Gene Kelly Awards 2014

Sorry, this post is long overdue, but at least I'm getting it up.

WA won Best Musical for Budget III.

They haven't performed in years, and it was notorious among the students that they never got nominated for anything.  And this year, they won two major awards: Best Actor and Best Musical.

How does this thing happen?  They looked really good performing.  I didn't see their show, but I still find it hard to imagine that it was that much better than previous years.  The way I see it, the Kelly judges have likely been holding out on them.

Nevertheless, I'm really happy for them.  (And CK can return to dance class...)

We didn't win anything.  I don't care that much, I never really did.  I can't say I honestly expected us to win anything.  If I had to pick one that we may have stood the best chance at, I would have said Best Direction, but it doesn't really matter.

I'm not sure what the best alternative to the Gene Kelly Awards would be.  To everyone's credit, the environment was very friendly, and not overly competitive.  Maybe a showcase of sorts, where some of the best shows are invited to perform, as well as the best actors and actresses.  I don't know if enough people would come and see that though.

I did have a good time.  However, I can't say that looking back it's going to be a highlight of the school year.  I'm still more excited for my last dance show than anything else.  I would do it again, though I'm glad it didn't get any more involved than a rehearsal and a run through the day of.

-NM

Wavin' Flag

Singing forever young
Singing songs underneath the sun
Let's rejoice in the beautiful game

This is setting up to be one of the most fun dance shows that I've ever been in.  The dances are fun, I'm in four of them, and I even have my first solo.

But what's going to cap it all off is the finale.  The finale is just an all-out fun number.  It's loose, the steps aren't overly complicated, and the song is exciting.  There are a lot of people on stage.  Hopefully, it's just going to radiate energy into the seats.

All in all, the perfect way to end a show.

For costumes, everyone is starting with a white t-shirt.  On the front, it needs to have either the flag of a nation, or indicating the colors of the flag of a nation.  Also, it should be creative.  Be personal.  That way, it'll be a special moment when we have all sorts of nations up there at the end of the show.

For me, the nation choice was obvious.  Serbia is where my family came from, I go to a Serbian church, and Serbia shall be on the front of my shirt.  The back is a tribute to the fact that this will be the costume of the final dance of the final spring performance that I do with WDA.

It's a little touching to think about, but I'm glad that I'm going out on this.  It's going to be an exciting finish to what's been a great eight years.  I'm definitely going to miss it.  That much is certain.

And together at the end of the day
We all say:
When I grow older
I will be stronger
They'll call me freedom
Just like a Wavin' Flag

-NM

Letters vs. Modern Communication

Despite all that is done to advance modern technology, to make it faster and easier to get in touch with people, letters are still a far superior method of communication.

Modern communication is so much faster.  You can send an email, and have it replied to before you've gotten off the computer.  You can text someone, and keep up conversations with multiple people at once, while having a real conversation with someone else.  With all these snapchats and social medias, you can send pictures, so you can even make faces at people.  With 3G, Wi-Fi, 4G, each new internet seeming to reduce the time it takes to load something from 0.01 seconds to 0.001 seconds (that's ten times faster, and clearly saves you a significant 0.009 seconds), you don't have to wait for anything.

Why then are letters superior?

It's quite simple actually.  Ironically, it's because they're slow.

You write someone a letter.  You put it in the mail.  And you wait.  But you don't just sit around and do nothing.  You go about your normal life.  Every day, you check the mail, even when it's so early that you know they couldn't have possibly responded yet.  And then, when the day arrives, you're filled with a feeling of joy that can hardly be described.

You read the letter, and there's a month's worth of information in it.  Even better, all the information's important.  It contains all the stuff you want to know, and none of the unimportant junk you see on social media.  He or she has answered all of your questions, and has several more for you.

And there's no instant rush to respond.  If you have to wait a day, that's fine.  When you do write, you take your time, and put thought into what you say.  The amount of information you cram in your words is amazing.  And you ask more questions.  And the cycle continues.

Obviously, letters are not for people that you see on a daily basis.  Neither is any form of modern communication.  The best method for those people predates letters: actually real live conversation.

I write with three people now.  Next year, when I'm away at college, I hope to write with even more.  I made the offer at the cast party, asking for people's addresses, and two people took me up on it.  I'm grateful for those two, though I'm going to want more than that.  It won't be complicated or overly time consuming, as I won't be spending too much time texting or social mediaing.  Just the best way to stay in touch with people there is.

-NM

Gene Kelly Nominations

The Gene Kelly Awards is among one of the worst ideas ever to strike musical theater.  It's right up there with whoever decided to make musicals out of movies, and not the reverse.  Reasons for disdain are as follows:

• If done properly, the same schools would win year after year after year, as some directors are simply better than others, and some schools have a larger talent pool than others.
• In an effort to avoid number one, the judges avoid selecting the same schools every year, which results in the best shows rarely winning.
• They are so specific to the point where people are designing their shows and budgeting their shows around what the Kelly judges are looking for.  And if you're really good, but not what they're looking for (KM), you don't get nominated, and that is wrong.
• Not all schools participate, and so the winners get the sense that their shows are the best of all, though normally they're not.

However, the following is my biggest complaint:

• They create a spirit of competition within the performance environment.  This is entirely unnecessary in the art world.  Musical is not a sport.  It's reached the point where backstage before our show, people were hoping they did better on certain nights when the Kelly judges were there.  Furthermore, competitive spirit is never good in the arts.  Many of my companions know what it is doing to dance.  I don't want the same thing to happen to high school musicals.  It is perfectly fine if two schools put on really good shows.  It is perfectly fine if thirty schools put on really good shows.  It should be about the audience, not about the judges.

Nevertheless, the cast of Pirates of Penzance finds themselves nominated for Best Costume Design, Best Ensemble, Best Direction, Best Actor (PH), and Best Musical.  We will be performing downtown.  It will be fun.  But there are other ways to have fun.

-NM