Open Rehearsal: The Court Theatre Blog
September 27, 2011
What’s the Haps: the O Week edition
“The Freshmen are coming, the Freshmen are coming!!!” the echoing cry resounded through the empty corridors, tree-lined pathways, and buzzing inboxes on campus for weeks until finally, one unassuming Monday in September, they arrived. They came in groups, they came with families, and some of them even came from distant, far-off places. Only one thing was certain: they were here and they wanted posters.
Ok, so it wasn’t really that dramatic, but I do enjoy throwing in a little fiction to spice things up.
Anyway, “O-Week,” also known as the University of Chicago’s Freshman Orientation, went down last week and of course Court Theatre had to join in the fun. We participated in an event hosted at the Smart Museum on Friday from 9:00-10:30 (I had forgotten that 9:00 is not considered “early” for students fresh out of high school.They will soon learn the truth.) We had season magnets, Spunk posters, and totally rad temporary tattoos—basically all the SWAG one could ever need. And, of course, I used treasures I found in our props storage last Thursday along with a borrowed dress form and costume from the costume shop to make our display look, well, awesome.The costume was a gown from Court’s production of Orlando; strangely, it matched the decor of the Smart Museum lobby and, even more strangely, it may or may not have fit me perfectly….but don’t tell anyone I said that.
As I watched all of the new freshman file into the Smart Museum lobby, munching on donuts and drinking coffee, I started to feel a little sentimental thinking about my own college experience. As a student in the arts I kept incredibly busy, yet somehow I still missed out on some amazing opportunities. I remember feeling like I didn’t have time to go see theater because I was studying it. I remember feeling like visiting the art museum on campus was just too much of an investment….and it was free. It sounds a little cheesy, but I really hope these kids heard us when we invited them to drop by the theater and see a show. I really hope they know how lucky they are.
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