Save the date
For those who like to plan ahead, here is the Performing Arts schedule for meetings, auditions and productions for fall 2014 and production dates for spring 2015.
Fall 2014
PC Players:
September 20, Saturday: Opening Day of ticket sales for Mama Won’t Fly; 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. in the Renaissance Theatre. After that tickets will be available at the Eagle’s Nest kiosk on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
September 30, Tuesday: PC Players monthly meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the Sienna Room.
October 22 to 25, Wednesday through Saturday: PC Players Fall Production, Mama Won’t Fly at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theatre.
October 28, Tuesday: PC Players monthly meeting, 7:00 p.m. in the Sienna Room.
October 29 and 30, Wednesday and Thursday: Auditions for Hallelujah Girls; 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Tuscany Ballroom. Scripts available from Patti Wegehaupt at 623-536-7233 or Lee Vilensky, 480-244-556).
ShowTime:
October 25, Saturday: Opening Day of ticket sales for Celebrating Ed Sullivan from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. in the Renaissance Theatre. After that tickets available at Eagle’s Nest kiosk Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to noon.
October 26, Sunday: Auditions for The Drowsy Chaperone from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theatre.
October 28, Tuesday: Auditions for The Drowsy Chaperone from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theatre. Scripts and music available from Patti Wegehaupt at 623-536-7233.
November 17 to 22, Monday through Saturday: ShowTime Fall Production Celebrating Ed Sullivan at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theatre.
PC Singers:
November 1, Saturday: Opening Day of ticket sales for We Need a Little Christmas concert in the Renaissance Theatre from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. After that tickets are available at the Eagle’s Nest Kiosk on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
December 2 to 7, Tuesday through Sunday: PC Singers Holiday Concert We Need a Little Christmas.
Spring 2015:
March 10 to 14: PC Players Spring Production, Hallelujah Girls
March 26 to 28: PC Musicians Big Band Concert
April 13 to 18: ShowTime Spring Production, The Drowsy Chaperone
April 29 to May 2: PC Singers Spring Concert
Behind the scenes of Celebrating Ed Sullivan
Laurie Farquhar
It takes a village to put on a ShowTime production and the upcoming Celebrating Ed Sullivan show in November is no exception. There will be more than 60 performers on stage every night during the show’s run, plus another eight to 10 people working backstage or in the lighting and sound booth. But long before the singers, dancers, comedians and crew members started rehearsals a group of unseen heroes was hard at work.
Every production has some scenery and in PebbleCreek, most sets are constructed by Bill Silverman and Joe Wallace. For the Ed Sullivan revue, they and fellow builders Joe Gray, Larry Tanner and Richard Biancardi put together a huge sign measuring 26 feet wide and four feet high. The job involved building a frame strong enough but light enough to be hung across the entire back of the stage. Muslin was then stretched over, creating a perfect canvas for painting. The construction crew also built a platform on which a drum set will be placed.
Once the huge sign was framed, Art Club members Judy Hale, Sherri Van Schaick, Loretta Pruett, Judy Bihary and Terry Gillespie took over. Their task was to paint the Ed Sullivan Show logo on the canvas and surround it with lights making it look like a marquee found outside a theatre. The three artists worked on their first large set last year when they painted the huge pieces used in White Christmas. They have now become regular set decorators and Judy Hale says they love being a part of ShowTime’s productions.
When a show calls for some unusual props, most directors know they can look to Bob Sherman for help in building what they need. The retired engineer is known for his realistic reproductions of vintage items, and for this show Bob has constructed two life-sized replicas of the studio cameras used on the real Ed Sullivan television program. Bob says he had a little déjà vu while building them because he was part of an engineering group in the 1950’s that developed similar camera tubes for the military.
So this November while you are sitting in the audience reading your program, waiting for Celebrating Ed Sullivan to start, be sure to look around at the sets and props because someone who you will not see on stage spent a lot of time creating them to give the show a polished and professional look. And that program in your hand—that was created by Chrissy Bridges who spent many hours on her computer designing it for your reading enjoyment. Another unseen hero in another great ShowTime production!
Singers preplanning Christmas concert
PebbleCreek Singers Section Leaders meet with Director Kennedy to go over music for the Singers’ We Need A Little Christmas Holiday Concert; left to right first row, Norlene Shelton, Altos, Beverly Griggs, Tenors and Basses, Director Gail Kennedy and Nancy Gufstafson, Second Sopranos. Second row, Cecelia Daron, First Sopranos.
Donna Swagger
Haul out the holly! Slice up the fruit cake! The PC Singers are already in the holiday spirit and it’s only September! The choristers are excited about the upcoming Christmas concert and all the great music they are preparing for their friends and neighbors. Director Gail Kennedy has put together a versatile, dynamic program entitled, We Need a Little Christmas that is filled with traditional carols, secular and sacred music, classical numbers and novelty songs performed by the full chorus and several small ensembles.
After three weeks of full chorus rehearsals, it’s time to divide and conquer as the Section Leaders begin meeting with their prospective voice-part groups to work on rhythms, dynamics, timing, and more. For the next three months the singers will meet twice weekly, both in sectional practices and in full chorus rehearsals with Director Kennedy, learning every note, every beat and every accent of this ambitious program. In addition, each singer has practice CDs they can use at home to aid them in learning the music. Dedicated and diligent, the PebbleCreek Singers will do their utmost to perfect each song and deliver another noteworthy, must see performance!
Dates for the 2014 Christmas concert are Tuesday, December 2 through Sunday, December 7, 2014. All performances are at 7:00 p.m. in the Renaissance Theater. Tickets go on sale Saturday, November 1. Look for more information in next month’s PebbleCreek Post.
ShowTime auditions for The Drowsy Chaperone
Laurie Farquhar
Wanted!
A dotty dowager, a ditzy chorus girl, a dashing leading man and dancing monkeys.
These are just a few of the characters needed for ShowTime’s production of The Drowsy Chaperone, ShowTime’s presentation next April.
For those unfamiliar with this show, it is billed as a musical within a comedy. The story begins with an eccentric man sitting in his dingy little apartment listening to his favorite recording of an obscure 1928 musical called The Drowsy Chaperone. As the old vinyl record plays, the characters come to life and the man’s living room is transformed into a Broadway set. It is a lighthearted musical show with lots of singing, dancing and laughter.
The ShowTime production will run from Monday, April 13 to Saturday April 18, 2015. Karyn Horst, who is directing the show, will hold auditions in the Renaissance Theatre on Sunday, October 26 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. and again on Tuesday October 28 from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Scripts and music are available from Patti Wegehaupt at 623-536-7233.
The Drowsy Chaperone promises to be another terrific ShowTime presentation, so if you have ever thought of getting involved in PebbleCreek’s wonderful theater community this may be your ticket into a new whole new world on the stage.