:(

camp is over :( I've made so many friends and I hope any of you that can come back will come back remember to call,
-Tony (tape measure forever) please comment

Great Show

I'm so proud of all of you for how you handled yourself in the classroom these last two weeks. The show benefitted from your commitment to the piece and to supporting each other. I hope the rest of your summer is an absolute blast. It was an honor teaching you.

Sincerely,
Matt "The Big One" Gutschick

The Day Before the Performances

Today was the last day we have to prepare our production. The day was filled with run-throughs, dress rehearsals, corrections, etc. The sing-through of the scene on Aunt Polly's porch was somewhat awkward but I thought it was fun. The spell-through of the ending mob scene was hard to understand but throughly enjoyable. Hopefully we'll get everything right for tommorow. I hope we will. I know we will.

Excited for tommorow. Too tired to write anymore. Be prepared. Focus. You guys rock.


Lauren

CAST PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who: US!!!!!
What: Tom Sawyer Cast Party
Where: Adam’s House: 2760 Wellsprings Dr. Pfafftown, NC, 27040
When: After the 7:00 show on Friday
Why: We all want to party!!!
Flyers will be handed out tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!
From
Adam

Video!

Before you watch this, remember to pause the music. The conflicting sound waves will melt your brain if you don't.




We know not everyone in the cast is in this video. Fear not, we know you still exist. You probably exist so much that you were busy acting/working.

More Pictures

Look! Pictures from all of the different committees... if the sound and blog committees are seperate. I'm not sure; I was not told. No worries, though. Here are the pictures (and more corny captions.)

Costumes

See in this photo, they had no idea we were taking pictures of them. No, really.

The costume team was continuously working. We owe them one. Thank you costume committee!

This, is a costume rack. Cool, huh?

Set/Prop People

The set committee picked out "cool" books for us to hold onstage during class.

Gosh you guys, stop goofing off and get your books! [Just kidding. :)]

The props room was so cool. We were so excited to be in there with Sarah, until we were told not to touch anything.

When asked for a quote, the props/set commitee told us "Tape Measure."


Sound Committee

This is Max, Ben, Matt the Younger, and The Lion of the sound committe. The Lion is everywhere, eh?

Yes, this is Max, Marissa, and Matt the Younger. Oh! Ya know what I just noticed? The names of everyone in this photo start with an M! Isn't that cool?

This is Allison, Ben, and The Lion. Again.

We asked them for a quote too. There was a lot of noise after that. The only things I could make out were "Your mom." and "The Lion is ours."

The Stage

Look! It's our unfinished set! It's pretty awesome, though.

Audience view of our stage.

Stage view of our audience. Chase away stage fright while you can, my friends.

The Blog Committee (if we don't include the sound people)
Shannon and I weren't in the last set of pictures I posted, so to prove our existence, here are two pictures of us.

Oh, look, it's Shannon and the ghost light! But, don't worry guys, there's nothing paranormal in the theatre.

Hey, that's me! I'm so suprised to see myself here.

Wells and The Flying Lion
These two pictures needed their own category, but don't need captions.



Posted by your loving blogger, Lauren
You guys rock. See you tommorow.

MOVIE #2

Hey everybody! Star Trek was cool! Sorry if we were being a little loud... Anyway, Brooke's birthday is on Wednesday, so we're going to another movie. Since Rachel, Matt (the younger), and Brooke couldn't decide what movie to watch, they finally settled on Transformers. Here's the basics:

Who: The Cast of Tom Sawyer
Where: The Grand Theatre
When: June 24, movie starts at 6:45 (since the 24th is the opening date, we need to get there way early for tickets)
Why: Brooke's B-day, and 'cause we want to

Sorry if this is a bit to soon after Star Trek. We didn't have many choices

The Movie...

