Environmental Impact on Retail Estate Business

Ecological Impact on Retail Estate Business What limited time techniques can be attempted when ecological components influence land business? Contextual investigation of â€Å"Magical Homes in London and Dubai† Conceptual Land business is one of greatest market of the business world, contained the biggest excess cash of the business. The historical backdrop of the land business is extremely weird and erratic. Presumably is moderate moving industry concerning time however it conveys a ton. Past encounters shows that property speculation was the first and most secure need in everywhere throughout the world for long haul ventures and benefit making business. Where the property speculators has seen the tremendous benefits there was additionally a droops in the property advertise which made the land business a mysterious business. There were number of ecological variables behinds the vulnerability of the land business which impacted looking like downturn, cataclysmic events, monetary condition, political unsteadiness and some time looking like game like Olympics hit the land showcase decidedly and contrarily. On time choices and compelling administration can make things simpler. Advancement plans and systems can decreased the effect of ecological factors on the land business. This investigation was about scholarly the past encounters and to discover the effect of new ecological factor and their affected on the land advertise. The points of the examination was to taken in the conduct of the ecological factors in the advanced age with deference of strategically, financially, sociologically, mechanically and lawfully. Indeed, even in the cutting edge world an other developing component was the facilitating of games like Olympics and most exceedingly terrible factor in the history was the downturn which affected the land showcase in unforeseen habits. The destinations of the examination was to contemplate the limited time plans and techniques which could be the best arrangement to diminished the effect of such ecological variables and to upgrade the accept of the financial specialists and developer to approach and join the world driving business for enormous benefits and picking up. The on time choices and the proposed technique can bring the venture up in the land business. The end and proposal can clarify the objectivity of the investigation in an extensive way. Part one 1 Introduction Land property business has its very own fascinating history. It is an extremely dubious and eccentric market and on account of its bizarreness, this universal business showcase is beguiling for financial specialists and business visionaries. The interests in this market typically a lot higher than anticipated thusly a gigantic overflow of cash is as yet lying around here market. Regardless of ongoing horrendous accident of land business, despite everything got an enormous speculation to spend. Individuals visiting the world over for harmony and searching for extravagance living at least expense or reasonable expense, So clients and financial specialists need to know the good and bad times of the market in the reflection of past, present and future, most likely its not completely possible however in any event the examination like this can make the speculators smarter and unsurprising and they can think either their ventures are right way or they going to settle on a moronic choice. There are number of variables which impact the land advertise legitimately and in a roundabout way. This exploration would be the complete conversation of these natural variables like area, kind of land, climate, culture, dialects and legitimate property laws of that specific state. This examination would be a transformation in the comprehension of land property business. Reasonable plans, advancements and promotion can assist with managing the financial specialists the correct way. In todays land showcase each financial specialist is searching at a serious cost to increase a benefit just as the specialist co-op organization should be the answerable for the fruitful conveyance of the undertaking, after deals bolster administrations, committed points of interest comes in houses, game plan of resale of the property, course of action of rental administrations and every single other methodology which intended to help the speculator so as to boost the arrival on ventures. So this sort of procedures can be embraced so as to pick up trust of financial specialists. 1.1 Background of the investigation The current circumstance of land property business is significant after a horrible downturn (2008-2009) in everywhere throughout the world. The financial state of the world created nations is poor and attempting to improve condition for speculations. This circumstance makes a compotation between the land goliaths however here the circumstance is distinctive as we saw, State of Emirates showing signs of improvement and have a sound situation as far as land property business taint Dubai got the fascination of the world financial specialists and business people since its past arranging and consideration in this market. Free hold property law of Emirates in 2003 has transformed from its current condition and they are changing the guide of the world looking like extravagant living, enormous retreats of islands, treats manors, world tallest structures, submerged inn and a lot more attractions made land property business in ‘Dubai an extraordinary example of overcoming adversity. Then again in London circumstance has changed. After an awful downturn of (2008-2009) which worstly affected United Kingdom than European Union .UK is