Real Life London!

Another weekend down! I went to bed way later than I planned to last night because I had to finish 500 days of summer...which I actually didn't particularly like. I mean it had a good message, but it was still a bit of a downer.

My flatmates and I spent the majority of the morning trying to put together our web-series onto the actual internet. By 2:00 we got it to work! YEAH! So Steph, Alyssa, and I left for the Victoria and Albert. We walked through a very commercial part of town and saw tons of cute stories! I spent an hour and a half in the Theatre and Performance section. It had a lot of really cool historical artifacts that I just loved. It had costumes, sets, publicity, photos, props, prompt books, news articles, paintings etc of the history of London theatre up until the present. I took pictures that will be posted later. I also looked in the Islamic section, Paintings from the Sistine Chapel, Britain from 1500-1800, photography, and some asian exhibits. That place is just so huge! Some places you just have to walk through because it takes too long to read everything.

I came back to go grocery shopping and of course, the grocery store closes here at 6:00, guess when I got there? 5:57. I had three minutes...I basically just grabbed some things that were on my way, and then made sure I got cheese and eggs so I could make tuna noodles. Looks like I will be going shopping again tomorrow for all the other things I didn't get to. I came home and made tuna noodles! And they are good! And hopefully will last me a few days. Everybody thought it was weird that I was actually cooking in the kitchen. I decided to be nice and do everyones dishes since I had a bunch to do anyway, which sounded like a good idea at the time, but 6 peoples dishes and cooking bowls is a lot of freakin dishes! But an hour later I finally got to eat, and I had PB&J....can't wait for those noodles to be cold!

Talked to a lot of people from home tonight which was great because I miss them a lot. And I've tried to practice my monologues. I have tutorial tomorrow, which I'm nervous about, but I know my monologue so hopefully he can help me make it good! Off to memorize my other Shakespeare one for class!

~Lyssa

The London EYE!

Today was a beautiful Saturday with Sun! That's twice now we have seen the sun!! So naturally, because it was gorgeous out, I wanted to go to the London eye! Though it is expensive, Alyssa came with me too.

It was really cool! You can see ALL of London in like a 25 minute ride around a giant ferris wheel. And you are in these little capsule things that are completely glass. I got some wonderful pictures that are all on facebook, but I have also posted some!

We walked down the river walk area and there were tons of street performers, which was really cool. We wandered around till we got to a tube station, which was closed, so we wandered some more. Finally we found an open one, which was also a train station. We ate lunch at a bagel place. It was delicious. I had a barbeque bagel with cheese and tomato! By the time we made it to the Victoria and Albert Museum we only had an hour and a half to meander around, and that place is huge!! So I saw the Medieval Europe section, and I am going back tomorrow to see the Theatre and Performance area!! I have pretty much just been relaxing the rest of the night and learning monologues! Lots of hw to do tomorrow too...yuck.

High Coffee

Today was a lovely Friday, that went by rather fast! And I stayed awake despite no coffee!

I had Shakespeare first where we started working with a Michael Chekhov exercise on physical gesture. I didn't really understand how flopping over and reciting a sonnet was going to help me find a gesture but I tried it. When I still didn't understand it (and when everyone else in the class looked confuse too) I asked Sheila what exactly we were suppose to be getting out of this. And she says, "Okay Lys, you try it for the whole class." That's the last time I ask a question! lol. Come to find out that it wasn't a gesture we were suppose to get, but a feeling from it, that we could do before going on stage. That explanation would have been nice from the beginning, but Sheila is Sheila. Then we talked through the rest of the monologues including mine for a brief period, and it was kinda helpful.

Then I had voice where we worked on nasal tones verse open mouth tones. We did some sound and movement games, and then we read passages from books to try and understand our cold reading problems and what not. She is going to work with us individually next week. I kind of figured out the difference between story telling and acting while we were reading them and of course was told to talk slower. Surprise!

Last class of the day was Mick's!! My favorite! We played "el stupido" which is a version of tag where you have to call out someone else's name before you get tagged and then they become it. Then we played a game where you were given an adjective and animal and they had to act it out. I was a boisterous tetradactyl. We also had to play mating insects, which was hysterical. Then we learned three short songs that all sound really great together and sang it in rounds. Last we did the tensions with a new group of people. They were hysterical to watch! And Mick started catching on to things like how certain people in our class flirt and then how Steph went out with an older man and it was just wonderful. One more round of tensions to go!

Then 9 of us for our group went to High Tea! We got all dressed up too. It was really fun and fairly cheap! We got full off of scones, sandwiches, tarts, eclairs, and bread. I got coffee since I hate tea (yeah, I was the only one, but I was excited!) I took lots of pictures so look for those on facebook. Now I am back home just kind of chillin out because I am tired and I'm watching 500 Days of Summer with Alyssa!

Happy weekend! Lots of memorizing to do!

~Lys

Three Sisters and 101 Dalmatians

This morning started out wonderfully because when we went to Costa for coffee there was a trainee working named Pierre. And he was as hot as his name sounds and his accent was adorable! Yeah, you can bet I am getting coffee every Thursday morning!

So I had Drama Criticism and Theatre History this morning...you think those would be less fun classes, but I love them!!! We had such a good discussion about Misanthrope...mainly everyone hated it (except Damian Lewis of course). But we talked about the significance of the translation and the set, and I was able to contribute a lot! He also told us a lot more about Moliere. In Theatre history we discussed Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pierandello. It's a wonderful play and makes really strong statements. I also love how Christopher often mentions science and the Heizenburg principle in every discussion. :)

Since Modern Physical was moved until tomorrow, the last thing I had was High Comedy, which was fun because I got to do my scene but also very annoying. He stopped us like every 3 words just to tell us more about the characters. And instead of letting us try the way he wants us too he just kept explaining and wouldn't even let us try the words until he had said a ton about it and pretty much given us a line reading. But I guess I just have to get used to new directing skills! AND he let us out early! So we walked back through the park and found the pond that they based 101 Dalmatians off of! Whoo hoo Regents park.

