Someone Join In!

Wow its been FOREVER since i wrote here. A lot has happened since that summer in the northwoods. After returning home from a wonderful summer and experience i finally got a chance to spend some time with family. My cousin Kayleigh was in the hospital so i decided to take a few days and go and visit her and my family in VA. I always love going to visit them.

Then it was finally time to return to my beloved city. I was nervous that it wasnt going to be how i wanted it to be since i left it in such a bad mood. As soon as i stepped out of the subway and smelled the fall air, all of the great memories flooded back. I got back into my routine of visit friends, practicing at school, and auditioning. The audition scene was a little different. Since it wasnt the crazy springtime season, things were a bit slow. I was also trying to get a nannying job but for some reason people seems to think because im an actor that im not responsible. I blame lindsay lohan. Then i got an email back with an appointment time for something i submitted for weeks prior and forgotten all about. I went into the audition with American Family Theater with this weird feeling like it was going to be a good one. One reason was because i hadn't gotten up at 4:30 am just wait for 5 hours before i could do anything. Everything went swimmingly and i had a great feeling about it. Every actor can feel it. Its something in your head that just says: "that'll do, that'll do" (Babe reference anyone?) Long story short i booked the job. Left the next day for my cousins wedding in VA (which we almost missed because no one had the common sense to read the invitation for the time) and started packing for a 7 week tour of PINOCCHIO.

The week of rehearsals in Philly was an awesome experience. With putting up the king and i in 3 days this summer, a week felt like a vacation. Everything was very professional, down to the very last wig cap. Before we knew it we were on our way to our first venue. I was freaking out because the rehearsal space was like 4 times smaller than the stage we were about to perform on. I always worry way too much about the littlest things. Well the show went well and so did the rest of the tour. From eating guac out of a soap dish with the manager of the hotel to watching summer heights high in dublin, ga. Our semi vacation in florida to the corner pocket in nawlins. Freezing cold texas to corky's bbq and graceland in memphis. Children screaming pinocchio's name to children asleep in the front row. Forgotten ribbons, tripping on the hula hoop, doors not opening, tripping over the stump, wings left in the truck, zippers not working, noses flying off the face, dropped lines, added lines, and last but not least, the FOP. Great times with great people! Now its christmas time in PA. there really is nothing like it. I love the traditions we have around christmas. Midnight madness at Shady Maple. Christmas eve at Grove. Christmas eve party with my loud and wonderful family. and this year i get an ever bigger present. Rory comes to vist! Amy and Chad's wedding on new years eve! So much happiness im pretty sure i might explode.

Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season!

k

a summer in the northwoods :)

when i submitted to the post on playbill for a job at northern lights playhouse all i really wanted was to get out of the city. i was drowning. i didnt know how i was going to get through a whole summer, or the next day rather, in the place i was. i loved the city but i needed some change. i heard back from nlp in a matter of hours. once i had fully submitted everything they needed all there was to do was wait. that almost killed me too. as if i needed more fuel to the fire. when i finally got the call to come out i felt like a huge wait had been lifted off of my chest. i knew it wasnt going to be glamourous, or top-notch fulling theater, but i didnt care. i had found my escape. driving all the way up to WI with my mom was really fun. i hadnt spent a lot of time with my family in awhile. when i dropped her off in madison and saw how she was holding back tears i realized how lucky i really was. i had a family who was proud and supported me. driving by myself for the next 4 hours was when the reality of the situation finally hit me. i was going to be living with a bunch or actors who i had never met before. i was going to be performing in 5 shows, one of them which was scheduled to open in 3 days. when i finally got there and jumped into rehearsals i felt right at home. i have always felt at peace while rehearsing for shows. for as long as i can remember i have always enjoyed the experience. im weird i guess. stess is your best friend here at nlp. once you meet it and welcome it into your daily life the better off you will be. you try and fight it, you wont make it one week. now that the summer is almost over i am starting to reflect on how much my life has changed. now you may be thinking: how is it possible for someones life to change when all their doing is running around on a stage and going to bonfires every night? well its not the shows that have changed me, its the people. they are some of the greatest i have ever met. i hope their lives are filled with success, whatever that may be. for now i will just revel in the joy that is the northwoods :)

Never Too Late

WOW i haven't written on here in awhile! it has been very crazy lately. i missed a whole semester. so i will attempt to write about AMDA's hardest semester is as few of words as possible. here we go:

busy. fun. terrifying. rewarding. painful. hard work. new friends. real friends. dan daily. time stands still. crazy. E3 love.
and last but not least: the most fun i have ever had at school

after a painful goodbye to my E3's we are now in the process of casting our drama showcase. this was the one thing i could not wait for. as much as i thought i hated cold readings it turns out that it can be really fun. everyone loves certain scenes and it will be interesting to see how the whole thing turns out.

well i know that was a very short post but i just woke up and im pretty hungry. PLUS, i need to get ready to go to the park for a C4 picnic! i hope your lives are filled with as much love as mine is now.

