Opening Night

Opening night is always a bit nerve-wracking. After weeks of rehearsals, set building, line memorizing, costume adjustments, directing, publicizing, and much more, the biggest thing on most people's mind is "Will we have an audience?"

Comedian Bob Newhart said in his biography that comedians don't discuss their great shows. They discuss the hecklers or the dead audiences. This seems to be the same at our community theatre. Forget the sell out shows. Remember that time we only had four people in the audience? Remember the Sunday matinee audience that was so quiet we thought they were all asleep?

Proof is the show that comes foremost to my mind. It was one of our worst attended shows. Forgetting that my husband was one of four actors in the show, it truly was one of the best ever shows at NCTC. It was funny, surprising, and an awesome story. The set was amazing (and award-winning!). How many times do you see a set with a genuine sod lawn? Not very often...director Jeff Allen had to water it every night and yes, it did grow during the run of the show. Fortunately mowing wasn't necessary.

Since I love attending shows, I can honestly say that there are ones that I don't think I'm going to like. Proof again comes to mind. I am usually wrong. Proof, again, comes to mind. Community theatre at NCTC never disappoints me. Our actors, sets -- there is always something new and interesting.

Our patrons often tell me they never see a bad show at NCTC. Even if the content doesn't sound like a show you want to see, come anyway. Odds are you're going to enjoy the acting, set, costumes, and most likely the story after all. I've seen hundreds of shows and NCTC has consistently proven to me that you get your money's worth, and then some.

Imagine if all our patrons came to every show. Then the actors will only be wondering if there will be seats for everyone. How wonderful that would be!

And the award goes to...

Last weekend we held an awards show at NCTC, celebrating 2009. Chaz Ferguson and his team did a wonderful job of providing original entertainment (which you'll probably eventually be able to find on our You Tube channel).

The winners were...

Best Costumes: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Best Set: Proof
Best Special Event: Zombie Prom
Best Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Bree Hicken and Meghan Hubbell (Everything Is Not Enough) and Jeff Allen and Trey Stephens for M*A*S*H (tie)
Best Director: Lamar Payne for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Best Supporting Actress: Briana Morgan for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Best Supporting Actor: Levi Gentry for Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Best Actress: Heather Walker for It's A Wonderful Life
Best Actor: Sam Gentry for Lucky Stiff
Best Show: It's A Wonderful Life

Congratulations to all of the individual winners and casts and crew involved in the winning shows.

The awards show was free for all members and anyone involved in any NCTC production of 2009.

Weekend Plans

Friday evening (tonight, the 19th) is our second annual awards show. Kind of like the Oscars, but for NCTC. NCTC actors, directors, etc. vote on the winners. Actually, in the past they used to have awards shows. They stopped for whatever reason and returned last year.

Chaz Ferguson has done a great job organizing the entertainment for the show. It's full of original skits and lots of comedy. The cast is Jeff Allen, Kacy Pollak, Judie Hardin, Samantha Johnson, Sarah Jordan, Susan Patterson, JohnPaul Phillips, Ryan Bermingham, Brian Walsh, Nicole Walker, Trey Stephens, Scott Pollak, and Christian Pollak.

If you acted in or helped with a show in 2009, we invite you to join us tonight for the show. Free refreshments at 7, with the show beginning at 8.

Thanks to Brian Anderson, Levi Gentry, Laurel Alford, and Chaz Ferguson for the technical support/behind the scenes help.

I'll post the winners later this weekend.

Saturday night, the NITWITS return to the stage. More comedy! Got to love that. The show is $5 and begins at 8. I'm looking forward to the relaxing evening.

Tonight I got to see a dress rehearsal for And Baby Makes Seven. The show stars Euseph Messiah, Sarah Jordan, and Nicole Walker. They are a very talented cast and work wonderfully together.

This is a show not to be judged just on the description of "a trio choosing to rid their crowded apartment of their imaginary children as they await the birth of their first child."  It's much more complex.  Lots of humor in this unconventional family.   It's about parenting, children, love, and sacrifices.  Author Paula Vogel takes us to the extreme to show us that peope aren't as different as we think they are.  I can't wait to see the finished product.  The set and costumes aren't complete, but the acting is superb at this point.

And Baby Makes Seven opens on Friday, February 26th and runs for two weekends only.  Tickets are $10 for adults (13 and up) and $5 for children.  There is some language in the play and some adult themes.  I rate it PG-13.

