WARREN DILLAWAY/Star
Beacon
JIM PUBLICOVER (third male from left) played the personnel director
in
the musical-comedy "How to Succeed in Business" last summer at
the
Ashtabula Arts Center.
By JIM PUBLICOVER
One of the greatest things that Ashtabula has to offer its residents is
the
Ashtabula Arts Center.
I and many of my close friends have spent an immense amount of time
and effort at the theater. I became involved a little over six years ago.
And
although many people regularly attend performances, few of them have an
idea of what goes on before that show goes up.
The first step to getting into a show is the audition. Any doubt or
misgiving you've had about yourself as an actor or actress plagues your
mind as you wait for your turn in front of the director. You're sure that
everyone else is as nervous as you are, but no one else looks it.
When your turn comes, the only thing to do is to forget all of your
inhibitions and do your best. The director will give you an estimate as
to
when you should be hearing from him. If there was a large turnout for the
audition, the director will hold callbacks, or a second set of auditions
for
those that are definitely going to be in the show, to determine how the
roles are going to be distributed.
Every show is different, and every director is even more different, so there
is no real set plan as to how the time between auditions and opening night
will go. About 12 to eight 8 weeks from the performance date the director
will announce a rehearsal called a read-through.
The cast simply reclines somewhere and reads through the script for the
first time; this kind of environment gives the actor a chance to become
familiar with the show. Although they will be changed several times,
schedules are also normally handed out with the new scripts.
Rehearsals then begin. The pattern of the rehearsals will depend upon
whether the show is a musical or a drama. Musicals take more time to
prepare as they typically involve more people, along with the obvious
elements of music and choreography; dramas require more time at the
rehearsals from the cast members.
A performer's attendance at rehearsals is also dependent upon his or her
role in the show. A chorus member obviously does not need to spend as
much time with his or her part as a lead character would.
The last week of rehearsal is known as tech week. This is the most
difficult week in the show as the technical crew is learning the show for
the first time. The technical director is responsible for the lighting,
sound
cues and other backstage operations that make the show run smoothly.
Opening night always comes before anyone is ready for it. That's one of
the harder things in theater: the show never seems to be at the point that
the cast or the director wants it to be, but the time to rehearse has run
out.
During the two or three-week run of the show, the play will change into
something much better than anyone had hoped for.
Of course, it looks very different on paper. Each night of the show is a
new and totally different experience, with its own quirks and problems.
Mistakes are very easy to make.
I have been in shows where actors forgot lines, props, verses, and
choreography. This is, of course, assuming that the actors come out or
exit at the right time, which is also an occasional problem.
Animals have wandered across stage, set pieces have fallen onto actors
while costumes have fallen off of them, or the lights have simply gone
out; literally anything can and does happen.
Is it difficult to stand in front of a large group of strangers and perform?It
most certainly is. Even though the idea of being on stage becomes less
intimidating the more you act, stage fright will never wear off. It is,
however, a very small thing when compared to the amazing experience of
performing.
Publicover attends Harbor High School when not doing his Marlon Brando imitation.
A Jim Waid column
"So many of us have been touched by someone close to
our hearts, family,
friends, neighbors, etc., who are waging the battle of their lives."
(Jeanne
White, mother of Ryan White)
Ask yourself the question: "When did I first hear about the AIDS virus?"
Stumped?
You're not alone. Most of the teenagers that I asked this question couldn't
answer it either. But why should anyone be surprised? The teenagers of
today have grown up in a world where HIV and AIDS are simply a part of
it.
Every single awards program that we watch on television, we can see
celebrity upon celebrity wearing the red ribbon which has come to be
synonymous with AIDS awareness. We've seen popular actors, musicians
and dancers die of AIDS, athletes announcing that they've contracted the
HIV virus and children and young adults that have forced themselves into
the spotlight in order that others might learn from what had happened to
them. And we've seen them all die too young.
