Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have 143+ kids, ages 6-18,
blocking scenes, learning choreography and memorizing harmony parts to this amazing show! From the adorable Munchkins, to Flying Monkeys, to jazzy Jitterbugs, to the “yo-he-ho” of the Winkies – their high level of commitment is sure to make this an outstanding show.
You don’t want to miss it, so mark your calendars now – December 2-11, at the North Kitsap Auditorium.
For me, the anticipation of “Opening Night” of any performance causes my mind to “wander back.” As we’re approaching just that for MUSIC MAN, I look back twelve years ago, when KCMT began with auditions for A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Kingston Community Center. Our stage was not quite one-quarter of the size of our current stage. There were 36 children double casted into this production.
Currently, we have 120 cast members, ages 6-17, representing 24 schools throughout Kitsap County. Our fifth cast incorporates 13 alumni and adults for a benefit performance on May 25 at 7 PM.
Kitsap Children’s Musical Theatre is all about families working together to create Broadway-type productions as professionally as possible within our growing budget. Our past productions include Oz, Scrooge, Cinderella, Oliver, Fiddler on the Roof, High School Musical, Bye Bye Birdie, Willy Wonka, Jungle Book, West Side Story, Aladdin, 100 Dalmatians, Oklahoma, and others.
Now, Fall 2012 sees plans beginning for performing 1776, The Musical and Annie Warbucks.
KCMT has an immediate need for a rehearsal facility and a set shop in order for us to continue to provide this awesome experience for our community. Other needs include updating our sound equipment, a padded floor for our rehearsal area, mirrored walls to help our cast members learn choreography, a wireless backstage intercom system and a new state of the art performance facility in North Kitsap where all of our community dance studios, musicians and theatrical performers can all have a place to shine!
The North Kitsap Auditorium is booked year round. Because of this, we are unable to accommodate our growing numbers and the demand for more Broadway-type musical performances.
I am so thankful for the many people who have “joined the band” over the years. These people are truly amazing and give so sacrificially of their time and talents. During our current performances, May 3-27 at the North Kitsap Auditorium, we will have a KCMT’S FUTURE table in the lobby. We invite you to stop by for more information. We’d love to talk with you – maybe find out how you too can “join the band!”
Kerby Criss
KCMT Executive Director
AGAIN! Oh this word has become my new best friend. For years of rehearsing and teaching kids I always had to default to, “One more time.” That statement, most of the time, was a lie. It is never “one more time.” It is more like, let’s run that 100 more times! However, when working with our volunteer professional dance instructor I heard her use that one little golden word that changed my life. “Again!” she called out to the kids. That word, that word right there, was the word I failed to find sooner. No long sentences. No explanations. Just one short little word and there was no need for anymore talk.
Repetition is our best friend at rehearsal. Our goal is to teach things as quickly as possible so that we have more time for repetition. The more our kids work the same thing the more they get it. The more they feel confident in what they do. Their bodies move without their brains telling them to. They hear the music and instead of running the steps they are taught, they are dancing to the music, and performing to the lyrics. That is when repetition truly pays off on the stage.
The other day I was thinking about how hard it is for us (adults) to start new habits and create new routine. We get set in our ways, and when we are forced to do something different we get very bent out of shape. It feels new, and sometimes hard. Sometimes you feel like you are doing it all wrong and you will never figure it out. The mechanics of the whole thing feel odd and foreign. I was personally in one of those places and found myself in a pout. I don’t like pouting because pouting always leads to whining. So I asked myself what was making me feel the need to pout. The answer was that I felt awkward with the change in my life and what I was being expected to do that was new. It dawned on me right then and there that I had the answer to this one. I told myself, “Again. Tomorrow do it again. Then the next day do it again, then again, and again. AGAIN!”
Repetition without explanation works. Soon it stops being about the mechanics and how awkward you feel. Eventually you can hear the music. Then you can dance to the music. Then you find yourself performing what you need to perform.
Sara Adams
KCMT Director
In preparing to design and work on sets for an upcoming show it’s become very helpful for me to do a bit of historical research of the location and time period. Here are some of the historical highlights of North Central Iowa where our upcoming musical, THE MUSIC MAN, takes place.
Located in the 29th State of the Union (1846), Mason City, Iowa is known as the “River City” mainly due to Mason City’s very own “Music Man” Meredith Willson, who was born and raised there. (Clarification for some of you: Meredith is a man, and Willson DOES have two “L’s.”)
