From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Saturday, February 27, 2010 11:14 PM

Well, I'm moving on.. Haha. This upcoming week is our Circuit Overseer's visit! I'm really excite :D Can't you tell??? Also, it's our Spring show auditions too. We're doing "The Foreigner", and I hope to land a role. The show's is a comedy, and once I know more about it, I'll tell you.


OMG I have been off on school work the past week. Music Man has kicked my butt, and so has senioritis. D; It hurts. I don't want to do bad!! Aza Aza Fighting!!! I'm going to get caught up, get my work in on time, and get straight A's this semester!!! P.S. Last semester I had ONE B... Stupid Statistics.. Haha..

OH! I found out that I have more witnesses at my school than I thought.. Twins, and an Asian! Yay! I'm too afraid to talk to them though.. Haha. I have Statistics with the twins, and Creative Writing with one of the twins. I feel that I'm smiling more at them.. Maybe trying to break the awkward-ness between us three.. Uh.. :p

Okay, so I have Creative Writing this semester, and I really love having it! It's really such a nice class to relax, and I definitely know that the teacher likes me.. Haha I mean, she's also my senior Humanities teacher.. So no tension between us..

LET'S SEE... I'm missing:
-Extension on Sonnets (Humanities/FAME)
-Hamlet Dialectical Journal Act 1
-Hamlet Dialectical Journal Act 2 (extension!)
-Statistics Extension :(

I need to read Hamlet tomorrow before school... WHY?! Ugh.. Shakespearean language is not my forte. Actually, is it really anyone's forte?

Okay so a bit back on the musical business.. During the musical, I lost weight!! Can you believe that?! And now that it's gone, I'm afraid that I'm gradually earning it back.. EWW.. So I think I'm going to work out on Monday.. and Wednesday.. And Thursday.. ;D I know, it's such a sacrifice.. But at least I won't be procrastinating on my homework! YAY!

I think I'm going to run, lift some weight.. (I need to get some muscle back).. definitely swim.. and maybe take a class with Roxe or Kamilia.. ;) My gym buddies! *hugs*

Well, I think I'm going to go now.. Maybe check the internet for something fun to do? Or maybe I really should go to bed.. HAHA XD I have early morning service with Robert & Justin tomorrow.. Yay!

Night guys!

From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Monday, February 22, 2010 11:08 PM

It's over. :( It's really over.. I just can't fathom really! I mean, 5 months of rehearsals gone.. In what? 2 weeks. Haha. I'm just really proud of everyone who survived through the show, and kept up with it. Well, I'm so proud of the little kids! They have to deal with staying at school and being up until 10 at night! This entry's just a little one. I just wanted to thank everyone for making this production such and amazing one. It's my first, and last musical at Century High School, and I kicked butt! :D Not to brag though.. I'm just proud. You know? Everything I've done, and keeping up with school. The thing is, it's not hard, it's just fun I guess. Like that amazing quote... "You never work a day if you're doing what you love". I'm never grueling over the time commitment. I miss that stage now.. Well, what's next? Our spring comedy play starts auditions next week. We're doing "The Foreigner", and I already have a part in mind.. I want to be the clumsy, and ditzy character.. Haha.. Well that's all for now, From the Journal of a Music Man, I'll come back and reflect more about this and show more pictures soon! ;P I promise!


-Tai

From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Sunday, February 14, 2010 11:35 PM

Hello! I'm back for another installment of blogging about my high school's "The Music Man". As you probably already know, our amazing (it really is!) musical just had it's first week of performances. This upcoming week is out last, and definitely the most gut-wrenching, and sad week ever.. D; I don't want to stop acting, and I don't want to stop doing all that we've learned in the past 4-5 months of rehearsals. I mean, it's been so long AND we put so much effort into it, that I think it'd be nice to perform maybe an extra week?.. kekeke..


Well, before I really jump into more stuff and behind the scenes stuff, here's some more cast pictures taken by our very own stage manager!

