Tag Archives: Ilion Little Theatre

Tabby at the Theatre

Posted on February 21, 2013 by mohawkvalleygirl

This post is in the nature of Preview of Coming Attractions at Ilion Little Theatre. However, since to me the most interesting aspect of the evening was the extremely cute behavior of our exceedingly cute schnoodle I thought I’d put her name in the headline.

Tuesday night Steven had an appointment to listen to a possible accompanist for Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the play he is to direct for May performances.

We have been feeling a little discouraged about Dirty Work lately. Regular readers (Hi, Mom!) might remember that the play was originally to have been presented in October but ran into problems. When we postponed it to May the cast which we had FINALLY assembled seemed to think it would be OK. Turns out not so much.

Well, they do say life happens while you are making other plans. Our leading lady was forced to drop out by unexpected circumstances (I feel I must emphasize beyond her control, because in general the woman is the most reliable of actresses and wonderful to work with) (I do hope her circumstances will allow her to participate in future productions), and we have not gotten confirmations from three other cast members. On the brighter side, I know at least one cast member has been looking over his script (I go to Curves with his wife) (What, you thought it was me?).

Julianne Allen, who is directing the current production, The Crazy Times, highly recommended a young lady who is one of her piano students to be the accompanist for Dirty Works. Accordingly, we headed to the theatre to meet the young lady and hear her play. I guess technically only Steven needed to go, but Tabby and I went along to offer out input.

Tuesday, local readers know, is the day the weather got a little dicey in the evening. It actually was not too bad in Herkimer and Ilion. The snow was heavy and wet when I drove home from work around quarter to four, but it had stopped by the time we headed to the theatre for six.

Once we got into the theatre I let Tabby off the leash, and she delightedly ran around, sniffing everything and being petted by everyone there. I can’t say she sat quietly and enjoyed hearing the pianist though. She wanted to see what was going on so jumped up to sniff the keys. Steven called her back. It did not seem to phase the player at all, so I thought that boded well.

She is a very talented young lady, and her name completely escapes me. She also has experience accompanying vocalists, which is obviously important. So we were very pleased to add an accomplished pianist to the Dirty Works team. Now if only we can fill out the cast!

Regarding Julianne’s play, everything seems to be going well. We did not stay for rehearsal, but the set is looking good. Julianne showed us the latest addition, two doors stage left.

“This one opens in now,” she said, demonstrating. Tabby walked through the door, helping with the demonstrating. Julianne closed the door to show that the other one opened the other way.

“Tabby’s going to be scratching at the door,” Steven said.

However, while Julianne was describing the other things planned for the set, Tabby walked around behind the flats and emerged from the open door on stage right, looking extremely pleased with herself.

I suppose by now my readers are divided into two camps. Some of you are smiling and saying, “Oh, what an adorable dog.” Others are shaking their heads saying, “That dog should have stayed quietly at heel or on the leash. Or at home. Sniffing the piano keys, indeed!” Do I really have any readers who would say that?

Steven even contemplated giving Tabby a role in Dirty Work at the Crossroads. I play Mrs. Asterbilt, a fabulously rich society matron. Wouldn’t it be appropriate for me to have a French poodle? Tabby is only half poodle, but she could act, couldn’t she? I would call her “Tabitha” in the play, which is her real name anyways. Our only worry is that during my big dramatic scene, Tabby would leap to my defense with a crescendo of barking. Well, a life in theatre isn’t for every dog.

For more information on production dates and times for The Crazy Times and Dirty Work at the Crossroads, go to www.ilionlittletheatre.org or the Ilion Little Theatre Club Facebook page. If you are interested in piano lessons from Julianne, visit the Julie’s Music Facebook page.

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This Post Does Not Bear Repeating

Posted on December 28, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

“Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.”

It’s one of my favorite quotes. You say it in a real airhead voice, as if you think you’re saying something profound when really if you had a thought in your head it would not be crowded.

