May 17 2012

It is two weeks from today that Hairspray opens. Last night we finished staging the last song in the show. With 34 performers singing and dancing the stage is incredibly crowded. Emi Chapman Hensel has done a great job with the choreography for the show. It has been very difficult to rehearse many of the numbers due to the constant absences of teenage cast members. With the end of school comes band concerts, choir concerts, graduations, we are still dealing with track meets, etc... I don't think we have a staged a number yet where we haven't been missing someone. The show usually pulls together in these last two weeks. We have so many new people in the show that has been a real challenge as well. One more than one occasion I've had to yell at someone who is late for an entrance because they are unfocused offstage distracted by texting or facebook. I've warned the actors twice that rehearsal is a no cell phone zone but it's difficult in long dance rehearsals when they have extended periods of time offstage to keep that in mind. The challenges of missing people will go right up to our tech rehearsal on May 27. The goal is to get the show tightened up and sounding good before it gets overwhelmed with costumes and lighting and tech before opening. We slipped in just under the wire yesterday with getting a booth at the Lowertown Arts and Music festival. We will be at 7th and Madison next to the WKMS booth. Stop by and chat with one of the theatre's volunteers who can give you information on Hairspray, summer camps and classes for kids, or our upcoming season. We still need some volunteers for the booth so if you are interested contact the theatre and we can sign you up for a shift to help spread the word about the great offerings MHT has. Yesterday we just secured the 4th restaurant to once again offer a free appetizer or dessert with the purchase of an entree for season ticket holders on the night of their tickets for next season. That was a big hit with the majority of our ticket holders and it was a hit with the downtown restaurants as well. Next week the Board of Directors will meet and present a nominating list for new board members to join in July. The annual picnic will be held Monday June 18 in the theatre where we will give out awards and elect the new board members. At the May 23 meeting of the board consultants from Webb Management and Shuler Shook will be present to present the final report of the second phase of our organizational assessment concerning facilities and programming. We are excited to explore their results as we plan for the theatre's future!