Then I went to see Three Sisters at the Lyric with Ashley-Marie and Alina. It was a modern interpretation of it also, so you knew you were watching a play. Like you could see the wings and the light batons were hung low and the floor was half painted half wood. Scene changes were done with music and all the lights on and characters moving things on and off stage. Oh and the stage manager was almost a character. It totally fits Chekhov, but I had a hard time following it at first because my eyes were just fixated on so many things and I was trying to grasp the stories. But the second act was wonderful and I was totally enraptured! The acting was great and it actually was a wonderful interpretation once I got ahold of it. I even got a little teary eyed and still stayed in tune to the story despite the fact that I was literally watching theatre. And afterwards we met the guy who played Alexandr! He was so nice and said we made his night! It was a wonderful outing! And now it's late and I must go to bed!

Declaring my love to Mick, a much older, married, professor

Today was amazing! I had fun, and even though I went to bed late, I was well rested!

My morning started off right with coffee from Costa's (a chain coffee place here that has the best vanilla lattes!) I highly recommend it if you come here.

I had voice this morning which, due to the coffee, I was awake for! We worked on taking in the space, and played the machine game again. We talked about the different parts of the voice, which was actually really useful. And we practiced imagining saying or singing something and then actually doing it as relaxed as possible. We also did a stretch for loosening your jaw that really worked. At the end we did a vocal band, which was really fun too and sounded cool!

Next we had movement where we played a game moving as a group and doing specific sounds and movements. We also played the key game once more. It was actually really exhausting. Then we did the mirror game with different partners and then as a small group and then as one big large group. This class is always fun, but I'm not really learning many new things, which gets a little annoying.

Okay, the only down fall to the day, High Comedy. I knew it was going to be boring going into it, but man! We got through 2 scenes again today going word by word. I had one line in the scene today and the rest of the time I spent doodling and practicing cursive.

Then I went to my favorite class, Modern Physical. We started off class playing "Hi Ho" where we passed shoes around the circle in a specific rhythm. It sounds easy, but it was not. Lots of fun though. Then we played a jumping game that required good timing skills. We played "Who Killed King James?" which is a lot like big booty except there is a specific script you have to say. We never got very far before someone got out. We reviewed the 7 stages of tension, and then it was our groups turn to finish the last 3 stages (moving as a group, greeting the audience as a group, and professing our love). Well stage 5 was "suspense" so I told Mick how I loved smelling his shoes, and how I couldn't wait till Friday to see him again. But it was all very quiet and sensual. And tons of other funny things came out of it too, but I can't remember. Then stage 6 is uncontrollable tension that is just SOOO great. So, I started telling Mick that I loved when he "Beat his drum. Just beat it. BEAT. BEAT IT" Through very clenched teeth. I will leave that up to you to imagine what it sounded like. He also started beating his drum and apparently my reaction to it was a moan/scream...I was unaware of how funny this sounded until people told me, but yeah... Then he told me, "Sorry, I'm married" and showed me his ring. And then I started telling him he betrayed me when all I ever did was love him. He let me go on for a good 5 minutes, and it was hysterical! I wish I could remember more. I got a standing ovation when I was done, and Mick said that he was very proud of me for going really far with it. It was really great to finally be funny at improv! After the exercise everyone went up and hugged the person they professed their love to. I walked up to Mick with my arms out and he gave me a hug, and then put out his arm, and he goes, "okay, let's just leave, shall we?" It was a wonderful moment. Then we played the frog game for the last five minutes of class. Priceless day!

Now I should be memorizing, but everyone in my flat is watching Hook, and I'm still on a high from my wonderful day!

A modern adaption of Misanthrope the play, but a sexy british actor, Hurray!

Today was busy busy busy. And I got lots of exercise!

Shakespeare today was long and rather boring. Good thing Sheila is still hysterical! We just went over 4 peoples monologues in depth, but it was kind of unhelpful for the rest of us. And Friday we are starting to work on them, so it's not like we all get our monologues reviewed in such detail, but oh well!

Movement was playful today as usual. We played the Pirate Ship game and then played a hand identifying game. Where half the class felt each persons hands and tried to memorize them and then they had to keep their eyes closed and we went in a random order and had them guess. I was the only person in the whole class with nails so every single person identified me right off the bat!

Today is our really long break day, so I ate lunch, and worked on memorizing my two monologues. I've got about half of them each memorized. And then I took an hour and a half long nap....wonderful bliss. Best idea I have ever had. Then we had stage combat, where we continued to learn lots of different slaps/punches/chokes/blocks and the like. He is very strict though and still wants my notes to be longer! Grrrrrr. Oh well!

We dashed out of stage combat and booked it to the theatre. We decided to walk...worst idea ever. I had my computer, package from my mom, notebooks, and books in my backpack and I have short legs so I was having to run to catch up with everyone. But we made it! And we were sitting in nose bleed section, like at the ceiling! I was looking at the top of the actors heads!

So Misanthrope...it was a modern day adaption of it, which was interesting to say the least. The language all still rhymed which was weird and the set furniture was half modern half victorian and the music was both classical in modern for scene changes. They also put in funny London jokes that I actual got, and they made fun of Americans which was great. Keira Knightly was the lead female character and she was AWFUL! She couldn't do an American accent. She strained her voice soooooo much. She hard core overacted and used her hands for everything...let me just say she REALLY needs to stick to the screen, really. And yes, she is super tiny, like the skinniest person I have ever seen! But, on the other side, the lead guy character Damian Lewis, is a sex god. BEAUTIFUL and VERY talented! Ahhhhh. So Keira stinking didn't bother me so much!

We walked back from the show, so I definitely got my exercise and am exhausted! Even with my nap! I'm off to bed!!

Shakespearian Shelia Stuns the Students!

I did not want to wake up today. Our whole flat was moving slowly, but I had to leave earlier than everyone else to print off my character autobiography before class started. I was there super early! But I got it done!

