I've had some confusion from all the things going on at the theatre. Here is the definitive schedule for those in need.
TUESDAY
This afternoon April has scheduled a Story Theatre rehearsal for Jack and the Bean Stalk. April is in Ballard County today with 3 performances of the play she directed for Ballard County Elementary.
Tonight 6pm (Tuesday) MHT is providing technical support (me setting up and running sound) for the Clark Elementary production of The Aristocats. They had their opening night last night and the kids did a great job. April directed the production and Clark music teacher Dale Julian was the musical director. As always April did an outstanding job!
Tonight 6:30 pm (Tuesday) The Wizard of Oz cast (Chorus/munchkins/Dorothy/Glinda) will meet in the classroom for their first music rehearsal to work on the Munchkin song. The Munchkin song is the first big production number in the show. Music Director Doug Arnold will run the rehearsal with assistance from Denise Bristol. (I will be at Clark School during this time but will check in when I get back).
Tonight 7:30 pm (Tuesday) The Sugar Bean Sisters will work the second part of Act Two. We are starting later because of the Clark school show. Tonight's rehearsal works on one of the actors who dies of spontaneous combustion and another is taken by space aliens. (Not many people can say that when talking about their job.)
WEDNESDAY
Tomorrow (Wed.) 1:00pm and 1:45pm there are two performances of the Artistocats at Clark Elementary in the afternoon.
Tomorrow (Wed.) 4:30 pm The Secret Life of Girls has rehearsal in the Studio Theatre.
Tomorrow (Wed.) 6:30 pm The Wizard of Oz Cast (Chorus-Osians/ Dorothy/Scarecrow/Cowardly Lion/Tinman/OZ Guard) will have a music rehearsal to work on the Merry Old Land of Oz song. This is the second big production number in the show where the main characters enter Oz and get spruced up to meet the Wizard. Doug Arnold will run the rehearsal.
Tomorrow (Wed.) 6:30 pm The Sugar Bean Cast will run Act Two Off Book. (That means memorized with no scripts in hands. Prompting is allowed.)
Some of the season ticket renewal letters will go out today for next season.
We are about to announce our youth productions for next season.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Lots of heavy lifting
This past week has been filled with delivering and picking up. Delivering scenery that was left from the last couple of shows to the warehouse and picking up tables, dressers, couches, platforms, walls, doors, windows, refrigerators, sinks and counter tops. Friday Jim and I dismantled all of the tables in the studio theatre and hauled in platforms in preparation for the Footlights show and the Secret Life of Girls. We are turning the front of the second tier seating platform into the actual front row seating and eliminating the chairs that were on the floor. April has requested all the stage area she can get for 35 kids in the footlights show that will perform in the studio theatre. We are building a 12 inch tall platform up on the third tier platform to create a 4th tier platform. This will make the back row of chairs at what I call "bar stool height" so the back row audience can see over the 3rd row people sitting in chairs directly in front of them. We hope that this works and will be comfortable. If it does work it will give us another 20 seats in the studio theatre.
I've been working with the cast of the Sugar Bean Sisters as we unravel the lines in the play. There are a couple of lines that are repeated whenever the characters are afraid that tell us a great deal about the characters. One of the lines is "Oh Lord help us and bind us... tie our feet and hands behind us.. throw us in the watchalahootchie river where the devil won't find us." I've been looking up hymns and scripture passages trying to find similar phrases. Another phrase is "Time is going. Tomorrow comes before you know it." Everyone in the show is pondering how their characters are entwined in the curse that has been placed on the family living in the swamp.
We have been having lots of fun discovering the Gothic and comic elements in the play. A dark storm is building all during the play. It is almost a horror movie in one sense. Just as the intensity builds to a peak the playwright releases the tension with a laugh line. For me this is the part that I enjoy the most. Working with actors to create memorable characters that have lots of levels. None of these characters are two dimensional. They all have their "quirks".
Jack and the Beanstalk is in rehearsal and I'm working on how to develop the couple of locations needed for the play to tour. The last time we did this years ago we built a small stage with roll drops that changed the locations. This time we don't have two strong actors with the show to load and unload a heavy set. We will find an alternate way to accomplish the same task. The show has to set up by the cast in a maximum of 45 minutes including the sound system. The actors perform the play which takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes and then the cast strikes the set and sound system in about 20 minutes. Some days this happen 3 times in the same day. Everyone on the tour volunteers their time.
The Wizard of Oz will have its first music rehearsal Tuesday night at 6:30 in the classroom with musical director Doug Arnold. While that is going on at 7:30 Tuesday night on the mainstage will be the Sugar Bean Sisters rehearsal. Also Tuesday night at 6pm is a performance of the Aristocats and Clark Elementary. This next week will be a crazy run up to Spring Break in which most of the shows are off for a couple of days before we come back in and hit it really hard before opening.
Also on sale are the tickets for MHT's annual Derby party! Tickets will be $40 again this year and the event will be catered by Kirchhoff's with a Derby spread of food. Two drink tickets are included in the ticket price for Mint Juleps, beer and wine provided by Max's. The event will happen in Max's courtyard with the viewing of the race on the big screen at the maiden alley cinemas. All proceeds go to benefit the MHT outreach programming.