First, WHO VOTED THAT I OWN THE LION? I love you for that! I got 1/10 votes. Ben got 9/10 votes. :( But I really want to know who voted it was mine! Anytway, the movie was good! Though I didn't know what was going on half the time. But anyway, I voted good. So...ttyl! P.S., you're welcome Kyle for HALF my popcorn. lol
-Allison

Updating :)

First of all, how did TONY know about Ben's lion? Second, I voted for Ben's lion. He is VERY good with computers. Anyway, I want to know who keeps deleting the polls. I like them! After we get six or so, then feel free to delete them and start over. But we were having fun with the polls! Anyway, I can't wait for the movies tonight! OH MY! It's the lion! -Allison

WATCH ME WIGGLE~

Ben here.
I haven't posted in a while, so here goes.
Sound/blog group has apparently merged, like Alltel and Verizon.
Star Trek, yes I'm going.
Uh...I have 2 Firefoxes (firefoxi?) on my dock...why.

Weird stuff.
-----
Nevermind, the one on the right was new Firefox. I'm reparted.
Here have a picture:

Uh...bye.

CAST MOVIES!

Who: The entire cast of Tom Sawyer
What: Star Trek
When: 6/20/09 (Saturday)*
Where: The Grand Theatre
Why: BECAUSE WE WANT TO!

*At 7:30 p.m. Sorry!

Have a Great Weekend

Good job this week everyone. We're very proud of our progress. Look at your lines. Line memorization/familiarity should only get better between rehearsals. We do not want to start back at square one on Monday morning.

Stay cool this weekend!

Posted by Matt

Space Walk Interview's

OK, no, we didn't go to the moon and we didn't invent anti-gravity but we did a really cool exercise that helped us discover a lot of interesting things about our character. Here is what some of the cast members found out about their particular character:

Matt E. (Huck)- My character has a bit of swagger like he doesn't care what people think of him. He is full of himself and looks down on people who don't like what he does.

Ben (Injun Joe)- My character is extremely different from myself. The littlest detail can make a major difference. He walks stiffly and with self-held authority.

Kyle (Alfred)- My character thinks he is the smartest and he is more popular than everyone else.

Cameron (Walter)- I learned that he is more professional than me and always walks stiff and serious.

Ian (Muff)- When muff isn't drunk, he is just your average day person.

Max (Judge/Doctor Robinson)- I learned how if you close you eyes, it makes it easier to become your character fully and imitate him.

Marisa (Mrs. Thomas)- I learned that my character is more uptight than I am in reality but she is very stern.

Caroline (Amy)- She swings her arms a lot.

Jessica (Mrs. Adams)- She is really calm but kind of uptight. I'm not uptight in reality.

Lauren (Gracie)- Gracie is really annoying and bouncy.

Allison (Molly)- Molly is a traditional school girl.

Cortney (Widow Douglas)- She flows when she walks and she takes smaller steps because she's a little bit older.

Erin (Aunt Polly)- She's stern and uptight, but Tom and Sid are the dearest thing to her.

Anna (Mrs. Thatcher)- She walks like she thinks higher of herself because she has a higher reputation.

Shannon (Mary Rogers)- I learned that when Mary is determined, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants (in a polite, respectable way, of course).

Sarah (Sally)- I learned that my character and myself aren't all that different.

Brooke (Jo)- She was really fast and intense, she tries to act a lot tougher than she really is.

Laine (Becky)- I learned that Becky is very uptight and does what she is told.

Adam (Tom)- I learned that Tom is very carefree and he walks very slowely because he has nowhere to go.

Rachel (Mrs. Harper)- My character walks fast when she is angry and she is very tense.

Thanx, if we left anyone out who cares, then post how you felt as a comment.
-Your friendly neighborhood Blog Crew

Ben Makes The Lion Dance. :)

Marisa looks mad.... :)

P.S., sorry for the quality.