Sheila was a trip today in class! First of all she starts off every class with really pointless exercises. Like today, she had us run around the room and she would yell out body parts and we had to touch as many surfaces as we could with that body part. And 3 minutes later the exercise was done and we went on with class! lol. She gave us our exact monologues in the plays, and I am really happy with mine. Mines in verse, but we worked on how to work a monologue if it is in prose, which kind of dragged on, but in the end it was helpful. Then she had us walk around and say our sonnets like we were girls trying to be guys, and then girls trying to be guys trying to be girls, since a lot of Shakespeare's characters had to act this way. Then Shelia, the funny lady that she is, proceeds to tell us that Cleopatra is womanly because of "her butt, her bust, and the C word." SHE SAID THAT! It was hysterical! And then she went on the talk about mans courage and how thank goodness they have it, but they would never want to give child birth. And then she goes on to talk about childbirth! She goes, "I mean it only hurts for about 20 minutes and then this little white thing pops out of you or brown or green or whatever it is." It was so awkward, but so funny because it came from her.

Then I had lunch at the canteen. I had a tomato, avocado, and mozzarella sandwich because London rarely has turkey sandwiches ANYWHERE. It's all ham, tuna, and chicken. We had an all school meeting and found out we have a master class on Sunday, but we weren't told with who yet. And our cast list went up for our High Comedy class scenes. I got Cornet (who has like 4 lines, but she is the mean bitchy maid and my top choice to play! Even though we were suppose to pick characters that were a stretch. She's definitely the funniest part in the play). I'm the only one playing her though, and then I have an entire scene where I am Lady Brute who is the main female character and will be a different type of character for me, so I am excited! In class all we did today was get through 10 pages in 2 hours! It was painful!!! I mean he is an expert in high comedy, but every single word has to be correct and it takes foreverrrrrrr. It's so obnoxious, but we survived!

Now I am home doing laundry in our dinky little machine, and I made corn and bought chicken breasts with garlic inside for dinner! Now I have to memorize 2 Shakespeare monologues, and 3 scenes this week plus read a play! GAHHHHH! We only have like 3 hours free time a night! lol. Oooh and we are seeing Misanthrope tomorrow with Keira Knightly!!

~Lys

Lost in the Market

Well today was fun and as always an adventure.

I woke up early to do some hw before going out. Once again no one wanted to go anywhere in my flat, but I did get a call from my friend Lily and two of the year longs Zack and Joanna who were going to Spittlefield market on the east end. So I hopped on the tube and met them there!

I called when I got off the tube and they said walk straight you will run into it. So I did, and I got to this really cute market area kind of like china town but busier. I walked all the way through it looking for them. I called Lily again and she was like we are at the end, and I said I am too, but of course we couldn't find each other. Then I look up and see a sign that says Petticoat Market. So then I go vendor to vendor trying to find my way to the other market. I had to go all the way back through Petticoat, and then a vendor said "Go down this alley then left right left right" Those were the directions I got! I followed a group of people in front of me though, and I found it! It was a covered market with tons of stuff. Less of a bargaining area though.

We decided to go eat Indian Food. They had a whole street of it. But they advertise a really weird way: they have people standing out on the store fronts telling you they will give you a deal and to look at their menu. It was really uncomfortable, but finally we found one that was least pushy and got good reviews in Time Out magazine. It was DELICIOUS! And the guy on the store front told us we would get a 20 percent discount which was awesome. After we ate, we realized how tired we all were so we came home and did some fast grocery shopping. We went to M&S which is like a super target. I didn't know it existed, but it was great! I bought Mac and Cheese for dinner!

I came home and spent a lot of time talking to my roommate, which was really nice cause we are super close. And now Alyssa is making more cookies! And I have more hw to do before tomorrow. Yeah for going back to class!!!! Yeah, I love school when it is all theatre classes!

All the Worlds a Stage...and I saw Shakespeare's!

Today was very busy, but a lot of fun, and oddly relaxing.

I woke up fairly early and watched Emily's opening for our reality tv show. It's actually really good, and completely captures our flat dynamic. I can't wait till we post it. We are now working on the 1st episodes.

Then I decided to go to The Museum of London, except tons of lines were closed on the tube, so instead of trying to figure out what to do, I just decided to go to The Globe! It was pretty cool. I knew most of what they told us (Thanks Liz!), but it was still cool to see the replica. Also, the exhibition part was really informative and pretty cool. I spent a good 3 hours traipsing around there and at the gift shop, so I thoroughly enjoyed myself! I bought a black polo that says "Shakespeare's Globe" on it, 3 postcards, and a small towel that says "All the worlds a stage" and "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre" to hang in our room!

Then I decided to wander around a little bit, and I passed the oldest Gothic church in England and the remains of the Westchester Castle (I think that was the title anyway). Finally figured out how to get to the museum by tube, and spent another hour or so exploring London's history. They had a ton of artifacts and interesting tid bits which I really liked! You could also see the initial city wall built by the Romans. It was dark when I got out, but I still went to the place where the church of John Wesley was and the plaque under the bridge of where it is thought he had his huge revelation. That was amazing, to be on the spot where the methodist faith was birthed.

Now I am home and very tired, but fufilled. I think I am going to read some of the Shakespeare plays that I need to tonight and get some more sleep!

~Lys

P.S I forgot to put in my last post that my Shakespeare teacher knew Harold Pinter and went to parties at his house...it just gets better and better. I'm like one degree away from TONS of famous theatre people! gahhhhhhhhhh

"If you hate the truth, than bloody get mad at it" ~Shelia Allen

Today was a pretty wonderful day, and I'm actually pretty sad it's the weekend. I like going to classes the best!

In Shelia's Shakespeare class today she was a riot! She was telling us these crazy stories and doing these loud screams of joy and stuff. We did everyone else's sonnets today and then she gave us each a play to go get. I got Measure for Measure. Then she gave us a character to look into. I am reading Isabella, which is funny because she is a nun with morals that has to decide whether to have sex with a man to save her brother's life. The reason this is ironic is that in my sonnet I did it to someone who was atheist and tried to get them to become religious, so that's all Shelia really knows about me, so in picking a character, of course she picks the nun!! I've been type cast! lol. But I'm okay with that...it should be fun!

