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Messages - killerdana

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1
As so many others have said, take a deep breath.

When I feel the need to panic on a show, that's when I bring all my acting skills out to play. If you can ACT calm - even if you're faking it completely - you appear calm. This keeps everyone else around you calm and lowers the overall stress level. Not only that, but just like smiling on the phone makes you sound happy, and often become happier, pretending to be calm will actually calm you down (the weird ways that our physicality and our emotions connect).

I also try to prepare, at least in my head, for any emergency I can think of. What if this set piece breaks? What if an actor is sick at the last minute? What if there's a rolling blackout and the electricity in the theater shuts off? I find that when I've prepared for the expected, I'm less shocked by the unexpected. Usually one of the solutions I've already prepared can be modified, but if not, at least I've started the thinking process already.

I've made countless mistakes - but I've never made the same mistake twice. 

Make this your goal. None of us are perfect. All of us will make mistakes. Just don't repeat them.

2
I have an 8th? edition that I keep at home for reference. Bought it full price about 10 years ago. I just looked at the copy I keep in my office at work. I pulled it our of a box of theatre books that had been sitting in storage for many years, as we have no room for a theatre library at our school. Turns out it's a second printing of the 1st edition. Pretty cool.

3
These both happened quite a while back...

I was in the audience for "Take Me Out" on Broadway.  Sunday Matinee.  Sitting in front of me are about 5 wealthy-looking older women.  I knew the show contained a significant amount of nudity and was wondering if they would be offended.  At the first shower scene one of the women turned to her friend and asked, "How can I take him home?"

I also used to house manage at a theatre in the round where the first row of the audience was practically sitting on the stage.  In one scene of the play (so long ago that I can't remember which show) the phone was ringing.  An elderly woman from the front row picked up the phone, said "hello," and then turned to the lead actor and held it out, saying, "It's for you."

4
The Green Room / Re: Vacation Fantasies?
« on: Jun 12, 2010, 03:44 am »
Where DON'T I want to go???

I'm slowly making my way through Europe, a few cities at a time.  Still so many places there I need to see. 

However, the true dream trips are the Galapagos Islands and South Africa (specifically a safari).  If it wasn't for the whole dissection thing, I may have been a zoologist instead of a stage manager.

5
The Green Room / Re: Vacation Suggestions
« on: Jun 09, 2010, 02:31 am »
Is there some place you've always dreamed of visiting?  If so, go there.

I'm slowly making my way through my dream list of travel destinations.  This summer it's Italy.  I'm a big believer in going wherever your heart leads you (though I'm also a big fan of Maui).

6
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Mar 26, 2010, 02:24 am »
There is an option so we will all get exactly the same questions (now each person gets a slightly different set of questions).  Are there any objections to switching it so everyone has the same questions everyday?  If there aren't any objections by the end of the month, I will switch it at the end of the month.

Thanks!!
I think that's great.  If I'm going to get ridiculous questions, I want everyone else to get them too.

7
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Feb 16, 2010, 01:27 am »
It's sad that a group of theatre people consistently score so poorly on the Theatre category.  I blame the questions.

8
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Feb 03, 2010, 01:17 pm »
Movies: Harder!

9
The Green Room / Re: Musical Misfortune
« on: Jan 30, 2010, 02:21 am »
About 15 years ago, during my senior year of high school, I had a horrible experience working on "The Music Man."  School politics, clashing cast members, illness (my lungs have never fully recovered from the bronchitis that ran through the cast and crew).  I had nightmares about the songs through the entire process (I wish I could say that I'm exaggerating, but sadly I'm not).  To this day, hearing the song "Seventy-Six Trombones" makes me break into a cold sweat and go running from the room.

10
Talking backstage again
No matter how I shush you
Chattering away.

11
Tools of the Trade / Re: Running Shoes
« on: Jan 19, 2010, 02:17 am »
I love my black Merrills.

12
It sounds gross, but superglue is great for bonding small cuts together.  It's not just for arts and crafts anymore!  I only use this on myself however since I imagine other people might be a little weirded out if I offered superglue instead of a bandaid.

This is one of the original uses for super glue--it was a field fix in the Vietnam War.  There's a special formula of the glue that is still used medically today.

13
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Aug 09, 2009, 02:23 am »
If it makes you feel better, I have to guess on the baseball questions too.

14
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Aug 08, 2009, 02:26 am »
So, not such a fan of the World: UK category.  There wasn't a single question that I didn't just have to guess on.

15
The Green Room / Re: Trivia Tournament II: Electric Boogaloo
« on: Jul 16, 2009, 01:43 am »
I got a question about Geocaching in the Hobbies category today.  How does it know I'm a Geocacher?  Is FunTrivia (gulp) watching me.......?

Okay, I've got several questions over the past few months about Geocaching.  Just have to ask--What is it?

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