Art

     I have been drawing for longer than I can remember, my mom still has some of the drawings I scribbled was a 2 year-old (I won't be showing those off here). For as long as I can remember I've had stacks of spiral-bound notebooks all over the house. I'll fill one up, tear out the good stuff, throw the rest away, and start with a whole new set of ideas...some of my best puppet/character ideas have come from random drawings I've done at 2:00 am, in the middle of a church service, or on a road trip... Never know when inspiration might strike! I'll draw almost anything: cartoon characters, animals, celebrities...when I was 10 my mom tried to sign me up for art lessons, but I refused to take them, because I wanted to draw what I want, and a bowl of fruit just didn't hold my attention....
        Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Calvin and Hobbes, and Garfield where an addiction for a while, I even created my own comic strip "ARTernate REALity", and wrote some 2,000+ strips...I still have those...somewhere....

          

         One day, I hope to illustrate children's books... Yeah, I have a lot of dreams, deal with it!

Little Shop of Horrors

         

          Since I've been involved with theatre there are a few shows I've desperately wanted to be in/work on, this Fall it looks like I'll finally be able to mark one of them off the list! In November, Springer Opera House is presenting Little Shop of Horrors, a musical comedy about a singing, man-eating plant from outer space written by Disney Legends Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The original Off-Broadway production opened in 1982 and starred Lee Wilcof and Ellen Greene as Seymour and Audrey, the latter going on to re-create her role for the 1986 film directed by Muppeteer Frank Oz. The show came to Broadway in 2003 and starred Hunter Foster, Kerry Butler (be still my heart!), and some of the largest puppets ever produced for the stage!
       One of the Artistic Directors of the Springer casually mentioned to me backstage at one of the final performances of Cinderella that "we'll have a project or two for you next season, too", and though he couldn't tell me what it was, or anything about it, I got the feeling it was something big. I didn't think much about what he'd said for a few weeks, but when I finally got word of the season announcements some could say I "freaked out", but that would be a horrible understatement.
        Almost EVERY professional puppeteer in the country has worked on this show in some form or fashion... and if I, a nerd from the middle of nowhere, can get a gig in this amazing show, maybe my dream of being a Muppeteer one day might not be so crazy. And the Springer... THE Springer Opera House having enough faith in ME to pull off one of the biggest puppet shows in the history of musical theatre... I might have a future there, too. The pressure is on.

          The thought of doing this show has been in my head for nearly 5 years now, I've been sketching, and problem-solving this character for what seems like forever, so I certainly have a few ideas as far as the puppets are concerned. In all my excitement, I decided to create what I call a "proto-plant" for my first production meeting to give the team a taste of what I knew I could do with the designs. Using just scrap material from other projects, and a few ping-pong balls, I knocked out this build in just a few hours. Finally seeing this plant in 3D made this project seem even more real.

             There will be 4 puppet versions of this plant, ranging from a simple hand puppet for a very complex puppet large enough to move across the stage, and eat 3 of the 4 principle cast members. In order to prepare myself to build, and ultimately perform this monstrous character, I reached out to Martin P. Robinson, a gentleman who plays Snuffy, Telly, and a number of other characters on Sesame Street, and designed, built, and performed Audrey II for both the Off-Broadway and Broadway productions of Little Shop. I contacted him through his website, and he replied with a very detailed email about the plant and the materials to build her. Some could say I "freaked out", but that, too, would be a horrible understatement.
        And that brings us to the present... I get to start building in a few weeks, so as everyone is heading back to school, I'll be cramming for my big test, too! There's a great creative team that will be helping me (especially on the 4th and final plant in the show), and I'm very excited to see what we can come up with as a group. If we do our job correctly, no one will think about me sweating like crazy inside these huge puppets, but ,with any luck, be afraid that this plant might actually be hungry for them, too!

