80 Days, and then some more

Reports from the Rehearsal Room:

In rehearsal: Bill Johns/Detective Fix and Nolan Palmer/Passepartout.

1. Saturday’s Designer Run went great! I take it as a personal complement that the cast did very well – and  some members of the design/technical team were grinning>>  and still had their heads spinning (17 dialects…150-200 sound cues…300+ lighting cues…33 characters!). Good Times and Adventures for everyone!!

2. Two of our actors and I spoke with the host of an Arts program on KING-FM (our classic music station), about the show and she was very excited. Even wants to do a follow-up interview with the costume designer and the dialect coach; she was very intrigued about how we’ll pull off so many quick costume changes and multiple dialects.

3. Just got off the phone with a writer from Seattle’s Child, who’ll write an article promoting the play as a great outting for families with kids 10 yrs+.  She was very taken with the adventure story appeal of the material and the theatricality of the production. That’s a good sign:  we want a lot of people enchanted by the very idea of the play … and then mob the theatre for tickets!

4. The cast is moving off-book this week, always a week of brain-strain for the best actors. It’s a wonderful, fun and mutually supportive cast (Ryan Childers, Bill Johns, Andrew Litzky, Nolan Palmer, and Alyson Scadron Banner), and I can’t be thankful enough for a great stage manager too (Anne Hitt). In a few days we’ll add all of the rehearsal props and constumes — fun times!

More to come!!!

Around the World … with Taproot Theatre’s staff and friends!!

Pam, Scott, Peter & Lisa Nolte at the Trevi Fountains, Rome. (2005)

Here’s a link to a special Taproot Theatre photo slide show of the staff’s trips around the world. We’re starting a site to celebrate the next show here, “Around the World in 80 Days” by posting our own travel snapshots. Watch for the soon-to-launch opportunities for our audiences to submit and post their travel photos too!

Having a lot of fun in rehearsals. Today (May 2) was the designer run through, a complete run, or “stumble through”(!), so that they can anticipate how the various costume, scenic, prop, light & sound designs will all start fitting into the whole play. Always a bit frantic and loads of fun: you must have a good sense of humor on a day like this!! Again, the cast and designers are so committed to making a great show and great event for the audineces, that it makes all the work a lot of fun.

We open in under 2 weeks… Oh boy!!