42. Regional Competition!

The TWPI Regional Competition is this Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 1:30 PM at MHS Room D 101. See you there!

TROUPE MEETING--Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at lunchtime. Probably Mr. G's classroom. Listen for the announcement at school.

40. 4th Competition Results and news about Regionals

Congrats to all four Junior Thespians who competed in the 4th TWPI competition at Kagman Elementary on Saturday, 2/2/2008. Your unofficial results are posted below. (I'm waiting for the official word, and your ribbons and evaluations. These unofficial results are from a quick review of the scoring.) Update--OFFICIAL results the same as these. Yay!

Mime: Jimmy & Victor--1st place
Duet acting: Anna & Mariel--2nd place
Solo musical: Anna--1st place; Mariel--2nd place


Your overal standings heading into the final competition at regionals is as follows:
Mime--Jimmy & Victor-1st place (24 points); Lourence and Kevin--2nd place (5 points)
Duet acting: Anna & Mariel--2nd place (20 points)
Solo musical: Anna--1st place (24 points); Mariel--3rd place (12 points); Victoria--4th place (8 points).

I want to encourage all of you to compete at REGIONALS. Jimmy & Victor, and Anna have a good chance at winning a place in the International Festival at Lincoln, Nebraska. Each and all of you have a chance to win medals at regionals.

The REGIONAL competition is set for MARCH 8, 2008 at MHS, room D 101, at 1 PM.

I'll be setting a troupe meeting for next week, so watch for notice.

39. COMPETITION REMINDER

The holidays are over!

The next thespian competition is set for SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008, at 1 PM.

LOCATION CHANGE--this competition will be held at Kagman Elementary School.

Please verify that you will be competing--either call or e-mail me, leave a comment here, or tell Anna at school to relay the message to me. There is a cost of $1 per student for these competitions, and I've been paying them for you. I don't mind, but I don't want to have to pay when you don't show up. :-)

38. COMPETITION RESULTS and more

We had mixed results from the competition on Saturday, December 15, 2007. I'm proud of each of you for competing and for the progress you've made. Sometimes, though, other student competitors are also making progress, so your standings don't improve and even sink.

Here's how we did:

Mime: Jimmy & Victor--1st place
Solo Musical: Anna--1st place; Mariel--3rd place
Duet acting: Anna & Mariel--3rd place.

I have your ribbons, but haven't yet received the written evaluations. We can review those when I get them, and use them to do better next time.

Victor and Mariel have each crossed over the threshold line for being a Thespian (10 troupe points). Yay! Jimmy is making progress (and gets another point for watching SCROOGE!). With participation in the final two competitions, I think the goal will be reached and all of you will be inducted into the Junior Thespian troupe (a prerequisite for attending the ITS Festival in Lincoln, if you win at the competitions).

NEXT COMPETITION: February 2, 2008 at 1:30 PM at MHS.

35. Break a Leg--all that and more!

Break a leg to all the MCS Theatre Club students participating in this weekend's production of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Because of your grueling rehearsal schedule, and the excitement of the event, I haven't mentioned anything about the next Thespian Competition.

But for those who want to get a head start, it's scheduled for December 15, 2007 at 1:30 PM at MHS, room D 101 (or the cafeteria) again.

We'll try to meet on December 4, lunch time (depending on my schedule). And we may be able to have a prep session, workshop on December 7--which is a holiday.

So, again, BREAK A LEG. I'l see you at the NIGHTMARE. I'll be taking photos both nights and will post some here (if they turn out).

34. SURPRISES ON THE COMPETITION FRONT

CONGRATULATIONS! MCS Junior Thespians once again rocked at the competition. And there are some surprises, especially considering the feedback I got after the event!

FIRST PLACE WINNERS:
Jimmy Baik & Victor Sablan-Mime
Anna DLG & Mariel Ferrer-Duet Acting
Anna DLG-Solo Musical

WOWIE! That's a lot of first place winners. Congratulations.

OTHER RIBBON WINNERS:
Victoria Camacho: 3rd place-Solo Musical
Mariel Ferrer: 4th place-Solo Musical.


We still need students to compete in monologue. The high school Thespian competition is saturated in monologue, with so many students that talented kids are getting just participation points and not winning. But in the junior division, there's only been one competitor for each of the two competitions, and he naturally has won first place, just by competing! [You can view the entire competition results and the current standings by clicking on the TWPI matrix link at left.]

