Here are all my entries for June that were posted on my website. Enjoy the read. A lot of these are entries against Katie Stewart because she's a cofused little girl who decided to start her own theatre company and doesn't have a clue how to run it. Ah well, we all make mistakes right?

June 30

I just updated the site for the big JULY EDITION. I think I'm pretty happy with it. I made a few changes and so on and I dig it. My show is coming along smashingly well. I am in love with my cast! I really think I am! HAHAHA Jessica, Ariel, Daniel, and David are my core BFF's for the show. We hang out a lot and we go eat. Greg even comes with us. He's seriously the coolest freakin' director ever. He's got super long rock star hair and he's incredibly smart and articulate and I have such a respect for him. He works for the railroads too which is cooler than your job if you ask me.

Tonight is our preview and tomorrow is opening night, but in my world the first time you have an audience that's the opening night. I'm nervous, but totally confident in the show and in our performance. Our set is great and beautifully decorated - thank you very much, and those tree stumps...

I have to say that my cast makes me feel really good about myself because they all like me a whole bunch and think that I'm funny. What better high can you get from people thinking you're funny and wanting to hang out with you? I'm high on life and that's a nice change. My bio in the program is funny cause the last line is, "And thanks to Lexapro for EVERYTHING!" It's so true. Anti-depressants are fantastic! HAHAHA

I'm going home in 19 days and I can't wait! I have to really get crackin' on my curriculum for next year. Wow, this next school year is really sneakin' up on me. I love being a theatre teacher and I can't wait for a kick booty year come August 15th!! WOO HOO!!

Alrighty, it's 2:00pm and I've not done anything with this day and I really should be more productive. As just mentioned, I've got a lot of curriculum planning to do so I've got no excuses to sit at this computer any longer.

Until next time...


June 30 part 2

I just came across this interesting article written by Chris Page of the Arizona Tribune. Seems I'm not the only one with these feelings...And he writes for a newspaper, not just his own po-dunk website. In any case, enjoy the read.

Love's labor: A new Mesa theater struggles
By Chris Page
Get Out - May 19th

To say things haven�t been going well for Katherine Stewart�s first foray into running a theater would be an understatement.

Her debut production for Mesa-based Desert Rose Theatre, a �Romeo and Juliet� in February, suffered more tragedy behind the stage than on it.

During rehearsals, six actors left. One got a paying gig. One skipped too many rehearsals.

�Another gentleman,� Stewart says, �came in, took one look around and decided it was beneath him.�

A last-minute emergency forced Stewart herself � an Equity actress with credits at most of the Valley�s professional theaters � to perform as the friar, with script in hand.

Undeterred, Stewart is mounting her second production: Jean Anouilh�s Joan of Arc drama, �The Lark.�

But problems have continued to plague the playhouse.

She had to postpone the opening for a week when the lighting system broke. And because her volunteer cast has other obligations, she can do the production this weekend only, not the two-weekend run she�d hoped for.

Then there are the cockroaches. A husky one ventured out onto the stage during a rehearsal last week, sending several actresses running off the stage.

�If it�s not one thing, it�s another,� she says.
But the Mesa actress-turned-artistic director simply shrugs.

�It�s terrible,� she says, �but it�s funny.�

ON HER OWN

Located in a small storefront in a grungy strip mall on University Drive just west of Alma School Road, Desert Rose�s neighbors include an Avon distributor, a Peter Piper Pizza, a Hispanic mercado and several vacancies.

Stewart hasn't yet put up signage � unless fliers on the front doors count.

�We just turn on the lights,� she says, �and try to flag people down.�
It�s a storefront haunted by memories of the last theater company that tried to make a go there. The Ensemble Theatre put on �Romeo and Juliet� in 2003 and disbanded shortly thereafter.

Stewart, who says she financed the theater with temp jobs, inherited Ensemble�s antiquated lighting system and an equally out-of-date soda machine in the lobby. She and friends tore out the rest to build their own stage and seating for an audience of 50.

Stewart loves the space, she says, because of the intimacy it affords between the actors and their audience.

�We can tell secrets to them,� she says.

MADE FOR CLASSICS

Last month, Stewart performed �Henry V� for Southwest Shakespeare in the outdoor Mesa Amphitheatre. Over the past five years, she�s played to large audiences with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and Phoenix Theatre.

But like many actors, Stewart harbored a desire to create her own theater company.

�I guess I got tired of auditioning for the 11,000th production of whatever show that was being done in town,� she sighs. �There are all these great shows that nobody does.�

Classic theater is her passion. She says she was made for the classics � literally.

