Inside the Interns Studio

The Cal Shakes Scramble

2011-01-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Glenn Carroll, Development intern extraordinaire, returns to the blogosphere.

I ask you, what better way can one start the new year than with AN INTERN BLOG? The Cal Shakes Scramble (not a McDonald’s breakfast option), as I’ve come to call my day-to-day existence, varies from researching local wineries to improving our filing integrity to trying every single bit of holiday candy goodness that comes in this office. In fact, I’ve never come so close to contracting diabetes as during the last three weeks of 2010, when everyone decided that the printer table at the end of the hall was the perfect place to put any delectable homemade confectionary delight.

Not having spent much time in offices during the holiday season, I never quite understood why every adult always lamented the increase in office junk food during this time. I mean, a different type of baked good every day? I would be the last to complain.

Unfortunately for my cholesterol and waistline, I spend a lot of time at that particular printer. And once the cookies started pouring in, I decided my time spent there should really increase. An envelope for the printer, a piece of fudge for me. Some letterhead for the printer, two gingerbread cookies for me. The day someone brought in truffles held a clear-cut victory for Glenn Carroll over the truffle-people in a very short amount of time. You can see where this is going.

After quite a canker sore, I begin this new year with plans to eat less processed sugar, and write more blogs. Hopefully the blogs will deal more with what I actually learn and work at here than what I eat, but I make no promises. Good luck to everyone else keeping their resolutions!

Introducing Glenn, 2010/2011 Development Intern

2010-10-22T15:58:00.001-07:00

The Bay Area is new to me. Originally from L.A., I moved up at the beginning of September for a part-time, unpaid internship in the Cal Shakes development department, a.k.a. my “post-graduation opportunity,” which is what I tell my employed friends. While this move may seem bold to some, I could tell from my first phone interview that Cal Shakes was the type of supportive, positive work environment that I had been craving.

Of course, I’d never seen one of their plays.

So clearly my number-one agenda item upon arrival was to see Much Ado About Nothing, the last show of the 2010 season. It would be very difficult asking people for money, garnering support for the company, and doing my daily work if I had never actually seen what I was supposed to be in full support of. I mean, there’s really only so far my BSing will get me.

Which is why I found myself one warm Friday evening at 7:59pm—having just parked my car between a rock, a hard place, and two very large minivans—running up what seemed to be the Mt. Everest of hills. Having stood in line at Zachary’s for 45 minutes, I was now in possession of a deep dish pizza so heavy it acted as a dumbbell for my friend Mary and I as we raced up the hill. Actually, as I discovered the next morning with aching muscles, we created a very effective exercise system for ourselves, namely running up steep asphalt drives while holding 10-pound pizzas at a 90-degree angle to your body while laughing so hard you almost pee your pants; it works your thighs, shoulders, biceps, and abs, respectively. Of course, the pizza soon countered all calories burned.

I should certainly know better than this. Being a theater person myself, I’ve always thought it rude to arrive late to a show and that you really ought to be in your seats 10 minutes before curtain. Really, people. It’s not asking much.

But of course it was asking a bit much for me that evening. Finally, out of breath, sweaty, and starving, we raced through to the entrance. “We’ve got the last two audience members rushing on their way right now,” I overheard on a house staff walkie-talkie. Great. They were holding the house for us. I was certainly making a poor first impression as the new development intern. We scrambled over other patrons to finally sit down in our seats with our pizza/dumbbell. Which is when I discovered we didn’t have forks, knives, or napkins. Plus, no one around us was eating. Does this mean everyone has already eaten? Or even worse, are you not supposed to eat in the theater? Obviously I know this for your typical, indoor house, but I thought the whole Bruns idea was picnicking under the stars while watching a show. I mean, this isn’t some candy either. We have an entire box of pizza on our laps. That we now have to eat with our fingers.

At this point, if we’re keeping tally, I have lost five points for being late, one point for each person I crawled over to get to my seat (three points total), 10 points for bringing a pizza into the theater, and four points for eating deep-dish pizza with my fingers. Subtract an extra two for being sweaty. That makes a grand -25 for Glenn Carroll, struggling Cal Shakes superstar.

But hey, there I was! I scrapped by and made it, and, as the opening music began and onstage revelry opened the scene, I soon forgot my last hour of misfortunes and fell into the wonderful world we had created. I happen to love Shakespeare, which means I absolutely-completely-and-utterly loathe poorly done Shakespearean productions. Other shows can be bad, but when Shakespeare is bad, it’s really awful.

Which is why I was so utterly delighted with Much Ado. The production was just delicious—witty, energetic, and entertaining as all get out. Not only that, but Mary—my cohort that evening, who does not especially like theater—was giggling more than I was! And what a relief, knowing that, of course, I will be able to fully and completely endorse Cal Shakes during my time here because this production was wonderful! What a commendable organization to be a part of, with their combination of fine theater, relaxed atmosphere, and the outdoors. I’m officially a fan. (No, really, check Facebook).

Since then, my experience working in the office has continued to increase my esteem for Cal Shakes and what we do here. I can’t wait to continue updating everyone on my exciting (and probably hilarious) adventures here this year! Until next time.

Shall not be long but I'll be here again!

2010-08-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

The title of my (final) blog comes from Ross in the current production of "Macbeth", but it has personal meaning - as of this past Friday, I am an intern no more. It's both a sad and happy time: I've had the absolute time of my life at Cal Shakes over the past 2 years, seeing three productions I was involved in make it to the stage ("Romeo & Juliet", "John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven" and "Macbeth"). If there's anything left to be learned in an internship, I certainly can't think of it (although, of course, I hope I never stop learning!), and I was lucky enough to get to see 2 previews of "Macbeth" from the audience. I was enthralled watching the show, even having seen it at least 10 times prior in rehearsals - Joel Sass, the actors and designers have all done an amazing job, and my goodbye to everyone Thursday night after notes was a tearful one. I am once again back in hot, humid and rainy Gainesville, Florida starting my Senior year, but all the love and lessons learned at Cal Shakes follow me here, and will for the rest of my life. So to all the actors, designers, stage managers, administrators, educators, production crew, office staff and devoted patrons who have come into my life these past two seasons, know you will stay there forever. So until next time (and there will be a next time, promise!), "I take my leave of you; Shall not be long but I'll be here again!"

-Dallas

Stage Management Intern '09-'10

When the hurly-burly's done

2010-07-24T23:04:00.000-07:00

"Agatha Christie, I love blood!" - Joel Sass, Director

That's how the first day began, and with the first week of rehearsals for "Macbeth" (or "Forever Plaid", as Lady M Stacy Ross calls it) nearly behind us, he hasn't let us down. Joel has worked hard with Dramaturg Philippa Kelly and Text Coach Lynne Soffer to make a contemporary and relatable adaptation of Shakepeare's supposedly cursed play, while maintaining the integrity of the original. It's recognizable yet new, and so is the staging. Along with the designers, Joel and the actors are creating a world that is so much like ours, but hard to place; very realistic, but somehow dreamlike; modern and classic. Most importantly, he's worked hard with Mr. and Mrs., Jud Williford and Stacy Ross, to create a couple that everyone knows and relates to, yet sinks to the darkest depths of ambition - all while somehow keeping those viewing from being able to choose a side. How can you relate to a serial killer? Because perhaps despite never having committed murder, everyone's let their ambition get the better of them at some time or other, and then felt the pain of guilt later. But enough about the serious stuff, let's talk blood! There's plenty of it in this production (remember last season's "Romeo & Juliet"? - go bigger). And it's not just gore for the sake of shock and awe, it's creative gore. Artistic blood. Take what you think about when you think of "Macbeth" - witches, cauldrons and sword fights - and toss them out the window. This show will surprise and frighten you, especially when you realize how meaningful Shakespeare's words still are in this modern age. It's safe to say you won't be disappointed.

-Dallas Kane, Stage Management Intern

Geraniums and laughter!

2010-07-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Dallas, back again with more tales of the intern life! It's been just over 2 weeks since the closing of "John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven" at Cal Shakes. The show was spectacular, perfect weather nearly every evening, not to mention an amazing group of people. Every day was a new challenge - speaking from a backstage perspective- but actors, crew, costumes, props and the set all held out till the bittersweet end (save for the party lights on the poles, which finally succumbed to the pressure on the closing matinee). The run crew, made up of myself, SM PIP Lauren, PA Christina and Deck Manager Sam, along with Lighting PIP Krista and Stage Manager Briana, had a fantastic photo shoot on closing weekend, complete with photos in the Model T Ford, "geraniums and laughter" and that infamous peach scene. I've included a photo at PIP coordinator Daunielle's urging (don't be alarmed, they finally realized they'd left me behind and waited for me to catch up). Closing was, as I said, bittersweet. Briana, myself and the actors had worked on that show daily for a little over 7 weeks, not to mention the Word for Word ladies and others who had workshopped it for the past 3 years. It was time to put it to rest, though, since "Mrs. Warren's Profession" had to move in to prepare for its opening, which was this past Saturday. I've mostly been on book, prompting and taking line notes through previews which is a welcomed physical break from the running up and down stairs from "Pastures" (here's some math that will make your legs ache: I went up a total of 36 flights of stairs per performance, equalling 936 total during the run, which in perspective is about 17 Eiffel Towers)! "Mrs. Warren", by the way, is fabulous, and a total 180 from "Pastures". It's amazing to me how the Bruns and the actors can transform so greatly from one production to the next. Stacy Ross has become one of my heros on this show - she's absolutely fascinating and and has such a presence on stage, and off, too. I am literally counting down the days (8) until I get to experience her Lady Macbeth. You still have plenty of time to see Stacy and the rest of the cast rock "Mrs. Warren's Profession", but get your tickets now! The SF Chronicle loved it, and so will you.