This past Monday (World AIDS Day), people from around the globe once
again raised their voices together in order to spread a greater awareness
of
HIV and the AIDS virus. In the years since 1978, when a number of
people displayed the symptoms of what would later be identified as AIDS,
approximately 6.4 million men, women and children have succumbed to
related illnesses. It is estimated that as many as 22 million people from
around the world now have either HIV or AIDS.
Of course, what may have seemed impossible a few years ago, is slowly
becoming a reality: many that now contract HIV have a good chance of
survival and the possibility of living a normal life.
But there isn't yet a cure. Just last year, scientists claimed that a vaccine
was straddling the horizon and that it would only be a limited time before
they had finally isolated it and mass-produced it for world-wide
distribution. But they did have a 3-drug "cocktail," that included
two
more traditional AIDS treatments plus a new medication (protease
inhibitors) deemed a "miracle...drug" by the Honolulu Advertiser,
that
was recorded as preventing the progression of the disease while
strengthening the immune system.
Scientists had hoped that if patients continued to take this "cocktail,"
the
virus would be eradicated from their systems.
What they discovered was that portions of the virus' code were staying
hidden away in folds of the patient's cells and that they, instead of buying
a real cure, are perhaps only buying time.
The treatment is promising, though. Half of the patients that are taking
the 3-drug "cocktail" have shown vast improvements in their health,
and
have not yet had a relapse. For many of these, when tested, it appears as
if
they never had contracted HIV.
And that should give us hope. Because AIDS really has been the biggest
epidemic that our generation has ever seen.
But the truth is that AIDS is not primarily a disease of the late 20th
century. Records show that AIDS, though called by different names, has
existed for centuries in Africa, and though it had never sprung up in the
huge proportions that it has in the 80s and 90s, it DID exist.
Coupled with the fact that so much time has been given in the attempt to
educate us about this disease, the realization that AIDS has plagued
humans for centuries should make us realize that the idea that it could
soon, almost be manageable, really is a huge step in the name of progress.
It's the visible manifestation that our society can achieve great things
when we forget the differences that divide us and draw together to face
a
common enemy.
A common hope is sometimes the only thing that brings us, as humans,
together.
Waid lives in Orwell and also compiles a poetry column which runs
monthly in Teen/Currents.
This is Jessica Braden. She's a 15 year-old sophomore at
Ashtabula High
School. She's fond of Bugs Bunny and eats many carrots in his honor.
If she won the lottery, Jessica would help her family out and then move
to
Florida. She's never been to Florida but hears it's nice, especially during
an Ashtabula winter.
Until then, Jessica plans on being an executive secretary someday because
she likes computers.
So in the future if you see a well-tanned executive secretary while in FLA,
eating carrots, no doubt it's gonna be Jess.
She'll probably be looking for Elmer Fudd.
Tired of spending your days watching reruns of "Happy Days" on
Nickelodeon?
Well there are places to go, people to see. We're talking 'bout local
productions involving teens.
"Rock Nativity" opens Friday at Bethany Lutheran Church, 933 Michigan
Ave., Ashtabula.
Free performances run this Friday through Sunday at 8 p.m. and Dec. 12
through 14.
Then there's "The Nutcracker" at the Ashtabula Arts Center Thursday
through Friday each week until Dec. 21. Thursday and Friday
performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday has two, count'em two,
performances, at 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday has a 2 p.m. performance. Student
prices: $7. If you are under 12, it's $5. The debut is Friday.
No need to put on that show in your barn like you were thinking. There's
enough stuff going on right here in Ashtabula County, Ohio.
Folks interested in writing for Star Beacon Teen/Currents, there will be
another slam-bang meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. at the newspaper offices on
Park Avenue in the heart of Ashtabula.
No relay races this time, but Stacy Puzo will be on hand to sign
autographs. (Yes, physically write her name, she doesn't interpret for the
deaf.)
Be there or stay square.