Brooke Friday

Yvonne Daniels, also known as the first lady of radio, is an influential women who paved the way for more women to become disc jockeys. In her 30 plus year career in radio she worked at WYNR, WCFL, WSDM, WLS-AM, WVON, WGCI-AM/FM , and WNUA. Daniels was an African American “broadcast pioneer”.

As we dressed for the show, my thoughts were flooded with images and ideas. We descended the hotel stairs, hailed a taxi, and arrived at the theatre; while I remained in a pleasant daze. My first impression of the Nederlander met and exceeded all my expectations. I had envisioned an old theater, forgotten by the Broadway elite. As we walked to the door, we were able to see the wall signed by the cast and photos of the premier. The theater itself had a rundown feel to it and left you with the distinct impression that the magic was within the walls and on stage. As we entered the doors, I soaked in every thing. Our seats were located in the center, orchestra section, which gave us a perfect view of all the action.

Late night rehearsals would occur every so often, running until 9pm. It was a long day, but tons of fun, and we would usually be very productive. However, with the fun parts of putting together a show, comes the frustrating parts. For example, a lot of times most of the cast struggled to remember their harmonies, or lyrics to a

Working on Makena Costlow’s AP Rain or Shine was a truly valuable experience for me, as I had never worked as a First or Second Assistant Director before, and I was able to gain a better understanding of why these positions are so important. Additionally, through my own work and my interactions with other crew members, I learned what a great deal about what it takes to keep a set running smoothly along with what kinds of attitudes are important for keeping the crew happy and enjoying their work.

On Thursday, October 19th, Ray Shultz, Professor of theater arts, and the theatre company, presented a lecture/demonstration on the soon to be staged musical Spring Awakening. Several members of the company as well as Professor Shultz spoke about the musical and gave the audience some of the background informations, as well as enacted three excerpts of the production.

Sophomore Mayra Gomez has mostly AP classes and she is in Dance Production. How does she do it all? Well, Mayra has found that during the dances she is not in or during breaks, she can do her homework. Gomez says she gives one hundred percent in every dance otherwise the dance looks sloppy and weak. Did you know that she choreographs dances in her free time? She does and she plans to audition those pieces so that they can be in dance concerts held by Grace Davis High School. Mayra says that being in Dance Production is very stressful, but at the same time it is fun because you and the members of Dance Production become one family who share embarrassing moments; they share tears and smiles. Although Dance Production looks well-put and organized,

.In Happenings and Other Acts, Mariellen R. Sandford - associate director of The Drama Review (TRD) since 1985 - has collected important essays, interviews and performance texts that help explain the complicated and intriguing nature of Happenings and Live Performance. The book itself is described as a collection of “invaluable documents from a period that radically changed our perception of the function of the artist, the role of the observer, and the relation between art and everyday life.” (Sandford, 1995)

With a great cast of people and wonderful, creative directors, the shows at this high school gain a lot of praise from others; students, teachers, friends, and family. No one really sees what goes on backstage, or what happens to prepare for the show, other than those involved in the production. As the choreographer for the school musical this year, there were many aspects of Lucky Stiff that I had to oversee. This included teaching students choreography, making sure they knew their places, and keeping everyone in line while pleasing the director, assistant director, and stage manager. The first month of preparations for the show was when all of this occurred. With the help of my co-choreographer, we taught various dances to the entire cast - thirty people total. Sometimes confusions and hindrances popped up, in that we had to come up with and teach choreography on the spot. At various points my co-choreographer and I were not always prepared, but being able to work as a team to teach everyone what they needed to learn was what mattered to the both of us. In fact, the two of us worked very well together, and we both received great acclaim for our work from those who had seen the musical. I truly enjoyed working with my co-choreographer; in preparation for the musical and what we had to teach we would bounce concepts off of each other, come up with many ideas

She also loved the behind the scenes moments. She loved trying on costumes and just talking behind stage. This really helped her meet new people and develop new friendships.