Mrs. Paroo and Marian Paroo. Marian is singing "Will I Ever Tell You"
The "Music Man" cast is dancing to the musical number "Shipoopie".
Marcellus (me!) sings the musical number "Shipoopie".
The Quartet sings "It's You" with the Pick-A-Little ladies
doing an interpretive dance to the song.
The cast sings to the number "Wells Fargo Wagon". The song is
about the delivery wagon that is headed to town with their order
of band instruments.
The dance scene during the song "Marian The Librarian" sung by
Harold Hill.
The "Music Man" cast dances to the number "Marian the Librarian".
Harold Hill and his best friend Marcellus Washburn singing
"The Sadder But Wiser Girl". Harold in this song explains what
his type of women he would like.
The men of "The Music Man" tap dances during "76 Trombones".
Oh there's "Trouble" in River City!!!
Harold Hill plots to deceive the town of River City in order
to scam them of their money. How? By convincing them that
their city is in "Trouble".
Harold Hill explains to his best friend Marcellus Washburn
about his plot to con the quiet town of River City.
"Gotta give Iowa a try!!!" - "Iowa Stubborn"

So back to the technical stuff a bit. Okay, so first off, we use mics on stage for the leads. This requires that even though we are mic-ed, we still need to project. Like what happened on Saturday, my mic for the first scene wasn't working. I felt a bit weird at first because my voice wasn't coming out of the speakers, so I knew that I had to project so the rest of the audience would understand what I was speaking. Trust me, this was a bit nerve-wrecking because I didn't know if people were able to understand what I was saying.. :( But I was assured they did..

Oh! Another thing, for our mics, we had them on our ears, and it hooks around our ears and they appear to be like what pop-stars wear. Yup. I feel just like Britney Spears.. The only thing is that the mic need to be taped down to your face.. So the stage crew uses cut of strips of band-aids. Well, the only thing is that I sweat like CRAZY, so the band-aids suck at sticking to my face..

So I'm always worried about if my mic is going to fall off.. Luckily, there's this genius invention called teh "water-proof band-aid".. You know, the clear and "invisible" like band-aid.. That one is like my savior! it sticks with peeling off ever, and I'm never afraid.. Too bad I don't get to use it as often.. D;

Oh! The scene changes are like SOO fast! We have roll-ons, so in every scene, we have to be quick in changing and putting things on and off. The techies are doing such an amazing job.. ;)

The pit (orchestra) is doing fantastic too. It's just sometimes they're not keeping time with us cast, and sometimes us cast rushes.. I mean, it's not horribly horrible, it's just that not enough people are looking the conductor in the pit or glancing at him during songs to get the time..

I've learned SO much so far, and I am continuing to learn a lot more. Seriously, I think I'm ready to audition for our spring comedy now. I'm really excited! I hope to get a part in the play.. :P A lead perhaps? Haha..

So the show's about half-way done.. D; I don't really want it to end.. But things have to move on I guess.. and this is where I leave for now. I'll be back in a few days and I'll talk some more about the show, and show some more pictures. Right now it's 1:00 am in the morning, and I fear my body is about ready for bed. So I'll talk to you guys real soon! xoxo

See ya soon! :)

From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Saturday, February 13, 2010 1:15 AM


Hey guys! It's been like, what? Close to 1/3rd of a month since I last updated you on life? Well, life is soo superb! We just had our opening night yesterday for:


The Music Man!!!

Yes, I've been rehearsing for about 5 months with the cast, and everyone, and it's all paying off!
We kicked off the past 2 months with rehearsals just about EVERYDAY, and it's helped tremendously. But the last 2 (and a half) weeks, we've been taking rehearsals from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm. It helps the kids in the show, and the rest of the cast get used to late rehearsals, and the stress of getting your homework done on time, and NOT BLOGGING AT 1:23 am in the morning..

Haha. I have a show tomorrow.. Actually I have a matinee, and an evening performance tomorrow. Call for us is at 11:30 am, and I'm so ready! Have I ever told you that I ADORE the stage??? Haha.. I think it suits me very well.

Oh! Before I forget, our vocal coach, and "pit"-band director worked with me on "Shipoopie" for the show, and we were able to fix the glitches on the high-parts of the songs, and the REALLY high parts that I have to sing in falsetto for an A above the treble cleft... Si..

So now everytime I sing that song, it's becoming a part of me, and a part of my "comfort" spot. Seriously, who knew training your voice helps you sing better!! J/K...

