Thursday Think Tank With Hung: Or is it Friday’s Feels?

Before I go any further, allow me to give my sincerest apology for the late entry. I am fully aware that today is Friday, that yesterday is Thursday, and that there wasn’t any Think Tank yesterday…

I should have known that AP classes can go a little out of hand in spring. But all in all, I have zero excuse for self-defense; I took a break I didn’t actually deserve, a quick nap, really, from 9.30 till 7 the next day. It was a good nap though, despite the fact my coughing got slightly worse. Also, my greatest apology for those who anticipate a sample video of theater’s Warm-up. Mr. H thought the Warm-up routine is a bit of a private portion of the rehearsal and was less inclined to have it publicized. And the truth is, I agree with that. I’m not a modernist novelist by any mean, but I believe that like many experiences in life, like this one time when I got locked out of my winter break’s host’s apartment, slept outside, and in the freezing cold woke up to the sunrise atop an abandoned house, or the other time when I waved good-bye to all the annoying problems and pains and just generally dead weights as I shaved my hair bits by bits and in came a Mohawk (if you look back at Jeff’s entry “Set Build # 2” last Sunday, you will find a picture in which there is a guy with a Mohawk having zero clue how to build a platform. That would be me.), Warm-ups are hard to be deemed beautiful unless one experiences them first-hand, not merely watches a snippet of them.

*That was a long sentence*

And yet, even when one does go through a journey first-hand, finding words and images that can do the experience justice is even more ridiculous of a task. So many times I have spent trying to breathe out the right words and phrases, to look for the right images in my mind, hoping they will catch on with my feels, so many times I have failed, and so many times I have looked like an idiot in front of more than one person. It’s hard and painful, really, to try to confine the feels with words. Just gotta feel the feels, I suppose.

While we’re at it, let’s name this entry “Friday’s feels”. And you guys know how I feel this Friday? I feel like a cheater.

Y’all know, cheater. I’m talking straight up A4 cheat sheets, invisible pens, atomic-size hand-writings, and all that good stuff. It’s cool though, cause everyone’s doing it; everyone’s making cheat sheets for tech rehearsal tomorrow, up until the opening night next week.

“They’re extremely important. The only time I made a mistake with my blocking was when I didn’t check my cheat sheets.” Rebecca commented, responding to Mr. H’s question with regards to the importance of making these cute little angels in disguise. Other than blockings of his/her own play, Mr. H noted, one is expected to know where to be, what to bring, whom to help, when to exit and enter during the remainder of the show. And cheat sheets are great aids, if not the greatest, in helping everyone plow through the show in the most efficient way possible.

“It helps you be less concerned about memorizing the chores off-stage, and gives you more room to focus on what is truly at stake on stage; the less you have to think, the better your performance will be.” Mr. H remarked.

After the speech, everyone stayed back to help with the load-in. We brought in the props and costume closet, swept the floor, prepared the stage to the most we could for tech rehearsal the next day. All the while, Mr. H’s words of advice kept hitting the replay button in my head; Less thinking. More feeling. ‘nough said.

And with that, today’s entry has come full circle. But wait, there’s more. I have two comments in the last entry.

Guys.

Two.

Comments.

This is stupendous.  I look forward to receiving more comments from you two too, anonymous citizens.

Ok, now I’m officially calling it a day. Stay awesome, global citizens.

P/s: Mr. Howard’s close friend is, indeed, not Seymour. I was hoping while editing the blog, Heather would catch it and be like “O you little brat you” in a complimentary way. I didn’t know if she ever did. Maybe she did and just left the joke untouched so people can take me for Gump. Forrest Gump. I hate mind games.

P/p/s: Next blog entry, and most likely the last, will definitely be online on Thursday. One more Tank coming your way. Get excited.

by Hung Hoang, '13