in “Movement for Actors.” I loved what they were talking about on page 28, Tableaux Vivants. “Tableaux Vivants, the frozen arrangements of costumed performers, were used to reproduce scenes from religion, art and literature throughout theatre history” (Potter, 28). It is such a strong statement to do such a thing. As many of you know, I am involved with the Denver Flash Mob, and I got to thinking... What if we did something like this! We do “freezes” which is where you get a group of people together in one place and at the same time, everyone freezes for 5 minutes. The people around respond in so many awesome ways. It is super entertaining. We have done a freeze on black friday at the Cherry Creek Mall and a freeze at the Sante Fe Art Walk. Now that I have read about Tableaux Vivants, I want to expand on our freezes and maybe do a freeze with a Tableaux Vivant influence. I am thinking about a reproducing a live version of famous paintings like the one with the dancing couple and the two guys holding the umbrellas. I think Jack Vettriano painted that. We could have someone down stage left holding the painting and have the actors freezing behind mimicing the painting. YAY! I am so excited!!! Fun happenings!

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.

Wow. This reading brought so many things to mind. Initially, when I was considering stillness, I was thinking about meditation and prayer. I’m always on the go and so I find myself less willing to allow my mind an opportunity to stop and smell the flowers.

I think part of my reluctance is the vulnerability you must exhibit to provide stillness. When still, there no option to vocalize neither your emotions, nor any opportunity to make it physically adaptive.

When I am sitting in prayer, or meditation, for example in a public area it seems unacceptable in some ways to deter from where my set focus is. However, when I notice others noticing me… that is the first thing I want to do. I would prefer to break that abnormality and be ‘comfortable’ again. I would say that society creates a large percentage of that stigma around the vulnerability of stillness.

This reading reminded me in a theatrical sense, of tableaux on-stage and the extreme importance of them. I vividly recall watching a play in high school, at our MT State Thespian Conference about controversy regarding the mention of God in the Pledge of Allegiance. The cast had 3 main characters who did a lovely job, but the most stunning part was the additional 25 people onstage who froze in tableaux, for 10-15 minutes at a time in the background, during 4 different scenes. It was memorable and it was beautiful. It took incredible focus from all of them in order to pull it off. Had one of them been unfocused, it would have ruined the whole allusion. Had they opted not to include them, they play wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

Ran on the treadmill for about 3 hours this week... ran about 15 miles in all, as well as I plan to run a bit more tonight after I finish homework. I have a dislocating knee cap, so running is hell on my legs, but good for me :)

Vulnerability in Stillness

My first exerince with stillness was when i was young. I was sent away into my room after doing something wrong. Once there I was expected to sit in complete stillness or I would have more time put to mt punishment. I dwell on thus because I remember the focus I would have internally to not move a muscle. The fear of mY audience (which at the time was my step father) seeing me move and breaking my stillneas.
The second time I Experienced stIllness was when I visited Barcelona. There were Several if not hundreds of street performers who mastered the art of being completely still. It was such a wonder to experience this theatrical sight. I feel that theatre is happenening all around us during these exploits of performance. We go to the theatre to escape into another story for a brief period of time. But with street perFormers and those who take part in public flash mobs who freeze in place force us to Take a moment to escape into this realty and reflect on our own reality.
Theatrical stillness not only takes place on the stage, it works from our past expEriences and it is brought upon us from performers who stay frozen in front of us in public. On the stage it hElps us dictate focus and set mood. I commemorate the actors in Major Barbara who stay still on the stage for the final scene. They have one of the toughest Jobs of all. They paint the picture and set The mooD of the scene. By the way, I want to sat sorry for any grammatical errors in this post. I typed it all on my phone.