Tag Archives: theatre

The End is Near

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For this URL. I registered a domain and bought some hosting. All that’s left is the work of finding a design I like, customizing it, creating content and getting it published. Ok, that’s probably like 97% of the actual work of building a new website so it may be awhile before karyhead.com is open for business.

Meanwhile, RWS had the main stage show on Friday. It was Vaudeville themed and it was a hoot. If I can get my hands on a decent recording of it, I’ll post some clips. The main problem with the video (mine at least) is the sound is next to worthless. All you can hear is the audience’s raucous laughter. We have another show Thursday the 16th at the Wise Center. It’s a fund raiser for the Horseman’s Association.

Last night I had an audition for the next community theatre show, Smoke on the Mountain. It’s a musical comedy set in the 1930’s around a southern baptist Saturday night singin’. There’s so many talented people trying out (and people who can actually play an instrument) I doubt I’ll get a part. Plus I’ve been sick for a week and didn’t have much energy. The second half of the auditions are tonight.

Rehearsals are going well for SCT’s Terror by Gaslight. We open the 23rd and run 23-26 and 28-March 4. Call 662-323-6855 for reservations.

I’m getting a better feel for my character at each rehearsal. At first it was hard not to make him funny, because that’s my nature, but the character, in general, isn’t the comic relief. He’s cohorts with the comic relief character. My character, Scrubbs, is a nasty fellow and it’s been hard to connect with him. When I first read the script I felt the least connected to him than some of the other characters so it’s been a fun challenge that I’m still working at. The set is looking great and the director, Lyle, has the whole show mapped out in his head, so he knows exactly what he wants and specifically what to ask for from the cast, so that’s been nice.

For those that saw the comedy show on Friday night, you’ll no doubt recall Will Cooper’s Great Wall song. It’s an original song written by himself to the tune of Aerosmith’s Dream On. It’s about his love for the Great Wall chinese eatery in the student union. It brought the house down, as they say. Well, we’re planning a video shoot. It’s. going. to. be. legendary.

I’m RSVPing: yes

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Money!I apologize for not posting sooner. Since I’ve been back from my holiday break (yay for state government workers’ holidays) I’ve been busy. Not that being here for you isn’t important because it might be.

What have I been busy doing you ask?

I’m doing a piece of hip-hop theatre for the Mississippi Theatre Association festival. It’s called My Say and it was written by MJ Etua. It’s pretty cool but we have far too many white people with no ghetto doing it. My biggest part in the show is coming out of the closet to my best friend and revealing my love for him. And he doesn’t receive the news very gracefully. It’s an in-your-face, audience interaction thing and I think it’ll be fun. It’s tonight in the lab theatre in McComas Hall probably around 8:00ish.

After that I think we’re going to do some improv for the kids. This next semester is going to be good for the improv comedy troupe, I think. We’ve got a new organizational structure and the new leaders are ready to roll. I’m looking forward to it and I think the first show will be soon after the semester starts. I’ll keep you updated.

I’ll try and post something worth reading in the near future. I’m hoping to make some more videos and with iLife ’06 I might be doing some podcasting or other such coolness. It’ll be arriving next week.

I’m thinking about moving/integrating the blog with a complete website at a new URL. We’ll see. Sounds like a lot of work. I should grab karyhead.com before some other karyhead does. Uh huh.

New job

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Yeah, I gotta new job soon. I’m getting into grave robbing. I hear anatomical schools pay good money for corpses cause they’re not getting enough from just public executions at the gallows.

Ok ok ok. The truth is that I’m playing Scrubbs the grave robber in Starkville Community Theatre’s production of Terror By Gaslight. I’m totally excited about it, it’ll be my first regular season show at the community theatre. You’ve no doubt heard all about the musical revue I was a part of over the summer. The cast of the play has 12 people and the director is my talented friend, Lyle Tate, that I met during the musical revue. It’s gonna be scrumtrelescent. You’ll have to come see it or I will stab you in the neck.

Christmas is just around the corner, friends. Have you done all your shopping yet? Of course, I haven’t started. Maybe next week. I prefer to run around in a panic, fighting the crowds at the last minute. That always gets me in a jolly Christmas cheer.

Everyone keep an eye on the Times Square webcam on the 29th, 30th and Jan 2nd. You might see me on there waving to you.

Hey, Will Cooper, I have an awesome idea for a comedy act for next semester. Think Tenacious D (without the profanity) + Weird Al + Monty Python + Bing Crosby and Bob Hope = Comedy Gold Hilarity.

Next Week on IMKH…I don’t know.

