Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I know, I know...

I have had almost no time to write or breathe for that matter.

A lot of things have been happening in my life between shows and school and work. I have done three shows this semester and each one has been so amazing.
The season started out with Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I was lucky enough to be cast as Emily Webb, a role I was reluctant about at first. I read this play in 9th grade at Trinity so my opinions of it were, obviously, tainted. I asked that if at all possible, I not be cast at all so of course, I got the lead. After working on this show for a couple of weeks, I started to really enjoy it and by the end was very upset that it was over.

The second show I did has probably been my favorite show I have ever done and it was Man of La Mancha. I was blessed enough to also be cast as the lead in this one as well as the role of Aldonza. This is truly, truly a remarkable show. At first I was hesitant because Aldonza is a whore... yes, a genuine whore. I didn't know how I felt about portraying myself that way. Also there is a very violent rape scene that involved me and 5 other guys. I worked extensively with my director and even though it was a very hard scene to get through, I felt very safe. I honestly feel that this has been the best show I have ever done. I got incredible feed back from it and requests from several directors who came and saw the show. I also had the remarkable privilege to meet Mr. Dan Rodden, an equity actor from Chicago that was hired to play Don Quixote. He was such a joy to work with and truly a remarkable actor. I still keep in contact with him and we remain very very good friends.

Even before La Mancha ended I started my 3rd show, Dancing at Lughnasa; an Irish Catholic play about 5 poor sisters. It was a hard transistion to move from La Mancha, which was incredible, to a pretty slow paced show about Irish women. I went from playing a prostitute to a 40 year old irish catholic school teacher. What a leap! It was a challenge that I took on willingly and had a lot of fun with. This show did not do as well as La Mancha and was not really for college student audiences but I did enjoy it. We closed this weekend and it was rather sad because it was my last show at Normandale.

After La Mancah ended I decided to take a risk and audition at The Chanhassen Dinner theater. They are an incredibly exclusive theater and so when I got even a call back I was very surprised. A week later I got a call offering me the lead in their mainstage production of the musical, SWING. I was completely in shock and still am. It is going to be an incredibly tough process with only one day off a week and 8 shows per week but I am so so excited for it!

I have been working hard to maintain a 3.8 GPA which has only been a struggle due to so many other outside commitments. I have really enjoyed all the classes I am taking especially my Drama in Literature class. I get to read and write about plays all week... who wouldn't like that!
Now that I have a little more down time for a while, I will work very hard to write in here more often because I have quite a few things to say that I haven't had time before to rant about!

2 comments:

Geometricus said...

Erin this is great. I just heard about your role at the Chan at Chris K's grad party Saturday. I think it's so fabulous! I'd love to come out and see you once it starts. Aug. 1, huh? God love you, and remember me when you get to Broadway!

Erin Marie said...

Thank you Mr. B!!!