Disney’s High School Musical opened at McIntyre Hall on March 23, 2007 for a three week run. Here are some photos of the HSM cast and musicians in rehearsal. Full cast is almost sixty strong and the live pit band is seven musicians (and six keyboards!).
High School Musical Cast at McIntyre Hall – Warmups
Mount Vernon, WA – Disney’s High School Musical opens at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernon, WA) on March 23, 2007 for a threek week run. Included in the run is a school show and a bargain night on Thursday March 29th.
This show is the latest craze with pre-teen audiences. See it and find out what the fad is all about. It’s silly, it’s fun and great family entertainment. And the message of the play is fantastic: Don’t accept what others think about you, follow your dreams.
I can tell you we have a very strong ensemble chorus and we’re all looking forward to the opening. If you have a child in elementary or middle school, this would be a great show to see with them.
Here’s my new favorite Captain Hook joke. Now you know that us Scandihoovians tell a lot of jokes. However, we make no claim that any of them are actually funny…..
A pirate walked into a bar and the bartender said, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. What happened? You look terrible.
“What do you mean?” said the pirate, “I feel fine.”
Bartender: “What about the wooden leg? You didn’t have that before.”
Pirate: “Well, we were in a battle and I got hit with a cannon ball, but I’m fine now.”
Bartender: “Well, okay, but what about that hook? What happened to your hand?”
Pirate: “We were in another battle. I boarded a ship and got into a sword fight. My hand was cut off. I got fitted with a hook. I’m fine, really.”
Bartender: “What about that eye patch?”
Pirate: “Oh, one day we were at sea and a flock of birds flew over. I looked up and one of them did a dump and it hit me in my eye.”
“You’re kidding,” said the bartender, “you couldn’t lose an eye just from bird droppings.”
Pirate: “It was my first day with the hook.”Â
Mount Vernon, WA – Currently working on the first act of The Apple Tree which will run at Stanwood Auditorium (April 13, 2007), Philip Tarro Theater (April 14, 2007) and Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church (April 15, 2007).
The first act of the Apple Tree is based on “The Diaries of Adam and Eve” by Mark Twain. It is a comedy that conjuctures the humorous infighting of the first husband and wife, and their interaction with the snake in the Garden of Eden.
Music is by Jerry Bock with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick; the same writing team that created Fiddler on the Roof in 1964. The original run of The Apple Tree musical opened on October 18, 1966 at the Schubert Theater in New York City. It had a very successful first run with 463 performances. The original actors were Barbara Harris, Alan Alda and Larry Blyden.
A revival of The Apple Tree is currently running on Broadway in New York by the Roundabout Theatre Company. This musical revival opened in December 2006 and stars Kristin Chenoweth, Brian D’Arcy and Mark Kudisch.
I’ve been writing music for Charlie and the Chocoloate Factory, including a theme song for Augustus Gloop. I ran across this article today about a boy in London who is 8 years old and weighs 200 pounds. His mother says he will only eat junk food and she refuses to stop feeding him.
The English social services there actually reviewed whether he should be taken out of the home. They ruled today that he can stay, which is a good thing for him as it sounds like the food is pretty good.
Gosh darn it all, his mother tries to feed him fruits and vegatables but “he just spits them out.”
Hey, this is the REAL AUGUSTUS GLOOP! Read the Augustus Gloop CNN Article.
Meg Brockie – Jeanette d’Armand
Understudy – Laurie Miller
Charlie Dalrymple – James Scheider
Mr. Lundie – Bob Nydeger
Harry Beaton – Ryan Edwards
Jean MacLaren – Natalie Howell
Understudy – Elisa Fuller
Jane Ashton – Elisa Fuller
Archie Beaton – John Hepola
Mary Beaton – Laurie Miller
Andrew MacLaren – Clarence Holden
Anne MacLaren – Kathleen Kernohan
Bonnie MacGuffie – Kelly Pollino
Angus MacGuffie – Tom Mueller
Frank (the Bartender) – TBA
Kate – Ashley Rinas
Sandy Dean – Kristina Howell
Maggie – Stacy Lazanis
Fishmonger – TBA
Francis – Emma Asgharian
***PLEASE NOTE: Actors with understudy roles are double-cast in other roles. ALSO: Roles of men and women of the town may be switched around as we begin rehearsals and I am able to try out people in the various roles. Regardless of this, those people who are given speaking roles will have one of the men/women’s speaking roles.
