The Wonderful World of Greg

The Wagon Wheel

2007-05-25T15:08:00.000-07:00

So here I am in Indiana now at the Wagon Wheel Theatre. Ironically though I work most of the day during my few hours off I find that I really have nothing to do. So may be I will be able to start blogging more. Work is great here, though its tough and long, i really enjoy it. The basic structure of the set for our first show, Cabaret, has gone up in only four days. My TD here, Don, is an alumnus of Western Illinois University, where I will be starting my masters program next fall. That has been really nice since he has been able to give me the inside scoop on the professors i will be dealing with. He also applied to be the TD at UWP two years ago, and was turned down because another professor's husband applied for the job as well. It was have saved a lot of heart ache, if he had been hired back then. He is a great guy as is all of the rest of the tech crew and actors here so it should be a very enjoyable summer. We work for thirteen days straight from 9 t0 noon then 1 to 5 and then 7 to 10. So like I said the days are long. I also got my grades today, 3 A's and 3 B's, meaning that I officially have my undergraduate degree. So that is a huge relief. That's about all that I have time for, i need to head back to work soon. Take Care.

Busy Busy Busy

2007-04-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

So I have just received a phone call offering me a summer job as the Master Electrician for the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw IN. The job starts the Monday after I am done with finals and goes up until three days before I begin classes at Western next fall. I am very excited about this job and the opportunities that it is going to open for me. Now I just need to find a place to live next fall.

Update

2007-02-25T17:21:00.000-08:00

So it is about time that I update my blog again. Nothing really special, life is extremely, I am currently taking a break from my senior seminar project that is due this wed. I have to give a 40 minute presentation on families and crime. Whats worse is that this is a seminar class for a major that I no longer plan to pursue. I have been officially accepted to Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL for their Master of Fine Arts program in lighting design. So I am quite excited for that. Well I am bothered to get bqack to work SO i GOTTA GO. lVOE YOU ALL.
Greg

Hello Again

2006-10-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well Since there has been pressure from certain family memebers to get back on here and blog again I suppose that I can find time to do it once in a while. I am sitting here at Molly's computer and it is approaching 12:30 AM, typical college life. Molly is sitting here studying Calc three in preparation for a big exam tomorrow. I promised her a back massage druing the 3 plus hours that this study session will endure. So I am on a union break right now and decided that it would be a good time to get back on the computer and blog. Things have been extremely busy recently ranging from a change in carreer(not major) and deciding to go to grad school next year. The idea is to get an MFA in scenic/lighting design and then get a job as a tech director at a college somewhere. Western Illinois University located in Peoria, IL is looking like my number one choice for grad school. So we will see what happens in the up and coming months. Theater is still a dominating factor in my life, I am currently the lighting designer for our fall production of "Savage Love" a collection of monologues dealing with love and the situations included with that. On top of that I am the sound designer for the fall musical production of "The Fantastics." Along with that I am also the sound designer for a production of "A Raisen in the Sun" being put on by GMETC at the Dubuque Grand Ole Opera House in February. I have numerous scenic design projects to get done for none other than my scenic design class, as well as the duties included in being president of a college theater organization. The most notable of these duties would be putting a together a budget last week of close to 20,000 dollars and then defending it in front of the SUFAC board. We'll find out on friday how much they will actually decided to give us. So you could say I am eating a breathing theater right now. Well I should get back to Molly like I promised and then head home at a somewhat reasonable hour. Sorry that this is so long, but there is a lot to cover when you haven't blogged for six months. And so I leave you. Goodnight.

Home again

2006-03-22T08:56:00.001-08:00

Well after a great spring break at home with mom and dad its back up to the frozen tundra. Monday was of many things the first day of spring yet our average daily temp has still been 35 degress. More importantly monday was my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday mom I love you. sorry that its a couple of days late I haven't gotten home before 10 PM yet this week otehr wise i would have called. Well its back intot he full swing of things with pirates and now much ado about nothing starting as well as alexander heading outin a few weeks so life is busy. More problems seem to come up every day in our theater department. Apparantly one of our directors who alos runs the shop decided that we didnt need our staircases anymore or the trap door platform specially cunsructed to fit into the floor of our theater. He did all of this with out consulting anyone when at the same time those stair cases were most likely going to be used in our upcomnig production of much ado about nothing so it will be very interesting to see what comes of this. Well other than the Phi Mu Alpha swing band dance this weekend and retreat out at bethel horizons thats it for now. It willbe interesting to see how all of this turns out.