Until next time,

Dallas

Intern Eden Meets the Muralists

2010-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

My name is Eden Neuendorf; I’m an artistic department intern at Cal Shakes. I attended the Meet the Muralists event on Saturday, June 26, after the 2pm matinee of John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven.

It was a very hot day, but quite a few patrons stuck it out to listen to Salinas' José Ortiz (pictured below right in a photograph by Jay Yamada) and six of young muralists of Hijos del Sol describe the Pastures mural in the plaza, titled Las Pasturas del Cielo. People were very attentive while José spoke about the mural and his process, even applauding after the answer to a question from the audience. Many patrons stayed after the talk had ended just to ask more questions and to personally thank José and the boys. Patrons seemed very grateful of and amazed by the work.

What most interested me was to hear about the strong connection José and his students felt after reading Pastures of Heaven, and about how they felt a mural was the best way to present that connection to the stories. José gave a brief description of each story depicted in the mural, and also gave the illustrators a chance to say what part of the mural they had worked on. José said they all fought over the painting of Tularecito, because as painters they all connected closely with that story. It was also one of their favorite parts of the play. It was so amazing to hear how much these young artists connected to the story.

During the talk I was struck by the depiction of the sunset at the very far right side of the mural (photographed below by Paul Doyle). I’ve seen the mural so many times, but for some reason this was the first time I really saw the sunset. But Saturday afternoon, the picture and José’s description of the artist's intent really spoke to me. The sunset was painted with different shades of grays, which aren’t the colors you typically think of when you think about a sunset. They were trying to depict the Salinas sunset, ending the mural's story with lots of grays and just a glimmer of color and hope. This is how they interpreted the end of Pastures of Heaven. It’s beautiful; I’m thankful I was finally able to see it and to fully appreciate it.

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

2010-06-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

The week is drawing to a close and I feel like a senior in high school all over again. I have been bitten by the summer bug, and concentration seems ever-elusive. Yet at the same time I am loath to think about the fact that I am now entering my last week as an intern with Cal Shakes. Sadly enough this will be my first and last blog. I am an oddity when it comes to the Professional Immersion Program (PIP) as I did my internship from the beginning of January through this last week in June. Being here on the front side of the season did have its advantage, as I was able to see all the upheaval that goes into the preparation for an excellent summer. It was fascinating to be around the office when there were maybe 25 people total, in comparison to now, when the building is constantly buzzing with scenic construction, office work, and actors coming and going from rehearsal. It is an exciting environment and even more exciting is the fact that I got to see the transformation and be a part of it.

This week has been as busy as ever, as rehearsals for Mrs. Warren’s Profession are in full swing and Pastures of Heaven is about to enter its final week. Being an artistic intern provides the opportunity to dabble in a little bit of everything. From moving furniture and scrubbing floors in order to prepare the new green room, to scheduling, making phone calls, and doing errands, helping manage the company, and making sure all the artists are taken care of, there is never a dull moment in the artistic office! Needless to say I had no idea what I was actually getting into when I signed on as an artistic intern, but I loved every bit of it (even exhausting tech days where all I wanted to go do was go home and sleep). I have to say that after spending four hours one day spreading woo dchips over the groves I have a new appreciation for them!

I got to see Pastures of Heaven in its entirety for the first time at the Student Discovery Matinee last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The cast works so wonderfully as an ensemble and create such great interweaving stories that it is fun and exciting to watch; I would thoroughly recommend it to everyone. Besides, who wouldn’t enjoy coming out on a beautiful night to have a picnic and then watch a play that takes place not too far from here, against the beautiful backdrop of the Orinda hills. Working with Cal Shakes really has been the most amazing experience and I will miss all the fantastic and superb people that work here!

Therefore, I say not goodbye, but until we meet again!

—Brianna Hill

"You don't eat chicken? What's wrong with you? Everyone likes chicken!"

2010-05-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

The title today comes from John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven, the upcoming show for the season at Cal Shakes as well as the first show in the new home at the Bruns! Very exciting stuff. Also exciting is the new PIPS - interns, if you will - who were oriented today (I'm going to go ahead and guess that word is right since Blogger didn't underline it in red)! They are a cool bunch and it's going to be great having more people around, especially since this season is really taking off! Rehearsals have been long and exhausting, but really fun and full of creativity. The rehearsal hall has been bustling and loud these past couple weeks. This show is truly one of a kind thanks to Octavio Solis, our playwright and complete genius. I'm so lucky and thankful to get to work with all the wonderful people of this production and I am counting down the days until there is an audience that gets to feel the same joy I feel every day in rehearsal. There have been moments, just at the first go of a scene, where actors are amazed at what they see. Richard, who plays Richard Whiteside and Jimmie Munroe (among others), leaned in the other day and whispered how jealous he was of the audience, who gets to experience a particular scene (I won't give away which one) without any preconceived notions of what they are about to see. I agreed - it is so rare that I sit in rehearsal and am jealous of the people who will watch something totally unaffected by the process of developing it and just simply experience the emotions. This is one of those plays. Opening night is going to be an emotional and magical night at the Bruns, and it is only 16 days away, so get your tickets now!

Until next time,

Dallas

There's talk of gold

2010-05-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

Last post June 29, 2009?! We must amend this!

Dallas, here...again, back for round two at Cal Shakes! This time I'm not a hybrid, but a full-blooded Stage Management intern! My job: make John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven work - along with the other ladies of stage management, Briana (SM) and Katie (ASM).

Rehearsals began Thursday following a read-through and company gathering Wednesday with designers, management, dramaturgy, all eleven actors, director Jonathan Moscone and even the playwright Octavio Solis (who has adapted the script from John Steinbeck's novel of interconnected stories). It was straight to work, on the feet and on the same set that will be used in the actual show completely put together in the rehearsal hall. And let me tell you, it's BIG. Gigantic. Practically an entire house, all designed by Annie Smart. Jonathan has them doing amazing things already, including each playing multiple characters and a couple surprises that are too good to give away! Complete with an original score and choreography, let's just say this world premiere is bound to be one of the greatest shows Cal Shakes has ever produced, so you don't want to miss it!

On another note, the new interns arrive in one week! It will be exciting to have more interns around, and in our new home at the Bruns! So if you see any new faces around in the next few weeks, be sure to welcome them to the family!

Until next time,

Dallas

Making a lot from a little.

2009-06-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

This is Daniel, blogging from a little cafe on Telegraph Avenue. Romeo and Juliet ended over a week ago, and since then, we production interns have had plenty of free time to relax away from the Bruns. A project we've been working on together has been the Five-Week Conservatory production. I'm designing the lights, Lyrica is the master electrician, Jonathan is the sound designer/engineer, Edgar is the props master, and Julie and Erik are designing, building, and painting the set.

It's a fun process, despite our limited resources. The theater at the school is beautiful but, ah, a little outdated. With some hard work, improvisation, and a lot of extension cords and gaff tape, Lyrica and I were able to get the lights up and running. It'll be a two-person job to keep all of the dimmers, switches, and levers involved moving during the show, but I'm looking forward to it already.

The house of our theater, at Holy Names High School.

Cal Shakes Master Electrician Heather consulting with us on the lights.

You read it right—the dimmers were installed May 25, 1931. And they still work!

Old-fashioned glass fuses burn out easily but are cheap to replace.

This is Ellie, the Assistant Master Electrician's dog. She's adorable.

Other goings-on have included the San Francisco Gay Pride parade, which was even bigger and crazier than Bay-to-Breakers, and preparation for Private Lives, the next Main Stage show, and regular PIP intern training sessions. See ya next time!

Endings and Beginnings

2009-06-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Dallas again with a much needed update from the intern world!

Today was the fourth day of Cal Shakes Five-Week Conservatory, my latest adventure in my internship. Before I get to that, though, a conclusion to my adventures with Romeo and Juliet. Sunday was the closing performance (I hope everyone had a chance to see the show!), and it was the hardest goodbye I've ever made to a show. The last performance was fantastic, with perfect weather and an even greater audience; I couldn't have asked for a better way to bid adieu to not only such a wonderful production, but also a great cast and crew. Calling California home is still new and strange, but with the families I've made with the fellow interns, the cast and& crew of R and J and everyone in the office at Heinz, the transition has been not only smooth but thoroughly enjoyable. So thanks, everyone, for an amazing first five weeks!

Now back to Conservatory. Five-Week Conservatory is a Cal Shakes camp for the most serious of young actors, where they learn not only acting but also movement, voice, text, stage combat, and improv, plus other master classes. Conservatory culminates in each of the five age groups putting on a one-hour abridged production of a Shakespeare work and I have, you guessed it, Romeo & Juliet with the youngest group, the Merry Kinsmen. These kids have ENERGY! But all that energy becomes enthusiasm and drive when we get into our afternoon rehearsals.

Today the group played silent teams with Heidi in Acting; I can't pretend that I wasn't terribly nervous about 14 eight-year-olds having to be nearly silent for an hour while acting and working as an ensemble, but they proved me wrong. Not only was their work creative and entertaining, but they did it humbly and with respect. They were able to point out how they worked together—even if they didn't get the role they wanted within each scene, they recognized what the ensemble lacked and how they could fill the hole. It was inspiring to see kids prove that a great ensemble is possible at any age.

