Topic: COMMUNITY THEATER (Read 18514 times)

bk · « **on:** October 17, 2012, 10:40:56 PM »

Well, you've read the notes, the notes were about community and theater, and now it is time for you to post until the cows come home - they're currently doing a show at a COWmunity theater.

bk · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2012, 10:41:41 PM »

And the word of the day is: FULGURANT!

bk · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2012, 10:43:44 PM »

And here is our new release. It will be live for ordering on the Kritzerland site at six in the morning, but if you want it before then you know what to do.

Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition soundtrack:

THE GEISHA BOY

Music Composed by Walter Scharf

The comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was born in 1946. The duo quickly became a hugely popular act. At Paramount they did a string of successful comedies, which, along with their films and nightclub appearances, made them the hottest comedy team working – until 1956, that is, when Dean Martin ended the partnership. Jerry Lewis stayed at Paramount and became one of their biggest stars with his first solo feature, The Delicate Delinquent (1957). That was followed by Rock-a-Bye Baby and The Geisha Boy – both directed by the great Frank Tashlin (Lewis had yet to make his directorial debut – that would happen a couple of years later with The Bellboy). The Geisha Boy is one of Lewis’s best films. It has everything, from gorgeous photography (in Technicolor and VistaVision) to huge laughs (there are sequences in the film that are fall-out-of-your-chair funny) to truly touching sequences that never become too maudlin.

Tying all of the film’s elements perfectly together is the tuneful and great score by Walter Scharf. Scharf became Lewis’s go-to composer. Their relationship lasted for years, resulting in great scores for The Sad Sack, Rock-a-Bye Baby, The Bellboy, Cinderfella, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, It’s Only Money, and, of course, The Nutty Professor. During his long and distinguished career, Scharf received ten Oscar nominations, mostly for his arranging work on such classics as Funny Girl and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But his original scores for non-Lewis films were terrific and include Ben, Walking Tall, Where Love Has Gone, If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, Pocketful of Miracles, as well as a host of TV scoring for such classic shows as The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, The Love Boat and many, many others.

Scharf was one of the great composers of comedy films. He knew what to score and what to leave unscored, and he had the uncanny ability to give frivolity and lightness some unexpected depth. The Geisha Boy is a seriously gorgeous score with a memorable main theme and beautiful variations on it that capture every mood and emotion, making the comedy even funnier and the pathos even more touching. Comedy scoring is an art, and Scharf was as good an artist at it as anyone.

The Geisha Boy had an LP release on Jubilee Records. That LP version is presented here in its entirety, from the original stereo album masters. The original session scoring tapes for the film were missing material, but we include here everything that was on them – between them and the album master, it’s pretty much everything complete.

Walter Scharf is seriously underrepresented on CD, and it’s a treat to be able to issue the first CD release of one of his classic Jerry Lewis films – in fact, the first CD release of any of the classic Golden Age Jerry Lewis films. Here’s to many more.

The Geisha Boy is limited to 1500 copies only. The price is $19.98, plus shipping.

CDs are in stock and will ship within a day or two. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.

George · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2012, 11:17:46 PM »

CD has been ordered!

George · « **Reply #4 on:** October 18, 2012, 12:05:20 AM »

Well, I must be off to bed. I'm having an early lunch with a co-worker, so I need to get to work early enough (we're not supposed to take a break or lunch until we've been at work for at least two hours). AND I want to get enough sleep so that I'll be awake enough to see Wicked at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle! I'm going with my sister and niece and my sister's boyfriend. Can't wait!

Matthew · « **Reply #5 on:** October 18, 2012, 12:42:00 AM »

I'm awake... Can't sleep.

That's all I got

Michael · « **Reply #6 on:** October 18, 2012, 01:28:38 AM »

good morning to all

Michael · « **Reply #7 on:** October 18, 2012, 01:39:02 AM »

tod

I played LA in Gypsy. I had a quick change costume change from the scene baby june and newsboy to the Mr. Goldstone scene. I had placed my costume and prop offstage. I ran offstage to find that my costume and prop had been moved. I ran around looking for them. I found my costume but not my prop. I missed however getting on stage, luckily my friend was Rose at that performance and she told me to come on with her. I did and there was a laugh from the audience. I had to ad lib around the fact that I didn't have my prop.

