Blog #6: My Blog, My Kansas
Written by: Justin Murphy
Date of Shows: 11/10, 11/12, 11/13, 11/18, 11/19, and 11/20
Location: Northport-East Northport Community Theatre (NCT)
Well, that's that. Another show has come and gone. Let's break down some of the highlights of our two weekends of shows!
For the first time ever, an NCT show opened on a Thursday, and just like our last show, we opened to...a not so full house...ok, it's still in the middle of the week, people are busy, whaddya gonna do? We still brought it for our opening night! The shows began to pick up even further as they went on, and for both Sundays and the second Saturday, we had dang near full houses, and loud-responsive ones at that! Whether it was great ensemble numbers like Act 1's Big Ca-Lown Balloons and Here's Love, or small group numbers like Act 2's She Hadda Go Back or My State, My Kansas, the energy was great, the crowd was responsive, and the numbers were awesome. It's interesting to mention both of those Act 2 songs because they both feel very out of place in the show. The former song is, in its most basic description, a song about Fred essentially stalling for time while he waits for Doris to arrive, making up excuses along the way, only because he knows she's coming. But the catchiness of the song and the dedication all its actors had to it helped kick it into overdrive. The latter song seems like it was plucked out of Meredith Willson's unused album songs, and has almost nothing to do with the show proper, but again, just how much the actors' put into it made it one of the most fun songs in the musical. A lot of people would refer to the 2 ensemble numbers as the catchiest numbers in the show, but I challenge them with My State, My Kansas (don't let me roooooam). The show itself is pretty different between acts, as there's a lot of elaborate set changes throughout act 1, in some very different locations. While there were some scene changes in act 2, more than half of it takes place in the courthouse, giving it not only a different location, but a different feel with all the legal jargon throughout the second half. But again, in both halves of the show, the actors are so dedicated to what they're doing that the audience remains invested even if some of the younger kids may not have understood a lot of said jargon (and that may go for some of the kid actors as well).
Some characters in the show are memorable despite not having much time onstage. While the actors who play Fred's three marine friends do play other characters in the show, they only have the one scene/song number that their characters are onstage, but they're still memorable despite that. Sawyer and Crookshank as well only really have one scene with dialogue, but it's so funny that it stands out. Several actors, such as the D.A., Judge, and Tammany, barely have any dialogue at all until act 2, during which they suddenly come on and control a lot of the action onstage along with the returning characters from act 1. There are 4 named kid characters throughout the show, and with the exception of Susie, all of them have only one scene and a few lines to make their impact, but all the kids are dedicated to their scenes 110 percent.
Once again, not every question the show raises needs to be answered. The show never really gives a straight answer either way on perhaps the biggest question that it raises: Is Kris Kringle just a nice old man who pretends to be Santa Claus, a nice old man who is under the delusion that he is Santa Claus, or is he actually the real Santa Claus? I'm going to be honest, I never actually picked an answer myself, though I hopefully will at some point. But just like with Mary Poppins, this allows the audience to decide the answer for themselves, making them think about the not clear-cut answer. After all, Kris only really seems to gain the Santa weight when he's dressed as Santa, and we never actually see him directly doing anything magical onstage, though he does do some really extraordinary things? Is it magic or is it just the brilliant mind of an old man? Decide for yourself. Once again, the show also doesn't have a major big moment ending, but with a simple gift exchange between Susie and Kris, but that quiet moment still manages to be so powerful in the end.
So that ends NCT's 15th anniversary production of Miracle on 34th Street. I'd like to thank all my fellow actors for making this such an enjoyable show and experience, all the crew members who make the sets, move the sets, make/rent/provide the costumes, work our lights, work our mics, choreograph our numbers, as well as our producer Bette Silver and our director Jim Redding, without whom all of these miraculous NCT moments couldn't be made. I'll see you again in March when we hold auditions for our 31st show, Wizard of Oz!
