A college professor once told me to write the following in my notebook at the beginning of our very first class: “There is no such thing as a child who hates music. But there are plenty who hate music teachers.” He then said if that is the only thing I remember from his class, it will be enough. Forty years later, it is the only thing I remember from that class. But its wisdom guided much of what I accomplished as a teacher and director.
Below are a few things I picked up from my forty years of teaching that I hope will help you succeed in your career as a teacher.
Be Prepared
Whether you are more comfortable with a structured, linear rehearsal process or a more improvised, spontaneous approach, children, young and old, will sense if you are unprepared, stressed and/or ill-equipped for the task ahead. If unforeseen circumstances cause you to be unprepared, be honest and admit it. They’ll give you a pass once, maybe twice.
Be Enthusiastic
Enthusiasm is contagious. One of the best ways to teach creativity is to be creative and invite your students to join you in the process. While the final decision is up to the director, the accumulated creativity of the assembled company will be more interesting than the creativity of one person alone. So welcome suggestions and invite input from everyone.
Be Observant
After casting, a major responsibility of a director is to eliminate fear. Director, John Caird once said, “Every problem in directing can be reduced to fear. Fear causes inhibition. Find the source of the fear and eliminate it.” Whether it be a specific note/harmony in a song, a line of dialogue, a dance sequence or the interaction with another actor, prop, costume…, a director must identify and alleviate an actor’s fear if they are to succeed. Great art is created in an environment free of fear.
Be Fair
Criticize privately and praise publicly. When you slip up and criticize publicly, apologize publicly (and privately). A director need not, and cannot, be perfect. Do your best to tell the story of the show in as clear a manner as possible given the actors, staff and resources at your disposal. When you abruptly realize (which is how it often happens) that there is a better way to block or stage a scene, be honest, say so, and move forward. If it is a better choice, everyone will see it and respect you for it.
Build a Team
You should not, and cannot, do it all on your own. Theatre is a collaborative art form. If your budget does not provide for a production staff, build a team of volunteers (friends, alumni, parents) to share the many responsibilities involved in producing a musical. Become friends with the maintenance staff in your building, especially the night staff. Order extra show shirts for the maintenance staff and invite them to wear them on show nights. They are also an important part of your team.
Be Thankful
Creating art is a privilege. Its nature is to be challenging, thought-provoking, exhilarating and exhausting. But when an artist gives all that they have to create a truthful work of art, the exhaustion that they experience at the end is a well-earned, joyful exhaustion. There is nothing quite like it, and it is the reason we look forward to doing it again and again.
JIM HOARE (Vice President, Education & Community Initiatives) has been extensively involved in theatre for the past forty years, working with High School, College and Community Theatres. He has directed over one hundred shows and musicals, including the first high school production of Once On This Island and the world’s first production of Les Miserables, School Edition. Jim is a proud member of the New York State Theatre Education Association (NYSTEA), the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), The American Association of Community Theatres (AACT), and he has presented workshops throughout the USA and UK. Jim is a recipient of New York’s Rod Marriott Award for Lifetime Achievement in Educational Theatre.
To find more useful resources from Jim, check out TRW’s new line of School Editions, which have been carefully edited, with additional director’s notes throughout, to make the show more producible for high school groups.
Getting in the driver’s seat for a production of MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT, the Eric Idle and John Du Prez penned Tony Award®-winning Best Musical, is a true opportunity to give your cast, crew and audiences the theatre experience of a lifetime. Since launching the wide-release of SPAMALOT over a year ago, there have been hundreds of productions around the world by groups from community, high school and university theatres to high profile professional companies to a new West End production, still lighting up the stage in London. SPAMALOT is a ticket sales machine wherever it is produced for the sheer excellence of a show that has become a beloved musical classic, that never existed in the shadow of its wonderful and iconic cinema source material Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Representing SPAMALOT is a labor of true love and hearing from our customers about what a joy this show is to present is a daily thing. We also get lots of great questions about the show from folks who are ready to take the Python-plunge but need a nudge, nudge to send the money and put it on their season. While this brilliant show is built on the Python classics (yes your audiences WILL say the lines of SOME parts with the actors), SPAMALOT takes it’s movie mommy to a new place as a true classic of the American Musical Theatre. While lovingly skewering Big Broadway, it takes the form on like a seasoned pro, expertly crafting a defining book musical with a big heart, wrapped in an irresistibly silly escape. OK…love the show. Got it.
