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New Kensington Civic theatre |
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" Entertaining the A-K Valley for over 60 years" |
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OF THE NEW KENSINGTON (PA) CIVIC THEATER OUR 63rd SEASON October 2009 724 339 3140 P.O. BOX 202, New Kensington, Pa 15068 www.nkct.org
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CALLBOARD |
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We are moving along quickly here because this is the month of the big musical, the scandalous, outrageous romp through a culture (male stripers) that’s rarely visited – I’m guessing here – by our more demure and devout members and audience. Again with the guessing. But we’ll get to that shortly.
THE MEETING…… The general monthly meeting will be on Friday, October the 9th, eight PM at our workshop, corner of Carl and George in the Valley Heights section of fair New Kensington. There will be no entertainment for much of the space is pretty much taken by strange looking pieces which are part of the set. Did we mention that it was a Bill Mitas set? Bring wine if you like. THE MOVE The next thing, then, is the move. This will be the following Friday, the 16th at 6 PM. We’ll work a while setting the pieces in place then adjourn to McKenses for some pizza, perhaps, some beer, certainly, and relaxation. You betcha! The work will continue on Saturday morning at ten. Creating a set from the jumbled pieces can be as satisfying as bringing a play to life.
All of the other reports haven’t come in yet so we’ll make things up as we move along. The play party is usually on Friday after the performance. Normally we go to MacKenses and we’ll use this as a default. Should there be any change then it will be announced at the meeting and in an email broadcast message.
The strike will be after Sunday’s performance after the applause, the bows the lobby hugs. Even before the parking lot thins out work will be well on it’s way to dismantling the set, storing the platforms, and begin moving the set, props, costumes – the works - back to the workshop. There, after the unloading, there will be food and drinks and relaxation far into the evening, a pleasant winding down.
THE FULL MONTY…. Publicist “you’re doing a hecka of a job” Denny is doing outstanding work on the show although his biggest contribution is not trying out. For most of the cast he has about 5 x 5 colored advertisements, each pack with the individual’s name on it in a blurb about the show for them to pass out to friends.
Then he encouraged people to print out the Full Monty Poster, the masculine leggy thing, and to distribute them to all the beauty parlors in the area. Not to let it go at that, he wanted reports, counts. After the third urging – read threat – we now have them in thirteen establishments with more pending. To celebrate he’s having a pizza party for those who contributed.
Denny is also instrumental in getting the ads for the programs, a hefty source of our income. What? You think we get it from the audience? Besides that he’s the lead set constructor while Bill Mitas seems to be staying out of the state, going to California, New York, Deep Creek, keeping ahead of the extradition papers.
OLD BOTTLES, ODDS AND ENDS…. Nancy Plantizer, head of the membership committee, no, who is the membership committee, asks that all those who haven’t kicked in with the dues do so at the forthcoming meeting. It’s $15 if you’re not a patron. Considerably less if you are.
Jeff Daugherty is doing props for Monty. Jeff played the lead in Lend Me A Tenor not too long ago. That, you see, is the essence of civic theater.
Nate would like to hold an audition workshop for students. High School musicals are getting sophisticated and auditioning can be daunting. Here students can get some pointers and be better prepared. Nate was successful in doing this in the past. A Civic Theater contribution.
NOTES OF THIS ‘AT……. Shawn Israel, the House Chair Guy, needs help (like we didn’t know). But he now needs help with the ushering and concessions since he is also in the show. He’ll do a lot of the preliminary work – setting up tables, etc. but he needs people to help with the concessions, sell raffle tickets and ushers. It’s pleasant, easy work and you’ll be making a contribution.
Tickets will be on sale Tuesday and Wednesday the week of the show, Oct. 20 and 21 in the lobby at Valley. Tootsie and Nora Ann will be there. The play will be rehearsing, you see.
Speaking of rehearsals, the latest schedule for rehearsals, construction, move and strike are listed below.
