I cannot even believe how much the Empress Youth Theatre organization has grown. Between the Youth Council, the Parent Volunteer Committee, and the Production Staff, there are nearly three dozen individuals working on small or large tasks to make this program succeed.
I am really excited about a new tool we will be using this year to help coordinate all of the great opportunities available. Things as simple as coordinating carpools, donating small items, posting pictures for costume approval... it can all be done on the bulletin board!
Take a moment to check it out now! Be sure to drag the board from side to side or up and down to see all the notes. Or just click this link for a full page version
What does it mean to prepare an audition piece in the style of the show?
Option 1: Stick with the show's Broadway era Li'l Abner is from the era of classic Broadway musicals - those that were written and premiered between 1920 and 1959, a period that includes the “golden age of musical theatre.” Broadway Musical Home has a great list of classic musicals. Option 2: Go with the show's composer
The production staff can tell a lot from how you handle a song by the same composer as the show for which you are auditioning. Li'l Abner has music written by Gene de Paul, and the Internet Broadway Database has a (short) list of other shows featuring his music.
Option 3: Research the setting of the show
Choosing another song from a similar time period or with a similar setting can add variety to your options. However, you are less likely to find a convenient list. Li'l Abner is set in a backwoods town in the 1950's. An internet search for "musicals with a country feel" might bring up some possible song choices.
Option 4: Skip Broadway altogether
This is definitely a riskier choice, but sometimes you can find popular music that fits the feel of the show for which you are auditioning. Do your research! Make certain the song you choose fits for a specific reason; maybe it has a similar beat, tempo, or chord structure.
Hopefully this has helped! If you have any additional questions about your audition selection, feel free to contact me. I am happy to be a pre-audition resource.
If you were unable to attend today's parade rehearsal but would like to start practicing, I've included several tools for you including the lyrics (complete with my choreography notes), a practice vocal track, and a choreography video. As the girls who attended today will attest, the actual difficulty level is not high; it is memorization that is gonna kill us! So practice away.
2016 Parade Remix
The country's in the very best of hands, WAVE UP
The best of hands, the best of hands. CIRCLE SWITCH TO POW WOW / RPT OTHER WAY
The Treasury says the national debt is climbing to the sky CROSS HIP UP / RPT; AROUND UP
And government expenditures have never been so high. SAME
It makes a feller get a gleam of pride within his eye, WAVE CROSS LOW, MIDDLE, HIGH 2X
to see how our economy expands, CROSS HIGH, MIDDLE, LOW 2X
The country's in the very best of hands. WAVE UP 4X , CIRCLE SWITCH, BUMP BACKS
Us voters are connected to the nominee, L'S
The nominee's connected to the treasury. ZOMBIE, T
When they ain't connected to the treasury, LOW L'S
They sits around on their thigh bones. SWOOP AT THIGHS
Them bones, them bones gonna rise again, OAR SLOWLY 2X
Gonna exercise a franchise again, OAR SLOWLY 2X
Gonna tax us up to our eyes again, OAR SLOWLY 2X, FAST 4X
If we gets them off of their thigh bones. SWOOP AT THIGHS
The country's in the very best of hands, SAME AS BEGINNING
the best of hands, the best of hands.
Them GOP's and Democrats each hates the other one. LUAU RIGHT 4X, OUT IN
They's always criticizing how the country should be run. LUAU LEFT 4X, OUT IN
But neither tells the public what the other's gone and done. V UP, V DOWN, V UP, V DOWN
As long as no one knows where no one stands, AIRPLANE IN, ALTERNATE
The country's in the very best of hands. SAME AS BEFORE
They sits around in this place they got, BREAK WRISTS
This big congressional parking lot. PRECISION ELBOWS
Just sits around on their you know what. BIG ELBOWS
Up there they call them their thigh bones. SWOOP AT THIGHS
Them bones them bones gonna rise again, CROSSES RISING
So dignified and so wise again, KEEP RISING
While the budget doubles in size again KEEP RISING, DOWN UP, DOWN UP
When they gits up offen their thigh bones.SWOOP AT THIGHS
I just got back from the first meeting of the incredible minds behind this year's production. While I am very excited about pretty much everything, here are the first two items you need to know in preparation for you (or your kid) making the transition to an upstanding citizen of Dogpatch, USA.
FOOTWEAR:
Because Dogpatch, USA is a backwoods sort of a town, we are going to be going for a barefoot look. However, we are not going for actual bare feet. Please begin your search now for one of the following types of footwear. ALL half-day students (yes, the boys too) will need one of the following types of shoes. Nearly all full-day students (especially girls) will need this type of shoe. Full day boys might want to wait until after casting to make a purchase.
"Bear claws": This refers to a type of dance shoe that covers the sole of the foot while leaving most of the top of the foot bare. Dancewearsolutions.com currently offers a pair for $12.95-$14.95 depending on size.
Tan jazz shoes: If you are concerned about safety and want the full foot covered, tan jazz shoes are also an acceptable option. Unless you already own a pair, this option will actually cost more with prices beginning around $25. However, you are probably more likely to be able to borrow a pair of jazz shoes.
