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What a great way to end our 2011-12 season!!!  Footloose is fast approaching “sold out” status.  There are now just a few tickets remaining for a few of the remaining performances.  This is the first sell out we have had at the Mainstage this year!!  Though it’s long overdue, I’ll take it. If you don’t have reservations yet, you have very little time before all the tickets will be gone.  Call today!

I am so proud of the cast and crew for the production.  This show has really become a polished piece of theatre over the past weekend and I am sure it is just going to get better as the run continues.

A large reason this show is so successful is because of the fabulous energetic dance numbers.  I want to commend Jason Crespin, ALT’s Academy Director, who has choreographed this show as his very first Mainstage choreography work.  He has done a  great job capturing the style of the period.  He has taken a relatively inexperienced group of dancers and transformed them into a cohesive unit that is rocking the stage.  Many of these cast members are ALT Academy students who have been developing their skills for a number of years.  It’s such a pleasure to see them succeeding on the Mainstage.  Our future looks bright.

Don’t miss your chance to see Footloose. Call today for reservations.

"I Need a Hero!"

Over seven weeks of preparation has led up to tonight’s preview performance of Footloose. Literally thousands of dance steps and music notes have been learned and polished.  Lines have been learned, costumes coordinated, sets have been built and painted.  Now all we need is an audience!

I can promise that Footloose will be an exciting and energetic musical that should have audiences dancing in the aisles.  There are some really great “iconic” songs in this show, including “Footloose,” “Holding Out For a Hero,” “Let’s Hear it For the Boy,” and “Almost Paradise.”  One thing that separates the Broadway musical from the movie is that rather than these songs being a soundtrack underneath the scenes, the characters actually sing them.   Imagine Ren and Ariel singing “Almost Paradise” to each other rather than just hearing it in the background.  It gives these songs more meaning and depth I think.  We also have a fantastic band cranking out these tunes with that classic 80′s sound.

Tickets are selling fast.  Make your reservations today!  I’m including a photo of the final scene to tease you a little.

Allen Shankles

The cast from "Footloose"

There has been a pretty loud “buzz” going on about ALT’s upcoming production of Les Miserables. It appears that this show is going to bring out an abundance of talented singers and performers from our area.  That’s great!  We will need lots of talent to make this show work.

A show with the epic scale of Les Miz requires significant preparation and planning.  In fact, I have already contracted for rental of the costumes for the show.    I also know that the show will take more rehearsal time than most of the shows we produce.  As such, we have already set audition dates for this production.  Those dates are Thursday, July 19 at 7:30 pm and Friday, July 20 at 7:30 pm.  We will have an additional audition time for children (we will be casting two girls and one boy) on Saturday, July 21 at 2:30 pm.   The cast list will be posted on Sunday, July 22 and a first cast meeting and vocal rehearsal will take place on Monday, July 23.  More information regarding roles available, age ranges, etc. will follow soon.  In the meantime, don’t hesitate to contact me should you have questions or need more information.

I am announcing the audition dates here and we will also be sending out an email blast to our talent pool so that they can get these dates on the calendar.  We hope this will help everyone to be available and prepared.

Footloose opens in just a few days – Thursday, May 3.  The show is going to be lots of fun.  Tickets are selling fast so you better make your reservations right away.

Allen Shankles

Things are gearing up for the what promises to be a very exciting production at ALT as Footloose continues rehearsals in preparation for its May 3 opening.  I have to say again that the youth and energy of the bulk of this cast is very invigorating for an old guy like me.  I think it will prove to be the same for our audiences who see the production.  Of course, our more “mature” cast members are turning in great work also.  Brent Biles and Leigh Anne Crandall are especially good as the Reverend Shaw Moore and his wife Vi.  These two veterans are great examples for our younger cast members.  All in all, it’s a really good mix of talent and I am excited about the potential for this show.  We still have a lot of work to do to be ready, but we are well on our way toward a great production.

