Quarter Report

Today is March 31st, and that means we are 1/4 of the way through our 2009 season. As a calender year theatre, our "season" follows the new year. Many other theatres have a season like an academic year - opening in the fall and ending in the summer. I think that only about 10% of community theatres have a celender year season, which makes us a little unusual.

So far, it has been a good season - especially considering the economic conditions of both the USA and the Permian Basin. Midland had avoided many of the downturns experiences in 2007-2008 across the US due to the high price of oil. Once that price fell in the fall of 2008, we began to experience our own downturn. Many long-time volunteers have lost their jobs in the oil business, and things are certainly changing in the Permian Basin. However, it appears that people want to be entertained. Our January run of "Improv at the Yucca" was a great success with over 800 people attending over two nights - 350 on Friday night and 450 on Saturday night. This blog has already documented the success of our 2009 opening musical - Les Miserables - and our current production of Moonlight and Magnolias has added two performances. The Pickwick Players are opening Pinocchio this Friday night, so we will again have a two show weekend at the theatre. Spring Break's Fine Arts Camp was sold-out, and the Pickwick teachers entertained and educated our 90 youth with a wonderful week of music, dance, art and drama. Finally, although our AACT production of Half a Lifetime did not advance beyond the Texas competition, I have received many positive comments from those in attendance at the festival about our production.

Things coming up in the second quarter (April - June):
-Pinocchio in Davis Theatre I (April 3-11)
-Rent at the Yucca Theatre (April 24-May 2)
-Auditions for Summer Mummers (April 26-28)
-Knock Knock (2008 McLaren winner) in Mabee Theatre II (May 15 - June 6)
-Summer Theatre School (June 1-25)
-61st edition of Summer Mummers (June 12-September 5)

Quiet Weekend?

After several weekends of multiple activities, it is a fairly quiet weekend at your community theatre. In Mabee Theatre II, we have three performances (Friday and Saturday night and Sunday matinee) this weekend of Moonlight and Magnolias, the second production in our 2009 membership season.

On Sunday and Monday evening, we have auditions for Knock Knock, the winner of the 2008 McLaren comedy competition. This full production will be directed by Tracy Alexander, and will be performed in Mabee Theatre II from May 15 - June 6. Auditions are at 6:30 p.m. both nights, and you are encouraged to join the fun and come out and audition.

Pinocchio and Rent are both in rehearsals in preparation for their openings in April.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend, MCT's production of Half a Lifetime participated in the Texas state festival for the AACTFest 09 competition. Director Cody Tumlin, Stage Manager Ashley Melenez and cast members Justin Tate, Beau Dameron and Phil Tytanic perfomed on Friday evening. Unfortunately, MCT's production was not selected to advance to the Regional competition. However, the cast did win the "best ensemble" award and Phil Tytanic was selected to the All-Star cast. Congratulation to the cast and crew of this production for their hard work on this show.

On Saturday night, we performed Les Miserables for the last time. As some of you know, I started this blog as a "backstage look" into our work on this production, and it has expanded to include information on everything related to MCT. Saturday was a very sad night for the cast - everyone enjoyed performing this show and working together on this production. For me, this musical will always hold a special place in the productions that I have directed at MCT. Someone asked me recently how many productions I have directed at MCT - Les Miserables was my 48th show, and A Christmas Carol (2009) will be my 50th show at MCT. On a personal note, assuming I don't have additional directing assignments added to the slate - the 2012 opening musical will be the 100th production I have directed overall.

Congratulations to the Pickwick Players. Every year, 40 of these teenagers give up their Spring Break and run the Fine Arts Camp for 90 youth. Certainly, I have expereinced this event each year from afar, but the past two years have been very different for me as my son Zach has been able to particiapte. Zach had a great time this year, and I am amazed at the dedication and talent of our Pickwicks. Please support these teenagers and attend their upcoming production of Pinocchio which will run April 3-11, 2009.

