I am Nicole Dohoda

MY NEW BLOG!

2010-02-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

This is long overdue, but I wanted to invite you to check out my NEW blog, Eternal Sunshine of the Student Mind, on Gannon's online magazine, Edge. Find it at http://edge.gannon.edu.

Peace,
Nicole :)

I am… An intern at KDKA1020 NewsTalk Radio.

2009-06-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

That’s right! I’ve changed gears from student to take my place as a summer intern at KDKA. This is my third week here, and without sounding like I’m gushing it’s better than I thought it would be. Yes, I get nervous on a daily basis that I’m dealing with a big radio station in the city, such as when I have to make a call to the FCC to secure a guest, or this afternoon when I spoke on the phone to Butch Patrick. (You might remember seeing him in re-runs of the popular horror TV show, The Munsters, and he is actually a very nice guy!)

Mostly what I do here is work with P.J. Kumanchik in the programming department, making calls to potential guests and putting together show sheets for one of the prime time on-air shows, Pintek Tonight with Mike Pintek. (I’m actually in his office right now waiting for him to go on the air at 6 p.m., which is when I go into the studio with the producers.)

Lately they’ve been having me put bits of audio into the podcast (which you can check out here- http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/3624256.php). My Digital Audio class that I took last semester with David is coming in handy like CRAZY for this one. We use News Boss and AudioVault here, which turned out to be conveniently similar to the programs we use at Gannon, which are SoundForge and Adobe Audition.

I do miss school, as I always do though. I miss having the freedom of living in my apartment in Erie and not needing a car to get places, and seeing my friends at the theatre or the station. BUT STILL: it’s summer in Pittsburgh, and that’s a beautiful thing :)

Well, back to work, how is everyone’s summer going?? I’d love to hear from you :) dohoda001@gannon.edu, or find me a twitter.com/nicoledohoda.

Peace, Nicole

New Schuster Season!!

2009-05-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

The new season for the 2009-2010 Schuster Theatre season has been chosen!! And Fr. Shawn Clerkin just put out a new video talking about all of the shows we will be doing. We'll start off with Dancing at Lughnasa, a memory play told from the point of view of Michael Evans, recounting the summer in his aunt's cottage when he was seven years old. Next, we will perform Nevermore, based on the life of poet Edgar Allen Poe and the women in his life. After that, and probably the one I'm looking forward to auditioning for the most, is Title of Show.

I've always been sort of drawn to modern plays and musicals, probably since I feel like I can relate to them moreso than to more period pieces. That why I loved I Love You Because so much last season!! It was a musical set in present day NYC, and I really felt at home in the setting (even though I don't live in New York... some day though, some day.)

After that is a brand new adaptation of The Wizard of Oz written by recent Gannon graduate Zach Flock, called The Oz Project. We just had a read-through of it towards the end of last semester, and it is so cool. It has this dark wit to it, with all the characters you recognize from the original, along with some you don't.

In the video, Fr. Shawn goes on to talk a little more about a master class we'll be offering with Daphne-Ruben Vega (from the original cast of RENT!), as well as this year's fundraiser, American Scrapbook. Check it out!

Peace, Nicole

I'm a... junior?! Crazy!!!

2009-05-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 8, 2009: A day that has been marked in my Gannon planner since I moved into my apartment at the beginning of the year. Today is the last day of finals, and my last day of Sophomore Year here at Gannon!!!

This week has been crazy, two exams, three projects and a design presentation (which we may get a video of at some point!), but it's finally over and summer is coming FAST!

I'm going to continue blogging over the summer, since I'm planning on doing something pretty exciting- I was accepted as an intern in the programming department at KDKA 1020 radio in Pittsburgh!! I can not wait to get started and work in a station in the city.

Also, I recently started a "twitter" account for shorter updates sometimes when a blog entry would be just too long (honestly, sometimes none of our attention spans are long enough for a full blown entry). But to follow my twitter- check out http://www.twitter.com/dohoda001.