Next we had voice where we worked on breathing. I know we worked on other stuff too, but I was kinda falling asleep because she did a lot of talking about things I have learned before. I went out for lunch at Pizza Express with Livy, Emily, and Lily, which was nice to get out. Then I had a little bit of a break before Mick's modern physical class.

And this is where the funny story begins! So, we played a game where he would say "Stop, go, clap, and jump" except then he changed it to where we would go when he said stop, and clap when he said jump and vice versa. It was hard, and funny. Then he taught us a song that we sang in rounds and he allowed us to make harmonies and stuff, but of course I had no idea how to do that. Then we spent the rest of the class learning the 7 tensions- Catatonic, Californian (hippy like), Neutral, Slightly anxious, Suspense, Explosion after the suspense, and Extreme tension (I can't remember the name). Well we did some exercises walking and talking on these different levels and at one point he had me and Zack show extreme love for one another in the same way we would pick a huge fight...so basically we were screaming at each other "I Love you DAMN IT!" and stuff like that. It was hysterical. Then he broke us into 3 groups and had my group stay on stage and move together as a chorus in the first level (we ended up going through most of the levels). Then we were suppose to greet the audience as we would if we were in that level and then profess our love to someone in that way (professing our love to the same person every time). Well, when Mick got to me he said "Okay, Alicia. Wait is that how you pronounce it?" and I said "No, it's Alyssa, but I go by Lys." "Oh, sorry, well off you go LYS" So who did I decide to profess my love to? Mick. BAD CHOICE! I started off being like "I love how you don't pronounce my name correctly. I love your plaid scarf. I love your hair and how it sits on your head." Then he was like "is that all you can say about it?" Well, for the record his hair is gray and crazy like he never brushed it. So I said "And it's spunky and fun." Also, Mick has a drum that he hits with a mallet every time to start and end an exercise, so I said "I love how you bang" and then I stopped "Your drum every day" Mhmm, everyone was cracking up. It sounded so wrong! I also proceeded to say that I like how the top button of his shirt was undone and what not before I said "and "I love you so much that I don't want to go on because this is getting awkward." Then we moved onto the next level it went much the same, and I was actually really good at being funny, but then I said "I love your stick (referring to the one he hits the drum with) and I like the ball better than the pointy part cause that hurts" Yeah, go ahead, crack up. It was hysterical. Like half my group fell on the floor laughing. The reason I said that was because he always pokes us in the back with it when he picks us to be "it" in games, and made a joke about only poking us with the sharp side if we were bad. And of course, this is what I was thinking when I said it, but gah, it was SO funny. At the end of class he said "I look forward to seeing you all next week, especially you Lys." Oh yeah, and we still have two more levels to do next week!!

Then we came home and I have just been chilling with the roomies putting together our reality tv show we are making called "Real Life London" It's pretty stupid, but also funny. I'll definitely post it once it's made. I was also suppose to go to Bath tomorrow, but of course people don't research well enough and it takes 4 hours to get there by bus and no one is willing to pay for the train. Looks like I will be traipsing around london doing who knows what instead! Grrr I'm not gonna get to travel anywhere!

"The Inner Reality Creates the Outer Form" ~Phylicia Rashad

Today was a great day! My classes were fun (AND I stayed wide awake for them) but most importantly I met Phylicia Rashad!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

But let's start with last night. I had my first beer in London! It was a strongbow, and I went with my roomies. We had a nice chat and it really helped me fall asleep. lol.

This morning I got coffee, which was amazing, and probably contributed to the staying awake. We had dramatic criticism first, which I actually really like because Christopher tells us so many things about the play we don't know, and we had a great discussion about the production. Not to mention, he was telling us about Tennessee Williams and guess what? He talked to Williams when we was workshopping his show Small Craft Warning...at least I think that's what it was called, but still. Tennessee Williams?!? He's a legend! Then we had theatre history with him and discussed the Cherry Orchard and the background about Chekhov and Stanislavski.

Our last class of the day was High Comedy. And guess what? I only had to be told to slow down ONCE! Whoo hoo! Go me! I read Lady Brute, and tonight I have to decide what character I want to be in the scenes. The class was really long because we were just reading scenes again, but it was okay.

Then we had a Q&A session with Phylicia and Joe Mydell. It was incredible. They told us so much stuff about how they work and to never doubt ourselves and ah it was just so cool. Some people took notes, but I was just too enraptured. Phylicia was really nice. I mean she knew that she knew her stuff, but she was really good about advising us and being comical about it. And Joe was just a cutey and really light and funny. It was wonderful. Not to mention we never got around to my question (which was "what was one piece of advise you would give us as we go into the profession") So at the end of the talk, she walks up to me AND TOUCHES MY LEG, and says "Sweetie, what was your question?" So I told her and then she said...everything I said was my advice. She also answered my friend Erika's question about having a family and working and then she started giving us relationship advise, it was funny. But ahhhh wonderful! I'm on a high!!!!

Oops I did it again!!

Well, I started the day off slightly later than usual since I walk with people who book it through the park! Yeah, for 15 minutes more sleep! We had voice class this morning where we worked on "extremes" and finding our neutrals. We also worked on characters and changing posture, but not where the energy is coming from. We also played sound machine and sat in a circle and all hummed on different notes and then opened that into a vowel. It sounded like a german chorus. It was sweet!

Next we had movement, which was wonderful today because we did relaxation! She spent 20 minutes telling us to float upwards and pass a stream and stop on a beach. Then we melted into the floor. Usually this stuff doesn't work for me, but it was wonderful. Then she had us slowly raise our arms and legs and head. I never realized how heavy my body was! We also did some stretching. I felt amazing afterwards! I was so relaxed I just wanted to flop around for like the last 3o minutes.

