The Plot
*****Spoiler alert, I'm about to give away everything that happens. If you'd rather wait and see how Frank Wedekind does it, then DON'T READ THIS.*****
Okay. Spring Awakening. Here goes.
The play opens with Wendla's mother fitting her for a new dress that is much longer than her old one. They talk about Wendla getting older, and Wendla expresses the desire to stay a child, which her mother encourages. Wendla reveals that she lays awake at night thinking about death sometimes, and that these thoughts help her sleep. (Like I said, weird kid.)
Next scene is the boys in the schoolyard. Everyone leaves except Moritz and Melchior, who begin a serious philosophic discussion about topics ranging from the proper way to raise children to their own "masculine stirrings," or erotic dreams and the inherent sense of shame embedded in that. Moritz reveals that he actually has no idea how babies come into the world, and Melchior offers to teach him. Moritz asks Melchior to write it all down and hide it in one of his books so he can come across it randomly.
Moving on. The boys leave, enter the girls. Wendla, Martha, and Thea discuss the boys (Wendla and Thea find Melchior dreamy, while Martha thinks that Moritz has "more soulful eyes"). The girls also discuss the proper way to raise children, and the fact that they would all rather have boys than girls because girls are apparently boring.
Back to the boys, Moritz sneaks into the dreaded conference room at school and discovers, in sneaking into his file, that he has passed the class. He is to be moved up, provisionally. This makes him wildly happy, but leads the other boys to scoff at how he could have let his grades become so endangered in the first place.
Some time later Melchior is wandering around the woods, thinking his deep thoughts, when he comes across Wendla, who is in the woods gathering woodruff for her mother to make may punch (I don't know what may punch is either...). Melchior asks Wendla if she enjoys being required to give to the poor and Wendla responds that she does which infuriates Melchior. He doesn't understand why something that gives a person joy is seen as sacrifice, and why it's so noble. (This scene, aside from the fairly innocuous dialogue, is filled with so much sexual tension it makes everyone crazy. In a good way.) Wendla talks about Martha being beaten and says that she herself has never been beaten. She then grabs a stick and asks Melchior to beat her with it. He at first refuses, then gives in. He is hesitant at first, then he is seized by an inhuman rage and beats her until she cries. He runs away in horror.
Skimming a bit, Melchior and Moritz finally have their sex talk. Wendla and her mother have a version of the sex talk, wherein it is revealed that although Wendla is 14, her mother would have her still believe that the stork brings babies. Mrs. Bergman's idea of an explanation is to say that a woman must love her husband in order to have a child. Even this vague and not at all helpful answer has to be dragged out of her. Wendla is left with even more unanswered questions and no one else to ask.
In an elaborate monologue, Hansy speaks to a postcard-size portrait of Desdemona, describing the sexual urges he has and the shame he feels in acting on them. He tells of the vicious temptation faced every day.
Next day, Wendla comes upon Melchior who is hiding in a hayloft. Melchior at first tells her to leave, then when she does not, he kisses her. She tells him to stop, but she doesn't leave. He then (arguably) rapes her. (*I say arguably because the dialogue, depending on delivery, could blur the line a little bit. I intend to play up the ambiguity in this scene because I love Melchior to death and don't want him to be a rapist. Also, he's 14 and not a bad kid. And Wendla could have left. I think she was saying no because that's what she knew she should say, not necessarily because it felt bad.)
So that happens, and then Moritz finds out that he actually flunked out of school. He goes into the woods with a gun, intent on killing himself. Before he can manage it, Ilse enters. Ilse, in another scene wrought with sexual tension, tells Moritz of her escapades with the artists in town, and subtly offers to sleep with Moritz, who sends her away. Ilse was attempting to save his life, but he had no interest. Shortly after her exit, Moritz kills himself.
