A note from Mrs. Taylor

Dear Great Valley Musical Theatre Students,

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and are getting excited for the new school year! I wanted to take some time and let you know that I sadly need to step down as the Director of Musical Theatre Productions at the Great Valley Middle School. This has been a very hard decision for me and has honestly resulted in many sleepless nights but I feel that this is best choice for me. I have been given a promotion at work that will limit my availability and will not allow me the time that I want to dedicate to the play.

Even though this is a very exciting time for me professionally I feel such a sense of sadness knowing that I will not be there next year to work with you and to see each of you grow. The past 4 years have truly been unforgettable for me and each moment has shaped me into the person I am today. I would have never dreamed of having a position teaching something I love so much with such talented kids. Every year I am blown away by the talent and passion for the arts that the Great Valley School District has and it has been an honor working with each and every one of you.

Goodbyes are never easy and I wish I could have known last year so that I could tell you in person. I can’t wait to see how each of you grow next year and I am counting down the days till I can sit in the audience next year and see you all shine on stage!

Thank you for making the past four years amazing for me. I will truly miss each and every one of you.

Much love always,

Mrs. Taylor

A note from Ms. Neville

Dear GVMS Musical Theater students and parents,


As many of you may know, this year marked the end of my undergraduate career at Penn State Brandywine. I am now a college graduate! Though I am still figuring out what I want to do when I grow up, I have spent some time this summer beginning my first "real job" search. I'm very excited (albeit a little scared!) to begin this new chapter of my life.


I have been doing a lot of thinking about my future -- weighing pros and cons of every possible situation -- and with the support of my friends and family, I have decided to charge full steam ahead, continuing to search for my fit in today's job market. Endings are hard, new beginnings are even harder, and I know that I am ready for the challenge of working full-time and supporting myself by doing something I love.


I wish I had made this decision earlier. I wish I had known during the run of Once On This Island that it would be my last show with Great Valley Middle School. I wish I could have shared proper goodbyes with all of you. Every student and parent I have worked with, every show I have been a part of, and every minute of my six years at Great Valley have helped shape me into a more patient, trusting,  creative, and confident person. The talent that runs deep within this community never fails to astonish me, and I am so inspired by the love of theater that radiates from every single student I have worked with. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have been able to work with such an amazing group of kids, year after year.


Please keep in touch! I still have access to the gvmusical email account, and if you're around July 19th or 20th, I will be at the performances of CCMP's "The Music Man," and would love to see you!


I can't wait to see what all of you have in store for the future. You're all such amazing kids, and I'm so sad to leave you, but I know that you will continue to shine just as you always have for me.

I've heard it said that people come into our lives 

For a reason, bringing something we must learn, 

And we are led to those who help us most to grow

If we let them, and we help them in return

Now I don't know if I believe that's true, 

But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you.

So much of me is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart

Steven Schwartz's "For Good" from Wicked

Love always,

Ms. Neville

gvmusical@gmail.com

YOU are why we tell the story!!

Thank you so much for an amazing production and an amazing year! We are so proud of all of you and hope you are proud of yourselves. We hope to see some of you at CCMP this summer. Otherwise, have a great rest of the school year, and see you in October!

Love always,
Ms. Neville, Mrs. Taylor, Ms. Sunnergren, Mrs. Armbruster

Scripts

The following students must return their scripts to Mrs. Weaver on Monday, or else you will not receive your copy of the DVD:

- Ari Pikounis
- Nick Stillwell
- Ben Nurthen
- Christy Leland
- Aaron Skarzenski
- Matt Cowgill

Thank you!

Thank you!!!

Thank you to everyone involved in this year's production! It's been an amazing run and we are so proud of all you have accomplished!

Get ready to celebrate tonight at the cast party, held at GW right after our closing performance. The party ends at 11. Bring your dancing shoes! :)

Some more photos from dress rehearsal!

TonTon meets the wrath of the Beauxhommes' gatekeepers 

Super sopranos!

Ti Moune & Daniel 

Awesome altos!

You guys are so ready!

So psyched for our last rehearsal tomorrow. You all did a fantastic job tonight and should be so proud of all of your hard work!

A few notes (everyone must read these before tonight):


Notes from Ms. Neville
We Dance

• Ben, come see us for a note! We have to reposition you at one point because you're so tall!
• Matt, PROJECT! Your voice drops off at the end of your line... your tone gets so low for the "Mercedes" part and we can't hear it at all... it's such a great line!!
• Alex, you are so vibrant at the end. Keep it up!