I promised to talk more about our just recently announced 2012-13 season.  I hope our patrons are as excited about the upcoming shows as I am.  I really like every show on the list and I LOVE several of them.   The show creating the most “buzz” right now is of course Les Miserables. People are talking about it everywhere I go.  That’s exciting.  This is truly, truly one of my favorite shows of all time.  It is grand in scale and the story and characters are very captivating.  I have seen it at least seven times, maybe more.  It was one of my first Broadway experiences and I will treasure that memory forever.

ALT is very honored to get the opportunity to produce Les Miz.  We are among just a handful of community theatres nationwide to be offered a chance to do this show before it becomes widely available to amateur theatres.  It is a huge undertaking, but one that I think will get our “juices” flowing in a positive way.  I can’t wait.

The entire ALT staff is also very excited about the musical 9 to 5. This show is very new and fun and we are also among the first community theatres to do it.  This show also was the top voted musical on our audience ballot for 2012-13.  That should mean our audiences are excited about it too.

Everything is shaping up for an incredible new season at ALT.  Before we can get too excited about that, we need to make Footloose the huge success I know it can be.  To get you in the mood for that, check out the fun set of rehearsal photos on our website.  Click here to go there now.

Sordid Lives closed an incredible run of performances on Saturday night, April 7.  I am happy to report that this show posted attendance of 99% including two added performances.  We had about 10 empty seats at Friday’s 11:00 pm show or we would have posted perfect attendance.  I’ll take 99% any day.   I want to thank Artistic Director Jeff Jarnagin and his great cast and crew for making this one of the big hits of the season!!  It was lots and lots of fun.  It is rare to hear the waves of laughter this show got every night.

Footloose is progressing well and will be ready to open on May 3.  There is so much good music in this show………..and dance.  This is Jason Crespin’s debut as choreographer for a Mainstage show and he is doing some great work.   It is exciting to see him teach steps to this young and enthusiastic cast.  They have the stage “jumping” every night.

ALT’s 2012-13 season will be announced with the delivery of the Curtain Call newsletter at the end of this week.  I am very excited about the shows on the season.  Some of my very favorites are on the list, including one that makes me giddy with excitement and scared to death all at the same time.  I can’t wait for you to see the list……..stay tuned.  I will elaborate more on a couple of these shows and the reasons we are doing them after the announcement.

It’s a little quieter than usual around here right now.  Only one show in rehearsal……..Never fear, we have plenty to do however as we are working on schedules for next year’s shows, logos, poster designs, calendar photos, etc.  Speaking of that, I better get busy.

See you soon at the theatre.

Allen Shankles

Without a doubt the laughter that filled the ALT Adventure space last weekend was some of the loudest, most sustained of the season.  There were in fact times (sometimes long periods of time) when the cast had to just wait for laughter to subside enough to deliver their next lines.   This has pretty much been the typical scenario during performances of Sordid Lives, ALT’s final Adventure space production of the season.

I don’t mind admitting that I was a bit apprehensive about how our audiences might respond to this play.  It is pretty raw at times and the characters and situations are truly outrageous.   However, they are also just “real” enough that most of us can relate to these people more than we might care to admit.  There are moments when I personally am a bit embarrassed to be laughing, but it can’t be helped………..they are just too funny.

Much of the credit for the success of this show goes to director Jeff Jarnagin who had a vision for the production that has proven to be just right.  Jeff was also in charge of sound effects, music, costume coordination, props and even wigs.  He has done a great job on each of these facets of the show and it has really made a difference.

Sordid Lives has been such a success that we have added additional performances for Wednesday, April 4 at 8:00 pm and Friday night, April 6 at 11:00 pm. Tickets are still available for both of these performances, so make your plans to attend today before they are all gone.

Rehearsals for Footloose are in full swing and going very well.  We hope to close our season with another huge hit.  I will give updates on that show in the next few days.  In fact, we plan to start posting some photos and video from the rehearsal process very soon.

Allen Shankles

As I write this, 74 of our Academy kids are entertaining an auditorium full of area school children with Act II of Children of Eden. Public performances are scheduled for Friday, Saturday (two shows) and Sunday.  I want to encourage all of our patrons to plan to see this epic musical……….you won’t be disappointed.

