*****************Announcement: Not a Drill, this is the real thing************* Wayzata High School will present Monty Pythons SPAMALOT this fall. Initial Auditions 9/3-4 callback Auditions 9/5 Rehearsals begin 9/8 Performances 11/13, 11/14, 11/15, 11/20, 11/21 at 7:30pm 11/22 at 2:00pm. OK, so there are the nuts and bolts. Want more? Read on…there’s a lot. If you comment please keep the comments positive, if you have questions that are not answered below message or email me. Please respect the intention of this late announcement, be awesome to each other. You are not competitors, we are a team doing a show, do not do yourself or others a disservice by telling each other who you think everybody is going to play. Trust me, you don’t know because I don’t know. Auditions will tell. Ours is a department built on love and respect. Love and respect for the theatre, love and respect for performance, and love and respect of each other. Always keep that in mind. We are making art. If you feel you are doing something that is not helping with the making of art, stop it and reframe it. 55-60 students will be cast in the show. The show will be cast differently than was the Broadway production. Some characters will be gender-swapped in order to best serve our production. For example “Sir Robin” will likely be female (there will be many others) Some roles may be expanded and split to be played by more than one actor. These changes will be reflected in the script, they will be made before rehearsals begin. For example, The Lady of the Lake will be three actors each will have her own song in the show and the three will share songs in order to sharpen some comedic elements. This show will NOT be double cast. Everybody cast in the show will be performing the same role every night . I insist on gender equity here not out of some cynical need for political correctness but because the show will be better for it. If you watch the Broadway production it is largely male. It does not need to be and our production won’t be. So please if in the viewing of the youtube bootleg you are discouraged by the sea-of-dudes, don’t be there will be many more female roles. Tech- This will be a doozy. Watch for more. To those unfamiliar with the show: Spamalot is an absurd take on Arthurian legend and the search for the Holy Grail. Arthur and his Knights (a title that doesn’t denote gender) bound across the Medieval England on a quest. While on that quest they run into an incredible array of strange characters, bizarre scenarios and crazy entanglements. This play is a comedy in the broadest possible sense. Every moment sets up a new joke, satisfies the punch line of another and/or calls back to a previous joke. In short, this is a show for us. To those familiar with the show there are some things in it as written that are not suitable for our audience. I, Adam Hegg , will be changing, cutting and altering the show to ensure that it packs it artistic punch while not pulling the audience out of the show. This is a musical that takes nothing seriously so our tongues will still be planted firmly in our cheeks. For example the song “You won’t succeed on Broadway if you dont have any Jews” will be sung “You won’t succeed on Broadway if you don’t know who to choose”. Other than this change the song will remain intact (we will in fact still celebrate the contributions of our Jewish brothers and sisters. This cosmetic change will ensure the song will still be edgy, funny and a great spectacle but will soften the edges enough to make it palatable to all of our audience members (thats not true, you can never please everybody but we are going to try). In this way there will be some text added throughout to make broad comic jokes funnier, more ridiculous and more suitable for a broader audience. I do this because I have three concentric rings of responsibility when it comes to the shows I select and direct. My first responsibility is to the students in the program (so I chose a show we will do exceptionally well and will push us to be better performers, I have also altered the gender of characters to better use our audition pool). Second, I am responsible to the school and all of the people in it (students, staff, administration). By doing this show we are saying Wayzata stands behind it so we better do it well and thoughtfully. Third I have a responsibility to our audience (this audience ranges from my children (youngest of whom is 18 months) to the Grandparents and the people who attend the senior citizen performance). This show serves all of these stake-holders and will make us proud. I take full responsibility for making these changes, I will be and have been soliciting the advice of people around me (both at WHS and other theatre professionals). It is crucial for me that this gets done for the good of the show and everybody in it. I ask your patience and understanding and I promise you the changes will ultimately serve the production very well. Audition materials will be available at Back to Business days. Students will be asked to prepare a few measures of a song from the show (provided). Students will also go through this song at the Audition with Melissa O’neill. Students will also dance a combination (taught by Cathy Wind) that will be taught at the audition. If there is time students will perform short improvisational scenes in dialect (British dialects) these will be directed by me (Adam Hegg). If cast, students will be required to perform in each performance and attendance at the last ten rehearsals will be mandatory. All other conflicts may be exempted by the production staff if submitted on the audition form. We understand that the lives of high school students are complex. In that spirit if a student has an academic or family concern that keeps them out of rehearsal we will make every accommodation possible. All students should be aware that one actor’s absence effects the whole rehearsal but sometimes it is necessary. The broad rehearsal schedule will be available at Back to Business days. Specific calls will be made no later than the beginning of each week (Sundays). The rehearsal schedule will not change drastically once posted each week with the exception of unforeseen school closures. We will do our best to use the cast we call at the times we call them but sometimes there are delays. Students will be asked to either quietly review lines, blocking, choreography or music or do homework. The practice of “hanging out” backstage, in the dressing room, or in the house has been discontinued. This does not mean you cannot have fun or socialize, please do, but the rehearsal room is just that. Rehearsals will be held from 2:30-5:00pm daily unless otherwise noted. In the lead up to opening (11/3-11/11) rehearsals will be held until 6:00pm. Rehearsals will not end after 6:00pm. This is a change. I am knowingly cutting 30 minutes from most of our working rehearsals. This change is being made for two reasons. One reason is a personal one, I simply need to be home for my family earlier. The second reason is that I have been shown time and again that the last half-hour is not necessary. With that said, our time together will be sharp, focused and incredibly fun. My method is not changing, however, for those who went through the early part of Kate and Joseph you will remember frustration with each other at the lack of focus, commitment and respect in all directions. This process cannot afford that learning curve. I am going to maximize our “up time” and all but eliminate “down time”. There will be a Dance Camp as has been done in the past. This will be available on epay at sometime in the near future. Unlike years previous you are going to buy a package of classes and can attend as many as you like. At one or two of those classes I will hold a short (no more than an hour) dialect workshop. None of these are required but they are a great chance to get together. These will happen the week of August 18th. Specific times will be given out once we have set it up in epay but it will likely be late morning/early afternoon. Look for something from me or Mrs. Beherns soon about this. There. That is a lot of information, to those who read it, now you know why I do what I do. I have not been more excited to put a show together in a long time. This is going to be great. I cant wait to get in a room with all of you and make this thing happen! #letsmakeart
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 06:06:40 +0000
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