Working with Children

Four months of exhaustion and trying to remember every bit of choreography/dance I ever learned as well as every theatre game I could think of...it's all coming to an end tonight. Joliet Public Schools "Children for Peace Musical Extravaganza" is tonight. I am so proud of these kiddos. On Friday and Monday, we had dress rehearsals for other schools in the district to come see the show as well as give the kids an audience. Tonight, they are up on the "big stage" as we've been calling it, at the absolutely stunning Rialto Square Theatre. Seriously, I grew up going to this place and it still strikes me every time:

Just wish I could have found a bigger picture...oh well! Anyone in the Joliet and/or Chicago area is welcome to come on out tonight! 7pm, $3 for a ticket! You can't really beat that.

Monday, Gonna Get Down On Monday

Alright, so maybe I'm not that enthusiastic about Mondays, but you have to take what comes your way! Spring break has come and gone, and it's time to catch up on the work I intended to accomplish during that week but through the miracle of procrastination did not.

Chief among these tasks is getting the final rehearsal plans together for the Peace Program. It floors me that the show is only 15 days away (eep!). The kids in the cast are fantastic, incredibly flexible, and wicked fast learners. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the final "teaching" days to finish up the couple songs that got pushed to the back burner. Should all go well, I'm hoping to get at least two runs of the show in on Thursday night, and from here on out. I have learned a heckuva lot from this experience.

I'm looking forward to getting more info from Ben this week or next about Bacchus, I'm itching to get started on another run! Knowing Jamie, I am extremely excited to see how she has interpreted the original. Here's hoping there will be another spot for me to make more fake blood...it was a major element in BLOOD WEDDING, and I even lent my recipe to WOYZECK. I say third time's a charm for delicious, chocolate blood.

I do want to give a shout out to Bryan, who you may remember from HORRIBLE (Mr. Hunt) and REGULARS (Simon). Boy rocked the house filling in for regular karaoke host Luis at both Halsted Harp and Four Farthings this weekend. Both places were packed and the rotations were full just about the whole night. Many thanks also to Connor and Garrett at the Harp for being awesome as always. There is no way you can go wrong with an Irish pub that supports the Hawkeyes!

With that, I leave you to enjoy your Monday night, hoping that tomorrow brings sunshine, a Butler national championship, and my show completely choreographed.

Back In The Saddle Again

Hey, look! A shiny new blog!

As a teacher, I still get to enjoy the lovely construct of Spring Break. I am now in Day 4 of blissful, student-free decompression and relaxation. Yesterday, in a rare vacation moment of productivity, I started getting my ducks in a row for the coming months of work between school and stage management. I happened upon some old posts from last spring's "THE REGULARS" over at my old blog. After having a good laugh and some nostalgic smiles, I decided that a new blog was in order.

So what's been happening in the year since The Regz closed? A whole lot! Most notably, I worked on Oracle's production of BLOOD WEDDING by Lorca. It was their first venture into Public Access theatre, and it was a blast! Ben Fuchsen, the director, was fantastic to work with and we had a stellar cast. In fact, I had so much fun, that I'll be returning to the Oracle tech booth to stage manage their new interpretation of The Bacchae, THE HOUSE OF BACCHUS, written by company member Jamie Bragg and directed by Mr. Fuchsen.

After BLOOD WEDDING closed, I started my first directing work since college (oy). The school district I work for has an initiative called "Children for Peace" and every year they have a musical extravaganza in the spring to celebrate the year. Directors of this in the past have been my English teacher from middle school, and my 2nd and 3rd grade teachers. I received a phone call offering me the job last summer, and jumped at the opportunity. Since January I've been wrangling 58 students ranging from Pre-K to 8th grade. It's been fun, but more exhausting than I could possible imagine. When we return to rehearsal next week, we'll be three weeks from opening the show! Wish me luck and lots of Diet Coke to see me through to April 19th.

Lastly (for now), I will also be returning to Hobo Junction, those of HORRIBLE and REGULARS fame to stage manage their 10 minute play festival, HOBO ROBO 3. Three nights of 10 minute sci-fi plays? Written, directed, and acted by some of the funniest people in Chicago? Yes, please! Look for more information here in the coming weeks.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to return to my sweats to continue my Spring Break "Supernatural" marathon.