New Ken Floral on Freeport Road will be donating the lighted sign for The Full Monty from Oct. 15 to 25. They will be acknowledged in the program for their public service. Thursday, 10/15-We are allowed to rehearse on the Valley Stage from 7:00pm- 10:00pm, without charge. MUST be out by 10:00pm WHAT WHERE WHEN Friday, 10/16—Set Move, 6:00-11:00pm Saturday, 10/17—Set Construction, 10:00am-5:00pm Sunday, 10/18—Set Construction 10:00am-6:00pm, rehearsal 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Monday, 10/19—Rehearsal 6:00pm-11:00pm Tuesday, Wednesday, the same Thursday, 10/22—first show, 6:00pm-11:00pm Friday, 10/23—same Saturday, 10/24—show 6:00pm-11:00pm Sunday, 10/25—show noon-4:30pm, strike 4:30pm-7:00pm We are doing everything we can to overcome the handicap of being the best kept secret in the valley. There’s a lot of publicity being spread around and a big cast is especially helpful in getting the information disseminated. We’re looking to kick off this 64th season in grand style. COLLEEN’S CORNER…. MAKE-UP IS WHERE IT’S AT… THE FULL MONTY
On October 3 at the Sulava residence, a formidable make-up crew met to review basic techniques and organization for the upcoming show. Make-up Chair Melissa Newell attended the informal brush-up course that show chair Colleen Sulava hosted. New member Carrie Vining added make-up to her backstage resume from Woodland Hills. She currently works for PPG in Pittsburgh and will be moving to New Kensington soon. Elaine Pinto of Natrona Heights returns to the make-up scene after many years away. She will partner with Jessica Revilla (Sulava), having been away from the group for a while. Perennial favorite Phyllis Belabradjic introduced her niece Melissa Kipp to the crew, on which the two will assist. There were charts, handouts, and demos…oh, my! Promises of schedules, too. Rumor has it that Mary Jane Smittle will also make an appearance to do her magic on crew, although she was unable to attend the autumn afternoon session. Colleen tried to seduce her with promises of wine and pizza, but she didn’t show up until later (see next paragraph). Those who were still awake after the rousing class met at Killian’s Pub in Creighton. A good time was has by all who stuck out the evening. The crew members in attendance voted that “fun” was the primary purpose of the crew. If anyone needs assistance with make-up, the crew will do their best to accommodate cast members. ************* ************* ************* *************** *******************
Denoir’s Memoirs………Hello All… Hope you are gearing up and getting ready for THE FULL MONTY. It is a chance to bring some much needed freshness to this struggling group. I am sure that seeing new faces on the stage will be a good thing for the audience. If something is a good thing for the audience, then it is a good thing for NKCT. NKCT needs a booster shot for the Thespian Flu that we have been experiencing. Let’s face it; there is great difficulty in keeping an all volunteer group going into its 64th season, happy and upbeat. It is time to have some fun again. If a social group like NKCT is not having fun, then there is nothing to really hold us together. Fun is the glue, the life blood that holds a group like this together. All the talent in the world will not do that. Nothing is as infectious as enthusiasm. So I got a hit of that from watching the Make-up crew having a great time. They got together for a refresher lesson (party) to those who have done make-up, and an introduction to those who are new. It was great standing back and watching people having fun again while they do theatre. Not wanting to get in the way of their fun, I went golfing…I am such a martyr. I was recently at a rehearsal where teaching men to strip provided great entertainment and fun. By the way, the singing can only be described as fabulous. There are some great voices in this cast. Now that’s fun. We are now having some marketing fun, and I like it. The idea came to me that a targeted market for our theatre could be beauty salons. Just look at an auditorium during a show, and you will easily see the majority are women. So I sent out the poster by email to all in the email group. Things started to happen. I got my first response from Cindy Ansani, who placed two posters. I reported it and asked for more. So a few days later and at the time of this writing we have 13 Beauty Salons, and the “posting” is just starting. A really good way to have fun is to have a party. So the group has now been presented with a little fun incentive to place a poster and come to a pizza party. It is called the MPPP…The MONTY Poster Pizza Party. It is now official. The date for the MPPP is Friday November 6th at 6:30 at the workshop. Place a poster for each member of your family and the whole family can come for a pizza dinner that night. Just remember to BYOB. Well, that’s all folks…I love you all and here is a big hug for you!!! denoir
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CALLBOARD October 2009 |
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Richard Devlin Editor, Prevaricator, and Embellisher of this rag |
