joanna514

I keep checking in here, to find some interesting conversations, and
it's been about rodents for the past few days. I've been generally
skimming, because no matter how wonderful rats may be. (and you did
give me a new perspective) I have a phobia. The other night I
dreamed I was left with 3 white rats to care for, for a friend and 2
of them got washed away in the ocean, and one of them ended up
turning into a dog or something by the end of the dream. I was
holding them in the dream without too much difficulty, and thats a
huge step for me, even for just a dream.
Anyway, I'm going to attempt a new conversation, cause that's always
the advice you get, when you complain about a current one.
So....
Hmmmmm.....
Okay, here's a good one.
My dd has been involved in a childrens theater for the past 5 years.
It's grown each production, and this time, they did the Wizard of Oz
and cast adults for the main characters(except Dorothy). It was a
really good production, and it seems this is the direction this group
is going to take. Adults and kids acting together. I have no
problem with this, other than the fact that it limits the kids
opportunities and some of these kids, including my dd, have been
involved since the first production, and now adults may be getting
all the challenging roles. We'll see.
My real problem is, that today, i sat in the park with another mom,
whose dd had been in the show too. She started telling me all kinds
of gossip I had no clue of. The producer and the stage manager being
a little too close(both married to other people)and rumors going
around. The director being extremely controlling over his family.
Basically demeaning his wife and all kinds of seemingly
obsessive/compulsive stuff he has problems with. Also people
assuming he(the director) and the lady that did the choreography were
also having an affair, and a whole bunch of crap, I was totally
oblivious to.
Also people are talking about the money, and whose basically
pocketing profits and ripping off everyone. 1000's of dollars were
made in this production, and lots of donations were given and the
kids had to pay for or make their own costumes and pay for their
cast party.
Now I don't know if the gossip is true, but I do have a problem with
the accusations going around, and the possiblity of truthfulness.
Should I encourage my dd to be involved with a group that has this
kind of crap going on?
We were thinking of starting our own homeschooling theater group,
because my dd wants to direct, and basically have more controll over
a production. We'd keep it small, and free(family and friend
audiences). But this group does a big production every year. I'm
just starting to wonder how good of an experience it is. There are
other plays she could try for in surrounding areas, but she feels a
real part of this group having been in it from the beginning and a
lot of the same kids come back each year.
I'm wondering how wary I should be now. I guess if I didn't notice
it, the kids could have been spared too. I just don't know.
It all seems kind of creepy now. :-(
Any thoughts?
Joanna

Scott P. Cook

Joanna -

I think it's unfortunate that so many undesirable things are going on in
your daughter's theatre group - I'd be concerned too, though to be in
theatre is to accept some off-beat folks. And sometimes those off-beat
thespians are great weird and sometimes bad weird. It sounds like your
daughter is pretty committed to theatre. I can only tell you the
direction we took. My daughter started dance and gymnastics when she
was 3 years old. As she got a little older it became clear that
performing on a stage was the biggest focus in her life. She attended a
few summer camp drama programs and fell in love even more. She added
competitive cheerleading, circus club, trapeze and a couple of other
skills to her repetoire, and I began to take her love for this more
seriously. I think a huge turning point for us was discovering our
local homeschool theatre group. Her reading was always her weak point.
She learned to read in public school, but while my boys got great
reading skills from school, she never seemed to catch on. Her first
audition with this theatre group was so horribly bad that when I didn't
get a call from the director, I assumed she hadn't been cast. We missed
the first rehearsal, but Jeanne called us and got us into the group.
Chelsea had a small, but good character part, and performed very well.
The next season she was cast as Amy in Little Women. Somewhere along
the line I got the name of a very reputable agent who books kids in
commercials, print work, television, etc. We had to wait months for her
next audition date, but Chelsea did land a contract with her. We also
found out where open auditions were posted in the paper and started
going to those. We started big - a Debbie Allen audition with 500-600
kids. It was a great experience. She knew after sitting through that
one that she really loved doing it. She got a call-back - great for her
confidence - but was not cast. We've learned so much in this process -
how to win, how to lose, huge amounts about the technicalities and world
of theatre, that small character parts can be just as much of a learning
experience as big parts, and most importantly, to be selective about the
parts you take once you've gained some experience. She's done enough
auditions to know which type she'll get call-backs for and which she
won't. She got a call-back for Debbie Allen because it was dance heavy.
She didn't get a call-back for the Broadway/Disney Lion King audition
because it was singing heavy. Now she takes voice lessons! As far as
starting a homeschool theatre group, it's a great idea but tons and tons
of work. I assist the director of our group now, and there's no way to
describe the hours and energy it takes to put on a quality performance.
But if that's what both of you love, the idea may be just up your alley.
I wouldn't recommend making it free though - it can get expensive to
produce a good show, and you have to pay for it somehow. I would make
the tickets cheap if you have factors that keep you from producing a
totally professional show, such as a church location rather than a
professional theatre, or a lack of directing experience, or a small
group of kids to start. I'm not trying to discourage you at all - I
don't know what we would have done if Kathleen and Jeanne hadn't started
this wonderful group. Where do you live?