�I get sent out for (television) pilots and commercials, but people say I have a look for classic theater,� says Stewart, who won�t give her age, but is in her mid- to late 20s. �I look like a young English girl: Long hair, cheekbones. I don�t have a very contemporary look.�

It�s fitting, then, that Stewart�s playing Joan of Arc in Desert Rose�s current show, which she�s also directing. �The Lark�s� story centers on the trial of Jeanne d�Arc, the French heroine who, guided by God, led a fight against England�s siege of Orleans, only to be tried for heresy and burned at the stake.

A young woman with ambition in the face of huge obstacles? The comparison is hard to ignore.


June 29

How cool is life? Really, think about that for a minute. As I've said a million times everything happens for a reason, and I am awed at how things transpire sometimes. This is for you Desert Rose Theatre...

So Sunday was the load in for my show A Midsummer Night's Dream, and most of us were there and we're having a good time right? A few hours pass, we're all sweatin' and laughin' and workin' our butts off. THEN, Wes and I have a chat about me Assistant Directing for him for their next show, Macbeth. See, Wes is the Producing Artistic Director and founder of The Shakespeare Theatre, and our Puck in the show. We chat a bit about what happened with my unfortunate experience with DRT and he says to me that after ADing for him for one show I now can be put into the directing pool for any upcoming show. He goes on to support me in wanting to try my hand at directing and thinks that I'd be good at it after seeing my work as an actor.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! HA!

I am grateful for the opportunities that DRT has offered to me, especially getting to play the Nurse in R&J! That was one of my greatest challenges as an actor and to get to work with the incredibly talented Christina Stewart was a joy! We went on to do Curious Savage for the Hale Centre Theatre right after that - two shows in a row with her! AMAZING!! I loved doing the Cabaret for DRT, and getting to see The Lark. In my opinion, it was a great first season and I wish them all the best for their future. I honestly do.

Certain people are trying to stir stuff up between me and other members who have since left the company - but to no avail. Do you not realize that we talk to each other all the time? Anything you guys try to put against us or pin on us just points back to a certain head of a theatre who refuses to take any responsibility or blame for anything regarding the situations? I also heard a rumor that she's campaining against my website. HA! Wonder why? It says the truth of the matter without fluffing it all up and making it nicer than it was. I think she's nervous that I have people who regularly visit my site and is afraid that it's going to reflect badly on her company. Hmm, shouldn't we have thought about that BEFORE things went down? Like I said though, I'm not going to talk crap about them, I had a great run with them while it lasted and it ended badly. Moving on...

I'm so excited to be working with a new company and meeting new people and having a great time in a great show. I'm thrilled at the opportunities that await me there and I am hopeful for my future with the company. I am happy that my talents are recognized and supported and encouraged, and I can't wait to see what's up fate's sleeve next.

Until next time...

June 25

Here we are at the last day of the last performance of the last workshop. Wow, it's amazing to me how time truly flies. Is it just me? I mean, I was just finishing up the school year and trying to get to workshop on time and then BAM it's over.

In any case, my numbers are going smashingly well and I'm so excited for the kids! I'm still convinced I'm not coming back next year, but we'll see what happens come May. Allyson said, "But Jer, you'll be on meds for a whole year and in therapy too. See how you feel before you make any final decisions." I think she may be on to something. I really do love it and I really do love the kids. It's the stressful few days in the theatre and the ugly attitudes that surface during that time that I don't want to come back to. It's an amazing experience for me and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to do it, and when the kids perform so well and the audience hoots and hollars for them and they come off stage all jazzed it makes everything all worth it. See how torn I am? HA!

Anyway, it's now quarter to 5:00pm and I've done a whole lot of nothing with this day. I've watched a whole lot of television and I've showered, and other than that - nothing. It's been actually very nice. We don't have rehearsal today and we load in to the theatre tomorrow at 2:00pm. Monday we have a cue to cue and then Tuesday and Wednesday it's tech/dress rehearsals, Thursday is preview, Friday is opening night, and then we're off and running until the 16th. Two days later I'm on a plane and in my hometown for a week. Then I have a week off and then, August 1st I'm back in school until May 31st. WOW, this summer has really flown by.

Alrighty, must go now.

Until next time...

June 18

So I've gotten a lot of emails and people asking me, "Hey, why aren't you directing Lady W?" So to keep from having to tell the story over and over I thought I'd save myself a lot of time and effort and say, "Check out my site and you'll know." So, as promised here's the long and the short of it...

The Artistic Director called me up and said that we needed to have a meeting. So I went over to her house where she proceeded to give me a list of reasons as to why I'm too busy or too inexperienced and how she had been up all night worried about me and so forth, and therefore thought I shouldn't direct Lady W. She should've thought about all that BEFORE offering me the directing gig. So after three hours I left the meeting and that was that. It sucks because we have two totally different views of theatre and how it should or could be run. I am very positive and optimistic where she sees her company as "just a start up" that people won't support until it is in its fifth season. I say to heck with that and let's get it started now. So we just don't see eye to eye and it was causing tension.

