More Photos from Today!

Older than I am...
Hamish!
Guess who?! (It's Molly and Michelle.)

Actor playing member of the court flirting with Sabrina about chamber pots...
The ONE TIME Nick didn't have his horn and is allowed, even ENCOURAGED to use it!
We Will Rock You on the flaming bagpipe! Sorry about the ending...Jeff and I were mesmerized by the Spanish guy with a mullet trying to make dreadlocks...

Bus Tours, Coos and Gift Shops

This morning was a bit tough for the company. While we all had the great experience of seeing the Scottish countryside, we all found it tough to leave Edinburgh while there were still so many good shows to see.

We were met on the bus by the same Jersey tour guide from last week (!) and rolled out of the city of the bypass to travel to Sterling Castle. While many of the cast drifted back to sleep - it was 8 in the morning - our guide Davy put sentences together on the way to Sterling Castle. The hour drive took us through rainy Scotland, though everyone was equipped with rain gear. Davy told us how the castle recently underwent a £50 million restoration to make it look like it did exactly after completion. While it was still unbelieveably cool to climb into some of the smaller old spaces, the renovations seemed more cheesy than authentic. From the castle the William Wallace monument was visible in the mist. My family and I have an older picture from the top, though the stunning views promised by the guide book is replaced with a sheer white background.

Davy and driver George herded us back on the bus (after a gift shop, of course :) and brought us to Callander, a town about 75 minutes northwest of Edinburgh which. Built specifically for tourists in the late 1800s, we were encouraged to purchase our souvenirs, as they are cheaper there than on the Royal Mile. All my shopping was done there, and I got a nice sweater for myself for half-off! Isn't that interesting for you to read? Probably not.

Our next stop was five minutes down to road to see Hamish the friendly Highland cow. I kid you not. It was a cow, his mate and calf. That was 30 minutes, and another gift shop. (The video is not of someone we know. And she was fine. She's "used to it." ?????)

I still don't really know how the tour bus managed to meander up and down the narrow, windy roads, especially when we needed to pass another! Our fourth and final stop took us to the "Scottish Wool Centre" where there was a final gift shop, but also a cool Boarder Collie herding demonstration using ducks. And an owl. But not in the demonstration...there was an owl there...I'm very tired.

Our bus took us back to Edinburgh and after an hour nap on the coach, I was ready to see some shows! Our Papa John's pizza met us in the boy's dorm common room and then Jeff, James, Conor and ran to try to catch a show. Unfortunately, we didn't get to it in time, so James and Conor went to find a different show while Jeff and I wandered the Mile waiting for our show to begin. Both of the street performances involved fire - one was a fire breather, the other blew fire from his bagpipe, while playing. He was awesome!!

As Jeff and I walked back to go catch The Chronicles of Moonfish, we were offered half off or free tickets twice to the show! It always helps to scrounge for good deals on the street before buying. The show was a ridiculous sketch comedy duo whose jokes ranged from bald jokes in the beginning to a song about Chlamydia to their grand finale (their "Chorus Line moment") which involved me and Jeff getting up on stage, putting on wigs and singing a song about how all the world should be lesbians while in a kick line. Jeff and I have now performed at two venues. The show was beyond hysterical. Best comedy I've seen behind Hitler! The Musical.

We then met up with Stan, Jon and Mrs. Deana-Roga to watch the stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress, a current writer for 30 Rock and an ex-writer for Saturday Night Live. It was funny how he had to explain to the crowd what both of the shows were (Who doesn't know SNL?!). We sat, howling in laughter as he joked about how much he hates Edinburgh and doesn't understand the Fringe and his jokes about pickle juice and ham. We went up to him after and talked to him- he's a nice guy! Look him up on YouTube. He's good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBgoBjJkxfI

We're all excited for our FINAL SHOW tomorrow! It's weird that the process is finally going to be over after all this time. I can't believe we leave in less than 3 days. There's so much more that I want to see and see again, and I'll never have the time to fully explore the Fringe.

This is what the tour bus stopped for :)

Making sense of things

Cast A's last performance went very well! We all piled into the theater from outside in the rain, loaded in smoothly, gave a good final performance with a quieter audience and a silly young girl in the front row who laughed at almost everything, and we loaded out. I then went into town for lunch with Abby, Connor, Harold, Ron, Paul, and Thomas. Connor, Abby, and I shared our first (and probably last) portion of haggis. The whole company then went to see another high school production called Pippin. It didn't make much sense to me and I am grateful that we have a script to work with that does make sense, however queer, wild, and silly it may be. After Pippin the majority of the cast and crew went to see The Wheel. We all pre-ordered the tickets since the acclaimed National Theater of Scotland company at the "Traverse Theater which, annually offers some of the most exciting new work of the summer"* It messed with all of our minds and I am glad to say that after a long, exciting, great day, sleep has taken the better of me. Goodnight!

*http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/center-stage-at-edinburgh-fringe-two-new-works-from-the-national-theater-of-scotland/

Cast A's final run

Jeff, James, Hunt and I braved the pouring rain to hand out flyers. With a very late bus and horrendous weather, we only had about 5 minutes on the mile - that was fine, because the only other people were also handing out flyers! We made the 4 minute walk to Surgeon's Hall and met a soaking Abby, JVV and Nicole who were also advertising. We started shouting things like: "Come out of the rain!" and "We have a roof!" I think Jeff started telling people that we are a Grammy nominated production.