Theatre Update

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So last Friday I had the improv show. I was really nervous at the beginning of the week but by Friday I was just ready to make the funnay happen.

Highlights from the show:

-First game was Questions. In this game you and your partner are basically only allowed to ask questions to build the scene. If you make a statement or a non sequitur or repeat a question, you’re out and another person takes your place. (Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead, anyone?) Anyway, the setting, which was provided by the audience, was Hell. I’m about third in line and when it’s my turn, I open with “Is that a snowflake?” The other person says something to the effect of “What’s going on?” I comeback with “Did Mississippi State win a game?” Booyah, instant comedy. Actually for my first joke it got pretty good laughs (since our football team ain’t so good. When I say good I mean sucks.) Getting a big laugh early on relaxed me somewhat and gave me a bit of confidence.

-Will and Lily making out in Half Life and being in every other game together. They are both high energy people and they were fun to watch. After intermission when we came back into the lab theatre, Will and Lily went around the back way and were behind the “backdoor” in an embrace. So we all walk in the “front door” and the back door opens and there they are “caught” in an embrace. It was funny but I think you probably had to be there.

-Getting fondled in my first show. I was a prop in Living Scenery. In this game two people act out a scene and two other people are the props for the scene. Well I was a toilet and the other prop, er, person Derek was a wrench. And you know, uh, wrenches fiddle with nuts and bolts and stuff and well, uh, my nuts got fiddled with.

-I fell down or died a lot and by the end of the night, by knee was sore from where it was breaking my falls. Note to self, need a new falling technique.

There were other funny moments, but I can’t remember them all. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to the next show (probably February).

In other news, Story Theatre opened Tuesday morning. Having an actual audience (and children at that) made it so much more fun. For some reason I can’t quite identify, I didn’t feel very good about my performance on Tuesday. We did another show today and I felt a lot better about it but I can’t really put my finger on a reason.

I’ve learned sooo much in the last several weeks as we’ve put this show together. This is my first play and it’s been absolutely great. Our director Kevin Kern (also my teacher in the acting class) is very knowledgeable and he knows how to teach it to his students and cast. I’ve also learned a lot from the cast. They’re all younger than me by *ahem* a few years but they all have more stage experience than me and it’s been cool to learn from them. They’ve been totally awesome and have included me in their, uh, social interactions, which I appreciate.

If you are in the area you have two more opportunities to see the show: Thursday night the 17th at 7:30pm (general audience) and Friday morning the 18th at 9:30am (school children show).

I’ll be sad after Friday cause they’ll be no more shows or rehearsals. I won’t get to hang out with swell theatre MSU people much. But I’m looking forward to the next opportunity which is coming up in December at Starkville Community Theatre: auditions for Terror By Gaslight. I had so much fun and met so many great people at SCT over the summer for my first experience on the stage with the musical revue that I hope to get a part in the show cause I know it’ll be another great SCT experience.

Ok, that’s it for now. Harry Potter and Walk The Line open this weekend, I think. Gonna try to see ’em both.

Don’t tell my mom but

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tomorrow night I’m Runnin’ With Scissors.

Yep, my first improv show is tomorrow night Friday the 11th at 7:30pm at McComas Hall in the lab theatre. I’m totally excited and a little bit nervous (everytime I think about it, I poop a little in my pants). I mean, I might freeze up and won’t be able to speak. Or maybe I won’t be funny.

Ok, haha, that’s ridiculous. Of course, I’ll be funny. Heck, if I can’t think of anything to say, THE CLOTHES ARE COMING OFF.

Which reminds me of one thing I’ve learned since I got involved in theatre lo these 5 months: theatre people will take off their clothes at the drop of a hat and with no provocation whatsoever. Interesting tidbit for ya there.

Anyway, there will be another show at 10:00pm. I’m not in that one so you’ll want to come and see both, obviously. Drive, fly, run, tricycle, pogo stick: whatever you gotta do to get here and see the show. You’ll need to clear any excuses with me prior to the show

Otherwise, you’ll be hearing from me.

I suck

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because I’m lazy. I can’t seem to get myself up in the mornings in time to exercise. My eating’s not very good but not very bad either so my weight is just hanging out.

My co-worker and I are about to start meeting at the gym for workouts so that should give me more incentive to get up and at ’em.

I haven’t really told you much about Story Theatre rehearsals or all the cool college kids I’ve met this semester. I’m actually thinking of including them in some future videos for the blog. I mean, so far it’s just been me being an idiot, why not have other people be idiots with me on the internets? But anyway, ST rehearsals have been great and amazing and sooo much fun. I demand that you come to a performance. I’ll post more about it later.