As always, over the summer you can always email me if you have any questions or just want to talk about the University, or my major- Theatre & Communication Arts! You can even find me on Facebook.

Good luck to all the graduating seniors in high school as well- I hope you're looking at great colleges like GANNON for the fall semester!!

Peace- Nicole

Complete video of our Springtopia dance!

2009-05-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Remember that Springtopia dance I wrote about? Well our own theatre & comm department made a sweet video of it! Check this out, we had cameras walking around, across the street, even one on top of the Zurn Science Center. This is one you don't want to miss.

“Let the sun shine”

2009-04-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

Never before have I been so proud to be a part of the theatre department here.
This week on campus is “Springtopia,” an event designed to celebrate the end of the year, the completion of another semester, and the incoming of beautiful summer weather. This year, along with the other planned festivities, my improv class (which I’ve already been talking about in past posts) decided to do a little something to add to the ambiance.

This one started a few weeks ago, when Paula found a video of a train station in Germany of people spontaneously breaking into dance. The music just came from nowhere, and the dance started with only one person, slowly adding more and more as the music grew, and before too long there were over 100 men, women and children dancing to Julie Andrews voice within the station. (I learned from my journalist friend Sara Toth that this was called a “flash mob.”)

From that day on Paula was determined to have this be our final project for the class. We started choreographing and before we knew it, it was Monday morning and people were gathered in Friendship Green to celebrate Springtopia. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, the 5th Dimension’s rendition of “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” started playing from the speakers.

One of my classmates, Chris Wroebel started to dance, and before the first chorus our entire class was dancing in the sun to the music. Never before have I seen such an awesome group effort that made everyone passing stop and stare.
Some of our teachers were walking around passing out flowers to everyone, and as quickly as it had begun the song ended and we dispersed into the crowd around us.
I feel like this isn’t something that can really be explained by writing it..the complete video will be online soon, but you can get a better idea by checking this out:
http://www.erietube.com/_Springtopia-at-Gannon/video/627015/3766.html

(Although one person did sum it up better than I could, Gannon Knight editor Sara Toth. The next issue will be up this week, and her column does a wonderful job of painting a picture of yesterday’s amazing morning.)

Now that the semester is ending I can’t wait til next fall, and hopefully to try this little guerrilla experiment again.

Another Opening, Another Show...

2009-04-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

I wrote this last night, but didn't get around to posting it until today...

Well thats it. I just got back to my apartment after our last dress rehearsal/preview show. And now tomorrow is it!! It's time to put the show we've been working on in front of an audience! We've finally worked out most of the kinks that come with a show of this magnitude (things that naturally become difficult when you're working with a two-floor set).

I am so excited, and I really think we're at a point where we need to put the show in front of people to see if it's funny. The show's 5 dollars for admission, unless you are a current Gannon student or faculty member with an ID, then it's free!!

Hope to see you there! And I'll have to put up some pictures after the run of the show :)

Peace- Nicole

PS- Get more info on Noises Off at www.gannon.edu/theatre and check out the preview article and photos in this week's Gannon Knight !!!

Why Improv class rocks...

2009-04-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

I love Paula Barrett's Improv class. Here's why:

It's one of the coolest classes I've ever taken, and Paula is an incredible teacher/director/person/friend.

Enjoy the video, and Happy Easter!

Near may be better than far but it still isn't there...

2009-03-31T14:07:00.000-07:00

“Near may be better than far but it still isn’t there..”

Being a musical theatre lover, quotes from a musical have a tendency to start relating quite closely to life; sometimes a little too closely for comfort.

We’re closing in on the end of the semester, which means summer is getting closer! But it also means scheduling classes for next semester, starting to look towards finals, and for me, finishing the show at the Schuster!

I’m currently rehearsing Noises Off, a British farce comedy about a play within a play. I was a little nervous coming back to rehearsal after not being on stage since last semester, but I cannot even say how happy I am to be back. After stage managing A Tuna Christmas last semester, I knew how much it made me miss performing, but this just brought that right back to life.