Ben · « **Reply #8 on:** October 18, 2012, 04:10:08 AM »

Morning all.

That is all.

John G. · « **Reply #9 on:** October 18, 2012, 04:32:29 AM »

Good morning, all.

Great story, DR Mike. How old were you at the time?

John G. · « **Reply #10 on:** October 18, 2012, 04:41:12 AM »

I stage managed a community theater revue that was staged for some big anniversary of the town of Catskill, N.Y. No one wanted to rehearse, no one really wanted to be a part of it, but everyone knew it was likely to be the last production of the woman who was staging it. She had put her name on better shows in the past and had plenty of good people who took over the onerous tasks of directing, music directing and generally getting the work done while letting Nan Guterman take the credit and glory.

By the time I worked with her, no one backstage wanted anything to do with her, and all the performers felt as if they had been roped in and couldn't escape.

I don't remember much of anything except she wanted to use non-copyrighted music, and she was indignant when I tried to tell her that the song "Me and Marie" was a Cole Porter tune from "Jubilee" instead of an old barbershop song from before the turn of the 20th century. We used it.

She did manage to get songwriter Kermit Goell to perform a medley of songs from his musical version of "Rip Van Winkle," appropriate for the area, but it made no sense out context. I'm sure it didn't matter. There were more people on stage than in the audience for both shows.

ChasSmith · « **Reply #11 on:** October 18, 2012, 04:47:20 AM »

Good morning, all.

In just a couple of hours I must leave for ~~Idlewild~~ JFK. Looking forward to tomorrow's sup and to meeting those Staitmans.

ChasSmith · « **Reply #12 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:08:06 AM »

My community theater experiences start at high school age with the Fort Lauderdale Junior Theater (can't remember if it was -er or -re, but no time to go digging out programs at present), with the aforementioned LI'L ABNER for which I was rehearsal pianist and pit pianist. Playing that music with whatever band of volunteers we had was a new thrill, and whether due to that experience or not, I retain a huge affection for that show and its score. I then music-directed (using the term very loosely, trust me on that) their next production, CALAMITY JANE, which for any number of reasons might have been the least thrilling of my experiences in those years. What else did we do? CARNIVAL, in which I volunteered to play drums (I'd taken some lessons and had bought a cheap set), of which I remember very little but I believe it was a fun time.

At the high school itself we did THE MUSIC MAN and CAN-CAN. Pit piano again, and those were great because they took pains to make sure we had a full complement of players, so a few pros sat in.

In recent years here I've been involved off and on with a few of the community theaters on several musicals: JACQUES BREL, COMPANY, PROMISES PROMISES, BAT BOY, LITTLE ME, and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC would be the highlights, for various reasons, and I think one of the lowlights would have to be OLIVER. For some of these I was MD (a term I still use loosely, as I don't have any real knowledge or experience in the vocal coaching end of things) and/or pianist/keyboardist.

The first COMPANY experience stands out because I was volunteering for a group that wouldn't pay a soul for anything, so they never got musicians, and I played the entire show on piano. Just me. I learned that sucker, too.

Sam · « **Reply #13 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:17:29 AM »

Sam · « **Reply #14 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:19:18 AM »

Morning.

I need 10 days of 8 hours of sleep every night.
Naps are in order this weekend.

Must go to work, late again.

Sam · « **Reply #15 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:21:20 AM »

Good Thursday vibes.

Payday for me, and then pay bills.

Please be cool this weekend. Lets feel like I actually live at the beach.

elmore3003 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:31:20 AM »

Giid morning, all!

I slept late, and I am staying home today to defrost the refrigerator. I'd rather be dead, but the freezer needs to be cleaned out - and it's a block of ice - so there's no major mess when the old fridge goes out and the new one is delivered. I also need to locate an important paper fromall the ephemera piling up.

