Irene Ryan Audition Marathon

Long day yesterday. We judged 156 Irene Ryan auditions from noon till midnight, then up till two narrowing them down to the top 32. Not a painful experience but I bit brain frying. Had a drink after with one of the other judges Thai who gave me some insights into the Canadian T.V. industry both English and French. Once again, you gotta loves those Canadians. Ran into my good old friend and former acting partner Whitney Buss before the auditions she has written a play that is here at the festival. Well, that's the news from San Marcos.

Update

It seems I've fallen behind. Here is a quick update. I've been getting my classes in order so I can fly down to Texas next week to judge Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions for KCACTF Region VI. I'm also working on some audition material of my own, and am in the conceptualization phase of the cell phone movie I want to make. By conceptualization phase I mean, I have decided I am going to shoot a movie using only the video recorder on my cell phone.

One Million Masterpiece

Hop on over to the One Million Masterpiece site and join in!

Whatever happened to concepts?

Have the collective shrinking of our attention spans and our the push to leave no child behind caused us to lose our ability to conceptualize? Have artists replaced concept with gimmick and shock value? Have bold artistic statements been replaced by sophomoric references to bodily functions? Must we bastardize complexity and boil it down to base appeals to our carnal desires just to engage an audience? We live in an age with a tremendous potential for enlightenment, yet we seem to be plummeting toward the dung heap of banality. Hopefully the change in leadership will signal a positive change for our cultural landscape. Then again, I do enjoy Ubu Roi.

I'm back from KCACTF and Playing catchup at School

I had a great week at KCACTF. On Monday we had our first rehearsal for Atlas of Mud, which won the national science award last year. On Tuesday, we met the playwright, and she realized we had the wrong version of the script. After a 1/2 hour delay for photocopying and three-hole punching, we were back on track. Had some good prospects stop by our table at the college fair. I also had the chance to chat w/ friends and collegues I hadn't seen in a while. On Wednesday we rehearsed in the morning and afternoon in the Lied Center, and we performed at 3:00. great space, great play, great playwright, and great group of actors and director to work with. On Thursday my workshop was packed(thanks in part to Serena and her friends). Thursday night was spent exploring what Lawrence had to offer with my good friends Tim and Scott. Friday I had a luncheon, saw The Rabbit Hole, and proceeded back to Marshall. i saw some other shows, readings, and workshops during the week, but left them out of my brief chronology. On firday night the boys decorated a cake for grandma Myrna. On Saturday we hopped up to Iowa. I saw Slumdog Millionaire in Des Moines. If you haven't seen it get off your ass and go! On Sunday we had a suprise brunch for my mom in Ottumwa. This week has been about getting caught up from being gone for a week. I've been invited to go down to the Region 6 festival to do some workshops, but I don't think I can work it into my schedule. I'm still mulling it over though. I forgot that before we went to Iowa Saturday, Martin's Shark Car raced in the Pinewood Derby. Also, this week Rowan made a Chinese Dragon for the Chinese New Year celebration at school.

Art or craft

So this morning I made Martin some scrambled eggs, and I used the ketchup to turn them into a lion. He told me he loved the art I created with ketchup and eggs, and I returned the compliment telling him that I loved the art he was creating with pencil and paper(he was learning to draw super diaper baby and some other characters out of captain underpants). Martin then informed me that what he was doing wasn't art since he was learning to draw from a book. This brings up the art or craft argument. Is one creative just because they are technically skilled in their particular artform? What role does creativity play. If all one does is repeat what has been done before, are they truly an artist, or simply a craftsperson? And, why SIMPLY a craftsperson? Is being an artist inherently better than being a craftsperson?

Cold

It was cold today, but not as cold as I had expected. Cold, but sunny and calm. It was actually inspirational. I thought spilling green tea in the car was a sign that it was going to be a horrific day, but all in all, not too shabby. We finished Martin's pinewood derby Shark Car, although we may still add a bit of weight. I believe I here that the wind has arrived. It sounds brutal!