Chicago: A Comparison

This weekend I went up to Ithaca College for Family Weekend. It was great to see my sister after not seeing her for two months and meet all her friends. Seems like a nice group of friends that she has. Her roommate is a sweetheart. Yesterday afternoon we went to a showcase of different campus performance arts troupes on campus 3 acapella groups, 3 dance troupes a circus troupe and a fife and drum group. Such a diverse amount of talent I was quite impressed. I definitley want to see if the Ithacaapella Acapella group has any tracks I can downloand from itunes. They were amazing. Then last night we saw the Ithaca College Theatre Department production of Chicago. It was quite impressive for a college produciton.. my mom thought it was even better then some Broadway productions she has seen but I wouldn't really compare it to something of that caliber. Instead I did a mental compare/contrast between this production and the production I saw at Summer Theatre In Meredith Village in July.

In both productions I found that the actresseses who played Roxie and Velma (Maggie Politii and Kelesy Cooke (STMV) and Megan Watt and Rebecca Futterman (IC) complimented each other quite well. My Own Best Friend and Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag were very well excuted numbers. Another well excuted role was that of Billy Flynn (Jared Trolio (STMV and Danny Lindgren (IC) Razzle Dazzle and We Both Reached For The Gun were very energetic numbers. Cell Block Tango was a standout musical number in both performances as were Roxie Mister Cellophane and Class. In the IC performance I found that the performances of Tim Quartier (Amos Hart) and Jessica Bennett (Matron Mama Morton) were moderate in comparison that that of their counterparts in the STMV show John Baker and Sheria Feurstein but they do show amazing talent.
Technically I couldn't find too much to compare.. all technical aspects of both shows were very good and highly impressive. The IC production had amazing sound and light design which I found to be very impressive for a college production.

Congrats to the cast of Chicago at Ithaca College on a great show :)

Random thought before bed

The Sound of Music Reuinon on Oprah today made me very happy. It was very interseting to learn about what the cast has done since the movie was filmed in the late 60s. Christopher Plummmer looks really good for 80. Julie Andrews remains one of my Broadway Idols.

Season 2 of Glee- General views and Rocky Horror

This morning I read an article in the Boston Globe entertainment section about Glee and how the plot lines in the episodes seem to be lacking any substance. I lean toward agreeing with the columnist. Last season there was drama and a reason to actually watch the show.. plot lines to keep the show interesting. This season it seems to be all about less than par karaoke versions of songs (which is what a majority of the musical numbers seem to be learning toward) and celebeirty cameos to promote new albums and such (According to the article that's why Britney Spears guest starred but I could have misread something.. i kind of quckly glanced the article over) The only episodes I have liked so far this season are the premiere and tonight's Rocky Horror Glee Show episode. Other than that none of the episodes or musical numbers have stood out to me.

Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my favorite halloween movies so I was especially excited about tonight's episode. What made it even more great was the fact that John Stamos made a guest appearance as Emma's denstst boyfriend. He still looks good after all these years.. his Uncle Jesse charm has never left him though I have to say he's not that great of singer. His Glee performance was alright but he was recently on Broadway as Albert in the revival of Bye Bye Birdie and I heard he was pretty horrible. Despite the fact the music to music from Rocky Horror Picture Show is energetic and extremly likable I feel the content of this episode was wildly inapropriate toward the audience that Glee is supposed to be directed toward.

Overall Season Rating up to this point C+
Rating of Tonight's Episode B+

What Theatre Means

Catherine (Confessions of A Crazed Musical Theatre Geek) posed a question at the end of her recent post What does theatre mean? Interested to see what other people say. Here are my thoughts





I have been involved in theatre since I was a sophomore in high school... haven't stopped since. It's become a really big passion of mine. I have more tech credits to my name than acting credits but I hope to eventually build my acting resume.



