As jamiahsh so aptly put in his blog, the talent show last night was exactly as advertised. I won’t say it was too much prayer, since a local church was the host, facilitator, and the final say in all things. It was their show. Also most of the talent was from local church groups, it was bound to be a religious event. That being said the talent supplied a very good show.

My bias to my youngest and her group does not prevent me from saying they were not the best group out there. I do believe one member of the group was the best talent in the event. A wonderful performance on the violin. My musical skills are almost nonexistent. I tend to notice flaws in performances by watching the face of the performer. If this young lady made a mistake while playing, her face and body language never showed it. For me it was a flawless performance.

The young lady who sang the selection from “Phantom of the Opera” also blew me away. I don’t care for that type of music, and really never appreciated the show, so this is saying something. She would have been my second place finisher.

The praise group that performed an inspirational skit to music was also very good. I could acknowledge the hard work and talent that went into the performance, but it did not have the spiritual affect on me that it had on so many others in the audience. A fine performance, surely in my top 5, but not my first place choice at all. Number 3, sure I could see that. They did have home field advantage and I’m very certain that threw them into first place.

This was a mostly entertaining show. I do feel the judges have watched to much reality TV. It was as if they thought more of their commentary than they did of the performance. So many times I was very confused by the commentary and following scores. Like I said, I know very little about music, but I do understand human nature. I feel they wanted to give each performer a sense of worth, but then gave their real feelings with the scores. I can’t help but feel that this confused the performers as much as it did some of the audience.

This was a 3 hour show, and it could have been cut down to two hours without some of the judges banter. Their were family, friends and community members in the audience. I’m sure they really couldn’t have cared less about the judges’ opinions. They wanted to see the performance.

Now one final thing. This was definitely a way to showcase the talent in the area, but it was also a fund raiser. A perfect formula for a fund raiser too. Lots of talented young people of High School age and younger given a chance to appear in a individual showcase of talent. This brings in a lot of family and friends. The auditorium was full. At 6 to 10 dollars a head, this was a very good fund raiser. One suggestion for them in the future. Open up the try outs for a good will offering. Many groups did not get in to the final show. I’m sure many more family members would have wanted to see that.

As for the YouTube… I would need to check on that. Too many minors in the acts. Trying to get permission of the talent and/or parents involved?? We are a small community, and I’m sure many parents would be against having their kids on the internet. If I can talk my youngest into letting me, I can get her vocals on YouTube, but only with her permission.

Fun evening except for the judges…

Now that our run of Little Women is half over, I would like to express my gratitude to EVERYONE involved in the production. I must tell you that I have worked with a cast with a lot of teenagers before and was not at all happy with the result. This production has a cast involving a very professional cast involving performers young and old. The large ensemble included in the production has taken a lot upon themselves. They are responsible for set changes, ushering, concession stand manning, and costume changes. Whenever anything needs to be done, there is at least one hand or voice raised willing to take on the task. Most of the time, these are high school students willing to pitch in and help. It is so great to see these young adults stepping up with maturity.

The entire cast is extremely talented. There are many seasoned veterans on stage as well as many newcomers to our small community theatre. I have been honored to have worked with a lot of the cast on previous occasions so I was familiar with their work. However, those who have never before stepped on stage are every bit as talented and professional as those of us who have been on stage once, twice, or a hundred times before. I believe every member of the cast has a moment on stage when they shine, especially during “The Weekly Volcano Press” ensemble piece. Hopefully, some of the talented newcomers will continue to come out and audition for more shows.

Our pit accompaniment consists of three talented musicians on keyboard. The lead keyboardist is a young lady who was called in about two weeks prior to the start of the run. I was totally amazed that someone could step in and take on such a demanding task. The other two have MAJOR roles (Marmee and Prof. Bhear) on stage and constantly need to remember when they are on, off, and how they need to exit the stage. Do they return to the pit, or do they go backstage?

Our lighting tech also was called in with just a few weeks notice. I am the first to admit that I know very little about the technical aspect of theatre. But he just came in, began fiddling with the lights, asked what was needed and with some finagling managed to add a whole new aspect to the theatrical experiece. All the softs, brights, and every tone in between to add atmosphere and depth to the stage. And his assistant is no slouch either. She does the spot light and so much more. Noticing the most minute details and making sure to tell someone when it needs attention.

Finally, the glue that holds all productions together (or tries to): the director. He has been totally professional since day one. Pushing us when needed (sometimes literally) and knowing when to relax. Being involved in the theatre for 25 years, I am sure he knows when to do both.

So, here is hoping that next weekend’s performances bring as much fun, excitement, and sense of accomplishment as the first one did. Although, this afternoon’s matinee proved to be full of technical “gremlins.” 😀 THANKS EVERYONE!!!!

Tonight is our final run through of Little Women before we have an actual audience. Last night, the director wanted us to have a night to relax and get some much needed sleep… so we pretty well had a walk-through of the first act and the first scene of the second. The whole production is phenomenal from the period costumes and set to the lighting design (thank you again justj), to the excellent cast (every performer on stage brings life to their character). We even have two members of the cast who double as musicians in our small orchestra pit. That takes and extreme amount of talent especially when the main musician jumped on board about two weeks ago and is just going to be a freshman in college in the fall.

Following our rough rehearsal of a week ago, I must say that everyone involved has kicked it up at least 10 notches and everything has fallen into place. I have been asked if I was going to be in another local groups production of The Music Man later this summer. In deciding between the two, I decided to audition for Little Woman and see what happened. I am much more familiar with The Music Man but said this is something I had never heard before… is that a good thing… going with something new and little known instead of going with the traditional? Do casting directors judge by how many big name shows you have been in or look for the unusual? But, I can honestly say that Little Women has been an absolute thrill to be part of. And anyone who lives in or near our little rural Northwest Ohio vicinity should check out the website for the Williams County Community Theatre and come and see this spectacular show. It is definitely one NOT TO BE MISSED.

Well with less than a week before opening night of Little Women, I must say it has come a very long way even in just the last two rehearsals. Thursday night’s practice did not go well at all (but I have been involved in worse. As our director stated today, it was indeed time for a wake up call. The cast is all wonderful and very professional, but in my opinion the time has come for the jitters to start in for everyone and just need to be reminded that the hard part is over and the fun can begin. We are all ready but it is not time to take that preparedness and have fun, relax, and just do it. This afternoon was actually the first time we had everything in place (cast, musicians, props, set placement, and everything else involved in a theatrical production… including lighting… THANKS justj and Carol). The first act took an hour-and-a-half to complete and the second act just under that. Although I have never seen a production of this show, from reading the script, sitting in rehearsals, etc. I do not see how it can possibly be much shorter. There is very little in set changing so nothing to be done there. But with repetition over the next 3 evenings (we do have an audience on Thursday night for final dress) it will all come together. My big faux pas occurred when Mr. B came and actually PUSHED me downstage to be where I was supposed to be during one of my brilliant scenes, but he did mention that he cracked up at my final stage position (but I will not give that away for those who do not know). I will not forget where I am supposed to be from now on. Nor will I comment on my costume for the show that is a return to some costuming I have undertaken in past productions (and it does need to be altered not the least for a draft I felt). But I do get to play an evil villain 😀 which everyone so loves to hate but am “so good at” (and the last three are NOT my words).
Little Women (Collector’s Edition)