Hi everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying summer, whether you’re in the midst of it or just starting.
As I write this second newslettery email to you, I’m in the midst of the second week of rehearsals for “Kurt Weill: From Berlin to Broadway”. It is going very well so far, though it’s not easy – Weill was intense, with mad harmonies and melodies (mad in a good way, of course). He takes typical musical rules and throws them out the window. My accompaniment and choral experiences at Acadia have been very useful preparation for this gig – not only am I the pianist for the show, but as the company is sharing musical direction responsibilities I’ve been a choral conductor at times during the rehearsal period. (At this point I should give props to Paula and numerous of her students, Stacie’s Studio, David Buley and the Acadia Chorus, Jane Berry and the Jazz Choir, and Johnny McSizzle (aka John Scott) and the Chapel Choir.)
Fortunately we have an awesome director (Mary Lou Martin, who some of you will know from dance classes at Acadia), and a cast of triple-threats (acting, singing, and dancing). They may possibly even be quadruple threats if any of them have hidden mutant powers. You can see a pic of 4/5 of the cast and me here – http://herald.ns.ca/Search/511831.html (yes, my pic made the Herald. Superstar!) We also have a pic with complete cast and me coming out in the Chester Clipper next week, I believe. I may even get quoted in the article.
The show opens a week from Friday, on July 7th, and closes on the 21st. I have a pic of the dates and times up at http://gportfolio.gnote.ca/ , as well as some other basic show info. If you can make it to Chester, come check out the show. It will be awesome!
Meanwhile, the other musical I mentioned in my last email, “Fame”, went really well. It ran 3 shows at the start of may at Hants East Rural High. (For that show I was, as Dad puts it, the ‘pro from Dover’. Others would say I was a ringer. I am definitely a Ringer in the Lord of the Rings sense.)
“Fame” had the largest pit band I’ve ever been in, a dozen of us altogether. Instruments included keyboard, percussion, guitar, bass, sax, trombone, flute, and clarinet. Everyone in the band was very talented, and a number of us took the opportunity to jam all sorts of fun stuff during the rehearsal process (including Lord of the Rings!) We even ended up warming up the crowd with freestyle jams at the start of the shows and coming back from intermission. It was sweet, and good times.
The organ classes I entered in the Valley music festival also went well. Maybe I’ll even enter again next year.
Now, some of you I expect really want some 15 Minute Musical news, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint, so here it is – head on over to http://gmedia.gnote.ca/ and you can see the first 15 Min Musical – Aladdin! Make sure you get the Divx stuff mentioned on the page before you watch it.
And speaking of websites, you may have noticed numerous gnote urls above. That’s because I bought the domain http://gnote.ca/ , on which to host my numerous random things. Check it out and explore:)
Still speaking of websites, the company I’m part of, ForceNet (http://www.forcenet.ca/), has nearly finished work on the site for Mary Knickle (http://www.maryknickle.com/). She is a talented singer/composer, and just released a new album “Weave”. You can hear samples on the website, and there will eventually be a link to purchase it.
Finally, if you make it Lunenburg way, do drop by the bookstore my family owns that Dad runs (Elizabeth Books’) on Montague St (one street up from the harbour, store is just down the hill from SubWay and Magnolia’s.) He’s usually in from 3pm on till late evening sometime, and it’s also the easiest way to track me down to say hi;)
So, party on everybody, have an awesome summer,
Keep it real, keep it secret, keep it safe,
G
