“I love acting. It is so much more real than life.” - Oscar Wilde
by Jill Knetter on July 9th, 2008 • 2 Comments »
Whoa! Can you guys believe that Over the River and Through the Woods opens tomorrow?! I know I can’t!
Really, though. I feel like this show went so fast. What’s amazing to me is to see what it has become from where it started…it seems like only yesterday we were still stuck rehearsing in the board room (because Arsenic and Old Lace was in the rehearsal hall), and now suddenly we’re at Tango’s and tomorrow we open. Incredible. I’m so proud of everyone in the cast and the journey we’ve made together. As always, working with Andy has been a real pleasure - he has been the one to keep me anchored when my life has threatened to carry me away, and I would really like to thank him for that. It’s also been wonderful developing a new kind of friendship with people who knew me primarily in high school, like Scott and Denny. The look on their faces the first time I told a dirty joke…priceless. And Karen and Eric have just been amazing - I always knew them through their children.
I’m going to miss this show and this cast and this closeness, even though I already have another endeavor lined up (Sweeney Todd, here I come!). You can’t know what it’s like unless you’ve been there…the difference between a cast of 6 and a cast of 60. I’m just glad I got to have this small cast experience. I really am.
I suppose I don’t have much else to say tonight. I’m drowning in syrup from all that sticky sweetness anyway, but I meant every word of it. So in closing I want to say break a leg to my castmates…on with the show!
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by Jill Knetter on July 6th, 2008 • No Comments »
Sorry about the recent lack of update, friends. Not that many of you missed me too much I’m sure, but I apologize all the same :o)
So! Here we are. Tomorrow night is the first tech rehearsal of Over the River and Through the Woods. Are we ready? I think so. Everybody’s lines have been coming along much better. I’m confident that we’ll put on a great show for our adoring public (all three of them ; ) ). No, seriously, I hope we have a big turnout, because we have put a lot of work into this show and I think we all want to show it off just a little bit.
Another thing I neglected to do during this week was the Song of the Week™. So here it is! It’s called “Whoa Oh (Me vs. Everyone)”, and it is performed by a band called Forever the Sickest Kids. I’d never heard of them before, but I kind of like their style. They’re sort of an interesting mix of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco with just a hint of Relient K. Considering that I really like all those bands, I’d say that makes FtSK pretty good.
Outside of that stuff, I haven’t got a lot to tell you. Oh! If you’re looking for something to read, I highly highly highly recommend the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I started the soon-to-be-four-book series on Saturday of last week and finished the third book yesterday. The first book is called “Twilight”, the second is “New Moon”, and the third is “Eclipse”. They all make for an extremely entertaining read, as long as you aren’t opposed to things like vampires and werewolves (I know how lame that sounds, but I promise they’re really cool!). The fourth book, “Breaking Dawn” comes out on August 2nd…and it’s going to feel like forever.
I suppose that’s everything for now. I’ll try to be more prompt, but don’t count on me much this week…there’s a reason people call tech week “Hell Week”!
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by Jill Knetter on June 26th, 2008 • One Comment »
Here we are, as promised, with another Song of the Week™. Ok, that little ™ gets harder to do every time…I know which numbers I have to press, but I always have to guess on the order. Anyway! It is time. Drumroll, please! *drumrolls on the desk*
“I’m Ready” by Jack’s Mannequin. This song is exquisite. It was one of they songs they played when I saw them live in Oshkosh a few months ago (AMAZING!), and I just love it. You can hear it and see an accompanying vid of the lyrics here .
We had rehearsal tonight (very welcome after a long, sweltering day at work), a thing which we had not done on Thursdays until now. It was alright, but getting home at 11:00 was kind of a bummer. The show’s really shaping up, though, so it’s worth it I suppose. It was probably one of the best runs we’ve had, and I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made.
Ok, I was going to make this post more substantial than this, but I’m just too tired. Good night, all!