One Small Girl

• Rayne & Ari, your battle for Christy & Ben's attention is so great! Keep up the great movement.
• Alli, Christy, Ben, your moment in the hut is SO ADORABLE I CAN'T EVEN TAKE IT.
• Storytellers, make sure your clump SR is tighter at the end of this song. Your clump during Waiting for Life is perfect, but some of you were too far center during One Small Girl.

Waiting for Life

• My eyes went right to Caroline Badyna, Eliza Elliott, Maddy Brown, Ryan DeStefano, Iain Johnston -- you guys are doing a great job acting here! 

And the Gods Heard Her Prayer/Rain

• Gods: awesome, awesome, awesome! This is a song where all four of you shine! You work so well together.
• Dyson & Noah: act a little bit more when you're coming up the steps. Feel the rain storm beginning!
• Carly Martinez, Divya Jain, Cassie Graff: you were ROCKIN' it during Rain!

Pray

• EVERYONE: Make sure you are frozen when the lights come up on Alex. If you are in the wrong position, don't worry about it, just get there when you unfreeze. YOU MUST BE FROZEN IN THE BEGINNING! If half of you freeze and the other half don't, it looks kinda goofy!
• Melissa and Robyn: thank you for always being in character and so energetic onstage!
• Jordan: I always forget to tell you how much I love your line - "if it hadn't been for Julian's daughter" - it's so clear, and you sound great!
• Ciara and Matt S.: during the blackout after Rain, hop up onstage (right above where you are on the risers); after you say your lines, come back down to the risers -- we want to make sure you are lit during your lines so the audience knows where the voices are coming from!

Forever Yours

• Rayne, your movement here is fantastic. You really give the illusion that you are working some powerful sort of magic. Keep up the amazing work!
• Matt, the way you fell after Ari "dropped" you yesterday was PERFECT PERFECT PERFECT! You pulled your body up perfectly and then sort of crumpled to the side, facing the audience... LOVE IT!
• Andrew, thank you for taking initiative when your cast mates were not ready for their cue. When in doubt, DO IT.

* Everyone: a note on missing cues *

If any of your cast mates ever miss a cue, the music doesn't come on, someone's mic is out, whatever (so many things can potentially happen during a show), all you have to do is STAY IN CHARACTER and no one will notice. If you enter with a handful of others and no one is ready, ENTER ANYWAY. If someone drops a line, do not whisper it under your breath to them, try to think what your character would say and say it in a way that might jog your cast mate's memory. This can be tricky, but it CAN be done! 

Ti Moune

• Alex, great job slowing down the dialogue right before you sing, "What I am..." 
• Ben, Christy, and Alex: all 3 of you did an amazing job acting in this song. I noticed some pauses in the dialogue/singing just because I know the music so well, but your acting was flawless and made the whole scene feel so heartfelt. Keep thinking about what your characters are thinking in that moment, and this could very well be one of most emotional numbers in the show. I had chills!

Mama Will Provide

• EVERYONE: Remind me to talk to you about hats!
• Everyone on stage: when the playoff begins, keep rockin' out onstage. Stay in character and dance back so the curtain can close but DO NOT EXIT THE STAGE UNTIL THE CURTAIN HAS CLOSED COMPLETELY. Ally will call out to Alex, "Now go and find him, Ti Moune" and she will reply "Thank you, thank you!" so make sure you are not making noise over them.

Some Say

• Nick: come see me & Ms. Sunnergren!
• Boys: practice your harmonies for this at home. Your harmony needs to be cleaner!

Pray Reprise

• Alex & Matt C.: PROJECT YOUR VOICES! We couldn't hear you when you were on the back platform during the bit with the necklace. You cannot rely on your microphones!

The Ball

• Mary Wenner: so graceful and cheery! You are a joy to watch in this number!
• Carly Martinez: you are always acting, always "on!" Great job!

Forever Yours Reprise:

• Ari: love how you start out low and then jump up the octave for "you keep!" Threaten her with those words. Let the "you keep!" pull you deeper into the darkness of your character... you're about to give her the ultimate test! This is what Papa Ge has been waiting for! Also, when you raise the knife on "your life is forever mine," make sure you are right up in Alex's face... you're too far away!

