Fall 2002 Down to brass tacks. Now I haven't really looked at this website in about two years, but this--Fall 2002--is my seventh and final semester. My thesis semester. I'm adapting a novel into a musical play--libretto and lyrics. I finished the first draft in late August and early September 2002. Now I want to use this website as a springboard for Internet searches for: 1) further education--perhaps that MFA at NYU? 2) employment. Can anyone out there use a creative writer with an MA, tutoring experience, and a 3.966 GPA? Below I will highlight some of my experiences over the last three years at Queens College, 1999 to 2002. First is my 500-word essay from 1999 explaining my objectives in applying for graduate study. Here on the Internet I may get a better idea of how my essay will look to others. References: Milton Polsky, playwriting, creative writing teacher, formerly of Stuyvesant Adult Center, NYC; now of Hunter College Peter Rohdin, director of worship, New Life Fellowship William Packard, playwriting teacher, HB Studios This website was opened March 15, 1999. Application to QC is due April 1, 1999. Application was submitted April 1, 1999. Accepted as Queens College graduate student, English: Literature, August 9, 1999. (evaluation of Creative Writing manuscript still pending) Converted to English:Creative Writing student, February 2000. Received Fellowship Award from Queens College, May 19, 2000. Website formerly titled MNL's Graduate Essay. Watch for updates!
GRADUATE APPLICATION ESSAY
March 31, 1999
applying to English-Creative Writing, program 320A,
Queens College, to concentrate on playwriting.
I want to attend graduate school to improve my skills
as a writer, and to expand my knowledge of theater and other
subjects. I want the discipline, guidance, and encouragement
of experienced professors. I hope through my studies to create
a network of people who can hire me after I earn my degree,
and I hope to become better grounded in knowledge and experience
as a playwright.
My life goal is to glorify God, and to create a work
which lives on after me, which touches, inspires, educates,
and entertains people, which becomes part of the American
literary/artistic culture. Even if that work only reaches a
small audience and touches one little girl and so affects her
life, so be it. As a girl I've been touched and changed by
little-known works.
"To glorify God", to me, means to be that unique expression
of that piece of God's mind and heart that he's given to me. I
want God's love, mercy, and justice expressed through me, my life,
and my work. This means facing the evils in this world and
within myself, exploring, probing, asking questions, proposing
solutions, with the purpose to love and restore rather than hate
and condemn. I believe artists and scholars--and writers--are
essential to addressing life's questions. Not everything has to
be heavy-handed, either; a light, humorous approach can also open
doors.
In graduate school I want to:
--concentrate on playwriting.
--study a semester each of poetry and novel.
--see my works produced or stage-read by acting students.
--take an internship or work-study in theater, broadcasting,
film, or a related field such as publishing or journalism.
--do a study of comedy and spirituality in a appropriate course.
--take relevant courses at Queens College and other CUNY schools
(if allowed) in English, theater, music, media studies, education,
history, and other subjects. I'm particularly interested in
opera, musical theater, dramaturgy, film and TV writing, acting,
and perhaps production. I understand QC is now developing
graduate studies in theater.
Beyond graduate school, I want to write for theater, film,
and TV, act, and be part of a production team. I'd like to
write book and lyrics for an American opera or musical; in fact,
I once tried adapting the YA novel THE CHOCOLATE WAR into a
musical drama. Of course I'll continue to study in professional
schools like HB Studios as needed. I'm also considering teaching
adults; I may study to learn to teach GED or English as a Second
Language, and I did teach ESL to a small group at my church.
Past productions I've written include:
--THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, one-act adaptation, directed by me,
performed by grade-school children at Colonial Church of Bayside's
afterschool program, December 1997.
--PASSION PLAY, re-write and editing, performed by the New York
Bible Society, Fifth Avenue Easter Parade, 1996. I also played
Caiaphas the High Priest.
--Five short skits performed at my church, New Life Fellowship,
Elmhurst, NY, during the 1990s.
Other writing include:
--SHUA: THE LAMB OF FREEDOM, one-act play about the first Passover,
featuring African-American spirituals. I'm submitting this play
to you as my writing sample.
--TERRY AND CLAUDIO, screenplay, campus comedy-drama.
--STARFINDER, screenplay, Western drama.
--A CLOTH FOR ALEX HARTMANN, stage play, AIDS drama with flashbacks.
