Prof. Sky Alton

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Welcome to the auditions! Are you hoping to wow us with some Shakespeare, show off your juggling or maybe belt out a show tune? Don’t think the stage is for you? No problem, we’re also looking for people to design sets, write scripts, direct, make props and do all sorts of other crucial things backstage too. This task is pretty simple: just tell us (in 100 words or more) which roles you think would suit you and why. You can give us a straightforward explanation, tell the story of how you got on in the audition (what did you do? How did Professor Decibel react?) or even tell us about any previous experiences you’ve had with school shows. Anything goes. For 15 rubies, please post your response as a reply by the 30th of September, 11:59 PM HOL-time

Question 7: What does a dance captain do?

Question 6: This actor wrote and starred in a historical musical alongside Leslie Odom Jr

Question 5: This actress began her career in London's West End, made it on Broadway and then got her Hollywood break starring in Mary Poppins

Question 4: In which ballet is 'Dance of the Flowers' featured?

Sky hurries into the great hall with an immense bundle of Gryffindor timetables under her arm. She spent a little too long trying to get the fall of her lilac robes just right in the mirror this morning. She wants to look the part on her first day as a professor. Of course, it meant she nearly forgot to pick these up from the magical printing press on her way down here.... She smiles absently around at the students before heading over to the Gryffindor table. She juggles with the pile for a second before she's able to read the name on the top one and pass it to the right student. She slowly makes her way down the table, passing pieces of paper to Carrie and Manya with a cheerful good morning as she goes. A fluttering and clattering of wings makes her look up. The first volley of post owls is arriving.

Question 3: Which play is so infamous for being cursed that actors dare not even speak its name?

You step inside the Great Hall to see morning sunlight pouring through the windows and fluffy white clouds scudding across the ceiling. The enticing smell of breakfast is in the air and the room is full of excited chatter. It’s the first morning of term. The situation: It’s the first morning (back) at Hogwarts. Everyone had fun at the feast last night and is on their way from the dormitories for a good breakfast to set them up for a day of classes. It’s time to collect your timetable, catch up with friends (or make new ones), eat some yummy food and work through any start of term jitters you might be having. Watch out for low flying packages, the post should be arriving soon! The Location: You may roleplay in the great hall and the entrance hall only. You can talk about classes but don’t actually move to the classrooms. Make sure you've read the guidelines before jumping in. Have fun!

My goodness, we have a fine crop of classes this term! That's great in one way, of course, but it does make the process of whittling your list down to 5 (or less!) a little more difficult. Have you managed it yet? Are you still agonizing about what to take? Is there anything you're particularly looking forward to? I'd love to hear about it.

Question 2: Which smash hit movie musical had a sequel released 10 years after the original?

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I slap Adaleine for helping me run around after Professor Decibel

Welcome to the Den, Jasper!

Question 1: Which Broadway star turned Disney actress had her name wildly mispronounced at the 2014 academy awards?

It’s time to test your theatrical know-how! Every day, we’ll post a trivia question about the world of performing arts (musicals, plays, ballets, actors and so on). Your job is to find out the answer. You’ll have 48 hours from the exact time the question was posted to submit your answer. Please create a group PM with Adaleine Shuster and myself (Prof. Sky Alton) with the subject line ‘Trivia’. Submit all new answers as a reply to that particular message, rather than creating a new one for each answer. If you’re not sure how to set up a group PM, just ask one of us and we’d be only too happy to help. You’ll earn 1 ruby per correct answer submitted within the 48 hour window (that’s 30 in total across the month). Break a leg!

Costumes are very important. They aren’t simply something nice for the audience to look at: they can really help performers to ground themselves in a character. (And let’s be honest, swanning around in feathers, sequins and capes looks like fun… *coughs*). Professor Decibel is taking a group to go and explore the costume department at WADA to pick pieces for our show. I can’t wait to see what you come back with…. For this task, you need to design a costume (the more outlandish the better). It could be for the show idea you’ve already written about or something new (make sure to tell us what it is and which character the costume is for). you have a few options for how to do it: 1. Create a costume using a doll maker (please put effort in for full credit) 2. Create a graphic of your own 3. Tell us about your design in 80 words or more. For 15 rubies, please post your costume as a reply by the 30th of September, 11:59 PM HOL-time

Welcome to the writers room for our magical masterpiece. Finding a show to put on has been proving tricky to say the least. We need something exciting, easy to act and with lots of different parts so that everyone can have a try. Ada and I have been running in circles trying to find a play that will suit Professor Decibel’s exacting standards but we just can’t do it. We need your help. We’re asking you to make suggestions of stories we could bring to the stage. It could be an adaptation of a wizarding story we already know, a re-enactment of a notable incident in wizarding history or something entirely original. You can complete this in a few ways: 1. explain why you think the story/event would lend itself well to being performed. Are there enough parts for lots of people to have a go? Does it have a dramatic finale? Would it be best as a play or do you think songs could be worked in to turn it into a musical? 2. Write a short snippet of a script for the production. This should include dialogue and any stage directions the actors will need. If you’re adapting a story that’s already been written elsewhere, make sure the words are your own. 3. You could do a mixture of the first 2 options. Whichever option you pick, please make sure your response is at least 100 words long. To earn 15 rubies, please post it as a reply by the 30th of September, 11:59 PM HOL-time.