Once on This Island

            In 1990, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (the team that wrote the fantastic music for Seussical, and many more Broadway shows) wrote a little show, based on the 1985 novel My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy, entitled Once on This Island. The show is loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, with elements of Romeo and Juliet thrown in for good measure. It is what's known as a "Sing-Through" musical where the dialogue is to a minimum, and almost everything is sung, much like Seussical, Rent, or Les Miserables.
         In January of this year, Auburn Area Community Children's Theatre launched a production of this bold and beautiful show. I was on board to stage manage and build special props and costume pieces for the production, and had even gone into meetings with the creative team about all the fine details of the show, however...The audition process turned up too-few guys for the casting requirements and the director called me in for a private audition for one of two lead roles. You see, this would have technically been my Senior show, but, due to the perks of being homeschooled, I got to graduate a year earlier...so technically I wasn't "too old"...just "too graduated".
         I did the best I could with the score at auditions, and landed the role of "Papa Ge: Sly Demon of Death". In the context of the show "Papa" is the closest thing the story has to a "villain", he's also the most vocally challenging as far as the music is concerned,  having to hit some very high F#s that I've never even tried singing before! Since the show IS mostly score we simply listened to a demo recording at the read-thru, the whole time I was gritting my teeth wondering if I could possibly hit all the high notes people were expecting of me...
       I find it much easier to memorize music over dialogue, maybe it's the rhythm, I'm not sure why exactly... But I'd memorized my material fairly quickly (mostly backstage at Springer during down-time at Cinderella) so I was ready when my first big rehearsal rolled around about 2 weeks into production. I'd listened to the music on repeat even before I was cast, but I'd still not attempted those darn notes, but on this day of rehearsal as the music built I belted out what sounded like that F# I needed...and it WAS! I rarely surprise myself, occasionally an ad-lib with a character during a show gets me, but with hitting these notes, I was finally convinced I could be in musical theatre! Now don't get me wrong, I would never just coast through the show once I had tried everything, I started "strength training" my voice so I could be sure I hit what I needed to hit every night.
        I read in an interview with Broadway actress Sutton Foster, that when she was starring in Anything Goes on Broadway, the score was so intense for her that she couldn't "relax" during a show, she had to live "note to note". I'm no Sutton Foster, but that is exactly what I had to do for Once on This Island. I couldn't think too much about how the note sounded or where it was coming from, I had to get caught up in the story, and trust that the notes would show up. Was everything perfect? I don't know. But I do know that I was IN the story every night, and THAT is what theatre is, my friends.
        My cast mates where fantastically talented, I'd worked with many of them before, but some where new and welcome additions to the family. Papa Ge doesn't have interactions with too many of the principle or ensemble members of the cast, but getting to work with my fellow "gods", and the lovely Steffi "Ti Moune" Ledbetter was an extreme joy every night, for me...not Papa Ge, of course! Our director, Kim Hirt, whom I've had the honor of working with on Fiddler..., Seussical, Alice..., and Hairspray took to this show with as much energy as she had given us in the past, not so much to "direct" us, but to help us see and understand what this show "was".
           Without spoiling too much of the plot, Once on This Island is a very beautiful, very touching...and very confusing show if you don't look at it from the right point of view, and those who know the show know exactly what I mean by saying that! In fact, I didn't really "get" the show until opening night, during the final song of the show tears started forming in my eyes... Once on This Island IS theatre. Every night we tell OUR story. It doesn't matter how many theatres have done the show, for that 2 hours it is ours and no one can take it away. For that 2 hours, we share our hearts with the audience, and they open theirs to us.
      As I write this, it is 6 'o clock in the morning, I woke up over an hour ago thinking about this show. What it was like working with the cast, how beautifully the show was put together, and how I miss working on "children's" shows where you can very easily "leave your baggage at the door" and emerge yourself into a whole new world full of a totally different kind of thinking. When I come to any new show, it is my goal to take that stance, and focus only on the show's heart, on the show's purpose.
         And that's my story.

Is This Thing On?

I haven't written anything on this blog in quite some time. Not that I haven't tried, on the contrary, I have tried posting several entries but for some reason I couldn't publish them... Hmmm, but now I'm back, and will finally update on EVERYTHING as quickly as possible!

            1. I'm still acting in theatre, having recently been featured in Hairspray and Once on This Island! More "in depth" looks at both of these shows coming soon... I hope!

2. Since last September I have been working for Springer Opera House (The State Theatre of Georgia), teaching Puppetry and Puppet Building classes with The Springer Theatre Academy. I can't begin to describe the trill it is to work with a HUGE groupe of people who live and love theatre like I do! In December, I got to design and build a set of animal puppets for Springer's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, I also made a brief on-stage appearance in the show as "Puppet Master". How cool is that?

