Annie Final Rehearsal - I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here

Annie Final rehearsal - Tomorrow

Annie Final Dress Rehearsal - Hard Knock Life

Annie Final Dress Rehearsal - Maybe

Love the comment from a stray orphan about "having the dog" - sigh...love the backstage.

Opening Night is Here

Whew! We made it. Tonight is opening night. I haven't been able to blog because I've either been at work or at the theatre.

The backdrops arrived two days ago and look great! The pre-recorded music is working - the rehearsal CDs didn't make it when the machine did, so I had to quickly scramble and call the MT pit to have them overnight the CDs so the actors could rehearse at home as well as downstairs in the theatre while other parts of the rehearsal process were being taken care of upstairs.

I'm so thankful for everyone who stepped in to help make this production look and sound GREAT!! As with all shows, the scene changes took some time to be choreographed, especially my request to have a staircase for Annie to come running down in her red dress and wig. She looks SO CUTE in her traditional Annie outfit.

We also added some pillars to the Warbucks scenes to help balance out the stage - they look good and definitely add to the grandeur of Warbucks Mansion.

The costumes look fabulous, I'm so amazed at Amy, she really did such a wonderful job at costuming over 60 actors.

I could use a couple more mics for the show - we have 11 and I'm adding one more tonight. We had a couple of missed cues last night because of the lack of enough mics and having to swap them out with the various actors, but that will get fixed to night.

The lights look great, I saw one small problem last night with the lights going dark before NYC was completely over and the lights coming up in the followiong scene - but we got that fixed as well.

I'm so proud of everyone and I can't them them enough.

The Music's Here!!!!

Yay!!!!! Off to rehearsal to see what it sounds like : D

Still No Music

Grrrr.... we paid extra to have the MT PIT music machine delivered for yesterday, & it sat at the FedEx dest sort facility since 3:16am. We have an est. delivery of by 4:30pm today. At least we had our rehearsal pianist yesterday to fix/clean up some songs. Tonight we'll focus on Act II music.

Most of the orphans have orphan looking shoes. Props are being gathered - can't wait to see the vintage wheelchair on stage again.

Annie "Together at Last"

Annie "Cabinet Tomorrow"

The guys and gals - are having a lot of fun with this number : D

Annie - "Tomorrow"

Here's Ali rehearsing "Tomorrow" with Honey as Sandy. Sandy lost his rope, and decided to go in a different direction. Ali's such a pro, she continues on no matter what. She even kept going the other day when Honey got sick and left part of a rawhide on stage during the song. Poor Doggie.

Weekend Rehearsal

We ran through Act II on Friday Act I on Saturday and the full show on Sunday. Cleaned up some messy blocking, worked on songs & dances some more - cleaning them up, making sure everyone is hitting their notes and picking their feet up when dancing. Its starting to come together. we also had a new pianist this weekend. I'm so thankful for everyone who's stepping in and taking a part of the show - that's what makes community theatre so wonderful!

A color ad ran in Sunday's paper - haven't seen it yet. My fabulous mom & brother picked up a copy for me.

Music is supposed to arrive today. I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival. We're supposed to rehearse Act I music tonight with the recorded music.

The Mom of Pepper red has been taking rehearsal photos - they look wonderful!!! I can't wait to share some of them here.

Annie Article in Local Newspaper and Online

Annie PR has started!!! The article for which I was interviewed for earlier in the week has been published online and in the local newspaper. Annie even made it to the front page!!!! All photos by Reeves Photography.

A musical message of hopeGreater Grand Forks Community Theatre brings ‘Annie’ to stage

By: Paulette Tobin, Grand Forks Herald

Want to hear a couple of quick choruses of the beleaguered orphans from “Annie” singing “It’s a Hard Knock Life”? Just call Mary Lizakowski’s cell phone. It’s been her ring-back tone for the past two years.

“I’m an ‘Annie’ fan. I love that show,” said Lizakowski, who is directing the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre’s “Annie,” which opens Thursday. “I love the whole history of the show, going back to the cartoon days.”

