Romeo and Juliet Reflection

Romeo & Juliet Reflection

When I first signed up for stage crew I was aware of nearly nothing. I was not familiar with most of the equipment and the real purpose of having a stage crew. But most importantly I had never been informed of the rigorous schedule. At first it did not really bother me, I just thought it was a temporary schedule. As time went by I noticed it was a fixed schedule and extremely time consuming; especially for me. By accepting the positions as Stage Manager the first semester, and Assistant Director the second semester I had signed myself up for a great deal of work that I was not aware of. As the early stages of the process progressed I did become consciousness about the schedule but it did not interfere with my willingness to work and learn. Now that it has come to an end I do not regret any choices I made in the beginning. It has been a great experience and a lot work. Many things in my agenda and as well as others throughout the course were sacrifice iced to make this production possible. As assistant director I felt like a had a greater responsibility than others and had to show a good example by being there all the time. When I first decided to switch over to assistant director from stage manager I was not sure how my tasks would differentiate but I was really glad I got the position. Directing is something I want to pursue as a career so having that title was awesome. But as the second semester started to takeoff I worried because I knew I did not have the skills needed to literally assist in directing. I was very concerned about my ability at that time but then I realized I was not suppose to be stressed about anything. Its high school I'm not suppose to know it all now, I am here because I took it upon myself and I am interested in the training process and wanted to accomplish something extraordinary. Although I didn't really help "direct" this production I do feel I played a vital role. I never imagined calling the e show but unexpectedly I did and was very satisfied with my task and felt very comfortable doing it. The reason I was very pleased with my job was because I knew I was able to do it with almost no stress, therefore I was very secure. I am very grateful that I am a very patient and positive person, which greatly helped on accomplishing that uneasy job. On the other hand, directing, I am not too comfortable with yet because I don't have skills or practice I need which makes me very uncertain of my interpretations. Unfortunately I am not one of those who were born with the talent so I have to work harder in order to achieve success. Overall I am so thankful Mr. Copley has given all of us this inspiring opportunity. All along this challenging process I have gained so much from Mr. Copley's genius work that will inspire me and motivate me to become what I will one day be.

Romeo and Juliet is a classic play that is done in many high schools. When I first found out Eagle Rock Stage was performing Romeo and Juliet it was really exciting. Hearing that was going to be "Unplugged" was even more exciting, it clued us in that there were going to be some crazy twists making it an offbeat show. Throughout the rehearsals it seemed like a normal, classic Romeo and Juliet except maybe for some changes in the dialogue, but as soon as the dancing started to get choreographed I noticed the unplugged eccentric. At first it was a bit strange knowing we were throwing in some modern hip-hop dances with some medieval dances. But the idea was perfect for a high school audience. As we all know Shakespeare is usually a bit slow and boring for teenagers so adding this twist was brilliant. Right away I knew this show was going to be a hit. Agenda's filled with rehearsal dates and as we went on the unplugged became more noticeable from costumes, to dances and to live m music. I have to admit that one my favorite from the show was the live music, which really made it unique.

Out of all the four show nights I honestly can't choose one for being the best. I believe opening night, Friday, and Sunday were good strong nights as a team. Thursday, opening night, was really important because it was the first show day and everyone was put to the actual test. Actors and crew were feeling the true excitement and nervousness, which was completely natural, and by the end of the first night I felt like everyone coped with all their emotions and carried out the show very well. Friday came by with a new set of leads keeping the excitement up and ended up being a great night as well. The team kept focus and succeeded again for the second night. When Saturday came around everyone already had a good feel for the show and some people were a little too confident and thought everything would go the same as the past two nights. But Saturday I felt was the weakest night; the team was not very focused probably for the same reason of them being too confident. Sunday, closing g night, I really liked now that I think about it. Very strong acting and crew work, excitement was very high and people were planning to have fun since it was the last night, good thing everyone knew there limitations and kept focus even though they got to enjoy there last night. Out of the four show nights I have to say that Thursday and Friday had the biggest audiences, Sunday coming in third, and Saturday last. It was great seeing the outcome of record-breaking ticket sales with advertisement limitations. When we first found out that we weren't allowed to put posters in our community it was very bad news for us. It felt like we weren't going to get anywhere with very little advertising. But surprisingly enough now realizing that Eagle Rock Stage has a good reputation for their shows, the true fans will always know about our plays. I am guessing the first two nights were the biggest houses because of the two different Romeo and Juliet's. Which I think is a fantastic idea o f having understudies in high school productions. Although we know that understudies are used for the same reason in the professional world to replace leads just in case something happens to them, it is always good to have back-up actors especially at this school level. As we saw through the semester many students failed to play their roles for various reasons and had to be replaced several times. I feel like understudies are a must in these types of shows such as Romeo and Juliet especially with four show dates. I think it's a bit overwhelming for the actors especially if they aren't experienced enough. Also knowing that a lot of teens aren't very responsible yet and reliable in high school we need people to fill in just in case. It also allows for others to take part of the production that will most likely only happen once in their high school career.

If I had the chance to do this production again I would take advantage of my position and work harder. I know I could have done a better job in what I was supposed to do. But one thing I wish I could do over again is call one more night of Romeo and Juliet: Unplugged. I truly enjoyed doing it and see it all come together piece by piece with a great team. None of what we have accomplished could have been done without any one of our crewmembers or actors. So no one should feel less important than someone else, we are all essential to the production in some way or another. That's a way of thinking of it because I know crewmembers always feel left out, but the truth is that you are important to the team. A way to improve the relationship between crewmembers and actors is not to allow them to get mixed. I don't think crewmembers should be allowed to act at all. Now if actors wanted to volunteer in crew work that would be fine. Also rehearsals with crew members should start a bit earlier just so they can get comfortable with each other and so on.

Having adult mentors and coaches come to Eagle Rock Stage is one of the best things that can happen to us. They are great help and teachers, without them I believe we wouldn't get as far as we do. I appreciate every single mentor all in their own and special way, but one that I have to thank is Ri Walton. Although her help for me did not come to the very end right before the show, I believe I would not have run the show the way I did without her help. Before speaking to her I had my own ideas and plans for running the show. If she never had giving me those quick, but critical lessons the show would have not ran as efficiently. She believed in me and knew I would be able to run the show successfully, which made me very self-confident. Like I said before I never imagined running any show but I am thankful I got the opportunity to, it has been an amazing experience. This whole class has been life changing, this I will never forget. Despite the fact that I am not planning to go in to theatre for a career I might take it into consideration one day. I do believe good actors are made in theatre rather than film. Now that I will be attending college I plan to major in film production and plan to make a successful career out of it. I will hold everything I have learned in stage crew very close to me and will never forget. Now with all of this I will move on and plan to change people's lives in other ways.

Two performers that surprised me with their efforts were the two Juliet's, Nicole and Cassandra. Both are young and experienced at different levels, but both took the courage to play such difficult characters. Cassie's later efforts really made the character a success. In the beginning stages I knew she really didn't feel comfortable with the character, which was really concerning. Later on as she grasped the characters complexion I was sure she would fit into role perfectly. Nicole really had me worried in the beginning. Noticing that she was not an experienced actress I really thought she was not going to hang on to the role for very long; but she proved me wrong. On the show nights it really took me by surprise, it did not seem like she was so inexperienced after all. I was really satisfied by her performance, I really doubted her in the beginning. These two actresses were very lucky to be cast as leads because this show has been the best Eagle Rock Stage has ever done. We a re all very lucky to be part of this wonderful experience. The story itself of Romeo and Juliet is one the best love stories ever written, it is so heart stirring. Without this amazing story this experience would have not been phenomenal.