an immense economy of the world and has the chance to lead the world. The land property business in this nation had confronted the most noticeably awful ever condition yet now it is improving step by step and it is going towards the pinnacle point again. UK got the chance to have the Olympics 2012 in London. Olympics 2012 such a gigantic venture with working expense of  £580 millions and it could be increment than the normal expense. Correlation of land market of rising city Dubai and created nation UK has brought up numerous issues in the psyche of speculators, as an ideal opportunity to time the two nations has hit by the natural elements like monetary elements, political components, social variables, social and legitimate factor. The questionable circumstance of land advertise has made a prudent emergency, in light of the fact that the monetary establishments got harder, the banks got stricter and this circumstance has influenced the possible speculators. In this circumstance land organizations and the speculators needs to embrace the alluring and moderate advancement designs that can build up the enthusiasm of financial specialists and purchasers. Propositions plans and systems can assist with diminishing the effect of natural factors on the matter of land showcase. 1.2 Research Background Jones, Lang, Lassalle entitled has given a report called ‘Reaching Beyond the Gold: The Impact of the Olympics on Real Estate Markets analyzes the effect of organizing the Olympics on ongoing host urban areas and looks forward to 2012.It shows that game like this has an effect on the land property business as well as on the each establishment of the nation. Past encounters shows a positive effect on the property like the costs of property in Sydney is as yet rising and even the prises are half higher than previously. So the significant effect of occasions like Olympics is on land property business which could be useful to improve the costs of property after downturn. London and Dubai, both of the urban communities have their own element in the market of land property business. Past encounters demonstrated that the individuals of the urban regions have been moving towards rustic territories and there were various purposes for this movement. Indeed, even in a decade ago individuals like to purchase or lease their properties in nations like Dubai. If there should be an occurrence of city like London the circumstance will change in light of the natural factor has changed the financial, political, social and legitimate states of the nation. UK has improved financially in most recent couple of months and the land showcase improving particularly in London and speculators has risen drastically since downturn over and being the host city of Olympics. 1.3 Organization Background This examination has a contextual analysis of â€Å"Magical homes Dubai†, is a London based organization, who managing the financial specialists from all around the globe, they offering them guidance in off-plan, resale, leasing or purchasing property. They are offering their administrations in UAE and particularly in Dubai for purchasing, selling, leasing, exchanging of houses, condo, workplaces, manors and business spaces. ‘Magical homes Dubai offered types of assistance to the clients from most recent ten years, is a specialist in giving venture property in UAE and London. What's more furnishing financial specialists with select and the uniqueness in furnishing profoundly looked for after property choice with the best client support is the center activity. 1.4 Rationale for the picked subject The primary explanation of the point to be picked that the interest of the calling and the extent of calling are extremely high notwithstanding of terrible turns land property business has an immense field of business. Living of individuals has changed totally and its need to change further in future which opens the new skylines in land property business. Taint both the created and immature nations have an immense market in land business and its developing step by step with section of increment in populace of the world, at the end of the day cover is the fundamental need of life and its never gone to end. So its a calling of life and it has a wide degree in universal business. As of now on the off chance that investigate patterns and advancements of any nation, at that point its simple to state that the land property business plays an indispensable standard in evaluation of the countrys monetary condition. The land property business relies upon various natural elements which are essential to study and need to have a decent information about so the venture should be put resources into the opportune spot, for this reason for kn

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation

Mergers and Acquisitions: Indian Banking Consolidation Comprehensively it has been discovered that the mergers and obtaining have gotten one of the significant approaches to corporate rebuilding which has additionally struck the monetary administrations industry which has encountered merger waves prompting the development of tremendous banks and money related establishments. The fundamental explanation behind mergers is extreme rivalry among the organizations in a similar industry which put center around economies of scale, productivity in cost and benefit. Some different variables prompting the mergers is the too huge to bomb guideline followed by the specialists. In hardly any nations like Germany, frail banks were commandingly converged to keep away from the issue budgetary trouble emerging out of awful advances and disintegration of capital assets. A few scholarly examinations