WOW This group ROCKS! ALL of them are EXTREMELY TALENTED! This means I'm making some of the most challenging casting decisions of my career! The shows R Gonna B AMAZING!
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Nathan and Sydney read a scene together as the King & Queen of Hearts. |
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Sydney reads a delightfully evil Queen, and Nathan plays around with different ideas for the "absent-minded King" character. |
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They had us rolling with laughter--Nathan's "King" was off the charts of absent-minded! |
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King: "Your Hair looks Lovely Today" Queen: "It does?" King: "Oh Yes" |
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Queen: "Well...It does EVERYDAY!!" |
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King: "How true, my Queen... could we have a parade?" |
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Sydney was VERY professional, and did not break character until the scene was over. Then, Nathan--the master of ad-libbing--took over with improv & we ALL fell into the giggles! |
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Here, we see Nathan on his knees, reading for Alice's little brother Layne, and reading for a "little" Queen of Hearts is Madison. |
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Madison can play EVIL just as well as she plays SWEET. She easily brought Nathan's character to tears with her Sweetly Evil portrayal of the Queen. |
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Here is the whole group that read this scene together. From left to Right, Brittany, Chloe & Bri Nicole read the Queen's mean daughters, the Princesses of Diamonds, Spades & Hearts. |
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I was believing that Nathan WAS actually scared of them! Great reading by all! |
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They showed him no love at every turn, and it was pretty cool to see Nathan in such a vulnerable role for a change. Usually, He's the one with the attitude! (That goes for characters he's played AND in real life :) |
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LOVED IT!!! She pats him on the head, then wipes her hand on him. HAHAHA! |
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Joe & Sydney read for the Hatter & Alice--great job by both, I may add... |
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Joe helped me out with some fresh ideas for the Hatter character, which he adds a touch of "Ghetto" to in this reading. |
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YO, YO, YO--maybe a little "New York" would go with the "Hattah," ya know? Hey, fogettaboutit!" |
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I like the face expression on Sydney that the camera caught here. She was a solid "Alice" while Joe experimented with ideas for the Ghetto-Thug-Hatter-possibly from NYC. :) |
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Brittany's "Hint of Southern Honey" accent went perfectly for her reading of the Cheshire Cat, and Madison read a lost "Alice" well alongside her. |
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Cheshire: "Honey, we're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad....Errbody here's mad!" |
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Alice: "Wait a minute, I'm not mad!" |
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They finished the scene & turned to the camera for a smile! Great job, ladies!! |
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Here's Chloe's reading for the Queen, and Nathan has been instructed to try a different approach with the King character this time... |
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Chloe was deeply dynamic in her reading as the Queen realizes her roses have been painted Red... |
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That is a smirk on her face, made of pure evil... IT was AWESOME! Nathan is still planning his route of attack on which direction to take the King this time... |
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I think this "King" was a little bit of a "Queen" himself, which was both hilarious & surprising to Chloe as Nathan entered with a great big "Girlfriend!" Chloe did a superb job of keeping her evil facade. |
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Now, Nathan decides to try to take the character into an even different direction, and Chloe remained poised as he again had the class rolling with laughter. |
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King: "Can we have a parade?" |
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Queen: "NO! How absurd!" |
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Great job working together, you two! It is just a director's joy to watch creativity unfold at every turn! |
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King: "Oh, well. Never Mind painting Roses Today Boys!" |
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Bri Nicole takes the stage, reading for the Queen, and I want to point out that her body language was BRILLIANTLY PRONOUNCED & changed according to the dynamics of the Queen's Building Anger. Her hands make fists & rise slightly to her side, indicating her "noticing" & later "being ANGERED" that her flowers have been painted. Subtle, yet excellent dynamic characterization choices as an actor. Super Bri! |
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And, continuing with the ever-evolving character of the King, Joe takes a phone call as the King, who annoys the Queen even more with his new-found multi-media popularity. |
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Bri Nicole did a great job of listening to see "where Joe was going" with the King this time... |
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He then cracked us all up by "taking a call" in the middle of the scene. |
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King: "Hold that thought. I've gotta get this..." |
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King: "Let me just text him back real quick..." |
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YEP. We knew it was coming.... No Queen of Hearts would allow her King to use up her minutes on their combined cell phone plan. Not even with roll-over. |
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Ah! Now this is a twist that I bet you didn't see coming. Nathan decided he wanted to read for the Queen. Yes, The Queen. A very MANLY Queen, which made for quite a delightful reading. |
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Brittany did a good job as the absent-minded King, but Nathan's Masculine and Demanding Portrayal of the Queen left no room for an emotional relationship between the two characters, since "she" definitely "wore the pants!" |
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What ANGER! What COMPLEXITY! What a Fierce and Exploding "Queen" Nathan played! |
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And now, back to "normality". Brittany played a vibrantly energetic Queen, but you wouldn't want to get on her bad side! |
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Ummm...Nathan? That might be her "bad side." |
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There ya go. Now you're back on her good side. HAHAHA, :) |
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Uh-oh...The Queen is not happy... |
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Careful, there Nathan... you're talking to the Queen of Hearts... |
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I love this shot of Brittany's facial expression, which shows the "calm before the storm" of the Queen's disapproval of her flowers being painted red. I never got a good shot of Brittany exploding with anger, but she NAILED IT! |
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I agreed to give Madison a shot at playing the Queen, and I just love how she pinpointed the body language to a "T." |
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A very sharply animated Queen, her moves were all very concise and added to the intimidating presence of her portrayal of the Queen of Hearts! |
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And a fun contrast to our evil little Queen, Joe surprised us all by choosing to play a "Depression-stricken" version of the King of Hearts, and it was HILARIOUS!! What a creative guy, that Joe is!! |
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We all ROARED with laughter when Joe had to "take his antidepressant medication" in the middle of the scene. |
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That didn't phase our young Queen Madison, though! |
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She was just as evil as ever, regardless of the King's condition. |
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Which made his character fall deeper into his "depression." IT WAS BRILLIANT!! So much fun! |
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Brittany prepared both a solo audition piece for singing AND one to exhibit her dancing skills. Um, WOW MUCH?! :D |
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She brought to Director Erin Byrne's attention that she was only ONE of the experienced dancers in the class, and Director thought "Hmmmm..." |
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Brittany had choreographed her dance audition-piece by herself, so Director Erin Byrne has decided to put her skills and others with dance/choreography experience in the cast to good use! |
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THEY'RE GOING TO BE THIS SHOW'S TEAM OF CHOREOGRAPHERS! | | NOW I REALLY CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SHOWS! <3 Erin :) |