We had caught wind of Colorado Acts, a nifty little theater company, doing Music Man when we (Allison and I) went to their performance of Guys and Dolls. Kaylee and Whitnee were in the play, so we went to see it while Kristie and Kelly were on the practicum trip to Purdy, Missouri. This isn't a review of Guys and Dolls, but there is an interesting side story relating to the Music Man, both this production and the School's.
It was really kind of a puzzle, with the first clue being the program of Guys and Dolls. It announced that ACTS was going to perform the Music Man this summer and it would be performed in the School's auditorium. Interesting. I'm not, will never and didn't want to be in charge of these things, but this was the first I'd heard of this. And I thought it was interesting since I was reading this announcement 1 day after I'd stored all of the flats and destroyed the remainder of the sets! So I was a bit confused and thought maybe there was plan...and I just wasn't privy to it.
So early the following week, when we were tearing down the stage extension, another random comment came my way. It was made by Gary, the A.D. at the School (and a good guy and good friend!) He said that it was too bad that we're tearing down all this stuff, because there was some "company" who was interesting in renting the auditorium this summer, but only if all the stage stuff, including the props and flats remained available. So not knowing the full story, I figured that the mysterious "company" was ACTS and that fairly soon they would be announcing a change in venue.
And sadly they did...it was soon after that I checked their website and saw that it was now planned to be performed at Centennial Church and no mention of the School was made. I still don't know to this day the full story. I don't know who originally "sold" them on the idea to use the School and their stuff...but I have my very strong suspicions. And it's truly too bad. I would have loved to see our auditorium and our sets used by a different company, with a different director and vision. I just think it would've been cool. And a completely different show than the one that was ultimately performed.
Centennial is a large church with a large facility, and the auditorium that was being used was probably their old worship center. It was a smallish room (when compared to the 500ish seat auditorium at the School), but significantly larger than the space they used for Guys and Dolls, which was in the basement of an old church in downtown Denver. This room was flat and chairs were spread out in an arching pattern. In the center of the long wall was a small stage, probably 25 feet or so across. The performance area was extended out into the audience by a number of portable stage platforms, probably 25 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The actual stage had a curtain, but that area only accounted for a small amount of the performance area, perhaps 8 feet at the most. So the bulk of the performance would be done on the front stage, without the benefit of a curtain for set changes. On each side of the temp stage, they had rigged portable dividers, draping off a very narrow side stage and there were stairs going off the stage to these dividers. All told, this was a similar layout to the extended stage at the School, the primary difference being the full rectangular shape of the stage here, versus the oval shape that they would've dealt with at the school. That extra area makes a big difference, and while this stage appeared to be as big as the School's, I'm betting that it was almost twice as large in total square feet. In addition, since the seat configuration was flexible they had the seats far enough away from the stage so the wings were slightly obscured, as opposed to the inconvenient seating arrangement we had where the audience was able to see right into the side stage when the "curtains" were open.
Off to stage right was their "orchestra". One of the greatest things about Colorado ACTS is their complete minimalism, and there was "plenty" of that here. They ended doing the show with a piano player, a single trombone, a standup bass and a small drum kit. And it was terrific! Contrast that with the much larger sound that we were able to put out, along with the synthesizer, and this was a totally different feel. Kind of the difference between a big Broadway production vs. a more intimate off-Broadway feel. Neither is "better", just different. The size of the audience (there were maybe 75 people in attendance the night we saw it) and the size of the room made their instruments work well along with the fact that they didn't use any microphones! When we saw Guys downtown, they were mic-less, and it worked OK, but this time it worked even better. Obviously, they didn't have all the issues that I've documented that we ran into...no mics makes things a lot simpler. And I believe that their actors worked harder and projected better...maybe our mics are a bit of a crutch. But the way our auditorium is configured, it would hard to not have some sort of active sound enhancement, even if it were just choir-type mics, but this is no longer my problem :)
Their staging was nicely done, and they moved their fairly large cast, maybe 60 to 70 kids, around and off nicely. They used a single abstract backdrop of quilts and made no attempt to have it be any more detailed. Their sole set piece was a movable window and shutter piece which represented the Paroo house. It was about 8 feet tall by 4 foot wide and had a single window with a sill. Depending on which way the shutters were positioned, signified to the audience that we were inside or outside. It was very clever really. About the only negative was that they always moved it from stage right, but it was always positioned on stage left...so they had to drag it all the way across the stage in the "dark". They used a couple of chairs, a few benches and a couple of tables (not period at all!) to convey the rest of the play. Truly a minimalist extravaganza! They even stacked a couple of benches together, covered it with a quilt and it was Amarillis's piano! Very clever. They did their Rock Island opening with the benches facing the audience, which worked well. The School production had to go across the stage due to our lack of a deep stage...and that's the way I always thought it was "done".