The next act opens with the head of the school grilling Melchior on the booklet he wrote for Moritz detailing the intricacies of copulation. The headmistress blames this document for Moritz's suicide, and expels Melchior. Melchior's parents discuss sending him to the reformatory. Mrs. Gabor is strongly against it, to the point where she threatens to divorce her husband if he forces it. Then Mr. Gabor shows her a letter Melchior wrote to Wendla wherein he apologizes to her for what happened in the hayloft. After hearing that, Mrs Gabor consents to sending her son away.
Moritz's funeral is a somber affair, but it seems to not affect the other kids at all, who spend the whole time talking about homework and discussing the gruesome details of the suicide.
Next we see Wendla, who has been put on bed rest for what is apparently "anemia." Except that it isn't. A visiting doctor tells Mrs Bergman that Wendla is pregnant. When Mrs Bergman tells Wendla, the girl is shocked and says, "But mother, I've never loved anyone but you!" Revealing that she had NO idea that what happened in the hayloft with Melchior could lead to pregnancy. Mrs Bergman, in an effort to return to normalcy, brings in Mother Schmidt to perform an abortion on her daughter. Wendla dies in the procedure.
The next scene is, honestly, sort of random. Hansy and Ernst are together in a vineyard and end up making out. Odd little interlude there, but just Wedekind exploring even more previously unexplored sexuality.
Shift to Melchior in the reformatory, where he is planning his escape. When he finally makes it out, he is chased into a graveyard, and the extent of his mental breakdown becomes apparent. He claims a desire to die. After accidentally kicking over Moritz's cross, he finds Wendla's grave. Moritz then appears to him and offers Melchior his hand, with the understanding that this would transport him into the afterlife. Before Melchior can be persuaded, a Masked Man shows up. The Masked Man convinces Melchior to choose life over death, and the two depart the graveyard.
Whew. That's the play in a nutshell. Wedekind does it better. I'm just trying to entice you into coming to see the real thing.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Spring Awakening 101
So fun story, I have this habit of jumping the gun on my alarm clock by a few minutes because I'm secretly terrified of the noise it makes and it ruins my whole day if my alarm jerks me out of sleep. This morning I had set my alarm for 8:30 so I could get up, shower, and be at work by 9:45. When I woke up I glanced at the clock and saw :28 past, so I groaned, rolled over, and hopped out of bed to turn it off before the alarm went off. I got in the shower, got dressed, packed up all my stuff, and started walking to work...About halfway there, I stopped and thought, 'Wait, did the clock say 7:58 when I finished getting dressed?'So I pulled out my phone and sure enough...it was just 8:30. I was an entire hour early. I hate mornings.
To make this morning better, I'm going to write about Spring Awakening. That ALWAYS makes me happy. It will be especially good because we had an amazing rehearsal last night.
Alrighty. Spring Awakening 101: Meet the characters.
Melchior: A 14 year old boy with a drive to know EVERYTHING. He is referred to by his peers as a "philosopher." He knows the details of human reproduction, something none of the other kids know. However, he is still 14. He doesn't really know how to talk to girls, which ends up being a huge problem for him later on.
Moritz: A 14 year old boy. He is more preoccupied with sex than Melchior, but he shares Melchior's desire for knowledge. Moritz is a poor student, and worries that if he fails our of school his parents will be beyond devastated. He and Melchior are best friends.
Wendla: A 14 year old girl. Whereas the two boys are relatively normal stereotypes of 14 year olds, Wendla is...odd. To say the least. She has a preoccupation with death as well as masochistic tendencies that come up repeatedly throughout the play. Wendla also lives in a world of aggressive naivete. She point-blank refuses to see the world as it really is.
Hansy: (Hanschen in the musical version) Another 14 year old boy. Hansy is an interesting character. He is without a doubt preoccupied with sex, as most of the young boys seem to be.
Ernst: Yet another 14 year old boy. Ernst is another one not doing well in school, and is in a sense Moritz's competition, as the upper classroom only has enough seats for one of them to pass their current class.
Martha: A 14 year old girl. A friend of Wendla's, Martha reveals to us that her father beats her. Also Martha has a thing for Moritz, while all the other girls are in love with Melchior.
