July wrapup

As the last day of July unfolds today we wrap up the final performance of the Pied Piper Lunchbox Theatre on the Main Stage. I heard from many people how pleased they were that we had brought back this summer favorite for young children. Over the past 4 days we've had over 300 children in the theatre munching on hamburgers and hot dogs and coloring their rat hats to play along with the show the Pied Piper. While the show got off to a slow start with the change of summer festival dates it has picked up toward the end of the week. We will definitely put it on our calendar again for next summer.

The board of directors met last Wednesday and reviewed ideas for the October Ghost Tour Fundraiser, the purchase of the old Arcade theatre building for warehouse space, and the wrap up of the last years financials. It looks as of the board meeting that the theatre will end they year with with about a $40,000 surplus in operational income. This is great news!

The I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change cast has been learning music all week. They have been extremely patient with my changes and reshuffling of parts while we try to put together the show. Since I cast more than the script called for I have been shifting around parts and songs to try to even things out among all the performers. It looks to be a great show! The cast is constantly breaking into laughter while listening to their fellow cast mates sing some of the songs in the show. We move from the classroom to the stage Monday as we begin to stage the beginning of the show. Musical Director Patt Lynch is working extremely hard at trying to sort through and play the dozens of musical styles in the show. We move from 50's rock and roll to tango to country to 80's pop. The orchestra is composed of Patt on piano, a violinist and percussionist.

Auditions for Disney's musical Alice in Wonderland Jr. will be coming up in a couple of weeks. The Jr. designation means that all performers must be elementary, middle and high school age. No adults over 18 are allowed. The show will be lots of fun and have parts for both new and experienced performers. Perusal scripts are available at the box office for check out with a refundable deposit.

We are in the last week of our drive for program advertisers for the first program. If anyone is interested in a great marketing opportunity contact me at the theatre at 270-444-6828 ext. 114 for more details. It's hard to believe we open the first show of our 47th season in just 4 weeks!

Aaron Spoden has been a technical intern from Moorehead State University all summer and has helped us with Cinderella, the Aladdin Camp, the Grammarosaurus camp, and the Pied Piper. He will be heading back to school soon and we really appreciate his work with us this summer and Moorehead State for his internship opportunity.

We hope to have our redesigned website up and operating within the next couple of weeks. It has been redesigned for to work not only on the web but with smart phones as well.