I’ve written about this before. I don’t want to repeat myself, BUT…

Oh, there’s a good topic for Non Sequitur Thursday. Most of us repeat ourselves. They say some things bear repeating (that’s not one of them), but mostly people repeat things because they felt clever for having said them in the first place, or whatever it is still bothers them, or they can’t think of anything else to say.

Wow, I guess there’s a lot of reasons to repeat oneself. Try this: the next time you want to repeat yourself, instead say WHY you were about to repeat yourself. Then see if you repeat that.

I was about to tell a story about a friend repeating herself and me repeating myself in reply to her, and her calling me on repeating myself but not noticing her repeating herself. I’ve told that story roughly 5,687,211 times (I was going to say a bazillion but thought I’d change things up with an actual number).

I guess this is more stream of consciousness than non sequitur (that remark may be a repeat from last Thursday). Let’s let this train of thought jump the tracks (which were crossing the stream; I’m not mixing metaphors) and give a shout out to Ilion Little Theatre’s December production.

Rented Christmas opened last weekend and continues this weekend. It is a family musical about a guy who, you know, rents a Christmas. If you like cute kids with nice voices singing Christmas carols, this is a good show for you. It plays Friday and Saturday, December 28 and 29 at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday December 30 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit their website, http://www.ilionlittletheatre.org/ or their Facebook page.

Final Note: On reading this over before publishing, I realize I did not follow my own instructions and say WHY I was going to repeat myself. I’ll save it for the half-baked philosophy component on Lame Post Friday.

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Not a Bored Meeting

Posted on November 16, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I usually don’t write about my Ilion Little Theatre meetings, either Board of Director or monthly dinner. One reason is that I’m not sure if the people involved would like to be mentioned in a blog post. I mean, it’s one thing to stand up on stage in a play or even work backstage. In those cases, your name gets put in the program or even in the newspaper (spelled right or wrong). It’s already public. Meetings might be considered… less so.

By now some of my nosier readers may be sitting up by their monitors, wondering if they are going to be made privy to what goes on behind closed doors. Unfortunately, I do not plan to write anything that exciting, but I hope to come up with something at least mildly entertaining.

Last night (Wednesday) I arrived at The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY, only slightly late for the 6 p.m. meeting. One board member could not be there because he had recently had surgery (was that a HIPPA violation to mention that?).

“If he was really dedicated,” I said, “he would have had his wife push him here in a wheelbarrow.”

I don’t know if anybody else remembers, but when Iraq had its first democratic elections, one old woman was pushed for miles and miles in a wheelbarrow just so she could vote. To me, that sets the standard.

“He might be at tomorrow’s dinner meeting,” someone said.

“In a wheelbarrow?” I asked hopefully.

As we continued our meeting, cast members of Rented Christmas kept walking by and going into rehearsal. Soon we heard the sounds of vocal warm-ups: “La la la la LAH la la la laaah!” (It sounds better than it looks.) Our president, who is also in the cast, shared with us a couple of cute stories about the younger cast members.

At the end of the meeting we had to sneak through rehearsal to get tables and chairs to set up for Thursday’s dinner meeting. Some of the cast was lined up across the stage singing Christmas carols. I sang along, but quietly. I have a terrible singing voice.

So I guess the main point of today’s post is to plug Rented Christmas. The singing I heard sounded pretty good. The story is heartwarming and family friendly. I personally look forward to seeing it. Performance dates are December 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 and 30. For more information visit Ilion Little Theatre’s website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org or their Facebook page.

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Will I Break a Leg?

Posted on November 10, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is NOT Lame Post Friday. I work tomorrow, and when I work Saturday, Friday is just not Friday. OK, all you folks out there who work every Saturday, just don’t start, I have already addressed your concerns in previous non-lame Friday posts (don’t remember exactly what I said, probably something lame).

That said, I don’t have a whole lot to blog about (see yesterday’s post on “In My Defense… I Have No Defense”). Well, maybe one thing. As soon as I type this in (composing at the computer, by the way, not handwriting in a notebook on a break at work) (just to give an accurate picture), I must quickly shower and blow dry my hair in preparation for tonight’s performance of Strike Story at Ilion Little Theatre, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY.

