Brenden Finn and Holly Brown are taking a break from the Loft Stage to star in Disney’s Mulan Jr at the Phipps in Hudson WI. Click Tickets for more information! Break a leg Lofties!

1. Glimpses of the Moon Ushers Needed

• Woodbury Community Theatre
• Black Box Thearre
• Friday and Saturday @ 7 and Sunday @ 3
• This weekend and next weekend
• Contact Mrs. Hestwood if interested

2. Middleton Volunteers

• This Friday @ 4:30 – 7:30 and Saturday @ 8 – 12
• Help out with middle school students in theatre activities
• We would need you both days
• Contact Mrs. Hestwood if interested

3. Drama Club Yearbook Pictures

• On 2/12 @ 10:30
• In the Gym
• Please be there! 🙂

4. Survey

• Please take it!
• Please have your parents take it!
• We want your feedback! 🙂

5. Thespian Conference

• If you want to go, please register ASAP
• Link is on the website

6. EBC Fundraiser

• We are no longer doing this
• We will get money to those who already participated

7. Spotlight Tickets

• Techies being honored and cast do NOT need a ticket
• Other techies and orchestra talk to Mrs. Hestwood about getting tickets
• Friends and Family will need tickets
• Get tickets at a discounted price from Mrs. Hestwood (now – Feb. 10th)
• After Feb. 10th. get tickets off the Hennepin Theatre Trust Website (Link is in the News Letter)

Auditions for the ERHS spring play, The Glass Slipper, are set for the first week of March.  Here’s the rundown:

THE SHOW

The Glass Slipper, by Vera Morris

Directed by Marcie Berglund

IMPORTANT NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR

On Schedules:  I will be looking very closely at conflicts when casting, so bring your calendars and your conflicts to auditions.

On Audition Preparation Tips:  Students will be reading from the script.  We will be performing this play in the “Commedia Del’Arte” style, which demands BROAD characters, BROAD movement, and BROAD reactions.  In other words:  EVERYTHING MUST BE BIG, BIGGER AND BIGGEST!  Bottom line:  DON’T HOLD BACK.  Be willing to put yourself on the line and make a risky choice when reading for these characters.

IMPORTANT DATES

Auditions:   Monday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 4—from 3:15 to 5:30

Callbacks:  Wednesday, March 5—from 3:15 to 5:30

First Cast Meeting:  Thursday, March 6—from 3:15 – 5:00

Rehearsals:  Begin the week of March 17.   We will rehearse Monday thru Fridays from 3:15 to 6:00.

Mandatory Dates:  From Monday April 21 to Friday April 25, full attendance is STRONGLY preferred.  From April 26—tech Saturday—through the show’s run, attendance is mandatory!

Performances:  Thursday, Friday and Saturday May 1,2, and 3, with the possibility of day performances for elementary schools.

CAST AND CREW NEEDS

CREW:  Stage Manager

COSTUME:  Creativity, as the costumes are going to be as large and fun as the characters

MAKEUP:  Extreme, with lots of “extras”

LIGHTING:  Magical effects

SOUND:  Lots of creative sound effects

PROPS:  As befitting our colorful take on this classic tale

CHARACTERS
ATTILA	Timid Cat
BRUNHILDA	Cinderella’s very loud unpleasant stepsister.   Very unattractive.
CLEOPATRA	Cinderella’s very silly unpleasant stepsister.  Very unattractive.
STEPMOTHER	Cinderella’s very mean unpleasant stepmother.  Knows her daughters’ “flaws.”
MOUSE	Loves cheese
CINDERELLA	Beautiful, sweet and gentle girl with a soft heart
APPRENTICE	Fairy godmother intern
FAIRY GODMOTHER	Cinderella’s magical friend.  Loveable grandmother type.
MISTRESS HAUGHTY	Neighbor.  Self explanatory.
MAJORDOMO	Palace announcer
THE PRINCE	Handsome and will be King one day
PUMPKIN HEAD	Talking Gourd
LADY URSULA-URSULA	Lady in Waiting to Queen
LADY BLOSSOM	Marriage prospect
CAPTAIN	Soldier
LADY VINE	Another marriage prospect
LIEUTENANT	Another Soldier
QUEEN	Rules the Kingdom, loves her son, but wants him married.
CITIZEN #1	Young Girl
CITIZEN #2	Another young girl
ADDITIONAL PARTY GUESTS	At least 4 dancing couples for the ballroom scene

 

DAVE WINSTON                  TODD NELSON

ERHS parents Dave Winston and Todd Nelson graciously submitted to a Newsletter interview.  Learn what these Loft Stage supervolunteers have been up to this year, and then ask yourself:  When do these guys sleep?

Rumor has it you are workshopaholics.  About how many volunteer hours do you put in each week?

• D.W.  The amount of time varies by show and my work/travel schedule.  During the late summer (prepping the shop and the parade float) and Aida in the fall it was as much as 7-10 hours a week or even more.

• T.N.  Probably 10, when things are really moving in the scene shop, between Saturdays and a couple of nights a week.

Wow, you’re putting up some big numbers.  What projects have you been working on this year?  

• D.W.  I seemed to have worked on a number of pyramids for Aida.  I know the song in the show recommended putting “5000 slaves on standby” but we managed to succeed with a handful of volunteers!

• T.N.  I helped build pyramids and staircases for Aida, flats for the One-Act, Failure: A Love Story, and did some odd jobs on both.  Plus, moving things.  If nothing else is going on, there’s always something to move into, out of or within the shop.

And that’s not all you do.  Show biz people often hear: “Don’t quit your day job,” advice that’s equally relevant for avid volunteers such as yourselves.  So, what is your day job?

• D.W. I am a Vice President of Underwriting for Arch Insurance Company.  We insure many large construction firms, projects and as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies.  I work a lot with attorneys and actuaries during the day, so it is fun to spend time in the shop and work on something tangible.

• T.N.  I’m a freelance journalist and specialize in writing about business topics.  Projects include writing a weekly Star Tribune column on small businesses and entrepreneurs.  Most of my work is from home, so I look forward to the interaction and energy in the scene shop.

Impressive jobs—in terms of both career status and total lack of application to set construction.  But let’s talk guts and glory:  Describe your biggest shop mishap or your greatest construction accomplishment.

• D.W. It is difficult to choose one!  I thought that the amount and variety of pieces that we worked on last year for White Christmas was a great accomplishment by the whole team.  As far as mishaps are concerned, my graceful tumble off the shelves in the prop storage room was tough to beat!  Glad the spiral stairs were there to catch me!

• T.N.  I enjoyed seeing how the separate pieces we had worked on for Aida came together as a whole and how the cast, crew and orchestra brought so much life to it all on stage.  More than made up for the occasional splinter.  

At last, you’ve come to the multiple-choice portion of your interview.  Select from the lettered options to complete the following sentence:  The reason I volunteer at the Loft Stage is…

A.  It’s a great way to give back and support my child’s interest in theater.
B.  It satisfies man’s powerful subconscious drive to create.
C.  One word:  George.
D.  Two words:  Power Tools.
E.  Any excuse to wear those attractive safety goggles.
F.  Finally, an opportunity to use high school math to solve real world problems.

• D.W.  All of the above.  Plus I have a whole new audience for awful puns.

• T.N.  All!  And it’s often is a welcome refuge from our menagerie of cats, dogs and other pets.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for your time and talents.  On behalf of the Loft Stage, The Newsletter salutes you.

Here are a few photos from a One Act rehearsal