The board of directors met last Wednesday and we worked through several issues invovling changes for next season in our season tickets. The renewal letter for season ticket holders will start showing up in mailboxes in the next two weeks.
I've been working with the cast of the Sugar Bean Sisters as we unravel the lines in the play. There are a couple of lines that are repeated whenever the characters are afraid that tell us a great deal about the characters. One of the lines is "Oh Lord help us and bind us... tie our feet and hands behind us.. throw us in the watchalahootchie river where the devil won't find us." I've been looking up hymns and scripture passages trying to find similar phrases. Another phrase is "Time is going. Tomorrow comes before you know it." Everyone in the show is pondering how their characters are entwined in the curse that has been placed on the family living in the swamp.
We have been having lots of fun discovering the Gothic and comic elements in the play. A dark storm is building all during the play. It is almost a horror movie in one sense. Just as the intensity builds to a peak the playwright releases the tension with a laugh line. For me this is the part that I enjoy the most. Working with actors to create memorable characters that have lots of levels. None of these characters are two dimensional. They all have their "quirks".
Jack and the Beanstalk is in rehearsal and I'm working on how to develop the couple of locations needed for the play to tour. The last time we did this years ago we built a small stage with roll drops that changed the locations. This time we don't have two strong actors with the show to load and unload a heavy set. We will find an alternate way to accomplish the same task. The show has to set up by the cast in a maximum of 45 minutes including the sound system. The actors perform the play which takes anywhere from 30-40 minutes and then the cast strikes the set and sound system in about 20 minutes. Some days this happen 3 times in the same day. Everyone on the tour volunteers their time.
The Wizard of Oz will have its first music rehearsal Tuesday night at 6:30 in the classroom with musical director Doug Arnold. While that is going on at 7:30 Tuesday night on the mainstage will be the Sugar Bean Sisters rehearsal. Also Tuesday night at 6pm is a performance of the Aristocats and Clark Elementary. This next week will be a crazy run up to Spring Break in which most of the shows are off for a couple of days before we come back in and hit it really hard before opening.
Also on sale are the tickets for MHT's annual Derby party! Tickets will be $40 again this year and the event will be catered by Kirchhoff's with a Derby spread of food. Two drink tickets are included in the ticket price for Mint Juleps, beer and wine provided by Max's. The event will happen in Max's courtyard with the viewing of the race on the big screen at the maiden alley cinemas. All proceeds go to benefit the MHT outreach programming.
The board of directors met last Wednesday and we worked through several issues invovling changes for next season in our season tickets. The renewal letter for season ticket holders will start showing up in mailboxes in the next two weeks.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Curtain Call and New Season
I removed the ice photos from the blog now that Spring has finally arrived!
The Curtain Call fundraising event was held last Friday evening and was a great success. We are still processing the ticket income from board and committee members but the total raised will be over $10,000. We had several flurries of bidding on the live and silent auctions. The largest item of the night was a weeks vacation in Florida that went for $1,000. The business Competition raised just under $3,000. The winning business was Lourdes Hospital who beat out Western Baptist Hospital by just $27 and change. Lourdes CEO will perform the part of a member of the Lollipop Guild in the June 20th performance. A special thank you goes to Chris Black as the auctioneer, Valerie Pollard as the fundraising committee chair, Melissa Mast who coordinated the business competition, Sandra Jernigan who did publicity, Sarah Bynum who coordinated the food and drink along with Anna Brewer, and Robin Brewer who did the decorations and coordinated all of the food the night of the event. Several others who secured auction items and helped with various aspects also deserve a big thank you! (Unfortunately I'm writing this from home and don't have the full list with me but I will post their names so they can get the thanks they deserve!)
The couple of major roles that were won Friday night for the June 20th performance were:
David Jernigan who will play the Cowardly Lion, Chip Wynn who will play the Wizard of Oz, Mary Keefe who will play the Wicked Witch and the surprise of the evening was a group of bidders got together and purchased the part of Glinda the Good Witch for Auctioneer Chris Black! A great time was had by all and tickets are on sale for the special performance June 20th only that will feature the "guest stars"!
Part of the Curtain Call event was announcing the 46th Season line up. For those who couldn't attend here is the official announcement.
Sept. 2009 SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN HOMECOMING (PT 3)
It's October, 1945, and the gospel-singing Sanders Family is back together again. The war is over Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe has been called to preach in Texas, his wife June, is eight months pregnant. Tomorrow morning, young Dennis Sanders takes over as Mount Pleasant's pastor. Join the Sanders Family for twenty-five toe-tapping Bluegrass Gospel favorites.
Nov. 2009 TOM DICK & HARRY Tom and his wife are about to adopt a baby. His brothers Dick and Harry are anxious to help make a good impression. Unfortunately Dick, who has stashed boxes of smuggled brandy and cigarettes in the house, and Harry, is in possession of a cadaver he is planning to sell illegally to a medical school. Add in Dick’s, illegal Croatian aliens who do not speak English and the stage is set for laughter!