have investigated merger related gains in banking and these examinations have received two methodologies. The primary methodology manages assessing the drawn o ut presentation of the merger by breaking down the bookkeeping data, for example, return on resources, working expenses and productivity proportions. A mergers is considered to have prompted improved execution if the adjustment in the bookkeeping based execution is better than the adjustments in the exhibition of the tantamount banks that were not associated with the merger movement during that period. Another methodology is to examine the additions in stock cost of the bidder and the objective organization around the declaration of the merger. In this methodology the merger is accepted to make esteem if the joined estimation of the bidder and target banks increment on the declaration of the merger and the subsequent and the stock costs mirror the potential estimation of the getting banks. The goal of this paper is to introduce an all encompassing perspective on merger inclines in India and to determine two significant view of partners, investors and chiefs and to examine issues and different issues of this subject of Indian banking. Survey of Literature for effect of mergers The two significant issues which are inspected by different scholastic investigations identifying with bank mergers are: effect of mergers on the working execution and proficiency of the banks Effect of mergers available estimation of the value of both bidder and the objective banks. Cornett and Tehranian (1992) and Spindit and Tarhan (1992) gave proof to increment in post-merger working execution. Anyway the investigations of Berger and Humphrey (1992), Piloff (1996) and Berger (1997) didn't discover any proof in increment in post-merger working execution. Berger and Humphrey (1994) likewise revealed that a large portion of the examinations that inspected pre-merger and post-merger budgetary proportions found no effect on working expense and benefit proportions. The explanations behind blended proof are: slack between fruition of merger process and the acknowledgment of advantages of mergers, test determination and the techniques embraced in the financing of mergers. Further, the money related proportions might be deluding pointers of execution since they don't consider for item blend or information costs. Then again looks into may likewise could have confounded scale and degree effectiveness gains with what is known as X-proficiency gains. Late investigations h ave unequivocally utilized boondocks X-productivity strategies to recognize the X-proficiency advantages of bank mergers. Hardly any investigations have likewise examined the potential advantages and scale economies of mergers. Landerman (2000) investigated expansion advantages to be had from banks converging with non banking budgetary help firms. Recreated mergers of US banks and non-bank monetary assistance firms showed that broadening of banks into protection business and protections financier is ideal for decreasing the likelihood of chapter 11 for bank holding organizations. Wheelock and Wilson (2004) found that normal merger action in US banking industry is decidedly identified with the executives rating, size of the bank, serious position and land area of banks and is contrarily identified with advertise fixation. The subsequent issue decided was the examination of merger gains regarding the additions in stock value execution of the bidder and the objective puts money on declaration of merger. For this situation a merger is relied upon to make esteem just if the consolidated estimation of the bidder and target organizations increments after the announcement of the merger. Anyway a great deal of studies have neglected to locate any immediate connection between the merger and the increases in execution or in investor riches. In any case, there are purposes behind blended proof as a merger declaration likewise considers the manner in which the arrangement is financed .If value contributions are utilized it might be deciphered as overvaluation by the guarantor. Along these lines the negative declarations comes back to the organizations that are offering can be credited to the negative flagging which is totally irrelevant to the worth which is made by the merger. Comes back to the bidders organizat ions investors is more prominent when the merger is completely financed with money than in mergers in which financing is done through value offering. There is one more issue with this occasion study investigation as though there is a union wave going on; mergers are foreseen by investors and examiner. Potential contender for the mergers are featured and made famous by the money related press and the securities exchange examiners. In these cases the occasion study investigation may come up short. Consequently an examination of mergers over the world and a writing audit doesn't give solid proof on the advantages picked up by banks in the mergers in the financial business. Additionally the discoveries of the writing likewise diverge from the discoveries of the experts who locate an extensive cost investment funds and operational productivity accomplished through mergers. The reasons why scholarly investigation don't discover money saving advantages and the advisors feature this reality are Offices may contemplate a potential cost reserve funds which may not appear They will in general feature potential cost sparing exercises and the business analyst concentrate all the exercises. They will in general be one-sided towards fruitful cases and disregard the ineffective ones. They tend explode the advantages accomplished while the