Ahoy gang, Well, last night a few of us had a quiet gathering and a meeting of minds (sort of), to discuss plans, ideas and tactics for next year's musical. Quite a bit of stuff was discussed, primarily Breifne's proposal that he be the producer next year. Breifne wasn't able to make the meeting, but did scribble a monster email, which we read at the meeting and I have included below... It was a bit of an information-sharing, brainstorming session and amongst the topics discussed were: Dates and venue: generally week 9 seems to work the best - or week 8 as a fallback. The Helix would be ideal, at the right price. Elaine is working on that one. Applying to the National Lottery and the Dept. of Education for additional funding/sponsorship. Shelly is gonna look into it. Initial auditions/casting in semester 1, around week 5 or 6. The reasoning being: even if half the cast drop out due to lack of interest/shit exam results, we still have less work to do than if we audition and cast in week 1, semester 2. The cast could meet informally once a week and do read throughs, giving them a better feel for their characters, more intimate knowledge of the show and a head start in general. It will make a difference in the level of "polish" in the performances. Set rental/purchase: Buying seems expensive and we have nowhere to store a set (at the moment), whereby renting is a possibilty we should look into. Volunteers? ADVERTISING: more promotion, definitely. If we get into the Helix, inclusion in their brochure/website is a plus, also publications such as Hot Press, In Dublin etc will be more likely to carry an ad for us. The AIMS (which we have to renew membership with) website could be a boon for us too. Much to do and to look into. Costumes: The Mills Factory have assloads of stuff that they throw out on a regular basis. Our New Best Friends :) The formation of a production team (NOT committee) to include producer(s), drama treasurer, stage manager, set designer/builder and possibly tech officer could sit in on a few meetings too. NO decisions were made as to the producer, much of Breifne's proposal was discussed - it was agree that some of his ideas have merit (earlier auditions), some are intriguing but unrealistic (over-involvement of multiple societies). Issues of dedication were raised - it was also generally agreed that ideally the producer should be on campus or at least available at zero notice. The Bloody Show: Loads of ideas were suggested, discussed at length, discarded for various reasons and bandied about in general. Including: GREASE: Pros: Well known show, seat filler, great songs etc Cons: Too expensive, rights not available due to constant touring/West End etc RENT: Pros: Well known show, topical, easy set, great songs, seat filler Cons: None, bar the fact that the rights aren't bloody available. *sighs* ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: Pros: Wacky, out there, great songs, well known show. Cons: May not be available, concerns over selling-power TOMMY: Pros: Great songs, well known rock opera, seat filler Cons: Mammoth task, needs 1st class musicians/singers, no dialogue (it's an opera), availability? Several others were discussed and a shortlist was whittled down to the following shortlist which I (Bob) will be looking into re: rights availabilty. FOOTLOOSE JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT THE WIZ SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER GODSPELL COBACABANA CABARET EVITA A CHORUS LINE All have their attractions and their horrible sides - some need great dancers (Sat. Night, Copacabana, Footloose), some need extremely strong leads (Sat. Night, Footloose, Evita), some have very challenging songs (Evita), some have shitloads of male parts (Joseph) and some are a costume nightmare (Copacabana). The attractions of most are fairly apparent. Ideas? Comments? Go nuts here people. That's it I'm outta here. (another Homer-ism) Hugs, Bob PS: Here's Breifne's email, have a read... Here's my two cents, firstly can i suggest you make sure you have the guts of the next half hour free, this is pretty long, i just spent an hour typing it, so probably will take at least twenty minutes to read. The most important thing is to select the four following things: The Show The Venue The Director(s) The Producer(s) and i think that really doesn't matter which happens first. My belief is that if the all of the above are sorted asap, (at the very latest mid-summer) it can be happen. The Show: It doesn't really matter that much to me, either go for a classic (Sound of Music / Oklahoma / South Pacific / Grease / Any other guaranteed crowd puller) or something more arty. Personally, i feel that after this year, you need to get bums on seats, and you need to increase the profile of the auditions and stuff, and one of the classics will do that. I'm open to all suggestions from this years musical cast (I think that is the fairest way to do it) The Venue: In my opinion there is only one place to put this on, the Theatre in the Helix. with the right promotion and marketing, it is possible to make a nice profit on a week run (even at proper rates, a discount is a great bonus, and should be looked for 100%). The Director: I have absolutely no problem with recommending Alan Kinsella as next years Director, but if anyone has any suggestions with any other directors, it would probably be only fair to interview them or at least meet them. But with no other suggestions, Alan would definitely get my vote (that goes for Eadoine and Iain as well by the way) The Producer: I have made it quite clear my intentions, and would be interested in taking on the role of Producer for next years production. --------------------------------------------------------- Mark was looking for my bit to the Drama Soc, first let me start with a little background. We were all involved in the last production, lets just say that the attendances were less than satisfactory, I don't intend to point any fingers, lets just say that there needs to be a marked improvement in the profile of the show for next year. While DCU Drama need to be commended for their efforts in starting and sustaining an annual musical, trojan work over the last seven years, i feel it has come to the stage where it can almost be put on a