SHREK the Musical

This past weekend, Midland Community Theatre was honored to be the first community theatre in the USA to present SHREK THE MUSICAL. Based on the children's book and DreamWorks animated movie, SHREK THE MUSICAL has run on Broadway and is currently running in London, and is still touring the USA. MCT has been working for the past six months to overcome many of the casting and technical challenges of this show, and we hope that our work has resulted is an exciting and fun musical to open our 2013 season.

Some of the cast challenges were met last December when over 100 people auditioned to be in our production. As a director, it was exciting to see so many people interested in working on the show, and several strong singers and actors who were willing to accept smaller parts simply to be a part of the show. As a result, we were able to find a strong group of 33 actors to perform the show (with two youth roles double cast), and prepared to begin rehearsals in December and January.

The tech staff also had many challenges to overcome, including the fact that the show includes a dragon onstage. The entire staff worked together to build our dragon, and the result is stage magic for our audience. We were also blessed with four actors who also served as puppeteers in the show for the dragon, and brought her to life during each performance. Other challenges included making an actor look like Shrek - audience will know what he looks like from the books and movie. The actor playing Lord Farquaad would need to perform on their knees in order to be 3 feet tall, and this was a challenge for the Costume Designer. Pinocchio's nose would need to grow twice during the show, and several other puppets were needed including Gingy (the Gingerbread Man). Overall, this show took us out of our comfort zone and challenged us to come up with solutions within our limitations of time, budget and space. I hope that you will agree that our staff and volunteers did some amazing work on this show.

If you're interested in attending our production of this amazing show, the original run of our 2013 opening musical will take place through March 9, 2013. However, we hope to extend the show based on ticket demand. If you would like more information, call our Box Office during regular business hours (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) or visit the MCT website.

A Christmas Carol

Today is the closing of our 2012 production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Since we stopped doing the show every year in 1997, we've done this production in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2009 and now 2012 - about every three years (with some odd breaks in between). I must say that I am very proud of the cast and crew of this year's production who performed the show from November 23rd through December 23rd - five weekends of performances after six weeks of rehearsal. MCT continues to have awesome volunteers who perform onstage, work backstage and run the front of house for our shows - we couldn't do it without all of you!

At this holiday season, I would like to wish our volunteers and audience a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We look forward to entertaining you in 2013 with our opening musical SHREK and many other great productions!

SHREK the musical - February 8 - March 9, 2013
Davis Theatre I - Midland Community Theatre

2013 memberships are available at www.mctmidland.org

AUDITIONS

Shrek, the Musical

Monday, November 26, 2012
OR
Sunday, December 2, 2012

6:30 p.m. both nights at the Cole Theatre, 2000 West Wadley in Midland

Rehearsals: December 10th (cast meeting), December 11/17/18 (lead music), January 3-February 7, 2013 (full rehearsals)

Performances: February 8-March 23, 2013

Audition packets and perusal scripts available through the Business Office (M-F, 10-3)

Questions? Contact director Tim Jebsen at tim@mctmidland.org

Leading Roles (5) 

Shrek – male (20-50), singing, acting, some dance

Fiona – female (20-40), singing, dancing, acting

Donkey – male (20-50), singing, dancing, acting – comedian

Lord Farquaad – male (20-40), singing, acting, must perform on knees

Dragon – female (20-60), singing only (offstage)

Ensemble Men (11)

Teen thru Older Adults – acting, singing, dancing – some solos

Will play Fairy Tale characters (Pinnochio, Big Bad Wolf, Papa Bear, Three Little Pigs), Villager, Farquaad’s Guards, Papa Ogre, King Harold, Duloc dancers, Knights and Rat dancers

Ensemble Women (11)

Teen thru Older Adults – acting, singing, dancing – some solos

Will play Fairy Tale characters (Fairy Godmother, Wicked Witch, Mama Bear, Sugar Plum Fairy, White Rabbit, Madhatter, Peter Pan, Ugly Duckling, Shoemaker’s Elf, Humpty Dumpty, Gingy), Villager, Mama Ogre, Queen Lillian, Duloc dancer, Dish and Spoon, Puss in Boots, Bluebird and Rat dancers

Specialty Adult Role (1) 

Farquaad’s Dad – acting only, must be short (plays a dwarf) – only in last scene of show

Teen Woman (1)

Age 13-19 – Teenage Fiona and Fiona body double – singing and acting

Youth Boy (1)

Age 8-13 – Young Shrek, Baby Bear and a Bunny – must sing and act

Youth Girl (1) 

Age 8-13 – Youth Fiona

Puppeteers (4)

Men or Women – will control the Dragon puppet for her three appearances, will be required to attend rehearsals for these scenes

 

A CLOSER WALK WITH PATSY CLINE

Tonight is the opening night for the sixth production in our 2012 membership season. It has been a great pleasure to work with Musical Director Bert Bostic, Stage Manager Jaime Sotelo, actress Patrice Compton (Patsy) and actor Justin Tate (Little Big Man) on this show. Bert has put together an awesome band with Bill DeLavan (bass), Dennis Morris (guitar), Cody Tumlin (drums) and Therese Franks (fiddle). Jaime and the volunteer crew are doing a great job with the show, and Set and Lighting/Sound Designer Edward Taylor and Costume Designer Micheal Waid have done wonderful work on this show.

