I had the awesome opportunity to work at Flat Rock Playhouse this summer doing the amazing musicals Evita and Les Miserable. I cannot tell you how much I learned and the great life long friendships I made. One of the coolest things about Flat Rock is the poet, Carl Sandburg. His home is right up the mountain next to Flat Rock Playhouse and it is beautiful beyond words. We got to hike up the mountain the first week we were there and the views were breath taking. While we were up there we wrote a letter to ourselves regarding what we wanted to get out of the summer, then they sent the letters to us when we got home after the thirteen weeks were over. I have yet to read my letter, so that should be interesting. On top of the mountain the 16 apprentices sat in a circle and went around giving another apprentice, that we barely knew at the time, a compliment and we had to accept that compliment by saying, "Thank you, I know." It was a really good way to get to know people better and start to be more comfortable with yourself and what your talents are. It is easy to focus on the negative characteristics in yourself, so easy that we forget what makes us special and fun to be around, so that was a really nice exercise. Lauren Hopkins, who is a saint and the best tapper I have ever met, was our surrogate mother for the summer. She would always compare the summer to the hike up the mountain; it is going to be so hard and there are going to be easy parts and more difficult parts, but once you get to the top it will be so worth it and then it is all downhill from there. We dove into rehearsals right away with Evita. The cast blew me away and I had such a fun time doing the show. Evita is about the life of Eva Peron, if you are not familiar I would recommend doing a little research on her life, it is crazy interesting and cool to read about her rise to prominence. So in the middle of doing all of these rehearsals and working crews for the show which included costumes, set building, working props, we had no free time what so ever. However, about half way through the summer we were given the sweet sweet gift of a day off. When they told us about having a day off, we almost fainted. We got to go white water rafting and hang out in Asheville for a hot second so it was really fun and much needed. While I am on the subject of Asheville, let me tell you a little about this city. It is super weird, don't get me wrong, it is a great city with tons of fun things to do, but the people I met there were like non other. It was like Urban Outfitters had thrown up all over the city. There was a lady who was walking around with no shirt on, apparently that is okay. Then there was this other guy who was walking this huge wolf dog thing that was pretty much half my height, but I had to pet it just so I could say I pet a wolf. It was really interesting and definitely worth visiting if you have the time. So while we were doing Evita and Les Mis, we also had to do a children's show up at Carl Sandburg's house. The show I was in was called Rootabaga! a Musicarl (Get it, Musicarl, like musical but using Carl Sandburg's name, cute I know) It is a musical that is completely made up of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories. I played the character Jason Squiff and because I had the pleasure of having a Q in my name, I had a popcorn hat, popcorn mittens, and popcorn shoes. I have uploaded a picture of me and the rest of the cast after our last show jumping off the stage being all cute and what not. While Evita was going on we had to start rehearsals for Les Mis, it was pretty stressful, but a really great experience and good to know that we can handle stressful situations under immense pressure. As well as working crews, rehearsing, and doing the shows, we had to park the cars for the shows. We didn't actually valet the cars, but we showed them where to park because it is pretty confusing when you pull on to lot. Let me tell you, there are some interesting people that come to see these shows. When you tell them where to park they look at you like you are crazy and tell you they cannot park there and that you have no idea what you are doing. So, after they have yelled at me, I smile and tell them if they would like to park somewhere else we can arrange that. What I would really like to do is slash their tires and key their car, but alas, I cannot. Les Mis was with out a doubt one of the best theatrical experiences I have ever had. It was a first class production, with a ridiculously talented cast. I never once got tiered of hearing the show and I cannot express the envy I feel when I think about the audience members who got to experience it from the outside. I couldn't fit anywhere close to everything about my summer in this post, but I hope this gives you a little taste. I LOVE Flat Rock, it truly is a magical place and it will forever have a special place in my heart. I had one of the best, most fulfilling summers of my life at Flat Rock and I will never forget the rock, or the people I met. To the 15 apprentices I lived with, I love you all and will never forget the crazy summer we spent together and cannot wait till we are all in the city together. With all of that being said, I leave you with a video of the Apprentice Showcase that we did at the end of the summer. Special shout out to Patrick Dinnsen for killing it on the guitar.
BESTIESSSS
Parking.......yay
Celebrating the 4th of July....on the 15th
AMAZING Les Mis set.
