Journal

10/16/10 Recap. Since the beginning of the course, I have chosen a topic to analyze, formulated a project, and I have begun to research said topic. I have found a mentor, Mrs. Thornton, who will help me in writing my and revising my scenes. I have also started to talk to my friends in the theater program in order to gain an idea of who would be willing to help out in the show. Today, I started writing my scenes. They seemed to be okay, but I'm not sure if any of them are funny enough yet. Of the ones I typed up, I would have to say the introduction to the Joe Biden musical number is probably my favorite. The biggest challenge is being relevent and funny. The world of politics moves so quickly that anything I write might become obsolete. For example, by the time my show is performed the election will have happened and such issues as the Tea Party and Christine O'Donnell might be a distant memory and therefore not as funny (which leads me to wonder whether or not I care more about the future of my country or my grade). Of course, I also have a variety of skits dealing with the 2008 election, but I believe that the themes explored in these scenes continue to remain relevent. For example, Bush's intelligence remains a point of contention, Joe Biden's ego is still a problem, and Sarah Palin is still a cultural icon/ laughing stock depending on who you talk talk to.

Time: 2 hours.

10/23/10 Sick. Really, really, sick. Tried to write some scenes, didn't get very far. I was able to write a short skit where Christine O'Donnell admits to going to Hogwarts, but that was pretty much it. I don't think that it's very funny, but I'm hopefull that it can be improved with a little bit of revision.

Time: 15 minutes

Journal Check #2

10/27/10 I met with my mentor, Mrs. Thornton, today in the school library. She read over what I had prepared so far, and offered me critques on how I should improve the scenes. She had a small concern about one scene that I had written, but after consulting with Mrs. Ward we determined that the scene would be appropriate if shown in the proper context. The scenes that I am writing are really coming along. Only have two more left, and I should be set. Now the process of casting the actors beginnings. I have already lined up Sean Vermiere to play Joe Biden, and I figure that I will play the role of George W. Bush / narrator, and I think Eliza Burkelbach could play either Sarah Palin or Christine O'Donnell. I should be able to cast the other roles within the next few weeks, and I hope to start rehearsals by the end of the month.

Time: 45 minutes.

Journal Check #3

11/15/10

Mrs. Thornton wasn't kidding; I do have a lot of grammar mistakes in my script. Well, I'm fixing them know, so hopefully I should this all resolved soon. I will admit I'm glad I chose this topic. I've learned a lot, and I don't think I've ever laughed so much while researching for a project. I also like the way my scenes are progressing. True, they're not SNL quality, but they've made the people who've read them laugh. I hope to start rehearsals the first or second week of December. The show will be performed in early January, and I should be all set to go by then. Times 45 minutes

11/21/10

Since movie marker just deleted most of my first research product and is not loading right now, I guess I should work on my scenes. I'm currently writing the final scene which deals with the origins of the tea party. The ending is pretty funny, but I'm not sure how to make the rest of the scene laughable. I also need to work on the the narration that will tie the scenes together. I'm meeting with my mentor on Wednesday, so I should get the okay to start casting the show immediately afterwards.

Please note. I have many journal entries that are not published on this wiki, but do exist in word document format. I will post these, but many contain major grammatical errors, so I proofread them and hopefully have them on the wiki by the end of the week. 12/22/10 Final Journal So far this year, I have been working on my scenes for the show. I finally have the script finalized and I have recently begun rehearsals. In casting the show I’m giving the more experienced actors larger parts, but I’m trying to ensure that the number of lines each person has to memorize is kept to a minimum, since many people are involved in both my show and the spring musical. The majority of my time up to right now has consisted of writing, revising, corrections, mentor feedback, and more corrections. Needless to say, I’m very glad to have the script done, and now I can focus primarily on the staging and blocking my show. I’m a little disappointed in myself that it took me so long to complete the script. I’m sorry to say that I had a fair amount of writer’s block while working on these scenes. In particular, the “Obama and I” song gave me a lot of trouble as I needed to find words that fit my purpose but also kept within the pacing of the song itself. In addition, it took me a while to correct all of the grammatical errors that I made. Nevertheless, I am confident that the numerous conferencing sessions with my mentor dealing with both content and grammar have helped this script grow into something that is good enough to be presented to the students of Springfield Township High School. We still have a lot of work to do in rehearsals, but I am confident that we will have everything read for the performance. I’m working with a very talented group of actors and actresses, and I am fortunate to have such a great cast. Today (12/22/10), we had our first major read-through of the entire show and everyone seemed really enthusiastic. As the rehearsals progress, I hope to work on their characters, and also get some good feedback on my portrayal of George W. Bush. For the next few rehearsals, I will focus on getting the blocking down for the scenes, and I will also work on memorization. I hope that everyone will have their parts memorized by the end of winter break, because as Mrs. Thornton says, “You cannot work on character with a script in your hands.” I have to admit that I am a little jealous of all of the people who have finished their projects by this point, but I know that I need to focus on my own project right now. It will get done as long as I work hard. I realize that this is supposed to be my final journal entry, but I think it would be best if I continued to update it regularly. There is still a good portion of my project that needs to be done, and I feel that it would be unwise to simply predict what will happen in this entry. In that respect, I will continue to update this journal until the day when my project is presented.