Surveys & Awards Show

If you were in a show at NCTC last year, helped back stage, or are a current member of NCTC, you're invited to join us for the 2010 Awards Show.

Chaz Ferguson has worked on hard the entertainment with original comedy skits. The Awards Show is this Friday, February 19. Drinks will be at 7 pm. The show begins at 8.

As of this writing, voting is still open for the awards. The survey to vote is at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/552F9W3

I don't know when the survey will be closing.

Do not confuse that survey with the survey I created for publicity. The results of that survey (which inadvertently excluded Fully Committed and Everything Is Not Enough) is for the use of publicity/marketing only. It has no effect on the Awards.

Survey Comments: Part 2

Today I'm going to respond to comments concerning some things that were suggested that we can't do, aren't able to do, or weren't able to do.

Comment: Cut out the foul language. The dialogue can be just as powerful without the cursing.

I agree! The cursing spoils many shows for me. However, with most shows we have to purchase a license to be able to perform them at NCTC. It is in violation of our licensing agreement to alter the plays in any way, shape, or form. A missed line or word by an actor happens and the licensing companies forgive a theatre for that. Taking out curse words is not allowed. Yes, we could choose plays with no foul language at all. But that certainly would limit us. If the licensing company finds that we have changed their play, they could pull our licensing rights to all of their shows. It happens a lot. This would limit us even more and makes it very hard on a theatre to survive.


Comment: I think NCTC should do Wicked and Chicago.

Wicked is not yet being licensed to community theatres. Because Chicago is also on Broadway, I don't believe it's open to being licensed to community theatres either. I could be wrong - the script and license is currently available for purchase. However, I could find no theatre other than the large Broadway-sized ones, that is performing it. That means that you can apply for the rights, but the company would most likely turn you down because it's on Broadway.

Comment: I would have liked to see Misery.

Us too! But here again is what happened. When a large theatre company decides to bring a play to Broadway, or back to Broadway, the licensing companies restrict all smaller venues from performing it. This is because they want you to go see it on Broadway, of course, or at larger for-profit theatres like the Fox in Atlanta (NCTC is a non-profit theatre. Everything we earn goes back into the theatre). Well, someone has decided to bring Misery back to Broadway. Therefore, the licensing company revoked all rights of the smaller theatres (profit and non-profit) to perform it.

All this licensing stuff is pretty boring, isn't it? Most people don't realize we have to purchase rights to put on most of the shows. Shows we don't have to purchase rights for include public domain shows, Shakespeare, and NCTC originals.

Comment: More musicals!

Normally we do only one musical a year. The reason for this is the musicals cost five to ten times more to produce. The licenses are much more expensive. Many musicals cost $250 per performance, whereas a straight non-musical play will cost, on the average, of $60-$75 per performnace. Then you also have to pay for the music rights. The costume needs for a musical are also often greater. Therefore, a play might cost around $500 to produce, but a musical will cost around $3,000. We cannot guarantee a full house for every show, even if every one were a musical. So for us to pay the bills, we have to limit the number of musicals we do per year. Although right now we usually only do one, it would be wonderful to continue to be successful and to have more musicals. We love them and we know you do too!

Our success is dependent on you. On your volunteering in any area, seeing as many shows as possible, purchasing a season ticket, making a donation, telling your friends about the theatre -- doing what you can to invest in NCTC. The theatre has many great opportunities for all ages and we want everyone to be a part of it. If you can't afford to invest any money in NCTC, then can you afford to invest your time? Your talents? Because that's what community theatre is all about! And I thank everyone who invests their time, talent, and money in NCTC. You're helping to provide great shows to Newnan and the surrounding area.

Comment: Hire Lane Davies.

I love this comment! I'm sure Mr. Davies is a wonderful actor, and I do believe he's a Georgia native, but NCTC is an all-volunteer theatre. This means that everyone - including the actors - volunteers their time and talents to bring you great local entertainment. No one gets paid a dime. Mr. Davies is more than welcome to come on down to NCTC and audition for a show in-between his paying acting gigs.

And if anyone is getting paid, I'd be the first in line!

When I did the survey, my intent was to not include questions about last year's shows, but I did so at the last minute. I put the selections in by memory. I missed putting in two special events - Fully Committed and Everything Is Not Enough. This wasn't intentional, just a slip of my mind. Handling publicity for NCTC, I'm usually working 3-4 months ahead and not a year to 18 months behind! I enjoyed both shows immensely. Trey Stephens brought NCTC our first one-man show with Fully Committed (Jeff Allen will be bringing the second with The Santaland Diaries in December).

