Exciting Events Passed and Coming Soon!

Hello everyone!

My apologies for the tardiness on this post.  My life has been nothing short of crazy due to the schedule I've been keeping.  Fortunately, I seem to be maintaining my health through all of it which makes me feel much better about my ability to continue to work and function with my disease taken in consideration.  

My fall has been the busiest I've experienced for quite some time.  First, in August, after I took a trip with Mom, Dad and Grandma Johnston, I auditioned The Fox on the Fairway and haven't stopped since then.  Immediately following Fox on the Fairway, I went into the Follies.

The Fox on the Fairway

The Fox on the Fairway

The Fox on the Fairway

The Fox on the Fairway

The Follies for those of you who don't know is a community event that is done every five to ten years and organized to help a local non-profit; this year that was the Reno County Veterans memorial which was raised $85,000 by the event.  It is organized by high society and due to my connections developed through Stage 9, I was tapped to assist with this year's version.  Unfortunately, it was an extremely rough go for me because I was assisting in development and planning of an event that had not taken place in 15 years.  Any institutional awareness of how The Follies typically "worked" was gone and so it was re-inventing the wheel.  I served many roles during the production (even though my title was Assistant to the Artistic Director): production adviser, scenic designer, vocal coach, properties designer, co-lighting designer, stage manager, managing director and finally, actor.  It was a process that I will never forget and am told by many who are "In the Know" that I was credited with rescuing the Follies.  High compliment indeed.

The Follies

Auditions for the Follies

Follies' Opening Number

Mimi and I at an early rehearsal at Memorial Hall

Did I mention I was a star of the dinner theatre?

Of course, I'm not one who can just sit and do nothing.  In the summer, I agreed to take on a project with the Hutchinson Symphony.  We'll be collaborating on a pantomime version of the Milhaud ballet "The Ox on the Roof".  The presentation will happen during the December 3rd symphony concert. Think of it as a mix between a Charlie Chaplain silent movie and Cirque du Solei's Ka which is a production that is done with jibberish. Our version will of course have no flying involved.  

I've also been leading the promotional effort for the 2016 Season.  This has been a particularly difficult task because the Hutchinson Theatre Guild is now Stage 9 and we have a brand new brand which I am solely in charge of maintaining and executing.  Its been a challenge but one I have sincerely enjoyed.  We finally stuffed the season brochure yesterday and it should be hitting the mail tomorrow and people's mailboxes on Friday assuming all goes well.

And speaking of the 2016 Season, the first production, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] auditions on December 5th and I'm already in full prep for this.  Its going to be a fun ride especially since in this production I will be in the director's chair.  I acted in this production in high school during my sophomore year at HHS.  Check out more information at stage9hutch.com.

So, I've got a busy year that doesn't show any signs of slowing down until May.  But I wouldn't have it any other way. Hope all of you are doing great!  

Love muchly, Charles