Stage Door
April 2009
OKTC’S STAGEDOOR, APRIL 2009
EDITORIAL: THE SOUL OF A DIRECTOR
March break is over; rehearsals are resumed and 6 shows are opening before the end of April. I’ve dropped into several rehearsals this week and I’ve overheard things like this:
“ That’s OK after a week off, but it’s only 10% of the energy that you need to give to make the number work. Let’s do it again.”
“ From here on we need everyone at every rehearsal, and knowing all their lines and songs. A good show is a well-rehearsed show and that can’t happen without you here knowing your stuff.”
“It all has to be bigger, stronger, more emotional and electric. This show has to be bigger than life. Funnier. More exciting.”
“ We all have to stop thinking about ourselves and think about our audiences.”
Those are the voices of directors at work. Good directors (and good music directors and good choreographers) are tortured and driven by the quest for artistic excellence. That is just the way it is. They know that the culmination of all the rehearsals comes when the audience arrives and the company offers freely the beautiful gift that they’ve created together. Anything less and they and their casts have sold themselves short.
So when you are lucky enough to have a director who has a vision of excellence and desperately wants you share that vision, to work together to make it real, and then to present it, glowing with life and vitality to an audience, well, grab on and go for the ride. That is the best journey that theatre can offer you.
And your director can’t do it alone, goodness knows! I’ve been there again and again. Believe me!
Here’s the mind of a director a week before opening, as the director tosses and turns sleeplessly at 3am :
“Will it ever come together? I hope everyone comes to the next rehearsal. Are they starting to get it? Do they know what we’ve got to do to get ready to open? Will they be willing to do that? It really could be a terrific show if…. Do I have enough money to fly right now to Brazil under an assumed name?”
Sure, theatre is about participation and learning, it is about developing friendships, it is about fun. But I’ve always thought of theatre “fun” a little differently. It is the fun of struggling together through tough times, overcoming obstacles, conquering fears, celebrating small victories. Sometimes it is “fun deferred”. We have to forget fun and just go to work, get down to it, struggle, refuse to give up. Then, when we come out on top, the true fun begins –the fun of riding a great show to the opening night.
And what about that poor director, too poor to hide out in Brazil ? Well, that’s the person who has offered you a vision and a guiding hand toward reaching it. As good theatre people, we go the distance with a good director. When we help that director arrive at his or her vision, it will be a far better place than Brazil ! And then our director can sit at the back and see us present this lovely creation to an audience. Now there’s a moment of art!
Finally, I was thinking this week about another special thing about theatre. I’ve been told that a many of the cast of Beauty and the Beast have been feeling very low since the show closed on Sat. Mar. 21. Do you know why? That always happens with a cast who has really come together while creating a beautiful gift. You’ve climbed so high together that everything else seems down.
The gift you’ve given the audiences, your guests, has been as beautiful as you could make it in the time available, and then the lights fade out, and it ends…
That feeling those young actors are having (and many of the directing staff and volunteers who worked with them, I suspect) is the proof that they truly sacrificed themselves for art, and that the result was beautiful.
GOINGS-ON SINCE THE MARCH STAGEDOOR 1. Beauty and the Beast set the bar very high for the rest of the shows this season. Excellent material, a buoyant cast, remarkably professional costumes, gripping stage effects all created a perfect example of the beautiful gift to audiences I talked about above! You were all wonderful!
2. 49 Senior OK’s and staff returned from the NYC Trip, one of the best ever. What interesting things we all did! What shows we saw! Truly life-changing- and for the better!
3. Registrations continued for Camp OK and Kamp Kidlets. A few more than half the spots are gone for Camp OK , but there are still so many good choices left!
4. Interviews were held for the Camp Counseling Staff. Far more apply than it is possible to hire, of course. But my congratulations to all applicants for preparing applications and resumes and for undergoing your interviews, all of this for the first time for many of you. And DON”T GIVE UP!!
5. Our 50/50 draws began as part of our fund-raising efforts to redecorate the façade of our facility. At B&B, we made about $200 toward our goal of $9000. So that’s a start! Please support us at upcoming shows and events!
SPEAKING OF UPCOMING SHOWS… It is time for the much anticipated Junior Triple Bill, Mar. 31 – Apr. 5. I’ve been watching Godspell, Thomas and the Princess and Stone Soup and I’ve been getting a good feeling about what is in store.
Godspell, filled with those wonderful songs, and combining wacky humour and zany story-telling with heart-stopping emotion, is a big Junior undertaking, but you’re going to love the results.
Thomas and the Princess is such a clever fairy tale musical, filled with comic touches, and turning conventional fairy tales on their heads. And I’m seeing some very good character work and movement here.
