I was going to write up an entry yesterday...but my browser died on me about half way through the entry, and I had to be at rehearsal by 10. :-Þ So there went that.

By now I remember very little of Thursday, as I'm opperating on very little sleep. But I'm doing pretty well...considering.

Yesterday I spent most of the day at school for a huge rehearsal. 10 to 4. And we got a lot of work down. Lyndon and I worked with Christian on 'Whittling' choreography, so that absolutely kicked ass. There's just no other way to describe 'Whittling'. I used to hate the damn choreography, but after that first laugh at Districts, I've been in love with it. Laughter is the best medicine.

Lunch was probably the best part of the day. Christian joined the group I was with (Britt, April, Jake, etc) and somehow we got on the topic of Disney movies (probably Rebecca going on about how my evil cackle sounds like Yizma's from The Emperors New Groove after she's turned into a kitten) and Christian and I spent about half an hour singing tons of Disney songs. And cartoon themes (or parts. We could remember about two lines outside of the chorus for 'DuckTales'). And a really badly harmonized rendition of 'Seasons of Love'. But it was hilarious! Definitely the highlight of the day.

After rehearsal, Jake, Rebecca, Laura and I went to Britt's house. Where we proceded to play board games for four hours. We played Cranium (Rebecca and I vs. Jake, Britt and Laura. My team won ~grin~) and Outburst (again, Rebecca and I won. "Y'a'll beat Us"). It was great. Jake gets really competitive. It was hilarious to watch him try to guess things in both games. If he got frustrated, his eyes would just kinda bug out of his head and he'd get really hyperactive. But he's a sweetie, and an honorary upperclassman (we just call him that so the juniors and seniors won't fight over him, lol). After the games we watched Emperors New Groove, hung out for a little while longer, and then were kicked out of Britt's house.

During the game playing time, my parents (rather miraculously) gave me permission to spent the night at Jake's house. I knew nothing was going to happen (I'm gay, Jake's gay, what's the worst that could happen, we get into a bitchfight about the best showtunes ever?), and my mom knew (or should have. She knows the aforementioned facts). I don't know how much she told my dad, but when I called home to get official permission, my dad was all like "You're putting us in a compromising situation and it's not very fair that you gave us such short notice about you going to a sleep over in mixed company." And then I didn't call often enough and didn't leave my cell phone on so I got bitched out at 6:30 this morning when I stopped home to pick up my makeup case and crimping iron. Now I'm waiting for my parents to get home from Grandville so we can have a "family meeting." I've never had a family meeting in my life, so I'm currently pretty terrified.

We had to do our hair and makeup at school this morning before taking the bus to Holland. Bleh. Christian teased my hair out massively, so it looked like it was going to eat my head. White girl with a 'fro! It wasn't pretty. Great for the character, but I cringe when I think about how long it's going to take for my hair to recover from this show.

I was pretty bitchy this morning, so I probably owe apologies to everyone on the team. Especially poor Rebecca, since I was pretty stand-offish...all day. But you don't know discomfort until you're spending the night on a futon with the girl who likes you when you're not sure how you feel about her. And there's no chaperone in the room to make sure the girl doesn't try anything (Rebecca and I slept on the futon in Jake's living room while he slept in his own room). God, that was nerve wrackin! Never again. (Note to self: ramble about the Rebecca situation after the Regionals rundown).

Anyway, peope kept trying to remind me to breathe. I guess when I get real intense and focused (we were all freaking out because Holland's stage is so much smaller than ours, we had no idea how to operate) I look like I stop breathing. So the joke for the rest of the day was "Breathing's a crutch! I don't need to breathe, dammit!"

The show started really slow. No one was laughing, and the pace was a little off. So I was backstage giving myself a big pep talk as I waited for my cue, stalking around, being completely Hattie. I got out there, and immediately I felt like the pace and energy picked up. Don't know why.

But the show really took off during 'Whittling.'

Bascially? Lyndon and I stole the show there with Whittling. I don't think I heard louder laughter the entire day. And it was all because of that silly dance. And then the audience clapped when we died!!! Do you know how hard it was not to start grinning when I heard that? Damn near impossible. But I made it through, and about went insane when I got off stage with Lyndon. I jumped around and hugged him and it was great.

Oh. And Jacqui finally spilled water on me today. All over the front of my dress and on to my face. It was disgusting, but worked wonderfully. My screaming was a bit more intense than usual because I actually had water everywhere, and I made the people who were backstage either a) freak out (they had no idea why I was screaming) or b) laugh hysterically (if they saw what happened). But I do know that the shock and anger wasn't faked, lol. Well, not anger, but it certainly helped. I say it was disgusting because I surrpetitiously wiped at my face at one point and a bunch of my makeup came off on my nail. Ew?