Thea: Another 14 year old girl. Thea is more typical of children of the time period. She has very strict ideas of propriety and what should and should not be done.
Ilse: And one more 14 year old girl. Ilse is the free spirit. She runs with a group of artists, who take turns painting her and sleeping with her. Ilse is the only one with real-life knowledge of sex.
**Note about my casting: I have the same actor who is playing Ilse also playing the Masked Man who comes in at the end. It's all literary and symbolic. Way cool.
Mrs. Bergman: Wendla's mother. Mrs. Bergman is a typical mother of the era. She refuses to discuss sex with her daughter, or indeed to discuss anything of any real substance. This woman lives her life according to a set of scripted societal rules and she never varies from them. Never.
Mrs. Gabor: Melchior's mother. Without a doubt the most sympathetic of all the adult characters in the play. She believes in letting her son guide his own learning, and gives him the freedom to read whatever he wants. She answers all of his questions and just loves him unconditionally.
I think that's everybody important. There are a couple of other boys, and a few more adults. But you've got the basic picture. Next lesson: the plot. In a new post. Because this is too long.
To make this morning better, I'm going to write about Spring Awakening. That ALWAYS makes me happy. It will be especially good because we had an amazing rehearsal last night.
Alrighty. Spring Awakening 101: Meet the characters.
Melchior: A 14 year old boy with a drive to know EVERYTHING. He is referred to by his peers as a "philosopher." He knows the details of human reproduction, something none of the other kids know. However, he is still 14. He doesn't really know how to talk to girls, which ends up being a huge problem for him later on.
Moritz: A 14 year old boy. He is more preoccupied with sex than Melchior, but he shares Melchior's desire for knowledge. Moritz is a poor student, and worries that if he fails our of school his parents will be beyond devastated. He and Melchior are best friends.
Wendla: A 14 year old girl. Whereas the two boys are relatively normal stereotypes of 14 year olds, Wendla is...odd. To say the least. She has a preoccupation with death as well as masochistic tendencies that come up repeatedly throughout the play. Wendla also lives in a world of aggressive naivete. She point-blank refuses to see the world as it really is.
Hansy: (Hanschen in the musical version) Another 14 year old boy. Hansy is an interesting character. He is without a doubt preoccupied with sex, as most of the young boys seem to be.
Ernst: Yet another 14 year old boy. Ernst is another one not doing well in school, and is in a sense Moritz's competition, as the upper classroom only has enough seats for one of them to pass their current class.
Martha: A 14 year old girl. A friend of Wendla's, Martha reveals to us that her father beats her. Also Martha has a thing for Moritz, while all the other girls are in love with Melchior.
Thea: Another 14 year old girl. Thea is more typical of children of the time period. She has very strict ideas of propriety and what should and should not be done.
Ilse: And one more 14 year old girl. Ilse is the free spirit. She runs with a group of artists, who take turns painting her and sleeping with her. Ilse is the only one with real-life knowledge of sex.
**Note about my casting: I have the same actor who is playing Ilse also playing the Masked Man who comes in at the end. It's all literary and symbolic. Way cool.
Mrs. Bergman: Wendla's mother. Mrs. Bergman is a typical mother of the era. She refuses to discuss sex with her daughter, or indeed to discuss anything of any real substance. This woman lives her life according to a set of scripted societal rules and she never varies from them. Never.
Mrs. Gabor: Melchior's mother. Without a doubt the most sympathetic of all the adult characters in the play. She believes in letting her son guide his own learning, and gives him the freedom to read whatever he wants. She answers all of his questions and just loves him unconditionally.
I think that's everybody important. There are a couple of other boys, and a few more adults. But you've got the basic picture. Next lesson: the plot. In a new post. Because this is too long.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Honeybees
So this is a paper I had to write for my anthropology class, Communication and the Media. The prompt was thus:
“For animals, the relationship in which one thing stands for something else does not appear to exist except in very rudimentary form” (Hayakawa, p. 14). Draw on the non-human species we have studied to substantiate this claim. You may also complicate the claim, if you wish.