LOVE

SonQuest Rainforest!

Well im finally writing again! after more than a month i finally sat down to write about all that has happened since my last post. first thing first. after going to the first jersey surf camp i realized i didnt want to march anymore. i think i just lost my love of doing color guard and i didnt want to go through a long summer doing something i wasnt enjoying. but it was good to try.

the end of school was soooo crazy but i have not been as happy as i was then in a long time. demo week(s) is my favorite part of the semester. all of that hard work finally gets to be presented and it just feels good to be done. but at the same time i was sad to see it good. i really loved all of my teachers this semester and the material really helped me realize how much i can do! i was so excited to present for musical theater and acting. i still cant believe i got to select demo for both of them and i thought that was it. but no. after selects i rehearsed with the head of the department and 3 other teachers for final demo. final demo is the last day of the semester where all of the amda staff is invited to come and watch selections from each discipline. basically they put together a small show for the teachers to watch some of the best performances at the school. i was so thrilled to be able to be a part of this day. everyone selected was amazing and getting to talk to the teachers afterwards was so rewarding. the applause was definatly something i missed. haha. the end of the semester was getting hard to get through some classes just because of how much drama was going on in our group but i feel like it was just another obstacle in the way. at times i wasnt sure if i was going to make it but i came to a conclusion. some people are just mean. they must enjoy it or something. i dont understand why they honestly think they can get away with always being rude or talking behind people's back. it always comes back to bite. but my final demo performance told me i was doing the right thing. i cant wait to go back!

So you're probably wondering why the title of this blog is SonQuest Rainforest. well its that time of year again when all or the parents of children around the area of west chester bring them to grove for what i call glorified babysitting. its VBS time! for those of you who were not raised in christian suburbia it stands for Vacation Bible School. This years theme is SonQuest Rainforest. we decorate the church as a rainforest and play games, eat noms, make stuff, and learn stuff about God. this year im in a pre-school class called the cute capybaeras! and believe me they are cute! we have 13 in out class. 4 girls and 9 boys! most just turned 4 and some are 5. though i honestly don't think there is much of a difference. im obsessed with these twin girls. they are so cute!!! they were born very premature so inturn they have some developmental issues like speech but they are not slowed. i am fascinated by twins. i have seen them grow in just two days. when they were dropped off the first day they were so shy and it took them almost 2 minutes to decide if they wanted to go any closed into the room. they were so quiet and had wide eyes as they observed the rest of the children. but later in the day they were giggling quietly every once in awhile. one is a little more outgoing than the other but they both are very well behaved. today they came right in and the more outgoing of the two jumped right into the jungle gym with the boys laughing with the rest of them. the other chose to color but found that she could make me laugh by coloring the whole page purple. one of the boys in my class just recently had surgery to remove some cancer in his eye. my heart broke when i heard this. its so sad but at the same time wonderful. he gets to live a full life but i cant help but feel bad for how much he had already suffered in his four short years. i still cant believe he came after only having the surgery a week ago, but i guess normalcy is whats best. i love kids but for some reason i get really nervous around them. but after this short time i have spent with them i remembered how much fun it is to not have a care in the world. im glad i got to spend time with pre-school because i have seen how crazy some of the older kids are. kids who think they know everything drive me nuts. haha. but the big thing on my mind is that i hope i inspire some of these kids to keep coming to grove and grow in their experience there the same way the people who taught me have helped my journey. i hope some of the kids stay at grove and gain the same kind of friendships i have now with people who i went to VBS with. but most importantly i hope they are just happy.

well i so tired of writing now. but stay tuned for info on my next project. i have been asked to put on a cabaret at grove. i have all the songs and a title so far but now i just have to learn them. haha. so put october 2 on your calendars! thanks for reading about my boring summer and i hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful weather!

k

Spring, Spring!

It's FINALLY spring!!! I'm so happy the cold winter is over. I was getting so tired of walking to school everyday in 50 layers of clothing and getting pelted with snow/freezing rain. I know it has been a long time since i wrote on here but internet is scarce at AMDA and i don't have room to bring my laptop to school with me. A lot has happened since my last post and im really excited to share it with you all!