Their actors were terrific. They had a very talented lead portraying Harold, a much better singer than ours. And a terrific actor to boot. But I still didn't think he pulled off the con man as well as Jon did, nor was he as talented a "rapper". Their quartet was very strong, but it appeared they pulled in a ringer or two, since 3 little small kids snuck up to the front to see "Daddy" sing. I didn't particularly like their Mayor, he too was an older guy, and he didn't make the mayor be particularly interesting. Marcellus and the remaining minor characters were just fine, their Charlie Cowell was as nasty as Jeff was, but perhaps not as "intense". Their weakest cast members were the two major female characters, Marion and Mrs. Shinn. And their Mrs. Shinn wasn't bad...she just couldn't compete with the domination of the role that our Kyla did. And their Marion? She was a competent, if not particularly engaging singer. Her biggest problem was that while she seemed like a good actress, I don't think she had the "chops" to pull off the singing, dancing and acting. And she was a brunette...and I'm a traditionalist in saying that Marion has to be a blond.... But she did a very good job and I'm being overly critical.
All in all, it was a terrific show. Completely different than any of the myriad of versions that I have seen. And that's what made it fun. It wasn't about the costumes (which were fine, if not a little basic) or the music or the sets. It was about the story and the kids, and that's really what's really important. And if I'm somehow involved with any productions in the future, that's what I want to really try to do. I had my big budget production in the Music Man and to a lesser degree, Butterfly. It's time to try something understated and impressionistic. At least it seems like it'd be less work!
It was really kind of a puzzle, with the first clue being the program of Guys and Dolls. It announced that ACTS was going to perform the Music Man this summer and it would be performed in the School's auditorium. Interesting. I'm not, will never and didn't want to be in charge of these things, but this was the first I'd heard of this. And I thought it was interesting since I was reading this announcement 1 day after I'd stored all of the flats and destroyed the remainder of the sets! So I was a bit confused and thought maybe there was plan...and I just wasn't privy to it.
So early the following week, when we were tearing down the stage extension, another random comment came my way. It was made by Gary, the A.D. at the School (and a good guy and good friend!) He said that it was too bad that we're tearing down all this stuff, because there was some "company" who was interesting in renting the auditorium this summer, but only if all the stage stuff, including the props and flats remained available. So not knowing the full story, I figured that the mysterious "company" was ACTS and that fairly soon they would be announcing a change in venue.
And sadly they did...it was soon after that I checked their website and saw that it was now planned to be performed at Centennial Church and no mention of the School was made. I still don't know to this day the full story. I don't know who originally "sold" them on the idea to use the School and their stuff...but I have my very strong suspicions. And it's truly too bad. I would have loved to see our auditorium and our sets used by a different company, with a different director and vision. I just think it would've been cool. And a completely different show than the one that was ultimately performed.