The grades were either check minus, check, or check plus. Most people in the class got a check, but I got a check plus :) Which pleased me a lot because this was right around the time I got back from the hospital, and I found the readings really challenging so I had to work super hard to understand the topic. So, I worked really hard and got a good grade for it. Yay! Here's the paper, if you're interested.
The claim that nonhuman species have only a minimal concept of the idea of one thing standing for another is one substantiated by many observers, key among them scientists like Hayakawa. While on the surface this claim can be easily substantiated, it becomes more complicated the deeper into it one delves. To begin, it is necessary to unpack some key terms. First, an arbitrary symbol is something that has no discernable link between the symbol and the object it represents. An example of this is language. The word “tree” has no real connection to the concept of a tree. Next, an icon is something that bears a physical resemblance to the object discussed, like a picture of a lion to represent lions in the area. Lastly, an indexical relationship is one that generally refers to its subject; ie pointing to indicate a direction.
Arbitrariness is the concept that appears to not exist in animal species. An example supporting this is thus; a group of scientists working with chimpanzees discovered that only with extensive training could the chimps be trained to recognize symbols of objects and use those symbols to classify them into distinct categories (Savage-Rumbaugh, E. Sue, D. M. Rumbaugh, S. T. Smith, and J. Lawson. “Reference: The Linguistic Essential.” Science, Vol. 210, 21, November 1980: 922-925. ) In nature, chimpanzees do not utilize arbitrary symbols to represent things. There is no concept of something being symbolic of another thing. Even iconic relationships had to be taught over long periods of time with many varying levels of training before any progress was made.
Conversely, honeybees do actually display a rudimentary use of, if not symbols, at least indexes. In order for the worker bees to communicate distances and locational information to the forager bees, they employ two distinct dances. The round dance is indicative of a closer source, while the waggle dance is utilized to demonstrate longer distances. Speed of abdominal vibrations and direction of the dance illustrate the size of the food source and the direction in which the foragers should travel. This is certainly indexical, but arguably not arbitrary. The dances are a rudimentary diagram acting almost as a rough map to the source. This is not iconic because it is not a direct representation of the route to the food, it is a symbolic representation that is understood by the bees to have a certain meaning. There does not appear to be any process by which bees are taught these dances, they are simply a part of hive life.
Although indexicality is seen in the honeybee example, this does little to contradict the claim that Hayakawa makes, which is that “For animals, the relationship in which one thing stands for something else does not appear to exist except in very rudimentary form.” A truly complex symbolic relationship would have to show some evidence of arbitrariness, which the honeybee example does not do and the chimpanzee example in fact argues is not possible. Unless it is hidden in some as yet unobserved communication ability, scientists have yet to find strong evidence of animals using complex symbols to represent things other than what they literally are.
~So that's that. Hope it was interesting at the very least!
“For animals, the relationship in which one thing stands for something else does not appear to exist except in very rudimentary form” (Hayakawa, p. 14). Draw on the non-human species we have studied to substantiate this claim. You may also complicate the claim, if you wish.
The grades were either check minus, check, or check plus. Most people in the class got a check, but I got a check plus :) Which pleased me a lot because this was right around the time I got back from the hospital, and I found the readings really challenging so I had to work super hard to understand the topic. So, I worked really hard and got a good grade for it. Yay! Here's the paper, if you're interested.
The claim that nonhuman species have only a minimal concept of the idea of one thing standing for another is one substantiated by many observers, key among them scientists like Hayakawa. While on the surface this claim can be easily substantiated, it becomes more complicated the deeper into it one delves. To begin, it is necessary to unpack some key terms. First, an arbitrary symbol is something that has no discernable link between the symbol and the object it represents. An example of this is language. The word “tree” has no real connection to the concept of a tree. Next, an icon is something that bears a physical resemblance to the object discussed, like a picture of a lion to represent lions in the area. Lastly, an indexical relationship is one that generally refers to its subject; ie pointing to indicate a direction.