-Allison

The 4th Day

Hey. Today was a great day for everybody. First we played a game that was called Bibbity Bobbity Bop (Everybody has to form a circle. 1 is in the middle and has to go around saying bibbitybobbitybop and the one he says it to has to say bop before he finishes saying bibbityboobitybop. Then, the 1 in the middle gets alot of other tools too, like: Donkey, Viking, & Jello.) Then, we had to walk around like our character for awhile. After that, we had some diaphramic excersises and a music rehearsal. Next, we went through the whole show.....s.....l.....o.....w.....l.....y, changing on the way we speak and such. Then we had lunch and finished blocking. When I wasn't blocking, I was in the Prop House painting platforms, walls, fences, (my clothes, too.) and washing out some of the rollers. Then we went through the show again, but without stopping as much. Well, thats about it for today, so, see you all tomorrow! Kyle :)

Ever wonder what your name means?

Here's something you probably didn't know about your castmates.

Adam means 'man'. Yeah Adam!
Max means 'greatest'. Go Max!
Matthew (Ellis) means 'gift of Yahweh (God)'. Don't you dare get too cocky!
Cameron-'orange' interesting...
Kyle-'channel or strait' wow...that's cool
Tony-'flower' no comment.......
Caroline-'warrior' You go girl!!
Lauren- 'little fierce one' cool!
Shannon- 'wise' which we all know she is!!
Erin- 'Ireland' have you ever been there?
Sarah- 'princess' Your highness (me and Brooke just bowed. wink wink!!)
Corteney- 'short' look, we know your not short but that's what the 100% trustworthy website said...sorry
Ben-'bear' ROAR!!
Ian- 'gracious' wow! didn't see that one coming! JK! JK!
Allison- 'noble' awesome!
Jessica- 'to behold' hopefully you'll live to behold the day when we all become famous actors!!
Laine- 'wave' the ocean tide not the sports arena thing...
Anna- 'grace' to Anna, definitly didn't see that one coming!! luv, Rachel JK!!
Marisa- 'love' awwww...that's sweet
Brooke- 'river' duh!!
Rachel- 'lamb' no comment. luv, rachel
Wells- 'stream' ok...? kinda random...
Matt (the directer)- gift of Yahweh (God)


We thought this was kinda interesting. We hope you do too.

Luv, Rachel and Brooke

P.S. Sorry Tony about being a flower :(
oh and sorry if we spelled anybody's names wrong.

Thursday's Gone (It's kinda like the Skynyrd Song of another name)

Hey Class,

I just want to tell you all how I've been raving about you to my colleagues. Blocking is tough and you were all very patient through that process. Today we started to have something resembling a show. It's going to take plenty of hard work to get it there, but at least it's fun hard work.

That music player is awesome! Where did you figure out how to do that Shannon?





Some helpful references for Verbing:

A Collection of Acting Verbs

www.thesaurus.com

For projecting your voice:

Projecting Your Voice

A Video on Projection

Memorize, Memorize, Memorize!

Posted by Matt "The Taskmaster" Gutschick

Day 4

Acting time. :)



Oh no! The lion has been taken hostage! :O



Need a little help, Ben?


Ben still loves his lion buddy. :)

-Allison Thomas

Shannon Added Tunes!

Hey, everyone! It's Shannon H. again!

I used my super-amazing CSS and HTML skills to add a music player with music to our blog!!! Check it out to the right, pretty cool, huh? I added Shall We Gather At The River? and Wayfaring Stranger, as well as other well-known songs I hope you guys will enjoy.

Aren't I just a great Blog Team member? Yes, I know, I'm the best. :)


XOXO-
Shannon

P.S.- Please do NOT take down the music player, it took a long time to set up and add to the site. Okay, thanks guys! See you later!

Oh, my. It's Day Number... 3!

Hello, everyone! It's Shannon. I see the poll changed. Good job, Ben! I'll give you a hug tomorrow. Seriously, guys, I don't think making a popularity poll or an ugly poll or any poll that has to do with people that can be taken in the wrong way is a good idea. :( Hate to burst your bubble, but I want the blog to be FUN! Not a big misunderstanding.

