As we finish up April we begin a mad dash to the end of the fiscal year. The Sugar Bean Sisters has a successful run. The cast had a great time and celebrated by with a cast part after the final performance on Sunday. Before going to the cast party cast members stopped by Lourdes Hospital to see Susan Anderson who played the reptile woman the first week of the run. Susan thought there was a good chance that she would be out of the hospital this week and we wish her a speedy recovery. A couple of nominees for the infamous "Golden Screw" awards presented themselves during the run of the show. The most memorable one was on the second Friday when Marsha Cash entered the house to start the show and the back door knob promptly came off in her hand. Marsha didn't have to exit at that point so she put the door knob on the top of the dresser next to the door and hid under the bed (which she was supposed to do). Sue Fletcher then entered the house and went to open the back door. Seeing the knob on the dresser Sue briefly panicked and left the stage by going into the back bedroom of the set to tell crew person Jaimie Smith what had happened. Kim Yocum and Marsha Cash's eyes got as big as saucers when Sue, without warning, suddenly left the stage. Kim, as Willie May, became suddenly aware that she was now alone onstage, in front of 240 people, with no one to talk to. Kim kept calling to Sue offstage-"Faye... Faye... Come back.... Faye..... I need you!!!" Sue returned to the stage after what seemed like an eternity to Kim but was only about 30 seconds in real time and continued the scene. If you hadn't seen the show before you would never have known that wasn't supposed to happen. That is the joy (and terror) of live theatre. You never know what will happen next! Marsha eventually got the door open by putting her finger in the hole where the door knob should have been and released the catch. At intermission Jim Keeney replaced the door knob.
We are flying towards two events this weekend- (the first weekend of May), is 7th Annual KY Derby Party on Saturday at 3 pm and the technical rehearsal for The Secret Life of Girls on Sunday at 6pm. Rehearsals for both Secret Life and Wizard of Oz have been running all week in the evenings.
The second and third weekends of May are the performances of the Secret Life of Girls. Performances are Thur. & Fri. at 7:30 pm and Sat. & Sun. at 2:30 pm.
The fourth weekend is the lower town festival and the performance of the Footlights troupe shows in the Studio theatre. If you want to do something fun and help out the theatre at the same time sign up to work a shift at the Lower Town Music & Art Festival. We help the Buzzard Brothers serve food during the festival and they share a portion of the proceeds with theatre.
The fifth weekend is the technical rehearsal for the Wizard of Oz and the final push to open that show.
The MHT Nominating committee is currently contacting potential board members to discuss board and committee positions. The board will submit a slate of officers and new board members to be approved at the May board meeting and then the election by members at the annual picnic in June.
We may be wrapping up April but it reminds me of being a kid in Wisconsin on a toboggan with about 5 people all hanging on for dear life hurtling down a snow covered hillside, flying through the air as you hit the bumps, everyone screaming and at the end you stopped for just a moment amazed you survived it and then a smile appears and someone yells- "Let's do it again!"
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Live Theatre is an extreme sport
You never know what's going to happen. This morning Susan Anderson called me to say that she was really sorry but she would not be able to play the Reptile Woman in tonight's sold out performance because she was in the hospital. They decided to keep her overnight after a pancreititus (sp?) attack. Susan anticipates being better tomorrow and really wanted to be at the theatre tonight. After hanging up and racking my brain for about 20 minutes I decided that the best course of action was to change the part from Reptile Woman to Reptile Man and do the part myself. I know the blocking and am familiar enough with the lines that I could, with some work, do the part off book tonight since the Reptile Woman has so many props she has to carry. Laurie Burnett is the stage manager and understudy and if we had about a week for me to get her rehearsed and up to speed and off book I would have used her. However we only had about 10 hours before curtain and I needed Laurie stage managing the show because it is very complicated.
I began cramming the lines in my head, reviewing the blocking and went to Creatures of Habit to get a costume. We tried on a couple of costumes and found one that is covered with animal and snake skins. I have a wig that transforms my look as well. I can't decide if I look like a swamp man or a heavy metal rock and roll musician. They look about the same sometimes.
So tonight at 7:30 pm we will see how well the cast adapts to a new performer of a different gender. At some point during the play they all talk about the Reptile woman. Many times during the lines Marsha and Sue have to say Yes Ma'am. Every actor is going to have to substitute him or her and man for woman as they say them tonight to make this work. This will be one of those memorable moments in live theatre tonight that will test all of us. That old saying the show must go on isn't just a nice sentiment.
