Inspiration, Perspiration, Dedication!

Life, Love, Loyalty . . . has proven to be Inspiration, Perspiration & Dedication -

What a fantastic group of people at the recording last night . . .

In 3 hours, we put down 10 tracks!

I am honored to have this group as my cast - a dedicated, professional acting and inspiring community of players that did not utter an ounce of complaint . . . Complaint?! - Why?! This group keeps reminding me of how when you love what you do, it doesn't matter how hard you work or how many hours you put in, because you always feel Great afterward.

I've seen it in the sword fighting and then again last night at the recording - I want to extend props to all of you - and especially David Oakes for his love and passion for what he does that inspires all of us!

- Randy

It's All Coming Together Now . . .

What a day yesterday! Costumes, Costumes, Costumes -

Over 100 cast members needed to be fitted for two shows - quite a feat performed by Connie and Diane in one day! . . . and special thanks to Marion, Laura and Leslie H. for their help.

Tonight's the night - why does it seem to rain whenever we go to Nevessa? . . . anyway, big chorus night tonight.

Oh, and in yesterday's sword fighting - the guys were really into it - the Cardinals vs. the Musketeers - quite a show of brandishing their swords!

- Randy

Senior Vocal Night . . .

An amazing evening last night - Elise, Marie Elaina & Olivia, 3 Great Friends, gave their vocal thanks to everyone - but it's us that should be thanking them - for sharing themselves with all of us. Brava! Brava! Brava!

We'll miss not seeing them on a daily basis, but we know they'll never leave our lives totally.

- Randy

Senior Voice Recital . . .

Big Night Tonight - Senior Voice Recital . . . I listened in to a bit of rehearsal last night and wow . . . I'm looking forward to an incredible evening - you go, girls!

I'm off to the city on a quest for fabrics for the Ball Scene in A4O-
Wish me luck!

- Randy

Too Many Notes - or Too Many Swords?

What's your motivation for all you do?

Does your voice rejoice as a response to fear . . . or, does it simply sound joy?

Choral Rehearsal for 'All 4 One' - got past the "notes" on Monday and started to find the big picture literally - the "filmatic voice" of the music - We forgot the little pictures - the individuals - and started singing as one -

Oh, and by the way . . . professionally speaking, do too many eighth notes really make a piece inappropriate?

- Doug

Last night's review of all the sword fighting has left me feeling that there is hope -

I think this is pulling together better than expected - Of course, we are still using dowels - but the remaining swords have arrived - ready for battle!

Sunday, we spent many hours working on the Jolly Miller Inn staging - and, with all that goes on in that scene, it becomes an eyeful of men being men, women being women, some women being men - and then there are the times that the men act as women and the women act as men (confused yet?) - "Not I," said the chicken to the road!

If you want to see confusing, step through the doors this Sunday while we have costume fittings - that will make last Sunday's rehearsal seem like a stroll through the park.

- Randy

Re-cert . . .

Doug and I are off to re-certify our CPR - will catch up w/Blog later . . .

Randy

See . . . The Edge is in Sight

Kaela - Good private dance lesson yesterday - see . . . you didn't believe me -

Paul's head is in the game as both a dancer and sword fighter - props (not basketballs) to you!

- Randy

The Contemporary Rock Edge to the 'All 4 One' music was unearthed by the 4 musketeers during last night's vocal rehearsal when they started rocking it out - Excellent!

-Doug

Surprise Visit from Frieda Kahlo . . . .

Last night during the Disney's High School Musical Vocal Rehearsal, we were all surprised when we learned that special guest Frieda Kahlo had arrived to meet everyone!

The group was three quarters of the way through rehearsal when her entrance into the room sparked a firestorm of excitement and discussion.

Well done . . . and thank you Frieda for taking the journey and the time to fly in . . .

- Doug

Cardinals 5, Musketeers 3 . . . Weekend Won

It was a busy weekend . . .
Congratulations to everyone who performed at the mall - great job!

And, very productive day yesterday -
It began with sword fighting - 5 cardinals against 3 musketeers and D'Artagnan - All at the same time - very busy and scary -

Then meeting with our set building people - Master Crew of Tom, Bob, John, Ed & Bruce -

I got the "piece of cake" thumbs up on set . . . so, we're on a roll.

While this was going on, we were being serenaded by the cast's rehearsal for 'All 4 One' - Sounding Great Everyone!

Tonight . . . switch gears back to High School -

I love my job -
Randy

When People Shout, You Don't Need A Translation!

Loud shouts have a tendency to reach many ears . . .

. . . "a special thank you to everyone at NYCA for giving me the training and amazing experiences that made me the performer I am today," was Ninoshka K. DeLeon Gill's shout out in her bio published for Ithaca College Theatre's prestigious event titled 'DANCE *No Translation Needed'. Echoing back to her is our shout out of pride for her achievement!

The celebrated Boston Conservatory Dance Department is also ringing with a shout . . . because their department also accepted Elise Tarantina as a Dance Major.

Props to the NYCA inspired tops!

No Fury Like A Woman's Sword . . .

It seems that you don't want to challenge Tanya or Nissa to a duel - both have become quite the swordsman - Fast and Accurate . . . But of course, you wont recognize them once in costume . . . so best not to challenge anyone!

Chaos breeds Charisma . . .

Bullies . . . what an inspiration for genius . . .

In 'The Three Musketeers', Jussac, the Cardinal's villain, picks on Lady Bonacieux in the night - D'Artagnan comes to her rescue - the inspiration for the song "D'Artagnan", one of the top songs in the musical 'All 4 One' . . . which the ensemble worked amazingly last night.

Louis may be King, but the NYCA Ensemble rules!

- Doug

p.s. - It's great to see so many cast members committed to making this show as amazing as CATS was last year!

Dance 10 - Looks "Marvelous!"

The Dance Marathon of 10 hours was quite a success - raising quite a bit of money for the troupies - In my opinion, this year's troupe seems to have more energy than past troupes - I think they could have gone on for at least another hour!

12 hours after they all go to sleep, Tommy and Alex had a Sword Fight Rehearsal - which looks great by the way! - 1 completed fight - 3 more to go!

-Randy

It's Wednesday Night . . . What Country Are We In?

Great rehearsal last night for High School Musical - When Amara was asked to sound American - No Problem! Who knew?!

Troupe Dance Marathon's coming up this Saturday Night - come say hello and dance for a while - 5pm-11pm - (Of course, troupies will dance 'til 3am!)

. . . and during rehearsals we could hear Peter rehearsing with Doug . . . He sounded great - and his doublet looked fierce. Props to 'No Turning Back' - and Major Ferocity!

"My Bad"

Lately the expression "My Bad" has taken on a new meaning in the Sword Fight rehearsals! -

Some swords are in and looking quite sweet - We now know who is taking the King's side and the Cardinal's side in the squabble . . .
EN GARDE!

-Randy

Singing and Swords

Wow! - I walked into rehearsal last night and was quite impressed with how the songs were coming along for ALL 4 ONE -

Some of the swords came in yesterday which means we are getting closer to production time -

Tommy and Alex are up to choreography with some of the fight scene, and I think they'll admit that it's not as easy as it looks and takes a very strong focus to be good at it - I don't doubt that they'll get it - but for now we'll stick with the dowels until they master their choreography.

I hope tonight's sword group is up for their next battle.

- Randy