Week 27 and 28 (April 18-24; April 25-May 1, 2016)

Juilliard Gala 2016: A Midsummer Night's Dream

With Phillipa Soo (Hamilton, Drama Group 41)

Participating in the Juilliard Gala was one of the coolest experiences I've had in my first year. I did not know how much of a big deal it was until I went to the rehearsal the day before. Three of us from the Drama Division were selected to escort three Drama Division alumni who were participants of the Gala event. I was lucky enough to be Phillipa Soo's (Group 41, Hamilton) student "fairy" for the event. Two of my colleagues were assigned to Gabriel Ebert (Group 38) and Nick Choksi (Group 39).
The opportunities that this school gives to its students is astounding. One key moment of the evening for me was escorting Phillipa Soo with Steven Pasquale towards the David Geffen Hall "blue carpet" and then seeing Laura Linney (Group 19) right in front of us followed by Jim Houghton (Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division) and his wife Joyce. They were all very kind not in an affected way that could sometimes plague such events but in a genuine way that made me feel part of the community. I remember looking around me and thinking, "this is the best."

Pecong Showings

Group 48 in Pecong with director Trazana Beverly

We are finally done with our last play for our first year! We performed "Pecong," an adaptation of Euripides' Medea set in a fictional Caribbean island by playwright Steve Carter. We all played several roles and incorporated Caribbean dialects from several Caribbean islands. It was crazy but we got through it.
We've got two weeks of classes left and then we're off for the summer!