Closing...

...Night of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jr., came upon us this past Saturday. After a lengthy load-out, fraught with health emergencies and a larger-than-life collection of set pieces and costumes, we are still in the process of putting everything away. The downstairs hallway of our offices currently has several costume racks on either side, filled with dresses, shirts, trousers, etc., that will make it into storage at some point today.

The run went well. We had wonderfully responsive audiences at our public shows on the weekends, and the school shows sold very well (or so I am told). We hope to do even better for Holiday Follies, which goes into rehearsal this evening.

The cast will include many of the same actors who were in Beauty, including myself, Bob Herzog, and Leo Northart, along with other members of TCTC staff and a plethora of children, as well. It will surely be a fantastic holiday spectacle, full of music and joy!

Opening...

...Weekend for Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jr., was a success! As of today (a welcome day-off), we have performed six times for audiences: three on Friday, two on Saturday, and one yesterday. The Gala was also this weekend, where a fun time was had by all. From what I hear, we met or nearly met our attendance goals, so thank you to all our fans who came to see us in the last few days.

As I said to one cast member backstage on Friday, which was our opening day, "It's so nice to get laughs at jokes we've known are funny for weeks."

The audiences, indeed, have been appreciative. During the transformation of the Beast into the Prince (spoiler alert!), those who purchased a glow-in-the-dark rose are encouraged to wave them in the air to heighten the magical mood. It's a rush to glance into the crowd and see all those waving little red roses. A true rush.

So what lies in store for the show? Well, we have a day off today, as I mentioned before. Tomorrow, we resume our morning performances for school audiences, though our next public show is not until Saturday, Oct. 24. We perform twice on our final day of Beauty and the Beast, a show we will definitely miss and remember for a long time.

Please come see the show! To purchase tickets, click here.

Production Week...

...is finally here! We have rehearsed for four weeks now in the basement of the new office building, and this week we move into the Taft Theatre in downtown Cincinnati!

We are a bit farther away from the Taft than we've been in years past. While on paper this makes the transition more hectic, in reality we may actually be more prepared for the new space than in previous shows. The reason is that the new rehearsal space is closer to the dimensions of the Taft stage than the old space. So, in terms of blocking and stage position, the adjustment is smaller for us performers.

Today, however, is not about the performers. It's the performers' "dark day" this week, a day when the performers do not rehearse. However, the technicians, led by our stage manager Jenn Picone, have set aside the entire day for some intense work of their own: to load the set from the scene shop into the truck, to hang and focus lights, to move the set into the space, to transfer costumes from our rehearsal and costume rooms to the appropriate areas at the Taft,--and on and on, so that when the performers return tomorrow, everything will be set for our tech rehearsal.

Our thoughts and utmost gratitude to the technicians, designers, operators, directors and crews. We could not possibly do what we do if it were not for them doing what they do.

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The first performance of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Jr., is this Friday, October 16, at 9:30 AM. We have to more shows that day as well, at 12:oo PM and 7:30 PM.

Saturday, October 17, is the date for the GALA, which will feature certain cast members in costume, milling about, posing for photos, etc. Some children from the STAR program this summer will help to cater the event.

For more information about tickets, shows, and the GALA, please visit our website.

Rehearsals...

...for Beauty and the Beast, Jr., are well under way. We finished blocking the show on Saturday, which means that we have (basically) an idea of where we go and when for each scene. Now, the real "rehearsal" process begins in its strictest sense--we need to start getting it into our bodies, memorizing our lines as well as music and movement, fine-tuning our character choices and fitting all the pieces together. The show has been outlined, in other words, and now it's time to write the essay, revising and rewriting as we move along.

We're ready for a lot of changes in the next few weeks.

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The publicity photo shoot was also on Saturday, held after the daylong rehearsal. The shoot was run by Phil Groshong (a. k. a. Photo Phil), and everything went very well. It was the first time a lot of us got into full--or close to full--costume, which gave us a more realistic idea of how we would look and move in the show.

For actors, a photo shoot can be an incredibly revealing experience. We can learn a lot just from getting into our characters' clothes and walking around, trying to bend over to pick things up, squeezing through doorways, etc. It also creates a giddy atmosphere, full of laughing and giggling at the seemingly simplest of things--the way a different-colored wig can completely change someone's appearance, how hot or cold it feels inside a particular costume, or what kinds of funny poses we can create with our bodies. In the most literal sense, it's our grown-up version of make-believe and dress-up.

There's a reason they call what we do Playing.

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From a business perspective, we have several things we would like to broadcast: ad sales, ticket sales, and the Gala. These are great ways to support TCTC, both financially and literally. Please click on the links to find out how.

And as far as ArtReach (our touring division) is concerned, they are on Day One of their first straight week away from Cincinnati. For the first half of the week, they are touring to schools in the Portsmouth, OH, area, and by the end of the week they will also have performed in Greenville, OH, for two days. In the beginning of the main stage season, it may be easy for us to forget about ArtReach, which is one of our major breadwinners, and we'd like to give them a shout-out: Thank you, ArtReach!

So for now, from all of us at The Children's Theatre, we say thank you for your support (and for reading), enjoy the fresh autumn sunshine, and let fun take center-stage in your life!

Welcome...

...to the official blog of The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati! We plan to use this page to provide updates about auditions, rehearsals, workshops, and shows--and much, much more!--in a forum where fans can read up on (and respond to) what's going on "behind the scenes." This blog is a part of our effort to spread the word about what it is we do at TCTC, one of the nation's most well-respected arts organizations, providing quality entertainment for children and families in the tri-state region.

My name is Chris Stewart, and I will be the main author of this blog. I'm an actor and arts integration specialist for TCTC, and the tour coordinator for ArtReach, a Division of TCTC. When Krista Katona Pille, our marketing and PR director, approached me and asked if I would start a blog for the company, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity. I blog anyway; why not write about work, too? (I began one for ArtReach, our touring company, a few months ago while I was still an actor for the tour. That blog is now in the hands of one of the new actors in the group, and you can read it here.)

I hope to provide readers with a unique perspective on the process of making theatre--and specifically, children's theatre. To that end, I'll post about rehearsals and productions, with occasional shout-outs to our generous sponsors, supportive fans, and of course, our talented cast, crew, and staff.

Our hope is that in addition to showing off the vast network of people who have helped us attain and sustain our resplendent reputation, this blog will also create a sense of community. Theatres cannot survive without the help, support, and patronage people like you, folks who love the arts, folks who know that "good art" refers to quality rather than quantity, folks who understand that the performing arts are just as important to communities as they are to children. We firmly believe that any child who experiences a show at TCTC--be it as a singer, dancer, actor, or spectator--is better off for it. It's why we do what we do. It's why this organization exists.

Perhaps all of this is better expressed in our Mission Statement:

The Children's Theatre provides an opportunity to introduce young audiences in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, to the performing arts, through professionally staged productions, which appeal to parents and educators, while teaching morals and values.

The Children's Theatre develops opportunities for employment for theatre professionals and provides all its employees an understanding of aspects associated with a production, from administration to the final staging.

The Children's Theatre allows community advocates to participate in the education of children in the performing arts.

Yup. I think that pretty much sums it up.