Blog By Night

The 2010 Hutch project.

My latest project for HHS.

…and a right good captain, too!
Well, for the first time in quite a while, I went to an audition last night night. And today I got a call asking if I wanted to join the cast of Woodbury Community Theatre‘s An Evening with Gilbert & Sullivan — and I even get to sing the Captain’s Song. The revue will feature songs from Trial by Jury and other G&S favorites. The show isn’t until September, but there are only 2 performances on the 12th and 13th, so mark your calendars now! Looking forward to working with old friends and being on stage again.

The uploading continues… I’ve got a couple more shows from the archives just added to the gallery. Both are from 2006. Kiss Me Kate at Morris Park Players and Twelfth Night at Macalester College. I haven’t done any editing or color correcting, so these are jpegs straight out of the camera – both keepers and duds. Mostly just wanted to get them uploaded for the purposes of backup, rather than actual marketing… but who knows, right?

This is my weekend of working “in the cave” to put together the programs for Hutchinson High School’s spring fall musical. This year they are doing Anything Goes, which has some special meaning for me in a couple of ways. For one thing, it was the first HHS show that worked on outside of high school. That was 1996. The first year after the late, great Jeff Bentz left the helm to Jim Nelson and Steve Pasche. Anything Goes is also the show where I met the fetching Mrs. Krueger. That was 2002 with Heritage Theatre Co. I played “4th sailor from the left” and Shawnee was the stage manager. For those of you who are confused by her email address, perhaps that bit of info will clear things up… This year, we are making photos available to order – check out the link here after the show opens!

It’s that time of year again. When I go into the cave to work on the posters, tickets, t-shirts, and programs for Hutchinson High School’s musical. This year, they are doing Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Rather ambitious, no? Should be a cool show. Steve and his team have built an impressive set and the cast is showing a lot of potential – if only they learn to “sing out!” without being told every two minutes. In particular, Ben Ballard has a strong stage presence and great voice on the Beast’s soaring ballads. Above, you see the “logo” that I put together. The poster has all of the necessary credits, fine print and legalese, but I thought I would spare you the details here. The show is November 1, 3 and 4 (no Friday show) if you want to catch it.

Did a couple of auditions recently, but I have no upcoming shows. The first was for Urinetown with Heritage Theatre Co. I didn’t really expect to get the coveted role of “Bobby Strong,” but I did have a glimmer of “Hope” when I was called back to sing and read for “Officer Lockstock.” Those were the only two roles I put down that I would accept, because I knew that I would also be auditioning for…
Guys and Dolls at Morris Park is another story. I really thought I had an almost certain shot at the role of “Nicely-Nicely Johnson” – I would have also accepted “Nathan Detroit” but I still think I’m too young for that role. But neither of those were in the cards. Frankly, I’m a little confused. Not to sound too much like a diva, but knowing that I have a pretty good relationship with the theatre, the director and the choreographer, and I’d like to think that I’m very qualified for the role… I really thought I had it. It’s not like I can blame this one on needing to lose some weight either – “Nicely” has the running gag of food obsession. A few friends were also rather surprised. Hopefully whoever they did cast is fabulous. If I see the show and their “Nicely” sucks, I’m really going to wonder what happened. Oh well, that leaves more time to work on the Stickney Project…

Chess is now over. I’m not sure if I like doing paid theatre. Don’t get me wrong – I like getting paid for doing something I love… and I’ve done shows where I’ve gotten paid before. But this was different. I had a good time, but I don’t feel like I really bonded with the cast. Part of that is because I was trying to finish the Hutch project during tech week and I had other obligations that conflicted with the two cast parties. But there were only two, and the whole group only went out a couple of times. Small groups would occasionally go out, but I think the main thing was that these people weren’t just doing it for the love of theatre – they may have loved it, but it was a job too. Not enough to live on, but perhaps enough to help them reach the next step. It was all just a little too serious for me. I’m ready for another fun show. But not right away. I need a little bit of “regular” life at home again. And I need to figure out where that home is going to be. Hopefully Stickney will still work, but nothing is easy with this house. Perhaps more details as things unfold, but now I’m just frustrated with our contractor and the situation. Talking to another one tomorrow…

Chess has now opened. Three weekends left. More info. It’s always interesting to get different reactions. Weather you consider it a “dated relic” or “one terrific show,” the audiences seem to be enjoying it. The entire cast is very strong and the sound is great, despite the fact that the orchestra is basically down the hall in a closet. The lighting has some cool effects and the set is very minimalist, which works in the space we have. The characters and music are really what shine in this production. I hope you get the chance to see it. Saturday was nearly sold out, with only a few single seats remaining. I hear we are about half sold for the rest of the run.
Now, I’ve got a couple days “off” to finish up the Hutch project and try to regain somewhat of a normal schedule. Yeah, right!

“Each day got thru means one or two less mistakes remain to be made.” Our cast keeps getting smaller. Hopefully it has now stabilized. It started one night when Jason (playing Molokov) told the stage manager that he was “going to get a drink of water” and then never came back. That was his way of leaving the show. Note to fellow actors out there – there are better ways to leave a show. Even if you don’t care about working at that particular theatre in the future, take it from a guy who married a stage manager: directors and stage managers talk to each other. It is very easy to get on the “blacklist” with several theatres with just a few emails.
Anyway… Michael moved into the role of Molokov, and I moved into the role of Nikolai. So, I get a little more stage time and couple of solo singing lines, including one of my favorite lines in the show. It’s the little things in life, right?
One other person I guess had some health issues and Brooke had some Equity issues that weren’t resolved. Going to miss her. Damn unions!
For more info on the show, check out MMT’s web site.