We finally moved inside and began loading in the set. I took tickets from a diverse and excited audience - a woman who was recruited by one of our parents, to performers who wanted to kill time before they had to go to their venue (who cares! they all paid :)

Cast A did well today! Nick Muoio brought a bible onstage for one final crack at Michelle's creepy #9, and no one broke from the surprise! Good for them. We had to kick people out who wanted to congratulate the cast so we could load out!

After a short afternoon back, we're now going to see another school's production of Pippin, and tonight we're going to the show The Wheel (I have no idea what it's about, but it's supposed to be good.

I need to get pictures from other people...

HI GRAM!

The European Premiere of Peter Powers

Cast B had its time to shine onstage today in our premiere! We arrived at the Surgeon's Hall venue in heavy rain, though no company member was deterred! We smiled as we heard stories of Conor and Dan running up to busses and slapping the wet flyers on the windows so they would stick. Our near flawless load in of the set - cleaning the house, hanging the blinds/AC unit, setting up the furniture and table props - gave us more confidence. As the rest of Cast B and I waited backstage, we heard the audience pour in. For an early morning show on a rainy day, 88 butts is great!! With the backing of a 4 star review, we headed on stage. Though we had some line problems, the show drew many laughs from the audience. Nick Muoio almost made everyone on stage break character when he "whispered" to Nicole's Russian after a rant "Go back to Nicaragua!" We'll be ready for you next time, Nick. And sorry, Sabrina, for slapping your ass. My character was in the moment.

From our performance, I loaded the bus back to Pollock Halls, changed and headed out to lunch with Abby, Nicole, and Hunt along with others. I ended up immensely enjoying my Subway sandwich in an ally to escape the downpour!

We then shared a taxi to Hitler! The Musical with Kalyn. Unfortunately, they were sold out, and only Abby, Nick Banks, Thomas and I had the pleasure of viewing one of the funniest shows I've seen. The show starred 14 women and one man who all worked as actors putting on an autobiographical musical, with direction, of course from Hitler (played by a woman). Whenever someone on stage was Hitler, they would put on the 'moustache' and do their bit, which ranged from Hitler's memories of his self-concious hairless, pre-pubecent self, to his rejection from Art School, to his rejection in the army. In the end, he couldn't remember anything that happened from around 1939-1946 (Weird, huh?). Turns out, before he killed himself, the Art School made a mistake, and he went on to paint the greatest works of art the world knows!

Abby then took me to a show called What it Feels Like, which involved a sub-concious journey through a man's mind after he has been involved in a car crash. Though I thought the writing was extremely poor, the two main actors were great.

Quick dinner back at Pollock Halls, and then we were off to the other side of town to see a South Carolina high school's production of "Leader of the Pack," a jukebox musical featuring pop songs from the 1960's. As a whole, we really enjoyed it, and it was a major change from the other shows we've seen. We shared a bus on the way back to Pollock Halls and gave them our flyers (which some of them left on the bus...)

OH! Earlier, I saw the actress from the show Bash handing out flyers for her show. Abby and I told her how much everyone was blown away by their show. She wanted a flyer to our show, also! It's really great how in this community of performers, everyone will take the time to come (or at least try) to see each other's shows. Lots of performers get in for free, which confirms that the Fringe festival is not about turning a profit (and most shows don't), but about sharing your love of theater and what you have to offer to the world.

I also recounted the entire trailer of The Rise of the Planet of the Apes for the bus as a warm up.

I think the other groups thought I was insane...

Military Tattoo and REVIEWS!!!

We had a good day today! Or a good afternoon. We started off the day by attending another school's show "Love's Wild Desire". That was..........

I then went to hand out more flyers on the Royal Mile with a few people before we hopped over to see a show at a Spaces venue (for free!) called "Henna Night", about a suicidal woman who meets the woman for who her ex boyfriend leaves her. The scales of the productions here amaze me - one of the two women was the one taking tickets! It was a very moving yet still lightly funny show.

at 5:50pm, our time on the Royal Mile stage came. Hunt and Julia started off their reenactment scene while a small crowd watch. Nick Muoio('s character) interrupted and started to get angry at everyone - he even yelled at a kid (in a good way). Meanwhile, Kalyn, Nick and I were planted inthe audience to heckle Nick. It got to the point where Kalyn and Nick took J and H's places. And somewhere in there, Sabrina exploded when Nick mentioned the "loosed gummed." We ended earlier than we thought, so Nick Banks lead us in an impromptu singing of "Seasons of Love," which went pretty well, actually!

After dinner on our own, we headed over to the cattle line that lead to the Military Tattoo. Though the average age was around 70, PDS nestled in and bundled up with the other ASHTF kids. It was an incredible show!! The music ranged from "God Save the Queen" to the "Harry Potter" theme song and "Ease on Down the Road" from the Wiz! The projections on the castle brought together the 400 year structure with a new performance. And the fireworks were cool, too! We fought through the crowds and arrived safely back at Pollock Halls.

REVIEWS CAME OUT!!! I'm happy with our 3/5 and THRILLED for our 4/5, which lots of professional shows can't say they have gotten. See what you think here: http://edfringereview.com/reviews/event/TjzyTEHMSkm6p3VzwwOIBg

and comment on their site if you disagree!!

MY FIRST SHOW TOMORROW AT 11:20!!

Today in Photos

Our preview for our show on the Royal Mile

The Tattoo fireworks

Double decker bus