We are all hoping and wishing for Susan's quick recovery and look forward to having her back onstage as soon as possible.
Life is an adventure and live theatre at times is an extreme adventure.
I began cramming the lines in my head, reviewing the blocking and went to Creatures of Habit to get a costume. We tried on a couple of costumes and found one that is covered with animal and snake skins. I have a wig that transforms my look as well. I can't decide if I look like a swamp man or a heavy metal rock and roll musician. They look about the same sometimes.
So tonight at 7:30 pm we will see how well the cast adapts to a new performer of a different gender. At some point during the play they all talk about the Reptile woman. Many times during the lines Marsha and Sue have to say Yes Ma'am. Every actor is going to have to substitute him or her and man for woman as they say them tonight to make this work. This will be one of those memorable moments in live theatre tonight that will test all of us. That old saying the show must go on isn't just a nice sentiment.
We are all hoping and wishing for Susan's quick recovery and look forward to having her back onstage as soon as possible.
Life is an adventure and live theatre at times is an extreme adventure.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wizards and Aliens
We finished the first weekend of the Sugar Bean Sisters with a flourish. The cast received standing ovations on most of the performances last weekend and audiences were smiling as they exited the theatre. We had a few moments from the past week that made my heart skip a beat. Here are just a few of the funnier moments:
On the final dress rehearsal before opening we were so focused on getting everything ready that a couple of the technical elements didn't get reset. Marsha Cash is supposed to come to the door from the swamp and finding it locked have to climb through a window. Unfortunately a final check missed the fact that the front door was standing wide open. So when she came up to the front door and saw it wide open she pretended the screen door was locked. That same night Kim Yocum was sitting at the vanity applying monkey goo to her bald head when she is supposed to notice a large purple feather on the vanity. Unfortunately it didn't get preset so Kim began to scan the room for one of the many feathers that falls off Marsha Cash's costume. This unfortunately was the only night that none fell off. Marsha thinking fast pulled one off her costume (she is hiding under the bed in the scene) and blew it out from under the bed next to Kim's feet so she could find one. On Sunday Mike Brewer did a superb scene with Kim and his blocking is to turn and walk off. Unfortunately Mike turned and walked straight into a wall. Mike finished his exit a little more gracefully and everyone onstage was biting their lips to keep from smiling. Some nights we've seen our share of name trauma with people calling each other by their own characters name. My favorite was Marsha trying to saw the word awful and crazy at the same time which came out awfy. In another moment Marsha was supposed to say she poured chicken blood on her church dress. Unfortunately it came out that she poured church blood on her chicken dress. The cast and the crew are doing an outstanding job with the show and the little mistakes are what makes live theatre so exciting. You never know what is going to happen from one moment to the next. Jim and Ted Roush and Jaimie Smith are all making magic happen with the show. Ted is running all the sound effects, Jim is running lights, Jaimie is doing the on stage special effects and Laurie Burnett is stage managing the show.
The Wizard of Oz began the staging process tonight. Dorothy (Emily Yokum), Auntie Em (Cat Tilker), Uncle Henry (Roy Hensel), Hunk (Fowler Black), Hickory (Chris Schnarr), Zeke (Chuck Wilkins), and Miss Gultch (Denise Bohle) all rehearsed the first 3 scenes in Kansas. This is one of those odd shows because we all know the movie so well that when we are working on the play you can't help but hear the original actors voices and think of their movement. The MHT cast is doing a great job of bringing to life the story with lots of familiar characters and yet making each of the characters their own characters and not a carbon copy of the MGM Movie cast. I think the show is going to be great. I spent about 2 1/2 hours today taping out and then re-taping out the set before blocking today. Tomorrow we are rehearsing scenes 4-5 where we meet Professor Marvel and the Twister comes. On Wednesday we move to scenes 6 & 7 with the Munchkins and Glinda.
Story Theatre's Jack and the Beanstalk had its first performance at the Metropolis Pre-school. The kids absolutely loved the show. Sixth grader John Yocum stars at Jack. John's Aunt Kim Yocum (Sugar Bean Cast) plays his mother and the Golden Goose. Julie Price plays the peddler and the Giant's housekeeper. Juile is an absolute riot to watch as she clowns around with Jack while hiding him from the Giant. April Cochran plays the giant along with a hat that is at least 18" tall. The small musical will tour elementary and pre-schools until early June.