I know I said yesterday that I already wrote about this, but I thought of a few more things to say. To reiterate, for those of you just tuning in, Ilion Little Theatre, forced to postpone Dirty Work at the Crossroads till May, asked a group from Little Falls to present Strike Story, an original Readers’ Theatre piece written by a Little Falls woman, on our stage as our fall production. They needed a Helen Schloss for the second weekend. Our vice president nominated me. How could I refuse? (Seriously, please tell me how to refuse these things should they arise in the future; I don’t have time to be in a lot of plays).

I’ve been a little stressed. Would I be able to find a black skirt to wear? (yes, by virtue of spending an hour rummaging around in the theatre’s VERY messy costume room, Steven found me one). Would I be any good at the part? (the Little Falls people seem happy enough). Could I work a ten hour day on Friday, do a good show, then get up for more overtime on Saturday? (we’ll find out — stay tuned!).

On the whole, though, I’m pretty happy I did it. I’ve never done Readers’ Theatre. It is much more stylized than any play I’ve been in before, and some of the speeches are pretty long. And we’re all on stage the whole time. It’s fun, and a challenge, to listen attentively and in character, and make subtle little reactions. You never know when an audience member may be looking at you.

What I really like, though, is that my character does NOT like a couple of the other characters. She gets to be pretty sharp at times.

“Can we have more acid on that speech?” the director asked in one rehearsal. Oh yes, I can give you more acid. I bet some of you readers didn’t know I like to be mean (just kidding; I’m sure you all knew) (and I don’t REALLY like to be mean; I’m acting!).

I see I am over 450 words, pretty good for me. Has this post been as lame as a Lame Friday Post? I’ll let my readers be the judge. As for me, I must get in the shower. Otherwise, I may stink up the stage (insert joke about my stinky acting, if you so desire).

For more information on Strike Story, visit www.ilionlittletheatre.org or the Ilion Little Theatre Club Facebook page.

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Tribulations of a Theatre Junkie

Posted on November 4, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post. Seriously, I have spent at least portions of the last three days inclined to burst into tears at the slightest provocation, and, really, I must admit, the provocations in my life are slight. I really do have a pretty good life: like my job OK, love my husband, have a great dog. And yet, it’s just not easy being me.

I think I mentioned in a previous post being a theatre junkie. Some people might use a less polite word for it, but I think junkie works just fine, thank you. I became secretary of Ilion Little Theatre Club, pretty much because somebody asked me to. I am in two performances of Strike Story next weekend, just because somebody asked me to. And I have been at the theatre for the past two days and will be there this afternoon, because… if you guessed somebody asked me to, YOU’RE WRONG! Nobody asked me to! I volunteered!

Some people would say it is not a wrist to forehead situation when it is your own stupid fault, but I disagree.

I am at the theatre to sell memberships and subscriptions. Last night I also attempted to sell raffle tickets. We are raffling four tickets for our next show. I am, unfortunately, the opposite of a salesperson. I think I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing: I smile, I tell the people what we’re offering, I tell them the price. They say, “No! In fact, you should pay me five bucks for standing here listening to you!”

OK, that’s not really true. People are very polite, and some of them did buy the tickets.

It’s really not that bad of a gig. I don’t know why my wrist is anywhere near my forehead over it, unless it’s that I have nothing to wear. Or that I would really rather be home in sweats, crocheting and watching crime shows on a Sunday. Or that right now it is hanging over my head: I have to be there in two hours. I have to shower. I have to get my stuff together. I ought to be taking care of a few more chores before I go… Oh yes, the wrist is on the forehead.

Well, it’s yet another post for the sake of posting something. I’m not even apologizing for them any more. Oh, well, maybe once more: I’m sorry to post lame again. I’ll try again tomorrow.

