Fortunately something else came along to occupy my free time — my drama teacher, Professor Royce, stopped by to tell me I had gotten the part of “Juliet” in the Drama department’s production of “Romeo and Juliet”! I had auditioned as a requirement for my acting class and never in a million years thought I’d actually get a role. I guess all of that practice at Grandpa’s Teleprompter paid off!
I was thrilled at first, but as Professor Royce gave me the lowdown on rehearsal times and costume fittings, I started to freak out a little. I was going to be on a stage…reciting lines…dancing…ACTING…in front of hundreds of people!
I thought back to how I had been so nervous before giving my campaign speech when I ran for class president back in high school, and yet I had pulled it off without a stammer or stutter, and that was in front of the entire school. But somehow…this was much more frightening. This was Shakespeare! This was a whole play!
“Oh, Professor Royce, I’m not sure I can do this,” I told her, feeling my stomach go all woozy.
“Of course you can,” she said with utter confidence. “I’ve seen you do it in class. And you’re Trent Ravelo’s daughter! He was the best Romeo this school has ever seen. I know you’ll do him and us proud.”
I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.” She patted me on the shoulder, then said, “Now I have to find Larry Sims and tell him he’s got the part of Romeo. See you on Friday!”
I was dumbstruck. Larry Sims?? Larry Sims, the obnoxious, self-serving, conceited oaf who lived in my dorm, was going to be my Romeo? My only love…sprung from my only hate!
For the next few days I tried to avoid him, but it did no good — he tracked me down in the espresso room.
“You’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you?” he said.
How very perceptive. I smiled, trying not to look irritated. “Hi Larry. Congratulations.”
“You have been avoiding me! I know it! Is it because of what I said about your dad? I’m sorry about that, you know, sometimes I just say stupid things. Come on, let’s call a truce. We can practice together — I can help you with your lines!”
“Like this one?” I said, recalling one of the speeches I had given at the audition.
“Come, gentle night, come, loving, black-brow’d night,
GIVE ME MY ROMEO; and, when he shall die –”
Here I reached out to Larry like I was going to scoop him up into my arms.
“Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven SO FINE –”
“OK, OK, I guess you don’t need any help,” said Larry.
“That all the world will be in love with night,” I cried in my most hopelessly romantic voice, “And pay no worship to the GARISH SUN!”
Larry ran out of the room like his feet were on fire, and I broke down laughing for several minutes.
After that, he never spoke to me outside of rehearsal, thank goodness, and the show went on. While Juliet loved her enemy, I had to pretend to love mine, and he had to pretend he didn’t think I was psycho. The funny thing is, I was so wrapped up in trying to freak out Larry (and therefore keep him from bugging me), that I forgot to be scared of acting in front of all those people.
Romeo: “Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear,
That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops-”
Juliet: “O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,
That monthly changes in her circled orb,
Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”
Romeo: “What shall I swear by?”
Juliet: “Do not swear at all;
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry,
And I’ll believe thee.”
Romeo: “If my heart’s dear love –”
Juliet: “Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night.
It is too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden;
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be
Ere one can say ‘It lightens.’
Sweet, good night!
This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flow’r when next we meet.”
All in all, I think we pulled it off. My parents and sisters were there for opening night, and miraculously, I didn’t flub any of my lines. We did 6 performances in all, and by the end of it, my stage fright had been conquered. Thanks, Larry!
Well, that’s it for our first year at ALT. Stay tuned for tales of our sophomore year. Until then, this Drama major bids thee adieu!
…!!!
*flails helplessly* THAT IS THE BEST UPDATE EVER!
*Ever*!
You did Shakespeare! In Sims 2! Shakespeare!
We’re not worthy!
Yay!!! Romeo and Juliet in the Sims 2! How did you set it up so that Larry was on his knee and she was looking down at him! :o I’m glad some of these sisters are dating. But, because Misty is dating a professor, does that mean that Misty’s the heir? I’d be happy if any one of these sisters became the heiress. So are you going to write from Kaela’s point of veiw again? Or are you at least going to let her do another sim play? I hope so because this one looked so cool!
I almost forgot to ask where you got Ana’s hairstyles! They both look so lovely!
**BRAVO** **BRAVO**
So cute this update, i really love it!!!
*I LIke very much the Revelo´s family!!
**Bye Bye and kisses**
Wow, That stage looks goregeous! How on sim-earth did you set them up like that, it must have cost you days!!!!
