January 2009

6: Drove to audition for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis' The Merry Wives of Windsor.  The artistic director asked how I had heard of the company, and where I was from, then said it was worth the trip.  I got down there early enough to lunch with Mary Woll beforehand.
10-16: Rehearsals for The Further Adventures of Louie the Lightning Bug at The National Theatre for Children, with Vanessa Miller.  Vanessa ended up with laryngitis by the end of the week, so we left town without a school preview, though this was after we got to share a run with the company (and see everyone else's varied takes on same and similar (and one different) shows).
14: Earlier, I left the company picnic midway to catch buses over to St. Paul and audition for Park Square's Othello.  The director/artistic director asked about my favorite Shakespeare experience and also the locations of Riverside & Bridgework.
20-23, 26-30: Many performances of The Further Adventures ... at many schools.  We spent some time near South Bend, so I was able to work on graduate school applications as well as a few other things.
22: Brigid & her kindergarten class saw the show when we were at her school in Elkhart.  That night was the 20th Annual Notre Dame Student Film Festival, which included the premiere of Prologue, one of whose directors bought my ticket.  First time seeing the completed film.  Also enjoyed seeing another short by the creators of Through the Window, and one by Joe Gleason with several folks I know.  Mary Claire, two Lauras, Jeremy, and a bunch others were also in attendance.
23: My parents, younger sisters, and my niece Abby (16 months) saw another local performance of The Further Adventures ...  Abby seemed to pay attention well for her age.  Of course, she had already seen one of my Bridgework shows nine months earlier, didn't cry or fuss then either.
29: Being in the area also meant I was able to usher for an Actors from the London Stage production of Much Ado about Nothing at Notre Dame.  I like the format (five actors, no director, little cutting, minimal props/costume) of their shows.
31: I attended the first graduate school audition, for Hilberry Repertory Theatre/Wayne State University.  The panel found my resume "impressive" and interviewed me regarding what I want out of the program.  I did well enough to be invited to the callbacks not a half hour later, which included a lot of snippets of instruction/play in movement, voice, rhythm and improvisation, then a cold read from Waiting for Godot.