Over the last year we received hundreds of great photos and emails from directors around the world about their SPAMALOTs and I reached out to three of them to ask if they would share some time to discuss the finer points of mounting the show. Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene (ACE) Director Joe Zingo was unable to make the date so he joined us via technology. He directed his smashing SPAMALOT at ACE in Oregon in summer of 2012 in one of the first productions post-release, marking the Northwest US Premiere. The other two readily agreed, so we flew them in to NYC and put ’em up at the Four Seasons and dined at…at…Sardi’s, yeah…while doing the interview accompanied by several glasses (bottles) of pricey sparkling water.**
Our dinner-view guests are Mark A. Zimmerman, the Director of Ohio’s Akron School for the Arts, who directed SPAMALOT in March of 2013 and Otto Layman, Director of the Santa Barbara, CA High School Theatre, who delivered his Grail in April of 2013.
Mark A. Zimmerman, The Akron School of the Arts
Fred Stuart: Thanks for coming guys. I trust everything at the Four Seasons is cool?
Mark Zimmerman and Otto Layman: Yes. It is nice.
FS: So let’s dive right in. Mark. What other shows have you done in the past few years and what led you to select MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT in 2013?
MZ: We have spent the past ten years or so pursuing musicals that are either brand new or unusual for a high school.
FS: Nice! And…lean into the mic when you talk just a little there. Not that much. Good. What other new-ish shows recently?
MZ: We have presented shows such as THE PRODUCERS, THE COLOR PURPLE, HAIRSPRAY and LEGALLY BLONDE at the first possible moment.
FS: Hmmmm. Love THE COLOR PURPLE, those others aren’t familiar…
MZ: As a performing arts school we want to challenge our students with material that they are unlikely to have seen elsewhere and also to blaze a trail for other area schools when it comes to play selection. I have a short list of shows I am prepared to present as soon as they become available. Spamalot has been one of those. I tried to pry it away from you in 2012 for an All-City Musical production but was gently denied.
Santa Barbara HS Theatre’s SPAMALOT (Photo: K. Sestak)
FS: Just doing our job, Mark. The tour was still out.
MZ: A student mentioned to me over the summer that it was available and I applied for the rights before the end of the day.
FS: Smart kid! Probably heard about it on the Facebook. Otto, were your audiences and cast inviting of a newer-style Broadway show?
OL: Very much so! In a small city that has three public high schools, and a few smaller private high schools, four or five small professional groups and PCPA to the north, there is a fierce competition for titles and for the general public audience—and I am happy that we are given the opportunity to work on shows that are contemporary—usually the trickle down to high school from Broadway is 8 to 10 years. Having titles that have played recently is great for recruiting—especially if we get them before other schools! While the scope and professionalism of what we do is a great recruiting tool, so is our ability to show modern students that we are able to produce modern works. Audiences have grown as word of mouth has grown our reputation, and being able to give Santa Barbara and its big tourist trade a quality production that competes nicely with local professional theatres.
FS: Mark, your production was very well received too, yes?
MZ: The response I received from the community was overwhelmingly positive…They have mostly told us that we “nailed” it.
OL:Spamalot is a show that allows for, that encourages, demands and insists upon the creative input of the actor. I love actors, and trust them to bring their own sensibility to the play. Spamalot was probably the greatest rehearsal period we’ve ever had, and most rehearsals were funnier than the show, I think, as we had to decide what to keep and where to move on. It’s a great show for getting young actors outside of themselves and letting go as performers-because the fear of looking silly is antithetical to the spirit of Python.
FS: Was there anything that stands-out to you as far as your students ‘connecting’ with the style of the show?
OL:Spamalot is a show that allows for, that encourages, demands and insists upon the creative input of the actor. I love actors, and trust them to bring their own sensibility to the play. Spamalot was probably the greatest rehearsal period we’ve ever had, and most rehearsals were funnier than the show, I think, as we had to decide what to keep and where to move on. It’s a great show for getting young actors outside of themselves and letting go as performers-because the fear of looking silly is antithetical to the spirit of Python.
FS: Did you find your young actors were familiar with Monty Python?
MZ: Many of my students were familiar with Monty Python and were excited about the show. I know that at least a few students auditioned for the show simply because they were Python fans. In particular, the young man who played the French Taunter and the Swamp Castle Guard was especially excited to audition for his first musical as a senior and likely would not have done so for another show. His taunting was definitely one of the highlights of the show.
FS: Your mother was hamster!
MZ: My son in particular has been a Python fan since a young age and became the go to guy for how a costume or prop should look to best reflect the film. He and I had both seen the Broadway production so we had a good idea for how the show should be and we ran with it. He was originally assigned to the show as a student production manager but ended up being a lighting co-designer (with me) and also playing the role of Tim the Enchanter. His work on all three areas was excellent and I am very proud of him.
Otto Layman
FS: As well you should be. Otto, any particular casting innovations, use of girls in non-traditional casting stuff? Some folks worry there aren’t girl roles in this thing.
