I love reading/watching the 'Day in the Life' videos on Broadway World! And now I get to do one!

Hi there! Welcome to my first BroadwayWorld blog! My name is Amanda & I am currently an ensemble member in my college's production of Sweeney Todd. I'm here to tell you a little bit about my experience being part of an incredible cast in a production in a tiny little town called Sparkill, NY.

Perfection: Something that everyone desperately craves, but no one can ever actually attain. Why is society so obsessed with striving for such an unreachable goal?

Welcome to Laramie, Wyoming, home of the University of Wyoming, the only four year university in the state, and also home to The Laramie Project. I promise that we aren't homophobic bigots. (Side note: two of my professors at the university were in that movie).

The arrival of warm weather in the Northeast means for most college students that the semester is winding down and that summer break is drawing nearer; however, for theatre majors at Russell Sage College, the warm weather is an exciting indicator for us that our summer production is just around the corner! The summer show is the most unique slot in the Theatre Institute at Sage's season, as actors and technicians who work on the summer show stay on campus up to a month and a half after the semester ends to put up what is always a fun and exhilarating children's theatre piece without the additional responsibility of academic work-a rare and valuable opportunity for a college theatre student.

Growing up in New Zealand, many hurdles challenge genuine and talented purveyors of the arts achieving success both nationally and overseas. These can include lack of resources or funding, sparse education institutions, or the term I have personally heard more than once: 'This is New Zealand, not bloody America!' If one finally breaks past these barriers and tries to make their dreams reality, there is suddenly the greatest hurdle in their path: Tall Poppy Syndrome.

John Donne once wrote, 'No man is an island entire of itself'; this statement is something I always try to keep in the back of my mind, especially when working in the theatre.

Ever since I was a little toddler in a tutu every adult I have come in contact with has told me to 'reach for the stars', and that 'I can do anything I set my mind to'.

Until this point, my blog has been all about what happens when an actor has a job, but now it's time to cover all the wonderful things that happen when an actor enters a magical time called 'Unemployment.'

Unfortunately, all good things must eventually come to an end, and Assassins is no different.

After doing six shows a week, you begin to settle into a production; the scenes seem to run smoothly, most actor's seem to be making similar choices in each performance, everyone can recite their lines at the drop of a hat, there's nothing to worry about, right? Wrong.

Well, here we are; we finally made it to opening night.

INTIMATE APPAREL, a play described by Nottage as a 'quiet play' in which 'every scene takes place in some sort of boudoir,' is in it's heart about the private relationships between those close to us and those we wish were closer.

Do you know the saying, 'sharing is caring'? Well, here at Auburn the cast of Assassins has taken this idea to the extreme. It seems that in the past two weeks, the entire cast (except for about three extremely lucky people) has come down with a bad case of what seems like the plague. With all this sickness and lagging energy running rampant backstage, it sometimes seems impossible to keep the show running smoothly. So how does a cast with an abundance of sneezing and coughing still manage to project their voices to the last row and sing high notes until their ears ring? (That was a real question; sometimes I really don't know how we keep going.) Somehow, thanks to steamers, tea, cough drops, Dayquil, and shots of olive oil, we have all managed to power through rehearsals, but our ability to keep going comes from more than just our mass amount of pharmaceutical products; it comes from our ability to work as a team.

Sometimes being a theater student can feel like I'm living a double life. I leave for school to be a student from about eight in the morning to five in the afternoon, and then almost immediately after school I arrive in the theater for rehearsal, which can last until about ten at night, or sometimes longer. Between school, rehearsal, my sorority, homework, and just trying to be a normal college student, it's fairly easy to feel overwhelmed a good ninety percent of the day. Most of the time I can never imagine my world as anything but chaotic, but then I remember one person that I know for a fact is always working longer and harder than I am: the Stage Manager of Assassins, Amanda Murphy. Amanda is the ninja that makes sure everything that needs to be done is taken care of, before anyone even realized there was a problem. Just imagine, one person in this cast is responsible for writing the schedules, communicating between the creative teams, taking notes for the director, keeping a eye on the actors, making sure everyone is where they need to be, and making sure everyone knows exactly what they're suppose to be doing. I know that she has about a million more jobs, but in order to actually write everything she's responsible for, I would have to fill up at least three more blog posts. This girl is responsible for all of these tasks in addition to her school work, and she pulls it off flawlessly; she is basically a behind the scenes Beyonce. I know I can't even begin to fathom what a huge responsibility stage-managing is, so I wanted to hear it from Super Girl herself.

