i wish we could open our eyesand see in all directions at the same time

Heh.

I don't really know how to begin this post. A ton has happened. I went to Vegas and went to U/RTA. I went to ACTF in LA. I've sorta changed my life plans. Again.

At U/RTA, I got thirteen interviews and several of them are really interested in offering me a position in their graduate program. Let me tell you how that U/RTA weekend went.

In my insanity, I spent all day on Friday (February 8) running around trying to get pictures printed and then I stayed up all that night working on my portfolio, left for Vegas at 2am, got to Vegas at 8am, went to orientation, set up my display, worked on my digital portfolio for two hours so I could hand it out, tried to but couldn't burn the CDRs (stupid dinosaur of a laptop), slept for about twenty minutes, got up and changed into my gasoline-smelling pants (long story), had three hours of straight grad interviews (twelve at fifteen minutes each), drove downtown Las Vegas to see the Bellagio fountains, came back to have my last interview at 6:30, gave some people a ride back to their hotel, left for Provo at 7pm-ish, got to Provo at 6am-ish (I got caught in traffic out of Vegas, stopped to nap a couple of times, and also lost an hour for time change), stayed up and worked on stuff, showered, went to church at 9am, came home after sacrament meeting at 10:15, slept until 6pm, got up and went to the HFAC to work on my printmaking assignment, came home at 11:30pm-ish and worked on my posters some more, worked through the night, showered and left for the HFAC at 5am.

Then I went to LA to go to ACTF. It was a ridiculous week because not only was I trying to finish all the drafting for Roofsliding and do my homework and papers, but I was also trying to field and reply to emails from grad programs AND trying to finish up official applications that were coming due February 15. Oh, yeah, and go to the conference and attend workshops and make design presentations and see shows and stuff. I didn't get much sleep last week. And, to rub it in, I didn't place in the design finals, almost all the theatre I saw was terrible, and most of the workshops were useless.

I'm not too miffed about not making into the design finals, but it was really surprising. Everyone who saw my stuff loved it and I even got several comments from random students who were like, "You were the one who did Oklahoma? That was awesome!" It was kind of like being a celebrity. Also, all the judges seemed really pleased during my presentation and two of them came up to me and made a point to compliment me and say how impressed they and the other judges had been. Everyone from BYU was certain I'd make it into the finals, but alas, when the list was posted, I was not to be found. Bleh.

It is comforting that most of the things that won at ACTF were kinda junk. I was pretty unimpressed at the quality of the conference overall. Apparently, ACTF people don't know good theatre when they see it. Out of the three people that won the big acting award, two of them were terrible and no one could believe they were chosen. Most of the scenic design stuff that was chosen for the finals wasn't that great. Actually, the scenic design that won overall was pretty cool, so at least the southwest region wont be TOTALLY embarrassed at nationals. Most of the invited plays and scenes that performed (that I saw) were terribly disappointing and I slept through several of them. On the upside, one of the students from BYU won for playwrighting and his ten-minute script will be going to nationals. It was a great script, he's a talented writer, and I'm glad he won. So . . . it's sad that I didn't get an award and don't get to go to Washington DC, but I was happy with my design and aside from not rehearsing my presentation (I was too tired and stressed, so I just winged it) I wouldn't have done anything differently.

Aaaaand . . . some big-ish news . . . I'm thinking about working for a year or two before going to grad school. During interviews at U/RTA and correspondences with grad programs since then, most of the best programs have told me that waiting is the better thing to do. Not only will I get more experience, but I don't have to make a huge three-year commitment RIGHT after getting out of undergraduate. Kind of gives me some time to reflect and sort things out. UW basically told me, "We're interested in you and you have a lot of potential but we'd really like you to get some more experience and apply later . . . Even then, there's really no guarantee." They teased me about doing theatre in Utah and asked if that was the quality of theatre I liked doing. They basically recommended I moved to where I wanted to live and do theatre and just go for it.

So, I'm kind of thinking I'll contact a bunch of theatres in Seattle, see if I can get work, and then move there.

Yikes.