"Henry IV" and "Henry V"

Meredith Parks, a junior dramatic art major, has been doing theater for a long time.  But she’s always been on stage, not off it.

That changed last week when Parks began working as a crew member for PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of “Henry IV.”  “Henry IV,” which runs Jan. 28 to March 4 in rotating repertory with “Henry V,” is Parks’ first experience working behind the scenes of a professional production.

“I’ve acted for a long time, but my crew experience was pretty limited,” Parks said.  “Crewing with PlayMakers has helped me to realize that there’s so much more that goes into a production than what’s on stage.”

The Department of Dramatic Art requires all undergraduate dramatic art majors to take a practicum in production with PlayMakers Repertory Company in costuming, scenery, lighting or sound.  The goal is to give dramatic art majors an appreciation and understanding of the functions of a crew member of a professional theatrical production.  

But most students dread the PlayMakers practicum because of the extreme time commitment it requires, Parks said.

“At first, I was very skeptical and apprehensive about it,” Parks said.  “But now I’m starting to see that the practicum is a really good experience for those interested in doing theater after graduation.”

Parks said she has enjoyed being a crew member because she’s been able to get to know a lot of the actors and the stage manager of the production.  Parks said her first few days as a crew member were hectic because she had a lot to learn, but now she’s starting to have fun being on the crew.

That's a good thing because the time commitment for “Henry IV” is especially great, given the show’s long running time, Parks said.

“'Henry IV' is super long,” Parks said.  “The directors have made a lot of cuts to the show to shorten it, but it’s still three and a half hours long.  It has two intermissions.”

Despite the length of the production, Parks said she thinks audiences will be engaged and attentive throughout.

“I think that audiences will really enjoy it,” Parks said.  “It’s going to be a really fun show to watch.  There’s a lot of comedy, a lot of action and a lot of drama.”

“Henry IV” is a coming-of-age tale of Prince Hal’s rise to power as King Henry V.  The play leads into “Henry V,” which takes place almost a decade after “Henry IV.”  Parks said the plays are not usually performed together.

“’Henry V’ is a totally separate show, so it’s really unusual that they’re performing them at the same time.” 

Parks will be a PlayMakers crew member until the production closes in March.  She said she has already learned a lot, and she expects to learn more. 

“It’s been a great learning experience,” Parks said.  “And it’s a stepping stone for realizing what my career could be like if I continue to do theater after graduation.” 

"Henry IV" and "Henry V" will run until March 4 in rotating repertory in the Paul Green Theatre.  Shows are at 7:30 p.m with additional 2 p.m. weekend matinees. For a complete calendar of show times, refer to the PlayMakers calendar. 

Tickets range from $10 to $45.  To purchase tickets, call PlayMakers' box office at (919) 962-7529, or visit the PlayMakers website.

Entertainment Sites

Here are five entertainment and celebrity news sites that I frequent.  Check them out!

Variety

Variety, as its twitter bio states, has been the premiere source of entertainment news since 1905.  It is my go-to site for film, television and music news.  The site lists the weekend’s top box office successes, most-viewed T.V. shows and top songs and albums of the day.  It also provides international entertainment news.  Variety keeps me updated on entertainment all over the world, not just in the United States.  For that reason, it is one of my most frequented entertainment news sites.

New York Magazine

If I could work for any magazine, it would be New York Magazine.  I love the accessibility of its website, the boldness of the writing and its devotion to all things culture: restaurants, entertainment, fashion, etc.  Its subsection "Vulture" is my favorite part of the magazine's website.  Vulture has the most relevant news, interviews and videos of the week’s top entertainment and cultural events. 

The New York Times

I read the the New York Times for both entertainment and non-entertainment news.  I feel confident knowing the information I read on its website is credible and accurate.  The theater and film reviews are sophisticated and stylish and the critics present professional, knowledgeable opinions.  I aim to model many of my film and theater reviews after the New York Times' reviews.  A.O. Scott is my favorite movie critic on the website.  His writing is sharp, witty and well paced.  You can see his review of The Descendants, which I critiqued in my last post, right here: 

The Descendants Movie Review

E! Online

Alright, so this one is a little embarrassing.  E! Online is what many would call a “trashy” Hollywood gossip site, and they wouldn't necessarily be wrong.  Reading celeb gossip is a guilty pleasure of mine, but E! Online isn’t a mere gossip site.  Its movie reviews, though not to be thought of as exceptional pieces of writing by any means, are blunt and to the point, without all the beating around the bush that the The New York Times or New York Magazine’s reviews tend to have.  Its reviews reflect more of what the average moviegoer wants to see in a film.  I appreciate E! Online’s candor, even if its site is peppered with silly who’s dating who info or “PDA of the day” nonsense.

Playbill

And last, but certainly not least, there is playbill.com.  Playbill.com is my go-to theater site.  It has the latest information on up-and-coming plays, musicals and other performance events.  It covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, Regional/Tours, and International theater and has links to buy tickets to shows near you.  It has photo features and interviews with playwrights, directors and actors and, not to mention, also lists a lot of great entertainment jobs and internships in New York City that I plan on applying for!  

