London Calling

Hello my lovely readers! (That is if I have any!)


I just spent a marvelous six days in London, England for my spring break.  And boy oh boy was it wonderful!  London has been a place I've been dying to visit, but have never had the opportunity to go.  Back in October I found out that my school was planning a trip for spring break and I jumped on the opportunity to go.  So last week three of my sorority sisters, and my real sister, Allie, jumped on a plane and flew across the pond to one of the best places I have ever been.

8AM and new money

Sleeping in the British Museum!

We hit the ground running.  We landed in Heathrow around 7:30 in the morning, met out tour director John (who we fondly called JohnJohn throughout our trip) and dropped our bags off at our hotel.  We went into the city and started our tour.  We saw Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Covent Garden.  We then made our way to the British Museum where we saw some mummies and the Rosetta Stone (not the language software!).  Amy, Amanda and I were so tired that we passed out in the middle of the food court f the museum, and according to Allie, strangers were taking photos of us (so was Al). We then had a Fish and Chips dinner (which I didn't eat.  Ew! Fish!) and took the tube back to the hotel.

Sometimes I play the tourist role.

Windsor Castle

On Monday we went to Windsor Castle, and visited the little city around it.  Man was that place beautiful. We explored the castle, and had lunch at a cute Italian restaurant.  We then hopped back on the coach (bus) and went on a bus tour of London. We got to see all of the major   

Posing for Al.

sights, and then we hopped off the coach a St. James' Palace, and walked to Buckingham Palace.  The tour guide just took us across the street from Buckingham we really did not get a good look at it.  He then walked us to Westminster Abbey where we got to see the Evensong Service (once again we were a little sad because we wanted to actually look around the Abbey).  Then we were whisked off to dinner and then saw Wicked on the West End.  I was shocked at the quality of the production.  I have always thought that the west end was high quality and the actors were ten times more fabulous then Broadway.  But that was not the case. The design aspects of the show were Broadway quality, but the acting and singing were at a Community Theatre level.   I actually joked that I should move to London and try to make a name for myself there first before moving to Broadway.  

The Globe

Abbey Road.

Tuesday was one of the best days.  We got to go to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in the morning (and the theatre major in me died a bit).  We then had a free afternoon.  And we took advantage of that.  First we went to Kings Cross Station to Platform 9 3/4, because lets face, we're a bunch of Harry Potter nerds.  Then we went to Abbey Road and did the famous crosswalk picture.  We then made our way back to Buckingham Palace, because seeing it across the street was not enough.  We then walked from Buckingham to Covent Garden. (Which was a long walk). From there we met up with the tour group and had a Curry dinner.  Then we went and saw Les Miserables (which was way better than Wicked, but I still hated some of the actors).

Buckingham Palace

Platform 9 3/4.

Wednesday we got on a coach early in the morning and went on the two and a half hour drive to Bath (where Jane Austin lived).  We went to the Roman Baths, and walked to the Jane Austin Center.  Unfortunately we did not have enough time to tour it.  After Bath we went to Stonehenge, which was pretty cool.  I have always expected that the rocks were in some secluded area in a valley somewhere and you had to hike it.  Let me tell you, that was not the case.  The rocks literally were on the side of the highway, and there were sheep hanging out in the surrounding farmland.  No valley, or hike.  We just got off of the coach and walked under a tunnel (that was under the highway) and there they were!  We had fun taking picture in front of the rocks.  Then we got back on the coach and went back to London and we saw The 39 Steps.  The show was really funny.  There were four actors playing 120 characters, it was quite entertaining.

Stonehenge

The Eye

Tea Time!

On the Eye.

Thursday we went to the Tower of London in the morning.  We saw the crown jewels there, and the place where Anne Boleyn was executed.  It was pretty cool.  We then went on a Themes River Cruise, and then went on the London Eye.  The cruise was neat because we got to see the major sights from the water.  And the Eye was really cool because you could basically see the entire city (although it was raining, so you had to squint).  We then went to Piccadilly Circus and had High Tea at a little shop (Which I loved).  It was wonderful being in a Country that appreciates a good cup of tea.  We then had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  After dinner the rest of the group went to the Philharmonia.  Allie and I went to Harrods instead.  Harrods is a beautiful place, and I don't even like shopping!