True to the ALT tradition, Jason Crespin has pushed our Academy program into uncharted waters.  Children of Eden is certainly the most difficult piece produced by the ALT Academy.  The music, as well as the themes and concepts, are very difficult and are challenging our students to reach for new levels of performance that few youth programs anywhere would even attempt, much less achieve.  I truly can’t believe that students are successfully tackling this difficult show.  Not only are they “tackling” this show, they are making it work……….beautifully.   I am so proud that Jason took this risk.  His students, the Academy and our entire organization are better for it.

Plan to see Children of Eden this weekend.   Tickets are still available for every performance.

Allen Shankles

A scene from "Children of Eden."

ALT’s production of Rumors closed its run Sunday afternoon with a full house!!  In fact the closing weekend was very well attended……..that is a result of great word of mouth.  It’s been a tough season at the Mainstage this year, so the Rumors success was very welcome.

I want to thank the cast and crew of this production for their great work.  I also want congratulate Bobby Schaffer for his excellent work directing this production.  Comedy, especially farcical comedy, is not easy.  Bobby handled the show with great skill and the results were obvious.

We are barreling toward the finish line of our season with just three more productions on the schedule.  Opening March 25 is the ALT Academy’s production of Children of Eden. This beautiful musical is a retelling of the book of Genesis and it is sure to be a wonderful experience for families.  The show features 74 of our talented Academy youth!!  I hope all of our patrons will plan to attend this show.

Opening March 29, the fun moves to the Adventure Space as Sordid Lives hits the stage for a two week run.  This hilarious comedy, written by Del Shores, author of Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will? has become a cult classic.  It is truly one of the most outrageous and funny shows we have staged.  Be warned though, it is wild.  Jeff Jarnagin is director of this show and he has a stellar cast of ALT veterans as well as some exciting newcomers in the show.  It is going to be fun.  Tickets are available now for ALT season ticket holders and to the public next week.

We will close our season at the Mainstage with the “rock and roll” musical Footloose which will open May 3 and run for three weeks.  This musical features all of the great music from the movie, including “Footloose,” “Almost Paradise,” “Holdin’ Out For a Hero,” and “Let’s Hear For the Boy.”  It is going to feature lots of great dancing featuring choreography by ALT Academy instructor, Jason Crespin. Jason is making his Mainstage choreography debut and it promises to be very exciting as he brings his high energy style to the show.  We have 31 talented people making up the cast for this show, including 21 people who will also be making their Mainstage debuts in this show.  That’s very exciting!!!

As our season winds down, we are already making preparations for next season.  We are very close to having the new season’s shows selected and I am very excited about these choices.  We will announce the new season around the middle of April.  Stay tuned.

So, there is a lot of exciting stuff on the horizon at ALT.  I hope to see you at the theatre(s).

Allen Shankles

ALT’s Mainstage production of Rumors opened with its preview performance last night – Thursday, March 1.  If last night’s audience is any indication, this is going to be a great run.   The laughter came in wave after nonstop wave throughout the evening.  In fact, the first act ran several minutes longer than it had been running in rehearsal due to the holds that were necessary for laughs.  That’s a very good thing.

Kudos go to director Bobby Schaffer and his terrific cast for bringing this show to life on our stage.  They have worked hard to capture the fast pace and comic timing of the show and the results are very positive.   This morning I received an email from a patron who saw the show last night.  I want to share it with you here.

Thank you so much for a fabulous performance of “RUMORS”.
The actors did a fantastic job! I haven’t laughed that much in a very
long time.  My wife and I laughed all the way home.  Your actors
portrayal made the performance and their willingness to meet and
greet after the show made it that much more personal.
I can’t thank you enough.

Sincerely,
David and Mary Price

One of the other elements that makes this show so successful is the extraordinary set for the show created by ALT’s technical staff and volunteers.  This two story set is wonderfully appointed with great furniture and accessories.   ALT always produces great sets, but this one is truly special.  Congratulations to the tech team for their great work.

I am attaching a photo from the show.  If you haven’t made your reservations to see this great comedy, you should do that today.

Allen Shankles

A scene from "Rumors"