OL: Our very gender-flex casting seemed to really work! Not really a challenge at all. Except for the principal knights everything else is readily adaptable and gender-flexible. I think our cast list was pretty much 50/50, and the suggestions in the material from TRW was extremely helpful.
FS: You’re welcome.
OL: Girls as well as boys were able to connect with the show in a meaningful and powerful way. One thing about Spamalot I found was that there is an emotional core that is authentic, and the love of the Knights for each other played against the buffoonery of the plot makes for a very rich experience.
The French! Santa Barbara HS Theatre (Photo K. Sestak)
MZ: We had to get in front of the curve on this one. As many of my students were already familiar with the show from having seen the recent tour, there was concern that there was really only one female role available and the rest were basically chorus roles. I assured everyone that we would do everything we could to feature women in other roles and I guess they trusted me because we had plenty of women audition for the show. We of course felt obligated to cast females in traditionally male roles. We cast the following roles with women without changing a single line or action: Not Dead Fred, some of the dead, the Monks, the Knights Who Say Ni, Concorde, Mrs. Galahad, who is traditionally played by a male, and two of the minstrels.
FS: Galahad’s mom should be a boy! IMHO, bro. It’s cool.
MZ: Interestingly enough, once we got into rehearsal it became apparent that we were short one Laker Girl because we could not spell out the name Galahad even with Mrs. Galahad being assigned the final “D.”
FS: That part is always fun in rehearsal. And by fun I mean, get your ducks in a row before you stage it!
MZ: Yeah, we wrestled with that a little bit and eventually cross-cast that role with a male actor who volunteered to fill the role. He also played the parts of Herbert and the Finnish Mayor. I was glad to add him as a Laker Girl to further feature him in the show and as a nod to the Python tradition of cross-casting.
FS: Well done, sir. Clink. So, what did audiences think?
MZ: It is interesting how different audiences react differently. Our more adult audiences laughed heartily at the traditional Python set pieces. They sometimes started to laugh when a new scene began in anticipation of what was to come. As we explained to our cast, almost everyone over the age of 30 in the audience would know many of these scenes word-for-word.
Santa Barbara HS Theatre’s SPAMALOT “Find Your Grail” (Photo: K. Sestak)
FS: Any particular set innovations, like your genius forced perspective thing with the giant Grail?
MZ: My favorite part of our set was the false proscenium we built to accommodate the tower windows in the opening scene. The entire show was viewed through what was a tremendously large castle gate and each side had a window closed with a wooden shutter. Each window was about 14 feet high and created a wonderful visual. We used it several times during the show to great effect. I would like to take credit for the forced perspective on the grail but it was really a happy accident. We cut the piece out of two-inch Styrofoam board and had the art department paint it to match the poster. When our Lady used it the first time in rehearsal we knew we had a winner. It looked fantastic. Since it was made out of foam, it was not hard or especially heavy for her to carry during the entire number.
FS: You’ve got a pretty big theater. The current West End production really takes it back to just a bare-bones production values thing and it is awesome, too. Our buddies at Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene, the director there Joe Zingo, told me he it really worked in his 75 seat theater, and I believe it! He’s a master of getting big shows in a small space and making them more than just work, they are brilliant. Since Joe couldn’t fly in from Oregon to join us here at our fancy dinner at Sardi’s, let’s text him now for a quote.
FS txt: BFF #joezingo what RU you up2? Hey. What did U do for yr set for Spamalt? TXT back NOW:)
Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene (ACE) Spamalot
FS: He’ll text right back. So. How’s the salmon? OOh. Here he is:
JZ txt: Cant talk rhrsal for once on this island
FS txt: never heard of that 1. you always with the new stuff:)
FS: Isn’t this aioli out of this-Ooh. Here he is:
JZ txt: shut up
FS: Oh, Joe! Ooh. He’s typing again…
JZ txt: We simplified the set into one moving castle section, which traveled the stage to accommodate the scenic needs. Plus two smaller castle sections on each of the downstage sides of the stage. don’t text me anymore plese
FS: He loves me. I gotta run to the little girls room. Talk for a long time about the set. This thing’s still recording.
Santa Barbara HS Theatre’s SPAMALOT (Photo: K. Sestak)
MZ: We tried to keep the scenery simple. We built a large piece that we called a “bridge” that served as the main background for the play but also as the French Castle. It turned around to reveal Swamp Castle with an added piece behind it to provide the tower winder and escape platform. The Camelot Castle split in two sections so that it could more easily be stored with the wings. Other pieces were made small enough that they could be run through a standard-sized door and into the adjacent hallway when they were not in use. We built God’s feet, His hand, and the roulette wheel out of Styrofoam sheets so that they would be light and easy to fly. The good news with special effects is that they don’t need to look all that good to work in the show. Since the whole thing is so silly, silly props and effects work just great.