Ensemble
Anna Jenny
Trina Jenny
Sarah Jenny
Luke Thompson
Erin Hemenway
Kalli Roberts
Elizabeth Sunderland
Kris Hemenway
Sarah Holcomb
Debbie Wolf
Kelli Bates
Jonathan Wolf
Katie Hudak
Christine Wolf
Jordan Rinas
Robin Carpenter
Ali Rinas
Juanita Kolbeck
Tess Gribin
Lauren Lippens
Abi Rinas
Sarah Howell
Kelli Niemeyer
Bianca Campbell
Kristina Niemeyer
Kelli Denike
Rebecca Wright
Calli Johnson
Francis Roane
Caitlin Edwards
Launi Kucera
Alex Hollingsworth
Cast photos, set pics and cast/crew credits for the live stage production of Dracula presented by the Skagit College Theater Department at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernon, WA) February 2007.
Dracula by Steven Dietz
From the novel by Bram Stoker
Originally produced by the Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson/Pheonix, Arizona. David Ira Goldstein, Artistic Director. Robert Alpaugh, managing director.
Dracula – James Padilla
Van Helsing – David Cox
Mina – Lydia Randall
Maid/Female Attendant – Suzann McLamb
Harker – Alex Mutegeki
Seward – Mark Pedersen
Lucy – Erin Hemenway
Waiter/Attendant 1 – Miles McGillivray
Attendant 2 – Jared Conforti
Vixen 1 – Carolyn Travis
Vixen 2 – Christina Stephens
Renfield – Trey Hatch
Director Damond Morris
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Under my sheets with Dracula and a flashlight in my hands, I flipped through page after page, unable to put the novel down and too frightened to read on. I was nine when I first read the novel Dracula and twelve when I saw the 1931 film on TV. Dracula is a creature that scares me in a primal way. Like snakes, spiders, bats and rats he gives me a creepy crawly feeling in the pit of my stomach. What happens in the night just outside your window while you are sleeping? We all know there are no such things as monsters, right? Just be sure you don’t invite them in.
Oh, and your neck, be sure to check your neck… Enjoy the show!
– Damond Morris
Dracula Crew
Director – Damond Morris
Costume Design – Maura Marlin
Set and Lighting Design – Steve Craig
Sound Design and Music – Jerry Fortier and Conrad Askland
Additional Music – Ian Hansen
Technical Direction – Mark O’Brien
Stage Manager – Dinah Steveni
Assistant Stage Manager – Christine Dykema
Makeup – Mary Bingham
Properties Mistress – Cathy Savage
Scenic Charge Painter – E.A. Risser
Special Projects – Michael Marlin
Technical Assistant – Tarah L. McKitrick
Costumer Crew – Carolyn Travis, Lydia Randall, Crystal Dominguez, Kathleen Luther, Lindsey Bowen, Michelle Beach
Makeup Assistant – Nicole Trepus, Ellen Palmer
Lighting Technician – James Yandle
Lighting Crew – Nate Young, Ryn Bishop, Michael Mejia, Randy Kivett
Stage Crew – Quat Hatch, Dory Hurtado, Nate Young
Fly Crew – Nate Young
Producer – Andy Friedlander
Here’s a simple way to do live sound effects for Tinkerbell in stage productions of Peter Pan.
Use a colored laser pointer for Tinkerbell, preferably a professional projector made specifically for this effect (you can rent these). In the picture above you’ll see a nose flute, kazoo, metal chain to rustle for tinkle effects, a mouth buzzer and an inexpensive slide whistle.