Rehearsals have been so much fun. Never have I been in a show with so much action going on without words. I know that sounds sort of confusing… but if you come to see it (opening April 23rd!), I promise it will make so much more sense. Act I finds us- the cast of Noises Off, rehearsing for the show our characters will be performing in, Nothing On.

Act II finds us a month into the run of the show, and the audience no longer sees not what goes on “on-stage,” but the action going on behind the scenes. If you think that sounds boring, you could not be more wrong. True to life, the backstage drama can be even more.. well, “dramatic” than what’s going on on stage.
Finally, the front of the stage is back in view as we are reaching the end of our tour in Nothing On.

I was slightly skeptical about this whole setup of performing a “show within a show,” but the more we rehearse the more excited I am getting about it! I play Belinda Blair, who plays “Flavia” in Nothing On, and I am starting to absolutely fall in love with her as a character. She is a gossip queen who loves to feel like she’s in control, and begins to run into problems when she works with characters who are just as bull-headed as she is.

We’ve been rehearsing for about three weeks, and have the entire show blocked (or planned out) as of yesterday. That is great since now we have just under a month to clean and polish everything to be ready for opening night!

If you’re in the area at the end of April you should definitely come check it out at the Schuster Theatre, I’ll probably write more about it later, but for now I should go get some sleep to be rested for rehearsal and classes tomorrow!

Score one for my liberal studies classes

2009-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

I always have an inner-battle of sorts about my liberal arts classes. Obviously, I love classes in my major, but sometimes I question why I take other classes.

On one hand, they are always so interesting, but at the same time, I find myself trying to focus in on the classes in my major. This semester, I’m taking three major classes, improvisation, audio and principles of design; one minor class, editing and production for print media; and two liberal studies classes, history of contemporary philosophy and environmental issues.

However, this week one of my liberal studies classes stood out from any other course I’m taking when I found myself discussing the topic with my boyfriend.

This week I was talking to him about one of the history courses he’s taking at Ithaca College and a paper on slavery in the south. After a while, I found myself bringing up philosophical views we had just been tested on in my history of contemporary philosophy class! We talked for a while about how according to the philosophy of Hegel, there will always be ideas that only make sense in the historical context they are in. I could only think about how a few days earlier I wasn’t sure I would ever remember this information after the test, and here I was having a legitimate conversation about it with my boyfriend.

It really surprised me, but at the same time made me really happy that I have classes like that to take instead of just being stuck in the track of learning only ONE subject day after day.

I was thinking similarly about my environmental issues class. I’ve always been pretty interested in learning about the environment and ways to help it in this day in age. Even today at Starbucks there was a sign telling customers that they will no longer be giving out the paper sleeves to save paper, but that you can still ask for them if you must. Concern for the environment is everywhere today, and I feel like I’m on the cutting edge of it by taking this class now.

I guess what I mean to say is if you are concerned that liberal studies classes are just going to be a distraction, I can tell you from my experience that they’re not. Who doesn’t like to have well rounded information they can use in the future rather than just having the tunnel vision of a specific subject.

Score one for my liberal studies classes.

A Change of Pace

2009-01-27T09:21:00.000-08:00

This is sort of a strange time for me. It is the first time since I came to Gannon almost two years ago that I’m not in a show at the Schuster Theatre. I mean, it’s not a bad thing; merely a change of pace! It is actually very cool in some ways. I can get in more time at the radio station, I’m going to start writing for the Gannon Knight. I’m actually working on an article right now for next week’s issue!), and I’m spending more time with my roommates! (Sometimes I think they forgot that I lived with them last semester..)

Being the webmaster at the radio station is sweet. I get to see all the newest concerts and events going on in Erie and other places like Pittsburgh, Toronto and Cleveland; I get to work with our promotions director to spread the word about great things happening on campus; and I get to learn internet software that is definitely going to help me later when I look for a job in the communications field. But it’s not all work at the station, yesterday we had a party to celebrate International Disc Jockey Day! It was awesome- all of the DJ’s came to the station and we had a pizza party!!