Arbitrariness is the concept that appears to not exist in animal species. An example supporting this is thus; a group of scientists working with chimpanzees discovered that only with extensive training could the chimps be trained to recognize symbols of objects and use those symbols to classify them into distinct categories (Savage-Rumbaugh, E. Sue, D. M. Rumbaugh, S. T. Smith, and J. Lawson. “Reference: The Linguistic Essential.” Science, Vol. 210, 21, November 1980: 922-925. ) In nature, chimpanzees do not utilize arbitrary symbols to represent things. There is no concept of something being symbolic of another thing. Even iconic relationships had to be taught over long periods of time with many varying levels of training before any progress was made.
Conversely, honeybees do actually display a rudimentary use of, if not symbols, at least indexes. In order for the worker bees to communicate distances and locational information to the forager bees, they employ two distinct dances. The round dance is indicative of a closer source, while the waggle dance is utilized to demonstrate longer distances. Speed of abdominal vibrations and direction of the dance illustrate the size of the food source and the direction in which the foragers should travel. This is certainly indexical, but arguably not arbitrary. The dances are a rudimentary diagram acting almost as a rough map to the source. This is not iconic because it is not a direct representation of the route to the food, it is a symbolic representation that is understood by the bees to have a certain meaning. There does not appear to be any process by which bees are taught these dances, they are simply a part of hive life.
Although indexicality is seen in the honeybee example, this does little to contradict the claim that Hayakawa makes, which is that “For animals, the relationship in which one thing stands for something else does not appear to exist except in very rudimentary form.” A truly complex symbolic relationship would have to show some evidence of arbitrariness, which the honeybee example does not do and the chimpanzee example in fact argues is not possible. Unless it is hidden in some as yet unobserved communication ability, scientists have yet to find strong evidence of animals using complex symbols to represent things other than what they literally are.
~So that's that. Hope it was interesting at the very least!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Mama Who Bore Me
Is the opening number of the Spring Awakening soundtrack. Which is fitting, because wee just had our very first Spring Awakening rehearsal.
It was magnificent.
Due to the fact that one of the other shows at Brandeis this semester is in tech and about half my cast is in that show, the rehearsal was small with just Wendla, Thea, Martha, and Mrs. Bergman (those are characters; portrayed by the actors Corrie, Joanna, Devan, and Kate) and my stage manager, Jessie.
We opened with me discussing how rehearsals were going to run, and then we did a few read-throughs of the scenes to be worked on, and then we began blocking. It's so fun to work with actors who are serious about their parts and about the script. I mean, I've loved this script since the first time I opened it. It's nice to remember that this isn't a piece I have to teach people how to love. It's an incredible show that gives actors a lot to work with in the way of complex emotions and intricate dialogue. It's intense. Which is absolutely the best kind of theatre. Spring Awakening will not leave everyone smiling. It will leave them reeling.
So we blocked three scenes and ran them a few times over. But my favorite part of rehearsal came after. I had everyone gather in a circle and we talked about the characters. That is always my favorite part of getting into a show; learning the nuances of the character I'm playing. Living in their skin, learning their past, discovering why they say the things they say. As a director, I'm not as intimate with all of the characters as the actors will be.
I was extremely impressed with how much character work the cast had already done. Even for just working with the material for a few hours, we had some very in-depth discussion of everyone. Wendla especially, and her relationship with her mother. Which plays a huge part in the story.
All in all, a great time. Hopefully the first of many :)
It was magnificent.
Due to the fact that one of the other shows at Brandeis this semester is in tech and about half my cast is in that show, the rehearsal was small with just Wendla, Thea, Martha, and Mrs. Bergman (those are characters; portrayed by the actors Corrie, Joanna, Devan, and Kate) and my stage manager, Jessie.