Home again

2006-03-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

Monday

2006-02-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well it's monday. Ijust got done with an exam in Management Race and Gender a few hours ago. I think it went pretty well but we'll see. THis last weekend was men's choir tour. Thursday night's concert at St. Paul's Cathedral in Fon Du Lac was amazing. It was the most musical experience I've had since singing in the colluseum back in high school. Last night was RENT put on by the Broadway touring company, and wow it was the most technically advance show that i have ever seen. The lighting set up was phenomenal. So many differnet perspectives and viewpoints it was just amazing. The sound was loud and at times the balance of the band outweighed the singing from where i was sitting. It was opverall phenomenal however. Now its back to class two weeks before i go home for spring break which should be a lot of fun since molly and deven are coming with me. i'll post again when i can.

Here I sit

2006-02-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

Well here I am once again in Micro Comp Apps class. Once i said before an utter waste of my time. Nothing really new in my life since last week. Extremely busy between my oblifations as sound designer for of mice and men as well as my part in the show and bneing a pirate at the same time. Molly and i are great she does a really good job of keeping me on task and making sure that i get all of my work done on time. Found a place to live next year which will be nice. The rent is cheeper than the place i am living now so that will be very helpful. ANd we can have pets there so i may look into geting a kitten sometime this summer. Thats all for now. Have a great day.

Back again

2006-02-03T09:04:00.000-08:00

So here I am in my micro computer applications class. Which I have to take for my major and which I find also find an utter waste of time. Write now we are "learning" how to use Powerpoint, a program that I have been using for about 4 years now. When we are done with this we are going to move into learning how to use Word. So as I said an utter waste of time. I have realised now however that it is nice hour break during which I can start blogging again. So recently I have been extremely busy. I am currently in three different shows on stage. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. This show is an adaptation of a popular children's book and we will be taking this on the road in April to area grade schools. The perks of this is that I get 3 upper level cradits for participating. I am also playing the role of Candy in the show Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. We are going on stage with this in just two weeks. Candy is an old ranch hand who ironically is missing his right hand. We are performing this show in the Platteville municipal theater, which is a beautiful old theater that was built in the 1920's just before the stock market crash. The only problem is that the fly sytem in this theater has not been updated since it was built and so was recently condemned. However myself and 2 others are workign to run new ropes and fix any problems so that it will be workable again. This job is nto for those with a fear of heights. Its an 80 foot vertical climb up a ladder on to a platform of metal planks that allow you to easily see through the floor. Since all the lightbulbs except for one on the far side are burnt out we must work by flashlight while reaching around an I beam 80 feet in the air to restring the rigging. Before my mom freaks out though I must explain that we take all necesary precaution while doing this and face no real danger while up there except dust inhalation, which jsut makes for getting very dirty and sneezing occasionally. Beyond this show I am also playing a pirate in the Pirates of Penzance which goes on stage the last weekend of March in to April. So I am keeping busy with all of these shows and homework. I get all of this done with the help of the best girl in the world my girlfriend Molly who continues to amaze me everyday and keeps me motivated and on task and on time so that i can get everythign done that i need to.

update

2005-09-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

well i found out some good news tongiht i made the show pirates of penzance here at platteville its hte first musical that ive made here and interestingly enough i will be playing the same part that i did in the show in high school ill find out about the other two shows tomorrow so ill update then but for now im going to head downtown for a few drinks with some friends to celebrate my 21st birthday.

bad day

2005-09-14T16:52:00.000-07:00

well today was kind of a bad day. I'm not feeling the best and I had to drop my car off at the service station today so we'll see what happens with that. I also found out today that I didn't make it back into the top band this year, which I was kind of expecting since we have a lot of talented freshmen this year, but it still sucks. On the bright side I found out that Benjamin the orchestra director still wants me to be in the top orchestra so that will be fun.

Here again

2005-09-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Wow its been a long time but im really gonna try and keep things updated on here this year. Camp this summer was so much fun. I thank thank everyone there enough for the experience that they gave me. Working with the kids from this camp has also caused me to mature a lot and has greatly effected my view on inner city juveniles. Ill share the story of one of my best campers. Cody was an 8 year old kid in my teepee week 2. This kid has been dealt one of the worst hands in life imagineable. Two years ago he was living in California with his biological father after his mother died. His father has since been convicted of drug charges and sent to prison for no less than 20 years. Cody started smoking and drinking at age 7. Now that he has moved in with his aunt and uncle he has quit drinking and smoking, this kid has more reason than anyone i have ever met to be mad at God and the world and yet he was one of my most well behaved and positively motivated campers this summer. ITs kids like him that makes me so excited to be back next summer. Thats all for now I will post again soon.