For high comedy today we read through some scenes in the play. OMG, this play is going to kill me. Most important thing I learned in that class today, that I will never be able to be in a restoration play. Why you ask? He wants us to talk unbelievably slow. I mean slower than slow, slow. It's a 2 hour class...we got through 2 scenes. Granted he was continually correcting us and talking about the play, but geez! I actually didn't even read today, but tomorrow is going to be interesting. He is going to scold me for my talking habits! I will have to try VERY hard!

Last we had Modern Physical (my favorite at the moment). We played a game of hug tag which was fun. Then we jumped rope! We went from 1 person, to 2, to 3, to 5 til all 14 of us! Then he taught us the "little green frog" song with motions and had a competition between groups. It was hard, but really fun. Then our groups had to make up movements to our own songs and then we had to imitate the other groups. We had 7 minutes to make up a dance. We chose oops I did it again. And we imitated the group that did Journey's Don't Stop Believing. And they did a TON of it, but we did a pretty good job of mimicking them. Then we played the laughing game..but with crying...progressive crying over a dead hamster. I freaked. I can't cry on command! So we tried it and I got my eyes to water a little, but we didn't really go anywhere. He was mad that we didn't grow and blamed me and Alyssa. I then asked him what I should do if I couldn't cry? And then he went off saying you are not a team player if you don't try... I WAS TRYING. Well, come to find out you weren't suppose to actually cry...it was suppose to be commedia...over exaggeration of crying (pretending to cry) not actually doing it! Well, that would have been nice to know before being chewed out. But whatever, I like laughing better, I must be a happier person :) Not to mention I am such a realist actor know after taking Lewis's class. It's hard to do over the top clown type acting, but I'm learning! Looks like all my classes are definitely stretching me! Whoo hoo!

~Lys

Corn Pizza

Hello Workout day! That's what I decided Tuesdays are because I have a lot of classes that require physical movement.

This morning I had Shakespeare, and I was so exhausted from going to bed so late the night before. I decided towards the end of class to go stand up (thanks, Lewis for the idea) so that I wouldn't fall asleep and that I would be a good audience member. Well she noticed after like 2 people went that I was standing up and asked me why. I told her to prevent me from falling asleep and so she goes, why don't you go next? So I did! Once again she worked with me on it for a LONG time. I'm hoping because I can get better, but not because I'm awful. I'm pretty sure she has worked with me more than like anyone else, but everyone says its just because I end up going towards the end of class, and instead of trying to fit two people in, she just works with me the whole time. I also have trouble saying "lov'st, should'st, and receiv'st" correctly...so that took some time. Anywho, I talked to Shelia after class and she is so sweet and super helpful, once she gets done being sidetracking.

Next we had movement, which was a bunch of running around again. We also did these amazing stretches with a partner-going up and down the spine, and stretching the arms to the side and getting them to loosen up. It felt wonderful.

We had a 3 hour long break today where I went with my friend Maggie to buy tennis shoes and then I ordered a pizza for lunch (and had the rest for dinner). And it was pineapple and ham...and corn? Sounds weird, but it was delicious. The rest of the break I spent reading Cherry Orchard, The Provoked Wife, and facebooking/emailing my friends back home!

Last we had stage combat where I had to do push ups because my notes were not in depth enough. Grrr, it was frustrating, but oh well. We learned more pushes and pulls and knaps. It was pretty fun. I had trouble with the "parrot punch" which is where you punch right next to someone's face because I thought I was going to hit my partner, so he worked with me for awhile which was nice. And I was used as an example in slapping cause my knap was good!

Now I am home and exhausted as usual. Homework and hanging with the roomies before an early bed time!!

~Lys

Lys on a Hot Tin Roof

Oh. My. God. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was sooo sooo sooo sooo good! Such INCREDIBLE acting! I mean James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad were phenomenal but the other actors were wonderful too. It required hard core acting skills and it was so believable. Just wonderful acting and realism. AND Phylicia is coming to do a master class with us on Thursday!! So is the guy who played Brick, also a splendid actor. Ah, it was just wonderful. The director was Debbie Allen and she came out during curtain call! Star struck major! The only thing I didn't like about the show was the lighting. It was just weird at some points.

Okay, well that was all about tonight, but it was just too important to save for last. I had a hard time getting up today. I am just so exhausted. This class all day thing is going to be rough. We had Shakespeare in the morning. I didn't have to go, but I watched the rest of my class go, and attempted to not fall asleep. Shelia is amazing, but she tends to talk a lot and go off on tangents and it's hard to pay attention for 2 hours in the morning. Then I had tutorial with Ian, which is basically where I can work on anything. I did my Shakespeare monologue that I did to get into the program, and we worked on that for a little while. Then he helped me to chose a new monologue to learn. He chose one from lady Macbeth, so we will see how that goes.

Lastly, we had high comedy, which was really fun. We put on heels, skirts, and corsets! We learned how to move our bodies in curvy shapes, our wrists, and arms. We worked on curtsies and how to sit and walk. We also used a bit of fans. Corsets took a while to lace up and ironically the boys were the best at it! Afterwards me and Steph and Alyssa went to Mcdonalds for dinner and got ready for the amazing show which I already told you about.

Well I'm off to bed to dream about the amazingness that is Tennessee Williams!

~Lys

Here Comes the Sun and I say...I hope it lasts long!

Oh wow! This weekend has been a very crazy/funny adventure. And oddly enough I am not well rested for the week. lol.