Feb. 2010 GOD’S FAVORITE Neil Simon A modern day Job is visited by a messenger from God and the Tests of Faith (and the jokes) fly fast and furious as Neil Simon spins a contemporary morality tale in his hilarious comedy. The Good Book was never like this!
April 2010 WEDDING BELLES By the writer of Smoke on the Mountain-Four garden-club ladies meet a young girl who has come to their little Texas town to marry an infantryman before he ships off for World War II. The women impulsively decide to throw the girl an elaborate wedding, and their lives and friendships are thrown into turmoil as they race to accomplish the nuptials in one frenzied afternoon.
As many of you know we had a glitch in the royalties for the final show of next season. In the process we went back to our alternates and found that a majority of the MHT was excited about producing an updated version of the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. So without further ado......
June 2010 CINDERELLA ENCHANTED The classic story with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein was updated in the 1997 movie version which starred Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother, Brandy as Cinderella, Whoopi Goldberg as the Queen, and Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother. With songs like “Impossible”, “A Lovely Night”, and “My Own Little Corner”, CINDERELLA ENCHANTED will delight audiences of all ages.
Youth Season
Dec. 2009 Best Christmas Pageant Ever In this hilarious Christmas tale, a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant is faced with casting the Herdman kids-- probably the most inventively awful kids in history. You won't believe the mayhem-- and the fun-- when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on!
We are still finalizing the details on the Youth show for March 2010. There will also be a Youth Studio production in October of 2009 which is yet to be finalized.
Our Spring Story Theatre is in rehearsal now for Jack and the Beanstalk and will start taking bookings within a week. The tour will start in April and run through the end of the school year.
The board of directors will meet this Wednesday and work through a couple of important changes that are in the process for next season. We will be mailing season renewal notices hopefully by the end of the week or the first of next week. With the fundraising event now behind us we move into high gear on preparing for The Sugar Bean Sisters set and the Jack and the Beanstalk set.
Natalia from Creatures of Habit came to the first rehearsal of the Wizard of Oz last Thursday and measured the cast for their costumes.
We are now in a sprint until the end of June!
The Curtain Call fundraising event was held last Friday evening and was a great success. We are still processing the ticket income from board and committee members but the total raised will be over $10,000. We had several flurries of bidding on the live and silent auctions. The largest item of the night was a weeks vacation in Florida that went for $1,000. The business Competition raised just under $3,000. The winning business was Lourdes Hospital who beat out Western Baptist Hospital by just $27 and change. Lourdes CEO will perform the part of a member of the Lollipop Guild in the June 20th performance. A special thank you goes to Chris Black as the auctioneer, Valerie Pollard as the fundraising committee chair, Melissa Mast who coordinated the business competition, Sandra Jernigan who did publicity, Sarah Bynum who coordinated the food and drink along with Anna Brewer, and Robin Brewer who did the decorations and coordinated all of the food the night of the event. Several others who secured auction items and helped with various aspects also deserve a big thank you! (Unfortunately I'm writing this from home and don't have the full list with me but I will post their names so they can get the thanks they deserve!)
The couple of major roles that were won Friday night for the June 20th performance were:
David Jernigan who will play the Cowardly Lion, Chip Wynn who will play the Wizard of Oz, Mary Keefe who will play the Wicked Witch and the surprise of the evening was a group of bidders got together and purchased the part of Glinda the Good Witch for Auctioneer Chris Black! A great time was had by all and tickets are on sale for the special performance June 20th only that will feature the "guest stars"!
Part of the Curtain Call event was announcing the 46th Season line up. For those who couldn't attend here is the official announcement.
Sept. 2009 SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN HOMECOMING (PT 3)
It's October, 1945, and the gospel-singing Sanders Family is back together again. The war is over Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe has been called to preach in Texas, his wife June, is eight months pregnant. Tomorrow morning, young Dennis Sanders takes over as Mount Pleasant's pastor. Join the Sanders Family for twenty-five toe-tapping Bluegrass Gospel favorites.
Nov. 2009 TOM DICK & HARRY Tom and his wife are about to adopt a baby. His brothers Dick and Harry are anxious to help make a good impression. Unfortunately Dick, who has stashed boxes of smuggled brandy and cigarettes in the house, and Harry, is in possession of a cadaver he is planning to sell illegally to a medical school. Add in Dick’s, illegal Croatian aliens who do not speak English and the stage is set for laughter!
Feb. 2010 GOD’S FAVORITE Neil Simon A modern day Job is visited by a messenger from God and the Tests of Faith (and the jokes) fly fast and furious as Neil Simon spins a contemporary morality tale in his hilarious comedy. The Good Book was never like this!
April 2010 WEDDING BELLES By the writer of Smoke on the Mountain-Four garden-club ladies meet a young girl who has come to their little Texas town to marry an infantryman before he ships off for World War II. The women impulsively decide to throw the girl an elaborate wedding, and their lives and friendships are thrown into turmoil as they race to accomplish the nuptials in one frenzied afternoon.