advantages might be miniscule whenever accounted on a relative terms. The scholastic investigations give inspiration to the assessment and assessment of two significant issues relating to the mergers and securing to the Indian banking. Do mergers help in improving the operational exhibition and result in cost investment funds Anyway in India a large portion of the mergers are constrained by the national bank so as to secure the enthusiasm of the investors and stay away from monetary trouble in this way the previously mentioned reason is once in a while found in the mergers exercises. Do merger give irregular gains and comes back to the acquirer and the objective banks upon the statement Union Trends Observed in India Improving the operational exhibition and cost productivity has consistently been a need in Indian financial area and has been a significant issue of conversations in the arrangement plan by the administration of India in the counsel and with the national bank (Reserve Bank of India). A few advisory groups have likewise been shaped so as to recommend basic changes to accomplish this target. A portion of the significant advisory groups shaped are Banking Commission, 1972 Chairman R.G Saraiya, 1976 director : Manubhai Shah Board of trustees for the working of open part banks, 1978 director : James S Raj These boards of trustees have recommended the rebuilding of the Indian financial framework with a goal to improve the procedure of credit conveyance and furthermore proposed having around 3 to 4 enormous banks which have a dish India nearness and the remainder of the bank ought to be available at the provincial level. The significant push on solidification began with the Narasimham advisory group in 1991. It underscored and left upon combination and merger so as to make the Indian banks gigantic in size and furthermore similar to the worldwide banks. A second Narasimham committe was additionally framed in 1998 which proposed mergers and solidification among the solid banks in broad daylight just as private part and furthermore with other monetary foundations, NBFC (Non Banking Financial Companies). Presently we will view a portion of the ongoing patterns in combination in Indian banking. Rebuilding of powerless Indian Banks Among different courses legislature of India has embraced mergers as a way to accomplish rebuilding of the Indian financial framework. Numerous banks which are little in size and are frail are converged with different banks which are more grounded and are bigger to secure the enthusiasm of the investors and furthermore to keep away from money related pain. These kinds of mergers can be named as constrained mergers. Thus when a banks shows side effects of ailment like expanding size of NPAs, decrease in the total assets and generous decrease in capital ampleness proportion, RBI powers ban under the area 45(1) of the Banking Regulation act 1949 for a predefined period on the exercises and the tasks of the working of the wiped out bank. In this period a solid bank is recognized and requested to plan and present a plan of merger with the powerless bank. For this situation the acquirer banks grabs hold of the considerable number of benefits of the frail bank and guarantees the investors o f their cash on the off chance that they need to pull back. The mergers which occurred in the pre-change period fall into this class. In the post change period 21 mergers have occurred out of which 13 are constrained mergers where RBI has mediated. The fundamental purpose behind these mergers was the security of the contributors intrigue and maintains a strategic distance from the budgetary pain. Mergers which occurred willfully Aside from constrained mergers there have been scarcely any mergers in which extension, broadening and development were the significant intentions and in which RBI didn't mediate or compel. The principal merger of this sort occurred in 1993 when the Times Bank was gained by HDFC bank which was trailed by securing of Bank of Madura by the ICICI Bank. The most recent of the

Urinetown

Urinetown At the end of January (our Independent Activities Period) I made a promise to the rational, logic-based region of my brain:  a promise that I would never, ever, perform in a musical during the semester. Rational Part Of Brain: You got your fix during IAP, in Hack Punt Tool! AND it was a musical that MIT students wrote. No musical will ever be more fun than that. Also, you cant sing, so you wont get a big part anyway. You got a decent part in Hack Punt Tool because it was about MIT students and you are, for whatever reason, really good at acting like an MIT student. Me: But what about going to college and trying new things? Also, Hack Punt Tool was REALLY fun, and even though I cant sing to save my life, I enjoy it. Rational Part Of Brain: You like sleep way too much for a during-the-semester musical to be fun. Me: Yeah, youre right. I wont audition. Auditions for the Spring musical rolled around in February the Musical Theatre Guild was putting on Urinetown, which I had never heard of, and wasnt particularly keen on hearing more about, given that title. So, of course, my friend managed to persuade me to print some sheet music and go to auditions. Rational Part Of Brain: WHAT ARE YOU DOING Me: Its only an audition! Its not like Im committing to be in the musical. I havent even prepared anything to sing. Ill just show up and sing something from a musical I know just for fun! Rational Part Of Brain: I call BS. Me: No, really! I showed up,  sang You Cant Get A Man With A Gun from Annie Get Your Gun, and left. On March 7, I got the callback e-mail. Hi Anna, We would like to call you back