Legally Blonde in Champaign

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/27/12 at 12:51am

Hey, y'all. Legally Blonde opens at Parkland Theatre in Champaign for 8 performances - August 2-4, and 9-11 at 7:30 and August 5 and 12 at 2:00. Presented by Champaign Urbana Theater Company and tix are available at www.cutc.org.

I know lots of theatre groups/schools are doing this show, but this cast, in my humble opinion, is really good. It's the same show...but different. Hope to see you at the show.

Legally Blonde Commercial

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/30/12 at 1:05am

We ran cue to cue tonite - and things are looking like they are supposed to. (OK, I'm biased - but really, I'm a pretty harsh critic).
Our jump ropers are really doing a great job!

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/2/12 at 3:10pm

Opening night!
For our invited dress rehearsal, our Brooke had a 102 plus degree temperature. So we told her to stay home and sleep. There is no understudy. So, we pulled in our young lady playing Kate at 5:50 for a 7:30 curtain and said "how'd you like to be Brooke tonight?". Actually, what I said was "Have you ever seen 42d Street?" She went on with the script and didn't jump rope - but handled herself really well. So well, that you almost forgot she had the script in front of her. And the rest of the cast helped her with the blocking.
Our Brooke just advised her fever is broken and down to 97.5, so she'll be back on tonite.

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/3/12 at 8:55am

Ah, community theater!
Opening went pretty well.
Well, except that Elle opens her mouth to start singing after the reveal in the BOutique and.....her mike is not working. Now, it's a small theatre (about 300 seats) so, you kind of hear her. And if you know the show, Elle is not off stage except for quick costume changes. I ran to the booth and said "we're holding after Serious" which is when Elle first goes off stage. Someone else ran down to the wing and I ran to the conductor (who is on stage, but behind a black at the moment) and tell him to hold/vamp after Serious. All of that happens - turns out the batteries in the mike pack were bad and just had to be replaced. The mike was fine during sound check.
And from then on...mostly smooth sailing.
Do come down and see the show!

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/6/12 at 11:39am

First weekend done. After the mike/orchestra issues of opening night, things settled down and we had very enthusiastic audiences over the weekend including a near sellout Saturday night.
The applause on Saturday night after Whipped into Shape went on for at least two minutes and seemed like it was never going to stop. Yes - I know that community theatre audienes have lots of friends and family who are supportive no matter what - but this reaction was throughout the crowd. Everything just seemed to click with lighting and set movement and our opening windows and our pop-up Delta Nus. I was a very happy director.

I can't seem to post a copy of the local paper review - nor is it linkable. But it was very nice review.

[ggersten]

Posted: 8/14/12 at 10:26pm

Show is over. Last 4 shows were sell-outs or we had less than 10 tickets left per show. Word of mouth was great. Lots of compliments from long time season ticket holders. A founding member of the company who is much more in the Rogers/Hammerstein and Lerner/Lowe camp asked me if we could do another weekend (Answer: no. Sets are struck or returned to another company, and much of the cast returned to college throughout the midwest).

The show is fluff - but fun - once it's all put together. But, man, is it a logistical nightmare.

We had the mayor and people from our media sponsors and another sponsor do walk-ons as the Jet Blue Pilot. Very well received by audiences and the sponsors. It's a simple but nice way to pay back the sponsors.

We also promoted the Humane Society the first week and the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation the second week. Both were thankful for the publicity and opportunity to interact with our audiences.

And now I'm done!

[Paul W. Thompson]

Posted: 8/15/12 at 2:14am

Glad you had such a successful run! Eventful, successful, and beneficial. Good job!