WAITER: What about the Black Knight thing? Is that like impossible to stage?
MZ: The black knight sequence is perhaps the toughest trick in the show and we accomplished it thanks mostly to a diligent costume crew. Could I get a little more water, please? The audience seemed to enjoy it and accept it for what it is — a silly joke. We created a duplicate costume and stuffed it with batting. It was easily attached to the door with a hook and a built in clothes hanger. The Black Knight’s head came through a special trap door. He was able to pull a string through the door to detach the legs and allow them to fall to the floor. The funniest part is that they never did fall in unison: it was always first one and then the other. It never failed to get a big laugh.
“It’s just a flesh wound.” Santa Barbara HS Theatre
DINER AT NEARBY TABLE: What about when Lancelot’s little Patsy-like guy gets the arrow?
MZ: Our student engineering program created a tension-release device for the arrow/message Concorde receives in Act II. It worked amazingly well and was ultimately very simple.
FS: And…back! Don’t bother other tables, Mark. This is Sardi’s. There’s Matthew Broderick. What about the all-important Killer Rabbit?
MZ: I bought a rabbit online.
FS: Gotta love the Internet. In my day we had to MAKE our own killer rab-
MZ: -I suspect it was a souvenir puppet sold originally in the lobby at the Schubert.
FS: Puppets onstage for a whole musical would never work, but one for the rabbit is a killer idea.
MZ: It worked fine although I wish it had been a little bigger. Losing Bors’ head is also a challenge. We made it work and while it looked very silly it definitely got a big laugh.
“No visible means of support!” Santa Barbara HS Theatre
FS: Bors is like that Star Trek guy from the original, when they like landed on some planet and all the regular Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov’s and such are there and then one guy you’ve never seen before and inside of a minute he’s killed by some weird thing. Speaking of which, there’s some combat in the Spamster. How’d you approach kids and sticks?
MZ: We struggled with the swords, not wanting to use actual stage weapons. I had initially intended to purchase wooden but we began practicing with the padded swords my son’s troupe uses in their Belagarth competitions. We eventually committed to using them in performance. In the final analysis they worked fine as they were not the focus of any scene in particular and allowed the actors to use them without concern for injuring their partner. We gave Arthur a large, elaborate toy sword to use as Excalibur.
FS: Hilarious! How now the flying cow?
MZ: Making the cow was fun! We had an art teacher work with one of his classes to “sculpt” it out of chicken wire and carpet padding. It was painted with black and white spray paint and looked fantastic. Once we put the safety railing on the bridge we knew we could no longer catapult the cow over. Instead we compromised: the two French Guards simply tossed the cow off the bridge and onto poor Patsy. It worked fine but I still wish we could have tossed her over the bridge instead of off of it.
FS: No worries. Have some more bread. What about the fish for Schlapping? When I did the show I used some I found online that were the consistency of large gummy fish. Made a nice ‘schlapping’ sound and no one got hurt. Pretty much. I cut cardboard for another production and that worked ok. We had the tech booth operate live schlapping samples from a small MIDI keyboard.
MZ: Making the fish for “Finland” was a challenge. We eventually cut fish-shaped patterns out of camping tarps, stuffed them with remnants from the cow, and had art classes paint them.
FS: Sounds labor intensive. I’d just get enormous Swedish fish. Edible prop. What’dja do with your fabulous set when it was all over?
MZ: Most of our specialty items for this show have already been claimed by a local community theatre that will present the show on their stage in the summer of 2014.
“Ni!” Santa Barbara HS Theatre (Photo: Kristi Sesak)
FS: Sharing is good. Speaks highly of your program that they’re using your stuff! As the process went along, did you discuss any themes arising from the content of the show with your cast?
MZ: We mostly approached the subject matter from the direction of comedy. We would often discuss why a certain event or scene was funny. I would highlight the comic elements of it for the unenlightened and would discuss the show in that context. I know we initially had trouble making “I’m Not Dead Yet” funny because the dead chorus had been staged to dance like zombies with at least one or two nods to “Thriller.” Once we realized that zombies for the most part are not funny, we could get on with the making the incongruity of a dancing/singing chorus of dead people who were decidedly not zombies.
FS: Actually, Zombies are hilarious. Have you seen The Walking Dead?
MZ: And, we gave much thought to the casting of Herbert.
FS: Yeah, I want to talk about that. “But Father, I want to SING!”
MZ: While the part is played for laughs I think it also has to come from a place of respect. I did not want to cast someone who was going to make a mockery of it. I approached one of my best performers who also happens to possess an amazingly broad singing range. He did a fantastic job and recently posted in our FB group that the show has inspired him to “find his own grail.”