“Annie,” a story of hope triumphing over adversity, began as the Harold Gray “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip in 1924. His young heroine, with her curly red hair, signature red dress and fondness for regularly exclaiming “Leapin’ Lizards!,” came to Broadway as a musical in 1977 with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin and the book by Thomas Meehan.
In 1982, it became a musical film starring Carol Burnett, Albert Finney and Aileen Quinn, forever immortalizing Annie’s trademark anthem, “Tomorrow” and her furry co-star, a mutt named Sandy.

Community theater’s “Annie” will feature 10-year-old Ali Nicolai, a student at East Grand Forks Sacred Heart School, as the spunky Depression-era orphan determined to find her parents.
Annie is living in an orphanage run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan (Michelle McCauley). In one adventure after another, Annie foils the plots of Miss Hannigan, her no-good brother, Rooster Hannigan (Chris Berg) and his floozy girlfriend, Lily St. Regis (Marjorie Morris) and finds a new home with billionaire Daddy Warbucks (Jon Jackson) and his personal secretary Grace Farrell (Amanda Hill).

The show will run at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Feb. 13 and Feb. 18-20, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees on Feb. 14 and 21, all in the Empire Arts Center. Reservations are available ($15, $12 and $10) in UND’s Chester Fritz Auditorium box office or by calling (701) 777-4090.
With such a large cast (more than 75 children and adults), organizing a rehearsal schedule
wasn’t easy. The ordered scripts didn’t arrive until three weeks ago.

But Lizakowski said they’re the latest touring version of the show and feature a lot more stage time for the orphans, more humor and a new song for Daddy Warbucks. Working with the cast has been great, she said.

“We have a top-notch cast of orphans,” she said. “They’re really excited, they learn quickly and they take direction very well. And I’m very excited for Annie, which is Ali (Nicolai), because she’s a triple threat, she does it all, sings, dances and acts, which is great.”

Ali had her blond hair dyed red to play Annie. She’s been performing on stage for four years and has had parts in community theater’s “Schoolhouse Rock” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and in “South Pacific” at UND Burtness Theatre.

Mare Thompson is assistant director with Jenny Morris as choreographer, Jeff Kinney as technical director, Amy Sanner as head costumer and Carly Flaagan and McKenzie Netz as student directors.

The cast
The cast includes Abby Anderson, Chris Berg, Ava Birkholz, Doug Chavis, Noah Cline, Seth Cline, Taylor Corbit, Emma Dodds, Roger Dykstra, Jaxon Flermoen, Jetiah Flermoen, Ruben Flores, Amber Fuller, Katie Gabik, Rod Gillund, Tacy Gillund, Lucy Glessner, Sophie Glessner, Kenneth Granle, Lily Grossbauer, Sarah Grossbauer, Amanda Hill, Maia Jackson, Jon Jackson, McKinley Kartes, Kathy King, Jared Kinney, Kelly King, Shealyn Klave, Madeline Kleven, Ali Kvidt, Michaela Lee, Naomi Lee, Victoria Lee, Bailey Mankie, Michelle McCauley, Lauren McCreary, Ivy McGurran, Kathleen Mohr, Haleigh Mooney, Marjorie Morris, McKenzie Netz, Ali Nicolai, Nicole Rothenberger, Kathryn Rutz, Lauren Sanner, Rebecca Sanner, Tessa Sanner, Sydney Skaro, Francie Shaft, Taylor Stauss, Elise Stayman, Hannah Syberson, Lizzy Syverson, Claire Thompson, Sophie Welsh, Nichole Wilson, Taylor Wilson and Juliet Wolfe.

The role of Sandy, Annie’s lovable mutt, will be played by two real-life mutts, Lizakowski said: Honey, who became part of Ali Nicolai’s family after they rescued it from a ditch, and Buddy, a dog Lizakowski adopted from the humane society.

