week 1

[stagemanagers]

[Well, all escape attempts have failed thus far. None of you have seen the Phantom since his brief appearance on Sunday, or heard from him at all. It looks like, for the time being, you’re all going to be stuck here.

You're free to continue exploring your surroundings to your hearts' content. The only real restriction on your movements is that the kitchen is closed between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. Better make sure to grab any midnight snacks you may want ahead of time. Also, remember to label any investigation toplevels!

The Merchandise Booth is now open for business as well! The Phantom hasn't deigned to explain how it works, but...well, some of you will start to find mysterious coins in your rooms, and the Booth's got a place to put coins. You'll figure it out.

Should you wish to engage more with your host, you're welcome to drop letters in the box office slot. There's no set way to converse verbally with him, and he's certainly not guaranteed to respond if you just yell at the walls - but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't listening. Just something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your first week, everyone.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with the Phantom. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

Comments

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Well! Yesterday was... a bit of a disaster, to be entirely honest. Finding out the trivia on her program might have been right after all? The discussions of losing time, of letters and secret passages? It's been a lot weighing down on Christine.

Enough that Christine doesn't. Actually feel like investigating today. Which is shocking, but she doesn't even put on her deerstalker cap today. Sorry, Steven, no good cop bad cop for today.

She does, however, notice that small pile of her coins on her dresser, and that does give her one avenue to check out that morning. You can find her at the merchandise booth, slipping in coin after coin.]

C'mon, big money, big money!

[And after she has her spoils? Well, she does what she does best.

Hanging outside the dance studio is a poster of some teenage heartthrob of some sort (wasn't he in some sort of... musical? About high school? Or in a high school? It's unclear.) and trailing from his mouth is a speech bubble. Written in bright, loopy cursive is the following:

ACTING LESSONS
IMPROVISATION, CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, AND MORE
DROP IN ANY TIME!

And inside the room is Christine. She's dressed... a bit oddly, with a pair of sparkly ruby slippers adorning her feet, an oversized Eminem t-shirt pulled on, and, uh, whatever this is wrapped around her waist as a makeshift skirt. And she's kicking her feet to a tune only she can hear.]

I love play rehearsal
If there isn't one here, then I'll make my own
Life is easy in rehearsal
I don't have to fret, about not going home...

They say that we're stuck here for all of our lives
But tears won't fall from my eyes
Helping others be happy is all I can do...

[She trails off and beams when she sees someone join her.]

Oh! Did you, did you see the sign? Oh my gosh, are you dropping in?

[Even if you stumbled in by accident, it may be hard to make an excuse now, with Christine's big eyes fixed on you like some overeager puppy.]

dance studio because of course

[isawallflower]

[ When you see a cardboard cutout of...someone with some kind of announcement written on him, you're going to take note. Riley's going to get some kind of workout in, because- well, that's what she does, she's going to keep herself in tip-top shape. But this? ]

Acting lessons? [ She almost asks who, but then her brain catches up with her. Oh, of course.

Well, even if she's not going to do anything, she can at least keep Christine company while doing some opening stretches. That's what she intends, until, well.

Until she catches Christine's little lament. ]

Oh, um.

[ She's rooted to the spot, like she's a kid with her hand caught in a cookie jar. The way her brows knit together and her lips scrunch up, that fades after a few small seconds, into a brilliant smile. ]

As a matter of fact, I am. You're the one offering lessons?

[madgiganticfeelings]

Yes! Yes, of course I am!

[I mean, really Riley, who else would it be? Christine is luckily oblivious enough to only notice her bright smile, and she claps her hands eagerly.]

Oh, I'm so excited! I thought maybe no one would want to show up at all, I mean, the poster was really the best I could do without materials, so...

[She jumps up to her feet and tugs Riley into the centre of the room.]

Okay, come in, come in! Do you want to start with a warm up?

[isawallflower]

Yes?

[ Riley knows what a warm up means in the cheerleading world. But in theater? ]

Confession, that time in middle school I mentioned, I...did not make it to the warm ups part, so I have nooo idea what we're supposed to be doing.

[ It doesn't feel good to admit that!!! But Riley swings her arms back and forth for a moment and then tries to make, like, eye contact. That's important in being confident!!! ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

It's totally fine! We can start with a physical warm up if you want. I usually just do some jumping jacks or burpies, something to get me moving!

[She is already doing some jumping jacks, counting them aloud enthusiastically.]

[isawallflower]

You don't do stretches or anything? [ But, she follows along, jumping jacks is a fine warm-up. ] Flexibility's probably more important in cheerleading than general acting.

[madgiganticfeelings]

You're right about that, but really, stretches are good for any physical activity, including acting! Probably should have started with that...

