Hey guys,
I'm finally moving over to Tumblr!!! My URL is www.annabtye.tumblr.com. Check it out! Also, if you have a Tumblr of your own, please send me the URL (chat, e-mail, comment, etc.) so I can follow you! Thank you!!!!!
~Anna
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
ACTS!!!!!
THIS POST IS KINDA LATE BUT WHO CARES??? ACTS is over and it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if I wrote a short book, I couldn't EVEN BEGIN to say what I want to say about this show!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was simply phenomenal and the EXPERIENCE was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! I've never experienced anything like it, which is because this was my first year in the play, lolz. I was surprised at how much work it turned out to be, but I was even more surprised at how much the cast prayed. We prayed before rehearsals, after rehearsals, before shows, during shows, after shows, and everytime else. Mrs. Mays memo when she arrived at rehearsal: "DID YOU GUYS PRAY?" Depending on the Lord throughout particularly long rehearsals and show week especially really encouraged me to do my best, no matter what part I had. Yes, it was boring sometimes singing NONSTOP AND NONSTOP (practicing soprano parts can give often give you a headache), but it was definitely worth it...every bit of it.
My fav thing to do when leads weren't running scenes...PLAY AROUND ON THE SET!!!!! I'm not afraid of heights and would've given anything to do a drunk scene up there, drat now I miss Esther too.
Most of the funny stories that WEREN'T during production week were during the ALL-DAY-SATURDAY rehearsals. LIKE THAT SATURDAY THAT I CAME TO REHEARSAL AND ALEXIS AND I WERE BOTH DOG TIRED DURING VOCAL WARM-UPS AND WE HAD A I-CAN-SING-HIGHER-THAN-YOU-CAN COMPETITION, hahahaha!
ONE SATURDAY, I came in to the church at 10:30am for BGV practice. We were warming up in the gym with Elizabeth on the piano. We were all standing around the piano...well, more like aimlessly drifting around it...and singing in our parts. We played around with the soprano stuff and went unusually high that morning. I stopped at a D for fear of sounding like a chipmunk who just inhaled all the air in a monster truck tire. Kenzie and Sarah Berry went REALLY high!!! Anyway, after a while Mrs. Mays came in and gave us the normal "Have you prayed?" before giving us the scoop on stuff. She was discussing the coreography of Day After Day with us when...
Kenzie: "Uh, Mrs. Mays, should I still have the baby during the freeze?"
Mrs. Mays: "Well, we want to promote family in ACTS because, according to God's Word, family is a good thing. It would help the audience understand that Jesus's followers weren't just made up of individual people. So absolutely. Keep it. You and Kevin should definitely have a baby."
Suddenly, Andrew Allen (who was there either to help or with Liam) BURST OUT LAUGHING. A split second later, everyone around the piano had BURST OUT LAUGHING...except, for Kevin. Kevin was just standing there, not showing any apparent emotion. Just staring straight ahead and blinking as if in thought. It was quite odd. Anyway, I swear you could've heard the rest of us from the Video Room. After we recovered, Mrs. Mays continued with the discussion about Day After Day. This whole time, Kevin had been standing immobile, simply staring at the wall beyond the piano. Literally, THREE ENTIRE MINUTES LATER, KEVIN EXPLODED IN LAUGHTER AND STUMBLED BACKWARDS, NEARLY FALLING OVER.
Andrew Allen: "YOU JUST GOT THAT?!?!?!?!?!!!!"
I love this cast.
LUNCHTIME AT REHEARSAL. Kind of like lunchtime in Joppa. Except NOT on a roof and MORE weird. So I'm sitting in the lobby with Kiera, Tatiana, Bethany, Matt, and Alexis. Lexi is sitting up on a chair. As we're eating Dillon comes and sits down next to Lex and puts his arm around her. And then I'm totally NOT like "what!?!?!" (well, maybe a little bit). Lexi just leans over on Dillon's shoulder.
Lexi: "I love it how we can just do this, and its totally not awkward at all!"
Dillon: "Yep. It's amazing."
Me: "Really Lex. It's not awkward at ALL?"
Lexi: "No! I've known him for so long and everybody else knows it, so it doesn't matter!"
Joe: "What ThiS?!?! WhAt's hAppenNing?!?!?? (his voice cracking squeakily the whole time)
Dillon: "You're jealous, that's what happening!" (Me and Lex start laughing)
Joe: "Alexis Ambrose, ARE YOU CHEATING ON AARON????"
Lexi (rising from under Dillon's arm): "Joe Ennis, how dare you!!!!!!!!!!"
At this point Matt and Kiers and Tati are all paying attention with me and we break out laughing while Lex proceeds to give one of her womanly, reprimanding speeches to Joe. Oh Joe. Hahahahahahahaha, etc.
PRODUCTION WEEK BEGAN ON MAY 19, 2012. MONDAY. HALF DAY REHEARSAL. TUESDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. WEDNESDAY. HALF DAY REHEARSAL. THURSDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. FRIDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. SATURDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL AND SHOW #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Production week was just, like, THE BEST EVERRRRRR. After every rehearsal, we were usually dead tired and hung around on the lobby couches laughing about nothing in particular. If we having a conversation standing up, Kiers was usually the first one to fall on the floor and nearly die over something Stephen said. That actually, is a REALLY REALLY REALLY FUNNY STORY in itself, but I'm not going to put it in this post. TRUST ME...you don't want to know, lolz :P
Sooooo...MORE AND MORE STORIES!!!!!!!!!
ISSAC WAS REHEARSING with Mrs. Mays one afternoon during production week. They were doing Stephen's scene before the council, leading into his stoning. Some of us were watching from the bowl, and everyone could tell that Issac was tired.
Dillion: "And the entire council saw that his face was like the face of an angel."
Issac: "Brothers and Fathers, hear me. You heard of the coming Savior, and He has come! His NAME is Jesus..."
Mrs. Mays: "Issac, Issac, you have to accent the word Jesus. His name is the focus of that sentence.
Issac: "Ok. Brothers and Fathers, hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His name IS JEsus...
Mrs. Mays: Now, you COULD accent both of those words, but from my perspective, it still sounds a little weird. Try one more time.
Issac: Yeah, alright. Brothers and fathers hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His NAME is...no, argh, alright I got it this time. Brothers and fathers hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His name is JeSUS.
Mrs. Mays started laughing, along with the rest of us. Haha, that's what happens when cast members are tired. Anyway, "He is JeSUS," became the random catchphrase to get a laugh for a couple days after that.
So throughout production week, the whole cast spoke, sang, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, and OH, did I mention rehearsing?????? Mrs. Mays whipped the leads into learning their lines, Martin whipped the singers into tune, Josie whipped the dancers into perfection, Christine whipped the crowd into character, and Janice (LOVE YOU JANCIE <3 <3 <3) whipped the thorns into...uh, EVILNESS.