We opened with me discussing how rehearsals were going to run, and then we did a few read-throughs of the scenes to be worked on, and then we began blocking. It's so fun to work with actors who are serious about their parts and about the script. I mean, I've loved this script since the first time I opened it. It's nice to remember that this isn't a piece I have to teach people how to love. It's an incredible show that gives actors a lot to work with in the way of complex emotions and intricate dialogue. It's intense. Which is absolutely the best kind of theatre. Spring Awakening will not leave everyone smiling. It will leave them reeling.
So we blocked three scenes and ran them a few times over. But my favorite part of rehearsal came after. I had everyone gather in a circle and we talked about the characters. That is always my favorite part of getting into a show; learning the nuances of the character I'm playing. Living in their skin, learning their past, discovering why they say the things they say. As a director, I'm not as intimate with all of the characters as the actors will be.
I was extremely impressed with how much character work the cast had already done. Even for just working with the material for a few hours, we had some very in-depth discussion of everyone. Wendla especially, and her relationship with her mother. Which plays a huge part in the story.
All in all, a great time. Hopefully the first of many :)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
We begin...
Yeah, I'm using an obscure Rent reference to being my Spring Awakening saga...just go with it. It's fine. Don't worry.
Yes folks! Spring Awakening has begun its first foray into existence. Today and yesterday we endured Common Auditions; the painfully long process wherein all of the directors of all the straight (non-musical) plays sit in a row and just have everyone audition for all of them instead of all at separate times. 6:30-11 two nights in a row.
Night one: Fun! Ordered Thai takeout, giggled a little over silly auditions (not in a making-fun kind of way, in a laughing WITH the person kind of way. Really.). Not enough boys. One really good male that everyone is going to fight over. Naturally, he specifically wishes to only be cast in one show. Offers of sexual favors? Potentially...
Night two: Sillier. We laughed waaay more easily due to being comfortable with each other and due to..well...exhaustion and less seriousness over what we were doing. Also watched a bit of the State of the Union. Attempted to start slow claps from over the internet. Were moderately successful. Still not enough guys.
End of tonight: Stare at audition forms and decide who to call back for what parts. Argue over finally created call-back list with other directors. Attempt to configure time slots that all coexist so that actors don't have to be in 50 places at once.
Post call back sheets.
Pray it doesn't snow.
Next step for Spring Awakening? We have callbacks scheduled for 5-11 tomorrow. I will have my work cut out for me in eliminating females. There were SO many talented girls who auditioned, so I can be really picky about which ones I want. I'm trying to give preference to people with less Brandeis theatre experience because...well...they're the ones I want to work with. So I'm sticking with freshman and mid-years mostly. Oh, and people who seemed really specifically enthusiastic about Spring Awakening as opposed to the other shows being cast. This piece will rely on the passion my actors can give it. If I ask someone who isn't passionate about the show to do the awkward and demanding things required by some of the parts, then they will be less willing to comply.
Talking about the script, I have been rereading it often of late, and just re-realizing how absolutely in love with it I am. Wedekind wrote a piece that was revolutionary for its time, and it is still exceptionally strong so many years later. I can't wait to be the next one to marvel in its brilliance, and hopefully to do it justice.
Stay tuned! More updates to come (if my callbacks don't get snowed out...).
Yes folks! Spring Awakening has begun its first foray into existence. Today and yesterday we endured Common Auditions; the painfully long process wherein all of the directors of all the straight (non-musical) plays sit in a row and just have everyone audition for all of them instead of all at separate times. 6:30-11 two nights in a row.
Night one: Fun! Ordered Thai takeout, giggled a little over silly auditions (not in a making-fun kind of way, in a laughing WITH the person kind of way. Really.). Not enough boys. One really good male that everyone is going to fight over. Naturally, he specifically wishes to only be cast in one show. Offers of sexual favors? Potentially...
