BIG BOLD NOTE: The show dates are Fridays May 5th and 12th and Saturdays May 6th and 13th at 8pm, as well as Sundays May 7th and May 14th at 2pm Tickets are now on sale and pricing information, as well as information on advertising, boosters, and our upcoming season of summer camp, can be found here at our theater's website at www.northportcommunitytheater.com
Written by: Justin Murphy
Date of Rehearsals Listed: 3/30, 4/3, and 4/4
After last week's blog detailing my thoughts on The Return to Oz, it's time to once again venture back to covering rehearsals for it. This time we've got three rehearsals to go over, and very interesting things happened during each of them.
On Thursday the 30th, the cast of Act 1 with speaking lines (with the exception of the Munchkins) were called in. Most of act 1 was covered, and a few scenes were blocked for the first time. The farmhands, played by myself, Gerald Quigley and James Roche, went through the opening Kansas scenes for the first time and were blocked properly for them. We also got to see how many things would be done, such as how Ella Smith and Michael Deaner would be portraying Toto (I won't spoil it, but y'all are gonna love it). Professor Marvel's scene seemed just about done and finalized, Rich Lau even already had a turban he could use for the part. Some blocking was finalized as well for people like the Tinman and Lion introduction scenes. A lot of scenes got unexpected laughs from the cast who hadn't seen them yet, whether it be the Trees during the Tinman scene (again, not gonna spoil it) or Toto's small interaction with Professor Marvel. There were several points where we expected laughs and yet it was still hilarious, the most obvious being the introduction scene of the Lion, thanks to the great comedic timing of the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion.
Some time was also taken on Thursday to run the songs during act 1. The "If I Only" songs were all laden with a bit of comedy and performed awesomely by the trio, as well as with a bit of heart (and no, that wasn't initially intended as a pun). They had yet to fully block the songs, but that will be taken care of during the April break. Meaghan Maher's rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was also really nicely done, with a nice combination of wondering, loneliness, and dreams for the future underlied throughout the song. A lot of work was accomplished on this night thanks to our musical director Donna and our grand stupendous poobah super special awesome director extraordinare Jim, as a lot of song sections and blocking improvements were made this evening.
On Monday the 2nd, there were certain points where Jim would bring certain characters into the hall to do some scene work, but most of the evening belonged to the choreographer, Holly Maddock. Tonight was all about choreographing the group song at the beginning of act 2, The Merry Old Land of Oz. First she went step by step walking through each dance move used at each part of the beginning, incorporated with the Guard, played by me and John Morale, both of whom would be in the front at the beginning of the song, with the rest of the Ozians on the stage. Then the Ozians took some time outside to rehearse the steps with the help of Avery Infranco. Holly would take this time to work on the dance in the middle of the song with the high school kids, most of whom had dance training and thus were able to do much more elaborate dance moves. Then we were brought back in to learn the steps at the very end of the song, all the while performing the song each time with the help of Donna.
On Tuesday the 3rd, we worked on the first two scenes of act 2. It was the first time that the guards would be working on this scene. John Morale had his character voice down already, while one of my missions during the Easter break is to workshop the voice I'm going to use (mostly so it doesn't sound like Gilbert Gottfried eating a cat). The scenes themselves are full of humor, thanks to the awesome lines, the delivery from John and me, and Jim's direction on how to play it. The quartet also played their parts spectactularly, countering the guard's weird contradictory arguments. Donna also took time to work with the lions on their songs, "If I Only Had The 'Noive'" and "King of the Forest". The lions (John Walsh and Larry Palevsky) performed the completely blocked song of "King of the Forest" to close the night.
We're now just 4 weeks away (eeep!). Next week is the Easter break, and though we have access to the theater a few days next week, most if not all of the work is going to be done with the quartet. My initial idea was to watch and write a review of the Wizard of Oz film, but because there are so many similarities to the play, I don't think I'd be able to be fair and unbiased. So instead next week, my plan is to read the original Wizard of Oz book by L. Frank Baum and write a little review on that instead. See you then!
