A New Brain
Print This Post
Comment
Hey everybody,
I have some exciting news. I’ve been cast as the understudy to the Minister in William Finn’s “A New Brain”! This will be my Ithaca College Mainstage Debut, which is very exciting. I’m thrilled because this is the show I was hoping for, and I was not expecting to be cast. Kudos to the Ithaca College BFA class of 2012 however, we were cast in every show, and in many cases, in prominent roles. A New Brain is about Gordon Schwinn, a composer who hates his job as a writer for a children’s television show featuring an annoying frog, Mr Bungee. While at lunch with his agent Rhoda, he collapses and is rushed to the hospital where he finds out he has arteriovenous malformation and needs brain surgery. Surrounded by his lover Richard, his agent, his neurotic mother, a contemplative and insightful homeless lady, and a whole mess of doctors, nurses, (and the hospital minister) he attempts to recover from his predicament. The music is exciting, and the story touching, hilarious, and downright scary in some cases. For me, this is William Finn’s masterpiece, and I am so happy that I will get to be a part of it. The show previews on tuesday, march 24th, then opens thursday march 29th with a run through sunday april 4th. The show will be dark on monday March 30th. Please come see the show everyone (though do not expect to see me, as I am an understudy and will most likely not be on stage).
The show will be directed by Susannah Berryman, musically directed by Joel Gelpe, and choreographed by Adam Pelty. Tickets can be purchased from IthacaEvents.com.
This show will begin taking over my life for the next while, which is actually exciting because it means I can fall into some sort of normal rhythmic schedule. With Evil Dead last fall and all, that became less and less of a possibility. I’ve started on two general education classes which are amazingly interesting and I’m very excited to take them. One is Introduction to Logic which covers everything form symbolic logic to argumentative statements. The other class is called Foundations of Western Civilization. While I would like a class that goes a little more indepth, it nonetheless covers a lot of information which I’m interested in, and is a good followup to the overarching education I received on this subject from Waynflete. Beyond those things, there’s not all that much going on in my life.
I don’t mean to be sappy, but I’m really happy with the way things are going right now. There was a period where I was worried about this semester and how happy I would be this spring, however (and here’s the sappy part) as it says in A New Brain:
I feel so much spring within me
Blow, winds, blow;
Spring has just begun.
And something’s taken wing within me.
What was dark so long
Had felt like winter.
Finally there’s sun;
And so I sing
That I feel so much spring.
~Ned Donovan