I'm encouraging any middle school student who wants to try competing to contact me. It's not that hard and it is FUN! Just ask the high school students who are competing in monologue.

Congratulations again to all of the MCS junior thespians who participated in this (second) competition. You did great!

33. Thespian Competition--November 17, 2007

Congratulations to the MCS middle school students who participated in the Thespian Competition today, November 17, 2007. Our troupe 88799 ROCKS!


(L to R: Mariel Ferrer, Anna DLG, Victor Sablan, Jimmy Baik, and Victoria Camacho.)


I don't yet know your scores or places in the competition, but I'm proud of each of you for working on your pieces, and performing them. I loved that you sat together in the competition and supported each other. I loved that Mariel ventured into new terrain with solo musical. Each of you have shown a commitment and determination that makes you winners, whether you get blue ribbons or not.

And if you're at MCS middle school and missed this competition, don't worry. There's another one on December 15. It's never too late to take the plunge. Or come back and try again.

STAY TUNED for announcement of your results.

31. News and Notices--Competition Practice Sessions

We had a good meeting today where we reviewed evaluations from the last Thespian competition and discussed how to use them to improve performance.

We also welcomed two students to the meeting: Tony and Sky.

Each of you should be rehearsing your piece for the next competition, set for NOVEMBER 17. You can either do the same piece you did at the first competition, or try something new. The same rules apply:

Solo musical--must be a song from a play or movie. One student; you must have an instrumental-only cd as your accompaniement. 5 minutes or less.

Monologue--must be two contrasting monologues from plays or movies; one student; total time must be 5 minutes or less.

Duet acting--must be a scene from a play or movie. 2 students with about equal roles; 5 minutes or less.

Mime--must be original story, mime only. one or two students. 5 minutes or less.

PRACTICE SESSIONS (Be prepared to present your piece):

1. Monday is a holiday. You are invited to my house to practice. Call or e-mail to set the time, or talk with Anna Rose.

2. Tuesday--troupe meeting at lunch period (11:30 AM). Room A-205.

No matter how badly you think you'll do, whether you've had enough rehearsal or not, come to at least one of these practice sessions. It will help! Better to make your mistakes in practice than at the competition.

AND WE NEED STUDENTS to compete in MONOLOGUE! :-)

26. Congratulations!

Congratulations to our seven middle schoolers who competed in the first Thespian Competition!

Jimmy Baik
Lourence Camacho
Victoria Camacho
Anna Deleon Guerrero
Mariel Ferrer
Kevin Kim
Victor Sablan

You guys ROCKED! I'm impressed that you summoned up the courage to compete in a room filled with other middle and high school students from around Saipan, with various parents and a panel of three adult judges! It was almost like American Idol!


I don't yet know the competition results, but no matter where you placed in the competition, you should feel great about your efforts, talent and achievement in participating.

The next competition is November 17, 2007, at 1 PM at MHS, Room D-101.

We'll meet when I get your ribbons (because I just know that you did well), and talk about what you can do next.

25. THIS WEEKEND

QUICK UPDATE: Theatre Sports Friday morning, October 19, with Mr. G! This is a special activity period (because Mass is cancelled due to a funeral). Troupe members--please participate and HAVE FUN!

1. Thespian Competition Saturday at MHS Room D-101. Sign up starts at 1PM; competition starts at 1:30 PM. If you need a ride, let me know. I can ride you from MCS after NIGHTMARE practice, if you want. (And make sure you get some lunch.) You'll be working on Competition Points by participating.

If you just want to watch (Angeliya and Ginny!), please feel free to come and support your troupe members, and get comfortable with the competitions so that next year, you can compete, too.



2. Another play on stage this weekend: “SISTERS ROSENSWEIG”, a Wendy Wasserstein comedy about contemporary family issues. It will be performed at the Pacific Island Club on October 19th and 20th at 7 PM and on the 21st at 3 PM. The show costs $12 for adult FOA members, $15 for non-members, $10 for all children 4 through 11 years of age, and no charge for under 4 years. The price will include a selection of beverages and a dessert plate. (For the adults--There will also be an open bar at reduced prices.)

MCS Troupe members--If you want a TWPI discount, tell me and I'll get your tickets for just $6.00 each. If you attend, you'll get 1 troupe point (towards your induction goal of 10).

3. Other news: Auditions for Friends of the Arts production of SCROOGE are set for Monday, October 22 at MHS room D 101 from 6PM to 9 PM.