The Imagination Blog

We’ve just finished our fourth rehearsal. We are currently on a once-a-week rehearsal schedule due to the holidays, but we’ll be amping up to three-a-week rehearsals after the first of the year.

Terry and I have finally begun to shake off the rust - neither of us has acted in years. We also weren’t sure what it would be like working together. But it’s been great. Though I must confess that during much of the rehearsal process my co-star has been leering at me with a look that says “when and where, baby?”. I’m trying very hard not to let it distract me. I’m a professional, and I don’t want her flirtations to shatter my focus. (She is cute, though.)

We’ve begun blocking the show, and we’re almost through Act 1. For those of you familiar with “Love Letters” you may be wondering how one “blocks” a show that traditionally doesn’t have any. You see, “Love Letters” is usually staged with the two actors sitting at desks or a table, and presenting the entire play without moving. Well, we’re trying to break the mold. In so doing we’re hoping to make the show a bit more visually interesting for the audience.

This is something we talked about from the outset. When Terry and I first met Stuart Landon, the show’s director, he discussed the idea of breaking with the “traditional” staging of the show to try to give it a more modern flavor. It seems to be working. He’s broken the stage into 9 sections (3 rows of three) and each section represents an “acting area”. The stage at the Playhouse is a thrust stage which means there is seating on three sides of the stage. This can be problematic if the action stays in one place. It typically means that a portion of the audience gets to see your face, and the other portion gets to see, well, your tush. By creating the acting areas Stuart has made it possible for the performance to be seen by every seat in the house equally.

So far, so good.

Happy Holidays.

I just received the news that our Christmas show, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” has sold out for our Dec 7th performance. Based on information I received, it appears that we will sell out at least one or more of our shows during next week.

As I reflect on this past year, “who would have ‘thunk’ it” comes to mind. Last year at this time, we were approaching our second year in our playhouse with a new season and a number of exciting opportunities. If someone would have said that we’d be in this position at the end of 2008, I believe many of our volunteers would have said … ” Are you dreaming?”

We have accomplished many great things in 2008. We ran a successful season of planned plays plus an additional special performance of Jen Feldser’s “The Other Woman.” We just had our first “sell-out.” We established the Theatre Academy which has succeeded beyond expectations. We attracted new actors and directors from Lancaster, Lebanon, Harrisburg and have discovered some great talent from these areas.

For 2009, we have two new directors and a great schedule of shows and recently two wonderful actors who moved here from LA to raise their child, “walked in” to our auditions for “Love Letters” and “walked out” with the leading roles. How fortunate we are!

As I reflect on our successes, I believe every volunteer with who has touched our effort needs to take a moment to pat themselves on the back and enjoy the moment and then reflect on how we can all contribute in 2009 to solidify our future.

We have a long way to go to ensure our long term success, but if 2008 is any indication of our capability to succeed long term, I am confident we will achieve and exceed all our goals.

Thanks to all for all you do and have done to help bring this new cultural institution to Hershey!