Use these together to create realistic Tinkerbell audio fx while running the projection system. Tinkerbell is sometimes happy with light hearted buzzing sounds and sometimes angry with aggravated buzz type sounds. The slide whistle is good for “yes” and “no” responses to Peter Pan dialogue.
Since these are lighter ambient type sounds, you’ll probably want to use a condensor microphone, not a dynamic mic. If you don’t understand that, your sound engineer will. Just tell him “condensor mic”.
Total cost for Tinkerbell sound props is under twenty five dollars.
You can rent a professional Tinkerbell laser beam projector from ZFX, Inc at www.zfxflying.com
Here it is, my new Dracula Overture. People have had emotional experiences listening to it. I wrote this for the Skagit Valley College Theater Department’s presentation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernnon, WA) – February 2007.
I was asked to write music for the show less than 48 hours before it opened. Understandably many of the music cues were added on subsequent shows. This is the mix used on the closing show, February 18, 2007.
ABOUT THIS PIECE
It’s pretty dang creepy. It’s an overture for Dracula, it should be. I did a rough sketch of it and got positive feedback from the cast so I did a quick orchestration and added in female vocals to round it out. Dracula’s castle is located in the Carpathian mountains – the cast jokingly refer to this song as the “Carpathian National Anthem”.
One thing I like about the intent of this piece – it sobers up the audience for the mood of the play very quickly. Interesting to me, when I first did a remix with the female vocals I brought all of the vocals down in the mix. It didn’t have the same effect, didn’t feel like the audience was in the mood of the production. I brought the vocals back up and it seemed to do the trick.
The heavy chant is derivative of the Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky. I often pull ideas from the Rite of Spring when I’m working on darker pieces. Why? The Rite of Spring pretty much freaks me out. It should be noted that the Rite of Spring was dedicated by Igor Stravinsky to the Glory of God, he had a religious conversion late in life. But when Rite of Spring was first premiered it caused riots. The music is dark and is often used as a template for suspense and horror soundtracks. The theme of Rite of Spring is based on pagan dance.
Several people have asked me what language is being sung on my Dracula Overture. It’s just words I made up using percussive consonants and quasi Latin. I wanted to allude to Dracula and the struggle against good and the power of the crucifix. So I came up with the word “Drahko” to phonetically represent Dracula and the Latin “Christo” with an “o” on the end. There is also the word “Creya”, an allusion to the Creed and the Spanish “creer” (to believe). The end result should be nice percussive sounds that have the illusion of being Eastern European – and a little quasi Latin as a secondary layer of meaning for those familiar with Latin and the Mass. The most difficult part was to quickly invent words that did not remind people of English words. The intent was to create the feeling that a chorus from ancient times was singing.
Dracula is indeed a story of redemption. In this Steven Deitz version of Dracula, there is no cliff hanger at the end. There is no scene that says “Hey, Dracula might still be out there.” Dracula and his minions are completely destroyed by the power of faith in the cross, and the bravery that only love can fuel.
And I say all that partly as a pre-emptive excuse. It was my intent to write a dark piece, but the finished product is more ghastly than I had anticipated. This one time, I slightly regret having acheived my goal. My regret lies in this: my songs of redemption that give the whole production final repose and balance to faith have not been orchestrated. So listening to t he overture by itself is like swallowing a cup of salt….when it should be mixed in with the full meal. It does not make sense to me to orchestrate them now unless preparing a new production.
Perhaps there is an angel out there who will commission me to complete the entire Dracula as a full opera as it should be. I am well aware many have tried on this plot and failed, but those people were not me. 🙂
Lyrics as Language
Drako De So Le Kriva
Iste Preava Kristo
Saya Miasto Akra Preatua
Lokra Preasolappe
Tea Se Pregulate
Via Preatofea Drako Se La
Drako Creya
