Tech Rehearsals...

...for Jack and the Beanstalk are this week. What this means for the cast and crew is that we have moved into the Taft Theatre, our lovely venue in downtown Cincinnati. Hours upon hours of careful work on scenery and set changes, light and sound design, and backstage management have gone into making our production run as smoothly and professionally as possible.

As tech rehearsals go, yesterday's was a breeze. It was certainly the simplest tech rehearsal I've experienced in a while. The previous shows were infinitely more complicated than this one: Beauty and the Beast, Jr., involved over 20 scene changes in 50 minutes, and Holiday Follies included, among many grab-baggish elements, a revolving, splitting, spinning bus.

The concept for this show is staggeringly simple: a children's pop-up book. With actors doing the majority of the set movements, everything will happen in front of the audience's eyes. In this way, we are showing how we tell the story through the use of trapdoors, walls that raise and collapse, and small furniture pieces.

And, of course, there's the beanstalk.

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In other TCTC news, notifications have been sent out regarding the results of S.T.A.R. auditions! This year, we have sent out acceptance letters as well as letters to those who have some developing to do before they qualify for S.T.A.R. In the latter, there are recommendations on how to improve, including the following:

1. Pick a unique song and monologue that best fit your ability and personality. We would rather see you perform a simple piece very well, instead of failing to do something very difficult. For example, if you are a very chipper alto, avoid slow songs that were written for sopranos. Or if you are a boy whose voice is changing, it doesn’t make sense to do an old man’s monologue. Funny monologues do well because they show us you have comedic timing, which is difficult to teach.
2. Make sure your sheet music is in the correct key. During your audition, if you start singing in a different key from what is on your sheet music, the pianist will be confused and your voice will not blend with the music properly. In most cases, sheet music found online or in singers’ books is written for adult voices. If you are unsure about what key you should sing in, ask your voice instructor or a piano accompanist to look at your music with you before your audition. They may be able to transpose (change, shift, or rewrite) your music to fit your voice.
3. Know your information. We will ask for your name and age, but we may also ask you to tell us what song you are singing, who wrote it, and what musical it is from. This shows us your knowledge of the show and its characters. We may ask the same about your monologue: Who wrote it? What play is it from?
4. Movement is important. Your body language says a lot about you, so be sure to practice good posture. We ask to see you do a tap time step because it shows us how well you move, and how much dance you already know. If you have never taken dance, please consider it.
5. Volume shows confidence. You should project while you are in the audition room. If you mumble and whisper, we will assume you are nervous because you are not prepared. Make sure you speak clearly so we can hear your beautiful voice!

Thanks again to all who auditioned! We hope to see all of you return for our MainStage auditions, held this August.

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While we're on the subject of MainStage, our 2010-2011 season has officially been released (well, sort of). You can read about the upcoming shows here on our blog, or read Lauren Bishop's article in the Enquirer.

Our shows next year will be:

How I Became a Pirate

Holiday Follies 2: A Trip to the North Pole

Disney's The Jungle Book: Kids

[4th Show Title] (A new Disney stage play will round out our season, though as yet we are not allowed to release the title. But rest assured--it's very exciting!)

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Also, read about the director of Jack & the Beanstalk, Mr. Jay Goodlett!

That's all for now, folks. Come and see the show; it's magnificent!