Laurel in Burke, VA

-----Original Message-----
From: joanna514 [mailto:Wilkinson6@...]
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 4:59 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Rat dreams


I keep checking in here, to find some interesting conversations, and
it's been about rodents for the past few days. I've been generally
skimming, because no matter how wonderful rats may be. (and you did
give me a new perspective) I have a phobia. The other night I
dreamed I was left with 3 white rats to care for, for a friend and 2
of them got washed away in the ocean, and one of them ended up
turning into a dog or something by the end of the dream. I was
holding them in the dream without too much difficulty, and thats a
huge step for me, even for just a dream.
Anyway, I'm going to attempt a new conversation, cause that's always
the advice you get, when you complain about a current one.
So....
Hmmmmm.....
Okay, here's a good one.
My dd has been involved in a childrens theater for the past 5 years.
It's grown each production, and this time, they did the Wizard of Oz
and cast adults for the main characters(except Dorothy). It was a
really good production, and it seems this is the direction this group
is going to take. Adults and kids acting together. I have no
problem with this, other than the fact that it limits the kids
opportunities and some of these kids, including my dd, have been
involved since the first production, and now adults may be getting
all the challenging roles. We'll see.
My real problem is, that today, i sat in the park with another mom,
whose dd had been in the show too. She started telling me all kinds
of gossip I had no clue of. The producer and the stage manager being
a little too close(both married to other people)and rumors going
around. The director being extremely controlling over his family.
Basically demeaning his wife and all kinds of seemingly
obsessive/compulsive stuff he has problems with. Also people
assuming he(the director) and the lady that did the choreography were
also having an affair, and a whole bunch of crap, I was totally
oblivious to.
Also people are talking about the money, and whose basically
pocketing profits and ripping off everyone. 1000's of dollars were
made in this production, and lots of donations were given and the
kids had to pay for or make their own costumes and pay for their
cast party.
Now I don't know if the gossip is true, but I do have a problem with
the accusations going around, and the possiblity of truthfulness.
Should I encourage my dd to be involved with a group that has this
kind of crap going on?
We were thinking of starting our own homeschooling theater group,
because my dd wants to direct, and basically have more controll over
a production. We'd keep it small, and free(family and friend
audiences). But this group does a big production every year. I'm
just starting to wonder how good of an experience it is. There are
other plays she could try for in surrounding areas, but she feels a
real part of this group having been in it from the beginning and a
lot of the same kids come back each year.
I'm wondering how wary I should be now. I guess if I didn't notice
it, the kids could have been spared too. I just don't know.
It all seems kind of creepy now. :-(
Any thoughts?
Joanna



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joanna514

Your daughter has a lot of experience! That's great.
We're pretty small town as far as the acting goes. Carly really
loves it, but we haven't looked into doing anything "bigger" or more.
The theater group I was thinking of wouldn't be for big productions.
I'm thinking the kids are in control, with guidance, and the
productions are small scale. Like I said, friends and family. I do
have a church that I think we can use, so we probably have a
location. I still need to talk to this other mom, I was thinking
might want to go in on it with us. Her son has told Carly he is
going to be a director and they've joked about doing plays together
and argue who will direct it. So I thought they might want to really
give it a try.
Anyway, it's just in the idea stage right now.
We live in Maryland. Eastern Shore.
We've learned a lot from the productions we've done with this other
group. I do a lot of the sewing and costumes. Your right, it is a
huge amount of work and time and I'm not wanting to 'go there'.
Thanks for the input.
Joanna



