The greatest thing I've heard all day and the greatest thing I've seen all day

Jonathan West here. Managing Director, and all.

Okay, so, Friday afternoon at The Playhouse. Hum drum, right? Oh, no. Far from it.

First of all, allow me to present you with this tale. Sarah our Box Office Manager just walked into the office and told me an unbelievable story about the sale of 26 Subscriptions she just took. Believe me, I call any sale of 26 Subscriptions an unbelievable story, but this one takes the cake.
A lady came to our Box Office today to buy the 26 Subscriptions. She and her co-workers had just been sacked, down sized, laid off, shown the door. It was a sad day for the whole lot of them.

But these downsized workers all looked at each other and said, "Hey, we all really like each other, let's keep doing stuff together." So they pooled their money (yes, some of it from their separation packages) and decided that the fun thing they would do together in the coming year was to go to plays at The Playhouse. I mean, seriously,a story like this could make a fella cry.

So, to the All State Alumni Group (LOVE THE NAME!) I say, "We salute you!"

Continuing with the show portion of SHOW AND TELL, my Aussie friend Andrew Bednall from the Mayfair Rotary Club shot me an e-mail today. The Mayfair Rotary Club has bought out the July 31st performance of HAIR for a fundraiser and in the spirit of "getting their groove on", some of the members were recently caught promoting in a fairly cool, not decidedly traditional Rotarian way. Here for your viewing pleasure are our Rotarian friends.


Pretty glad I didn't play hooky today, I must say.

The Audience - Bless Them!

Oh my!…. what a weekend!! We knew this show would make audiences laugh, but we were not prepared for wave after wave of almost hysterical laughter! We were bouncing with glee backstage to hear it!

Opening night was unbelievable, with probably the most receptive audience that I have ever heard. They joined in on the moose call, applauded spontaneously in the middle of several scenes, and audibly and without volition voiced their approval and/or disapproval of several of the characters with "oohs" and "ahs". BLESS THEM! It was just plain fun!

All actors realize that the audience reaction is what spurs them to better performances… and our cast rose to the occasion with a super performance. It was as though an electrical charge was passing between the audience and the stage and moving both the audience and the actors to greater intensity in their actions and reactions. It was a wonderful exchange with everyone benefiting.

The other three audiences and hence, performances of the weekend were a tiny bit more low key… but still thoroughly satisfactory. A good time was had by all. The lesson here? If you are in the audience and have the urge to laugh or cry or react emotionally … it's okay. It is even more than okay - it will add to the experience for everyone!

Click here to read our first review of LEADING LADIES from Russ Bickerstaff on expressmilwaukee.com (it's a really nice one).

Here's some pictures from the show to let you in on some of the fun.

Unsung Heroes Backstage

In theatre, there are always unsung heroes, who get very little public credit. Two on this show, among others, are husband and wife, Scott and Merry Jaeger. In the program, they are simply listed as props coordinators. In reality, they are an indispensable part of the team. Besides gathering and preparing the necessary props, they are also serving as stage hands, moving furniture, and opening and closing the curtain. (They can be seen for a few minutes in dim light setting up the party scene as "caterers".)

So instead of working three to six performances per show, as is usual for props crew members at the Sunset, this requires them to be there for every performance. And best of all, they do it responsibly and cheerfully! A rousing round of applause for Scott and Merry and for all backstage volunteers in theaters everywhere!

Check out the video featuring Scott and our props shelves.

Elm Grove Memorial Day Parade...we were louder than the bag pipes!

We marched in the Elm Grove Memorial Day Parade on Monday, and we had a ball! (Fueled by many Krispy Kreme donuts, mind you.) We were positioned between the Friends of The Elm Grove Library which featured a lady dressed like a book (clever) and a group of bag pipers (we were much louder). When asked if they knew any show tunes, the bag pipers kind of shrugged their shoulders. Someone get those lads and lassies in kilts the original cast recording of BRIGADOON!

Here's some photos of our spirited crew for your viewing pleasure.

It Takes a Village to put on a Play

Lots of cleaning up of scenes at Tuesday night's rehearsals… taking care of details… adjusting blocking… finding our way to spots for curtain calls …tangoing (tangoing? dancing the tango!)… pretty basic stuff done at a steady pace. And specifically for me, learning to hit someone with a cane without causing undue pain! Need to work at that.

In other areas work went on as well. Upstairs, work was progressing on the set, and the costume shop which is directly next to the rehearsal hall was busy! Rey Dobeck, our guest designer, who has worked at the Milwaukee Rep for many years, was having actors try on costume pieces, checking for needed alterations, and making notes about what still needs to be done, while Pat Boeck and Paula Kroening were busily sewing and hemming. Pat, who has been our resident volunteer costume person for a number of years, is stepping back from being the leader but continues to help out. Paula has come on board over the past few years and has become a regular. Take a peek at this busy threesome! Couldn't get them to say much though, especially Pat, maybe because she had a mouthful of pins!

When Did This Turn Into Dancing With the Stars?

Monday's rehearsal was spent learning the tango scene from Act II. Now when I read the script, I knew there was a dancing scene, and I figured, "Hey, no problem. I can dance a tango." But I didn't realize this was going to be a choreographed production number! I am afraid I will end up looking like Kate Gosselin (let's take a look at Kate performing some of her better moves, shall we)!


So, we begin. We have all had one rehearsal already to learn the basics, and now we are going to put it all together. Well... mostly together. Well... some of us more together than others. Melissa Bloch - Meier , our choreographer is patient, persistent and… well… KIND.

I am paired with Duncan (Jeff Anderson); Butch (Dan Myers) and Audrey (Chelsey Peterson) are a couple, and Doc (Gene Schuldt) and Stephanie (Matthew Patten) make up the third unique combination. We dance, we laugh, we discuss, we laugh, we dance some more, and by the end of the rehearsal, some of us ache. But we accomplish what we set out to do! Here is a peek at some of the process.

Irony

Hmmmm...we are actors who love what we do, here "slaving" night after night in rehearsals in order to turn out something which will entertain our audiences, and WHAT does one of our characters have to say about theatre? Watch the rehearsal video clip as the Reverend Duncan Wooley (Jeff Anderson with Jacqueline Gosz) says.....