High School?

Ughh, I am now forced to face the beautiful and harsh reality that Junior High is almost over! I've been thinking about High School since, well, I don't really know when, but it's been a really long time. I saw my sister go through the whole ordeal/experience, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. There was times when everything was great and there wasn't a care in the world and then of course, with every rise there comes a fall; A.P courses, jerks, backstabbing friends, annoying teachers and nights of never ending homework. I'm not sure if everyone has the same experience, but I am kind of hoping that I do.

No, this doesn’t mean that I’m looking forward to crying into my pillow at night and feeling lost and without a place, but I have to get use to the reality that everything isn't butterflies and rainbows. The hard times, which I will inevitably go through, are going to shape me into whoever I'm going to be when I'm older. If that means that I'm going to have nights where I feel lonely and without a cause, then come at me bro. I'll probably forget what I just typed somewhere along the way, but I think the good that comes with High School will eventually overcome all the other not so fun times. I'll have nights where I'll dance away the night like a princess in my beautiful ball gown and days where it's sweat pants and t-shirts for this gal. Maybe when I’m just being me and not trying to impress anyone I’ll “find my place in the world”, I know very cliché. 

I've never really fit into one specific group, and I mean NEVER! Not in any place I’ve ever been: school, church, dance, and just about every other extracurricular activities, other than home of course (I know not an extracurricular) , it’s easy to fit in there. I've been titled as a nerd, I'm into theater, I've been a jerk, at one time a prep, a drama queen, and well, I've been placed into almost every group, except for popular, but I'm okay with that. I think that we all want to… no; I KNOW that all we ever want is to be accepted. Sometimes we do find that “perfect place” and at other times it seems so far away that it's nearly impossible to imagine. Maybe I’ll find out where I belong, and maybe I won’t, and that’s A-Okay with me, if I don’t find it, then I’ll just meet a heck load of people along the way. With “finding where I belong,” I’m sure to have a ton of weird stories to tell when I’m an old geezer!

I've been told that it seems like I have it all figured out, but honestly half of the time I just wing it, and that probably what I'm going to do in High School. I want to try new things, excluding drugs, alcohol and anything that goes against my moral code of course. I have to figure out what I want from life, how I'm going to get it and what I'm going to do once I've got it. 

 I know High School is known as a step towards adulthood, a place where we become independent and go through hard trials. I hope that the things that I'm expecting will come and that they will shape me into who I want to be. Maybe by the end I'll find my place in the crowd, or maybe I won't, but either way, I plan on enjoying the ride.

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Princess Academy book review

“Princess Academy,” really telling people that I read this book and that I ENJOYED it makes me sound like a ten year old, but the truth is the truth, and that would be that I loved it. The book is meant for children, but with that aside it still was interesting enough for me to keep reading it and the writing style really helped keep me interested. The book is easily relatable to my life, even if I don’t know a prince of any sort. To make my experience with this book even better, I really enjoyed the theme in the book, and how Shannon Hale’s writing style complemented the story line.

 When I think of children’s books I usually think of “The Magic Tree House”, but this one was far above the caliber of children’s books; it was intriguing. It was one that seemed to be a bit magical and yet somewhat realistic. The town its self is one that’s magical, or more what it’s built on; the stone can be used to message someone else from the village and only those from the village. There are of course problems that must be dealt with, but the way they’re managed is rather funny. From outsmarting the merchants, running from “headmistress,” not fitting into dresses, a tangle of goat; whatever the problem was it wasn’t dealt with in that “serious” tone that most writing in young adults is, that one that makes me want to roll around the ground laughing. The situations were things that could happen even now, and they’re not some weird supernatural stuff, but something that a real fourteen-year-old girl would deal with.

 The story was one that was still magical, but it wasn’t all fairies and pixy dust, our main character, Miri, had to figure things out on her own and do her best with what she had. Because of her small size she always felt a little bit like an outsider, even if it was in her own village. “Throwing herself into learning helped Miri ignore the painful chill of solitude around her,” is how it’s described in the book as Miri has no friends of her own, but just faces that are familiar. She tries to block her pain with something, in attempts to forget what is around her, but it never works; while deep in her studies she still feels empty, and remembers why she’s trying so hard to forget. Miri is basically just like any other teenage girl, she feels alone, and has that one boy that she’s always been crushing on, she says it as, "What should I say? That I like him so much it hurts?" This makes sense because I think that almost every teenage girl has felt that way at one point or another. The writing style is just phenomenal that it still feels like a children’s book without all the serious drama, but it’s enough to make me forget that it’s a child’s book.