That's my day.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:36:42 AM »

CD ordered. I shall return.

ChasSmith · « **Reply #18 on:** October 18, 2012, 05:43:59 AM »

Will order CD this evening, got to run now!

elmore3003 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 18, 2012, 06:04:19 AM »

DR ChasSmith, when is your flight today?

ChasSmith · « **Reply #20 on:** October 18, 2012, 06:33:01 AM »

Got it ordered!

DR Elmore: about 2:30 pm, getting into Burbank about 5:30 pm.

Okay, off now for real. Will check in tonight. Don't know how much posting I'll get done because I'm still getting used to my first smartphone and my typing may not look so smart. Later!

bk · « **Reply #21 on:** October 18, 2012, 06:43:44 AM »

CD is announced and I'm going back to bed.

Jennifer · « **Reply #22 on:** October 18, 2012, 06:43:50 AM »

DR George have fun at WICKED. It was here a few months ago. I loved it!

Charles Pogue · « **Reply #23 on:** October 18, 2012, 06:55:12 AM »

I've not done community theatre since I left college for my first professional gig in 1973. But while in college I started and ran my own summer theatre for college and high school students with a couple of friends. We called it Mercury Two Theatre in honour of Orson Welles (oh, we were pretentious little lads). The first year we did GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE, directed by me and an evening of short pieces and theatrical excerpts called POTPOURRI (I told you we were pretentious). The next year we did KIND LADY and another evening of shorts. After that, I was off pursuing my professional ambitions. I had not seen any community theatre for probably over thirty years until returning to Lexington, Kentucky where, sadly after the demise of the one theatre striving to be an Equity small theatre, the city only has amateur community theatre. Probably the best production I've seen was a production of ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST done site-specific in the ancestral home of John Hunt Morgan, the famed Confederate raider during the Civil War. I certainly enjoyed seeing THE BRAIN FROM PLANET X with BK in Indianapolis.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:28:11 AM »

....and others.....

Druxy · « **Reply #25 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:31:43 AM »

Quote from: bk on October 17, 2012, 10:43:44 PM

And here is our new release. It will be live for ordering on the Kritzerland site at six in the morning, but if you want it before then you know what to do.

Kritzerland is proud to present a new limited edition soundtrack:

THE GEISHA BOY

Music Composed by Walter Scharf

The comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis was born in 1946. The duo quickly became a hugely popular act. At Paramount they did a string of successful comedies, which, along with their films and nightclub appearances, made them the hottest comedy team working – until 1956, that is, when Dean Martin ended the partnership. Jerry Lewis stayed at Paramount and became one of their biggest stars with his first solo feature, The Delicate Delinquent (1957). That was followed by Rock-a-Bye Baby and The Geisha Boy – both directed by the great Frank Tashlin (Lewis had yet to make his directorial debut – that would happen a couple of years later with The Bellboy). The Geisha Boy is one of Lewis’s best films. It has everything, from gorgeous photography (in Technicolor and VistaVision) to huge laughs (there are sequences in the film that are fall-out-of-your-chair funny) to truly touching sequences that never become too maudlin.

Tying all of the film’s elements perfectly together is the tuneful and great score by Walter Scharf. Scharf became Lewis’s go-to composer. Their relationship lasted for years, resulting in great scores for The Sad Sack, Rock-a-Bye Baby, The Bellboy, Cinderfella, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, It’s Only Money, and, of course, The Nutty Professor. During his long and distinguished career, Scharf received ten Oscar nominations, mostly for his arranging work on such classics as Funny Girl and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But his original scores for non-Lewis films were terrific and include Ben, Walking Tall, Where Love Has Gone, If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, Pocketful of Miracles, as well as a host of TV scoring for such classic shows as The Man From U.N.C.L.E, Bonanza, Mission: Impossible, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, The Love Boat and many, many others.