During my third year of the high school musical we were on our second director and last few weeks of practice. Things were unorganized and seemed hopeless. With the assistance of some upperclassmen, I helped and directed my cast mates to an easier experience.

As I arrived to the theater, many memories came flooding back to my mind of my times being on stage. But that day was not another day on stage; it was a day in the audience. I was at the theater to help Impact Dance Theater with their winter show. When I walked into the lobby, I saw my teacher and the others standing around waiting to be told what to do. About the time I walked to them another volunteer came over as well. “Today you guys will be ushers” the volunteer said “I need some of you to scan tickets and some to hand out programs.” I was one of usher's who would be scanning tickets. We waited about another 20 minutes in the lobby before told where we would be at. The manager of the theater walked over to us with a pleasant smile. “Thank you so much” she stated “We will go over the rules the theater has and then I will tell you where to go.” Once she told us the rules and where we would be, we received our usher badges and when on our way.

Before this play, I didn’t really like going to rehearsal because it was always so boring to me, but then I discovered that you can actually have a lot of fun. The fun all started at the auditions, that’s when we got our first inside joke. I can’t explain the inside joke because then it would just be a joke and that’s no fun. We were all hanging out in the theater after the auditions talking about what role we could see ourselves playing and things just went a little crazy after that. My absolute favorite rehearsal was probably the one where I got to start working with Fredricko. I also got to work with Adam Smith, a special needs boy who is also involved in theater. Since that show, Adam and I have become really close. We are actually working together in the show that we are both currently

I attended A MidSummer Night’s Dream at Alley Theatre on 10/22/16. The play was written by William Shakespeare directed by Gregory Boyd and Dean R. Gladden. This play falls into the category of comedy, more specifically a romantic satirical comedy. You could even say its presentational, in the final scene during Bottom’s play a workman threw a plush dog into the audience and ran up to the person who caught it eager to get it back. This play was absolutely fantastic I enjoyed it far more than expected, A MidSummer Night’s Dream was mysterious,whimsical and humorous. I would see this play again in a heartbeat, I liked it because the set and props were so simple it really made the actors, costumes and story stand out. Prior to this play I had attended Hamlet in Houston but I was in elementary school. I don’t remember what the play was actually about but I remember liking it so you could say my first theatre going experience was a positive one. A couple of weeks ago I had taken a quiz to find out what Shakespeare play I would most enjoy and this is the one that came out. I typed it in only to find out that it 's showing at Alley Theatre in Houston. I was curious going into this play I didn 't quite know what to expect all I knew at this point was it was a comedy in the woods with fairies. But, wow I was completely blown away by the skill there people possess to make me feel like it was real life even though the play was clearly fictional, it was all so natural and real.

The stage is dark, and not a word is spoken in anticipation for the performance about to be given. A group of actors stroll into the slowly growing lights and begin reciting lines with near pinpoint accuracy. Suddenly the the lights cut out while a mix of confusion and terror spreads over the entire auditorium, and after several seconds that seem to last minutes the lights return and the show progresses, with my feelings towards the show ruined. This is not the retelling of an audience member’s Saturday entertainment, but the memory of myself as a young and inexperienced stage manager learning one of the hardest lessons of calling the shots, that being that no show is without problems. The experience of stage managing has allowed me to gain an in depth understanding of working with people and how to work under the pressure of potentially hundreds watching.

In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) brought its audience back in time to a late nineteenth century Victorian household, newly furnished with electric lamps and fully functioning vibrators for an at home gynecologist/ therapist. After viewing the show, I left the invited dress performance with some serious respect and admiration for the talented cast, the production team and designers that created the beautiful ambience of the next room, and the vision of Lisa Gaye Dixon. I’ve chosen to reflect on the human significance and the relation to theatre itself that “In the Next Room” made. As well as, focus of the impact that the set, lighting and sound, and costumes had on the delivery of the story, production, and entertainment value.