The model is here!

First of all, apologies for the blurry Iphone photo!
The start of any musical is always exciting- but this week is proving to be a bit of a let down with all the snow. We had to cancel rehearsal for Monday and our schedule has been a bit thrown off with Campus Orientation on Thursday- so I thought I'd write about the biggest thing for this week...THE MODEL IS HERE!
Vince (our Technical Director) and I usually start talking about the set design for the show in the fall (in between my directing a staged reading and him directing a full length show!) and I'm usually able to give him a rough idea of what I'm thinking I'll need. We usually 'walk the stage', which means we stand on the stage floor and discuss how big the set will be, how tall, other technical issues, etc. After things are solid, Vince draws a scale groundplan and tapes it out on the floor for me. I'm a very visual director, meaning that I have a tough time visualizing how things will look unless I have an actual visual representation (like tape on the floor where walls and stairs will be!). Once that is done, he builds a scale model. Things usually change quite a bit in that process- what is taped on the floor initally ends up being different from what the model looks like, which necessitates some changes in blocking, etc. It keeps me on my toes, that's for sure.
The set for Joseph is partially moveable (the platforms move, as well as the top part of the set) and it has LOTS of levels, which is also a requirement for me as a director. Building the set falls to our Theatre Practicum class, a group of dedicated students who use power tools, paint, tape, nail and in every way make things happen.
I'll keep you updated on the building process- the stage is totally bare right now...you'll be amazed at how much goes on in three months!
Grace

Bootcamp for JOSEPH

Four years ago, I started working at the Center of Creative Arts in St Louis (COCA). I had been hired to stage manage their summer musical and I was asked to step in and direct when the director suddenly left the production. I met a lot of really great people at COCA, but little did I know how much influence those people would have on my students at ECC.

One of the most important people I met at COCA was Christopher Page, the choreographer of that first summer production (and of the three subsequent shows I've directed at COCA). Chris was a dance major at UMKC that first year and when I decided to direct One on this Island at ECC, I asked him to choreograph the show. He gladly came down and worked with my students and community members on the show which featured African dance, a brand new style for all of us. Chris made a huge impression on everyone and the cast had a great time working with him.

Chris graduated from UMKC and joined the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Company, based out of Denver. As a professional dancer, he has an incredibly busy schedule, but he still made time to join the creative team at ECC.

The next year, I asked Chris to choreograph Crazy for You, our 2010 musical. While he and I were working at COCA, he came to ECC and choreographed some numbers and also came over Christmas break to finish up.

This past summer, Chris and I worked on a production of Aida at COCA and I asked him to join my Joseph team for 2011. He agreed to join us for a week for what I started calling a 'Joseph Bootcamp'.

I knew that I was asking my cast for quite a bit- they would be working 14 hour days, dancing until their feet fell off! I was honestly a little unsure as to how they would react- I was asking for a lot! They stepped up and rocked it- we got over 1/2 the show choreographed and done and had a GREAT time doing it.

I think this is closest cast we've had in quite a while- everyone ate lunch and dinner together and bonded over the endless situps and pushups Chris had them do! They also shared a love of Motrin- dancing that much makes you hurt!

We still have 3 months until Joseph open- and I can safely say this is the best Joseph you'll ever see. This cast is amazing, the choreography is incredible and the energy is through the roof- and its all thanks to Chris!

Reflections on a semester

As the fall semester draws to a close, I'm inspired to write about this semester, which has seen two very different shows (Rabbit Hole and Incorruptible) and the beginning of a huge show (Joseph).

A lot of colleges do shows that are crowd pleasers- comedies, family friendly, things that are pure 'entertainment'. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that (hey, I chose the most entertainment show of them all for this year's musical!) but over the past few years I've started really considering how we can bring a different type of theatre to our stage. I started with Broadway and Beyond (a show that is done blackbox style which is a huge contrast to our 500 seat mainstage theatre) but there are so many other ways to expand the idea of what we offer. One of the basic things we are here to do is to give our students a well rounded education, and that means giving them challenging material to work on. 'Entertainment' shows can be challenging...but I think that shows that push the envelope not only help our students and community actors to grow but also provide an audience experience that is extremely valuable.

Choosing Rabbit Hole to open our season was a no brainer for me- I had loved the script for a while and knew that it would present a great acting opportunity for our students. Yes, it had strong language and a mature subject matter...but it was also a universal story of grief and healing. The community response was amazing- people loved the show. I am so proud of that show- and also of last year's The Laramie Project, another 'controversial' show that was embraced by the community as a prayer for peace and understanding.

Incorruptible is an entertainment show w a message- the belief in a higher power. While it provided a lot of laughs, I think it also gave a great balance to the darker side of Rabbit Hole. Incorruptible was actually suggested by a community member last year during the Saturday night show of Leading Ladies- another great example of community involvement!

Joseph is definitely a entertainment show- I've got 48 actors, a children's chorus of 25 and a huge set, along w some great special effects and fun tricks up my sleeve. I'm excited to really start working on a show that will wow our community.

Speaking of wows...I'm already thinking of next season and how we'll open it. I've got an idea that I think will bring our ENTIRE community together- I'm keeping it under wraps for now, but it will be announced in a few months. Once its out, I hope that people will share their ideas with me- I truly want this to be a 'group project'.

Thank you for your support of ECC Theatre- don't forget we're on Facebook- please join us there...and in our theatre for next show!

Grace Austin
ECC Theatre

Lots of children!

Tonight is the audition for The Children's Choir for JOSEPH. Our CC director, Ginny Simmons, asked each local area teacher to reccomend 5 students to audition...but it seems that word spread a little too far as we had over 100 children show up to audition!

I'd like to say a very special thank you to all the parents who brought their children to audition- we really appreciate your patience with the unexpected snafu we ran into with the amount of children who were not on our list!! We were able to get to everyone (I certainly don't want to disappoint any of the children) but it did take longer than we were planning, and we apologize for that.

With that amount of talent, we have a very tough choice ahead of us...the list will be posted on Friday by 12 noon!

The Actor's Showcase

Each fall, the Beginning and Intermediate Acting classes put on a Showcase of scenes they have worked on throughout the semester. I got the idea from being in grad school at VCU, where every year the graduating seniors would produce a Showcase that they took to NY, LA and DC to show to casting directors and talent agents. My last year in grad school I was the teaching assistant for the Showcase class and I really enjoyed the experience so I thought I'd continue the tradition at ECC.
Above are some shots from the Showcase- I enjoyed working with this group very much. They were a talented, enthusiastic, engergetic group of students!

Callbacks and Beyond

Another successful auditions and callback experience! We saw a lot of great talent- in fact, we saw so much that I ended up making the cast a little bigger than I had planned on!

Casting is a tough process for all of us- there is so much passion and heartbreak involved. I am close to many of my actors- and it's hard to have to make choices that can involve disappointing people. Serving the needs of the show first can be a sticky business. I am so, so blessed to see so much talent. One of the reasons that I like doing bigger musicals and shows like Broadway and Beyond is that everyone can have a chance to show their stuff! When I choose our season for the year I have to think about who I've worked with in the past and who we'll be seeing in the future- every year brings new suprises. I'm already thinking about next year's big show...and thinking of people!

Congratulations to the Cast of JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT- let get started!
Grace

Here's a little look at what goes into building the set...and during auditions!

and how the men amuse themselves during their downtime...by playing football on the stage!