“Plumage don’t enter into it!” Santa Barbara HS Theatre
FS: Exactly! Love that! Well said, Mark. He’s kind of the heart of the show. Otto, the beautiful pictures of your show speak for themselves as far as production values. A beautiful execution of all the tech elements and a superb cast and musicians. Are there any titles fresh from Broadway you are interested in taking on next? Just fishing for a quote, here, Otto.
OL: Funny you should say “fish.” My daughter, who is a sixteen year old sophomore here at SBHS, was in New York in November and was adamant that we do Big Fish—which we will be doing as one of the first post-Broadway productions in November of 2014. So thanks for that! It is our kind of show—my choreographer is not only brilliant as a dance teacher, but she is a professional puppeteer and aerialist, so we are excited about the design possibilities. My wife and I get to LA a lot, and try to get to New York once a year—there are a couple of shows, Peter and the Starcatcher, or Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 were brilliant.
Joe Zingo of the Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene (ACE)
FS: Never heard of them. Lovely. Well, it’s time to run to catch the train. Thanks for the convo!
MZ & OL: Sure. Thanks for everything.**
FS: Thank YOU, two. And Joe! Seriously. You delivered great shows and I appreciate you sharing your SPAMALOT experiences with us…here at this fancy NYC restaurant.
**SILLINESS NOTE: This interview was actually conducted via email. Not from Sardi’s. Nobody got to fly to NYC or stay at the Four Seasons. Sardi’s doesn’t have wireless or TVs. And who the heck are all these people on the wall?
**SERIOUS NOTE: I had the real pleasure of meeting Mark A. Zimmerman at the 2013 EDTA Thespian Festival in June of 2013, and his knowledge and excitement about SPAMALOT was remarkable. He runs a superb Theatre program at Akron School for the Arts, in Akron, Ohio. My thanks to him for sharing his expertise. Otto Layman was kind enough to share his photos of his SPAMALOT and after seeing them we had to talk! His program at Santa Barbara HS is a model of excellence. Joe Zingo is Director of the venerable Actor’s Cabaret of Eugene, Oregon and a longtime friend of Theatrical Rights Worldwide. My thanks to all three of them.
Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah presented the Utah high school premiere of CURTAINS, November 18-21, 2009, with a superb production. TRW’s Broadway blockbuster features a book by Rupert Holmes, based on a concept by Peter Stone, with a classic score from the legendary Kander and Ebb.
CURTAINS played over 500 performances on Broadway, and received eight 2007 Tony® Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Actor (A Winner for David Hyde Pierce), Best Actress, Best Featured Actress, Best Direction and Best Choreography. Kander and Ebb’s amazing score is perfectly woven into the fabric of the unfailingly clever book.
CURTAINS is set in the brassy, bright, and promising year of 1959. Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage the entire cast & crew are suspects. Enter a local detective, who just happens to be a musical theatre fan! While solving the mystery-he also solves the show within the show.
When I heard about this production from our licensing agent, Julie Abdelahad (who many of you know as the very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly customer service rep here in our NYC office), I was intrigued by the sheer number of cast members: 230! As I investigated this high school musical I found far more inspiration, dedication and pursuit of excellence than I had ever imagined. I was delighted that Hillcrest High School producer/director Paul Winkelman allowed me to get a close-up view of his production through the words of his production team and cast.
I found the words of one young actor really captured the spirit of Hillcrest’s musical experience: “Hillcrest is a very unique and amazing school. The students are from ALL walks of life and just about every different background; and all these very different people have the opportunity to be in the musical if their heart so desires. At Hillcrest, if you audition, you are automatically in the chorus. This provides students that would never have opportunity otherwise to perform in front of thousands and be a part of something bigger than just school or a sports team, but be part of a family. This year we had nearly 200 students in the Curtains cast. From football players to kids in band, we had it all. In our cast, it didn’t matter what had happened or was happening in our lives. We shared one thing no matter what; we love to perform and that’s what united us. Those nights that we got to perform together were unforgettable. We got to dance and sing side by side with our best friends in front of thousands of people, just doing what we love. What could be better than that?” These uplifting words came from Bayli Baker who played the plum role of Georgia Hendricks.
I recently spoke with Winkleman, music director Renae Dalgleish, choreographer Heidi Clark Hansen, theatre director Josh Long, orchestra director Kristi Pehrson about their production.
FS: What factors did you consider when making the decision to produce CURTAINS for your school’s musical?
PAUL WINKLEMAN: When choosing a musical for our school we always look at size of cast, what the students can learn from the experience, options for show based on student talent, community response, musical numbers, difficulty of orchestration, size of the orchestra, sets, lighting, and budget. Hillcrest High School has a reputation of the highest quality from its fine arts department, especially its musical production. Curtains was newly released for performance and Hillcrest High School was the first high school in Utah to perform it.