"Singing is an art form, that makes it legal. That's why the ad agencies thought it up in the first place!" -Mr. Shellhammer
CAST
Doris Walker: Chelsea Brown
Susan Walker: Grace Sewell (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Annabelle Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Fred Gailey: Dave Curtis (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and James Reiss (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Kris Kringle: Lawrence Palevsky
Mr. Marvin Shellhammer: Justin Autz
R.H. Macy/Whitey: Rich Lau
Ms. Sawyer: Kathy Lau
Miss Crookshank: Samantha Schoeps (11/10, 11/12, 11/13, 11/19, 11/20) and Avery Infranco (11/18)
Judge Group: Suzie Lustig
Tammany O'Halloran: Patsy Van Dyke (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and Noel Dillon (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
D.A. Thomas Mara/Climber/Steven the Balloon Vendor: Mustin Jurphy
Clara: Tess Robinson
Bailiff: James Roche
Drunk Santa/Policeman/Mailman: Rich Rowehl
Miss Mary/Mayor: Joel Ackerman
Mr. Gimbel/Alvin: John Morale
Mrs. Finfer: Elise Autz (11/10 and 11/12) and Michelle Centamore (11/13, 11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Harry Finfer: Jude Centamore (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Michael Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika: Lily Eagen (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Carlie Rees (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika's Foster Mother: Barbara Schulman (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Judy Avena (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Governor: Joe Centamore
Thomas Mara Junior: Jacob Karp (11/10, 11/12, and 11/20) and Kieran Brown (11/13, 11/18, and 11/19)
Punk Kid: Andrew Geres
Majorettes: Alyssa Infranco and Riley Gayer
Miss Sims: Kate Smith
Tall Dame Girl Scout: Bella Donneruno (11/10, 11/12, 11/13, 11/18, and 11/20) and Grace Keating (11/19)
Toy Ballet: Maya Burget, Goldie Centamore, Maggie Fitzmaurice, Andrew Geres, Jennie Golder, Juliet Morale, Ashley Rowehl, Anthony Shah, Emily Shah, Ella Smith, Fallon Young, Lacey Zaharis, Nathan Zarko
Plastic Alligator Salespeople: Julie Barbier, Juliette Bonchonsky, Bella Donneruno, Riley Gayer, Jennie Golder, Jillian Graci, Alyssa Infranco, Quincy Jackson, Arianna Keating, Grace Keating, Amelia Lau, Katlyn Reller, Tess Robinson, Grace Rowan, Samantha Schoeps, Amelia Semple, Emily Starin, Clare Vogt
New York City Shoppers: Owen Labruna, Kellsey Roy
Monday, November 21, 2016
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Blog #5: She Hadda Go Back to Get Pine Cones and Holy Berries
BIG BOLD NOTE: The show dates are Thursday November 10th, Saturday
November 12th, Friday November 18th, and Saturday November 19th at 8pm,
as well as on Sunday November 13th and 20th at 2pm. Tickets ARE
OFFICIALLY ON SALE NOW. Pricing information can
be found here at our theatre's website, and tickets can be purchased any night during the week at the Northport Community Theatre during our rehearsals, as well as purchasing them over the phone. The number you would need to call to reserve seats for the show is also available on our theatre's website.
Blog #5: She Hadda Go Back to Get Pine Cones and Holy Berries
Written by: Justin Murphy
Date of Rehearsals/Events Written: 10/23, 10/25-27, 10/29-30
Location: Northport-East Northport Community Theatre
Wait, we only open in 8 days now? Can I ask for a postponement?!...Nah, I should've had this up on Saturday or Sunday to begin with, no more pushing it back!
On Sunday, October 23rd, NCT celebrated its 15th anniversary Halloween Party at Nocello's, with several cast members of Miracle on 34th Street as well as a few cast members of NCT's past shows. The restaurant was decorated by current cast member Kathy Lau, and everyone's costumes were phenomenal. A challenge was made which a few people accepted, to sing a reverse gender song at the party, with some memorable ones being Kellsey Roy singing "My Name is James", and Rich and Jen Lau singing "I Got You, Babe" (with all three of them dressed as the people they were singing songs of). It was a great evening of theatre reminiscing, singing, and enjoying each other's company (and costumes).