Notes from Ms. Sunnergren

WE DANCE:

• Everyone! I NEED the “V” at the end of “alive.” It sounds like you’re all singing “a lie.” My, how important consonants are! Please fix this!

ATTENTION SOPRANO ENSEMBLE: I’m not hearing enough soprano 2 harmony. First sopranos, I divided you in half for a reason. You know which part you should be singing.  I’ve instructed section leader, Hannah Atlas to remind those of you who should be singing soprano 2... if you’re not sure what the part is (I hope this is not the case!) please see me… OR you may ask Hannah, as she is a section leader and doing a fantastic job!

ONE SMALL GIRL:

• Ensemble: Half of you missed your cue before “On this is island of two different worlds.”  Your heads MUST be up and your eyes must be on me when you hear Rayne say “strength of love.”  

WAITING FOR LIFE:

• ATTENTION Alto girls and some boys: After Alex sings “Catcing a glimpse of a stranger in white racing BY” you MATCH HER PITCH on your “OOOh la” ‘s.  DO NOT sing an octave lower with the few boys who are. The only people who should be singing an octave lower are Andrew, Chip and Iain.  

RAIN:

• Ensemble: Sing “THE Rain” at the end, not just “Rain.” Some of you forgot.  
• Tommy, center your microphone at the top of your cape, please.  Every time you turned your head we lost your voice. “Let there be a girl” – see me. 

PRAY:

• Ben, “I will find where he comes from”- see me. 

MAMA WILL PROVIDE:

• Ensemble: Do not sing mama’s line “and whatever you need mama will” before the little percussion interlude at the end of the piece.  You only sing “PROVIDE” at the end.  

PRAY REPRISE:

• Featured Villagers: Keep the dialogue rolling during that beginning segment. MELISSA, be prepared to sing over someone else’s dialogue in case it’s not spoken in time.  YOU DID this in rehearsal -- WAY TO BE ON THE BALL! 
• Robyn, thank you for jumping in at 3 minutes notice. Great job!
• Aaron, you’ve got the entrance down! Make sure to look up at me for your cue.  

WE TELL THE STORY: 

I had tears of joy in my eyes after the glissando! WOW what a sound!  The sound just comes flooding out when you don’t breathe there … it’s incredible. KEEP DOING THAT! Music has brought me to tears a handful of times in my entire life…. And I can name each one of those times. You just added one to the list. Thank you for making such beautiful music. I am so proud to be conducting you all. 

See you from 6PM-9PM at GWES tonight!

Get excited!

 We dance!

 Sleepy girls.

Loving what we're seeing!

"One Small Girl"

 Little Ti Moune in the tree.

 Awesome alto peasants!

"Mama Will Provide"

 Storyteller birdies!

Villagers Emma & Dyson

 Storytellers - a vision in white!

Beautiful Andrea

A big thank you to Mrs. Lori Brophy for these great photos!

Monday & Tuesday rehearsals; call times for performances

Monday night is going to be a dress rehearsal, but we will not be doing make-up. Please do your hair. As soon as you come to GWES, change into your costume. Once you are in costume, come sit in the auditorium to warm up. We need to start running the show at 6:45.

Tuesday's rehearsal will not be a dress rehearsal. We will keep you posted on other details.

Though we have not timed the show yet, we anticipate it will be between an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and a half (including the 20 minute intermission).

Thursday & Friday
Cast call: 6:00PM
Gods: please come at 5:30 to get started on make-up, report to auditorium
Show time: 7:30PM
Pick-up: between 9PM-9:30

Saturday matinee
Cast call: 12:00PM
Show time: 2:00PM
Pick up: 3:30-4PM

* All cast and crew MUST be picked up after the Saturday matinee. NO ONE is to remain in the building in between the shows.

Saturday night
Cast call: 6:00PM
Show time: 7:30PM
Cast party: starts after the show is over and costumes are returned (more to come on that later!), runs until 11:00PM-ish (stay tuned for confirmation on this).

Quick announcement... notes to come soon!

When I made the announcement at the end of rehearsal yesterday, I made a mistake with the time!

Rehearsal begins at 6:30. We are going to be starting running the show at 6:45.

You MUST be in costume and ready to go at 6:45.

If this means you need to come early, please do so.

Stay tuned for notes from yesterday's rehearsal. I will post them later tonight.

Get some rest!