#wunderstudies

[sankta-starkova]

SEASON ONE

— the one where ej and andy reunite after years, finally rekindling their friendship and maybe getting something else out of it as well

001; the auditions

002; the theatre

003; the read through

004; wunderstudies

005; blocking

006; just for a moment

007; homecoming

008; what team

009; thanksgiving

010; the tech rehearsal

011; sandbags

012; opening night

013; act two

PLAYLIST

MOODBOARD

[emotionalmotionsicknessxx]

Heading over to the Majestic Theater because im a slut for Jeremy Stolle

[hainsworthy]

44 Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn dir Michael Maggio. I got to Understudy! I was the Understudy to Neil Flynn and David Alan Novak. Mike was the Understudy for Ian Barford. This was an interesting little comedy that played with time, branching out from a one particular dinner, happening at the same restaurant. In one branch, we follow Bob Breuler and Molly Regan for the rest of their evening after a big family dinner in the restaurant. In another, we follow Neil Flynn’s and Matha Lavey’s characters through jumps in time going forward from that night, and in the last branch we follow Ian Barford and Mariann Mayberry’s characters backwards through time to their first date. Then the play ends with the beginning of the family dinner that it all branches out from. The other actor in the play - plays a variety of waiters and the restaurant owner. One day we were at our Wednesday afternoon understudy rehearsal, when Ian showed up four hours early. He wasn’t feeling well, so he was going to lay down in the dressing room. So Mike decided he better stick around, and I hung out with him. Half hour came, and Ian was set to go on, but we had to see the show twice a week anyway, so we figured we would just do that. !5. 10. 5. Places. Ian goes upstairs, and then two minutes later came back down stairs and said, Not gonna make it. So suddenly we are scrambling to get Mike dressed (they hadn’t pulled costumes for us) so he went on wearing the sportcoat I happened to be wearing that day and my belt (braided leather don’t you know) and killed it. Truly a wunderstudy. Production still by Michael Brosilow. Group photo of the cast at closing (minus Bob who I think was already across the street at O’Rourkes). #retrospective #1995 #steppenwolftheatrecompany #timeofmylife #alanayckbourn #michaelmaggio #mikedailey #ianbarford #neilflynn #marthalavey #bobbrueler #mollyregan #mariannmayberry #davidalannovak #wunderstudy #happytimes #happydays (at Steppenwolf Theatre Company) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ftq92JCBl/?igshid=7sg7leesr5xv

[jonathanpongratz]

Self-Doubt, it’s something we all deal with regardless of occupation. Work, your personal life, your individual goals, it’s all a lot to deal with. But as a writer, self-doubt can be decimating. Writing tends to be a solitary process in part, so how do you deal with self-doubt?

A large part of dealing with self-doubt is easier than you may think. Simply acknowledging it and talking about it may hold the key to getting past it. Writing can be a solitary process, but that doesn’t mean you have to go through it alone.

Talking about your self-doubt with another person who’s gone through it before can help you brainstorm on methods to combat it. Also, pushing forward regardless of your self-doubt can also help. Allow your writing to be a mess. We’re all human, and we have to start from somewhere, right?

Lately I’ve been struggling with writing my second book. In my mind, I can see the events of the book, but getting it down on paper seems to be another issue entirely. So right now I’m just focusing on inspiring myself again. Reading, playing video games, jotting down new ideas as they come in. It seems to help, and I know that in time I’ll be alright again.

How do you deal with self-doubt?

For some helpful articles, please see below. Have a great day everyone!

https://writerunboxed.com/2018/09/21/wunderstudy-self-doubt-is-not-good/

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2018/03/07/how-to-deal-with-self-doubt-as-a-writer/

https://thewritepractice.com/self-doubt/

[thetheatricalboard]

Elizabeth Maxman on theatre’s unsung heroes, the understudies and standbys in the ensemble.

[nataliegoodmans]

Seriously, the best understudies on Broadway.

[sankta-starkova]

LETTERMAN

004; wunderstudies

previous chapter | next chapter | masterlist

summary: the one where ej and andy reunite after years when they're cast as love interests, finally rekindling their friendship and maybe getting something else out of it as well

wordcount: 1.2k

It had been a week and everything was going smoothly, or as well as it could.

The group were all standing in the theatre hall, crowded around a piano that Andy was playing as they practiced Status Quo.

Everyone sang together, having found a family in each other. Andy looked up, continuing to sing, her fingers tapping away on the piano.

Miss Jenn watched from the doorway with Mr Mazzara, who watched the whole thing.

They finished, Carlos cheering. Andy heard her phone go off and she looked down, seeing it was from EJ.

She furrowed her brow, not understanding why he would be texting her. She pulled out her phone and looked at it.

"Need some help. Meet me at boys bathroom floor 2." It says and she looks around, announcing she has to go before rushing off.

She was confused as to why he was asking her to come to the boys bathrooms but she ignored it, just going along with whatever he needed for now.

She knocks on the door of the boys bathroom, feeling awkward enough already, "Come in," EJ calls out.