Harrods

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

Friday was our last full day in London.  We got back on the Coach and went to Stratford Upon Avon and saw Anne Hathaway's Cottage.  Just to be clear not the actress Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway.  We then went to Shakespeare's Birth Place.  After lunch, we got back on the coach and went to Oxford and got a brief tour of the university.  Then we all hopped back on the coach and went back into London.  We had Bangers and Mash for dinner, and then we went on a Harry Potter/Beatles walking tour.  It was really cool seeing major sights of filming/Beatles history.  It was also cool to see the city at night because previously to that we did not have the opportunity to do that.  

Having fun at the Tower of London

JohnJohn and me!

Overall the trip was fantastic.  It went by really fast, and we pack a lot into the short amount of time we had.  I have a feeling that I will be back there very soon.  Until then, I will listen to London calling my name, and wish I could be back there.


XOXO,

Kate

I'm back!

Like the title states, I'm back!  Winter Break went  by so fast but I'm excited to be back at school.  Formal Recruitment is just around the corner and I am so excited to meet my new sisters! I have a lighter class schedule this semester (but still taking 18 units) and I'm in two shows.  I'm excited to see what this new semester will bring.

Are you guys excited for the new year/ semester?

XOXO,

Kate

Finals

So its finals week.  I'm trying not to die.


More later.

XOXO
Kate

Month to Month

So I guess I'm a monthly blogger....I'll work on changing that.

So Julius Caesar came and went.  It is so weird, I feel weird about it.  I wanted Brutus so much, and was so excited to savor the process, and the process just blew right by me.  I feel like this entire semester went by so fast that I was unable to enjoy the experience of playing Brutus.  Now as I write this, I still can't believe that its done (and its almost been a month since we closed. yikes!)  Brutus was my first big role and I guess its hard to let it go.

I saw my director for the first time today (not in a class setting) and he was asking me how I felt about being done, and to be honest I had no idea what to say to him.  Its a relief that its over, but at the same time I 'm very sad.  I guess it hasn't hit me yet that Brutus and I will never be the same person again.

On opening night my director came up to me after the show was over and told me how proud of me he was, and he brought a really interesting point to my attention.  After the shows we had talk backs, and the cast introduces themselves at the beginning of the talk back.  My director asked me what I said when I introduced myself, I said "Hi my name is Katie and I was Brutus", and my director corrected me and said "No.  You said my name is Katie and I played Brutus.  Do you realize how many women in the world can say that? You played him.  You did that.  Very few men can say that they did, let alone a woman.  You're in a very select group of people."  It had  never occurred to me that I'm in a select group of people to play Brutus.  To me it was just another part I wanted, and got, and played.  No big deal.  But it is a big deal, and its just weird to me.

My parents have been going to a lot of professional shows lately.  The saw The Book of Mormon in Los Angeles and went to the stage door after the show.  When Gavin Creel (nominated for a Tony for his role in Thoroughly Modern Millie) came out they told him that I was a theater major and that I was playing Brutus in Julius Caesar.  He immediately quoted the famous  line "Et tu Brute?" and told my parents to wish me luck.  My mom went to New York and saw the show Once (won best musical Tony this year) and talked to Steve Kazee (winner of the best actor in a musical Tony) at the stage door.  Once again she told him that I was a theater major and that I just finished playing Brutus in Julius Caesar.  Apparently he was very impressed that I had the role (and the fact that I was a girl playing it), and wished me good luck and to congratulate me.

Its just weird to me that everyone (even very successful broadway stars) think me playing Brutus is a big deal, when to me it was easy.  Maybe I didn't put enough work into it.  Who  knows.  Any thoughts?


In any news, the auditions for next semester's play, The Illusion by Tony Kushner were last week, and I got cast in one of the lead roles!  The leads are just flooding in now!  Very excited about this new adventure.

Until next time.

XOXO,
Kate

Don't be mad.

I have not blogged in about a month--and before you yell at me I have just cause!  

The past month has been absolutely crazy.  I have had no time for basically anything...how I get anything done I have no idea,

                                                        So the last time I blogged was October 15th, let me try to figure out        .                                                       everything I have done in the past four weeks....

Dad and me in front of the crest.

Biggie and Me at the Pumpkin Patch.

October 20th- Dad's day!  My daddy flew up from Los Angeles to come to Delta Delta Delta's Dad's Day.  And being a daddy's girl it was wonderful spending some quality time with my father.  Once again he enjoyed his time with the ladies and fathers of Tri Delta.  We went to a pumpkin patch and took photos and had pumpkin ice cream and it was a blast.  We had dinner with our family friend and his girlfriend that night.  The next day was Theta Alpha Phi's (National Theatre Honors Fraternity) recital so my dad got the extra bonus of seeing me sing.

