OPENING NIGHTS! How I love them!

Tonight is another Opening Night. I love them. I love the anticipation. I love the excitement. I love the fear induced butterflies in my stomach. When we held auditions way back in October, it was in anticipation of this night. Beautiful Thing opens at Walterdale Theatre tonight. I hope to see you there!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=272545052164&index=1

Director's Preview/Student Night Tonight

If you have an invite from the Director of Beautiful Thing or are a student with a valid student I.D. you can come see the show tonight at Walterdale for FREE. It is technically a rehearsal (preview), but if you like theatre but can't always afford it this is an option for you. Seating is limited.

The show officially opens Wednesday, Feb 10th. Thursday, Feb 11th is our 2 for 1 night. Even without these special deals, I would just like to point out that we are one of the most affordable theatre options out there. This is also our 6-pack show so they tend to sell really well so if you want to see the show you might want to get your tickets early rather than later.

Our First Preview Article for Beautiful Thing

http://www.gaycalgary.com/Magazine.aspx?id=76

Work in Progress...

I had the opportunity/good luck to watch a rehearsal of Beautiful Thing last night. It's looking great! It was the first night where the techs and the actors were working with the set and for a first time, things went pretty smoothly. It bodes well for Q2Q that they are this ahead of the game. The set is quite amazing and I cannot wait to see it when it is complete. This 'simple' little show requires more running crew than actors. I can't believe they are in the shape they are will still a week and a half to go before an audience - awesome!

In Case You are Interested...

Justen Bennett (Director) and Joel Taras (Actor - Ste) will be on CJSR at 6:00p tonight, talking about Beautiful Thing! You can listen at http://www.cjsr.ualberta.ca

Media Photos

Douglas (Dollars) Stewart came in and took some wonderful media photos for Beautiful Thing. Here's one of my favorites. The rest can be seen at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150794&id=192621036890&l=f87d12d3a0

Douglas Stewart has been doing our media call photos for a few years now. He's a great asset to Walterdale and does his best to serve the needs of each production. He also really appreciates the work of all our designers and will often take photos of just the set or detail photos of the costumes. His pictures are fabulous! Glad to have him around!

Less Than a Month Until the Next Show Hits the Boards...

The building is busy. Lets remember that. It's not just the physical building, though, it is the human building too. In the Physical Building we had Beautiful Thing in rehearsal and undergoing a massive build on deck. In less than a month we will see the show up on the boards (by the by - I advise getting your tickets sooner rather than later because it is the 6-pack show and that those tend to sell very well, frequently selling out on the weekends).

The human building that is Walterdale has many other things on the go. The Mail Order Bride (directed by Alex Hawkins) is in rehearsal in other spaces preparing to move in in just over a month. Auditions for From Cradle to Stage are being booked (we need more men to sign up - email me ADWalterdale2009@yahoo.ca) as they are in mid February. The Directors for those shows (Taylor Chadwick and Anne Marie Szucs) are anxiously awaiting the final drafts of their scripts. The Playwrights (Jim Herchak and Andy Garland) are tweaking and re-writing and discussing their changes with the Dramaturges (Tracy Carroll and Brian Dooley). Other Walterdale members are preparing for the ADFA One Act Festival, Stage Struck! that goes up in the building at the end of February. Still more members, fueled by the readings at the Donor Voted Show Event, are brainstorming ideas for informal readings of classic works (Check out One Green Leaf Theatre on Facebook). So much going on in the building and out!

Board Meeting Tonight

The December Board meeting is tonight. Lend Me a Tenor closed last night and now Beautiful Thing will move into the house. The season seems to be running along smoothly with few arising issues or snags. I would like to think that is due to good organization and thinking ahead instead of always being in debrief mode. The next thing on my list is constructing an audition notice for From Cradle to Stage. There will be a variety of roles for our membership to audition for but I really want to highlight the wonderful plays that will be up on our decks to attract people. It is hard with new works because the plays are not known, they are new, so people don't know what they are getting themselves into. One of the plays also one the Canada Peace Play competition this year, so you know it's got to be good. The other thing I am looking for/working on is submissions for the 2010-2011 Season. I have many submitted scripts that do not have assigned directors. I have very few directors submissions. I want more because the more choices I have, the better the season can be!

Drumroll Please...

I am very excited to announce the cast for Beautiful Thing....

Jamie - Doran Werner
Leah - Maura Frunza
Sandra - Amelia Duplessis
Ste - Joel Taras
Tony - Randy Brososky

This cast is a mix of newcomers and old-timers (although Randy might object to being called old- 'cause he's not - in fact he is younger than I am!). If you see one of them, please congratulate them! Well done all, and well done Justen Bennett for selecting such a great cast!

Auditions - A Beautiful Thing...

One of the things I have been doing as AD of Walterdale is sit in on all the auditions for the shows this season. This past Sunday and Monday night we held the auditions for our February show, Beautiful Thing. Being involved in all the auditions, even just as an observer has given me a great opportunity to see the depth of our talent pool. I am not sure of the exact cast for this show, but I have an idea based on my own assessments of who is in running. I know that based on those who came out we shall have a strong cast. This is exciting as I figured this would be the most challenging show in our season to cast.

I have also gotten to observe the same people auditioning more than one time. One thing I am tremendously pleased with is that over the course of consecutive auditions I have seen marked improvement in some of the auditioners. That means that they are either learning from the experience, or they are going away and training or re-thinking their approach. For me, as a Director at Walterdale, it makes me excited to think that some of these people may audition for me down the line. Please, please, please do not stop coming out for auditions. There were people we saw that were good, but just not right in the mix or right for the part... there will be a part for you eventually! I know it! One long-time Walterdalian told me this weekend, she auditioned 12 times before she finally got into a Walterdale show, but it was worth it!

Another benefit to this round is that Justen Bennett, the Director, had me do a little introduction to Walterdale while he sorted readings. I hope that some of the people listened and will take me up on the offer to fine a role in our community even if they do not get cast. Walterdale is about opportunity, but sometimes the opportunity looks different than you think it will!