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!