for the role of Sally. You may also be called back for additional roles pending the results of the dance audition. Me: Whos Sally? Boyfriend: LITTLE SALLY! Youd make a great Little Sally. Me: Does Little Sally have to sing a lot? Boyfriend: Not reallybut she has a really big speaking part. Me: Oh! Sweet. Rational Part Of Brain: NO! Dont tell her that! Now shell go to callbacks! I went to callbacks. I also got the part of Little Sally, sent a sad oops, I probably shouldnt have done that my semester is going to be horrible e-mail to my very worried mother, and was badly chastised by Rational Part Of Brain. For good reason: rehearsal ran from 7-10pm every day except Friday and Saturday, and from 6-10:30pm or later EVERY DAY during the week before the show opened. I was still co-teaching a cosmology class for High School students on Saturday mornings, still managing the Ultimate Frisbee intramural leagues, still taking four and a half classesit was by all objective measures a terrible idea. But it was so much fun. The three sunrises in a row following prod week: not so much. The acting, though the dancing, the singing, the company I have a feeling that Ill remember that a lot longer than I will those three sunrises. Rewind a bit to music rehearsals, back in March. Shortly after accepting the part of Little Sally,  I found out that by doesnt do a lot of singing my boyfriend actually meant one of the songs in the show is a duet between Little Sally and the main character, Billy. No biggie. Its okay to perform in a musical and sing a duet with a very talented singer when YOU CANT SING, right? Right. Rational Part Of Brain: Told you so. One Wednesday in March, we were scheduled to rehearse the duet with the Vocal Director (Ashley, who works at MIT) and Music Director (Matt, an alum.) We were under a huge time crunch (everything at this school runs on a huge time crunch, and the Musical Theatre Guild is no exception) which basically meant that we had time to learn every song once. So, this was it. I showed up at the MTG office to find out that my duet partner couldnt make it. Cue nausea. Ashley: Okay! We can warm up with a couple of scales if youd like. Me: Umsure. Matt: *starts playing a piano accompaniment* Me: *silence* Matt: ? Me: Sorry. Start again. Matt: *beautiful piano playing* Me: *croak croak croak croak croak, croak croak, croak* Ashley: Have you ever received any kind of musical training? Me: No. NO! None at all. Literally none. I actually dont know how to sing, at all, and Im really nervous. Ashley: Thats okay! We started the song, Matt with the accompanimentit sounded so different from how it did on Youtube. I still managed to come in at the right part, although once I started, my eyes snapped to the ceiling and my hands clenched into sweaty fists. Tell her I love her Inhaled, nearly choked. Tell her Ill always be with her, And I will *VOICEBREAK* Couldnt make the higher notes. Couldnt really make any note, actually, since the whole thing just sounded TERRIBLE. Ashley stopped me, handed me an eraser, and lessons began. She told me to sing the song while throwing the eraser up and catching it. Fortunately for the exercise, my throwing-and-catching skills are subpar, so all non-singing regions of my brain (and probably some singing regions too) were commandeered by my eyes and hands to ensure that the eraser didnt fall and bounce somewhere inconvenient. I almost forgot I was singing I was suddenly nowhere in particular, singing nothing in particular, and certainly with no audience. Tell her I love her, Tell her Ill always be with her, And I will see her in a better place, where hope is always new Ours was a short time, Ours was a love that never bloomed, Yet in that love *VOICEBREAK, IGNORE AND CONTINUE* there lives a brand new hope thats calling out to you Its call is *BREAK, drop eraser* Ashley: GREAT! Great! That was so much better already! So, we started over. Every time I messed up, I would drop the eraser and that would be it. Dont strain your neck! Dont worry about hitting the note just put all your oomph into it! Dont clench up! When you need to reach a high note, its easy to try and strain yourself to get it out but actually, and this runs opposite to your intuition, you need to relax and open your throat more. I remembered a hiking trip during High School, when the leader told us that to keep balance while contouring a steep slope, it was important to lean out and not in contrary to my intuition, which was to lean as far into the mountain as physically possible. It was terrifying, and required utter faith in ones body to run the balancing act without your brain. Meanwhile, the eraser went up and down, up and down, as the song started again, and again, and again, and each time I was so sure that Matt would give up and throw the piano at me but his face never revealed any trace of frustration or disgust. His blank facial expression actually made a huge difference. He didnt seem to mind at all that we were spending an hour on one short song. Ashley also had me sing the song  while swinging my arms in windmills and prancing around the room. I pranced, I yelled, I threw the eraser more, I pushed sound out and reached notes that I didnt think I was physically capable of reaching, but there were still more that were out of reach Eventually, I stopped, and asked nobody in particular whether it was possible that I just physically could not sing those notes. Matt and Ashley responded with firm nos, and I was off, prancing around and throwing erasers again. I sang the song while playing catch with Ashley, while storming around the room and emoting dramaticallyeraser up, eraser down By the time I left, I had sung the song in a way that wasnt totally humiliating. I sprinted out of the Student Center (all the prancing and throwing and catching had my adrenalin pumping) and reached the river. It was dark out; I could see Boston reflected in the Charles, and my only company was passing cars. I sang the song over and over again. I pranced, emoted, gestured to Boston and to the sky and to the dorms along Memorial Drive,  imploring every boat, building and car to  tell her I love her.   