KCSA Notes

This is a Callboard adaptation of Megan McMillen's notes for the last week in September:

1. tech: MMD staff applications
2. tours help!
3. t-shirts and bar crawl
4. departmental questions?
5. random fact about me
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1. And now brief message from our tech department:

Hey guys, it's your lucky day! Staff applications for the Murder Mystery Dinner have been extended until Thursday, September 27th. We're also still accepting scripts until October 4th. We're also having a flyering event, on Wednesday, October 3rd (sometime at night). Remember, if you come to two flyering events, you'll receive a complimentary ticket to a Krannert show! Keep a lookout for more info! Any questions can be directed to kcsa-tech@kcpa.uiuc.edu.
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2. Know your Krannert stuff? then help out the tours department this week. We need the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday daily 3 pm tours covered. E-mail kcsa-tours@kcpa.uiuc.edu and remember: tours= tickets. It's that simple.
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3. We had an AWESOME time decorating the TOTA/KCSA bar crawl t-shirts. if you ordered one, they're available for pick-up at the KCSA office (level two, south end of the hallway). I'll be in the office from 12:30 to 1:30 tomorrow (Tuesday) and every Tuesday after. There is also a schedule of when someone will be in the office all week, so if you can't come during my office hour, there are plenty of other times you can come. $5 and it's yours. Didn't order one but still want one? we'll probably have more decorating sessions, so just let me know your size and we've gotcha covered.

More information on next month's bar crawl will be forthcoming. Get ready.
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4. Interested in any of the KCSA departments? Activities, Callboard, Community Outreach, Computers, Marketing, Tech, Tours, Ushering? Go to www.kcsa.uiuc.edu and click on "Administrative Board" on the left-hand side for a listing of all departmental e-mail addresses. We're more than happy to answer any questions you might have about anything kcsa-related. General questions? E-mail kcsa-exec@kcpa.uiuc.edu.
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5. Random fact about me that I'm sure you're super-excited to learn: I can lick my elbow. Try doing THAT.

Megan McMillen

UIUC Through The Eyes of A Newcomer

These are sights that most people here at the University of Illinois would have seen many, many times- that is ridiculously obvious. The places and locations shown in these photos are those that we pass almost on a daily basis, as part of our busy student lives. Familiarity breeds a sense of apathy and we stop paying attention to our surroundings apart from that which directly involve our work. In other words, we stop smelling the roses.

I guess this is one of the major perks of being a complete foreigner in a new environment. When the roses suddenly look so different from the ones back home, you STOP AND NOTICE. In this case, the roses happened to be the U of I, Urbana Champaign, and the land called America.
A month has passed since I came to Illinois, my first month in the United States (my first month away from the Equator, for that matter) and I am still trying to come to terms with how different this environment is from what I am used to back home in Malaysia. This may sound silly to the locals, but I have never seen any piece of land so FLAT. Literally. Not having a single hill or mountain in sight continues to give me the impression that UIUC is an island surrounded by miles of open water. The only place in Malaysia where one is able to see the horizon so clearly is by the sea. It is a little hard to come to terms with being surrounded by miles of open cornfields rather than water.
These photos are meant to depict what I see as the sheer aesthetic vibrancy that UIUC possesses, so much so that it looks beautiful even through the eyes of a lousy photographer. Even for someone who has spent years here, it is hard to imagine being able to walk past Altgeld Hall and not turn to look at the sunshine upon its walls, or the wide, peaceful field in front of the magnificent engineering quad. Oh, and, of course, there is the Krannert Center. No other piece of architecture has fascinated me more than the center of performing arts, with its unusual structures and design. I walk past Krannert everyday, and there is always something new to be noticed, as cliché and child-like as that might sound.
To say that Illinois is different from Malaysia would be an understatement of absurd proportions. Already, the biting cold wind and dry weather are proving to be a stark contrast to the extremely warm and humid tropical climate to which I am used to. Even more unusual is being outdoors during mid-day, under bright sunlight and feeling COLD. It is quite worrying to think that this is almost nothing compared to what winter would be like here.

All the same, as beautiful as UIUC looks in the summer, it is bound to be even more so during winter, with the snowfall. It must be a sight to behold, those fields of white, big old buildings and tall, leafless trees. That alone would be worth the adventure of coming here.

