It’s still starting on Thursday, June 27…but Night Music now has an additional concert on Thursday, August 8.  Check out the new schedule below.  We’re working on getting all of the dates on the website…but you should be able to by tickets to each event at the box office right now.

On Tuesday, June 4, Spring Street International students will present the play, Glimpse of the Great Land at the Theatre at 7:00 pm.  The play was written by the student performers.  Here’s more:

Before Ellis Island opened, eight million immigrants arriving in New York were processed at Castle Island between 1855 and 1890. Thousands of these were children who traveled alone. Their names appear on the ships’ manifests, along with the date, their country of origin, and the port from which they departed. No further record of them is known.

 Each of us has taken one of their names. We have spent the school year researching their contexts and writing their diaries.

 All of the words in this play were written by us, the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th graders who walked a mile in our character’s shoes.

 This play is an hour and twenty minutes. There is no intermission.

 THE CHILDREN PORTRAYED AND THEIR PLAYERS:

Gabriella Luppicci, played and written by Genesee Davis

Fritz Jaeger, played and written by Jacob Kaden

Sabine Eberhart, played and written by Marcella Kirkland

Aidan O’Donnell, played and written by Cole Hamilton

Ernst Dreschler, played and written by Lucas Gao

Kirsten Hoffman, played and written by Lydia Downs

Domenico Bianchi, played and written by Aiken Durham Guckian

Mirele Lieberman, played and written by Addi Kessler

Anton Brandt, played and written by Zach Fincher

Kathleen Nolan, played and written by Caroline Bryant

Lothar Brauer, played and written by Silas Holden

Salvatore Mattarazzo, played and written by Brian Fleming

Kai Jacob Baer, played and written by Matthew McElrath

Katya Babashinsky, played and written by Stella McCauley

Bridget Gallagher, played and written by Vida Wight

Itzhak Altbauer, played and written by Quinn Lacrampe

Teodora Palmintero, played and written by Ren Di Bona

Herschel Abramavitz, played and written by Erich Atwell

Mary Fitzgerald, played and written by Riley Mulcahy

Mendel Nussbaum, played and written by Diego Anderson

Vincenzo Colombari, played and written by Skyler Reynolds

Hamel Zegbeim, played and written by Frank Mulcahy

Gabby Kastner, played and written by Macalister Arendt

Any June brides out there?  If you haven’t splurged on a dress yet, you really should consider checking out the wonderful variety of wedding dresses available for rent at our costume shop.  Yes, some have been used in productions (see Penelope/Cinderella from Into the Woods below).  But costume mistress Lou St. Luise says many are in great shape and ready for the aisle.  In addition to the vintage styles, there’s also one from Korea and there’s even big hoops to go with the older style ones.  Rentals run around $50 for everything—dress, veil, etc.  What a great extra memory for your wedding day:  wearing a dress with plenty of stage presence!

Night Music is coming back!  The five-week series starts June 27 and features island musicians performing inside the intimate Gubelman Theatre.  Below is a photo from last year.  There’s quite a variety of styles in the lineup—we’ll have more information on the website and tickets for sale this week ($10 per person per night) :

Thursday, June 27

Juke Box Night  

Kirk Fuhrmeister, Ian Byington, Daniel Finn and Steven Keyes

 Thursday, July 11
Original Works from Jan Zurcher

Celtic Moods from Dan Paulson w/ guest Daniel Finn

Friday, July 19
From Bach to Bossa

Cellist Sasha von Dassow and pianist Sonja Zarek

Thursday, July 25
Songs from an American Songbook

Maggie Gallivan, James Gimlett and Ian Byington

Thursday, August 1

A Case of the Blues
Kirk Fuhrmeister, Ian Byington, Daniel Finn and Steven Keyes

When Ruthie Foster appears on the Whittier THIS Saturday, May 18 at 7:30 pm she’ll bring her powerful blues voice and also a guitar or two.  So, we’re really lucky that Ruthie is going to put on a FREE guitar demo for islanders inside the Whittier at 2 pm that afternoon (MAY 18).

Tell your friends…especially those guitar students of any level….for this great chance to see Ruthie share her musical magic.  Thanks to the Western States Arts Foundation (WESTAF) for helping us to offer this FREE demonstration.

Baby dolls that look real, a not-too-big golden harp, and a white Heifer   OH MY! 

Those are just a few of the challenges that faced property master Ted Soares as he obtained the props for Into the Woods.  Ted has quite a bit experience dressing sets and props from his old days with NBC in Burbank.  Plus, he’s been our  property master here for most of our staged productions for more than six years now and has been involved in SJCT since its beginnings in 1989. 

Ted says he has had to be a bit more creative with Into the Woods and began searching catalogues several months ago to find just the right items for each scene.  He lucked out on the internet with the white heifer—it had to be durable and unbreakable since it has a “fall” during one of the scenes—a company on the East Coast was able to ship out the fiberglass cow.  Then there was the hen…which wasn’t as easy to find as a rooster.  On one of his trips to Palm Springs, friends who had worked on the original production with Bernadette Peters helped Ted shop and they found just the right size to match the golden eggs at a store called “The Cocky Cactus.”  The harp was also difficult…he ended up finding one small enough in a catalogue and then found an angel at the 99 cent store that he could then spray paint gold.