Saturday I woke up fairly early, but the rest of my flat slept for a long time. We finally got up and going around 12:30 and left for The Tate Museum around 2. Apparently, people thought we were going to the London History Museum as well (I thought we were going to both), but we didn't have time so it caused crazy controversy. Finally, we decided to split because 4 people were really into the Tate and 4 of us (including me) didn't want to stay long. So we literally stayed for like 10 minutes and left. Yeah, I hate art. It just doesn't intrigue me. So we went over to the Globe, but you have to pay to get in there, and no one wanted to pay, which was really annoying. But I know we will go back later...I mean it's like a theatre persons heaven! I took pics in front of it none the less! We walked over the Millennium Bridge and went into Saint Paul's Cathedral, which is absolutely stunning. So glad I got to go in there. Then we ate at a cute little restaurant around there. I got to know my flat mates better. We decided to eat dinner and make cookies and have a movie night in the flat! It was really nice. Alyssa made M&M cookies from scratch, and we watched Practical Magic and Cruel Intentions. We stayed up super late waiting for our last roomie to get home to make sure she was okay because apparently we are all mom's for one another :P

Today, was an adventure. I woke up fairly late because I was super exhausted, and the sun was out! I almost forgot I was in London! lol. I got a call from Lily to just go walking. We grabbed a coffee and snack at a local place called Costa. Then Lilly got a call from some of the year longs Jesse, Zack, and Lydian who were going to Hampstead. So we decided to tag a long. We took the tube out to this really cute area that was outside of the city. We decided to walk on some of the paths where there was a view. It was absolutely beautiful. And we also saw Orson Welles' house. But anyway we are on the woodsey paths and, of course, even though the sun is out, it's still muddy. Well, we are all trying to not get our pants and shoes too dirty, and what do I do? We are going down a hill, and I fall on my butt in a huge mud puddle. I just started laughing. I was covered in mud all up and down my back. They were all trying to clean me off and were glad I wasn't mad. But, what could I do?! Needless to say, the rest of the trip I was very uncomfortable and soaked all the way through! But it was an easy way to make new friends! Eventually we made it back to town though and to a tube station.

When I got home, I took a bath and decided to wash my clothes in the bath tub because Mara was using the one washer we have, that takes 3 hours to wash one small set of clothes. So yeah, I hand washed my clothes! What a task! Thank goodness I didn't live in a time without washing machines! Then I sat and had dinner with the roomies. Our room has presently been taken over by 5 other people who are all reading plays together.

Don't worry, I took pictures of all my adventures of the day. And now I need to read some plays!

~Lys

The National!

So Friday was a long busy day! We started off in Shakespeare class bright and early. I got to do my Shakespeare monologue last, which was great because she worked with the people who went at the end as apposed to the beginning who she let them do it, and then told them to sit down. She went line by line with me. And liked my concept of trying to bring someone to God using the metaphor of music. However, she wanted it to be done more jokingly, so I will be working on that this weekend!

Next we had our first voice class, which I found out we have to make up the first one later. We started by talking about our interests and passions other than acting, which was kind of cool and then we did what seemed to be view points, but basically it was walking around on a grid, forwards, backwards, and sideways. We did some breathing exercises and projecting vocally without any strain to the body. And at 12:45, we were done!! I forgot what London looked like during daylight hours!

I picked up a delicious sandwich for lunch and came back and bought tickets to see a play at the National Theatre called the Nation. I went with Nathalie and Lauren, and we were all kind of skeptical about it because the play we wanted to see there was already sold out. But it ended up being really good. It was a really sweet story, with good messages about prominent issues. The design elements were also absolutely stunning. On our walk over there we also got hit on by a group of guys that said "Nice accents" which is funny because I'm not used to being the one with the accent!

Afterwards we went to the party that Duke of York (a pub close to the apartments) threw for BADA students. It was super crowded and everyone was kind of already "gone" so I stayed for like 15 minutes and then came back to sleeeeeppppp. And clearly, slept longer than I wanted to this morning! But today we are hopefully going to see some museums, and I really need to go grocery shopping!

All for now!

~Lyssa

P.S- A fun London fact- lights turn from red to yellow to green. It's also so rainy/windy here that my hair is constantly a giant poof ball!

"There is Just Life Itself" ~Emile Zola

There is nothing like McDonalds in the morning! We felt like we really needed coffee this morning so we stopped by Mickey D's on the way to school. I have never felt more American! However, when I asked for a coffee, he asked if I wanted white coffee...I thought I misunderstood him and I was like just a coffee, so he asked again "White?" so I said yes. Found out it means coffee that already has cream in it. What'd ya know! I guess it makes since...we have black coffee and they have white!

The coffee kept me awake through both my two morning classes, which were both lecture! First was drama criticism, where both groups are combined so the teacher spent a lot of time getting to know us, and then he told us all about London theatre: the different kinds, places, productions, ticketing, and savings. It was really helpful. Next we had theatre history with the same teacher, who I really enjoy, and we talked about Hedda Gabler's time period-the culture and what not. Also he talked about how Emile Zola headed a debate during the time in France about how people should be able to explore and create and thus the birth of Naturalism. He thought that theatre should be like an experiment, investigating life. SCIENCE AND THEATRE CONNECTION!!!! I mean he wasn't a scientist or anything but it was Naturalism that came from the industrial and scientific revolution. Then we read a scene from Hedda. I read Tesman, again. lol. And I know he is a great teacher because I learned a ton of new stuff about Hedda even after seeing it for 3 weeks every night! It was pretty cool.

We had a short lunch break (told you it was a long day) and I packed my lunch today! Then we had high comedy. I have found the perfect way to describe my teacher...he is an english, older Nigel Thornberry. He gave us a packet of places we should visit in London to better understand Restoration Comedy and some pictures during the period. We then got to play with fans and moving around. We also got the play we will be working on for the rest of the semester in his class called The Provoked Wife. He also told us in the Introduction to our play, in the Stage's History section, there is a mention of our Shakespeare teacher, Shelia Allen, since she was in it. How cool is that?!?!?

Last we had Modern Physical, which is one of my favorite classes because we get to play, but we are actually learning something as we do it. We played a game where we constantly were moving chairs to prevent someone from sitting down. We played jailers and prisoners, and a game where we switched bamboo around with our partners. The best game however was a laughing game! It was the best game I have ever played. Basically you go from smiling to laughing to utter hysteria with a group of about 4 other people. My abs have never hurt so hard. Wonderful!!

Tonight I have to memorize my sonnet and come up with a situation! And then I am off to bed before my final two classes tomorrow! Then I am foreseeing sleep, grocery shopping, and possibly a museum or play in my future!

~Lys

P.S I post a lot of the games and exercises I am doing for my own benefit, so I can remember them for clubs, and teaching theatre. I apologize because I know they make no sense to yall.