So, I rushed downstairs to change for the healing scene. My arm was supposed to be broken so I had a shoulder cast to make it look real. Somehow, every time I did the change, Bethen always called "Sovereign Lord" before I was finished. Most of the time, I was rushing upstairs with my hairband, earrings, and shoulder cast...putting them on as I went. Before we went all went down the isles toward the stage in our different sick characters, we encouraged each other to pray for cast members who ACTUALLY NEEDED HEALING during the scene. God did it too, throughout the entire show week in fact. For example, Kevin and Kenzie both had strep throat that night, but they both did AMAZING. Sleep deprived teenagers were protected from disease and people with sprained ankles or stomach troubles had their pain vanish over showtime. It was AMAZING.
Anyway, back to the first performance. After the healing scene, I headed back downstairs to change into my widow costume. Widows was...how do I put this? ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. Anyway, there was a bit of time before "Widows so I took my time in the dressing room, getting my clothes organized and everything. Well, maybe organized isn't exactly the right word...
It was Katie Porter on the stairs. THE SILENCE WAS DEAFENING OOOH YES. When she saw our shocked faces, she amended her yelled statement and added a very polite, "please." It was fun and I love you Kateee :) Then, we filed offstage huffing and puffing about how we hoped there'd be more food later. I stayed in the green room and watched the scene where Stephen gets stoned. The first time I saw Isaac perform the scene, I literally cried. His song goes went like this:
WHY DO YOU RAGE, DO YOU PLOT AGAINST THE SAVIOR
AND WHY DO YOU HARDEN YOUR HEARTS?
REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF THE KING
YOU'VE WAITED FOR SO LOO...O-O...O-ONG
ABRAHAM, GOD CALLED FROM AFAR
PROMISED A PEACEFUL LAND
AND OFFSPRING LIKE THE STARS
BUT AS THE YEARS WHEN BY
AND THE PATRIARCHS DIED
FOR A HUNDRED YEARS IN EGYPT
THEY TOILED AND THEY CRI-IED
DELIVER US FROM THESE CHAINS, DELIVER US!
AND GOD HAS SENT HIS ONLY SON
AND YOU'VE BECOME HARD IN YOUR HEARTS
AND JUST LIKE YOUR FATHERS YOU SHUT YOUR EARS
AND MADE IT CLEAR YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO HEAR!
AND I SEE THE HEAVENS OPEN
AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING AT THE RIGHT OF GOD!
(Blasphemy!!! Blasphemy!!! Stone Him!!!)
LORD JESUS
RECEIVE MY SPIRIT!
LORD!!! DON'T HOLD THEIR SINS...against them...
And then he died. You could have heard a pin drop in that auditorium. You could have heard a smaller pin drop backstage. It was so quiet.
I stayed up in the green room for the next scene. The disciples were all in the upper room, mourning Stephen's death. Me, Alexis, Rachel, and Izzy had to simulate screaming backstage for the part when "SAUL DRAGS CHRISTIANS OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND THROWS THEM IN PRISON." Yep, that's another quick story.
WE NEEDED MORE GUYS TO SCREAM, TO MAKE IT SOUND REALISTIC. I mean, usually I wouldn't put guys and scream in the same sentence, but that's what we did. Performance night too! So, our screaming group gathers near the BGV mikes to await the cue. Stephen Calderone comes and stands with us. Either he wanted to hear what we were yelling at the top of our lungs, or he was screaming too. In any case, I didn't give much thought to it.
Onstage:
Liam: (cue line) "Stephen sees Him now..."
Our Group: "AHHHH, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLLLPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T TAKE MY CHILDREN, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M BEGGING YOU, NO WAIT, LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!!!!!!! HELPPPPP SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Stephen begins to scream with us, his voice cracking up in the high notes...a lot.
Stephen: "NO PLEASE, MY WIFE NOOOOOO, DON'T TAKE OUR BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
When Rachel cut us off, WE JUST CRACKED UP!!!!!!!!!!! Trying as best we could to muffle our uncontrollable and spasmatic laughter, we stumbled across the green room to our next stations. Ahhh. It was great.
By the time, I got downstairs, ACT I was almost over. I changed into my costume for Lystra, which consisted of, YOU READY FOR THIS? Brown flip-flops. Neon yellow leggings. A short, black skirt. A neon green t-shirt. A black belt. HUGE SUNGLASSES. Gold, spiral earrings. Tons of green eyeshadow. And a sassy attitude. Haha, I'll explain the scene when I get there, but right about then...I was dead. So I went into the common room and watched Impossible. Dancers you were AMAZING, espeically Katheryn!! First, they had to get Paul out of the city though. How. Story time...
PAUL HAD TO GET OUT OF THE CITY. The followers of Jesus were having a hard time with that, especially since Issac (Cole) came looking for Paul (David) to arrest him. Issac's guards were all around the city. Fortunately, the man who restored Paul's sight after the road to Damascus, Ananias (Eyobed) had a plan. This was performance #3.
Eyobed: "Hey look out. Your friend is coming! Everyone hide!
Everyone hides behind the pillars and set, but Eyobed pulls his red hoodie up over his head, grabs a walking stick from under the set, and pretends to be a wobbly old man with a high-pitched accent.
Cole: "Hey there, I'm looking for a man named Saul."
Eyobed: "Oh yes, King Saul, of course. Didn't love the Lord, you know that was his downfall.
Cole: "No...no, a different Saul."
Eyobed: "Well my boy, there have been many great kings...King Jeremiah, King Josiah, King Hezekiah, KING TUT, KING KOOONG!
The common room exploded into laughter. Eyobed is a genuis, literally.
When Cole leaves in frustration, the disciples come out of hiding.
David: "That was...impressive."
Yes, that was an amazing moment and the audience loved it. Sometimes, Eyobed would mention kings that didn't even exist but I have to admit, King Tut and KING KONG were the best.
Anyway, on with impossible. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!!!!!! Nope...not even smuggling Sual out of a city with a wall that was 100 feet high. I didn't sing BGV for it, because it was out of my range a little bit, but I love the song. Eyobed's solo was the first six lines:
I LOVE THAT WORD IMPOSSIBLE
IT CALLS FOR A MIRACLE
WAIT ON GOD, FOR A WHILE
WHEN LIFE SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE
VALLEYS SEEM UNCROSSABLE
WAIT ON GOD, JUST WAIT ON GOD...
WALK ON WATER WITH THE KING
THROW THAT MOUNTAIN TO THE SEA
SEE THE BLIND RECEIVE THEIR SIGHT
WATCH THE SINNER COME TO LIFE
WHEN YOU'RE WALKING WITH THE KING
THERE'S NO IMPOSSIBILITY
NO POWER OF HELL OR SCHEME OF MAN
CAN EVER STOP HIS HOLY PLAN!!!
End of ACT I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a meeting downstairs, listened to a lecture from Mr. Smith, rehearsed stuff with Janice, and went back up for ACT II. This was my first time being on BGV and I sang for nearly all the songs in this act. Ya know that thing I said about needing energy? Well, this was usually the spot that everyone needed it most. Fortunately, the Lord was on our side...