After that, Stage Combat was a breeze as they reviewed the unarmed techniques they learned early in the week and moved on to using the swords that will be used in the production. Once again, the focus and talent was surprising—I often looked around and realized they were leaps and bounds ahead of me! Auditions rounded out the day and casting decisions were made (my first casting experience, so fun). It really makes me look forward to the next four weeks and the challenges and rewards ahead.

P.S. Don't forget to get your tickets to all five of the Cal Shakes Conservatory performances on Friday July 24 and Saturday July 25! Just click on the "Performance Tickets" link at the top of the Summer Theater Programs page of our website to get yours.

Our lovely trip to the A.C.T. warehouse, and more...

2009-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Emily again. This week (the week of June 15th) I mostly worked on props with Edgar and Daniel during the mornings. One day we got to go to the A.C.T. (American Conservatory Theater) Warehouse in San Francisco with Props Manager Caela (who, by the way, we discovered is an expert suburban parker).

The Warehouse was fabulous, huge, and full of wonderful things! I got some fun pics...

They were much happier than they look!

Wow! So big.

This week I also did a lot of data entry. Gotta love them evals!

Dan, Edgar, and I painted some chairs:

And we had a training day in San Francisco. Here's all of us on BART:

Next Up... camp! I can't wait!!

cheers!
Emily Sobolew

Ooooh Student Matinees...

2009-06-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

I shall miss you so :( I really did enjoy myself today at our last Student Discovery Matinee, although I'd have to say that many of the kids were far less well behaved than the past groups we had and made some pretty obnoxious shout-outs during the show. Worse off, during the last half of the play I felt a small rock just miss my face & heard a rascal mutter "awww, you missed!" Ha ha... I'd like to think it wasn't for me. It was also pretty cold on this 10th day of June! (Not what I'm used to for summer time.) But like I said...I really had myself a good time! Listening to a fellow intern's lovely songs about her soda sales... and I really had a great group AGAIN! Big props to Unity High (pictured with me at right) for being so awesome & well behaved!
-Emily

The Private Lives of Costumes

2009-06-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hi, it's me again, Courtney, the Costume Design intern.

As of yesterday, this is where my job kicks into high gear for my department. Yesterday, I met Katherine Roth, the costume designer for Noël Coward's Private Lives, who I will be assisting during the the show's preproduction. With the majority of the Cal Shakes family, I attended the PL Meet-and-Greet, wherein we met the cast and creative team for Private Lives. I also attended the read-through, which was a great way to put faces and voices to the script I read last week.

After that, my job was to call around the Bay Area looking for vintage clothing shops that carry 1930s men's suits and tuxedos. This is a challenging task in itself. If you know a few things about vintage clothing, you'll know that authentic 1930s clothing is becoming increasingly challenging to find in this day in age, due to how old the clothing is and the deterioration of the fabric itself. However, I was fortunate to find a few shops that look very promising in terms of carrying what we are looking for. A few of the shops are new ones I have never heard of, and one is a shop I have actually looked around in for a show I designed in the past.

As far as the women's clothing for the show, it looks like we are building our own clothing from existing items brought in by Katherine. We also might be building a few items from scratch, as well. It's always amazing to see how costumes evolve from a paper or muslin pattern to a three-dimensional costume that looks fabulous.

I met actress Diana LaMar—Private Lives' leading lady—for measurements, and we helped pick some rehearsal shoes for her to practice in.

On the agenda today? Looking at the stock (costumes) of one of our fellow Bay Area theater companies. Hopefully, we will find some great items that will work for our show.

PS!

2009-06-07T23:20:00.000-07:00

Oops! Did I fail to introduce myself properly? I wrote the previous blog but I guess I missed that! I'm Emily, a soon-to-be-theater student at San Francisco State University and a lover of acting and theater ever since I learned to walk (if not sooner). I currently live here in the Bay Area, and I'm an Artistic Learning intern!

Emily's First ever and long, blog!

2009-06-07T22:53:00.001-07:00

I have to say that my first week at Cal Shakes has been both exciting AND inspiring! Both, you say? Ah but yes, and I'm looking forward to more. Oooof course there are those long office hours labeling, seeing Excel in my sleep... but honestly, I've gotten to hang with some amazing people during those times, AND I actually do enjoy learning how to use these new programs and being a part of the operations of the fabulous theater company they call Cal Shakes. In admin the other day I got to organize the donation tickets that are given out, which was really nice because I called some schools that had requested donations to let them know that we are still planning on sending them out, and they were so excited... made me feel all gooey and warm inside. I would also like to mention that I would have hoped to blog a bit sooner than this, but had been working a pretty heinous work schedule along with my internship. I am still working during this internship, but have switched to night hours (makes a HUGE difference). I thought it'd be too intense to work at the same time, though I have no choice. However, I find that when I am here I'm having a pretty amazing time... and I even get a sec to relax here and there, so I think I'll be able to pull it off.

Now, a special happy color for the special experience that they call the Student Discovery Matinee. Last Thursday (yes, this is long overdue) I was assigned to Joaquin Moraga (middle schoolers) and in, all honesty, I was a tad worried about it. I didn't have such a great time in junior high and I know kids can be pretty awful to deal with at that age. So I wasn't expecting angels. But I was very pleasantly surprised. They were so cute! They listened to me, I didn't see any dirty looks or eye rolling, and they even had conversations with me! I went around and met each table, asked them about themselves and/or told 'em about me. By the end of the day they yelled "We love you Emily"! Eeeee! I was a bit verclempt. And to get to watch a Romeo and Juliet performance again was so great. I've seen it quite a few times now, but I haven't really got tired if it yet. It inspires me, I think it's a totally amazing representation of the play, and the actors are really talented—It inspires me and reminds me that this always has been the only thing for me, and I want to be up there on that stage!

Also within this week, I worked at a Tasting Night (ate SOOOO many peaches courtesy of Farm Fresh to you... mmmmmm) and attended an evening performance w/ comp tickets for me and my hubby!

I'm thrilled to have this opportunity and to be a part of Cal Shakes, and so far I love you all. I look forward to the rest of the summer and what there is to come.

Hot Days and Jello (Just Don't Mix)

2009-06-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dallas here with another update from the intern world! We just completed performance number eleven of Romeo and Juliet and the show just keeps getting better! This past week has been pretty exhausting—two Student Discovery Matinees, one Meet the Artists matinee, one Shindig, two Tasting Nights, a smattering of backstage tours, not to mention Opening Night. It's a testament to the work ethic of this amazing cast and crew that we have even survived, but that's not to say there haven't been plenty of fun times. There have been countless Vespa rides around the Bruns, made-up lyrics to "Shut Up and Drive," mind-numbing games of Sets in the green room, and fight calls. Fight calls are slowed down versions of the fight scenes in the show that take place 45 minutes prior to curtain. With a slower pace comes room for improv and comedy, with versions of the Tybalt/Mercutio fight including Southern, Lisp, and Bored, with Julian (who plays the Prince) sitting in the audience, simultaneously reciting lines and reading The New York Times. It all leads to the seamless and realistic fight the audience then sees, ending, of course, in plenty of fake blood. I have included a photo of Craig Marker (Tybalt) taken especially for this blog just after said fight, and you can thank him for enduring the blood for this special photo shoot. Blood cleanup is messy at best, but things get especially difficult during matinees. After only ten minutes or so on the deck (the stage), which can become hot enough to burn bare skin, the Jello/Kool Aid mixture literally bakes in and becomes a black, sticky mess that resembles tar and is just as tricky to get up. It just goes to show that sometimes hot days and Jello just don't mix.

Craig Marker (Tybalt) bloodied after a run-in with Romeo and a chair

Intern Class 2009 with Daunielle (the internship program coordinator)

Lauren, SM Intern, riding a Vespa used in the show

Alycia, Deck Manager, enjoying an afternoon ride on the Vespa

Caitlin, Lauren, and Private Lives Stage Manager Liz taping the floor in the rehearsal hall

Romeo and Juliet and Berkeley

2009-06-04T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all—this is Daniel Chavez, the Lighting Design intern, posting live from the intern house. I'm currently enjoying a night off and reviewing life out here in the Bay Area while I'm at it. I'm from Washington, D.C., and before this, I'd never been further west than Ohio, so it's been interesting adapting to life out here. I'm already in love with Berkeley, and I spend a lot of my free time going on long bike rides around the area, finding cafes, used bookstores, art supply stores, taking yoga classes, and all that.

We don't get into San Francisco much—it's a long train ride, and most things to see or do are worth a full day trip. Our first weekend here, my roommates and I went into the city for Bay to Breakers—which was unforgettable—stopping by Chinatown and riding a trolley on the way home. The fog in and around San Francisco and the hills of Berkeley is absolutely gorgeous, by the way. After that, it was time for orientation, and then we hit the ground running!

Tech week is always intense, and Cal Shakes is no exception. Working in electrics meant working an average of twelve to sixteen hours a day until all of the lights were hung and focused and the cues were built. I was lucky enough to be shadowing the assistant lighting designer during tech, so I got a great firsthand look at the process. The lighting designer, Russell H. Champa, is an incredible guy to work with, along with the assistant lighting designer and the master electrician—my boss, Heather. Still, it was a relief when we survived tech and transitioned into previews. After helping to set up the opening night party, work has consisted of operating the light board four days a week and general intern-y work.

With more free time since then, I've had more time to see the sights, like Muir Woods and the Golden Gate Bridge. Did I mention that I'm in love with this place? I don't have any pictures up from Golden Gate Park or Haight-Ashbury, but trust me, they're great, too. There are still more interns and more company-wide events to come, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more posts soon!

A few quotes from R&J tech:

Dir: We need Friar John's letter!
SM: What would you like?
Dir: Well, I'd like something that's not a piece of paper that says "Friar John's letter" on it in sharpie.