Mason City, Iowa is a gorgeous city with a small town atmosphere. This place is the central activity hub of northern Iowa and is ideal for having small town values coupled with big city conveniences.
The rivers and woods in North Central Iowa were originally home to the Winnebago and Sioux Indians.
In 1853, John Long and John Bilford came from Illinois to claim timber and prairie land along the Winnebago River. They laid out a town which was later named Masonville, in honor of Long’s deceased son. Due to duplicate city names, Mason City became its incorporated name in 1870.
In 1866, the Mason City and Fort Dodge railroad line was established. The railroad opened the door for Mason City to grow quickly and became established as a significant retail and manufacturing center in the Midwest.
By 1912, Mason City was shipping the largest freight tonnage in the state of Iowa and producing more brick and tile and more Portland cement than any city in the world. At one time there were nine brick and tile companies in Mason City.
At the turn of the century (1907), an architect came to the area to complete some design work for a prominent businessman. Frank Lloyd Wright went on to design The Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank, both which opened in 1910.
By 1934, the Great Depression hit North Iowa along with the rest of the country. Throughout the Upper Midwest, John Dillinger and his gang began making a name for themselves. Dillinger was somewhat of a hero to depression weary farmers, as he would often destroy foreclosure records during bank robberies. It was on March 13, 1934 that “public enemy number one” came to Mason City and robbed the First National Bank.
In 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper, and pilot Roger Peterson departed from the Mason City Municipal Airport in a small airplane and crashed just north of Clear Lake with no survivors.
In 1951, Meredith Willson began working on a fun-filled musical story of “River City.” The story was about a salesman trying to convince the citizens of River City to start a boys’ band. The musical played several theaters in the East until Warner Brothers bought the movie rights and began production in 1961.
On June 19, 1962 at the Palace Theater in Mason City, The Music Man premiered. And today, Meredith Willson’s love of music lives on at The Music Man Square, where his personal memorabilia and a replica of the original movie streetscape are on display. Annually, Mason City hosts the Mason City Band Festival in tribute to the rich musical and cultural history the city is known for.
So, now I have a better sense of the town that needs designing – and designing I better get doing!
Due dates, commitments, and spreadsheets! Oh, and all the meetings and due dates… and spread sheets… and plans. So many “to do’s” – so little time to do the “to do’s!”
But then… But then… But then… I get to dance! I get to be silly! I get to talk into a microphone. (Talking into a microphone makes you feel oh so important, powerful and LOUD.)
The next few weeks at KCMT will be a mad rush to position, move and teach which foot you start with, and which way you turn. We will be teaching the ever important lesson of moving as a group – all at the same time. While this is going on KCMT kids will feel frustrated, defeated and once in a while bored. However, when their feet move the right way, at the right time, they will feel VICTORY!
Do you know what I feel the first few weeks of production?
I feel the burn.
I move. I dance. Over and over, step by step. The kids hardly break a sweat. I wake up the next day feeling like I got hit by a train. Now, we have teen staff to do the dancing and moving, but I can’t help myself. It is so much fun to get in there and teach. So much fun watching their faces when they do it right and we can move on; all the time knowing how silly I look and how much I am going to hurt in the morning.
Now I can put together one mean spreadsheet; but the bottom line is – I only do that stuff because in the end I know I get to dance!
Sara Adams
The Music Man Director
I waited to write today’s blog until after Music Man was cast. But my time is up and still no solid cast list. I want to be perfectly fair.
After the final callback, the directors deliberated deep into the night. There is much to take into consideration.
* There was a lot of new talent. How committed will they
be?
* There are quite a few kids who can sing, act and/or dance really well.
* Who can we count on to show up to rehearsal prepared?
* What about the kids who took the time to memorize their audition lines and
callback songs?
* What about the kids who have put their time into the chorus or a bit part show
after show?
There are so many kids. What to do?
Well, let’s take a look at who is committed, with a good attitude. They treat others with respect. They don’t gossip or act like they are better than others. They obey the adults. They don’t disturb rehearsals or goof off during production weeks.
Now, let’s take a look at who is the best for each part. Who can sing it? Who can act it? Who can dance it? Okay, I think we’ve got it!
WAIT! She’s too tall. He’s too short. Forget about keeping siblings together! (sigh)
Well, sorry guys – I guess it’s back to the drawing board!
