Final Practice Before My First Ever Acting Audition

I felt like this monologue performance was one of the best I've ever done! I was able to curb my nervousness and go the way my practice took me. I was still shaking like a leaf when I sat down, but I've got a lot more confidence for my upcoming final audition.

Touching on Professionalism

I've recently had several experiences both with faculty and students that reminded me exactly why professionalism is such a desired trait. When you come to learn and/or teach, please be mindful that being aware of the need for polite interaction is key to your success. I've seen some examples of some extremely professional people who do well at keeping their emotions in check while still expressing them in an appropriate way, and some who have allowed circumstances to make them bitter at everyone around them. They lash out at anyone they find the slightest fault with in the most rude way possible without any sort of apology. This kind of behavior, whether motivated by stress, judgmental tendencies,  or sheer laziness and unwillingness to learn or take responsibility is unacceptable. It will ruin your reputation and thenceforth your future. The only way to live down some of the behavior I've recently witnessed is to shape up immediately or ship out and try for a fresh start somewhere else.

The moral of the story, in spite of what you may be going through, what happens here at SUU is training for the professional world, and you should treat your experience here as well as your contemporaries with the same respect that the "real world" requires. Don't ruin your reputation before you've even begun. If you want to go somewhere in life, leave any petty personal offences at the door and work like you mean it. Doing this will get you farther than mere connections or talent.

Rant over.

Better Late Than Never

So, the final performance of my scene went very well! I was able to use my focus on my scene partner to practically eliminate my symptoms of self awareness and the emotion of the scene allowed me to channel what was left into the confusion and anger felt by my character. We changed up the blocking a lot to make it more interesting, and got some great feedback from both Melinda and the rest of the class.
Now we just have to make it through a few final performances of our two contrasting monologues and finish up the final! Almost there guys!

Working Performance: Scenes

Success! I was able to get through my scene without feeling like I was going to faint! My partner and I got some great notes and I feel pretty confidant about our final performance coming up. And what made it all complete, is that the scene said that we could be in pjs and bathrobes. It was great! I felt better about this performance than I have about any other.

Working with a partner

We're starting scene work in Acting 1 and it's made it so much easier to have a partner to bounce things off of. I don't have as much of me focused on the people who might be watching, and we get to have a few props to help us get in character. My partner has been great to work with! She's been a great help to me in getting over my fear and mental blocks a little more when it comes to the thought of performing in front of others. We haven't done our working performance yet, but I think it will turn out pretty well!

Out of the Comfort Zone and Into the Fire

As a shy little introvert and one who is terrified beyond belief to get up in front of people alone, Acting 1 with Melinda Pfundstein Vaughn has definitely been an experience. As a class listed for theater majors only, I somehow ended up being the only technician in the class.The class is full of these shining actors and actresses, all freshman who are blowing the department away, and I sometimes feel inadequate, but it's been a great experience for me to learn how to get out of my comfort zone and face my fears. I've also made a new circle of unbreakable friends who will always be there for me and each other when one of us is feeling down or hurt. Breaking yourself down to your most vulnerable levels, though this may seem surprising in this world we live in, is one of the best ways to gain lasting trust and friendships in this life. A big thank you to everyone who's let me cry on their shoulders and confess to them my deepest fears. A theater family, though it may be a rather odd family, is a lasting family!

Reading Like an Actor

So, according to my younger brother, I read everything like it's Shakespeare. If acting class has taught me nothing else it's how to project and enunciate. We were in family scripture study and my verse coincidentally had a nearly iambic pentameter rhythm, between that and the similar wordings between the King James Bible and Shakespeare's English combined to prompt a remark from him on that subject between verses.