Day 1

Wow!  I truly can't believe what we can pack into a day at EYT.  Our first day was a huge success thanks to the addition of a great support staff which includes two assistant directors and two half day group leaders.  Lisa, Katie, Alex, and Arvid worked hard all morning to make certain that each of our 67 EYT kids was busy somewhere - whether it was outside, downstairs, upstairs... I think the Empress had kids crawling out of the woodwork.  

We got a great start on the music and choreography for Belle, and I got so in-the-zone that I forgot to take any pictures at all!  But the jigsaw choreography is coming together piece by piece for an opening number that is sure to wow the audience.  

We eased into the workshop format today with a theater orientation taught by assistant director Lisa Larsen.  With any cast, the mechanics of backstage are just as important as what goes on in the audience's view.  But for a cast of our size, we'll have to get it down like clockwork.  A tour of the dressing rooms, including assigning a space for each student, will help us start out on a good track.

The afternoon consisted of many small group rehearsals, rotating through scene work, vocal rehearsals, and blocking (one scene down).  There's lots of polishing to do, but we've made a great start on several scenes and small group numbers.

Thanks to Hailey's mom for posting this picture on Facebook, and I promise to do better tomorrow at cataloging the best three weeks of 2012!  WHO ARE WE? 

EYT!