Kerby
The Music Man Executive Director
Busy, busy, busy! Auditions are coming up soon and registrations are tomorrow and the next day. As a teen staff I am super excited for this show – especially for the new pre-teen staff called, “AIM.” This new area of leadership will allow middle school pre-teens to train under our high-school-aged teen staff members who are known as, “Target.” As a part of Target, I will be able to teach choreography to kids who are younger than I am and who share the same passion for dance, teaching and leadership. I started my teen staff position at age fourteen and have been leading the same kids, who are now a part of AIM, for the past three years.
So far, I have been in every production put on by KCMT and have seen teens come and go. As a younger child, I remember looking up to these teens and wanting to be just like them. Some teens have been a great influence on my life and I will always remember the relationship I had with some of the performers who are now students in various colleges across the United States.
Today, I try to be the influence and example I have always wanted to be since I was a little girl. In two years I will be off to college. By that time, the great group of pre-teens we have in training for this show will be the best Teen Staff ever!
KCMT is a growing organization and I know that the teen staff programs are a huge part of our success. As time goes on, KCMT will grow bigger and bigger, and as a result, our community will grow closer and stronger.
Hava Criss
The Music Man Choreographer
and Target Teen Staff Member
In my hall closet are two boxes. They’ve been there since we moved in 35 years ago this coming March. I take them out every so often and go through them; usually for some upcoming musical endeavor. One box has seen more use than the other … my husband, Merle’s box of wedding, sacred solos and quartet music. They’ve had a lot of use over the years!
The other box is from my mom, Georgia Lea Jordan. It contains pieces of her very well-used sheet music. Mostly from the 30’s and 40’s … then it skips most of the 50’s (that’s when my sister and I came along, I think she was busy!). The dates pick up again in the early 60’s.
Momma loved music, which is something she passed along to me. You see, she and I would spend HOURS in an evening or on a Saturday afternoon going through every piece she had. She played, and I stood beside her at the piano and sang. “Don’t Blame Me,” “I Cried for You,” “You Were Meant for Me,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” “Temptation,” “When I Fall in Love” and the list goes on and on.
So I went to look again. I was pretty sure it was there, and I found it … Not as a single piece of sheet music, but in one of her “30 Years – 30 Hits” books.
She’s been gone a long while now, but every so often I’ll hear a reference to one of those songs and I’ll remember all the time I spent with my mom learning to love music. That’s something I now have the privilege of doing at KCMT … pass along a love of music. I count it an honor to work with these talented and AMAZING kids. Their dedication and professionalism is outstanding.
So, be looking (and listening) for the song; it’s the culmination of the love story of our upcoming show, THE MUSIC MAN. Marion Paroo & Professor Harold Hill, on the footbridge, in the moonlight and “Till There Was You.”
Thanks, Momma!
Karen Trostad
KCMT Director
Thinking about THE MUSIC MAN, I see happy KCMT’ers – creating – kids, moms, dads and even toddlers. There are big smiles stretching into laughter. And then my brain focuses better and I see us in our Rehearsal Hall (that’s the Chevy Building!) ambitiously rehearsing FOUR CASTS AT ONCE! Now things become a blur! But, my positive outlook takes over and the planning begins. Soon we’ll have 4 incredible directors doing their part to make it all work.
I also remember, KCMT is just for fun and God is in charge. I have that faith and that gives me hope.
So, strike up the band, get your embouchure in shape (that’s a musical term for the facial muscles and shaping of the lips to play a wind instrument!) and get your registration forms filled out. The Wells Fargo Wagon is a-coming down the street and you don’t want to miss the parade!
In all the prep and rehearsing for our upcoming show, THE WIZARD OF OZ, we were encouraged to receive the following note from a grandpa who paid 5 times our ticket price to see a professional show in Texas:
“… Before the show was over I knew that I had seen a more professional and vibrant performance by your Kitsap theatre group last year… I acknowledge that I am not a professional theatre critic but I know what I like, and I liked your show so much better. Now I’m looking forward to seeing The Wizard of Oz in December.”
It is so heartening to know that KCMT’s performances are viewed as far from juvenile. Our kids are professionally trained to give a Broadway-type performance worth more than our ticket price suggests.
“Curtain up” is coming quickly; so get your tickets (KCMT tickets are just $10!) and invite your friends to join us as we enter the Merry Old Land of Oz!
Each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we have 143+ kids, ages 6-18, blocking scenes, learning choreography and memorizing harmony parts to this amazing show! From the adorable Munchkins, to Flying Monkeys, to jazzy Jitterbugs, to the “yo-he-ho” of the Winkies – their high level of commitment is sure to make this an outstanding show.
You don’t want to miss it, so mark your calendars now – December 2-11, at the North Kitsap Auditorium. Tickets are available now!