LOFTIE BOOING RESULTS:
-tell the person you booed, or use this link https://goo.gl/ZsvVMi

HEADSHOT / RESUME WORKSHOP:
-Saturday in December (date TBD) at noon
-location TBD

DECEMBER PLAY IN A DAY:
-Thursday Dec 27-Friday Dec 28 (27 is playwrights…they write all night long) (28 is for actors and directors to memorize and rehearse all day) (auditions the night before at 5:30) (night of 28 is performance for friends and family)
-in black box
-first come first serve / seniority for directing
-more info at Dec meeting and this is when actors sign up

SCHOLARS OF DISTINCTION:
-Dec 17 is application deadline
-application and other info here https://goo.gl/wGWv8p

FALL MUSICAL SERVICE PROJECT:
-donation collection (during shows, at ticket table, or bring to Elizabeth in an envelope)
-check out link for info about the organization!! https://eji.org

WINTER ONE ACT AUDITIONS:
-auditions Nov 26, callbacks Nov 27, readthrough Nov 30
–She Kills Monsters (director: Leah Jensen, assistant director: Jack Lambert, set designer: Nolan Sherburne)

BUTTERBRAIDS PICKUP:
-Tuesday Nov 13 at around 2pm
-pick up after school on mini stage

THESPIAN POINTS:
–log points(anything related to theater)
-go to this link bit.ly/erhsthespian

Thank you to the crew for Les Miserables for the time you’ve put in thus far to make this production a success. Below you will find crew assignments for the performance crew. You must send me a message via Remind or an email to accept your crew position.

If you don’t see your name on the list and believe it should be, please contact me. All those that expressed interest in participating on the performance crew have been given a position.

Jimmy
Technical Director

Student Director	Alli Colberg
Stage Manager	Nolan Sherburne
Deck Captain	Anna Clatanoff
Assistant Deck Captain	Liv Meinders
Props Mistress	Emma Garrity
Running Crew	Alphonso Amores
	Abbie Marshall
	Sidney Green
Lighting Crew	April O’Meara
Sound Crew	Jared Doran
	Ian Winston
	Manny Green
	Ben Colberg
Video Crew	Casey Eakins
	Grace Ballard
	Jade’ann Kojetin-Smith
	Alaina Braunschweig
Dressing/Make-Up Crew	Kaia Helnte
	Ava Cyr

Loftie Booing:
-Booing is an (optional)activity where you create a small basket/bucket of Halloween goodies for your fellow Lofties!
-One person starts it off, you are randomly assigned one Loftie and are given their address.
-One night you go to their house, set the goodies down in front of their main door, ring the doorbell, AND THEN RUN AS FAST YOU CAN BECAUSE IT’S A SECRET!!(park far away from their house so that they don’t recognize your car)
-DoNOTtell anyone who you have until after EVERYONE has been Booed. – We will tell you when it’s okay
-Text Meghan H with your name, address, and any allergies if you’d like to participate (309-532-3982)

Club Photos:
-Yearbook club photos are on November 21 (wear Loftie gear!!)
-Sign up for LoftPAC on FeePay or you won’t get a pass to come take the picture

Scholars of Distinction:
-Please tell Mrs. Carlson if interested (max of 6 entries)
DATES: December 17-application due, February 22-portfolio due, April 27 and 29-artistic showcases (qualifying students must be at ONE date), May 18- awards ceremony at Perpich Center

Lettering:
-3 shows
-10 ERHS related points
-10 technical hours

Stage to Screen Movie Night:
-Wednesday October 17
-bring blankets and wear PJs!

Service Project:
-Equal Justice Initiative (works for children in prison, mass incarceration, death penalty, racial justice, wrongly accused)
-our idea: film kids performing monologues from “The Exonerated” and raise money by releasing videos J

Butter Braid Fundraiser:
-DATES: October 5- start date, October 23- end date, October 26- submit order, November 13- delivery
-Group name: The Loft Stage Boosters
-Checks payable to The Loft Stage

Ramsey Middle School Theater Program:
-After school program… starting a theater department!
-We can help by cleaning out costume room and donating old costumes AND traveling to the school to teach theater games and activities
-We need a committee of dedicated students that will commit to kids ALL YEAR…if interested in being on the committee text Meghan H (309-532-3982)

Ticket sales for our fall production of Les Miserables begin THIS FRIDAY!