Throughout my life of performing, I have always been told to 'take care of myself' and 'always work to make myself better'. I feel like to the untrained eye, this industry seems extremely 'I, I, I' and 'me, me, me' focused. This idea might explain why in most movies the theater kids are portrayed as the uppity, self-centered narcissists (I mean come on, I know most of us can relate to Sharpay Evans on a personal level). An actor's job is built on introspection, on looking inside ourselves to find our motivation, but sometimes we become so focused on what's inside us, we forget that we are part of an ensemble.

The process of stepping into a new role is definitely not something that can happen over night; it's something that an actor must gradually enter into. There is so much for a performer to learn about a new character; an actor must grasp an understanding about the role's background, who this person is, what they believe, who they trust, how they carry themselves (I could write a thousand more components, but let's be honest, none of us have time for that). Now imagine you have been cast in a new show, and your character isn't even a person (per say), but instead you are an idea, a concept; what if you were history? For Jordan Lunstead, a senior at Auburn University, this hypothetical situation is all too real. Jordan will be playing the 'Balladeer' in this production of Assassins, and has the responsibility of telling the story of each and every assassin, through song. In order to wrap my mind around such a complex character, I sat down with my friend, Jordan and asked him a couple questions about the challenging process that lies ahead of him.

Not every lesson we learn in our life is engrained into our minds forever. We remember things like 'look both ways before you cross the street' and most likely every lyric from all your favorite songs in middle school, but good luck recalling the formula for the Pythagorean Theorem. The same is true for acting, some things we remember, and some we discard because our brain needed to make more room for all the songs from Hamilton (what a hip reference). If there's one acting lesson I have carried with me all of my life, it's this: You cannot hate the character you are playing. Now if you're portraying a wholesome and pure character like 'Cinderella' or 'Gertrude McFuzz', the task of finding the good in your character is as simple as finding 'Horton the Elephant' in a crowd of Whos. The true test of an actor is finding the positive qualities in absolutely devious characters like the 'Witch' in Into the Woods or 'Orin Scrivello, DDS' in Little Shop. To the outside world these characters seem like the scum of the Earth, but it is the actor's job to closely read into the character and discover the motivation behind the character's dastardly deeds.

There's always more than one side to every story, and this production of Assassins is no different. To make sure I'm covering this show from every possible angle, I've decided to annoy my fellow casemates with a recorder and a series of important questions about their experiences (and I really do mean I annoyed them, considering I followed them around between classes to get their answers).

Hello, new reader. My name is Tara, and since you found your way to this blog, I'm pretty sure that we have something in common: we are most likely head-over-heels in love with theater. My love affair with this amazing world began at the ripe age of two, thanks to a mom who wanted an after school activity for her three daughters, and could never have known that her after school choice would inspire her child to perform in over fifty plays and major in musical theater. Now, because you are reading this blog, I'm assuming that you have at least a small soft spot in your heart for theater, whether you went to see Les Mis once because you (like me) think Eddie Redmayne is a beautiful angel, or you've chosen it as your profession. For your reading pleasure, I have decided to share a little bit of my theater life with the internet, by documenting my final show at Auburn University. Every week I will be posting about my cast's preparation for our production of Assassins, as well as interviewing my fellow cast mates to get their thoughts on the experience. Spoiler alert: Putting on a show like Assassins at a school that boasts it has 'the most conservative student body in the country' is surely going to be an interesting journey.

Before beginning my Disney College Program earlier this year, I knew there was a chance I'd meet people from around the world and become good friends with them. It wasn't until mid March that I had a large group of Australians, New Zealanders, and other performers I was hanging with on my off days. To me, it was completely normal to meet, associate, and spend afternoons with these people at the parks. Through working with Aussies, I've learned about their culture, their language, and their weird habits. It's been incredible to connect with people who have lived different lives, who have travelled and experienced things I never have.

It is hard to believe that I have been living, working, and playing in Walt Disney World for two whole months! It's definitely true when people say 'Time flies when you're having fun.' I know first hand how much fun can be had while participating in the Disney College Program, but I'd like to talk about the less fun parts of it.

It's hard to believe that I've officially been living in Orlando, Florida, working in Disney World for two and a half weeks. I am just now writing about my first few weeks in Disney because when a college student participates in the Disney College Program (DCP) they barely have time to breathe. Don't think I hate being busy, because I absolutely love it. I just did not realize that everything keeps moving when in Walt Disney World.

Walt Disney once said, 'I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing-that it was all started by a mouse.' Believe me when I say I remember, Walt, and I am thanking you now more than ever for creating such an iconic character. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be a twenty year old, in college, majoring in musical theatre, and planning a five month trip to Walt Disney World. Yet, here I am, writing about the initial steps of applying to the Disney College Program; furthermore, I write to describe the four month process of applying to accepting to preparing to packing.