Posting again

2005-04-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone
Sorry that it has been so long since i have posted anything on here. i have not had a free moment in the past 3 weeks. school is going good. I am currently doing hte one act play festival until sat which is a lot of fun. ill def be happy when it is done though. last weekend was mens choir tour which was awesome and htis coming weekend is wind ensemble tour. next friday uwm's mens choir is coming here to do a joint cocnert with us which will be really cool. well thats all for now. hopefully i will be posting agian soon.

Orchestra

2005-03-15T19:14:00.000-08:00

Today we had the day long workshop activity with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra(WYSO). It was awesome, I can't believe how talented these kids are for their age. It was just fun hanging out with them. The two girls that i got to know in the trumpet section made the insanely long practices go so much faster. They're both sophomores in high school and prolly at the talent level I was at in my senior year if not better, and this is only the second highest group from WYSO. One of the girls is already planning on heading to Platteville in three years for a degree in engineering. It was an awesome day and the concert went really well. Hopefully we will be able to do this again next year. Thats all for now.

Busy

2005-03-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

Wow its amazing how busy life can get. This past week has been nonstop action. One concert this alst week, and numerous practices for two cocnerts this week. Tuesday will be a lot of fun running a workshop/joint concert with the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra. Im also really looking forward to spring break after this week. I cant wait for the nice warm skies of Collierville, TN. Thats all for now. Take care.

Chapter 6

2005-03-05T00:07:00.000-08:00

So thursday night this week i was able to see the group Chapter 6 perform. They are an A Capella group from Illinois. What i was able to see of the show was awesome. I had to leave because of musical, but i had the privelege of hanging out with the members before their cocnert. Whats even better than them being a male a capella group is the fact that they are a christian group also. The guys were all really great and a few of them are Sinfonians ( fraternity brothers of mine) which is always cool. Oh and Lisa they are going to be at Concordia on the 16th of March so you gotta check them out then. If you want to learn more about the group check them out at Chapter-6.com

In the IML

2005-02-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

So here i am with an hour to kill between class and wind ensemble. So i decided i should blog something. But what to blog? I had a very uneventfull weekend filled with tech practice for Oklahoma, when i could have been up in MN with my nephews. Taht was kind of a bummer. This week is going to be entirely crazy with Oklahoma and a few cocnerts coming up soon. Other than that ive jstu been basically chilling. Im gonna help my friend pam set up her blog now so illc atch you later. Peace.

New Place

2005-02-24T07:19:00.000-08:00

Well it is oficial, i signed the lease yesterday so i will be moving into 440 west pine st next school year. It's an eight bedroom house that was completely remodeled 2 years ago. Before that it was my old fraternity house. I am moving in with a bunch of theater people that im good friends with so it shoudl work out nicely.

2005-02-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

Elijah

2005-02-23T12:22:00.000-08:00

Nathanael

2005-02-23T12:19:00.000-08:00

Here they are the best two nephews and niece in the world. Nathanael and Elijah I love you guys, and I wish i could come see you this weekend. Miss you all lots.

2005-02-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

These are the guys in my chapter from last year.

Auditions

2005-02-23T06:29:00.000-08:00

Last night I had auditions. First I one act auditions and jstu like last year it was the craziest diverse group of people you could imagine. First we did walks, I would have to say walking like a narcaleptic cheerleader was the best. Then each director had individuals act for their particular show. All in all i feel i did pretty well. I also had pioneer idol tryouts for the quartet i'm in. I don't think the competition is that stiff since we were off key through 90 percent of our song and still made it in. Oh and the pioneer men defeated river falls last night to move on in the onfereence tourney and eventually the NCAA tournament!!!!! Thats all for now Peace<><

long day

2005-02-21T22:14:00.000-08:00

Well today was a long day. I started out with a criminal investigation exam which went very well. After that it was just choir and correctional philosophy. Then wind ensemble. After that I had musical practice for four hours and then to the sweet heart ceremony for the fraternity. Congratulations to Andrea Askenson and thank you Aniela for the great year as our sweet heart.
You were a great sweet heart.

First Post

2005-02-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Hopefully this will help some of you keep up with my busy life.