Night two: Sillier. We laughed waaay more easily due to being comfortable with each other and due to..well...exhaustion and less seriousness over what we were doing. Also watched a bit of the State of the Union. Attempted to start slow claps from over the internet. Were moderately successful. Still not enough guys.
End of tonight: Stare at audition forms and decide who to call back for what parts. Argue over finally created call-back list with other directors. Attempt to configure time slots that all coexist so that actors don't have to be in 50 places at once.
Post call back sheets.
Pray it doesn't snow.
Next step for Spring Awakening? We have callbacks scheduled for 5-11 tomorrow. I will have my work cut out for me in eliminating females. There were SO many talented girls who auditioned, so I can be really picky about which ones I want. I'm trying to give preference to people with less Brandeis theatre experience because...well...they're the ones I want to work with. So I'm sticking with freshman and mid-years mostly. Oh, and people who seemed really specifically enthusiastic about Spring Awakening as opposed to the other shows being cast. This piece will rely on the passion my actors can give it. If I ask someone who isn't passionate about the show to do the awkward and demanding things required by some of the parts, then they will be less willing to comply.
Talking about the script, I have been rereading it often of late, and just re-realizing how absolutely in love with it I am. Wedekind wrote a piece that was revolutionary for its time, and it is still exceptionally strong so many years later. I can't wait to be the next one to marvel in its brilliance, and hopefully to do it justice.
Stay tuned! More updates to come (if my callbacks don't get snowed out...).
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Ian Axel, Field Mouse, Allison Weiss
So I went to a concert the other night at Cafe 939.
Cafe 939 is run by Berklee, which is a music college. The Cafe's claim to fame is that it is the ONLY all-ages music club in Boston. Which is fairly impressive. They stay all ages not by censoring their musical acts, but simply by not serving alcohol. They literally have all kinds of acts. Check out their website if you feel like it. It's a neat place.
The reason I went to Cafe 939 was, of course, for the lovely and talented Allison Weiss. She's fantastic. Look her up if you haven't already. I talk about her a lot. Because she's amazing. But that's not why I'm writing.
The two acts that opened for Allison were a guy named Ian Axel and a band called Field Mouse (that, interestingly enough, Allison plays bass for. One of the guys who worked at the club said he's never seen an artist open for themselves...haha). So I didn't have any feeling toward Field Mouse. No negative or positive. They were just loud. I couldn't hear what the singer was singing about because the rest was too loud. Eh. But the other opener, Ian Axel, was great. He doesn't have a record done (yet). He just sat down at the piano and played with his whole body and his whole heart. It was really amazing. And he had a great voice and his lyrics were straight from the soul.
That's what I love about these unsigned artists like Weiss and Axel. They don't have to write songs for anybody, so they just write what they feel. And you know what? It's better than all the manufactured shit out there now. It's real. Ian could (and did) tell us the story behind the inspiration for every song he sang us. So did Allison. It was incredible. And what courage it takes to get up there and reveal that depth. It takes more guts to get up on stage as an unsigned musician than it does to be an actor. Because actors are trying to be someone else. Musicians, or at least these musicians, are just singing from their hearts.
So my goal for the semester is to explore the Boston music scene. Ian Axel was an unexpected delight. I have no doubt that there is more brilliance out there waiting to be found.
Cafe 939 is run by Berklee, which is a music college. The Cafe's claim to fame is that it is the ONLY all-ages music club in Boston. Which is fairly impressive. They stay all ages not by censoring their musical acts, but simply by not serving alcohol. They literally have all kinds of acts. Check out their website if you feel like it. It's a neat place.
The reason I went to Cafe 939 was, of course, for the lovely and talented Allison Weiss. She's fantastic. Look her up if you haven't already. I talk about her a lot. Because she's amazing. But that's not why I'm writing.