As many of you know we had a glitch in the royalties for the final show of next season. In the process we went back to our alternates and found that a majority of the MHT was excited about producing an updated version of the classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein. So without further ado......
June 2010 CINDERELLA ENCHANTED The classic story with music by Rodgers and Hammerstein was updated in the 1997 movie version which starred Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother, Brandy as Cinderella, Whoopi Goldberg as the Queen, and Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother. With songs like “Impossible”, “A Lovely Night”, and “My Own Little Corner”, CINDERELLA ENCHANTED will delight audiences of all ages.
Youth Season
Dec. 2009 Best Christmas Pageant Ever In this hilarious Christmas tale, a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant is faced with casting the Herdman kids-- probably the most inventively awful kids in history. You won't believe the mayhem-- and the fun-- when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on!
We are still finalizing the details on the Youth show for March 2010. There will also be a Youth Studio production in October of 2009 which is yet to be finalized.
Our Spring Story Theatre is in rehearsal now for Jack and the Beanstalk and will start taking bookings within a week. The tour will start in April and run through the end of the school year.
The board of directors will meet this Wednesday and work through a couple of important changes that are in the process for next season. We will be mailing season renewal notices hopefully by the end of the week or the first of next week. With the fundraising event now behind us we move into high gear on preparing for The Sugar Bean Sisters set and the Jack and the Beanstalk set.
Natalia from Creatures of Habit came to the first rehearsal of the Wizard of Oz last Thursday and measured the cast for their costumes.
We are now in a sprint until the end of June!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Circus Act
The past couple of days have been spent trying to keep several plates spinning on the end of sticks. Last time I blogged about the surprise restrictions put on our choice for the musical in 2010. Since then I've applied for royalties for 3 other musicals all as alternatives. We are still waiting to hear back from the original publishing company to hear if our appeal was accepted. All of this happens as we try to announce our new season this Friday.
April has been holding auditions for the Secret Life of Girls. She has had a good turnout both nights. We are supposed to do a trial run next monday on the digital projections that are needed for that show. It will require words that look like real time texting and emails to appear as the actors type them on stage.
I've been rehearsing the Sugar Bean Sisters at 6:30 each night. The entire cast has at some point in the last 2 weeks been sick and without a voice. Tonight was Susan Anderson's first rehearsal as the Reptile woman. She came in and couldn't speak above a whisper. So far in rehearsal Marsha Cash who plays a dancer from New Orleans has had to crawl under a bed, jump on top of a table, climb ladders, run figure 8's around a couch and table and dance on top of a table. The actors are all getting a real workout doing the play.
Thursday evening is the first rehearsal for The Wizard of Oz. It will be a short meeting to give out rehearsal schedules, scripts, music, and talk about costumes, etc.. I've already had several people who told me that had no conflicts on that date now tell me that they can't make it. I'm hoping this is not a preview of coming attractions. I knew when I scheduled it that not everyone would be able to make it. To get ready I'm working through the script scene by scene assigning parts for all of the various munchkins and people from Oz. Deciding how long and when to rehearse the scenes and looking at the music and which songs will have what singers in the back. I'm hoping that Creatures of Habit which is contracted for the costumes for the show will be able to measure most of the cast Thursday night and we can do a costume plot and expense breakdown.
Friday night is the Curtain Call auction. Chris Black, who will be our auctioneer, came in today and met with Valerie Pollard, who is the fundraising chair, about the timeline for Friday evenings events. It seems like it was only a short time ago (last September) that we were brainstorming about how this auction might work. We're off to see the Wizard....
April has selected a Story theatre show that will tour in April and May. It is Jack and the Beanstalk. She has also selected the summer music camp and I've applied for the rights for the classes. April has 3 or 4 productions at various schools around the city all in rehearsal at this point.
Jim and I took several large set pieces back to the warehouse Monday after the Footlights shows this past weekend and brought back a van loaded to the max with 4'x8'platforms for The Sugar Bean Sisters production. We hauled all of the cubes and boxes April had used in the footlights shows back from the stage up to the second floor classroom. Jim began legging the platforms up this afternoon.
Marsha is catching up on contribution thank you letters, receipts and program ad invoices while Alexis is working out the new seating charts for next season and a brochure for the final push on buying a new seat. We are hopefully withing sight of the end of the new seat campaign. I'm writing a couple of grant applications for matching funding on the seats. Janice is sorting through and cleaning all the costumes from Ramona Quimby and the Footlights shows and helping April pull costumes for her school performances.
It's hard to believe that we are almost three fourths of the way through the fiscal year. March is almost over! (We start our next fiscal year July 1st and go until June 30th.) I got information on the July Fund Run for Charities, yesterday. I'm not ready for July yet.
On Monday March 30th a large group of directors from several of the arts groups in Paducah will get together for a working lunch to discuss items and dates of interest. We will also share challenges and as we face a tough year with the economy.
