Flat Stanley Takes its Final Bows



This was set out in lobby

     Today the cast of The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley took their final bows. It was a very sad but fun day. After our performance we had a cast party in the blackbox studio. We talked about the good times we had shared over the last few months. There were many laughs but also so many tears. People (okay, just Brant) cried and blamed the salsa for being "too spicy". It was mild. No one wanted our show to end.
     We all joked about PSD (Post Show Depression) and how it was going to kick our butts later. Just that day I read some seriously depressing stuff on Twitter and Facebook. I will copy and past some of what I saw. This is only the day of mind you, there are probably going to be even more PSD tweets and posts as the week goes on and we slowly realize that there are no more rehearsals or performances. WHAT WILL WE DO WITH OUR LIVES?!

PSD TWEETS/POSTS

• @BOOMhollymonroe: Oh my God. This day is going to be the worst. #psd
• @KatieLoovesYou: I'm going to cry like a baby today.
• @KatieLoovesYou: This is the last day of being Mrs.Lambchop.
• @Eli_Oh_Jyes: @KatieLoovesYou YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MRS. LAMBCHOP! #ForeverMyStageWife
• @MireyaYvonne: @BrantMHudgins it's our last day of being paintings, but we will always be masterpieces
• @KatieLoovesYou: Just got done with 'Our Child is Flat' and 'The Funny Sunny Side'.....for the last time. I'm dying of sadness
• @Eli_Oh_Jyes: Love These Kids.
• @HEYitsChristin: Watching techs destroy the set. #sadday
• @BOOMhollymonroe: Its the salsa
• @HEYitsChristin: It's all over. Now on with the next show.
• @BrantMHudgins: You know what? I am not ashamed to be the big baby that I am. I'm not afraid to cry my eyes out, as many of you witnessed me doing today.
• Brant: Okay, I held on for as long as possible, I'm gonna go cry now. (Facebook)
• @KatieLoovesYou: Flat Stanley was a good show. A really good show. #psd
• @EmilyLoovesYouu: We had a good run, you guys. Flat Stanley was a good part of our lives. Now it's time to do another show, and make another fantastic memory.
• @Eli_Oh_Jyes: Post-Show Depression has, officially, begun. #PSD
• @KatieLoovesYou: When Cris sang "Stanley's adventures are over my friends. Though our tale is ending..." I started tearing up. Then cried through the bows.
• @KatieLoovesYou: Seeing William cry tore me apart. #LambchopLullaby #ALotOfTears
• @BOOMhollymonroe: Just got @Eli_Oh_Jyes's email and the PSD has finally sunken in.
• @BOOMhollymonroe: Oh my God. I'm crying.
• @BrantMHudgins: #PSD making me super sad, I'm gonna go cry some more.
• @KatieLoovesYou: I just pulled out some homework that I needed to finish from last week, and it had Flat Stanley lyrics doodled all over it. #PSDHitHard
• Brant: Guys, I'm not crying this is just me remembering how hot that salsa was. (Facebook)
• @TheYellowBrick4: #PSD #WheresMyRope?
• @BrantMHudgins: Dreading going to sleep because that's when I REALLY start crying. #PSD

   So as you can see, a lot of us really felt the depression sinking in. I think I would have too if I hadn't seen something that day.

     That day I went up to the costume loft to return my Mona Lisa dress and saw an old friend of mine. It was a dress set out, hanging by the entrance. I could tell someone had recently moved it because I would've noticed it before. It was covered in black sequins with different colored sequins making all kinds of geometric shapes. I recognized it immediately.

     It was the dress I wore my first time ever performing at the Harbor Playhouse. I used it for a one act festival a long, long time ago. That festival was my first real taste of theatre and really what made me fall in love with the art. I thought it was fate that I see it that day.

     It was fate because as I thought I was saying goodbye to Flat Stanley I realized that you don't say goodbye to shows like that. Not really. I learned the basics in that sequin dress. I learned about how to really pull off a great show. I made friends in that show that I still have. That is where I met Brant, who was my fellow painting (Napoleon) in Flat Stanley. I didn't say goodbye to him. I also remember how I felt preforming that one act play. It felt like I had made it to the "big theatre". Looking back I laugh at what I thought was "big theatre". That was nothing. That was rehearsing every other day for an hour after school then doing two or three free performances. Flat Stanley was rehearsed for months, three to four hours a day, performed multiple times a week for weeks and people paid to see us. If the last time I wore that dress, and you had told me people would have paid to see me, I would've laughed in your face.

    I didn't cry after that. I new Flat Stanley would live on with me. I had learned so much from it and I would never lose that knowledge. I also experienced even "bigger" theatre. Maybe years from now I will look back and say "Wow! I thought that was 'big theatre'?!"