"The director's patting himself on the back. That means you guys did great."

Like Butter

2009-06-01T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Intern blog has taken off once again and, as a blogger myself, I decided that today, the holiest of holy days, My Day Off (yes, it's a proper noun) would be the perfect time to hop on the bandwagon. I'm Dallas, Artistic Learning and Stage Management PIP, a kind of hybrid intern that may have just as easily hopped out of our Artistic Administrator's imagination as I did Florida.

I am one of the eight interns living in the intern house (you have read Carrie's entry, right?) and I could be known as much for my habit of singing Sheena Easton's "Morning Train" before work as for my love for baking. More dedicated Cal Shakes patrons could recognize our living room for being oddly reminiscent of last summer's Twelfth Night set, mainly because that's where a lot of the furniture came from. I've started the summer off on the Stage Management side, joining the brilliant team of ladies who make backstage at Romeo & Juliet the seamless and, might I say, highly attractive place that it is. Seriously, these ladies knows what it takes to make a transition run—and I quote R and J director Jonathan Moscone—"like butter".

There's more to it, of course, than moving chairs and locking the wheels on Juliet's bed; there's the side the audience sees yet never sees: the ridiculously clean moat. Yes, folks, this is like a backstage tour but without those pricey tickets. Let's review:

First, there's a stage to sweep. Easy enough, right? Wrong. It's textured and there's those darn stairs, not to mention backstage where actors lurk barefoot (a Stage Manager's nightmare, yet our time to shine). I won't spoil any details of the show for you, but let's just say it wouldn't be a daring Jonathan Moscone show if the actors simply stayed put on the stage. Mopping and vacuuming follow the sweeping, and a few groans follow thereafter. There's chairs to place, towels to hand off, props to set, torches to light, and a whole mess of other little details that go into making a show run night after night "like butter".

Hello from the costume shop!

2009-05-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Courtney and I am the Costume Design intern in Cal Shakes' 2009 Professional Immersion Program.

A lot has happened in the first two weeks of starting the program ,and I am finally able to get into the flow of what is going on at Cal Shakes.

As a design intern, I will be doing a lot—going here, there, and everywhere in a couple of weeks' time. I will be shadowing and assisting the Private Lives costume designer in their creative process from concept to reality. I will also be designing the Five-Week Conservatory production, I believe, and that will be loads of fun. I am hoping to update more in the future about all of my experiences, so you can have a better idea of what happens in the costume department.

So far, the ladies in the shop are wonderful and so helpful, allowing myself and Kimberley, the costume shop intern, to become comfortable with where things are. I was also able to attend a tech rehearsal with costumes used for the first time for Romeo and Juliet last Sunday. It was great all this week to see how the shop crew, wardrobe crew, Naomi the shop supervisor, and Raquel, the designer, all work together to solve "blood" challenges with the costumes. It was truly a team effort to make the blood believable, and the shop and crew make it occur effortlessly show after show.

Most recently I helped out with a majority of the other interns for the Opening Night party, which went very well! Lots of cake, champagne, mingling...everyone had a good time during and after the show. As I was passing out champagne, I had many audience members tell me how they loved the show, and offer congratulations to Cal Shakes and their 35th anniversary! Cheers!

I am hoping the week to come has some more great learning experiences...so here's to a new week!

First PIP blog of 2009! (Or, blood packs)

2009-05-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

...And thus begins all Cal Shakes summer blogging!

I guess I should start with an introduction: I am Carrie, Artistic Learning intern extraordinaire and lover of brightly colored tennis shoes. Two weeks ago, I boarded a plane out of the great city of Baltimore (Go O's!) to the Bay Area where I began what will be my three month stint as an intern at Cal Shakes. I, like seven of the other interns, am living in the intern house, which we have nicknamed Real World: Oakland (except that we are never at home, and we all get along). But this stuff all seems boring compared with the subject I want to discuss today.

Blood packs.

Yup, I said it. Blood packs. Romeo and Juliet is one gory show. I mean, this ancient grudge leads to some seriously bloody mutiny. It is AWESOME. But here's the thing about live theater: Every show is different. Sometimes, Juliet will put that happy dagger in that sheath and... nope, nothing. This may be, in large part, due to the fact that her blood pack somehow landed under Romeo's legs. Or Tybalt will just keep stabbing Mercutio until we can suddenly see a scratch—just a scratch.

Over the course of a tech, blood packs stop flying across the stage, blood finally reaches a realistic thickness, and everything comes together as it always should. Tech leads into previews which finally leads us to one of the most magical times in all of theater, Opening Night.

Tonight that magic begins. The Bruns will be filled and everything will be perfect. Especially, the Opening Night Party music mix. Just wait... it's worth it.

Okay, that's all for now. Go see Romeo and Juliet!!!!!!!!!

just who are those jonas brothers anyway ?

2008-07-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'm Ava.

As five-week conservatory has sadly just come to an end, two-week conservatory is gearing up for a exciting beginning (and Hannah and I have just had our final YWCA Hip-hop class), I feel it's time to stop and reflect for a moment on the summer thus far. My five-week group were the 8th, 9th, and 10th graders, appropriately named the Dashing Danes (please note the alliteration). Last Friday, along with the rest of the highly talented camp, they performed our post-apocalyptic interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. The show, as with the four others performed that day, was a huge success and I commend all the students on their high level of dedication and creativity. In one of our final circle-ups as a group we reflected on the great deal I had learned from them (most notably, who the Jonas Brothers are and just why we hate Miley Cyrus) and the pearls of wisdom they took away from me ("how to flirt with boys!" and more seriously: how to be collaborative owls). To be honest, the positive experience of it all has left me a little bit nervous moving into two-week conservatory. Hannah and I will be working together with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, and that's a whole new challenge. Will I be entertaining/patient/helpful enough for the younger students? Will a 30-minute version of Pericles even make sense? Who's going to explain what a brothel is??

Time will tell. And, regardless of my doubts, I'm having a blast trying to figure it all out.

Peace,

Ava Jackson

2008-07-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

I am Hannah Fazio and I grew up in Minnesota. For those of you who haven't been there, it's usually pretty cold and always very flat with cows and lakes and all that. In the summer it's humid and pretty hot.

It's not really the ideal place for outdoor theater. That's probably why my parents were so impressed when they came to visit me from Minnesota this past weekend.

We went to see An Ideal Husband on the Cal Shakes Main Stage. My brother packed a little picnic and, though all the tables were taken by the time we got there (an hour and a half before the show), we found a little stump and had a nice time. While watching the show, my dad commented that the hill behind the stage was probably bigger than any peak in Minnesota, which is probably true. Both my parents loved the show and the entire experience in general, and the packed picnic tables are proof that people appreciate the beautiful setting and wonderful theater as much as we did.

8 AM Magic at the Cal Shakes Conservatory.

2008-07-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hey all, Kristin here. Home at a decent hour from Cal Shakes' Five-Week Conservatory in Lafayette. Tomorrow we are putting on five Shakespeare shows, so the interns have been "all-hands-on-deck" for the past week. I have been staying late to help with lighting (and by helping, I mean handing over my crescent wrench and standing on ladders). I have slept scarce hours in the past week and it's starting to show. So needless to say, waking up is hard.

Today was a once, twice, three times a-wakey day. Three alarms, three snooze buttons and three valiant attempts to rouse myself. I hopped on the BART at the ungodly hour of 8 AM, ready to pass out and wondering how I was going to make it through the long day ahead.

I caught the shuttle to the Bentley school from the BART station. When I walked onto that bus and sleepily said hello to Richard, I was greeted with a flood of salutations.

"Hi, Kristin!"
"Good morning, Kristin!"
"Ahhh, Kristin!!!"

I whipped around to find half of my kids sitting on the shuttle! They greeted me with bright eyes, smiling faces and waving hands. And even though I fell asleep on the way to Bentley, it totally made my day. Joyful greetings are way better than coffee. OK, maybe not better. But still pretty fantastic.

For the past four weeks, I've been stage managing Romeo and Juliet with the oldest group of actors. My kids are in high school and completely amazing. I feel so blessed to be able to pop over to Lafayette for a couple hours every day and get to watch 16 kids take remarkable strides as performers and as people. The talent, energy and commitment they dish out every day is unbelievable.

Tomorrow is our big show day. I am so proud of them and so excited to see what they give to that audience. It's a little odd for me, because though it is the last day, I'll be seeing most of them next week.

SHAMELESS PLUG! Cal Shakes will be represented at the San Francisco Theater Festival with our conservatory's production of Romeo and Juliet! It ain't over 'til it's over, baby!

So, moral of this blog entry: I love my kids. Tomorrow's going to be epic. Lack of sleep results in disjointed blog entries.

XoXo - Kristin Loughry, SM Intern.

Tools

2008-07-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hey there ... Hannah Fazio here. Anyone who knows me would probably be very amused and a little afraid to know I'm working with power tools this summer. It's not really something I do. That's why I was skeptical when one of the production interns asked me to help him build sets--I haven't built anything since Tech Ed in eighth grade. My experience in theater has so far solely been in acting and assistant directing because, honestly, I tend to overlook other aspects. I always thought they didn't concern me because I was planning on being an actress or a writer, but now that I have discovered the wonders of power tools, I think I might reconsider my life plan so that it can include more staple guns.

