Final Blog entry (single tear)

So there it is... we did it. its over... but im still quoting it. I had a blast in thie rehearsal process its great to be around such driven and professional people. this summer was challenging because some of the people i worked with were so unprofessional and its nice to come back and work with people who put in the work and mean it. The final show was very interesting. it went faster but felt slower on the whole for me. maybe thats ecause i was really trying to stay in it in my breaks so they felt longer but it was recieved differently the second time around. not worse by any means but different. I felt much better about the second show and i think that i summited Twelfth Night/ Sebastian on Saturday evening.
There is no way to explain what i felt without telling this story. In the middle of my first scene i only had one moment when i was really aware that the audience was there and that was right before i say "se is drowned allready sir with salt water though i seem to drown her eremembrance again with more" and i took a pause right before. and i distinctly remember COMPLETE silence and thinking... oh my god i have them. It was the most amazing feeling knowing that i was just a step ahead of the audience and they were really listening. That was a really nice moment and i was able to sink right back into the scene, because i knew what i was able to give that particular audience.

I'd like to talk a little bit about the fickle nature of an audience. Something i really learned about in this show is how quickly an audience can all of a sudden change how they feel about a character. In the "ayre" monologue the second day i fell off the bench because i went to quickly onto it. that little change, of me being on the bench to off the bench made them lose their concentration entirely because some of the people knew that i was supposed to be on the bench and from thaat point o i could tell they weren't listening as intently as they had been. They were wondering what i was going to do what Ross was going to do and whether Ross would be castrated by Matt Gray later. I just think its interesting that an audience can be so ready to join you in a monologue but if you miss your light or fall out of your light or screw up your blocking its over. They start to think about other things and you lose them.

I felt really good about all the other scenes in the show for me personally and i think that we set a bar for what the JPP's should be from now on. I think freshman and sophmores will hope to bring such a solid piece in front o fthe school next year and the year after. I loved working with this group and i'm glad i have a week to get ready for the next show. I hope that everyone continues to work hard and that we as a group continue to set a bar for what Carnegie Mellon School of Drama is and should continue to be.
All the Best,
Ross "Sebastian" Francis