Ted says he continues to enjoy all of the challenges of putting together the props and making them work for actors, so that everything blends right in and matches the period of the show.   “I think it pays off…the shows look great!”

And in addition to finding the items, Ted is there, behind the scenes during every show, choreographing the props—making sure the actors get the props at the right time in the right form.  He even has to make sure the cow gets some padding before her fall so she doesn’t get bruised. 

Penelope Haskew is really getting into her part as Cinderella in Into the Woods, both on and off stage.  With her second, third and fourth roles as set designer, scenic artist and SJCT production assistant (in addition to being a volunteer, she’s also a part-time SJCT staff member), Penelope is finding several connections to the “maid/worker/servant” side to Cinderella.  “I do feel sometimes this character is easy to get into,”  she jokes.

As you see below in the “before” and “after” photos, Penelope got plenty of “Cinderella” practice from helping painting the sets, helping with construction and making sure the crew and knows the technical side of  how the sets work.  Penelope says she’s torn on which side of the theater—back of house versus on stage—she prefers, but says working both sides on one production has been a great experience and something she wishes more actors would consider.  “Acting on the set really helped with the set design because [as I acted and went through the scenes] I was able to figure out what changes were need on the set.”

Check out the photos below but first see just how many islanders are involved in making Into the Woods come to life!

The “Who’s Who” of Into the Woods

 Cast

Baker’s Wife: Deb Langhans
Baker: Scott Mapstead
Witch: Jill Urbach
Cinderella: Penelope Haskew
Jack: Nicholas Zervas
Little Red Riding Hood: Grace Castle
Jack’s Mother: Patti Bair
Rapunzel: Raena Parsons
Cinderella’s Stepmother: Trudy Loucks
Lucinda & Florinda: Bridget Booth & Skyler Moeder
Cinderella’s Mother: Maggie Gallivan
Granny: Pam Gillette
Snow White: Elizabeth Schubert
Sleeping Beauty: Starla Cosgrove
Giantess: Pam Gillette
Cinderella’s Prince: Doug Schirmer
Rapunzel’s Prince: Tyler Strasser
Wolf: Doug Schirmer
Mysterious Man: Doug Rowan
Narrator: Ed Wilson
Steward: Dana Rice
Cinderella’s Father: Bert Dayton

 Orchestra

Jim Collado, Music Director

Noah Atchley, Violin

Dorothy Baker, Piano

Ken Baker, Baritone

John Chessell, Bassoon

Sue Collado, Clarinet I

Wayne Eshelman, Flugelhorn

Matt Frost, Trumpet

Pam Stewart, Flute

Sasha von Dassow, Cello

Dennis Willows, Percussion

Grace Willows, Synthesizer

Designers and Planners

 Kim Burns, Costume Designer

Lisa Duke, Choreographer

Gary Ford, Sound Designer

Penelope Haskew, Set Designer

Lyne McPherson, Scenic Artist

Ellen Roberts, Stage Manager

John Shaller, Lighting and Effects Designer

Amanda Smith, Assistant Director

Ted Soares, Property Master

Anita Welch, Costume Designer

Technical Crew

 Warren Baehr, Crew

Gys Bruins, Follow Spot Operator

Madelyn Busse, Accompanist

Tim Cowell, Set Construction

Tom Donnelly, Set Construction

Duvie Dow, Light Board Operator

Greg Findley, Set Construction

Anna Frampton, Costume Assistant

Patty Francisco, Assistant Stage Manager

Craig Green, Set Construction

Lynda Guernsey, Crew

Sheila Harley, Assistant Stage Manager

Leisha Holmes, Set Painter

Paul Haskew, Set Construction

George Iliff, Crew

Shannon Kelley, Crew

Chloe Klein, Wig Specialist

Julie Laidlaw, Crew Manager/Assistant Stage Manager

Joely Loucks, Crew

Desire McGinn, Make-up & Mask Consultant

Genese McGinn, Seamstress

Kiara McLaughlin, Assistant to Stage Manager

Charlia O’Neill, Rehearsal Secretary & Crew

Betsy Pope, Scenery Painter

Alison Power, Set Construction

Chiara Power, Crew & Set Construction

Fiona Small, Puppeteer

Mickey Wright, Seamstress

Sonja Zarek, Audition Accompanist

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Our big Spring Musical—Stephen Sondheim’s INTO THE WOODS— opens THIS Friday, April 26 at 7:30 pm in the Whittier.  Check out some of the rehearsal photos as well as some behind-the-scenes “building the set” shots.

Several SJCT investors got the chance to check out the Utah Ballroom Dance Company before their CINEMAGIC  performance here on Saturday.  The dancers gathered in the Gubelman and even demonstrated some of their moves.  They also introduced themselves…most are from the Portland area (Utah Ballroom has several chapters around the country) and all are amateur dancers—there was a chemical engineer, a high school teacher, a personal trainer and more!  The free gathering before the show was an example of the special “perks” given to donors (based on their level of giving).