When I arrived to help Ben, the scene intern, after two week camp on Tuesday I was unsure of exactly what he wanted me to do. "Wait, wait ... you want me to touch that saw? Can I just glue stuff?" I asked. He assured me that it would be fine, and I put the goggles on and started sawing the wood pieces. After that I think it's safe to say that I was a flat-building machine. Every time I touched the staple gun my heart raced. I felt like such a rebel. It was awesome. When we were done with the whole process of cutting the wood, stapling the flats, covering them with cloth, and then finally to painting them, I felt so accomplished. I actually built flats that would help serve as a setting for the plays in the conservatory productions of Twelfth Night, Pericles, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. It was awesome.

A (Tues)day in the Life of Pericles . . .

2008-06-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I suppose introductions are in order before we depart on this epic blogging journey.

My name is Kristin Loughry. I am going into my junior year at Ithaca College in upstate New York. I'm originally from the Boston area. I enjoy pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, though I hate Jimmy Buffett. (Good thing that song is by Rupert Holmes, then, says your older-than-dirt editor.) I have never lived in California before. I came out here because a) they offered and b) I thought it would be fun. And boy, how right I was! I am one of four stage management interns here at Cal Shakes this summer. I was assigned to work on Pericles. Now that Pericles has closed and my summer is far from over, I've had some time to reflect on my experience thusfar and take advantage of new opportunities Cal Shakes is putting before me.

In future entries, I shall regale you with tales of tech, conservatory camp and the infamous intern apartment. But for now, while it is fresh in my mind, I'll take you on a super condensed version of my life during the run in Pericles.

Oh, and I also promise the future entries won't be this long. They probably will include stories from Pericles, however. But only because I love Pericles. A lot. Maybe a little bit too much.

7:30 AM - Wake up! Wonder why you are awake so early. Remember you have a SMAT (student matinee) at 11 AM. Make scrambled eggs with oregano because it's the only spice you have.

8:30 AM - Attempt to leave the apartment. Realize you forgot something. Repeat three times.

9:30 AM - Arrive at the Bruns! Conquer the hill.

9:35 AM - Apply sunscreen. Liberally.

9:40 AM - Sweep the carpets on stage. Curse carpet for being difficult to sweep. Whistle (or hum, as the case may be) while you work.

9:45 AM - Crawl around on the carpets checking for staples. Remove staples with a screw driver and replace with screws.

10:10 AM - Watch as the knights make funny faces during dance call and certain actors do fight call without pants.

10:20 AM - Fold the oceans. Again. And again. And again.

10:25 AM - Move Ellie the elephant. Curse Ellie for being huge and made of steel.

10:30 AM - House open and Actor's half hour break. Make yourself a bagel.

10:45 AM - Get dressed for show. Find Petey the Parrot (as pictured above) and complete your ensemble. Put on more sunscreen because you're already burning.

11 AM - Places for the SMAT! Make sure the actors put shoes on so that they don't get third -degree burns on the bottoms of their feet.

11:05 AM - Kill a bee for Pericles.

11:20 AM - Be serenaded by our melodious bovine neighbors. Curse the cows for being cranky. Swear to cook some beef when you get home.

11:30 AM - Escape the heat in the air-conditioned dressing rooms for all of Pentapolis.

12:20 PM - Intermission!

12:35 PM - Start Act II. Cue the actors with an otter pop in hand.

12:36 PM - Hold otter pops for people that are onstage.

12:52 PM - Find out that there is something sharp onstage that the actors have been stepping on. Find out its been there since Act I. Warn everyone as to where it is and keep Band-aids handy.

1:30 PM - Curtain call! Begin resetting for the top of the show.

1:35 PM - Go watch the Q & A session with the kids. Note all adorable questions.

1:50 PM - Retire to the green room. Pass out on the couch.

5 PM - Wake up! Continue to be in a nap coma.

5:15 PM - Vacuum the runners. And the escape stairs. And the trap room. Empty the shop vac twice during all this vacuuming because there's so much sand everywhere.

6:15 PM - Check the area of stage where there was a sharp thing. After an exhaustive search, find nothing. Determine that someone is on crack. Re-sweep the carpets. Continue checking for and removing staples.

6:45 PM - Stomp about stage like a possessed woman with a screw gun, re-securing pieces of floor.

6:55 PM - Move Ellie again. Wonder why she's so freakin' huge.

7:00 PM - House open! Run up to catering and grab the "Chris Kelly Burrito."

7:15 PM - Witness the debauchery of the 80s dance party in the women's dressing room. Sing along to Laura Branigan's "Gloria."

7:30 PM - Places! Listen to the House Speech from backstage. Chant PEET'S COFFEE AND TEA with the patrons. Watch Sarah Nealis kiss part of the set.

7:34 PM - Do the Antioch Dance.

7:40 PM - Continue to curse the cows as they get louder when the sun goes down. Watch farmers chase them across the hills.

8:00 PM - Re-tie Cindy-Lou-Who, the dead hooker used in the brothel.

8:50 PM - Intermission. Call your best friend. Tell them that even though you were supposed to call them today, you will have to call them tomorrow because by the time the show is done it'll be 1 AM on the east coast and they have to work in the morning. Become frustrated with time differences.

9:05 PM - Places for Act II!

9:10 PM - Sneak up to the booth to watch the Leonine/Marina scene. Snag some hot chocolate. Sneak back down to spot some pirates.

9:15 PM - Catch Cindy-Lou-Who as she comes flying off the deck.

9:25 PM - Stargaze as Lysimachus is swayed by Marina's virtue.

9:45 PM - Play hide-and-seek with Gower as you try to cue him for an entrance.

9:50 PM - Hand off lanterns to temple-goers. Nearly kill yourself getting the lantern into the hand of a Pericles, who is traveling 90 MPH after a quick change.

10:01 PM - Do the "catching lanterns" dance. Try not to get made fun of.

10:05 PM - Put everything away, tarp up the boxes, big props and green room couches.

10:10 PM - Hang out and unwind with the cast. Shoot the shit, play some poker, and have impromptu dance parties long after the patrons go home.

11:42 PM - Arrive home. Start eating Nutella with a spoon straight out of the jar. Avoid judgmental gazes from your roommates.

11:45 PM - Make t-shirts for the entire cast and crew. This project takes several days. Be woeful that "Kristin's Craft Corner" has taken over the apartment.

11:55 PM - Watch too many episodes of Heroes with your roommate. Wake everyone up when you both vocalize every plot twist.

2:00 AM - Pack up the craft corner, hit the shower and pass out. Think about going to work again tomorrow and smile as you go to sleep. Smile extra wide when you remember that you don't have a SMAT and can therefore sleep in.

Congrats! You've made it to the end of our journey. Next week, we can all look forward to more stories and short blog entries.

XoXo - Kristin Loughry, SM intern.

A day in the life

2008-06-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

In many ways the Cal Shakes office is like any other office. Coffee is a great priority, desks are decorated with pictures of happy children, not-so-happy children, and travel destinations. Personal items are displayed so that everyone can remember the great memory surrounding some joke that no one remembers. The interns get their closet (a very warm, attractive closet) and everyone is happy.

And then there is the copy machine.

The copy machine is both your best friend and your worst enemy. It is like a child that gleefully runs ahead only to collapse, exhausted a few moments later. You can coax it, offer it new toner and miles of paper, but if it wants to stay jammed it will stay jammed. Everyone in the office circles around it with an air of reverence and frustration. "Will it be nice to me? Will it print my 50 manuals? Or my 100 forms?" Like a child, eventually its stubbornness wears off and its gears become eager to be fed pages. So have patience, read a book, stare at the actors' head shots and all will be well.

One must also develop--how should I put it?--a certain telephone style. "Hello this is ____ calling from Cal Shakes. Your son is enrolled in our summer camp.... No nothing happened... No he didn't eat... no he didn't put... Yes, everything's fine...I'm only calling about a form...Yes a form...It's missing. You gave it to him? Well it's not here. I don't know what he could have done to it. Could I send you another?" Et cetera.

It's nice when one can disappear into a research project, put all those random internet browsing skills to use. Find community organizations involved in farm outreach (for our NW/NC Steinbeck Project), or professors who specialize is qualitative educational research, or brainstorm educational themes for teacher manuals.

Then there are the rehearsals. On breaks or when the office has a slow day you can walk down to the rehearsal hall and watch proceedings that anyone outside of theater would consider the behavior of lunatics. The director pops out of his chair to whisper secret little suggestions to a pensive actor. Actors circle, mumbling lines. Some lounge on the side. Some sit muttering how they would direct it. Some joke easily. Some joke awkwardly. Sometimes a bit is done a million times. Sometimes the scenes flow beautifully. Then there are those times when one forgets that it's a rehearsal hall, and just falls into the tale. But a break must come or the time must end and the story is never finished. One leaves wanting to hear more, to see more of these characters' lives.

But the characters become people who walk around and say hello to you and ask you where you're from. Then the day goes on.

--Kate Jopson (artistic learning)

Finale

2008-06-11T13:24:00.001-07:00

Hey guys!
It's been a while! I've been way busy with finals, studying and scholastic things. Oh and the fact that THE SEASON IS HERE!
If you all have a chance, go see Pericles. It's fantastic.
I really like italics.
I'm going to write in them.
Anyways: This is my last post 0n the Cal Shakes intern blog because I am no longer an intern. It's sad and wonderful all at the same time. Kind of like this fantastic movie.
These italics are starting to bug me.
Sorry.
Again, anyways: I'm really excited for this summer. I started my big-person job on Monday as the Artistic Learning 2 Week Camp Coordinator which has been really really fun. There have been moments where I'm working and feeling like I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing on the clock because it's so fun and I end up having to remind myself that I'm doing my job.