When Lizakowski isn’t directing “Annie,” she works in the learning and organizational development department for Altru Health System, is a sideline photographer for UND football games and technical director for the Fighting Sioux Sports Network broadcasts. Even if she wasn’t a lifelong fan of “Annie,” she said, she’d have faith that this show will be a hit for community theater.

“Kids and dogs, you can’t go wrong,” she said.

Music Problem Solved

Last night we decided to go with The MT Pit for canned music. A live pit would've been great, but at this point, this is the best solution. Ben is ordering it today and should arrive by Monday - hopefully in time to have music rehearsal that night. I was also sent a cue sheet for the music by our Rooster and it looks like it should be very easy to run. The actor will have to adjust, but that should be ok.

We Open In TWO Weeks!!!!

Two weeks from tonight Annie will open at the Empire. Everything is looking good - except for the music. Still no solid pit or conductor - BUT I was given a website to look at: http://www.themtpit.com/

I called and spoke with Elizabeth from MT Pit. She was very kind. I asked if it would be feasible for us to even use their services two weeks from opening. We can, provided we use the canned music they have and not make changes to it - they even have the current version of the tour script which includes Warbuck's song "Why Should I Change A Thing?"

Jeff has organized a meeting tonight to discuss our music options. We'll see what comes of it.

200 and counting

Was told that as of yesterday, we've sold 200 tickets for the show so far. Not bad since publicity hasn't really started and we are a little over two weeks from opening.

Interview, Buddy on Stage, FDR & Drake

Yesterday I had a 25 minute phone interview with Paulette Tobin from the Herald. I hope she can use something from my ramblings and could make sense from what I was saying - I could talk for hours about the show.

I'm so proud of Buddy right now!! I think we finally found a way for him to be comfortable with Annie on stage. Right now I'm pretending to be a homeless person asleep next to the trash can on stage. We ran through Act I Scene 2 a couple of times that way and he didn't want to stray from Annie so much that way. I took some peeks when Annie was belting out her Tomorrow and Buddy was right with her facing the aundience for a good portion. We'll see how it looks when we get to the Empire. I may also throw myself into Hooverville to make sure he behaves himself since the tour version puts Annie into the scene much earlier and includes her in the Hooverville song.

We have our FDR!!!!! We blocked Act II Scene 3(actually re-blocked with the new actors) I'm loving our FDR - I knew he'd do a great job when he auditioned. So glad he reconsidered - it adds so much to that scene. My men in that scene also belted out "Tomorrow" for the very first time - EVER. Acapella. They sounded so good. I was told that the orphans in the other part of the theatre just stopped with an amazed look on their faces and gave a listen to the guys. The ending needs help, but that'll get fixed on Thursday. I just loved hearing tomorrow with those lower voices.

We also have a Drake!!!! Thank you Jared!!! Can't wait to see how he interprets the role. Jared's so talented and has great instincts. We haven't worked on a show together since 2002 when we did West Side Story at Frost Fire. Yay!!!!

Fully Dressed Children

Here are a couple of pics and videos of the Red & Blue Orphan teams rehearsing the "Fully Dressed" Number

ACT I, The Red Wig, Music Woes

We ran all of Act I last night with the exception of the last scene because "You Won't Be An Orphan For Long" hasn't been choreographed yet. It went very well for a first run through. We stopped between scenes to block new actors into their spots. I now have a Lt. Ward!!! I'm so excited - he's a grandpa of one of the orphan chorus girls and stepped right last night for the first time.

The "Storm" isn't as bad as I expected it to be at this time, so we are having rehearsal today. I'll play it by ear and see what happens throughout the day. The roads a slushy and the slush is getting compacted and freezing in places, but people are out and about.

Annie's curly wig arrived yesterday - we'll try it on today and see how it fits. I'm pleased with the color, it matches her dye job quite well. I wonder what it will look like under the stage lights.

I got confirmation that the backdrops are ordered for sure and have a guaranteed date of February 10th. - One day before our opening.

As for music, that's the only problem area right now. Legally, there is no canned music available to use for performances, the orchestra machine MTI has is $3,000.00 and pit musicians are at a premium right now. We are looking at another posibility of having a pit come in and record the show - I'd like to have them live - sigh....

