Thanks to everyone that came out to see last weekend's run of the show! Unfortunately it's your very LAST CHANCE to see 1001 this weekend, Blogfriends! It's also your LAST CHANCE to purchase season subscriptions! [Buy tickets and subscriptions here.]Don't miss out on this epic, twisted fantasia. I mean, it has bellydancing, beheadings, behandings, and more. What more could you want from a show?
An epic storyteller himself, let 1001 cast member tell you the tale of his journey to the stage in this week's Cast Member Blog.
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[Editor's Note: This blog was written about two weeks ago. Just so nobody gets confused, the show is playing through the 21st.]
I’m not exactly the typical theater student. I’m a “Secondary Education – English” major, which is really just a fancy term for me wanting to be a high school English teacher. A love for the written word—rather than the spoken word—has blossomed in me ever since I got past my first college composition class. I only took my Acting I class at the recommendation of my advisor, as I needed an art credit and some theatrical training is generally considered a bonus when you’re a teacher. Not to mention that I had done theater in high school.
Fast forward to earlier this semester. I was in my theater class, having a lot more fun and learning a lot more than I thought I would after 4 years of theater in high school in an entry level class. Kasi Campbell, my teacher, was a lot of fun to work with and I was enjoying myself immensely. A few weeks into the class, she mentioned that the Arts Collective and HCC's Theatre Program were putting on a show, 1001, that she would be directing. She said that auditions were that week. Kasi mentioned that the show was unusual and, remembering high school theater and thinking to myself that it couldn’t hurt to audition for the show, I was intrigued and decided to audition.
I hadn’t done an audition in 4 years. Contrary to what you might think, the audition felt extremely natural and familiar to me; I felt myself slipping back into the actor’s mindset, something I’d avoided for four years. I auditioned for several parts that day, and they all felt natural to me. As I auditioned for character after character, I found myself selfishly thinking that I wanted not just A role or ONE of these roles, but ALL of them.
Turns out, I wasn’t too far off. Of the 6 roles that I auditioned for, I got 4 of them. Funny how things work out, huh?
Rehearsing 1001 has been bliss. I’ve been blessed with a cast that is funny, VERY talented, friendly…and, just maybe, has welcomed me into the fold. In Kasi I’ve found a director that I can argue with, who lets me try things, and who critiques me constantly. These are all exceptionally positive things. My own roles are truly challenging, and will be even better in a week when we open, but I doubt they will ever be complete.
This show is my triumphant return to the stage, after 5 years. I’ve thrown my everything into this play. If you want to know me, see this show.
We’re now going into tech week, a mysterious dark void from which there is no escape. When it finally spits us out again in a week, we will have been forged into something truly amazing.
Come see the show.
Thank you for your time.