The Secret Life of Girls rehearsed to day at 4:30 pm. Jim Keeney knew someone who donated several display only cellphones from a store. They work great for the kids to use in the show. I told April that this was the first show in which one character texts another. Like modern life cell phones, texting, instant messaging on laptops etc. are all starting to show up in the plays being written these days.
The board of directors meeting is Wednesday at 5:30.
On the final dress rehearsal before opening we were so focused on getting everything ready that a couple of the technical elements didn't get reset. Marsha Cash is supposed to come to the door from the swamp and finding it locked have to climb through a window. Unfortunately a final check missed the fact that the front door was standing wide open. So when she came up to the front door and saw it wide open she pretended the screen door was locked. That same night Kim Yocum was sitting at the vanity applying monkey goo to her bald head when she is supposed to notice a large purple feather on the vanity. Unfortunately it didn't get preset so Kim began to scan the room for one of the many feathers that falls off Marsha Cash's costume. This unfortunately was the only night that none fell off. Marsha thinking fast pulled one off her costume (she is hiding under the bed in the scene) and blew it out from under the bed next to Kim's feet so she could find one. On Sunday Mike Brewer did a superb scene with Kim and his blocking is to turn and walk off. Unfortunately Mike turned and walked straight into a wall. Mike finished his exit a little more gracefully and everyone onstage was biting their lips to keep from smiling. Some nights we've seen our share of name trauma with people calling each other by their own characters name. My favorite was Marsha trying to saw the word awful and crazy at the same time which came out awfy. In another moment Marsha was supposed to say she poured chicken blood on her church dress. Unfortunately it came out that she poured church blood on her chicken dress. The cast and the crew are doing an outstanding job with the show and the little mistakes are what makes live theatre so exciting. You never know what is going to happen from one moment to the next. Jim and Ted Roush and Jaimie Smith are all making magic happen with the show. Ted is running all the sound effects, Jim is running lights, Jaimie is doing the on stage special effects and Laurie Burnett is stage managing the show.
The Wizard of Oz began the staging process tonight. Dorothy (Emily Yokum), Auntie Em (Cat Tilker), Uncle Henry (Roy Hensel), Hunk (Fowler Black), Hickory (Chris Schnarr), Zeke (Chuck Wilkins), and Miss Gultch (Denise Bohle) all rehearsed the first 3 scenes in Kansas. This is one of those odd shows because we all know the movie so well that when we are working on the play you can't help but hear the original actors voices and think of their movement. The MHT cast is doing a great job of bringing to life the story with lots of familiar characters and yet making each of the characters their own characters and not a carbon copy of the MGM Movie cast. I think the show is going to be great. I spent about 2 1/2 hours today taping out and then re-taping out the set before blocking today. Tomorrow we are rehearsing scenes 4-5 where we meet Professor Marvel and the Twister comes. On Wednesday we move to scenes 6 & 7 with the Munchkins and Glinda.
Story Theatre's Jack and the Beanstalk had its first performance at the Metropolis Pre-school. The kids absolutely loved the show. Sixth grader John Yocum stars at Jack. John's Aunt Kim Yocum (Sugar Bean Cast) plays his mother and the Golden Goose. Julie Price plays the peddler and the Giant's housekeeper. Juile is an absolute riot to watch as she clowns around with Jack while hiding him from the Giant. April Cochran plays the giant along with a hat that is at least 18" tall. The small musical will tour elementary and pre-schools until early June.
The Secret Life of Girls rehearsed to day at 4:30 pm. Jim Keeney knew someone who donated several display only cellphones from a store. They work great for the kids to use in the show. I told April that this was the first show in which one character texts another. Like modern life cell phones, texting, instant messaging on laptops etc. are all starting to show up in the plays being written these days.
The board of directors meeting is Wednesday at 5:30.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Beaners
I'm getting ready to go across the street for the second night of the Sugar Bean Sisters. The audience last night enjoyed the play. I have been thinking for the past week that this is the kind of play that will really appeal to some and be just a little too odd for others. Alexis the box office manager asked me today if it was appropriate for children. I went on line and looked up the guides for television viewing. I believe the play should be Parental Guidance Suggested. People trying to kill each other and some of the language which can be a little crude at times is not something that young children should see. My ten year old daughter loved it, but then she has grown up watching strange stuff in the theatre. If you are looking for a evening of entertainment that is a little different than the standard fare. This might be just what you are looking for. However if you are looking for something more tame, this might not be it. A woman came to the box office today to renew her season tickets for next year told Alexis she didn't like the show last night-but she still loved the some of the performances and thought it was a good production. It just wasn't her kind of play. I sat behind a group from a Baptist church in Missouri and they left the theatre laughing and smiling.