HEIDI HANSEN: Choosing the show involves a number of factors: If the production will uplift and be educational for the student and the community; does the show have multiple roles/aspect that would meet the needs of our diverse student population and abilities; would the show be successful in all aspects-educationally, financially, artistically…
RENAE DALGLEISH: We felt it would be an exciting thing for our students to be the first high school in Utah to perform Curtains. We knew it would be a challenge and felt our students would be up for it!
JOSH LONG: We liked that it was new and fresh, it had a lot of interesting characters, and lots of opportunity for dancing!
FS: Do you think your cast enjoyed rehearsing the show?
PW: In general I feel the students had a great experience. Like most students, rehearsals get long and they get tired of the process. We used positive reinforcement and explained many times the payoff of the performance will be greater than the sacrifice of the rehearsals. You could hear a lot of laughter from the cast as they developed the choreography and learned the music for the numbers. As they got more familiar with the show the more they understood the importance of their roles whether it be a lead or a chorus member. Rehearsing a cast of 230 plus students is very different than a cast of 30 students but this is what makes Hillcrest High School unique!
FS: I’ve had some big casts over the years, but…230?! Amazing! Sort of a Cecil B. DeMille version of the show…Heidi, from your perspective, did the cast grow artistically through the Curtains process?
HH: I know they did… they manifested it through verbal, physical, and written means. Most importantly, they learned how to use and perfect their talents and abilities, they learned to work hard and to work together. They learned how to be excellent and that is success and joy at its best.
RD: I know they fell in love with the show by the end! Of course after rehearing anything for the millionth time the kids complained , but I think most of them trusted that we pushed them because we know they were capable of being the greatest!
FS: Were they familiar with the show?
PW: Most of the student, faculty and community had never heard of the musical Curtains-this was a two-edged sword. Interestingly, the local professional company in one of the cities close to Hillcrest was producing Curtains at the same time and we had to receive special permission to do our show from them. We had many comments from the community who had seen both the professional and our version, and everyone felt our version was professional and enjoyable to watch. You may say well that is because they were watching their own child in this production but the comments came from individuals that would come to the Hillcrest productions because of reputation not that they had members of their families in our show. I was the only person in the production staff that had seen the Broadway production of Curtains.
HH: I had never seen it… so it was a pleasure for all of us to do a refreshing, new show.
RD: And all of us were excited to do something new!
FS: How did audiences respond to the show?
PW: The response to the show was great!!! There were rave reviews on this production. As I mentioned, Hillcrest High school is known for high quality productions. Many felt this production was one of the best they had seen…The energy with performers on the stage and in the aisles was electrifying and the audience loved the show.
HH: They really loved it, and I received a lot of feedback about how refreshing it was to see a musical they weren’t familiar with. Also the audience really enjoyed the humor. It was really entertaining and engaging.
JL: Definitely. Very, very positive. I heard so many comments about how fun it was to see a new story- a story they didn’t know.
FS: Your commitment is really evident from your enthusiasm. I have huge respect for all the amazing high school drama departments out there that provide this experience for so many kids…
PW: As a production team we feel it is very important that the students receive the opportunity to be creative, be trained in dance, singing, and acting. And for the orchestra to be challenged and the stage crew learn the art of building, lighting, sound-but more than that, we teach life skills, working with others, collaboration, commitment, dedication, problem solving, hard work and what the theme of the show is and what lessons are addressed. We saw growth in every one of these cast members. The pride these students took with them was worth every blood, sweat, and tear we as a the production team felt. Watching these students develop from the beginning of the process to the end was amazing!
FS: Anything else stand out in your mind you’d like to add?
PW: Working with Theatrical Rights was a joy. Everyone was so willing to support and help. I loved that this licensing company understands issues within education and their communities and are able to adapt the script and music so it will be appropriate to produce in a education setting. THANK YOU!
FS: You are welcome, Paul. And thank you all for talking with TRW today.
