Tag: musical director

After “Annie”

Eleven o’clock at night and my 9-year-old is just now starting to do her homework.

We just got back from seeing our home schooled neighbor in the NYCHEA (New York City Home Educators Alliance) production of the musical Annie. Daddy Warbucks was played by an adult, the father of the girl playing “Annie” as it happens.  He was the oldest person on stage.  The next oldest cast member was 16, with the majority of actors in the 9-13 age range.  “Miss Hannigan” was 13 and “President Roosevelt” was 12.  I spent part of the evening watching the musical director as he conducted the orchestra of one trumpet and one drummer while banging out the tempo on the grand piano and occasionally mouthing the words.  Boy he really must love musical theatre!   Productions like this one drive home which elements are essential for a good book musical.

I can’t believe I’ve never seen a stage production of Annie before.  I wanted so badly to play “Annie” when I was a kid.

When Andrea McArdle was on the Tonight Show I stayed up past my bedtime to watch her come out and sing “Tomorrow” and then give a gift of some kind of special Philadelphia sausage to guest host David Brenner.

“Tomorrow” was my very first audition song.  I belted my heart out at my very first audition for the very first community musical produced by the Missoula Children’s Theatre.  (J.K. Simmons was in it.)  Unfortunately for me, they were looking for a boy soprano, the musical was Oliver!


I’m glad I came back to Bigfork

Sunday 8/16/09

We got lost on the way to the softball game because it wasn’t where I thought it would be.  It wasn’t where we played against the town when I was a company member. 

The game was fun to watch.  There was beer and clowning and the old guys who were in the playhouse company years ago (including JK Simmons) were serious about winning.  And they did; 25-5.  Of course the stakes were a lot higher for the guys who paid a lot of money and planed for a long time to travel to Montana to revisit their youth.  The townies just rolled out of bed and decided to show up at the softball field.

I spent the afternoon talking to an old friend I first met when we were both in the very first Missoula Community Theatre production, Oliver.  It was a big deal.  (The afore mentioned Mr. Simmons was the musical director.)  I remember Jim Caron telling us if it didn’t work the Missoula Children’s Theatre might cease to exist.  Just renting the score probably cost more than the Missoula Children’s Theatre Association had ever spent to produce a show.  I was in 8th grade at the time.  The friend I spent the afternoon with was in high school and a cheerleader.  We did not travel in the same social circles back then.

This weekend at Bigfork we had much common as mom’s out and about without our families, so we became each others date for the Gala.  We had lunch together and talked about our years at Sentinel High School and the University of Montana.  

We each did only one season at Bigfork.  As we talked about it we realized that was because we were not the right age or at the right time in our lives to come back season after season like some of the others did.  She was too young when she came, right out of high school, and I felt too old, just a couple of years out of college and eager to move away from Montana to Seattle.

I found myself singing and humming this weekend and I do regret not having taken the opportunity to put the music from at least 4 more shows into my body.  I miss singing.  And by singing I mean show tunes.