Reading then bed time…

I was mauled by the Lion

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but I can entertain the kiddies. What I mean to say is, I mentioned my first ever “real play” audition and the results in the comments.

The same day I got the disappointing news about Lion, I went for another audition, this time a university production of Paul Sills’ Story Theatre. The audition was a lot of fun and laid back. I still didn’t give it all I had, I felt that I was capable of more but just didn’t give it. Ah well, I’ll get better at showcasing my stuff on the spot when it matters.

Well, I just went and checked the cast list for Story Theatre and I MADE IT! This calls for a w00t, I do believe.

This is a children’s show and I think it will be a lot of fun. Lion In Winter is a hefty show and requires a strong cast as there are no small roles. You couldn’t really cast someone and say “Well if they suck, at least it’s only a small role.” The directory really couldn’t take chances on someone that they weren’t sure about. So no, I’m not surprised that I didn’t get cast in it.

But Story Theatre will fit me better anyway, I think. You know, big, over-the-top one-dimensional characters. It will be a good first show for me to be a part of and I’m very excited.

Big Cat In The Cold

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So I have my first ever “real” play audition this Sunday and Monday. It’s a really great show, I’ve read it and watched a movie of it. With none other Captain Jean-Luc, er, wait, I mean Patrick Stewart playing one of the leads. Of course I’m talking about The Lion In Winter.

It is a male-heavy ensemble. There’s Henry, ye olde king and Father to Richard, Geoffrey and John. Also there’s Philip the King o’ France. I couldn’t really play Henry since I’m not old enough (or experienced enough) but I’d be super-duper pleased if I get any one of the sons or Philip.

Props to Dave “Taterhead” P. for the sweet pic.

Also, I also saw my first show at SCT last night, “Seeing Stars In Dixie.” Maddy and Marianne, two wonderful ladies I met during the summer musical, were in it and they were great. It was a very enjoyable show and Maddy was a scene stealer.

Meanwhile, in acting class we’re doing monologues. We have to pick a monologue from a play and do it for the class. I’ve picked something from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Great, funny play. The movie’s pretty good too. Thanks (again) to J. for introducing me to the movie back in high school. I bought the script years ago and saw MSU’s production of it when they did it a little while back.

Just for practice, I’m going to do my monologue now from memory.

Do you ever think of yourself as actually dead…lying in a box with a lid on it? Nor do I really…it’s silly to be depressed by it. I mean, one thinks of it like being alive in box, one keeps forgetting to take into account the fact that one is dead…which should make all the difference…shouldn’t it? I mean, you’d never know you were in a box. It would be just like being asleep in a box…not that I’d like to sleep in a box, mind you, not without any air…you’d wake up dead for a start, then where would you be…apart from inside a box. That’s the part I don’t like frankly. That’s why I don’t think of it.

Because you’d be helpless wouldn’t you? Stuffed in a box like that, I mean, you’d be in there forever. Even taking into account the fact that you’re dead, it isn’t a pleasant thought. Especially if you’re dead, really…ask yourself, if I asked you straight off, I’m going to stuff you in this box now, would you prefer to be alive or dead? Naturally you’d prefer to be alive. Life in a box is better than no life at all. I expect. You’d have a chance at least. You could lie there thinking, Well at least I’m not dead. In a minute someone’s going to come bang on the lid and tell me to come out. Hey you whatsyername! Come out of there!

There might be a few mistakes in there but that’s what’s in my head so I’m going with it.

E’rybody have a good weekend. Eat some pocky for me.

Bombs Away!!11!

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Our homework from Thursday’s class was to bring a joke to class today. We were to have the joke up to the funny part written on one side of the paper or index card and the punch line on the opposite side. I can handle homework like this, says I.

So I found a couple of jokes online and printed them out. I left plenty of white space before the punch line and folded the paper over.

When we got to class, we passed all the jokes to one end (we were sitting on the front row in the theater) and the person on the end passed them back out making sure that one didn’t get one’s own joke but someone else’s joke.

Then the instructor called out names at random and you had to go up on stage and read the joke. Pretty simple, right? You just had to read the joke. Whatever was on the paper.

Well anyway, he called my name out and I went up on stage to read the stellar joke that had been handed to me.

I walked purposefully up the stairs, walked to the center of the stage and smartly turned towards the audience. I cleared my throat and read.

How did disco die?

I raised my eyebrow questioningly at the class, flipped the paper over then turned it right side up.

