It is a big house which is called Buel House. There are 34 people living in it. Its pretty crazy living here. We have 4 showers and one kitchen. Cooking and showering is complicated but I am trying to stay positive!
That day as I was unpacking everything, the festival production interns invited me to go to a party at Jacob's Pillow, which is a famous dance company in the area. My roommate, Sophie, who also arrived early, and I went with a few of the interns. The theme was 90s and it was a blast! We danced on the stage of their theatre, and met many cool people.
On Sunday 6/7, the rest of the apprentices moved in. I spent the day finishing unpacking my things and getting to know my fellow acting apprentices. We then had a meeting to meet the directors of our program and get our first week schedule.
On Monday 6/8 we started the day going to the Stockbridge Campus to get our costume measurements taken. We then went to the meet and greet for the first play of their season, "Deathtrap". We then went back to Pittsfield to go over safety information. Finally in the afternoon we met with Mark Gionfriddo, who is the musical director of "Mary Poppins", to go over our audition songs.
On Tuesday 6/9 we started the day with Lessac Training. Lessac is a voice and movement technique. We then broke for lunch, and then went over our audition pieces with Mark again in the afternoon.
On Wednesday 6/10 we once again started the day with Lessac Training. In the afternoon we met our dance teacher. Her name is Ilana Ransom Toepliz and she is awesome. She was the assistant director for Violet the Musical on Broadway. and many more cool projects! She started class with what she calls "The Chorus Line Warm Up" but us apprentices like to affectionately call it "Ilana's Trail of Tears". It was apparently created by the cast of "A Chorus Line" and it is hell. It works literally every muscle in the body. We were in so much pain/soreness afterwords. Hence the affectionate nickname.
Following the warm up we learned the choreo from "A Christmas Story" Dance Call Backs. This served as our dance audition. We then put on a mock audition for her and performed our songs for her. I got nervous and don't think I did the best I could have done. She had me re sing a section of my song, which went better. I think a combo of tiredness/timechange/crazy dancing wore me out and made it hard to sing.
On Thursday 6/11 We had more Lessac Training in the morning followed by dance, (and the hell warm up) in the afternoon. In dance class we learned the original choreo to "All That Jazz" from Chicago the musical. That evening was the Opening party for the Berkshire Theatre Group. So the apprentices got all dressed up and went. There was food, drinks, and dancing. I had a blast!
On Friday 6/12 We started our day with dance, did the evil warm up, and learned the original choreo to "Positive" from Legally Blonde the Musical. Right after dance we had a master class with Kate Maguire. She is the head of the entire Berkshire Theatre Group. She spent the first part of the class talking to us and getting to know us. She then went to work on monologues with us. However, we did not have enough time, and only 3 of the apprentices got to work. She ended class saying that we will have more classes with her and will continue our work. We had our last day of Lessac Training. I really enjoyed learning this new technique and I am interested in looking into more classes once I get back to LA. Our Equity Member Candidate paperwork was due. I had to officially decide my stage name. I decided that professionally I would be "Kate Woerner".
On Saturday 6/13 We started the morning with a masterclass with Joel Fram. Joel is the musical director for "Bells are Ringing". He just came off a 6 year stint as musical director of "Wicked" on Broadway, and his husband won a Tony for orchestration on "Once the Musical". He wanted to see how fast we could learn harmony and sing it. So for an hour and a half we learn about 6 measures from one of the numbers in "Bells are Ringing". After that we had the apprentice work day at the Stockbridge campus. Our job was to help get the mainstage ready for the new season. My group which consisted of my one of my roommates Maggie, and Christian, cleaned windows for four hours.
Sunday 6/14 was the day of the audition. I spent the morning getting ready and warming up. Then walked over the theatre for the audition. We had to do a song and a monologue followed by a movement call. I did the best I could. My voice was tired and it was hard to get my high notes, but I think my monologue went well! Later in the afternoon, a bunch of the apprentices went to Barrington Stage to see their season opening of "Man of La Mancha".
More to come!
XOXO,
Kate
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