Stone Soup is a play written to be sheer entertainment and fun. The young cast, in cleverly designed costumes, is fast moving toward the kind of comic, exuberant over-playing this comedy offers- and demands.
The myth that the Junior Triple Bill sells out in advance is just that-a myth!
There are still lots of good tickets for Mar. 31 (Godspell & Soup), Apr. 1 Soup & Thomas), Apr. 2 Thomas & Godspell), Apr. 3 (Godspell & Soup) and closing night on Apr. 5 (Godspell & Soup). Shows on Sat., Apr. 4 at 7pm and Sun., Apr. 5 at 2pm are sold out.
So grab ‘em up at www.grandtheatre.com or keep your fingers crossed and just come to the door.
AND NEXT….
Hard upon the Triple Bill comes the Junior Double Bill Apr. 16 – 19, concluding the Junior Season.
We’ve got 2 shows about teens, and they make a very interesting pair.
Yearbook is a thematic collection of short scenes that celebrate the school years of graduating students, and focus on the positive aspects of their lives. Georgina is directing and as always with her shows we can expect very strong, honest and committed acting and imaginative touches throughout.
High School Musical 2 takes our favourite East High Wildcats on summer vacation and work at the Lava Rock Country Club. The cast is shooting for an entertaining mix of conflict, comedy, romance, and show biz, and it looks like they’re going to deliver on it. They’re buckling down!
All shows on Sat., Apr. 18 and Sun., Apr. 19 are already sold out, but you can get tickets for the evening shows on Apr. 16 & 17 and at the matinee on Apr. 18.
FOLLOWED BY… A Comedy of Errors comes in as our first Senior show of the Season, and the last of 6 productions in April. Here’s young Will Shakespeare in a really wacky and farcical mood, and I suggest that you put it on your theatre-going calendar. The director, Jason Rip is one of London ’s main alternative theatre writer/director/actors and he’s sure to have some surprises up his sleeve. It is one of only 2 of our Senior shows that are recommended for all ages. You should get your Junior OK’s out to this one at least! You can get them tickets, drop them off at the market doors and pick them up after-just like for rehearsal.
HOLD ON...
There’s more! No sooner is April over than on stage comes the great rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice! Evita tells the fascinating and true story of the “High-Flying, Adored” first lady of Argentina , Eva Peron. The film starred Madonna and Antonio Banderas, and you’re going to want to see it done by some of our most accomplished Senior performers.
Evita- May 4 –10.
AND THERE IT IS! 7 SHOWS IN 4 WEEKS!! THERE’S A GRAND THEATRICAL BUFFET BEING SERVED AT ORIGINAL KIDS!!
MORE OKTC EVENTS ON THE HORIZON THE ANNUAL GRAD GALA, Mon., June 1, 630 – 830pm at the Library’s Wolf Performance Hall
This is the event that has grown in importance and expectation over the years. The entire Company, all families and friends are invited to our celebration of the year at OKTC and our honouring of our Grads, both from High School and from Grade 8 into our Senior Company. There is more than one Grad who has been in our company for 10 years! Isn’t that wonderful! Anyway, you’ll hear form our Grads, be royally entertained by OK casts, and Dale will reveal the shows under consideration for next year!
Who’s to miss this! No regular admission, but we will pass the hat to fundraise for our Redecoration Fund.
OK TONY NIGHT, Sun., June 7, 7:45pm - 11pm , King’s University College , UWO.
June 7 is the night that the TONY Awards are presented, the awards for the year’s best in Broadway theatre. (Both RENT and Evita, on our Season Playbill, won Best Musical in their year). We’re having a classy event in a classy hall at King’s College that is open to the first 70 people to get tickets in early May. We’ll fill in ballots, watch on a big screen the Awards coming from Radio City Music Hall in NYC, and during intermission breaks, enjoy first class Broadway musical entertainment provided by the cast members of our OK Alumni Show, Urinetown.
Tickets will be cheap, just to cover goodies and a small donation to the Redecoration Fund. There will be a bar too, for the adults.
So make plans with friends, iron some cool “theatrical clothes”, and get ready to get your tickets to OK TONY NIGHT.
WEST SIDE STORY, STRATFORD FESTIVAL, SEPT. 23, 2PM . I STILL HAVE 20 UNCLAIMED SPACES ON THIS $50 (INCLUDES ALL) TRIP TO THIS GREAT SHOW. The places are open to all OK’s and all family members. Reserve at art@oktc.ca
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And finally a reminder to watch Karaoke Star Junior, 7pm , Apr. 13 on YTV or CMT. After you watch the 7 finalists take a moment to cast your votes for Original Kid Stephanie Wojtowicz, a member of our Evita cast.
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As you can see, we’re firing on all cylinders at OKTC!!