Around town

Ever been to KAM? Not the bar, the Krannert Art Museum! KAM is not just a regular museum either. It’s a great place to enjoy art, culture and performances. You may even get to meet the artists who exhibit their art work. The museum’s collection ranges from artistic figures from various countries in Africa to Asia as well as contemporary works and photographs. A little history about the place is that it opened in 1961 and a new wing known as The Kinkead Pavilion was added in 1988 allowing the museum to present its 9,000 works in ten galleries. There was an introduction about KAM in last year’s Callboard, but this semester, they have great new works that will blow your socks off! Fall 2007 exhibits include works from a widely known South African Artist named Berni Searle, prominent faculty from our own UI School of Art and design, and The Archeological Heritage of Illinois. KAM is not limited to sculptures and paintings and there are a variety of events such as Yoga classes, musical performances, lecture series and documentary presentations. This great museum is located on the corner of Sixth and Peabody and has been serving the Champaign-Urbana community by providing a venue of art enjoying enjoyment. These events are free of charge and their hours are Tuesday to Saturday 9-5pm, Thursday 9-9pm and Sunday 2-5pm. Log on to www.kam.uiuc.edu and check out all the cool stuff you’re missing!
Info courtesy of www.kam.uiuc.edu.

Murder Mystery Seeking Scripts, Performers, Techies, and More

HEY ALL YOU THEATER PEOPLE (and non theater people too, we try not to discriminate) … READ THIS

Once there lived an old man in a little shack in the middle of the woods. His wife had died a long time ago and he had had arguments with his three children when they all moved away. He was a man of money but told his children that since they had abandoned him, they would not get any until they returned. On his 85th birthday, his children and their spouses surprised him by coming to visit. They brought cake and ice cream, and it was a delight for the old man to have his family back. Little did he know, one of them was not just here on a social visit … When the old man was found dead on his kitchen floor the next morning, everyone was in utter shock and dismay except …

Who do you think killed him?

Lame story, I know. Do you think that you can do better? Well then, write a script for KCSA’s Murder Mystery Dinner!!! Send your script submissions into kcsa-tech@kcpa.uiuc.edu. The deadline is October 5th but we will give priority to any submissions we get by September 27th. We would love to hear from all of you!
Writing not your thing? Well then, think about directing, assistant directing, stage managing or tech directing? Applications for all of these positions are online now and can be downloaded from the tech page of the KCSA website. Applications are due by September 20th but preferred by September 17th.

So you’ve read through this whole article so far and can’t find anything you would like to do yet? What if you’re thinking, I can’t write and production isn’t my thing either … Well we have the perfect jobs for you! Come audition to be part of the cast and be in the spotlight, or become a techie, work backstage, and run the spotlight! The choice is up to you! And as always, EXPERIENCE IS NOT NECESSARY! Any questions about anything (primarily about the Murder Mystery Dinner but we’ll take random ones too, like which weighs more a pound of feathers or a pound of nails) should be sent to kcsa-tech@kcpa.uiuc.edu.


Rachel Goldfarb

KCSA Notes

Here's KCSA's weekly notes, given to you by Megan McMillen:

1. tours training
2. t-shirt decorating (for TOTA and a barcrawl!)
3. wall 2 wall help
4. ushering help!
5. registration
6. penny dreadful players
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1. If you are still interested in becoming a tour guide (you know you are...) but missed the training, contact the Tours Department at kcsa-tours@kcpa.uiuc.edu There will be another training date coming soon! Rest easily tonight!
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2. Awesome t-shirt alert: next Tuesday, September 18 we'll be decorating (i.e. spray-paint madness) KCSA t-shirts. why should you want to join us?? well...not only will the shirts help advertise for KCSA's upcoming taste of the arts event, but they will also be your ticket to join us for our bar crawl next month! so if you want to get in on the action, e-mail me at mmcmill2@uiuc.edu and let me know if you want a shirt (even if you cannot come to decorate it next Tuesday). if you CAN come, meet at the south-west corner of third and Daniel so we can decorate on the grass of frat park.
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3. If you're still interested in helping out with next week's wall 2 wall guitar fest, or know anyone who is, we still need you! e-mail Courtney at cegg@uiuc.edu and tell her you want to go down in history as someone who made this year's wall 2 wall the best one EVER!!!!
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4. The following shows need help with ushering:

9/14 W2W: Shawn Colvin/Zuckerman 1 p.m.
W2W: Global Guitar 5:45 p.m.

9/15 W2W: Dan Zanes 9 a.m.
W2W: The Romeros/O'Dette 12:45 p.m.

If you would like to usher any of these amazing W2W shows, please email .
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5. Remember that in order to stay on the KCSA e-mail list you must register online at www.kcsa.uiuc.edu (click on the registration link on the left-hand side). we'll be switching over to our permanent e-mail list soon, so be sure to register soon! and if you're absolutely nuts and don't want to get these e-mails anymore, have no fear, if you don't register we'll stop bothering you. but if you are SUPER excited about them, we gotcha covered. just register!
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6. This October 19th and 20th, the Penny Dreadful Players are hosting a ten-minute play festival. they're currently taking submissions for plays of any genre. they must be at least ten minutes in length. the deadline for submissions is Thursday, September 13th.
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Megan McMillen
mmcmill2@uiuc.edu
megmcm@gmail.com
University of Illinois 2008
KCSA Secretary