Wait for it…

In the disco Inferno

Woohoo.

I casually walked off stage and mentioned that they had just witnessed Comedy Gold.

Back in my seat, I eagerly awaited when some poor unsuspecting fool would get on stage and read my joke. Oh little did they know how it would kill. I imagined heads tossed back as laughter floated up to the rafters and tears flowed down their happy shining faces, each person trying to catch their breath but they couldn’t because the joke was just too funny.

Here’s the joke:

A taxi passenger tapped the driver on the shoulder to ask him something. The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped inches from a shop window.

For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said “Look man, don’t ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of me!”

The passenger apologized and said he didn’t realize that a little tap could scare him so much.

The driver replied “Sorry, it’s not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver – I’ve been driving hearses for the last 25 years.”

See? Funnay. To the max.

Anyway, after several more people went, a guy went up on stage with my joke and when he got to the punch line after speeding through the first part with, albeit some enthusiasm, but too fast to be clearly understood in my opinion, he said this:

The driver replied “Sorry, it’s not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver – I’ve been driving horses for the last 25 years

Cricket. Cricket.

Of course, it made no sense and was totally not funnay. I put my hand up to the side of my mouth and prompted Hearses. What? Oh, hearses. People are like What? What was the punch line? Oh, hearses, ha, that is funny.

Not quite the pandemonium of cackles and guffaws I had hoped for.

The guy says I thought it was a typo and was supposed to be horses so I said that instead. What?! Just Read The Joke. That makes absolutely no sense. I don’t think anyway, maybe there’s a joke in there somewhere but not the one I intended to have people Rolling On The Floor Laughing Their Asses Off. He’s like, Oh hearses, I get it. Huh huh.

Can I get a Duh? What about in the balcony, can I get a Duh? Amen, thank you.

Well the exercise was not about how funny or not the jokes were, it was about presentation. Some tried to make the joke funny even if it was not and others knew the joke was bad so they didn’t try.

The point is, when you are on stage, all eyes are on you, so you’ve got to make the audience believe in what you are saying or doing. Otherwise you break the suspension of disbelief.

And then you get beaten backstage with mackerel.

Yeah.

Yo sound the bells school is in sucker

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can’t touch this. Haha. Best. song. evar.

Eh, not really. But that line is relevant. For I, Kary D. Rogers, am going back to school tomorrow.

For what purpose? you ask. What upper-level degree are you pursuing? you wonder. Pshaw. I ain’t doin’ none o’ that.

After 4 years of undergrad (yes, I finished in exactly 4 years) I decided then and there I wished to take it no further. Nossiree, no master’s degree for me.

The class that I have signed up for is CO 2503 – Acting. And since I am an employee of the university, it’s free. Gratis. Pretty sweet, huh?

I figured since I’m interested in acting slash performing, I might as well take the class. I’ve talked to plenty of people who know and they all agree it’d be a good thing to do since it’s free. I’ve gotten a pretty good feel for the professor after talking to these unnamed knowledgeable people. I have corresponded with said professor via email to let her know that I am interested in taking the class. And that due to the nature of my job, sometimes I would not be able to make it but that doesn’t mean that I’m slacking or not putting forth any effort.

Then, while I was waiting on my enrollment paperwork to go through the admissions office, which took for-freakin’-ever, the class filled up.

Drat. Yes, that was it. That was the word that went through my noggin at that moment. Drat.

But the ol’ prof said she could squeeze me in. I guess I’m special or something.

I checked a few weeks later and someone must’ve dropped the class ’cause there was one seat available. Yippee. Also the instructor had changed. The name next to the class was different. So I IMDB’ed him. I feel pretty sure that’s him. I also found this and this. Don’t know if those are him or not. Time will tell my fair readers.

So I finally got my paperwork all in order and was ready to register for the class. Of course, the registration web page was down.

What?! Nobody informed me and I work with the people responsible for the registration system. What we have here is a failure to communicate or something.

On Monday, I see that the registration page is back up. I go to register and the. class. is. full.

Drat. No, really. DRAT.

Anyway, I checked again last night and there were two spots available. Apparently some suckers decided to drop the class. They probably got my threatening voice mail.

So I’m all signed up and ready for class which begins tomorrow.

I’ll prolly be so excited tonight that I won’t be able to sleep. I’ll get up two hours before the alarm goes off, iron my shirt and pants (actually I’ll wake up M. to do it for me cause me and the iron do not get along), I’ll pack my lunch and then sit on the couch until it’s time to go.

Of course then I’ll revert back to my college ways and fall asleep in class.