Hey everyone, Shaun here, reporting from the tail end of our penultimate dress rehearsal. In just 24 hours, we will have completed our final dress rehearsal and we will be finishing up the last minute preparations for the big event: Opening Night! As the show gets closer and closer, the campers seem to exude higher and higher amounts of energy. Actors seem to be incapable of sitting still, becoming calm, or remaining silent as each moment seems to be filled with the tittering of excitement for the weekend ahead. I took quite a few photos today--some are simply candids of the campers and others are shots of the actors learning their positions for curtain call (bows) at the end of the show. You can check many of them out below. I think this will be the last blog post you'll get from me in particular, so parents and campers, it has been lovely working with you all! Give me a wave when you come to see the show--I'll be sitting way back in the back of the theatre, up in the light booth! See you all this weekend! And then there were costumes... Today we had our first full run, complete with costume and make-up. Most props were present and luckily very few pauses were needed. Of course, adding costumes presents it's own challenges and it does take a little bit of preparation and determination to ensure that there are no hold ups. The kids have to know where their quick changes are, what pieces need to be on and when, and how to change quickly without damaging anything. Everyone looked fantastic though and it can only go up from here! HEADSHOTS TOMORROW MORNING!!!! Campers said they were a bit tired but anxious to start this morning. And,l as they gathered in the lobby groups formed to run through sections of the show together. At 10 am we moved to the classroom where Connie did a physical stretch and warm-up and had the campers sing while working out to fun music. Rick came in at 10:15 and conducted vocal warm up and a short review of some parts. At 10:30 microphones were handed out and everyone prepared to tech Act Two. Act Two Tech went on until 2pm conducted by Brian along with the faculty and crew. After a belated lunch break we revisited the scene change assignments and reviewed tomorrows schedule for the first full dress rehearsal. A cheer went up at the announcement that costumes start tomorrow and everyone signed out for the day chatting about tomorrow's full dress.
Well we're off! The infusion of light, sound, set and props has begun! Our goal was to tech all the way through act one, and we did (with minutes to spare)! Tomorrow we begin on act two which is a bit shorter than the first, so I don't believe we'll have any problem finishing the job. Kudos to all the campers for hanging in there since tech can be exhausting. Enjoy the slideshow below, and keep up the great work! PS Tickets are going fast! Don't wait until the last minute! Well ladies and gentleman, we are in the final countdown! A week from tonight is the opening and everyone couldn't be more excited! Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done so we expect the cast to use this weekend wisely- go over your cues, practice your choreography, rehearse your lines, and REST. Also, this week the campers were featured in the Morning Journal which talked about the upcoming productions and what the kids take away from attending this summer musical theatre camp. You can find the article here! Today we spent the morning with Rick, cleaning up and rehashing the most difficult musical numbers. It was tedious, sometimes frustrating work. But it will be worth it in the end, when the audience sits in enamored silence over the beautiful harmonies. Harmonizing is not an easy feat and the cast is doing a great job of listening to Rick's advice on how to achieve a great blending. This afternoon we planned another fun event to unwind but still reinforce and teach new theatre skills- Theatre Olympics! First we had the kids choose names out of a hat to become teams, choose a country (real or imaginary), and then we ran the "torch" to the competition room. We continued with a couple acting competitions- The Paul Revere Breathing Challenge and Who, What, Where. There was a dance event-The Pirouette Challenge- where the kids had to compete with each other to see who could do the most (using proper technique) in a minute. A very funny Quick Change Relay which involved the teams having to put on clothes completely (buttons done, shoes on, ties tied, etc) and strike a pose on "stage", and two tech events- Power Drill Relay and Spotlight Challenge. The kids were great sports and everyone had a great time! The winners are as follows: Tied for Gold: Canada and Jamaica Silver: Great Rico Bronze: Bahadds Team Jamaica was very impressive with 50 pirouettes, Team Canada was awesome in the Power Drill Relay with Team Bahadds coming in second very close, and Great Rico racked up the gold medals in the acting categories! Congratulations to all!! Well folks, we're getting close now... In one week, we will be having our Final Dress Rehearsal for our show. But wait! How is all of it going to come together? We've talked about acting, directing, costumes, dance, and set building... but what about those finishing touches that really create the feeling of magic on the stage? Ladies and gents, today you get to meet two more members of our team: Michael and Stan are our Lighting Designer and our Sound Designer, respectively. So today, we ran through the entire show, giving Stan and Michael an idea about what light and sound cues would be needed for the production. Our director, Brian, sat next to the designers during the run and talked them through all of the ideas that he had in mind for the cues throughout the show. Sometimes he would even clamber up onstage to point some things out or to demonstrate something to the actors. Here, Brian is clearly very angry with camper Alena, as he is pointing to her, venomously, with a scowl on his face. I'm just kidding, of course. I think he was saying something like, "Can we get a spotlight on these girls?" So this is Shaun, wrapping up my blog for the week--I'll check in with you all next week to talk about where we're at! Hi y'all, Elaine here! Things are getting really exciting here at TrueNorth. Bye Bye Birdie is right on schedule! We got through the entire show today, (wow!) and now it is time to polish it up. The kids are having a great time. Their energy and camaraderie are astounding! It's truly a privilege to work with them every day. I spent the day happily recording their progress. Check out the pics! Sitzprobe is an Opera term now used in Musical Theatre. The term is German for “seated rehearsal” (or to sit and to probe through). It is the day in the rehearsal schedule when the cast sits down together with the orchestra to sing and play through the music of the show for the first time without staging, lights, or costumes etc. Our Bye Bye Birdie, will be sung to a music track. So, today was devoted to listening and to exploring the accompaniment recordings with Mrs. Connie running the recordings and Mr. Fortney conducting and coaching from the piano. Ms Riley and Mr. Daniel spent the day on set and props construction. Mr. Justin Bilewicz answered questions about costumes right after lunch. He was available today for the campers as he continues building, altering and coordinating the costumes. We are still looking for the loan of a few prop pieces: We are looking for 10 classic telephone handsets either in black or in a color. The day concluded with cleaning up vocal parts and with trying out Mrs. Connie's choreography with the new tempos. We ran thru act one! Justin has been taking people aside for costumes! Elaine is back! Life is good! REMINDER: bios due and everybody off book Wednesday. Also, below is info on how to access the rehearsal tracks so you can practice at home! Also also, select photos from today! See you tomorrow. ACCESS CODE: cd615 There are 3 options available for using the rehearsal music:
Please note: For any of the options for the Rehearsal music. You will not need to create a username and password to access the music.
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