OKAY! I feel really hyper right now. I think it's the fact that I really want to fall asleep, and that I have tons of clothes that need to be sorted.. Gah chores.. why must you taunt me???

Oh! So my costume pieces are amazing.. :) My character, Marcellus works at the Stable, so in the first couple of scenes, I'm in a dirty "apron" and unbuttoned shirt, and rolled-up sleeves.. But! I get to change into an amazing VEST and tie for "Marion the Librarian" dance scene.. From there on, I wear that outfit, but change into our school colors!!! A teal collared green vest, and it's my favorite outfit EVER! I get t0 wear it, and sing "Shipoopie" with it.. And from then on, I keep the vest, but wear a jacket over it. Boy don't I wish I could just show you!!! :(

Well, since I can't really show you, I'll show a few images from the show :)

"Trouble" a musical number on how the town River City, Iowa is in deep
doo-doo from the pool hall opening, and their young-lins being "brain-
washed" by harmful actions
Our "Music Man" introduces the bickering chairmen of Education
to music, and makes the form a barbershop quartet.
(Image rights to Teegarden Photography)
The boys of the Barbershop Quartet.
(Image rights to Teegarden Photography)
The entire cast performing "Wells Fargo Wagon" about the supply vehicle
that is about to head towards town to deliver their new band instruments.
Conman Harold Hill with his best friend Marcellus Washburn. Harold
is able to con the town of River City with help from Marcellus.

Well, I guess that's really it! I'll probably come back tomorrow and update you on the technical stuff, and the acting and what I've really learned so far!

From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Wednesday, January 20, 2010 11:41 PM

Hey.. :) I'm back.. Just a quick update on the musical.. It's been like what? Almost a week since our last update? Haha.. Last Saturday, was our dance rehearsal, and it was really good! I mean, our dance numbers are still rough, but it's getting there! One HUGE dance number is titled "Shipoopie", and the dance steps in on of the sequence is torture! Seriously, the "grapevine" is so hard because the song's tempo is SOO fast. :P But I did master the "Charleston".. It think that's what it's called.. :) I'm very proud.. Bri and I just need to master the freaking "GRAPEVINE"!!! D;


Monday was also another long rehearsal from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. It was our Lead's rehearsal, and I realized that I need to get my lines MEMORIZED! Seriously, we have less that three weeks left!! WOW! Where did all that time go?! And I need to have everything exact, and DOWN!..

I'm happy, because I have about everything memorized.. And I need to watch my speed in speaking my lines.. I have to watch that because the audience will not be able to understand me if I speed up too much. I had a line today where I was supposed to say "uniform", but my friend heard it come out as "unicorn".. "Greg!!! The Unicorns have arrived!!!".. Gahaha..

But so far, everything is going well, it should be more "exact", because we're on a deadline, but we're getting there! I know our director is SOO on our butts because he wants it perfect! Our school is known to be in the BEST league of drama productions, and I really want this year to be a picture frame for that. We're going to have to work our BUTTS off until they burn!

I'm just excited, nervous, and pressured. These next three weeks are going to be torture because our rehearsal schedule is going to be longer, and we're going to have to stay at school from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Ugh.. It's worth it!!! (That's what I always tell myself!)

Well, I think I'm going to bed tonight.. Thank goodness for no homework for today.. I get to rest for a bit.. before everything starts again.. ^-^ Nighty night everybody!!!

For more information, or if you want to buy tickets our school's musical, visit www.centurystage.com I hope everyone shows up!!

From the Journal of a Music Man

Posted by Tai Le , Friday, January 15, 2010 11:34 PM

So did I ever mention that I'm in our school's production of "The Music Man"? I play the lead character's best friend, Marcellus Washburn. I guess I'll take these next few posts to share my thoughts, experience, and such.. from the rehearsals, and the shows. :)


Alright! Let's start! So we kicked off rehearsals in November with dance rehearsals, and vocal rehearsals.. Those were fun! Yup.. Then December rolled around, the the rehearsals started to pack on top of each other.. It seemed as if everyday I was at school from 7:15 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. Well, it didn't just seem so.. It WAS! XD But I'm having the time of my life.

