Go, Fight, Win?

State Drama was a week and a half ago, and I’ve been too busy with Charlie Brown to blog about it (since I know you readers are DYING to know how it went).

As you may recall, I officially gave up on making the kids care about The Monkey’s Paw. (See here.) I didn’t want to ride the bus with them to Murray High, and Teri hadn’t seen the show yet, so I invited her and Bristol to ride with me.

We got to Murray High around 9. The kids and CT got there at about the same time. We unloaded everything and took it into the school. Instead of the auditorium, the shows were in their blackbox theatre, which wasn’t TOO bad. We were scheduled to perform at 10, so the kids were frantically trying to finish their makeup, which I had asked them to get done on the bus. Blech.

While the kids were working on their make-up, Bristol walked over with me to get a better look. One of the kids said “HEY! It’s Little Showgren!” I laughed and said “It is?” The students proceeded to tell me that I couldn’t fool them, because Bristol looks JUST like me. (Teri, should we start telling people the truth?) I got a good laugh out of that.

The play before us finished around 9:30. The kids were not done with make-up yet, so I told CT that I wanted to go ahead and wait until 10. (The timer doesn’t officially start until your time.) I don’t know WHY he was so anxious to go, but he only gave us five more minutes before he told them we were ready to start. I was really bugged.

We rushed to get the stage set, and some of the kids rushed their make-up. I took the cast backstage, and while I was giving them instructions on where to make entrances in that space and how to make sure the beginning of the show was good, I realized that the theatre was COMPLETELY dark. I freaked out and said “Guys, get ready! I think they’re starting without me. AGAIN!” I had hoped to give a few last minute instructions, based on the feedback we got from Region, which I had just gotten from CT. I ran out the backstage door, and when I got to the main doors of the theatre, the show had already started without me. I rushed to the lightboard to help Chris run the show, and CT was standing there. He said something to the effect of “Sorry. The lights were off and they were waiting for us to start.” I was furious. I shook my fist at him and then sat down by Chris to help run the show.

The performance was subpar. The kids were very frazzled by the quick start. The make-up was worse than it had been since the first rehearsal when the kids tried it. I hadn’t had time to make sure that the foley artists were spaced away from the scene correctly. I was really bummed, even though I had tried not to care about the show.

In the middle of the show, another school arrived, with at least 30 kids. They walked right in and sat down. They were terribly noisy, and I was pissed that their teachers not only didn’t try to shush them, but actually talked along – OUT LOUD. Stupid jerks. They sat right in front of Teri and Bristol. It’s pretty sad when a 4 year old is more quiet and respectful in a play than high school theatre students and teachers.

After the play (which was over shortly after 10 – when we were supposed to start), we got feedback from the judges. The first judge, who was a recently-retired, award-winning high school theatre teacher, said he loved it. When he saw what play we were doing, he had wondered how we were going to get a fresh take on it, and he was blown away by the concept. He said it reminded him of the actual old black and white horror movies.

The second judge, who looked like Bob Ross, and was dressed like a sloppy-artsy guy, didn’t get our concept. He went on and on about how he just didn’t get it, and he spent the first half of the play thinking that they were all supposed to be zombies. He didn’t understand the black and white make-up, costumes, and set pieces. The other two judges looked at him like he was stupid. The more he talked, the more uninformed he sounded. Then one of the other judges said something to the effect of “I thought you’d get it, since you’re a film person.” WHAT?! They have a FILMMAKER judging State Drama? That bugged me. Yes, film and drama are very similar, but I’d prefer people who are focused on theatre to be giving my kids their scores.

The third judge, who was Rodger Sorenson from BYU, was VERY complimentary. He loved the concept and didn’t have trouble understanding it. He praised specific aspects and performances, and then offered some GREAT suggestions on how we could have made the concept more clear, which would have made the play better. It was very constructive, and I appreciated it a lot. He kept reiterating that he loved it, too. One critique he gave was that the beginning wasn’t clear, and if it would have been, the concept would have been solidified. I turned to CT and shook my fist at him.

Then Bob Ross started talking again and admitted that maybe the problem was that he was just too stupid to get the concept. So, he tried to dig himself out by trashing on us. His comments were not constructive like Rodger’s, and with every word, he made himself sound even more stupid. He chastised us for not having tried out the play on other people, and informed us that when he has an idea for a film, he runs it by his wife first, and if she likes it, he knows it’s good. Does he not realize that you go to Region before State? We HAD tried out the idea, and nobody had questioned it yet – not even the high school students and kids who had seen the show. Poor guy. After we were done, the kids were all talking about how stupid he sounded.

Also, after we were done, they announced that they were taking a break to let the judges rest and to get back on schedule. I was majorly pissed.

The kids all hugged me, thanked me, and told me good-bye in the hall afterward. I was a little sad that I’d never see some of them again. Some of them, however, I’ll be GLAD to never see again. I think that’s pretty normal for a teacher. At least, I hope it is.

Teri, Little Showgren, and I then went to Costco to activate my membership (thanks, Mom!) and browse. We didn’t buy a single thing. I got close to buying a Wii, but this was just a couple days after Tax Day, and I decided it was best to save up for a while.

We finished our day of State with a trip to P.F. Chang’s, where we were served by the world’s most personality-devoid waitress. The crispy honey chicken was EXCELLENT, though. By the time I was done stuffing my face with amazing Chinese, I was no longer mad, and was trying to focus on the good aspects of the performance and the overall experience I had with the play. It was fun to challenge the kids. Some of them didn’t really rise to it, but some of them really did, and I was very proud of them.

I e-mailed CT last week and asked if he’d gotten the results from State yet, and he said he hadn’t. I haven’t heard anything since. Maybe he’s bugged at me for shaking my fist at him so much. I’m not mad anymore, I promise!!!

I’m going to be TICKED if the second judge kept us from getting straight superiors. When/if I’m a high school teacher some day, I’m going to be the type who gets really defensive of his students, and I’ll probably raise Hell over judges who I believe are unqualified. I don’t have kids of my own, so I gotta be a stage parent somehow, right?