Week 6
This was it! Five weeks of rehearsasl and a week of writing came down to this final week. We had one more full night of practices, the dress rehearsal in front of all the youth and then the final performances. It was quite the week! A special thanks to my mother who flew up, helped watch the children, made skinny ties for the 50s dance number and gave plenty of advice and support during the week.
March 11 Rehearsal Schedule
6:30 - 6:35 Opening Exercises
6:35 - 6:45 Prepare for first run through (review entering and exiting strategy)
6:45 - 7:05 First run through
Change into first costumes.
7:15 - 7:35 Second run through
Change into first costumes.
7:45 - 8:15 Third run through
Change into first costumes.
8:15 - 8:35 Fourth run through
We started the night by explaining all the information listed below. It detailed who was going to be responsible for which sets, props and costumes and in what order they would all be coming onto the stage. All this information had been emailed to the adults so this was just a reminder for them but it was new information for the kids.
Everyone had to enter the stage from the right side and exit from the left. It was quite the feat to get everyone where they needed to be and it all had to happen in less than one minute and forty five seconds. We learned in that first run through that the girls needed more time to put their second costumes down and get in position for the opening number so we switched them to come onto the stage right after the TARDIS. The first two run throughs we took everything on and off the stage. On the third run through, I had them leave the TARDIS but everything else was taken off the stage. We tweaked a few things that night but mostly it was about doing everything right over and over so when they had to perform that weekend, they would be ready. By the fourth run through of the play, I knew they had it. (They had too, practice was over!)
We ended our last road show practice with yummy treats!
Entering and Exiting the stage information
Entering the stage information
Order of entry onto the stage:
Removed from the stage during the play:
Curtains close
Everything goes off stage right:
March 13 - Dress Rehearsal
Dress rehearsal was the day all of the youth who were performing in the various road shows got to watch each other perform their shows. The shows were to begin at 6:00 so we had everyone arrive at 5:00. They were all supposed to be in their costumes and ready to go. We got the props and sets arranged and everyone got their stage make-up on. I did not make any of the boys wear any make-up but they were more than welcome to do so. They all chose not to wear any make-up which was perfectly fine with me. We ran through the entire play one last time in our "green" room and then had everyone come in for a Eastmont Road Show cheer. Since we were the last ones to perform that night, we had the opportunity to watch each of the shows before ours was performed. I think that was really beneficial as they saw all their friends up there hamming it up and having fun so when it was our turn, they did an amazing job. Of course, it also helped that there was an audience. There was a lot of acting and exaggeration that I had tried to get from them before that they now did.
The kids also said to me, "I understand why you keep telling us to be louder!" Yes, it's really hard to understand what's happening in a show if you can't hear what they are saying. They did an amazing job! Now, we just had to do it all over again tomorrow!
March 14 - Final Performances
We had two performances that night at two different locations. Our first location we were the fourth show to perform. The kids got there early and got make-up on and while we waited for our turn to perform, we practiced the show one last time. The kids were still wanting to add things to the performance. At one point, the main character girl, Karen, is scared by a screaming Indian with a big axe. They thought it would be fun if she jumped into the arms of her brother. It sounded like a great idea. I told them to practice and then show me what it looked like and then we would decide if we could add it. They did a great job so we added it. We also made sure everyone knew whose car they were supposed to be in to get them to the next performance. We all came in for a big Eastmont Roadshow cheer and headed out to wait in the hall.
The only glitch we had with that first show was that the sound did not work for the first thirty seconds or so. We followed a group that had used electric guitars. They had turned off the microphones on the stage and forgot to turn them back on. They figured out the glitch and turned them on shortly after the girls started singing. It was so much fun to see all the work coming to fruition. I got to watch the show from the front because everyone knew where they needed to be. It was fun and exciting and exhilarating. The kids looked like they were having a good time too!
As soon as it was over, we met back in our "green" room. The kids all went with the adults they had been assigned to and the sets and props were all loaded up and we left. We were out of there in less than 10 minutes which was good since the next group was already there waiting to get in the green room.