Actor Cheat Sheets

I just sent an e-mail to my original choice for FDR asking him to reconsider - I sure hope he does! I also have a potential lead on a Drake - hope he says yes as well!!

I started Actor Cheat Sheets for them last night listing each actor and the scenes they are in and the costumes they need for each scene. I know I'm at least halfway through that list. I plan to hand those out this weekend.

Gotta go and put out more rehearsal schedules. That music better arrive soon!!

Panic is Setting In!

I have a huge list of things to do for the show plus continue to create rehearsal time schedules - and now a snow storm might hit the area this weekend - yikes!!! We still have dances to choreograph.

Last night I sent out a mass e-mail looking for older men to be in the show. I also received a call from a fellow actor/director to see if he could do FDR. He declined. And I completely understand because he has another huge commitment during the first week of our run and he would be spreading himself too thin. So now I am going to call the gentleman I originally cast (he declined FDR because he wanted Daddy Warbucks) and I'm going to ask him to reconsider. I don't think he realizes how much fun that role can be - and he'd get to sing Tomorrow!!!! What could be better?!

Props, Drops and Where Can I Find FDR?

Tons of stuff has happened since the last entry. A few people cast have chosen to leave the show. We still need an FDR, Two Policemen, Two Dogcatchers and a Drake - where are all those tall handsome men??!!!??? I have a call in to someone to see if he'll accept FDR - should know by end of day. We spent the last two weekends blocking and choreographing. I now have the show 99.9% blocked - and then of course we'll have to fit in the guys when the empty roles are cast. I met with our Bert Healy last night and gave him his blocking - so we've got that covered.

I also went through the light plot, sound plot and fly cues with Jeff - so we have those in place. Jenny just needs to get her light cues for NYC in to him. The Empire doesn't have a fly loft, but we can utilize a traveler system over there for the backdrops. Jeff has been wonderful making calls to a couple of backdrop rental places. One rental establishment - Backdrops Beautiful, have a lot of wonderful, rich looking drops - the colors just pop when viewed online. We're trying to rent three from Backdrops Beautiful - a Back Alley, an NYC drop with theatre signs and a Warbucks Mansion with drapes. They said they would match competitors prices with a quote from the competitor. I'm hoping and praying we can get the three drops we want for $1500.00.

We have a couple of property mistresses pulling props for the show.

Amy has been pulling and building costumes - they are looking great!! The Hooverville folks have some wonderful coats - I'm loving the orange coat one of the ladies is wearing, I'll have to get a photo of her in it, she's so homeless looking - perfect!!

It looks like we may not have a pit, but use canned music for the show. The music has been ordered, so just waiting for that to be delivered to give a listen to.

Publicity photos are online to view the proofs at http://www.reevesphotography.com

I have a couple of student directors helping take notes, read lines and I think I'm going to have them type out the scenes and which actor is needed in each scene and what costume each actor is wearing in their scene. That would take some pressure off.

I'm meeting with Jenny tonight to try and finalize the rest of the rehearsal schedule and find time to finish the choreography. We'll also need time to go through the canned music with the actors once they have learned their songs.

Annie Costume Fitting and Publicity Photos

Tuesday we had a costume fitting for Annie to make sure her red dress will fit nicely for the publicity photos that are being taken this evening. She also tried on the other costumes that were ready at the time. Annie looks so cute with her little brother in matching pinstripes! Oh yeah!! Can't forget - she had her hair cut and dyed Saturday, as you can see in the pics.

Scripts Have Arrived!

YAY!!! The scripts finally arrived this week - now we can really get down to business. Found out they are the current tour scripts and not the original Broadway. I'm so excited because there are more comedic elements added to the show. We've also secured a pianist and a pit conductor. Jeff is working on set pieces and is also finding a way to try and utilize more than one backdrop. The priciple orphan teams have been working in their Fully Dressed number. I can't wait to see how it looks as I didn't attend dance rehearsal last night.