First Vocal Rehearsal

After all the drama associated with moving the rehearsal location, getting a temporary accompanist, getting a temporary keyboard, printing a double-sided copy of the score, and managing to still keep my day job, rehearsal was great! These people really seem to like each other and being in the production together.

Unfortunately, Donna couldn't be there. She wanted to spend the evening with her daughter before she left for school, and I'm happy to oblige that. I want this to be a fun production.

And that in itself is kind of an all-encompassing change of vision I'm developing for this show. If I had a mission statement before, it probably would have been a bit more technical and exacting in it's goals. Now that I'm here with these people, I want to deliver a show that will make them happy to be involved; one they will be proud to invite their friends and family to.

Also missing last night was Jeffrey Higashi, and he lives directly across the street from where we were rehearsing. Leana has promised to ask the family what their conflicts are, and we'll work around them, but production conflicts will mean that we'll have to have another cast member.

We'll see...

We ran through "Christmas Time Is Nunsense Time" (both the opener and the final reprise), and the "Christmas Sing Along". Everyone was great as usual. I'll continue to work with the kids to make sure they're getting the singing parts down. I want to work with Amanda to see if we can pack some power behind her voice. Her singing is fine (pitch, voicing, etc.), she just needs to infuse it with some power. We'll see if a dash of country twang brings it out. Her current delivery is a little breathy, but with confidence in the music, she'll progress nicely.

That's it! Can't wait to see what this evening has in store.


- Sean

Aaarrggh!

So I get a call at 6:30PM last night from the accompanist telling me he won't be able to attend the Monday evening vocal rehearsal. I was polite and understanding and told him we'll work through it.

Then, this morning, it hit me.

We have 24 total rehearsals, eight of which are vocal, and we have ten cast members expecting to be taught parts starting Monday night.

So, get another accompanist for those nights, right?

Umm, yeah, but our accompanist also brings his own keyboard. We're already displaced from the theatre for most of the first week, so the portable keyboard was key to the equation. Also, there's the subject of pay. The fraction of the money we're giving to our current person for these two nights probably won't get us a good accompanist to fill in, so that's another hit to the budget.

I'm going to have to urge the producer to deal with this.

So, to the cast members: we ARE rehearsing on Monday night from 6:45 PM to 10:30 PM. Kids will be let go as early as possible. We will be at Leanna Bowman's house, directions to follow.

Why does this happen? Isn't there enough drama on stage without it having to backwash into the production itself?


- Sean

Read Through and Kick-Off

Wow, did I get a great cast on this one!

At last night's read through of Nuncrackers, we met at the home of Tom Eubanks, Elite Theatre Company's Artistic Director. I picked up Eleanor Brand (Mother Superior) and Louis Rivera (John Kelly) at the Petit at 6:45 PM, and we rode up together. We got there at about 7:15 PM and I started by setting up the sound equipment to record the read through. I always try to record the read through for use by the actors as a rehearsal tool. I clean it up and slice it into tracks and put it on CD for them. It's a pretty great tool.

Also joining us was our newest addition, Jeffrey Higashi, filling the role of Billy Wilson. Jeffrey is a very talented young performer, and will be great to work with.

The best part was, without a doubt, finally hearing the voices of the performers speak the lines for the first time. Todd Weldon (Father Virgil) had us all crying with laughter with his Sister Julia bit, and Eleanor Brand's (Mother Superior) infomercial for CONFESSION was better than I'd ever imagined.

Also new to the world of Nuncrackers is Sister Mary George, played by Sarah Vawter. Sarah is one of the funniest actresses I've seen on stage in a long time, and although I had the rest of the cast picked out, I wanted to harness the energy that Sarah brings to this particular group of women. Working with Kelly Aughenbaugh (Robert Anne), I took the extraneous Stage Manager and Band Member lines, along with several of the "prankster" components of Robert Anne's character and created a new role. Sister Mary George will also be the voice and puppeteer of Sister Mary Annette, Amnesia's nun puppet, featured prominently in the original Nunsense. Now, that's not to suggest that Kelly's role is diminished in any way. Her take on Robert Anne will be a much tougher, more streetwise approach than I'd expected, but I like where she's going with it so far. When she comes to her "Jesus Was Born In Brooklyn" the audience will be fighting back the tears.

We're blessed to have the lovely and vivacious Donna Gross (Sister Mary Hubert) with us, as well as Amanda Hulme (Sister Amnesia). Donna's performance was a perfect, no-nonsense Sister who keeps the show moving with humor and a wary eye to the shenanigans of the others. Amanda's take on Sister Amnesia was spot-on, a perfect blend of loopiness and kindness.

