Finally, the 38th season of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival is completely open. It's been a whirlwind summer, and it's really nice to finally get to a place of reprieve now that all the shows are open. It's funny to think back on last summer and how busy I thought I was then. This season has definitely been packed full! It includes three mainstage shows:
Love's Labour's Lost - directed by Curt Tofteland
Q Gents - an adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona - written, directed, and performed by the Q Brothers
Richard II - directed by Robert Quinlan
There's also a 4th show on our indoor stage - Love's Labor's Won by Scott Kaiser, directed by Sara Becker - a continuation of LLL, taking on the stories of the 4 sets of lovers, Costard, and Jaquenetta.
Add in 5 green shows a week, Improvised Shakespeare Company every Saturday, and a theatre for young audiences version of As You Like It twice a week, and I think it's fair to say there's a lot happening at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival this summer.
I had someone ask me the other day how we did it all. I don't know the answer, but I know the smile on my face has an awful lot to do with the amazing people I get to work with. Rarely have I gotten to be part of a company who is just so darn happy to be doing what they love.
So that's the familiar - getting to be back with a company of people I love and respect, at one of my favorite places in the world.
The completely new comes in the 'what's next?' category (It's possible I've been watching a lot of West Wing).
In less than a month, I will be moving to Minnesota. This is interesting as I've never been to Minnesota before, so that will be an adventure in itself. I've been referring to my move as an expedition to the frigid North, while my PSM at ISF has been referring to it as 'the land of big coats.'
Also an adventure is, with one year of intense opera experience behind me, I was hired as an ASM for Minnesota Opera's 15-16 season. The fact that such a prestigious company took a chance on someone so new to the opera world is incredibly exciting...and a little scary. I've been trying to find the words to express how grateful I am for this chance to learn from such impressive experts, but I keep falling flat.
So, instead, I'm humming 'I Know Things Now' a lot and listening to music from our upcoming season as much as possible.
Also, there's a line from the Michelle Branch song 'Goodbye to You' that I can't seem to get out of my head as I look toward truly starting my career as a professional stage manger:
"It feels like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend."
Here we go.
Love's Labour's Lost - directed by Curt Tofteland
Q Gents - an adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona - written, directed, and performed by the Q Brothers
Richard II - directed by Robert Quinlan
There's also a 4th show on our indoor stage - Love's Labor's Won by Scott Kaiser, directed by Sara Becker - a continuation of LLL, taking on the stories of the 4 sets of lovers, Costard, and Jaquenetta.
Add in 5 green shows a week, Improvised Shakespeare Company every Saturday, and a theatre for young audiences version of As You Like It twice a week, and I think it's fair to say there's a lot happening at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival this summer.
I had someone ask me the other day how we did it all. I don't know the answer, but I know the smile on my face has an awful lot to do with the amazing people I get to work with. Rarely have I gotten to be part of a company who is just so darn happy to be doing what they love.
So that's the familiar - getting to be back with a company of people I love and respect, at one of my favorite places in the world.
The completely new comes in the 'what's next?' category (It's possible I've been watching a lot of West Wing).
In less than a month, I will be moving to Minnesota. This is interesting as I've never been to Minnesota before, so that will be an adventure in itself. I've been referring to my move as an expedition to the frigid North, while my PSM at ISF has been referring to it as 'the land of big coats.'
Also an adventure is, with one year of intense opera experience behind me, I was hired as an ASM for Minnesota Opera's 15-16 season. The fact that such a prestigious company took a chance on someone so new to the opera world is incredibly exciting...and a little scary. I've been trying to find the words to express how grateful I am for this chance to learn from such impressive experts, but I keep falling flat.
So, instead, I'm humming 'I Know Things Now' a lot and listening to music from our upcoming season as much as possible.
Also, there's a line from the Michelle Branch song 'Goodbye to You' that I can't seem to get out of my head as I look toward truly starting my career as a professional stage manger:
"It feels like I'm starting all over again
The last three years were just pretend."
Here we go.
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