Hey it’s Kiley- giving you my personal  aftermath experience after BLOOD BROTHERS.

PLOT

This musical is a spellbinding nature vs. nurture plot that captivates it’s audiences with its relatable characters. A woman who has the world at her finger tips, but lacks control in her life to be able to conceive a child.   A struggling mother in a vulnerable position must make the choice.  Do these women meet by chance or fate? They are connected by one lie forced to face the consequences and domino effect of their “deal”. Just think: fraternal twins separated at birth.  One twin destined a life of high aristocratic status, Eddie. The other twin brought into a spiraling world, a life that lives day by day, Mickey. Fate pulls these “blood” brothers together. They are torn apart by the built circumstances in this domino effect from unemployment, prison, to falling in love with the same childhood friend. These events lead to the tragic deaths of these “Blood Brothers”.

THEMES

First is the art of a lie and the destruction that it causes intentionally/ intentionally. The British deep in-bedded class system and the effects it has on relationships/ society. Are you your environment or genetics? Another theme is the ups/ downs and highs/lows of life that may motivate people to succeed or just survive. I think the last song/ ending, “Tell me it’s not true”, stands for a woman who finally lets her guard down and breaks down flaws and all due to her children’s death. This woman no longer cares of judgment. She makes a statement. Everyone is capable of causing hurt or being hurt, no matter what class, rich or poor. She is freed by the suffocating pack built around a lie. She will morn, but she will continue to survive. She will regain the strength to live in spite of the rotten cards she has been dealt.

ACTING:

There’s a tangible approach to acting, it’s a craft, like something you can actually touch and work on, and embody something more. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else” is a quote by Judy Garland, who played Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. This icon turned this song into a movement, a message to follow your dreams in spite of self doubt, to persevere over obstacles. I hold these words close to me because it’s important to stay true to yourself and not compare your abilities to others. Everyone has their own strengths, weaknesses, and life experiences that make them the individual they are.

Tell me it’s not true. Being double-casted such a powerful role was soul searching personal journey. I had to trust myself/ director to create this three dimensional character the audience could relate to and sympathize. I had to trust my interpretation and perspective of the character. What worked for the other talented actress, Emily Jones, may have not worked for me and may have come off to the audience as forced.

I connected to this character and I must admit it was difficult to let go and just be in the moment. I think that’s something I struggled with up until the very end. The events/ circumstances that lead to the high emotional peaks could make or break a performance. It was difficult to just “shake it off” even if it was a minor mistake. I had nights I was proud of and nights where I was ashamed of myself for not getting it just right. I could list improvements I could have made to my performance on a given day. This search for unreachable perfection drove me to connect and channel: Mrs. Johnstone.    Sometimes a person must breathe and relieve tension due to trying to control everything around you.

Music

Peter-and-the Wolfing was used to prelude Mrs. Lyons. This is represented in the score where whenever a specific character is involved in. The character represents a specific instrument. Put simply the music represents their presence or movement. This is used especially with good guy/ bad guy scenarios. It helps the audience have audio cues of the contrasting characters and infer the overall essence of the characters.

I hope you came to the show and enjoyed this powerful story! I encourage students to participate and audition in next years musical!

Hey it’s Kiley giving a Blood Brothers update:

I rushed to get to school after visiting Medaille, I was on a tight schedule, and I had to get to rehearsal. I got there a little early, to my relief. Scenes were blocked and rehearsed. The deal is you can look at the script when blocking, but after that it must be stone cold memorized with appropriate inner subtext. I am glad Norm, an English professor, here at GCC, is burning the cast a dialect cds because dialect is something I have struggled with. Our group as a whole has a lot of work to do sooner rather than later.

Working on a show, if not careful can drain and discourage, but one must motive themselves and support others in order to have the best show. Maryanne Arena, our director, is tough on her actors sometimes, but this is because she wants the best. To get the best sometimes you have to push it out of people. Being in a couple of her shows I have learned to trust her judgment and her passionate tactics to get her actors to take two steps forward instead of two steps back.