Even better than that- I now have an assistant. In the middle of last semester, one of the freshmen, Beth Gaertner, approached me with an interest in web design. So, for the past few months I’ve been teaching her all the stuff I learned as webmaster for the WERG site! She is learning very quickly, and it makes my job easier to have someone helping me out. Here- check out the site we work on every day- www.wergfm.com.

Now, as for the Gannon Knight, that is something I was a little more nervous for. I have always loved writing, and what better way to learn the most I can about journalistic writing than to work with the writers of the “Knight”! I’ll keep you posted if something I write makes it into the paper, I might need a little more practice.

So, as I’m thinking about it, it’s okay not to be in a show for the first time in two years, I’ve got extra homework time, extra radio time and extra time to write. But to be honest... I can’t wait to audition for the next show.
Til next time-

Peace- Nicole :)

P.s. my radio shift started back up again this week, check it out Thursday afternoons from 4-6 pm on 90.5 WERG. (www.wergfm.com)

Home Away from Home.. Away from Home

2009-01-06T06:16:00.000-08:00

I love living on the campus at school, hanging out with all of my friends, studying late in the power room, all of those things (well, maybe not the studying quite as much..), right? And all of a sudden, after establishing a routine for 5 months, it’s break, and it’s time to leave for almost a month! I mean, I could complain about picking up everything and putting things on hold at Gannon.. or I could revel in how great it feels to come back to Pittsburgh and see my family, friends and boyfriend and everyone else here! It is sort of a double sided feeling.

Every college student goes through the same thing; first you wonder about leaving home and starting fresh in a brand new place, then you get there and realize it’s not so bad. Next it takes a few weeks to start establishing relationships and new favorites in a home away from home. Finally, to complete (and sometimes confuse) the circle, things like Christmas break come along, sending you right back home where you started. Which sometimes, for me, feels like a home, away from home, away from home (make sense?).

My obvious favorite part of coming home is hanging out with my family and boyfriend- who I don’t get to see but a few times a semester since he goes to college in New York- and breaks like this mean so much to all of us to get to spend so much time together!

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love college, but I love coming home. No, that’s not it; I love college, AND I love coming home.

I’ll keep this entry short since it’s break, and my brain is shut down anyway. More to come as a new semester gets underway on January 12.

Peace :)

Nicole

What I LOVE about the end of the semester...

2008-12-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

Hey again :)

Wow, the show is winding down, which only means one thing. Show withdrawal... and FINALS week!! (Well okay, two things.) It feels almost as though I just started these classes, and suddenly the semester is over. My last psychology and theology classes were today, and it seems strange to know the next time I step into those rooms I will be taking my final.

I remember my first experience with finals week last year as a freshman; being so nervous to be examined on the collegiate level on these subjects. Then I realized.. I had been studying all semester, working with my teachers, and preparing for this the whole time! I just needed to stay calm, go over the study guides, do some reading and stick out the week. And I did!

Finals week ushers in a sort of calm to the campus; everyone is busy studying and concentrating on finishing the semester on a good note. This is the time of year when you are most likely to get free coffee from various clubs and organizations around campus and see students in sweatpants all the time.

There are two events, though, that I love above all others for finals week. Every semester comes to its end with the Mid-Knight Pancake Breakfast; a time when the faculty serves a DELICIOUS pancake breakfast to studying students from 9:30 to midnight the night before finals begin. I went both semesters last year, and not only did I have a great time taking a study break with all of my friends, but it was so cool to see all my teachers (and Dr. Garibaldi) serving us breakfast!! This coming Sunday is the Mid-Knight Breakfast for this semester, and I couldn’t be more excited J

Second? WERG’s Top 90 Countdown of the year: last year I listened all day from my dorm while studying, but this year I’m not just listening- I’ll be hosting an hour of the countdown! From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m on Tuesday, December 16, we’ll be counting down the best music that we’ve been playing since the beginning of 2008 (I’ve seen some preliminary lists, it’s shaping up to be a great show!). I’ll be in the studio from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. counting down the songs on the air, and I’m super excited!! I’ve never hosted all or even part of a count down show, so this will be another new experience for me. You can listen to me on 90.5 WERG or online at www.wergfm.com if you click the “LISTEN LIVE” link at the top of the page J

Good luck to any of you with finals coming up, I’ll be studying right along with you over the next two weeks.

