Christmas Time Is Here

Well, I'm *dreaming* of a white Christmas 'round here. Having spent a snow-white Christmas in the frozen wilderness that is northern Washington last year, I must say that my hometown's weather is much preferable to what most people experience at Christmas time. Plus, last year I also learned that wheelchairs can't handle frozen sidewalks very well. One of the most interesting adventures I had while traveling north in emergency conditions last December was the 100 feet between the hotel in Oregon and a Denny's. One of the nice things about the hotel we stayed in is that it gives out coupons for a free Denny's breakfast. Let's just say I demonstrated my almighty appetite that morning. As soon as I got onto the frozen road that led to the restaurant, I discovered that I could move my chair the vast distance of 5 feet before I had to call it quits. To top it off, I learned that my body does not handle the cold very well. And to think: I was born in the midst of the Rocky Mountains and I can't even handle a little bit of snow!

Well, putting that aside, I've kept myself busy this week with various Theatre-related items. First, I tried out for the Kaucher-Mitchell Storytelling and Oral Interpretation competition on Tuesday. As its name implies, it's a storytelling competition the Department puts on twice a year at the University. Well, as my luck would have it, I am one of the four finalists selected by our judges to compete in the Oral Interpretation segment of the Kaucher-Mitchell finals on Friday night! In case you're wondering, oral interpretation is the art of taking a segment of a previously written and/or performed work, such as a movie, song, or stage play, and performing that segment solo. I chose to perform a scene from of the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. I performed the scene where Lawrence (Peter O'Toole) discusses the fate of the Arab people with Prince Faisal (Alec Guinness), and then convinces Sharif Ali (Omar Sharif) to join him on his expedition to capture the city of Aqaba near the Red Sea. The secret to oral interpretation is to take the words of the author, in this case screenwriter Robert Bolt, and convey them to the audience, without merely copying the performances of the actors who spoke these lines in the movie. I must admit it's a lot of fun! I'm somewhat picky when it comes to my work, so I only perform segments from Oscar-winning or Oscar-nominated film scripts, such as Finding Nemo, Amadeus, Ben-Hur, and the Lord of the Rings films. I'm also very fond of epics, which is probably why Lawrence of Arabia is my favorite film.

Also, I auditioned for the Department's upcoming season of plays last night. In March, we'll be performing Bury the Dead (1936) by Irwin Shaw, and then in April will be performing Yellow Face (2007) by the Father of Asian-American Theatre David Henry Hwang. We had to audition with two contrasting contemporary monologues. I chose mine from Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project and Charles Mee's Big Love (not to be confused with that HBO show). They were contrasting because the former had me playing a doctor describing the night Matthew Shepard was brought to the hospital nearly dead, and the latter had me playing a man describing his treasured Barbie collection. No joke; though let us just say it's a tad lighter-hearted than the first monologue. So I did my best; I may have flubbed a few lines here and there, but the true test for an actor is his or her ability to maintain composure and keep going even if something goes wrong.

I'll find out on Tuesday if I made it into Bury the Dead, but I won't know until the end of January if I made it into Yellow Face. I must wait. No pressure. Seriously. (I sound like Hemingway)

So that's my life lately. It's been quite nice to have stuff to do 'round here. This being my last semester, my school life is essentially over. I was, however, excited to learn that it is still possible for students who have recently graduated to perform in our Department's productions. That's why I made up my mind at the last moment to audition last night.

Well, that's my life! Tune in next time for more mirth and mayhem! See ya then!