           3. I'm also on TV! In the last few months I've been working on a national TV and web show that shoots in Phenix City, AL called Light Talk with Sam Beman! Chase Golden and I appeared as guests on this show in May of last year, and since then Sam has been giving me lots on-the-job traing, letting me build some new puppets, work crew on shoots, create and star in some skits, even "host" an episode myself! It's been very nice to work in-studio and shoot with a great guy who's (almost) as quirky as I am!

      I've also been making regular appearances on Heath and the Checkershoe Band Show, a local Christian-based show hosted by a group of puppets! These shoots are always fun, plus they give me another chance to play with my buddy Hare!

4. Speaking of Hare: My web show The Puppet Improv is going strong! With my puppetry partner, Alex Hubbard, and a new group of up-and-coming puppeteers from Springer's Theatre Academy, I've been able to work on some REALLY fun stuff, most of which will be coming out in the next season of the show...including a special episode featuring one of my characters at the "Happiest Place on Earth"!

Well, that's all I can think of right now...I'll be in touch soon!

Alice in Wonderland: March 3-5, 7&8

I'll just wrap all of Alice in Wonderland up in one post:

Didn't have too many mishaps, other than a few plunger malfunctions during my fight scene...much to the joy and amusement of the stage hands. We added an additional performance for Tuesday, March 8, because tickets sold out for every show! That's two years in a row that ticket sales have allowed me to live in a fantastic world for another day! It's really been too long for me to remember all the details, but I do remember what a great show, and a great cast I got to work with for my senior year. Thank you all.

March 2, 2011 pm: Opening Night

So, even though our first audience didn't do too much for our spirits, we were all still quite excited for opening night. So, before we knew it (and after a nap) we were back again, ready for the show to begin.

And the crowd was great! The laughed in ALL the right places (and then some!)

My only complaint for this performance comes late in the second act... as The White Knight, I, after a quite comedic scene, give Alice a lift to the 8th chess square (all of Wonderland is a giant chess board after all). To accomplish this Alice jumps on my back, piggy back style, and I gallop away on my broomstick horse (with a kick stand!)

As part of my costume, I wear a tool belt with a roll of duct (duck?) tape, a paint brush, and a wooden mallet on it, but one night during our final dress rehearsal Kati had issues hanging on because of that darn roll of duct tape, so from now on I make sure I shift my belt to the side so she won't have that problem again, however it caused me a problem when I performed a stunt. I get thrown from my horse, whom I affectionately refer to as Buttercup, Buttersworth, or Fredrick, and get thrown to the ground. On this night I'd already shifted my belt and I came down on the wooden mallet..hard.

But I couldn't dwell on my pain, because hey, we had a show going on! So I kept going, and got through the show, it wasn't until I was in the dressing room changing that I realized I was still quite sore for the fall... I've done stage falls before; Milky White the cow's death, and a few more in some workshops, but I'd never landed on a hammer before... that was something new!

But other than a slight bruise, the show was great! Got a lot of good reactions (during and after the show), and I don't think it could have gone better!

Six more shows to go, and the end is in sight...

March 2, 2011 am: School Show

What can I say about our school show? Well, I suppose I'll just quote the audience on this one...







...Exactly. We heard very little from this audience; not to say they didn't enjoy the show, they just didn't give us much response during the performance, and that can be slightly discouraging.... but we did the show, despite the crowd's non-reaction.
Let's see... did anything funny, odd, or just plain wrong happen during the show? Ah, yes! So, at the beginning of Act 2 Alice (Kati Judd) meets up with Mouse (Stuart Bell), and Mouse begins telling her "tail", (clever pun, no?) but just as she gets started Mouse is interrupted by a Card Soldier (Mitch Warren) doing battle with The White Knight (me). So I am doing some stage combat with a wooden sword and a plunger, (The White Knight is a handy man, of course.. I also find plungers humorous) battling the Soldier who has only a wooden sword to defend himself (ha ha!) As we are battling his sword spontaneously combusted.. well, not really, it just broke. BUT shards and wood dust did fly out. So, being quick about it, I up looked at him and said: "Now I've got you! You sir, are my prisoner!" A line I was supposed to say anyway, but this made it even more effective. And the audience had no idea this wasn't supposed to happen, ah, the joy of live theatre...
            We hang up our costumes, and head out, knowing that we'll be back in a few hours to do it all over again!

