Schoolhouse Rock Live!Originally adapted and produced for the stage by Theatre BAM Sponsored by: Season Sponsor: Performed in the Gaddy-Goodwin Teaching Theatre On this page: The Stage Manager's musingsIt's the middle of August, what's on your mind? School? Maybe Schoolhouse Rock Live! SHRL! was on the mind of what seemed like thousands as we started auditions. We were looking for something special. We needed a cast that could sing, dance, express, and open up to the audience.
With some creative direction from Mary Kathryn Watson, Carmen Mandley, and Jess Pillmore, the hopefuls were trimmed down to 24 actors that were oozing talent. Those 24 were then split into 4 groups of 6 for the next night's auditions and put through the paces. There was an immediate energy generated by one group, like they had been together for years. This group made our cast of Tom (Bryan Rider), George (Patrick Clanton), Joe (Dustin Thomas), Dori (Linnea Emigh), Dina (Tiffany Ivy), and Shulie (Kate Bowra) as well as Barney Weaver and Amanda Kouri as understudies for the male and female roles.
Mary Kathryn began the vocal work and it became obvious that we had a winning team that knew how to have fun. After much hard work and practice together and at home the songs came together and we were ready to start staging.
It didn't take me long to realize that writing blocking was going to be a real nightmare. Normally I write every move that is made on stage. With six actors on stage for almost the entire show and the crazy but amazing chorography Jess developed every page soon looked like a child trying to draw spaghetti. Thanks to the understudies and dance captains, I eventually only needed to make sure they started and ended each number in the right place.
Carmen staged the show as a total black space that exploded with color as the show moved from song to song. Chalk was used everywhere to turn the empty black box into a rainbow-hued playground. Of course all the actors were covered with chalk every rehearsal and performance. At times poor little Dori (Linnea) was even a human eraser.
As with every show there are just too many great memories to share them all but some of my favorites were when everyone was learning how to juggle scarves. Shulie started great but every time she would catch a scarf and toss it back up she would bend her knees a little more and a little more until eventually she would be kneeling on the stage with a puzzled look of concentration on her face. Then there was the day that Joe turned up at rehearsal with neon blue hair. It was determined that although the blue worked for him it didn't work for the show. And the first time Tom did the aardvark everyone was laughing so hard we almost had to call rehearsal. George always got a great laugh with being the baby of some unsuspecting audience member, and the worn out jumping jacks in circulation. The first time Dina sang sufferin' till suffrage during a regular rehearsal everyone was spellbound, and a new target was set for all the other numbers.
By the time the show went up we had six pages of light cues and at some points when calling the cues I felt like an auctioneer 45,50,55,60. Fortunately we also had fabulous crews and the show mesmerized audiences old and young alike from opening night through strike. Informal surveys of the audiences following the show proved that every song was someone's favorite. Even the catchy dialogbetween songs "I usually enjoy a good morning hallucination" (Tom - Bryan), "Tom, Tommy, Tomarino. You can't just turn us off" (Joe - Dustin), and the ever popular "I feel a song coming on…" (Tom) will be remembered by many. As well as Dori's (Linnea's) intermission haiku: May I stand? Yes please. Now the stage is dark, the last bit of chalk has been mopped off the walls and the floor (well mostly, I don't think it will ever all be gone) the set has been struck, and pieces of the show have been recycled for other shows and events. But I can still close my eyes and picture the smiles of the kids picked to come on stage and help with the show, and the echoes of verb, elbow room and all the other songs still run through my head. In all Schoolhouse Rock Live! was one of my most memorable theater experiences. Members of the cast(in order of appearance) Tom: Bryan Rider Production crewDirector: Carmen-maria Mandley Audition Crew: Ruth Bromer, Carlie Huberman, Lori Huberman, Laura Jernigan, Gerrie Kouri, Amy Mann, Justin Mann, Kiron Rakkar, Kathleen Rudolph, Elizabeth Trent, Liisa Trent, David Watts Box Office Volunteers: Joe Ali, Laura Barrier, Beckie Bumgardner, Harvey Bumgardner, Cornell Chappell, Patsy Clarke, Deanna Eckert, Joyce Donaldson, Lynn Hardison, Connie McDaniel, Rose Melvin, Martha Noyes, Pats Palmer, Linda Pritchard, Linda Shore, Edythe Stanislaw, Marian Susann Concessions Crew: Chris Beaulieu, Bill Boyd, Sandra Boyd, Darrell Coleman, Joyce Copeland, Judy Dove, Chris Eckert, Dan Eckert, Gini Emigh, Ted Emigh Jackie Glasser, Maija Karlins, Clint Lienau, Jan Lienau, OB Lienau, Sylvia Parks, Tracey Powell, April Stanley Costume Shop Crew: Jean Wilkinson House Managers: Marie Berry, Patsy Clarke, Barbara Corbin, Deanna Eckert, Cate Foltin, Sunny Franzene, Lynn Freeman, Barbette Hunter, Gerrie Kouri, Lilo Miles, Kathleen Rudolph, Lesley Templeton, Judi Wilkinson Light Crew: David Watts (Chief), Joe Bailey, Pat Berry, Meredith Budlong, Barbara Corbin, Chris Eckert, Dan Eckert, Deanna Eckert, Dylan Giles, Catherine Lambe, David Page, Daniel Phelps, Jamie Powell, Kiron Rakkar, Nikolai Rogers Light Hang/Focus: David Watts (Chief), Pat Berry, Dan Phelps, Edie Phelps, Kiron Rakkar, Jennifer Root, David Wilk Props Crew: Dee Bitner (Chief) Ruth Berry, Jeff Eckert, Robin Hughes, Cameron Taylor Public Relations Crew: B.J. Bullamore, Lauren Bullamore, Carolyn Busse, Liesl Clouse, Barbara Corbin, Gerrie Kouri, Thomas Porter, Melissa Ricketts, Natasha Strawn, Judy Szustakowski Set Construction Crew: Amy Bartley, Ed Bodell, Noel Butzke, David Powell, John Price, Jennifer Root, Dick Shirk Special Thanks To: Arts Access for audio description; Capstone Production Group for Web hosting; Jordan Adair’s Advisory and Mike Myers Advisary at Durham Academy; Haskell Fitz-Simons; Luna Designs for Web site design and maintenance; the Raleigh Chapter of the National Charity League; and PIP Printing for posters. You are here: Photo home > 2003-2004 Yearbook > Schoolhouse Rock Live! |
