When Your Homework Is Fun

Ya know what’s awesome? When your homework assignments are fun. Yeah, they still take time. You have to be diligent. You have to manage your time well. But overall, you find it enjoyable to work on them all. That’s pretty awesome. ;) And those are the kinds of assignments we’ve been getting in our classes the past few weeks. 

For starters, we've recently begun an whole new course on Friday mornings. It's called Prophetic Drama and Story. Basically, it's storytelling from a writer’s perspective. I’m eating it up. As we've been discussing the power of story and the influence we can have for Christ as performers, I've found myself almost shaking because I get so excited!

Last week our assignment was to choose a parable from the New Testament. We were supposed to identify what sort of parable it was, interpret its meaning, as well as include something that we found especially interesting about it. All with the intention of learning about symbolism and meaning within Scripture. Jesus is the Ultimate Storyteller, and there’s a reason he chose to speak in stories. They touch us deeply and help to connect truths in a tangible way; a way that is easy to understand. It was wonderful to hear about the things that my classmates found interesting and what touched them. Studying the Bible for homework, and then getting to share that with everyone else, is pretty cool.  

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on a Friday morning, ready for Story Class!

Speech class has also been a great time the last few weeks. Chris Faith teaches this 60 minute class on Friday afternoons. In a theatre setting, a speech class focuses on the sounds that make up the English language. If I'm being honest, at first I wondered if I’d really be able to get anything out of it. I mean, I already know how to speak English, right? I’ve been pretty good at articulation before now. But I’ve been blown away with how much this class has helped.

The class focuses on breaking down the phonetic sounds and pronouncing them as clearly as possible. Sometimes spending so much time on one sound (like the crips 's', the sloppy 'f' or the voiced and unvoiced 'th') can seem very tedious. But like anything worthwhile, the hard work really does pay off. To my own surprise and immense joy, I’ve found myself much more tuned to good articulation. I'm able to produce crisper, warmer sounds when I’m speaking and performing. I'm throughly enjoying this newly acquired skill. This will definitely come in handy as I teach my own students one day.

Speech class with Chris Faith

It helps when your homework assignments continue to be wonderful. A few weeks ago we were asked to write our own one-minute monologues. Graciously, Chris told us that we didn't have to have them memorized, since the point was to focus on the sounds. And he gave us some really great perameters. We were to write as though we were a fairy tale character revealing a secret to someone. We had to decide what the secret was and why we were revealing it. I knew that, with all the creative minds in our class, we’d produce some pretty amusing scenarios.

I wasn’t disappointed. That first class of reading our monologues to each other was full of laughter. Red Riding Hood confessed that she despises the color red. Belle secretly found Gaston somewhat attractive at first. To ease her conscience, Cruella De Vil donates some of her profits to dog shelters.  My own monologue was from the perspective of Tinker Bell, telling Peter Pan that she’s afraid of heights. Silly, right? And that's what was so great about it. We performed our original monologues for a grade last Friday, so we're officially done with our work on them. But I’m sure Chris will have some more fun assignments up his sleeve for the remainder of the semester.

Last week we got another exciting assignment in our acting class. Jeff gave us our first scene work. Up until now we've only been doing monologues, but now we'll get to work across from someone else. Some of us are paired with other students, but others have scene partners from the Jonah cast. A few cast members signed up to help out, and we're super excited to work with them! I'm sure I'll include updates about our scene work as time goes on. This weekend we're all focused on getting those scenes memorized and ready to perform!

So yeah! We’ve had some great homework assignments. It’s definitely still work and takes time, but it’s work that’s lots of fun.

Outside of class I’ve had some other awesome things happening. First of all, Mrs. Hoshall came to see the show! Peggy Hoshall has been my theatre teacher since I was nine years old. She awakened a love for theatre inside my heart when I was little, provided a safe environment in which to learn and grow, and inspired me to do the same for others. She’s a huge reason that I’m even at the Conservatory. Without her, I know I wouldn’t be where I am. 

She was in New York visiting her daughter Johanna. The two of them were able to make the drive to Lancaster on a Thursday afternoon and see Jonah! After the show I gave them a tour of backstage, and got to spend a bit of time simply catching up. And of course we got our glazed almonds, always a necessity at Sight & Sound! I wish we’d had longer, but I had another show to do and they needed to get back to New York. I’m thankful for the time we had. It was so exciting to have her here. Mrs. Hoshall, I couldn’t be more thankful for you and all you’ve done for me!

Speaking of influential people, last weekend was Easter and we had an extra day off. What better to do with that time than to fly out Colorado Springs and spend the holiday with my favorite person? I've been planning this special trip for a few months. I took a couple days off before and after the break to get as much time as I could, and then I was on a plane making the 1500 mile trip to see my amazing boyfriend.

And I’m not saying “amazing” because that’s what girlfriends are supposed to say. He really is. He's so creative and always seems to know how to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. The first day I was there he set up a city wide Easter egg hunt for me. Each egg was filled with puzzle pieces that, when fitted together, made a picture that was taken of us last year. The last stop on the adventure was the place the picture had been taken: a bench overlooking Garden of the Gods. Plus, there were sweet, sappy notes at each location, a picnic breakfast and lunch…yeah, he did a pretty great job. I felt quite smitten when all was said and done. 

The rest of our visit was filled with bike rides, hammocking in the mountains, cooking meals together, coloring Easter eggs…it couldn’t have been more perfect. Being together is so refreshing and saying goodbye was, as usual, really hard. One blessing of long distance is that you don't take any moments when you're together for granted. I wouldn't at all mind being a bit closer, but I know we’re both exactly where we’re supposed to be right now. He’s got an absolutely wonderful job at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado, and I’m learning all sorts of exciting things here at Sight & Sound. I’m looking forward to another visit soon! 

A break from the rigor of the Conservatory was welcome, and now its back in the saddle! We've got another week ahead full of shows, swing roles, classes, and I'm sure some more awesome homework assignments. Although the schedule is full and exhausting, God has been so faithful to provide energy and encouragement right when I need it. I can't wait to see His hand at work in the coming weeks!