Week Five - Week Six 2009

Week Five: Auditions

Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Starting to write in a journal can be so difficult. Writers block, or simply a lack of things to say could stop you from writing or even starting an entry. Try these starters as a means to develop your ideas...

Andrew Kocsis

Wednesday 18th March 2009

1.                   Attendance

Education Prac. Students are absent this week and the 25^th of March.

2.                   Apologies:

I don't know everyone's name yet, sorry. At the risk of missing someone out I haven't  mentioned student names in any of the agenda this week. I hope you know what you've signed up for and there will be names added from next week.

 3.                   Design - with Salmiyah

To be covered under PR

4.                   Props - with Jenny

To be covered by Jenny's team.

5.                   Costume & Wardrobe / Make-up – with Jenny

Currently researching Victorian Era toys and Commedia Dell'arte.  Will report back with progress and any ideas next week.

Trips to apparitions will begin once characters are finalised and more research has been done. This will be addressed in the timeline.

6.                   Makeup – with Darren

Also researching Victorian Era toys and Commedia Dell'arte.  Will report back with progress and any ideas next week along with Costume.

7.                   Lighting – with Tim

                        Attending Nexus workshop and should discuss a possible timeline with Tim.

                        *NB: Lighting design should be “bright” and “pretty”, not “expressionist”.

8.                   Sound – with Tim

                        Sound was absent this week

                        An original musical score by Nick Choo will be complimented by (very short) songs and live                      music.

 9.                   Script

Draft of Act I completed for Auditions.

 10.               Ed Pack

The Ed Pack team should organise a 'plan of attack' as soon as possible.

*NB: This includes some students who are currently on Teaching Prac.

No specific date has been set, yet. I'm thinking two weeks time, once the Education students are back.

 11.               Stage Management – with Mel and Murali

Blocking next week (bring lots of pencils and Stage Pictures).

Stage masked in Drama workshop as soon as possible.

 12.               Public Relations – with Salmiyah

There are four main areas that the team will be working in.

·         Poster and Design

·         Writing/Press Release

·         Organising the 10^th Anniversary event (Sunday the 24^th of May)

Front of House

 PR students will be divided into with their own category as a focus, but should still be actively involved in all areas

*NB: Designs will need to be approved by Jenny. Submissions may require multiple                                transformations so start this as soon as possible.

To reaffirm the Sunday Preview. Invites have been extended not only to Children's Theatre Alumni but also to some big names nationally and internationally. This is the perfect opportunity not only only profile theatre and Murdoch, but also Arts in general and what it is that we do.

 13.               Production Management Report – with Jason

The Doll's house is nearly completed. In two to three weeks assembly can begin once scaffolding is hired and the Nexus has no more external clients. This includes painting.

Once this begins there is a chance for students who elected Set Design to have an input on the other aspects of the stage.

The Moon and Stars and Banksia tree still need to be made so anyone with free time is encouraged to head down to Nexus and help out. That's what got the Doll's house done so quickly and if the student effort continues it's highly likely we'll have a working stage  exceptionally early on in the semester!

14.               A.O.B (Any Other Business)

15.               Next Meeting

                         8:30 am Wednesday the 25^th of March.

                        Absentees should contact Stage Management in advance, thanks.

Click here... Draft  to see the current script for this year's production

Click here... Auditions to view photos from this year's try-outs

Greetings Ed-packians!

The Ed Pack is a great resource for teachers: namely to link information in the play with educational outcomes and learning objectives for the students in their class.

If you are still interested in contributing, we will be meeting at 8.30 at the Drama Workshop for the production meeting. I realise, as most of you are educational students, a lot of you will be on prac for the next two weeks. Otherwise, I'll see the rest of you this Wednesday.

For everyone on prac, or still at uni, here is some information that might help you in the stimulation of concepts or tasks you could start now. In creating the Ed Pack, we divide the pack into two parts...