I ran upstairs and sang BGV for Jerusalem, Day After Day (Reprise), and City Rising. In these scenes, Paul came, Paul went, Paul traveled and traveled and traveled from city to city to more cities...and also the disciples weaved in and out constantly (because they were preaching the Gospel to the world too). After City Rising, guess what it was!!!!!!! LYSTRA. Colors for the scene: black paired with bright neon colors and hipster clothing. We were "The Cool, Shifty Mindset, Town. I had so much fun playing this part. I was totally self-absorbed with my wind-blown hair, sunglasses, nails, merchant blankets, anything that seemed remotely interested. Flaunting my walk seemed to fit the character, so I added that HEHE. Anyway, this town was soooo narrow minded it was rediculous. So, when Paul appeared onstage, preaching the Gospel...what did we do???
We worshiped him because we thought he the God Hermes!!!!
We hated him because we thought the Gospel was a plague.
We adored him because he was an idol to sacrifice bulls to.
We begged him not to leave because he was amazing.
We despised him because Cole told us he was diseased.
We stoned him because he had lied to us about everything.
WHAT?!?!?!?!. Yep, shifty. All of this going-back-and-forth was at the discretion of the top merchant of the city (Drew Ferleman). I've never seen a more perfect role for Drew than the merchant (worshiping Paul and spitting in his face in the same 5 seconds is a skill). Good job Drew!
My next task. Rush downstairs and change into my ending scene costume (which is my opening scene costume) and rush back upstairs to help Kiera. Kiers had a full change of everything imaginable in the space of 1 and 1/2 scenes. Her deadline was Athens, another city in which Paul preached. But instead of shifty minded, this city was all about idols. THE THORNS (Tatiana, Melissa, Andrew) were very much present. The scene before ATHENS was Kylie's solo. She played Lydia, a girl who met Paul on his travels, but didn't end up marrying him because of his dangerous work. Lydia (Kylie) was very sad when Paul left for Athens, and her solo is all about trusting God through trials. I CAN'T DESCRIBE WHAT AN INCREDIBLE VOICE KYLIE HAS AN HOW PHENOMENAL HER SOLO WAS!!!!!!!!!!! Like Stephen's solo, we all had a silent dance party backstage in honor of the SHEER AWESOMENESS...
IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT I'VE SAID GOODBYE
EACH TIME IT HURTS AND I NEVER KNOW WHY
I JUST STARTED LEARNING TO LIVE FOR YOUR SAKE
NOW I NEED YOUR STRENGTH AS MY HEART STARTS TO BREAK
I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU TAKE OR YOU GIVE
TEACH ME TO TRUST YOU AS LONG AS I LIVE
FOR I COULDN'T BEAR IT IF I NEVER KNEW
THAT EVEN IN SORROW YOU'LL CARRY ME THROUGH!
I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
WHEN NOTHING BUT YOUR LOVE REMAINS
I REALIZE THAT ONLY YOUR LOVE SUSTAINS
IT'S ALL THAT I NEED FOR ALL OF MY DAYS
AND ONE DAY I'LL KNEEL AT YOUR THRONE WITH PRAISE...
I...WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
FOREVER AND I-I-I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
(this is big dance-party-backstage part)
THE TEARS OF THIS LIFE WILL BE ALL WASHED AWAY
THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT WILL BECOME ENDLESS DAY
GOODBYE IS A WORD THAT WE NEVER WILL SA-A-AY
AGAIN...
OMG SOOOOOOOO AWESOME AND SOOOOOO TRUE. God is faithful to carry us through every single trial of this life, big or small!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, during this HUGE scene I was helping Kiera finish her HUGE quick change. SHOULD I SUMMARIZE???
UHHHH...let's see...
COSTUME #1 - shoes, jeans, black tank top, purple shirt, braids, purple flower, casual makeup
COSTUME #2 - sneakers, leggings, black skirt, black tank top, blue jacket, ponytail, pinned bangs, gold bow, cheerleader makeup
Kiera's hair was absolutely the hardest part, not because her hair was hard to work with, but because...putting Kiera's hair up in a ponytail, pinning the bangs back with tons of bobby pins, doing it all over again because you missed three strands, attaching the tiny gold bow, and finishing with hairspray...in 1/2 scene...is slightly difficult. But it worked.
And they finally ended up in...ANTHENS, A CITY FULL OF IDOLS. This is an addicting song...and when I say addicting, I mean REALLY addicting. For weeks people couldn't stop singing it and it drove us all CUH-RAZZEEEE!!!!!!!!! ...not that we weren't crazy already...
So the THORNS do their little introduction dance and idolistic songee thing, hehe
Then Amy Barnett sings her OPERA SONG!!!!!!
GOOOOOD IS A MOUNTAIN
AND THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN
AND JUST LIKE CLIMBING A MOUNTA-AHAHAAA-AHAHAAA-AHAHAAA-AHHHHH
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS ABOUT CLIMBING THAT MOUNTAIN WITHOUT REALLY TRAINING FOR IT (breath) AND YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE ABLE TO CLIMB THAT MOUN-TAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!!!!!!!!!
LOOOOOOOVE YOU AMY :D
And there the THORNS go...again (Tati you did AMAZING and suceeded in being quite devilish and most evilish in every possible way, not to mention you having an awesome voice, GOOD JOB!!!!!!!)
So before this, THE CHEERLEADERS were over in the corner of the stage, wearing matching costumes, giggling and whispering and laughing about nothing in particular in their prissy, idolistic, cheerleader-ish way. Now they dance and sing the all-together-TOO-feminine song that DROVE THE WHOLE CAST CRAZY FOR FOREVER. And for the literal insanity of EVERYONE reading this post...I'M GOING TO MOVE ON NOW.
HEY HEY HEY, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR A LITTLE TRUTH
ANYBODY WITH A LITTLE FOR-SOOTH
I WANT SOMETHING TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
HEY HEY HEY, TELL ME ANYTHING YOU KNOW A TO Z
JUST AS LONG AS IT IS PLEASING TO ME
WITH ENOUGH TRUTH TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
(Btw - during this ending part, there was a big party in Athens and Drew and Ramil were up on top wearing black sunglasses, waving their arms like aliens, and throwing their hair all over the place, hehehehe)
The last couple scenes were pretty emotional and most of the time it was mainly Paul (David) and Peter (Kevin). AND MATT WAS THE ANGEL THAT GOT THE APOSTLES OUT OF PRISON!!!!! YAY MATT!!!!!! He was wearing all white, as the angel, and literally glowed on camera because of the iris setting. He even dyed his hair a little blonder so his hair glowed too!!! :D
Anyway, by this time: If I wasn't hangin' out downstairs, I was singing BGV. The ending scene came before too long. Just as I was fixing my make-up (cuz it WOULD be then), Bethen called "FINAL SCENE!!!" Then everyone stormed...well, tried to walk quietly while storming...upstairs and behind the bleachers. By the time Paul had left for his execution with Cole (I was sufficiently creeped out by Cole's lecture in the scene before), the final song had started and we came down the isles on...
I CAN SEE A CITY RISING FROM THE ASHES OF THE WORLD
NO EVIL IN US OR EVIL OUT THERE CAN STOP THE RISEN LORD
HIS HOLY CHURCH IS RISING LIKE A CITY ON A HILL
NO POWER CAN STOP THE SAVIOR YET AND NOTHING EVER WILL
IT NEVER WILL
IT NEVER WILL
HA-LE-LEU-JAH...