I was not present at Monday, October 24th's rehearsal, so I will instead jump to the next couple of nights. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, the 25th and 26th, we worked on several different things. Both the songs and choreography of The Big Clown Balloons and Here's Love were reviewed. In addition, the Plastic Alligator salespeople were selected and they spent a good chunk of Wednesday night reviewing the song and the dance they would do during it. In addition, a scene in act 1 featuring Mrs. Walker, Mr. Shellhammer, Mr. Macy, and Kris Kringle was worked on, including the ending song during the scene: Pine Cones and Holy Berries, a song which became one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time (It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas). It was decided that the entire cast would come out at the end of the scene and that all of them would sing the famous section of the song, being the song that it is. In addition, during both days, the previously untouched song, She Hadda Go Back, was worked on, with Fred and his 3 marine buddies, Alvin, Whitey, and Climber.
On Thursday, October 27th, the plan was to run through as much of the show as we could that day. So we ran through pretty much all of act 1 during the time that we had, stopping a few times so improvements could be made, whether it be Donna fixing a song moment or Jim giving out more direction on how to do the scene. On Saturday, the 29th, we picked up right where we left off on Thursday in the morning and ran right through to the end of the show. During this time, a few of the remaining parts were assigned, such as Rich Rowehl as both a cop and a mailman, Bella Donneruno as a girl scout, and Kate Smith as the Irish nurse Miss Sims. Some lines were switched around and given to other characters, and some song sequences were altered, and then we took a short break for lunch, after which we planned to run the whole show. Before the break ended, Fred and his 3 little marines worked some more on the song number She Hadda Go Back so we could be prepared to finally work on the scene later. And then, we proceeded to do just as we planned, and ran through the entire show from start to finish, songs and all (except for act 2, scene 3, which we had yet to block and go through, as it was the "She Hadda Go Back" scene). After we were done and Jim gave a chat about how much progress we made during the rehearsal, most of the cast left, with the exception of those who were in act 2, scene 3, and we finally went to block the scene. One of the Freds, James, was unavailable for the day, so Dave worked on Fred for the whole day, along with his fellow marines John, Rich, and...the third guy. The scene would be worked on in more detail the next week, but that info will be detailed in the next blog.
Finally, on Sunday, the 30th, we had our bi-annual Barnes and Noble fundraiser at the B&N in the Sears Shopping Mall of East Northport. Several of our cast members came to this event to purchase things to help support NCT, which would gain a percentage of the funds of the day's purchases. They also sang plenty of songs, but since it was a Christmas themed show, we didn't just sing songs from the show, we sung Christmas Carols as well (Yes, I know it was October, but it's a Christmas themed show, so I think it slides). The fundraiser went very well and got regular applause from all onlookers.
Guys, it's 11:40 PM while I'm typing this, but by the time I upload it after proofreading, it could be midnight, meaning it will officially be only a week until the show opens...EEP! No, I'm just kidding (or am I?) NCT's 30th show for its 15th anniversary is going to be one to remember! (And yep, it's after 12, Game 7 is all tied up in the 10th inning which is delayed by the rain, and this blog is officially up!)
"The only important thing is to make the children happy." -Kris Kringle
CAST LIST (THE DATES THAT CERTAIN PEOPLE IN THE SHOW ARE SPLIT FOR ARE LISTED IN BOLD PRINT FOR THE CHARACTERS WHO ARE SPLIT. ALSO, NEWLY CAST ROLES ARE LISTED IN BOLD PRINT.
NOTE: Linda Scott has withdrawn from the production. We wish her the best in all her future endeavors.