I think of theatre in the aspect of three CS

Collaboration- Theatre is the true art of collaboration. It's a bunch of people working together to put on a show for an audience. That is the one thing I took away from any show that i've worked on no matter where I was at. To provide an example I will post an excerpt from my reflection paper from my New London Barn Playhouse internship 3 summers ago
On the theatrical side of things I not only got to help out with technical work but I also go experience with acting and directing. I was an ensemble member in Annie Get Your Gun. I found it very beneficial to work with the other actors. They were very supportive of me. It was also fun to be able to watch the play form from the first rehearsal to the final dress rehearsal and how everything came together especially the choreography for Annie Get Your Gun. By being a member of the cast I was able to see how stressful and intense the rehearsal process can be. During the early rehearsals of Annie Get Your Gun it would take a long time to work the scenes because there were younger kids in the group scenes and it was hard to keep them on task. Once things got a little bit more organized between scenes, the scenes ran a lot crisper and cleaner. <~ this also can fit under the third C Comraderie

Cliques (this is most relevant to high school theatre) : The biggest issue I had in high school was dealing with cliques. That seemed to go away when it came to theatre. For example take my high school's production of Cabaret my junior year. In that show the quarterback of the football team was cast as the lead role. Now when you think sports you automatically associate the word jock with it. Bear in mind that the years I was in high school there were a lot of talented theatre kids... some who went to college in New York to study acting.. others who I am not sure if they actually went to do anything with theatre but with the case of the lead role in this show who was played by Jeff Farrington (yes I still have my program) you'd be surpised at how talented he was at acting. I know I was. The whole mentality of cliques kind of disappated once I went to college.



Comraderie: The thing that makes theatre most important to me is the bonds I make with the people in each show I work with both in the cast and in the crew. With each show I've done since high school I have found I have an impeccable bond with the people I have been in shows with. Over the past 15 years I have worked on over 20 shows ..while each cast I've worked with was made of a different group of people I've found the friendships I've made with these people to be most beneficial. The memories of each show are great but it's the friendships I've made a long the way that have truly made the difference in my life. It comes in handy for networking too.

Broadway Secret of The Week

I am gettting really bored with Broadway Secrets to be honest. All the more reason to be happy that I am making the full transtion from Livejournal to blogspot in mid November



Between this week's and last week's entries this secret was the only one that stood out to me. I recently saw The Social Network and while it was good and well casted I would not rate it in my top favorite movies. I rated it a C slightly lower then what the reviewers in the newspaper gave it. I can not honestly see why they would make this movie in to a play and how it would very successful with the Broadway Audience. Some moives or books can translate very well to the broadway stage.. this will not be one of those cases. I feel the same way aboult Elf actually. I don't know if that has opened yet or how well it has done for reviews if it has opened.

Another theatre related update

I should really be going to bed soon because I have to get up early for work tomorrow but I felt the urge to update.. it's actually been awhile since I've updated. Marina (Eat Sleep Breathe Theatre) posted an entry in her blog that I agree with about missing shows and such. I share similar sentiments to hers so I'll start my update with that and then move in other stuff.

I should start by saying that I haven't acted in a play since the Barn Playhouse when I was in Annie Get Your Gun and Barefoot in the Park. I had an issue with moving on from that summer at the Barn and had an even bigger issue with accepting the fact that I had an issue with moving on but I got over that hump. Just took me awhile.. longer than it should have actually. I don't think there's anything wrong with ocassionally still missinb being in a show with out being to obsessed about it is there? That's how I felt about Annie Get Your Gun because it really helped me to break out of my shell as an actor. Before that point I was used to doing work backstage. This is why auditionig for the PTA Play is all the more exciting. I feel like I am in a void because I haven't acted in three years. I am hoping I get into Music Man because I think it will be really great show to work on. Please refer to my entries below about audtion songs as I am still struggling with deciding which song to sing.

Tech work wise I find it sometimes hard to balance choosing what shows to do tech for because of my work schedule.... or maybe it's just a fear of getting involved in too many shows at once (refer to my inital post about deciding weather or not to audition for the PTA Play) Right now I am doing tech work for the Riverbend School of Theatre Art's fall production of The Man Who Came To Dinner. Tech week begins the week after halloween and I am pumped. Especially since I will be doing sound desgin something totally new after that I willl be helping out with Guys and Dolls Jr in some capacity but I haven't decided what I am going to do quite yet.. it will largely depend on what they need me to help out with. I must say all the kids who are involved in Riverbend School of Theatre Arts shows are really talented Man Who Came To Dinner and Guys and Dolls Jr willl be my third and fourh shows repectively with the company. I am also debating helping out back stage with the Souhegan Musical.. plans to help out with Bye Bye Birdie fell through last year due to scheduling issues so I'm hoping I'll be able to contribute to the show this year in some way. They are doing Fiddler on The Roof this year one of my absolute favorite musicals.