Thunderous Applause.
I've never felt so happy in my entire life.
Curtain call.
Guess what's next.
THE FIRST PERFORMANCE WAS OVER AND EVERYONE WAS TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mrs. Mays congratulated us, we prayed, and gave glory to God...then went out to meet the crowd. I'd never before been part of the actual cast during the autograph-signing time. But Kylie and David got most of the autographs anyway, understandably. Anyway, everybody hugged everybody in congrtulations and excitement and whatnot, whether or not they knew them. I hung out with my friends, talked with people, and screamed with my friends about the first show being done!!! One down, four to go baby. The cheerleaders from Athens were all dressed in their uniforms.
THE CAST PICTURE started with the cheerleaders wanting to get a group picture of themselves in uniform. Then me and a bunch of my friends joined. Then a bunch of guys piled on and it just went downhill from there. The yell "CAST PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" echoed around the lobby and pretty soon, the entire 85 person cast had piled on behind us! We laughed, and nearly fell over, and laughed, and yelled what the camera-takers wanted us too, and laughed, and in all the heavy racket, a voice rang out...
Alexis: GOING TO REHEARSAL!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!
Alexis: FALLING ASLEEP IN MATH CLASS!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!! EVERY WORD WE SAY, EVERY LINE WE SING, LET'S CHANGE EVERYTHING!!!!! DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER DAY!!!!!!!!!
Alexis: SLEEP DEPRIVED AND TIRED!!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!!!!!
Alexis: OVERDOSE ON CAFFEINE!!!!!!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!!!! EVERYTHING WE SAY, EVERYTHING WE DO, HEY LET'S CHANGE THAT TOO!!!!!!!! DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER...DAY. IT SEEMS TO ME WE NEVER WILL MAKE A DECISION, BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONSTANT REVISION, JUST WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE WE KNOW WHAT TO DO, WE TRY SOMETHING NEW, IT'S A MYSTERY, DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER...DAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then we screamed. A lot. And probably messed up our voices for the next year. But no one cared. Did I mention that I love this cast?!?!?!?!???
My fav thing to do when leads weren't running scenes...PLAY AROUND ON THE SET!!!!! I'm not afraid of heights and would've given anything to do a drunk scene up there, drat now I miss Esther too.
Playing up on top of the set and getting weird glances from Eyobed. Haha, his name is a story. That may sound weird, but ITS TRUE!!! I was sitting in the bowl during production week rehearsal, nearly asleep with Amy Barnett, Katie Richini and other people whose names I can't remember (oh and Eyobed). I don't know who started it, but somebody was suddenly like "blah blah blah E-OO-BEDddd-UH. Accenting every single syllable of his name suddenly became his new nickname. So every time we addressed him, we always ended our soapboxes with E-OO-BEDddd-UH, and then break out laughing because we were sooooooooo tired.
Other Things: There's Liam and Tasi in the background, of course. Bethen's there on the left. Can I just say that throughout ALL FIVE SHOWS, Bethen served us tirelessly downstairs. She alerted people before their scenes, kept the talking down, and was the general organizer of EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING. WE LOVE YOU BETHEN AND CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR ALL YOU DO!!!
I apologize to Tati (but she'll probably just tell me its fine) so Nevermind!!!!!! Anyway, I handed my phone down to Elliot and was like "Take a picture of us!" Stephen either didn't see the picture coming or (more likely) had his own plans :P
Most of the funny stories that WEREN'T during production week were during the ALL-DAY-SATURDAY rehearsals. LIKE THAT SATURDAY THAT I CAME TO REHEARSAL AND ALEXIS AND I WERE BOTH DOG TIRED DURING VOCAL WARM-UPS AND WE HAD A I-CAN-SING-HIGHER-THAN-YOU-CAN COMPETITION, hahahaha!
ONE SATURDAY, I came in to the church at 10:30am for BGV practice. We were warming up in the gym with Elizabeth on the piano. We were all standing around the piano...well, more like aimlessly drifting around it...and singing in our parts. We played around with the soprano stuff and went unusually high that morning. I stopped at a D for fear of sounding like a chipmunk who just inhaled all the air in a monster truck tire. Kenzie and Sarah Berry went REALLY high!!! Anyway, after a while Mrs. Mays came in and gave us the normal "Have you prayed?" before giving us the scoop on stuff. She was discussing the coreography of Day After Day with us when...
Kenzie: "Uh, Mrs. Mays, should I still have the baby during the freeze?"
Mrs. Mays: "Well, we want to promote family in ACTS because, according to God's Word, family is a good thing. It would help the audience understand that Jesus's followers weren't just made up of individual people. So absolutely. Keep it. You and Kevin should definitely have a baby."
Suddenly, Andrew Allen (who was there either to help or with Liam) BURST OUT LAUGHING. A split second later, everyone around the piano had BURST OUT LAUGHING...except, for Kevin. Kevin was just standing there, not showing any apparent emotion. Just staring straight ahead and blinking as if in thought. It was quite odd. Anyway, I swear you could've heard the rest of us from the Video Room. After we recovered, Mrs. Mays continued with the discussion about Day After Day. This whole time, Kevin had been standing immobile, simply staring at the wall beyond the piano. Literally, THREE ENTIRE MINUTES LATER, KEVIN EXPLODED IN LAUGHTER AND STUMBLED BACKWARDS, NEARLY FALLING OVER.
Andrew Allen: "YOU JUST GOT THAT?!?!?!?!?!!!!"
I love this cast.
LUNCHTIME AT REHEARSAL. Kind of like lunchtime in Joppa. Except NOT on a roof and MORE weird. So I'm sitting in the lobby with Kiera, Tatiana, Bethany, Matt, and Alexis. Lexi is sitting up on a chair. As we're eating Dillon comes and sits down next to Lex and puts his arm around her. And then I'm totally NOT like "what!?!?!" (well, maybe a little bit). Lexi just leans over on Dillon's shoulder.
Lexi: "I love it how we can just do this, and its totally not awkward at all!"
Dillon: "Yep. It's amazing."
Me: "Really Lex. It's not awkward at ALL?"
Lexi: "No! I've known him for so long and everybody else knows it, so it doesn't matter!"
Joe: "What ThiS?!?! WhAt's hAppenNing?!?!?? (his voice cracking squeakily the whole time)
Dillon: "You're jealous, that's what happening!" (Me and Lex start laughing)
Joe: "Alexis Ambrose, ARE YOU CHEATING ON AARON????"
Lexi (rising from under Dillon's arm): "Joe Ennis, how dare you!!!!!!!!!!"
At this point Matt and Kiers and Tati are all paying attention with me and we break out laughing while Lex proceeds to give one of her womanly, reprimanding speeches to Joe. Oh Joe. Hahahahahahahaha, etc.
