Pride and Predjudice

Well, my friends, I have returned from my second outing to Regency England.

It was even better than the first.

The show was sold out!!!! The audience was so into everything that they often cut the actors off with laughter and applause! All the actors fed off that; there was so much wonderful energy up there! I am so thoroughly impressed with the acting... and everything. :D

Ahhhhhh, I'm so hyped I can't calm down for the life of me, even though I should be getting in bed. As Mrs. Bennett would say, "I shall go distracted!" It's a terrible thing, to be sure, getting bitten by the theater bug and having no way of relieving the fever. :D
 

Pride and Predjuce

Fine Linen Drama, the same group who preformed Prince and the Pauper and The Pirates of Penzance, is now currently preforming Pride and Predjuce! (Note all the P&P!)

I watched the opening performance this evening, and was amazed by the quality! Every little detail is so fine tune and spectacular. From the wonderful script-- written by the director's daughter-- to the acting, to the costuming, the entire play is a joy to watch.

First off, Pride and Prejudice is just an awesome story. Period. If you haven't read it, go read it. Now. 

It captures the essence of Austen-- quite a feat. The script is so purely Austen, unlike many of the movie interpretations I have seen.

The acting is simply superb. I'm not saying this merely because all the actors are my friends. I'm saying it critically, too. Elizabeth Bennett made me practically cry during the more emotional scenes, and Rebecca played her part perfectly. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett are portrayed exactly as I imagined in the books. Sarcastically pompous and hilariously petty. :) I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Oh, boy, I could go on and on. I could list every single person who acted in the play, along with detailed descriptions of how well they did. But, alas, bedtime is soon and I want to cover other aspects! Just let me assure you that the acting is magnificent.

Costumes. Let us just say the costumes are so good that they become a part of the character, shall we? So much effort has gone into creating these works of art, and making quick changes happen between scenes.

I'm extremely impressed with the set, too. So many set changes, and details, and bits to move around... I was at one of the rehearsals when the blocking was being practiced. Only then did I realize just how many pieces of furniture and walls had to be moved around in perfect choreography.

Music!!! Dancing!!! More music, and sound, and lighting!... The orchestra is, of course, wonderful. The Halls did an excellent job teaching many ECD (English Country Dance) beginners how to dance gracefully onstage... There are other little things that are so often overlooked and are so important. This includes the sound and lighting. I never paid attention to them before, but while hanging out during rehearsals, I realized just how much they affect the mood of a scene.

I'm also going to put in a word for Mrs. Nisbett, the director. Allow me to declare to the whole wide world that she and Mr. Nisbett are total geniuses. :) Their whole family, for that matter. They are the ones who make things happen, and makes them happen the way they should. *applause*

Long story short, you must come see Pride and Predjudce! The remaining dates are below:

Fine Linen Drama now has their own website, for more information: http://finelinendrama.com/ I suggest joining their mailing list!

Get your tickets quickly!!!

The Fine Linen younger actors have a show in April:

Since we are still trying to move, I was not able to audition. Hmph, at the time of auditions we hoped to have been happily settled in our new home. But while I am here, I might as well enjoy time with my friends! I have been the "Phantom of the Theater" during rehearsals. Everyone has improved sooo much. And they are all such excellent people. It is a truly spectacular group. :D

I love being the Phantom, because that means that I can help out and be important five minutes before opening night. I left my soda and coat by Mom, and ran off to find some earrings, a missing brooch, and to help tie bows on an unfinished hat. I then told everyone to break a leg and was told that I am allowed behind the concession stand. LOL

I am taking one of my friends-- who has never yet seen a Fine Linen performance-- on Saturday. I won't be able to go again, so I will trust you, dear blog readers, to go and make a full house and to enjoy yourselves for two magical hours.

The Muny

On Sunday I went to the Muny!!! The Nisbetts and some other people from Fine Linen Drama rode up to watch "Annie" in the Muny's free seats. I hitched a ride at the last minute. :) 

Three "beautiful maidens" in the backseat. 

Best buds

Elise, trying on the beautiful paper hat that they were handing out. 

 Benjamin and the mutilated fan

The Muny is gigantic!

We were stuck in traffic for an hour on the way up. The guys in the Nisbett van decided to taunt us with Oreos. LOL

Then they discovered a dry erase board. The first one says Turn Around and the other one says Do a Dance.

"Annie" started after eight, and it was two in the morning before we got back. Weeeeell, I had to get up for volleyball open gym at nine. I was going to take a nap after volleyball, but then we discovered we were showing the house. To top all that, we were watching Michelle and Andrew because Bob is in the hospital with. After we showed the house and the Woodleys left, I babysat Nick, Addie, and Mark while Mom took the other boys to Boy Scouts. We were watching TV, Nick found a Star Trek Next Generation episode. So of course I got hooked on that and stayed up even later. The next morning I slep until TEN!!! !!! !!!

Oh, yes, one other thing. Adelynn comendeered by bed last night. I set up the canapy for her. WARNING: If you have a younger sister and a canapy, DO NOT set it up and let her sleep in your bed. SHE WILL WANT TO SLEEP IN IT FOR FOREVER!!!

First of all- my apologies for not posting.

So- the same questiong again: What have we been up to?