This September, Gryffindor is playing host to a very distinguished guest. Professor Titania Decibel is a former Hogwarts graduate who now teaches at the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts (WADA). She has returned for a visit to (as she puts it) ‘Reignite the spark of theatrical endeavour at Hogwarts that has so long been dimmed.’* By which she means (as we worked out after several minutes of confusion) that she wants us all to put on a show. So, dust off your dancing shoes, get over your stage fright and join us for a dazzling month of treading the boards. It’s going to be dramatic! There will be 3 tasks per week for 4 weeks, released on Mondays (the 31st of august and then the 7th, the 14th and the 21st of September). These will be a mixture of puzzles and creative tasks, all with a theatrical twist. There will also be daily trivia and a improvisational forum game to help you warm up those performing muscles. (No actual performing is on the cards though, so don’t worry if you can’t soliloquize on cue). Each task will be worth 15 rubies, the forum game is worth 10 and there will be a further 30 available for trivia. That’s 220 in all! The curtain goes down at 11:59 PM HOL-time on September 30th, so make sure you have all of your tasks turned in by then. Now, we better not be late to rehearsals. Titania has a steely glint in her eyes…. *Some of you may remember that Hogwarts has avoided staging performances ever since a disastrous production of the Fountain of Fair Fortune resulted in a duel and the Great Hall sustaining serious fire damage. Titania thinks it’s time we try again, other people are less sure… Regardless, the show must go on!

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Welcome to the Gryffindor roleplay forum! This is your chance to explore the castle, chat to your friends and have all sorts of adventures every month. People from all over HOL (both staff and students) are invited to join the action. Every month beginning in September, a new location and plot will be released, along with instructions about how to respond. The scenario could be an event, an emergency or just an everyday study session in the library. What happens next is up to you and everyone else who joins in. You can earn 20 rubies per month for being actively involved in that month's plot (you must make at least 4 posts to be eligible) Before you dive in, please make sure you’ve read the guidelines thoroughly. Have fun!

If you have any questions about the roleplay area, please ask them here and someone will get back to you ASAP.

Here you will find the guidelines that we would like you to follow when taking part in our monthly roleplays. Obviously, everything you post should adhere to HOL rules and our stance on spam. The Scenarios Please read the instructions given in each scenario thread carefully. Do not branch out beyond the locations or time-frame provided. We know this feels restrictive but it’s to ensure that everyone has a chance to join in no matter when they arrive. It’s no fun if the action begins in the library and within an hour half the roleplayers have jumped forward 2 months while everyone else has decamped to the astronomy tower. You’re welcome to carry on smaller roleplays via private message though. You have total freedom with deciding what your character says and does but please don’t introduce dramatic events that totally change the scenario for everyone else. If you have an idea about a way to make things interesting, run it by a staff member first. Staff members and house creatures (such as The Fat Lady or Sir Nick) will sometimes post to change the direction of the action or get things back on track. Please pay attention when they do this. Your Posts All posts should be of a decent length and written in full sentences. Please try for at least 2 or 3 sentences per post. It is your choice whether you use first (I) or third (he/she/they) person. Try to be consistent. Please read the previous posts carefully before replying. If you wish to leave the roleplay at any time and want people to know that you’re no longer going to respond, please include a note in brackets after your last post. You can also do this if you need to briefly explain something but please don’t have entire out-of-character conversations like this. Interacting With Others Never control another person’s character (this is known as godmodding). If you ask them a question or try to involve them in a piece of action, wait until they have responded to you before continuing on. Never fill in their reaction for yourself. Don’t intrude on other people’s interactions. If someone is having a conversation with another person then wait for a good moment to try to join in. Try to include others. While we want you to be able to have fun with your friends, please make an effort with others so that everyone can enjoy the roleplay. Remember that while this is fiction, you shouldn’t go out of your way to be unkind or unwelcoming. If your character is a mean or rude person, make sure you explain to anyone you’re roleplaying with before going down this route. If someone says something that you find personally upsetting, please take it up with a staff member before it escalates. Respect people’s preferred pronouns (whether they like to be called he, she, they or something else). If you’re not sure which to use based on someone’s previous posts, check to see if they specify in their profile and ask them if you’re still not sure. Characters To avoid confusion, we’re asking everyone to roleplay as their HOL selves. This means your character should share the same name, house and year as your HOL account. However, you don’t need to stick to the classes you’re taking in a particular term. If you would like to provide people with further detail about your character (appearance, preferred pronouns, personality, strengths, weaknesses, backstory and the like) then please do so in the ‘About Me’ section of your Gryffindor profile. You have creative freedom when deciding on your characters skills and backstory. However, please try to avoid making your character too talented (this is known as a Mary Sue). Their abilities should roughly match their year. Remember that it’s a less fun and realistic experience for everyone if there are too many metamorphmagi, animagi or budding marauder’s wandering around. The Setting These scenarios take place at Hogwarts as if it were really inhabited by HOL members. This means you can mention HOL members, HOL staff and HOL classes in your roleplay. You can also mention Harry Potter Canon but we won’t be directly featuring plots or characters from the franchise (so no cutting class with Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy, I’m afraid.)

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