PRODUCTION WEEK BEGAN ON MAY 19, 2012. MONDAY. HALF DAY REHEARSAL. TUESDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. WEDNESDAY. HALF DAY REHEARSAL. THURSDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. FRIDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL. SATURDAY. ALL DAY REHEARSAL AND SHOW #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Production week was just, like, THE BEST EVERRRRRR. After every rehearsal, we were usually dead tired and hung around on the lobby couches laughing about nothing in particular. If we having a conversation standing up, Kiers was usually the first one to fall on the floor and nearly die over something Stephen said. That actually, is a REALLY REALLY REALLY FUNNY STORY in itself, but I'm not going to put it in this post. TRUST ME...you don't want to know, lolz :P
Sooooo...MORE AND MORE STORIES!!!!!!!!!
ISSAC WAS REHEARSING with Mrs. Mays one afternoon during production week. They were doing Stephen's scene before the council, leading into his stoning. Some of us were watching from the bowl, and everyone could tell that Issac was tired.
Dillion: "And the entire council saw that his face was like the face of an angel."
Issac: "Brothers and Fathers, hear me. You heard of the coming Savior, and He has come! His NAME is Jesus..."
Mrs. Mays: "Issac, Issac, you have to accent the word Jesus. His name is the focus of that sentence.
Issac: "Ok. Brothers and Fathers, hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His name IS JEsus...
Mrs. Mays: Now, you COULD accent both of those words, but from my perspective, it still sounds a little weird. Try one more time.
Issac: Yeah, alright. Brothers and fathers hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His NAME is...no, argh, alright I got it this time. Brothers and fathers hear me. You heard of the coming Savior and he has come! His name is JeSUS.
Mrs. Mays started laughing, along with the rest of us. Haha, that's what happens when cast members are tired. Anyway, "He is JeSUS," became the random catchphrase to get a laugh for a couple days after that.
So throughout production week, the whole cast spoke, sang, rehearsed, rehearsed, rehearsed, and OH, did I mention rehearsing?????? Mrs. Mays whipped the leads into learning their lines, Martin whipped the singers into tune, Josie whipped the dancers into perfection, Christine whipped the crowd into character, and Janice (LOVE YOU JANCIE <3 <3 <3) whipped the thorns into...uh, EVILNESS.
THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, IT WAS THE NIGHT OF THE FIRST PERFORMANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday. 7:00pm. Mrs. Mays had just called places and we had thanked our places, from tradition. I was a disciple in ACT I, a crowd person for ACT II, and a BGV for the whole thing. I had like four/five costumes for the whole show, so I had already arranged them out. Good thing too, because we were starting and THERE WAS A LEGIT CROWD OUT THERE.
Originally, I was like "its all cool," but when I got behind the auditorium with my group (Aaron, Amy, Izzy, Carolina, Kiera, Elliot, Rachel, etc.), something clicked. Suddenly we realized that THIS WAS THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE and, needless to say, we all began freaking out. We were all like "OH MY GOSH IS THIS SERIOUSLY THE REAL PERFORMANCE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!! We were whispering excitedly, pacing up and down, hugging each other, and Kiera...haha, oh Kiera...Kiera was really freaking out. She was pacing and panting and sweating and being like OHMYGOSH all the time. I could sympathize. I felt similarly. Then we got into a group to pray and did an energy circle, which is when you hold hands and squeeze on impulse. It seriously worked and about that time...we needed energy. A LOT OF ENERGY. The lights went down, the crowd went wild, we heard Dillon's voice, "SO ONE HUNDRED AND BELIEVERS, WERE GATHERED IN THE UPPER ROOM..." Ok, let's go this. Break a leg everyone. You guys are gonna be awesome. Just pray. PRAY. Here we go.
Scene one was Pentecost and it went beautifully!!!!! THEN I HAD A QUICK CHANGE RIGHT AFTER THE FIRST SCENE. In other words, I...
Saturday. 7:00pm. Mrs. Mays had just called places and we had thanked our places, from tradition. I was a disciple in ACT I, a crowd person for ACT II, and a BGV for the whole thing. I had like four/five costumes for the whole show, so I had already arranged them out. Good thing too, because we were starting and THERE WAS A LEGIT CROWD OUT THERE.
Originally, I was like "its all cool," but when I got behind the auditorium with my group (Aaron, Amy, Izzy, Carolina, Kiera, Elliot, Rachel, etc.), something clicked. Suddenly we realized that THIS WAS THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCE and, needless to say, we all began freaking out. We were all like "OH MY GOSH IS THIS SERIOUSLY THE REAL PERFORMANCE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!! We were whispering excitedly, pacing up and down, hugging each other, and Kiera...haha, oh Kiera...Kiera was really freaking out. She was pacing and panting and sweating and being like OHMYGOSH all the time. I could sympathize. I felt similarly. Then we got into a group to pray and did an energy circle, which is when you hold hands and squeeze on impulse. It seriously worked and about that time...we needed energy. A LOT OF ENERGY. The lights went down, the crowd went wild, we heard Dillon's voice, "SO ONE HUNDRED AND BELIEVERS, WERE GATHERED IN THE UPPER ROOM..." Ok, let's go this. Break a leg everyone. You guys are gonna be awesome. Just pray. PRAY. Here we go.
Scene one was Pentecost and it went beautifully!!!!! THEN I HAD A QUICK CHANGE RIGHT AFTER THE FIRST SCENE. In other words, I...
1. Ran up the aisles as a saved disciple character
2. Opened the door and run through the lobby
3. Ran down the two flights of stairs
4. Ran though the downstairs hallway
5. Ran through the secret passage way and don't collide with Katheryn, Laura, Tasi, or Aaron
3. Ran up two more flights of stairs
4. Ran past the mike cage without colliding with people
5. Got into the quick change ASAP without the BGV picking up my heavy breathing
6. Change as much of my costume as possible before Day After Day starts
7. Sing Day After Day as a BGV (hoping that I was able to get water first, hoping that the mike isn't stuck and putting on my shoes during the freezes)
8. Get someone to help me with my hair-tie
9. Get out onstage in time for Walk by Faith
AND THIS WHOLE TIME I LITERALLY COULDN'T SMILING BECAUSE I WAS SO HAPPY THAT SCENE ONE WENT AWESOME. The whole time I was running, it was like the smile was plastered on my face. Kiera was the same way. We're just dramatic like that. So, the Lord gave me energy in scene one, the hectic quick change, and even more for Walk by Faith. It was like that for every single show, PRAISE THE LORD. After that, everything else was a little more laid-back.
AND THIS WHOLE TIME I LITERALLY COULDN'T SMILING BECAUSE I WAS SO HAPPY THAT SCENE ONE WENT AWESOME. The whole time I was running, it was like the smile was plastered on my face. Kiera was the same way. We're just dramatic like that. So, the Lord gave me energy in scene one, the hectic quick change, and even more for Walk by Faith. It was like that for every single show, PRAISE THE LORD. After that, everything else was a little more laid-back.
So, I rushed downstairs to change for the healing scene. My arm was supposed to be broken so I had a shoulder cast to make it look real. Somehow, every time I did the change, Bethen always called "Sovereign Lord" before I was finished. Most of the time, I was rushing upstairs with my hairband, earrings, and shoulder cast...putting them on as I went. Before we went all went down the isles toward the stage in our different sick characters, we encouraged each other to pray for cast members who ACTUALLY NEEDED HEALING during the scene. God did it too, throughout the entire show week in fact. For example, Kevin and Kenzie both had strep throat that night, but they both did AMAZING. Sleep deprived teenagers were protected from disease and people with sprained ankles or stomach troubles had their pain vanish over showtime. It was AMAZING.