In addition to this interview, some of the many cast members from the Hillcrest production offered their comments via email. I found their impressions of the show and the whole experience of participating in their high school musical experience to be very heartfelt, moving and utterly refreshing. Here’s a sample of what these wonderful young actors wrote:
“I learned how much your dedication and determination will pay off in the end. I worked hard every day. I never threw a moment away just for the sake of having fun. In the end I was able to have the best show I’ve ever had in my life, and I was able to enjoy it so much more because I knew that I was prepared to give a gift to the audience.” –Kent Lloyd, ‘Lt. Frank Cioffi’
“We needed to uphold our school’s reputation, and when we performed on that opening night, I believe we did just that. There was a magic out on that stage that can’t be forced. I know that every single cast and audience member felt it. Through all the hundreds of shows I have done, I have never been so excited to go out onto a stage than I was for this show. The butterflies that normally begin hatching in my stomach were pure bliss. There were no nerves, just excitement. This show made me rediscover why I love performing and there are no words to describe the gratitude that lies in my heart for that. This past fall was one of the most rewarding and amazing experiences of my life and I know that I’m not the only one that feels changed because of this high school musical, CURTAINS.” -Bayli Baker, ‘ Georgia Hendricks’
“I think the most important thing I learned from this show was about having a good attitude and giving your all, one hundred percent of the time. I chose earlier on in the rehearsal process that I was going to have a good attitude and that I was going to be the hardest worker out there. I have to admit that I definitely was not perfect about this—but it still made THE HUGEST difference. I love this show with every part of me. From top to bottom— the long rehearsals, the inside jokes made during downtime, the aching feet, the bruises, the people, the friends, the costumes, THE WIG ! And then: the performance, the audience, the laughter, Saturday night. Usually I am saying “the long rehearsals were worth it in the end.” This show I’ve been saying I loved the long rehearsals and then all of a sudden I get the incredible performance too!” -Rachel Edwards, ‘Bambi’
” I would like to remember the joy of performing in my life and the effect that it has had on me. In my life I want to reflect a lot on the value of theatre in everything…I want to develop my acting skills and build on my singing and dancing experience. The more practice the better! I also don’t want to forget some of the laughs that I had in this show.” -Vashti Musig, ‘Gwendolyn Reynolds’
“Throughout the rehearsal process of CURTAINS, I learned a lot about what makes a great performance. This musical taught me to treat every single run of a number as though it were the last time I was performing it, which helped me to have more energy and enthusiasm. By doing each number full out, I improved and progressed with each rehearsal instead of merely staying at an acceptable level. I also learned how to create and connect with a character. Since I have not yet had theatre training, I had to discover ways to get in character, to think like my character thinks, and to act and react as she would. As time went on, I had more and more fun getting into that role each day and experiencing the play from a different perspective than my own.”-Alyssa Myers
“What I want to remember the most about this whole experience is that feeling I got from performing what I love to do the most. Being part of the chorus may not be the most envied part, but to me it was worth everything. It made me realize just how much I really love theater and performing and just how badly I want to improve at it. The experience tried my patience, tested my scheduling abilities, and made me exhausted, but what I gained from this experience – the passion, the technical insights, and the realization of what a character really is – I would never trade for the world.” -Donella Walker
“I absolutely loved being a part of CURTAINS! One of the best parts was seeing all 200 performers come together. We eventually all became a family, living and breathing together. Being in the musical was truly amazing!”-Masha Alexander
“The musical CURTAINS was such an amazing experience for me. Musical theatre hasn’t ever been an activity that I specifically wanted to pursue until it became apart of my daily schedule for three months! I not only learned how valuable it was to be in a cast with other performers but also the power that a group of 200 other student can create on the stage. I can honestly say that I fed off of their energy and by the finale I was nourished. I feel that the experience I had as a cast member in CURTAINS is by far the most memorable of all my high school experiences I have had thus far.”-Ellie Vawdrey
“Being a part of CURTAINS taught me so much and is a highlight of my high school career that I will always remember. I learned the value of a positive attitude, how that works in a group dynamic, and what can be accomplished by a collative, positive work ethic. Because there was such a variety of students working together in this musical, I got a chance to meet many peers that I would not have had a change to meet working with these newly met people towards a common goal allowed the cast to bond as a whole. It amplified the experience and ultimately make the gift of what CURTAINS had to say much more effective for our audience.”-Karine Johnson
“Being in CURTAINS was such a great experience for me. I have always had a strong, fiery passion for musical theatre and this was the first musical I was in. CURTAINS holds a special place in my heart.”-Shelby Hixson
“The directors not only taught me how to rise to the occasion of performing but many other life skills including how to be competent, patient, and positive. I now am constantly striving to set an example for my peers through my actions and work ethic. At the close of this wonderful musical, all I can say is ‘its an honor and a joy to be in show business!’ “-Annie Oakeson