Doris Walker: Chelsea Brown
Susan Walker: Grace Sewell (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Annabelle Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Fred Gailey: Dave Curtis (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and James Reiss (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Kris Kringle: Lawrence Palevsky
Mr. Marvin Shellhammer: Justin Autz
R.H. Macy/Whitey: Rich Lau
Ms. Sawyer: Kathy Lau
Miss Crookshank: Samantha Schoeps
Judge Group: Suzie Lustig
Tammany O'Halloran: Patsy Van Dyke (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and Noel Dillon (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
D.A. Thomas Mara/Climber/Steven the Balloon Vendor: Mustin Jurphy
Clara: Tess Robinson
Bailiff: James Roche
Drunk Santa/Policeman/Mailman: Rich Rowehl
Miss Mary/Mayor: Joel Ackerman
Mr. Gimbel/Alvin: John Morale
Mrs. Finfer: Elise Autz (11/10 and 11/12) and Michelle Centamore (11/13, 11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Harry Finfer: Jude Centamore (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Michael Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika: Lily Eagen (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Carlie Rees (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika's Foster Mother: Barbara Schulman (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Judy Avena (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Governor: Joe Centamore
Thomas Mara Junior: Jacob Karp (11/10, 11/12, and 11/20) and Kieran Brown (11/13, 11/18, and 11/19)
Punk Kid: Andrew Geres
Majorettes: Alyssa Infranco and Riley Gayer
Miss Sims: Kate Smith
Tall Dame Girl Scout: Bella Donneruno
Toy Ballet: Maya Burget, Goldie Centamore, Maggie Fitzmaurice, Andrew Geres, Jennie Golder, Juliet Morale, Ashley Rowehl, Anthony Shah, Emily Shah, Ella Smith, Fallon Young, Lacey Zaharis, Nathan Zarko
Plastic Alligator Salespeople: Julie Barbier, Juliette Bonchonsky, Bella Donneruno, Riley Gayer, Jennie Golder, Jillian Graci, Alyssa Infranco, Quincy Jackson, Arianna Keating, Grace Keating, Amelia Lau, Katlyn Reller, Tess Robinson, Grace Rowan, Samantha Schoeps, Amelia Semple, Emily Starin, Clare Vogt
New York City Shoppers: Owen Labruna, Kellsey Roy
Blog #5: She Hadda Go Back to Get Pine Cones and Holy Berries
Written by: Justin Murphy
Date of Rehearsals/Events Written: 10/23, 10/25-27, 10/29-30
Location: Northport-East Northport Community Theatre
Wait, we only open in 8 days now? Can I ask for a postponement?!...Nah, I should've had this up on Saturday or Sunday to begin with, no more pushing it back!
On Sunday, October 23rd, NCT celebrated its 15th anniversary Halloween Party at Nocello's, with several cast members of Miracle on 34th Street as well as a few cast members of NCT's past shows. The restaurant was decorated by current cast member Kathy Lau, and everyone's costumes were phenomenal. A challenge was made which a few people accepted, to sing a reverse gender song at the party, with some memorable ones being Kellsey Roy singing "My Name is James", and Rich and Jen Lau singing "I Got You, Babe" (with all three of them dressed as the people they were singing songs of). It was a great evening of theatre reminiscing, singing, and enjoying each other's company (and costumes).
I was not present at Monday, October 24th's rehearsal, so I will instead jump to the next couple of nights. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, the 25th and 26th, we worked on several different things. Both the songs and choreography of The Big Clown Balloons and Here's Love were reviewed. In addition, the Plastic Alligator salespeople were selected and they spent a good chunk of Wednesday night reviewing the song and the dance they would do during it. In addition, a scene in act 1 featuring Mrs. Walker, Mr. Shellhammer, Mr. Macy, and Kris Kringle was worked on, including the ending song during the scene: Pine Cones and Holy Berries, a song which became one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time (It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas). It was decided that the entire cast would come out at the end of the scene and that all of them would sing the famous section of the song, being the song that it is. In addition, during both days, the previously untouched song, She Hadda Go Back, was worked on, with Fred and his 3 marine buddies, Alvin, Whitey, and Climber.
On Thursday, October 27th, the plan was to run through as much of the show as we could that day. So we ran through pretty much all of act 1 during the time that we had, stopping a few times so improvements could be made, whether it be Donna fixing a song moment or Jim giving out more direction on how to do the scene. On Saturday, the 29th, we picked up right where we left off on Thursday in the morning and ran right through to the end of the show. During this time, a few of the remaining parts were assigned, such as Rich Rowehl as both a cop and a mailman, Bella Donneruno as a girl scout, and Kate Smith as the Irish nurse Miss Sims. Some lines were switched around and given to other characters, and some song sequences were altered, and then we took a short break for lunch, after which we planned to run the whole show. Before the break ended, Fred and his 3 little marines worked some more on the song number She Hadda Go Back so we could be prepared to finally work on the scene later. And then, we proceeded to do just as we planned, and ran through the entire show from start to finish, songs and all (except for act 2, scene 3, which we had yet to block and go through, as it was the "She Hadda Go Back" scene). After we were done and Jim gave a chat about how much progress we made during the rehearsal, most of the cast left, with the exception of those who were in act 2, scene 3, and we finally went to block the scene. One of the Freds, James, was unavailable for the day, so Dave worked on Fred for the whole day, along with his fellow marines John, Rich, and...the third guy. The scene would be worked on in more detail the next week, but that info will be detailed in the next blog.