One Act Festival 2012 pt. 2

     The morning of the festival our bus got to our school about an hour late. You know what that means? We missed Grant perform. You know what that means? I missed Drake (see earlier post) perform. As soon as I got there however, I found all of my theatre friends from other schools. Over the past few years being involved in theatre competitions, showcases, and festivals will make you quite popular. I got to see a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Her name is Alyssa and she goes to Cullen. She is incredibly pretty and talented. She absolutely killed it onstage at this festival too. I saw Cris, who goes to Grant but is a good friend of mine from the playhouse. I missed his performance but I bet he killed it too.
    So on the way to the Harbor Playhouse I promised myself that I would do my best to ignore Drake. The last thing I needed was to fall for him again. But that was easier said than done. When I got there he texted me "Where are you?" and of course I spotted him but hid away. I could see him but he couldn't see me. For the first half of the day I went out of my way to stay hidden but he kept looking for me. He sat in the second row and without thinking I crossed the first row to get back to the Baker section. I didn't see him until he jumped over the first row of seats and snatched my arm.
     "Hey, you aren't going to say hi to me?"That was the first time I actually had a good look at him. I immediately remembered why I fell for him in the first place. Wow, he was extraordinary. He wasn't a cookie-cutter, good looking boy. He had imperfections; some of my friends didn't think he is good looking at all. But to me those imperfections make him irresistible. He is just so adorable.
     "Are you not going to hug me either?" he asked with his arms open. Of course my earlier promise evaporated into thin air and I hugged him. Damn, he even smelled good. After a little small talk he came to meet the rest of my cast. Some of them had already met him but some had only heard of him and his reputation.
     "This is the guy we have to kill?" muttered one of the younger kids.
     True, it was really hard having to say goodbye to Drake but I knew I had to. I can't be his friend, it's just not possible for me. So he went to go sit with the rest of the cudas and they swarmed him; asking who I was. I wonder what he told them? The truth or "just a friend"?
    The schools are supposed to stay in the auditorium and watch the other schools perform but Baker is a special school. We are more awesome than them. We (our teacher included) went to the watergardens and just had a party. We ran around, took pictures and played in the water. Holden, he plays Neptune in our play, decided to Tebow for a picture in the middle of the water but soon faceplanted. So the guy that plays the god of the sea had to walk around dripping wet. Fail!
     Once we actually went back to the playhouse Cris and Alyssa ended up ditching their schools and hanging out with me and the rest of my Baker cast. That says something about us and how well we get along. Each one act cast is a new and very different generation of talented kids. Last year we made lasting friendships and this year I believe we have too. All we could hope to do is pass on our theatre spirit, Red Tide. Red Tide has a mascot unlike any other. Our mascot is a rubber fish named Aids Diabetes Hopkins. We take it everywhere with us because it is our good luck charm. It's a good luck charm because it can calm anyone down right before a performance. How does it calm you down? Well, when you hold it; you have Aids. Hehe.
     So after the festival a couple of friends (I won't name names) told me just to take Aids with me for good. I just couldn't though. I know next year when those kids are competing they are going to need Aids and Aids needs to be there for them. I know for a fact now that the next generation will carry on Red Tide.

One Act Festival 2012 pt.1

Sunny, Doug and I backstage about to perform at the One Act Festival 2011

Last year my favorite memories from school came from the annual one act festival. The picture to the left is from that day. It was my first time ever performing on the main stage of my local theater. It was a huge deal for me. It doesn't sound like much, but trust me it was. So the cast was about ten people and 2 of which were from lower grades and I was one of them. Our one act was The Butler Did It (a suspense/comedy about a murder on an isolated island). So in it I was one of the main characters and at the end was revealed to be the murderer. It was an awesome introduction into (what I thought was) "big" theatre. I made friends with all of those older students and as I type this I am backstage at rehearsal watching one of those older kids perform. His name is Brant and we are still friends to this day. Heck, this is our third show together!
At the festival all the schools in the district go and perform. It's called a festival because it's "not a competition" but there are always winners and losers. Our performance went without a hitch and was a major confidence boost.
Last fall was the annual speech tournament and my school always does well. What we didn't expect was the Grant Barracudas. The cudas are known for their sports. They dominate and everyone knows it, no one cares, but everyone knows. When they beat us at the speech tournament we took extra offense because they are our rival school. Adding insult to injury there was a boy involved (but that's a later post).
So this year we needed our one act to cream theirs like it did last year. This year we are doing Gallathea and it's a hot mess. Our leads just got replaced, some people barely know their lines, our costumes are basically just bed sheets with safety pins, it's just a train wreck. Don't get me wrong, our talent is great. It's just that we have all sort of just given up on the whole show. It's kinda sad actually.
Our festival is in two days. We aren't ready. I have to see the boy again. I have to try and give it my all.
The festival was so much fun last year so it should be fun this year. Right?......