My babies' competition play made it to the State Finals! They placed second in the state for their one-act comedy, On The Verge. Way to go!! I am very proud of you!

Yay!! Are they happier to be at the State Finals or at Wendy's?

Like last year, I wrote quite a few of my students' bios for the program. And as promised, I have copied them below, with some non-essential details skipped (like most of the truth!). I tried to make things a little easier on myself this year by choosing clear themes for each bio. In case they aren't obvious, I included the themes at the end of each bio. :)

As a reminder of the protocol...

Here's what the kids filled out on the bio form:

Name:
Grade:
Number of Theatre Guild shows:
Name shows and how you were involved:

Here's what I answered for them:

Q1. What are you looking forward to most about being on competition?
Q2. What did you do to prepare for competition?
Q3. Anything else you would like people to know?

And here's how our student producer Jenny put them together:

Leslie: Leslie, a senior, has participated in thirteen TG productions including serving as the crew head of sets... For her third year on competition, Leslie looks forward to her triumphant return for the nail-biting conclusion to her competition trilogy. This time, we travel to her favorite time in history, the Old West. In preparation for competition she made time travel possible by inventing the flux capacitor; got committed, then commended; escaped Libyans; named her kids after her favorite author Jules Verne, got shot in the back over a matter of $70, and saved the world from an awful alternate 1985. Leslie would like to let you know that you can just call her Leslie �Doc� Brown.
(the Back To The Future movies)

Nick: This sophomore has worked for sets on five TG productions... For his second year on competition, Nick is looking forward to all of the competition adventures. Last year, on the bus, he bit into an apple and his front teeth fell out! He stood up to tell people, but didn�t want to interrupt the competition quiz (that he hadn�t studied for!). Then he realized that he wasn�t wearing any clothes, but before he could grab some, someone started chasing the bus! The bus went so fast that it missed a turn and started falling off a cliff! They were airborne for what felt like forever, but, right before they hit the ground, he woke up! Oh wait, I guess none of that actually happened. In order to prevent such an incident from happening again Nick has prepared himself by having a baby, flying, falling off a bed, fighting monsters, running without moving, yelling without sound, and sleeping a LOT.
(common dreams/nightmares)

Raye: This senior has worked for paint crew on nine TG productions including serving as crew head... Raye loves the thrill of competition. When she was at her old school, she competed with her school�s choir. Although they were super poor and her mom warned, �singing don�t pay the bills�, her conductor, Sister Mary Clarence led them to victory! Since her first year on competition, Raye has been spending her life living in a gangsta�s paradise and practicing ballet. However, she bombed her Julliard audition so she moved to downtown Chicago where she befriended some hip-hop dancers and with their help she was finally able to get some rhythm. Luckily she was able to avoid the gang violence in her area and get into Julliard with an original hip-hop-ballet dance!
(popular 1990s teen movies)

Elayne: Elayne, a sophomore, has worked diligently on paint crew... For her first year on competition, Elayne is really excited about learning unique ways to paint. She knew there were cooler ways to create texture besides using brushes and sponges. She was able to use feathers, puppy tails (on live dogs of course), lunchmeat, toads, used gum, and long beards to make new, exiting paint techniques. She also practiced body art, not like painting ON her body or tattoos, but WITH bodies. She knows painting with her elbows and toes isn�t the most efficient, but it�s so pretty! When she started using her new techniques people asked her, �Why would anyone paint a cat?� and she simply replied, �Why not?�
(simply paint craziness)

Kate: Kate is a senior who has been a part of nine TG productions. She has worked for props crew... as being the stage manager... For her third year on competition, Kate is looking forward to all the crazy competition shenanigans. For example, last year, when the company was doing �the walk� from their homeroom to the stage, Kate got distracted and followed a white rabbit down a rabbit hole! It�s okay though, the Cheshire cat gave her directions through the March Hare�s garden, and she got back with three minutes to spare! To prepare for this year Kate hung out with some of her friends from last year, like the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts. They did focus games like playing croquet with flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls. Kate wished they could have played forever, but the doorknob told them they had to wake up! In retrospect, Kate wonders: �What was in that mushroom the caterpillar gave me?�
(Alice in Wonderland)

Isabel: This sophomore has already participated in five TG productions. She worked on props crew... as well as performing in FutureStars 2008. In her first year on competition, Isabel is hoping to teach the company the wonders of recycling, like turning old newspapers into wrapping paper; making used bottles into flower vases; weaving human hair into tea cozies; creating home d�cor from belly-button lint; and making tasty snacks out of old car parts! The recycling possibilities are endless! In preparation for competition, she learned how to cook only organic food, created all new outfits out of discarded dental floss for her stuffed animals, and started driving a hybrid. Isabel�s personal motto remains �It�s not easy being green�.
(recycling)

Max: Max, a sophomore, has worked on sets crew for all of the five TG shows he has been a part of. Max is very excited about his first year on competition because he thinks it will be a great place to use his mad skillz: coincidentally, he has successfully hunted yetis for years, he recently got on the varsity umbrella-fencing team, he has won national awards for journal-writing, and he has accurately told fortunes for Obama, Britney Spears, and Bruce Wayne. Plus, he looks hott in a bustle. In order to prepare himself further, Max beat many eggs with various beaters, ate lots of Velveeta and Cool Whip, liked Ike, whacked the mighty Silurian, gave gerbils hot air balloon rides, and traveled back to 1955. In his words: �I am so happy to be a part of constipation!... I mean competition!�
(references from the play itself)