The two acts that opened for Allison were a guy named Ian Axel and a band called Field Mouse (that, interestingly enough, Allison plays bass for. One of the guys who worked at the club said he's never seen an artist open for themselves...haha). So I didn't have any feeling toward Field Mouse. No negative or positive. They were just loud. I couldn't hear what the singer was singing about because the rest was too loud. Eh. But the other opener, Ian Axel, was great. He doesn't have a record done (yet). He just sat down at the piano and played with his whole body and his whole heart. It was really amazing. And he had a great voice and his lyrics were straight from the soul.
That's what I love about these unsigned artists like Weiss and Axel. They don't have to write songs for anybody, so they just write what they feel. And you know what? It's better than all the manufactured shit out there now. It's real. Ian could (and did) tell us the story behind the inspiration for every song he sang us. So did Allison. It was incredible. And what courage it takes to get up there and reveal that depth. It takes more guts to get up on stage as an unsigned musician than it does to be an actor. Because actors are trying to be someone else. Musicians, or at least these musicians, are just singing from their hearts.
So my goal for the semester is to explore the Boston music scene. Ian Axel was an unexpected delight. I have no doubt that there is more brilliance out there waiting to be found.
Monday, January 17, 2011
"It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got..."
So I'm back at Brandeis after a long break.
Yesterday felt like running the gauntlet. Returning to my chosen solitude on the same day as the anniversary of my father's death just felt cruel. There was no relief in the return. Just the familiar silence settling around me as I shut the door to my room.
I'm writing only to keep myself from finishing the novel I started yesterday. A novel I have burned through because I've been in here alone most of the day. The number of pages remaining has dwindled alarmingly quickly. Sometimes I hate being a fast reader.
My classes are mostly in order for tomorrow. The morning will begin at 10:40 with a yoga class in which I am not formally enrolled. So the day will begin with a contest of wills. Me against the teacher. Who will win? Who knows. Following yoga I will head to a Spanish class, and then Human Rights in a Global Perspective. I should be really excited about the last one, but I'm not excited about anything now. If not for dinner with Emily and Jenn, I could easily have gone all day without speaking a word to anyone.
I titled this post optimistically. Clearly I don't have what I want right now. I just need to find it in myself to want what I've got. What I've got is an incredible opportunity to further my learning, something that has always been important to me. I just have to keep repeating that to myself. Soon, classes will pick up and Spring Awakening will begin and I won't have time to think this way. I hope.
What awaits in the future, though, does not make this moment any less lonely. I'm trying to tune my focus to things that at the very least make my mind move in interesting ways, even if they can't make me happy. I should write down blocking notes for the show I am about to direct. I should read the provided syllabi for upcoming classes. I should...but I don't want to. I just want to be at home.
Yesterday felt like running the gauntlet. Returning to my chosen solitude on the same day as the anniversary of my father's death just felt cruel. There was no relief in the return. Just the familiar silence settling around me as I shut the door to my room.
I'm writing only to keep myself from finishing the novel I started yesterday. A novel I have burned through because I've been in here alone most of the day. The number of pages remaining has dwindled alarmingly quickly. Sometimes I hate being a fast reader.
My classes are mostly in order for tomorrow. The morning will begin at 10:40 with a yoga class in which I am not formally enrolled. So the day will begin with a contest of wills. Me against the teacher. Who will win? Who knows. Following yoga I will head to a Spanish class, and then Human Rights in a Global Perspective. I should be really excited about the last one, but I'm not excited about anything now. If not for dinner with Emily and Jenn, I could easily have gone all day without speaking a word to anyone.
I titled this post optimistically. Clearly I don't have what I want right now. I just need to find it in myself to want what I've got. What I've got is an incredible opportunity to further my learning, something that has always been important to me. I just have to keep repeating that to myself. Soon, classes will pick up and Spring Awakening will begin and I won't have time to think this way. I hope.
What awaits in the future, though, does not make this moment any less lonely. I'm trying to tune my focus to things that at the very least make my mind move in interesting ways, even if they can't make me happy. I should write down blocking notes for the show I am about to direct. I should read the provided syllabi for upcoming classes. I should...but I don't want to. I just want to be at home.
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