And it begins

My process of working on Annie Junior begins tonight with auditions. Let the fun begin!

LUL *Longer update later*

Get In The Halloween Spirit

Happy Halloween (A day late)

Two awesome performances this week to fit the theme of Halloween. Friday evening was my sisters final performance for dance team.. the last of her high school career. It was a fabulous show and I am so proud of my sister and all her fellow dance team seniors for all of their accomplishments on dance team. My favorite dances were the Overture from the First Act and Jellicle Song for Jellicle Cats, Don't Scream and Spooky Skeletons from the second act. I grew a little bit nostalgic during the Jellicle Song for Jellicle Cats number because that was of the shows I worked on when I was at NLBP. Congrats to the SHS Dance Team on such an awesome show.
Last night I went to NEC to see the CTE Play Seasonal Help which was written by NEC Alum Paul Lloyd and is based on an experience he had over the summer.
The play starred senior Joe Paredez as Mazzone, Junior Nate Hartley as Shane, Junior Dean Amegashie as Chuck, Sophomore Micaela Hill as Eve and Sophomore Adam Boisellle as Dyer. The setting is a Lexington Massachuetts cemetery where Shane (Hartley) starts a summer job. For Shane this is a rough experience because this is the cemetery where is father is buried. Shane is trying to deal with his father's death and how his father never got to see him grow up and graduate high school and college due to ac holism. Even though this play has kind of a depressing undertone due to the setting Hartley's character brought a lot of humor to the show. The whole first act basically focusses on how Shane gets to know the other people who he works at in the ceemetary. They have a lot of deep and thought provoking discussions in the break room. The second scene goes by in the blink of an eye so you don't want to fall asleep. It features Hartley and Paredez giving monolouges over the tombstones of their fathers saying how they forgive for what happened in the past and don't intend to let them drag them down in the present of future.
The tech staff consisted of Elliot Greer director, Christina Vasta (Stage Manager) Kyle Fullford (Sets) Wally Pineault (Lights) Ian Allen, Dean Amegashie, Adam Boiselle, Rachel Buck, Bill O'Donnell, Lauren Dummich, Dominique Grant, Becky Gissell, Elliot Greer,John Hanks, Nate Hartley, Micaela Hill, Alexis Johantgen, Paul Llyod, Joe Paredez, Katie Sullivan, Christina VAsta

Great job to all on a great show 1

Welcome

Hello and Welcome!
My name is Janine I am 24 yrs old and live in Amherst NH. This blog will document my work on the Riverbend Youth Company Youth Theatre Production of Annie Jr. The show opens at the end of January and I am very excited about working on it

Enjoy and remember You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile

Janine

Week 1 SYTYCD Season 6 Results

Season 6 So You Think You Dance 1st Show Summary
Missed the first three couples so we will start with couple four.
Since the results were given at the end of the show I will start with those
Girls: Arianna went home
Boys Brandon went home (Billy Bell's replacement because he lef the show due to illness.. there goes one of my top choices)
My top choices that remain the compettion are: * Channing *Russell *Mollie
Couple Four Russell and Noelle
Rating 4
Noelle had to sit out due to injury so the choregrapher took her place. Russell was impresive but apparently didn't please the judges because he made it to the botoom 3.
Couple 4: Bianca and Victor Genre Contemp
Rating 8. Very powerful and sensual.
Couple 5: Karen and Kevin Genre Hip Hop
Rating 9 One of my favorite performances of the night... yay for songs from the Glee soundtack! They complement eachother well
Couple 6: Elenior and Ryan Genre Contemp
This dance is in close contention with Kevin and Karen's number for my favortie dance. Out of the chreographers Sonya is rated highly among my top favorites. This dance was the most powerful piece she has ever choreographed.
Couple 8 Pauline and Brandon Genre Waltz
As I mentioned above Brandon was Billy Bell's replacement because he suddenly left the show due to illness. Him and Pauline were very evenly matched however I don't think Waltz was a very strong genre fro Brandon at all.
Rating 4
Couple 9: Kathryn and Legacy Genre Hip Hop
Very interesting..not my favorite dance however.
Rating 3
Couple 10 Mollie and Nathan Genre Disco
What a way to top off the night and what an amazing song choice for Gloria Estefan's Turn The Beat Around. They had a lot of refreshing energy and I can't wait to see more of their performances.
Rating 9

Next week I will have a complete summary.


