WELCOME TO VIOLETBLOG!!
Hi and welcome to VioletBlog - the video blog that will take viewers behind the scenes of the process of producing the musical "Violet" at the Cassidy Theatre in Parma Heights, near Cleveland in Ohio. Hosted by Director Geoff Short, VioletBlog invites all of the community backstage of this amazing community theatre!
CLICK HERE TO START YOUR VIDEO JOURNEY WITH "VIOLET"!
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Getting Ready for the journey with Violet!
I'm so glad whoever is reading this is finding this info about Violet. I fell in love with this show about 5 years ago and I hope everybody else does too! Don't hesitate to email with any questions or thoughts because I'd love to have you involved! Much love - Geoff
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Week 1 – We’re “On Our Way”…but not really
As Violet would say, “Praise God, it has started”! It can be pretty overwhelming - after thinking about a project for such along time – to have the thing finally start to come together. We had our first “Violet”read-thru on Tuesday. The cast is fantastic! I really think we’re going to have a special show on our hands. I think it was good to give the casy all the show material and information as early as we did because they really seemed prepared and there were some really moving moments already! Larry said he was pleasantly surprised too. The fact that the cast is as talented as they are doesn’t surprise me. That’s why I cast them. I guess it’s just nice to see that they already have a real feel for the show. Karen (Langenwalter, our Stage Manager), of course was as organized as ever and I will be forever grateful for all her efforts. I particulary love her “God Box” – basically a big plastic tool box full of whatever supplies or small props any actor would need during rehearsal – pencils, band-aids, aspirin. But there are also already some frustrations. Conflicts are a normal part of the...
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VioletBlog – Pt. 2 – “The People of Spruce Pine”
I feel really blessed to be working on this show with such talented people and warm and crazy people. I know everybody says that, but it’s true. Now that a few other shows that some of the cast of Violet are in have actually opened, we’ve finally had a large number of the cast to begin working with. And now the community is going to get the chance to meet them through the video blogs of our rehearsal process! So far the VioletBlog project has been a fun way to continue sharing this show with a larger number of people and create interest in the Cassidy in general. And a little cool buzz never hurts! The cast seem to be having a good time with it, so I think we’re going to have some pretty crazy video segments! Plus I think this will be a good way to compliment some of the new ways I’ve been using to try to expose more people to community theatre like the Violet podcasts and the website we set up for the show. So here they are! The People of Spruce Pine: Heather Balogh, Mike Snider, Darryl Lewis, Dan Bush, Travis Dwyer, Sam Santora,...
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VioletBlog – Pt. 3 – “Fight Scenes, Scar Theories and a Preacher…Oh My!”
I’m feeling really good about the show right now. This wonderful group of people (now that we finally have them all in rehearsals!) is making this show come to life right before my eyes – as I knew they would. We’re already running through (okay…stumbling through) the show in sequence. In that regard we really seem to be ahead of the game as this is unusual for many shows which often don’t get the chance to really start running through and smoothing out until later in the process. This can be due to many factors….blocking changes, technical delays, etc. It’s clear that all the organization and planning is paying off by keeping us on schedule. Most people don’t realize how much planning goes on with producing a musical or a play. Karen, Larry and I have been working for months on rehearsal schedules and organizing the different production elements from lights, to music to costumes. One thing that takes a while to get together, but that is an invaluable tool is the prompt book. This is my bible which has all my blocking notes, light and sound cues and everything related to...
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VioletBlog Pt. 4: The Prayer Warriors and Pretty Pictures
One of the most exciting aspects to this production is the participation of the Prayer Warriors. The Prayer Warriors are one of the most respected and renowned gospel groups in Northeast Ohio. They will be singing “Raise Me Up” in our production. This is the huge gospel number in the very pivotal scene in which Violet finally encounters the televangelist she’s been traveling to meet. She stumbles upon a rehearsal for the following days’s televised church revival and she is thrilled with the sound of the choir. From my very first thoughts about this show, I knew that song needed to be performed by a real gospel group as opposed to the existing cast throwing on robes and “acting” like a gospel choir. And there was only one group that I wanted – The Prayer Warriors. I approached their Founder and President Herb Thomas about a year ago with the idea and they have been nothing short of a dream to work with. The dream finally started to come true last week when Sam Santora (The Preacher), Caron Wykle (Lula) and I went to the Warriors’ studio to rehearse Raise Me Up....
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VioletBlog Pt. 5: The Muzzical Violizzical
Well, we’re less than two weeks away from opening. I can’t believe it! Five or six years ago, I was sitting at my desk, doing some paperwork and listening to one of those internet radio stations that plays show tunes. It was then that I first heard what I would later learn was music from the original Off-Broadway cast recording of an odd little musical I had never heard of called Violet. The song, I discovered was “On My Way” and its soaring music and lyrics are what started a journey for me not unlike the one Violet takes in search of her miracle. Like her, I have met new and wonderful people and have discovered exciting things about myself I never knew before. I didn’t realize it then, but I too was “on my way”!
What would you pray to change about yourself? This is the question I’ve asked myself over and over again ever since I first discovered this fascinating young woman named Violet in search of a healing miracle. Almost as soon as we wonder what on Earth would ever make this girl believe that faith alone could...
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