[Note: This week, two writer-directors and three cast members will give us a backstage look at the making of Uni's annual Student Productions. This year's StudProd features four plays to be performed 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the North Attic Playhouse. Sophomore actress Anna Gooler began the diary on Tuesday, and senior actress Michelle Gao continues today. Look for other entries this week by junior Lauren Piester and seniors Carl Zielinski and Kumars Salehi.]

STUDENT PRODUCTIONS, AFFECTIONATELY known as “StudProd,” is going to amazing this year. No joke. And the fact that it is going to be amazing is a miracle in itself.

Auditions for StudProd, as you might remember, were held on Nov. 5 and 6, and the cast list was posted on Wednesday, Nov. 7. Everyone met in the North Attic that afternoon for a read-through of each of the plays.

The next two days (Nov. 8 and 9) posed a bit of a problem. Sponsor Barbara Ridenour was out of town on both days, and the casts could not rehearse at Uni without a supervising teacher.

Some casts skipped rehearsal, and others held them over the weekend. My director, Lauren Piester, decided that we would have rehearsal outside on the 8th.

We read through the entire script of "My Parents Think I'm Perfect" with various innuendos, accents, and silly voices; while it was fun, it also helped make our lines easier to memorize. And we would soon see that line memorization would be key.

(A quick note: I heard a rumor that Zoë Schein’s cast sang their entire play! Wow.)

My cast didn’t meet on the 9th, or over that weekend. We came into the next week (Nov. 12–16) excited and ready to have fun.

Unfortunately, that was all we were really ready for: to have fun. We got distracted multiple times by our own shenanigans, and had a difficult time staying focused.

In our defense, though, I must say that I did end up on the floor several times from laughing so hard, and there was no other way I would have rather spent two hours after school. In addition, when we finally did get on track, I think we were all amazed at the pure talent in our cast.

The next week, we had only Monday and Tuesday to rehearse because of Thanksgiving break, and Lauren was gone on Tuesday.

On that day, water fights broke out between casts, people called “Line!” every other sentence, and guest director Sarah Lake-Rayburn’s report to Lauren went thus: You guys are going to die. You need to get your lines down.

Ouch. But truer words were never spoken.

During Thanksgiving break, we were all given strict orders to memorize our lines.

On Sunday, our cast met at Za’s on Green Street to do a quick run-through, but soon realized that we would have to relocate. We did, and then rehearsed in Anna Gooler’s attic.

True to form, though, we spent a good deal of time playing with a certain stuffed animal puppet: a bright green frog that would belt out tunes when you opened and closed its little mouth. It was amusing.

Lauren clutched her head in despair, and said: “You guys! Our play is going to be terrible! Tech week starts tomorrow!”

Ah. Tech week. Two little words, with enough power to turn a wild cast into docile, line-memorizing actors.

And now it really is tech week. We have had one true week of rehearsal. With tech week added on, we will have had two real weeks of rehearsal by opening night. And how did the first and second nights go?

Well. It’s something about being under the stage lights, I swear. Monday night, our cast had rehearsed for two hours on the third floor, and while there had been dirty dancing and Valley Girl accents, we’d gone through the whole play a total of one time.

“It’s tech week!” Lauren was getting slightly anxious. I didn’t blame her.

In tech week, each of the four casts gets to use the actual stage for one hour. When it was our turn, something insane happened. Our crazy, out-of-control cast performed the best we had ever performed. Everyone stayed in character. There were no forgotten lines. If anything, there was only over-acting. (I’m sorry, Lauren. I will stop with the jumping up and down about cookies.)

On Tuesday night, things were a little crazier. Our entire cast, with the addition of crew member Maddy Levin, piled into Lauren’s van and had an adventure, beginning with Goodwill. There, we bought Carl Zielinski (who plays Simon) an amazing pair of girls jeans that make his “calves look really good.” That is a direct quote from him.

We were off to Target next, and we bought chips and salsa and cookies for our consumption. Then it was off to Dairy Queen and/or Taco Bell on University Avenue, and then finally back to Uni.

There, hilarity and stage kisses and dancing ensued. Ah, the joy …

StudProd is a lot more laid-back than “The Diary of Anne Frank” was. The subject matter contributes to that, of course; but because the plays are so much shorter, the casts are so much smaller, and the directors are generally your friends, everything is much lighter and more playful. The downside to that, of course, is the fact that hardly anything seems to ever get done.

But no matter! The show will go on.

(Lauren would just like to note that while this diary entry sums up the spirit and hilarity of her cast members, it also makes it seem as if they are unprepared, which is simply not true. When those house lights go down and the stage lights come up, this unruly bunch of children transforms into a group of very talented actors who make their director very proud every second they are up there on stage. However, she won't speak of what happens as soon as they make their exit …. Watch for her entry later in the week to learn how she is not actually as crazy and panicky as she may seem, and how she actually thinks her cast is EXCELLENT.)

STUDPROD 2007: CAST MEMBERS

"Why I Hate Your Boyfriend" Written & directed by Zoë Schein

• Clara: Sian Best
• Frances: Larissa Pittenger
• Palmer: Julian Hartman
• Bartimus: Deren Kudeki
• Alfred James (AJ): Buck Walsh

"Run to the Sun: A Concise Vignette" Written & directed by Kumars Salehi

• Narrator: Jacob Olshansky
• Waitress: Hannah Lake-Rayburn
• Bartender: Ollie Goldbart
• Flirty Woman: Laura Voitik
• Clerk: Alan Liang
• Nice Girl: Eunice How

"My Parents Think I'm Perfect" Written & directed by Lauren Piester

• Cammy: Hannah Leskosky
• Simon: Carl Zielinski
• Mom: Anna Gooler
• Dad: Jeremy Kemball
• Julie: Michelle Gao

"Can I Have That in a Sentence?" Written & directed by Natsuki Nakamura

• Megan: Diana Liu
• Serena: Brittany Scheid
• Leslie: Maria Gao
• Brandon: James Smith
• Cameo, Old Man: Alan Liang
• Serena's Mom: Jamie Weiser
• Announcer: Adam Joseph

STUDPROD 2007: BEHIND THE SCENES

• Queen of the Crew: Tianna Pittenger
• Lights: Isaure Hostetter
• Sound: Linda Song
• Lighting Design: Natsuki Nakamura & James Smith
• Crew Members: Andrew LaPointe, Maddy Levin, Stephanie Overmier, Lily Smith
• Sponsor: Barbara Ridenour
• Script Adviser: Jen Goheen
• Program: Lauren Piester & Zoë Schein

STUDPROD 2007: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PLAYS

"Why I Hate Your Boyfriend"
by Zoë Schein
Frances is best friends with Clara. Clara is dating Palmer. Frances hates Palmer. Palmer has two hilarious friends named AJ and Bart. Hilarity and cleverness ensue.

"Run to the Sun: A Concise Vignette"
by Kumars Salehi
Can you find the answer to life by drinking Sprite? Watch the play to find out!

"My Parents Think I'm Perfect"
by Lauren Piester
Cammy's got a C in math, and can feel the inevitable wrath of her parents from miles away. She and her friend Julie devise a plan to make them see that bad grades aren't really the worst thing ever.

"Can I Have That in a Sentence?"
by Natsuki Nakamura
Megan is determined to win the school spelling bee and finally beat Brandon, but things get complicated when she is too distracted by the letters to look at the whole word.