HAIR:
Summer can be a fun time to experiment with hair! However, some of the hairstyles of 2016 just aren't going to work in Dogpatch, USA. Feel free to keep your crazy colors through July 22nd. As of July 25th, we will expect to see naturally occurring hair colors only (no, you don't have to have your own natural color) and symmetrical cuts only. For those of you with beautifully "normal" hair, what we see at auditions will be what we expect you to keep through the final performance. ANY changes to your hair (length, style, color) need to be approved before you make the change. If your preferred hairstyle is a little too edgy for Dogpatch, and you just don't want to give it up, please be prepared to provide your own wig.
The Magna 4th of July Parade is a great opportunity for us to start to advertise for our production of Li'l Abner. Not only that, but it is a fun way to get a head start on all the fun that is EYT. For planning purposes, keep in mind that this parade does not begin until noon on the 4th. The time commitment will be from approximately 10:00 am to around 2:00 p.m.
There are two levels of participation. Be sure you know which one applies to you!
FULL DAY STUDENTS:
In order to participate in the parade, please plan to attend TWO of the four scheduled full-day parade rehearsals. All rehearsals will be held from 10 am to 11:30 am (trying to beat the full heat of the day). Choose from June 20th, June 22nd, June 27th, or June 29th. Rehearsals will be held at the Empress Theatre. Please wear shoes you can walk and dance in. NO FLIP FLOPS!!!
HALF DAY STUDENTS:
In order to participate in the parade, please plan to attend ONE of the two scheduled half-day rehearsals. Both rehearsals will be held from 10 am to 11:30 am upstairs at the Empress Theatre. Choose from Wednesday, June 22nd or Wednesday, June 29th. Half day students will ride on the parade trailer and will just learn the song, not the choreography.
I look forward to getting an early start with the parade kids!
Remember that registration will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis based on the timestamp at the time you submit your registration. When an age/gender is full, the names will be placed on a wait list according to the same timestamp information. Thank you for your interest in joining EYT!
So, Andrea asked me to write something up for you to get to know me. I find it hard writing about
myself but I was determined to try. I started like a 3rd person YA story, but it didn’t feel right. Next I
started a 1st person story but it sounded conceited and unrealistic. I have settles instead to just write a autobiography. I hope it accomplishes all that Andrea hoped it would.
I come from a heritage of performers. My grandmother was a performer in college and went on to be a vocal coach, which she still does today. She taught my mother and my aunt to sing at a very early age. They went on to be on Tv at the ages of 8 and 10, They traveled the world with the USO and my aunt still performers today with the Silva Sister around Utah.
I loved music and movement from the time I was old enough to stand. I grew up singing and dancing
with my family. I was 3 years old when I performer with my mother in front of hundreds of people. As a teen I performed in places like Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farms, SeaWorld, The London Bridge, Branson, St Louis, Six flags.
I wasn’t much of a singer, I had to learn to sing and it took years for me to be able to hold my own
against my siblings. Dance and movement however came naturally to me. I loved it. I went to college at Southern Utah University. I knew I wanted to pursue a degree in dance, at the time they didn’t have one so I did a theater art major with a dance minor. I was the only freshmen on the modern dance company and I got to be involved in my first theater experience. I was hooked.
When I finished an LDS mission I got involved in Community Theater. I learned all I could about theater and the art of bringing something magical to life. I had wonderful mentors who fanned my excitement about the craft.
I’m not going to go in to everything I’ve done- that would be pages of me rambling on about how each experience changed me. I will include my resume for you to see my body of work. Instead I’m going to tell you two experiences; how I came to know Andrea (who you know and respect) and they story of one of my favorite productions.
I was in my early 20’s when I got involved at the Draper Arts Council. There I meet the Casdorph family. They were an amazing talented family. I got to be in many productions with them. I remember thinking how Andrea was so suited to this art. Outside of the theater she became my friend. When I was asked to put together a productions team for the Dickens Christmas festival she was top on my list. She and I have worked so seamlessly together for so many years that it was an easy yes for me when she ask me to take on this adventure with her.
One of my most favorite productions was Fiddler on the Roof. On the first day we broke the cast up into families. My intention in doing this was that it would be easy to block that way as well as schedule rehearsals. What happened was that they became like families- caring for each other, helping each other, practicing together. We became a close nit town like Anatevka-even though many of us did not live near one another. Every night we were transported to Russia- and here is the part that if you taking nothing else from all my rambling take this. We were not actors and audience but equal participants in the experience of Fiddler on the Roof. I cried every night of the show when my families one by one left Anatevka. I learn from that experience and I was changed.
So, it’s a youth workshop but it is also a play. We will work hard and I will expect your best effort. We will learn and I will help you discover something new about yourself and your abilities. We will laugh and dance and sing and work hard and have sore muscles and possibly hurt other things and we will have homework, and did I mention we will work hard? But I promise you’ll grow and learn and have fun. I’m looking forward to this summer and meeting all of you. Now go do something and be great!