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Readers All About It

Posted on November 2, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

In yesterday’s dithery post, I said that when I tried to write about Strike Story, Ilion Little Theatre’s fall production, I got all bogged down and it was not good. Well, today, I looked at what I wrote and it really doesn’t seem too bad. Since I’m having another wrist to forehead kind of day, I’m going to type it in and see if it’ll fly as today’s post.

I mentioned before how Strike Story replaces Dirty Work at the Crossroads (postponed till May — watch for it!), how it was originally presented at Little Falls’ Black Box Theatre, and how it was written by a Angela Harris, a local writer, telling the story about the 1912 textile strike in Little Falls.

The play is unusual for Ilion Little Theatre and for me, because it is Readers’ Theatre. The actors have the script in their hands and basically read the story (hence the term Readers’ Theatre) (I bet you already figured that out). It is more stylized than a regular play. In some productions the actors don’t get up at all. In one piece I saw, they did the whole thing behind a screen, pretending it was a radio play (I actually thought that was kind of silly, but what do I know?)

I know some of my readers are theatre people from way back (Hi, Rachel!), and that pedantic paragraph was wasted on them. Oh well.

In Strike Story, all the players are on stage the whole time. When our characters have lines we stand up and move around the stage. Many of our lines are directly to the audience, but there is some character interaction. Sometimes the drama comes from characters not speaking to each other but telling the same story from differing points of view.

It is an interesting story that could spark some heated political and social debate among viewers. I won’t say more than that, because Mohawk Valley Girl stays off politics. It is a fascinating look at local history.

The play runs November 2, 3, 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. in Ilion Little Theatre, Remington Ave, Ilion, NY. For more information, visit their website at www.ilionlittletheatre.org their facebook page.

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In My Defense, I’m in a Play

Posted on October 25, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is a Mid-Week Middle-Aged Musing. At least, that’s what I’m calling it. In fact, once again, I got nuthin’.

Part of the problem is that I am in another play at Ilion Little Theatre. You see, after Dirty Work at the Crossroads got postponed, our little group needed another play for our fall production. After much discussion (to put it mildly), we decided to host another group’s play.

Angela Harris, a Mohawk Valley native, has written a readers’ theatre piece about the Little Falls textile strike of 1912, entitled Strike Story. It was presented in the Black Box Theatre at Canal Place in Little Falls recently (I may have mentioned in a blog post that Steven and I attempted to attend but it was sold out). One of our members went to see it, liked it and thought it would work just fine on our stage. The Little Falls group was amenable, and so it was arranged.

Unfortunately, not all participants could make all the production dates that were set. This is where I come in. I was suggested for one of the parts. I felt so flattered, how could I say no? I somehow had the impression it was a small part. Thinking back, I don’t know where I got that impression, because it is not the case. It is kind of a large part. Oh dear.

All this by way of saying, I have been studying my part on breaks at work, not writing blog posts. I made it OK yesterday by running after work and writing about that. Today after work I had to do something else (which may make tomorrow’s blog post), and somehow it got to be after 6:30 and I have neither fixed supper nor made my blog post.

Anyways, here is the one musing I can come up with: I am a theatre junkie. I just can’t say no! It doesn’t matter what it is, if it is theatre and somebody asks me to do it, I jump in with both feet. In this case, I am kind of glad I did it. I never did readers’ theatre before, I love local history, and I am inspired that this lady actually wrote a whole script and finished it. I’m going to start writing myself. Only, it seems, not blog posts. Try me again tomorrow, and Happy Wednesday.

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Ooh La La!

Posted on September 12, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I believe I mentioned auditioning for Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the Gay ’90s Melodrama being directed by my husband Steven for Ilion Little Theatre. Well, Steven is having a little bit of trouble filling all ten roles. Today at work I tried to help.

I didn’t start out trying to help. At first I was just making conversation.

“Steven is having trouble filling all the girls parts in his play,” I said to a guy who came to see Harvey and has expressed an interest in future plays.

“Sally is a girl,” he said immediately.

“Well, there is the part of the French Maid,” I speculated.

He expressed an immediate interest in seeing his co-worker in a French Maid outfit. “But don’t tell her I suggested her.”

