Hallelujah!

Its good to know that people who read my blog are actually interested in theatre and art. Either that, or you're great lairs. :) 

Anyway, I am in a show that opens this week called, The Barber of Seville, at San Francisco State University. Originally, the music department was going to be putting it on the opera version, but for one reason or another, they were no longer able. Because of this, they handed the show over to the Theatre department. This gave us students another acting opportunity to be seen in the department and work on our craft. I was lucky enough to be cast in the ensemble and working with the lovely and talented, Tracy Ward.

Check out the promo video, created by the BECA Department!

The rehearsal process has been short physically but longer mentally. Because of the switch over between departments, our rehearsal time had been cut short and the creative process had been cut even shorter. We have been trucking through and creating our work as a team. We open this Saturday the 30th and run till May 8th. The cost is cheap, especially if you are a student. So come out and support us and the arts! It will be a great time.

Another show going up is House of Bernarda Alba, which is a classic play by Lorca. I saw this the other night and highly recommend it. Not just because many of my friends and peers are in it, but they have created a wonderful world for this play outside of the original context. 

 For more info about Barber of Seville

For more info about House of Bernarda Alba 

Both shows at around $8 a person on campus!

 

"Art is not a form of propaganda, it is a form of truth" -JFK

The fight for the arts is getting harder and harder. We are still facing extreme budget cuts, especially in the CSU system. Though I am graduation this year and probably wont have to go back into the system, it still worries me to hear how the department I love so much, may not be there in the years to come. Recently, actor Kevin Spacey gave a speech at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC about the arts and how they are being impacted today. He gave many quotes from political figures that have supported and felt deeply about the arts. The government is in the middle of making cuts and they find that the arts is the easiest place to start, that cutting those funds will only make a minute impact on the people who are really involved.

In another interview with Kevin Spacey on NBC, with the way they are cutting the funding for art, we wont have programs such as Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, American Masters, and many more. Kevin states that “It’s not just for the people who are in the arts, its also for the people that go see the arts. It’s for people to learn about themselves what is does for peoples sense of confidence.” He also speaks about President Lincoln and his love for the arts. That in the worst of times during the Civic War, he was constantly found at the theater, because he knew arts would replenish his soul and that he craved poetry.

Please take the time and watch these clips for his speech and interview. He has some wonderful things to say about this topic and it makes me feel so good that he is such an advocate for the arts.

 Clip from his speech

Clip from his interview