pedastal, like the Societies Ball, and should have it's own little production committee, made up of representatives from a number of societies. Including a number of societies has a number of knock on effects. It widens the pool of people involved in the show, both on stage and off, which will also have an increase in the friends and family who come to the show, word of mouth will also be larger for promotion and work loads. It means that a specific job can be assigned to a society, and that will be their contribution to the production. (Publications Soc could be responsible for the programme / Redbrick might be responsible for a specific website / Dance would provide Dancers). If i were to produce this show, the possible societies (rough first draft) which might be involved would be: ? ArtHaus (Programme, Promotion & T-Shirts) ? Dance (On-Stage ? Dancers / Choreography) ? Debating (On-Stage ? Actors) ? Drama (On-Stage ? Actors / Singers / Dancers) ? Eclectic Music (Orchestra) ? Electronic Music Society (Orchestra) ? FotoSoc (Programme & Promotion) ? Media Production Society (Programme, Promotion & Video / DVD) ? Music (Orchestra / Cast / Pit Singers) ? Publications (Programme & Promotion) ? Redbrick (Website) why should Drama try and do all the above when there are people who's basic interests are doing the tasks above. Also over the past few nights in DCU, especially at the various open mic nights, there is some real talent in DCU, we need to start looking past the ends of our own noses. The only way to do that is to get the whole production bigger than DCU Drama Soc. I need to digress a little here, i don't want to offend any one, but a lot of people are intimitated by Drama Soc, its just the nature of the society, once you have been in a show, any show, you really get to know most of the cast, this forms a kinda of a cliche, we need to get away from that, getting a large number of societys on board will really help with this. What needs to be done over the next few months (by August 2005 at the very latest) ? Request choice of show from cast of ?Sweet Charity? ? Enquire about rights for all suggestions. ? Select Musical ? Obtain Musical Rights, Confirm Venue and select On-Stage Production Team. ? Organise Budget ? Initiate Sponsorship Programme ? Get as many societes on board as possible. What needs to be done (Auditions / Rehearsals - 2005-2006) ? Hold Auditions in week 4 / 5 / 6 of Semester 1 ? Rehearsals: One evening a week from Week 6 ? Week 12 of Semester 1 ? Two Evenings a week from Week 1 ? Week 4 of Semester 2 ? Three / Four Evenings Week 5 of Semester 2 ? Full Weekend of Week 5/6 ? Show for Full Week 6 One Rehearsal per week in Semester One, with a real emphasise on the social aspect, the rehearsal could be for a couple of hours every monday evening, and a few drinks in the bar afterwards (just a suggestion), to make everyone feel really welcome. Some sort of night in the bar for the first one or two rehearsals will really work wonders by the middle of semester 2. In second semester, step that up to two per week, and then pretty much 24 /7 for the week of the show, and the one before it. I think people are scared by the input which is needed, especially with your time, and spreading it out makes it more accessible for the casual participant, without alienating anyone who is dedicated. It also doesn't take over your life for six / eight weeks at the start of second semester. Other Suggestions. Have eight shows (five evening performances - Monday - Friday) with three matinees (Saturday / Sunday / Wednesday) Saturday / Sunday would basically be dress rehearsals. We all know how jumpy Children are at this sort of stuff, the set could be half built, the band out of tune, the singing in the wrong key, and they still wouldn't even know. The Shows would be for Local Primary / Secondary Schools and Children of DCU Staff, who are always looking for a reason to show their kids around their work, especially if its in the Helix, and they know well in advance. One aside on this, if you were doing a show which included some youngsters, to hold auditions and stuff in a number of local schools, and cast one or two kids from local schools, you could even have two or three kids playing each role, and let them do two / three shows each. then you invite their entire schools to the shows. The Schools would be excellent at getting a crowd to the show. Thats blatant promotion / marketing, and i make no apologies for that. You might only need to have them in for a few rehearsals each as well. Having two performances on the previous weekend allows the tech crews and the production teams to iron out any difficulties in a show setting, with out a hyper critical audience. All of this is only suggestion, there are other stuff which i haven't gone into, on the ways to get money out of the various people round the college, which is not a problem, as long as people get enough notice, and are asked the right question, in the right way, at the right time, by the right person. That might sound a bit mad, but trust me, that is exactly the way DCU works. There is money available if you ask the right people. (Not much, but enough to make it worth your while asking). and other stuff like sponsorship will be easier if we have the four basic points (Producer / Director / Venue / Show) decided asap. Thats a little more than 2 cents at this stage, but i am interested in doing the job of producing, and feel that i might bring some fresh new ideas to the table. If you and the Drama soc committee are prepared to give me the green light, we can get some work done over the next two weeks. ---------------------------------------------------- The only thing i haven't really touched on is the budget, but that will fall into place when we have decided the four topics. Let me know you ideas, Breifne -- Roibeard O Mhurcu # 54144094 CS1 Class Rep. DCU Drama, Chairman (Chairperson/Chairthing, y'know like, whatever). www.dcudrama.ie "They have the Internet on computers now?" "Okay, brain. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but let's get through this thing and then I can continue killing you with beer." "Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" "Do I know what rhetorical means?" - Homer Simpson, America's second biggest schmuck -