I had the honor of speaking at the Illinois Junior Thespian Conference last Saturday. At first I thought, what on earth do I have to say to the students, parents and teachers that they would be interested in? Then, I came up with a plan. I was the final speaker of the day, and I
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“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” This is a quote I have in my office. It is sometimes attributed to Goethe, but there is some doubt if he really wrote it. I don’t care who wrote it. I need to read this, to
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It was late spring 1980 and everyone in my gang was talking about this new movie about a high school for the performing arts in New York. Since I went to a performing arts high school in Milwaukee, we were beyond excited to see the movie FAME. As we watched the group of teens in
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Most of you know that we spend January and February in Thailand. Usually, it is a quiet time for us to relax, recoup and lazily do some work via the internet. In particular, it is a time to reflect and imagine for me. For example, during this period two years ago I created the character
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October 20, 2017 – Jim, Sarah, Derek, Mark and of course Tim and I gathered for a weekend of ideation about a new Christmas musical that I had dreamt of creating. Perimeters were set, characters were detailed and then the announcement: “allow fantasy to enter into our conversation.” From that weekend a basic story was
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Hi! Associate Producer here. I was struck that many folks presumed that our work was done once the performances of the show started. In a way, that made sense. For the most part the “creative team” are done when the show opens. The designers of set, lighting, projections, costumes, props – all these folks are
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THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN TOYS is a hit!!! Here is what the press is saying: “a magical holiday surprise” From Broadway World read the full review HERE. “This musical captures everything that makes the holiday season magical. With heart, friendship, humor, family and songs that will tug at your heartstrings, it is perfect for the
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Dylan MarcAurele here! I composed the score for THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN TOYS, and in honor of my flying in to see the show tonight, Larry asked if I’d write a guest blog post about composing. My composing process is not glamorous. Ideas for music tend to strike me randomly throughout the day, so I
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The children needed new pants and Santa needed a new shirt. Allergy free laundry detergent was needed. Go to Target. The understudy for Santa was going on and we needed a Santa beard/wig for him. Go to Chicago Costume company. The technical director needed a few things to finish the set. Go to Home Depot.
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