Anyway, back to the first performance. After the healing scene, I headed back downstairs to change into my widow costume. Widows was...how do I put this? ABSOLUTELY CRAZY. IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORD. Anyway, there was a bit of time before "Widows so I took my time in the dressing room, getting my clothes organized and everything. Well, maybe organized isn't exactly the right word...
This was the girl's dressing room, and I wouldn't exactly call it organized in the slightest. EVERYONE LITERALLY HAD THREE OR MORE COSTUMES AND THIS IS WHAT THE ROOM LOOKED LIKE. ALL THE TIME. There were clothes strewn everywhere!!!!!!! Everything was so jumbled during every show that nobody could tell who's bag of clothes was who's. Various kinds of sprays filled the room air all the time. Hairspray. Anti-frizz spray. Scented spray. Cooling spray. Every time I entered, I felt as if I was walking into a beauty shop with 100 spilled bottles of perfume. I wish we had a sign to post outside saying "Beware! Heavy Tropical Flower Zone! Ok, what else was everywhere? How about...EVERYTHING. There were make-up boxes, water bottles, snacks, cellphones, hairbands, and endless amounts of bobby pins on the desks. Bags, backpacks, and purses were under the desks. Mascara, lipgloss, eye-shadow cases, and glasses were piled around the mirror. And also clothes. Did I mention you couldn't see the floor because of all the clothes??? AND...there was a running commentary!!!!! ALL THE TIME. During the show, it went kind of like this:
Where are my leggings?!?!??
No idea where they are.
Are these your clothes?
Ahhhh!!!! Oh no!!!
Yep, those are mine.
What happened??
I messed up my eye-liner!!!
Can I borrow your belt?
Why can't we have five mirrors in here?
I know right!! I wish we did.
Would this belt work?
Guys, Jesus wouldn't complain.
You know what, you're right!!!
Crowd rocks!
You go girl!!!!
Can I use that blush?
CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!
Who has an extra hairband?
What scene is next???
I think Stephen's Stoning.
Lord, where are my sunglasses?
I love your flourescent pink shirt!
CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!
Does my eye shadow look ok?
Ahh I'm sooo hot!!!
Yes, it looks fine.
You know you are, girl.
Oh gosh. I'VE GOTTA BE ONSTAGE!!
CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!
And Bethen, sweet Bethen, had to put up with all of us for every single show. Wow, we were REALLY REALLY REALLY LOUD sometimes. But if Bethen didn't shut us up, Kylie did.
There's Izzy and Bree on the left. FYI - that's Bree's camera face. She's so cute, love you Bree :). On the right is me, Bethany, and Sarah dressing up for widows. That's my purple sweater (seems like just last year it was too big for me, how does this happen?!?!?!?!?!) and I'm supposed to be wearing a blue head-bow. I don't have it on in the picture.
OK, WIDOWS!!!!! So, I went to the common room to WATCH JOSEPH, TRAVIS, DAVIN, LIAM, KEVIN, AND MORGAN PERFORM SUFFERING FOR JESUS. They did A-M-A-Z-I-N-G on the last show night. They were absolutely perfect, and Joseph was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic...having the most painful face, jumping off the stairs on the way down, jumping across the stage and clapping in the extremest ways possible, all for suffering in the Lord's name! You were awesome Joseph!
WIDOWS: So Bethan called Widows, and 30 girls charged upstairs in their costumes trying to be quiet and then we got upstairs and waited as Noelle and Issac (Stephen) complained about the lack of food and complained about each other's complaining and then Katie (Rhoda) yelled that there was only one more loaf of bread and Andrew (thorn) got all dramatic and was like I NEED IT and all 30 girls including me dashed down the isles, ran up the stairs onto the stage hopefully not tripping, and got into a big mass reaching and yelling and screaming about why we needed the bread because our husbands were unemployed and our children were starving and our lives were impossible and then we hear...QUIET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was Katie Porter on the stairs. THE SILENCE WAS DEAFENING OOOH YES. When she saw our shocked faces, she amended her yelled statement and added a very polite, "please." It was fun and I love you Kateee :) Then, we filed offstage huffing and puffing about how we hoped there'd be more food later. I stayed in the green room and watched the scene where Stephen gets stoned. The first time I saw Isaac perform the scene, I literally cried. His song goes went like this:
WHY DO YOU RAGE, DO YOU PLOT AGAINST THE SAVIOR
AND WHY DO YOU HARDEN YOUR HEARTS?
REMEMBER THE PROMISE OF THE KING
YOU'VE WAITED FOR SO LOO...O-O...O-ONG
ABRAHAM, GOD CALLED FROM AFAR
PROMISED A PEACEFUL LAND
AND OFFSPRING LIKE THE STARS
BUT AS THE YEARS WHEN BY
AND THE PATRIARCHS DIED
FOR A HUNDRED YEARS IN EGYPT
THEY TOILED AND THEY CRI-IED
DELIVER US FROM THESE CHAINS, DELIVER US!
AND GOD HAS SENT HIS ONLY SON
AND YOU'VE BECOME HARD IN YOUR HEARTS
AND JUST LIKE YOUR FATHERS YOU SHUT YOUR EARS
AND MADE IT CLEAR YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO HEAR!
AND I SEE THE HEAVENS OPEN
AND THE SON OF MAN STANDING AT THE RIGHT OF GOD!
(Blasphemy!!! Blasphemy!!! Stone Him!!!)
LORD JESUS
RECEIVE MY SPIRIT!
LORD!!! DON'T HOLD THEIR SINS...against them...
And then he died. You could have heard a pin drop in that auditorium. You could have heard a smaller pin drop backstage. It was so quiet.
I stayed up in the green room for the next scene. The disciples were all in the upper room, mourning Stephen's death. Me, Alexis, Rachel, and Izzy had to simulate screaming backstage for the part when "SAUL DRAGS CHRISTIANS OUT OF THEIR HOMES AND THROWS THEM IN PRISON." Yep, that's another quick story.
WE NEEDED MORE GUYS TO SCREAM, TO MAKE IT SOUND REALISTIC. I mean, usually I wouldn't put guys and scream in the same sentence, but that's what we did. Performance night too! So, our screaming group gathers near the BGV mikes to await the cue. Stephen Calderone comes and stands with us. Either he wanted to hear what we were yelling at the top of our lungs, or he was screaming too. In any case, I didn't give much thought to it.
Onstage:
Liam: (cue line) "Stephen sees Him now..."
Our Group: "AHHHH, NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLLLPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!! DON'T TAKE MY CHILDREN, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M BEGGING YOU, NO WAIT, LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!!!!!!! HELPPPPP SOMEBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Stephen begins to scream with us, his voice cracking up in the high notes...a lot.
Stephen: "NO PLEASE, MY WIFE NOOOOOO, DON'T TAKE OUR BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
When Rachel cut us off, WE JUST CRACKED UP!!!!!!!!!!! Trying as best we could to muffle our uncontrollable and spasmatic laughter, we stumbled across the green room to our next stations. Ahhh. It was great.