ROOTABAGA!
Our first day at the Rock eating ice-cream!!
This is in Asheville right after I pet the huge wolf and saw the naked lady.
I had the awesome opportunity to work at Flat Rock Playhouse this summer doing the amazing musicals Evita and Les Miserable. I cannot tell you how much I learned and the great life long friendships I made. One of the coolest things about Flat Rock is the poet, Carl Sandburg. His home is right up the mountain next to Flat Rock Playhouse and it is beautiful beyond words. We got to hike up the mountain the first week we were there and the views were breath taking. While we were up there we wrote a letter to ourselves regarding what we wanted to get out of the summer, then they sent the letters to us when we got home after the thirteen weeks were over. I have yet to read my letter, so that should be interesting. On top of the mountain the 16 apprentices sat in a circle and went around giving another apprentice, that we barely knew at the time, a compliment and we had to accept that compliment by saying, "Thank you, I know." It was a really good way to get to know people better and start to be more comfortable with yourself and what your talents are. It is easy to focus on the negative characteristics in yourself, so easy that we forget what makes us special and fun to be around, so that was a really nice exercise. Lauren Hopkins, who is a saint and the best tapper I have ever met, was our surrogate mother for the summer. She would always compare the summer to the hike up the mountain; it is going to be so hard and there are going to be easy parts and more difficult parts, but once you get to the top it will be so worth it and then it is all downhill from there. We dove into rehearsals right away with Evita. The cast blew me away and I had such a fun time doing the show. Evita is about the life of Eva Peron, if you are not familiar I would recommend doing a little research on her life, it is crazy interesting and cool to read about her rise to prominence. So in the middle of doing all of these rehearsals and working crews for the show which included costumes, set building, working props, we had no free time what so ever. However, about half way through the summer we were given the sweet sweet gift of a day off. When they told us about having a day off, we almost fainted. We got to go white water rafting and hang out in Asheville for a hot second so it was really fun and much needed. While I am on the subject of Asheville, let me tell you a little about this city. It is super weird, don't get me wrong, it is a great city with tons of fun things to do, but the people I met there were like non other. It was like Urban Outfitters had thrown up all over the city. There was a lady who was walking around with no shirt on, apparently that is okay. Then there was this other guy who was walking this huge wolf dog thing that was pretty much half my height, but I had to pet it just so I could say I pet a wolf. It was really interesting and definitely worth visiting if you have the time. So while we were doing Evita and Les Mis, we also had to do a children's show up at Carl Sandburg's house. The show I was in was called Rootabaga! a Musicarl (Get it, Musicarl, like musical but using Carl Sandburg's name, cute I know) It is a musical that is completely made up of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories. I played the character Jason Squiff and because I had the pleasure of having a Q in my name, I had a popcorn hat, popcorn mittens, and popcorn shoes. I have uploaded a picture of me and the rest of the cast after our last show jumping off the stage being all cute and what not. While Evita was going on we had to start rehearsals for Les Mis, it was pretty stressful, but a really great experience and good to know that we can handle stressful situations under immense pressure. As well as working crews, rehearsing, and doing the shows, we had to park the cars for the shows. We didn't actually valet the cars, but we showed them where to park because it is pretty confusing when you pull on to lot. Let me tell you, there are some interesting people that come to see these shows. When you tell them where to park they look at you like you are crazy and tell you they cannot park there and that you have no idea what you are doing. So, after they have yelled at me, I smile and tell them if they would like to park somewhere else we can arrange that. What I would really like to do is slash their tires and key their car, but alas, I cannot. Les Mis was with out a doubt one of the best theatrical experiences I have ever had. It was a first class production, with a ridiculously talented cast. I never once got tiered of hearing the show and I cannot express the envy I feel when I think about the audience members who got to experience it from the outside. I couldn't fit anywhere close to everything about my summer in this post, but I hope this gives you a little taste. I LOVE Flat Rock, it truly is a magical place and it will forever have a special place in my heart. I had one of the best, most fulfilling summers of my life at Flat Rock and I will never forget the rock, or the people I met. To the 15 apprentices I lived with, I love you all and will never forget the crazy summer we spent together and cannot wait till we are all in the city together. With all of that being said, I leave you with a video of the Apprentice Showcase that we did at the end of the summer. Special shout out to Patrick Dinnsen for killing it on the guitar.