I even got my own Cal Shakes email! dsmith@calshakes.org . Want to see my signature? OKAY:

Derek Smith
Artistic Learning Camp Coordinator
California Shakespeare Theatre
701 Heinz Ave. Berkeley, CA
"Pitch-perfect!" - SF Chronicle
"Breathtaking, completely engaging, and joyously theatrical!" - Contra Costa Times
Shakespeare's PERICLES
adapted & directed by Joel Sass
now - June 22
Call 510.548.9666 or click www.calshakes.org.

Sorry. Next Order of business.

IN THE HEIGHTS is my new favorite musical.

Let's go to...

VIDEOoftheWEEK

This is Brian Nash, a musician that I saw perform at The Duplex in Manhattan a year or so ago. He's way funny and does a lot of piano-bar type of shows. Anyways, this is him performing all characters in ONE DAY MORE from Les Mis. Sooooo fantastic.

Make sure to catch me on the main cal shakes blog where I'll be posting about my job in Artistic Learning and then all the usual musical theatre references that I sneak on in!!!

Peace and Love,

Derek

Tis the Season!

2008-05-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

Oh Hello there...

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged, it's been really busy around here. The good thing though is that it's a really good busy. It's like that holiday buzz because the season has started!
Two weeks ago when I drove up to the Cal Shakes parking lot I was so happy to not find a parking lot because it made me remember that Pericles had started rehearsal which meant officially that THE SEASON HAD STARTED!!! (But let's not lie, I knew this day was coming thanks to the fact that I made one of these for my room.) It's not that the off-season at Cal Shakes isn't fun, it's just that there's a certain hustle and bustle of the Season that really brings Heinz alive.

Anyways, I started off April 25th (seems like a year ago) with a lot of fun stuff to do. New Works/New Communities had a big meeting in Jon's office which made it totes official. We discussed follow up procedures and discussing the upcoming events that we do during the season. Last season we did a program called Love Test where non-profit youth organizations from Oakland and San Francisco were given an teaching artist residency who helped them write their own version of King Lear. Then, they went into rehearsal with professional actors from our 2007 production of King Lear who acted out their scripts in a performance prior to a special matinee performance of the show.

Now this week I'm doing some organizational stuff to help get New Works set up for this season as well as basking in the seasonal spirit of Heinz.

Oh something else I wanted to mention was that I work at this little restaraunt/cafe in Danville and I was talking to this couple that I was serving and we were talking about theatre and how her daughter was a theatre student in college and how I am too. Then about 20 minutes into the conversation we all three realized that we knew eachother because their daughter was an intern with me last summer! Britt Lauer and I go way back to Dublin Theatre Company improv classes so it was really fun to see her parents again. But also, I was stunned because Britt's mom told me she read the intern blog! And on top of that, UNDERSTOOD one of my musical theatre references and emailed it to Britt. Astounding. I also thought that was really cool because I always picture just some Cal Shakes employees occasionally reading this and not anyone else. So shout out to Mr.&Mrs. Lauer! Thanks for reading!

In other news...

I'm attending San Diego State University in the fall which is really exciting. Doin the college thing with dorms and everything! But more importantly...

VIDEOoftheWEEK

This is Reg Rogers in The Injured Party at South Coast Reperatory in Costa Mesa, CA. Reg was Richard in Richard III last season and one of my favorite things about working in a theatre company is seeing what actors do next or just seeing them play other characters. It looks like he's fantastic in this.

I think that's it!

Peace and Love,

Derek

4 More Weeks

2008-04-18T15:41:00.000-07:00

until school's out. I feel like since I'm a college sophomore that I shouldn't have this underlining countdown going on in the back of my head due to a profound maturity level or something, but I don't. I feel like every spring semester just gives me this intense feeling of excitement to be out in the sun hanging out and being active rather than at my desk pretending to be interested in the different social classes of America. I guess it's that little third grader in me. On that note, exactly 30 more days till finals and then I'm FREE!

On more of a Cal Shakes note:
Today was pretty busy for me. I came in and helped look for names of Production Assistants then had a mini-meeting with Emily Morrison (AL Mother Hen) about this summer and planning ahead for future work on 2-Week Camps! It was totes* exciting and I can't wait to start. After that little mini-meeting I caught up with Beth Sandefur (Gala Queen) which was nice since I hadn't seen her in a good two weeks. Then I went on to having a New Works/New Communities meeting and catch-up session with Tara and J-Rich (Jessica Richards, Cal Shakes Princess). Lovely, lovely times y'all. Right now I'm working on updating our contact lists for bay area youth organizations to work with for our 12th Night Project. It's sad to have to update this list because often times you'll find that some non profit organizations have closed or lost a member of their team.

What else to talk about.......

let's see.
I know I already mentioned that [title of show] is going to broadway, so what else.............

OH! The NY Times did a fantastically witty review on Brodway's: The Little Mermaid. Check it out here.
here are some highlights:
"The whole enterprise is soaked in that sparkly garishness that only a very young child — or possibly a tackiness-worshiping drag queen — might find pretty."
"Ursula’s electric-eel henchmen resemble revelers at Limelight, the departed New York dance club, on a dinosaur-theme night."
"The unfortunate Ms. Scott has eight octopuslike tentacles to contend with, which may account for the bizarre mutability of her accent, which shifts among Cockney, plummy English, Brooklynese and Zsa Zsa Gabor Hungarian."

God I love the NYTimes.

OKAY: How about

VIDEOoftheWEEK

How crazy is Elaine Stritch?
SUPER CRAZY!
and i love every minute of it.

Peace and Love,

Derek

Blog for Blogs Sake

2008-04-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

That's right, y'all. I don't have much to talk about so I'm really just posting a blog for the sake of posting a blog. I was out of the office last week due to a necessary mental health day* and because it was just so darn sunny outside.

Today I haven't done too much either though. I'm sort of just working on writing cover letters to some San Diego theatres and formulating my resume. It's actually really great because I'm using a lot of the resources given to me last summer during the Resume Workshop for interns. I know that sounds like a blatant plug for reasons as to why you should apply, but it's true. I saved all of the notes and information and have been using a lot of it for applying for part time jobs for when I move down to San Diego. It's also been really nice because Daunielle Rasmussen (Intern Shepherd) has been helping me figure out how to present it all. Usually I wouldn't have any problems but since I've done so many different jobs at Cal Shakes I don't know how to explain that and where to do so.

ANYWAYS:
Enough of the boring stuff- let's move on to more important topics like...

[TITLE OF SHOW] IS GOING TO BROADWAY!!!
-I know this has absolutely nothing to do with Cal Shakes and/or my internship whatsoever, but you have NO idea how excited I am for this. Check it out!

Something else on today's blog itinerary: The Cal Shakes Bullpen Blog has moved! Sort of in the way that Lucky's got married to Albertson's and changed their name to Albertson's. Then just recently changed their name back to Lucky's, which I guess means they got a divorce... But either way it's really exciting. calshakes.blogspot.com has all the wonder of Stefanie Kalem's blog but with the addition of actor blogs and blogs from Word for Word members!

Let's move on to ...

VIDEOoftheWEEK

I'm pretty sure I've posted Stairway to Stardom videos on here before, but this is my new favorite**. S2S was a 1980's public access television talent show. If that doesn't spell fun...

Things to Note:
1.) She wrote and composed the song herself.
2.) I'm pretty sure she made that outfit too.
3.) The vocal riffs on "Tease-a-Louise"
4.) Fierce facial expressions

Well blog children that seems to be it for the week. Next week I'll be in San Diego and then maybe the week after that I'll post the BLOG OFF with Stefanie Kaylime. What is Kaylime? is it a flavor? KEYLIME. A pie. That's right. And a great one at that, even though I'm not much for meringue.

Peace and Love,

Derek

*Who sleeps on books? Ever heard of a pillow? duh....
**Besides Melissa Ann Ledwon and Precious Taft.

FUN STUFF

2008-03-21T15:44:00.000-07:00

So on Monday, I went to Salinas with Jessica Richards, Tara Misra, Jon Moscone, Stefanie Kalem Octavio Solis, and a few wonderful Word for Word people. I'm not going to blog about that yet because we haven't organized the photos from it yet and Stefanie's going to make an awesome Road Trip Movie about the trip which will be a part of the BLOG OFF! Get excited, people.

So I've got a fun story for you all. I'm upstairs sitting in Daunielle Rasmussen's (Official Intern Shepherd) GLORIOUS desk that is without question the nicest desk in all of Cal Shakes. I'm on the brand new macbook that we bought for the company and I'm organizing the photos that we'll post on the new works/new communities flickr page soon. Just an ordinary day in the ordinary life of my internship.

All of the sudden the whole freaking bull pen comes up which was really weird and wonderful but I just figured that they were having some meeting that I was going to just continue working during. But it was weird to see everyone up in artistic either way. So then Emily Morrsion (Artistic Learning/Interpretive Dance Goddess/Song Leader) said that they all needed to talk to Jean-Paul and at that moment, in my head I was picturing like, everyone filing a complaint to Jean-Paul. I don't know what about, but it just made sense to me. The next thing I know, they're singing that jolly good fellow song to me for a good five minutes. I must have had the most confused face on because I literally had no idea what the heck was going on.

For a minute I thought they might have mistaken my birth date.

But in reality, they were actually thanking me for my work on the gala, which was very, very wonderful and kind of them. They got me a HILARIOUS card and a gift that was WAY too much and I just want to say thank you to them blog style. Hats off you you, Cal Shakians and thank you so much for the card and gift. It is really wonderful and quite an honor to work with all of you, I love you all very much.