Andy walks in to see EJ holding an ice pack to his lip, holding his t-shirt under the water. Her face went bright red as she related he wasn't wearing a shirt and she looked away.

"Uh, what-" she stopped, composing herself, "-what do you need?" She asked and he sighed turning to look at her.

"Ricky hit me in the face with a basketball," he took a deep breath, "I was just wondering if you could just help me out,"

She folded her arms across her chest, "Help you out? How?" She asked.

"I don't know, I just, I just needed some moral support for my bruised ego." He said with a laugh, face turning red at the admission.

Andy smiled at him, grabbing his shirt and putting it into the cold water, trying to clean the blood out of it.

It was strange how within such a short amount of time, they had managed to become friends again. Sure, they weren't best friends, but she was happy with what they had.

"You know you don't have to do that," he said and she turned around, looking up at him.

He looked down at her. For the first time, he wondered why his instinct was to text her and tell that he needed her help.

"Rehearsals are over anyway, I might as well help," she said before turning back to scrubbing the shirt.

"Can you like, put a shirt on or something?" She asked, trying not to look at him topless too much.

He laughed, "Oh come on, it's not that bad," he joked before being considerate and pulling his water polo on but keeping it unzipped.

It was silent for a minute, neither of them knowing what to say that would fix this awkward situation brewing.

"So, why did Ricky hit you in the face with a basketball?" She asked and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"He must have just been angry, doesn't seem to like me much," he said before explaining that he had stolen Ninis phone - accidentally he claims.

She scrubbed on his shirt, both of them still bickering over the fact that he had stolen Ninis phone yesterday.

Andy could not believe that he would do something like that. It was an absolutely awful thing and he didn't seem to care at all.

She turned around, "Put that ice on your face dumbass," she said and he rolled his eyes, watching as she turned back to scrubbing his shirt.

Ricky walked in, seeing EJ and Andy standing there still, her leaning over the sink and him behind her, holding the ice to his face.

"Yeah, how's the lip man?" Ricky questioned before looking over at Andy, not understanding why she was here.

"It's all good," He said with little enthusiasm, looking down at Andy who has stopped scrubbing the shirt, looking at the two boys.

"Listen, I dont know what happened out there. It was an accident," Ricky tried to defend himself, EJ having none of it.

"Really?" EJ asked, throwing his ice into the sink.

"EJ!" Andy exclaimed and he shot her a glare as if to say 'be quiet for a second' and she sighed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Cause 'infinity plus one' sounded pretty real," EJ said, shrugging his waterpolo jacket on.

"Thats not really a number," Ricky said sheepishly, looking at the floor.

She just stood there, listening to their childish bickering and knowing that she couldn't really do anything about it. It was two of her closest friends arguing over the same girl.

"Do me a favour and stay away from me and Nini, okay?" EJ said and Ricky scoffed.

"Excuse me?" He asked, not understanding how EJ had the audacity to say that.

Andy cringed. She had known both of these boys along enough to know that this wasn't going to end well.

"Don't act like my best friend, or like her boyfriend. Just stop acting, period." EJ said as he zipped his jacket up.

He scoffed, "I'm trying to make the best out of a bad situation," Ricky explained, shaking his head slightly.

Ricky was starting to get annoyed, his brows were creased together and she could see an angry look beginning to appear on his face

"Stop trying, Ricky. Dont try so hard, it's embarrassing," EJ said.

Andy shook her head, "Enough Caswell," she said harshly, not letting him trample over Ricky any more but he just rolled his eyes.

Ricky scoffed, "Dude, I'm just trying to say I'm sorry," he explained.

"You want to apologise? You can start with that thirsty voucemail you left for Nini, she doesn't need to hear from you anymore" EJ explained.

Andy shook her head, knowing that this wasn't going to end well, he should never have seen that voicemail.

"What did you just say?" Ricky asked, a look of hurt appearing on his face.

"I'm sorry Ricky," Andy honestly said as she picked up EJs shirt, turning to him "Put that ice on your damn face,"

Ricky gave her a sympathetic smile before walking out of the room, leaving so that he didn't have to see EJ anymore.

EJ rolled his eyes and put the ice on his lip, following Andy out of the boys bathroom.

"That was a tad bit harsh EJ," she said as she turned around, him taking the ice off of her face to talk to her.

"Well he shouldn't have said all those things to my girlfriend, or hit me in the face with a basketball," he explained, huffing like a young child.

"Oh, grow up Caswell, if you would never have taken her phone, you never would have seen that message," she explained as they approached her locker

He sighed, "Do you want me to give you a ride home?" He asked and she smiled to herself as she pulled her skateboard and bag out.

"If you're offering," she said and he smiled at her, "And only if you'll put that ice on your face,"

"Deal," he said as he held his pinky finger out like when they were younger.

She just laughed, interlocking her pinky finger with his, "Deal,' she replied.

He looked over at her, heart fluttering as he saw the wide smile on her face.

He shouldn't feel that way and he knows it. He had one problem with his girlfriend and all of a sudden he was seeing his old best friend in a new light.

It was wrong and he knew it. But he shook it off, ignoring all of those feelings and hoping they'd go away if he didn't think about them.