Welcome to Wonderland...

I can't believe it's been a year since Seussical... seems like only yesterday... actually no, it doesn't, I remember yesterday, we had our final dress rehearsal for Alice in Wonderland, riiiiight.
Yes, it is true, we open tonight. But this morning (EARLY this morning) we are giving a special "school show", which is basically our first, and only, preview performance. I'm not sure of how many we're expecting for this show, but most of our other performances are sold out, which is quite exciting.
It's also going to be a bitter-sweet week/weekend, for this is my last production with AACT's children's theatre. I'm not going to cry..... I'm not going to cry.....
Either way, I'll keep the blog updated with news, stories, pics, and anything else I want ('cuz hey, it's my blog!), so stay tuned for more to come!

The next Broadway show on the agenda was Stephen Schwartz's Wicked; the prequel to L. Frank Baum's novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". The show opened in 2003 with Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth as Elphaba and Glinda respectably, and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards. I saw the national tour two years ago in Birmingham from balcony row xxx, so center stage orchestra level seats were a whole different ballgame.

From the moment the orchestra began the overture a chill ran through me, I could really feel the power this show has. Soon Katie Rose Clark made her first appearance as Glinda, descending from the sky in a mechanical bubble, and hitting some of the highest notes outside of Phantom of the Opera.
As the show continued you could feel the crowd's delight and excitement, I wasn't even in the show and I felt a pride for the cast. Once Elphaba (Mandy Gonzales) made her first appearance, the show really started rolling,

At this point the show is flying by and I'm just trying to soak it all in, you could feel the tension building as Ephaba and Glinda debate their fates in "Defying Gravity"; and when Elphaba took flight the audience's cheers rattled the building. The show was incredibly incredible, and it was only intermission!

The second act was even more moving than the first, and my only complaint was that it ended, I could have lived in that world for a few more hours at least.

The cast knew exactly what to do, and every little thing they did impacted the story in the best way. The costumes, props and special effects are arguably the greatest in Broadway's history, everything added an extra few layers to this occasionally dark, insanely clever show.

I cannot recommend this show enough, you will be moved, and incredibly impressed with this (for lack of a better word) wickedly awesome production!!!!

Lions, Times Square, and Broadway, oh my!

NYC. what can I say about NYC? Not enough. My trip to NYC was the most exciting experience of my life! Broadway! Times Square! FAO Schwarz! Central Park! Oh, I could go on all day. But as I promised, I will share my comments about the Broadway shows I saw, starting with Disney's The Lion King:

The Lion King film was released in 1994, and the unique Broadway production opened three years later. A combination of masks, puppetry, interpretive dance, and live actors the show has been a hit with critics and audiences alike, and still remains one of Broadway's top shows. Since Lion King was a last minute addition to my NY plans, I didn't have time to research as I had for the other shows, so I wasn't as prepared as I should have been for what I was about to see. But when the first notes of Circle of Life came crying through the theatre I got a little misty...yes, I admit it, I cried at my first Broadway show. Deal with it.

And it just got better, full-sized elephants and rhinos came down the isle of the theatre joining the rest of the jungle of creatures onstage to witness Young Simba's presentation. The puppets were beautifully built and operated, making me wonder to myself "...could I build that?" But I didn't let that distract me, I still got caught up in the story, even with the occasional glimpse of the stage hand off stage left. The cast had some very impressive vocals, with Tshidi Manye as Rafiki as a personal favorite.

Even with all the specifics required for that show, whether stilt walking to become a giraffe, very precise dance steps and lyrics, or walking with a giant Warthog strapped to their bodies, the cast made it look effortless. I applaud you all again.
It was a great first show, and I highly recommend it. Stay tuned for the continuation of my NY journey.