Two Show Weekend

On Firday and Saturday night this weekend, we have two shows performing at the Cole Theatre - Les Miserables in Davis Theatre I and Moonlight and Magnolias in Mabee Theatre II. Les Miserables is a hold over on the original run of our 2009 opening musical, and this will be the final weekend for this show. Moonlight and Magnolias is the second production in our 2009 season, and it has performances all weekend, including Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. After striking the set, costumes and props of Les Miserables on Saturday night, the tech crew only has 13 days before the opening of Pinocchio, the third production in our 2009 season.

Yesterday, the Box Office informed me that all remaining performances of Moonlight and Magnolias were sold out. As a result, we added two Sunday matinees (March 29th and April 5th at 2 p.m.) to the run of the show. If you have not reserved tickets for the second production in our 2009 membership season, contact the Box Office (570-4111) and make a reservation. Director Jane Moore and her wonderful cast - David Theobald, James McNew, Michael Fields and Jennifer Oliver - have worked hard on this funny show.

Best wishes to the cast and crew of Half a Lifetime at the Texas Nonprofit Theatre (TNT) state festival in Ft. Worth. The Texas state festival for AACTFest 09 is taking place this weekend, and the top two shows from this competition will advance to the regionals - the winner of the regional will perform at the AACT national festival in Tacoma, Washington in June. MCT's entry will perform on Friday night (March 20th) at the Texas state festival - best wishes to director Cody Tumlin and his cast, including Phil Tytanic, Justin Tate, Beau Dameron.

AACT Festival

This past weekend, I was one of three adjudicators for the Region I festival for the 2009 AACT Festival competition. This event took place in the greater Boston area, and I flew in on Friday, worked Saturday and Sunday, and flew back all day on Monday - thus, no report (from me) on this past weekend's Les Miserables or the opening weekend of Moonlight and Magnolias performances.

There were six productions in this region, including several original or new shows. I saw one hour versions of Vital Signs, Dinner with Friends, World's Afire, Morning's at Seven, How I Learned to Drive and The Mistress Cycle. The Region I volunteers and organizers should be very proud of their hard work and dedication, as the festival was well run and the volunteers worked hard to make this a great weekend of theatre. In addition, the cast and crews of these production were extremely talented and hard working. In the end, the production of How I Learned to Drive by the Arlington Friends of the Drama (MA) advanced to the national competition, which will take place in Tacoma, Washington in late June. Many thanks to the organizers for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful weekend of theatre.

So, there's nothing going on at your community theatre...

Right now, we have the following events, productions and activities happening at MCT:

Les Miserables has two performances this weekend

Moonlight and Magnolias opens on Friday and has two performances this weekend

Pinocchio is currently in rehearsals for its opening in April

Rent is currently in rehearsals for its opening in late April at the Yucca Theatre

Half a Lifetime is currently preparing for its performance at the Texas Non-profit Theatre (TNT) festival in Ft. Worth next week

Fine Arts Camp starts on Monday - Spring Break - there are 90 campers and 40 Pickwicks involved in this week long camp

Join the fun and be a part of our community theatre - attend a show or volunteer to participate onstage, backstage or in the front-of-house for one of our upcoming shows or activities! Contact Tracy Alexander (tracy@mctmidland.org) for more information on how to become involved in MCT!

Moonlight and Magnolias

This Friday, we open the second production in our 2009 membership season - Moonlight and Magnolias in Mabee Theatre II. When working on Play Selection for 2009, this comedy was brought to our attention and the committee fell in love with the script. Since then, we have discovered that many other community theatres across the USA are planning to produce this show. The story is about David O. Selznick, the Hollywood producer, who stopped production on Gone With the Wind and brought in a new writer and director to improve the screenplay and thus the movie. All of the action takes place in Selznick's office where writer Ben Hecht and director Victor Fleming are locked for five days with the producer in order to finish the revised screenplay. Eating only bananas and peanuts, the "creative process" is a source of great humor for the audience. Director Jane Moore and the cast - David Theobald, Michael Fields, James McNew, and Jennifer Oliver - are working hard to get ready for their opening night this weekend.

Moonlight and Magnolias runs March 13 - April 4 in Mabee Theatre II. Performances are every Friday and Saturday night at 8 p.m. those four weekends - we also have a public Thursday performance (March 19th at 7:30 p.m.) and a ReachOut Sunday matinee (March 22nd at 2:00 p.m.). For tickets or more information, contact the Box Office at 570-4111 or get you tickets on our website.