While the show is fairly well known, the school edition differs a bit from the original production.

So the question remains…

Why Choose the “School Edition” and what does “School Edition” Really Mean?

One of the many questions we received after selecting Les Miserables as our fall production was “why choose the ‘school edition?’” After perusing several scores we landed on Les Miserables as a rich and challenging text for both students and audiences alike. The only issue with doing this show this year is that the touring company of Les Mis will be in Minnesota within the same calendar year, restricting rights for the original production. If we wanted to continue pursuing this show, our only legal option was to apply for school edition rights; and after reviewing the differences between the two versions, we felt the story, characters, conflict, and score were still the right fit for our season.

So the question remains, what does “school edition” actually mean? It’s first important to understand what “school edition” doesn’t mean (ie – censorship). Contrary to the connotation, the school edition of Les Mis does not sanitize language nor does it remove the mature situations on the battlefield or the docks. Instead, the school edition seeks to abridge a lengthy score by removing a few unnecessary musical interludes, namely the counterpoint section of “The Confrontation,” much of “Dog Eats Dog,” and the “Wedding Chorale.” Thankfully, many of the most iconic Les Mis moments are very much in tact in this version, we’ll just be able to end the show at a more reasonable hour!

For families wondering appropriateness of content for young audiences, we definitely leave that decision up to the discretion of parents and guardians; however, the content and language would merit a PG-13 rating. If you have any specific questions about content, feel free to email director Kajsa Jones (kjones@theloftstage.org).

Parents,

Thanks so much for coming to the parent info session last night! As always, it was great to see familiar faces and it was even more wonderful to see some new ones. We love to have the involvement from as many parents as we can, so your interest in and willingness to help keeps our program afloat!

Here is a brief summary of key details from the meeting. The full slideshow can be found here.

1. Please take a few moments to fill out the following google form. We use information from this for future parent contact and for creating volunteer committees.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVFvglt11vBUb-XZtzyHtT88pS3Pd_Z9tiT3nz2m7YApl_Kw/viewform
2. Please sign up for the Les Mis Remind – @erlesmis – We will use this form of communication for quick and important announcements. There was a parent request to use this during tech week to inform parents of extended rehearsal times as we tend to run later into the evening the week before opening. We appreciate this request and will do our best to let families know through this channel.
3. The online rehearsal calendar is updated for the next two weeks and can be viewed here:https://theloftstage.org/erhs-theater/public-calendar/
4. Should a student need to miss rehearsal, he or she is responsible for communicating any unexpected absences proactively to both Kajsa Jones (kjones@theloftstage.org) and to me (kcarlson1@sowashco.org).
5. Please register online for the musical via the Activities office FeePay system: https://sowashco.feepay.com/ All musical participants are required to register by Friday, September 14^th.
6. If you haven’t already done so, you can order your Les Mis t-shirt here: https://store.theloftstage.org/
7.  Remember to completely clear your schedules after MEA.
8. Lastly, here are a few more important dates to put on your calendars:

9/12 – Children’s Auditions – encourage those little performers to come audition!

9/21 – Program Photos – if you are not there that day, your photo will be omitted from the program

9/28 – tshirt and makeup kit orders due

9/29 – Poster plaster

MEA Weekend – Set load in (optional but we’d LOVE your help!)

10/25 – First combined rehearsal with orchestra

10/27 – Sound Tech Saturday

11/3 – Tech Saturday

11/9-11 & 11/16-18 – Performances

11/18 – Set Strike

Please let Kajsa Jones, director (kjones@theloftstage.org) and/or Katie Carlson, assistant director (kcarlson@theloftstage.org) know if you have any questions or concerns. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to our fabulous booster board all of whom have email contacts listed here: https://theloftstage.org/erhs-theater/boosters/

Thanks!