Technically "reading period" starts after classes tomorrow, but having finished both my final non-final assignment and having performed Jersey Shore King Lear, it is finished. A few course evals remain to be done. Some quibbling about the Fertile Octogenarian, the Unborn Widow, and sexual harassment (just in time for Mardi Gras!!)...
Speaking of Mardi Gras, we got King Cake, beads and Mardi Gras cups (no mardi gras booze, aw shucks) in my transmission of wealth class. Wow, that cake is ... ummm... shocking. Anyways, we didn't have to "earn" our beads, although I may well-nearly have during our performance yesterday considering the guido-esque costumery and some of the more athletic moments of performance (eh, years of dancing and I'm immune).
Which transitions of course to... Lear! It happened!! It was kind of awesome:
I want to share photos with you, but the photographer has not released those quite yet - I suspect he is waiting until one of us runs for political office. Here's a self-portrait done hastily in the law school bathroom after putting finishing touches on my hair (as seen on facebook, yes - my apologies for being so derivative):
 | ||
| 'Delia, what's the Dealio? |
And for our single review other than students going "wow, dude, neat" and reaching for their coffees: Our professor commented afterward how impressed she was with how Shakespeare can be transposed in a perfectly believable and fitting way into this new context. She emphasized to the class in some detail that we did not in fact "coarse it up" as much as the student might think and in fact was startlingly true to the original play. (although considering our production came in under 40 minutes, while the original production tends to take... longer...I think we did change it a little bit)
But enough about acting, it really was all about the ensemble (not the cast, although they were fantastic - especially Lear who may have missed his calling by going into this law school nonsense). Amazingly even after a series of major purges, I had enough trashy detritus to form a passable costume. Bright purple dance pants tucked into my biggest baddest boots, a shirt I rarely wear and only with professional pants, and jewelry that has been very "me" but far too gaudy to wear in any real-life circumstance. And yes, in some sense, I have now willingly worn "leggings" in boots and I am ashamed of this, but it had to be done for the veracity of my role. Also, they aren't really leggings, since they flare out at the bottom into intricate hanging patterns, since they are salsa pants from a prior fashion lifetime) And sunglasses, of course. I even broke out a new pair of contacts for the occasion. Walking into the law school (we shall say nothing of getting onto the bus or going into the Burke cafe) was an interesting experience. Up there with my 1L halloween appearance as Jem of Jem and the holograms:
In the words of my muse for the occasion - Miss Marisa Tomei - yeah you blend... This was superior, however, because while my Jem costume was most obviously a costume, people couldn't quite figure out if I was in fact just that stylish. I remember a number of petrified "try not to look" stares when I first went into the Burke, that melted into a vast relief after I had sufficiently terrified (scratch that, was unrecognized by even after making eye contact, standing and waving) my boyfriend, and opted to take down my hair and scrub my face. A few people came up to me at that point and asked about my hairstyling tricks (foam curler under hair plus hair glue and anything is possible).
As always, the camera completely ignores the fact that I applied fifty tons of bronzer and was, in fact, the color of a dying tree at the time (at least on my face and neck and parts of my arm... my back was fairly beautifully a streaky white mess).
I consider the performance the pinnacle of my 3L year and quite possibly my law school career and will be including headshots from the production with my resume (thank god I already have a job).
No comments:
Post a Comment