Today I received word that the arts had a partial victory in the KY Senate Bill 1. The final language, although taking out the testing component, still leaves in 80% of what Arts groups were hoping for in the bill. I'm waiting to hear more details to find out what this means for schools for next year. It's time to go back to spinning plates...
April has been holding auditions for the Secret Life of Girls. She has had a good turnout both nights. We are supposed to do a trial run next monday on the digital projections that are needed for that show. It will require words that look like real time texting and emails to appear as the actors type them on stage.
I've been rehearsing the Sugar Bean Sisters at 6:30 each night. The entire cast has at some point in the last 2 weeks been sick and without a voice. Tonight was Susan Anderson's first rehearsal as the Reptile woman. She came in and couldn't speak above a whisper. So far in rehearsal Marsha Cash who plays a dancer from New Orleans has had to crawl under a bed, jump on top of a table, climb ladders, run figure 8's around a couch and table and dance on top of a table. The actors are all getting a real workout doing the play.
Thursday evening is the first rehearsal for The Wizard of Oz. It will be a short meeting to give out rehearsal schedules, scripts, music, and talk about costumes, etc.. I've already had several people who told me that had no conflicts on that date now tell me that they can't make it. I'm hoping this is not a preview of coming attractions. I knew when I scheduled it that not everyone would be able to make it. To get ready I'm working through the script scene by scene assigning parts for all of the various munchkins and people from Oz. Deciding how long and when to rehearse the scenes and looking at the music and which songs will have what singers in the back. I'm hoping that Creatures of Habit which is contracted for the costumes for the show will be able to measure most of the cast Thursday night and we can do a costume plot and expense breakdown.
Friday night is the Curtain Call auction. Chris Black, who will be our auctioneer, came in today and met with Valerie Pollard, who is the fundraising chair, about the timeline for Friday evenings events. It seems like it was only a short time ago (last September) that we were brainstorming about how this auction might work. We're off to see the Wizard....
April has selected a Story theatre show that will tour in April and May. It is Jack and the Beanstalk. She has also selected the summer music camp and I've applied for the rights for the classes. April has 3 or 4 productions at various schools around the city all in rehearsal at this point.
Jim and I took several large set pieces back to the warehouse Monday after the Footlights shows this past weekend and brought back a van loaded to the max with 4'x8'platforms for The Sugar Bean Sisters production. We hauled all of the cubes and boxes April had used in the footlights shows back from the stage up to the second floor classroom. Jim began legging the platforms up this afternoon.
Marsha is catching up on contribution thank you letters, receipts and program ad invoices while Alexis is working out the new seating charts for next season and a brochure for the final push on buying a new seat. We are hopefully withing sight of the end of the new seat campaign. I'm writing a couple of grant applications for matching funding on the seats. Janice is sorting through and cleaning all the costumes from Ramona Quimby and the Footlights shows and helping April pull costumes for her school performances.
It's hard to believe that we are almost three fourths of the way through the fiscal year. March is almost over! (We start our next fiscal year July 1st and go until June 30th.) I got information on the July Fund Run for Charities, yesterday. I'm not ready for July yet.
On Monday March 30th a large group of directors from several of the arts groups in Paducah will get together for a working lunch to discuss items and dates of interest. We will also share challenges and as we face a tough year with the economy.
Today I received word that the arts had a partial victory in the KY Senate Bill 1. The final language, although taking out the testing component, still leaves in 80% of what Arts groups were hoping for in the bill. I'm waiting to hear more details to find out what this means for schools for next year. It's time to go back to spinning plates...
Friday, March 13, 2009
Hitting a sand bar
Things have been moving along this week as we prepare for the footlights shows tomorrow and Sunday. The ad campaign for Sugar Bean Sisters and the rehearsals are coming along. The auction for next Friday seems to be going well. Then our ship hit a sand bar- or in this case a publishing company that ground us to a stop and now we've got to get unstuck.
As Alexis proofed the final version of our next year's season ticket form with all the show descriptions, I happened to check on getting the rights for April's summer drama camp shows. This is with the same company I acquired the rights for our 2010 June musical. As I was looking up our account I saw that the show selected for 2010 was suddenly restricted. I called to find out what this change meant to us since I was issued a contract in Feb. I was told "Oh yeah-that got restricted last week because of a national touring company. Sorry- you can't get it now." Even though we had confirmed our desire to do the show and had a temporary agreement there is a clause in every contract that basically says that a publishing company can pull the rights at any time.
I told Alexis "Stop the press! Hold off on anything else with the season ticket renewal order forms until we find a show!" This sounds like the classic theatre script of the 1940's.
So today I'm scrambling to find a suitable replacement that is in the same style as the one the play selection committee picked and approved. I'm looking for a big name show that will sell lots of tickets and everyone wants to audition for that doesn't cost a fortune to produce, and here's the kicker.... finding a show we haven't done recently! There are several shows right on the edge of being released but won't be until next year. All of the other titles that are well known, we've already done if it can fit on our stage. So the race is on! Can we find a show before we announce the season next Friday. You'll have to buy tickets to the event to find out the answer to that question!