When I was Your Age I Had to Walk to School in the Snow!

Yeah for a late morning! And by late, I mean I was less tired than usual. Made it to school in 35 minutes again. BUT it was snowing and had been snowing all night. It was like 4 inches thick, so it was a trek, I story I can tell my grandkids! lol. I just have to make sure to wear rain boots next time!

First class of the day was movement. We played a really intense round of the pirate game and I managed to win! We then played a simon says type game where we had to run around and then she would tell us to do something such as "skip" "hug someone" "crawl" "roll on the floor with someone" etc. I was exhausted after that class! It was a huge work out! But they are games that are definitely helping us get to know everyone better.

Next we had high comedy, which was another history lesson. It's hard for everyone to stay awake, but I find it SO interesting. And he believes that we must know the background of the Restoration time period before we can act it. I would post my notes here, but I took A LOT.

Lastly we had Modern Physical. SOOO FUN! Our professor Mick is wonderful. We played some name games, and then we played the red light green light game where the person just turns around. (Reminded me of Julia's acting class), and he related it to comedy and tragedy and we talked about why things are funny. We played a few other games where we had to get into groups of a certain amount of people, and killer. Lastly we played a rhythm game that had a song about frogs and math! Surprisingly it was still really hard though. And absolutely hysterical. I laughed soooo hard!!!

Then we had a long walk back home and made dinner, and now the roomies and I are watching 10 Things I Hate About You....and doing hw...maybe...and a year long stopped by to introduce himself, which was really nice! Off to bed shortly because I have 4 classes tomorrow 2 of which are lecture!!!

~Lys

If Music be the Food of Love, Play On!

Another wonderful day at BADA! With of course an early start, but a shorter walk! 35 minutes!

My first class was Shakespeare again and we read our translations and talked about them. Shelia also talked some about how you must stop at the end of a line (in her way of training anyway) and some other Shakespeare tips. Then we had a movement class which was a lot of fun. We played name games, and pirate ship, and learned interesting facts about one another. It was a good way to really get to know the people in my group. Then Alyssa, Zach, Livy, Lauren, Alina, and I went to a Thai buffet in Camden for lunch during our 3 hour long break. Then we had stage combat! We did pushes, various pulls, choking, and slaps/knaps today. We are keeping a really intensive journal so I should be able to remember most things! :P

After class it was 6:45 so we had to hurriedly get dressed and run to the tube (my first time riding it) to get to the show. We saw Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by the Royal Shakespeare Company. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!! The design elements were incredible and for the most part the acting was great!! The theatre was also gorgeous. It's been a late night, but luckily our voice class got cancelled in the morning so no class till 11:45...thank goodness for sleeping in! Cause these classes are EXHAUSTING!

Fun tidbits from the day/London: When you turn on the hot and cold water in the bathrooms, even though there is one faucet, two streams of water come out-one really hot and the other really cold. It's weird. You have to swipe from the cold to hot side, and cup the water before splashing it on your face lol. Anyway, just a weird thing about London!

~Lys

My First Day at Hogwarts!

I had a most wonderful first day!!! BADA is incredible and I am going to learn so much stuff from some serious professionals.

Started off the day at 7:45am walking to class with a big group of people, and we still got lost! We got there at 8:55!!! The trip should have taken 45 minutes... But we made it 5 minutes early (thank goodness too because they are super strict about punctuality). My first class was Shakespeare with Shelia Allen. Shelia was a ministry wizard in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (hence the title of this blog) and Colin Firth's mother in Love Actually. She also teaches at RADA, and she said she is teaching us the exact same thing! Yeah, I'm getting cream of the crop acting teachers! She also said she was directed by and is good friends with John Barton who wrote Acting Shakespeare. In class, she talked for a little while and then we each got a sonnet to work on. I am doing sonnet 8, and tonight I have to translate mine into modern day english. I'm really excited for the class, but also a little nervous because most of these people have done Shakespeare before, and it's my first time studying it! But I know I am going to learn a lot anyway.

Then I was walking around during my break and saw Fiona Shaw!! Who was teaching a class for Sarah Lawrence students that are here for the week, and I peeked in and saw MAX MALLORY! One of my fellow theatre majors from GHP!!! It was sooo exciting! We screamed and hugged like 6 times. It was SOOOO wonderful to see him again. We got to talk for a little bit. And he is here till Friday, so hopefully we will get to hang out sometime this week. He also knows a ton of the year longs he wants to introduce me to.

Afterwards I went to lunch in Camden with Lauren, Kate, Alina, and Monica. I had a great Panini! Then we had acting High Comedy. The teacher Norman Ayrton seemed strict at first, but he turned out to be really funny. He is this cute old guy with an old timey mustache. Today we just talked about the history of restoration comedy, but soon he is going to let us do scenes, and we get to wear corsets, skirts, and heels. He worked on a touring show with Patty LaPone and Kevin Cline and taught at LAMDA! GAHHHH! Too cool. Alyssa and I walked back and made it home in like 40 minutes which was great. We ran out to the store, and then I came back and made dinner. I am now VERY exhausted, but I've got some hw to do before I can go to bed including finishing Hedda!

I'm so excited to meet my teachers tomorrow! YEAHHHHHHHH Theatre school!!!!

~Lys

London Bridge is Falling Down

OMG LONDON IS B E A UUUUTIFUL!!!!

I finally feel like I am living IN London. We went on the best bus tour ever today. We learned so many cool history facts and saw a large majority of the important things in London. Now I want to go back and go IN all of these places. My heart was beating so hard when we passed the Globe and the Rose Theatre. AHHHHHH!!!! I CANNOT WAIT to go back in them. There is SO much to do!!! I suggest if you want to know more about what I saw on the tour to look through my photo album on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2052734&id=1120471479&ref=mf

But highlights included Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral (sight of Mary Poppins Feed the Birds), a sight from Harry Potter, the eye, London Bridge, Tower of London, and tons of museums.