By the time we got over to the next performance location, we only had about fifteen minutes until our last performance. There were a lot of excited voices when I walked into our "green" room. The kids had had a blast performing and they were excited for our last performance. We made sure everyone had their costumes and props and came in for a big Eastmont Roadshow cheer before we went and stood in the hall to wait for the show in front of us to end. Once they were all on the stage, I went and watched it from the audience. It was amazing.
There was one surprise. Dr. Who changed two of the words and got a big laugh from the audience. He had wanted to say Grandmummy and Grandpoppers instead of Grandmother and Grandfather and I had emphatically told him no but I'm glad he did it. Everyone loved it and I have since gone in and changed the script to reflect the new words. The play was always changing.
We won five different awards. We won awards for Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Props, Outstanding Costumes and Outstanding Overall Show. The boys all thought the awards were nice but the last one we got was the one they thought mattered the most! We had a party afterwards to celebrate but our real cast party was the following Wednesday. We watched a slideshow of pictures taken during the practices, watched a "making of" video that Roadshow Ralphy put together for us. He pretty much had his video camera running for the six weeks we were practicing. We finished out the night watching one of the performances of our road show. And then it was over.
And I am so lucky to have been a part of it.
A very special thank-you to my husband who gave advice, watched the kids, dealt with a stressful wife, ate frozen food and was the best cheerleader I could have asked for. I couldn't have done the roadshow without all the adult help so another special thank-you to my two wonderful assistants, Roadshow Rhonda (married to Roadshow Ralphy) and Roadshow Rhoda who were such a support and help with everything, our music and dance coordinators ( A and S), our YM and YW Presidents and the countless youth leaders and parents who helped out.
To the youth of the Eastmont Ward, who not only went along on this great adventure but embraced it and made it as wonderful as it was, thanks for all the fun! I had a blast and can't wait to help with another one!
A tale of two scripts...
Below are the two different scripts I wrote. The first one was my first attempt and the one I totally fell in love with and worked tirelessly on for four days before I quickly wrote the second one in a matter of hours. I had the adults involved in the play, read both plays and then we voted on which one they would like to see the youth perform. It was a tie. I was surprised and also left to make the decision. It was a little like picking which of your children you like the best. It's not possible. It was about 3:00 the afternoon of the first practice before I was sure which play we were going to do. We went with the second one and I know it was the right one for us but I was still doubting myself most of that first week!
You'll see a lot of the same elements in the second script because I already had people working on the musical numbers from the first script. I needed to use those same songs and music so I wrote a script that did just that! Enjoy!
This was it! Five weeks of rehearsasl and a week of writing came down to this final week. We had one more full night of practices, the dress rehearsal in front of all the youth and then the final performances. It was quite the week! A special thanks to my mother who flew up, helped watch the children, made skinny ties for the 50s dance number and gave plenty of advice and support during the week.
March 11 Rehearsal Schedule
6:30 - 6:35 Opening Exercises
6:35 - 6:45 Prepare for first run through (review entering and exiting strategy)
6:45 - 7:05 First run through
Change into first costumes.
7:15 - 7:35 Second run through
Change into first costumes.
7:45 - 8:15 Third run through
Change into first costumes.
8:15 - 8:35 Fourth run through
We started the night by explaining all the information listed below. It detailed who was going to be responsible for which sets, props and costumes and in what order they would all be coming onto the stage. All this information had been emailed to the adults so this was just a reminder for them but it was new information for the kids.
Everyone had to enter the stage from the right side and exit from the left. It was quite the feat to get everyone where they needed to be and it all had to happen in less than one minute and forty five seconds. We learned in that first run through that the girls needed more time to put their second costumes down and get in position for the opening number so we switched them to come onto the stage right after the TARDIS. The first two run throughs we took everything on and off the stage. On the third run through, I had them leave the TARDIS but everything else was taken off the stage. We tweaked a few things that night but mostly it was about doing everything right over and over so when they had to perform that weekend, they would be ready. By the fourth run through of the play, I knew they had it. (They had too, practice was over!)
We ended our last road show practice with yummy treats!
Entering and Exiting the stage information
Entering the stage information
- Nothing will be on stage. Everyone and everything will come on stage left. Curtains will be closed.