Up-Date(s)

            After an exhausting Christmas holiday I am back. I have made a resolution to try and stay up-to-date on the blog, here... but like my resolution to finally lose that extra 20 pounds I've been carrying around since the baby, it might not last too long...
Let's see what's happened since my last post....
                1. Anc Ministries held the first EVER AnC CHRISTmas show, we found/learned/wrote a record 12 songs in 2 weeks!
               2. AnC performed in Columbus at "The Big Event: Comedy Night" a great charity event, with Illusionist Frankie Elliston (he was on AGT last season), and stand-up comic Sam Beman. Thanks to Sam for recommending us and getting us the gig!
              3. I was one of the leads in the Christmas production at Lafayette Heights... "The Joy Story" was a musical about a special toy store, "...where the toys are for sale, but the joy is free". I was the villain who now owns the lease to the store and wanted to take over and make the store my own. My character, FAO Schmaltz, and his son Jennings (played by my buddy Chase Golden, who was on his knees the whole show with fake legs and feet (very hilarious)) had big plans to take over the store and sell our own merchandise there, but we were told "The Joy Story" AKA The Gospel and we were changed for the better.
             4. Auditions for Alice in Wonderland, with AACT (where I did Seussical), were the first week of December, and I was very fortunate to receive the roles of The White Rabbit, and The White Knight, as well as getting to build a number of puppets/costume pieces/props for the show!
             5. If you search YouTube for "The Puppet Improv" you'll find the channel for a new web series... The Puppet Improv features a cast of all-original characters (Hermie, Penny, Zeke, Trixie, and a slew of others) is a sketch-show format. Music videos, parodies, mock-infomercials, and a whole bunch of other great stuff in that show (even if I do say so myself)! Check it out!
             6. Ah, and last, but certainly not least.. I shall soon be traveling to a "wonderland" of my own! For I am making my first trip to The Big Apple, that's right! New York City! 4 days! Two Broadway shows! (I'll post about both of them here afterward!) It's going to be quite an adventure in a city that doesn't sleep! I'll be sure to post about it upon my return (after my nap, that is)
           Well, that's pretty much all.... yeah, right ALL.... for today. Stay tuned for more fun to come!

Puppet of the Week

Been a while since I’ve written on here, so I thought I would continue my attempted tradition of “Puppet of the Week” that I did one post on then forgot about entirely…sorry.
My puppet (or rather puppets) this time is one I’m very proud of. Back in late January, when I was working with Auburn Area Community Theatre on their production of Seussical Jr., I was asked to create a set of fish puppets for the “Anything’s Possible” number in the show, a song where Jojo’s imagination stretches his bathtub into the ocean. I was excited that I got the job and set of to work, but first I had to decide what kind of puppets I wanted to use, I had been given free reign to make whatever kind of fish puppets I wanted. I debated several different styles, and finally settled on something I thought would work best. I went to the library and looked at all the Dr. Seuss books I could find with fish in them, then sketched/designed 7 different styles of fish (several of which never saw the light of day as puppets, this included what I called “The Cat Fish” a black fish with red white stripes to look like the Cat in the Hat). I then set to work drawing large fish on matte board, cutting them out, painting thm, rigging them to talk (they were singing fish after all), detailing with a sharpie, and finally trimming them with black electrical tape to give them a straight off the page feel. The final product was five rod puppet fish that looked a lot like Dr. Seuss fish if I do say so myself…
The puppeteers for the fish (who were also in the ensemble playing Whoville citizens, Jungle of Nool creatures, and Circus McGurcus animals) were Marleigh Jones (my sister), Ian Downes, Walker Shumock-Bailey, Madison Jennings, and Brittany Price; who all danced the choreographed dance and did the puppet at the same time, a tough job (trust me).
Of my few stage puppet designing jobs this is one I’ll always be very proud of, bringing Dr. Seuss’ famous fish to life. It was a pleasure, and a privilege.