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by Jill Knetter on June 23rd, 2008 • No Comments »
…hmm…that may be this week’s Song of the Week™…
Anyhoo, it is Monday, and what a Monday it has been. I had my first day off in over a week (score!), and it was relatively relaxing. I made an attempt on my bedroom. It’s pretty packed with stuff that I’ve amassed over the years, so I’m trying to sort through and decide what to keep and what to ditch. My one big accomplishment came in the form of getting rid of 20-30 pairs of shoes that were in my closet. There were some I’d forgotten I had, and I hadn’t even looked at probably 80% of them in years. Amazing. I was so proud of myself that I called Ben (who is new here on CW, by the way) and we walked down to Main Street Soft Serve and got some ice cream. Then we went back to his house and swam in the pool. It was glorious.
Speaking of glorious, we had some nice weather this weekend! In particular I’m referring to Saturday’s weather. Well, I know most of you in Wausau got rained on, but over in Edgar it was sunny, warm, and very pleasant. That was great because a friend of mine (Ben’s sister) had her graduation party that day, and I’m really glad it didn’t get rained out. I didn’t get there until almost 8 that evening, but I had a fantastic time. I judged badminton, swam, ate grad party food (the best part!), and got to see a lot of old friends as well as make a few new ones.
Tonight at rehearsal we found out that, starting tomorrow night, every night is going to be a full run of the show (yikes!). I think it’ll be nice to get used to doing it all at once since we’ve only been doing one act a night. But this means that our performances are not far off. In fact, I think Eric (the assistant director) said we’ve got 8 rehearsals left at the WCT building, and after that it’s tech week at Tango’s. Time flies. I will be very sad to see the back of this show - I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this level of cast bonding before. It’s really been incredible.
This is where I leave you for tonight. Have a great week, everyone!
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by Jill Knetter on June 19th, 2008 • 3 Comments »
…for real. I think that, starting tonight, I will have a Song of the Week™ every Thursday. That’s really all this was for. And now for this week’s song!
“Into the Ocean” by Blue October. You can hear it and watch the video on here in all of its emo/punk glory, complete with guyliner, guyshadow, manscara and malepolish 
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by Jill Knetter on June 18th, 2008 • 3 Comments »
…Unusual, I know.
I’ve always kind of loved reading. And I think I figured something out today. Now, this might not be true of everyone, but I’ve found that my taste in books hasn’t changed much over the years. For example, when I was in the 4th grade, I read the book “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” and loved it. Eleven years later I went to Barnes and Noble and bought it. I’m currently in the process of re-reading it, and while it’s taking much less time than I recall, I still find it charming and captivating. I like when books do that. I guage how much I’m into a book by how long it takes me to get through it - the faster I’m through, the better I like it, because that means that I can’t stop reading it. Anybody else feel like that?
I think that once in a while it’s nice to go back to things you used to enjoy. The other day I got out some sidewalk chalk and drew all over my front walk with my cousin. And you know what? It’s still fun. I drew a crappy picture of a purple cat, and I proudly (and poorly) signed my name under it. There’s nothing like leaving colorful dust all over the front of your clothes when you brush your hands off. It was like being a kid again.
So I guess my whole point here is that it’s alright to just do something silly once in a while. In fact, it’s a great idea. It can help you unwind from a tough day or week at work and can remind you that you really don’t need much to be happy.
Enough about that. We had a great rehearsal tonight. The first run of Act 1 was finished in enough time for notes and then to run it again. I had a really long, terrible day at work, but ten minutes of rehearsal and it was miles away. I actually came down with an awful case of the giggles at a relatively serious point in the dialogue (not unlike Monday when I laughed while explaining that my grandparents had all died [that’s in the show, they haven’t really]), and had to step out into the hallway for a minute. The problem (I say that, but personally do not see it that way) is that Andy and I have a couple of jokes about those lines, and even if he says them exactly like he’s supposed to, all I can hear is “Caitlin…Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin…” or “Oooooooooh noooooo.” I know that doesn’t mean a lot to any of you, but I’m almost crying with laughter just thinking about it. So yeah, I felt much better by the end of the night, thanks to my castmates and some unintentionally hilarious dialogue.
Ahh, the theatre.
