That is the new word these days. COVID has ravaged practically all areas of entertainment. It certainly has devastated the whole world of live theatre. It took months for the full reality of the situation to become clear, certainly for me it did. My friend West Hyler just posted this in Facebook: “Obstacles are opportunities
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There is a wonderful organization that I belong to, the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA.) It is an international non-profit group that shares information with teachers, directors and others about many aspects of the theatre for school aged actors, directors, musicians, dancers, etc. They run an annual festival that attracts thousands of participants. At the festival
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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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OK, so the cast rehearses with the Director and his team which includes the Choreographer/Associate Director and Asst. Director/Choreographer. They usually rehearse with some props but no costumes, and certainly no lighting, sound or special effects. Once they have fully blocked the show – meaning all of the movement has been determined – who moves where
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We are so lucky to have a great leadership team working on THE LAND OF FORGOTTEN TOYS. That team consists of Director Nicholas Reinhart, Associate Director/Choreographer Dina DiCostanzo and Assistant Director/Choreographer Allyssa O’Donnell. Together they have worked on hundreds of musicals! But what do they do? Really. Let’s start with the director. The director is
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