Project+Evaluation

I. A.) 1. To put on a successful student run musical 2. Make sure I correctly manage my time 3. Try and not get majorly stressed out 4. Learn more about the musical theatre world 5. Get a good sense of what it takes to produce a student run musical B.) 1. We did, in fact, put on a successful student run musical because the definition of a “successful” musical is if we at least recouped all the money we put into the show. Not only did be recoup but we ended up making hundreds of dollars more. In total we made about $1,054

2. So far I have managed my time very well. Things were looking bleak towards the end of our rehearsal time and I was worried we would not be ready for show time, but we pulled things together and did a wonderful job.

3. I did get a little stressed our final week of rehearsal but once the show was over I was better.

4. I definitely learned a lot about the musical theatre world because not only did I have to research that topic for my paper, but I also got to take what I learned during research and actually physically do every step I learned about. It was a great learning experience.

5. Again I got to have a first hand experience of actually producing a show, not just writing about producing a show and now I know how difficult it really is.

II. Maggie and I consulted with our school director, Marlene Thornton, about almost everything, whether it was billing information or set placement on the stage. We really liked having an experienced director almost guide us through if we had any major issues.

III. My entire project was one big risk. Firstly we worried whether we would have cast members who were reliable and would learn their parts and come to rehearsals, which luckily for us we did end up having. We also took a risk whether or not anyone would actually come and see our show, let alone make enough money to recoup our spending. But we did end up recouping as well. All of the risks we took ended up helping us out in the end.

IV. A.) One major satisfaction I have gained from this project is the memory of putting on this show. It has been a dream of mine to put on my own show so this was literally a dream come true.

B.) Another satisfaction is the fact that everyone really liked our performance. This show was so well received; some audience members have even gone as far to say this was one of the best shows they have seen at Springfield.

C.) My final satisfaction is recouping all our money. I am so happy we will be able to pay ourselves back, as well as give over $700 to Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. That is so amazing and I’m glad we can give them money since that was one of mine and Maggie’s original goals.

V. A.) One problem occurred during the early stages of our project. We had paid and sent out the check for our scripts but never received them. It was not until I called Tams Witmark asking them why they never were sent that we learned they were sent to Mrs. Femovich, the music director at school and she never had opened the box to see what they were. So we did not have as much time with our scripts as we had originally hoped, but we pulled through.

B.) Another problem was about a week before our performance, Evan, one of our tech boys (we only had two) realized he would be at a track meet during our performance. So we needed to find someone else to work sound. We asked one of our close friends, Anna, who was a stage manager to learn the ropes really quickly. Luckily the Evan was able to come to every rehearsal to help teach Anna how to use the equipment.

VI. I definitely learned a lot about time management with this project. Maggie and I had to make sure we were scheduling enough rehearsals, which is difficult when you are not completely familiar with your material of the learning quality of your actors, so we were unsure of how fast to move. Eventually, as we got closer to the performance, we knew what need the most work and managed our time that way.

VII. There was really only one rehearsal where I was completely stressed out and very worried. This was the Monday before our show, which was on a Thursday. It was our first rehearsal in our performance space, which was the high school auditorium, as well as the first rehearsal with our pianist who was a friend of Maggie’s brother from college. It was also our first rehearsal with lights and sound. Up until then we had been rehearsing in our houses with a CD. Do I even have to explain how difficult this day was? Not to mention Maggie had a prior commitment and was a half hour late, so I had to handle everything myself! It was a very traumatic day for me, but the rehearsals following that was much better and I learned that things are only stressful if you make them stressful.

VIII. Honestly I loved everything about our project. I probably would start a little earlier though. We had enough time to learn everything we performed, but there were a few scenes and musical numbers that we had to cut because we did not have enough time to learn them. I would have liked to do more of the show so I would give myself more rehearsal time. Other than that I feel that our project was a huge success.

IX. I think I deserve an A for all of those goals because I feel that I accomplished them all. I definitely learned a lot and have a higher level of knowledge about the musical theatre world. Our performance was a huge success and very well received, and we are sending over $700 to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.