This sucks...

I am sick and have no voice left so I have to put myself on vocal rest for the weekend to hopefully salvage a voice for our first day of classes on Monday. This sucks the big one. As Charlie Brown would say, "Good Grief!"

Our House, Wham!, Sunday Roast, and "Pants" on My Head...

As per request, this is what the front of our town house looks like. :)


Only in London (I hope) can you find a Wham! Special book just randomly lying on a bench at a bus stop. Classic.


Here in England, Sunday Roast is a tradition. And Helen, bless her heart, cooked us a gorgeous meal including roast beef, gravy, parsnips, potatoes, and veggies! De-lish!


Gemma, making her first US Mustard print ad.


Dessert of Banoffe Pie. That's right, Banana & Toffee pie! Yum!


Yes, that is I, waiting for the train with Helen's knickers on my head. Fun times.


First off, I apologize to those of you that may have wanted to leave comments on my blog but were unable to because you didn't subscribe to it. I changed that function so that anyone could leave a comment if desired. So, type away! :)

Hmmmm...induction week? This ain't Muhlenberg College, let me tell you. This has been, quite possibly, one of the most unorganized and silly weeks of my life. No icebreakers. No getting to know you kind of stuff. Just random hours, here and there, of lectures on money management (something which I have been doing for quite some time now), disability rights, and how to use the library. Yup. Welcome to grad school! Puzzling, I know. We have been given about 7 sets of times for each meeting and hoping that we choose the right one. Efficiency at its best folks. It's not that large of a school. A few hundred maybe. I would have thought there would be more guidance throughout this week. Perhaps the 'Berg spoiled me. C'est la vie.

All that aside, we have done some cool things. On Wednesday, we headed into central London to see the MA TV/Film final showcase. There was a combination of filmed and live scenes to entice potential agents. An exciting time for the graduates, I am sure. I then went to dinner with my friend Will who I met while studying abroad in London in '97. It was so nice to have an old friend to talk to and not someone that I felt the need to tell my life story to. After that I went to see a play that was directed, produced, and performed by East 15 grads. They took this show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and were a hit there. The play was called Up The Gary. A one-man show about a Gary Glitter tribute artist and much more. I had no real idea who Gary Glitter was but it didn't matter. It was a wonderfully written, directed, and acted piece and an incredible thing to know that graduates of my school were producing great work and getting it out there for people to see. Definitely reassuring. Check out the site if you want - cut and paste this address: http://www.theatre503.com/one_show.php?showid=215

This is our last weekend of freedom before it gets down to the nitty gritty on Monday with our 9am-6:30pm schedule. Scared out of my mind? Absolutley, but I sure am ready to rock and roll!

First of all...

Well, it was a bit like being a freshman again. Wandering the halls of good old Cherry Hill High School West. However, this time, the people have really great accents, the scenery is rainy yet beautiful, and I'm 28 years old.

It was our first day of orientation week or "induction week" as it is called here. We met with our head of course, a guy named Rhys who seems too cool, and the rest of the MA Acting and MA Professional Theatre (writing/directing) students. There are about 30 of us and it is shaping up to be what seems to be a load of very sweet people. A good vibe. We spent the day learning about things like our pigeon holes (I think those are our mailboxes on campus), timetables, staff mentors, etc. It was a load of information to take in, but all necessary I suppose. We also learned that we would all be getting our professional headshots taken tomorrow. This is included in our fees for the year and in order for our pictures to make it into the London casting bible, Spotlight, we have to take them tomorrow! Well, nothing like jumping in feet first, right?

After our first day of information overload, in true English fashion, we all went down the pub. The Plume of Feathers is our "local," as they say, and we have already made friends with the bar staff. That's what happens when you live a stone's throw away. A group of us sat and chatted and got to know each other. It was nice. The pub culture here is such a treat, it really is. And then, for our evening's festivities, we headed back to campus for an Irish band and Irish dancing! It was a blast. Think square dancing in elementary school with a much more insane group of drama students! Ahhhhh! It was fun times.

It all feels so thrilling. Too thrilling for words, to be honest. Something that I have worked so hard and waited so long for is actually taking shape. What an incredible feeling. I can only assume it will get even better. More challenging, but better.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you and I do hope you will ride along with me...

Laundry?

This was my first ever line-drying experience. And yes, a lot of it was crunchy. But fresh all the same! I would say that tumble dryers are definitely the way to go. I felt a little old school though...Oy.

Roomies!

Here are my roommates - (L-R)Gemma, me with straight hair!, Ali, & Helen - ready for our first night on the town all together!

My Room!

Here are some pics of my cute little space! :)

Welcome!

Hi everyone! Welcome to my London Blog - recounting all of my adventures on this crazy journey to get my Masters in Acting. I hope you enjoy my insanity and I would love to hear from all of you!