Afterwards we went to BADA and had lunch and then orientation. I am SO excited for classes to start. It's gonna be freakin intense theatre work and a lot of memorizing and Shakespeare (which I am least familiar with). I know I am going to learn a lot, which is awesome. I just hope I have time to travel too!!!

Five of us tried to find our way back to the flats from BADA...and we got LOST! It took us like an hour and 20 minutes. I mean normally it is suppose to take 45 minutes, so I guess it wasn't too bad. I have to leave super early tomorrow though because class starts at 9am every day and get out at 6:15! I have Shakespeare first!

Once we made it back we ate dinner and then read our first play for theatre history....drum roll please.... HEDDA GABLER!!! Shoot me now! (No pun intended). I only spent the last 2 months of my life on that show! lol. We all read it out loud though, so it was kinda fun... I read Tesman. GOODIES :P

I'm EXHAUSTED so I'm off to bed! But I am loving living in London!! SOOOOOO GORGEOUS!!!! AND I got to listen to so many British people speak today.......ahhhh heaven.

~Lys

That's What you Get For Waking up in London

Yeah! First full day in London!

I was the first one up, and I met my 6th flat mate, Steph. She fits right in with us crazy kids!! Our flat has become the party flat because we all hang out and get along great. And we tend to be the louder crazier ones (thus I am the reserved one and mom of the group). After getting ready we (and by "we" I mean my 5 flat mates and 2 other girls named Lilly and Livy) went to get food at a Lebanese restaurant which was really good and cheap!

Then I had my first grocery store adventure. I looked like the stupid American when I asked where the peanut butter was. But a girls gotta live on cheap food and what's better than PB&J sandwiches! I also bought turkey (which is EXPENSIVE). It was weird because there were like no familiar brands of food, and they didn't have shredded cheese! They also had to validate our credit cards so we held up the grocery line...whoops!

Today was Erika's birthday so we came back and made dinner and decided to go out to a Salsa club. Before we left we had cake and gave her a card! We got all dressed up and decided to take a taxi because it was too far to walk and too cold. It was an....interesting experience....There were a ton of latino men there that kept asking us to dance and trying to talk to us. It was so awkward! And I wasn't at all used to it! Luckily my friend Abby danced with me the whole time, and kept saying "She's with me" So eventually all the men there probably thought we were gay, but whatev! (Ironically, later I found out that Soho is the gay district of town).

Now I am off the bed because we have a bus tour of London tomorrow and orientation!!

XOXO British Babe (yeah, I pulled the gossip girl)

CrAzY aDvEnTuReS-first day in London!

WOW!! I made it! Finally! It's been a crazy day, but really fun and comical actually. After my flight was delayed for 4 hours, I finally made it on! No one was sitting next to me which was awesome! But the guy behind me kept stuffing things in the back of his seat, so I'm pretty sure I have a permanent crook in the middle of my back. I watched Love Happens. Each seat had their own private tv with 10 different movies and 10 tv channels...that definitely made it hard to go to sleep. They served us dinner at 2 am. Afterwards I decided to sleep. We made it to London at 2:30pm their time (we are 5 hours ahead of yall).

Yes, despite my nerves, I successfully bought a ticket, got on the heathrow express, and got on a taxi all by myself! The taxi driver said "where are you going today, love" Love, it's so cute, and they all say it! And yes, the driving on the other side of the road, and the driver's seat being on the other side of the car, is really weird. But all the sidewalks have written "Look Left" or "Look Right" in order to help tourist cross the street!

So when I got to the apartments, that are in Little Lebanon, I got the smallest room ever! My roommate Mara was already in there. I got half of a small closet and 3 drawers AND the top bunk...we are the only room with bunk beds :( But oh well, we aren't in our rooms much anyway. My other flat mates are Alyssa (yes two Alyssa's! Going by Lys still), Erika, Emily, and Stephanie. They are all really cool. After I unpacked we went to a drug store, a super market, and got new phones! AND I can receive texts for free if yall want to text! (It's expensive I know, but giving you the option!) My number is 07966226802. I believe you also have to add a 044 in front of that.

Then INTENSE hunger set in, and we went to the pub across the street. I got a turkey club, fries, and a water. Sorry to disappoint, but I did not drink anything. It feels too weird and still very illegal. I'll make sure to try something eventually. There were a ton of other BADA students there so I met a large majority of them, which was nice. Then a few of us decided to go back early cause we were tired.

Then a very funny adventure began. Me and Erika were waiting on the elevator and it finally came with 5 guys in it. They were going up and told us to hop on. We were like "no, that's okay, there is no room" but they squeezed and let us in. Mind you there was a sign that said no more than 4 people on the elevator. Well then one of the guys says "What if it doesn't go cause we weigh to much" and another guy said "No the maximum weight light didn't come on" As soon as those words came out of his mouth, the elevator stopped, the door wouldn't open, and we couldn't get out. Finally a girl came and said the emergency people were on the way...it would be 15 minutes! So we played cards, the guys drank strong bow, and then we had a mini dance party to cold play, lady gaga, and owl city. It was pretty fun. And absolutely hysterical. We were in there for a total of about 35 minutes. They all went to University of Illinois and were engineering majors. They were cute too, but they are leaving Sunday. Pictures will be posted to facebook later :)

Now I am hanging with the roomies even though we should all be going to bed! So far, so good!! Still seems so surreal that I am here!!!! Probably because London reminds me of a cleaner, prettier NYC. AND if I had it my way I would just sit and listen to people talk. I LOVE the accents here!!! Hopefully no more "delays" :D

Anxiety! Excitement! and Packing!

Hey guys!

I leave tomorrow for London! I am super excited/nervous/stoked!! I am halfway packed...so I need to finish that up. Right now I am most nervous because it's suppose to snow tomorrow in Atlanta, and when it snows in the south, the whole city shuts down! I'm hoping I can still fly out on time. Not to mention the weather in london is not suppose to be good either. So I would appreciate good thoughts/prayers sent my way!

I'm going to do my best to keep yall updated on happenings in London and other traveling. Let the adventure begin....