The first day of spring was so beautiful here that all of NYC was in central park. It was almost impossible to find a place to sit let alone try and toss a disc :). The B2's had a wonderful picnic and i enjoyed taking some pictures. I can't wait to have a chance to go back again. Working at the library has been so much fun! i have met some awesome people and have made some pretty good money!

Since i started AMDA i had always planned on going straight through the summer and just getting it done, but as of 2 weeks ago i have changed my mind. I realized that there was something i needed to do before starting my career. I wanted to march in Drum Corps. I have grown up with it and it has been such a huge part of my life. I wanted the chance to take part in it myself and i knew that once i graduated i wouldn't have the time/money to take a summer off and participate. So next weekend im going to an audition camp. I'm looking forward to being a part of something bigger than just me. Plus, i'm getting tired of some of the people here at AMDA. I need a chance to separate myself from theater people for awhile. haha. And i want to go into 3rd semester with a clear head and a rested body. I will fill you in on some details after next weekend is over. Go Jersey Surf!

I am really enjoying second semester. The material is fun and i find myself working a lot harder to take my work to another level. I had my musical theater midterm on thursday and it went extremely well! I really just had fun with it and as a result i had the best performance so far! I really proud of myself for just letting go and finally giving a good demo. I am LOVING my acting class this semester. I finally just decided to not really care about what i looked like or how my class thought i was doing and just connected to the material. Of course i am still battling it, but im improving and becoming more confident in myself.

I had mentioned before that i joined composition elective and was in the process of writing a song. Well, the song is finished now and it is titled Where to Begin? I'm really proud of it and i cant wait to perform it in the showcase. I has to do with my struggle dealing with my friend Abby's death and how she has changed the way i view and carry out my life. It took me awhile to be able to get through it without crying but it was worth it. I owe it all to her. I am also working with another person on another song and will be performing in 2 other songs as well. PHEW!

Well that's it for now i guess. I told you a lot has been going on! I'm exhausted but it feels good to be busy and its very rewarding. I hope you all are enjoying the wonderful spring weather. Go Phillies!

SNOWICANE!!!

Hey Everybody,

I hope you're all staying warm. Today in central park we have about 20 inches and the snow just keeps coming. I love snow but this is a little much. haha. Why is it that snow seems to come at the worst times?

This week has been crazy. The start of second semester has been so much fun but it is definitely going to be a lot of work. I love all of my teachers and my schedule isn't too bad so i think i will be ok. I started working in the library too and it will be interesting to see what comes with that. Tuesday i went to composition elective and I'm really excited to start working on some new material. After that class i went home and wrote a new song. I stayed up till 1 am, which i payed for the next day, but it was worth it. I needed to get it out. I will fill you in on the progress of it and keep you informed.

I have been thinking a lot about Grove for some reason. I think it has a little to do with the fact that its march and i was usually so involved in musical season. I realize now how much i learned from those experiences and how much i miss it. I am so grateful for all the people i have met and i know they are part of the reason i am working so hard to become a successful performer. They have shaped me as a person and i owe a lot to them. I remember my first grove musical and how scared i was to be on stage with a bunch of older kids. I watched that performance the other day and first i laughed at how young we all looked but then i realized just how much we have changed. Now we are all spread around the country studying and working on various different projects and i cant help but wonder if i could be doing what I'm doing now if i hadn't met them. They have somehow changed me, whether they like it or not. I hope they know how much i love and miss them.

Snow makes me think about the past. I don't know why, but i always like to sit in my room and just think about all of the different things i have lived through. Snow has a weird way of making us slow down and take the time to reflect on our lives. I also like to think about the future. Even though i am scared of what is waiting, i cant help but dream about a life where i will be happy and that is good enough for me.

Have a good snow day!

~K

New Beginnings!!!

Hooray!

This is my first blog and i am really excited to finally start documenting my time. I wanted to have a place to write what i feel and be able to share my experiences. A lot of people ask me what happens at school and now i have a place to tell as many people as possible. But i warn you, I'm not the best writer.

I start my second semester at AMDA on Monday and i am really excited to see what it brings. I really enjoyed first semester but now that i am more comfortable at the school and more comfortable with myself i am ready to challenge myself even more. I have made so many new friends and i am so grateful for the times we have spent. I look forward to so many more fun times ahead.

Well that's all i have for now but i hope to have more to write about soon!

<3 class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 102);">K