Danger! Danger!

My dearly amazing mother bought two packages of chocolate-chip-cookie dough from Papa Murphy's take-&-bake pizza shop yesterday... it's really good. Now I am only a trip to the refrigerator away from a spoonful of cookie dough at any point during the day! Eek!! I just ate about twelve cookies worth of it after lunch a today. Good time to practice self-control, eh?

First Read-Through

Woooo!!! First read-through is done!! I was surprised to find out that I actually have fewer lines as Wendy than I did as Mr. Beaver in LWW!! Isn't that odd? Oh well. Also, my little brother actually has more lines than I do in the play, and this is his FIRST play!! What's up with that?! But I'm happy for him- and I'm happy that I'll be able to help him along with his lines ;P.

The director actually wrote this script on his own, and it's very interesting to read!! He puts very interesting twists to the story; making it more appealing to today's audiences while still being true(ish) to the original story. He slightly changed the personalities of a few of the characters, but nothing too drastic ;)! For instance, Smee is now more of a smart-alec-y, know-it-all, thinks-he-should-be-in-charge-but-too-scared-to-say-anything sort of character as opposed to the innocently oblivious character he originally was. John, the oldest Darling boy (played by my brother!!), is also a sort of know-it-all now-which I suppose he actually was in the original story... he always has the answers, or is always asking questions. My favorite line of his is before the Darlings meet Peter Pan and head to Neverland, Michael & John are playing pirates and Indians- Michael is the Indian and John is the pirate:

MICHAEL: Me Big Chief! Scalpum pirate!
JOHN: Not if I catch you first!
MICHAEL: Wendy, John's not being fair! It's my turn!
WENDY: John, be a good brother and let Michael scalp you. (That's my first line in the whole play; I love it!)
JOHN: But I don't believe that Captain Kidd would really sit still to be scalped! Do you know what's really not fair? Your historically inaccurate portrayal of Native Americans!

Yes, that last sentence is my favorite in the whole play, I think! Seriously, try saying the very last sentence five times fast!! When we got home, I was constantly asking my little brother: Do you know what really not fair?? And he would respond with the last sentence- it's super fun!

Well, I've got to go now, but more updates as events warrant!! Cheerio!

And the verdict is...

I can certainly say there was serious screaming in this household last night: My mother was e-mailed the cast list for "Peter Pan" as I was upstairs getting ready for bed at 9:30pm. Then I heard: "Oh Theresa!! There's news!!" She really drew out "news." "PLAY news??" "Yep." So I sprinted down to the computer to see the news in question; my mother then proceeded to draw out the process as long as possible before my curiosity was satisfied. "Oh, maybe I shouldn't show you now... you won't be able to sleep if I show you now." "I'm not going to be able to sleep if I don't see it, mother." So we began 20 questions."Is it the cast list?" "Yes, it certainly is." "Will I like the part I got?" ''Oh, you'll like any part, I suppose..." "Is it one that I mentioned I wanted?" "Oh, maybe..." etc. etc. "Well, why don't I just show you?" "YES!!" So she did. God is so amazingly wonderful. I am cast as WENDY DARLING!!!!!!!!!! I saw that and screamed!!! Which is odd, because screaming is something I don't normally do, but I guess this was an exception!! To top it off, my little brother will be playing John, my little brother in the play!!!! Did I mention that God is so amazingly wonderful?! So I called my sister, even though it was ten-thirty at night where she lives, and she answered at got all excited for me!!

I did about fifty million happy dances and whoops before I finally got to bed; and even then I didn't even attempt sleep til about midnight. But it's all good!! Thank you all so much for keeping me in your prayers!! Please continue to do so and wish us luck as we go along!!

Happy Valentines Day!!!!!!

The cast list for "Peter Pan"was supposed to go up yesterday, but it didn't, so I'm still waiting to find out!! Keep up the prayers please!!

TOMORROW!!!!- *Edited

Peter Pan auditions are TOMORROW!!! =D Please keep me in your prayers & wish me luck!