--- In AlwaysLearning@y..., "Scott P. Cook" <scottcook@m...> wrote:
> Joanna -
>
> I think it's unfortunate that so many undesirable things are going
on in
> your daughter's theatre group - I'd be concerned too, though to be
in
> theatre is to accept some off-beat folks. And sometimes those off-
beat
> thespians are great weird and sometimes bad weird. It sounds like
your
> daughter is pretty committed to theatre. I can only tell you the
> direction we took. My daughter started dance and gymnastics when
she
> was 3 years old. As she got a little older it became clear that
> performing on a stage was the biggest focus in her life. She
attended a
> few summer camp drama programs and fell in love even more. She
added
> competitive cheerleading, circus club, trapeze and a couple of other
> skills to her repetoire, and I began to take her love for this more
> seriously. I think a huge turning point for us was discovering our
> local homeschool theatre group. Her reading was always her weak
point.
> She learned to read in public school, but while my boys got great
> reading skills from school, she never seemed to catch on. Her first
> audition with this theatre group was so horribly bad that when I
didn't
> get a call from the director, I assumed she hadn't been cast. We
missed
> the first rehearsal, but Jeanne called us and got us into the group.
> Chelsea had a small, but good character part, and performed very
well.
> The next season she was cast as Amy in Little Women. Somewhere
along
> the line I got the name of a very reputable agent who books kids in
> commercials, print work, television, etc. We had to wait months
for her
> next audition date, but Chelsea did land a contract with her. We
also
> found out where open auditions were posted in the paper and started
> going to those. We started big - a Debbie Allen audition with 500-
600
> kids. It was a great experience. She knew after sitting through
that
> one that she really loved doing it. She got a call-back - great
for her
> confidence - but was not cast. We've learned so much in this
process -
> how to win, how to lose, huge amounts about the technicalities and
world
> of theatre, that small character parts can be just as much of a
learning
> experience as big parts, and most importantly, to be selective
about the
> parts you take once you've gained some experience. She's done
enough
> auditions to know which type she'll get call-backs for and which she
> won't. She got a call-back for Debbie Allen because it was dance
heavy.
> She didn't get a call-back for the Broadway/Disney Lion King
audition
> because it was singing heavy. Now she takes voice lessons! As far
as
> starting a homeschool theatre group, it's a great idea but tons and
tons
> of work. I assist the director of our group now, and there's no
way to
> describe the hours and energy it takes to put on a quality
performance.
> But if that's what both of you love, the idea may be just up your
alley.
> I wouldn't recommend making it free though - it can get expensive to
> produce a good show, and you have to pay for it somehow. I would
make
> the tickets cheap if you have factors that keep you from producing a
> totally professional show, such as a church location rather than a
> professional theatre, or a lack of directing experience, or a small
> group of kids to start. I'm not trying to discourage you at all - I
> don't know what we would have done if Kathleen and Jeanne hadn't
started
> this wonderful group. Where do you live?
>
> Laurel in Burke, VA
>

Scott P. Cook

Joanna -

I wish you were closer to No. Va.! It sounds like your biggest concern
is the respect for the kids issue. Our homeschool group is probably the
ultimate when it comes to respecting the kids opinions and
interpretation of character. Ironically, we are doing two shows right
now, Fiddler Jr. with the homeschool group, and Wizard of Oz with a
non-profit community group. Like your experience, the Oz cast is kids
and adults and the director is quite disrespectful toward the kids. I
was starting to think that I was the only one who was completely
disgusted with this group and the director (other than one friend of
mine who isn't as vocal as I am), but tonight I talked to the Wicked
Witch, and boy, if I thought I was disgusted, she is furious and says
she'll never do another show with this director. At least I know it's
not just me! I think most of the families in the group haven't worked
with enough groups to know the difference. It sounds like you are also
getting enough experience to know that you want a better group for your
daughter. If you were closer I'd try to get to you to come see Fiddler
later this month. If you decide to start your own group, I bet your
daughter will feel very special having a mom who's willing to do so much
work to give her a great experience! If you ever decide to vacation in
No. Va., get in touch with us!

Laurel

-----Original Message-----
From: joanna514 [mailto:Wilkinson6@...]
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 9:49 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: Rat dreams


Your daughter has a lot of experience! That's great.
We're pretty small town as far as the acting goes. Carly really
loves it, but we haven't looked into doing anything "bigger" or more.
The theater group I was thinking of wouldn't be for big productions.
I'm thinking the kids are in control, with guidance, and the
productions are small scale. Like I said, friends and family. I do
have a church that I think we can use, so we probably have a
location. I still need to talk to this other mom, I was thinking
might want to go in on it with us. Her son has told Carly he is
going to be a director and they've joked about doing plays together
and argue who will direct it. So I thought they might want to really
give it a try.
Anyway, it's just in the idea stage right now.
We live in Maryland. Eastern Shore.
We've learned a lot from the productions we've done with this other
group. I do a lot of the sewing and costumes. Your right, it is a
huge amount of work and time and I'm not wanting to 'go there'.
Thanks for the input.
Joanna