I did the same thing the next night, and the next. Every time a pedestrian came into view, I would pick up the script and work on memorizing my lines, so that they wouldnt see me storm around singing about a love that never bloomed and think I was out of my mind. A week later, I was playing the pretend-youre-not-actually-out-here-singing-because-youre-too-embarrassed-to-let-people-hear-you when a woman and her husband approached me. As they passed Woman: Studying?? Me: Umno! Im practicing for a performance. Woman: Oh, WOW! Youre so studious! Me: no, Im not- Woman: Good luck!!! Me: thanks! They went on their merry way, and I returned to a brand new hope thats calling out to you.   Twenty minutes later, the couple was back. What followed was one of the most mortifying incidents Ive had in a while. Woman: HELLO! I have a questionmay I take a picture with you? Me: Uhh Woman: Whenever we (gestures to husband) travel, we like to take pictures to show everyone back home what we did. You are SO studious! People at home are not very studious. Me: But Im not stu- Woman: I want to show everyone at home what MIT students are like!!!!! Look at you. It is LATE. It is COLD, and it is DARK! But you! You are still outside, STUDYING! Me: Wait, no, Im not- Woman: So could I take a picture with you? She looked so excited! I felt bad. Me: II guess. Woman: *looks absolutely thrilled* Husband: *gets camera ready* Me: *awkward smile, holds book shut against my chest* Woman: No no! *grabs book, opens it, and has me pose as though Im studying* Me: *mortified facial expression* Camera: *click* Somewhere across the globe, children are cursing my face and the Urinetown script for forcing them to study harder.  That was the last time I practiced my singing out there. Opening night was April 27. The entire cast huddled in one dressing room, smearing foundation on our faces, stuffing food into our mouths before finally suiting up. Im the one who looks like shes six years old.   After what felt like an eternity, the stage manager called PLACES! and we shuffled backstage. Audience sounds. Audience sounds.  Rational Part Of Brain laughed, and I shut it up. Overture. We danced with each other in the dark, happy to find a physical way to freak out. End overture. Lights up: cue for Carlos-the-brain-and-cog-sci-grad-student who played Officer Lockstock, to enter. For those of you who arent familiar with Urinetown, Little Sally and Officer Lockstock are buddy-buddy. On stage: Off stage: Carlos and I exchanged a high five, the door swung open, he disappeared onstage and the show started. Well, hello there! I heard him say. And welcometo Urinetown. Something fabulous about performance in general: you dont see us, and maybe you dont think we exist offstage, but I assure you that were there, and supporting our fellow actors and actresses. You work together to put on a production. One persons gaffe is everyones big failure. Similarly, we share every little success. Something fabulous about musical theatre at MIT: people who are super-serious, going-professional about musical theatre dont swarm here in droves. That leaves a lot of opportunity for those of us who have next-to-no musical theatre experience, but want to give it a shot. In particular, the Musical Theatre Guild (MTG) has (what I think is) an awesome rule that prioritizes MIT undergraduates students in casting. Sure, a local could walk in off the street and perform with us, but they wont get a big role unless no MIT student could fill it well enough. Obviously, singing and acting ability is still taken into consideration (and youre not going to get a part if you really cant sing at all) but you dont have to be the best of the best, or have lots of experience, to take part. I like that priority system it allows people who, like me, arent necessarily awesome singers but who love performing to try something entirely new. Anyway. Where were we? Yes Carlos was onstage. Welcome to Urinetown! Not the place, of course, the musical. My cue.  I pulled out a handful of coins from my pocket, which Little Sally was supposed to spend the first scene counting. One, two, threeone step up on stage, then another, four five, and I was onstage, raring to go, thinking about the eraser. It was fun, despite the late nights. That said, I really should NOT do another musical in the fall. It would be a terrible idea. I dont have time. Right?

Urinetown

