"The Importance of Being Earnest"

So I recently auditioned for, and got into, the play "The Importance of Being Earnest", which is a satire comedy by British playwright Oscar Wilde. It was with the same theater group I did "Annie" with and while I didn't enjoy it as much as Annie, it was still a good production. For some reason, I was cast as the role of Lane(who, in the original play, is a guy, but was changed to a girl before auditioned because my director wanted to have someone to be the female understudy as well); while I did have a lot of fun with the role, I really wish I could have gotten a bigger part(the next play, the next play...). And, for the last two weeks, I've been performing it before an audience.
      Even though I was quite disappointed in not getting a larger role, I did have a good time doing the play. The cast and crew were all pretty great and only one person annoyed me, which was nice. Many of the people in the cast actually seemed to like talking to me and would have conversations with me which was nice, since it's not that common(though things have been better when it comes to casts with me lately, so that's good). Sadly, I was only in Act I, and I wish I could have had more show time, since I need to get noticed a bit more so I can get into more shows out there before I graduate(I made a good debut as Pepper in Annie). However, even though I'm one of those artists that has to work for what they do instead of getting it handed to them, I will keep on trying until I get the lead(I've been extremely close, such as Peter Pevensie and The Red Queen) and I get into movies and television(and play my dream roles).
Our show did pretty well; not as good as Annie, of course, but we had good sized audiences who enjoyed the show; even though my role was small, I did get some compliments, which was nice :) (of course, some people weren't that pleasant, but oh well, snobs :P).
   





Me and the actor who plays the butler Merriman(and is, consequently, the male understudy) reading lines for some of the other characters. He was really nice and I liked talking to him.

 One cool thing about this play was that we did the show entirely in British accents. And, according to my singing(voice) teacher, who went to a British school and can do a perfect high-class(BBC) British accent, said that mine was the best and most natural sounding one in the cast!! :D I guess watching all of those British TV shows and films pays off, as well as having a singing teacher who knows how to do a British accent :D.

Though, we do have a joke where we performed it all in Southern accents(and it's pretty great, I have to say :D).


"Stop making me lie for you! :p"
Me and the actor playing Algernon during a funny scene where I had to lie for him. I have to give a shout out to this actor- he is extremely talented, especially in this role. I was very impressed with his degree of talent(for example, when he spoke, especially during his scenes with Cecily, I completely believed every word he said).

I got quite a lot of compliments and random comments on my part, as I said before.
My favorite was the one where this guy I know from my church(kind of) said "You have very good movements. THAT'S acting" :D That's definitely a good thing to here :) I also had a guy say, on the last show, to me that I was too pretty to be a maid :) I rarely get comments like that, so that was a pleasant surprise :D
I also had several people offer me a job as being their maid, which I thought was quite hilarious! XD
Oh, and for some bizarre reason, I had several people comment on how thin I was; one person wanted to give me 20 pounds or something O_O. And another person said I needed to eat more(hahahaha, if only they knew! XD I'm like what people say teenage boys are like when it comes to food).




"I hope Algernon doesn't catch me"

Not in the play, but it kind of adds more to a little thing I did at the beginning that I was allowed to kind of choreograph myself(I was able to come up with a few of my own stuff to do in the play; besides the opening part, I got to throw a flower at Algernon at the end of my part).
In the play, at the beginning, I'm setting tea for Algernon and his guests and, since he's playing piano in the other room, I sit on the couch(which is something servants weren't allowed to do back then). Though, Algernon being Algernon, I don't think he would have cared so much about it(by the way, the fact that a maid was serving people like I do in the play is historically inaccurate, to my knowledge, since that was the job of the footmen. But oh well, it's a satire play, not to be taken too seriously).



One of our assembled cast photos. In the back- Dr. Chausuble, Jack(Earnest) Worthing, Gwendolyn Fairfax, Lady Brackness(Aunt August), Merriman, and the Footman(stage hand).  The middle crouching/sitting on a chair- Cecily, the Director, and Algernon. Sitting- back stage helper, Miss Prism, Lane(me), and another stage hand.








Our silly picture. Of course, I'm pretending to be a warrior Jedi person XD :D


These two actors had very good chemistry; while I don't like romance(and the romance in this one is very silly), they both did a stellar job in their scenes :) I always believed what they were saying to each other :)




As well as playing my role, I also helped carry things on and off stage in-between each act. With me, I had both of our stage hands and the actor playing Merriman. We had some funny things happen during our time doing this, my favorite being this little story which happened on our last performance.

(we had this thing were we each carried a chair on for third act, and we did it in a single file line)
The actor playing Merriman: How about me and (the other stage hand) each get two, and you two get the other stuff. It will be faster that way.
Me: That's not the reason, you just want don't want to walk out there in a line XD (I was right, too XD).



Sadly, during the second week of show, I got sick(it's pretty complicated; it was half caused by stress and half by a virus). I did continue to show up each night and play my part, but it was miserable since I was nauseous(I thought I was going to throw up on stage on night; somehow I was able to not break character and just keep on going with my line, which I was on the middle of). It was so bad, I had to go home after my part two of the nights. However, I did get better, after taking some medicine the Dr. prescribed and I was able to do my last two performances feeling mostly back to normal.









Me handing Algernon his glass of sherry(and yes, we really had actual sherry for that scene, which I thought was pretty cool).

I really loved my costume! :D Since I recently got into Downton Abbey, I thought it was really cool to dress up as a maid, since one of my favorite characters on the show is a maid(Anna). However, my skirt was WAY too long and I kept stepping on it and it got in the way while I was trying to carry things on and off stage(making it where things I could have helped with easily  impossible because I could have tripped on its hem).



I'm not actually in this scene in the play, I was just helping the actor carry trays on during practice, since he didn't know who was going to do that in that certain part.









Waiting line.

So, overall, it was a great show and a good one to add to my resume :D I enjoyed working with this cast and I look forward to doing another production at this theater.
Now, I only have Les Miserables to work on. Three plays in one year- that sounds good to me :)
To Les Miserables and beyond! :D
See you all later and May the Force be with You...Always! :D  I have some pretty cool posts coming up, so stay tuned(on Nick Jr. XD).