“My experience in the musical CURTAINS was spectacular. Rehearsals were frustrating at times but I would always think of how on opening night when everyone’s adrenaline is pumping and our hearts beating faster than it ever has… How great it’s going to feel to see the audience’s smiling faces as we race down the aisles or onto the stage singing and dancing the opening number ‘Wide Open Spaces.’ I learned that I can do so much more with my life, be more successful, with only a couples hours of my day dedicated to one thing.”-April Wardle
“Performing in CURTAINS was one of the most memorable experiences! I learned how to manage my time wisely, to be prompt, and to always give it my best. Watching the cast grow together was amazing! I would do it again in an instant.”-Alicia Vielstich
“CURTAINS the musical was the best high school experience I have had so far. I met so many new people, learned so many new songs to dance and performing each night was a different experience and fun. Being in the musical taught me that it’s important to know your priorities and commitments. I am so excited to do the musical next year. I look back and wish I could do CURTAINS again. Hopefully we inspired people who saw this show.”-Lacy Bergstrom
“Performing in the musical CURTAINS was a wonderful opportunity for me to share my talents and grow. Before performing in this show I never realized how much I love musical theatre. Not only did I learn to singing, dancing and acting skills I also learned what it takes to have a phenomenal show – hard work, cooperation and positive attitude.” -Madeleine Homer
“Each year of my high school experience I have been involved in the annual musical. As a senior, CURTAINS was extremely fun and memorable. Rehearsals were long but worth it. My favorite part was performing on stage. I love acting like I hated Jessica Cranshaw! Overall dancing is my passion and I LOVED dancing in this musical!! I was able to dance as a cowgirl, show person, saloon girl and…a mermaid! Each character was unique and special. If I were to suggest any musical for high school CURTAINS would be it.”-Meagan Payne
“The more obvious lesson of CURTAINS is the importance of the arts in our society. In the song “Show People,” the lyrics perfectly expressed the joy that performers feel during a musical. I could take each and every one of those lyrics and apply them to myself and my cast mates as I was preparing for our performances. There is no feeling in the world as purely blissful as performing for an audience. The joy and eagerness of the characters of CURTAINS can reflect the joy that audiences should have when viewing a performance, supporting the theme that the arts really do have a huge effect on our society. I cannot even find the words to describe how passionately I loved having this experience. Nothing in my life has brought me such a feeling of joy and fulfillment, and I learned so many things that I can use both in the theater and in my life. I am so immensely grateful that I was able to participate in something that touched and inspired so many audience members, and I am very excited for next year, so that I can have this experience again!”-Lauren Carter
My thanks to the entire cast for sharing their comments with TRW’s StagePage. For more information on licensing CURTAINS, please visit the show page.
Fine Arts Department Presents the Utah H.S. Premiere of Irresistible Musical
Hillcrest High School in Midvale, Utah presented the Utah high school premiere of CURTAINS, November 18-21. TRW’s Broadway blockbuster features a book by Rupert Holmes, based on a concept by Peter Stone, with a classic score from the legendary Kander and Ebb. Theaters throughout the world are now getting their chance to produce this phenomenal show!
CURTAINS played over 500 performances on Broadway, and received eight 2007 Tony® Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Actor (A Winner for David Hyde Pierce), Best Actress, Best Featured Actress, Best Direction and Best Choreography. Kander and Ebb’s amazing score is perfectly woven into the fabric of the unfailingly clever book.
CURTAINS is set in the brassy, bright, and promising year of 1959. Boston’s Colonial Theatre is host to the opening night performance of a new musical. When the leading lady mysteriously dies on stage the entire cast & crew are suspects. Enter a local detective, who just happens to be a musical theatre fan!
CURTAINS is perfect for community theatres, high schools and colleges, mixing a delightful new book and score with a very traditional musical theatre style. A plethora of featured roles provide stellar opportunities for everyone who auditions, making CURTAINS a sure-fire winner for audiences and actors alike! Check out these awesome pics from the Hillcrest High production…
These photos are from the Hillcrest High School Production of CURTAINS, directed by Paul Winkleman. Mr. Winkleman had a great experience working with TRW. “I wanted to thank you for all your assistance with the production of CURTAINS. It was extremely successful and the students had a great experience. I plan to work with your company for many years to come, ” Winkleman said.
Hillcrest’s production involved over 200 students with the cast, orchestra and crew. TRW salutes the Hillcrest High School Drama Department and their wonderful premiere production!
CURTAINS is taking musical theatre to the next level. License this Broadway gem now and you might be the first in your area to produce this terrific tuner from TRW. Get a reading copy of CURTAINS at our PerusalsNOW™ store and get ready to book your production of CURTAINS!
Representing SPAMALOT is a labor of true love and hearing from our customers about what a joy this show is to present is a daily thing. We also get lots of great questions about the show from folks who are ready to take the Python-plunge but need a nudge, nudge to send the money and put it on their season. While this brilliant show is built on the Python classics (yes your audiences WILL say the lines of SOME parts with the actors), SPAMALOT takes it’s movie mommy to a new place as a true classic of the American Musical Theatre. While lovingly skewering Big Broadway, it takes the form on like a seasoned pro, expertly crafting a defining book musical with a big heart, wrapped in an irresistibly silly escape. OK…love the show. Got it.