Clooney-Packed Weekend

This weekend I saw a lot of George Clooney.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you.  I could stand to see Clooney multiple times a day, let alone multiple times a weekend.  It’d be nice if “seeing him” didn’t mean on the TV screen or in the cinema, though.  Alas, we can’t always get what we want. 

I saw the Ides of March, which Clooney directed, co-wrote and acted in alongside Ryan Gosling (another actor I’m always up for seeing).  As expected, Clooney’s acting was great, but I was surprisingly impressed with his directing, as well. 

The movie is a dark look at the political campaign process.  Clooney, who plays presidential candidate Mike Morris, is his usual charismatic self in the flick.  His effortless and natural charm makes him compelling to watch.  Many times throughout the film I caught myself wishing that Clooney’s Morris was a real-life presidential candidate.  Maybe Clooney should run for president?  He'd have my vote.

Despite the film's somewhat complicated subject matter, Clooney’s directing made the film easy to follow, even for those of us not particularly up-to-speed on the presidential campaign process.  The shots were clean, the acting was sound and the film’s message: the futility of honest ideals in a corrupt political landscape was sophisticatedly conveyed.

I also saw The Descendants, which Clooney starred in. Clooney plays Matt King, a wealthy Hawaiian landowner whose wife falls into a coma after being in a boating accident.  With his wife in the hospital, King must forfeit his “backup parent” status and reconnect with his daughters.  Things get even more complicated when King discovers his wife had been cheating on him and he, with kids in tow, tries to locate her lover.

The film is wonderful.  It is heartfelt without being sentimental, and funny without making a mockery of its subject matter (I mean, it’s about a woman in a coma, for goodness sake).  Writer-director Alexander Payne did a fantastic job.  And his casting was spot-on. Case in point: George Clooney as Matt King.

Clooney's King is a man filled with regret who lives life with his guard up, never allowing anyone to get too close to him.  It's a role we're not accustomed to seeing Clooney in.  But it works.  He makes King likable, despite his cynical personality, and funny, despite his tragic circumstances.  Though I was initially surprised by the casting, after seeing the film I couldn't see anyone else in the role. 

Oh, and in case I forgot to mention: Clooney got a Golden Globe for his performance.  He's a winner.  And so is the film.  You should probably go see it.

About the Blog

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” –Henry Miller

My directing professor, Scott Ripley, read this quote in class yesterday.  It got me to thinking: am I living aware?  And to my utmost potential?  Am I living purposefully?

This blog will help me explore those questions.  I’ll use it to assess the discoveries I make day-by-day in my acting and directing classes, singing lessons, and play rehearsals.  I will use it to chart the progress I make in preparing myself for my future artistic career in Los Angeles or New York City.

Also, this blog will function as a medium for expressing my thoughts on recent plays I've seen and films I've watched.  I'll include my observations and critiques on actors' performances, directorial choices, themes, imagery, quality of the sound and lighting design, etc.

The purpose of my blog is to connect my real-life artistic experiences to the observations I make in watching professional theater and film.

I presume my blog will be most interesting to theater and/or film enthusiasts, but will try to make it interesting to non-theater/film addicts, as well.  My hope is to give artists and non-artists alike a new appreciation for theater and film.  And to learn a lot, myself, along the way.   

My aim this semester is to be more aware: to be more aware of myself, of my potential, of my strengths and limitations.  Also, I aim to be more aware of the industries I hope to break into.  By critiquing professional work and assessing how it relates to my own, I'm hopeful that this blog will help me as I grow as an artist and as a theater and film connoisseur. 

Where It All Began

Hi!

My name is Melanie Johnson.  I’m a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill, double-majoring in dramatic art and reporting.  I'm originally from Chicago, Illinois but have lived all over the world, including Le Havre, France; Wimbledon, England; Houston, Texas; and Lake Norman, North Carolina. 

While living in England, I was bit by the theater bug.  I was seven and was the star of the school play.  Stepping off the stage in my elephant costume (yes, the star of the play was an elephant), I knew that I was born to act.  I fully believed that I was destined for super-stardom.  After telling my mother of my newfound ambition, she signed me up for a weekly theater, dance and music class.  Those classes confirmed my passion for performing.  I was smitten.

13 years later, things haven’t changed much.  My parents thought the “acting thing” was just a phase that would eventually pass, but needless to say, I’m still adamant about pursuing my dream of acting as a career.  I’ve acted in several productions here at Chapel Hill, my favorite being “Three Days of Rain,” a play by Richard Greenberg that I performed in last August.  I’m actively involved in LAB! Theatre, the undergraduate theater group on campus, and am a recurring character on “Above the Fold,” an online student television show. 

After graduating college, I plan on taking a leap of faith and moving to New York City or Los Angeles to pursue my dream.  Who knows where I’ll end up, but that girl in the elephant costume was right: I was born to be an actress.  Whether I’m destined for stardom, we'll just have to see.