Join professional actor and improviser, Eric Nepom, for a Zoom meet and greet/Q & A (with games!), this Friday (11/20) at 12:30pm. It will go for about an hour. The Den Improv Night is one of out most popular department events….and ALL STUDENTS are welcome…no experience necessary! There will be a few Zoom rehearsals stating in December, then a live streamed performance on December 18 at 7pm.
Email Mr. B at beckings@wlwv.k12.or.us for the Zoom meeting details.
Don’t miss this opportunity to work with a pro……and be a part of history (as we have never done a Zoom Imporv Night before 🙂
NOW AVAILABLE! Our two radio plays, featuring Principal Neuman as the ” Man in Black” and vocal performances from Allie Evans, Brigitte Chenevert, and Payton Henry.
Only “Sorry, Wrong Number” will be uploaded to the Paws for Thought Podcast feed tonight. You will have “The Hitchhiker” to look forward to on Halloween!!!
Our “Radio Show” performances of Sorry, Wrong Number and The Hitchhiker will premiere on the Paws for Thought Podcast on Friday, October 30, at 7pm. The Podcast episode will also include music featuring WLHS student vocalists!
Bringing the 1940s into 2020, these radio plays offer suspense, intrigue, wickedness, ringing phones, and screeching cars….oh, and a guest appearance from Mr. Neuman.
If you are able, please donate to the WLHS Theatre Arts Program by clicking under the pointing commedia character to the right. Thank you very much. We appreciate the support, especially during these tumultuous times!
There was much to consider in creating these casts. Vocal qualities obviously played a part, but I also had multiple options due to how much variety and flexibility was on show. Thank you for that! Congratulations to the following casts:
RONALD ADAMS…………………………………………………………………Eric McDevitt MRS. ADAMS/ THE STOREKEEPER’S MOTHER………….Brigitte Chenevert THE HITCHHIKER…………………………………………………………..Zach Socherman GAS STATION ATTENDANT………………………………………………Masha Galtseva THE STOREKEEPER…………………………………………………………Holden Peterson WOMAN………………………………………………………………………….Ainslie O’Connor TELEPHONE OPERATOR/ NEW YORK OPERATOR/ ALBERQUEQUE OPERATOR………………………………………………….Kaelin Kehm LONG DISTANCE OPERATOR………………………………………………..Ellie Seward MRS. WHITNEY…………………………………………………………………….Izzy Englund
Please email me with any questions. I’d like to have full play read throughs either Monday (10/5) or Tuesday (10/6). SWN could begin at 3.30pm, and HH at 4.15pm. But people are welcome to stay the whole time. Sarah will send an email about availability.
Great turn out. Great energy. Smiling faces. Good stuff! Thank you to all who took the time to audition. That was a first Zoom audition for me, and I think it went fantastically!
Some of you may have been called back for more than one role. Please note, just because your name appears under a specific role, that does not mean that is the only role I am considering you for. Tomorrow, the routine will basically be the same, except you will be reading scenes with others. I will likely create breakout rooms in order for scene partners to read through scenes prior to auditioning. *BE SURE TO JOIN ZOOM THROUGH YOUR SCHOOL GOOGLE ACCOUNT. The Zoom info will be emailed to you.
For this callback, I am making both scripts available to you. Feel free to read each script, but you will obviously be focusing on the character(s) you have been called back for. Find the appropriate scenes and become familiar with them. If your character is in multiple scenes, well, get to know all those scenes! I will be letting you know what scene/moment I would like you to read, and who you will read with, when we first gather on Zoom. I have indicated “Southern accents” for a couple characters. Do some research (You can look up Missouri accent on YouTube) and do your best! I may consider other accents for other roles after casting is complete.
Callbacks will begin at 3.30pm. I hope to be done by 5.30, but be prepared to stay a bit longer. If you have a conflict or another engagement and have to leave early, please email Sarah Tenison, our Stage Manager – tenisons@wlhs.wlwv.k12.or.us. If you have any questions about your character or the script, email Mr. B – beckings@wlwv.k12.or.us.
Both plays will be rehearsed from October 5 – October 22 (days and times TBD). On Friday October 23, a Zoom recording of both plays will take place. Please note that the final edit of the radio plays will premiere on the “Paws for Thought Podcast” around Halloween. There will be no Zoom video presentation of the plays.
These radio dramas are in the style of the classic film noir and melodrama. Sorry, Wrong Number was originally a play, then adapted into a film, then into a radio play. It is a crime thriller. The Hitchhiker is more of a ghost story. Performances should be a balance between very dramatic (as in, over-done), and believable….so as to pull the listener in.
Here is the list of characters:
Sorry, Wrong Number
MRS. STEVENSON
1ST OPERATOR
1ST MAN/WESTERN UNION
2ND MAN (“George”)
CHIEF OPERATOR
2ND OPERATOR/4TH OPERATOR
3RD OPERATOR/5TH OPERATOR
INFORMATION/YOUNG OFFICER
HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST (“Woman”)
SERGEANT DUFFY
The Hitchhiker
RONALD ADAMS
MRS. ADAMS/ THE STOREKEEPER’S MOTHER
THE HITCH-HIKER/NEW YORK OPERATOR/ALBERQUERQUE OPERATOR
A GAS STATION ATTENDANT
THE STOREKEEPER
A WOMAN
A TELEPHONE OPERATOR/A LONG DISTANCE OPERATOR
MRS. WHITNEY
For the audition, you can either choose one of the leading role sides, or a supporting role side. I am keeping the sides limited for initial auditions so as to just hear how you tackle the style. I would suggest you watch some clips for a reference:
This clip is a Twilight Zone version of The Hitchhiker. We will still have the lead character male identifying.
INTIAL ZOOM AUDITION – Thursday October 1, 3.15pm-5.30pm
Please choose ONE side from below to read during your Zoom audition. You do not have to be memorized, but please be familiar with the text, so you are free to take risks and make choices! Keep in mind that you may be considered for a role different to that of the one you read for. Once you join the Zoom meeting, you will remain in the waiting room until let in. People will audition one at a time on October 1.
If you are unable to make the Oct 1 Zoom audition, you may upload a video audition. There is a section on the Google Audition Form for this. Please only do this if you definitely cannot attend the Zoom audition session.
Callbacks are on Friday October 2, 3.30-5, and by invitation only. You will likely read with others during callbacks. Sides for callbacks will be posted the evening of October 1.
INTERESTED IN A TECH POSITION? Please email Mr. B with any questions. Break a Leg!!
Episode #1, Futures Past, of the Paws for Thought Podcast is now available. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can also listen here:
We have a great chat with former co-presidents Ella Johansen, Grant Halverson, and Angela Tinio.
Episode #2 will be an interview with my dear friend, Jon Jordan, an Emmy winning Wig Designer/Hair Stylist. He lives in NYC and is currently navigating his way through COVID and its effect on the arts industry. Some of Jon’s credits include:
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Broadway Tour) The Lion King (Broadway) End of the Rainbow (Broadway) On the Twentieth Century (Broadway) The Trial of the Chicago Seven (Film) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV, Emmy Winner) Fosse/Verdon (TV) Annie (Film) Men in Black 3 (Film)
I hope classes are going well and people are healthy.
TOMORROW 9/17 from 12.05-12.20 we will have our first Virtual Thespian Meeting. It will be a brief one just to say hi and check in. Brigitte and Miranda will share some updates on what the heck the theatre department will look like, and what we might be doing!
Please email Steve at beckings@wlwv.k12.or.us for the Zoom info.
