BACT Blogger Genevieve Interviews Actor Hugo Carbajal

We're getting a double dose of Genevieve this month, this time after an interview with Hugo Carbajal who plays the innocent and excitable Dragon in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon: A Musical Adaptation. Genevieve is 11 years old and in the fifth grade at Kensington Hilltop School. She attended her first live theater performance at three years old. Genevieve also enjoys acting, particularly in musicals, playing the piano, writing, reading, traveling, and playing sports with her friends. She lives in Kensington with her parents and two younger siblings. Genevieve is currently playing the role of Hamlet in her school production.

If you are age 9 and up and want to write a blog about your experience with BACT, email nina@bactheatre.org.

 

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My Interview of Hugo Carbajal

By Genevieve Schweitzer, age 11

     I loved, loved, loved Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I really enjoyed the book when I read it last year, and I waited all year for this production. And all that waiting was worth it! The play was amazing!

     Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a story filled with Chinese folktales and in this production, each story was told in a different way—with puppets, singing, audience participation, and much more. The characters were able to bring all the stories together to tell one long story about being grateful for what you have in your life.

     The scenery, puppets, and costumes were very creative and I felt like the whole play stayed true to the book. I liked how this time there was live music, because it made me feel like I was sitting in China, listening to the stories. The acting was so great and there were lots of new, creative things, like rolling carts that carried the actors. There was a great scene where the goldfish jumps into the water and the cloth around her rippled as if she had really jumped into water. All the props in the play were used in interesting ways.

Actor Hugo Carbajal

     I was excited to interview Hugo Carbajal, who played Dragon. Dragon is a funny, sweet character who befriends the main character, Minli. Hugo did a great job showing Dragon’s kind personality. His costume was simply worn, but very dragon-like and in the end it was an important part of the story.

     Hugo loved the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. His favorite part of the play is when Ba is listening to his goldfish and Ma thinks he is cleaning his ear in the water. He also likes Minli and Dragon’s sweet interactions. He has never been in a Bay Area Children’s Theatre production before, but has made masks for the company.

      Hugo’s favorite play that he has ever been in was a shadow puppet play with short stories about immigration. The first play that he ever saw was Dracula. He was in tenth grade at the time and had never really been into theater, but when he saw this production, he thought it was fun and exciting. Now he has been acting for about twenty years.

     Hugo Carbajal has been in many plays, and one of his most challenging was a Greek mythology production where he was Orpheus, the lead role. He found this play to be extra hard.

Dragon (Hugo Carbajal) befriends Minli (Grace Ng)

     Hugo gave me a tour of the backstage and showed me how everything worked. There were amazing puppets that clearly took a lot of work to make. I loved all the cool props and being backstage felt really exciting. While I was looking around, I realized how different this play was from most. It had live music, cool backgrounds, and projectors that helped show things and make things feel super real. I loved all of it. Great job, everybody!

Thanks to everyone who helped put this awesome play together. It was obviously a big production that took a lot of work and the effort showed! A special thank you to Hugo Carbajal!

 

 

BACT Blogger Genevieve Interviews Actor Patricia Austin

To help celebrate the opening of Mercy Watson to the Rescue in Mill Valley this weekend, Genevieve found some time for an interview with actor Patricia Austin, who plays the porcine wonder herself! Genevieve is 11 years old and in the fifth grade at Kensington Hilltop School. She attended her first live theater performance at three years old. Genevieve also enjoys acting, particularly in musicals, playing the piano, writing, reading, traveling, and playing sports with her friends. She lives in Kensington with her parents and two younger siblings. Genevieve is currently playing the role of Hamlet in her school production.

If you are age 9 and up and want to write a blog about your experience with BACT, email nina@bactheatre.org.

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My Interview of Patricia Austin

By Genevieve, Age 11

Actor Patricia Austin

     Mercy Watson to the Rescue was so amazing! I loved the props, the scenery, the sound effects, the great acting, and the hilarious lines. The costumes were super creative, as always, and I liked how the audience got in on the act.

     This time I interviewed Patricia Austin, the actor who played Mercy. She was so, so funny! Patricia, also known as Trish, has been acting since she was five years old and was known for her good Western impersonations. Her first professional play that she was in was Charlie Brown, playing Sally, Charlie Brown’s sister

     Patricia has worked with Bay Area Children’s Theatre before in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. She was specifically called in to play Mercy in Mercy Watson, which she was very excited and happy about.
 

Mercy Watson loves toast!

     Patricia doesn’t prefer being a funny or serious character in plays; it just depends on the script. All she focuses on is telling a good story. However, Trish especially likes the serious Shakespeare plays and has acted in many. As a matter of fact, if she could choose one play to act in it would be A Midsummer’s Night Dream.

     As an actor, you have lots of nerve-racking moments where you have to do some quick thinking and improvising. Patricia shared one of her most memorable improv moments. In college, her costume fell off during a Waltz. She had to turn it into part of the dance, and then quickly shimmy off the stage where the crew fixed it up.

     Trish likes acting for children and adults equally. “The thing about acting for children,” says Patricia, “is that it sometimes is their first time seeing a play, so it really has to change their world.”

     I enjoyed this play so, so much. Thanks to all those people who worked hard on this production, and a special thanks to Patricia Austin!