Beauty IS a Beast

Beauty is a Beast. Look at that again. Beauty IS a Beast. It’s not the show you think it is at first glance; there is no enchanted castle, no dancing flatware, no singing candelabras. Just a sort of twisted story about a Princess in need of one heck of an attitude adjustment. Having myself been in Beauty AND the Beast about a year ago I thought I knew what I was getting into… I wasn’t even close.
Auditions were held May 20, we had 9 try out for this 15-person show. Yet another round of auditions were held the following week where we found another 5 members to the cast. Alright, close enough. We held the read-thru a day later where we found out that one of our cast members from the first round of auditions had dropped out, but we also had another 2 kids joining the cast for the read-thru. Yes, yes, yes! The read-thru went very well, and I was satisfied with my picks. A week later when the first rehearsal was under way we received word that another one of the kids had dropped out of the show. So, we continued the search, and found one more kid. Bringing us to, if my math is right, a total of 13 kids. We combined a few roles, and made a few edits here and there and then we started rehearsing.
With thirteen 5th-8th graders there’s gonna be some conflicts, and I was in the middle of a war zone. This one couldn’t sit next to that one, and he couldn’t do this because he was looking at him, etc. The principles were the least of my worries, it was the secondary and supporting cast that caused the most raucous. But things went on (surprisingly) ahead of schedule. Everyone, well almost everyone, memorized lines and blocking quickly, which gave me more time to find stuff for them to do in character. Costumes (most hand-made by my awesome sewin’ sister) were great, choreography was good, the acting was…okay… and it was almost the week of the show!
Show week can be a stressful time, and boy did I feel the stress! Cast members missing from first dress rehearsal without letting anyone know they would be gone, trying to coorinate a new sound and lights operator (and a new stage crew member who couldn't take the pressure leaving us to find yet another one), and trying to make sure the story got across. AAAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! As the first show started I could feel a change in everyone’s energy, they were projecting, cheating out, it was an entirely different show that it was a week ago. First show was great, except for a section in scene 4 where half the cast started laughing on stage, but let’s not talk about that…
The next show was… eh… everyone was tired, and ready for this thing to be over. And I was with them, it was an exhausting 24 rehearsals. But thankfully, a few of the principle cast members still had enough energy to give the audience a good show.
We played almost to capacity both shows and the kids really did a good job, it was a tough, but fun, road; and I hope everyone remembers their time during Beauty IS a Beast.

Summer Madness!

I don't like to be bored during the summer, but it doesn't even look like I'll have time this year.
Let's see here, first off I am directing a play, for the second year in a row, I might add! It's titled Beauty IS a Beast, right away the title caught my attention, but upon reading I found it was nothing like the show I'd been in a few months earlier. It's a comedy about a beautiful Princess who has a very bad attitude, after the Princess loses her temper, her Fairy God Mother turns her inside-out (ugly on the outside, good on the inside). Auditions were held last week for this 15 person show, for which there were only 9 kids that tried out! Another round of auditions will take place this week in hopes to find (at least) 6 more kids...gulp!
What else is happening..... ah, yes! I will also be performing at a few local libraries this summer as part of their Summer Reading programs. I've sold four performances of "Avery Jones and the FUN Machine" a show full of music, comedy, and of course ventriloquism. I'm quite excited about these (paying) gigs!
Also, the last three weeks in June Anc Ministries will be performing at three different Vacation Bible Schools! More publicity, and a chance to perform in a church where I've always wanted to perform!
We're winding down here, but there's still more excitement to go! At the end of July, AnC will be performing in what we're promoting as: LIVE in Concert! at our home church! Exciting stuff!
Two days after the concert, I will be traveling to Shocco Springs in Talladega, AL to perform with my dad at a kid's camp (for the 5th year in a row)!
To the best of my knowledge, that's all I have going on this summer.... yeah right, ALL I have going on..... I'm going to need a nap....

Seussical 3-8-10 4:30 & 6:30

The final day, the final two shows. Sad but true. There is a lot of energy in the cast, but, unfortunately a few members of the cast were sick, including (as far as I know) three members of the ensemble (one of which wasn't able to make it for these last two shows, and one had to leave after the first show of the day), and, last but certainly not least, the Cat's buddy Jojo! She'd lost her voice the day before, and had gotten it mostly back, but wasn't as strong as she could go. ...GULP....

But in the theatre no matter what, the show MUST go on! And it did! It went okay, nothing really special, just another fun time in the world of Dr. Seuss.

Since, unfortunately, Jojo couldn't sing I helped her with "Anything's Possible", a fun song, that I'd wanted to sing since we'd started the show. So, if anything good came out of her sickness, it was me getting to sing that song... sorry, Lizzie....