By the time, I got downstairs, ACT I was almost over. I changed into my costume for Lystra, which consisted of, YOU READY FOR THIS? Brown flip-flops. Neon yellow leggings. A short, black skirt. A neon green t-shirt. A black belt. HUGE SUNGLASSES. Gold, spiral earrings. Tons of green eyeshadow. And a sassy attitude. Haha, I'll explain the scene when I get there, but right about then...I was dead. So I went into the common room and watched Impossible. Dancers you were AMAZING, espeically Katheryn!! First, they had to get Paul out of the city though. How. Story time...
PAUL HAD TO GET OUT OF THE CITY. The followers of Jesus were having a hard time with that, especially since Issac (Cole) came looking for Paul (David) to arrest him. Issac's guards were all around the city. Fortunately, the man who restored Paul's sight after the road to Damascus, Ananias (Eyobed) had a plan. This was performance #3.
Eyobed: "Hey look out. Your friend is coming! Everyone hide!
Everyone hides behind the pillars and set, but Eyobed pulls his red hoodie up over his head, grabs a walking stick from under the set, and pretends to be a wobbly old man with a high-pitched accent.
Cole: "Hey there, I'm looking for a man named Saul."
Eyobed: "Oh yes, King Saul, of course. Didn't love the Lord, you know that was his downfall.
Cole: "No...no, a different Saul."
Eyobed: "Well my boy, there have been many great kings...King Jeremiah, King Josiah, King Hezekiah, KING TUT, KING KOOONG!
The common room exploded into laughter. Eyobed is a genuis, literally.
When Cole leaves in frustration, the disciples come out of hiding.
David: "That was...impressive."
Yes, that was an amazing moment and the audience loved it. Sometimes, Eyobed would mention kings that didn't even exist but I have to admit, King Tut and KING KONG were the best.
Anyway, on with impossible. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!!!!!! Nope...not even smuggling Sual out of a city with a wall that was 100 feet high. I didn't sing BGV for it, because it was out of my range a little bit, but I love the song. Eyobed's solo was the first six lines:
I LOVE THAT WORD IMPOSSIBLE
IT CALLS FOR A MIRACLE
WAIT ON GOD, FOR A WHILE
WHEN LIFE SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE
VALLEYS SEEM UNCROSSABLE
WAIT ON GOD, JUST WAIT ON GOD...
WALK ON WATER WITH THE KING
THROW THAT MOUNTAIN TO THE SEA
SEE THE BLIND RECEIVE THEIR SIGHT
WATCH THE SINNER COME TO LIFE
WHEN YOU'RE WALKING WITH THE KING
THERE'S NO IMPOSSIBILITY
NO POWER OF HELL OR SCHEME OF MAN
CAN EVER STOP HIS HOLY PLAN!!!
End of ACT I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a meeting downstairs, listened to a lecture from Mr. Smith, rehearsed stuff with Janice, and went back up for ACT II. This was my first time being on BGV and I sang for nearly all the songs in this act. Ya know that thing I said about needing energy? Well, this was usually the spot that everyone needed it most. Fortunately, the Lord was on our side...
I ran upstairs and sang BGV for Jerusalem, Day After Day (Reprise), and City Rising. In these scenes, Paul came, Paul went, Paul traveled and traveled and traveled from city to city to more cities...and also the disciples weaved in and out constantly (because they were preaching the Gospel to the world too). After City Rising, guess what it was!!!!!!! LYSTRA. Colors for the scene: black paired with bright neon colors and hipster clothing. We were "The Cool, Shifty Mindset, Town. I had so much fun playing this part. I was totally self-absorbed with my wind-blown hair, sunglasses, nails, merchant blankets, anything that seemed remotely interested. Flaunting my walk seemed to fit the character, so I added that HEHE. Anyway, this town was soooo narrow minded it was rediculous. So, when Paul appeared onstage, preaching the Gospel...what did we do???
We worshiped him because we thought he the God Hermes!!!!
We hated him because we thought the Gospel was a plague.
We adored him because he was an idol to sacrifice bulls to.
We begged him not to leave because he was amazing.
We despised him because Cole told us he was diseased.
We stoned him because he had lied to us about everything.
WHAT?!?!?!?!. Yep, shifty. All of this going-back-and-forth was at the discretion of the top merchant of the city (Drew Ferleman). I've never seen a more perfect role for Drew than the merchant (worshiping Paul and spitting in his face in the same 5 seconds is a skill). Good job Drew!
My next task. Rush downstairs and change into my ending scene costume (which is my opening scene costume) and rush back upstairs to help Kiera. Kiers had a full change of everything imaginable in the space of 1 and 1/2 scenes. Her deadline was Athens, another city in which Paul preached. But instead of shifty minded, this city was all about idols. THE THORNS (Tatiana, Melissa, Andrew) were very much present. The scene before ATHENS was Kylie's solo. She played Lydia, a girl who met Paul on his travels, but didn't end up marrying him because of his dangerous work. Lydia (Kylie) was very sad when Paul left for Athens, and her solo is all about trusting God through trials. I CAN'T DESCRIBE WHAT AN INCREDIBLE VOICE KYLIE HAS AN HOW PHENOMENAL HER SOLO WAS!!!!!!!!!!! Like Stephen's solo, we all had a silent dance party backstage in honor of the SHEER AWESOMENESS...
IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT I'VE SAID GOODBYE
EACH TIME IT HURTS AND I NEVER KNOW WHY
I JUST STARTED LEARNING TO LIVE FOR YOUR SAKE
NOW I NEED YOUR STRENGTH AS MY HEART STARTS TO BREAK
I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU TAKE OR YOU GIVE
TEACH ME TO TRUST YOU AS LONG AS I LIVE
FOR I COULDN'T BEAR IT IF I NEVER KNEW
THAT EVEN IN SORROW YOU'LL CARRY ME THROUGH!
I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
WHEN NOTHING BUT YOUR LOVE REMAINS
I REALIZE THAT ONLY YOUR LOVE SUSTAINS
IT'S ALL THAT I NEED FOR ALL OF MY DAYS
AND ONE DAY I'LL KNEEL AT YOUR THRONE WITH PRAISE...
I...WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
FOREVER AND I-I-I-I-I WILL GLORIFY YOUR NAME
(this is big dance-party-backstage part)
THE TEARS OF THIS LIFE WILL BE ALL WASHED AWAY
THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT WILL BECOME ENDLESS DAY
GOODBYE IS A WORD THAT WE NEVER WILL SA-A-AY
AGAIN...
OMG SOOOOOOOO AWESOME AND SOOOOOO TRUE. God is faithful to carry us through every single trial of this life, big or small!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, during this HUGE scene I was helping Kiera finish her HUGE quick change. SHOULD I SUMMARIZE???
UHHHH...let's see...
COSTUME #1 - shoes, jeans, black tank top, purple shirt, braids, purple flower, casual makeup
COSTUME #2 - sneakers, leggings, black skirt, black tank top, blue jacket, ponytail, pinned bangs, gold bow, cheerleader makeup
Kiera's hair was absolutely the hardest part, not because her hair was hard to work with, but because...putting Kiera's hair up in a ponytail, pinning the bangs back with tons of bobby pins, doing it all over again because you missed three strands, attaching the tiny gold bow, and finishing with hairspray...in 1/2 scene...is slightly difficult. But it worked.