We are thrilled that - despite the fall football season - we have strong crowds for this opening weekend. However, there are still plenty of tickets left for the upcoming weekends, and we hope you'll come out and tap your toes and clap along with the wonderful music.

A CLOSER WALK WITH PATSY CLINE
September 7-22, 2012
Davis Theatre I, Midland Community Theatre

(432) 570-4111 or MCT website

Broadway 2012

I regret that I have not posted more often - I will try to be better in the future.

This past week, I attended the AACT conference in NYC - the American Association of Community Theatre has their conference in the Big Apple every four years and I have been fortunate to attend past conferences and see Broadway shows. Therefore, I thought that I would share my thoughts on the five shows that I attended this past week.

My first show was an unplanned visit to see SPIDERMAN: TURN OFF THE DARK on Wednesday afternoon. My morning Executive Committee meeting ended by 1 p.m., and I had another meeting at 5 p.m. so I thought I could sneak in a show and SPIDERMAN had a 1:30 p.m. matinee on Wednesdays. Most people have read many things about the show - the long previews, the change of directors, and the lawsuits - and the show feels like too many people have been involved in the production. The show has an extremely weak script and the music is generally bland and uninteresting. However, there are many interesting visuals and the flying of Spiderman - as well as the final fight scene over the audience - is exciting and fun. As a fan of theatre, I was extremely pleased to see so many non-traditional theatre audience members attending the show. Thus, even if it's not the best show in the world, it's still bringing new people to Broadway and introducing them to theatre.

My second show was WICKED on Thursday evening. I should mention that my visit included my wife (Lisa) and son (Zach) and that it was Zach's first visit to NYC. WICKED was his choice, and we had good seats for the show. My reaction the first time I saw the show was mixed so I was interested to see it again. I really enjoyed the first act - the leads were solid and the performances and music worked really well and Zach was enjoying the show. I was very interested at intermission to see that Broadway has embraced food and drink in the auditorium - however, all drinks are sold in special sippy-cups with the show logo. However, the second act is a let down and ultimately the weakness of the show. There are some great songs and moments in Act I, but Act II fails in comparison. 

My third show was WARHORSE, which was attended by most of the AACT group on Friday night at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center. This was my favorite show for many reasons. Prior to our trip, Zach read the book of WARHORSE to us outloud, so we had some idea of the original story. The theatrical presentation and puppetry was amazing, and we also had a talk back with the cast and stage manager after the show that allowed us to ask questions. It is an emotional and magical performance, and I would recommend seeing it.

We saw two shows on Saturday - MARY POPPINS in the afternoon and NEWSIES at night. MARY POPPINS was a lot of fun because I managed to get us front row tickets back in February for the matinee performance. It was great to see how the show worked from right up front - I had seen the show before but it was brand new to Lisa and Zach. The Disney corporation does a great job of maintaining the quality of their shows - the show did not feel tired or bored despite having been performed on Broadway for many years and being a summer Saturday afternoon performance. It was great fun, and I look forward to the day when community theatres can present this show even if we can not dance on the proscenium or fly Mary Poppins into the rafters.

Finally, we were thrilled to sit in the front row of the balcony for NEWSIES, the big hit on Broadway right now. The show is full of energy both onstage and in the audience. The audience was hyped to see the show, and gave several long ovations after musical numbers. The performances are energetic and the dancing is wonderful and amazing. However, I would call the show very good but not great - the music is solid but ultimately forgettable. In the end, I think that the show could have a great run and - like SPIDERMAN - continue to attract new people to Broadway and the world of theatre.



 

Two shows in rehearsal

I know I haven't posted anything recently, but I have a good excuse - I've been in rehearsals for two shows since January 2nd:

GUYS AND DOLLS, our 2012 opening musical, has been rehearsing six days a week in preparation for our opening on Friday, February 3, 2012, and RED WHITE AND TUNA has been rehearsing weekends and Tuesdays/Thursdays until GUYS AND DOLLS opens in order to be ready to open on Friday, February 24, 2012.

Both shows are blocked and rehearsals are going well - we have great casts who are hard working and dedicated. It's a pleasure to work with volunteers who want to do a great show, and are willing to put the time and effort into the rehearsal process. I hope you'll come see the fruits of their labor and attend our two opening productions for the new season!

National Community Theatre Director's Conference

Although it's opening weekend of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, I had to leave Midland on Friday to attend AACT Board meetings and the National Community Theatre Director's Conference in Madison, WI. Arrived in Madison on Friday afternoon, and had dinner with AACT friends. Saturday, we had six hours of AACT meetings, and the board made several important decisions. Conference attendees arrived for a Saturday night reception, and the conference has started on Sunday morning. We'll be meeting through 10 p.m. on Sunday night, and then all day Monday and Tuesday morning. Planning to return to Midland late Tuesday night as long as the flights arrive on time.

I'm very proud of the cast and crew of THE SOUND OF MUSIC. We have had three shows on opening weekend and we have four more weekends of performances. If you can't get tickets for the night you want to come, just show up - we'll work really hard to get you in.