If the only way you learn things about me is through this blog, then you probably won't know a crucial fact about me: I am semi-short. OK, so 5'3" is actually fairly average for a girl, but I have always felt short. Perhaps its because my best friend and my boyfriend are all 6 feet tall or taller. (Yeah, let's blame them.) Anyway, I've always wanted to be just a little bit taller than I am. This week, thanks to Eurydice rehearsals, I got to be a LOT taller. Yes, that's right, I walked on stilts. All by myself. I am quite proud! Also, I was more than 7 feet tall. Win, Eurydice rehearsals! This is reason #2,563 why I love working on this show.

It's also reason #2,563 why I admire actors. The two actors we have been stilt rehearsing with went up on the stilts for the first time two or three weeks ago, and can't have been walking on them for more than five of six rehearsals since then. Despite that, they're already pro stilt walkers. At last night's rehearsal, they were actually dancing on stilts. It's a little ridiculous, and totally cool.

There are a lot of totally cool things happening in Eurydice rehearsals, these days. We finished blocking the show last week, and since then we have been running it and tightening it up. Our awesome director, Wendy Dann, has been working with the actors on specific moments in the show, fine-tuning character choices and changing blocking just a bit in order to help the actors deal with our set, which is currently in the process of being built. The design departments (costumes, props, sound, lighting, scenic, etc.) are finishing up their side of things, all in preparation for the craziness that is tech week. Starting Monday, the chaos begins! It's going to be intense.

On the stage management side of things, my team is revving up our work effort and attempting to catch up on sleep before the big week starts. For my stage manager (Stephanie Jayko '11, who turns 20 next week - Happy Birthday in advance, Steph!), this means getting cue sheets from our sound and lighting designers (Professors Don Tindall and Steve TenEyck) and meetings galore. For the assistant stage managers (myself and Lindsay Ricketts, '11), this means helping Steph out and fine-tuning our own paperwork, all in preparation for next week.

Our designers and technicians are already hard at work in our performance space (the Clark Theatre), setting stuff up and getting ready for our first rehearsal in the space, which (:gasp:) happens Monday! I'm pysched to see everything come together, and I know you are too. I'll keep you updated!

Oh dear!

Because of a case of acute sciatica that has left him hospitalized in extreme pain, the Dan Deacon concert date this  Sunday 11/15 in Emerson Suites is being rescheduled.

Dan is currently receiving treatment, and is doing very well, but unsurprisingly isn't in any condition to play a concert.

All online ticket purchases will be honored on the rescheduled date (sometime in the beginning of the spring semester). Don't despair!

Forgot to pick up your tickets? Got a paper you have to write instead? Couldn't find a ride? Could find a ride but couldn't afford almost 3 bucks a gallon for gas? Found the ride AND the three bucks AND finished the paper early, only to discover the game is here and NOT in Cortland, and you could have easily found a ticket if only you'd tried?

Don't be so sad if you can't attend this year's Cortaca Jug game! There's much happening here in town that can satisfy your need for fun, shouting, and camaraderie. Here are 7 things to do with yourself, because lists of 10 are everywhere, and tend to make one listless after a while (hey hey, hee hee, ho ho).

1. See a show! With Dan Deacon (or not -- he canceled), Ani Difranco, and great shows all around the Commons, there's no reason to stay inside and mope about not being in a crowded awesome noisy place this weekend.
2. Go home, mooch your mom's cooking. If anyone says this is a lame alternative then they either haven't been eating the dining hall food long enough, or their mom isn't that good of a cook (sorry).
3. Stage your own football game. Play for rewards much more epic than a jug. You'll think of something. Please keep it legal.
4. Play a South Hill-wide game of Capture The Flag. Choose two friends' houses as bases. To make things lively, be creative with your choice of flags. Consider using a large ham, or perhaps a small classmate.
5. Take the bus to New York City. Discounted student bus rates, and even the busiest city block in Manhattan will be completely, mercifully devoid of people painted red and white and screaming at you about Cortland, yeah, wooo, arrgggh, blerrggch, mehhh...
6. See one of the great plays going on right here in Ithaca. Along with some amazing theater, you'll escape the weekend without a single fight song or monosyllabic chant stuck in your head (unless you see the Simpsons' production of A Streetcar Named Desire).
7. Play a game of Calvinball.

Between seeing Children of Eden and kicking it at the Wildfire Lounge (great soup by the way, ate there last night), senior Mike Grippi finds time to pronounce the word "Cortaca" in the most casually epic way.

It's that time of year on the Ithaca College campus -- the time when the number of theatre productions happening on campus start to overwhelm. Many a production has been in rehearsals for months now, and now that it's November and nearing the end of the semester (ok, that might be wishful thinking), production after production is opening and closing and wowing audiences. This weekend's student theatre offering was IC Triple Threat Theatre's Into the Woods.

I have a special fondness for Triple Threat. The organization, which puts on one musical a semester (and sometimes two!), was the first one I joined on campus, and I'm still a member of its board. While I'm not involved in any TTT productions this semester, I am always delighted to attend one and see how hard they've been working. And trust me, the Into the Woods cast and crew worked hard.

Into the Woods is one of my favorite shows, mostly because its music and lyrics are written by my absolute favorite composer/lyricist, Stephen Sondheim. This fact means, of course, that Into the Woods is not an easy show to do. The music is complicated (Sondheim is a fan of chaos and dissonance, and his music reflects that), the lyrics are clever and fast, and there are several storylines going on at once, although that's mostly thanks to James Lapine's book. Triple Threat's production, which was directed by Matt Timmons '11 and musical directed by Louis Hatzipetrakos '11, did an admirable job coping with those challenges.

The cast made me laugh, the music made me want to sing along (but not out loud), and the set painting (primarily by cast member Kristen Mixter '12) made me want to  go for a walk in the woods. My favorite moments in the show included senior Joe Roksandic's portrayal of the Cow, junior Katie Meister's Little Red, and freshman Nick Shuhan's Baker. Of course, I can't forget the Mysterious Man, played by Eric Hagreen '12, or the lovely voice of Rapunzel's Prince, played by Jordan Harris '13.

My fun fact about the show? Our College president, Tom Rochon, recorded the voice of the Giant. Schweet!