To quote a classical television actor- "Hey, Rockie, you wanna see me pull a rabbit out of my hat." For those that don't know the actor who said that...don't ask- it will just make me feel even older.
As Alexis proofed the final version of our next year's season ticket form with all the show descriptions, I happened to check on getting the rights for April's summer drama camp shows. This is with the same company I acquired the rights for our 2010 June musical. As I was looking up our account I saw that the show selected for 2010 was suddenly restricted. I called to find out what this change meant to us since I was issued a contract in Feb. I was told "Oh yeah-that got restricted last week because of a national touring company. Sorry- you can't get it now." Even though we had confirmed our desire to do the show and had a temporary agreement there is a clause in every contract that basically says that a publishing company can pull the rights at any time.
I told Alexis "Stop the press! Hold off on anything else with the season ticket renewal order forms until we find a show!" This sounds like the classic theatre script of the 1940's.
So today I'm scrambling to find a suitable replacement that is in the same style as the one the play selection committee picked and approved. I'm looking for a big name show that will sell lots of tickets and everyone wants to audition for that doesn't cost a fortune to produce, and here's the kicker.... finding a show we haven't done recently! There are several shows right on the edge of being released but won't be until next year. All of the other titles that are well known, we've already done if it can fit on our stage. So the race is on! Can we find a show before we announce the season next Friday. You'll have to buy tickets to the event to find out the answer to that question!
To quote a classical television actor- "Hey, Rockie, you wanna see me pull a rabbit out of my hat." For those that don't know the actor who said that...don't ask- it will just make me feel even older.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Omens, Auditions, and Fundraisers
I can't decided if it is an omen or just that it wore out. Over the course of the last month I've lost 3 of the 5 desk drawers from my office desk. They have simply fallen apart. Yesterday I opened my middle drawer and put a pencil in the drawer. I closed the drawer and the bottom fell out spilling the contents everywhere under my desk. (No it wasn't that overloaded!) Last week I put a pen in the side desk drawer and when it closed the bottom gave way and it fell to pieces. I now have a large bin next to my desk holding the contents of 3 desk drawers.
Jim Keeney's father in law passed away last Monday. He had been ill for some time and this was not totally unexpected. Jim and his wife Cathy and daughter Elisabeth will be traveling to Arkansas this week for the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Keeney family.
April has settled on the shorter version of the Secret Life of Girls script. Auditions are next Monday and Tuesday and scripts are available to check out.
Sugar Bean Sisters had its first rehearsal on Monday and we started staging the show last night. The cast will be off book in 2 weeks! (That means they have to have their lines memorized.)
Kim came in with the flu/cold stuff to the read through on Monday. Tuesday Sue came in with the cold/flu stuff. Lots of people are out suffering with flu like symptoms right now. At the Monday school matinees there were almost 70 kids missing because of sickness. April has several kids out this week from the footlights final rehearsals due to illness.
Alexis is working on the forms for season ticket renewals and I wrote a first draft of the season ticket renewal letter. I still have to draft the show description letter. We announce the season a week from Friday at the Curtain Call fundraising event! We hope to have season tickets on sale very quickly after that announcement.
Ramona Quimby exceeded its box office budget goal! Thanks to sold out performances on the final Saturday and Sunday and sold out school matinees the show exceeded expectations. April, the cast, and crew all did a terrific job! Thanks to ilistpaducah.com for helping to promote the show as well!
So far this year the youth shows have exceeded their box office goals and the main stage shows have been slightly under. The ice storm in January put a big dent in our box office income projections for the mainstage shows but the youth shows have really helped keep us close to our budgeted goals. Groups have been buying tickets for Sugar Bean Sisters since the quilt show announcement was made a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday Alexis said a group from Canada bought tickets for the show.
I'm trying to get the cast of Wizard of Oz together for a brief rehearsal on Thursday March 19 at 7 pm. Denise Bristol assistant director will start contacting everyone in the company today to try to set this up.
The board is in full swing getting ready for the Curtain Call fundraising event on March 20th. It should be a great time and tickets are available at the box office or from board members.
Jim Keeney's father in law passed away last Monday. He had been ill for some time and this was not totally unexpected. Jim and his wife Cathy and daughter Elisabeth will be traveling to Arkansas this week for the funeral. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Keeney family.
April has settled on the shorter version of the Secret Life of Girls script. Auditions are next Monday and Tuesday and scripts are available to check out.
Sugar Bean Sisters had its first rehearsal on Monday and we started staging the show last night. The cast will be off book in 2 weeks! (That means they have to have their lines memorized.)
Kim came in with the flu/cold stuff to the read through on Monday. Tuesday Sue came in with the cold/flu stuff. Lots of people are out suffering with flu like symptoms right now. At the Monday school matinees there were almost 70 kids missing because of sickness. April has several kids out this week from the footlights final rehearsals due to illness.
Alexis is working on the forms for season ticket renewals and I wrote a first draft of the season ticket renewal letter. I still have to draft the show description letter. We announce the season a week from Friday at the Curtain Call fundraising event! We hope to have season tickets on sale very quickly after that announcement.