Oh, and while I'm being serious, I'm going to lecture y'all for a moment. But only for a moment, no worries! Please, please, PLEASE do not edit/change/delete any of the pictures that Lauren G. or I (Shannon H.) post here. We really want to do a good job with the blog and we would appreciate if you left our pictures as we put them. We don't want anyone's feelings hurt. Thank you!

I don't really think that I'll post a whole summary today, because a lot of people have been doing that. So, I think I'll just go through my favorite parts of today. Let's see... I quite enjoyed getting to see the Costume Shop for the first time. So. Many. Dresses! It's rather busy in there, I have to say. I'm so glad we got the blocking over and done with! Hopefully we'll be off book when we're supposed to and we can get this show moving along! :)

Don't forget to verb your script tonight, guys. It's important and... Stuff...

XOXO--
Shannon H.

Postan'

I need to do my verbing really soon.
Anyway, days 2+3 were pretty good, the Twitter account is flooded with lots of our junk, etc.
I really have no patience right now, so no review for anything. I was just hungry on day 2 and somewhat hungry on day 3. Acting was fun, blocking is tough, stunt knife is faker than ever.
Cheers,
Ben

P.S.: That will be my lion.

P.P.S.: I changed the poll. I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

The 3rd Day

Hey! Today was awesome! When we got there we got to play Octopus Tag (1 person is an octopus and can run around tagging others turning them into octopuses, then they sit on the floor, the tagged ones though, not the 1st octopus, and can't walk or run. They can only move their arms.) Then, we played Hitchhiker (A game where there's 4 people in a car and one's the driver. The people in the car have to have some sort of character and a plot to do. The driver, has to make an excuse to leave, and pick up another person.) It was fun! Then, we had to get our journal entries that we did last night and talk about why we did them. (They were private. We didn't have to tell anyone about what we wrote.) Next, we played a game that I forgot the name of though but, anyway here are the rules (We had to write down a verb they wanted someone to do. Then, we picked partners. We had to then pick a scene and pick out a verb that someone wrote down and use that in our scene. The scene that me and my partner chose was at Santa's Workshop and I was an elf and my partner (Matt, the teenager) was Saint Nick's grandson, Nick. The verb I chose was that I had to sing opera and try to make my partner sing opera, too.) It was so fun! After that, we had a music rehearsal for our 2 songs. Next, we played FREEZE! again. Then, we started finishing up blocking. Next, during the scene I wasn't in, I got to go to the Prop House and pull the props we needed. Then, we went through the play till it was time to leave. Well, that's about it. So, I'll see you all tomorrow! Kyle:)

A Few Pictures!

Looks like we all had fun today! Well, by the pictures I got with my group anyway. lol. A great day 3 of camp!

Today

The Poll is so funny! Anyways, I had a lot of fun today! We got a lot of work done. I think the play is going to turn out really well! I am not going to do a summary of the day, because a lot of people alreay did that. But it was a lot of fun!

Written by Adam Chase (Tom Sawyer)

Bloggers UNITE!

Why, hello everyone! It's Shannon. I am number two on the Blog Team. Be jealous!

Okay, so today was super-duper fun. We were all pretty hyped-up about learning which parts we had gotten and trying out acting as them officially today. It was hard to stay focused at first, but all of us got really into it. We were able to block our way just about half way through Tom Sawyer. Lauren (number one on the Blog Team) and I were snapping pictures just about the whole day, which you should check out below.

We had some pretty funny times, as you can see from all of the crazy shots we got. There were also some serious parts, too. For instance, when Ben (Injun Joe) and Max (Doc) were learning their big murder scene. It's totally cool to watch, and I'm sure it'll be EPIC on stage.

Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks to everyone who's posted on this blog already! You're making Lauren and I's job much more interesting and fun. GO BLOGGING!