Actually technically I don't really have much else to say. Went to see the NEC Open Door Theatre's production of As You Like It on September 18th. It was an interesting modern day spin on my favorite Shakespeare Play and it was amazing. Standout characters included Alex Picard, Jennie Leonard and Greg Stuart but everyone in the cast is equally talented. <3 to my NEC theatre friends. :) Tenatively I am seeing Cabaret at the Palace Theatre on November 5th with Matt.. these plans might change due to schedueling so we'll see. On November 19th I am going to see A Christmas Carol A Musical Ghost Story at Community Players of Concord with a few of my friends. A nice way to get into the holiday spirit. It willl be my first time seeing a show at Community Players of Concord. One of my co-workers from NLBP Joel Mercier directed it and wrote the music so I am excited to see his interperation of A Christmas Carol and see how well it works put to music.


Time for Bed.

Audition songs- Narrowing my options

Based on discussions I have been having with various people I have narrowed my choices for audition songs for Music Man down to the following. Please note we have the option of either singing a song from the show (in my case Wells Fargo Wagon, 76 Trombones or Goodnight My Someone) or picking any song we want to sing. My audition is not til after Christmas so I still have awhile to pick my song. However I want to pick a song as soon as possible so I have enough time to order sheet music and start practicing.
Range: Low Soprano/High Alto. I can't belt so that automatically ruled out Tomrrorow from Annie and Don't Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl because those have really high notes at the end
Top 10 Choices
1. What I Did For Love A Chorus Line
2. Put on A Happy Face Bye Bye Biridie
2A My Favorite Things Sound of Music
3. I Got The Sun In The Morning Annie Get Your Gun
3A Do Re Mi Sound of Music
4. Roxie Chicago
5. You Can't Get A Man With A Gun Annie Get Your Gun
6. I Enjoy Being A Girl Flower Drum Song
7. Somewhere That's Green Little Shop of Horrors
8. Spanish Rose Bye Bye Birdie
9. Seasons of Love RENT ( this was not in my original list but I LOVE THIS SONG)
10 You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile Annie

I found a website where I could look up selections for potential audition songs Roxie Spanish Rose and You Can't Get A Man With A Gun came up. I take this as a sign. Life of The Party from Lippa's Wild Party , The Gentlemen Is A Dope from Allegro and If You're Good To Mama from Chicago also came up in my results

Excerpt from a Fan Fic I am working on

Excerpt from a fanfiction I am collaborating on with a fellow LSOH fan on fanfiction,net HermoineLennon. In it we are delving in to Audrey and Orin's relationship and how Audrey's overcomes the abuse. Let me just say that I am incredibly proud of this bc I have really been struggling with devloping Orin' s character... perhaps because I am not a huge fan of Orin but I think I captured his true essence. EPIC WIN :) Feedback appreciated

Orin was starting to get a little bit uncomfortable and suspicious. Why had Audrey invited him back to her.. they could have easily had dessert at the restaurant. He had a lot to do to get ready for a busy day at the office tomorrow. Why was Chiffon here? Orin wanted to be alone with Audrey. To him having Chiffon there was an invasion of privacy.
Dessert was eaten in uncomfortable silence.
After the dessert plates were cleared Audrey cleared her throat.
"Orin, we have to talk."
"Okay, then talk.. she has to leave though." = Orin said jerking his finger at Chiffon.
" No, sorry. I'm staying… for moral support." Chiffon said.
'What kind of moral support?' Orin thought to himself. Maybe he was better off not knowing.
"Orin, I wanted to talk to you… about us" Audrey said.
"What do you mean… talk about us?"
"Talk about our relationship… how certain things need to change."
"Like what?" Orin was starting to feel even more uncomfortable with Chiffon being in the room.
"Like the way you treat me."
"What do you mean? I treat you fine."
Chiffon snorted . "Hell, you do."
Orin shot a stony glance at her " Who's talkin to you?"
Chiffon had not meant to purposely interrupt Audrey's train of thought but she felt the need to throw in her two sense.
"Don't try to avoid the subject Orin. My friends and I can see how poorly you treat Audrey. Just look at her face."
"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"
"You see all those bruises on her cheek?"
"Yeah."
"You gave her those. You give her a new one every night when you beat her up."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Orin asked. He didn't appreciate how Chiffon was interfering.. Audrey could sense this.
"Chiffon I can take care of this from here. Feel free to stay if you want." She put her hand gently on her friend's shoulder. The last thing she wanted to happen was for Orin and Chiffon to get into a fight.
Chiffon went to sit in an easy chair in a corner that wasn't too far out of Audrey's view.
"Orin, I don't like the way you treat me."
"Really?"
"Yes really. I moved away from my house to get away from an abusive situation.. I never expected to get into another one when we started to date but look where things have ended up."
"So you don't want to be with me anymore?"
" I'm not really sure I can take the pain. Physically mentally or emotionally."
"Is there another guy?"
Audrey did not feel like mentioning the fact that she had feelings for Seymour. That would only make the situation worse. She couldn't even begin to picture what kind of terrible things he could do to Seymour.
"There's no other guy."
"You lyin to me?"
"No." she said meekly. She could sense Orin was about to hit her.
"You better not be lying to me you dirty slut."
Orin advanced toward her. Chiffon got up from her seat ready to pounce like a hungry cheetah.
His open hand was extended. It made a connection with her cheek.SLAP SLAP
"Orin, STOP!" Audrey screamed
"Hell, I will unless you tell me the truth." Orin said
SLAP SLAP
"Hey, didn't you hear her? She told you to stop." Chiffon said.
"What are you going to do about it Ms Nosy?" he asked.
Chiffon could see this was turning into a disaster.
"Audrey, I need to talk to Orin alone. Why don't you go into the bathroom and throw some cold water and cream on your face?"
Audrey sent a grateful look at her friend and left the room leaving Chiffon alone with the sadistic dentist. She looked him straight in the eye.
"Can't you see how scared she is of you?" she asked
"Do you think I care?" Orin sneered.
'Obviously you don't.' she thought to herself
"Orin, I think you need to back off from Audrey for awhile."
"She better not be cheating on me with that twerp Seymour. I'll bash his face in if she is."
"Please leave Seymour out of this. He has nothing to do with the way you treat Audrey. He's just as concerned about her as me and my two other friends are."