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by Jill Knetter on June 16th, 2008 • No Comments »
The Mamas and the Papas just say it so well…
Rehearsal tonight was enjoyable. We really missed Scott on Friday, and it was great to have him and his particular brand of humor back tonight. I’m getting a little better at not laughing on stage, but at least tonight I wasn’t the only one. It was a lot of “Oh crap, what do I say again?” and “Sorry, I just stomped all over your line.” But that is the beauty of starting to work off-book, n’est-ce pas? In the end we survived Act 1 and I am certainly looking forward to attempting Act 2 tomorrow night.
Over the weekend I became re-attached to one of my favorite PS2 games. It’s a one- to two-player adventure game (I’ll call it, for want of a better term) called Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. I’ve kind of been in love with it since I was in high school, and my older brother (my Gamestop connection) got me a used copy of it for my 19th birthday. I made Andy play it with me, and I remembered how fun it is. My brothers prefer the one-player mode, but I like the two-player co-op much better. At times it’s difficult to keep track of where you are, and as with any two-player co-op you have to stick relativey close together so that one person or the other doesn’t get stuck at the edge of the screen, but I think that’s part of the charm. A little teamwork never hurt anybody, right?
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by Jill Knetter on June 11th, 2008 • 3 Comments »
Ok! I’ve done some thinking on this and I have come up with a few more things I’ll be writing about in the future. In addition to theatre, I’ll probably mention things like Harry Potter, movies, music, and video games a lot. So there’s that, now if you don’t want to read about those things you know to avoid my blog 
We had rehearsal for “Over the River and Through the Woods” tonight. Did I mention that I’m in that show right now? Probably not. Well, I am, and we had rehearsal. The cast is only six people, so it’s easier to get to know everyone in the show well. I already knew just about everyone anyway, but in my other WCT experiences I was in shows with a whole mess of kids I went to high school with, along with Wausau high schoolers.
I’m the youngest person working on OTR/TTW, and it’s a totally different feeling. It’s kind of like the first time you’re allowed to sit at the adult table on Thanksgiving. Suddenly, I don’t have to censor myself (although we usually have a six- and eight-year-old running around). Not that I say a lot of inappropriate things, but I feel better knowing that I can. Finally I’m looked at as an adult rather than as one of the kids. I love that.
So yes, we had a wonderful rehearsal tonight. I had a lot of trouble keeping a straight face. You’d think that hearing these lines over and over for almost three weeks would sort of dull them for me, but with the cast we’ve got, they somehow manage to stay hilarious. Scott is particularly good at tweaking lines just enough so that everything he says sounds new. I am also constantly amazed at how perfect Andy’s role is for him. Honestly, it’s like the guy who wrote the show knew him and made the character for him. Denny and Nikki always crack me up, they make a great old married couple, and Karen just seems to get cuter every time we run the show.
All in all, I’d say this show is going to be fantastic, and you should all come see it.
But maybe I’m a little biased 
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by Jill Knetter on June 10th, 2008 • One Comment »
I think I’ll leave that generic title for this one, it suits me and is great for the first post. I’ve decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons:
1. I love to write.
2. It’s nice to feel like a part of something as great as Citizen Wausau.
3. Somebody’s got to let people know what the theatre community is up to!
Not that you all couldn’t find out for yourselves, I suppose. But like I said, writing is something I love to do, so this will be a fun way to communicate with a lot of new people.
Maybe I should start with a little info about myself. My name is Jill and I’m 20 years old. I’ve got three brothers, two cats, one goldfish, and more free time than I know what to do with. I’ve been involved with Wausau Community Theatre since I was 16. To date I have performed in three (soon to be four!) shows with them, been backstage on one, and have participated in the Audition Workshop (known lovingly to those involved as “Monologue Camp”) for four years, and I am hoping to make it five this year. Prior to that I was a part of five productions with the Central Wisconsin Children’s Theatre. I grew up and went to school in Edgar, particpating both in high school drama and forensics, and loved every minute of it.
So that’s little bit about me. Through this blog I hope to share my experiences at WCT with the general population, and eventually I will probably branch out into other topics. Feedback is always appreciated, and I’m always up for a chat. Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I hope to write again soon!
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