  A) Information (i.e. issues, characters, themes etc... in the play) and...  B) Activities (i.e. extension of ideas into usable in-class work sheets based on learning objectives)

If you would like to start investigating either activities or character/theme/Victorian information, then write down all your ideas and bring them into the next Production Meeting ... either this Wednesday or when you are back from work experience...

  A) Try researching and write down information on the themes of Victorian Doll Houses, Commedia Characters (Judy, Punch, Harlequin, Colombina), or toys etc.

  B) Try turning any of your ideas into work sheet activities based on the various Learning Areas... (i.e. Arts, English, Science, Maths, LOTE, S+E, T+E, and Health)

If you have any question, please contact me

Andrew Kocsis

Week Six: Script Read-through

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Lit by Limelight: The Adventures of a Little Tin Soldier

Cast List

The Child

Amelia, whose story this is     Marley Batenburg

The Muses

Melpomene, a Tragic Muse     Brooke Herbert

Terpsichore, the Muse of Dance, her younger sister     Kylie Ridge

Euterpe, the Muse of Song, her younger sister     Renee Chapple

Thalia, a Comic Muse, their little sister     Kate Branson

 The Commedia dell’Arte Characters

Punch (Pulcinello), the Arch Villain of this story     Stephen Platt

Judy, his long-suffering spouse who yearns to shine     Chantel Bell

Harlequin, a mischievous young scamp, in love with Columbine     Scott Suffling

Columbine, a dancer, in love with Harlequin     Claire Bamford

Pierrette, a coquettish young clown     Kim Moore

Pantaloon, a miserly old man, Father of Columbine, Master of Harlequin     Patrick Greenaway

 The Fremantle Fairies of the Banksia Garden

Honeysuckle, a Honeysuckle Banksia Fairy     Sarah Clarke

Violet, a Violet Banksia Fairy with attitude     Hannah Brotherson

Woolly, a Woolly Banksia Fairy     John Hayes

 The Banksia Buskers

Mad, a mandolin-playing Fairy     Jonathan Langdale

Flute, a flautist Fairy     Helen Logan

Clari, a clarinet-playing Fairy     Andria Schumann

Strum, a guitar-playing Fairy     Alexis Tay

Chord, a singing Fairy     Serena Koay

 The Dolls

Madam Butterfly, an operatic diva doll     Gina Knight

Dame Desdemona, a melodramatic porcelain doll     Sarah Isaacson

Signorita Tapasita, a Spanish dancing doll     Megan Stanisowsky

Generalissimo Fantastico, a burly baritone doll     Meng-Keng Tan

 The Tin Soldiers

Colonel Contentious, the leader of the Tin Soldiers     John King

Brown Bess, his Batman     Andrew Kocsis

Captain Carbine, his incompetent Second in Command     John Robertson

Sergeant Siege, an excitable Toy Soldier     Leanne Rose

Corporal Cannon, an earnest Toy Soldier     Megan Hollier

Private Pellet, a dim-witted Toy Soldier     Breanna Kelly

The Little Tin Soldier, Tristan, a young war hero     Jock Davidson

 The Pie Rats

Captain Courageous, a dashing buccaneer     Alexander Circosta

Lieutenant Barnacle, a devious buccaneer     Joel Sammels

Harry Hornpipe, the cheerful First Mate     Adam Leinonen

Swab, a lowly deckhand     Karen Corby

Bilge, an even lowlier deckhand     Kaylie Curren

Mog, the Ship’s Cat     Briana Young.

For next week's ED Pack meeting (which will follow the 8.30am Production meeting), each individual should create...

- A list of themes (imagination, Swan River... etc)
- Ideas for activities (Masks, make your own stage...etc)
- Ideas for general information (Commedia, flutes... etc)

and... personally... ...come to next week's meeting with what YOU would like to do. At the least... try to
fill up an A4 page with ideas or an explosion chart.