P.S.- Oh yeah, the poll? Who's the hottest in the cast? I voted for Wells. :)*laughs*

XOXO- Shannon H.

The 2nd Day

Hey! Today was our second day and it was awesome! We first had some morning warm-up games and then we read through the script and blocked. Then, we got to play a game called "FREEZE!" (FREEZE! is a game where everyone makes a big circle and has two people in the middle. The two in the middle have to act out a scene and someone in the circle has to yell FREEZE!. Then, the two in the middle have to freeze and the one who said freeze has to tap one in the middle, take the same form, and use the same form in a different scene.) It was fun! Then, we got to get with our different committees (Costumes, Blog, Props and Set, and Sound). I was with the Props and Set committee so we got tape called "Spike Tape" and laid it out on the floor in a special way to form our "stage" to practice on. Well, I'll see you tomorrow! Kyle :)

Day TWO!

From the start it has been the theatre's business to entertain people ... it needs no other passport than fun.

BERTOLT BRECHT

Everyone did a fantastic job today. I think in camps and other kinds of shows, blocking rehearsals are very difficult, especially because people are in some cases getting to know characters they never envisioned themselves playing. There can be a lot of down time, but the group was fantastic today at meeting with their teams and committing to the tasks they were given.

There's a lot more to theatre than just acting. I've found myself in love with directing after acting for much of my childhood and writing several plays. I probably never would have discovered this if my college had not required me to take directing classes. Hopefully some of you find yourself totally engaged in a technical/production aspect of theatre.

As you get to know your character better, be sure to journal from his/her perspective. Create a day in your character's life- a day that does not need to relate to the play but only to your character's thoughts and actions. We will discuss these tomorrow and figure out if it helps you at all on your interpretation. Congrats on your roles and on a fantastic blocking rehearsal.

Think about this: our first run through is tomorrow!

Posted by Matt "The Old But Not Necessarily Wise One"

Photographs!

Here are the best and funniest moments of our first day of blocking caught on camera!
I know. You're excited.
Of the 79 photographs we took, these 10 win the prize for being the best. Take a look:

Although Adam and Laine weren't thrilled about this being posted on the internet, their scenes together were awesome and more than once, our fellow cast members reacted with "Aww!
Oh look, Tom is whispering that he loves Becky. :) Nice.
Anna, Courtney, Marissa, and Jessica practice their scene as Mrs. Thatcher, Mrs. Douglass, Mrs. Thomas, and Mrs. Adams.
Close up of Marissa and Jessica as Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Adams.
Ben(Injun Joe) learns to kill Doctor Robinson without killing Max.
Jo Harper(Brooke), Tom Sawyer (Adam), and Huck Finn (Matthew) converse about piratism.
Alfred (Kyle) being all gentleman-like is about to give Becky (Laine) a kiss on the hand.
We loved this picture partly because of the looks of pure disgust on Adam and Laine's faces after kissing each other. Oh, and this scene is important to the story.
Tom can lick Alfred.
Our costume committee hard at work making sure we all look good and realistic.

And now, here are the funniest pictures we took. Enjoy!
Tony, Adam, and Max gave a... er... interesting pose for our camera.
Adam and Max loved posing for the camera!
And more than once, too. They've just got beautiful facial expressions.
We couldn't resist forcing Caroline to goof off for the camera. She really took it "over the top." Please excuse my corny pun. :)
Ben isn't nearly as ferocious and evil as his character, Injun Joe is.
Now most people's reaction would be "Oh no! Doctor Robinson's just been murdered!" but we? We just laughed.
Ian goofs off for the camera while pretending to work. No worries, the set/prop crew got the job done all right.
Oh my god! We've killed Caroline! Hopefully her mother won't eat us.
Adam and Laine show off their fancy cartwheeling moves.
Ben(Injun Joe) and Ian(Muff Potter) take a break from their dramatic fight/murder scene to give a smile and thumbs-up for the camera.

So, guess that's it for now. See you guys tommorow!
- Lauren