- Kayla, Amanda and Trish will have the girls second costumes (Did you want these all in trash bags? If so, you should do that during the first ten minutes of practice.) and the water and icebergs and take them to the right side of the stage. When we do this at the Mill Creek building, we will set the costumes out before we even get on stage.
- Sarah will have the suffragette signs and put them where they need to be.
- Bishop, Brian, Brendan, Howie and Sam(not sure if Sam has the time with the lights?) will be carrying and assembling the TARDIS. You will have 1:45 to set it up and then the curtain will open but the TARDIS will still be behind the screen so you can finish the wiring and such with the curtain open and the girls dancing.
- Trevor and Aaron will be in charge of swords, tricorn hats and the chalkboard.
- Dale and Ethan will bring on the screen and set it up.
- Cynthia will bring the 5 chairs on stage.
- Jason will bring the boat on stage.
- Zach H. will bring on the three oars.
- Boys will have their second costumes and put them in the room to the left of the stage. When we do this at the Mill Creek building, we will set them up before we even get on stage.
- Zak T. will bring on the Family History poster and attach it to the chalkboard with Sister LeBaron's help.
- Connor and Grant will bring on the jukebox.
- The girls should all have their blankets and get on the stage and in position as quickly as possible.
- Brandon should have the sonic screwdriver in his pocket.
- Cynthia will open the curtain. Alli will start the music when the curtain is almost all the way open.
- Julie and Hyrum will be manning the spotlight
Order of entry onto the stage:
- TARDIS crew
- Girls and their blankets (they were moved to the second spot after the first run through)
- Screen
- Jukebox
- Chalkboard
- Boat
- Chairs
- Oars, swords, tricorn hats, suffragette signs, family history signs
- Boys and their costumes (They might be able to sneak in to the side room and put their stuff down if the ward in front of us isn't using that room.)
- Kayla, Amanda and Trish will go on stage right after the other ward is completely off the stage with the girls second costumes.
Removed from the stage during the play:
- Abbie and Gretchen take off the boat. Set it against the wall across from the stairs.
- Samantha takes off the three oars. Set them against the wall across from the stairs.
- Blankets should be taken off the stage when the girls go to get in line in the back of the gym. They should be dropped to the left in the hallway.
- Boys swords should be carried off the stage by the boys and put to the left in the hallway.
Curtains close
Everything goes off stage right:
- Kayla, Trish, Gretchen and Hannah will remove the girls first costumes and the water and icebergs and take them off the stage and hand them to the kids waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
- Sarah will take the suffragette signs off.
- Bishop, Brian, Brendan, Howie and Sam will remove the TARDIS. I would like to begin doing this during the closing song. If possible, get all the wiring removed by the end of the song and then when the curtains close, pull it apart.
- Trevor and Aaron will take off the men's swords, the chalkboard and the family history poster. Kids should be at the bottom of the stairs to help with this.
- Dale will remove the screen.
- Cynthia will take off the boys first costume pieces - ties, white church shirts. Is there a way you can think of to keep them straight or is there time for the boys to throw them in their bags?
- Jacob and Tyler will pick up the boys Crossing the Delaware coats and tricorn hats and take them off the stage.
- Brandon and Connor will remove the jukebox.
- Brandon should have the sonic screwdriver in his pocket.
- Sadie and Jenny will take off the 5 chairs.
- Everything should be off the stage. The kids should be on the stage right side at the bottom of the stairs and Amanda will be there to hand them things to take back to our assigned room.
March 13 - Dress Rehearsal
Dress rehearsal was the day all of the youth who were performing in the various road shows got to watch each other perform their shows. The shows were to begin at 6:00 so we had everyone arrive at 5:00. They were all supposed to be in their costumes and ready to go. We got the props and sets arranged and everyone got their stage make-up on. I did not make any of the boys wear any make-up but they were more than welcome to do so. They all chose not to wear any make-up which was perfectly fine with me. We ran through the entire play one last time in our "green" room and then had everyone come in for a Eastmont Road Show cheer. Since we were the last ones to perform that night, we had the opportunity to watch each of the shows before ours was performed. I think that was really beneficial as they saw all their friends up there hamming it up and having fun so when it was our turn, they did an amazing job. Of course, it also helped that there was an audience. There was a lot of acting and exaggeration that I had tried to get from them before that they now did.