This was the first full rehearsal, with her, and she made a cast member cry. I’ve noticed in each show I’ve done there’s always that one person that breaks down. Having a director that will be honest and motivate their cast is ideal. It shows they really care and wants what’s best for the show. This was a hard night, but I’m using the constructive criticism to push me to greater heights.

 

 

“When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his heart no man much respects himself.”  —Mark Twain

Hey it’s Kiley and today I’m  going to talk about proper audience etiquette, volunteer opportunities, and the tragic play In The Blood.

The truth is audience members behavior have an effect on the performances of the actors and actresses.

Here are some don’t s:

• Don’t smoke:this should be common sense, but trust me there’s always that one person.
• Don’t be “that guy”. You know the fool that leaves their phone on exposing their embarrassing ring-tone of some cheesy or bubble gum pop song. Trust me the other audience members will indeed roll their eyes.
• Don’t pop your gum.
• Don’t bring food.
• Don’t sing along.
• Don’t wear the largest hat you own. Just don’t wear a hat at all.
• Don’t side-talk. Who knows a parent or friend of a performer could be behind you.
• Don’t fall asleep. That’s just rude.

Here’s what you should do:

• Turn off your cell phone. Keeping it on disrupts the sound quality of the mics.
• Have tissues and cough drops ready.
• If in doubt, ask the usher.
• Come early.
• Be an active listener.
• Clap even if you hate it. These performers deserve respect, even if they don’t meet your high expectations.

Volunteering

I ushered for In The Blood: Thursday and Friday. It’s great that I can get Honors volunteer hours by volunteering in something that interests me.If you would like to volunteer in the future contact Ann Winters. Keep in mind the blood drive is coming up!

IN THE BLOOD

This play is not your typical screwball/ slapstick comedy.This show leads the audience to a dark place that many dare not think about. This is not a show with a yellow ribbon ending. This play is real grit: it’s life. This show does not allow the audience to escape from their troubles, but to think not just individualistically. To think about others who have it worse off then yourself and give back.Our individualistic society is full of me,me,me and are often stuck in their safe one view perspective. This shows purpose was to open the audiences mind to something personal and uncomfortable that is happening across the globe.This show is not placed at a linear time-frame (in order sequence of events) it is non linear meaning it jumps around. The audience must be aware of this and follow the visual and verbal cues:staying engaged to the unfolding story.This play set in New Orland’s post Katrina. This is a great setting because people have seen the devastating affects of this natural disaster through the news and other multimedia. This is a story of a woman and her family’s  day by day struggle to survive against all odds. Facing scrutinizing characters and the wrath of their judgment by every poor choice.These characters in their confession show their own true ugliness and hidden skeletons. These confessions parallel reality TV and how it is in-bedded in our culture.This play gives social commentary on the subjects of homelessness and mental illness. Too many times you hear people say, “they” should help themselves or  it’s “they’re” fault for getting themselves in the situation.  Is this kill or be killed Darwinist society we live in.Who is “they”. I feel like many people just turn people in need shadowy and faceless-almost dehumanizing them. Does being poor and unsuccessful make you a “bad” person? Of course not, but some people ignorantly shy away because of this.  When do you feel a person deserves help? Could you ideally watch someone hit rock bottom without reaching a hand? Did you ever think of how and why this person got into the financial struggle? What would your breaking point be? This play leads the audience to question society and their efforts in these issues.  The acting was very believable and I felt as an audience member I was looking in on the inner tragic world of this woman’s life. The modern dance in the beginning was the prologue that visually depicted the story from start to finish.The cast put six mounts of work into this show and deserve respect for their efforts. The cast and crew should be proud of the phenomenal job they did!

“Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not
really losing it. You’re just passing it on to someone else.”

— Mitch Albom