 Miri was a character I could really relate to and so with that having been said, I loved the theme that came along with her story and the writing. Throughout her whole experience at the academy she thought of her family, and I think that shows a lot about her character. She values family, friends, loyalty and this built upon the theme that showed that home is where the heart is. It wasn’t just her family unit that she thought of, but the whole village was her family. She thought of how losing some of the girls would affect the rest of her “family.” I felt like I knew Miri by the end of the book, she was someone I would get along with and someone that I had to figure out. The whole storyline wasn’t laid out in front of me, but it was easy enough to follow.

 The book was overall one that I would like to shout about to the tree tops, it was such a good book that I don’t mind admitting that it’s a kid’s book. I kept getting reeled back in with something new that was going on, it was funny and enjoyable; it was more than I expected and I never once got bothered by the voice used. Nor was I bothered by the fictional aspect because there honestly wasn’t much of one, it was very relatable which only made me love Miri even more. The theme reflected what I think is important and I was pleased to see it shown in this book. This was most defiantly a book that I would read again and one that I will probably be talking about for sometime

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Stardust.... the musical

Sounds pretty lame, huh? Well you can't really say that because I spent three hours coming up with the whole thing for my theater class (which I'm not sure why I took, because I'm not into musical theater). It took me so long because of all the research I had to do for it, since I don't really go see musicals on Broadway (the rest of the class does), but I think I did pretty dang good for my first time writing a musical based on something (in this case a movie) that I love, so be nice.

Synopsis:

Tristan Thorn is the son of Dunstan Thorn and a captive princess by the name of Una. The couple met only one night and fell in love instantly. Unfortunately, when Tristan was born, she was not allowed to keep him and instead sent him to live with his father. She put in his basket a "Babylon candle" and a letter to Tristan explaining everything.

After this beginning scene (introduction) our story moves forward eighteen years to the not so baby Tristan who is now a young man, in love with the “prettiest” girl in town, Victoria in a small English town (Wall Village). He is desperate to bring her a newly fallen star by her birthday because if he can get it by then, she has agreed to marry him. He uses the candle, given to him by his mother, to fly to where the star landed, which is not in England but in a magical land called Stormhold. Tristan soon discovers that the star is not what he expected. The star is actually a beautiful, immortal and spirited woman named Yvaine. Even after he discovers this, Tristan is determined to marry Victoria, and that means he has to bring Yvaine, back. Tristan uses a silver chain that his father obtained while trying to free the princess to take Yvaine to England, promising to use the last of the magic candle to take her back to the sky afterwards.

However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. Yvaine is in terrible danger because the surviving sons, they kill each other in hopes of raising their chances of becoming king, of the King are looking for her because only the jewel that she wears can secure the throne for one of them. Septimus, one of the princes, later finds out that a star's heart grants immortality. Septimus wants to devour her heart so that he can rule the kingdom forever. On top of that, the three witches known as "The Lilim" Mormo, Empusa and the eldest and the most powerful, Lamia want the star’s heart because they can recover their beauty and eternal youth by devouring the star's heart.

As Tristan sets out to protect Yvaine and bring her back to Victoria at the other side of the wall his journey brings incredible encounters with the pirate Captain Shakespeare and a shady trader among others. Yvaine and Tristan fall in love - Yvaine confesses her feelings to Tristan after the witch, Ditchwater Sal, turns him into a mouse, Yvaine not realizing that he can still understand her.

After being changed back Tristan is too ditsy, and confused to continue the journey, and the two stop at an inn. Tristan tells Yvaine that he returns her love. While Yvaine sleeps, Tristan cuts a piece of her hair and goes back to England to tell Victoria that he no longer loves her. However when he tries to give Victoria the hair he finds that it has turned into stardust. He realizes that Yvaine cannot enter England and stay in human form and hurries back to the other side of the wall to find her. But he gets back too late, Una (Tristan’s mother) having seen Yvaine head towards the wall, races to warn her, that she will turn to dust once she passes the wall. Lamia, also heads towards the wall, and Una stops Yvaine just in time, but Ditchwater Sal, who's been keeping the princess captive, attacks her and drags her back to the cart. Lamia confronts Sal and kills her, which sets Una free. Yvaine and the Princess Una are both captured by Lamia and taken back to her castle, Yvaine is to be killed and the princess to be a servant.

Tristan meets Septimus at the castle, and they decide to attack the witches together. Septimus is about to attack Una when he sees that she is his sister, daughter of the King of Stormhold (the ghosts of the other six brothers are delighted to see her). Tristan, with the help of Septimus, manages to defeat Empusa, but Lamia kills Septimus.

Tristan is forced to fight the prince's animated corpse and the remaining witches alone. Tristan defeats Mormo and the animated corpse of Septimus, and then confronts Lamia in a battle. During the battle, Lamia nearly kills Tristan, but Yvaine, now knowing that Tristan really loves her, is able to unleash a powerful wave of light that disintegrates Lamia.