“But I’ve given you a mental image that you will enjoy for the rest of the morning,” I said. I went and found Sally. “Would you like to play the part of the French Maid in Steven’s play?” I asked.

“I think Harry would be better as the French Maid,” she suggested.

“I’ll ask him,” I said. “In the meantime, we both have a mental image we can enjoy for the rest of the morning.”

Much later I saw the two of them talking, so I approached them. “I asked Sally if she wanted to play the French Maid and she said you would be much better,” I told Harry. He immediately started speaking French. I thought about going all Gomez Adams on him, “Tish! You spoke French!” but we were at work after all. “You know, I didn’t even tell Sally it was your idea that she do it. Oops.”

So we all got a good laugh, and I told them I was going to write a blog post about it. “But I won’t use your real names.” In case they felt weird about my vast readership picturing them both in French Maid outfits.

“I want to be Harry, and she can be Sally,” Harry immediately said, solving my problem. You see, I had been trying to think of aliases and I was worried a clever reader would trace them to their source.

By the end of the day I had at least two other votes for Harry as the French Maid, and I believe he is considering the role. While I was discussing it with him, two other co-workers walked by.

“Or maybe Tom should be the French Maid,” I said, just to widen my search (his name isn’t really Tom; I made up that alias just now all by myself).

“Huh? What? I heard my name.”

I tried to explain. “My husband needs more actors for the play he is directing.”

“You can probably get a lot of help with that around here,” the other co-worker said. “Lots of drama going on.” I believe that is the case in many places of employment.

Of course I don’t usually blog about work, because this isn’t that sort of a blog, but I thought the story about the French Maid search was pretty funny. And the search continues. Maybe I should ask my boss or maybe the plant manager…

Dirty Work at the Crossroads will be presented by Ilion Little Theatre Oct. 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. with a matinee Sunday Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. For more information visit their website at http://www.ilionlittletheatre.org or “Like” them on Facebook. Now I know you all want to come and see who finally plays the French Maid.

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Oh Oh, Auditions!

Posted on September 7, 2012 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was unsure whether to hyphenate oh-oh or put in exclamation points, Oh! Oh! or use the comma. I may change my mind by the end of the post.

Yesterday my husband, Steven, held the first night of auditions for Dirty Work at the Crossroads, the Gay ’90s melodrama he is directing for Ilion Little Theatre. You might think that since I am sleeping with the director, I would approach these auditions without nerves, and so I did, uh, didn’t. Not too much, anyways.

It is a short drive from our house in Herkimer, NY to Remington Avenue in Ilion where the theatre is located. This is a good thing, especially since we almost forgot the scripts. I knew if we had forgotten anything else I would be easily able to retrieve it while Steven stalled. In fact, we were cool.

Some people were already waiting for us when we arrived. Soon we actors were filling out our audition sheets. I put all wise-ass answers on mine. Like I said, not too many nerves. Several people were a little confused by the last question, “Is there anything else you’d like us to know?” When I typed up the audition sheets I was thinking of things like, “I know stage combat” or “I’ll work backstage if not cast” or “I can tap dance.” Um, I don’t think there is any stage combat or tap dancing in the show, but we will have a backstage.

At last it was time to be on stage reading the scenes. I was at a slight advantage since I read the play last weekend. People caught on to the characters and situations pretty fast, though, and it was entertaining to watch. At auditions I always like to see other people read a scene before I read it, so I can steal their good ideas. After all, plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.

Some really talented people showed up for auditions, but I’m afraid not enough to cast the show. The second round of auditions is tonight, so I hope Steven will get a few more people. I’m sorry I did not write this post last night and post it right away. If I post it within the next twenty minutes, people will have exactly one hour to read it, decide to audition and show up. Now how many readers do I think are going to tune right in and act on what I write? How many local readers do you suppose I have? As the great Fats Waller said, “One never knows, do one?”

Auditions continue tonight, September 6 at 7 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre, The Stables, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY. For more information visit their website at http://www.ilionlittletheatre.com or their Facebook page.

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