Centennial is a large church with a large facility, and the auditorium that was being used was probably their old worship center. It was a smallish room (when compared to the 500ish seat auditorium at the School), but significantly larger than the space they used for Guys and Dolls, which was in the basement of an old church in downtown Denver. This room was flat and chairs were spread out in an arching pattern. In the center of the long wall was a small stage, probably 25 feet or so across. The performance area was extended out into the audience by a number of portable stage platforms, probably 25 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The actual stage had a curtain, but that area only accounted for a small amount of the performance area, perhaps 8 feet at the most. So the bulk of the performance would be done on the front stage, without the benefit of a curtain for set changes. On each side of the temp stage, they had rigged portable dividers, draping off a very narrow side stage and there were stairs going off the stage to these dividers. All told, this was a similar layout to the extended stage at the School, the primary difference being the full rectangular shape of the stage here, versus the oval shape that they would've dealt with at the school. That extra area makes a big difference, and while this stage appeared to be as big as the School's, I'm betting that it was almost twice as large in total square feet. In addition, since the seat configuration was flexible they had the seats far enough away from the stage so the wings were slightly obscured, as opposed to the inconvenient seating arrangement we had where the audience was able to see right into the side stage when the "curtains" were open.
Off to stage right was their "orchestra". One of the greatest things about Colorado ACTS is their complete minimalism, and there was "plenty" of that here. They ended doing the show with a piano player, a single trombone, a standup bass and a small drum kit. And it was terrific! Contrast that with the much larger sound that we were able to put out, along with the synthesizer, and this was a totally different feel. Kind of the difference between a big Broadway production vs. a more intimate off-Broadway feel. Neither is "better", just different. The size of the audience (there were maybe 75 people in attendance the night we saw it) and the size of the room made their instruments work well along with the fact that they didn't use any microphones! When we saw Guys downtown, they were mic-less, and it worked OK, but this time it worked even better. Obviously, they didn't have all the issues that I've documented that we ran into...no mics makes things a lot simpler. And I believe that their actors worked harder and projected better...maybe our mics are a bit of a crutch. But the way our auditorium is configured, it would hard to not have some sort of active sound enhancement, even if it were just choir-type mics, but this is no longer my problem :)
Their staging was nicely done, and they moved their fairly large cast, maybe 60 to 70 kids, around and off nicely. They used a single abstract backdrop of quilts and made no attempt to have it be any more detailed. Their sole set piece was a movable window and shutter piece which represented the Paroo house. It was about 8 feet tall by 4 foot wide and had a single window with a sill. Depending on which way the shutters were positioned, signified to the audience that we were inside or outside. It was very clever really. About the only negative was that they always moved it from stage right, but it was always positioned on stage left...so they had to drag it all the way across the stage in the "dark". They used a couple of chairs, a few benches and a couple of tables (not period at all!) to convey the rest of the play. Truly a minimalist extravaganza! They even stacked a couple of benches together, covered it with a quilt and it was Amarillis's piano! Very clever. They did their Rock Island opening with the benches facing the audience, which worked well. The School production had to go across the stage due to our lack of a deep stage...and that's the way I always thought it was "done".
Their actors were terrific. They had a very talented lead portraying Harold, a much better singer than ours. And a terrific actor to boot. But I still didn't think he pulled off the con man as well as Jon did, nor was he as talented a "rapper". Their quartet was very strong, but it appeared they pulled in a ringer or two, since 3 little small kids snuck up to the front to see "Daddy" sing. I didn't particularly like their Mayor, he too was an older guy, and he didn't make the mayor be particularly interesting. Marcellus and the remaining minor characters were just fine, their Charlie Cowell was as nasty as Jeff was, but perhaps not as "intense". Their weakest cast members were the two major female characters, Marion and Mrs. Shinn. And their Mrs. Shinn wasn't bad...she just couldn't compete with the domination of the role that our Kyla did. And their Marion? She was a competent, if not particularly engaging singer. Her biggest problem was that while she seemed like a good actress, I don't think she had the "chops" to pull off the singing, dancing and acting. And she was a brunette...and I'm a traditionalist in saying that Marion has to be a blond.... But she did a very good job and I'm being overly critical.
All in all, it was a terrific show. Completely different than any of the myriad of versions that I have seen. And that's what made it fun. It wasn't about the costumes (which were fine, if not a little basic) or the music or the sets. It was about the story and the kids, and that's really what's really important. And if I'm somehow involved with any productions in the future, that's what I want to really try to do. I had my big budget production in the Music Man and to a lesser degree, Butterfly. It's time to try something understated and impressionistic. At least it seems like it'd be less work!