Scharf was one of the great composers of comedy films. He knew what to score and what to leave unscored, and he had the uncanny ability to give frivolity and lightness some unexpected depth. The Geisha Boy is a seriously gorgeous score with a memorable main theme and beautiful variations on it that capture every mood and emotion, making the comedy even funnier and the pathos even more touching. Comedy scoring is an art, and Scharf was as good an artist at it as anyone.

The Geisha Boy had an LP release on Jubilee Records. That LP version is presented here in its entirety, from the original stereo album masters. The original session scoring tapes for the film were missing material, but we include here everything that was on them – between them and the album master, it’s pretty much everything complete.

Walter Scharf is seriously underrepresented on CD, and it’s a treat to be able to issue the first CD release of one of his classic Jerry Lewis films – in fact, the first CD release of any of the classic Golden Age Jerry Lewis films. Here’s to many more.

The Geisha Boy is limited to 1500 copies only. The price is $19.98, plus shipping.

CDs are in stock and will ship within a day or two. To place an order, see the cover, or hear audio samples, just visit www.kritzerland.com.

Walter Scharf was a guest at my 2nd (of 3) weddings.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:31:46 AM »

I have done Community Theatre since I was very small......and I continue to enjoy it.

I have been a board member of Putnam County Playhouse since 1982 - currently serving as First Vice President. I also enjoy the inner/business workings of theatre.

Some shows I have been a part of/seen have been the very definition of "community theatre" in the negative sense. But there have also been some outstanding shows with some very good people.

I like directing AND acting AND choreographing - and community theatre offers me MANY more of those opportunities than local professional theatres. I am an Equity Candidate Member - which means all of the hours I work at the Phoenix Theatre in Indy are counted toward my Equity Card - but I am still able to work in community theatre without permission from Equity. My hours have come close a couple of times, so I just let them expire....and start again.

Jrand73 · « **Reply #27 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:36:01 AM »

Great experiences as a child include:

The Music Man with Mr Ken Berry - he was a very nice man, and when our choreographer didn't have time to teach us a soft shoe, he took us all out to the parking lot and taught it to us. At that time he was married to Jackie Joseph, so I was in awe of spending time with Audrey from LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS....this was before the musical version.....

Gypsy with Miss Gisele McKenzie.....wow was she beautiful. She was always dressed up - even during the run thru....and she had a couple of dachshund dogs with her, too. Someone complained about the language in the play....particularly "tough titty..." and that line was cut for one performance. We HEARD that Miss McKenzie expressed her displeasure to the producer by calling a meeting and slamming his door - breaking the glass window. The line was back in the next night. I have yet to hear anybody sing "Rose's Turn" the way she did....it was GREAT!!!

Peter Pan with Miss Kathryn Grant Crosby - another beautiful woman who was great to all of us!

Jrand73 · « **Reply #28 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:38:58 AM »

Not so great experiences (these were all at Starlight Musicals on the Butler Campus in Indy):

The Music Man with Van Johnson - I kept hearing he was chasing the chorus boys around and I wondered why they would be having foot races backstage.... He also ALWAYS stepped on the foot of the girl playing Zaneeta and others who were standing behind him during his scenes..... Eventually he got what he wanted, no one was near him unless they HAD to be. He had the stage to himself.

West Side Story with Miss Kathryn Grant Crosby....a few years later....she was very unpleasant to everyone, and certainly couldn't sing Maria's songs....

Druxy · « **Reply #29 on:** October 18, 2012, 07:42:12 AM »

TOD:

I could write a book...or, at least, several chapters in a book, about my experiences in community theatre. In fact, I already did.

Didn't most of us here get our first show biz experiences in community theatre?

I think the incident that sticks in my mind more than any other is the dreadful way that the people at Seattle's Cirque Playhouse treated legendary character actor Charles Winninger when he played there.

On a more positive note, being able to work on productions that featured the likes of actors like Winninger, John Carradine, Edward Everett Horton and others was the greatest experience an aspiring actor, writer or director could have.

News:

Author Topic: COMMUNITY THEATER (Read 18514 times)

Ben