 JOSEPH AND HIS AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT COMES TO MANSFIELD
Last night I was privileged to sit in on the last Wellsboro rehearsal before the Hamilton-Gibson show moved to Straughn in Mansfield. A couple more rehearsals there, and then it opens for a 3-day/4-show run, July 5,6,7 As we gathered in the Deane Center large second floor community room, I looked around at all the guys (the "brothers") and the women and the children, and I felt their easy familiarity with each other. Gary was at the piano, and Thomas was in his familiar low-ket director mode, and Maddie Palm was waiting to guide the cast, all of them "dancers," through their already-practiced routines. I know what it feels like at that point, when you're "almost there." So I found myself a chair off to the side and sat there with my yellow pad and newly sharpened pencil. A few stopped to ask if I was "recording all their mistakes." and I, of course assured them that I certainly was not there for that reason. So this rehearsal was just supposed to be working on some singing and some dancing.. And that's what they did. First the "loo loo loo" and "yah yah yah" and then that familiar bit about "selling sea shells down by the sea shore" to get the voice and the lips going. And then Thomas announced that "this is the last time you'll have that book in your hand" and so away with the scripts! And then "Let's dance...." a half hour after everyone gathered. Soon all the "brothers" sang , and that was the first time I heard all the male voices in unison, and it was grand. Then Maddie Palm, dance instructor began to call out the "step...touch...step touch" pattern for all to follow. And a call-out from a male cast member, "Let's do it again," ,and the children...oh the children '''so real, so good, so fun." For the two-and-a-half hours I was there, I kept being swept into the action. All dance/movement--I kept feeling part of it all.The dance instructor knows everyone's name and calls out instructions to specific individuals as the rehearsal progresses. I was amazed at her ability to zero in on every touch, every step. I was pulled in by the cast as they paid great attention and had a joyously good time all at once. As the rehearsal wound down, all listened to Thomas clarify a few things and have complete confirmation about which guy was wearing which color shirt. The details. The fun. The dance. The song. I really look forward to seeing this on the Straughn Auditorium stage.
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 ARTS FOR ALL THE AGES by Barbara Biddison
Hamilton-Gibson has always been all-inclusive. This June 2024 has been a true example of that. In the Warehouse Theatre I saw a dress rehearsal of Once Upon a Crime in mid-June, and less than two weeks later I saw in Whitneyville the Theater Arts Camp show for Kids.. In one the cast was made up of the very young, and the over-50s, and all ages in between---- and in the other it was "all kids"!! But that's not all there is to putting on a play. Everybody knows there's got to be a director, and for these two that would be Himmelberger for the Warehouse event and Putnam for Whitneyville kids in "Perchance to Dream." And we do need more than a director to pull it all together. In "Dream" we saw the work of interns for music and dance, staff of ages from teens to the older folk, presenters during camp "dream" focus, and so many more who held the whole thing together. And for the regular "fairy-tale courtroom play" there were the "official" crew members to handle lights, and sound, and costumes, and backstage and publicity, and posters. Different needs for different kinds of shows and different venues as well as for different kinds of performers. In both, Once Upon a Crime and “Perchance to Dream”, there are vocal and body-movement skills to be learned and become familiar with. There's a lot more dance-type movement in the kids camp show, and there's a lot more "character-posturing" movement for Once Upon a Crime. I love it when the program tells you (Once Upon a Crime) that thanks go to a real judge for the loan of a real gavel.... and (“Perchance to Dream”). that one of the presenters brought information on "Dreamcatchers." I offer this blog as just some evidence of the kind of variety that Hamilton-Gibson has provided for over 30 years now. It truly is community theater, |
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Hamilton-Gibson Productions
Providing opportunities for people of all ages to enrich and empower their lives through community performing arts.
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