Until next time-

Peace :-)

Nicole

Opening Night of 'A Tuna Christmas'!!!

2008-12-04T06:18:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! Just a quick note to let you know that 'A Tuna Christmas' opens tonight at the Schuster Theatre! This is my stage managing debut, so hopefully it all goes well!

Final dress was really great last night, and the cast is truly hilarious. So, come to the show! It runs tonight Dec 4-Saturday Dec 6 at 8:00pm, as well as next Thursday Dec 11-Saturday Dec 14 at 8:00pm, and next Sunday Dec 14 at 2:00pm. FOR TICKETS, call 814-871-7494.

Oh, and if you're a high school student interested in theatre, you can come to Gannon Backstage Night and get a look behind the scenes. That's this Friday, Dec 5. But you have to register online or by phone first, and you need to do that by noon on Friday! Go to www.gannon.edu/theatre or call 814-871-5311.

It's a great show and it's going to be awesome. I'm so proud of the cast and crew, and it's been a blast working together!

Peace :)

Nicole

An Unbelievably Exhausting (and REWARDING!) Theatre Experience

2008-11-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Waking up at 8am on a Saturday is not exactly an ideal start to the weekend for most college students. But last Saturday, I woke up a little tired and absolutely stoked. It was my first tech day as stage manager of the Schuster’s current show A Tuna Christmas. Our goal? Go through my friend Chris’s lighting designs for the entire show, making sure each scene would be properly lit to help fit Director Jax Kubiak’s vision.

I’ve been pretty nervous about stage managing. See, I’m used to being on the stage. Last year at Gannon (as a freshman), I performed in four shows here: The Dopey Fairy Tale, NINE, Love and Freindship (sic.) and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Even before college, I always loved performing on stage. But this year, I was offered the position of stage manager, something I’d never done before. Working only from my knowledge of past SMs and Jax’s promise to guide me along the way, I accepted the job.

Throughout the rehearsal process I’ve worked closely with my assistant Jared. But today brought one of my biggest solo responsibilities, and something I’ve been nervous about since the beginning- learning how to use the light board. We started running cues, marking spots on the stage for special lights, and moving quickly from scene to scene. Sometimes as an actor, I forget how much work goes into a show before performers even set foot on the stage. Every prop is noted and set in a specific place on or off stage, and a set piece moved an inch to the left or right can change everything. Jared and I were running around moving heavy Christmas trees (see the show and you’ll understand!), and by the end of the afternoon, after finishing the cue-writing session and a dry tech (where I got to run the light board!!), I was absolutely exhausted. Exhausted, but accomplished! :)

Now, as cliché as this sounds, I was thinking about how this has absolutely everything to do with Gannon’s slogan, “Believe in the possibilities.” I never would have thought a little over a year ago when I was starting here that within only a short amount of time I would have performed in five shows, pledged to the theatre fraternity Alpha Psi Omega, and began work as a stage manager at the theatre (And that’s not including my involvement at our radio station, WERG. Maybe in my next blog… )

I keep thinking about when I was applying to schools, seeing places that offered what seemed to be great theatre opportunities, but didn’t even allow students direct connection with productions until their senior year. How can I build my resume or even gain experience just from watching? Well, Gannon answered this question for me by letting me get all the experience I was willing to commit to. That opens the door to possibilities I never even imagined. I believe there are new possibilities every day, and I’m eager to explore them.

Peace :)

Nicole

P.S. - Watch my video!!!