Urinetown At the end of January (our Independent Activities Period) I made a promise to the rational, logic-based region of my brain:  a promise that I would never, ever, perform in a musical during the semester. Rational Part Of Brain: You got your fix during IAP, in Hack Punt Tool! AND it was a musical that MIT students wrote. No musical will ever be more fun than that. Also, you cant sing, so you wont get a big part anyway. You got a decent part in Hack Punt Tool because it was about MIT students and you are, for whatever reason, really good at acting like an MIT student. Me: But what about going to college and trying new things? Also, Hack Punt Tool was REALLY fun, and even though I cant sing to save my life, I enjoy it. Rational Part Of Brain: You like sleep way too much for a during-the-semester musical to be fun. Me: Yeah, youre right. I wont audition. Auditions for the Spring musical rolled around in February the Musical Theatre Guild was putting on Urinetown, which I had never heard of, and wasnt particularly keen on hearing more about, given that title. So, of course, my friend managed to persuade me to print some sheet music and go to auditions. Rational Part Of Brain: WHAT ARE YOU DOING Me: Its only an audition! Its not like Im committing to be in the musical. I havent even prepared anything to sing. Ill just show up and sing something from a musical I know just for fun! Rational Part Of Brain: I call BS. Me: No, really! I showed up,  sang You Cant Get A Man With A Gun from Annie Get Your Gun, and left. On March 7, I got the callback e-mail. Hi Anna, We would like to call you back for the role of Sally. You may also be called back for additional roles pending the results of the dance audition. Me: Whos Sally? Boyfriend: LITTLE SALLY! Youd make a great Little Sally. Me: Does Little Sally have to sing a lot? Boyfriend: Not reallybut she has a really big speaking part. Me: Oh! Sweet. Rational Part Of Brain: NO! Dont tell her that! Now shell go to callbacks! I went to callbacks. I also got the part of Little Sally, sent a sad oops, I probably shouldnt have done that my semester is going to be horrible e-mail to my very worried mother, and was badly chastised by Rational Part Of Brain. For good reason: rehearsal ran from 7-10pm every day except Friday and Saturday, and from 6-10:30pm or later EVERY DAY during the week before the show opened. I was still co-teaching a cosmology class for High School students on Saturday mornings, still managing the Ultimate Frisbee intramural leagues, still taking four and a half classesit was by all objective measures a terrible idea. But it was so much fun. The three sunrises in a row following prod week: not so much. The acting, though the dancing, the singing, the company I have a feeling that Ill remember that a lot longer than I will those three sunrises. Rewind a bit to music rehearsals, back in March. Shortly after accepting the part of Little Sally,  I found out that by doesnt do a lot of singing my boyfriend actually meant one of the songs in the show is a duet between Little Sally and the main character, Billy. No biggie. Its okay to perform in a musical and sing a duet with a very talented singer when YOU CANT SING, right? Right. Rational Part Of Brain: Told you so. One Wednesday in March, we were scheduled to rehearse the duet with the Vocal Director (Ashley, who works at MIT) and Music Director (Matt, an alum.) We were under a huge time crunch (everything at this school runs on a huge time crunch, and the Musical Theatre Guild is no exception) which basically meant that we had time to learn every song once. So, this was it. I showed up at the MTG office to find out that my duet partner couldnt make it. Cue nausea. Ashley: Okay! We can warm up with a couple of scales if youd like. Me: Umsure. Matt: *starts playing a piano accompaniment* Me: *silence* Matt: ? Me: Sorry. Start again. Matt: *beautiful piano playing* Me: *croak croak croak croak croak, croak croak, croak* Ashley: Have you ever received any kind of musical training? Me: No. NO! None at all. Literally none. I actually dont know how to sing, at all, and Im really nervous. Ashley: Thats okay! We started the song, Matt with the accompanimentit sounded so different from how it did on Youtube. I still managed to come in at the right part, although once I started, my eyes snapped to the ceiling and my hands clenched into sweaty fists. Tell her I love her Inhaled, nearly choked. Tell her Ill always be with her, And I will *VOICEBREAK* Couldnt make the higher notes. Couldnt really make any note, actually, since the whole thing just sounded TERRIBLE. Ashley stopped me, handed me an eraser, and lessons began. She told me to sing the song while throwing the eraser up and catching it. Fortunately for the exercise, my throwing-and-catching skills are subpar, so all non-singing regions of my brain (and probably some singing regions too) were commandeered by my eyes and hands to ensure that the eraser didnt fall and bounce somewhere inconvenient. I almost forgot I was singing I was suddenly nowhere in particular, singing nothing in particular, and certainly with no audience. Tell her I love her, Tell her Ill always be with her, And I will see her in a better place, where hope is always new Ours was a short time, Ours was a love that never bloomed, Yet in that love *VOICEBREAK, IGNORE AND CONTINUE* there lives a brand new hope thats calling out to you Its call is *BREAK, drop eraser* Ashley: GREAT! Great! That was so much better already! So, we started over. Every time I messed up, I would drop the eraser and that would be it. Dont strain your neck! Dont worry about hitting the note just put all your oomph into it! Dont clench up! When you need to reach a high note, its easy to try and strain yourself to get it out but actually, and this runs opposite to your intuition, you need to relax and open your throat more. I remembered a hiking trip during High School, when the leader told us that to keep balance while contouring a steep slope, it was important to lean out and not in contrary to my intuition, which was to lean as far into the mountain as physically possible. It was terrifying, and required utter faith in ones body to run the balancing act without your brain. Meanwhile, the eraser went up and down, up and down, as the song started again, and again, and again, and each time I was so sure that Matt would give up and throw the piano at me but his face never revealed any trace of frustration or