Upcoming Perfomances I Will Be Viewing
October 3oth- My sister's senior dance performance at SHS
October 31st NEC Carriage Theatre Ensemble's Fall Production of Seasonal Help
November 21st SHS Fall Play One Acts

So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 Off and Running

So I think So You Think You Can Dance Season 6 is going to be about 20 times better then Season 5. They have added a new genre this season.. tap and that is pretty exciting.
Tonight was basically a showcase of all the different talents that all the dancers have and they are really diverse... much like last season. I will definitley miss seeing Evan and Melissa on the show from last season's group and wish I had gone to see the performance when it was in Manchester last month. :(
I'll split the top 20 list up by Genres.
Contemporary (2 groups- out of the two chreographers Tice is my favorite)
If bold it means I think they will make it to the top 10
Victor
Noelle
Billy
Katherine
Nathan
Arianna
Jason
Channing
Hip Hop
Russell
Legacy
Kevin
Tap
Phillip
Bianca
Peter
IT is hard to tell who over the latin group will make it in because they are all pretty good and i think it's pretty hard to split up a husband and wife pair.

Stay tuned for the first Rating entry of Season 6.


Update Dec 9th I was very wrong when I said that this season would be better than season 5. It has certainly had its good points but overall Season 5 was a lot better.

Solo CD

A discussion board topic on Broadway Space asked for each of the responders to pick seven songs they would put on a two disc solo cd. This would actually be a neat thing for me to do in reality if I had the right connections and strong enough confidecne about my singing voice.

Disc One
1. You Can't Get A Man With A Gun Annie Get Your Gun
2. Hopelessly Devoted To You Grease
3. On My Own Les Mis
4, This Is The Moment Jekyll and Hyde
5. Think of Me Phantom of The Opera
6. Maybe Annie
7 I Get Lost In His Arms Annie Get Your Gun
Disc 2
1. Cabaret Cabaret
2. Somewhere That's Green Little Shop of Horrors
3. And All That Jazz Chicago
4. Gorgeous The Apple Tree
5. What I Did For Love A Chorus Line
6. Castle On A Cloud Les Mis
7. How Lovely To Be A Woman Bye Bye Birdie

Perhaps some of these songs are too loftily ambitous. If in reality I were to make a solo cd I don't know how many of the above listed songs would actullay fit my voice range... which is low soprano/high alto.

Latest Milford Cabinet Article

Laugh a lot at The Foreigner
By Janine Leffler

Imagine a fishing lodge in Georgia on a pristine lake. Then imagine some quirky characters including one from a foreign country staying there. The scene has been set for the fall mainstage production for the Milford Area Players The Foreigner by Larry Schue.


The play is set in 1982 at a run-down fishing lodge in Georgia which is owned by Betty Meeks (Cheryl Giffen). The show opens with Froggy Lessuer (Bill Mauser) and Charlie Baker (Dave Kulvette) entering the lodge. They are staying at the fishing lodge because Betty is a friend of Froggy’s and she asked him to come visit. Charlie is rather uncomfortable in social situations so he and Froggy devise a plan…Charlie will pretend that he is from a foreign country and does not speak or understand any English. This way, he does not have to speak to anyone during his stay. The other characters in the play are easily fooled. As the first scene progresses, Ellard Sims (Weston Kulvette ) attempts to teach English to Charlie, who catches on quickly learning the new language. It is never outwardly stated throughout the play which country Charlie is supposedly from. This fact makes his character all the more interesting to the others on stage as well as members of the audience.

This show is a non-stop comedic romp. In one scene, Charlie tells a story to Betty, Ellard and Catherine (Kristen Lawson). His character truly comes to life with exuberance and energy as opposed to earlier when he is reserved and quiet. Another funny scene is when Charlie is trying to teach everyone the language of his home country. Everyone willingly participates except for Owen Musser (David Ducharme) who is annoyed by Charlie’s presence and thinks Charlie should not be staying in the house. Tension fills the fishing lodge, creating humor and a sense of good vs. evil.

Will Charlie come out of this story a victorious hero? You'll just have to wait to see the show to find out.

Stay tuned for the next Milford Area Players production which is a combined effort with the Riverbend Youth Company in December of A Christmas Story.