*Edit 2-12-09

Dang, what is it about auditions that make one's self so nervous? It's odd, though, or well, maybe this is normal, but until I woke up yesterday I had no problem whatsoever with the idea! Then when I got up, I was absolutely shaking- more out of excitement than nervousness, I think, but who knows? When the time came to actually read for a part, the butterflies had gone away! Very interesting.... Overall, I think it went pretty well! I don't know that I'll get the part that I originally wanted (Wendy), but there are so many fun parts in this play that I'm sure I'll have a blast; I just love being onstage!! The director said he would post the list on Friday, so I'll let you all know soon what the deal is!! Thank you soSOsoSOso much for all your support!! God bless!! Cheerio!

Finding Neverland

Wow, I just watched "Finding Neverland,"...it's probably one of my new favorite movies.

***
"Award winners Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman and Julie Christie star in this magical tale about one of the world's greatest storytellers and the people who inspired his masterwork, Peter Pan! Well known playwright James M. Barrie finds his career at a crossroads when his latest play flops and doubters question his future. Then by chance he meets a widow and her four adventurous boys. Together they form a friendship that ignites the imagination needed to produce Barrie's greatest work!" ~Synopsis on the back of the DVD case =D
***
Pros:

• One of the reasons I enjoyed this movie was because it combined two of my favorite things: Fantasy, and theatre!!
• Also, I found the scenery to be absolutely stunning throughout the whole film!
• The musical score was beautiful!
• I personally loved the snatches of the actual play of "Peter Pan" that you catch throughout
• Smaller children will enjoy the small, subtle references between the people who influenced the main characters of the "Peter Pan" and, uh, the characters they influenced, if that makes sense.

Cons:

• Um.... It says on the little label in the back, " Some material may not be suitable for children." I can't exactly think what that might specifically entail... oh wait, brilliant; it says, "For mild thematic elements and brief language." I don't recall language being used... but whatever.
• Uh...Not all the acting is superb.

All in all, I must say I found this movie very enjoyable!! Again, I'm studying as much as I can relating to "Peter Pan," for the play that I'm officially going to do!! Auditions are this Wednesday, so keep me in your prayers!! Thanks so much!!

Woohoo!!!

I just got my hands on an unabridged version of "Hamlet" by William Shakespeare!!! If your looking for me anytime soon, I suggest searching all the odd & obscure corners where I read!! Cheerios!!

Peter Pan: A Book Review

So I don't know if I just don't have a broad enough imagination or what, but I really didn't care for "Peter Pan" by Sir James Barrie. The plot seemed too...... it seems as if Sir Barrie made it up as he went along. Actually, there was no major discernible plot as far as I could tell. But here's the summary (thanks to Commonsensemedia.org):

"One night Peter Pan flies through the window of the Darling nursery in search of his shadow. There he meets Wendy, Michael, and John, teaches them to fly, and leads them to the home of the Lost Boys in Neverland.
... There, among pirates, Indians, and wild animals, the children have innumerable adventures.
But Captain Hook, the evil leader of the pirates, is determined to wipe out the Lost Boys, and especially the cocky Pan. He concocts a plan to kidnap the boys and Wendy, poison Peter, and make the boys walk the plank while Wendy watches. But Tinkerbell the fairy saves Peter from the poison, setting the stage for a final confrontation aboard the pirate ship."

I can't say I found any of the characters lovable, nor could I identify with any of them. They were all so... I don't know the word- the author describes Peter multiple times as "conceited" or "cocky," which I found to be true, but that wasn't the word I was looking for. The Darling children are described as "selfish," which was true towards the end, but again, not quite the word. I suppose it's that they're either so stereotypical, or that they're so outside the box that you couldn't quite believe that they were real.

The time concept just threw me off completely, I really couldn't discern what was happening when and where. And then the ending did not satisfy me at all. (I shan't say what the ending was, for the sake of *trying to* keeping this spoiler free, but it was VERY annoying and dissatisfying. Well okay- *spoilerish* practically everyone forgot)

I'm trying to think of something positive to say about it... it's very interesting to watch all of these characters, with their idiosyncrasies, interact with one another. The cocky Pan, the motherly Wendy, oblivious Smee, scheming Hook, etc.