- Talk Show line- For once in this show I stuck with the script... hard to believe, I know.

- Waking Jojo up- I rounded the corner blowing my nose into a tissue, "That was beautiful, man!"

- Auction- Offered the Bird Girls again, with the same "sing/narrate your day" line, at the request of one of the girls.

The forty min. break between shows went by very quickly, I had just caught my breath when they called places again. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but it wasn't the break I'm used to.

The second (and final show) went by way too fast. During "Oh, the Thinks you Can Think" it hit me that this was the last time I'd be telling this story, it hit me again during "Anything's Possible", then yet again during "Amazing Mayzie", "Monkey Around", "How Lucky you Are", and especially during "Solla Sollew". I later got word that a few ensemble members shed a few tears during this song.

During "The People vs. Horton the Elephant" I used a different accent for the "Marshall of the Court", and then decided that I was going to make the most of what I had left, I amped up my energy and flew through the rest of the show. The audience was great, the best you could ask for on a closing night, I even hammed up a little more because they were so responsive (especially with Dr. Dake).

- Talk Show line- "...Cooking with Sam-I-Am"

- Waking Jojo up- "...oh, yeah, well you're a mean one, Mr. Grinch!"

- Auction- I'd had a special auction in mind since the beginning of the show for closing night, and I used it, to great response. "Since this is our final show, everything must go! We're talking elephant, Bird Girls, monkeys, kangaroos, and the entire 10-piece ensemble."

The show went very well, as I've found a lot of my closing-night shows do. I had the honor to speak about our production crew, and director at the conclusion of the show...I've always wanted to do that. And after we said good-bye to our audience, we went and changed out of our costumes for the last time... but thankfully, I got to buy my suit, and plan on wearing it to the prom. I packed up my props and puppets, said my good-byes, and left as they were loading the set into the truck.

It was a fun time. And I know we all miss it. We had our time in Solla Sollew, and now we've moved on to other things. And as Dr. Seuss said: "Don't cry because it's over, be glad that it happened"

I am.

Seussical 3-6-10 2:00 & 6:30

Bright and early Saturday morning the cast slowly made their way to the theatre (personally I'm never up that early (especially on a Saturday!)) to take yet another journey in the world of Dr. Seuss. I realised at this point that the show was almost over and I would only be able to live in this "world" for a little longer. But then all the cast got thrown a curve-ball, and additional performance the following Monday, I know we were all pretty excited, but then we realized we would only get a 30-40 min. break between shows...yikes! But we all decided to power through and all agreed. But Saturday wasn't over yet.
- Talk Show line: "...we'll be right back with the Wickersham's performing a rendition of Pants on the Ground..."
- I repeated my "does this book make me look fat" line for almost the entire run. Hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it! ...ooohh, I just had a Beauty & the Beast flash-back
- Auction: Sweetening the deal with the Bird Girls I bragged on their bonus features. "..Ladies and gentlemen, you have not lived until these girls sing/narrate your day..." I then proceeded to sing in falsetto as a Bird Girl "he just woke up, now he's brushing his teeth"
All in all I think the show went pretty well, the cast then ate lunch together, and then proceeded to the theatre again, but this time the cast watched a performance... who performed you might ask... I would be the one who's performance was watched by the cast (by far one of the best audiences I've had). Then the cast kept with their tradition.... ooohh...Fiddler on the Roof flash-back... the entire cast had a dance off, dancing to such songs as "Thriller", "Cupid Shuffle", and "Transylvania Mania"...guess which one was mine...
Second show went by pretty quickly, even though we were all pretty worn out at that point but we knew we could do a good job.
- Talk Show line: "...we'll be right back with Charlie's Bird Girls"
- Yet again repeated the line with the book.
- Auction: I just offered Horton again, dwelling on his bonus features... at this point I knew what worked with the audience, and used that to my advantage!
We had an early cast party, where the cast received "awards" for off-stage traits, quirks, and jokes. I myself received the "Most likely to end up on Sesame Street" award...I'd like to thank the academy... Had a good time at the party, played some charades, and sang some improv songs with the accompaniment of one of the Wickershams.
We got a day off, and then onto Monday, and our back-to-back performances...I would be more excited if I wasn't so tired! Stay tuned...more to come!