To read the complete chapter please go here: http://fanfiction.net/~showtunediva

Latest Milford Cabinet Article

Up Close and Personal With The Technical Staff of Our Town
By Janine Leffler



Have you ever sat in the audience during a play and wondered what goes on behind the scenes in order to make the show run smoothly? Of course the actors spend endless hours learning their lines and rehearsing , but those who work behind the scenes should not go unnoticed. They also deserve credit for bringing the shows we see to life.
Milford Area Players opens their fall main stage production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town on October 15th. I spoke to many people involved in the play to get their insights, inspirations and challenges.
When it came to choosing Our Town for their fall production Set Designer Deb Shaw said “Our Town" was a very logical choice for MAP. As an organization, we blend our seasons with various genres of theatre: light comedy, drama, mystery, "dramedy", farce, and classics. In 2004 we staged Wilder's "Skin of Our Teeth", which is a bit less accessible but also a classic and an award-winning play. "Our Town" has not been staged at the community theatre "level" in many years and with our location in the southwestern area of the state, it seemed a good fit for Milford Area Players. It is the only drama and only classic of our 2010 mainstage season, and has a much larger cast than our other productions this year, providing opportunities for more actors to work with MAP. Grovers Corner is Milford, NH for the purposes of this production, and we are excited to welcome the community to 'our town'.”
Vicky Sandin was excited to take on the role of director when the original director had to bow out. She stated “What I look forward to the most with each rehearsal is directing actors who are at the top of their game. I love actors and have a tremendous respect for their craft, because I know I could never do it. I have seen the work of most of the actors in Our Town, and I have also worked with many of them on separate projects, so I'm familiar with how meticulously they study their part and process their character. I love working with them to glean the best of what they have to offer, and in the process attempt to push them outside their comfort zone a bit, to stretch their actor muscles, as it were.: She went on to say “ I am glad I accepted the job to direct. It’s going to be a great show.”
When Set Designer Deb Shaw was asked about the technical aspects of the show she said “As far as the set, the most important part is creating a physical representation of the director's vision of the show. Vicky had a very clear idea of how she wanted the show staged, and it was my responsibility to find a way to express that and stay within the limits of a community theatre budget. I'm fortunate to have a husband who has built MANY sets in the southern NH theatre community, so I was able to hand my plans over to him knowing that the set pieces would be built with the precision and care that I needed. We looked at what dimensions and materials would give the look and feel of the show to every piece constructed and that the overall effect would be cohesive”