So again, stay tuned for the upcoming BLOG OFF between Stefanie Kaylime's Bull Pen Blog and my humble intern blog. Think super-bowl people. I want to hear about the super-blog pool going on.

For now please enjoy this week's...

VIDEOoftheWEEK

(i don't know how to make an underline because "command+u" isn't working on the macbook and I use a PC and i also don't know how to embed it)

This is what I want to be when I grow up.

Not a Tony winner, just as cool as Beth Leavel.

Thanks again Cal Shakians. Keep Shakin' it!

Peace and Love,

Derek

Post-Gala & Pre-Trip

2008-03-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

HEY HEY HEY!

So last weekend was the 2008 California Shakespeare Theatre Gala: Gateway to India. It was absolutely INSANE! We arrived at the Rotunda building in Oakland at 9AM on Saturday morning. We sorta just hung out for the first half hour. While Paul Doyle and I indulged in some delicious Odwalla Orange Juice (props to Liz for food that day) Beth Sandefur (Gala Queen) had a rundown of the day's events. That's when the heavy lifting began and to be honest, I still had a good time. It was really hard work but it was still with really fun people who are all putting in their time to raise some money for theatre. It was cool.
The BEST part of it, though, was Winkie. Allow me to explain: The Rotunda wasn't allowing us to use the regular elevators to load things up to the second floor, so we needed to use the freight elevator. It looked like this inside except bigger and more terrifying. Let me give you the rundown of events that take place when you take a ride on Winkie (our name for the frieght elevator).
1.) Open doors of death. (LOUD NOISES)
2.) Step inside and close doors of death and cage of terror.
3.) The brakes attatch to the elevator. (SCARIEST NOISE EVER)
4.) Then you ride either up or down, being able to see the walls move on both sides of you, which still makes really scary noises.
-If you're lucky, Winkie will make a piercingly loud screeching noise that reminds me of the revival of Sweeney Todd.
5.) OPPOSITE WALL OPENS UP INTO DOORS.
I swear you guys, it was the best part of being on Gala Crew. Paul and I literally rode it about twenty times either for sport or to do actual work.
So then baisically once everything was set up, we took a break. I took a nap in my car and then went back in my homecoming best to the gala! All of the decorations looked beautiful and it all came together. The event itself went by really fast (either because I was mentally asleep during it or because I was over caffinated) and after the party was done we started carrying heavy things again. Little by little the staff left, but there were a magic 6 that stayed to load everything into the truck. Jean-Paul Gressieux, Jessica Richards, Ian Evans, Paul Doyle, Beth Sandefur and I. After waiting for the tech guys to finish loading their stuff we finally loaded ours and we were out of there by a fresh 4AM.
Again, hard work but with fun people all for a good cause.

ABRUPT SUBJECT CHANGE:
Monday Cal Shakes is taking another trip down to Salinas! Jessica, Tara and I are being accompanied by Jon Moscone (Artistic Director), Stefanie Kalem, Octavio Solis and a few fabulous members of Word for Word Organization. It's going to be way fun and I'm excited to go back, it's a beautiful area. More on this later! Also: stay tuned for an official BLOG-OFF between Stefanie Kalem's Cal Shakes' Bull Pen Blog and me and my blog!

VIDEOoftheWEEK:

This is the brand new Broadway show In The Heights about the beauty of living in Washington Heights. How awesome does it look? Check it out here. I'm thinking that this might be the show to watch this season.

That's all for now!

Peace and Love,

Derek

Happy Gala!

2008-03-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

What's a gala? And how do you pronounce it?
These are both good questions to which I do not have answers. What I do know is that I need to be at the Rotunda building in Oakland at 9AM tomorrow to carry heavy things. I also know that The Gala's theme is Gateway to India and the dress is "festive formal." The only real experience I have with super formal events is the prom so the only thing I can picture for "festive formal" would be this or this. Thus, I have no idea what I'm supposed to wear, but either way I think it's going to be really fun and exciting and glamorous.

In the other shoe J-Rich (Jessica Richards), Tara Misra and I have been working on doing research on other New Works-type programs that other theatre companies across the Nation have put together. What I've found so far is that almost no other theatre does exactly what Cal Shakes' New Works/New Communities program does. The most common New Works program is doing staged readings of brand new shows alongside the playwright. What Cal Shakes does is brings people of diverse backgrounds together around the creation of a new work of theater inspired by classic literature. Through a process of heavy research, community involvement, writing and workshops, we find a way to bring and relate new theatre to diverse communities with stories of their own to tell through literature like The Pastures of Heaven. It offers a very specific point of view and after doing so much research, I'm proud to work for such a progressive, original program. It's very cool.

Moving on to the next item on the agenda, who saw the finale of Project Runway? Let's just put it this way: it was FIERCE! Here's my breakdown:
Rami Kashou's collection was a little disappointing. While it was intricate and detailed, some of the designs were a little bit dated, repetitive and off.
Jillian Lewis' collection was beautiful and incredibly detailed, but had no consistency. It didn't look like a line of clothes it just looked like someones closet.
Christian Siriano's collection was fanTASTIC! During the start I was a bit concerned because it was black after black after black, but then went into some incredible pieces.

VIDEOoftheWEEK

I know it's long but just sit back, open a can of Fresca and enjoy.
Notables:
1.) The variety of outfits meeting her versatility.
1.) SO MANY QUOTES! Current faves:
-"Ostrich feathers, anyone?"
-"Here I've added a fox draped over my shoulder."
-"Or when I'm riding my motorcycle!"
-"The puffed sleeves on this dress make it particularly interesting."
3.) There's a part two...

Peace and Love,

Derek Smith

PS: Happy Birthday to our awesome Production Manager, Jean-Paul Gressieux!

What's that smell?

2008-02-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, long time no blog.

This morning when I stepped out of my car into the Cal Shakes parking lot, I smelt something most foul. I couldn't really figure out what it was, but it was something. I walked into the bullpen and simply said "Why does it smell like poop outside?" Of course, at ten in the morning this made for some GREAT conversation. But yes, the Cal Shakes office has been smelling chicken manuer all day due to some updated landcape. Good for the flowers, bad for the appetite.

Enough of the doodie, let's get to last weekend which is when I went on a road trip to Salinas* with Jessica and Tara from New Works/New Communitites! We were going so we could do some field research about John Steinbeck, migrant farm workers, agricultural history and The Pastures of Heaven. It was great fun and we met some incredible people with lots to say and share with us.

We did a lot, so rather than writing about all of it, I'm going to give you some highlights:
1.) The Steinbeck House: where John Steinbeck grew up in his childhood but has now been turned into a lunch restaurant. The restaurant has been designed, decorated, and kept up by all donated services. The only service that is being paid for is the Chef’s work and the book keeper’s services. I found this to be really incredible because it's a community working together, giving up their free time and energy to restore something so important. The house is ran by volunteers of the Valley Guild who will invite you to take a look around and tell you all about the house’s history and answer any questions you might have. The food was delicious and served by such nice ladies. I must admit that I felt a little out of place because the atmosphere is very Ladies Who Lunch.**
2.) The Farm offices with Chris Bunn: The Farm is an agricultural education center and produce business located just outside of Salinas. Chris is the owner of The Farm with the assistance of his son Christopher. He showed us a book of compiled photos from The Farm taken in the 1930’s and 1940’s which revealed so many interesting aspects of historical agriculture. He's a great contact for this project and has been a great resource for the information that we need.
3.) HULLABALOO!: Hullabaloo was a restaraunt that we went to for dinner in downtown Salinas. The menu was a little decieving because it looked like an all american food place with just regular food which was offsetting for it's fancy ambience. Anyways, it ended up being fantastic food with great, original flavors.
4.) The Steinbeck Center: We toured through the exhibits and became much more aware about John Steinbeck’s life and how he lived it. It was an incredible fusion of the way his life reflected his writing and gave us a great look into his passion for writing. Another main exhibit at The Steinbeck Center was the Agricultural life museum which gave a great look into the history of “Ag” in the Monterey Bay County.
5.) Corral De Tierra: This had to be my favorite part of the trip. We just drove through the hills and had to stop a few times because it was absolutely breath taking. I've always loved California and have always had a huge obsession with it's beauty, but the Corral really rejuvinated my love for our Golden State. "Where ocean meets land."
Here are some pictures from the trip:

The Steinbeck House and Tara. Hi Tara!

Road on Corral De Tierra.

Castle Rock.... soooo pretty.

Now it's time for.....

VIDEOoftheWEEK
go there, people.
Highlights:
1.) The music
2.) The Costume
3.) The artistic piano pantomime.
4.) The transition from pantomime to dance.
5.) Is this video taken in an office building?

ProjectRunwayPrediction:
(I know, I ditched WordoftheWeek, but this is WAY more important and interesting.)
Ramine will get into the final three and Christian will win the overall price. Why? Cause he's fierce.

That's all for this week!

Peace and Love,
Derek

*Fun fact about Salinas: Salinas produces 80 % of the nation's lettuce! WOW!
**Who saw The 2006 Broadway revival of Company on PBS Wedensday night? SO GOOD. Why didn't Raul Esparza win the Tony for that?

OMG! Liz Taylor?!

2008-02-02T17:06:00.000-08:00

Good Morning, Berkeley!

I was going to say Baltimore and make a musical theatre reference, but I decided against it, for once. So again, I'm blogging from home because the internet and phones were down for most of the day yesterday, just like last friday. If the same thing happens next friday, I say we officially name Fridays "Slack Off Fridays." Sort of like "Casual Fridays" but less awkward and more fun.