Tristan picks up the jewel that Yvaine has been wearing, the whole time. And it is restored to ruby red, Tristan becomes the next king of the land of Stormhold, with Yvaine at his side as queen. Una, Tristan's mother, was the king's daughter, making Tristan the last male heir. It is stated that the two will live forever since Yvaine "gave" him her heart when she fell in love with him. After several generations pass, the two lovers use another Babylon candle, a wedding gift from Una, to return to the sky, where they become twin stars. And they still live happily ever after.

Cast:

Yvaine: Bernadette Peters (Annie Get Your Gun) - Her facial features are soft and her voice can be very soft, as I imagine Yvaine’s would sound most of the time. 

Tristan: Darren Criss (Very Potter Musical, Glee)- I love him, he is of course attractive and he would, in my mind make a great Tristan because of his lovely voice and he can be really funny

Lamia: Sherie Rene Scott (Aida)- She looks the part, and can be lively and her voice is beautiful.

Septimus: Brain d’Arcy James (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)- His voice is gruff and powerful, and his demeanor is one that I could see fitting with a villain.

Una- Eden Espinosa (Wicked)- Her voice is soft and light, as I think Una’s would be humbled after years of working as a slave.

Guard: Donald O’Conner- He would be good at the fight scene, and I can see him as a crazy old man.

Stage:

            In this I would want the audience to be able to see the difference between the two worlds. Stormhold would be brighter and well, have a magical feel to it. While the city of wall would be very dull. Since there is a lot of magic, I would want something like in the “Lord of the Rings”, lots of Pyrotechnics and changing stages to show what is what; for example when they’re in the ship up in the air. I would want the levels to be seen, lightning, thunder, rain, the whole thing. For them to travel with the Babylon candle the stages would be extremely helpful. I would also like a scene similar to that of the one in “Tarzan”, where his parents are swirling around in the ocean; I want that to be in Septimus’s death scene (he drowns). There is a lot of animals in this one, so I would love real animals, if there was real Unicorns I would have one, but for now a horse with a fake horn will have to do.

Dance:

Choreographers- Jerome Robbins: in his time he did a lot of ballet, and I think that would be beautiful for the time in which Tristan and Yvaine finally light the Babylon candle and become stars. He also did contemporary dance, so that would be worked into Septimus’s death along with those of his brother’s. Some contemporary dance when the witches have flash backs to the deaths of past fallen stars. Also at the time of Una’s kidnapping, I think that would make for a good add in, along with her putting Tristan into the basket and making her way to the wall, so that he can live with his father.

Bob Fosse: He had an unmistakable jazz style and when I picture the witches I think of their songs as a bit more blues (sorry couldn’t think of a better word), and I think that with this they could work that in and also when they have flash backs to the past that could work.

Songs:

1.         Tristan’s Father sneaking into Stormhold, and meeting Una. Kind of upbeat because he’s being rebellious for the first time, and then he spots Una.

2.         Una giving Tristan up, and that of course would be a slow, sad song.

3.         Number one reprise, but slower, He’s remembering what it was like to meet Una.

4.         Tristan now is grown up, and is not fitting in, and has lost his job. He is singing about never being good enough for Victoria, and being a shop boy, so he is coming up with a plan to win her over.

5.         The king explains that he’s dying and the challenge for his children to become king.

6.         Tristan and Victoria at a picnic and they see the shooting star, Tristan vows to bring it back for her, and sings about all the other things he would do for her.

7.         Tristan finds Yvaine, and the witches are making a plan.

8.         Tristan and Yvaine are in the woods and Tristan goes off. Yvaine sings of home and Tristan is awakened by the stars telling him to save Yvaine.

9.         The witch has figured out where Yvaine is and has set up a trap. Yvaine gets reeled in and is just happy to be safe, and completely oblivious. One of the brothers comes for a room.

10.       Tristan and Yvaine are now in the sky and are mad at each other and are found by Captain Shakespeare, so are scared at the end.

11.       Lamia is Angry and is losing her beauty and is just withering away.

12.       Yvaine is falling in love with Tristan and is literally glowing. She sings to Captain about what to do.

13.       Tristan turned into a mouse and Yvaine sings to him about her love for him.

14.       Tristan makes is way to Victoria with the hair in hand, and finds in complete dismay that if Yvaine crosses she too will become dust. Yvaine sings about losing Tristan, she thinks he left her, and Una chases after her to warn her. The witches fight and taken as slaves and prisoners.

15.       Tristan has saved Yvaine and now they are safe together, so they go on their merry way.

16.       The two return to the sky with the help of the Babylon candle. 

Sorry for how long it is,

Drop of Water