After seeing the Disney movie, it's interesting to note that Captain Hook was voted the second scariest villain in children's literature (The White Witch from "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" came in first)(And I have to admit, I thought Hook was indeed scarier in the book than the Disney version).

Well, I'm afraid I'm just rambling now, so I'll stop. But wait- before I stop, I wanted to mention that the reason I read "Peter Pan" was because a theatre is putting on a production of it here and I was thinking of taking part in it. I still haven't decided if I will, but if I do, you can all be sure that I will tell you ;-P. Okay, I'm really stopping now. Cheerio!!

Adding to my booklist...

In addition to what I posted earlier, here are a couple other books I plan on reading. I figured that the original list was far enough down on the page that I could just continue up here, if that makes sense. So here we go:

13: Peter Pan Sir James Barrie

14: Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte (I actually started reading this at one point, but I had to return it to the library ): )

15: Don Quixote The authors name I forget at the moment...

16: Crime & Punishment Another forgotten author's name

17: The Shack What is it with me and forgetting the names of all these authors?!

18: My Antonia Willa Cather (YES!!! I remembered an author's name!!)

19: SHERLOCK HOLMES!!!!! Sir Conan Doyle I've finished "The Hound of the Baskervilles," and I plan on reading several more in the near future.

20: I started "Gone With the Wind," but it was super intimidating so I only read like five pages. I think I'll try it again later, but uh, it's not looking too hopeful...

Yeah, and that's about it for now. If you have any suggestions, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeee, I'm begging you, let me know!!! Thank you!

A Word on Words

Those of you who know me personally may have noticed that me vocabulary is not limited to the English language, or even any written language. I use "my words" (Words that I've simply made up, or interesting phrases that I've heard elsewhere) all the time. I'll also use actually words that you can find in the English dictionary, but that no one seems to know. To name but a few, there are:

-Awesomeness
-Awesomerest
-Ridiculousness (I use that one a whole darned lot)
-Skadoosh
-Flubberbuckets (A term I commonly use when referring to the makers of the "Eragon" film. What were they THINKING?!?!)
-Dandiful (Meaning "full of dandyness- I use it quite a bit)

Actual words that can be found in the dictionary (again, here's just a sampling):
-Collywobbles (Means, can you guess, a stomach ache!!! It's hilarious to see peoples faces when you go up to them and say something to the effect of:" I've got the collywobbles")
-Collimate (To make parallel- I don't use this one so much since there really aren't a lot of opportunities to employ it)
- Shillyshally (An extremely indecisive person-- so me!! My friends and I use this one quite a bit...)
-Fard (Ha HA!!! This is a favorite of my family!!!! Can you guess what it means?? I'll put the answer on the comment board!)
-Dandy. I really don't know how I got started on this one, but I use it on a daily basis
Phrases...

-Grand idear. Man, I mean the looks people give you when you say this!! "Did you just say "idear?" "Yes, i-d-e-a-r, ideeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaarr."
-For the love of cheese pizza!! 'Nuff said.
-Oh my crunchy goodness!!
Aaaannnddd.... I know there's a bunch of other ones, but I can't think of them at the moment.

Oh, here's two other real words: Fantstical & fantasticalnes. I have used these quite often, thinking they were "my words". I put them on an email or something awhile ago, and then spell checked it, thinking that they would be highlighted as an improper word, but they weren't!! So I looked it up in the dictionary, and sure darned enough, there they were!! "Fantastical" & "fantasticalness". Quite the interestingness.

Oh, and just so that we're all aware, "skadoosh" and "awesomeness" were my words long before Kung Fu Panda ever came out!!!! Actually, I haven't seen Kung Fu Panda, but I had been using those words around some one who had seen it, and they said something to the effect of, "Hey, did you pick that up from Kung Fu Panda?" "NO!!!!!" "Oh...well they use those words in them..." Sheesh people!!! What in the heck is up with this?!?! I've got to start copyrighting these or something...