Seussical 3-5-10 6:30

Everyone in the cast had amazing energy! With this show we all really got into it! Really don't remember too much, just know that it happened...
-Talk Show line- "...we'll be right back with Jojo and Cat plus 8..."
-Going to wake Jojo- I rounded the flat reading "The Cat in the Hat", looked at the audience, held up the book "Am I really this fat?"
-Auction- I sweetened the offer by adding the Wickersham Brothers.
Saturday will bring two shows, and a surprise for the cast... but I'll make you wait to find out what it was....

Seussical 3-4-10 6:30 Second show

The second show came faster than I thought it would, and before I knew it, I was back in costume (and make-up). We got together for a group picture, warmed up, and then it was time for places. As everyone else is getting in character (something I pride myself on being able to do very quickly), I paced the floor thinking of my schemes for the night... I need three lines: a talk show line for what's coming up next, a line as I come from around the flat to wake Jojo, and something for the auction. Hmmmm...... think, think, think.... that's the whole idea of the show!

-Talk Show line: "...we'll be right back with cooking with Sam-I-Am, he's got a meal I think you're gonna love...I myself do not like it, but I think you will..."

- Coming from behind the flat: "Jojo, you will not believe what I saw on Mullberry Street!" And if I hadn't run into the stairs as I was saying it I might have had a great line there... I woke Jojo with a kazoo, playing a few notes from the song "A Day for the Cat in the Hat" from the Broadway production of Seussical.

-Auction: "...if you act right now we'll throw in a Sour Kangaroo...girl can sing!"

Four shows left, and Friday's show is coming up fast!

Seussical 3-3-10 6:30 OPENING NIGHT!

After a nap, we all returned to the Jan Dempsey for our official first show! Our costumes were still slightly damp from our earlier show, which is something you don't get used to quickly. But after make-up touch-ups, and a warm-up we are ready to go again!
I Don't remember much about the actual show but a few things do stand out:
-after the song "Alone in the Universe" I come out from behind the flat and proceed to wake Jojo up, rounding the corner I looked over my shoulder and shouted: "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch..." I then proceeded to wake Jojo with an old-fashioned bicycle horn (which she wasn't expecting)
-Jose to Circus Barker quick change hit a glitch when my coat was not waiting for me behind the flat, I instead jumped out without a jacket in my Cat vest, don't think anyone knew
-Talk show Line: "we'll be back with Bird Girls Gone Wild..."
-As the auctioneer I bragged on the "bonus features" that come with Horton, "look at the ears on this guy, you can get HBO, and Showtime..."
One of the greatest opening nights I've ever had, really not looking forward to the end of this show, I'm having soooo much fun. More to come.....

Seussical 3-3-10 10:30am School Show

Considered to be our final dress rehearsal (although with an audience) things went relatively well. The audience wasn't as responsive as I'd like, but you can't have it all...
The past few days we've been rehearsing in costumes, I've had some issues with one of my quick changes. I play an Auctioneer, exit the stage then have to change (in roughly 20 seconds) into Jose (Mayzie's cabana boy), I then have to suddenly change into a circus barker (a la W.C. Fields) For this I had my circus barker coat on under the Hawaiian shirt used for Jose and, on cue, I would spin, take off the top layer, and be the barker.... didn't quite work like I'd wanted...so, as of this performance as Mayzie is singing, I walk behind a flat, where someone is waiting with by barker's jacket, I take of the Jose shirt, put on the other jacket, and I, on cue, jump out from behind the flat and go into the next set of lines. Works much better!
Also in the number "Biggest Blame Fool" I appear as a talk show host, whom I have deemed "Dr. Feline McCat" (dragging out the first name to make it sound like Dr. Phil), this character brings one of my many times for ad-libs. As I sign off I say "...we'll be right back with ___ and speck, clover, dust, neighbor, who...." I plan on reporting all of these ad-libs here, for future reference. This time through I said "we'll be right back with a performance by Kevin, Nick and Joe Wickersham..."
Almost time for the next show, boy, I need a nap! Stay tuned!