The kids also said to me, "I understand why you keep telling us to be louder!" Yes, it's really hard to understand what's happening in a show if you can't hear what they are saying. They did an amazing job! Now, we just had to do it all over again tomorrow!
March 14 - Final Performances
We had two performances that night at two different locations. Our first location we were the fourth show to perform. The kids got there early and got make-up on and while we waited for our turn to perform, we practiced the show one last time. The kids were still wanting to add things to the performance. At one point, the main character girl, Karen, is scared by a screaming Indian with a big axe. They thought it would be fun if she jumped into the arms of her brother. It sounded like a great idea. I told them to practice and then show me what it looked like and then we would decide if we could add it. They did a great job so we added it. We also made sure everyone knew whose car they were supposed to be in to get them to the next performance. We all came in for a big Eastmont Roadshow cheer and headed out to wait in the hall.
The only glitch we had with that first show was that the sound did not work for the first thirty seconds or so. We followed a group that had used electric guitars. They had turned off the microphones on the stage and forgot to turn them back on. They figured out the glitch and turned them on shortly after the girls started singing. It was so much fun to see all the work coming to fruition. I got to watch the show from the front because everyone knew where they needed to be. It was fun and exciting and exhilarating. The kids looked like they were having a good time too!
As soon as it was over, we met back in our "green" room. The kids all went with the adults they had been assigned to and the sets and props were all loaded up and we left. We were out of there in less than 10 minutes which was good since the next group was already there waiting to get in the green room.
By the time we got over to the next performance location, we only had about fifteen minutes until our last performance. There were a lot of excited voices when I walked into our "green" room. The kids had had a blast performing and they were excited for our last performance. We made sure everyone had their costumes and props and came in for a big Eastmont Roadshow cheer before we went and stood in the hall to wait for the show in front of us to end. Once they were all on the stage, I went and watched it from the audience. It was amazing.
There was one surprise. Dr. Who changed two of the words and got a big laugh from the audience. He had wanted to say Grandmummy and Grandpoppers instead of Grandmother and Grandfather and I had emphatically told him no but I'm glad he did it. Everyone loved it and I have since gone in and changed the script to reflect the new words. The play was always changing.
We won five different awards. We won awards for Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Props, Outstanding Costumes and Outstanding Overall Show. The boys all thought the awards were nice but the last one we got was the one they thought mattered the most! We had a party afterwards to celebrate but our real cast party was the following Wednesday. We watched a slideshow of pictures taken during the practices, watched a "making of" video that Roadshow Ralphy put together for us. He pretty much had his video camera running for the six weeks we were practicing. We finished out the night watching one of the performances of our road show. And then it was over.
And I am so lucky to have been a part of it.
A very special thank-you to my husband who gave advice, watched the kids, dealt with a stressful wife, ate frozen food and was the best cheerleader I could have asked for. I couldn't have done the roadshow without all the adult help so another special thank-you to my two wonderful assistants, Roadshow Rhonda (married to Roadshow Ralphy) and Roadshow Rhoda who were such a support and help with everything, our music and dance coordinators ( A and S), our YM and YW Presidents and the countless youth leaders and parents who helped out.
To the youth of the Eastmont Ward, who not only went along on this great adventure but embraced it and made it as wonderful as it was, thanks for all the fun! I had a blast and can't wait to help with another one!
A tale of two scripts...
Below are the two different scripts I wrote. The first one was my first attempt and the one I totally fell in love with and worked tirelessly on for four days before I quickly wrote the second one in a matter of hours. I had the adults involved in the play, read both plays and then we voted on which one they would like to see the youth perform. It was a tie. I was surprised and also left to make the decision. It was a little like picking which of your children you like the best. It's not possible. It was about 3:00 the afternoon of the first practice before I was sure which play we were going to do. We went with the second one and I know it was the right one for us but I was still doubting myself most of that first week!
You'll see a lot of the same elements in the second script because I already had people working on the musical numbers from the first script. I needed to use those same songs and music so I wrote a script that did just that! Enjoy!