--- In AlwaysLearning@y..., "Scott P. Cook" <scottcook@m...> wrote:
> Joanna -
>
> I think it's unfortunate that so many undesirable things are going
on in
> your daughter's theatre group - I'd be concerned too, though to be
in
> theatre is to accept some off-beat folks. And sometimes those off-
beat
> thespians are great weird and sometimes bad weird. It sounds like
your
> daughter is pretty committed to theatre. I can only tell you the
> direction we took. My daughter started dance and gymnastics when
she
> was 3 years old. As she got a little older it became clear that
> performing on a stage was the biggest focus in her life. She
attended a
> few summer camp drama programs and fell in love even more. She
added
> competitive cheerleading, circus club, trapeze and a couple of other
> skills to her repetoire, and I began to take her love for this more
> seriously. I think a huge turning point for us was discovering our
> local homeschool theatre group. Her reading was always her weak
point.
> She learned to read in public school, but while my boys got great
> reading skills from school, she never seemed to catch on. Her first
> audition with this theatre group was so horribly bad that when I
didn't
> get a call from the director, I assumed she hadn't been cast. We
missed
> the first rehearsal, but Jeanne called us and got us into the group.
> Chelsea had a small, but good character part, and performed very
well.
> The next season she was cast as Amy in Little Women. Somewhere
along
> the line I got the name of a very reputable agent who books kids in
> commercials, print work, television, etc. We had to wait months
for her
> next audition date, but Chelsea did land a contract with her. We
also
> found out where open auditions were posted in the paper and started
> going to those. We started big - a Debbie Allen audition with 500-
600
> kids. It was a great experience. She knew after sitting through
that
> one that she really loved doing it. She got a call-back - great
for her
> confidence - but was not cast. We've learned so much in this
process -
> how to win, how to lose, huge amounts about the technicalities and
world
> of theatre, that small character parts can be just as much of a
learning
> experience as big parts, and most importantly, to be selective
about the
> parts you take once you've gained some experience. She's done
enough
> auditions to know which type she'll get call-backs for and which she
> won't. She got a call-back for Debbie Allen because it was dance
heavy.
> She didn't get a call-back for the Broadway/Disney Lion King
audition
> because it was singing heavy. Now she takes voice lessons! As far
as
> starting a homeschool theatre group, it's a great idea but tons and
tons
> of work. I assist the director of our group now, and there's no
way to
> describe the hours and energy it takes to put on a quality
performance.
> But if that's what both of you love, the idea may be just up your
alley.
> I wouldn't recommend making it free though - it can get expensive to
> produce a good show, and you have to pay for it somehow. I would
make
> the tickets cheap if you have factors that keep you from producing a
> totally professional show, such as a church location rather than a
> professional theatre, or a lack of directing experience, or a small
> group of kids to start. I'm not trying to discourage you at all - I
> don't know what we would have done if Kathleen and Jeanne hadn't
started
> this wonderful group. Where do you live?
>
> Laurel in Burke, VA
>




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

joanna514

--- In AlwaysLearning@y..., "Scott P. Cook" <scottcook@m...> wrote:
> Joanna -
>
> I wish you were closer to No. Va.! It sounds like your biggest
concern
> is the respect for the kids issue. Our homeschool group is
probably the
> ultimate when it comes to respecting the kids opinions and
> interpretation of character. Ironically, we are doing two shows
right
> now, Fiddler Jr. with the homeschool group, and Wizard of Oz with a
> non-profit community group. Like your experience, the Oz cast is
kids
> and adults and the director is quite disrespectful toward the
kids. I
> was starting to think that I was the only one who was completely
> disgusted with this group and the director (other than one friend of
> mine who isn't as vocal as I am), but tonight I talked to the Wicked
> Witch, and boy, if I thought I was disgusted, she is furious and
says
> she'll never do another show with this director. At least I know
it's
> not just me! I think most of the families in the group haven't
worked
> with enough groups to know the difference. It sounds like you are
also
> getting enough experience to know that you want a better group for
your
> daughter. If you were closer I'd try to get to you to come see
Fiddler
> later this month. If you decide to start your own group, I bet your
> daughter will feel very special having a mom who's willing to do so
much
> work to give her a great experience! If you ever decide to
vacation in
> No. Va., get in touch with us!
>
> Laurel
>

Thanks Laurel. Are you close to DC?
And if you ever vacation in Ocean City, let me know!
Joanna

joanna514

I meant to change the title of my last post before sending. :-(
Joanna ;-)

Scott P. Cook

-----Original Message-----
From: joanna514 [mailto:Wilkinson6@...]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2002 8:22 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: Rat dreams


--- In AlwaysLearning@y..., "Scott P. Cook" <scottcook@m...> wrote:
Yes, we are only 15-20 miles from DC. Good to know somebody in OC! I'm
not a big beach person, but my kids enjoy it a lot, so I try to
accomodate them every now and then, but sometimes I need an additional
motivation to get me to the beach!

Laurel

Thanks Laurel. Are you close to DC?
And if you ever vacation in Ocean City, let me know!
Joanna




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