Ramona Quimby exceeded its box office budget goal! Thanks to sold out performances on the final Saturday and Sunday and sold out school matinees the show exceeded expectations. April, the cast, and crew all did a terrific job! Thanks to ilistpaducah.com for helping to promote the show as well!
So far this year the youth shows have exceeded their box office goals and the main stage shows have been slightly under. The ice storm in January put a big dent in our box office income projections for the mainstage shows but the youth shows have really helped keep us close to our budgeted goals. Groups have been buying tickets for Sugar Bean Sisters since the quilt show announcement was made a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday Alexis said a group from Canada bought tickets for the show.
I'm trying to get the cast of Wizard of Oz together for a brief rehearsal on Thursday March 19 at 7 pm. Denise Bristol assistant director will start contacting everyone in the company today to try to set this up.
The board is in full swing getting ready for the Curtain Call fundraising event on March 20th. It should be a great time and tickets are available at the box office or from board members.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Ramona is now history
It's funny how in the space of less than 2 hours a show goes from full performance to history. Nothing left but an empty stage that once held the show. This afternoon Jim is returning stock scenery and furniture pieces that we repaint or adapt each show to the warehouse. We added to the stock scenery with this show by building furniture and some walls that will now be cycled into youth shows.
The stage is being readied for the Footlights troupe shows which perform next Saturday and Sunday. The following week is the big Fundraiser onstage and then 3 1/2 weeks later the Sugar Bean Sisters opens. The first read through of Sugar Beans is tonight at 7 pm. Story Theatre troupe will start rehearsing soon for the spring tour and auditions are next Monday and Tuesday for the Secret Life of Girls and as of that point we will again have 3-4 shows in rehearsal at the same time. When we planned all these shows I didn't realize what a marathon event it was going to be. Of course part of the marathon was caused by the ice storm which moved the auction back into March. Moving the auction was only made possible because we postponed Having Our Say.
I'm please to say that Ramona Quimby sold out the final two performances of the run. A general note for everyone about sold out performances is that generally we can always get several people in even when we are sold out, because there are always audience members who end up turning in tickets because someone in their party couldn't attend. Saturday afternoon we got 12 people in at Curtain time and Sunday we got about 15 in at curtain. We are looking for crew for Sugar Beans and Wizard of Oz. If you think you might like to do this contact Marsha Cash.
The stage is being readied for the Footlights troupe shows which perform next Saturday and Sunday. The following week is the big Fundraiser onstage and then 3 1/2 weeks later the Sugar Bean Sisters opens. The first read through of Sugar Beans is tonight at 7 pm. Story Theatre troupe will start rehearsing soon for the spring tour and auditions are next Monday and Tuesday for the Secret Life of Girls and as of that point we will again have 3-4 shows in rehearsal at the same time. When we planned all these shows I didn't realize what a marathon event it was going to be. Of course part of the marathon was caused by the ice storm which moved the auction back into March. Moving the auction was only made possible because we postponed Having Our Say.
I'm please to say that Ramona Quimby sold out the final two performances of the run. A general note for everyone about sold out performances is that generally we can always get several people in even when we are sold out, because there are always audience members who end up turning in tickets because someone in their party couldn't attend. Saturday afternoon we got 12 people in at Curtain time and Sunday we got about 15 in at curtain. We are looking for crew for Sugar Beans and Wizard of Oz. If you think you might like to do this contact Marsha Cash.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Another Opening of Another Show
To quote the lyrics from a song in Kiss Me Kate "another opening of another show". Ramona Quimby MHT's 500th production opened Thursday morning at 9 am to a full house of elementary students. By the end of the day on Thursday the cast had completed 3 performances and everyone was settling into the groove.
It was a hard road to get there. There were several nights in a row spent painting until almost midnight or after. You can always tell when we get to "hell week" because the stress levels go way up trying to get everything ready for the opening night. We are the only business that sells a product that hasn't been created, or exist in a physical form, and then makes sure it is ready on time to deliver at a precise day and time. On Tuesday and Wednesday evening a couple of volunteers stayed and painted. Betty Wise worked solid for the last two weeks before opening helping. Marsha Cash also camped out at the theatre painting all of the trees and bushes that are on the stage. Marsha and Betty stayed until after midnight on Wednesday to help with the final push. Heidi Yocum and her family of all ages came in and painted for two days. At first I wasn't so sure about how that would work with some of the kids being under 6 years old. The whole family was a great help and they seemed to have a good time. special thanks goes to Marsha and Betty for above and beyond help. In fact after the morning school matinees Marsha and I returned to do the final touch up on the bushes. I still have one more painting element I want to add today to really finish the set even though we are now officially open. This morning there are another two sold out matinees at 9 am and 11:30 am. A workshop after the 11:30 show and then a break before tonight's performance.