Oh wow!!! That was such a cool update! I loved the Romeo and Juliet scenes! I wondered for a moment whether the stage was in some expansion pack I hadn’t heard about, then I realised you must have built it yourself xD
I love the Ravelos, they rock!
I havn’t been simming much lately, as my pc is kind of broken, just playing on this darn Harvest Moon game which I am so stuck on!! I saw you all talking about it awhile ago and decided to get it. It is so confusing!! >.
Wow! I loved Shakespeare done by Sims! :D I still love all three of the girls in this generation. I’d be happy with seeing any one of them being the heir. The stage for the play is awesome. :)
“What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! “(Hamlet) Only that can explain your cool, cool pictures.
“Can one desire too much of a good thing?”(as you like it) Yes, yes I can, and it’s more updates of course.
“This is the short and the long of it” (the merry wives of windsor) ;)
That was great .How did you get the scene to look like that and make it like a real Romeo and Juliet play?
DITO TO KAY!!!
Jen, wooosh. That’s all. I’m startled. Gibt’s nicht *lol*!! Yes, you truly are a Shakespearean lover. And yes, Yorick WILL be my heir :). JEN! HOW ON EARTH! Wow *lol*.
Ok, enough of that. Well – boys boys boys… that’s what the girls really are interested in, huh? So Ana’s aspiration is family? She is so sweet with her boyfriend, Alvin’s elder brother, so cool! Hope that they will stick together for much longer! And Kaela is a very talented narrator, she’d do good as an heiress to! Well, playing Juliet surely makes you a talented narrator anyhow. I’m totally obsessed with your site, Jen, you’re unbelieveable. And now, good night!!
I really like the first picture– it looks kind of like she’s writing a letter, or something, more than homework, doesn’t it?
The third one looks really silly. XD Kind of like they’re all doing a weird little dance that pains them to do, or something. Or it pains Kaela, at least.
XD Oh, dear. Silly Vo Gerbit Spirited people. And I bet afterwards she was all jumping up and going “ee! NEKKID!”
I don’t know why, I just am feeling a little dragged out right now. I’m thinking the Vo Gerbit Spirit got to me.
vo gerbiiiits! >_>
Oh, man. I mixed up Larry with the blonde guy he was talking to, at first. I was a little confused, there. ^^;
XD Aha! Well, it’s not like Kaela didn’t TRY to extend a friendly gesture… *coughcough* XD
I love that stage. It looks really nice. Silly Kaela, though… I really wonder about that kah raaazy possum of a Larry Sims.
He’s suspicious. >_>
Hope you had a merry christmas, or a happy otherholidays! :D
Wooww, interesting update. WHAT am i talking about? I absolutely loved this update. Es mi amor…:lol: Shakespeare is great for The Sims 2, but how did you EVER get it to happen. I know you used a couple of cheats…or atleast i think. And Larry was serenading Kaela. But anyway, Kaela is a great narrator. I love when she tells the story, I LOVE her green eyes. She is beautiful. They all are. This update made me laugh and sit on the edge of my seat and laugh and gasp and go “WOOWW” and then be all, “CCCOOOL” and then be all…”Jen is the best” and then go “dude man, Jen reminds me of my friend”, then after that I laughed some more. Haha, but no, it’s wonderful. Great job. Ohh, i love the girl’s dorm.
Great update. Uh, what’s the Prof.’s first name?
Anyway, LARRY’S A JERK! TRENT ROCKS! But seriously, I always liked Trent, and Ethan.
Man, Alvin Futa looks…strange, like totally straaange.
By the way you guys, I got The Sims 2 working again, so my blog should be up and running again soon, it’s a new one by the way.
Brava! *echoes Kay’s sentiment*
I’m so glad you wrote from Kaela’s perspective; she was my favorite of the girls as they were growing up. :D Still is too.
Beautiful set, Beautiful dorm, Fabulous pictures!
more, more, more, more, more!
Oh, and Happy Holidays! ^.^
Fantastic update love that dorm did youu make that one? Also the play set up was great! :)
*Bounces* In other news, I really really love Nightlife! In one of my Prosperity Challenge families I had my female adult Pleasure Sim fall in love with and move in a townie, Blair Lindt. She was an Elite Forces in the army, he’s a Commander — and so now after she’d been to work I got a little note that said ‘Blair’s pulled some strings for you at work — you just got promoted!’.