It's not Shakespeare.... well maybe it is... it just happens to be set in the swamp with aliens, gators, snakes and all sorts of gobbly creatures.
It's not Shakespeare.... well maybe it is... it just happens to be set in the swamp with aliens, gators, snakes and all sorts of gobbly creatures.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Finishing Bean Touches
Tonight we had a dress rehearsal. This morning I spent about 5 hours adding in additional underscoring sound cues for the play. The play is really a dark comedy about a Southern family curse that hopefully will make audiences feel the suspense of a horror movie and laugh long and hard at lots of the funny dialogue and humor in the play. It is a fine line to walk. I can see how some people could turn this into a campy horror comedy. But the cast and I have been working to keep this as realistic as possible to heighten the suspense yet these characters are so funny that you can't help but laugh at how they try to solve the problems of the family curse.
April always uses lots of underscoring in her youth productions but for me this is the first time in quite a while that I have used music in the background during scenes in the play to heighten the moods. Like anything it is difficult to find a balance. When I first began trying to put the music into the show I was afraid of the sound being to distracting. As I found and created different musical pieces it has become more of challenge to keep a balance between underscoring the majority of the play or just selected sections. We are opting for the selected sections. I'll go home again tonight and try to find a couple of more pieces of music to finish up the a few scenes that help to heighten the action.
Tonight's rehearsal was a mixture of improvement and just plain odd things. Each of the actors had a moment where they did something tonight they had never done before and as they did it they thought "that's not right!" One actress exited the scene and the remaining actress is supposed to see something move by itself and then the first actress comes running back on to screams. For some reason the first actress walked offstage and then came right back on before the other person could scream. They looked at each other and realized that something was wrong.
I added underscoring for the first time to one of the scenes and a couple of the actors got totally discombobulated by hearing music for the first time as they spoke. By the end of the rehearsal everyone was ready to head home and start back in on it tomorrow. Tomorrow Jim and I will completely surround the set with large Bamboo cuttings. This will give it a feel of being surrounded by Sugar Cane gone wild since they are somewhat similar. Ticket sales are going slowly before this week but should pick up with the show's opening Thursday.
We have 5 shows in rehearsal at the present time and all of them are demanding my attention. The Wizard of Oz cast has now rehearsed almost 2 weeks without my presence as they work music and choreography. When I get a day off next Monday from Sugar Bean Sisters I'll be headed over the the Wizard rehearsal. Story theatre goes on tour next Monday and yesterday Jim built a cow for the Jack and the Beanstalk story.
It's hard to believe that we are only about 2 1/2 months from the end of the season. With 5 shows during that time period it will go really fast.
April always uses lots of underscoring in her youth productions but for me this is the first time in quite a while that I have used music in the background during scenes in the play to heighten the moods. Like anything it is difficult to find a balance. When I first began trying to put the music into the show I was afraid of the sound being to distracting. As I found and created different musical pieces it has become more of challenge to keep a balance between underscoring the majority of the play or just selected sections. We are opting for the selected sections. I'll go home again tonight and try to find a couple of more pieces of music to finish up the a few scenes that help to heighten the action.
Tonight's rehearsal was a mixture of improvement and just plain odd things. Each of the actors had a moment where they did something tonight they had never done before and as they did it they thought "that's not right!" One actress exited the scene and the remaining actress is supposed to see something move by itself and then the first actress comes running back on to screams. For some reason the first actress walked offstage and then came right back on before the other person could scream. They looked at each other and realized that something was wrong.
I added underscoring for the first time to one of the scenes and a couple of the actors got totally discombobulated by hearing music for the first time as they spoke. By the end of the rehearsal everyone was ready to head home and start back in on it tomorrow. Tomorrow Jim and I will completely surround the set with large Bamboo cuttings. This will give it a feel of being surrounded by Sugar Cane gone wild since they are somewhat similar. Ticket sales are going slowly before this week but should pick up with the show's opening Thursday.
We have 5 shows in rehearsal at the present time and all of them are demanding my attention. The Wizard of Oz cast has now rehearsed almost 2 weeks without my presence as they work music and choreography. When I get a day off next Monday from Sugar Bean Sisters I'll be headed over the the Wizard rehearsal. Story theatre goes on tour next Monday and yesterday Jim built a cow for the Jack and the Beanstalk story.