Iliana: Iliana is a senior who has worked on makeup crew and assistant stage managed... For her second year on competition she serves as a co-crew head and co-designer of makeup. Since everyone on competition takes it really seriously, Iliana has been trying to pursue serious pursuits like playing poker, burping the ABCs, covering her nose when she sneezes, growing her toenails long and strong, and listening to more Uncle Kracker. To prepare for this show she has started to swim through hoops, learned to speak "dolphin", researched marine biology, and bought a pet piranha. After all of that work she asks, "This play takes place underwater, right?" Iliana would like to remind all of you to make love, not Facebook profiles.
(randomness: non-serious underwater preparation)

Hannah: This junior has worked for paint crew... and also has acted. In this competition show, she is the assistant director and on paint crew. In addition to her many other talents, Hannah is also a wonderful limerick writer. Here, in her own words, are her experiences at TG:
I�m hoping to not get the flu/ Cause sneezing is all that I�ll do/ It could cause a big uproar/ If phlegm dripped on the floor/ Who�ll clean it? Oh, yeah, sets crew!
I always speak with such class/ Clever rhymes flow from this lass/ other peeps may get annoyed/ But my goal is not destroyed/ Those guys can just kiss my... feet!
(limericks)

Devin: Devin, a junior, has worked on sets crew for all of the seven TG productions he has been a part of... Devin is looking forward to him, his momma, and the crew hopping in a U-Haul van this year for competition and he can�t wait to take them back to the club (or Wendy�s, whenever). To prepare for his third year on competition, Devin thought about how we need to work harder to make it better, do it faster to make us stronger, more than ever, hour after hour, work is never over (until after States). As he told the crew, �What don�t kill me, can only make me stronger, I need you to hurry up now cause I can�t wait much longer! I know I got to be right now cause I can�t get much wronger (I�m never wrong!). Man, I�ve been waiting all night now (as in all year), that�s how long I�ve been on ya (to finish the set!)�. Now he ain�t saying she (sets crew) is a gold digga, though.
(Kanye West lyrics)

Emily: Emily is a junior who has acted in four TG productions... as well as being a member of our Comedy Troupe. For her second year on competition, Emily is very excited about finally getting a chance to show her imaginary friend, Miss Marvel, all about theater! Miss Marvel had been too busy touring the Sudan with her grunge all-tuba band to see Emily before, and she�s missed all the other shows for various reasons: once she had to �wash her hair�, once she �had a migraine�, and once she even got to the theater but her �friend called her with a big problem� and she had to go! What bad luck! Emily called Miss Marvel like 20 times to go over lines but her phone must be off because it would ring like once and go straight to voicemail. Weird. Emily would like to wish Miss Marvel good luck in her acrobatic air guitar competition next month!
(an imaginary friend who doesn't like her that much)

Ruby: Ruby, a junior, has participated in seven TG productions. Ruby has worked diligently for makeup crew... and the commanding stage manager of Miss Saigon. For her second year on competition, Ruby is looking forward to staying in a hotel-- it will be the first time in years she has slept in a room with less than six other people! In preparation for this show Ruby took a break from the constant �Summers Family Singers� rehearsals, and ran off to her family�s gazebo. While she was there, she met up with her secret boyfriend, a mailman, and they danced and sang in the rain! Ruby is very happy to have this opportunity to get away from her two younger brothers and four younger sisters who drive her crazy. Some other interesting facts about Ruby are that her step-mom used to be a nun and her boyfriend turned out to be a Nazi. Ruby would like to say, �So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good bye!"
(The Sound of Music)

Reid: Reid is a junior who has worked for lights crew on three TG productions... In his first year on competition, Reid is looking forward to change, to tax breaks for the middle class, to fixing health care instead of just talking about it, and to making history by becoming the first African American President. To prepare for competition, Reid chopped down a cherry tree, created the New Deal, led the union army to victory, got polio, dodged the draft, got stuck in a bathtub, fought at Tippecanoe, didn�t inhale, played football for U of M, got a cat named Socks, and negotiated the Louisiana Purchase. With his preparations complete Reid began to think profoundly, �Ask not what your Theatre Guild can do for you, ask what you can do for your Theatre Guild�.
(famous American presidential things)

Danica: This senior has worked on eleven shows for TG. In her third year on competition, Danica is on general crew. She has served as the assistant stage manager... and she has diligently worked on props crew... Danica would like you to know that she builds da setz. She makes da propz. She eats da cheezeburgers. She sets da trapz. She designz da graficz. She iz in control. And skillz? She gotz dem. To prepare for On the Verge, Danica ate many ice creamz. She likes chocklet ice creemz. Give her a reeson to eat da deelicius chockletz. She haz eatin lots b4. Danica would like to remind u that she iz in ur program. Makin u read.
(lol cats!)

I may be tapped out creatively. :) Luckily I have another year to come up with more ideas! Congratulations, everyone!