And they finally ended up in...ANTHENS, A CITY FULL OF IDOLS. This is an addicting song...and when I say addicting, I mean REALLY addicting. For weeks people couldn't stop singing it and it drove us all CUH-RAZZEEEE!!!!!!!!! ...not that we weren't crazy already...
So the THORNS do their little introduction dance and idolistic songee thing, hehe
Then Amy Barnett sings her OPERA SONG!!!!!!
GOOOOOD IS A MOUNTAIN
AND THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO CLIMB THAT MOUNTAIN
AND JUST LIKE CLIMBING A MOUNTA-AHAHAAA-AHAHAAA-AHAHAAA-AHHHHH
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS ABOUT CLIMBING THAT MOUNTAIN WITHOUT REALLY TRAINING FOR IT (breath) AND YOU WILL MOST DEFINITELY BE ABLE TO CLIMB THAT MOUN-TAAAAAAAAAAAIN!!!!!!!!!!!
LOOOOOOOVE YOU AMY :D
And there the THORNS go...again (Tati you did AMAZING and suceeded in being quite devilish and most evilish in every possible way, not to mention you having an awesome voice, GOOD JOB!!!!!!!)
So before this, THE CHEERLEADERS were over in the corner of the stage, wearing matching costumes, giggling and whispering and laughing about nothing in particular in their prissy, idolistic, cheerleader-ish way. Now they dance and sing the all-together-TOO-feminine song that DROVE THE WHOLE CAST CRAZY FOR FOREVER. And for the literal insanity of EVERYONE reading this post...I'M GOING TO MOVE ON NOW.
HEY HEY HEY, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR A LITTLE TRUTH
ANYBODY WITH A LITTLE FOR-SOOTH
I WANT SOMETHING TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
HEY HEY HEY, TELL ME ANYTHING YOU KNOW A TO Z
JUST AS LONG AS IT IS PLEASING TO ME
WITH ENOUGH TRUTH TO MAKE ME FEEL GOOD
(Btw - during this ending part, there was a big party in Athens and Drew and Ramil were up on top wearing black sunglasses, waving their arms like aliens, and throwing their hair all over the place, hehehehe)
The last couple scenes were pretty emotional and most of the time it was mainly Paul (David) and Peter (Kevin). AND MATT WAS THE ANGEL THAT GOT THE APOSTLES OUT OF PRISON!!!!! YAY MATT!!!!!! He was wearing all white, as the angel, and literally glowed on camera because of the iris setting. He even dyed his hair a little blonder so his hair glowed too!!! :D
Anyway, by this time: If I wasn't hangin' out downstairs, I was singing BGV. The ending scene came before too long. Just as I was fixing my make-up (cuz it WOULD be then), Bethen called "FINAL SCENE!!!" Then everyone stormed...well, tried to walk quietly while storming...upstairs and behind the bleachers. By the time Paul had left for his execution with Cole (I was sufficiently creeped out by Cole's lecture in the scene before), the final song had started and we came down the isles on...
I CAN SEE A CITY RISING FROM THE ASHES OF THE WORLD
NO EVIL IN US OR EVIL OUT THERE CAN STOP THE RISEN LORD
HIS HOLY CHURCH IS RISING LIKE A CITY ON A HILL
NO POWER CAN STOP THE SAVIOR YET AND NOTHING EVER WILL
IT NEVER WILL
IT NEVER WILL
HA-LE-LEU-JAH...
Thunderous Applause.
I've never felt so happy in my entire life.
Curtain call.
Guess what's next.
THE FIRST PERFORMANCE WAS OVER AND EVERYONE WAS TOTALLY FREAKING OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mrs. Mays congratulated us, we prayed, and gave glory to God...then went out to meet the crowd. I'd never before been part of the actual cast during the autograph-signing time. But Kylie and David got most of the autographs anyway, understandably. Anyway, everybody hugged everybody in congrtulations and excitement and whatnot, whether or not they knew them. I hung out with my friends, talked with people, and screamed with my friends about the first show being done!!! One down, four to go baby. The cheerleaders from Athens were all dressed in their uniforms.
THE CAST PICTURE started with the cheerleaders wanting to get a group picture of themselves in uniform. Then me and a bunch of my friends joined. Then a bunch of guys piled on and it just went downhill from there. The yell "CAST PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" echoed around the lobby and pretty soon, the entire 85 person cast had piled on behind us! We laughed, and nearly fell over, and laughed, and yelled what the camera-takers wanted us too, and laughed, and in all the heavy racket, a voice rang out...
Alexis: GOING TO REHEARSAL!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!
Alexis: FALLING ASLEEP IN MATH CLASS!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!! EVERY WORD WE SAY, EVERY LINE WE SING, LET'S CHANGE EVERYTHING!!!!! DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER DAY!!!!!!!!!
Alexis: SLEEP DEPRIVED AND TIRED!!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!!!!!
Alexis: OVERDOSE ON CAFFEINE!!!!!!!!
CAST: EVERY DAY!!!!!! EVERYTHING WE SAY, EVERYTHING WE DO, HEY LET'S CHANGE THAT TOO!!!!!!!! DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER...DAY. IT SEEMS TO ME WE NEVER WILL MAKE A DECISION, BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS UNDER CONSTANT REVISION, JUST WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE WE KNOW WHAT TO DO, WE TRY SOMETHING NEW, IT'S A MYSTERY, DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY...DAY AFTER...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY...DAY AFTER DAY-AY-AY..DAY...AFTER...DAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then we screamed. A lot. And probably messed up our voices for the next year. But no one cared. Did I mention that I love this cast?!?!?!?!???
This is Cat, me, Stephen, and Tatiana after performance #3. Cat, you're SO encouraging and enthusiastic and I love you sooooo much!!!!
This is Bree, my other friend, and me at the STRIKE PARTY!!!!!! Btw - God gave us supernatural amounts of energy for the last performance and I believe we really gave glory to Him that night. And after that is was PURE DANCE PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!! DANCE, DANCE DANCE. Greased Lightning, Interlude, Stronger, line dances (cuz they tire hyper teenagers out) and stuff. I had too much fun.
ACTS CAST PARTY was on April 15, 2012. We had a great lunch and honored a lot of deserving people. Thank you Kimberly, Bethen, and Rachel for being our backstage organizers and working sooooooo hard to make ACTS happen!!!!!! Thank you Janice and Martin for working with us vocally half the year even when we were moody and exhausted!!!! THANK YOU MRS. MAYS for helping us perform ACTS with a godly perspective and for your amazing example of prayer. May the Glory go the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!! *Pant Pant Pant* SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH MORE STUFF I COULD SAY ABOUT THIS SHOW, but I think this is sufficient. I am totally going to be in the youth drama next year and am already working on my audition song. Yep...uh huh...Whoo, um yeah...WOOOOOOOOW (Travis does this best).
See you all later!!!
~Anna
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