It's hard to believe that we are only about 2 1/2 months from the end of the season. With 5 shows during that time period it will go really fast.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
crunching bean time
I have been out of town on the Gulf Shore beach for the last few days and haven't posted. When we returned home Friday it was time to hit the ground running at full speed to get ready for this weekends rehearsals and next weeks openings. In addition Katy Miller has been hard at work on the choreography for The Wizard of Oz while I've been away. I can't wait to see what great things she has developed for that show.
Today is the technical rehearsal for the Sugar Bean Sisters. I finished the lighting for act one last night a little after 11pm. I'm headed down to the theatre in just a few minutes to finish setting the cues for act two and finish designing the sound for the play. I spent a great deal of time yesterday hanging Christmas lights on the set and working with some of the prop elements. Jim and I spent time working through making the rocking chair rock by itself. It is in a location that has to move by itself and then be turned by the actors to remove the body of one of the sisters when she dies. It's always something complicated when ever you try to do something it seems. I've been scouring the web looking for music for the play. I occasionally create my own music using a PC software called mixcraft which is similar to garage band. We have a license agreement that we pay for with ASCAP and BMI for the sound we use in the shows for scene changes, pre-show, and intermission and post show music. However if you use music during the actual play itself that is a separate license that must be acquired for each piece of music. I use the mixcraft stuff so that I don't have to buy so many songs.
The cast rehearsed Friday evening after being off for 4 days during spring break. Saturday morning the cast rehearsed again at 9:30 am with no prompting (that means if they get stuck on lines they have to get themselves out of trouble without calling for lines.) Many parts of the play are coming along nicely. Each rehearsal is still a discovery process for the characters for this play. Yesterday after rehearsal we went to creatures of habit to look at the couple of special costumes that we are renting for the show. I hope that we can blend that delicious mixture of comedy and horror without losing that delicate balance.
This morning I received a wonderful email from the playwright of The Sugar Bean Sisters- Nathan Sanders who said he had been enjoying this blog and wishing the cast success on the opening of our production. What a great treat!
It's time for me to head off to the theatre to get ready for our 2 pm rehearsal today. Since the cast and crew will be at the theatre during lunch and dinner a group of volunteers are making an Easter Dinner for the company to enjoy after the rehearsal. Special thanks to Dick Holland, Stephanie and Ralph Young, and Don and Renie Barger for sharing their Easter dinner with the company of the Sugar Bean Sisters.
Today is the technical rehearsal for the Sugar Bean Sisters. I finished the lighting for act one last night a little after 11pm. I'm headed down to the theatre in just a few minutes to finish setting the cues for act two and finish designing the sound for the play. I spent a great deal of time yesterday hanging Christmas lights on the set and working with some of the prop elements. Jim and I spent time working through making the rocking chair rock by itself. It is in a location that has to move by itself and then be turned by the actors to remove the body of one of the sisters when she dies. It's always something complicated when ever you try to do something it seems. I've been scouring the web looking for music for the play. I occasionally create my own music using a PC software called mixcraft which is similar to garage band. We have a license agreement that we pay for with ASCAP and BMI for the sound we use in the shows for scene changes, pre-show, and intermission and post show music. However if you use music during the actual play itself that is a separate license that must be acquired for each piece of music. I use the mixcraft stuff so that I don't have to buy so many songs.
The cast rehearsed Friday evening after being off for 4 days during spring break. Saturday morning the cast rehearsed again at 9:30 am with no prompting (that means if they get stuck on lines they have to get themselves out of trouble without calling for lines.) Many parts of the play are coming along nicely. Each rehearsal is still a discovery process for the characters for this play. Yesterday after rehearsal we went to creatures of habit to look at the couple of special costumes that we are renting for the show. I hope that we can blend that delicious mixture of comedy and horror without losing that delicate balance.
This morning I received a wonderful email from the playwright of The Sugar Bean Sisters- Nathan Sanders who said he had been enjoying this blog and wishing the cast success on the opening of our production. What a great treat!
It's time for me to head off to the theatre to get ready for our 2 pm rehearsal today. Since the cast and crew will be at the theatre during lunch and dinner a group of volunteers are making an Easter Dinner for the company to enjoy after the rehearsal. Special thanks to Dick Holland, Stephanie and Ralph Young, and Don and Renie Barger for sharing their Easter dinner with the company of the Sugar Bean Sisters.
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