The teens did an awesome job with Everything Is Not Enough, and they have an incredible amount of opportunities to shine this year (with major roles available in Cabaret, Psycho Beach Party, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Dog Sees God, Fuddy Meers, and Romeo and Juliet). Those who go over the survey results at NCTC will know these two shows were missed. I'm sorry they were overlooked. It means nothing more than I don't have the best memory.

Thanks to everyone for continuing to respond to our survey. The survey is still open, so please, respond today, and keep those comments coming. It's anonymous and short and your replies really do help us out.

Upcoming Auditions: Brer Rabbit Stories & Cabaret

We have two shows with open auditions coming up in March.

The first, Brer Rabbit Stories, is for children ages 5 to 12. No preparation or experience is necessary to audition. Auditions are March 1 and 2 at 7 pm at the theatre. The stories come from multiple very diverse backgrounds, so children of all backgrounds are especially encouraged to audition.

Brer Rabbit Stories is a Grassroots Arts Program. It is supported in part by the Georgia Council for the Arts through an appropriation of the Georgia General Assembly and Administered by Arts Clayton. GCA is a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

The second is Cabaret, our big musical of the year! We need cast members of all ages for this show.

For children ages 8 and up, there are many roles available as Nazi Youth (males only) and Kit Kat Kids (males and females).

For teens, the lead role, Sally Bowles, is 19. This is a great role for an older teen or someone in their early 20s. There are many roles for teens as Kit Kat Kids. The Kit Kat Kids sing more than some of the lead roles.

For adults, there are the main cast members, there are roles as Kit Kat Kids (yes, they're called that, it's kids of all ages!).

The director would love for people of all shapes, sizes, and races to try out for the show.

For more information on the main and supporting roles in Cabaret, please visit our audition page.

Volunteering At NCTC

It is perhaps one of the great ironies of my life that, as much as I love theatre, I am-quite honestly-not much more (and possibly less) than a mediocre actress. Its quite true...and no one really had to tell me so. I figured it out all on my own. The sad fact of the matter is that not all of us are born to perform on stage. Another even sadder fact is that there are people out there who believe if they aren't born to perform there is no place in the theatre for them! Perish the thought!

The truth of the matter is...as much as we love our actors...they actually make up a small portion of each show. In fact, it takes around 70 non-actor type volunteers to help make each show possible!!! There is the producer, the stage manager, the backstage crew, set designers, set builders, volunteers to help with publicity, costume and props, lights & sound...and that is before the show even runs! Once the show begins we need volunteers willing to help with concessions, ushering, season ticket holder concierge, box office...and someone has to be the house manager on duty (gotta make sure someon turns the lights off! lol)

In addition to help during each show we have ongoing positions that we really need to see filled including audition helpers to assist directors during auditions (hand out forms, take head shots, etc), someone willing to design and create programs for our shows, people willing to help our Director of Publicity out, and we are currently looking for someone to step into the role of House Manager.

If it sounds like a lot...it is. Newnan Community Theatre is run entirely with volunteers. All of us have day jobs, kids, errands to run, etc but we love theatre. We specifically love this theatre. And we would love to have you be a part of it...not just sitting in the audience (which is great by the way...we appreciate our audiences SO much!) but being involved in creating the shows that the audience comes to see! And there's all sorts of benefits besides working with a wonderful group of people including special events and the chance to see shows for free!

To find out more www.newnantheatre.org/pages/volunteer
Or you can email me at volunteer@newnantheatre.org

See a job that interests you but you have no idea how to do it? We'll teach you (or at least attempt to). All you gotta do is ask!

Cindy Battles
Rather better at being a "volunteer coordinator" than an actress :)

Death of a Salesman Cast List

Thanks to everyone for trying out and congratulations to everyone who got a role. The lead will be played by Sam Gentry. Dawn Campion returns to the NCTC stage after a long absence. Welcome back! Welcome to newcomers Kayal Khanna and Ashley Allen.

The complete cast is as follows:

Willy Loman – Sam Gentry

Linda – Dawn Campion

Happy – Spencer Jordan

Biff – Chad Davis

Bernard – Kayal Khanna

The Woman/Miss Forsythe – Ashley Allen

Charley – Jeff Allen

Uncle Ben – Peter Poulos

Howard Wagner – Stephen Marshall

Jenny/Letta – Kim Marshall

Stanley – Robbie Kirkland