Finally, on Sunday, the 30th, we had our bi-annual Barnes and Noble fundraiser at the B&N in the Sears Shopping Mall of East Northport. Several of our cast members came to this event to purchase things to help support NCT, which would gain a percentage of the funds of the day's purchases. They also sang plenty of songs, but since it was a Christmas themed show, we didn't just sing songs from the show, we sung Christmas Carols as well (Yes, I know it was October, but it's a Christmas themed show, so I think it slides). The fundraiser went very well and got regular applause from all onlookers.
Guys, it's 11:40 PM while I'm typing this, but by the time I upload it after proofreading, it could be midnight, meaning it will officially be only a week until the show opens...EEP! No, I'm just kidding (or am I?) NCT's 30th show for its 15th anniversary is going to be one to remember! (And yep, it's after 12, Game 7 is all tied up in the 10th inning which is delayed by the rain, and this blog is officially up!)
"The only important thing is to make the children happy." -Kris Kringle
CAST LIST (THE DATES THAT CERTAIN PEOPLE IN THE SHOW ARE SPLIT FOR ARE LISTED IN BOLD PRINT FOR THE CHARACTERS WHO ARE SPLIT. ALSO, NEWLY CAST ROLES ARE LISTED IN BOLD PRINT.
NOTE: Linda Scott has withdrawn from the production. We wish her the best in all her future endeavors.
Doris Walker: Chelsea Brown
Susan Walker: Grace Sewell (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Annabelle Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Fred Gailey: Dave Curtis (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and James Reiss (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Kris Kringle: Lawrence Palevsky
Mr. Marvin Shellhammer: Justin Autz
R.H. Macy/Whitey: Rich Lau
Ms. Sawyer: Kathy Lau
Miss Crookshank: Samantha Schoeps
Judge Group: Suzie Lustig
Tammany O'Halloran: Patsy Van Dyke (11/10, 11/12, and 11/13) and Noel Dillon (11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
D.A. Thomas Mara/Climber/Steven the Balloon Vendor: Mustin Jurphy
Clara: Tess Robinson
Bailiff: James Roche
Drunk Santa/Policeman/Mailman: Rich Rowehl
Miss Mary/Mayor: Joel Ackerman
Mr. Gimbel/Alvin: John Morale
Mrs. Finfer: Elise Autz (11/10 and 11/12) and Michelle Centamore (11/13, 11/18, 11/19, and 11/20)
Harry Finfer: Jude Centamore (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Michael Deaner (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika: Lily Eagen (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Carlie Rees (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Hendrika's Foster Mother: Barbara Schulman (11/10, 11/13, and 11/19) and Judy Avena (11/12, 11/18, and 11/20)
Governor: Joe Centamore
Thomas Mara Junior: Jacob Karp (11/10, 11/12, and 11/20) and Kieran Brown (11/13, 11/18, and 11/19)
Punk Kid: Andrew Geres
Majorettes: Alyssa Infranco and Riley Gayer
Miss Sims: Kate Smith
Tall Dame Girl Scout: Bella Donneruno
Toy Ballet: Maya Burget, Goldie Centamore, Maggie Fitzmaurice, Andrew Geres, Jennie Golder, Juliet Morale, Ashley Rowehl, Anthony Shah, Emily Shah, Ella Smith, Fallon Young, Lacey Zaharis, Nathan Zarko
Plastic Alligator Salespeople: Julie Barbier, Juliette Bonchonsky, Bella Donneruno, Riley Gayer, Jennie Golder, Jillian Graci, Alyssa Infranco, Quincy Jackson, Arianna Keating, Grace Keating, Amelia Lau, Katlyn Reller, Tess Robinson, Grace Rowan, Samantha Schoeps, Amelia Semple, Emily Starin, Clare Vogt
New York City Shoppers: Owen Labruna, Kellsey Roy
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