[Oh well! She counts out twenty, and then starts stretching her arms out. She's pretty sure Riley knows enough of this to follow along, at least.]

[isawallflower]

[ That she certainly does. It's a bit different from her usual routine, but she follows along well enough. And, she's practiced enough to keep up a conversation while warming up! ]

It's fine, everyone has different priorities in their workouts, after all. You are the teacher here, so. I'll listen!

[madgiganticfeelings]

Okay! So, now that we're warmed up... feet apart, hands on your diaphragm!

[She demonstrates by spreading her feet shoulderwidth apart, before placing her hands around her tummy.]

[isawallflower]

[ Following her lead! ]

Aaallright. Hands on diaphragm!

[madgiganticfeelings]

Okay! So now we'll start with some short sounds! Try to focus on speaking from your diaphragm and not from your chest. Feel how it pushes out when you project your voice! And on your mouth too, how they form the words! Just repeat after me!

[She starts going through one syllable sounds, mainly just a vowel with a consonent attached. "Ha, he, hi, ho, hu," and so on.]

[isawallflower]

[ For a moment she's confused, why sounds? But, it's...okay, it's for enunciation, probably, and projection. This she can do easily. Something quite familiar sets in (from fourth grade, with an encouraging arm around her shoulder as Riley stammers to her parents why she wants speech therapy) and she follows along easily. ]

[madgiganticfeelings]

[After a few minutes of that, Christine claps her hands.]

That was really good! After that, I usually recite tongue twisters. But we can skip over that if you want to get into the fun stuff!

[isawallflower]

[ It’s strange, Riley hasn’t needed to do any of this in years, but. It’s all very familiar and nice, almost. ]

What’s the, uh, fun stuff? The basics are always a fundamental, in anything, but... What kind of exercises are we talking about here?

[madgiganticfeelings]

I was thinking if you wanted, we could try some improvisation games? Those are fun. Oh, or just some character work, like I could give you a random name and job and you could make up personalities for that person. It'd, um, be a little easier if there were more people here, but we can make it work!

[isawallflower]

Improv? If everything's all written on a script, how would improvisation help? Aren't you supposed to stick to that?

[madgiganticfeelings]

[Oh, Riley, you sweet thing. Christine just shakes her head as she starts pacing around. She's gotta keep moving or the thoughts will stop!]

Well, number 1, we don't have a script, so we really don't have anything to stick to right now. And number 2, improvisation is a crucial skill for any actor! Sometimes your cast member will forget lines, and you'll have to help cover for them to get the scene back on track. Improv helps with that. Plus, it can really help with stage fright and stuff. If you've already performed with nothing to go off of, having a whole script to follow is easy!

[isawallflower]

[ Forget their lines... Oof. Riley gulps. ]

I...think this is why I never took with theater. I'm not really good at the whole...thinking on your feet in a social performative context thing, unless it's, you know. With pom-poms.

[madgiganticfeelings]

Hm... It sounds like you just need a little confidence boost! How about we do something familiar first? We could do a scene about cheerleaders at a competition?

[She will put those cheers she learned to good use!]

[isawallflower]

Oh! Um. [ Were she a self-aware girl, she might say that might get a bit too real. However, Riley is not a self-aware girl, so. ] Okay. Okay! Yeah, I can do that, I know that.

[ Psyching herself up, rubbing her hands together. ]

You, um. You want to set the scene, or...?

[madgiganticfeelings]

Oh! Of course! Just follow my lead!

[She takes a few deep breaths, and then after apparently centreing herself, turns back to Riley with a confident pose, hands on hips.]

So! Stacy, we meet again! Here to try to take my Pom Pom Queen crown again, are you?

[isawallflower]

[ Okay, Riley's got this!! .......She thinks, for half a second, because then she's looking utterly baffled at the concept of a Pom Pom Queen crown. She mouths the words, getting off to a shaky start. ]

You...don't know what you're talking about, uh, Diane! I'm just here to...do my best for my school!

[madgiganticfeelings]

Psh, don't make me laugh! We all know you were humiliated coming in as runner up last year! I heard you were working on a secret routine to crush me this year.

[Rule 1 of improv, Riley, just go along with it! Christine nods at her reassuringly to try to prompt her to go.]

[isawallflower]

[ Her amiable smile twitches and Riley takes a deep breath. ]

The past is the past. I don't need any special to do my best, because I have been doing my best. [ She stands a little taller. ] I've got my team behind me. What do you have?

[madgiganticfeelings]

Oh nothing at all... except this switch for the stage lights! What are you going to do if I turn out the lights on your performance?

[This is probably a little too evil genius for cheerleading, but oh well!]