Our critique was bullshit. This one guy kept mispronouncing 'melodrama' ("mellerdrama") and 'genre' ("genree") and gave us all this shit about how we were portraying stock characters, so he kept losing the feeling for the show when we would break out of that stereotype. One of the costume crew members summed it up best: we essentailly acted too well. We made the show too real. The whole stock character theory is stupid. People don't want to see the exact same show twenty times over. We took those stock characters, and exaggerated them, and then gave them tiny twists to make them more amusing, like prim and proper Elinore having several bits of suggestive dialogue.

Didn't see any truly outstanding shows today, though I met several cool people from other schools, especially Chelsea. Their show was pretty subpar (Both Jake and I kept falling asleep) but their actors are awesome. We spent quite a bit of time hanging out with them and showing off various cast members with weird talents. Like they ahve a guy who does an awesome Golem. He's their Elf Pimp...somethin' somethin', lol. It was really loud and really hard to hear. But they loved me and Lyndon ~grin~ Everyone seemed to.

So tell my why the hell I didn't win an award?

We got excellent awards in set design and acting (for Mike as Bob Buttons, Lyndon and Jenny as Mrs. Gotrocks). We got no superior awards. And one of the judges (I believe the one who found it impossible to say melodrama or genre) gave us a fucking 4 on characterization. Out of 10 possible points. That's so much bullshit. It goes back to the whole 'we acted too well' thing.

Grrr.

Anyway, the final result was we came in third place. Holland won, followed by Grand Rapids Christian (with a rather shlocky Clue: The Musical. Fun looking show, but their enunciation, cutting and acting over all could use some work. Especially Miss Scarlet. She should have been taht school's version of me, but she was too much like a good girl trying to be slutty. It just didn't work. She didn't ahve the grace necesary. And then don't get me started on the uber-fake kissing) and then us. So much bull.

So several cast members promptly burst into tears. Well, maybe not burst, but we were crying. And yes, that includes me. I started to lose it as soon as we were passed over for superior awards. And April knew it. She was there hugging me practically the moment we were dismissed. Everyone was. They knew how much I wanted to go to State on my last MIFA.

The whole cast took it pretty hard. We were cursing the judges left and right on the way home, and there were lots of hugs. Lots and lots. And lots of avoiding Mr. Foley. Every time he came near me, I went in the opposite direction. If he'd told us one more time that we didn't have anything to feel bad about, that we should be proud of the show we did, I would not have been responsible for my actions. No, it's not rational to cry over this, but goddammit, I needed to! Foley has more MIFAs to direct. I'm never going to have this experience again. I'm never going to work with that cast, or some of those people, again.

Okay. My parents got home and I've just spent the last fifteen minutes crying hysterically. But I think I'm better now.

Um...I think we're postponing that family meeting thing since I'm hysterical. Whew.

After we unloaded, Jake, Rebecca, April, Laura and I went out to McDonald's. We bitched again for awhile, then started laughing and being ourselves again, after several weepy moments from the overly-sentimental-senior. Then we played The Dating Game, mocking characters from shows we've seen throughout MIFA. After that, we went to Barnes & Noble, grabbed five copies of The Laramie Project, sat in the cafe, and read the first act until about twenty till 10. The place was getting ready to close, so I bought a copy and then we split up for the evening.

And that pretty much brings me to now.

Okay, apparently I'm grounded. I mentioned that a bunch of us wanted to see 'Sandbox' this weekend and Mom just said that I won't be. Oh well.

Damn. That means I'm going to miss Vagina Monologues as well. And the Valentine's Dance! Yes!

Okay, that needs some explanation, doesn't it?

~wondering when d*land is going to say she's run out of room to write~

Rebecca and I aren't going to last. At all. She just wants to go farther and faster than I want to. I'm a very affectionate person...but my physical affectations (new use for an old word!) are much larger and, dare I say it, melodramatic. She wants to be intimate and romantic and...it kinda creeps me out. I don't like walking around with someone's arms around my waist. And having her kiss my hand or my cheek randomly...and last night she was biting on my fake nail. WTF? It creeps me out. I've given it two weeks...and there's nothing there for me. I was much happier and more comfortable when we were "just friends."

Now how to tell her that.

Oh, one more thing before I go: sometimes it seems that even while you're getting screwed over, someone's looking out for you. When I got onto the computer tonight, I had two great e-mails: One from Rick: he bought me the Chicago Soundtrack! (Somehow the guy hunted down my address...it's scary. But I needed to know that someone would do something nice for me just because they wanted to. I don't think anyone gets that enouhg). And someone else e-mailed me telling me how much she loved Breakdown, and how the people on a message board she's on have actually started a thread to discuss the fic. Craziness.

Well, I guess this is enough adolescent bitching for one posting. And I think I can safely say this is the longetst one ever. And as soon as I hit 'send', I'm going to remember half a dozen things that I haven't mentioned. But oh well. I need to sleep (I've spent an hour and twenty minutes on this entry...I'm a mess).

The MIFA Theatre Organization Ninja Dance Troupe. Which hosts sing alongs during lunch times and when randomly walking down hallways.

--Angela

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