I think I was fired because a situation regarding the audition announcement that was supposed to be sent out to Laura Durant didn't happen. I tried to correct the problem myself and then confronted the Artistic Director about it and that is what upset her and made the decision in her mind to let me go. My email was very nice, calm, and professional that basically said, "If you say you're going to commit to do something then please make sure you do it, and I hope you expect the same of me. Nobody is going to come to these auditions if they don't know about it. I don't have the time or energy to put into a show that is going to fail (again) and I know you don't want that to happen either...." Blah blah blah, long story short she called me and said, "We need to meet," and then three hours later she fired me. My feeling is that this email is what sealed my firing because I stood up to her, and for myself.

So, that's why I'm not directing. So I'm not going to talk crap about her or her company because I told her in my email that I would continue to speak highly of the company. I can say though, "If I were posed with the option to be in a show, or involved with the company I wouldn't do it. However, it's a great company to work for and that decision is fully up to you, but like I said, I would never do another thing there again. But that's just me." See, I spoke highly of the company.

It's just really unfortunate that things had to happen the way that they did, but I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I do wish her all the success in the world and I hope that her attitude about her company changes before it self-destructs on itself and the valley has yet another floundering theatre company. I just hope that there's a lesson learned through this process and that growth will come out of this situation for all involved. I hope that anyone reading this posting that hasn't seen a show at the Desert Rose will take the opportunity to see a show there before it's too late. I was in Romeo & Juliet there and in their first cabaret show, In the Mood for Love, and I was able to be in the audience for the season closer, The Lark which was great! I'm sad that the cast out numbered the audience that particular night I saw the show, but alas, that is what comes out of not publicizing your shows - or having a sign for that matter. Three shows have been done in a storefront theatre without any signage on the street or on the storefront itself. Many people have commented on how difficult it is to find the theatre, and a sign was even offered to the theatre for free, but it was turned down and was told, "We have a sign. It's been ordered and should be here any day." That was back in March. It's now the end of June and there still is no sign. If that were my theatre I would be on the horn demanding to know where the sign I ordered nearly four months ago was! But maybe that's just me.

Until next time...


June 10th, no wait, June 11th

For those of you who have visited my site in the past are probably wondering, "Hey! Where's the Monthly Recap page?" Well, I decided to ditch that and just go with a thought of the day/week/month blog type deal instead. Ya know, mix it up a bit. Keep it from getting stale. Anyway, here's what's going on in my world right now:

I began teaching Drama back at the end of February and it pretty much kicked my butt. I was super the most gladest on June 3rd to have the next two months off. BUT, do I take those beloved months off? NO! I decided to be a director for The Magic of Musical Theatre workshops over at MCC for the third year in a row. Now, this is a wonderful thing that MCC puts on for two sets of two weeks every June. It's for kids grades 5 - 10 who want to come sing and dance and put on a revue at the end of their two weeks. They love it, we love it, and it's incredibly insane with craziness and stress, but in the end it's all so worth it. This year I wasn't going to do it though because of the new teaching gig and the fact that I'm in rehearsals for A Midsummer Night's Dream down in Phoenix, and taking an internet class. So I thought, "Gosh, I'm going to be crazy busy and the last thing I need to be doing right now is the workshop so I think I'm not going to do it this year." Well, that lasted about two days and Allyson and Dana talked me into doing it. I've LOVED every minute of it and I'm so glad I'm doing it, but I really think that next year I've got to stick to my guns and focus on furthering my education and take the summer off. We'll see how that goes come next May.

Tonight was the first of two performances for the 1st workshop. Tomorrow night we have our second and final performance and then the super fun cast party at Jordan's house. His back yard is pretty much like Disneyland but like a water park version of it instead. It's just freakin' amazing and that's all I can say about it. Then, Monday starts workshop 2. Two more intense weeks and then DONE! Well, not really...

We finish with the kids workshops on Saturday the 25th and I go into tech for Midsummer that Monday the 27th, and I open that Friday, the 1st of July. I run for three weeks, and then it's off to Chicago to spend some Q.T. with my 89 year old Gramma. She's turning 90 the day after Christmas so we're all going back then to have a big party, but I need some alone time and some "get away all by myself" time right now so I'm going as soon as my show closes on the 17th. CAN'T WAIT! WOO HOO!

I'm super the most tiredest ever right now and it's 12:34am (FYI: my favorite time of day) and we have a workshop 2 meeting at 10:00am tomorrow morning, then it's off to rehearsal in Phoenix at 4:00pm and then back for the workshop performance at 6:30pm followed by the cast party and rehearsal Sunday morning. NOT FUN! But hey, I wouldn't give it up for the world. G'night friends. Chat with ya soon.

Until next time...

Written by Jere at 4:05 p.m.