"Nobody can see the great Oz! Nobody's ever seen the great Oz! Even I've never seen him!" -Emerald City Guard
CAST
Dorothy Gale: Bella Donneruno (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Meaghan Maher (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Scarecrow: Justin Autz (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Sam Schoeps (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Tin Man: Barri Feuer (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Tess Robinson (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Cowardly Lion: John Walsh (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Lawrence Palevsky (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Wicked Witch of the West/Miss Almira Gulch: Stephanie Sultana (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Casey Savin (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Wizard of Oz: Rich Lau
Glinda: Kim Sultana (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Avery Infranco (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Emerald City Guard: John Morale (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Justin Murphy (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Aunty Em: Teresa Morale (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Barbara Schulman (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Uncle Henry: Joel Ackerman (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Joe Centamore (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Hickory: James Roche
Hunk: Gerald Quigley/John Morale*
Zeke: Justin Murphy
Crows: Taryn Feuer (5/5, 5/6, and 5/7), Quincy Jackson, and Suzie Walsh (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Amelia Lau (5/12, 5/13, and 5/14), Dana Schoeps, and Jake Kalinowski (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Trees: Judy Avena, Elise Autz (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13), and Patsy VanDyke (5/5, 5/7, and 5/14)/Noel Dillon, Cynthia Piacentini (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14), and Kathy Lau (5/6, 5/12, and 5/13)
Winkie General: Gerald Quigley (5/5, 5/12, and 5/14)/Kathy Lau (5/6 and 5/13)/Vinny Dillon (5/7)
Toto: Ella Smith (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Michael Deaner (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Mayor of Munchkin City: Luke Frisoli (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Luca Bergin (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Coroner: Luca Bergin (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Luke Frisoli (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Barrister: Andrew Geres
City Fathers: Anthony Shah and Nathan Zarko
Teachers: Carlie Rees and Alexandra Curatolo (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Annabelle Deaner and Lacey Zaharis (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)
Lullaby League: Amelia Eisenberg, Lily Rankin, and Cami Rees (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Goldie Centamore (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)/Emma Morale, Ayla-Schulman Hughes, and Vivian Sultana (Unsure if all shows or "B" Days)
Lollipop Guild: Carter Eisenberg (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13)/Kieran Brown (5/7, 5/13, and 5/14), Ryan Brown, Ryan Dean, and Jacob Karp (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14)/Jude Centamore (All Shows)
Ozians: Joel Ackerman, Elise Autz, Judy Avena, Joe Centamore, Michelle Centamore, Noel Dillon, Vinny Dillon, Barri Feuer, Jillian Graci, Honey Hecht, Kimberly Lapidus, Patricia McCarthy, John Morale, Theresa Morale, Justin Murphy, Lawrence Palevsky, Cynthia Piacentini, Mia Femia Pizzo, Gerald Quigley, Kellsey Roy, Casey Savin, Barbara Schulman, Shira Schweitzer, Kim Sultana, Stephanie Sultana, Angie Tomala, Patsy VanDyke, John Walsh, and Corrie Ann Young
Jitterbugs: Justin Autz, Sarah Caulfield, Bella Donneruno, Taryn Feuer, Avery Infranco, Quincy Jackson, Arianna Keating, Grace Keating, Meaghan Maher, Sarah Meade, Tess Robinson, James Roche, Maggie Saum, Liana Scala, Dana Schoeps, Samantha Schoeps, and Celia Spero
Middle School Chorus: Julie Barbier, Luca Bergin, Juliette Bonchonsky, Bridget Caulfield, Natalie Ceonzo, Kailin Donnelly, Luke Frisoli, Riley Gayer, Andrew Geres, Jennifer Golder, Alyssa Infranco, Amelia Lau, Ava Mackey, Samantha Madden, Kyra Perles, Caitlin Rees, Nikki Scala, Nina Scala, Amelia Semple, Leeva Slevin, Emily Starin, Clare Vogt, and Suzie Walsh
"A" Flying Monkeys (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13): Sydney Aguirri, Kylie Balezos, Gabrielle Blum, Isabell Colaccio, Michael Donatelli, Lily Eagen, Julia Eisenberg, Markus Fehrenbacher, Rayna Feuer, Maggie Fitzmaurice, Ava Olsen, Elliote Salisbury, Olivia Scannapieco, Grace Sewell, Tara Weiss, Gabrielle Weissman, and Fallon Young
"B" Flying Monkeys (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14): Sienna Boden, Lily Brown, Maya Burget, Mairead Camas, Elizabeth Ceonzo, Katie Conway, Julia Dean, Rayna Feuer, Lindsay Grabowski, Ethan Hoerning, Sofia Kabacinski, Katie Karp, Liam McLaughlin, Lily Majewski, Kelly Ricciardi, and Luc Wagner
"A" Poppies (5/5, 5/7, and 5/13): Goldie Centamore, Alexandra Colacicco, Quinn Fehrenbacher, Juliet Morale, Joey Pizzo, Reilly Salisbury, and Juliet Scannapieco
"B" Poppies (5/6, 5/12, and 5/14): Juliette Bergin, Casey Bernson, Liam Caulfield, Hannah Feinstein, Chloe Gucciardo, Brody Mackey (5/12, 5/13, and 5/14), Trixie Moran, Cate Ricciardi, Ella Smith, and Chloe Wagner
Munchkin Wranglers: Jillian Graci and Mia Femia Pizzo
* = Gerald Quigley will not be available for the shows on 5/6 and 5/7. It is unknown at this point if John Morale will only be portraying his role of Hunk on those days or another so the part is split evenly.
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