The show itself is terrific. Brenna who plays Ramona, and Kye who plays Beezus, do an outstanding job. I heard one person say Brenna acts all the way from her toes to the top of her head. I think that is right on target. Mary Kathrin Dorr is the stage manager for the show and she has stepped up and is doing a great job with Stage Managing a difficult show. There is a real art to being a good stage manager and she is showing all the signs of being a good one. April as always has done a great job of molding and shaping the show into a great production. Jim has worked long and hard on the sets as well and Janice has designed and built lots of great costumes for the play. There is a special thanks to the mom's who are covering backstage. Heather Dorr and some of the actor's mothers are taking turns "wrangling" kids. That is a job of keeping a large group of children quite and focused and making their entrances on time for the 1 hour production. It is no easy job to keep that many young children quiet.
I've done a couple of interviews about this being the 500th production. The one thing that keeps coming up is the efforts of all of the volunteers and staff to make a show happen. Thanks to one and all. If you don't have tickets for the play you should get them.
It was a hard road to get there. There were several nights in a row spent painting until almost midnight or after. You can always tell when we get to "hell week" because the stress levels go way up trying to get everything ready for the opening night. We are the only business that sells a product that hasn't been created, or exist in a physical form, and then makes sure it is ready on time to deliver at a precise day and time. On Tuesday and Wednesday evening a couple of volunteers stayed and painted. Betty Wise worked solid for the last two weeks before opening helping. Marsha Cash also camped out at the theatre painting all of the trees and bushes that are on the stage. Marsha and Betty stayed until after midnight on Wednesday to help with the final push. Heidi Yocum and her family of all ages came in and painted for two days. At first I wasn't so sure about how that would work with some of the kids being under 6 years old. The whole family was a great help and they seemed to have a good time. special thanks goes to Marsha and Betty for above and beyond help. In fact after the morning school matinees Marsha and I returned to do the final touch up on the bushes. I still have one more painting element I want to add today to really finish the set even though we are now officially open. This morning there are another two sold out matinees at 9 am and 11:30 am. A workshop after the 11:30 show and then a break before tonight's performance.
The show itself is terrific. Brenna who plays Ramona, and Kye who plays Beezus, do an outstanding job. I heard one person say Brenna acts all the way from her toes to the top of her head. I think that is right on target. Mary Kathrin Dorr is the stage manager for the show and she has stepped up and is doing a great job with Stage Managing a difficult show. There is a real art to being a good stage manager and she is showing all the signs of being a good one. April as always has done a great job of molding and shaping the show into a great production. Jim has worked long and hard on the sets as well and Janice has designed and built lots of great costumes for the play. There is a special thanks to the mom's who are covering backstage. Heather Dorr and some of the actor's mothers are taking turns "wrangling" kids. That is a job of keeping a large group of children quite and focused and making their entrances on time for the 1 hour production. It is no easy job to keep that many young children quiet.
I've done a couple of interviews about this being the 500th production. The one thing that keeps coming up is the efforts of all of the volunteers and staff to make a show happen. Thanks to one and all. If you don't have tickets for the play you should get them.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
digital image breakdown
I forgot to mention in my last post that my computer which has been runing the digital projections has decided to have a nervous breakdown during the middle of the program. I'm sure it is a "Vista" problem with the equipment. The word "Vista" and "expletive deletive" have gone together many times during the last two days. This hasn't helped the time crunch.
crunch
It has been almost a week since I last posted. It has been non stop since then. With getting Ramona Quimby ready for opening I have been covered over. We set light cues last Thursday two days earlier than usual which should have helped but it hasn't. Friday and Saturday were pretty much playing catch up because I agreed to help on a talent show that needed judges. Tech rehearsal was Sunday afternoon.
There are still blank walls on the stage two days from opening that need to be painted and I've been putting in 16 hour days working on the lights, sound, and painting. The biggest problem I'm facing is that the style of painting I had envisioned for the set isn't working. So I'm forced to repaint areas and develop a new style. It is a painstakingly long process for me because the illustrated style of painting is very difficult for me. I'm really frustrated at the moment and trying to get to that breakthrough point. With recent budget cuts I also don't have the funds to bring in some of the really good artists I would have hired in the past to do this. I've spent the last couple of nights painting only to come in the next day and repaint over most of what I did the night before. April is frustrated, I'm frustrated, and there isn't a lot anyone can do to help until I put in the time to get it worked out. Time is also getting short as we open Thursday morning for an auditorium full of school kids. The show will be done by opening. It is taking a lot of work to get there.
There are still blank walls on the stage two days from opening that need to be painted and I've been putting in 16 hour days working on the lights, sound, and painting. The biggest problem I'm facing is that the style of painting I had envisioned for the set isn't working. So I'm forced to repaint areas and develop a new style. It is a painstakingly long process for me because the illustrated style of painting is very difficult for me. I'm really frustrated at the moment and trying to get to that breakthrough point. With recent budget cuts I also don't have the funds to bring in some of the really good artists I would have hired in the past to do this. I've spent the last couple of nights painting only to come in the next day and repaint over most of what I did the night before. April is frustrated, I'm frustrated, and there isn't a lot anyone can do to help until I put in the time to get it worked out. Time is also getting short as we open Thursday morning for an auditorium full of school kids. The show will be done by opening. It is taking a lot of work to get there.
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