Stage Manager Mayer Lipman said that the biggest challenge for the show technically has been
Thornton Wilder left it up to the audience (and trusted them) to "fill in the gaps" with how the town looks, what the homes look like, where the scenery is, etc. It's up to our actors to help them out. With a little furniture, some lighting changes, and a few sound effects, the technical staff staff does the rest. We've chosen to use even less sound effects than Wilder allowed, trusting our audience and our actors even more. That said, we have to be very precise with what we have. Furniture has to placed in exactly the right spot. Sounds have to occur at precisely the right time” Lipman contimued by saying “In community theater, everyone has "their real job," either working, maintaining a household, or going to school. "Our Town" has a cast of almost 25, each with a schedule of when he or she can come to the theater and prior commitments he or she cannot ignore. I had the joy of watching this large cast of individuals work around these conflicts and transform themselves into the town of Grover's Corners. During rehearsals, I often had to fill in for one or more roles when an actor was unable to be there. It's a good feeling when you know you can do that in a way that doesn't distract the actors around you. It's also good to know you can pass on good blocking notes and other notes from the director to the absent actor such that the next time the scene is rehearsed you don't have to start all over again”


Weather on stage or behind the company of Our Town looks forward to putting on the show and hopes that patrons enjoy it. Our Town runs from Oct 15-24th at the Amato Center for The Performing Arts in Milford. Evening shows are at 7:30pm and matinee performances are at 2pm. Come out and support your local thespians.

Challenge

So I am currently going through my itunes music trying to pick a song for my Music Man audition in January. Somewhere That's Green from Little Shop of Horrors was my original choice but I feel like in order to better showcase my range I might want to pick a more up tempo number. I am not totally going to rule out Somewhere That's Green though. If nothing else works out I'll stick with that. Have quite a bit time of decide. Feedback would be appreciated. Don't Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl is out of the running just because I think there are quite a few high notes in that song I wouldn't be able to hit.

It's too bad that pop songs typically don't tend to work for musical auditions if that wasn't the case then Let It Be by the Beatles or Imagine by John Lennon would be a #1 selection.

Aside from Somewhere That's Green my original list included:
Roxie from Chicago
Maybe This Time from Cabaret ( I may use the Glee cast version instead of the original)
There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease
How Lovely To Be A Woman from Bye Bye Birdie
Hopelessly Devoted To You from Grease

Songs I'm considering looking into are (Range: Low Soprano/High Alto)
At The Ballet from A Chrous Line
Beauty and The Beast from Beauty and The Beast
My New Philosphy You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Put on A Happy Face from Bye Bye Birdie
You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile from Annie


Someone on livejournal also reccommended I Enjoy Being A Girl from Flower Drum Song. I'm not familar with that musical but I've heard of the song. If all else fails I could always pick a song from the show. My options include 76 Trombones, Goodnight My Someone and Wells Fargo Wagon. Which song out of those three would best fit my range?

Thoughts and furthur suggestions welcome

"God speaks to us in mysterious ways but not through sandwiches"

Tonight's Glee episode did not sit well with me at all. So far the only episode that has impressed me was the premeire. I missed last week's episode because I am not a fan of Britney Spears. All of her current songs do not interest me. I heard the episode really sucked. Based on the two episodes of Glee I have seen so far this season I can say that I like Merecedes and Quinn better than I did last season and I start to like Kurt and Rachel less and less. The reason why tonight's episode did not sit well with me is because I feel it focussed far too much on religion and faith. I have nothing against religion but on a more personal note religion has kind of confused me for the past couple years. I'll get back to this later. At the beginning of the episode Finn sees an vision of god in a grilled cheese sandwhich. Seriously.... that's the strangest thing ever. He went on to blame certain things that happened to him in the episode (ie regaining the quarterback position on the footbal team) based on the vision of god he sees in the sandwhich. The writers clearly need to come up with better srory lines. This episode was very depressing as it mostly focusses on the fact that Kurt's dad having a heart attack and Kirt dealing with his dad's medical condition. Losts of very moving musical numbers in this episode. I Wanna Hold Your Hand really stood out and so did Bridge Over Troubled Water.

While I don't listen to a lot of gospel music I feel like the issue of religion was way too weighted for a show like Glee. I know the whole point of the show is to deal with issues that affect all people but I feel there is a time and place for everything. Maybe why this episode didn't sit well with me was because I've been confused about my own religion for awhile. I was born and raised Catholic but after the sex abuse scandel five years ago I've been considering changing religions. I beleive in god definitley I just haven't know what religion I want to switch to if I end up changing religions at all.


Hopefully next week's episode is better. I want season 2 of Glee to exceed my expectations so far only the first episode has done that.