Nina's Notes

Choosing our Shows

2012-02-06T16:42:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again...the time when I roll up my sleeves and read a million scripts trying to find the best possible shows to bring to our audience. It is always a challenge to balance musicals vs. plays, titles for older kids vs. younger kids, adaptations of well-known work vs. less-known work, new work vs. already scripted work. But, I also really love this process because with every script I read, I have the joy of picturing it on stage and picturing the faces of the children enjoying the show. What lines will get laughs? How will the set look? What themes, ideas or moments will the children who see the show go home talking about with their parents or grandparents?

Do you have any books you would love to see BACT perform?

We are in TECH!!!

2012-01-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

Pinkalicious is on it's way!! We spent the last weekend in tech, which is the time we start putting all of the sets, costumes, props and lights together to create the whole look of the show.

Here is our set in the progress of being built by Kim Schwartz our Technical Director and painted by our set designer Chelsea Pegram.

Here is Katie McGee trying on her costume that was designed by Maggi Yule.

Lanie Wieland, our incredible puppet maker, camped out in the Freight and Salvage lobby with her sewing machine to make the puppet cupcakes!

Rehearsal Photos from Pinkalicious

2012-01-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Whole Cast Dancing-Evan Boomer (Peter), Anna Smith (Mrs. Pinkerton), Katie McGee (Pinkalicious), Derek Collard (Mr. Pinkerton), Jenny Angell (Dr. Wink)

The Artistic Team-Lynden Blair (Music Director), Nicole Helfer (Choreographer), Sean Fenton (Director), Christina Larson (Stage Manager)

KARATE with Evan Boomer (Peter) and Katie McGee (Pinkalicious)

First Pinkalicious Rehearsal

2012-01-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

We had our first read-through at the Pinkalicious rehearsal tonight. This show is so much fun!

Here is the cast, director, music director, choreographer and stage manager:

Happy Holidays

2011-12-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who attended Emil of Lonneberga, Rudolph the Ugly Duckling Aristocats. It was a fantastic December!! See you all in the New Year.

Emil Is Coming to Berkeley

2011-12-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend, "Emil of Lonneberga" will open at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. The show features live music and puppets! But, that's not all that is going on--Our Youth Education Program has a terrific production of "Aristocats" performed by the Piedmont cast coming up on Sunday. And our San Ramon Holiday show, "Rudolph the Ugly Duckling and Other Cracked-Up Holiday Tales" has 2 preview performances this week. A bit busy around here!

Puppets!!!

2011-11-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

In order to make sure that our actors are strong enough to operate the puppets, they exercise their hands and wrists every day at the beginning of rehearsals. We also supplied knee pads and gloves for everyone in the cast so that they can operate the feet of the puppets!

Goodbye Bus, Hello Emil

2011-10-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

So, The Magic School Bus cast departed for their national tour and we started rehearsal for Emil of Lonneberga--all on the same day!! We wish the cast of Magic School Bus all the best for their fantastic journey. In the first week of Emil rehearsal, the actors are learning to work with their puppets and we had a special guest come to rehearsal to help pronounce some of the Swedish names and words.

Fun Questions

2011-10-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the questions that the cast of Magic School Bus have fielded at elementary schools across the Bay Area:
"Lizard, where did you get your shoes?"
"How does the sunlight get into the solar panel?"
"Do you know a lot about science"
"If all the ice melts, what happens? There’ll be a waterfall out of the glaciers?"
"Do you know why you call it CO2?"
"What are the globes on Ms. Frizzle’s shoes?"

New Highland Elementary School

2011-10-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, Magic School Bus Live will be performing at New Highland Elementary School. Thank you to the Rogers Family Foundation for sponsoring this performance.
Interesting Fact: The actors are carpooling and taking public transportation whenever possible to get to the school shows.

The Bus goes to School

2011-10-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

We had two terrific performances of Magic School Bus Live! The Climate Challenge yesterday at Allendale Elementary School in Oakland. The kids were engaged and enthusiastic through the whole assembly. Thank you to the principal, teachers and staff who make it possible. And a huge thank you to the Clorox Company Foundation for sponsoring the show!!

The Bus is Off and Running

2011-09-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Great opening weekend in San Ramon! Now we move the whole show to Berkeley to perform at Freight and Salvage. The actors will have a few days off in between--much deserved after a long tech week. It was so thrilling to hear the audiences sing-a-long at the end of the show with the lyrics "Go Green" and "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink!"

Magic School Bus Opens

2011-09-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

After 14 days of pre-rehearsal workshops, 6 weeks of rehearsal, one week of tech, the bus leaves the station today at 2pm. The artists and technicians involved with this process have done an incredible job capturing the potential for theatre to help children learn and discover.

Final Dress Rehearsal!!

2011-09-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

This evening "The Magic School Bus Live! The Climate Challenge" will have it's final dress rehearsal. The tech process has been long, but very rewarding thanks to the incredible work of our designers, actors and directors. For this show, we are integrating music, sound cues, light cues and projections, so there was a lot of work to be done to make sure that every cue syncs up with the next.

Welcome to Nina's Notes

2011-09-16T15:28:00.000-07:00

The Magic School Bus Live! The Climate Challenge rehearsal process is going great! Our incredible playwright, Scott Elmegreen is in town from New York and is working with the director and the cast to perfect the script. It is a real treat for the actors to work in the room with a playwright in a completely collaborative process.

First Test post

2011-09-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

This is the content for the first test post.