Let It Rain

What a wet few weeks! My Henry Street work has continued to go swimmingly. After a last day of auditions, a cast list was announced. Out of the 64 PEOPLE who ended up auditioning, about twenty five or so made it into the final cast, and only 19 of those are central characters. I found out that I'm going to get to direct a scene! The scene I chose was "What I Did For Love" because it's always been one of my favorite musical ballads, and is particularly near and dear to my heart because when I was younger, I used to rent A Chorus Line when I visited my Grandma and we'd watch it together. That song always reminds me of her. Although she passed away during my freshman year of high school, I think about her a lot. Maybe I can dedicate this scene (in my mind) to her.

The kids that I'm working with are lovely and difficult. I'm starting to get a little bit frustrated with the lack of commitment that I see, and I'm feeling more for directors that I had in the past, when I was working on shows with casts that were loud or missed a lot of rehearsals. As an actress, I have little patience for people who waste time. As Kate, the director, said in rehearsal the other day, time is precious. That being said, I also understand that it's difficult for high schoolers to make serious commitments and that the lives of some of these kids are more difficult than they portray them to be. Already, a number of actors have dropped out of the show for personal reasons. The cast list is always shifting a little bit, but it seems like it's almost solid now.

I've only been present for full cast dance rehearsals so far. They're fun, and it's clear to me that the cast is getting better and better. I feel a swelling up of pride when I see a girl, who has been struggling, finally do a graceful tour jete. Although my work mostly consists, right now, of watching them and doing odd jobs, I feel a sense of ownership over the show and the final product, and a real sense of pride towards the people involved who love theatre so much.

My other job is going well. For Hashomer, I coordinated, planned and executed a successful seminar on Sunday! Twenty five or so kids came and about fifteen counselors. We played Passover-themed games and got to know each other, and I ended up feeling really proud of myself. I've been putting a lot of work into making sure that things happen for Hashomer. This involves some obnoxious emailing and calling, but it has also helped me to reignite a passion for community building and a passion for Hashomer Hatzair and the people involved. I have such high hopes for what this summer will look like, camp wise, and for what the movement could look like, once we get the rest of the counselors back on track and feeling EXCITED and INSPIRED and Proud. I feel like starting to do that is the most important part of my job with Hashomer this semester.

OVER AND OUT.
ALG