So what did I do yesterday? Oh! First I did the morning hello to the bull pen. That was fun because I like conversing with Paul and Beth about musical theatre, television and stuff. They both have a really great way of expressing what they liked and didn't like about it all, it's quite fun. We discussed Bare: A Pop Opera (I think the ":" make it look overly official), Cashmere Mafia (great television, people), and the play The Laramie Project.
Then I went up to artistic and had a little mini-meeting/chit chat about New Works and the upcoming trips and such. After that I devoted the whole day to a project which can only be described as tedious.

Over the past seven years the Casting Filing Cabinet has become the home of 2340327948230943204 unorganized headshots and resumes. The clear, bold lables might trick you into thinking that Martha Stewart* herself organized it, but oh no... if you look closer you just might find a local male non-equity actor qualified for understudy work named John Smith in the female, equity, out of town A-E file. It's quite disheartening. So for six hours I went through that monster and proudly finished by the end of the day.

OH! I found out what I can do to make my blog original...

WORDoftheWEEK:
Vampire: Any person, thought or feeling that stands between you and your creative self expression.
Kill those vampires, people [tos].

VIDEOoftheWEEK:

Just watch this, and we'll compare notes next week.

Peace and Love,

Derek

*Martha Stewart has been running the gamut for ages, kids and had the biggest comeback since carbohydrates. Kudos to you Martha, Kudos.

What It Do

2008-02-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

Or should I say what does it do? :) Me, I sit and wait to scan the beautifuls into the computerdora. Headshots are awsome because they're like silent slides or comic books with no words.
HAPPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!

Its chilli outside..being that it's winter... and getting here was slow but i look forward to the day ahead...coming here is always a cheer, something's always going on, so personal life takes a backseat. No time for morning time blues when there are actors to be taken care of:) being an intern at Cal Shakes is kinda like being a blood cell. The blood cell carries nutrients and fluid throughout the body to assure the body remains functioning normally. Instead of nutrients we carry clip boards and papers and instead of bodily fluids we carry water and donuts. But seriously team work's the dream work and we're the dream team. GO INTERNS!!!!!

The One With The Links

2008-01-27T16:42:00.000-08:00

Jambo!

Doesn't the title of this blog remind you of "Friends" episodes? I'm trying to figure out like, a signature blog thing. Somthing personalized that I can slip in here, sort of like how the Desperate Housewives episode titles are all Sondheim Musical Numbers? I wish I'd thought of that first, 'cause who doesn't love Stephen Sondheim? I've been reading a lot of blogs lately to get some ideas which, thanks to the [title of show] blog, leads me to why there are so many links in this blog. They're little fun surprises in case you get bored.

So I have to first admit that I am not blogging this blogtastic blog from Cal Shakes like one may assume. I'm actually blogging from my comfortable room at home in San Ramon. I know, this is outlandish and promiscuous but on Friday (my alotted blogging day) the phones went down as well as the internet. So I started a really funny blog on microsoft word assuming that I'd just email it to myself and then post it when I got home. Then I realized that email requires an internet connection, the upside is that I have a lot to talk about so be excited.

Like the links? Me too.

So I started off my Friday with the weekly hello to the bullpen, but this morning was particularly fun. I had been raving about this incredible semi-new musical called Bare to Beth and Paul and brought a copy of the cds for them to share and pass around. As we were discussing it, Marketing Goddess Susie Falk chimed in with the incredibe fact that her friend has a lot to do with the show itself which was, I have to admit, really exciting.

The reason I bring this up is because after working for Cal Shakes for about eight months, I'm still completely stunned at how tight knit the theatre community is. It extends from New York city to San Francisco to all over the U.S. and is possibly one of the coolest part of working in a major regional theatre, everyone is connected.

Back to the day: after saying my hellos I went up to the artistic office which was soooo warm and cozy. The work for today was really fun. We had a New Works/New Communities meeting at which was so great because we're really getting started and settled into the project. We're currently making connections with historians, farmers and members of the Monterey Bay County so that we have some people to talk to when we make our trips out there. So right now I'm trying to make some of those connections and planning fun activies for us to do while we're there.

I'm sorry for the excessive links. But they're funny right? Or too much?

OH! I still need to put in pictures from last season/summer. Here they are:

So these are the Lancasters. When I was interning with Artistic Learning I co-Assistant Directed Richard III with this group and under the direction of the extremely talented Trish Tillman.

And this is me with two of the five campers who played Richard. They were pretty rad, y'all. Word.

This was the last scene in Richard III.

And these are just a few of the incredible friend that I met over the summer. Francesca to your right, Douglas (also seen on intern blog thing), Margaret and I. Fun times all around.

WOW this was a long blog! Hope you enjoyed it!

Peace and Love,

Derek

Back to Steinbeck

2008-01-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

Hey Y'all!
(like the way Britney says it)

So after a long first week of the semester I was fortunate enough to end it with Cal Shakes. Today I got back to the core of my personal internship which is with New Works/New Communities. We're gearing up for a trip to Salinas in order to find some of the historical feel for where The Pastures of Heaven took place. I've always had a fancy for the history of the golden state so doing research on such a beautiful area like the Monterey Bay County has been a really fun adventure for me.

We're going to be meeting with some of the farmers, artists and basic members of the community in order to create a forum where we discuss the origins of the area specifically involving the 1920-1940 era.

In the other shoe, casting is still going on and that's always exciting to hear about. After spending last summer with CalShakes, I've been able to get to know actors and other theatre companies within the bay area. So now it's fun to discuss what's been going on with some of our resident actors at other companies as well as who will be returning this season.

Although this has absolutely nothing to do with Cal Shakes, I happen to be a huge musical theater fan and would just like to say how terribly sad I am that RENT will be closing on Broadway June 1st. *moment of silence*
And moving on....

So this is pretty much it for this week but "stay tuned" for next week because I'll be posting pictures from my experiences as an intern for a few different departments as previously promised!

Peace and Love,

Derek

Who Would've Thought...?

2008-01-11T16:22:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that working for a theater company would be so much fun! The atmosphere of everyone is so positive that the work gets done so fast. It's like they say, "time fly's when your having fun", a little cheesy but true. Watching the auditions are my favorite part because its SO much different when you're on the "other side" of the audition, its a great opportunity to see what directors look for in auditions, and what should've stayed at home ha ha. So far its been great here at Cal Shakes, lets just see what new thing are up for the future!

Your Local and Lovable Intern
:) Johnathan (:

Ello

2008-01-11T15:42:00.000-08:00

Hello Web World! Whats the dizneal? Para me--Welcoming the new year and trying to keep warm! Lets see.... First i can say that our intern production of Savage Love was SUPER fun! In less than a month we came together and put on a show, and rocked it! We practiced and performed in a little art studio in downtown Oakland; super cozy and quaint. The cast only consisted of five {two of whom go to Laney college para me and three i just met} so we were just super cozy period:). Even smaller than our cast are the founding members of the theater company us interns were working with. The company is called Rough and Ready--coming soon to a theater near you-- no seriously, we are definitely going to do something like that again. Within the movement and language we worked with View Points {origins from NYU-my dream school-} which is something i personally have never worked with. It was really interesting, a lot of running and jumping and turns and chaos, but very controlled chaos. Our director, Corinne, was trying to teach us how to respond to our own kinetic senses simultaneously with one another. We did exercises such as sun salutations in unison, rhythm in unison and counting with one another without knowing who would say which number or when. The connection that was built was amazing. We knew so well the energies of each other that it made it a breeze to work with one another during the production. The version of the play that we were working with was a serious of poems that followed one another with some relation. The poems were really relavent to relationship issues like "Acting", "Babble" -ing, and "Killing" {not in the literal sense} but thats all the time i have for today, hope to be read by u again soon:)
Adios, Antonette!!!!

THE FIRST POST!

2008-01-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hello World!

My name is Derek Smith and I am a proud Cal Shakes intern! Being completely aware of how generic that first sentence was, I must forewarn you all that I've never kept a blog before so I hope that my writing fulfills you like Perez Hilton on a boring day. I also hope to be just as funny and incredible as the breakout internet celebrity of 2007, Stephanie Kalem of The Cal Shakes Bullpen Blog ( calshakesbullpen.blogspot.com ).

So just to give you some of my background at Cal Shakes, I started off as an intern at Cal Shakes in the Artistic Learning Department. As an "AL" Intern, I was the assistant director for a camp production of Richard III and acted as a teacher's assistant during all of the camp classes for middle school students. Doing the AL internship was possibly one of the most fun and educational experiences that I've ever had. I became great friends with the other interns and was given a chance to expand my theatrical perspective.

Today, I am a New Works/New Communities intern. I'm helping out our Artistic Team with taking one of John Steinbeck's books The Pastures of Heaven and turning it into a stage play to be debuted in our 2010 season. I do a lot of basic research about the time period and about the basic history of migrants in California- The California Dream, but not today.
Today has been such a blur of craziness! We're casting for our 2008 season, which I think is really fun. As interns we get to watch most of the professional actor's auditions as well as help out with the general audition process. So lately we've been dealing with converting all 5 million of our head shots and resumes to a digital database. This means scanning many many many head shots manually which is not the funnest thing to do. So after a thrilling hour and a half of scanning head shots into the computer, we go to match the head shots to the online resumes and find just blank, white pictures.

I had scanned 124 head shots on the wrong side. Just one of the many mindless moments that I have at Cal Shakes.

Almost like when Paul (Devo Extraordinare) and I went to the post office with 1000 stuffed envelopes and put them in one by one rather than all at once in the bulk mail door.

I'm so excited to continue this blog and hope to entertain you all with wit that I don't have!

Peace and Love,

Derek