Showtime-- Opening Night

Opening Night:

I don’t feel nervous…. This is a BAD sign. When I am not nervous, it generally means that my acting is going to be lack luster at best. And I’m not really worried about the other actors—even though we had to add another rehearsal in because I dress rehearsal was slow, dull, uneven, and otherwise boring.

BUT then—once I was in full costume—and everyone was getting to their places—the nerves hit. Thanks heavens! Opening Night was a success. The giant peach, which I feared wouldn’t even be standing in time for the show, worked beautifully. Clay Bell, Jeremy Reardon, Tanner Powell, and other cast members worked like ghosts—sliding from place to place making everything happen.

In the end everything worked out—as it always seems to at Cotton Hall. And maybe I wasn’t nervous because I knew it always is this way. I’ll be sure to fill you in on some of the in-betweens and add more detail after we close.

Until things slow down….

Will Murdock

Broken Promise

Okay... so... I know I promised several blog posts a week throughout this production. I realize now that I was completely silly in the head to make such a daring statement....

Things have been busy at Cotton Hall AND are busier still today. As I sit here at the computer, I am thinking of all that I am supposed to be doing, and I've been asked to help with a new project-- AGH!!!!! (Although, I am not stressed out about this show-- which is new for me-- generally during the final week of a show I would be losing hair and sleep over unfinished projects.)

So........ in defense of my time... I will give you the briefest of brief run downs of what's happening with James.

LOBBY:

We have some awesome moms with this cast. Last night, there were five or six (and my sister, a non-mom) who were charging ahead in the lobby. They swept and they swept and they swept some more. Together, they moved a HUGE wooden display case, and ton of heavy coke fountain drink canisters, and a pile of luau decorations for the cast party.

SET:

I have to say this-- at the risk of bragging-- but I love the house that we have made for the evil Aunt Spiker and Sponge. Its not Broadway impressive, but it suits me just fine. We've also been working on other things of course, but that has been our biggest project so far.

COSTUMES:

Betty Murdock and Kathy Strickland rock! They have got the costumes rocking! I think these are some of the best we've seen so far!

REHEARSALS:

Last nights rehearsal was a little bit sillier than I would have liked, but since Saturdays run thru was awesome-- I figured I would let them get the silly our of their system. I've been really impressed by the physicality the bugs have been working on with their characters. Aden knows exactly where James' emotion is at-- somehow-- with every line. And Aunt Spiker and Sponge are hilarious. (Possibly upstaged by their hats.) And everyone else is doing a phenominal job on their parts too!

Signing off--- there's a peach to build---

Will Murdock

Rehearsals: DAY 1

Monday was our first rehearsal. To be honest, I felt a little unprepared, because it seemed like everything was happening all at once. Getting ready for disco fever took longer than I expected. We've been cleaning, painting, and decorating for seventies dance night, which has taken up lots and lots of time--but hopefully lots of people will show up.

And so, on Monday, I felt a tad bit unprepared. Thankfully, everything ran pretty smoothly anyway. Our cast of bugs is going to be great together. I think they all fit their roles perfectly. Sabrina Grant is playing the motherly Miss Spider; Sidney Thomas, the worrisome Ladybug; Heather Grebel is the blind Earthworm; while Danielle Powell is the "guy's guy" Centipede.

Preston Messer will be playing the musically talented Grasshopper.

The rehearsal had me smiling from ear to ear. Even if I had wanted to, I wouldn't have been able to stop. All of the bugs-- some theater veterans and some newcomers-- are going to be phenominal. And Aden, the young boy playing James, surprised me. It's not that I was expecting him to crash and burn, I was just thinking it would take a little more prodding to get much emotion out of him. But-- like I said-- I was surprised.

From the time he opened his mouth, he was already James. He had obviously gone over his lines prior to rehearsal (Shout out to his mom, I suspect!) and was able to deliver them without issue. I have a sneaking suspicion that he could've done both of the scenes we covered without the script altogether.

Now that the first few rehearsals have broken ground, we'll start to dig deeper into the blocking and mannerisms of each character. I hope things will continue to go so well, and that I can make sure to be fully prepared from now on.

Broken Plates, Loud Singing, and a Lackluster Broom

Once the theater is turned over to us for the Youth show, things really start picking up. Normally, we dive right in-- painting, building, rearranging. This year, things are going a little differently. First things first, you know?

And the first thing needed: A CLEAN THEATER.

It's hard to clean the theater. I mean, have you seen the place? Floor to ceiling beams, a million nooks and crannies, uneven flooring, and on top of that-- it can be very dark in there! My first attempt at cleaning was Thursday night. It was me and my broom versus the theater. And the theater fought back. My puny little broom wasn't cutting it, and everything was way too quiet. Except for the creaks of the building... the bumps in the dark... and the noises outside...

I tried singing at the top of my lungs. I sang every song I could think of to drown out the creepy noises of Cotton Hall... alone... at night. In the end, I gave up. My sweeping wasn't accomplishing anything-- and to be perfectly honest, I was scared out of my mind. Once I had shut off all the lights, I ran out of the building.

DAY TWO of CLEANING:
Saturday. Two o'clock.

I resumed sweeping and made a bit more progress before breaking out the vacuum cleaner. It IS amazing. Truly, it is. To conquer the noises of the building, I brought with me speakers and music-- and I had it blaring. Sometime during all my vacuuming and incredibly loud singing, Kate snuck in behind me and tried to unplug the vacuum. I saw her before she did it, but she scared me none-the-less.

Then, after the surprise attack, Susanne showed up and the cleaning continued. Mr. Tully was otherwise occupied. We cleaned up cornstarch in one corner, and inch of dust under a staircase, and shards of broken plates from Swamp Gravy. We also did a bit of cleaning in the dressing room, but mainly stuck to the theater.

We cleaned for about nine hrs over three days, and STILL, we couldn't see much difference! I mean, the floor is the color of dirt as it is. No, rhe difference might not be visible, but we know its clean. We have a clean canvas now-- and the art is about to begin.

Roll 'Em!

I haven't seen the movie version of James and the Giant Peach in a long time. Just the other day, I watched the first 20 minutes, but decided to hold off on watching the rest. For Peter Pan, we watch the VHS —yes VHS — of Mary Martin's musical version of Peter. (The only DVDs available on Amazon are 170 dollars plus!) The cast was more familiar with the Disney version, and needed to see the story onstage. James and the Giant Peach is apparently a story that is more familiar to people my age. Many of the younger cast members have never seen it! (It's another Roald Dahl classic —he also wrote Willy Wonka, Mathilda, and The Witches.) So, we are going to have a cast movie night. Watching James and the Giant Peach with the cast will likely answer many of their questions about their characters, but I fear it's only going to raise a million more about the se t!

They are going to see a massively huge peach, a massively amazing set, and massively awesome special effects. The filmmakers had one thing that we don't have —a massively large budget. Don't get me wrong, the show is going to be amazing, but we are having to get creative. I don't want to give anything away, but with a little imagination, it's going to be a piece of cake to see the Giant Peach roll, float, bob, and fly on it's journey from England to New York.

Almost all of our Youth Theater Shows have included some semblance of a magical happening —and we've made it work so far, but once the magic of James begins, it doesn't stop. This show is back to back magic.

We're prepared to bring the magic, as long as you are prepared to believe.