The kids are also great. Already mentioned was Jeffrey Higashi, but Megan Trout and Melanie Bowman will be great in the shared role of Louise Mayfield, the older female student and talent show winner. Louis Rivera's reading of John Kelly, although short on lines was big on delivery, and Emily Bowman will be great as the younger girl, Maria Montini.

And how can I leave out my greatest asset in this endeavor, Liz Martinez? Liz is our stage manager and is also performing the role of Sister Mary Leo. After we completed the lines, Liz and Kelly began taking measurements for the entire cast to assist our costumer, Connie.

We've got six great weeks ahead of us! I can't wait!


- Sean

Read Through: Change of Venue

Hey Everyone,

The facilities at Heritage Square are not available on Monday evening, so Tom Eubanks, our Artistic Director, has graciously lent us the use of his home. He is further north, in Casitas Springs, on the way to Ojai, so we've moved it later to 7:30 PM.

Tom's address is 8823 N. Ventura Avenue, Casitas Springs. On the way to Ojai, it's on the left hand side of the street, just before a large metal cluster of mailboxes. Please park on the street.

As mentioned before, we will be recording the read through so that performers will have a CD to rehearse lines with. This has been a very useful tool in the past, and something I try to do for every show. I will also be working with Zach Spencer to record a rehearsal music CD as well. I won't be creating individual music CDs with people's parts, so make sure if you want those to bring a recorder with you to rehearsals as Zach will play out your part for you.

Again, I'm excited with the exceptional caliber of talent demonstrated by everyone in the auditions. This is going to be a great show.


- Sean

Castlist

Heartfelt thanks to all who shared their talents with us this past weekend. My only regret (as is usually the case in casting most shows) is that there are not enough roles to go around. Being a performer myself, I fully appreciate the sheer terror one experiences in the audition process, and I commend all who auditioned for exceptional performances across the board. The cast for Elite Theatre Company’s 2005 production of Dan Goggin’s musical comedy Nuncrackers is as follows:

• Sister Mary Regina, Mother Superior: Eleanor Brand
• Sister Mary Hubert: Donna Gross
• Father Virgil Manly Trott: Todd Weldon
• Sister Robert Anne: Kelly Aughenbaugh
• Sister Mary Paul (aka Amnesia): Amanda Hulme
• Sister Mary Leo: Lizeth Martinez
• Sister Mary George: Sarah Vawter
• John Kelly: Louis Rivera
• Louise Mayfield: Melanie Bowman & Megan Trout
• Billy Wilson: Jeffrey Higashi
• Maria Montini: Emily Bowman & TBD

Our read-through will be Monday, September 19, 2005 from 6:45PM to 10:30PM (but probably only until 8:30PM). Vocal rehearsals will begin the following Monday, September 26, 2005 from 6:45PM to 10:30PM. A detailed rehearsal/production schedule will be passed out at the read-through.

- Sean

Callbacks

The callbacks were exceptionally great. I had a number of very talented performers audition for Sister Mary Regina, the Mother Superior, yet I can only cast one person in that role. For everyone else, it was pretty much a one-to-one match up with the roles that they most wanted. As mentioned in the previous post, the only problems I'm having still is with the younger kids, particularly the boys. I've left a message for one candidate, but I'm unsure if they are available.

Other than that, I do have a good, solid cast. It will be posted here and on the Auditions section of Elite's website by tomorrow at 6:00 PM.

Our first readthrough is next Monday, September 19 from 6:45PM to 10:30PM, but I doubt it will take much more than until 8:30PM at the latest. We will have to be in the McGrath basement, as we'd originally scheduled it for Tuesday the 20th. One of the cast members won't be able to join us on that night, so I opted for this slot instead.

Thanks also to the wonderful support offered by the Elite Theatre staff and Board. Although our stage manager could not be with us at Saturday's auditions, Leanna, Ruth, Tom, Gary, and Jen were all there lending their support. I was very touched that they made my first audition such a warm and supportive event. Thanks!


- Sean

Auditions

The first day of auditions went well, in that I was very happy with all who auditioned. The only disappointing part was that only a handful of folks showed up specifically to audition. I've only had one person audition for the childrens' roles, and only a few folks audition for the nun roles. Two gentlemen auditioned yesterday for Father Virgil, and they both have great voices. For Mother Superior, we had two lovely ladies who were both suited for that role.

I know that the Ojai Art Center extended performances of South Pacific were yesterday, so hopefully we'll see several more folks come on Sunday night. And I also have a few folks who were away this weekend who are interested in showing up on Monday evening.

Again, kids are the precious commodity at this point. If anyone reads this, we need kids to audition.


- Sean