CHIP CHIP CHEROO!

We got one step closer to the start of Mary Poppins earlier this week when I attended the Summer Season Directors Meeting. This is held every year for those of us directing in the 5 show Summer season at Corn Stock’s Tent (this year, Mary Poppins is the big finale, show #5). At this meeting, we receive our approved budgets and our “Directors Binder” from the Theatre Manager, which carries all the responsibilities, policies, and other “business” that concerns a director. Much of it their cast never hears about, and if you’ve never directed, probably didn’t even know happens. We also cover basic rules and code of conduct for everyone in your company, both onstage and backstage, so all can be guaranteed a fun, positive experience when they work with you. Once we were done, all of us directors posed for a picture! I’m in good company this summer, as all the other directors are close friends of mine. That’s always helpful when you’re producing five shows in three months; you have to share ...

The past few days I’ve been heavily distracted by projects that I have to do BEFORE Mary Poppins begins, and even been preoccupied a bit with projects coming AFTER Mary Poppins, so I haven’t had the chance to think about her arrival quite as much as usual since last summer. Fortunately though, my brain can compartmentalize a lot of stuff… By the way, after I typed that it didn’t sound right so I had to check and make sure compartmentalize was an actual word. It is, and that is how you spell it. I was sure of neither at first. Anyways, auditions are now ( pauses to check calendar ) wow, 82 days away! And today on this unusually “quite pleasant for February” day I was at Corn Stock helping out with some house and facilities things and took a moment to look at this space….sure, this is how it looks about seven months out of the year, but every time I stop and look up close at the theatre with the tent down and everything put away, it’s always kinda wild and crazy to t...

To carve his niche in the edifice of time… I’ve decided I’ll continue introducing the crew in future posts, but I’m going to break from that for now to share a story that happened almost a year ago, right before I knew that I was officially going to direct Mary Poppins. Jenny and I got to travel to Disneyland last May for a cast member preview of the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land. (My sister works in marketing for the company. Take advantage of those perks when you can right?) Well, Jenny had to come back early for work but I got to stay an extra two days, the last one of which I’d be checking out Disneyland ALONE.  So what do you do when you have 18 hours to spend in Disneyland all by yourself? The answer is EVERYTHING! But for part of that time I also took the opportunity to go on the “Walking in Walt’s Footsteps” tour, in which a guide takes small groups on a walking tour around the park, telling the story of the creation of Disneyland and using the park itself alon...

Continuing introductions of the fantastic Mary Poppins crew , I next move to our Stage Managers. Yes, that’s right, plural! With so many moving parts to a show like this, I thought it would be best for us to have two captains steering the ship once we go into production. I work so long on the show, that by the time Tech Week comes I am always EAGER to hand over the reins to someone else! Then I can kick back a little and the work turns into fun. Our stage managers for this production are Bill Barr and John Donlan , both of whom co-stage managed the impressive production of Kinky Boots that just closed at Peoria Players. Bill has stage managed FIVE productions for me previously including the mega awesome Rock of Ages in 2017, pictured below. (He’s far right in the front row), and what I love about working with Bill is how much he takes care of when stage managing…things that as director you can forget or not even know about, Bill already has it covered. Before you can think to as...

I definitely need to talk about the exceptional production staff that is helping steer the giant ship this summer. Since Mary Poppins is the biggest show I’ve ever directed it’s only fitting that I get the biggest crew I’ve ever assembled. This might get split into several posts, depending on how much I brag on them:)  Our music director is Shawn Degenhart , a gifted musician and director that I’ve known for...wow, almost 25 years?! And yet, this will be the first show we’ve ever done together! Shawn is undoubtedly the perfect person (and uniquely qualified) to direct the vocals and conduct our live orchestra for Mary Poppins. He has directed and conducted numerous productions and musical concerts, including a previous production of Mary Poppins. He knows the ins and outs of this iconic score better than anyone!  There’s also this: he has a working professional relationship with the Richard and Robert Sherman family. He even got to meet Richard Sherman when he worked ...