Andrew Kocsis

Just letting you all know that my name is Renee and I'm going to be the Ed Pack editor this year. You may recognise me from such things as being incredibly loud, rather short, attacking tutors and calling Andrew derogatory names. I also need to tell you that the reason that I am Ed Pack editor is simply because this will be my second year doing Ed Pack, not because I am better than you (even though, obviously, I am.)

So if you could let me know ASAP a bit about you, such as what years you are teaching, any specialities or interests, what you're interested in, what you're good at and your credit card details, then that would really help me out.

I'll be bringing last year's Ed Pack to the meeting on Wednesday so if you've not seen an Ed Pack before, then that will be your TRULY EXCITING CHANCE to see one. It will be punctuated with cries of "That's mine!" and "I did that". Sorry about that, but that's just the way I roll.

If you're still unsure of who I am, you'll all get a chance to meet me on Wednesday and despise me on sight, or in fact bow at my feet. And if you need to get in contact with me, all my contact details are below (just ignore the first few lines with all the words in them, that's my charity info) or you can simply reply to this email. Or Facebook me. Basically, I'll be pretty much permanently connected to at least one of these options, so I'm pretty reliable with the replying. Except sometimes I work. And go to class every now and then. But I'm usually on Facebook then, anyway.

So, in summary, sorry this has been so long, but send me an email introducing yourself and all that jazz, and looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday!

Renee Chapple

Wednesday 25th March 2009

1.                   Attendance

Education Prac. Students are still absent. They're back next week.

2.                   Costume & Wardrobe – with Jenny

A big thanks to those who have already started preparing ideas!!

A meeting about apparitions was scheduled to take place in between the meeting and the workshop. If you missed it please contact Jenny for information.

3.                   Makeup – with Darren

                        Tutors dressed funny. Teehee.

                        Again, thanks to those who had prepared designs and a big thanks to Ellie Hart for coming in                     to help out.

4.                   Lighting – with Tim

Aleesha managed to track down an actual limelight machine. If we do use it, it will be as a prop though.

Thanks for the work you've done involving lighting design as well. I'll be sure to send the blocking to you weekly as we develop it.                       

5.                   Sound – with Tim

                        Sound was absent this week

                        Nick Choo is informed as to the nature of sound and music in the show. Including the live              musicians.

6.                   Script

Looking exciting. Anyone who doesn't know their part yet should contact Jenny

7.                   Ed Pack – with Andrew

A meeting will be held next week when the Prac students are back.

8.                   Stage Management – with Mel and Murali

Blocking was postponed but will definitely happen next week.

Emma returns next week as well. Horray!

Stage dimensions and masking still need to be sorted out with Tim.

9.                   Public Relations – with Salmiyah

·         Poster and Design – Alexander. Thanks for the designs you've already come up with. They're looking pretty cool. Anyone who missed them – they involve an image of Tristan and Columbine embracing with various effects added.

·         Writing/Press Release – Robert

After a meeting with Freya Contos, the Media and Communication officer at Murdoch, some ideas came up. Including:

                                                               i.      contacting parenting papers,

                                                             ii.      sending stories and photos of actors and children to to community newspapers in places like the Western Suburbs.

                                                            iii.      Ask “supportive principals of C.T.” to say a few words about past shows or the current show after its run.

                        All these will hopefully serve to enhance the interest and credibility of Children's Theatre and profile Murdoch to people who might not always think about it.

                        Freya will happily support and review any article or plan once the ball gets rolling.

·         Organising the 10^th Anniversary event (Sunday the 24^th of May) -Michele (good luck!).

·         Front of House – At the moment this appears to be a group effort. Salmiyah would like a volunteer to have this as their focus. The entire team will still help out, especially Michele when hosting the Anniversary Event.

11.               Next Meeting

                         8:30 am Wednesday the 1^th of April.

                        Absentees should contact Stage Management in advance, thanks.

David Micenko

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This page last updated: 30th March 2009