Yesterday I had two events that were musical theatre based to get me through the day. The first was a
Musical Theatre Workshop with Don Horsburgh at
The Citadel Theatre. It took place in the converted Rice Theatre and he took us through a Master-class with 6 young performers. He had each sing a piece and then he did some tweaking to it, sharing his tips with the crowd and imparting some of the behind the scenes tricks for preparing a musical theatre audition. I found Horsburgh very personable and humble and he worked with a gentle intelligence with the singer/actors. All six were well prepared and tuneful and for ten dollars it made for a nice little mini-concert in addition to a workshop. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it made for a nice 2 hours of musical theatre and as a Director I can tell you he gave good tips about preparation for your audition - for example: avoid shiny plastic covers on your music, don't cut off the key signatures, and avoid Sondheim unless you bring your own accompanist.
I grabbed a bite to eat and then went to my own rehearsal for ELOPE's
25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was a good rehearsal and we are so close to having all the blocking completed that it feels really good. I am chomping at the bit to get into runs and we are almost there. Actually the next rehearsal we work a big chunk and clean it so I can get to the place I like where I am assessing where the show is at and where it needs to be tightened and clarified. I am blessed with a fabulous cast that goes away and comes back even better than when we left so it makes my job easier, but I know there are parts that are going to look different when we put it all together. I am also looking forward to having all of the players in the same room. I was supposed to yesterday, but a series of unfortunate events (
bad driving conditions in Saskatchewan, arising work conflict, and the stomach flu) meant that I ended up missing 3 and having another one come late. It's hard as a director to really assess a project with missing holes, but you can't help some conflicts, I guess. April gets much better for missing people (
they are missing far less frequently) so I am looking forward to having all the bodies in the space doing their thing! As it was, the big number at the end looks so good and it's a complicated piece with people doing different things and it makes me happy! Oh, and they sound sooooo good!
Yesterday I had two events that were musical theatre based to get me through the day. The first was a Musical Theatre Workshop with Don Horsburgh at The Citadel Theatre. It took place in the converted Rice Theatre and he took us through a Master-class with 6 young performers. He had each sing a piece and then he did some tweaking to it, sharing his tips with the crowd and imparting some of the behind the scenes tricks for preparing a musical theatre audition. I found Horsburgh very personable and humble and he worked with a gentle intelligence with the singer/actors. All six were well prepared and tuneful and for ten dollars it made for a nice little mini-concert in addition to a workshop. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it made for a nice 2 hours of musical theatre and as a Director I can tell you he gave good tips about preparation for your audition - for example: avoid shiny plastic covers on your music, don't cut off the key signatures, and avoid Sondheim unless you bring your own accompanist.
I grabbed a bite to eat and then went to my own rehearsal for ELOPE's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It was a good rehearsal and we are so close to having all the blocking completed that it feels really good. I am chomping at the bit to get into runs and we are almost there. Actually the next rehearsal we work a big chunk and clean it so I can get to the place I like where I am assessing where the show is at and where it needs to be tightened and clarified. I am blessed with a fabulous cast that goes away and comes back even better than when we left so it makes my job easier, but I know there are parts that are going to look different when we put it all together. I am also looking forward to having all of the players in the same room. I was supposed to yesterday, but a series of unfortunate events (bad driving conditions in Saskatchewan, arising work conflict, and the stomach flu) meant that I ended up missing 3 and having another one come late. It's hard as a director to really assess a project with missing holes, but you can't help some conflicts, I guess. April gets much better for missing people (they are missing far less frequently) so I am looking forward to having all the bodies in the space doing their thing! As it was, the big number at the end looks so good and it's a complicated piece with people doing different things and it makes me happy! Oh, and they sound sooooo good!
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