Follies

Follies is once again my life. Of course, this is complicated by puppy ownership (though simplified by not having to recruit-- first year 'DIP week' starts tomorrow!), but since he's allowed to come to Huntsman Hall, Follies has become his life as well. He has so much energy that we can walk two miles to school and he still runs around and plays with all the first year writers. He also barks audibly in the background of at least two of the videos we shot.

Being head writer is not nearly as much fun as being a writer. First of all, I have to be mean all the time. Ironically, I am so much nicer than last year's head writers it's ridiculous. However, when we're writing skits together as a group and a first year throws out an awful joke, I have to say no. At least one of the writers has told me he's terrified of me. Last year's head writers would look at you and say, "You're not funny." I say, "That's not really going to work." Still, I'm mean.

Second, I'm in charge (I have a co-head writer with whom I spend all my time/talk to about 50 times a day, so really the two of us are in charge). This means beyond coming up with funny ideas, we are responsible for scheduling, videos, slides, projectors and all of these other crazy elements that matter to the show.

Third, somehow we have to mediate disputes amongst the cast and make a lot more decisions regarding that arm of the production than in the past. Traditionally, the writers direct the show through the last few weeks, once the cast has assigned roles and learned everything. This year, due to fewer returning leaders on the cast side, we have been brought in earlier and more frequently to make a lot more decisions. We also feel responsibility to check in with the cast daily, which means attending a lot more rehearsals. I love theater, and I happen to love the show we wrote (we'll see what my friends think on February 8th!), but it's extremely time consuming and means I think of little else.

Strangely enough, this all means I am more on top of my schoolwork and have participated more in my classes than I have at the beginning of any quarter since I got here. This is because I know the next two weeks are going to be so crazy, I figure any time I have a chance to get a head start on reading/assignments, I had better do it. I also am trying to set a reputation as a strong class participant so when I am mute in the next three classes, the professor only remembers how assertive I was the first four weeks of the quarter.

Happy Thursday!