Dad and me at the Pumpkin Patch.

And pretty much after that I was in rehearsal for Julius Caesar.  JC has been one of the most grueling and daunting things I have ever been apart of.  Brutus is on my mine 24/7, and I find that I have been having a hard time focusing on anything else.  That is natural of course because I am the lead in a Shakespeare play.  I feel bad for all of my friends because they have been put on the back burner during all of this.  Basically the only people who really see me are my roommate, bestie Cortney, and all of the theatre majors.  I don't really have time for anybody else, and that makes me sad, but I know that I am working on something huge.  I like to joke around that who needs a relationship? I'm in a healthy committed relationship with a man named Brutus!  

The Press Photo for JC.

I finally finished memorizing all 5000 words on Halloween--just in time for rehearsal (no fun for me!), and I swear it was the happiest moment of my life (not as happy as seeing my name next to Brutus on the cast list of course).  I ran around Tri Delta telling everyone, I was that excited. 

I memorized the show just in time because tech week was the next week.  And I thought I had no time before that.  Tech was interesting because we did not finish our cue to cue until Tuesday (it was supposed to be done on Saturday) so we didn't do an official run through of the show until Wednesday before we opened.  

JC opened on November 9th, and I was terrified all day.  I had no class that day so literally, I was a pile of nerves with nothing to do.  To everyone else I was cool, calm and collected, but I was ready to have a panic attack all day long.  I went to go talk to my director before we opened, and he said the nicest things to me.  He is very proud of me, and all that I have accomplished this semester with Brutus, and he is so glad that he casted me in this role.  It was very flattering, and it gave me that much more confidence for that night.  

Roomie and me before Semi Formal.

Bestie Cortney and me :)

The show went fantastic.  I really couldn't believe it.  And once it was over, I was totally fine.  Like what I had just done was no big deal.  Cortney came and brought me flowers, like the wonderful best friend that she is.    After the show was over, Gary, my director, told me that I was absolutely wonderful, and that I had done it.  I had played Brutus.  He pointed out that not many actors could say that, and for that matter, not many women could say that.  It had never occurred to me that there might not be a lot of women who have played Brutus, or that I was among a numbered few who have been able to put that on my resume.  Which is pretty stinking cool.

∆∆∆ Semi-Formal was the next night, and I could not go because of JC.  But I got all dressed up and took pictures with my friends anyways!  Total pageant girl.  After the show I met my ∆∆∆ ladies at BJ'S for dinner.  I got all dressed up and took my friend Ryan as my date.  It was fun!

Now I'm enjoying my three day hiatus from JC, I'll return to Brutus on Wednesday, but for right now, I'm enjoying being just Katie again.

XOXO,

Kate

We have a problem....

So my roommate Joy and I have a problem.  Its not as much of a problem as it is an obsession.  And its getting out of control (for my roommate that is).

Recently in my lighting class we watched the 25th Anniversary Concert Recording of Les Miserables (which I had seen part of before, but I didn't remember most of it, only that Nick Jonas was not the best) anyway, the guy who played Enjolas is completely gorgeous.  In.  Every.  Possible. Way.

His voice is beautiful and he is beautiful, and I kinda fell in love with him.  Anyhoo, I got back home and told Joy about the Beautifulness of Enjolas.  And it turns out she is in love with him too.


So naturally, we pulled out our inner creepers, and learned everything we could about him.

Name: Ramin Karimloo
Age: 34
Birth Place: Iran (moved to Canada, then to England)
Sexual Orientation: STRAIGHT! (Finally! We found one!)
Relationship Status: Married (with two kids)


So there is my soapbox of creepiness.  We also found out that he played the Phantom in the 25th Anniversary Cast of Phantom of the Opera and played the Phantom in Love Never Dies (the Phantom Sequel)

So we watched the 25th Anniversary of Phantom (Its on Netflix, I highly recommend it), and Joy became OBSESSED.  Like to the point of no return (see what I did there?)

and after it was over, we spent three hours finding and printing out pictures of him, and now we have more addition to our Broadway Boys closet (though technically he is a West End Boy [man]).

And Joy has been secretly watching the phantom videos on Youtube of him all weekend.  How she did this without me knowing, I have no idea.  And so now, Ramin's voice has been playing in our room 24/7.

Don't believe me? Watch this video!

















So pretty much, he's beautiful, and brilliant, and a fantastic actor and singer.


rant over.


XOXO
Kate

Truth