Les Miserables - Fourth Weekend

This was our fourth weekend of Les Miserables - our 2009 opening musical. Due to the complexity of the show - and the potential strain of three hours of singing on our volunteer actor voices - we have limited ourselves to three show weekends (in other words, a maximum of three shows in any weekend). This past weekend, we had Thursday, Friday and Saturday night performances. The Thursday night show was our only public Thursday night show, and will probably be the only performance that did not sell-out. However, it was a very good audience - more than 75% full - for a non-weekend in Midland. Friday and Saturday night were sold-out with a solid walk up audience - we managed to squeeze in over 40 extra people on Saturday night. If you want to see the show but hear that it's "sold out" - come on down and we'll find you a seat!

The performances are very consistent - we've not had a "bad" show. Certainly, we've had some shows that those of us who have seen it for 20+ times notice problems or issues. However, our cast and crew have been very professional, and I strongly feel that our audience has been treated to a great show every night.

Here are some comments from e-mails that I have received on the show:

"It is my favorite Broadway musical and I would think it would be fairly difficult to tackle for a community theater. Everyone's performance was very moving and the excellence of the sets, the lighting, the voices and the orchestra made it hard to believe it wasn't being performed in New York! I was very moved by everyone's performance and the musical talent was fabulous!! Kudos to everyone and thank you for a wonderful evening."

"The show was great! The music, sets, costumes... everything was fabulous. I do believe it is one of the best community theatre productions I've ever seen. Congratulations to you, the cast, and MCT."

"I have to say that I do believe it is one of if not the finest MCT production I have ever seen and I have been involved in a number of the musicals over the years. The voices and acting were by far the best I have ever heard/seen at MCT...my friend and I were moved to tears many times during the show and we have both seen it multiple times by Broadway touring troupes. So BRAVO ... a truly splendid show!"

Remember, we added two performances on Friday, March 20th at 8 p.m. and Saturday, March 21st at 8 p.m. - we will close on March 21st. Call the Box Office (432) 570-4111 or visit the website for tickets.

Premier Productions at MCT

Over the past several years, MCT has been fortunate to produce shows for the first time as a community theatre. Of course, we have a history of original productions - for many years, we have conducted the McLaren comedy competition and have annually produced a finalists in the next season. For the past 15 years, Midland audiences had the chance to see the very first production of these original comedies.

Over the past two years, we have been lucky enough to produce some Broadway musicals right when they became available. In 2008, we were the first community theatre to produce Mel Brooks' The Producers, which was our 2008 opening musical. This spring, we were not the first to produce Les Miserables - it was produced at a community theatre in Hawaii last fall - but we are the first to produce it in the Continental USA. Now, we are the first community theatre to produce Rent.

Auditions for Rent happened on Sunday and Monday, and the cast list was posted on Tuesday - you can find it under "cast lists" on the MCT website. Director Carl Moore, Musical Director Bert Bostic and Choreographer Misti Tytanic will begin working with this talented cast on Sunday to get ready for our opening at the Yucca Theatre in late April. Performances will take place April 24, 25 and May 1,2 - watch for more information on tickets.

If you would like to get involved in an original production, auditions for the 2008 McLaren winner Knock Knock will take place on Sunday and Monday, March 29th and 30th at 6:30 p.m. Scripts are available in the Business Office to read prior to auditions.

Les Miserables - Added Shows

This morning (Monday, March 2, 2009), MCT added an additional weekend of performances to the run of our 2009 opening musical Les Miserables. We now have tickets available for Friday and Saturday, March 20th and 21st - call the Box Office (570-4111) or visit the website.

Here are a couple of e-mails I received on the show from this past weekend:

"...the cast, orchestra, and those behind the scenes outdid yourselves on this production! The performances were great and I loved the new faces. Kudos to you and your crew!"

"Thank you and the cast of Les Mis for a most enjoyable Sunday afternoon. I have been impressed before at our theater, but this production was by far the best in every area. Never have I heard so many excellent singers on our stage. The ensembles were excellent and the soloists unbelievably good."