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.