Hi, We’ve always known that we’re blessed by the talented composers and writers who work on our shows. But lately there’s been a flurry of confirmation about that. Last week I learned that Dylan MarcAurele, a composer and musical supervisor for GIRLHOOD has been named a 2020-21 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. Thinking about that, I
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About a month after GIRLHOOD opened its pilot production at Bravo Performing Arts last summer, I received an email from a high school in Hammond Indiana. They asked if the show could be done with an all high school cast. As you may recall, GIRLHOOD is the story of girls starting in middle school and
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As you know, GIRLHOOD is a story of four 10 year old girls (Melissa, Amber, Morgan and Judy), as we see them struggle, grow and mature into young women. The show is filled with young girls! But today, I want to talk about girls a bit older. Well, a lot older. This blog was inspired
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“So great to see stories of girls on the stage.” “These girls seemed so real and what they were going through made a lot of sense.” “The music was so fantastic and cohesive, it’s hard to believe they were written by so many composers.” “The characters are so believable.” These are some of the great
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GIRLHOOD the musical was a hit this week at Bravo Performing Arts in Oak Park, IL. Tina Reynolds directed 23 tweens as they performed 19 songs! Standing ovations every night and the crowd went crazy. Take a look at the opening number – “Just the Start.” The first day of middle school! Then, there is
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Tech rehearsals can be brutal. Brutal for everyone. I remember being in a tech rehearsal for five hours and that was just for the first act. What is a tech rehearsal? This is the first time where all of the production elements come together. The director gets to see the costumes under the lights, the
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Twenty-three. There are twenty-three kids in Bravo Performing Art’s production of GIRLHOOD. “Well, I wanted to have about 34, but we were a bit under enrollment this year” the director told me. But, let me tell you – twenty-three middle school students is a lot. I was at the first rehearsal. First rehearsals are
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GIRLHOOD, one of the musicals we are developing now, is a song cycle that follows the lives of four girls as they make their way from middle school through high school. We have been working in the show for about 18 months and are thrilled with the progress. I started this project by conducting, along
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The texts and emails started the day before. A bit of a panic it seemed. “I don’t think we can realistically do 6 numbers in 4 hours!” “I cannot teach choreography before they learn the song.” “Four more students will be showing up and they don’t have the material.” “I won’t be able to come
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