Youth Theatre of Hardin County

Strike Party

2008-08-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

Better late than never in getting these photos uploaded! Thanks Bruce Reeves for taking photos!

Happy Birthday Shaheen!

2008-07-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a wonderful birthday today!

Happy Birthday Ashley Featherstone!

2008-07-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a wonderful birthday today!

Steak and Shake Closing Night

2008-07-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thank You Mr. and Mrs. Marsee!

2008-07-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

scholarships awarded

2008-07-21T12:51:00.001-07:00

My apologies for the shakiness of this video.

closing night photos

2008-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Friday, 7/18 bonsai

2008-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Bonsai is a tradition designed to "rally the troops" just before places are called. Each night a senior leads bonsai and encourages each and every cast member to get their energy up, do their best and have a great show. Last night, it was Katie Sally's turn.

I emailed Ms. Carol to ask about the origin of bonsai and this was her reply:

When Stephen Foster Story went to Japan in 1985, Andy and I were part of the cast(but not a "couple", then!). the Japanese people had the tradition of the Bonsai meaning "good luck" in Japanese. They had a whole ceremony complete with Japanese drums and that awful smelling and tasting saki...Andy remembered how excited all of us were when the Japanese did the Bonsai for us and chose to bring that to all of the shows that he did.

So there you have it.

Friday, 7/18 hugging circle

2008-07-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

HISTORY
The Hugging Circle started in Youth Theatre before any one person can remember. This tradition is to bring the cast together and to define when the preparation for the show is to begin and to leave everything else behind. The seniors are fully in charge of this event and this is the time to make any announcements to the rest of the cast, to scold and re-lay down the rules, to give encouragement, and to decide on gifts and cards to thank the crew members.
RULES
The hugging circle is formed starting at the dress rehearsals and not before, and continue to and through the strike party.
The crew members are not allowed in the hugging circle, only the cast, until the strike party. At the end of the strike party everyone may assemble in the "last hugging circle" who was involved with the play in anyway.
As suggested in the title everyone gathers in a circle in a space big enough to accommodate everyone. The lead characters must be aligned in one spot of the circle.
The seniors make their announcements (usually decided before hand on what should be mentioned). This can include collecting money for crew gifts and also a mention of when and where to sign cards (usually as they leave the hugging circle towards the dressing room) and anything else the crew has said or other points of interest.(Remember to ask if there is anything else or any questions.)
Once the announcements are finished, whoever has been asked to say a prayer will begin.
The hugging then commences with the first lead in line and one by one each person follows the line around the circle to give each cast member a hug and a sign of a prosperous show along with a few encouraging words. Keep quiet, it is only between you and the person you are wishing to do well.
Remember never to say the dreaded GL word (you may use Break-a-leg, have a great show, give it your best, or anything else you can think of).
The oldest male senior is to have a variety of certs and plenty for each member, as he continues around the circle he offers the certs to each cast member and they each take one.

A record-breaking show!!

2008-07-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

We're well on our way to breaking all youth theatre attendance records for a show--assuming that tonight is as big as last night--which was around 590 according to Mr. Marsee.

AWESOME!

Beef O'Brady's after the show

2008-07-19T08:02:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 18 Meet and Greet

2008-07-19T08:01:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 18 show

2008-07-19T07:45:00.001-07:00

Can you guess which senior the costume ladies were honoring last night?

Blake getting his makeup done--with what he calls his 5-minute rhinoplasty--

Thursday night at Fazoli's

2008-07-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

After the show, Fazoli's stayed open after-hours just for us and we enjoyed each other's company while unwinding post-show.

after the show meet and greet

2008-07-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

dinner show

2008-07-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

What talent we have within the YTHC! Of course, we already knew that--but the dinner provides an avenue to showcase all these talented performers! And the dinner was SO good! We enjoyed :
salad a la vinaigrette
pork loin or chicken marinated in wine with mushroom gravy
haricots vert (green beans)
carottes (carrots)
ponnes de terre (potatoes)
pain francais (french bread)
and assorted desserts

all made deliciously by Cobblestone Catering. Thanks to Mrs. Ruehling for organizing the dinner before the show and for making the lovely table centerpieces. We appreciate your hard work!
Here are some photos from the dinner--thanks to Bruce Reeves for sending me his photos from last night.

Happy Birthday Catherine Greenwell!

2008-07-14T14:51:00.001-07:00

Wishing you a very happy birthday today!

Pool Party

2008-07-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

After the matinee on Sunday afternoon, the Ahmads graciously invited cast and crew to their home for a pool party. A good time was had by all!

Thanks very much to Shaheen and her family for their hospitality, and to Bruce Reeves for taking photos.

misc. photos from our Sunday matinee

2008-07-14T08:06:00.001-07:00

Is this not the cutest chair you've ever seen in your life?!!

the meet and greet.

Bonsai--the rap version, as only A.J. could do it. Wish I had recorded it.

Cast members sitting in the hall.

Mrs. Wimsatt and Mrs. Mingus doing a little repair work on Mrs. Potts' costume. It's a tradition that the costume mistresses recognize one of our seniors on each show date. This day, it was Andrew Justice, who played the Cat in the Hat in Seussical, the Musical two years ago.

Saturday night at Denny's

2008-07-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

After the show Saturday night, we went to Denny's.

opening night meet and greet

2008-07-12T09:59:00.001-07:00

Wow! We had a great audience for opening night! They were so responsive--laughing and clapping at all the right places--and even in some places that were unexpected!
It was a terrific opening night. Afterward, we had a meet and greet in the Commons area with the cast getting their photos taken and signing autographs.

Mr. Maffet and Mr. Wimsatt had the idea of displaying the contraption for everyone to see, and JD was happy to give demonstrations. And he did a great job!

Thanks to Bruce Reeves for sharing his photos from last night.

lasagna dinner

2008-07-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Cast and crew feasted on a wonderful lasagna dinner after the show. We were all hungry and it was really good. Thanks to all the helpers in the kitchen!

fun

2008-07-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

The cast had social time (until midnight) after the lasagna dinner and everyone enjoyed themselves. It was good to have this time to celebrate a successful opening night.

Our Seniors

2008-07-11T12:28:00.001-07:00

As all YTHC members know, every night has a different theme. The other night it was show shirts and our seven seniors wore the shirts from all our shows for the last 7 years. That was a great idea!

Happy Birthday Nora!

2008-07-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Nora Sweat today! We've really missed your smiling face around the PAC and hope you are feeling much better.