disgust. His blank facial expression actually made a huge difference. He didnt seem to mind at all that we were spending an hour on one short song. Ashley also had me sing the song  while swinging my arms in windmills and prancing around the room. I pranced, I yelled, I threw the eraser more, I pushed sound out and reached notes that I didnt think I was physically capable of reaching, but there were still more that were out of reach Eventually, I stopped, and asked nobody in particular whether it was possible that I just physically could not sing those notes. Matt and Ashley responded with firm nos, and I was off, prancing around and throwing erasers again. I sang the song while playing catch with Ashley, while storming around the room and emoting dramaticallyeraser up, eraser down By the time I left, I had sung the song in a way that wasnt totally humiliating. I sprinted out of the Student Center (all the prancing and throwing and catching had my adrenalin pumping) and reached the river. It was dark out; I could see Boston reflected in the Charles, and my only company was passing cars. I sang the song over and over again. I pranced, emoted, gestured to Boston and to the sky and to the dorms along Memorial Drive,  imploring every boat, building and car to  tell her I love her.   I did the same thing the next night, and the next. Every time a pedestrian came into view, I would pick up the script and work on memorizing my lines, so that they wouldnt see me storm around singing about a love that never bloomed and think I was out of my mind. A week later, I was playing the pretend-youre-not-actually-out-here-singing-because-youre-too-embarrassed-to-let-people-hear-you when a woman and her husband approached me. As they passed Woman: Studying?? Me: Umno! Im practicing for a performance. Woman: Oh, WOW! Youre so studious! Me: no, Im not- Woman: Good luck!!! Me: thanks! They went on their merry way, and I returned to a brand new hope thats calling out to you.   Twenty minutes later, the couple was back. What followed was one of the most mortifying incidents Ive had in a while. Woman: HELLO! I have a questionmay I take a picture with you? Me: Uhh Woman: Whenever we (gestures to husband) travel, we like to take pictures to show everyone back home what we did. You are SO studious! People at home are not very studious. Me: But Im not stu- Woman: I want to show everyone at home what MIT students are like!!!!! Look at you. It is LATE. It is COLD, and it is DARK! But you! You are still outside, STUDYING! Me: Wait, no, Im not- Woman: So could I take a picture with you? She looked so excited! I felt bad. Me: II guess. Woman: *looks absolutely thrilled* Husband: *gets camera ready* Me: *awkward smile, holds book shut against my chest* Woman: No no! *grabs book, opens it, and has me pose as though Im studying* Me: *mortified facial expression* Camera: *click* Somewhere across the globe, children are cursing my face and the Urinetown script for forcing them to study harder.  That was the last time I practiced my singing out there. Opening night was April 27. The entire cast huddled in one dressing room, smearing foundation on our faces, stuffing food into our mouths before finally suiting up. Im the one who looks like shes six years old.   After what felt like an eternity, the stage manager called PLACES! and we shuffled backstage. Audience sounds. Audience sounds.  Rational Part Of Brain laughed, and I shut it up. Overture. We danced with each other in the dark, happy to find a physical way to freak out. End overture. Lights up: cue for Carlos-the-brain-and-cog-sci-grad-student who played Officer Lockstock, to enter. For those of you who arent familiar with Urinetown, Little Sally and Officer Lockstock are buddy-buddy. On stage: Off stage: Carlos and I exchanged a high five, the door swung open, he disappeared onstage and the show started. Well, hello there! I heard him say. And welcometo Urinetown. Something fabulous about performance in general: you dont see us, and maybe you dont think we exist offstage, but I assure you that were there, and supporting our fellow actors and actresses. You work together to put on a production. One persons gaffe is everyones big failure. Similarly, we share every little success. Something fabulous about musical theatre at MIT: people who are super-serious, going-professional about musical theatre dont swarm here in droves. That leaves a lot of opportunity for those of us who have next-to-no musical theatre experience, but want to give it a shot. In particular, the Musical Theatre Guild (MTG) has (what I think is) an awesome rule that prioritizes MIT undergraduates students in casting. Sure, a local could walk in off the street and perform with us, but they wont get a big role unless no MIT student could fill it well enough. Obviously, singing and acting ability is still taken into consideration (and youre not going to get a part if you really cant sing at all) but you dont have to be the best of the best, or have lots of experience, to take part. I like that priority system it allows people who, like me, arent necessarily awesome singers but who love performing to try something entirely new. Anyway. Where were we? Yes Carlos was onstage. Welcome to Urinetown! Not the place, of course, the musical. My cue.  I pulled out a handful of coins from my pocket, which Little Sally was supposed to spend the first scene counting. One, two, threeone step up on stage, then another, four five, and I was onstage, raring to go, thinking about the eraser. It was fun, despite the late nights. That said, I really should NOT do another musical in the fall. It would be a terrible idea. I dont have time. Right?