Seriously, sometimes I feel like I'm learning SO much from rehearsals, and from everything else that people display that I can just feed off them. Drama/Theatre is definitely a passion of mine. I don't know how "amazing" I am.. but I hope I am!!! kekeke... But back to the topic. Things I really need to work on..

PROJECTION! Exactly! To think, I thought that my loud voice was loud enough, but not on stage! Well, not enough. I hear our director constantly drilling me about projecting, and how all he hear is mumbling... Gah.. D: But it's alright.. I think it's coming along just fine.

CHARACTER! I definitely need to be more intact with my character. I need to make the character something different than myself. I seem to assume my character is a little "quiet", "scare-dy cat"... BUT he's the opposite! He's "loud", "obnoxious", and "annoying"! Boy.. doesn't this just call for the opposite of me.. Haha.. There's also a part in the musical where I need to be more "dirty", and "perverted".. Yeah, me, but not me..

I can't find that part on stage.. I think it's somewhere deep, deep, DEEP downwards in me, but I just hope I can find it.. :( I just hate to disappoint people, and not getting the character part down is frustrating.. I'm just thankful that our director is flexible, knows when to laugh, and knows when to put his foot down...

OH! Also.. I have a solo!! Well, I sing a song by myself, and the lead character and I sing a duet.. :) Yup, I sing "Shipoopie"!!! It's amazing.. well a bit high, but nothing a Tenor can't do! Haha.. the falsetto in me is worked HARD to the CORE!!! I am definitely warmed up after singing that song!!! And last, "The Sadder But Wiser Girl" is my all time favorite.. I requires tons of acting for me because I'm reacting to what the lead is singing, and in the end, I get to sing along with him, so I'm pretty dandy...

And I think that's all for tonight.. I'll probably update soon! I sure hope so! Tomorrow's a LONG dance rehearsal.. (Saturday), so I'm really excited! Then on Monday, we have a Lead's Rehearsal on our day off! :( It's alright because after that, I get to watch "The Princess and the Frog" with my People & Politics, FAME, and Musical Cast buddies.. ^-^

So I'll see you later!

It's Winter Break! :)

Posted by Tai Le , Friday, January 1, 2010 8:37 PM

It's finally winter break, well.. Winter break's almost ending, and I still haven't gotten anywhere with my college stuff.. Well, I mean I just applied for FAFSA today!! Yay me! :] And that's it, I mean, I applied for the National Honor Scholarship recently, and I still need to apply for some more.. I've been looking at Portland State University, and UMBC.. (University of Maryland). But that's mainly it. Just recently my mom told me that we're moving to Maryland after my senior year, and it's a definite "chance" of us moving, and so I need to apply to a college over there.. I'm studying to be a Doctor's Assistant... Well, in other words, a NURSE! :)


I think being a nurse would give me more time since I'm able to choose work hours, and the job is light, so I can definitely serve Jah a whole LOT more than choosing to be a "doctor" or something else.. (I can't put my finger on it...) I just hope Jah can help me... I also wanted to choose a career where if I was able to go to Bethel, being a nurse would help. :D I'll fix that cut for you!!! Haha.. seriously..

I find myself growing spiritually everyday, but still I feel like it's never enough. I mean, I guess we won't ever have that full spiritual feeling, because we're imperfect, but I don't know.. I'm not in doubt or anything.. I'm just sad.. I guess. Definitely not with the truth, maybe with the lack of reaching out?... Hmm...

OH! Our Circuit Assembly was last week, and the theme was on "Safeguarding Your Spirituality", and I loved it! It was very motivating, and it reminded me that all decisions should involve Jah.. :) I need to keep that in mind.. But in all, I took tons of notes! I am very happy about that.. Haha..

Oh! I got a new laptop!!! i made me happy.. it's a Toshiba A505-S69803.. It's amazing, it's black, it's shiny, and it's got Windows 7.. I'm going of topic from here and there but yesh. I can't explain in fathom how much I love it.. Haha. It's just amazing.. Now I have something for college! Yay!. Well, if I get in??? D:

Well, that's basically it. Except my winter break was nothing.. It was a total epic fail.. :P Besides the FAFSA part, and then that's it.. I'll update ASAP uh.. later?

Haha.. You probably can see that I'm a bit lazy at this, by oh well!