--THE COACHMAN AND THE PRINCESS, novella, medieval fantasy
featuring my church friends and myself as characters.
--a ballet script based upon PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION.
I graduated from Pace University-College of White Plains
in 1979, Journalism major, Theater minor, with only a "C"
average. However, with courses taken at Queens College about
the same time, I earned a 3.4 average. Over these past 20
years I've taken writing, acting, and voice classes at
professional schools, and performed as a singer, actress, and
party clown. (See enclosed resumes and transcripts.) I have
the required B+ in creative writing from college. I have a
partial knowledge of Spanish, which I will improve to fluency
if need be, to meet your requirements.
Three things moved me to apply to graduate school NOW:
entering my 40s; difficulties in my church's theater program;
and the murder of Phil Hartman in May 1998. As I get older,
of course, I feel the pressure to get my goals accomplished.
With better, comprehensive training I'll be better equipped
to address the needs of the theater at New Life Fellowship,
and at other places. Hartman's murder by his wife affected
me deeply; it got me onto the Internet, where I now have various
websites. It moved me to audition for three QC Summer Theater
productions; I made one, and played Vera in the female THE ODD
COUPLE, which broke QC Summer Theater attendance and box office
records.
From what I read of his life, Hartman displayed humility,
skill, service, excellence, joy, grace--all this in show business.
I saw that "the business" doesn't have to corrupt you, and that
one doesn't have to be a superstar to make a difference. Hartman's
attitude gave me courage to pursue for actively my interest
in theater. And here I am: applying to graduate school to study
theater, starting with my strongest asset: writing.
MNL
**********************************************************************
This letter, written by me, appeared in MAD Magazine #382,
June 1999 (released May 1999):
Dear MAD Make a Dumb Wish Foundation:
I'm considering going to graduate school, most likely
Brooklyn College or Queens College, to study playwriting.
However, I have an old student loan debt of $3,700 from
my undergrad days. My income is very low. If I'm
accepted to grad school, could you please pay, or help
me pay the $3,700 debt?
MAD replies:
Mellie Mel--Thank you for calling on the good offices
of the Make a Dumb Wish Foundation (TM)! As you may
well expect, our offices are beseiged with many, many
worthy requests, and as a result, sometimes difficult
choices need to be made. When it came time to consider
your request, it was a no-brainer, mainly because it
wasn't a dumb wish! Getting someone to fork over an
easy three grand to you no strings attached is anything
but dumb! (Read: you ain't getting the money!) But all
is not lost. After careful review, the foundation's
handpicked committee did find dumbness in your letter.
You wish to become a successful playwright by getting
a graduate degree from Brooklyn or Queens College is
about as dumb as it gets! See ya opening night, let us
know the date!
--Ed.
*************************************************************
8/19/99
Okay, I'm accepted! Yet, I have to take FIVE undergrad
overview English courses, because I have neither an English
major nor minor from college (journalism major, theater minor).
I need to take two American Lit classes, two English lit,
and one in 20th Century literature covering worldwide literature
in the English language.
Fall 1999--I've registered for a British Lit class covering
the 18th and 19th centuries, and a graduate course in
American Musical Theater. Yesterday I bought my first
textbook at the QC Bookstore, for the Musical Theater course.
Classes start for me Sept 2 and 4.
**************************************************************
6/20/00
Happy 2000!
I'm happy to say I've done very well with my courses--practically
all A's! I still have one outstanding paper to complete.
I'm traveling to Seattle, WA in July to attend a conference,
Out of the Christian Ghetto, about Christians finding the call
and search for God within today's secular arts. Let me say
many things fell into place when I chose to go forward with this
trip, including getting a very cheap bid accepted at Priceline.com!
(I have to travel late at night, though.) It'll be my first trip
ever to the West Coast, and my second west of the Mississippi.
Spring 2000: The Patriarchal Trap (images of masculinity in
drama throughout the ages); Playwriting.
Fall 2000: Literature into Opera; Basic Modern Grammar.
*****************************************************************
or
| Search for the Album or Artist of Your Choice! |  |
Download Free Chank Rockstar Fonts on Tripod! |
| Check Out Tyler's Mad Crib for Teens on Tripod |  |
Ask Evel Knievel on Tripod | Ask the Doctor on Tripod | Get Gif Girl's Web Design Tips on Tripod |