Cracks me up. XD
Bravo! Love the Dorm, Love the Set, Love the Guys! I recognized Robi’s look a like even before I read it, who can forget that face? But I must admit I’ve got the hots for Ravi….. (going back to look at him again) LOL. Truly brilliant, and as always, you leave us wanting more, and wanting to sim…. Bravo!
Amy
wow! great stage pics! i was totally blown away by them! :)
I’ve spent the last few days reading all the pages in your blog, and I have to say, YOU ROCK!
And, oh my God, Romeo and Juliet! I wish I could build as well as you could, that stage is absolutely fabulous! I hope she stars in another production soon, you do it really well.
I can’t wait until the next update! *hugs*
Jen! Jen! I had TWINS! *does the dance of insane glee!* Twin boys!
That is to say, Rose Button aka Mrs Diva had them. ;) I named the first David and the second Douglas. David’s got 34 points total (Libra), Douglas has 31 (Aries). A heir and a spare! They’re currently kids, and so far I think David’s got more of Rose’s face than his father, whereas Douglas is definitely gonna be a tiny copy of dad appearance wise. Both have the almost-darkest skin, black hair and dark blue eyes of Mr Diva, though.
She and her husband did have one son before the twins, one ‘Clarence’, but he had awful stats! 25 points, 0 in Nice! So they, uh, gave him up for being unworthy of the Button name. ;)
Great update as always Jen! I loved the Romeo and Juliet bit! Very original! I always look forward to your updates.
Hey guys, thanks for the comments! I’m glad you liked this update — I had a lot of fun creating it. I’ve wanted to do the balcony scene from R&J with the Sims 2 for a long time (that’s why I had Trent get the part of Romeo when he was in college), because I thought it would be easy to replicate in the game, and also because it’s such a familiar scene. It’d be fun to try some others — if you have any suggestions, I’ll take them into consideration. :-)
A few of you asked how I did it. It’s actually quite easy if you use the boolprop cheats, but those also have the potential to glitch up your game, so I try to use them sparingly (and I don’t save the game after using them). You can find some great tutorials on the cheat codes and picture-taking in general here (link courtesy of Amanda at SimShots). I built the stage on an empty lot and only did part of the audience seats, since I knew I was only going to take pictures from certain angles. I used the Tombstone of L&D (from “boolprop testingcheatsenabled”) to add the Ravelo girls and Larry Sims to the lot, then made Larry friendly with Kaela and had him “Serenade” her. With “move_objects on” I was able to put Kaela up on the balcony and take the pics. I did it a few times so I could get shots from different angles and with different expressions. That’s about it!
To answer some other questions –
Nita – I haven’t decided who’s going to be the heir yet — I thought I would write updates from each of the girls, and then have you guys decide who should be the heir. So the next update will probably be from Misty, and then one more from Anastacia. The senior year update can be from the chosen heir. I can certainly do more plays for Kaela, though, even if she’s not the narrator of the updates. Ana’s ponytail hairstyle is from The Sims Connection, and the long hairstyle is modified from the Nightlife jewel hair. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I found it — I’ll get back to you on that!
Eva M – You’re right, Ana’s aspiration is Family, and the other two girls are both Popularity. I see lots of boys and parties in their future!
PRMami – Yup, I made the dorm, mostly because I wanted the girls to live in a dorm for at least a couple of years, and I don’t like the Maxis-made ones very much!
Lyra – Hi there and welcome! :-)
Kay – Congrats on the twins! I’m really enjoying your mini-updates on the Buttons. :-)
rele kwl moooooooooorrrrrrrrrrr n howd u playromio n juli in sims 2 ? izit da college sims ? bie xmwahx
Hey i was wondering where you got Misty’s light ponytail for college?
xthanx a lot!x
X kisses X
eh.. hi I just wanted to say that y think you got ana’s hairstyle from lyran 2.0
PS: sorry if my english is bad i speak dutch
Simaddicts – Hi there, I got Misty’s ponytail from The Sims Resource (created by Sunair).
Maika – Thanks, I followed Lyran’s mesh link and found the one that I downloaded, which was from Mod the Sims 2 (created by Vetty).
*jaw drops* I absoultely love it. You are the Sim Blogging Goddess, Jen! The creativity and thought that went into this update is unbelievable. I love the stage and the dorm, and the look of all the Sims, and Alvin! lol Words cannot describe how awesome this is, you have inspired me to new heights. ;) I can’t wait to read the updates from the other girls’ perspectives.