Or, at least, that seems to be the way I start most of my posts. :)



Well, on Friday I went on a 20 mile hike with all the amazingly awesome people from Fine Linen Drama! I had TONS of fun.

I did get some pretty nasty blisters, though. :( My shoes were worn in- I'd been taking long walks in them for months and months. Yet just a few extra hours gave me nine blisters... none of which have gone away yet. :( But I had a huge amount of fun and would totally do it again!

The nice thing about really big blisters is that it makes it hard to walk. So you can make your little siblings carry stuff for you. :) Aren't I the nicest sister?



The cast party was on Saturday- TONS of fun, especially Murder in the dark. :)



I'd post more but its dinner time. So...



No, I didn't get any pictures.



Oh, and one more thing. Don't know if I posted this and Dad hasn't downloaded his pictures yet, but Nick had his First Communion! (I posted that, didn't I? It was quite awhile ago, two weeks maybe) He's been serving at daily Masses- he looks so cute up there at the altar! (I'm glad he doesn't read my blog- he would kill me for saying that!)



Anyway, now I really need to go to dinner.

Random POP pics

Pictures Coming...

In a bit. I have WAY TOO MANY pictures... must fish out some of the best... I have alot on Facebook (MUCH easier to upload to), so I won't post QUITE as many on here, though I will still post ALOT.

Curlers

Look what they make me do for the play!

It's worth it, though.

Coming out...

I use 50 curlers.

Curls and costume

After the show!

Trapped

I am trapped in my PJ shirt. No kidding.
I had put on an old Tshirt, and then put in the curlers. Big mistake! Now I can't pull the Tshirt off over the curlers. :P

WE HAVE ANOTHER PREFORMANCE TODAY!!! YAY!

Yesterday we got back from St. Louis. We were up at Grandma's house (they are gone on vacation) to get family pictures for Dad's work, and stayed up there for a couple of days, looking around in Wentzville for houses. We had an open house on Sunday, only three people came, and one was a neighbor who wanted to see how we decorated the house. Oookay.


I was doing an essay on Mother Teresa. I found a neat quote:

"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed."

What I have been up to

Ah! A new record- a whole week without posting!
Let's see... what have I been up to?
1) THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE!!! We have had two performances. They were awesome!!! Even though I get tortured with curlers, mousse, and hairspray. ;) I just can't wait until Thursday, when I get to see my Fine Linen family again. :) Love ya, Stanley sisters. Oh, we sold out on opening night! Isn't it awesome? They had to sell folding chairs. And at our second preformance, they somehow managed to oversell and had to use the balcony seats next to the orchestra. I keep tearing my skirt during Foeman when we are all marching around. Thankfully, Laura is awesome at fixing costumes. And on opening night, Jenna managed to snap her parasol in half. But it was during a fight scene, so it turned out to be okay. Mr. Edwards gave all the daughters roses on opening night.
2) Cleaning. We have had several people come look at our house, and had an open house on Sunday. Even though I really don't want to move, lets still pray that we can sell the house soon.
3) Being away from home. Right now we are at Grandma and Papa Archibald's in St. Louis. We came partly for pictures, partly to be closer to Dad, and partly to be out of the house when people come. Don't worry, Pirates! I will be back on Thursday.
4) Getting pictures. For Dad's job, they wanted family pictures to hang in the office (isnt that neat?). So we went to get professional pictures- the photographer did it in his basement, he has a NEAT camera, and is funny.
5) WISHING I HAD DAD'S WORK CAMERA!!! Dad has the coolest camera you have ever seen- I think it is the latest Nixon (sp?) camera out there. Super fancy, very expensive too, and its for taking zillions of boring pictures for work. I got to take a few pictures with it- I LOVE IT! IT IS AWESOME!
6) Facebook. Yup, I've got Facebook now! That is what I have been spending my computer time on recently.

Dress Rehersal

Look what Amy the Genius found! They actually fit me. And I didn't get a single blister! Why anyone in their right mind would wear them all the time, I don't know. Going down stairs in these is a tedious process. Also, (and this is because of it being high heel and wearing them for six hours Saturday) when I took them off, the ground did not feel flat. My heel felt like it was sinking!

In the dressing room

The tyranical lady. :-) Kati helping Laura with the shoes. And Laura hamming it up.

Hail Poetry

The pirates' dashing costumes. :-) I forgot to get one of the policemen- they were hilarious!

A modern Major General

Ahh! Those crying pirates are pretty scary, are they not?

An artist hard a work.

Wow. Each of the girl's costumes is a masterpeice in and of itself.

A tidal wave of lace, ribbons, and goofy girls. Dingbats, I believe Mr. McCluskey said. Our heads are empty. Or, as our 'character ryhme' goes- "Our heads are bare and full of air, dead flies and bits of fluff." (From JKR's poem)

Too Late!

Elise playing Mabel. Doesn't she look all fluffy-squishy? :-) The costume adds so much to the character, and everyone did such a good job with their character. It was easy to forget Elise (sorry! hehe) and just see Mabel. And everyone else, too.

Za Piiiirate KING!

And isn't the stage wonderful? They even painted the floor to look sandy. OAT will be happy- the black floor had been gray with grime.

Presenting
The Piratical Maid of All Work
RUTH!
(Amanda)

Aww.