Being in Charge

It's the final stretch of rehearsals before the performances of the One Acts on June 5th and things are wrapping up quite well.  Even though La Vie en Rose is right on track, the upcoming premiere has me anxious as well as excited, a combination of feelings that I have felt many times in my life.  In fact directing Rose has made me feel a wide variety of emotions ranging from dictatorial euphoria to executive nervousness.  This of course have been a result of me being in charge and responsible for the majority of decisions regarding the production.  Being in charge is not a position that I am used to being in very often, and though I may at first like the idea of leading people, it takes me a while to get over my initial nervousness to be successful.  This reminds me of a time in my life when I had the same feelings. 

Before I came to school at Oregon State I had the opportunity to be an assistant coach of a 7th grade football team.  Having never coached before all I had was my few years of experience as a player and the memories of all the coaches that I had during that time. I remembered my great coaches as well as the bad coaches, what they did that made them successful or unsuccessful and how it affected me and the other athletes that they led.  What my coaches did had a direct effect on what I did and it helped my success in turn.  With this knowledge I did my best to coach the 7th graders.  I was friendly let stern and kept up the enthusiasm while teaching the importance of discipline and hard work.  I will say I made a few mistakes, was maybe too harsh or maybe too easy sometimes, but overall it was an enjoyable and rewarding experience.  The team had a terrific winning season, and I was thanked and congratulated for my help with the team.

Directing has been the very similar to my time coaching the 7th graders, only this time it's my experiences with directors instead of coaches that is helping me.  Relying on the techniques and strategies of other directors has helped me discover and shape my own techniques and strategies for directing.  It hasn't been easy, and like coaching I will admit that I've made a few mistakes and had some obstacles along the way.  The amount work that has to go into scheduling has been an real eye opener and positions are much easier to replace in football when someone gets hurt.  Lessons have been learned by these trials though, and they will help make me a better director in the future if I chose to direct other shows. Taking part of this new experience like coaching has been rewarding and I'm confident that the production of La Vie en Rose is also on it's way to a winning season.